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Genesis 32:1-32

Context
Jacob Wrestles at Peniel

32:1 So Jacob went on his way and the angels of God 1  met him. 32:2 When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, 2  “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim. 3 

32:3 Jacob sent messengers on ahead 4  to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the region 5  of Edom. 32:4 He commanded them, “This is what you must say to my lord Esau: ‘This is what your servant 6  Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban until now. 32:5 I have oxen, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I have sent 7  this message 8  to inform my lord, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”

32:6 The messengers returned to Jacob and said, “We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has four hundred men with him.” 32:7 Jacob was very afraid and upset. So he divided the people who were with him into two camps, as well as the flocks, herds, and camels. 32:8 “If Esau attacks one camp,” 9  he thought, 10  “then the other camp will be able to escape.” 11 

32:9 Then Jacob prayed, 12  “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said 13  to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’ 14  32:10 I am not worthy of all the faithful love 15  you have shown 16  your servant. With only my walking stick 17  I crossed the Jordan, 18  but now I have become two camps. 32:11 Rescue me, 19  I pray, from the hand 20  of my brother Esau, 21  for I am afraid he will come 22  and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children. 23  32:12 But you 24  said, ‘I will certainly make you prosper 25  and will make 26  your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count.’” 27 

32:13 Jacob 28  stayed there that night. Then he sent 29  as a gift 30  to his brother Esau 32:14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 32:15 thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 32:16 He entrusted them to 31  his servants, who divided them into herds. 32  He told his servants, “Pass over before me, and keep some distance between one herd and the next.” 32:17 He instructed the servant leading the first herd, 33  “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong? 34  Where are you going? Whose herds are you driving?’ 35  32:18 then you must say, 36  ‘They belong 37  to your servant Jacob. 38  They have been sent as a gift to my lord Esau. 39  In fact Jacob himself is behind us.’” 40 

32:19 He also gave these instructions to the second and third servants, as well as all those who were following the herds, saying, “You must say the same thing to Esau when you meet him. 41  32:20 You must also say, ‘In fact your servant Jacob is behind us.’” 42  Jacob thought, 43  “I will first appease him 44  by sending a gift ahead of me. 45  After that I will meet him. 46  Perhaps he will accept me.” 47  32:21 So the gifts were sent on ahead of him 48  while he spent that night in the camp. 49 

32:22 During the night Jacob quickly took 50  his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons 51  and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. 52  32:23 He took them and sent them across the stream along with all his possessions. 53  32:24 So Jacob was left alone. Then a man 54  wrestled 55  with him until daybreak. 56  32:25 When the man 57  saw that he could not defeat Jacob, 58  he struck 59  the socket of his hip so the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him.

32:26 Then the man 60  said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” 61  “I will not let you go,” Jacob replied, 62  “unless you bless me.” 63  32:27 The man asked him, 64  “What is your name?” 65  He answered, “Jacob.” 32:28 “No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him, 66  “but Israel, 67  because you have fought 68  with God and with men and have prevailed.”

32:29 Then Jacob asked, “Please tell me your name.” 69  “Why 70  do you ask my name?” the man replied. 71  Then he blessed 72  Jacob 73  there. 32:30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, 74  explaining, 75  “Certainly 76  I have seen God face to face 77  and have survived.” 78 

32:31 The sun rose 79  over him as he crossed over Penuel, 80  but 81  he was limping because of his hip. 32:32 That is why to this day 82  the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck 83  the socket of Jacob’s hip near the attached sinew.

Genesis 6:20

Context
6:20 Of the birds after their kinds, and of the cattle after their kinds, and of every creeping thing of the ground after its kind, two of every kind will come to you so you can keep them alive. 84 

Genesis 6:1

Context
God’s Grief over Humankind’s Wickedness

6:1 When humankind 85  began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born 86  to them, 87 

Genesis 18:17-18

Context
18:17 Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 88  18:18 After all, Abraham 89  will surely become 90  a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth will pronounce blessings on one another 91  using his name.

Genesis 21:20

Context

21:20 God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer.

Genesis 22:8

Context
22:8 “God will provide 92  for himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son,” Abraham replied. The two of them continued on together.

Genesis 22:18

Context
22:18 Because you have obeyed me, 93  all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another 94  using the name of your descendants.’”

Matthew 21:46

Context
21:46 They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, because the crowds 95  regarded him as a prophet.

Acts 24:25

Context
24:25 While Paul 96  was discussing 97  righteousness, self-control, 98  and the coming judgment, Felix 99  became 100  frightened and said, “Go away for now, and when I have an opportunity, 101  I will send for you.”

Revelation 11:5-10

Context
11:5 If 102  anyone wants to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths 103  and completely consumes 104  their enemies. If 105  anyone wants to harm them, they must be killed this way. 11:6 These two have the power 106  to close up the sky so that it does not rain during the time 107  they are prophesying. They 108  have power 109  to turn the waters to blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague whenever they want. 11:7 When 110  they have completed their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will make war on them and conquer 111  them and kill them. 11:8 Their 112  corpses will lie in the street 113  of the great city that is symbolically 114  called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was also crucified. 11:9 For three and a half days those from every 115  people, tribe, 116  nation, and language will look at their corpses, because they will not permit them to be placed in a tomb. 117  11:10 And those who live on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate, even sending gifts to each other, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
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[32:1]  1 sn The phrase angels of God occurs only here and in Gen 28:12 in the OT. Jacob saw a vision of angels just before he left the promised land. Now he encounters angels as he prepares to return to it. The text does not give the details of the encounter, but Jacob’s response suggests it was amicable. This location was a spot where heaven made contact with earth, and where God made his presence known to the patriarch. See C. Houtman, “Jacob at Mahanaim: Some Remarks on Genesis XXXII 2-3,” VT 28 (1978): 37-44.

[32:2]  2 tn Heb “and Jacob said when he saw them.”

[32:2]  3 sn The name Mahanaim apparently means “two camps.” Perhaps the two camps were those of God and of Jacob.

[32:3]  4 tn Heb “before him.”

[32:3]  5 tn Heb “field.”

[32:4]  6 sn Your servant. The narrative recounts Jacob’s groveling in fear before Esau as he calls his brother his “lord,” as if to minimize what had been done twenty years ago.

[32:5]  7 tn Or “I am sending.” The form is a preterite with the vav consecutive; it could be rendered as an English present tense – as the Hebrew perfect/preterite allows – much like an epistolary aorist in Greek. The form assumes the temporal perspective of the one who reads the message.

[32:5]  8 tn The words “this message” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[32:8]  9 tn Heb “If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it.”

[32:8]  10 tn Heb “and he said, ‘If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it.” The Hebrew verb אָמַר (’amar) here represents Jacob’s thought or reasoning, and is therefore translated “he thought.” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[32:8]  11 tn Heb “the surviving camp will be for escape.” The word “escape” is a feminine noun. The term most often refers to refugees from war.

[32:9]  12 tn Heb “said.”

[32:9]  13 tn Heb “the one who said.”

[32:9]  14 tn Heb “I will cause good” or “I will treat well [or “favorably”].” The idea includes more than prosperity, though that is its essential meaning. Here the form is subordinated to the preceding imperative and indicates purpose or result. Jacob is reminding God of his promise in the hope that God will honor his word.

[32:10]  15 tn Heb “the loving deeds and faithfulness” (see 24:27, 49).

[32:10]  16 tn Heb “you have done with.”

[32:10]  17 tn Heb “for with my staff.” The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally translated “staff,” has been rendered as “walking stick” because a “staff” in contemporary English refers typically to the support personnel in an organization.

[32:10]  18 tn Heb “this Jordan.”

[32:11]  19 tn The imperative has the force of a prayer here, not a command.

[32:11]  20 tn The “hand” here is a metonymy for “power.”

[32:11]  21 tn Heb “from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.”

[32:11]  22 tn Heb “for I am afraid of him, lest he come.”

[32:11]  23 sn Heb “me, [the] mother upon [the] sons.” The first person pronoun “me” probably means here “me and mine,” as the following clause suggests.

[32:12]  24 tn Heb “But you, you said.” One of the occurrences of the pronoun “you” has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.

[32:12]  25 tn Or “will certainly deal well with you.” The infinitive absolute appears before the imperfect, underscoring God’s promise to bless. The statement is more emphatic than in v. 9.

[32:12]  26 tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the nuance of the preceding verb forward.

[32:12]  27 tn Heb “which cannot be counted because of abundance.” The imperfect verbal form indicates potential here.

[32:13]  28 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:13]  29 tn Heb “and he took from that which was going into his hand,” meaning that he took some of what belonged to him.

[32:13]  30 sn The Hebrew noun translated gift can in some contexts refer to the tribute paid by a subject to his lord. Such a nuance is possible here, because Jacob refers to Esau as his lord and to himself as Esau’s servant (v. 4).

[32:16]  31 tn Heb “and he put them in the hand of.”

[32:16]  32 tn Heb “a herd, a herd, by itself,” or “each herd by itself.” The distributive sense is expressed by repetition.

[32:17]  33 tn Heb “the first”; this has been specified as “the servant leading the first herd” in the translation for clarity.

[32:17]  34 tn Heb “to whom are you?”

[32:17]  35 tn Heb “and to whom are these before you?”

[32:18]  36 tn The form is the perfect tense with the vav (ו) consecutive; it has the nuance of an imperfect of instruction.

[32:18]  37 tn The words “they belong” have been supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[32:18]  38 tn Heb “to your servant, to Jacob.”

[32:18]  39 tn Heb “to my lord, to Esau.”

[32:18]  40 tn Heb “and look, also he [is] behind us.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:19]  41 tn Heb “And he commanded also the second, also the third, also all the ones going after the herds, saying: ‘According to this word you will speak when you find him.’”

[32:20]  42 tn Heb “and look, your servant Jacob [is] behind us.”

[32:20]  43 tn Heb “for he said.” The referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity. The Hebrew word מַקֵל (maqel), traditionally represents Jacob’s thought or reasoning, and is therefore translated “thought.”

[32:20]  44 tn Heb “I will appease his face.” The cohortative here expresses Jacob’s resolve. In the Book of Leviticus the Hebrew verb translated “appease” has the idea of removing anger due to sin or guilt, a nuance that fits this passage very well. Jacob wanted to buy Esau off with a gift of more than five hundred and fifty animals.

[32:20]  45 tn Heb “with a gift going before me.”

[32:20]  46 tn Heb “I will see his face.”

[32:20]  47 tn Heb “Perhaps he will lift up my face.” In this context the idiom refers to acceptance.

[32:21]  48 tn Heb “and the gift passed over upon his face.”

[32:21]  49 tn The disjunctive clause is circumstantial/temporal.

[32:22]  50 tn Heb “and he arose in that night and he took.” The first verb is adverbial, indicating that he carried out the crossing right away.

[32:22]  51 tn The Hebrew term used here is יֶלֶד (yeled) which typically describes male offspring. Some translations render the term “children” but this is a problem because by this time Jacob had twelve children in all, including one daughter, Dinah, born to Leah (Gen 30:21). Benjamin, his twelfth son and thirteenth child, was not born until later (Gen 35:16-19).

[32:22]  52 sn Hebrew narrative style often includes a summary statement of the whole passage followed by a more detailed report of the event. Here v. 22 is the summary statement, while v. 23 begins the detailed account.

[32:23]  53 tn Heb “and he sent across what he had.”

[32:24]  54 sn Reflecting Jacob’s perspective at the beginning of the encounter, the narrator calls the opponent simply “a man.” Not until later in the struggle does Jacob realize his true identity.

[32:24]  55 sn The verb translated “wrestled” (וַיֵּאָבֵק, vayyeaveq) sounds in Hebrew like the names “Jacob” (יַעֲקֹב, yaaqov) and “Jabbok” (יַבֹּק, yabboq). In this way the narrator links the setting, the main action, and the main participant together in the mind of the reader or hearer.

[32:24]  56 tn Heb “until the rising of the dawn.”

[32:25]  57 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:25]  58 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:25]  59 tn Or “injured”; traditionally “touched.” The Hebrew verb translated “struck” has the primary meanings “to touch; to reach; to strike.” It can, however, carry the connotation “to harm; to molest; to injure.” God’s “touch” cripples Jacob – it would be comparable to a devastating blow.

[32:26]  60 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:26]  61 tn Heb “dawn has arisen.”

[32:26]  62 tn Heb “and he said, ‘I will not let you go.’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[32:26]  63 sn Jacob wrestled with a man thinking him to be a mere man, and on that basis was equal to the task. But when it had gone on long enough, the night visitor touched Jacob and crippled him. Jacob’s request for a blessing can only mean that he now knew that his opponent was supernatural. Contrary to many allegorical interpretations of the passage that make fighting equivalent to prayer, this passage shows that Jacob stopped fighting, and then asked for a blessing.

[32:27]  64 tn Heb “and he said to him.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (the man who wrestled with Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:27]  65 sn What is your name? The question is rhetorical, since the Lord obviously knew Jacob’s identity. But since the Lord is going to change Jacob’s name, this question is designed to bring focus Jacob’s attention on all that his name had come to signify.

[32:28]  66 tn Heb “and he said.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (the man who wrestled with Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[32:28]  67 sn The name Israel is a common construction, using a verb with a theophoric element (אֵל, ’el) that usually indicates the subject of the verb. Here it means “God fights.” This name will replace the name Jacob; it will be both a promise and a call for faith. In essence, the Lord was saying that Jacob would have victory and receive the promises because God would fight for him.

[32:28]  68 sn You have fought. The explanation of the name Israel includes a sound play. In Hebrew the verb translated “you have fought” (שָׂרִיתָ, sarita) sounds like the name “Israel” (יִשְׂרָאֵל, yisrael ), meaning “God fights” (although some interpret the meaning as “he fights [with] God”). The name would evoke the memory of the fight and what it meant. A. Dillmann says that ever after this the name would tell the Israelites that, when Jacob contended successfully with God, he won the battle with man (Genesis, 2:279). To be successful with God meant that he had to be crippled in his own self-sufficiency (A. P. Ross, “Jacob at the Jabboq, Israel at Peniel,” BSac 142 [1985]: 51-62).

[32:29]  69 sn Tell me your name. In primitive thought to know the name of a deity or supernatural being would enable one to use it for magical manipulation or power (A. S. Herbert, Genesis 12-50 [TBC], 108). For a thorough structural analysis of the passage discussing the plays on the names and the request of Jacob, see R. Barthes, “The Struggle with the Angel: Textual Analysis of Genesis 32:23-33,” Structural Analysis and Biblical Exegesis (PTMS), 21-33.

[32:29]  70 tn The question uses the enclitic pronoun “this” to emphasize the import of the question.

[32:29]  71 tn Heb “and he said, ‘Why is it that you ask my name?’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (the man who wrestled with Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[32:29]  72 tn The verb here means that the Lord endowed Jacob with success; he would be successful in everything he did, including meeting Esau.

[32:29]  73 tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:30]  74 sn The name Peniel means “face of God.” Since Jacob saw God face to face here, the name is appropriate.

[32:30]  75 tn The word “explaining” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[32:30]  76 tn Or “because.”

[32:30]  77 sn I have seen God face to face. See the note on the name “Peniel” earlier in the verse.

[32:30]  78 tn Heb “and my soul [= life] has been preserved.”

[32:31]  79 tn Heb “shone.”

[32:31]  80 sn The name is spelled Penuel here, apparently a variant spelling of Peniel (see v. 30).

[32:31]  81 tn The disjunctive clause draws attention to an important fact: He may have crossed the stream, but he was limping.

[32:32]  82 sn On the use of the expression to this day, see B. S. Childs, “A Study of the Formula ‘Until This Day’,” JBL 82 (1963): 279-92.

[32:32]  83 tn Or “because the socket of Jacob’s hip was struck.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive. On the translation of the word “struck” see the note on this term in v. 25.

[6:20]  84 tn Heb “to keep alive.”

[6:1]  85 tn The Hebrew text has the article prefixed to the noun. Here the article indicates the generic use of the word אָדָם (’adam): “humankind.”

[6:1]  86 tn This disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is circumstantial to the initial temporal clause. It could be rendered, “with daughters being born to them.” For another example of such a disjunctive clause following the construction וַיְהִיכִּי (vayÿhiki, “and it came to pass when”), see 2 Sam 7:1.

[6:1]  87 tn The pronominal suffix is third masculine plural, indicating that the antecedent “humankind” is collective.

[18:17]  88 tn The active participle here refers to an action that is imminent.

[18:18]  89 tn Heb “And Abraham.” The disjunctive clause is probably causal, giving a reason why God should not hide his intentions from Abraham. One could translate, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation?”

[18:18]  90 tn The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the finite verb that follows.

[18:18]  91 tn Theoretically the Niphal can be translated either as passive or reflexive/reciprocal. (The Niphal of “bless” is only used in formulations of the Abrahamic covenant. See Gen 12:2; 18:18; 28:14.) Traditionally the verb is taken as passive here, as if Abram were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in later formulations of the Abrahamic covenant (see Gen 22:18; 26:4) the Hitpael replaces this Niphal form, suggesting a translation “will bless [i.e., “pronounce blessings upon”] themselves [or “one another”].” The Hitpael of “bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 18:18 (like 12:2) predicts that Abraham will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11.

[22:8]  92 tn Heb “will see for himself.” The construction means “to look out for; to see to it; to provide.”

[22:18]  93 tn In the Hebrew text this causal clause comes at the end of the sentence. The translation alters the word order for stylistic reasons.

[22:18]  94 tn Traditionally the verb is taken as passive (“will be blessed”) here, as if Abraham’s descendants were going to be a channel or source of blessing to the nations. But the Hitpael is better understood here as reflexive/reciprocal, “will bless [i.e., pronounce blessings on] themselves/one another” (see also Gen 26:4). Elsewhere the Hitpael of the verb “to bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 12:2 predicts that Abram will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11. Earlier formulations of this promise (see Gen 12:2; 18:18) use the Niphal stem. (See also Gen 28:14.)

[21:46]  95 tn Grk “they”; the referent (the crowds) has been specified in the translation for clarity. Both previous occurrences of “they” in this verse refer to the chief priests and the Pharisees.

[24:25]  96 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:25]  97 tn Or “speaking about.”

[24:25]  98 tn Grk “and self-control.” This καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[24:25]  99 sn See the note on Felix in 23:26.

[24:25]  100 tn Grk “becoming.” The participle γενόμενος (genomenos) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[24:25]  101 tn Or “when I find time.” BDAG 639 s.v. μεταλαμβάνω 2 has “καιρὸν μ. have an opportunity = find timeAc 24:25.”

[11:5]  102 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:5]  103 tn This is a collective singular in Greek.

[11:5]  104 tn See L&N 20.45 for the translation of κατεσθίω (katesqiw) as “to destroy utterly, to consume completely.”

[11:5]  105 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:6]  106 tn Or “authority.”

[11:6]  107 tn Grk “the days.”

[11:6]  108 tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:6]  109 tn Or “authority.”

[11:7]  110 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:7]  111 tn Or “be victorious over”; traditionally, “overcome.”

[11:8]  112 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:8]  113 tn The Greek word πλατεῖα (plateia) refers to a major (broad) street (L&N 1.103).

[11:8]  114 tn Grk “spiritually.”

[11:9]  115 tn The word “every” is not in the Greek text, but is implied by the following list.

[11:9]  116 tn The Greek term καί (kai) has not been translated before this and the following items in the list, since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[11:9]  117 tn Or “to be buried.”



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