Genesis 32
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
© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
Genesis 32
32
1 THEN JACOB went on his way, and God's angels met him.
2 When Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's army! So he named that place Mahanaim [two armies]. [Gen. 32:7, 10.]
3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
4 And he commanded them, Say this to my lord Esau: Your servant Jacob says this: I have been living temporarily with Laban and have stayed there till now.
5 And I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, menservants, and women servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find mercy and kindness in your sight.
6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your brother Esau; and now he is [on the way] to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.
7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups,
8 Thinking, If Esau comes to the one group and smites it, then the other group which is left will escape.
9 Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord Who said to me, Return to your country and to your people and I will do you good,
10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercy and loving-kindness and all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant, for with [only] my staff I passed over this Jordan [long ago], and now I have become two companies.
11 Deliver me, I pray You, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and smite [us all], the mothers with the children.
12 And You said, I will surely do you good and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
13 And Jacob lodged there that night and took from what he had with him as a present for his brother Esau:
14 Two hundred she-goats, 20 he-goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams,
15 Thirty milk camels with their colts, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 she-donkeys, and 10 [donkey] colts.
16 And he put them into the charge of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, Pass over before me and put a space between drove and drove.
17 And he commanded the first, When Esau my brother meets you and asks to whom you belong, where you are going, and whose are the animals before you,
18 Then you shall say, They are your servant Jacob's; it is a present sent to my lord Esau; and moreover, he is behind us.
19 And so he commanded the second and the third and all that followed the droves, saying, This is what you are to say to Esau when you meet him.
20 And say, Moreover, 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.
21 So the present went on before him, and he himself lodged that night in the camp.
22 But he rose up that [same] night and took his two wives, his two women servants, and his eleven sons and passed over the ford [of the] Jabbok.
23 And he took them and sent them across the brook; also he sent over all that he had.
24 And Jacob was left alone, and a Man wrestled with him until daybreak.
25 And when [the Man] saw that He did not prevail against [Jacob], He touched the hollow of his thigh; and Jacob's thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled with Him.
26 Then He said, Let Me go, for day is breaking. But [Jacob] said, I will not let You go unless You declare a blessing upon me.
27 [The Man] asked him, What is your name? And [in shock of realization, whispering] he said, Jacob [supplanter, schemer, trickster, swindler]!
28 And He said, Your name shall be called no more Jacob [supplanter], but Israel [contender with God]; for you have contended and have power with God and with men and have prevailed. [Hos. 12:3-4.]
29 Then Jacob asked Him, Tell me, I pray You, what [in contrast] is Your name? But He said, Why is it that you ask My name? And [the Angel of God declared] a blessing on [Jacob] there.
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel [the face of God], saying, For I have seen God face to face, and my life is spared and not snatched away.
31 And as he passed Penuel [Peniel], the sun rose upon him, and he was limping because of his thigh.
32 That is why to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the hollow of the thigh, because [the Angel of the Lord] touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh on the sinew of the hip.
1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation