Accept, I pray you, my gift that is brought to you: Jacob continues to urge Esau to accept. These words repeat the thought and much of the wording from verse 10; but the repetition is a necessary part of getting Esau to accept the gift. Here gift translates the Hebrew word for “blessing.” The same word is used for “gift,” or “present,” in 1 Sam 25.27; 30.26. By expressing it this way, Jacob is offering to share the blessing he took away from Esau many years earlier.

Because God has dealt graciously with me: see verse 5. Again Jacob is giving reasons why Esau should accept his gifts. We may translate, for example, “because God has been good to me.” See Good News Translation.

And because I have enough: Jacob gives this as a further reason. In verse 9 Esau said the same thing, which in Hebrew is “I have much.” Jacob’s literal words here are “I have all,” meaning that he has a very great amount.

Thus he urged him: that is, “With these words Jacob urged Esau to accept the gift.” Different languages have different ways of expressing the sense of urged him; for example, “He was strong that Esau should receive the present…” and “Jacob kept on talking like that to Esau until he accepted.”

And he took it: he is Esau and it is the gift. Note how simply the acceptance is handled by the narrator after the necessary formalities of urging and refusing have run their course. Esau probably made nothing more than a nod of his head or a display of his open hand. He does not even seem to recall that he had lost something called a “blessing.”

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 .