Jacob's Lavish Gift to Esau and the Power of the Bribe

"And Jacob came whole" (Genesis 33:18). And was he then lacking anything? Indeed, at the moment when they said to him, "And moreover he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him" (Genesis 32:7), he arose and prepared a gift. He began by giving she-goats, for they are tender; afterward he-goats, ewes, rams, and thirty milch camels with their young. [Rabbi Levi said: If I were to go around among all the tents of Kedar, you would not find thirty milch camels, them and their young.] See the wealth of Jacob! Again he gave forty cows and ten bulls. Rabbi Isaac said: This was apart from precious stones and pearls, as it is stated, "And he took from that which came to his hand" (Genesis 32:14) — things that are taken up in the hand: these are precious stones and pearls. Rabbi Judah son of Rabbi Shalom said: All twelve months that he spent with him, thus he would honor him every day, for so said Jacob, "For the bribe blinds the eyes of the wise" (Deuteronomy 16:19) — how much more so the wicked! Rather, I will honor him so that he will not touch me.