The Meeting of Jacob and Esau
Gustave Doré, 1866 · Genesis 33:3
The passage
And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
Genesis 33:3
About this plate
The two brothers are in the dead centre, holding each other, heads together. Jacob is the one in pale robes. Esau is darker, in a headcloth, with his arms round him. They are the only still point in a very crowded plate.
Everybody else is arranged in two blocks. On the left, women and children in light clothes, a small boy standing out in front. On the right, a wall of men in dark cloaks with spears and staffs, backs to us. Camels and riders on the ridge behind, palms above.
The verse is not the embrace. It is the approach. And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. Seven bows, counted out, by a man who expected to be killed.
Doré skips all seven and draws the next verse instead. And notice what has not changed. The two crowds are still two crowds, and the spears on the right are still up.
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