יַעֲבָר־נָ֥א אֲדֹנִ֖י לִפְנֵ֣י עַבְדּ֑וֹ וַאֲנִ֞י אֶֽתְנַהֲלָ֣ה לְאִטִּ֗י לְרֶ֨גֶל הַמְּלָאכָ֤ה אֲשֶׁר־לְפָנַי֙ וּלְרֶ֣גֶל הַיְלָדִ֔ים עַ֛ד אֲשֶׁר־אָבֹ֥א אֶל־אֲדֹנִ֖י שֵׂעִֽירָה׃
Let my lord pass on before his servant, and I will lead on slowly, according to the pace of the work that is before me and according to the pace of the children, until I come to my lord, to Seir.
Bereishis Rabbah 78:14.
Sefaria · Bereishis Rabbah 78:14
עַד אֲשֶׁר אָבֹא אֶל אֲדֹנִי שֵׂעִירָה — אָמַר רַבִּי אַבָּהוּ: חָזַרְנוּ עַל כָּל הַמִּקְרָא וְלֹא מָצִינוּ שֶׁהָלַךְ יַעֲקֹב אָבִינוּ אֵצֶל עֵשָׂו לְהַר שֵׂעִיר מִימָיו.
“Until I come to my lord, to Seir” — Rabbi Abbahu said: We went through the entire Scripture and did not find that Yaakov ever went to Eisav at Mount Seir.
Bereishis Rabbah highlights the tension between Yaakov’s stated plan to come to Seir and the biblical record, which never records that journey.
Midrashic reading of Yaakov’s deferred promise (Bereishis Rabbah).
The promise to come to Seir is not fulfilled in the recorded journey of Yaakov’s lifetime; the midrash therefore reads the statement as pointing beyond the immediate narrative.