22. That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
23. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.
24. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.
25. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.
26. Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
27. The man asked him, "What is your name?" "Jacob," he answered.
28. Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."
29. Jacob said, "Please tell me your name." But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there.
30. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."
31. The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip.
32. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon.
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2 comments:
This is pretty funny. Why was there a man and why wrestle with Jacob? Why did God struggle to win over Jacob without wrenching Jacob's hip?
Jacob somehow recognized this man's position? so he insisted to receive blessing. It is pretty bold to ask God for blessing that bluntly. But again the blessings as we see so far through the book of Genesis is a very important thing.
Jacob's name changes which is a very significant thing.
Jacob asking the man's name and the reply he got is also funny.
this is definitely not a straightforward passage to understand. unanswered questions for me:
1) is the mystery man really God himself or an angel? i even read the suggestion somewhere that the mystery man could be Jesus making an appearance in the OT.
2) what was the reason for jacob finding himself left alone (verse 24)? did he want to be alone or did it just happen due to circumstance?
3) God's blessing in the OT seems to correlate primarily to positive secular outcomes whereas in the NT it refers more to whatever positives/negatives God has planned for us. how/why did this idea of God's blessing change?
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