Commento su Genesi 32:23

ואת אחד עשר ילדיו AND HIS ELEVEN CHILDREN — But where was Dinah? He placed her in a chest and locked her in so that Esau should not set his fancy upon her (desire to marry her). On this account Jacob was punished — because he had kept her away from his brother for she might have led him back to the right path; she therefore fell into the power of Shechem (Genesis Rabbah 76:9).

AND HE TOOK HIS TWO WIVES, AND HIS TWO HANDMAIDS. There is no significance to being mentioned earlier or later in this verse with respect to rescue work. [Hence even though his wives are mentioned here first, from which you might infer that they appeared before Esau first, Scripture later states — 33:6 — that the handmaids came first.] Instead, Scripture states that he gathered his wives and handmaids and children at the edge of the brook, and he alone traversed the ford of the Jabbok to see if the waters were high, and then he returned and took them all with him at one time and made them pass the brook,⁵²Verse 24 here. and after that he made pass that which was his,⁵²Verse 24 here. namely, his camp and his belongings.

ויקם בלילה ההוא , he crossed the river at night because he intended to change direction to avoid a meeting with Esau. We find that David did something similar when he was fleeing from his son Avshalom at the same location of Machanyim as reported in Samuel II 17,21-24. At that time, coming from the direction of Jerusalem, David crossed the river Jordan, a more formidable river than the Yabbok, a mere tributary of the Jordan which could be crossed relatively easily. [flight by crossing a river, eliminating footprints and wading along the bank before crossing to the other side slows down the pursuers who first have to find in which direction the fugitive continued. Ed.].