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Genesis 32:24
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And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.
And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
So Jacob was alone, and a man came and wrestled with him until the sun came up.
And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him, until the breaking of the day.
Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day.
So Jacob was left alone, and a Man [came and] wrestled with him until daybreak.
a man wrastlide with him til to the morwetid.
And Jacob is left alone, and one wrestleth with him till the ascending of the dawn;
So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
Afterwards, Jacob went back and spent the rest of the night alone. A man came and fought with Jacob until just before daybreak.
He took them and sent them across the stream, then sent his possessions across;
And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
Then Jacob was by himself; and a man was fighting with him till dawn.
And Iacob was left hym selfe alone: and there wrasteled a man with hym, vnto the breakyng of the day.
And Jacob remained alone; and a man wrestled with him until the rising of the dawn.
Jacob was left alone, and a man came and wrestled with him. The man fought with him until the sun came up.
And he took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had.
And Iacob was left alone: and there wrestled a man with him, vntill the breaking of the day.
And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
Then Jacob was left alone. And a man fought with him until morning.
Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
And Jacob was left alone, - and there wrestled a man with him, until the uprisings of the dawn.
Now when Iaakob was left him selfe alone, there wrestled a man with him vnto the breaking of the day.
And Jacob was left alone; and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
but he stayed behind, alone. Then a man came and wrestled with him until just before daybreak.
He remained alone; and behold, a man wrestled with him till morning.
And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.
And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him till the morning.
And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
Ya`akov was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day.
And Jacob remained alone, and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the dawn.
And Jacob was left alone. And a Man wrestled with him until the ascending of the dawn.
and taried him self alone on this syde. Then wrestled there a man with him vntyll the breake of ye daye.
But Jacob stayed behind by himself, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he couldn't get the best of Jacob as they wrestled, he deliberately threw Jacob's hip out of joint.
Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.
This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break.
Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until the breaking of dawn.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
wrestled: Genesis 30:8, Luke 13:24, Luke 22:44, Romans 8:26, Romans 8:27, Romans 15:30, Ephesians 6:12, Ephesians 6:18, Colossians 2:1, Colossians 4:12, Hebrews 5:7
man: Genesis 32:28, Genesis 32:30, Genesis 48:16, Isaiah 32:2, Hosea 12:3-5, 1 Corinthians 15:47
breaking of the day: Heb. ascending of the morning, Exodus 14:27, Song of Solomon 2:17
Reciprocal: Genesis 16:10 - the angel Genesis 35:3 - who answered Genesis 35:9 - General Exodus 24:11 - laid not Joshua 5:13 - a man 1 Kings 18:37 - Hear me 2 Chronicles 20:3 - feared Psalms 30:5 - in the Psalms 119:55 - night Psalms 143:8 - to hear Psalms 146:5 - the God Jeremiah 30:7 - it is Ezekiel 1:26 - the appearance of a man Ezekiel 10:1 - as the Daniel 10:8 - I was Jonah 2:2 - I cried Zechariah 1:10 - the man Matthew 6:6 - enter Mark 10:48 - but Luke 6:12 - continued Luke 18:1 - that John 1:48 - when Acts 7:30 - an Romans 12:12 - continuing Philippians 2:6 - thought Hebrews 1:1 - at Hebrews 1:14 - sent
Cross-References
Then Rachel said, "I have fought a desperate struggle with my sister, but I have won." So she named him Naphtali.
Jacob sent messengers on ahead to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the region of Edom.
I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent this message to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.'"
Then the man said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." "I will not let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me."
The man asked him, "What is your name?" He answered, "Jacob."
"No longer will your name be Jacob," the man told him, "but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have prevailed."
So Jacob named the place Peniel, explaining, "Certainly I have seen God face to face and have survived."
the Angel who has protected me from all harm— bless these boys. May my name be named in them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. May they grow into a multitude on the earth."
So Moses extended his hand toward the sea, and the sea returned to its normal state when the sun began to rise. Now the Egyptians were fleeing before it, but the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the middle of the sea.
The Beloved to Her Lover:
Until the dawn arrives and the shadows flee, turn, my beloved— be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountain gorges.Gill's Notes on the Bible
And Jacob was left alone,.... On the other side of Jabbok, his family and cattle having passed over it; and this solitude he chose, in order to spend some time in prayer to God for the safety of him and his:
and there wrestled a man with him; not a phantasm or spectre, as Josephus e calls him; nor was this a mere visionary representation of a man, to the imagination of Jacob; or done in the vision of prophecy, as Maimonides f; but it was something real, corporeal, and visible: the Targum of Jonathan says, it was an angel in the likeness of a man, and calls him Michael, which is not amiss, since he is expressly called an angel, Hosea 12:4; and if Michael the uncreated angel is meant, it is most true; for not a created angel is designed, but a divine Person, as appears from Jacob's desiring to be blessed by him; and besides, being expressly called God, Genesis 32:28; and was, no doubt, the Son of God in an human form; who frequently appeared in it as a token and pledge of his future incarnation: and "this wrestling" was real and corporeal on the part of both; the man took hold of Jacob, and he took hold of the man, and they strove and struggled together for victory as wrestlers do; and on Jacob's part it was also mental and spiritual, and signified his fervent and importunate striving with God in prayer; or at least it was attended with earnest and importunate supplications; see Hosea 12:4; and this continued
until the breaking of the day: how long this conflict lasted is not certain, perhaps not long; since after Jacob rose in the night he had a great deal of business to do, and did it before this affair happened; as sending his wives, children, servants, and cattle over the brook: however, this may denote, that in the present state or night of darkness, wrestling in prayer with God must be continued until the perfect state commences, when the everlasting day of glory will break.
e Antiqu. l. 1. c. 20. sect. 2. f Morch Nevochim, par. 2. c. 42. p. 310.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
- Jacob Wrestles in Prayer
3. מחנים machănāyı̂m, Machanaim, “two camps.”
22. יבק yaboq, Jabboq; related: בקק bāqaq “gush or gurgle out” or אבק 'ābaq in niphal, “wrestle.” Now Wady Zurka.
29. ישׂראל yı̂śrā'ēl, Jisrael, “prince of God.”
31. פניאל penı̂y'ēl = פנוּאל penû'ēl, Peniel, Penuel, “face of God.”
After twenty years spent in Aram, Jacob now returns to Kenann. As his departure was marked by a great moment in his spiritual life, so he is now approaching to a crisis in his life of no less significance
Genesis 32:1-3
Jacob has a vision of the heavenly host. This passage, recording Laban’s farewell and departure, closes the connection of Jacob with Haran and all its toils of servitude, and is hence, annexed to the previous chapter in the English version. In the distribution of the original text, it is regarded as the counterpart of the two following verses, in which Jacob’s onward progress is mentioned, and so placed with them at the beginning of a new chapter. “The angels of God met him.” Twenty years ago Jacob saw the mystical ladder connecting heaven and earth, and the angels of God thereupon ascending and descending from the one to the other. Now, in circumstances of danger, he sees the angels of God on earth, encamped beside or around his own camp Psalms 34:8. He recognizes them as God’s camp, and names the place Mahanaim, from the double encampment. This vision is not dwelt upon, as it is the mere sequel of the former scene at Bethel. Mahanaim has been identified with Mahneh, about eight miles from the cairn of Laban and Jacob.
Genesis 32:4-9
Jacob now sends a message to Esau apprising him of his arrival. Unto the land of Seir. Arabia Petraea, with which Esau became connected by his marriage with a daughter of Ishmael. He was now married 56 years to his first two wives, and 20 to his last, and therefore, had a separate and extensive establishment of children and grandchildren. Jacob endeavors to make amends for the past by an humble and respectful approach to his older brother, in which he styles himself, “thy servant” and Esau, “my lord.” He informs him of his wealth, to intimate that he did not expect anything from him. “Four hundred men with him.” This was a formidable force. Esau had begun to live by the sword Genesis 27:40, and had surrounded himself with a numerous body of followers. Associated by marriage with the Hittites and the Ishmaelites, he had rapidly risen to the rank of a powerful chieftain. It is vain to conjecture with what intent Esau advanced at the head of so large a retinue. It is probable that he was accustomed to a strong escort, that he wished to make an imposing appearance before his brother, and that his mind was in that wavering state, when the slightest incident might soothe him into good-will, or arouse him to vengeance. Jacob, remembering his own former dealings with him, has good cause for alarm. He betakes himself to the means of deliverance. He disposes of his horde into two camps, that if one were attacked and captured, the other might meanwhile escape. He never neglects to take all the precautions in his power.
Genesis 32:10-13
Next, he betakes himself to prayer. He appeals to the God of Abraham and Isaac, to Yahweh the God of promise and performance. “I am less than;” unworthy of all the mercy and truth of God. “With my staff.” Jacob seems to have left his home without escort and without means. It was evidently intended that he should return in a short time; but unforeseen circumstances lengthened the period. “Me, the mother with the children.” Me is used here in that pregnant sense which is familiar in Scripture, to include his whole clan; as Ishmael, Israel, Edom, often stand for their respective races. He then pleads the express promise of God Genesis 28:13-15; Genesis 31:3.
Genesis 32:14-22
Jacob sends forward a present to Esau. “He lodged there that night.” Mahanaim may have been about twenty-five miles from the Jabbok. At some point in the interval he awaited the return of his messengers. Abiding during the night in the camp, not far from the ford of the Jabbok, he selects and sends forward to Esau his valuable present of five hundred and fifty head of cattle. “That which was come into his hand,” into his possession. The cattle are selected according to the proportions of male and female which were adopted from experience among the ancients (Varro, de re rust. II. 3). “Every drove by itself,” with a space between, that Esau might have time to estimate the great value of the gift. The repetition of the announcement of the gift, and of Jacob himself being at hand, was calculated to appease Esau, and persuade him that Jacob was approaching him in all brotherly confidence and affection. “Appease him.” Jacob designs this gift to be the means of propitiating his brother before he appears in his presence. “Lift up my face,” accept me. “Lodged that night in the camp;” after sending this present over the Jabbok. This seems the same night referred to in Genesis 32:14.
Genesis 32:23-32
Jacob wrestles with a man. “Passed over the ford of Jabbok.” The Jabbok rose near Rabbath Ammon, and flowed into the Jordan, separating North Gilead from South, or the kingdom of Og from that of Sihon. “Jacob was left alone,” on the north side, after all had passed over. “A man wrestled with him.” When God has a new thing of a spiritual nature to bring into the experience of man, he begins with the senses. He takes man on the ground on which he finds him, and leads him through the senses to the higher things of reason, conscience, and communion with God.
Jacob seems to have gone through the principles or foundations of faith in God and repentance toward him, which gave a character to the history of his grandfather and father, and to have entered upon the stage of spontaneous action. He had that inward feeling of spiritual power which prompted the apostle to say, “I can do all things.” Hence, we find him dealing with Esau for the birthright, plotting with his mother for the blessing, erecting a pillar and vowing a vow at Bethel, overcoming Laban with his own weapons, and even now taking the most prudent measures for securing a welcome from Esau on his return. He relied indeed on God, as was demonstrated in many of his words and deeds; but the prominent feature of his character was a strong and firm reliance on himself. But this practical self-reliance, though naturally springing up in the new man and highly commendable in itself, was not yet in Jacob duly subordinated to that absolute reliance which ought to be placed in the Author of our being and our salvation. Hence, he had been betrayed into intrusive, dubious, and even sinister courses, which in the retributive providence of God had brought, and were yet to bring him, into many troubles and perplexities. The hazard of his present situation arose chiefly from his former unjustifiable practices toward his brother. He is now to learn the lesson of unreserved reliance on God.
“A man” appeared to him in his loneliness; one having the bodily form and substance of a man. Wrestled with him - encountered him in the very point in which he was strong. He had been a taker by the heel from his very birth, and his subsequent life had been a constant and successful struggle with adversaries. And when he, the stranger, saw that he prevailed not over him. Jacob, true to his character, struggles while life remains, with this new combatant. touched the socket of his thigh, so that it was wrenched out of joint. The thigh is the pillar of a man’s strength, and its joint with the hip the seat of physical force for the wrestler. Let the thigh bone be thrown out of joint, and the man is utterly disabled. Jacob now finds that this mysterious wrestler has wrested from him, by one touch, all his might, and he can no longer stand alone. Without any support whatever from himself, he hangs upon the conqueror, and in that condition learns by experience the practice of sole reliance on one mightier than himself. This is the turning-point in this strange drama. Henceforth Jacob now feels himself strong, not in himself, but in the Lord, and in the power of his might. What follows is merely the explication and the consequence of this bodily conflict.
And he, the Mighty Stranger, said, Let me go, for the dawn ariseth. The time for other avocations is come: let me go. He does not shake off the clinging grasp of the now disabled Jacob, but only calls upon him to relax his grasp. “And he, Jacob, said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me”. Despairing now of his own strength, he is Jacob still: he declares his determination to cling on until his conqueror bless him. He now knows he is in the hand of a higher power, who can disable and again enable, who can curse and also bless. He knows himself also to be now utterly helpless without the healing, quickening, protecting power of his victor, and, though he die in the effort, he will not let him go without receiving this blessing. Jacob’s sense of his total debility and utter defeat is now the secret of his power with his friendly vanquisher. He can overthrow all the prowess of the self-reliant, but he cannot resist the earnest entreaty of the helpless.
Genesis 32:28-30
“What is thy name?” He reminds him of his former self, Jacob, the supplanter, the self-reliant, self-seeking. But now he is disabled, dependent on another, and seeking a blessing from another, and for all others as well as himself. No more Jacob shall thy name be called, but Israel - a prince of God, in God, with God. In a personal conflict, depending on thyself, thou wert no match for God. But in prayer, depending on another, thou hast prevailed with God and with men. The new name is indicative of the new nature which has now come to its perfection of development in Jacob. Unlike Abraham, who received his new name once for all, and was never afterward called by the former one, Jacob will hence, be called now by the one and now by the other, as the occasion may serve. For he was called from the womb Genesis 25:23, and both names have a spiritual significance for two different aspects of the child of God, according to the apostle’s paradox, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure” Philippians 2:12-13. “Tell now thy name.”
Disclose to me thy nature. This mysterious Being intimates by his reply that Jacob was to learn his nature, so far as he yet required to know it, from the event that had just occurred; and he was well acquainted with his name. And he blessed him there. He had the power of disabling the self-sufficient creature, of upholding that creature when unable to stand, of answering prayer, of conferring a new name, with a new phase of spiritual life, and of blessing with a physical renovation, and with spiritual capacity for being a blessing to mankind. After all this, Jacob could not any longer doubt who he was. There are, then, three acts in this dramatic scene: first, Jacob wrestling with the Omnipresent in the form of a man, in which he is signally defeated; second, Jacob importunately supplicating Yahweh, in which he prevails as a prince of God; third, Jacob receiving the blessing of a new name, a new development of spiritual life, and a new capacity for bodily action.
Genesis 32:31-32
Peniel - the face of God. The reason of this name is assigned in the sentence, “I have seen God face to face.” He is at first called a man. Hosea terms him the angel (Hosea 12:4-5 (3, 4). And here Jacob names him God. Hence, some men, deeply penetrated with the ineffable grandeur of the divine nature, are disposed to resolve the first act at least into an impression on the imagination. We do not pretend to define with undue nicety the mode of this wrestling. And we are far from saying that every sentence of Scripture is to be understood in a literal sense. But until some cogent reason be assigned, we do not feel at liberty to depart from the literal sense in this instance. The whole theory of a revelation from God to man is founded upon the principle that God can adapt himself to the apprehension of the being whom he has made in his own image. This principle we accept, and we dare not limit its application “further than the demonstrative laws of reason and conscience demand.” If God walk in the garden with Adam, expostulate with Cain, give a specification of the ark to Noah, partake of the hospitality of Abraham, take Lot by the hand to deliver him from Sodom, we cannot affirm that he may not, for a worthy end, enter into a bodily conflict with Jacob. These various manifestations of God to man differ only in degree. If we admit anyone, we are bound by parity of reason to accept all the others.
We have also already noted the divine method of dealing with man. He proceeds from the known to the unknown, from the simple to the complex, from the material to the spiritual, from the sensible to the super-sensible. So must he do, until he have to deal with a world of philosophers. And even then, and only then, will his method of teaching and dealing with people be clearly and fully understood. The more we advance in the philosophy of spiritual things, the more delight will we feel in discerning the marvelous analogy and intimate nearness of the outward to the inward, and the material to the spiritual world. We have only to bear in mind that in man there is a spirit as well as a body; and in this outward wrestling of man with man we have a token of the inward wrestling of spirit with spirit, and therefore, an experimental instance of that great conflict of the Infinite Being with the finite self, which grace has introduced into our fallen world, recorded here for the spiritual edification of the church on earth.
“My life is preserved.” The feeling of conscience is, that no sinner can see the infinitely holy God and live. “And he halted upon his thigh.” The wrenching of the tendons and muscles was mercifully healed, so as to leave a permanent monument, in Jacob’s halting gait, that God had overcome his self-will.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse Genesis 32:24. And there wrestled a man with him — This was doubtless the Lord Jesus Christ, who, among the patriarchs, assumed that human form, which in the fulness of time he really took of a woman, and in which he dwelt thirty-three years among men. He is here styled an angel, because he was μεγαλης βουλης Αγγελος, (see the Septuagint, Isaiah 9:7,) the Messenger of the great counsel or design to redeem fallen man from death, and bring him to eternal glory; see Genesis 16:7.
But it may be asked, Had he here a real human body, or only its form? The latter, doubtless. How then could he wrestle with Jacob? It need not be supposed that this angel must have assumed a human body, or something analagous to it, in order to render himself tangible by Jacob; for as the soul operates on the body by the order of God, so could an angel operate on the body of Jacob during a whole night, and produce in his imagination, by the effect of his power, every requisite idea of corporeity, and in his nerves every sensation of substance, and yet no substantiality be in the case.
If angels, in appearing to men, borrow human bodies, as is thought, how can it be supposed that with such gross substances they can disappear in a moment? Certainly they do not take these bodies into the invisible world with them, and the established laws of matter and motion require a gradual disappearing, however swiftly it may be effected. But this is not allowed to be the case, and yet they are reported to vanish instantaneously. Then they must render themselves invisible by a cloud, and this must be of a very dense nature in order to hide a human body. But this very expedient would make their departure still more evident, as the cloud must be more dense and apparent than the body in order to hide it. This does not remove the difficulty. But if they assume a quantity of air or vapour so condensed as to become visible, and modified into the appearance of a human body, they can in a moment dilate and rarefy it, and so disappear; for when the vehicle is rarefied beyond the power of natural vision, as their own substance is invisible they can instantly vanish.
From Hosea 12:4, we may learn that the wrestling of Jacob, mentioned in this place, was not merely a corporeal exercise, but also a spiritual one; He wept and made supplication unto him. See the notes there. Hosea 12:4.
