Genesis 32
1 As Jacob and his family continued traveling, some angels, whom God sent, met him.
Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s army camp!” So he named that place Mahanaim, [which means ‘two camps’].
When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God.” So he named that place Mahanaim.
3 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.
Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
4 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.
He instructed them, “You are to say to my master Esau, ‘Your servant Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban and have remained there until now.
5 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.’ “
I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, menservants, and maidservants. I have sent this message to inform my master, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”
6 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.”
When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you—he and four hundred men with him.”
7 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.
In great fear and distress, Jacob divided his people into two camps, as well as the flocks and herds and camels.
8 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.”
He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one camp, then the other camp can escape.”
9 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.’
Then Jacob declared, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, the LORD who told me, ‘Go back to your country and to your kindred, and I will make you prosper,’
10 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.
I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, with only my staff I came across the Jordan, but now I have become two camps.
11 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.
Please deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid that he may come and attack me and the mothers and children with me.
12 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.’”
But You have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to count.’”
13 Jacob slept there that night. The next morning he selected some animals to give to his brother Esau.
Jacob spent the night there, and from what he had brought with him, he selected a gift for his brother Esau:
14 He selected 200 female goats and 20 male goats, 200 female sheep and 20 male sheep,
200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams,
15 30 female camels and their offspring, 40 cows and ten bulls, 20 female donkeys and 10 male donkeys.
30 milk camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys.
16 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.”
He entrusted them to his servants in separate herds and told them, “Go on ahead of me, and keep some distance between the herds.”
17 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?’
He instructed the one in the lead, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong, where are you going, and whose animals are these before you?’
18 tell him, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. He has sent them to you as a gift, sir. And he is coming behind us.’”
then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift, sent to my lord Esau. And behold, Jacob is behind us.’”
19 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.
He also instructed the second, the third, and all those following behind the herds: “When you meet Esau, you are to say the same thing to him.
20 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.”
You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” For he thought, “I will appease Esau with the gift that is going before me. After that I can face him, and perhaps he will accept me.”
21 So the men taking the gifts [PRS] went ahead, but Jacob himself stayed in the camp that night.
So Jacob’s gifts went on before him, while he spent the night in the camp.
22 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.
During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
23 After he had done that, he sent other slaves, carrying all his possessions, across the river.
He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his possessions.
24 So Jacob was left there alone. But a man came and wrestled with him until dawn.
So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
25 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.
When the man saw that he could not overpower Jacob, he struck the socket of Jacob’s hip and dislocated it as they wrestled.
26 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!”
Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man said to him, “What is your name?” He replied, “Jacob.”
“What is your name?” the man asked. “Jacob,” he replied.
28 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.”
Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”
29 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.
And Jacob requested, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there.
30 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.”
So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
31 The sun was rising as Jacob left Peniel, and he was limping because of what had happened to his hip.
The sun rose above him as he passed by Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip.
32 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.
Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon which is at the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was struck near that tendon.
