Peniel

Biblical Text

The account appears in Genesis 32:22–32. As Jacob was returning home from the household of his uncle Laban, on the night before he was to meet his brother Esau, he sent his family ahead across the ford of the Jabbok. Left alone, he wrestled with "a man" until daybreak. The man struck the hollow of Jacob's thigh so that it was put out of joint, then changed Jacob's name to "Israel" and blessed him. Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved" (Genesis 32:30). As the sun rose, Jacob passed over the place, limping upon his thigh. The text adds that for this reason the children of Israel do not eat "of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day" (Genesis 32:32).

The same place appears later as a city. The Korean New Revised Version renders the city's name as "Penuel" in Judges 8. While pursuing the kings of Midian, Gideon asked the men of this city for bread and was refused; on his return he broke down the city's tower and slew its men (Judges 8:8–9, 17). Jeroboam, the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel, built this city after building Shechem (1 Kings 12:25). 1 Chronicles 4 and 8 also mention individuals bearing the same name.

Background

The Hebrew name Peniel combines a word meaning "face" with El, meaning "God," and is therefore commonly interpreted as "face of God." The same place is also referred to by the form Penuel. It appears to have been located east of the Jordan River, in the region of the Jabbok River, a tributary of the Jordan. Scholars differ, however, on which modern archaeological site corresponds to it.

Significance in the Whole of Scripture

The Peniel narrative is set against the backdrop of Jacob's fear and prayer as he anticipated reconciliation with his brother (Genesis 32:9–12). On meeting Esau the next day, Jacob says, "I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God" (Genesis 33:10). Commentators frequently note that this statement echoes the name Peniel. Hosea 12:3–4 revisits the event, saying of Jacob, "he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him." Jacob's confession that he saw God and yet lived is often read alongside the statement "there shall no man see me, and live" (Exodus 33:20). The New Testament does not mention Peniel directly. Nevertheless, preachers often connect it with John 1:18, which declares that no man has seen God but that the only begotten has declared him, or with "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Corinthians 4:6).

Interpretation and Debate

The principal question concerns the identity of the one who wrestled with Jacob. The Genesis text calls him "a man," Hosea calls him "the angel," and Jacob confesses that he has seen God face to face. Accordingly, some interpreters regard him as an angel sent by God. Among Reformed and evangelical interpreters, the view that this was a preincarnate appearance of Christ is also widely held. Other interpreters, by contrast, leave the text's various expressions as they stand and decline to identify the figure with any particular person.

Many sermons interpret the wrestling as an "all-night prayer." This reading relies on the phrase "made supplication" in Hosea 12, whereas the Genesis account itself describes a physical struggle.

In the Korean Church

Peniel is a frequent subject of sermons at revival meetings and early morning prayer meetings, under themes such as "prayer at the Jabbok" and "the place where Jacob became Israel." Understood as a symbol of the experience of encountering God face to face, the name is also widely used for churches, prayer retreat centers, Christian schools, and worship groups.