כי ירא אנכי אותו. שאלה מטרוניתא היאך ירא מעשו אחר שהבטיחו הקב"ה. ענה ת"ח אחד תשובה בצדה שאמר כי במקלי עברתי את הירדן הזה כלו' כשהבטיחני הקב"ה לא הייתי כי אם בעצמי ועתה הייתי לשני מחנות ולכן אף אם איני ירא ממנו שהבטיחני הקב"ה אמנם ירא אנכי פן יבא והכני אם על בנים כי על האם ועל הבנים לא הבטיחני וכו': כי ירא אנכי אותו, “for I am afraid of him.” How could Yaakov still be afraid of Esau after all the assurances of support he had received from G–d? One sage answered that the answer to this question is found immediately in the words uttered by Yaakov himself. He refers to how he had set out on his journey to Lavan with nothing but his walking stick, whereas in the interval he had become very wealthy. When G–d had given him His assurances they had applied to himself alone. He had never included the people who now comprised his two camps, his family and the servants. As a result, while he did not fear for his person, he did fear for the lives of his wives and children, who had become an integral part of him.