Genesis 32:13-21

"And he lodged there that night, and took of that which he had with him a present for Esau his brother: two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals. And he delivered them into the hands of his servants, every drove by itself, and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove. And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whose are these before thee? and thou shalt say, They are thy servant Jacob's; it is a present unto my lord Esau: and, behold, he is also behind us. And he commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him; and ye shall say, Moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept me. So the present passed over before him: and he himself lodged that night in the company."

This "present" was indeed a rich one, some 550 animals,[8] or 580 animals,[9] depending, apparently, on how many colts the camels and asses had; but, since they were milch camels, they would all have had colts, and, therefore, the higher estimate is correct. What a present! It would take at least $100,000.00 today to put together such a drove as that which Jacob sent Esau.

The skilled arrangement of its presentation is one of the marvels of this episode. None of the drove captains knew that he was being followed by another drove, for he was instructed to say, "Jacob is behind us." Thus, no loose-tongued servant could apprise Esau of the full extent of the gift, which he would not know until Jacob himself appeared. This intention lay behind Jacob's instruction that there should be a space between drove and drove. One must admire that kind of planning.