Genesis 33:10

forasmuch as I have seen R.V. marg. for therefore have I seen. See Genesis 18:5; Genesis 19:8 (J).

as one seeth the face of God Jacob desires to imply that to have seen the face of Esau, and to have found him friendly, was as if one had looked on the face of God, and found it favourable. The phrase is therefore an elaborate compliment, such as is found in 1 Samuel 29:9; 2 Samuel 14:17, where David is compared to an angel of God. We can hardly doubt that this turn of compliment contains a side allusion to the name of the locality, Peniel. Cf. Genesis 32:30-31.

The phrase "to see the face" is equivalent to being "admitted into the royal presence"; cf. Genesis 43:3; Genesis 43:5; 2 Kings 25:19.