Hebrew Bible Study
Hebrew Bible Study

Commentary for Genesis 33:12

וַיֹּ֖אמֶר נִסְעָ֣ה וְנֵלֵ֑כָה וְאֵלְכָ֖ה לְנֶגְדֶּֽךָ׃

And he said: ‘Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee.’

Rashi on Genesis

נסעה is an imperative like שִׁמְעָה and שִׁלָחָה which are equivalent to שְׁמַע "hearken!” and שְׁלֵח “send!” Similarly here, נִסְעָהis equivalent to נְסַע “travel on!”, where the נ is a root-letter of the word and not the prefix of the future in which case the word would mean “let us travel on”, similar to the following word ונלכה “and let us go”. The Targum also takes it in this sense, rendering it: “Travel on and let us go". Thus Esau said to Jacob, “Travel thou on from here and let us go etc.
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Sforno on Genesis

נסעה ונלכה, to Seir, Esau’s home. This was in line with what Yaakov’s messengers had told Esau as being their destination.
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Radak on Genesis

ויאמר נסעה, it is possible that Esau’s “suggestion” was in the nature of a command. He was conscious that Yaakov’s progress would be slow due to the animals as well as the children some of whom were of tender age.
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Rabbeinu Bahya

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Rashi on Genesis

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Radak on Genesis

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HaKtav VeHaKabalah

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Siftei Chakhamim

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