<b>He commanded them, saying; “Thus shall you say unto my lord Esau” (Gen. 32:5).</b> R. Judah the son of Simon began the discussion with the verse: <i>As a troubled fountain, and a corrupted spring, so is a righteous man that giveth way before the wicked</i> (Prov. 25:26). That is to say, the righteous man is like <i>a troubled fountain and a corrupted spring</i> when he demeans himself before the wicked. <i>Thus shall you say unto my lord Esau</i>. Jacob called Esau <i>my lord</i>, for the Torah teaches that one must be respectful toward the government (those in power). R. Ishmael said: Observe that Scripture says: <i>And the Lord spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, and gave them a charge unto the children of Israel and unto Pharaoh, king of Egypt</i> (Exod. 6:13).<sup class="footnote-marker">4</sup><i class="footnote">God refers to Pharaoh as king to demonstrate the duty to honor the one in power.</i> He did so to teach them to be respectful toward the government (those in power).
Similarly, our holy Rabbi (Judah the Prince, compiler of the Mishnah) wrote to Antoninus: “Your servant Judah salutes you”; he did so to pay homage to the government (those in power). And Jacob did likewise, as it is said: <i>Thus shall you say unto my lord Esau</i>.
While Jacob slept the Holy One, blessed be He, and the angels protected him, as is said: <i>And behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold, the Lord stood</i> (Gen. 28:12–13), but he told His messengers nevertheless: <i>Thus shall you say to my lord Esau</i>. Hence Scripture states: <i>As a troubled fountain and a corrupted spring, so is the righteous man that giveth way before the wicked</i> (Prov. 25:26).
Where did the angels come from? Observe what is written previously: <i>And Jacob said when he saw them: “This is God’s camp.” And he called the name of the place Mahanaim</i> (Gen. 23:3). What does the word <i>Mahanaim</i> (the dual form of <i>mahaneh</i>, “camp”) indicate? It indicates that there were two camps of angels there. At the time Jacob fled to Aram-naharaim, the angels in the land of Israel protected him and guided him—to the border of the Holy Land. When they departed, other angels descended to escort him. Upon his return from Laban’s home, the angels to whose care he had been entrusted accompanied him to the border of the Holy Land, where the angels in the land of Israel, upon perceiving that Jacob had arrived, went out to meet him to escort him, as it is said: <i>And the angels of God met him</i> (ibid., v. 2). The two groups continued to stand near Jacob, as is said: <i>Mahanaim</i>.
What did Jacob do then? He sent ahead messengers from among them. They went forward immediately and arrayed themselves before Esau. They divided themselves into two phalanxes. The first band (which in turn contained four subgroups) approached him, attacked him, struck him, and injured him, until he cried out: “I am the grandson of Isaac, let me be.” They continued to pummel him and he shouted: “Let me be, I am the son of Isaac, who was bound upon the altar.” Still they continued to strike him, and he called out: “Let me be, I am the brother of Jacob, who has returned from Padan-aram.” He began to wail: “Jacob, my brother, has returned after twenty years, and I am eager to greet him.” When he mentioned Jacob’s name they desisted. They said to him: “You are the brother of Jacob, whom we love dearly, and so we will leave you alone out of honor and love for him. Give him our regards.”
After the first group departed, the second attacked him and continued to do what the first group had done. Then the third and fourth groups did likewise. How do we know this? From the fact that Esau said to Jacob: <i>What meanest thou by all this camp which I met?</i> (Gen. 33:8).
When the angels were about to depart (to go to Esau), what did Jacob tell the angels to say to him: <i>I have an ox, and an ass</i> (Gen. 32:6). Did he possess only a single ox and a single ass (as the text literally states)? From the size of the gift he sent him, we know that he had at least <i>two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats</i> (ibid., v. 15). He told them to say this because the righteous person is always modest about himself, while the wicked exaggerates his importance, as did Esau, when he said: <i>I have many</i> (ibid. 33:9). Scripture states regarding the righteous and the wicked; <i>There is that pretendeth himself rich, yet hath nothing; there is that pretendeth himself poor, yet hath great wealth</i> (Prov. 13:7).