Genesis 32

Jacob Gets Ready to Meet Esau

1Jacob also went on his way. The angels of God met him. 2Jacob saw them. He said, “This is the army of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim.

3Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau. Esau lived in the land of Seir. It was also called the country of Edom. 4Jacob told the messengers what to do. He said, “Here’s what you must tell my master Esau. ‘Your servant Jacob says, “I’ve been staying with Laban. I’ve remained there until now. 5I have cattle and donkeys and sheep and goats. I also have male and female servants. Now I’m sending this message to you. I hope I can please you.” ’ ”

6The messengers came back to Jacob. They said, “We went to your brother Esau. He’s coming now to meet you. He has 400 men with him.”

7Jacob was very worried and afraid. So he separated the people with him into two groups. He also separated the flocks and herds and camels. 8He thought, “Esau might come and attack one group. If he does, the group that’s left can escape.”

9Then Jacob prayed, “You are the God of my grandfather Abraham. You are the God of my father Isaac. Lord, you are the one who said to me, ‘Go back to your country and your relatives. Then I will give you success.’ 10You have been very kind and faithful to me. But I’m not worthy of any of this. When I crossed this Jordan River, all I had was my walking stick. But now I’ve become two camps. 11Please save me from the hand of my brother Esau. I’m afraid he’ll come and attack me and the mothers with their children. 12But you have said, ‘I will surely give you success. I will make your children as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. People will not be able to count them.’ ”

13Jacob spent the night there. He chose a gift for his brother Esau from what he had with him. 14He chose 200 female goats and 20 male goats. He chose 200 female sheep and 20 male sheep. 15He chose 30 female camels with their little ones. He chose 40 cows and ten bulls. And he chose 20 female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16He put each herd by itself. Then he put his servants in charge of them. He said to his servants, “Go on ahead of me. Keep some space between the herds.”

17Jacob spoke to his servant who was leading the way. He said, “My brother Esau will meet you. He’ll ask, ‘Who is your master? Where are you going? And who owns all these animals in front of you?’ 18Then say to Esau, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift to you from him. And Jacob is coming behind us.’ ”

19He also spoke to the second and third servants. He told them and all the others who followed the herds what to do. He said, “Say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. 20Make sure you say, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’ ” Jacob was thinking, “I’ll make peace with him with these gifts I’m sending on ahead. When I see him later, maybe he’ll welcome me.” 21So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him. But he himself spent the night in the camp.

Jacob Wrestles With God

22That night Jacob got up. He took his two wives, his two female servants and his 11 sons and sent them across the Jabbok River. 23After they had crossed the stream, he sent over everything he owned. 24So Jacob was left alone. A man wrestled with him until morning. 25The man saw that he couldn’t win. So he touched the inside of Jacob’s hip. As Jacob wrestled with the man, Jacob’s hip was twisted. 26Then the man said, “Let me go. It is morning.”

But Jacob replied, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me.”

27The man asked him, “What is your name?”

“Jacob,” he answered.

28Then the man said, “Your name will not be Jacob anymore. Instead, it will be Israel. You have wrestled with God and with people. And you have won.”

29Jacob said, “Please tell me your name.”

But he replied, “Why do you want to know my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there.

30So Jacob named the place Peniel. He said, “I saw God face to face. But I’m still alive!”

31The sun rose above Jacob as he passed by Peniel. He was limping because of his hip. 32That’s why the Israelites don’t eat the meat attached to the inside of an animal’s hip. They don’t eat it to this day. It’s because the inside of Jacob’s hip was touched.

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Genesis 32

Preparing to Meet Esau

1Jacob went on his way, and God’s angels met him.#Ps 91:9–11 2When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s camp.” So he called that place Mahanaim.#32:2 = Two Camps#Jos 21:38; 2Sm 2:8; 17:24,27; 1Kg 2:8

3Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the territory of Edom. 4He commanded them, “You are to say to my lord Esau, ‘This is what your servant Jacob says. I have been staying with Laban and have been delayed until now. 5I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female slaves. I have sent this message to inform my lord, in order to seek your favor.’”#Gn 33:8,15

6When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau; he is coming to meet you — and he has four hundred men with him.”#Gn 33:1 7Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; he divided the people with him into two camps, along with the flocks, herds, and camels. 8He thought, “If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it, the remaining one can escape.”#Gn 27:41

9Then Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac,#Gn 28:13; 31:42,53 the Lord who said to me, ‘Go back to your land and to your family, and I will cause you to prosper,’#Gn 31:3,13 10I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. Indeed, I crossed over the Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two camps. 11Please rescue me from my brother Esau, for I am afraid of him; otherwise, he may come and attack me, the mothers, and their children. 12You have said, ‘I will cause you to prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to be counted.’”#Gn 28:13–15

13He spent the night there and took part of what he had brought with him as a gift for his brother Esau:#Gn 43:11 14two hundred female goats, twenty male goats, two hundred ewes, twenty rams, 15thirty milk camels with their young, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys, and ten male donkeys. 16He entrusted them to his slaves as separate herds and said to them, “Go on ahead of me, and leave some distance between the herds.”

17And he told the first one, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who do you belong to? Where are you going? And whose animals are these ahead of you?’ 18then tell him, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau. And look, he is behind us.’”

19He also told the second one, the third, and everyone who was walking behind the animals, “Say the same thing to Esau when you find him. 20You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” For he thought, “I want to appease Esau with the gift that is going ahead of me. After that, I can face him, and perhaps he will forgive me.”

21So the gift was sent on ahead of him while he remained in the camp that night. 22During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two slave women, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of Jabbok.#Dt 2:37; 3:16; Jos 12:2 23He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his possessions.

Jacob Wrestles with God

24Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.#Hs 12:3–4 25When the man saw that he could not defeat him, he struck Jacob’s hip socket as they wrestled and dislocated his hip. 26Then he said to Jacob, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”

But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

27“What is your name?” the man asked.

“Jacob,” he replied.

28“Your name will no longer be Jacob,”#Gn 35:10; 2Kg 17:34 he said. “It will be Israel#32:28 In Hb, the name Israel sounds like “he struggled (with) God.” because you have struggled with God#Hs 12:3–4 and with men and have prevailed.”

29Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.”

But he answered, “Why do you ask my name?” #Jdg 13:18 And he blessed him there.

30Jacob then named the place Peniel,#32:30 = Face of God “For I have seen God face to face,” he said, “yet my life has been spared.”#Gn 16:13; Ex 24:10–11; 33:20; Nm 12:8; Jdg 6:22; 13:22 31The sun shone on him as he passed by Penuel#32:31 Variant of Peniel#Jdg 8:8 — limping because of his hip. 32That is why, still today, the Israelites don’t eat the thigh muscle that is at the hip socket: because he struck Jacob’s hip socket at the thigh muscle.#32:32 Or tendon

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