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Translation
King James Version
Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.
Complete Jewish Bible
This is why, to this day, the people of Isra'el do not eat the thigh muscle that passes along the hip socket - because the man struck Ya'akov's hip at its socket.
Berean Standard Bible
Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon which is at the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was struck near that tendon.
American Standard Version
Therefore the children of Israel eat not the sinew of the hip which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.
World English Bible Messianic
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.
Geneva Bible (1599)
Therefore the children of Israel eate not of the sinewe that shranke in the hollowe of the thigh, vnto this day: because he touched the sinew that shranke in the holow of Iaakobs thigh.
Young's Literal Translation
therefore the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew which shrank, which is on the hollow of the thigh, unto this day, because He came against the hollow of Jacob's thigh, against the sinew which shrank.
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In the KJVVerse 961 of 31,102
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Commentary on Genesis 32 verses 24–32
24 ¶ And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
31 And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
32 Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.
We have here the remarkable story of Jacob's wrestling with the angel and prevailing, which is referred to, Hos 12:4. Very early in the morning, a great while before day, Jacob had helped his wives and his children over the river, and he desired to be private, and was left alone, that he might again more fully spread his cares and fears before God in prayer. Note, We ought to continue instant in prayer, always to pray and not to faint: frequency and importunity in prayer prepare us for mercy. While Jacob was earnest in prayer, stirring up himself to take hold on God, an angel takes hold on him. Some think this was a created angel, the angel of his presence (Isa 63:9), one of those that always behold the face of our Father and attend on the shechinah, or the divine Majesty, which probably Jacob had also in view. Others think it was Michael our prince, the eternal Word, the angel of the covenant, who is indeed the Lord of the angels, who often appeared in a human shape before he assumed the human nature for a perpetuity; whichsoever it was, we are sure God's name was in him, Exo 23:21. Observe,
I. How Jacob and this angel engaged, Gen 32:24. It was a single combat, hand to hand; they had neither of them any seconds. Jacob was now full of care and fear about the interview he expected, next day, with his brother, and, to aggravate the trial, God himself seemed to come forth against him as an enemy, to oppose his entrance into the land of promise, and to dispute the pass with him, not suffering him to follow his wives and children whom he had sent before. Note, Strong believers must expect divers temptations, and strong ones. We are told by the prophet (Hos 12:4) how Jacob wrestled: he wept, and made supplication; prayers and tears were his weapons. It was not only a corporal, but a spiritual, wrestling, by the vigorous actings of faith and holy desire; and thus all the spiritual seed of Jacob, that pray in praying, still wrestle with God.
II. What was the success of the engagement. 1. Jacob kept his ground; though the struggle continued long, the angel, prevailed not against him (Gen 32:25), that is, this discouragement did not shake his faith, nor silence his prayer. It was not in his own strength that he wrestled, nor by his own strength that he prevailed, but in and by strength derived from Heaven. That of Job illustrates this (Job 23:6), Will he plead against me with his great power? No (had the angel done so, Jacob had been crushed), but he will put strength in me; and by that strength Jacob had power over the angel, Hos 12:4. Note, We cannot prevail with God but in his own strength. It is his Spirit that intercedes in us, and helps our infirmities, Rom 8:26. 2. The angel put out Jacob's thigh, to show him what he could do, and that it was God he was wrestling with, for no man could disjoint his thigh with a touch. Some think that Jacob felt little or no pain from this hurt; it is probable that he did not, for he did not so much as halt till the struggle was over (Gen 32:31), and, if so, this was an evidence of a divine touch indeed, which wounded and healed at the same time. Jacob prevailed, and yet had his thigh put out. Note, Wrestling believers may obtain glorious victories, and yet come off with broken bones; for when they are weak then are they strong, weak in themselves, but strong in Christ, Co2 12:10. Our honours and comforts in this world have their alloys. 3. The angel, by an admirable condescension, mildly requests Jacob to let him go (Gen 32:26), as God said to Moses (Exo 32:10), Let me alone. Could not a mighty angel get clear of Jacob's grapples? He could; but thus he would put an honour on Jacob's faith and prayer, and further try his constancy. The king is held in the galleries (Sol 7:5); I held him (says the spouse) and would not let him go, Sol 3:4. The reason the angel gives why he would be gone is because the day breaks, and therefore he would not any longer detain Jacob, who had business to do, a journey to go, a family to look after, which, especially in this critical juncture, called for his attendance. Note, Every thing is beautiful in its season; even the business of religion, and the comforts of communion with God, must sometimes give way to the necessary affairs of this life: God will have mercy, and not sacrifice. 4. Jacob persists in his holy importunity: I will not let thee go, except thou bless me; whatever becomes of his family and journey, he resolves to make the best he can of this opportunity, and not to lose the advantage of his victory: he does not mean to wrestle all night for nothing, but humbly resolves he will have a blessing, and rather shall all his bones be put out of joint than he will go away without one. The credit of a conquest will do him no good without the comfort of a blessing. In begging this blessing he owns his inferiority, though he seemed to have the upper hand in the struggle; for the less is blessed of the better. Note, Those that would have the blessing of Christ must be in good earnest, and be importunate for it, as those that resolve to have no denial. It is the fervent prayer that is the effectual prayer. 5. The angel puts a perpetual mark of honour upon him, by changing his name (Gen 32:27, Gen 32:28): "Thou art a brave combatant" (says the angel), "a man of heroic resolution; what is thy name?" "Jacob," says he, a supplanter; so Jacob signifies: "Well," says the angel, "be thou never so called any more; henceforth thou shalt be celebrated, not for craft and artful management, but for true valour; thou shalt be called Israel, a prince with God, a name greater than those of the great men of the earth." He is a prince indeed that is a prince with God, and those are truly honourable that are mighty in prayer, Israels, Israelites indeed. Jacob is here knighted in the field, as it were, and has a title of honour given him by him that is the fountain of honour, which will remain, to his praise, to the end of time. Yet this was not all; having power with God, he shall have power with men too. Having prevailed for a blessing from heaven, he shall, no doubt, prevail for Esau's favour. Note, Whatever enemies we have, if we can but make God our friend, we are well off; those that by faith have power on earth as they have occasion for. 6. He dismisses him with a blessing, Gen 32:29. Jacob desired to know the angel's name, that he might, according to his capacity, do him honour, Jdg 13:17. But that request was denied, that he might not be too proud of his conquest, nor think he had the angel at such an advantage as to oblige him to what he pleased. No, "Wherefore dost thou ask after my name? What good will it do thee to know that?" The discovery of that was reserved for his death-bed, upon which he was taught to call him Shiloh. But, instead of telling him his name, he gave him his blessing, which was the thing he wrestled for: He blessed him there, repeated and ratified the blessing formerly given him. Note, Spiritual blessings, which secure our felicity, are better and much more desirable than fine notions which satisfy our curiosity. An interest in the angel's blessing is better than an acquaintance with his name. The tree of life is better than the tree of knowledge. Thus Jacob carried his point; a blessing he wrestled for, and a blessing he had; nor did ever any of his praying seed seek in vain. See how wonderfully God condescends to countenance and crown importunate prayer: those that resolve, though God slay them, yet to trust in him, will, at length, be more than conquerors. 7. Jacob gives a new name to the place; he calls it Peniel, the face of God (Gen 32:30), because there he had seen the appearance of God, and obtained the favour of God. Observe, The name he gives to the place preserves and perpetuates, not the honour of his valour or victory, but only the honour of God's free grace. He does not say, "In this place I wrestled with God, and prevailed;" but, "In this place I saw God face to face, and my life was preserved;" not, "It was my praise that I came off a conqueror, but it was God's mercy that I escaped with my life." Note, It becomes those whom God honours to take shame to themselves, and to admire the condescensions of his grace to them. Thus David did, after God had sent him a gracious message (Sa2 7:18), Who am I, O Lord God? 8. The memorandum Jacob carried of this in his bones: He halted on his thigh (Gen 32:31); some think he continued to do so to his dying-day; and, if he did, he had no reason to complain, for the honour and comfort he obtained by this struggle were abundantly sufficient to countervail the damage, though he went limping to his grave. He had no reason to look upon it as his reproach thus to bear in his body the marks of the Lord Jesus (Gal 6:17); yet it might serve, like Paul's thorn in the flesh, to keep him from being lifted up with the abundance of the revelations. Notice is taken of the sun's rising upon him when he passed over Penuel; for it is sunrise with that soul that has communion with God. The inspired penman mentions a traditional custom which the seed of Jacob had, in remembrance of this, never to eat of that sinew, or muscle, in any beast, by which the hip-bone is fixed in its cup: thus they preserved the memorial of this story, and gave occasion to their children to enquire concerning it; they also did honour to the memory of Jacob. And this use we may still make of it, to acknowledge the mercy of God, and our obligations to Jesus Christ, that we may now keep up our communion with God, in faith, hope, and love, without peril either of life or limb.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 24–32. Public domain.
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Ambrose of MilanAD 397
On Jacob and the Blessed Life
But Jacob limped because of his thigh. “On account of this the children of Israel do not eat the sinew even to the present day.” Would that they had eaten it and had believed! But because they were not about to do the will of God, therefore they did not eat. There are those too who take the passage in the following sense, that Jacob limped from one thigh. Two peoples flowed from his lineage, and there was then being revealed the numbness that one of them would presently exhibit toward the grace of faith. And so it is the people itself that limped by reason of the numbness of its unbelief.
John ChrysostomAD 407
HOMILIES ON GENESIS 58.14
Just as the truth is quite plain in this case, however, so with the good man a kind of apparition occurred that had the effect of convincing the good man of the degree of care he enjoyed from God and the fact that Jacob would be unvanquished by all those plotting against him. Then, in order that the vision he had would not be forgotten by anyone in the future, “his thigh made him limp. For this reason the sons of Israel do not eat the nerve that stiffened on the flat of his thigh, because he lay hold of the flat of Jacob’s thigh, and it stiffened.” You see, since the good man had completed his lifespan and was about to leave this life, and since the providence accorded him by God and the marvelous considerateness should be known to the whole human race, accordingly it says, “The sons of Israel do not eat the nerve that stiffened on the flat of his thigh.” Aware of their ingratitude and the way, they forgot God’s kindnesses; he therefore devised a constant reminder for them to have of the kindnesses done by him and arranged for these reminders to be preserved in their observances of this kind. You can find this throughout the whole of Scripture. In fact, this in particular is the explanation of the great number of observances. They represent God’s wish that future generations would unfailingly meditate on God’s kindnesses and, by consigning them to oblivion, not have recourse again to their own errors—a particular weakness of the Jewish people. I mean, those who give evidence of their typical ingratitude in the face of these very kindnesses would all the more readily, had this not happened, have banished from their mind all that had been done for them by God.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Genesis 32:32 establishes an enduring dietary custom among the children of Israel: the abstinence from consuming the sciatic nerve, referred to as the "sinew which shrank." This practice serves as a perpetual, tangible memorial to the pivotal night when their patriarch, Jacob, wrestled with a divine being at Peniel, an encounter that resulted in a dislocated thigh and his transformative renaming as Israel, signifying a new identity forged through struggle, vulnerability, and divine blessing.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Genesis 32:32 directly explains the origin of a unique dietary prohibition observed by the descendants of Jacob, the Israelites. It specifies that they do not consume the "sinew which shrank," commonly identified as the sciatic nerve, located in the hollow of the thigh. This custom is directly attributed to the divine encounter at Peniel, where the "man" touched Jacob's thigh, causing this specific sinew to be wrenched or dislocated, resulting in Jacob's permanent limp. The verse serves as a historical etiology, providing a tangible, physical link between a foundational national event and an ongoing communal practice.
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Genesis 32:32 primarily functions as an Etiology, providing the origin story for a specific, enduring dietary custom among the Israelites. This etiological purpose grounds a ritual practice in a foundational historical event in the life of their patriarch, Jacob. The verse also employs Repetition by reiterating "sinew which shrank" and "hollow of the thigh," which serves to emphasize the precise nature of the injury and the specific focus of the dietary prohibition, ensuring clarity and reinforcing its significance. Furthermore, the limp itself, and by extension the dietary custom, functions as Symbolism. Jacob's permanent injury symbolizes his transformation from a cunning supplanter (Jacob) to one who struggles with God and prevails (Israel), embodying the concept of divine power being made manifest through human vulnerability. The "hollow of the thigh" can also be seen as a form of Metonymy or Synecdoche, where a part (the hip joint/sinew) represents the whole (Jacob's physical strength or even his entire being), indicating that the divine touch impacted him at a profound, foundational level.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Genesis 32:32 serves as a profound theological touchstone, embedding the memory of Jacob's transformative divine encounter into the very fabric of Israelite life through a unique dietary custom. This practice perpetually reminds the community that their identity as "Israel"—those who struggle with God and prevail—is rooted not in their own strength or cunning, but in a direct, often challenging, confrontation with divine power that leaves an indelible mark. It underscores the truth that God engages intimately with humanity, shaping destinies through encounters that may involve both humbling and blessing, ultimately leading to a deeper dependence on Him. The custom transforms a physical injury into a sacred, communal act of remembrance, reinforcing the idea that foundational spiritual truths are to be embodied and passed down through generations.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Genesis 32:32 profoundly illustrates how transformative spiritual experiences leave indelible marks, both individually and communally. Just as the Israelites perpetually remembered Jacob's life-altering encounter through a unique dietary custom, we are similarly called to reflect upon and internalize God's transformative work in our own lives and in the broader narrative of faith. Our personal "limps"—our vulnerabilities, struggles, or past encounters with divine power—can serve as powerful, ongoing testimonies to God's sovereignty, our dependence on Him, and the profound growth that emerges from wrestling with life's challenges. This verse encourages us to find deep meaning in our personal and collective histories, recognizing how God actively works through our perceived weaknesses and difficulties to forge strength, new identity, and enduring faith. It prompts us to consider what "limps" we carry that serve as reminders of God's touch, and how we might honor and remember those transformative moments in our own lives and communities.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why did the Israelites specifically avoid the sciatic nerve?
Answer: The custom originated from the specific injury Jacob sustained during his wrestling match with the divine being at Peniel. The "sinew which shrank" (Hebrew: gid hanasheh) refers to the sciatic nerve, which was dislocated or wrenched in Jacob's thigh. This specific prohibition served as a perpetual physical reminder of that pivotal, transformative event in their patriarch's life, marking the place where God's powerful touch humbled Jacob and gave him a new name, Israel, as recorded in Genesis 32:25-30.
Is this dietary custom still observed today?
Answer: Yes, the custom of not eating the sciatic nerve is still observed by many observant Jews today. This practice is an integral part of the kosher dietary laws, requiring the removal of the gid hanasheh from the hindquarters of animals, a process known as nikkur (de-veining). If the nerve is not removed, the hindquarters are often not eaten, reflecting the enduring significance of the event described in Genesis 32:32.
What is the broader significance of Jacob's limp and the custom?
Answer: Jacob's limp served as a lifelong, tangible reminder of his divine encounter and his new identity as Israel. It symbolized his vulnerability and dependence on God, even after receiving a powerful blessing. The dietary custom extends this memory to all generations of Israelites, teaching them that their national identity and strength are rooted in a foundational struggle with God and a reliance on His power, rather than human might. It transforms a personal injury into a communal act of remembrance, ensuring that the lessons of Jacob's wrestling at Peniel are continually passed down and embodied.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
The narrative of Jacob's wrestling, his subsequent limp, and the enduring dietary custom in Genesis 32:32 finds profound Christ-centered fulfillment in several ways. Jacob's struggle with God, resulting in a new identity and blessing through vulnerability, powerfully prefigures Christ's own wrestling in Gethsemane Luke 22:42-44 and His ultimate struggle on the cross Hebrews 12:2. Through His suffering and apparent weakness, Christ secured a new identity and an eternal blessing for all humanity, transforming our brokenness into redemption. Just as Jacob's limp served as a perpetual physical reminder of his divine encounter, the wounds of Christ—His crucifixion and resurrection—serve as the ultimate, indelible marks of God's transformative power and His new covenant with humanity Colossians 2:13-14. Furthermore, while the Israelites' custom commemorates a physical injury, Christ, through His perfect sacrifice, removes the spiritual "limp" of sin, enabling humanity to truly "struggle with God" (as Israel's name implies) and prevail, not by their own might, but through His grace Ephesians 2:8-9, granting a new spiritual identity and access to God's presence Galatians 2:20. The dietary custom points to a need for purification and separation, which is ultimately fulfilled in Christ, who cleanses us from all unrighteousness and makes us holy before God.