And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
Ver. 6. And four hundred men with him.] Four hundred cut-throats, as appears, Genesis 32:8. And here, good Jacob is brought again into the briars. When he was well rid of his father-in-law, he thought all safe; and his joy was completed by the sight of that army of angels. Presently upon this, he is so damped and terrified with this sad message of Esau's approach and hostile intentions, that he knows not what course to take to. Out of heaven he is thrust suddenly, as it were, into hell, saith Pareus. a This is the godly man's case while here. Fluctus fluclum trudit: one trouble follows in the neck of another. b Ripen we apace, and so get to heaven, if we would be out of the gunshot, The ark was transportative, till settled in Solomon's Temple; so, till we come to heaven, shall we be tossed up and down and turmoiled: "within" will be "fears, without fightings," 2Co 7:5 while we are in hoc exilio, in hoc ergastulo, in hac peregrinatione, in hac valle lachrymarum, as Bernard hath it; in this exile, in this purgatory, in this pilgrimage, in this vale of tears.
a Ex coelo repente quasi in infernum detruditur.
b Pονος πονω πονον φερει