Genesis 32
1 And Jacob has gone on his way, and messengers of God come on him;
As Jacob and his family continued traveling, some angels, whom God sent, met him.
2 and Jacob says, when he has seen them, “This [is] the camp of God”; and he calls the name of that place “Two Camps.”
When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s army camp!” So he named that place Mahanaim, [which means ‘two camps’].
3 And Jacob sends messengers before him to his brother Esau, toward 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 and commands them, saying, “Thus you say to my lord, to Esau, Thus said your servant Jacob: I have sojourned with Laban, and I linger 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 and I have ox, and donkey, flock, and manservant, and maidservant, and I send to declare to my lord, to find grace in his eyes.”
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 And the messengers return to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother, to Esau, and he is also coming to meet you, and four hundred men 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 and Jacob fears exceedingly, and is distressed, and he divides the people who [are] with him, and the flock, and the herd, and the camels, into two camps,
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 and says, “If Esau comes to one camp, and has struck it—then the camp which is left has been for an 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 And Jacob says, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, YHWH who says to me, Return to your land and to your family, and I do good with you:
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 have been unworthy of all the kind acts and of all the truth which You have done with your servant—for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I have become two camps.
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 am fearing him, lest he come and has struck me—mother beside sons;
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 and You have said, I certainly do good with you, and have set your seed as the sand of the sea, which is not numbered because of the multitude.”
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 And he lodges there during that night, and takes from that which is coming into his hand, a present for his brother Esau:
Jacob slept there that night. The next morning he selected some animals to give to his brother Esau.
14 female goats two hundred, and male goats twenty, ewes two hundred, and rams twenty,
He selected 200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 female sheep and 20 male sheep,
15 suckling camels and their young ones thirty, cows forty, and bullocks ten, female donkeys twenty, and foals ten;
30 female camels and their offspring, 40 cows and ten bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys.
16 and he gives into the hand of his servants every drove by itself, and says to his servants, “Pass over before me, and a space you put between drove and drove.”
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 And he commands the first, saying, “When my brother Esau meets you, and has asked you, saying, Whose [are] you? And to where do you go? And 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 have said, Your servant Jacob’s: it [is] a present sent to my lord, to Esau; and 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 And he commands also the second, also the third, also all who are going after the droves, saying, “According to this manner do you speak to Esau in your finding 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 and you have also said, Behold, your servant Jacob [is] behind us”; for he said, “I pacify his face with the present which is going before me, and afterward I see his face; it may be he lifts up my face”;
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 and the present passes over before his face, and he has lodged during that night in the camp.
So the men taking the gifts [PRS] went ahead, but Jacob himself stayed in the camp that night.
22 And he rises in that night, and takes his two wives, and his two maidservants, and his eleven children, and passes over the passage of 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 and he takes them, and causes them to pass over the brook, and he causes that which he has to pass over.
After he had done that, he sent other slaves, carrying all his possessions, across the river.
24 And Jacob is left alone, and One wrestles with him until the ascending of the dawn;
So Jacob was left there alone. But a man came and wrestled with him until dawn.
25 and He sees that He is not able for him, and He comes against the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh is disjointed in his wrestling with Him;
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 and He says, “Send Me away, for the dawn has ascended”: and he says, “I do not send You away, except You have blessed 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 And He says to him, “What [is] your name?” And he says, “Jacob.”
The man said to him, “What is your name?” He replied, “Jacob.”
28 And He says, “Your name is no longer called Jacob, but Israel; for you have reigned with God and with men, and prevail.”
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 And Jacob asks and says, “Please declare Your Name”; and He says, “Why [is] this, you ask for My Name?” And He blesses 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 And Jacob calls the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is delivered”;
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 and the sun rises on him when he has passed over Penuel, and he is halting on 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 sons of Israel do not eat the sinew which shrank, which [is] on the hollow of the thigh, to this day, because He came against the hollow of Jacob’s thigh, against the sinew which shrank.
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.
