Genesis 32:14

Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams.

And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother; He lodged there that same night.

Genesis 32:14 Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,Ver. 14. Two hundred she-goats, &c.] A very great present for a private person to send. Five hundred and fifty beasts, of sundry sorts, for store. He spares no cost, that he may buy his peace, and enjoy his birthright. Heaven, he knew (whereof Canaan was a type and pledge), would pay for all. Get but a patriarch’ s eye to see heaven afar off, and we shall be soon ready to buy it at any rate. The pearl of price cannot be a dear bargain, though we part with all to purchase it. Moses was forty years old, and therefore no baby, when "he preferred the reproach of Christ," the worst thing about him, "before the treasures of Egypt". Egypt was a country rich, fruitful, and learned. Thence Solomon had his chief horses; thence the harlot had her fine linens. Moses might, in likelihood, have been king of Egypt, yea, and of Ethiopia too, as some think: but he had a better prize in his hand, and therefore slights all the world’ s flitting and flattering felicities. When Basil was tempted with money and preferment, he answered, pecuniam da quae permaneat, ac continuo daret, gloriam quae semper floreat. This the world cannot do; nay, it cannot keep off diseases, death, &c. Non domus et fundus, &c. When Michael Paleologus, Emperor of Constantinople, sent to Nugas the Scythian prince, for a present, certain royal robes and rich ornaments, he set light by them, asking, Whether they could drive away calamities, sickness, death? No, no: this, nothing can do, but the favour of God and interest in Christ. Wherefore should I die, being so rich? was the foolish question of that rich and wretched cardinal, Henry Beaufort, bishop of Winchester, and Chancellor of England, in the reign of Henry VI. Fie, quoth he, will not death be hired? will money do nothing? No, saith Solomon: "Treasures of wickedness profit nothing; but righteousness delivereth from death". Many are loath to die, because they have treasures in the world; as those ten men had in the field. The Irish ask, - What! such men mean to die? But such men must die; nor can their riches reprieve them. Oh! happy is he that, with Jacob, lays hold on the heavenly inheritance, though with the loss of earthly possessions; that cares not to part with his cattle, so he may have his crown; with his swine, so he may have his Saviour. This is the wise merchant, this is the true tradesman, that traffics for heaven; looking upon the world as a great dunghill, with Paul, σκυβαλα, dog’ s dung. Numquid calamitates, morbos, aut mortem depellere possent? - Pachymer. Hist., lib. v. Act, and Mon., fol. 925.

(14, 15) Goats—ewes—camels—kine—asses.—As the kinds of cattle are arranged according to their value, it is remarkable that kine should be prized above camels; for the milk of cows was regarded as of little worth. This high estimation of them, therefore, must have arisen from an increased regard for agriculture, the ploughing being done in the East by oxen. Asses of course come last, as being the animal used by chieftains for riding, and therefore prized as matters of luxury. (See Genesis 12:16; Judges 5:10.) Jacob selected “milch camels” because their milk forms a valuable part of the daily food of the Arabs.

Verse 14. Two hundred she-goats, c.] This was a princely present, and such as was sufficient to have compensated Esau for any kind of temporal loss he might have sustained in being deprived of his birthright and blessing. The thirty milch camels were particularly valuable, for milch camels among the Arabs constitute a principal part of their riches, the creature being every way so serviceable that the providence of God appears peculiarly kind and wise in providing such a beast for those countries where no other animal could be of equal service. "The she-camel gives milk continually, not ceasing till great with young the milk of which," as Pliny has remarked, "when mixed with three parts of water, affords the most pleasant and wholesome beverage." Cameli lac habent, donec iterum gravescant, suavissimumque hoc existimatur, ad unam mensuram tribus aquae additis.-Hist. Nat., lib. xi., chap. 41.

14. two hundred, &c.] The numbers here given enable us to form some idea of the great size of Jacob’s caravan. The animals are apparently mentioned in the order of their value, beginning with the least valuable. Jacob hopes by the arrival of a succession of gifts to break down Esau’s bitter grudge against him. For “a brother offended,” cf. Proverbs 18:19.