And the messengers returned to Jacob: the text gives no details of the messengers’ mission to Esau. However, in translation it may be necessary to indicate some kind of transition to Gen 32.6. For example, we may say, as does Good News Translation, “When the messengers came back,” or “The messengers went to Esau, and when they returned to Jacob,” or “The messengers did what Jacob had told them. Then they returned to him and said….” The distance from Mahanaim to the region of Edom means that the messengers must have been away for several days before they returned.

We came to your brother Esau: came, which renders the Hebrew verb, must often be expressed from the point of view of the place where Jacob is. In English this is “We went to….” We may also say, for example, “We went to see…,” “We have returned from your brother Esau.” In the light of the next sentence, we may translate as does Revised English Bible, “We went to your brother Esau and he is already….”

He is coming to meet you: the Hebrew text may also be understood as “he is also coming,” “he is already coming,” or “he is already on his way.” Meet translates a verb meaning to approach or come near. In English we may translate, for example, “He is already on his way here” or “He is coming and will soon be here.” The most natural way to understand the sequence of events in this verse is that, when the messengers from Jacob arrived with their message, Esau immediately set out to meet Jacob. This is what the messengers now reported to Jacob. Note New International Version “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you.” Another translation expresses this as “We went and saw your brother. Now he has left his own place and is coming to meet you.”

Four hundred men with him: it may be necessary to make a new sentence, as in Good News Translation.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .