Then Esau said, “Let’s journey on and go, and I will go ahead of you.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Esau said, “Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before you.”
- KJV And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee.
- BSB Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way, and I will go ahead of you.”
- NKJV Then Esau said, “Let us take our journey; let us go, and I will go before you.”
- NLT “Well,” Esau said, “let’s be going. I will lead the way.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Esau proposes that they travel on together, with him leading the way. He offers continued companionship and escort.
Overview
Esau's suggestion to journey together shows his warm intentions toward Jacob. Yet their different paces and destinations make this impractical, as Jacob will gently explain. The offer nonetheless confirms the genuine goodwill now between the brothers.
Cross-references & the web
No cross-references recorded for this verse.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 33:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.