Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Sforno · Torah

Sforno on Genesis 33:11/ספורנו על בראשית ל״ג:י״א

אוַיִּפְצַר בּוֹ. כְּדֵי שֶׁיְּקַבֵּל, כִּי הַשֹּׁחַד יְעַוֵּר וְיִקַּח, וְהַהֵפֶךְ בֶּאֱלִישָׁע כְּאָמוּר "וַיִּפְצַר בּוֹ לָקַחַת וַיְמָאֵן" (מלכים ב ה:טז).
1ויפצר בו, in order for him to accept the gift. Yaakov was aware that bribes sway people’s minds; in this case he used the bribe to blind Esau’s judgment. We encounter the very opposite with the prophet Elisha in Kings II 5,16 where he is urged to accept a well deserved gift and refuses, so that Naaman will know that a true servant of the Lord does not accept a reward for someone else’s accomplishment, i.e. G’d having cured Naaman from his leprosy.