Genesis 32:1-2

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 

Zechariah 9:8

9:8 Then I will surround my temple 4  to protect it like a guard 5  from anyone crossing back and forth; so no one will cross over against them anymore as an oppressor, for now I myself have seen it.

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.

2 tn Heb “and Jacob said when he saw them.”

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

4 tn Heb “house” (so NAB, NIV, NRSV).

5 tn Though a hapax legomenon, the מִצָּבָה (mitsavah) of the MT (from נָצַב, natsav, “take a stand”) is preferable to the suggestion מַצֵּבָה (matsevah, “pillar”) or even מִצָּבָא (mitsava’, “from” or “against the army”). The context favors the idea of the Lord as a protector.