Genesis 32:24-32

2009.Apr.17 17:00

And You Shall Be Israel

Read Genesis 32:24-32 | Full Chapter

Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me." So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob." He said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed."
(Genesis 32:24-28, NASB)

This is not Jacob’s first strange night, but it is in some ways the most important. This is when Yahweh (whether directly or via some messenger), changes Jacob’s name. His new name, Israel, is that which will borne by his descendants and their compatriots throughout history. It seems reasonable that the name could have been given to Jacob by the later Israelites as an explanation for their contemporary name and the story of Yahweh’s giving that name as yet another connection added to cement their theocratic community. But I’m willing to take the story at face value; I’m not sure that it matters much.

Anyway, Jacob spends the night wrestling with some sort of divine representative. All told, this is probably a welcome relief from worrying about the morrow’s encounter with his estranged brother, Esau. So, anyway, they wrestle until daybreak, at which point the “being” dislocates Jacob’s thigh with a touch. ‘Ha, ha, Jacob, you have fought well, but…now we’re done here.’

Jacob, however, pushes for a blessing before letting go. I like that. It also shows a perceptiveness on his part about with whom he’s wrestling. The other asks Jacob’s name which then leads into the renaming.

Anyway, Yahweh’s comment (again, possibly indirect) is that Jacob’s new name is a result of him having striven with both men (such as Laban) and with God (that is, Yahweh, I assume), and having “prevailed”. I can’t even begin to understand what all that word must mean, but it is powerful. Whatever meaning, it need not be construed as a question against Yahweh’s omnipotence (although that’s a bit of a goofy word of limited use). The major point I want to make is that Yahweh values Jacob.

Then Jacob asked him and said, "Please tell me your name." But he said, "Why is it that you ask my name?" And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, "I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved." Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh. Therefore, to this day the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip which is on the socket of the thigh, because he touched the socket of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip.
(Genesis 32:29-32, NASB)

Jacob now requests the name of his, er, guest, who does not reveal his name, but rather now gives Jacob the blessing (what that blessing consists of not being noted). Jacob, now Israel, surmises that this is Yahweh, or some such representative, and thus names the place “Peniel”, a word which apparently has something to do with wrestling with God and not being smited on the spot. And thus, blessed, renamed and gimpy, Jacob sets off to meet his brother.

Genesis 32:13-23

2009.Apr.10 17:00

Diplomacy, a la Bribe

Read Genesis 32:13-23 | Full Chapter

So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove."
(Genesis 32:13-16, ESV)

Jacob is up to something. When is he not? As I said last entry, he’s matured up over the years. Instead of cunning with intent to deceive, he’s now using his cleverness for the sake of diplomacy. How much of a difference that actually implies is debatable.

Before we find out what his plan is, the narrator gives us a chance to marvel in Jacob’s wealth. Well, the narrator gives the “ancient” Hebrew readers a chance. Interpretting this accurately is not going to be easy for the average 21st century suburbanite. Since this is a present, it’s likely this list comprises only a small percentage of Jacob’s livestock. Of course, I have zero expertise here, but all signs point to major earthly success.

But what is that at the cost of being hated by his brother?

So, let’s delve more into “the plan”.

(Incidentally, it might be worth looking into the particular divisions of animals, both by species and by sex. But I’m not going to.)

He instructed the first, "When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, 'To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?' then you shall say, 'They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.'" He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, "You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him, and you shall say, 'Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.'" For he thought, "I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me."
(Genesis 32:17-20, ESV)

So, that’s his plan. Send Esau enough presents with enough time between them that, if he is raging, he might cool off and even come to accept Jacob before the two actually meet. Not a bad idea. It’s certainly worth letting go of a portion of Jacob’s wealth to prevent a violent confrontation, and possibly even to allow some reunification with his bother. Jacob cannot yet be expecting that possibility. Considering Esau’s justifiable rage, Jacob will do well to get through this alive. That he returns to Palestine knowing this reveals the growth in his faith in Yahweh.

It’s worth considering the justness of Esau’s rage in comparison to the justness of Yahweh’s rage against me. Only, Yahweh has no rage against me, although it would certainly be just, considering the number of times I’ve gone my own way, tried to assert my own claims to godhood, even after explicitly rejecting those claims in favor of Yahweh’s, even after acknowledging that I cannot possibly save even myself, but choose to have faith that Yahweh in his mercy will do so and indeed already has done so. Anyway, Melchizedek tends to get the most attention as a type of Christ in Genesis, but I think Esau is also in some ways.

So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp. The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had.
(Genesis 32:21-23, ESV)

His offering prepared, Jacob sends everyone else across the Jabbok river. I don’t know why. It’s going to set up the next event, though, in which Jacob is alone, and has a wrestling match. The motto of Genesis? “Who needs a straight-forward story line?”.

I guess that’s life, though.

Genesis 32:9-12

2009.Apr.03 17:00

Return

Read Genesis 32:09-12 | Full Chapter

Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord Who said to me, Return to your country and to your people and I will do you good, I am not worthy of the least of all the mercy and loving-kindness and all the faithfulness which You have shown to Your servant, for with [only] my staff I passed over this Jordan [long ago], and now I have become two companies.
(Genesis 32:09-10, AMP)

Jacob’s growing up, I think. He’s acknowledging Yahweh’s goodness and role in his success. More importantly, Jacob acknowledges that this favor is undeserved. He also recognizes that God has a will for Jacob’s life. And that perhaps is the biggest difference from the Jacob that fled his brother’s wrath twenty-plus years prior. His financial gains are rather nice, but that he can actually spend some time focused on acknowledging Yahweh shows spiritual growth. Not to imply that growth is near complete.

Deliver me, I pray You, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and smite [us all], the mothers with the children.
(Genesis 32:11, AMP)

Indeed, Jacob’s prayer is starting to sound similar to many of the Psalms, with the combination of reverencing God, but also acknowledging the difficulties of a current situation, seeking Yahweh’s delivering hand in them.

Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me. Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.

(Psalm 40:13-14, KJV)

Like the Psalmist, Jacob understands that he is full of fear and that he alone is not sufficient against the forces (real or imagined) arrayed against him. Jacob is dependent upon Yahweh to survive this day. Yes, he will use his wisdom and/or cunning, and yes, Esau’s willingness to forgive should not be downplayed. But Jacob’s source now is Yahweh and Yahweh alone. Or, at least, it ought to be.

And You said, I will surely do you good and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
(Genesis 32:12, AMP)

And, now, Jacob refers to the “sand of the sea” descendants promise which plays a continuing role in the Genesis narrative. As had Abraham and Isaac (if I remember correctly), Jacob has received this particular promise from Yahweh, which with Jacob’s children is going to start branching out. Yahweh made this promise during the “Jacob’s Ladder” incident, now some twenty or so years prior. That Jacob references it now, during a time where he’s dealing with fear, shows a level of faith and maturity that was not then evident.

Jacob’s coming of age story is approaching it’s conclusion as he finds his way back home to Palestine.

Genesis 32:1-8

2009.Mar.27 17:00

Out of the Frying Pan…

Read Genesis 32:01-08 | Full Chapter

Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. Jacob said when he saw them, "This is God's camp." So he named that place Mahanaim.
(Genesis 32:01-02, NASB)

This is Jacob saying, “Oh, shit.” He’s just survived a stressful encounter with uncle Laban, and he might expect a moment to breathe. No such luck. Jacob is already thinking about the next problem, reuniting with his twin brother, Esau. This time, he’s scared.

Esau is the older brother. At a technical level, the age difference is minimal, perhaps only minutes. Esau has been the stronger, the apparent favorite of their father (particularly as Jacob sees it). He is Jacob’s boogey-man, the monster under his bed that’s kept him away from home all these years.

But the above passage doesn’t say anything about that, does it? No, what it says is that some angels of God met Jacob while he’s headed towards Esau. And, well, that’s it. Maybe I’m reading too much between the lines, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Yahweh had sent angels to Jacob to comfort him over this upcoming meeting, and impart some wisdom as well.

Then Jacob sent messengers before him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. He also commanded them saying, "Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: 'Thus says your servant Jacob, "I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now; I have oxen and donkeys and flocks and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight."'"
(Genesis 32:03-05, NASB)

Jacob is out to pre-empt the conflict. First, he’s going to make sure that his arrival doesn’t take Esau by surprise. Hopefully Jacob can also convince Esau that he’s coming on friendly terms. He’s raised the white flag. And he did it with a three-level deep quote. How sweet is that?

I think there may be a bit of a bribe implicit here, but that’s just a guess: If Esau doesn’t kill Jacob, maybe Jacob will give him some presents. At any rate, he will do so shortly. Whatever the particulars, Jacob wants to survive this encounter, and he’s using his brains to do so. This is a far cry from when he engaged his mental abilities primarily for trickery (assuming, of course, that this time he is being generally honest and straightforward).

The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau, and furthermore he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him." Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and the herds and the camels, into two companies; for he said, "If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the company which is left will escape."
(Genesis 32:06-08, NASB)

And, the verdict is: fail. Or, at least that’s what Jacob is likely to assume. Yes, Esau could be coming on friendly terms, but he’s certainly prepared for a violent encounter. And he has no reason to love Jacob beyond the technicality of their siblinghood.

Jacob’s first response in preparation for the potential onslaught is to divide everything he has and everyone with him into two groups, on the theory that one of the companies might survive (maybe he’s counting on Esau getting bored after the first slaughter???).

And so, yet again, the consequences of deceit, of letting anger fester. But, perhaps as with Laban, Jacob is no doubt hoping for the intervention of Yahweh, that this situation might turn out better than it ought.