Genesis 32:24-29

32:24 So Jacob was left alone. Then a man ¹  wrestled ²  with him until daybreak. ³  32:25 When the man ⁴  saw that he could not defeat Jacob, ⁵  he struck ⁶  the socket of his hip so the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him.

32:26 Then the man ⁷  said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” ⁸  “I will not let you go,” Jacob replied, ⁹  “unless you bless me.” ¹⁰  32:27 The man asked him, ¹¹  “What is your name?” ¹²  He answered, “Jacob.” 32:28 “No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him, ¹³  “but Israel, ¹⁴  because you have fought ¹⁵  with God and with men and have prevailed.”

32:29 Then Jacob asked, “Please tell me your name.” ¹⁶  “Why ¹⁷  do you ask my name?” the man replied. ¹⁸  Then he blessed ¹⁹  Jacob ²⁰  there.

Genesis 32:2

32:2 When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, ²¹  “This is the camp of God!” So he named that place Mahanaim. ²² 

Colossians 1:11

1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ²³  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully

Ephesians 6:19

6:19 Pray ²⁴  for me also, that I may be given the message when I begin to speak ²⁵  – that I may confidently make known ²⁶  the mystery of the gospel,

Colossians 2:1

2:1 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you, ²⁷  and for those in Laodicea, and for those who have not met me face to face. ²⁸ 

Colossians 4:12

4:12 Epaphras, who is one of you and a slave ²⁹  of Christ, ³⁰  greets you. He is always struggling in prayer on your behalf, so that you may stand mature and fully assured ³¹  in all the will of God.

Colossians 4:1

4:1 Masters, treat your slaves with justice and fairness, because you know that you also have a master in heaven.

Colossians 1:25

1:25 I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship ³²  from God – given to me for you – in order to complete ³³  the word of God,

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ³⁴  brothers and sisters ³⁵  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ³⁶  from God our Father! ³⁷ 

Colossians 3:1

Exhortations to Seek the Things Above

3:1 Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

[32:24]  ¹ 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]  ² sn The verb translated “wrestled” (וַיֵּאָבֵק, vayye’aveq) sounds in Hebrew like the names “Jacob” (יַעֲקֹב, ya’aqov) 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]  ³ tn Heb “until the rising of the dawn.”

[32:25]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:25]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:26]  ⁸ tn Heb “dawn has arisen.”

[32:26]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ 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]  ¹⁴ 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]  ¹⁵ 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, yisra’el ), 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]  ¹⁶ 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]  ¹⁷ tn The question uses the enclitic pronoun “this” to emphasize the import of the question.

[32:29]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:2]  ²¹ tn Heb “and Jacob said when he saw them.”

[32:2]  ²² sn The name Mahanaim apparently means “two camps.” Perhaps the two camps were those of God and of Jacob.

[1:11]  ²³ tn The expression “for the display of” is an attempt to convey in English the force of the Greek preposition εἰς (eis) in this context.

[6:19]  ²⁴ tn To avoid a lengthy, convoluted sentence in English, the Greek sentence was broken up at this point and the verb “pray” was inserted in the English translation to pick up the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseuxomenoi, “praying”) in v. 18.

[6:19]  ²⁵ tn Grk “that a word may be given to me in the opening of my mouth.” Here “word” (λόγος, logo") is used in the sense of “message.”

[6:19]  ²⁶ tn The infinitive γνωρίσαι (gnwrisai, “to make known”) is functioning epexegetically to further explain what the author means by the preceding phrase “that I may be given the message when I begin to speak.”

[2:1]  ²⁷ tn Or “I want you to know how hard I am working for you…”

[2:1]  ²⁸ tn Grk “as many as have not seen my face in the flesh.”

[4:12]  ²⁹ tn See the note on “fellow slave” in 1:7.

[4:12]  ³⁰ tc ‡ Strong Alexandrian testimony, along with some other witnesses, suggests that ᾿Ιησοῦ (Ihsou, “Jesus”) follows Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “Christ”; so א A B C I L 0278 33 81 365 629 1175 2464 al lat), but the evidence for the shorter reading is diverse (Ì⁴⁶ D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï it sy Hier), cutting across all major texttypes. There can be little motivation for omitting the name of Jesus; hence, the shorter reading is judged to be original. NA²⁷ has ᾿Ιησοῦ in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity.

[4:12]  ³¹ tn Or “filled.”

[1:25]  ³² tn BDAG 697 s.v. οἰκονομία 1.b renders the term here as “divine office.”

[1:25]  ³³ tn See BDAG 828 s.v. πληρόω 3. The idea here seems to be that the apostle wants to “complete the word of God” in that he wants to preach it to every person in the known world (cf. Rom 15:19). See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 82.

[1:2]  ³⁴ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ³⁵ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ³⁶ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ³⁷ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.