Genesis 32:7-12

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,” ¹  he thought, ²  “then the other camp will be able to escape.” ³ 

32:9 Then Jacob prayed, ⁴  “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said ⁵  to me, ‘Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.’ ⁶  32:10 I am not worthy of all the faithful love ⁷  you have shown ⁸  your servant. With only my walking stick ⁹  I crossed the Jordan, ¹⁰  but now I have become two camps. 32:11 Rescue me, ¹¹  I pray, from the hand ¹²  of my brother Esau, ¹³  for I am afraid he will come ¹⁴  and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children. ¹⁵  32:12 But you ¹⁶  said, ‘I will certainly make you prosper ¹⁷  and will make ¹⁸  your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count.’” ¹⁹ 

Genesis 32:24-28

32:24 So Jacob was left alone. Then a man ²⁰  wrestled ²¹  with him until daybreak. ²²  32:25 When the man ²³  saw that he could not defeat Jacob, ²⁴  he struck ²⁵  the socket of his hip so the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him.

32:26 Then the man ²⁶  said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” ²⁷  “I will not let you go,” Jacob replied, ²⁸  “unless you bless me.” ²⁹  32:27 The man asked him, ³⁰  “What is your name?” ³¹  He answered, “Jacob.” 32:28 “No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him, ³²  “but Israel, ³³  because you have fought ³⁴  with God and with men and have prevailed.”

Genesis 32:1

Jacob Wrestles at Peniel

32:1 So Jacob went on his way and the angels of God ³⁵  met him.

Genesis 30:6

30:6 Then Rachel said, “God has vindicated me. He has responded to my prayer ³⁶  and given me a son.” That is why ³⁷  she named him Dan. ³⁸ 

Psalms 4:1

Psalm 4 ³⁹ 

For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a psalm of David.

4:1 When I call out, answer me,

O God who vindicates me! ⁴⁰ 

Though I am hemmed in, you will lead me into a wide, open place. ⁴¹ 

Have mercy on me ⁴²  and respond to ⁴³  my prayer!

Psalms 18:4-6

18:4 The waves ⁴⁴  of death engulfed me,

the currents ⁴⁵  of chaos ⁴⁶  overwhelmed me. ⁴⁷ 

18:5 The ropes of Sheol tightened around me, ⁴⁸ 

the snares of death trapped me. ⁴⁹ 

18:6 In my distress I called to the Lord;

I cried out to my God. ⁵⁰ 

From his heavenly temple ⁵¹  he heard my voice;

he listened to my cry for help. ⁵² 

Psalms 22:24

22:24 For he did not despise or detest the suffering ⁵³  of the oppressed; ⁵⁴ 

he did not ignore him; ⁵⁵ 

when he cried out to him, he responded. ⁵⁶ 

Psalms 34:6

34:6 This oppressed man cried out and the Lord heard;

he saved him ⁵⁷  from all his troubles.

Psalms 65:2

65:2 You hear prayers; ⁵⁸ 

all people approach you. ⁵⁹ 

Psalms 120:1

Psalm 120 ⁶⁰ 

A song of ascents. ⁶¹ 

120:1 In my distress I cried out

to the Lord and he answered me.

Psalms 142:1-3

Psalm 142 ⁶² 

A well-written song ⁶³  by David, when he was in the cave; ⁶⁴  a prayer.

142:1 To the Lord I cry out; ⁶⁵ 

to the Lord I plead for mercy. ⁶⁶ 

142:2 I pour out my lament before him;

I tell him about ⁶⁷  my troubles.

142:3 Even when my strength leaves me, ⁶⁸ 

you watch my footsteps. ⁶⁹ 

In the path where I walk

they have hidden a trap for me.

Luke 22:44

22:44 And in his anguish ⁷⁰  he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.] ⁷¹ 

Hebrews 5:7

5:7 During his earthly life ⁷²  Christ ⁷³  offered ⁷⁴  both requests and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his devotion.

[32:8]  ¹ tn Heb “If Esau comes to one camp and attacks it.”

[32:8]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ¹ tn Heb “said.”

[32:9]  ² tn Heb “the one who said.”

[32:9]  ³ 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]  ¹ tn Heb “the loving deeds and faithfulness” (see 24:27, 49).

[32:10]  ² tn Heb “you have done with.”

[32:10]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Heb “this Jordan.”

[32:11]  ¹ tn The imperative has the force of a prayer here, not a command.

[32:11]  ² tn The “hand” here is a metonymy for “power.”

[32:11]  ³ tn Heb “from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.”

[32:11]  ⁴ tn Heb “for I am afraid of him, lest he come.”

[32:11]  ⁵ 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]  ¹ tn Heb “But you, you said.” One of the occurrences of the pronoun “you” has been left untranslated for stylistic reasons.

[32:12]  ² 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]  ³ tn The form is the perfect tense with a vav (ו) consecutive, carrying the nuance of the preceding verb forward.

[32:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “which cannot be counted because of abundance.” The imperfect verbal form indicates potential here.

[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]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:25]  ² tn Heb “him”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:25]  ³ 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]  ¹ tn Heb “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[32:26]  ² tn Heb “dawn has arisen.”

[32:26]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ¹ 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]  ² 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]  ³ 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).

[32:1]  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.

[30:6]  ¹ tn Heb “and also he has heard my voice.” The expression means that God responded positively to Rachel’s cry and granted her request.

[30:6]  ² tn Or “therefore.”

[30:6]  ³ sn The name Dan means “he vindicated” or “he judged.” The name plays on the verb used in the statement which appears earlier in the verse. The verb translated “vindicated” is from דִּין (din, “to judge, to vindicate”), the same verbal root from which the name is derived. Rachel sensed that God was righting the wrong.

[4:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 4. The psalmist asks God to hear his prayer, expresses his confidence that the Lord will intervene, and urges his enemies to change their ways and place their trust in God. He concludes with another prayer for divine intervention and again affirms his absolute confidence in God’s protection.

[4:1]  ² tn Heb “God of my righteousness.”

[4:1]  ³ tn Heb “in distress (or “a narrow place”) you make (a place) large for me.” The function of the Hebrew perfect verbal form here is uncertain. The translation above assumes that the psalmist is expressing his certitude and confidence that God will intervene. The psalmist is so confident of God’s positive response to his prayer, he can describe God’s deliverance as if it had already happened. Such confidence is consistent with the mood of the psalm (vv. 3, 8). Another option is to take the perfects as precative, expressing a wish or request (“lead me”). See IBHS 494-95 §30.5.4c, d. However, not all grammarians are convinced that the perfect is used as a precative in biblical Hebrew.

[4:1]  ⁴ tn Or “show me favor.”

[4:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “hear.”

[18:4]  ¹ tc Ps 18:4 reads “ropes,” while 2 Sam 22:5 reads “waves.” The reading of the psalm has been influenced by the next verse (note “ropes of Sheol”) and perhaps also by Ps 116:3 (where “ropes of death” appears, as here, with the verb אָפַף, ’afaf). However, the parallelism of v. 4 (note “currents” in the next line) favors the reading “waves.” While the verb אָפַף is used with “ropes” as subject in Ps 116:3, it can also be used with engulfing “waters” as subject (see Jonah 2:5). Death is compared to surging waters in v. 4 and to a hunter in v. 5.

[18:4]  ² tn The Hebrew noun נַחַל (nakhal) usually refers to a river or stream, but in this context the plural form likely refers to the currents of the sea (see vv. 15-16).

[18:4]  ³ tn The noun בְלִיַּעַל (vÿliyya’al) is used here as an epithet for death. Elsewhere it is a common noun meaning “wickedness, uselessness.” It is often associated with rebellion against authority and other crimes that result in societal disorder and anarchy. The phrase “man/son of wickedness” refers to one who opposes God and the order he has established. The term becomes an appropriate title for death, which, through human forces, launches an attack against God’s chosen servant.

[18:4]  ⁴ tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. (Note the perfect verbal form in the parallel/preceding line.) The verb בָּעַת (ba’at) sometimes by metonymy carries the nuance “frighten,” but the parallelism (see “engulfed”) favors the meaning “overwhelm” here.

[18:5]  ¹ tn Heb “surrounded me.”

[18:5]  ² tn Heb “confronted me.”

[18:6]  ¹ tn In this poetic narrative context the four prefixed verbal forms in v. 6 are best understood as preterites indicating past tense, not imperfects.

[18:6]  ² tn Heb “from his temple.” Verse 10, which pictures God descending from the sky, indicates that the heavenly temple is in view, not the earthly one.

[18:6]  ³ tc Heb “and my cry for help before him came into his ears.” 2 Sam 22:7 has a shorter reading, “my cry for help, in his ears.” It is likely that Ps 18:6 MT as it now stands represents a conflation of two readings: (1) “my cry for help came before him,” (2) “my cry for help came into his ears.” See F. M. Cross and D. N. Freedman, Studies in Ancient Yahwistic Poetry (SBLDS), 144, n. 13.

[22:24]  ¹ tn Or “affliction”; or “need.”

[22:24]  ² sn In this verse the psalmist refers to himself in the third person and characterizes himself as oppressed.

[22:24]  ³ tn Heb “he did not hide his face from him.” For other uses of the idiom “hide the face” meaning “ignore,” see Pss 10:11; 13:1; 51:9. Sometimes the idiom carries the stronger idea of “reject” (see Pss 27:9; 88:14).

[22:24]  ⁴ tn Heb “heard.”

[34:6]  ¹ tn The pronoun refers back to “this oppressed man,” namely, the psalmist.

[65:2]  ¹ tn Heb “O one who hears prayer.”

[65:2]  ² tn Heb “to you all flesh comes.”

[120:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 120. The genre and structure of this psalm are uncertain. It begins like a thanksgiving psalm, with a brief notice that God has heard the psalmist’s prayer for help and has intervened. But v. 2 is a petition for help, followed by a taunt directed toward enemies (vv. 3-4) and a lament (vv. 5-7). Perhaps vv. 2-7 recall the psalmist’s prayer when he cried out to the Lord.

[120:1]  ² sn The precise significance of this title, which appears in Pss 120-134, is unclear. Perhaps worshipers recited these psalms when they ascended the road to Jerusalem to celebrate annual religious festivals. For a discussion of their background see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 219-21.

[142:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 142. The psalmist laments his persecuted state and asks the Lord to deliver him from his enemies.

[142:1]  ² tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.

[142:1]  ³ sn According to the superscription, David wrote this psalm while in “the cave.” This probably refers to either the incident recorded in 1 Sam 22:1 or to the one recorded in 1 Sam 24:3. See the superscription of Ps 57.

[142:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “[with] my voice to the Lord I cry out.”

[142:1]  ⁵ tn Heb “[with] my voice to the Lord I plead for mercy.”

[142:2]  ¹ tn Heb “my trouble before him I declare.”

[142:3]  ¹ tn Heb “my spirit grows faint.”

[142:3]  ² tn Heb “you know my path.”

[22:44]  ¹ tn Grk “And being in anguish.”

[22:44]  ² tc Several important Greek mss (Ì⁷⁵ א¹ A B N T W 579 1071*) along with diverse and widespread versional witnesses lack 22:43-44. In addition, the verses are placed after Matt 26:39 by ˹³. Floating texts typically suggest both spuriousness and early scribal impulses to regard the verses as historically authentic. These verses are included in א*^,2 D L Θ Ψ 0171 ˹ Ï lat Ju Ir Hipp Eus. However, a number of mss mark the text with an asterisk or obelisk, indicating the scribe’s assessment of the verses as inauthentic. At the same time, these verses generally fit Luke’s style. Arguments can be given on both sides about whether scribes would tend to include or omit such comments about Jesus’ humanity and an angel’s help. But even if the verses are not literarily authentic, they are probably historically authentic. This is due to the fact that this text was well known in several different locales from a very early period. Since there are no synoptic parallels to this account and since there is no obvious reason for adding these words here, it is very likely that such verses recount a part of the actual suffering of our Lord. Nevertheless, because of the serious doubts as to these verses’ authenticity, they have been put in brackets. For an important discussion of this problem, see B. D. Ehrman and M. A. Plunkett, “The Angel and the Agony: The Textual Problem of Luke 22:43-44,” CBQ 45 (1983): 401-16.

[5:7]  ¹ tn Grk “in the days of his flesh.”

[5:7]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[5:7]  ³ tn Grk “who…having offered,” continuing the description of Christ from Heb 5:5-6.