Chapter 32

1 Jacob’s vision at Mahanaim. 3 His message to Esau. 6 He is afraid of Esau’s coming. 9 He prayeth for deliverance. 13 He sendeth a present to Esau. 24He wrestleth with an angel at Peniel, where he is called Israel. 31 He halteth.

2. Mahanaim. Meaning “double camp,” or “double host,” in reference to two bands of angels, one advancing before him and one following behind. Their appearance must have reminded Jacob of the vision of the ladder at Bethel, on his flight from Canaan. Then, angels ascending and descending had represented to him the divine protection and assistance that were to be his upon his journey and during his sojourn in a foreign land. Now the angelic host again brought assurance of divine help, this time in anticipation of his dreaded meeting with Esau, and also as a renewal of the promise to bring him back in safety to his native land. Inasmuch as Jacob saw the angels while traveling, they cannot have appeared to him in a dream. The manner of revelation, however, is not clear.

A distinguished city was later founded near the place where the angels appeared (Joshua 13:26, 30; 21:38; 2 Sam. 2:8, 12, 29). Some have identified it with the present MachnaЖ, some 12 mi. northwest of Djerash, the ancient Gerasa.

4. My lord Esau. From Mahanaim, Jacob sent messengers to his brother, Esau. After Jacob’s flight from Beersheba, Esau seems to have moved temporarily to the southeast, to the land of Seir, or Edom, whose original inhabitants, the Horites, he later dispossessed. The messengers were to draw a clear distinction between “my lord Esau” and “thy servant Jacob.” Their task was to conciliate Esau, chiefly by emphasis on Jacob’s humility—tacit admission of his wrong—and on the fact that Jacob relinquished all claims to the inheritance. By pointing out that he was returning with great wealth, Jacob was not boasting but rather making it clear to Esau that he returned with no desire to share in the patrimony. Being himself in the wrong, Jacob realized that the first step toward reconciliation must be made by him. With this in mind, he added to his message an expression of hope that Esau would forgive and accept him on friendly terms.

6. He cometh to meet thee. That Esau was attended by 400 armed followers is evidence that he had become a powerful chieftain. Perhaps he had already begun to live by the sword (ch. 27:40).

If Esau’s enmity toward his brother had softened during the years, it seems that he never mentioned the fact to his parents, with the result that Rebekah had been unable to fulfill her promise of sending for Jacob (ch. 27:45). The latter’s uncertainty as to his brother’s state of mind, and anxiety occasioned by the report of the messengers, alarmed him in the extreme. Esau’s reason for going to meet Jacob with such a company was, first, to impress Jacob with due respect for his superior power, second, to ensure a satisfactory understanding, and third, to use force if necessary to safeguard his own interests. He was prepared, in other words, for any eventuality.

7. He divided the people. Fearing the worst, Jacob divided his large family and numerous flocks into two camps. It is easy to blame Jacob for a lack of faith and trust in God. However, his considered behavior under such adverse circumstances is a demonstration of sound judgment. Completely defenseless, he would not even make a show of force.

9. God of my father Abraham. Remarkable for its simplicity and energy, this model prayer gives expression to all that is essential in such a petition: (1) True humility, (2) a recognition of God’s mercy, (3) a plea for protection from imminent danger, (4) the repetition of past promises, (5) appreciation for past providences.

10. I passed over this Jordan. Jacob seems to have been close to the place where he had crossed the Jordan on his flight 20 years before. The striking contrast between his previous poverty and present prosperity he accepts as a token of God’s blessing and the fulfillment of His promise at Bethel. Then he had crossed empty-handed, save for the blessing of his father and the promise of God. Now, 20 years later, he was returning to the land of his nativity with a large family and great possessions. Either of the “two bands” (v. 7) would have been sufficient to make him a prosperous man.

11. The mother with the children. Literally, “the mother upon the children.” The picture is of a mother who casts herself upon her children to protect them with her own body from the killer. Jacob knew that if provoked, his brother would not hesitate to slay them one and all. He feared for the worst.

12. As the sand. This was the sense, though not the exact wording, of the Bethel promise (ch. 28:14), which had compared the number of Jacob’s descendants to the dust of the ground. Before that, Abraham’s promised seed had been compared to the dust of the earth (ch. 13:16), to the stars of heaven (ch. 15:5), and to the sand upon the seashore (ch. 22:17).

13. He lodged there. Although trusting in the Lord for protection, Jacob neglected no means of reconciliation with his brother. Pitching camp for the night in the place where he had received tidings of Esau’s approach, he selected a respectable present consisting of more than 550 head of sheep and cattle. These he sent forward in several droves to meet Esau, as a “present” from his “servant” Jacob. The assortment of animals selected was representative of the usual possessions of a nomad (see Job 1:3; 42:12). The proportion of male to female animals was probably based on what experience had shown to be desirable for breeding purposes.

16. Every drove by themselves. The division of Jacob’s gift of appeasement into several separate droves, which followed one another at intervals, was designed to have a cumulative effect and therefore be more impressive. Each drove was in itself a valuable gift.

23. Sent them over the brook. Earlier in the day Jacob had sent forward his gift to Esau. As night drew on he sent all that he had, family and possessions, over the Jabbok, desiring to spend the night alone in prayer. The Jabbok, today called Nahr ezРZerqa, “the blue river,” is an eastern tributary of the Jordan. Flowing through a deep canyon, it enters the larger stream some 25 mi. north of the Dead Sea.

24. Jacob was left alone. Jacob had remained on the northern bank of the river in order that he might be alone to seek God in prayer. In the present situation his usual cleverness was of no avail. God alone could be of help to mitigate Esau’s anger and to save Jacob and his family.

There wrestled a man. That Jacob’s antagonist was neither a human being nor an ordinary angel is to be inferred from the fact that Jacob spoke of Him as God (v. 30). The prophet Hosea also refers to Him both as God and as an Angel (Hosea 12:3, 4). This celestial visitor was none other than Christ (PP 197). Such an appearance of Christ in human form is neither strange nor unique (Gen. 18:1). On the “time of Jacob’s trouble,” see on Jer. 30:7.

25. The hollow of his thigh. The unknown wrestler used only the strength of a human being in his struggle with Jacob. Thinking his assailant a mortal enemy, Jacob fought as if for his life. But, as dawn approached, a single touch of more than human strength sufficed to cripple Jacob, and he became aware of the fact that his antagonist was more than human.

26. Let me go. The Angel sought to withdraw before daybreak, but gave no reason for wishing to do so. Commentators have suggested a desire on His part either to prevent others from witnessing the scene or perhaps to prevent Jacob from seeing Him.

I will not let thee go. The crippling touch and the divine voice had convinced Jacob that the One with whom he had thus wrestled for hours was a messenger from heaven. Having for hours sought desperately for divine help, Jacob felt he could not afford to let Him go without first receiving assurance of the pardon and protection for which he longed. This he asked as an outright gift, realizing that he had nothing to offer God in return. He proposed no bargain; his desperate situation was his only plea. The help he needed could come only from God. For the first time in his life he knew his own resources to be inadequate. From his birth, when he had caught his brother by the heel, to his last years in Haran, when he had outwitted his uncle Laban (Hosea 12:3, 4), Jacob had approached the solution of life’s problems by questionable methods of his own devising. He was now a changed man. Whereas in the past he had relied upon his own wisdom and strength, he had now learned to trust wholly in God.

28. Thy name shall be called. The great spiritual change that had come over Jacob was now symbolized by a change of name indicating the nature of his new relationship to God. The names of Abram and Sarai had likewise been changed (see ch. 17:5, 15); and from that time forward the Scriptures always call them by their new names. But in the subsequent history of Jacob his old and new names are used more or less interchangeably. Jacob’s new name, Israel, became the name of the nation that sprang from his body. For him, the change of name, like his change of character, was far more significant than that of his grandparents. It represented his transformation from a “deceiver” of men to a “victor of God.” The new name, ostensibly a token of physical victory, was to be a perpetual reminder of the completed spiritual renovation that had taken place.

No more Jacob. For the meaning of the name Jacob as “heel catcher” or “deceiver,” see on ch. 25:26.

But Israel. A combination of yisЊra[h], “he fights” or “he rules,” from sЊarah, “to fight” or “to rule,” and ХEl, “God.” Without the accompanying interpretation given by God Himself, the name might be translated “God fights” or “God rules.” But the meaning as intended and explained by God is, “he fights with God,” or “he prevails over God,” or “he rules with God.”

The honored name Israel was henceforth to memorialize this night of struggle. As applied to the descendants of Jacob, it implied the transformation of character God sought for in them and their destined role of ruling with God. The name was transferred first to his literal descendants and later to his spiritual posterity, who also were to be victors as he had been (John 1:47; Rom. 9:6).

Power with God and with men. Literally, “contended [sЊaritha, also from sЊarah] with God and with men.” This obviously refers to Jacob’s nocturnal wrestling with God and to his protracted struggles with Esau and Laban. From all these he had finally emerged victorious. This was particularly true of his experience the night before, from which he emerged a new man, a victor over deceit, dishonesty, and self-confidence. He was a changed man (see 1 Sam. 10:6, 9).

29. Thy name. Perhaps the knowledge that he had met the Lord and talked with Him face to face would either have frightened Jacob or led to such personal elation as to overshadow the far more important lesson he was to learn from this experience. The parting blessing of the Angel was to suffice.

30. Peniel. As Jacob had given the name Bethel to the place where he saw God in a dream (ch. 28:19), and Mahanaim to the spot where a host of angels appeared to him on the way (ch. 32:2), he now memorialized the spot of his personal encounter with God by a name meaning the “face of God.” The fact that he had seen God face to face and yet lived was indeed a miracle (see Ex. 33:20; Judges 6:22; 13:22; Isa. 6:5).

My life is preserved. That is, “I am preserved, and shall be preserved.” These words echo Jacob’s new-found new-found faith. Whatever might befall him, so long as it be within the will of God, he was confident that a divine hand would preserve him from all evil. Even the things that seemed, at the time they occurred, to be against him, proved to be providential (ch. 42:36). Peniel was the turning point of Jacob’s life.

31. Penuel. Some expositors have suggested that Penuel was the original name of the place, and that Jacob changed it by the alteration of one vowel to Peniel. More likely, however, Penuel is an old form of the same word. The name appears again in Judges 8:8, 9, 17; 1 Kings 12:25, and also in an Egyptian list of Palestinian city names. Its exact location has not been definitely determined. Some scholars have identified it with the Tulul edhРDhahab, on the Jabbok, 7 mi. east of the Jordan. Others seek it somewhat farther to the east.

He halted. Like Paul, who centuries later bore a “thorn” in his flesh (2 Cor. 12:7), Jacob departed from the scene of the supreme experience of his life bearing a memorial of his conflict and victory there. Though physically lame, probably for the remainder of his life, in Jacob’s unfettered soul he enjoyed the richest blessings of God. Every fight leaves its scars. Like Jacob, every faithful believer, in passing through his own Peniel experience, may expect to bear some reminder of his intense struggle against self, with its inherited tendencies and evil inclinations. Even our Lord Jesus Christ bears the signs of the fierce conflict through which He passed while on earth, and these He will continue to bear for all eternity. Ours will vanish and be forgotten (2 Cor. 4:17; Isa. 65:17). Whereas our scars are the result of our struggle against self, the nailprints in the hands of Christ came through conflict on our behalf with the powers of darkness.

32. The sinew which shrank. The meaning of the Hebrew word translated “shrank” is unknown. The rendering of the KJV is based on the LXX, enarkesen, “became feeble,” “became numb,” or “was dislocated.” Perhaps it should be translated “hip,” with the phrase reading, “the sinew of the hip.” Orthodox Jews refrain from eating this portion of any animals used for food, but how this part of Jacob’s anatomy came to be identified as the “sinew” that “shrank,” is uncertain. Though not mentioned elsewhere in the OT, the Jewish Talmud definitely regards this custom as a law whose violation is to be punished with several stripes (Tract Cholin, Mishna, 7). Since Jews in ancient times did not distinguish clearly just what “sinew” was meant, it is understood today as applying to the interior cord and nerve of the hindquarter of animals killed for food.

The narrative of vs. 24–32 contains three points of special interest to every Jew. It explains why he is called an Israelite, and traces this name to a distant ancestor who wrestled with God that he might obtain it. It points with interest to an otherwise insignificant village, Peniel, where the event took place. Finally, it explains the origin of the custom of not eating the sinew designated, but rather of regarding it with awe.

Ellen G. White comments

1-32PP 195-203; SR 92-99

2 PP 195; SR 92

4-7PP 196

6, 7 SR 92

8-12SR 93

9-11PP 196

10 SR 97

18, 19 PP 196

23 GC 616

24 EW 284; GC 157, 616; MB 25; SR 407

24, 25 PP 197; SR 94

24-28COL 175; PP 208

25 GC 617; MB 25, 97, 206

26 CSW 116; CT 498; DA 198; FE 232; GC 157, 617, 620; GW 255; MB 25, 206; MM 203; PP 197, 202; Te 243; 1T 144, 151; 4T 444, 537

26-28SR 95

28 FE 232; GC 617; MB 207; PP 198; 4T 528

28, 29 Ed 147

29, 30 SR 95

30 DA 107; GC 622; 4T 444

31 MB 97