‘Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed. And he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two companies. And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and smites it then the other company which is left will escape.” '
Jacob is seized with terror and he decides on a strategy to deceive his brother. He divides his possessions into ‘two companies'. There may well be a deliberate contrast here with verse 2 where Mahanaim also meant two companies. He has forgotten that his reliance is on God and his angelic messengers. But his policy is to let Esau arrive and think he has captured all Jacob's possessions not knowing that there is a second which hopefully survives.