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. # = 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 country 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, 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 400 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, cattle, 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 this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two camps. 11Please rescue me from the hand of 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, which cannot 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 14200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 1530 milk camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 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 female slaves, and his 11 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 # 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, # = Face of God “For I have seen God face to face,” he said, “and I have been delivered.” # 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 # Variant of Peniel # Jdg 8:8 — limping because of his hip. 32That is why, to this day, 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. # Or tendon
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Genesis 32
32
1 Likewise, Jacob continued on the journey that he had begun. And the Angels of God met him.
2 When he had seen them, he said, "These are the Encampments of God." And he called the name of that place Mahanaim, that is, 'Encampments.'
3 Then he also sent messengers before him to his brother Esau, in the land of Seir, in the region of Edom.
4 And he instructed them, saying: "You shall speak in this way to my lord Esau: 'Your brother Jacob says these things: "I have sojourned with Laban, and I have been with him until the present day.
5 I have oxen, and donkeys, and sheep, and men servants, and women servants. And now I send an ambassador to my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight." ' "
6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We went to your brother Esau, and behold, he rushes to meet you with four hundred men."
7 Jacob was very afraid. And in his terror, he divided the people who were with him, likewise the flocks, and the sheep, and the oxen, and the camels, into two companies,
8 saying: "If Esau goes to one company, and strikes it, the other company, which is left behind, will be saved."
9 And Jacob said: "God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me: 'Return to your land, and to the place of your nativity, and I will do well for you.'
10 I am less than any of your compassions and your truth, which you have fulfilled to your servant. With my staff I crossed over this Jordan. And now I go back with two companies.
11 Rescue me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am very afraid of him, lest perhaps he may come and strike down the mother with the sons.
12 You did say that you would do well by me, and that you would expand my offspring like the sand of the sea, which, because of its multitude, cannot be numbered."
13 And when he had slept there that night, he separated, from the things that he had, gifts for his brother Esau:
14 two hundred she-goats, twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,
15 thirty milking camels with their young, forty cows, and twenty bulls, twenty she-donkeys, and ten of their young.
16 And he sent them by the hands of his servants, each flock separately, and he said to his servants: "Pass before me, and let there be a space between flock and flock."
17 And he instructed the first, saying: "If you happen to meet my brother Esau, and he questions you: "Whose are you?" or, "Where are you going?" or, "Whose are these which follow you?"
18 you shall respond: "Your servant Jacob's. He has sent them as a gift to my lord Esau. And he is also coming after us."
19 Similarly, he gave orders to the second, and the third, and to all who followed the flocks, saying: "Speak these same words to Esau, when you find him.
20 And you will add: 'Your servant Jacob himself also follows after us, for he said: "I will appease him with the gifts that go ahead, and after this, I will see him; perhaps he will be gracious to me." ' "
21 And so the gifts went before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp.
22 And when he had arisen early, he took his two wives, and the same number of handmaids, with his eleven sons, and he crossed over the ford of Jabbok.
23 And having delivered over all the things that belonged to him,
24 he remained alone. And behold, a man wrestled with him until morning.
25 And when he saw that he would not be able to overcome him, he touched the nerve of his thigh, and immediately it withered.
26 And he said to him, "Release me, for now the dawn ascends." He responded, "I will not release you, unless you bless me."
27 Therefore he said, "What is your name?" He answered, "Jacob."
28 But he said, "Your name will not be called Jacob, but Israel; for if you have been strong against God, how much more will you prevail against men?"
29 Jacob questioned him, "Tell me, by what name are you called?" He responded, "Why do you ask my name?" And he blessed him in the same place.
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, "I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved."
31 And immediately the sun rose upon him, after he had crossed beyond Peniel. Yet in truth, he limped on his foot.
32 For this reason, the sons of Israel, even to the present day, do not eat the nerve that withered in Jacob's thigh, because he touched the nerve of his thigh and it was obstructed.