Genesis 33:1

Summary

The verse narrates Jacob lifting his eyes and seeing Esau approaching with four hundred men. In response, Jacob divides the children among the two mothers (Leah and Rachel) and the two female servants.

Key words

• va-yiSa' ("and he lifted up", H5375M) — qal narrative verb, third person masculine, connected to the preceding narrative by the vav that chains successive actions ("and then he lifted up").
• 'einav ("his eyes", H5869A) — feminine dual noun in construct with the pronominal suffix -o ("his", H9033), reflecting that "eyes" in Hebrew is grammatically a paired (dual) form, not a simple plural.
• hinneh ("there!", H2009) — interjection that marks a sudden shift in perspective, presenting what Jacob sees as an unfolding scene rather than a mere report.
• ba ("was coming", H0935G) — qal participle, masculine singular, describing Esau's approach as an action in progress at the moment Jacob sees him, not a completed act.
• va-yachatz ("and he divided", H2673) — qal narrative verb, third person masculine, marking Jacob's deliberate action following what he has just observed.

What the text says

The verse is built on a chain of narrative (vav-consecutive) verbs: va-yisa' ("and he lifted up"), va-yar' ("and he saw", H7200G), and va-yachatz ("and he divided"). This chain presents the events as a tight sequence: Jacob's lifting of the eyes leads directly to seeing, and the seeing leads directly to the division of the children. The particle hinneh ("there!", H2009) interrupts the verb chain to shift into what grammarians call a scene of immediate perception — the reader is placed inside Jacob's visual field at the moment of seeing, rather than being told about it afterward.

The participle ba ("was coming", H0935G) describing Esau reinforces this immediacy: it presents Esau's approach as ongoing at the instant of Jacob's sight, not as something already finished. The phrase arba' me'ot ish ("four hundred men", H0702 + H3967 + H0376G) uses a construct chain of number nouns, a standard way of counting in Hebrew, specifying the size of the group accompanying Esau.

The final clause names the division of "the children" (ha-yeladim, H3206) using the object marker 'et (H0853), followed by three prepositional phrases each introduced by 'al ("with", H5921A): "with Leah," "with Rachel," "with the two maidservants" (shtei ha-shfachot, H8147 + H8198). The repetition of 'al before each name creates a parallel structure that lists the groupings one by one rather than presenting them as a single collective.

Differences between versions

The LXX adds a specification absent in the Hebrew: it calls Esau "ὁ ἀδελφὸς αὐτοῦ" ("his brother"), a clarification not present in the Hebrew text, which names him only as 'Esav ("Esau", H6215G). The Vulgate follows the Hebrew more closely on this point, rendering simply "Esau" without the added kinship term.