Genesis 32

This chapter belongs to the Jacob narrative in the latter part of Genesis. Having parted from Laban in Genesis 31, Jacob prepares to meet his brother Esau on his way back to Canaan. The meeting itself takes place in Genesis 33.

Outline

• Verses 1–2 Jacob meets the angels of God and names the place Mahanaim.
• Verses 3–8 Jacob sends messengers to Esau. Hearing that Esau is coming with four hundred men, he divides his company into two bands.
• Verses 9–12 Jacob prays to God, appealing to His promise and asking to be delivered from his brother's hand.
• Verses 13–21 Jacob selects a present for Esau: two hundred she goats, twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, twenty rams, thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals. He divides these into several droves and sends them on ahead.
• Verses 22–25 Jacob sends his family across the ford of the Jabbok and is left alone. A man wrestles with him until the breaking of the day and strikes the hollow of his thigh.
• Verses 26–29 Jacob demands a blessing. The man changes his name to "Israel" and blesses him.
• Verses 30–32 Jacob calls the place Peniel, and as the sun rises he passes on, limping on his thigh.

Key Verses

• Genesis 32:10 "For with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands": Jacob's own confession of the grace he has received.
• Genesis 32:28 "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel": the first appearance of the origin of "Israel," the name later borne by the nation.
• Genesis 32:30 "For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved": the source of the place name Peniel.

People and Places

• Jacob, Esau, and Rachel and Leah (his two wives). The names of Abraham and Isaac are invoked in his prayer.
• Laban: Jacob's uncle and father-in-law.
• Mahanaim: commonly interpreted as meaning "two camps."
• Edom, the land of Seir: the region where Esau was living.
• The ford of the Jabbok: a crossing point on the Jabbok River, an eastern tributary of the Jordan River.
• Peniel: meaning "the face of God."

Points for Reflection

• The identity of the "man" who wrestled with Jacob: The text calls him only "a man," yet Jacob says he has seen God face to face. Hosea 12 recalls the event as a struggle with an angel. Interpretations vary:
• that he was an angel;
• that he was a manifestation of God;
• that he was a preincarnate appearance of Christ (found in some Reformed and evangelical commentaries);
• some Jewish traditions are reported to identify him as Esau's guardian angel.
• Wrestling and prayer: Many sermons interpret this wrestling as an all-night prayer. The text itself, however, describes a physical struggle. Support for reading it as prayer is drawn from Hosea 12:4, which adds, "he wept, and made supplication unto him."
• Translation and verse numbering: Where the older Korean Revised Version uses hwandoppyeo ("hip bone"), the New Korean Revised Version renders it "thigh joint." Because the Hebrew Bible counts Genesis 31:55 of Korean (and English) Bibles as 32:1, this chapter has 33 verses in the Hebrew text.

In the Korean Church

"Wrestling at the ford of the Jabbok (the Jabbok River)" is a favorite sermon text on the themes of prayer and transformation, and the phrase is often used in the names of Christian gatherings. "Peniel" and "Mahanaim" are also used as names of churches and Christian organizations.