Genesis 32:23-32

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Genesis 32:23 tn Heb “and he sent across what he had.”
2. Genesis 32:24 sn Reflecting Jacob’s perspective at the beginning of the encounter, the narrator calls the opponent simply “a man.” Not until later in the struggle does Jacob realize his true identity.
3. Genesis 32:24 sn The verb translated “wrestled” (וַיֵּאָבֵק, vayyeʾaveq) sounds in Hebrew like the names “Jacob” (יַעֲקֹב, yaʿaqov) and “Jabbok” (יַבֹּק, yabboq). In this way the narrator links the setting, the main action, and the main participant together in the mind of the reader or hearer.
4. Genesis 32:24 tn Heb “until the rising of the dawn.”
5. Genesis 32:25 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6. Genesis 32:25 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
7. Genesis 32:25 tn Or “injured”; traditionally “touched.” The Hebrew verb translated “struck” has the primary meanings “to touch; to reach; to strike.” It can, however, carry the connotation “to harm; to molest; to injure.” God’s “touch” cripples Jacob—it would be comparable to a devastating blow.
8. Genesis 32:26 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
9. Genesis 32:26 tn Heb “dawn has arisen.”
10. Genesis 32:26 tn Heb “and he said, ‘I will not let you go.’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
11. Genesis 32:26 sn Jacob wrestled with a man thinking him to be a mere man, and on that basis was equal to the task. But when it had gone on long enough, the night visitor touched Jacob and crippled him. Jacob’s request for a blessing can only mean that he now knew that his opponent was supernatural. Contrary to many allegorical interpretations of the passage that make fighting equivalent to prayer, this passage shows that Jacob stopped fighting, and then asked for a blessing.
12. Genesis 32:27 tn Heb “and he said to him.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (the man who wrestled with Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13. Genesis 32:27 sn What is your name? The question is rhetorical, since the Lord obviously knew Jacob’s identity. But since the Lord is going to change Jacob’s name, this question is designed to focus Jacob’s attention on all that his name had come to signify.
14. Genesis 32:28 tn Heb “and he said.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (the man who wrestled with Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
15. Genesis 32:28 sn The name Israel is a common construction, using a verb with a theophoric element (אֵל, ʾel) that usually indicates the subject of the verb. Here it means “God fights.” This name will replace the name Jacob; it will be both a promise and a call for faith. In essence, the Lord was saying that Jacob would have victory and receive the promises because God would fight for him.
16. Genesis 32:28 sn You have fought. The explanation of the name Israel includes a sound play. In Hebrew the verb translated “you have fought” (שָׂרִיתָ, sarita) sounds like the name “Israel” (יִשְׂרָאֵל, yisraʾel), meaning “God fights” (although some interpret the meaning as “he fights [with] God”). The name would evoke the memory of the fight and what it meant. A. Dillmann says that ever after this the name would tell the Israelites that, when Jacob contended successfully with God, he won the battle with man (Genesis, 2:279). To be successful with God meant that he had to be crippled in his own self-sufficiency (A. P. Ross, “Jacob at the Jabboq, Israel at Peniel,” BSac 142 [1985]: 51-62).
17. Genesis 32:29 sn Tell me your name. In primitive thought to know the name of a deity or supernatural being would enable one to use it for magical manipulation or power (A. S. Herbert, Genesis 12-50 [TBC], 108). For a thorough structural analysis of the passage discussing the plays on the names and the request of Jacob, see R. Barthes, “The Struggle with the Angel: Textual Analysis of Genesis 32:23-33, ” Structural Analysis and Biblical Exegesis (PTMS), 21-33.
18. Genesis 32:29 tn The question uses the enclitic pronoun “this” to emphasize the import of the question.
19. Genesis 32:29 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (the man who wrestled with Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.
20. Genesis 32:29 tn The verb here means that the Lord endowed Jacob with success; he would be successful in everything he did, including meeting Esau.
21. Genesis 32:29 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
22. Genesis 32:30 sn The name Peniel means “face of God.” Since Jacob saw God face-to-face here, the name is appropriate.
23. Genesis 32:30 tn The word “explaining” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
24. Genesis 32:30 tn Or “because.”
25. Genesis 32:30 sn I have seen God face-to-face. See the note on the name “Peniel” earlier in the verse.
26. Genesis 32:30 tn Heb “and my soul [= life] has been preserved.”sn I have survived. It was commonly understood that no one could see God and live (Gen 48:16; Exod 19:21; 24:10; Judg 6:11, 22). On the surface Jacob seems to be saying that he saw God and survived. But the statement may have a double meaning, in light of his prayer for deliverance in v. 11. Jacob recognizes that he has survived his encounter with God and that his safety has now been guaranteed.
27. Genesis 32:31 tn Heb “shone.”
28. Genesis 32:31 sn The name is spelled Penuel here, apparently a variant spelling of Peniel (see v. 30).
29. Genesis 32:31 tn The disjunctive clause draws attention to an important fact: He may have crossed the stream, but he was limping.
30. Genesis 32:32 sn On the use of the expression to this day, see B. S. Childs, “A Study of the Formula ‘Until This Day’,” JBL 82 (1963): 279-92.
31. Genesis 32:32 tn Or “because the socket of Jacob’s hip was struck.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive. On the translation of the word “struck” see the note on this term in v. 25.