GENESIS
CHAPTER 32
Jacob sees angels—He asks God to preserve him from Esau, for whom he prepares presents—He wrestles all night with a messenger of God—Jacob’s name is changed to Israel—He sees God face to face.
2 And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim. [ Means two camps in Hebrew ]
3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother [ When Jacob left Esau 20 years ago Esau had threatened to kill Jacob. So you can imagine that Jacob is not sure how receptive he will be to see Jacob. So he sends men forward to find out. ] unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. [ The area below the Dead Sea where Esau had settled. ]
4 And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned [ be a resident of ] with Laban, and stayed there until now:
5 And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: [ I have suficient means to take care of myself and my family. ] and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight. [ Are you ok with me moving back here? ]
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. [ So we have to groups of people so that is Esau does attack then the group that is not ttacked first can hide and take refuge.]
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: [ Jacob calls upon God with the idea that since you asked me to return to Canaan I am doing what you asked so please protect me and my family now. ]
10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, [ Humility of Jacob as he recognizes the Lords hand in his life. ] 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.
11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, [ Jacob pleads for the Lords help to soften the heart of his brother Esau who had some 20 years ago threatened to kill Jacob. ] from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.
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. [ The promise that the Lord gave to Jacob he repeats back to the Lord - just in case the Lord forgot...so as if to say I cannot keep my end of the agreement if I am dead. see Gen 28:14]
13 ¶ And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother;
15 Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, [ Cows. ] and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals. [ 580 animals in total. That is a lot of animals. Jacob had a huge herd. No just a few sheep camels and cows. ]
16 And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; [ Each type of animal being in a different herd. ] and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, [ Or go in the front to lead. ] and put a space betwixt drove and drove. [ Keep some space between the herds. ]
17 And he commanded the foremost, [ The group in the very front. ] saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?
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.
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, [ So here is what else I would like you to say. ] 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. [ Tell Esau that I Jacob am coming and I want to do so and have it a happy reunion. ]
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. [ The Jabbok river is about 1/2 way between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea; just to the east of the Jordan river. ]
24 ¶ And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. [ In Hebrew, this is the word Vayeavek, which is a fine term in Hebrew for, "to grasp around and to wrestle, or to embrace." It's used to indicate wrestling in Hebrew, but what it indicates is a grasping around, a clasping. It's also a cognate to the word "avek," which means dust, which is why people think of it as wrestling, because you wrestle around on the ground and get dusty. But that's not really what it's saying here. The translators did not know what to put here - It should read Embraced. What it means is that there is a grasp going on. A sacred embrace (Think Temple context), sacred embraces are associated with coverings (Embrace, atonement, covering KAPHAR are all the same word) as well as they are connected with the concept of mercy (Alma 34:16; Alma 5:33; 2 Ne. 4:33; 2 Ne. 1:15; Mosiah 16:12). Jacob is in the grasp of someone at daybreak and being in the grasp of someone doesn't make sense to the editor. so he makes it out into a battle where Jacob's thigh is injured. By the time you get to verse 32, it says, "The children of Israel don't eat of the sinew that shrank upon the hollow of the thigh to this day because of Jacob's thigh injury." That's a very strange way to end a story, but what it means is that the editor's not sure about this, and an earlier edition mentioned that his thigh was hurt and a later editor said, "Okay, so that thigh must be the reason we don't eat this certain cut of meat." Most scholars believe Jacob wrestled with an angel, but President Joseph Fielding Smith explained why this explanation could not be true: “Who wrestled with Jacob on Mount Peniel? The scriptures say it was a man. The Bible interpreters say it was an angel. More than likely it was a messenger sent to Jacob to give him the blessing.
To think he wrestled and held an angel who couldn’t get away, is out of the question. The term angel as used in the scriptures, at times, refers to messengers who are sent with some important instruction. Later in this chapter when Jacob said he had beheld the Lord, that did not have reference to his wrestling.” (Doctrines of Salvation, 1:17.) ]
25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; [ His hip. ] and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, [ He dislocated his hip. ] as he wrestled with him. [ Embraced him. This is a weird story, frankly, that doesn't make a lot of sense to people, and it doesn't to me, except that what I see here is the hand of an editor trying to make sense of a story that he, the editor, doesn't understand either. ]
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he [ Jacob who is about 90 years old at this time. ] said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. [ The Angel says let me go and Jacob says "nope, not until you bless me". Notice how important these blessing are to Jacob. We need to ask ourselves are we trying to obtain the blessings of Abraham with the same fervor as Abraham did? As Jacob did? But bless him with what? Well he wants to have the same blessing pronounced upon him that Abraham was blessed with - the covenants given to Abraham. ]
27 And he [ The angel. ] said unto him, [ Jacob. ] What is thy name? [ The angel says ok if you want a blessing what is your name? ] And he said, Jacob. [ Jacob is asked, "What is your name?" And he gives him his given name, Jacob. Then as the exchange goes on, he says, "Well thy name shall be called no more be Jacob, but Israel." He gets another name, Israelʾ, which means God prevails. some people will say that this means you shall prevail with God. The idea of let God prevail is very important here, but whatever it is, it's God prevails, and that becomes Jacob's new name, his other name, his additional name. He doesn't lose his given name, but this becomes the additional name by which the Covenant people become known. Jacob was then presented with a new name. When you go to the house of the Lord, notice how many times we are taught today that we are royalty in Israel. ]
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: [ The angel responds, "Well you are going to get a new name". "Jacob wrestled with a serious challenge. His agency was tested. Through this wrestle, Jacob proved what was most important to him. He demonstrated that he was willing to let God prevail in his life. In response, God changed Jacob’s name to Israel,7 meaning “let God prevail.” God then promised Israel that all the blessings that had been pronounced upon Abraham’s head would also be his. Gen 35:11-12." https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2020/10/46nelson?lang=eng Means one who perseveres with God or a soldier of God, a prince of God. So we should note that it is at this point that Jacob is given a New Name. Here is is given the temple blessings and ordinances. Jacob received the new name of Israel from God at the time they wrestled (embraced) through the veil (see Genesis 32:28 and 35:10). His new name, Israel, means “one who prevails with God.” This new name was given as part of the covenant Jacob received accepting him as a son of God and as part of God’s family or household. Jacob was thus saved. He was bound to Christ by a covenant, having been spiritually begotten by Him as His son (see Mosiah 5:7).
Because of the covenant given to Abraham and then renewed with Isaac and Jacob, all who would be saved thereafter as part of God’s family were to be accounted Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob’s seed (see Abraham 2:10). Or in other words, all who will be saved thereafter become part of the house of Israel or the family of Christ. Those who receive the same priesthood held by these ancient patriarchs become their seed (see D&C 84:34). This is more than appears on the surface and is intimately connected to the temple. ] for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed . [ In this sacred embrace he receives a new name. Jacob was next given an endowment of power, which would be recognized in the eyes of both God and men. He is endowed as a prince in the kingdom of God. So Jacob who is now Israel has obtained the covenant blessings of the house of Israel. These are the same covenant blessings given to Abraham. ]
29 And Jacob asked him, [ The angel. ] and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. [ Jacob asks what is you name mr angel? ] And he said, [ The angel responds. ] Wherefore [ Why? Here we have this interview where names are mentioned, a given name and an additional name. "Tell me, I pray thee, thy name," and the person asks back, "Why do you ask?" Then, the account stops because whatever the name is that must be given back to Jacob cannot be reported. Sound familiar? ] is it that thou dost ask after my name? [ I am not going to give it to you, it is none of your business. ] And he blessed him there. [ Jacob was finally given an additional blessing, and the divine minister was not heard from again. The text is silent about the nature of the additional blessing. We get only Jacob’s response to the blessing bestowed upon him at that moment. But what an arresting response it was, for it tells us what we may read into the narrative. The text says, “And he [the divine being] blessed him there. … And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Let there be no misunderstanding; the text says Jacob was blessed, and then the very next words out of his mouth which are (or, perhaps, can be) reported to us are, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Thus, the event occurring between verses 29 and 30, though only implied, was the visible manifestation of deity and — his being ushered into the presence of God to have every promise of past years sealed and confirmed upon him. ]
30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: [ Means "the face of God". After exchanging given names and additional names, the dialogue stops at that question, the name back can't be reported. Then here, after it's all over, Jacob gives the name to that place, just the way called his place years before Bethel, he calls this Peniel, not Penial, but Peniel. Peni means face, Peniel, the face of God. Because he said, "I have seen God face to face and my life is preserved. So the sun rose on him there at," Panuel" is actually a corruption of Peniel here, "and he was done." Then it says he halted on his thigh, and so you get that whole other part of the story that I don't really think originally was there. But if you just read 24, 27, 28, 29 and 30 together, you have an idea of what's happening to Jacob. And again, it is something we're very familiar with as Latter Day Saints who made Covenants in the temple. ] for I have seen God face to face, [ President Nelson suggested that we ponder Israel and used this specific scripture in his talk in the next 6 months after October 2020 General Conference. Associate this concept with the word POWER that was referenced. ] and my life is preserved. [ President Smith in the quote above in verse 24 mentions that the wrestling with the man and the fact that Jacob now Israel saw God face to face are two separate and unrelated occurances. His life was preserved. Meaning 1) he did not burn up in the presence of God, suggesting that he was sanctified. 2) To me it also suggests that his calling and election was made sure in that he knew that he would one day live with God - So his eternal life was preserved. ]
31 And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. [ Was found limping because of the injury to his hip. During the struggle with the divine messenger, Jacob was badly injured. According to Alter: “Jacob, whose name can be construed as ‘he who acts crookedly,’ is bent, permanently lamed, by his nameless adversary in order to be made straight before his reunion with Esau.” ]