Genesis 32:1-10

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.

[32:1]  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.”