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NOTES for Gen 32:1-32

Printable version
1 And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
2 And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
4 And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:
5 And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.
6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;
8 And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.
9 And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:
10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.
11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.
12 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
13 And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother;
14 Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,
15 Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.
16 And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.
17 And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?
18 Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us.
19 And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him.
20 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.
21 So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.
22 And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.
23 And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.
24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
31 And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
32 Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.
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The successful resolution of the story with Laban did not mean that all the trials were behind him. In addition to meeting Laban, Jacob still had to meet his own brother, Esau, and it was not clear which of the two meetings was more dangerous for him. After everything Jacob had done at home, he could hardly count on a warm welcome. He understood this perfectly well: the gifts he sent ahead, intended for his brother, were meant, if not to make amends for his guilt, then at least to begin reconciliation.

Moreover, the messengers were to testify that Jacob no longer claimed anything, that he respected Esau and was ready to acknowledge Esau's primacy. During his time with Laban, Jacob had clearly changed, and now he wants to testify to this before his brother in order, if possible, to avoid conflict. The danger of conflict, however, still existed: Jacob could not know in advance how Esau would behave when they met. In such a situation he needed God's intervention more than ever, perhaps even more than before, when he fled from Laban.

And it happened, on the very night before the meeting with Esau. The biblical account of Jacob's struggle with God for a blessing raises so many questions for readers today that translators sometimes even interpret it as a struggle with an angel, assuming, apparently, that a human being can sometimes defeat an angel, but God never and in no way. Meanwhile, much becomes clearer if we start from the fact that originally the event was narrated by Jacob himself, and narrated as a man of his own age would tell it.

In his time blessing meant not support and not goodwill, but the transfer to the blessed person of power, supernatural power, the kind that all gods and spirits were then thought to possess. This power could also be taken away. More than that, in order to receive the power of some god or spirit, one had to defeat him in single combat. Jacob wrestles with his God just as he would have wrestled with the god or spirit of any of his contemporaries, in order to receive power that would be very useful to him the next day when he met his brother. Objectively, this should have involved a stormy ecstasy experienced by Jacob, one of those that in those days, and later as well, sometimes accompanied theophanies. During such an ecstasy it would be no wonder to dislocate a hip, as happened to Jacob.

But the blessing turned out not to be what Jacob expected: instead of power he receives a new name, as his ancestor Abraham once did when he met God. The change of name then and now meant the same thing: spiritual renewal, a kind of initiation after which a person becomes different. Jacob changes inwardly. That is the blessing he received. It was not what he expected, but it was absolutely necessary for him as the leader of the people of God.

Other notes

 
For Gen 32:1-32
1 And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
2 And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
4 And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:
5 And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.
6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;
8 And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.
9 And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:
10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.
11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.
12 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
13 And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother;
14 Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,
15 Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.
16 And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.
17 And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?
18 Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us.
19 And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him.
20 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.
21 So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.
22 And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.
23 And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.
24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
31 And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
32 Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.
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We can only try to understand what exactly the author wants to bring to our attention by including this story in the text...  Read more

The description of Jacob's struggle with God is a difficult-to-understand account of a mystical experience whose details remain unknown. We can only try to understand what exactly the author wants to bring to our attention by including this story in the text of the book. Its point is that God's promise to Abraham, inherited by Jacob, did not become Jacob's property, but remains rooted in the will of the Almighty. In this, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob differs from pagan tribal deities. Moreover, God's freedom to remain faithful to His promise or, on the contrary, not to let Jacob enter the promised land remains unchanged. Only by His own will does God continue to remain in covenant with Abraham and his descendants, and they must learn to rely on this will of God, good and perfect. On the other hand, Jacob's struggle with God reveals to Jacob himself, and to the reader, that following the path marked out for him by the promise to Abraham has become a matter of life and death for him. Jacob cannot turn back, and nothing in the world matters to him as much as God's blessing and His promise. Jacob himself remains faithful to the covenant God made with his ancestors, no matter what, and this faithfulness to the covenant receives God's blessing.

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For Gen 32:23-32
23 And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.
24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
31 And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
32 Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.
Hide
It is common to hear people say, "I do not ask God for anything for myself; sometimes I ask for relatives, but I feel awkward asking for myself"...  Read more

It is common to hear people say, "I do not ask God for anything for myself; sometimes I ask for relatives, but I feel awkward asking for myself." This awkwardness comes from having no need for God, who, like any free person, will most likely suggest a path that is not at all the one a person wants. I ask for nothing, I owe nothing, I live as I want here, and He can somehow manage there by Himself.

But can a person do anything at all without God? From what can he protect himself? Can he withstand the evil he sees in abundance around himself and those he loves? He can, knowing that God is a person who loves each one separately and concretely. Jacob's ardor, his persistence, his boldness - this is an example of how a person should act when asking God for blessing. This is the persistence of one who knows where the source of life is. This is the ardor of one who knows: there is no other way to survive.

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For Gen 32:24
24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
Hide
Jacob's wrestling can be considered one of the most mysterious episodes in biblical history. With whom did Jacob wrestle? The Hebrew text gives a completely unambiguous answer...  Read more

Jacob's wrestling can be considered one of the most mysterious episodes in biblical history. With whom did Jacob wrestle? The Hebrew text gives a completely unambiguous answer: with God. Literally, the words of the mysterious nighttime Stranger sound like this: "you have wrestled with God and with people, and have prevailed." What does this mean? How can a human being not simply wrestle with God, but also defeat Him? And what could Jacob himself have thought about everything that was happening then? The story itself answers the last question, however, and it fully corresponds to the ideas generally accepted in Jacob's time. In those days, blessing was understood as the transfer from one person to another of the supernatural power that stood behind all the processes taking place in nature. Ideas about this power are characteristic of all peoples; like everything belonging to a person, it could be transferred, gifted, given away, taken, and even taken away, as a victor took it away from the one he defeated in battle. If we add that not only people possessed such power, but also gods and spirits, who could also share it both with people and with one another, and not always voluntarily, the picture becomes complete. And when Jacob needed a blessing, he decided, as a determined man, to obtain it at any cost. Objectively, the meeting with God apparently took the form for him of a turbulent ecstasy, which in those days was also no rarity. But for Jacob it was precisely a struggle, a real struggle for the blessing. True, the blessing turned out not to be exactly what Jacob had imagined. He wanted his God to give him strength for the meeting with his brother that lay before him the next day. Given how they had parted many years before, Jacob would have found strength very useful. But something else happens: together with the blessing, Jacob receives a new name. A new name is a symbol of inner, spiritual renewal, of the new life into which a person has entered. Jacob becomes a different person after meeting God, and this is the blessing. And the meeting with his brother will end unexpectedly well for Jacob. For the power of God can act in different ways. Sometimes it changes a person's heart. And then strength for struggle may turn out to be unnecessary.

Hide
 
For Gen 32:26
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
Hide
"Jacob said: I will not let You go unless You bless me." I will not let You go!  Read more

"Jacob said: I will not let You go unless You bless me." I will not let You go! I will not let You go; I will speak, I will insist, because You said that "whatever you ask the Father in My name, I will do." "I call upon You, for You will answer me, O God; incline Your ear to me, hear my words." Do everything according to Your will. Bless me; without that I will not let You go. Heal every disease and every weakness among people. And looking at the crowds, at sheep worn out and scattered without a shepherd, have mercy on us, bless us.

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