Gen 32:22-32 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Gen 32:22-32: 32:22-32 Before Jacob returned to the land God had promised him, God met him, crippled him, and blessed him, changing his name to Israel. This episode was a significant turning point for him. Summary for Gen 32:22-24: 32:22-24 The Jabbok River flows westward to the Jordan Valley, dividing the region of Bashan on the north from Gilead on the south. Wordplays on Jacob’s name and character preserve the memory of this encounter. Jacob (Hebrew ya‘aqob ), while at Jabbok (Hebrew yabboq ), wrestled (Hebrew wayye’abeq ). Through his fight with an adversary to receive the blessing, Jacob’s name would be changed, and his deceptive striving would partially give way to faith as his way of life.

Summary for Gen 32:22-32: 32:22-32 ^a Before Jacob returned to the land God had promised him, God met him, crippled him, and blessed him, changing his name to Israel. This episode was a significant turning point for him.
Summary for Gen 32:22-24: 32:22-24 ^b The Jabbok River flows westward to the Jordan Valley, dividing the region of Bashan on the north from Gilead on the south. Wordplays on Jacob’s name and character preserve the memory of this encounter. Jacob (Hebrew ya‘aqob), while at Jabbok (Hebrew yabboq), wrestled (Hebrew wayye’abeq). Through his fight with an adversary to receive the blessing, Jacob’s name would be changed, and his deceptive striving would partially give way to faith as his way of life.
32:24 ^c a man came: The narrative unfolds as the event did for Jacob. No details are given about the assailant, who later refused to identify himself (32:29 ^d).

• until the dawn: The darkness fit Jacob’s situation and increased the fear and uncertainty that seized him. In the darkness he had no idea who it was—it might have been one of Esau’s men, or Laban’s.
32:25 ^e he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket: Jacob, the deceitful fighter, could fight no more. When his assailant fought him as man to man, Jacob could hold his own. But like so many of his own rivals, he had now more than met his match.
32:26 ^f At daybreak, the significance of this fight began to dawn on Jacob. He realized who his assailant was, and since it was futile to fight, he held on to obtain God’s blessing.
32:27 ^g What is your name? The Lord’s question was really about Jacob’s character, not his identity (cp. 3:9 ^h; 4:9 ⁱ). By giving his name, Jacob confessed his nature, his way of doing things as “Heel-grabber, Deceiver, Usurper.” Before God would bless him, he had to acknowledge who he was, and then God would change his identity.
32:28 ^j Jacob: See study note on 25:26.

• Israel (“God fights”): God first had to fight with him, but now God would fight for him. Jacob’s name was thus full of promise for Jacob and his descendants.

• you have fought with God and with men: Through his entire life, Jacob had been seizing God’s blessing by his own abilities and by any means possible. Jacob knew the importance of the blessing, but he was too self-sufficient and proud to let the blessing be given to him. He had been fighting God long before this encounter.

• and have won: He had prevailed in his struggles with Esau and with Laban; now he prevailed in obtaining God’s blessing.
32:29 ^k Jacob knew who was with him (32:30 ^l); the request was his attempt to regain some control. God would not reveal his name, which cannot be had on demand.
32:30 ^m Peniel (which means “face of God”): The name shows that Jacob recognized the man as a manifestation of God (a theophany).

• yet my life has been spared (or and I have been rescued): The saying probably meant that Jacob realized that his prayer to be rescued from Esau (32:11 ⁿ) had been answered, for if he could meet God like this and walk away, he had nothing to fear from Esau. The saying may also reflect an ancient understanding that no one could see God and live (see Exod 33:20 ^o).
32:31 ^p he was limping: God injured Jacob’s hip, thus curtailing his proud self-sufficiency. Since the Lord had restricted his natural strength, Jacob would have to rely on the Lord with greater faith. He had thought that returning to his land would be a matter of outwitting his brother once again (32:3-21 ^q), but here at the land’s threshold he met its true proprietor. He would get the land, but only if God fought for him. Self-sufficiency—trying to achieve the blessing by our own strength or by the ways of the world—will not suffice. If we persist, God may have to cripple our self-sufficiency to make us trust him more.
32:32 ^r The story includes a dietary restriction for Israel that became a custom but was not put into law. This custom helped preserve the memory of the story. Observant Jews still refuse to eat the tendons of an animal’s hindquarters.