Genesis 32
1 Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
As Jacob and his family continued traveling, some angels, whom God sent, met him.
2 When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s army.” He called the name of that place Mahanaim.
When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s army camp!” So he named that place Mahanaim, [which means ‘two camps’].
3 Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom.
Jacob told some of the men to go ahead of him to his older brother Esau, who was living in Seir, the land where the descendants of Edom lived.
4 He commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall tell my lord, Esau: ‘This is what your servant, Jacob, says. I have lived as a foreigner with Laban, and stayed until now.
He told them, “This is what I want you to say to Esau: 'I, Jacob, want to be your servant and I want you to be my master. I have been living with our uncle Laban, and I have stayed there until now.
5 I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.’”
I now own many cattle, donkeys, sheep, goats, and male and female slaves. Now I am sending this message to you, sir, hoping that you will (be friendly toward me/treat me kindly) when I arrive.’ “
6 The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”
The messengers went and gave that message to Esau. When they returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your older brother Esau. Now he is coming to you, and 400 men are coming with him.”
7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed. He divided the people who were with him, along with the flocks, the herds, and the camels, into two companies.
Jacob was very afraid and worried. So he divided the people who were with him into two groups. He also divided the sheep and goats, the cattle, and the camels, into two groups.
8 He said, “If Esau comes to the one company, and strikes it, then the company which is left will escape.”
He was thinking, “If Esau and his men come and attack us, perhaps one of the groups will be left and will be able to escape.”
9 Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD, who said to me, ‘Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,’
Then Jacob prayed, “O Yahweh God, whom my grandfather Abraham worshiped and my father Isaac worships, you said to me, ‘Go back to your own land and to your relatives, and I will (cause good things happen to/do good things for) you.’
10 I am not worthy of the least of all the loving kindnesses, and of all the truth, which you have shown to your servant; for with just my staff I crossed over this Jordan; and now I have become two companies.
I am not worthy for you to have been so kind and faithful to me in so many ways, your servant. I had only this walking stick with me when I crossed the Jordan [River on my way to Haran], but now I am so wealthy that there are two large groups of my family and possessions.
11 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and strike me and the mothers with the children.
So now I pray that you will rescue me from [MTY] my [older] brother Esau, because I am afraid that he and his men will come and attack and kill me and the children and their mothers.
12 You said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted because there are so many.’”
But do not forget that you have said, ‘I will certainly enable you to prosper, and I will cause your descendants to be as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore, which are so many that no one can count them.’”
13 He stayed there that night, and took from that which he had with him a present for Esau, his brother:
Jacob slept there that night. The next morning he selected some animals to give to his brother Esau.
14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
He selected 200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 female sheep and 20 male sheep,
15 thirty milk camels and their colts, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals.
30 female camels and their offspring, 40 cows and ten bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys.
16 He delivered them into the hands of his servants, every herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put a space between herd and herd.”
He divided them into small herds, and put each herd into the care of one of his servants. He said to his servants, “Go ahead of me, one group at a time, and keep some space between each herd.”
17 He commanded the foremost, saying, “When Esau, my brother, meets you, and asks you, saying, ‘Whose are you? Where are you going? Whose are these before you?’
He said to the servant who was going with the first group, “When my brother Esau meets you, and he asks you, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going, and to whom do these animals in front of you belong?’
18 Then you shall say, ‘They are your servant, Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord, Esau. Behold, he also is behind us.’”
tell him, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. He has sent them to you as a gift, sir. And he is coming behind us.’”
19 He commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the herds, saying, “This is how you shall speak to Esau, when you find him.
He also said the same thing to the servants who were taking care of the second and third groups, and to the other herdsmen. He said to them, “When you meet Esau, I want you to say to him the same thing that I told the first servant.
20 You shall say, ‘Not only that, but behold, your servant, Jacob, is behind us.’” For, he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”
And be sure to say ‘Jacob, who wants to serve you, is coming behind us.’” Jacob told them to say that because he was thinking, “Perhaps these gifts that I am sending ahead of me will cause him to (act peacefully toward/stop being angry with) me. Then later, when I see him, perhaps he will be kind to me.”
21 So the present passed over before him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.
So the men taking the gifts [PRS] went ahead, but Jacob himself stayed in the camp that night.
22 He rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok.
Some time during that night, Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female slaves, and his eleven sons and his daughter, and he sent them across the ford at the Jabbok River.
23 He took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had.
After he had done that, he sent other slaves, carrying all his possessions, across the river.
24 Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day.
So Jacob was left there alone. But a man came and wrestled with him until dawn.
25 When he saw that he did not prevail against him, the man touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was strained as he wrestled.
When the man realized that he was not winning against Jacob, he struck Jacob’s hip and caused the thigh bone to pull away from the hip socket.
26 The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.” Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
Then the man said, “Let me go, because it will soon be daylight.” [Then Jacob realized who he was really wrestling with]. So he replied, “No, if you will not bless me, I will not let you go!”
27 He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob”.
The man said to him, “What is your name?” He replied, “Jacob.”
28 He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
The man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob. Your name will be Israel, [which means ‘he struggles with God’, ] because you have struggled with God and with people, and you have won.”
29 Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” He said, “Why is it that you ask what my name is?” So he blessed him there.
Jacob said, “Now, please tell me your name!” The man replied, “(Why do you ask me what my name is?/You should not have to ask me what my name is!)” [RHQ] But he blessed Jacob there.
30 Jacob called the name of the place Peniel; for he said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
So Jacob named the place Peniel, [which means ‘God’s face’, ] saying “I looked directly at God, but I did not die because of doing that.”
31 The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh.
The sun was rising as Jacob left Peniel, and he was limping because of what had happened to his hip.
32 Therefore the children of Israel do not eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the hollow of the thigh, to this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew of the hip.
The muscle on his hip joint had been injured. So to this present time, because of what happened to Jacob, the Israeli people do not eat the muscle/tendon that is attached to the socket of the hips of animals.
