Genesis 32: Jacob fears Esau, wrestles, and is named Israel
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What happens?
Jacob hears that Esau is coming to meet him with four hundred men. Afraid, he splits his people into two camps, prays to God, and sends herds ahead as a present. That night, alone by the Jabbok, a man wrestles with him until dawn, touches his hip, gives him a new name, Israel, and blesses him.
Who is speaking?
Jacob does most of the speaking: to his messengers, in his prayer to God (verses 9-12), and to his servants. No verse in this chapter has God's words in gold. When Jacob repeats God's promises in his prayer (verses 9 and 12), those are Jacob's words. The text calls the one who wrestles with Jacob "a man" (verse 24), so his words are not in gold. Jacob says afterwards that he has seen God face to face (verse 30); readers differ on who the man was (see the note on verse 24). God's own words are printed in gold, and those verses are marked God speaks
1Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
In plain English: Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
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2When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s army.” He called the name of that place Mahanaim.
In plain English: When Jacob saw them, he said, "This is God's army (or: God's camp)." So he named that place Mahanaim.
The Hebrew word: "Army" is machaneh, a camp, of travelers or of soldiers. The place name Mahanaim comes from the same word and means "two camps" (the dictionary gives "double camp").
Good to know: Jacob uses the same word when he splits his people into "two companies" in , and in his prayer: "now I have become two companies" ().
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3Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom.
In plain English: Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau, in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
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4He commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall tell my lord, Esau: ‘This is what your servant, Jacob, says. I have lived as a foreigner with Laban, and stayed until now.
In plain English: He told them, "This is what you must say to my lord Esau: 'Your servant Jacob says this: I have been living as a foreigner with Laban, and I have stayed there until now.
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5I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.’”
In plain English: I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants. I am sending this message to my lord, hoping to find favor in your eyes.'"
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6The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”
In plain English: The messengers came back to Jacob and said, "We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him."
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7Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed. He divided the people who were with him, along with the flocks, the herds, and the camels, into two companies.
In plain English: Jacob was very afraid and upset. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, the herds, and the camels, into two camps.
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8He said, “If Esau comes to the one company, and strikes it, then the company which is left will escape.”
In plain English: He said, "If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it, the camp that is left will escape."
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9Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Yahweh, who said to me, ‘Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,’
In plain English: Jacob said, "God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Yahweh, you told me, 'Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will do you good.'
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10I am not worthy of the least of all the loving kindnesses, and of all the truth, which you have shown to your servant; for with just my staff I crossed over this Jordan; and now I have become two companies.
In plain English: I am not worthy of the least of all the loving kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I crossed this Jordan with only my staff, and now I have become two camps.
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11Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and strike me and the mothers with the children.
In plain English: Please rescue me from my brother, from Esau. I am afraid of him: he may come and attack me, and the mothers with the children.
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12You said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which can’t be counted because there are so many.’”
In plain English: You said, 'I will certainly do you good, and I will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, too many to count.'"
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13He stayed there that night, and took from that which he had with him a present for Esau, his brother:
In plain English: He spent the night there. From what he had with him, he chose a present for his brother Esau:
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14two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
In plain English: two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
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15thirty milk camels and their colts, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals.
In plain English: thirty camels nursing their young, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten young donkeys.
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16He delivered them into the hands of his servants, every herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put a space between herd and herd.”
In plain English: He put each herd in the care of his servants, every herd by itself, and told them, "Go ahead of me, and leave a space between one herd and the next."
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17He commanded the foremost, saying, “When Esau, my brother, meets you, and asks you, saying, ‘Whose are you? Where are you going? Whose are these before you?’
In plain English: He told the first one, "When my brother Esau meets you and asks, 'Who do you belong to? Where are you going? Whose animals are these in front of you?'
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18Then you shall say, ‘They are your servant, Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord, Esau. Behold, he also is behind us.’”
In plain English: you must say, 'They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And look, Jacob himself is behind us.'"
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19He commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the herds, saying, “This is how you shall speak to Esau, when you find him.
In plain English: He gave the same orders to the second and the third, and to everyone who followed the herds: "This is what you must say to Esau when you meet him.
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20You shall say, ‘Not only that, but behold, your servant, Jacob, is behind us.’” For, he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”
In plain English: Say, 'And look, your servant Jacob is behind us.'" For he said, "I will appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and after that I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me."
Good to know: The Hebrew of this verse says "face" four times. Jacob will "cover his face" (appease him) with the present that goes "before my face", then he will "see his face", and perhaps Esau will "lift up my face" (accept Jacob). The word comes back in the name Peniel, "face of God" (), and when the brothers meet ().
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21So the present passed over before him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.
In plain English: So the present went on ahead of him, and he himself spent that night in the camp.
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22He rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok.
In plain English: That night he got up, took his two wives, his two servant women, and his eleven sons, and crossed the Jabbok at the ford.
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23He took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had.
In plain English: He took them and sent them across the stream, and he sent across everything he had.
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24Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day.
In plain English: Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him there until the day began to break.
The Hebrew word: "A man" is ish, the ordinary word for a man. He never gives his name ().
Good to know: In he tells Jacob he has fought "with God and with men". In Jacob says, "I have seen God face to face." Looking back on this night, says Jacob "contended with God" and "struggled with the angel".
Church tradition: Readers differ on who the man was: an angel, God appearing in the form of a man, or, in many Christian readings, Christ before his birth. Genesis 32 calls him a man and does not say which.
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25When he saw that he didn’t prevail against him, the man touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was strained as he wrestled.
In plain English: When the man saw that he could not win against Jacob, he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh (his hip socket), and Jacob's hip was strained (or: put out of joint) as he wrestled with him.
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26The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.” Jacob said, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me.”
In plain English: The man said, "Let me go, because the day is breaking." Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
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27He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob”.
In plain English: The man asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "Jacob."
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28He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
In plain English: The man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have fought (or: struggled) with God (or: with heavenly beings) and with men, and you have won."
The Hebrew word: The man explains the name Israel himself: Jacob has fought (or struggled) with God and with men, and won. "You have fought" is sarita, which sounds like the start of the name, and El, at its end, means God.
How it is translated: This word for fighting appears in only one other verse, , which looks back on this night. There this Bible says "he contended with God".
Good to know: This is the first time the name Israel appears in the Bible. Jacob's old name was tied to the heel he held at birth (), and Esau said it fit him because he had "supplanted" him (). God gives him the name Israel again in .
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29Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” He said, “Why is it that you ask what my name is?” So he blessed him there.
In plain English: Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." He said, "Why do you ask my name?" And he blessed Jacob there.
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30Jacob called the name of the place Peniel; for he said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
In plain English: Jacob named the place Peniel, because he said, "I have seen God face to face, and my life has been spared."
Good to know: Peniel means "face of God". Jacob names the place for what he says happened there: "I have seen God face to face." In the Hebrew spells the name Penuel, the spelling used later in the Bible (). This Bible prints Peniel in both verses.
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31The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh.
In plain English: The sun rose on him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.
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32Therefore the children of Israel don’t eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the hollow of the thigh, to this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.
In plain English: That is why, to this day, the people of Israel do not eat the tendon of the hip, which is on the hip socket: because the man touched Jacob's hip socket at that tendon.
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