The First Book of Moses: Genesis

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- Chapter 32 -

As Jacob and his family continued traveling, some angels came from God and met him.

When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s army camp!” So he named that place Mahanaim.

Jacob told some men to go ahead of him to his older brother Esau, who was living in Seir, that is, the land of Edom.

He told them, “This is what I want you to say to Esau: ’I, Jacob, am your servant and you are my master. I have been living with our uncle Laban, and I have stayed there until now.

I now own many cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, and male and female slaves. Now I am sending this message to you, sir, hoping that you will be friendly toward me when I arrive.’”

The messengers went and gave that message to Esau. When they returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your older brother Esau. He is coming to you, and four hundred men are coming with him.”

Jacob was very afraid and worried. So he divided the people who were with him into two groups. He also divided the sheep and goats, the cattle, and the camels, into two groups.

He was thinking, “If Esau and his men come and attack us, perhaps one of the groups will be left and will be able to escape.”

Then Jacob prayed, “O Yahweh God, whom my grandfather Abraham worshiped and my father Isaac worships, you said to me, ‘Go back to your own land and to your relatives, and I will cause good things to happen to you.’

I am not worthy for you to have kept your covenant in so many faithful and trustworthy ways with me, your servant. I had only this walking stick with me when I crossed the Jordan River on my way to Haran, but now I am so wealthy that there are two large groups of my family and possessions.

So now I pray that you will rescue me from the power of my brother Esau, because I am afraid that he and his men will come and attack and kill me and the children and their mothers.

But do not forget that you have said, ‘I will certainly enable you to prosper, and I will cause your descendants to be as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore, which are so many that no one can count them.’”

Jacob slept in that place that night. The next morning he selected some animals to give to his brother Esau.

He selected two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred female sheep and twenty male sheep,

thirty female camels and their offspring, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.

He divided them into small herds, and put each herd into the care of one of his servants. He said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, one group at a time, and keep some space between each herd.”

He said to the servant who was going with the first group, “When my brother Esau meets you, he will ask you, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong?’

Tell him, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. He has sent them to you as a gift, sir. And he is coming behind us.’”

He also said the same thing to the servants who were taking care of the second and third groups, and to the other herdsmen. He said to them, “When you meet Esau, I want you to say to him the same thing that I told the first servant.

Also be sure to say ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’” Jacob told them to say that because he was thinking, “Perhaps these gifts that I am sending ahead of me will cause him to act peacefully toward me. Later, when I see him, perhaps he will act kindly toward me.”

So the men taking the gifts went ahead, but Jacob himself stayed in the camp that night.

Jacob Wrestles with God

Some time during that night, Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female slaves, and his eleven sons, and he sent them across the ford at the Jabbok River.

After he sent all his people across the Jabbok River, then he also sent over everything he owned.

So Jacob was left there alone. But a man came and wrestled with him until dawn.

When the man realized that he was not winning against Jacob, he struck Jacob’s hip and caused the thigh bone to pull away from the hip socket.

Then the man said, “Let me go, because it will soon be daylight.” Jacob replied, “No, if you will not bless me, I will not let you go!”

The man said to him, “What is your name?” He replied, “Jacob.”

The man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob. Your name will be Israel, which means ‘he struggles with God,’ because you have struggled with God and with people, and you have won.”

Jacob said, “Now, please tell me your name!” The man replied, “Why do you ask me what my name is?” But he blessed Jacob there.

So Jacob named the place Peniel, which means “God’s face,” saying “I looked directly at God, but I did not die because of doing that.”

The sun was rising as Jacob left Peniel, and he was limping because of what had happened to his hip.

The muscle on his hip joint had been injured. So to this present time, because of what happened to Jacob, the Israelite people do not eat the muscle that is attached to the socket of the hips of animals.

Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s army.” He called the name of that place Mahanaim.(a)

Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom.

He 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.

I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.’”

The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”

Then 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.

He said, “If Esau comes to the one company, and strikes it, then the company which is left will escape.”

Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD, who said to me, ‘Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,’

I 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.

Please 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.

You 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.’”

He stayed there that night, and took from that which he had with him a present for Esau, his brother:

two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

thirty milk camels and their colts, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals.

He 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.”

He 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?’

Then you shall say, ‘They are your servant, Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord, Esau. Behold, he also is behind us.’”

He 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.

You 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.”

So the present passed over before him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.

Jacob Wrestles with God

He 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.

He took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had.

Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day.

When 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.

The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.” Jacob said, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me.”

He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob”.

He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”

Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” He said, “Why is it that you ask what my name is?” So he blessed him there.

Jacob called the name of the place Peniel;(b) for he said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”

The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh.

Therefore 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.

Footnotes

(a)32:2 “Mahanaim” means “two camps”.

(b)32:30 Peniel means “face of God”.