¹ Jacob went on his way and angels of Elohim met him. ² Jacob said when he saw them, "This is the camp of Elohim." (32:1-2)

   A greeting party was waiting for Jacob at the border, presumably ready to welcome and protect him. He might need them, for back in Canaan the great issues of his life and destiny would seek resolution, and resolution would come only after more conflict.
   Jacob expected to meet Esau shortly after entering Canaan, still enraged about having been deceived. Jacob took great pains to soften Esau's anger by sending ahead wave upon wave of gifts. He also made contingency plans to escape if Esau met his entourage with force.
    However, a more trying confrontation would come before he had the chance to meet his brother. All alone and completely vulnerable he met a fighting deity face to face.

The Jabbok River The Jabbok river, today called the Zarqa, runs through Transjordan and on to the Jordan River. Jacob and company had to travel through this territory on their way back to Canaan. Before Jacob crossed the river he wrestled with God. Photo by Barry Bandstra

    The story of Jacob's wrestling with God, Genesis 32:22-32, demonstrates the patriarch persistently taking advantage of every situation to secure a blessing.

²² That same night he got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. ²³ He took them and sent them across the wadi, along with everything he owned. ²⁴ Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until the break of the day. (32:22-24)

   Jacob separated himself from his flocks and family and remained on the far side of the Jabbok river. Should Jacob's behavior be construed as an act of cowardice, or did he just need time to contemplate his future? This may have been part of a scheme to distance himself from Esau, using his dependents and estate as buffers. Perhaps he sought again to call on God for help (see 32:9-12)? It may have been both. In any case, the aloneness of Jacob here at Penuel matches his aloneness at Bethel at the beginning of his journey. Both leaving and returning, Jacob met his God alone.

Source Analysis. These introductory verses (22-24) meld the wrestling into the larger Jacob narrative by giving it a context. They are part of the Yahwist's account of Jacob's trip back to Canaan. The story of the wrestling (25-32) is itself actually quite self-contained and comes from the Elohist source. After the Testing of Abraham story of chapter 22 the Elohist contributed no other episode to the Abraham cycle. In fact, the Elohist seems to be more interested in Jacob than Abraham or Isaac. This is not surprising because many of the Jacob stories have Ephraimite or Transjordan locations, precisely the places dear to the Elohist tradition.

   Instead of being alone, Jacob found himself wrestling with "a man."

Jacob Wrestling with an Angel, by Gustave Doré (1832-83) 1855, Granger Collection, New York -- CGFA

²⁵ When the man saw that he could not gain the advantage over Jacob, he touched his hip socket; that put Jacob' s hip out of joint as he wrestled with him. ²⁶ Then he said, "Let me go, for day is breaking." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go, unless you bless me." ²⁷ And he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." ²⁸ Then he said, "Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but instead Israel, for you have wrestled with Elohim and with men, and have prevailed." (32:25-28)

    The assailant is called a man, but as the story develops it becomes clear that it is Elohim himself. Jacob, whose name means "heel-grabber," hence "trickster," undergoes a name change to Israel, which means "wrestles with God." By giving an account of his dual name Jacob/Israel, the Elohist identifies Jacob as the patriarch of the nation of Israel. Again, the story is both personal and national.

²⁹ Then Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why are you asking for my name?" And there he blessed him. ³⁰ So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, "I have seen Elohim face to face, and I am still alive." ³¹ The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel; he was limping because of his thigh. 32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the muscle of the hip which is part of the hip socket, because he touched Jacob's hip socket on the muscle of the hip. (32:29-32)

    Penuel (with an alternate spelling Peniel) literally means "face of God," because there Jacob saw God directly. A recurring theme in the Elohist is that one cannot look at God and live (see also Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3). This reinforces the utter powerfulness of Elohim. Yet Jacob saw the face of God and lived--a sign that indeed he was blessed.
    The final note in verse 32 is introduced by "Therefore to this day," indicating that this version of the story was written down later than the event itself, namely, when Israelites were around. Apparently this story, however old the core of it may have been, was appropriated at a later time and was used to explain the Jewish avoidance of eating the thigh muscle, identified in Jewish tradition with the sciatic nerve. Determining earlier meanings of the episode is more difficult.

River Demon. Working with the methodology of form criticism, some authorities have reasoned that this story contains the remains of a very early mythic tale of a river-spirit or demon. In many cultures rivers were thought to possess a power that tried to thwart a crossing unless the river-spirit was appeased. This element may have been present at a very early stage. Although a primitive motif may have been behind this story at one time, those notions of demonic spirits have been sublimated in this version. The one trying to stop Jacob is identified with Elohim. See Barthes (1974) for a structural analysis of Genesis 32:22-32 and Miller (1984) for a history of its interpretation.

    The meaning of the story is elusive. Yet at the very least it serves to characterize Jacob as persistent, even relentless, in his pursuit for blessing. Taken together with the other Jacob stories, this story says Jacob would stop at nothing to secure a personal advantage. Jacob never waited for his destiny. He made it happen. Singlemindedly and often deviously he pursued the divine blessing. Divine destiny and human response are united in one action sequence in the Jacob cycle.
    Recognizing that Jacob stands for all Israel, one might expect the story also to be saying something about the nation. Is it saying that Israel also worked hard to secure a blessing, sometimes too aggressively? Is it saying that all along, when Israel fought others, it was wrestling with God? Is the story suggesting that persistence pays off, and that in spite of sometimes questionable tactics, tenacity gains the blessing? Perhaps not in spite of but because of dubious methods?
    After Jacob wrestled with God, he met Esau. It was a tense but non-violent encounter, with an uneasy parting of ways. In the gracious way Esau received his brother we see that time had changed the ruddy one as much as the trickster. Jacob saw in Esau's warm embrace the evidence of God's protection and said to Esau, "Seeing your face is like seeing the face of Elohim" (33:10)--a remark with obvious double meaning in light of Jacob's recent encounter with God at Penuel, "face of God."
    After leaving Esau Jacob headed to Shechem, where one of the strangest biblical stories is set (Genesis 34). The ruler of Shechem ravished Jacob's daughter Dinah and sought to marry her, offering anything for the marriage rights. Jacob's sons set one condition, that all Canaanite males in the area be circumcised. The Shechemites agreed, and on the third day when they were in debilitating pain, Simeon and Levi entered the town and slaughtered all the males. They defended their actions to Jacob by claiming they were only avenging their sister's honor. The story reinforces the separation of Canaanites and Israelites and attests the zeal of Simeon and Levi. After this Jacob returned to Bethel with his family (Genesis 35). There he built an altar and set up a pillar to commemorate the fulfillment of God's promises given there earlier when he was alone and a refugee.
    The Jacob cycle reveals an interesting quality about our storytellers. As much as they revered their patriarchs and matriarchs, the biblical writers harbored no illusions. They knew that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--indeed the whole lot--had serious character flaws. Certainly the stories about Jacob's ill treatment of Esau, the heinous behavior of Simeon and Levi, and the incest of Reuben (35:22) are at the top the list. Israel's stories about its forerunners are remarkably honest, especially in this cycle. In so far as the nation identified itself with its forebears (remember, Jacob IS Israel), the chosen people had an amazing capacity for self-criticism. The Israelites saw themselves in their parentage, and it was not always a flattering picture.
    As we have seen, the Jacob cycle has a decided thematic unity based on the promises. In addition, it evidences a literary symmetry. The following outline displays the broad narrative scheme that takes its shape from corresponding notions.

A--Birth of Jacob and Esau: Jacob gets the birthright (25)
   B--Isaac and Abimelech: conflict over land (26)
      C--Jacob flees from Esau with the blessing (27)
         D--Jacob at Bethel: "house of God" (28)
            E--Jacob stays with Laban (29-31)
         D'--Jacob at Penuel: "face of God" (32)
      C'--Jacob and Esau reconciled (33)
   B'--Jacob and Shechem: conflict over marriage (34)
A'--Return to Canaan and death of Isaac (35)