Genesis: These Are The Generations (XXXIV)

Israel (32:1-32)

Neal Pollard

“A new name is almost always the symbol of a new beginning” (Strassner, p. 129). As Jacob comes to the place he names “Mahanaim,” dubbed “Two Camps” because he saw the angels of God there (1-2), he knows he must pass through the territory of his brother, Esau. He has extricated himself from an old situation (dealing with Laban) and faces an even older score to settle (reuniting with the brother he cheated), but he does so with a newly-delivered assignment from heaven to return to Canaan (31:3). 

Jacob decides to “appease” his brother by sending ahead messengers detailing all the wealth in livestock and servants that he had accumulated while with Laban with the indication that he will share them with him (5). The messengers report back that they made contact with Esau, and he is coming with 400 men with him (6). Jacob is petrified and is left to ponder his frightening dilemma (7-8). What do we observe in this chapter?

Jacob’s Prayer (9-12)

This is a new way for Jacob to approach the God who had been profusely blessing him. This prayer is marked by intense petition, pleading with God based on His divine instructions to Jacob to return home. The prayer is reverent (9), humble (10), grateful (10), specific (11), transparent (11), yet bold (12). He calls for God to keep His word, to help him as he attempts to obey Him! Has it dawned on him that his cunning and deception will not help him now?

Jacob’s Peace Offering (13-21)

After the prayer, Jacob prepares a “present” (18,20-21) for his brother. It is lavish: 200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams, 30 milking camels and their colts, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys (14-15). This would provide the seed for a massive herd, with sufficient studs to enlarge the flocks of all the animals. His servants making up two companies were to be harbingers for him, informing Esau as they met him that Jacob was to follow (16-20). Jacob hopes that this will prove a peace offering to a brother who years before had vowed to kill him (20; cf. 27:41).

Jacob’s Confrontation (22-32)

Jacob camps with his immediate family across the stream of the Jabbok (22-23). The Jabbok is “a river flowing west into the river Jordan, some 32 kilometers north of the Dead Sea. It rises near Amman…in Jordan and in all is over 96 kilometers long. It is today called the Wadi Zerqa” (D.F. Payne, New Bible Dict., p. 535).  On this occasion, it was the site of Jacob’s wrestling with an enigmatic figure that Jacob ultimately believes to be a “theophany” (visible manifestation of God). Many believe this to be the Angel of Jehovah, the preincarnate Christ who appeared to Hagar in Genesis 16:14. 

This confrontation demonstrates the moral transformation of Jacob. He has depended on his wits and schemes, but in the grip of this being with whom he wrestles and in the grip of the fear of seeing Esau again he is utterly dependent on outside help. Not only does he need the mercy of Esau, more importantly he needs the grace of God. Yet, Jacob’s faith is so great that he wrestles with the man until dawn and, even when the man dislocates his hip, he refuses to let go. It is in the throes of this struggle that he is renamed Israel and told, “…for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed” (28). As Ross observes, “Now crippled in his natural strength he became bold in faith” (“Jacob at the Jabbok, Israel at Peniel: Part 2 of Studies in the Life of Jacob.” Bibliotheca Sacra 142.255 (1985): 338–354). For Hebrew readers, there is a compelling likeness between “Jabbok” and “Jacob” (a word play?). 

Jacob believes he has wrestled with God. He names the place “Peniel” (“the face of God”) and concludes “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved” (30). James Smith suggests that Jacob has a new name, a new blessing, and a new testimony (The Pentateuch, 200). Based on the similar language of the Angel of the Lord speaking to Manoah in Judges 13, it is a plausible deduction that this is the preincarnate Christ. It is certainly, at the least, a theophany. The point seems to be that Jacob is transformed by this encounter!