“And say ye 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 of me.”
And be sure to say: your servant Jacob is coming behind us. For he thought: I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me. The explicit statement of Jacob's strategy is the honest acknowledgment that the gifts are instrumental — they prepare Esau to receive Jacob. The application: the gifts that precede a difficult encounter are preparation for the encounter, not a substitute for it. Jacob must still face Esau himself.
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