Genesis 33:4

And Esau ran to meet him,.... If he rode on any creature, which is likely, he alighted from it on sight of his brother Jacob, and to express his joy on that occasion, and affection for him, made all

And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. Esau ran ... fell on his neck, and kissed him. What a sudden and surprising change!

Genesis 33:4 And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.Ver. 4. And kissed him.] The word kissed hath a prick over every letter in the original: to note, say the Hebrew doctors, that this was a false and hypocritical kiss, a Judas-kiss. Kαταφιλεινουεστιφιλειν, saith Philo: Amos non semper est in osculo. But our interpreters are agreed that this kiss was a sign that his heart was changed from his former hatred, and that those extraordinary pricks do denote the wonder of God’ s work therein; which is further confirmed in that they both wept, which could not easily be counterfeit, though they were in Ishmael, that notable hypocrite, and in the emperor Andronicus, who, when he had injuriously caused many of the nobility to be put to death, pretended himself sorry for them, and that with tears plentifully running down his aged cheeks, as if he had been the most sorrowful man alive. So the Egyptian crocodile, having killed some living beast, lieth upon the dead body, and washeth the head thereof with her warm tears, which she afterward devoureth, with the dead body. We judge more charitably of Esau here. And yet we cannot be of their mind, that herehence conclude his true conversion and salvation. We must take heed we neither make censure’ s whip nor charity’ s cloak too long: we may offend in both, and incur the curse, as well by "calling evil good," as "good evil". Latomus of Lovain wrote, that there was no other a faith in Abraham than in Cicero. Another wrote a long defence and commendation of Cicero, and makes him a very good Christian, and true penitentiary, because he saith, somewhere, Reprehendo peccata mea, quid Pompeio conflsus, eiusque partes secutus fuerim. I believe neither of them. Qui probabilius loquuntur, aiunt eo ipso notari animi Esauici conversionem. - Am. Turk. Hist., fol. 50, 175. Joh. Manlii, loc. com., 496, 483.

(4) Esau ran to meet him.—Whatever may have been Esau’s intention when he started, no sooner does he see his brother than the old times of their childhood return to his heart, and he is overcome with love; nor does he ever seem afterwards to have wavered in his fraternal affection. We have had a proof before (in Genesis 27:38) of Esau being a man of warm feelings, and similarly now he is again overmastered by his loving impulses. It is curious that the Hebrew word for “he kissed him” has had what are called extraordinary vowels attached to it, and the Masorites are supposed to signify thereby that Esau’s kiss was not a sign of genuine love. For such an ill-natured supposition there is no warrant whatsoever.

Verse 4. Esau ran to meet him] How sincere and genuine is this conduct of Esau, and at the same time how magnanimous! He had buried all his resentment, and forgotten all his injuries; and receives his brother with the strongest demonstrations, not only of forgiveness, but of fraternal affection. And kissed him] וישקהו valyishshakehu. In the Masoretic Bibles each letter of this word is noted with a point over it to make it emphatic. And by this kind of notation the rabbins wished to draw the attention of the reader to the change that had taken place in Esau, and the sincerity with which he received his brother Jacob. A Hindoo when he meets a friend after absence throws his arms round him, and his head across his shoulders, twice over the right shoulder and once over the left, with other ceremonies according to the rank of the parties.

4. And Esau] Esau’s conduct on this occasion is that of a good-natured and forgiving disposition. There is no statement of his having intended any mischief to Jacob. His appearance with four hundred men seems to have been accidental, and not with hostile intent against Jacob. He behaves throughout magnanimously and simply. fell on his neck] In Genesis 45:14, Genesis 46:29 (J), this demonstration of feeling is followed by “weeping.” kissed him] On the Hebrew word for “kissed him” the Massoretic, or traditional, Hebrew text has this note: “All of it punctuated,” i.e. every letter dotted. Probably the text was at an early date uncertain. The Rabbinic explanation is strange, i.e. “because he did not come to kiss him, but to bite him,” and the tradition goes on to say that Jacob’s neck was turned into marble! they wept] The strong emotion of orientals; cf. Genesis 45:2. The Targum of pseudo-Jonathan, following up the absurd Rabbinic tradition arising from the Israelite hatred of Edom, explains that Jacob wept because his neck was painful, and Esau because he had pain in his teeth!

4. Ran to meet… embraced… fell… kissed… wept — Five forms in which they exhibited the first fervent emotions of brotherly affection.