1 And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
2And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
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1 And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
2And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
When Jacob resumed his journey to Canaan, the angels of God met him, and Jacob said,
This is God's host.
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:
5 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.
Jacob sent messengers to his brother Esau. He told them to deliver this message:
Jacob says,
I visited Laban and stayed there until now.
I have oxen, asses, flocks, and slaves.
I'm hoping I'll find grace in your 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 was greatly afraid of Esau and his men.
He divided his people and animals into two groups, hoping that if Esau killed one group, the other might survive.
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.
Jacob said to God,
God, I've divided my people into two groups.
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.
Save us from my brother Esau.
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.
You said you'd do good things for me and make my seed as numerous as sand grains on the seashore.
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?
Go ahead of us and keep some space between us.
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.
When you see Esau, say to him, "Here is a present from your servant Jacob, who is following 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.
22 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.
That night Jacob took his two wives, two concubines, and eleven sons [1], and crossed over the brook Jabbok.
24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
25And 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.
When the man saw that he couldn't beat Jacob, he "touched the hollow of his thigh", dislocating Jacob's thigh. [2]
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
The man said, "Let me go, because it's getting light."
But Jacob said, "I won't let you go unless you bless me."
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
The man asked Jacob, "What is your name?" [3]
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.
The man said,
Your name is no longer Jacob. From now on it's Israel. [4]Because you have wrestled with God and have prevailed. [5]
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?
Jacob asked God, "Tell me your name."
God replied, "Why do you ask my name?"
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
Jacob said,
I have seen God face to face and lived. [6]
31 And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
32Therefore 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.
Therefore Jews don't eat "the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh." [7]
Because God touched "the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank."
Jacob took four wives and eleven sons with him -- but what about his daughter, Dinah? Did she go along too? Maybe a baby girl wasn't considered important enough to even mention.
Or did God grab Jacob's testicles, since "thigh" is a biblical euphemism for "testicles"?
God renames Jacob for the first time. (See 35:10 for the second renaming). God says that Jacob will henceforth be called Israel, but the Bible continues to call him Jacob anyway. And even God himself calls him Jacob in 46:2.
The mysterious cheating wrestler is finally identified as God. (Jacob wrestles with God and prevails. And sees God face to face.)
Jews don't eat the sinew of something or other because God messed with Jacob's leg while wrestling with him. (Now that's a good reason!)
Slate Blogs the Bible by David Plotz
Rather than a pointless genealogy breaking up the story flow, we get a random appearance from Hulk Holy-One. He wrestles Jacob and reveals himself as God to Jacob. God gives Jacob a new name, "Israel," touches his naughty parts, then the chapter is over with.
(sigh)...I think I'd rather just hear about how Dinah is doing.
Rather than a pointless genealogy breaking up the story flow, we get a random appearance from Hulk Holy-One. He wrestles Jacob and reveals himself as God to Jacob. God gives Jacob a new name, "Israel," touches his naughty parts, then the chapter is over with.
(sigh)...I think I'd rather just hear about how Dinah is doing.