Genesis 32:25-28

32:25 When the man ¹  saw that he could not defeat Jacob, ²  he struck ³  the socket of his hip so the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him.

32:26 Then the man ⁴  said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” ⁵  “I will not let you go,” Jacob replied, ⁶  “unless you bless me.” ⁷  32:27 The man asked him, ⁸  “What is your name?” ⁹  He answered, “Jacob.” 32:28 “No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him, ¹⁰  “but Israel, ¹¹  because you have fought ¹²  with God and with men and have prevailed.”

Exodus 32:10

32:10 So now, leave me alone ¹³  so that my anger can burn against them and I can destroy them, and I will make from you a great nation.”

Deuteronomy 9:14

9:14 Stand aside ¹⁴  and I will destroy them, obliterating their very name from memory, ¹⁵  and I will make you into a stronger and more numerous nation than they are.”

Psalms 91:1-10

Psalm 91 ¹⁶ 

91:1 As for you, the one who lives ¹⁷  in the shelter of the sovereign One, ¹⁸ 

and resides in the protective shadow ¹⁹  of the mighty king ²⁰  –

91:2 I say this about the Lord, my shelter and my stronghold,

my God in whom I trust –

91:3 he will certainly rescue you from the snare of the hunter ²¹ 

and from the destructive plague.

91:4 He will shelter you ²²  with his wings; ²³ 

you will find safety under his wings.

His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall. ²⁴ 

91:5 You need not fear the terrors of the night, ²⁵ 

the arrow that flies by day,

91:6 the plague that comes in the darkness,

or the disease that comes at noon. ²⁶ 

91:7 Though a thousand may fall beside you,

and a multitude on your right side,

it ²⁷  will not reach you.

91:8 Certainly you will see it with your very own eyes –

you will see the wicked paid back. ²⁸ 

91:9 For you have taken refuge in the Lord,

my shelter, the sovereign One. ²⁹ 

91:10 No harm will overtake ³⁰  you;

no illness ³¹  will come near your home. ³² 

Isaiah 65:8

65:8 This is what the Lord says:

“When ³³  juice is discovered in a cluster of grapes,

someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for it contains juice.’ ³⁴ 

So I will do for the sake of my servants –

I will not destroy everyone. ³⁵ 

Mark 6:5

6:5 He was not able to do a miracle there, except to lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.

Mark 6:2

6:2 When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue. ³⁶  Many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did he get these ideas? ³⁷  And what is this wisdom that has been given to him? What are these miracles that are done through his hands?

Mark 2:13

The Call of Levi; Eating with Sinners

2:13 Jesus ³⁸  went out again by the sea. The whole crowd came to him, and he taught them.

Titus 1:2

1:2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the ages began. ³⁹ 

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

[32:26]  ⁵ tn Heb “dawn has arisen.”

[32:26]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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).

[32:10]  ¹³ tn The imperative, from the word “to rest” (נוּחַ, nuakh), has the sense of “leave me alone, let me be.” It is a directive for Moses not to intercede for the people. B. S. Childs (Exodus [OTL], 567) reflects the Jewish interpretation that there is a profound paradox in God’s words. He vows the severest punishment but then suddenly conditions it on Moses’ agreement. “Let me alone that I may consume them” is the statement, but the effect is that he has left the door open for intercession. He allows himself to be persuaded – that is what a mediator is for. God could have slammed the door (as when Moses wanted to go into the promised land). Moreover, by alluding to the promise to Abraham God gave Moses the strongest reason to intercede.

[9:14]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “leave me alone.”

[9:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “from under heaven.”

[91:1]  ¹⁶ sn Psalm 91. In this psalm an individual (perhaps a priest) addresses one who has sought shelter in the Lord and assures him that God will protect him from danger (vv. 1-13). In vv. 14-16 God himself promises to keep his loyal follower safe.

[91:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “[O] one who lives.”

[91:1]  ¹⁸ tn Traditionally “the Most High.”

[91:1]  ¹⁹ sn The Lord is compared here to a bird who protects its young under the shadow of its wings (see v. 4).

[91:1]  ²⁰ sn The divine name used here is “Shaddai” (שַׁדַּי, shadday; see also Ps 68:14). Shaddai (or El Shaddai) is the mighty king (sovereign judge) of the world who grants life/blesses and kills/judges. In Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness.

[91:3]  ²¹ tn The word refers specifically to a fowler (or hunter of birds).

[91:4]  ²² tn Heb “put a cover over you” (see Ps 5:11).

[91:4]  ²³ tc The Hebrew text has the singular, but the plural should be read. The final yod (י) of the suffix, which indicates the plural, has dropped off by haplography (note the yod [י] at the beginning of the next word).

[91:4]  ²⁴ tn Traditionally the Hebrew term סֹחֵרָה (sokherah), which occurs only here in the OT, has been understood to refer to a buckler or small shield (see BDB 695 s.v.). But HALOT 750 s.v., on the basis of evidence from the cognate languages, proposes the meaning “wall.”

[91:5]  ²⁵ tn This probably alludes to a sneak attack by enemies in the darkness of night (see Song 3:8).

[91:6]  ²⁶ sn As in Deut 32:23-24, vv. 5-6 closely associate military attack and deadly disease. Perhaps the latter alludes to one of the effects of siege warfare on the population of an entrapped city, which was especially vulnerable to the outbreak of epidemics.

[91:7]  ²⁷ tn Apparently the deadly disease mentioned in v. 6b is the understood subject here.

[91:8]  ²⁸ tn Heb “retribution on the wicked.”

[91:9]  ²⁹ tn Heb “for you, the Lord, my shelter, the Most High, you have made your dwelling place.”

[91:10]  ³⁰ tn Or “confront.”

[91:10]  ³¹ tn For this sense of the Hebrew term נגע see Ps 38:11.

[91:10]  ³² tn Heb “your tent.”

[65:8]  ³³ tn Heb “just as.” In the Hebrew text the statement is one long sentence, “Just as…, so I will do….”

[65:8]  ³⁴ tn Heb “for a blessing is in it.”

[65:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “by not destroying everyone.”

[6:2]  ³⁶ sn See the note on synagogue in 1:21. Jesus undoubtedly took the opportunity on this occasion to speak about his person and mission, and the relation of both to OT fulfillment.

[6:2]  ³⁷ tn Or “this teaching”; Grk “these things.” The response of the people centers upon the content of Jesus’ teaching, so the phrase “these ideas” was supplied in the text to make this clear.

[2:13]  ³⁸ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:2]  ³⁹ tn Grk “before eternal ages.”