Verses 14 and 15 list the various animals and the numbers of each kind that Jacob is to present to Esau. The female animals are more numerous and more valuable than the males as they will produce young ones. Fewer males are required for reproduction. For the animals listed see 12.16; 30.35; 31.38.

In some languages the structure of the text in Hebrew from verse 14 to verse 20 is very difficult in the way it gives a list of all the animals first and then gives the instructions that Jacob gave to each of the herdsmen. A suggestion for restructuring these verses will be given at the end of verse 20.

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 .