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Genesis 32:1
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Esau Comes to Meet Jacob

1 So Jacob went on his way, and athe angels of God met him.  
2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s acamp.” And he called the name of that place1 Mahanaim.  
3 Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother ain the land of Seir, bthe country of Edom.  
4 And he commanded them, saying, a“Speak thus to my lord Esau, ‘Thus your servant Jacob says: “I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there until now.  
5 aI have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that bI may find favor in your sight.” ’ ”  
6 Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and ahe also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”  
7 So Jacob was greatly afraid and adistressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies.  
8 And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and1 attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.”  
9 aThen Jacob said, b“O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord cwho said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’:  
10 I am not worthy of the least of all the amercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with bmy staff, and now I have become two companies.  
11 aDeliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and1 attack me and bthe mother with the children.  
12 For aYou said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the bsand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”  
13 So he lodged there that same night, and took what1 came to his hand as aa present for Esau his brother:  
14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
15 thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals.
16 Then he delivered them to the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put some distance between successive droves.”
17 And he commanded the first one, saying, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going? Whose are these in front of you?’
18 then you shall say, ‘They are your servant Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord Esau; and behold, he also is behind us.’ ”
19 So he commanded the second, the third, and all who followed the droves, saying, “In this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him;
20 and also say, ‘Behold, your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For he said, “I will aappease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.”  
21 So the present went on over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp.

Wrestling with God

22 And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, aand crossed over the ford of Jabbok.  
23 He took them, sent them1 over the brook, and sent over what he had.  
24 Then Jacob was left alone; and aa Man wrestled with him until the1 breaking of day.  
25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He1 touched the socket of his hip; and athe socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.  
26 And aHe said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, b“I will not let You go unless You bless me!”  
27 So He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob.”
28 And He said, a“Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but1 Israel; for you have bstruggled with God and cwith men, and have prevailed.”  
29 Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, a“Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He bblessed him there.  
30 So Jacob called the name of the place1 Peniel: “For aI have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”  
31 Just as he crossed over1 Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.  
32 Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He1 touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank. 
Commentaries:
Adam Clarke
<< Genesis 31:55   Genesis 32:2 >>


Genesis 32:1

The angels of God met him - Our word angel comes from the Greek aggelos , which literally signifies a messenger; or, as translated in some of our old Bibles, a tidings-bringer. The Hebrew word malach , from laach , to send, minister to, employ, is nearly of the same import; and hence we may see the propriety of St. Augustine' s remark : Nomen non naturae sed officii , "It is a name, not of nature, but of office;" and hence it is applied indifferently to a human agent or messenger, II Samuel 2:5; to a prophet, Haggai 1:13; to a priest, Malachi 2:7; to celestial spirits, Psalms 103:19, Psalms 103:20, Psalms 103:22; Psalms 104:4. "We often," says Mr. Parkhurst, "read of the malach Yehovah , or malakey Elohim , the angel of Jehovah, or the angels of God, that is, his agent, personator, mean of visibility or action, what was employed by God to render himself visible and approachable by flesh and blood." This angel was evidently a human form, surrounded or accompanied by light or glory, with or in which Jehovah was present; see Genesis 19:1, Genesis 19:12, Genesis 19:16; Judges 13:6, Judges 13:21; Exodus 3:2, Exodus 3:6. "By this vision," says Mr. Ainsworth, "God confirmed Jacob' s faith in him who commanded his angels to keep his people in all their ways, Psalms 91:11. Angels are here called God' s host, camp, or army, as in wars; for angels are God' s soldiers, Luke 2:13; horses and chariots of fire, II Kings 2:11; fighting for God' s people against their enemies, Daniel 10:20; of them there are thousand thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand, Daniel 7:10; and they are all sent forth to minister for them that shall be heirs of salvation, Hebrews 1:14; and they pitch a camp about them that fear God, Psalms 34:7." One of the oldest of the Greek poets had a tolerably correct notion of the angelic ministry: -

, ,

, , · . . .

Hesiod. Op. & Dies, l. i., ver. 120.

When in the grave this race of men was laid, Soon was a world of holy demons made, Aerial spirits, by great Jove design' d To be on earth the guardians of mankind. Invisible to mortal eyes they go, And mark our actions good or bad below; The immortal spies with watchful care preside, And thrice ten thousand round their charges glide: They can reward with glory or with gold, A power they by Divine permission hold - Cooke.


 
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