Genesis 32
32
1Jacob went on his way and some angels of God came to meet him. 2When he saw them he said, “This must be God's camp!” He named the place “Two Camps.”
3He sent messengers on ahead to meet his brother Esau who was living in the region of Seir in the country of Edom. 4He told them, “This is what you are to say to my lord Esau. Your servant Jacob sends you this message. I've been staying with Laban up till now, 5and I have cattle and donkeys and sheep and goats, and male and female slaves. I've sent these messengers to explain this to you my lord, hoping you'll be pleased to see me.”
6The messengers returned to Jacob and told him, “Your brother Esau is coming to meet you with 400 armed men!” 7When Jacob heard this, he was absolutely terrified. He split all the people with him, along with the sheep, goats, cattle, and camels, into two groups, 8saying to himself, “If Esau comes and destroys one group, the other one can get away.”
9Jacob prayed, “God of my grandfather Abraham, God of my father Isaac! Lord, you were the one who told me, ‘Return to your own country and your family home, and I will treat you well.’ 10I don't deserve all the trustworthy love and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I crossed the Jordan years ago#32:10. “Years ago”: supplied for clarity. with just my walking stick, and now I have two large camps. 11Please save me from my brother; defend me from Esau! I'm terrified that he's coming to attack me, my wives, and my children. 12You yourself told me, ‘I will definitely treat you well. I will make your descendants as numerous as the sand of the seashore—too many to count.’”
13Jacob stayed the night there. Then he picked out animals as a gift to his brother Esau: 14200 female goats, 20 male goats; 200 ewes, 20 rams; 1530 female camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls; 20 female donkeys, 10 male donkeys. 16He put his servants in charge of each of the separate herds and told them, “Go on ahead of me, and keep a good distance between the herds.”
17He gave these instructions to those with the first herd: “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘Who is your master, and where are you going, and whose are these animals with you?’ 18you are to say to him, ‘Your servant Jacob sends these as a gift to my lord Esau, and he's following us.’” 19He gave the same instructions to those with the second and third and all the subsequent herds, telling them, “This is what you are to say to Esau when he meets you. 20You must also tell him, ‘Your servant Jacob is right behind us.’”
Jacob said to himself, “Maybe by sending these gifts on ahead Esau won't be angry with me and when I meet him he'll be kind to me.” 21So the gifts went on ahead while Jacob spent the night at the camp.
22He got up during the night and took his two wives and the two personal maids and his eleven sons and crossed the Jabbok River at the ford. 23After helping them cross he also sent over everything that belonged to him. 24But Jacob stayed there alone. A man came and wrestled with him until dawn. 25When the man realized he couldn't beat Jacob, he hit Jacob's hip socket and put it out of joint as he wrestled with him.
26Then the man said, “Let me go because it's almost dawn.”
“I won't let you go unless you bless me,” Jacob replied.
27“What's your name?” the man asked.
“Jacob,” he replied.
28“Jacob will no longer be your name,” said the man. “Instead you will be called Israel, because you fought with God and with men and you won.”
29“Please tell me your name,” Jacob asked.
“Why do you ask me my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.
30Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “I saw God face to face and I'm still alive!” 31The sun came up as Jacob left Peniel, limping along because of his damaged hip. 32(That's why, even today, Israelites don't eat the thigh tendon attached to the hip socket, because that's where the man hit Jacob's hip socket.)
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
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.#32:2 = 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 territory 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, and 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 four hundred 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, herds, 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 the Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two camps. 11Please rescue me from 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, too numerous to 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 14two hundred female goats, twenty male goats, two hundred ewes, twenty rams, 15thirty milk camels with their young, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys, and ten 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 slave women, and his eleven 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#32:28 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,#32:30 = Face of God “For I have seen God face to face,” he said, “yet my life has been spared.”#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#32:31 Variant of Peniel#Jdg 8:8 — limping because of his hip. 32That is why, still today, 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.#32:32 Or tendon
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