Text -- Genesis 32:30-32 (NET)

32:30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, explaining, “Certainly I have seen God face to face and have survived.” 32:31 The sun rose over him as he crossed over Penuel, but he was limping because of his hip. 32:32 That is why to this day the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck the socket of Jacob’s hip near the attached sinew.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Gen 32:30

¹ sn The name Peniel means “face of God.” Since Jacob saw God face to face here, the name is appropriate.

² tn The word “explaining” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

³ tn Or “because.”

⁴ sn I have seen God face to face. See the note on the name “Peniel” earlier in the verse.

⁵ tn Heb “and my soul [= life] has been preserved.”

sn I have survived. It was commonly understood that no one could see God and live (Gen 48:16; Exod 19:21, 24:10; and Judg 6:11, 22). On the surface Jacob seems to be saying that he saw God and survived. But the statement may have a double meaning, in light of his prayer for deliverance in v. 11. Jacob recognizes that he has survived his encounter with God and that his safety has now been guaranteed.

NET Notes: Gen 32:31

¹ tn Heb “shone.”

² sn The name is spelled Penuel here, apparently a variant spelling of Peniel (see v. 30).

³ tn The disjunctive clause draws attention to an important fact: He may have crossed the stream, but he was limping.

NET Notes: Gen 32:32

¹ 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.

² 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.