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Genesis 32

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Jacob Encounters God's Host at Mahanaim 1–2

1
And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. ​
2
And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim. ​

Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau 3–8

3
And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. ​
4
And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:
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And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.
6
And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. ​
7
Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands; ​
8
And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.

Jacob's Prayer of Petition and Trust 9–12

9
And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: ​
10
I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. ​
11
Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.
12
And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. ​

The Present Sent to Appease Esau 13–21

13
And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother; ​
14
Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,
15
Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.
16
And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.
17
And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?
18
Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us.
19
And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him.
20
And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me. ​
21
So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.

Wrestling at the Jabbok 22–32

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And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. ​
23
And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.
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. ​

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Genesis 32

Verse 1

the angels of God met him — Malak is a messenger, here God's own. Jacob saw angels on the ladder at Bethel (Gen 28:12) as he left; these meet him on the return, as 'The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him' (Ps 34:7). They are 'ministering spirits' (Heb 1:14).

Verse 2

Mahanaim — Machanayim, the dual of machaneh, camp or host: two camps. Jacob's cry, 'This is God's host', names the angelic company; he later divides his own people into 'two bands' (v.7), the same word machaneh. The place became a city of Gad (Josh 21:38).

Verse 3

Esau his brother unto the land of Seir — Seir, 'the country of Edom', is the land the LORD gave to Esau (Josh 24:4; Deut 2:5). Edom, meaning red, became Esau's name from the pottage (Gen 25:30). The 'messengers' are malakim, the same word as 'angels' in v.1.

Verse 6

four hundred men with him — The messengers say nothing of Esau's intent, only that he 'cometh to meet thee'. Esau's old threat, 'The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob' (Gen 27:41), explains the dread; the same four hundred are seen again in Gen 33:1.

Verse 7

greatly afraid and distressed — Yare, to fear, and yatsar, to be straitened, in distress. He 'divided' (chatsah, to cut in half) his people and herds into 'two bands' (machaneh, the word behind Mahanaim); his reasoning is given in v.8, that one band might 'escape'.

Verse 9

O God of my father Abraham — Jacob's prayer for deliverance pleads the covenant God and God's own word: 'Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee'. That is the command of Gen 31:3, 'Return unto the land of thy fathers, and to thy kindred; and I will be with thee.'

Verse 10

not worthy of the least of all the mercies — Qatan means to be small: Jacob counts himself too small for God's chesed (mercy, covenant love) and emeth (truth, faithfulness). 'With my staff I passed over this Jordan' sets his departure beside his return; 'two bands' (machaneh) is the wealth God has given since.

Verse 12

as the sand of the sea — Jacob turns God's words back to him: 'I will surely do thee good' (yatab, used twice in the Hebrew phrase). At Bethel the promise ran 'thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth' (Gen 28:14), with 'I am with thee' (Gen 28:15); here the figure is the sand of the sea.

Verse 13

a present for Esau his brother — Minchah, gift or tribute. Prayer is followed by action: 'A man's gift maketh room for him' (Prov 18:16), 'A gift in secret pacifieth anger' (Prov 21:14). The animals are listed in vv.14–15, and Jacob lodges 'there that same night'.

Verse 20

I will appease him — Kaphar, to cover, the verb of atonement, set with panim, face: the gift going before his face is to cover Esau's face before Jacob sees it. 'Accept of me' is literally to lift up my face (nasa). Esau's welcome comes in Gen 33:4.

Verse 22

the ford Jabbok — Yabboq, a river east of the Jordan, later the border of the Ammonites and of half Gilead (Deut 3:16; Josh 12:2). Jacob crosses with 'his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons'; Benjamin is not yet born (Gen 35:18).

Verse 24

there wrestled a man with him — Abaq, to wrestle, a verb tied to the word for dust. The opponent is called 'a man' here, 'the angel' in Hos 12:4, and Jacob names the place for having seen 'God' (v.30). The struggle lasts 'until the breaking of the day'.

Verse 25

the hollow of his thigh — Kaph, the hollow, and yarek, thigh; the verb yaqa means to be dislocated. 'He prevailed not against him' is told before the touch. Paul likewise learned that 'my strength is made perfect in weakness' (2 Cor 12:9).

Verse 26

except thou bless me — Barak, to bless, the root of the 'blessing' Jacob once took from Isaac (Gen 27:36). Now he asks it of the one he holds. Hosea records how he prevailed: 'he wept, and made supplication unto him' (Hos 12:4).

Verse 27

What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. — Ya'aqob, from aqab, to take by the heel: 'his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob' (Gen 25:26). Esau gave it a harsher sense: 'rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me' (Gen 27:36). Here Jacob states the name himself.

Verse 28

Israel — Yisrael, from sarah, to prevail or have power as a prince, with El, God. The reason follows: 'for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed'. God confirms the name at Bethel (Gen 35:10); Hosea recalls it (Hos 12:4).

Verse 30

Peniel — Face of God, from panim, face, used twice in 'face to face'. Jacob names the place by what he has seen: 'I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved' (natsal, delivered, the verb of his prayer 'Deliver me' in v.11). The name is spelled Penuel in v.31.

Verse 32

eat not of the sinew which shrank — Gid, sinew, and nasheh, a word meaning the shrunken or crippled part. The custom of the 'children of Israel' is kept 'unto this day' in memory of the touch of v.25; the people who descend from the one renamed Israel carry the sign.