Genesis 32
32
Chapter 32
Jacob's journey home
1Jacob continued on his journey to his father's house. On his way the angels of God met him. #32:1 Jacob had seen the angels of God before. See Genesis 28:12. Now God sent his angels to meet Jacob again, to show that he was with Jacob. 2When Jacob saw them, he said, ‘This is where God's army has put up their tents!’ So he called that place Mahanaim.
3Jacob sent men with a message to his brother Esau. Esau was living in the land of Seir, also called Edom. 4Jacob told his men, ‘This is what you must say to my master Esau: Your servant Jacob says, “I have been staying with Laban until now. 5I have cows, donkeys, sheep and goats. I have male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord so that you will be happy with me.” ’
6When the men returned, they said to Jacob, ‘We went to your brother Esau. Now he is coming to meet you and he has 400 men with him.’ 7Jacob was very frightened and upset when he heard this. So he separated his people into two groups. He also separated his animals. 8He thought, ‘If Esau attacks one group, the other group may run away safely.’
9Then Jacob prayed, ‘God of my grandfather Abraham and my father Isaac, Lord, you said to me, “Go back to your country and to your relatives. I will do good things for you there.” 10You have always loved me. You have continued to be kind to me. I do not deserve this. When I crossed the Jordan River to go to Haran, I only had my stick. But now I can make two big groups of people and animals. 11I pray that you will save me from the power of my brother Esau. I am afraid that he will come and attack me. He may also attack my family. 12But you have said, “I will give you many good things. I will give you so many descendants that nobody will be able to count them. They will be as many as the pieces of sand on the shore of the sea.” ’ #32:12 See Genesis 28:14.
13Jacob stayed in that place for the night. He chose some of his animals as a gift for Esau. 14He chose 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 female sheep and 20 male sheep. 15He also chose 30 female camels, with their young ones, 40 cows and ten bulls, 20 female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16He told his servants to take care of them. He separated each group of animals from the other groups. Jacob said to his servants, ‘Go in front of me. Keep some space between each group of animals.’ 17He told the servant who led the first group of animals, ‘When my brother Esau meets you, he may ask, “Who do you belong to? Where are you going? Who do all these animals belong to?” 18Then you must say, “They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift that he has sent to my lord Esau. Jacob himself is coming behind us.” ’ 19Jacob also told the servants who led the other groups of animals, as well as the servants who followed behind them, ‘You are to say the same thing to Esau, when you meet him. 20You must also say “Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.” ’
Jacob thought, ‘Esau will be happy to receive my gifts. He will no longer be angry with me. Then, when I meet him, he will not hurt me.’ 21So Jacob sent the men with his gifts to go on to meet Esau. But he himself stayed in that place for the night.
22During the night Jacob took with him his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons. They went across the Jabbok river where there was a place to cross. #32:22 This part of the Jabbok river was not very deep. It was about 20 miles north of the Dead Sea. 23After Jacob had sent his family across, he also sent all his things across the stream. 24Then Jacob was alone. A man came and fought with him for a long time. #32:24 God came to Jacob as an angel. See Hosea 12:4-5. They continued until dawn.
25The man saw that he was not winning the fight against Jacob. So he hit Jacob's hip while they were fighting. #32:25 The hip is the top of a person's leg, where it joins his body. In that way, Jacob's hip moved out of its proper place. 26Then the man said to Jacob, ‘Now let me go because dawn has come.’ But Jacob said, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’
27The man asked Jacob, ‘What is your name?’ Jacob replied, ‘My name is Jacob.’ 28Then the man said, ‘Your name will not be Jacob any longer. Your name will now be Israel. #32:28 Israel probably means ‘he fights with God’. God changed Jacob's name to give him a new beginning. That is because you have fought with God and you have fought with men. And you have won!’
29Then Jacob said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But the man said, ‘Why do you want to know my name?’ Then he blessed Jacob in that place. 30So Jacob called the place Peniel. #32:30 Peniel means ‘face of God’. He said, ‘I have seen God face to face, and I am still alive!’
31The sun rose in the sky as Jacob passed through Peniel. He could not walk properly because of his hip.
32Even today, the Israelite people do not eat the meat of an animal where it joins to the hip. This is because God touched Jacob's hip. #32:32 The Israelites were the descendants of Jacob, who was now called Israel. Jacob's 12 sons became the ancestors of Israel's 12 tribes.
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Genesis 32
32
Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau
1#Ps 91:11Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2#2Sa 2:8; Jos 21:38When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp.” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
3#Ge 25:30; 14:6Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 4He commanded them, saying, “This is what you must say to my lord Esau: This is what your servant Jacob says, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed there until now. 5#Ge 33:8; 33:15I have oxen and donkeys, flocks, and male servants and female servants, and I am sending this message to tell my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’ ”
6#Ge 33:1The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you, and what is more, four hundred men are with him.”
7#Ge 35:3Then Jacob was very afraid and distressed, and he divided the people that were with him, along with the flocks and herds and the camels, into two groups. 8He said, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the other camp which is left may escape.”
9#Ge 28:13; 31:13And Jacob said, “O 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 prosper you,’ 10#Ge 24:27; Ps 18:35; 2Sa 7:18I am not worthy of all the lovingkindness and of all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant. For with my staff I crossed over this Jordan, and now I have become two encampments. 11#Ps 59:1–2; Pr 18:19Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau. For I fear him, that he will come and attack me and the mothers with the children. 12#Ge 28:13–15You said, ‘I will surely prosper you and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which is too many to be counted.’ ”
13#Ge 43:11; Pr 18:16So he spent the night there. Then he selected from what he had with him a gift for his brother Esau: 14two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15thirty female camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 16He gave them to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and keep a distance between each drove.”
17He commanded the one leading, saying, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals belong?’ 18then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is also behind us.’ ”
19Likewise he commanded the second and the third and all that followed the droves, saying, “This is what you are to say to Esau when you find him. 20#Job 42:8–9; Pr 21:14Moreover, say, ‘Your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For he said, “I will appease him with the gift that goes before me, and then I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.” 21So the gift went before him, but he lodged that night in the encampment.
Jacob Wrestles With God
22#Dt 3:16; Jos 12:2The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok. 23He took them and sent them across the stream along with all that he had. 24Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him there until daybreak. 25#Ge 32:32When the man saw that He did not prevail against Jacob, He touched the socket of his thigh, so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated, as he wrestled with Him. 26#Hos 12:4Then He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.”
But Jacob said, “I will not let You go, unless You bless me.”
27So He said to him, “What is your name?”
And he said, “Jacob.”
28#Ge 35:10; 17:5Then the man said, “Your name will no more be called Jacob, but Israel. For you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
29Then Jacob asked Him, “Tell me, I pray You, Your name.”
But He said, “Why do you ask Me My name?” Then He blessed him there.
30#Ge 16:13; Ex 24:10–11Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “I have seen God face to face, and my life has been preserved.”
31As he crossed over Peniel, the sun rose over him, and he was limping on his thigh. 32Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the thigh, because He touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.
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