The Fallible · Synthetic · Study Bible

Genesis32:22–32

Jacob Wrestles with God

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Generated by AI. It can be wrong, and it has no authority. Every note here is fallible commentary — never the Word itself. Public-domain sources are quoted and named; machine synthesis is marked and meant to be checked. Weigh all of it against Scripture. “They received the word with all readiness… and searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” — Acts 17:11
✦ Public-domain source — quoted & attributed⚙ AI synthesis — generated, verify

Genesis 32:22–32 — Jacob Wrestles with God. Each verse below carries the full apparatus: the Berean Standard Bible, the vocalized original (tap any word), and a parsed breakdown of every term transcribed from the interlinear. Synthesized commentary, canonical threads, and the reading of Christ gather at the end, over the whole unit.

22“During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two ma…”+

22During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

bal·lay·lāh hū way·yā·qām way·yiq·qaḥ ’eṯ- šə·tê nā·šāw wə·’eṯ- šə·tê šip̄·ḥō·ṯāw wə·’eṯ- ’a·ḥaḏ ‘ā·śār yə·lā·ḏāw way·ya·‘ă·ḇōr ’êṯ ma·‘ă·ḇar yab·bōq

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-in-the-night (bal·lay·lāh) — he — and-he-arose (way·yā·qām) and-he-took (way·yiq·qaḥ) his-two wives, and-his-two maidservants, and-his-eleven (’a·ḥaḏ ‘ā·śār — ‘one-ten’) children (yə·lā·ḏāw), and-he-crossed-over (way·ya·‘ă·ḇōr) the-ford of-the-Jabbok (yab·bōq).”

Where the English smooths the original

  • בַּלַּ֣יְלָה BSB’s smooth “During the night” renders the bare prepositional phrase בַּלַּ֣יְלָה ה֗וּא — literally “in the night — he.” The isolated pronoun ה֗וּא (hū, “he himself”) is left untranslated by BSB; the Hebrew foregrounds Jacob alone acting in the dark, the same darkness that will define the whole episode until daybreak (v. 24).
  • יְלָדָ֑יו BSB reads “eleven sons,” but the noun is יְלָדָ֑יו (yə·lā·ḏāw, from yeled, H3206), “children / those born,” not the specific word for sons (bānîm). Poole and Gill both note that Dinah, the daughter, is silently “comprehended under” the count, so the eleven named are sons but the term is the broader offspring.
  • מַעֲבַ֥ר The English “the ford of the Jabbok” obscures a deliberate Hebrew echo: מַעֲבַ֥ר יַבֹּֽק (ma·‘ă·ḇar yab·bōq). The crossing-place noun maʻăbâr (H4569) and the river-name Yabbôq (H2999) both sound off the verb ‘âbar, “to cross over,” which governs the verse — the place is named for the act, and the act is named for the place.
Word by word18 · parsed+
בַּלַּ֣יְלָהbal·lay·lāhDuring the nightH3915
√ layil — properly, a twist (away of the light), iPreposition-b, ArticleNounmasculine singular
בַּלַּ֣יְלָה — bal·lay·lāh, “in the night” (layil, H3915). Strong’s notes the root is properly “a twist (away of the light)” — the darkness in which the wrestling will occur is built into the very word for night.
ה֗וּאhū. . .H1931
√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)Pronounthird person masculine singular
ה֗וּא — hū, the third-person pronoun standing emphatically alone, “he himself.” BSB drops it; in Hebrew it isolates Jacob as the lone agent before the family-crossing.
וַיָּ֣קָם׀way·yā·qāmJacob got upH6965
√ qûwm — to rise (in various applications, literal, figurative, intensive and causative)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
וַיִּקַּ֞חway·yiq·qaḥand tookH3947
√ lâqach — to take (in the widest variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
שְׁתֵּ֤יšə·têhis twoH8147
√ shᵉnayim — twoNumberfeminine dual construct
נָשָׁיו֙nā·šāwwivesH802
√ ʼishshâh — a womanNounfeminine plural constructthird person masculine singular
וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker
שְׁתֵּ֣יšə·têhis twoH8147
√ shᵉnayim — twoNumberfeminine dual construct
שִׁפְחֹתָ֔יוšip̄·ḥō·ṯāwmaidservantsH8198
√ shiphchâh — a female slave (as a member of the household)Nounfeminine plural constructthird person masculine singular
וְאֶת־wə·’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Conjunctive wawDirect object marker
אַחַ֥ד’a·ḥaḏand his elevenH259
√ ʼechâd — properly, united, iNumbermasculine singular construct
עָשָׂ֖ר‘ā·śār. . .H6240
√ ʻâsâr — ten (only in combination), iNumbermasculine singular
יְלָדָ֑יוyə·lā·ḏāwsonsH3206
√ yeled — something born, iNounmasculine plural constructthird person masculine singular
וַֽיַּעֲבֹ֔רway·ya·‘ă·ḇōrand crossedH5674
√ ʻâbar — to cross overConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
וַֽיַּעֲבֹ֔ר — way·ya·‘ă·ḇōr, Qal of ‘âbar (H5674), “he crossed over.” The same verb recurs in the Hiphil in v. 23 (he caused them to cross) and once more in v. 31 (he passed Penuel). Crossing frames the whole pericope: he crosses the river to wrestle, then crosses out limping.
אֵ֖ת’êṯH853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
מַעֲבַ֥רma·‘ă·ḇarthe fordH4569
√ maʻăbâr — a crossing-place (of a river, a fordNounmasculine singular construct
מַעֲבַ֥ר — ma·‘ă·ḇar (H4569), “a ford, crossing-place.” JFB measures it at “ten yards wide”; Tristram (cited by Ellicott) that the water reached his horse’s girths — a real, difficult crossing, not a symbol only.
יַבֹּֽק׃yab·bōqof the JabbokH2999
√ Yabbôq — Jabbok, a river east of the JordanNounproperfeminine singular
יַבֹּֽק — yab·bōq (H2999), the Jabbok, the modern Wadi Zerqa (“blue torrent”). Keil & Delitzsch note the deep rocky valley marked the boundary between the kingdoms of Sihon and Og — Jacob stands at a frontier, geographic and spiritual.
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Cambridge Bible for Schools and CollegesCommentary1880s
This passage forms the climax of Jacob’s history. It records the occasion on which his name is changed to Israel, and describes his personal meeting with the Divine Being, whose blessing he obtains.
Cambridge frames the whole unit at its opening verse.
✦Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871
Unable to sleep, Jacob waded the ford in the night time by himself; and having ascertained its safety, he returned to the north bank and sent over his family and attendants, remaining behind, to seek anew, in silent prayer, the divine blessing on the means he had set in motion.
✦Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685
His eleven sons, and Dinah, though she be not here mentioned; as the women are oft omitted in Scripture, was being comprehended under the men.
Poole accounts for the daughter the count leaves out.
23“He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his…”+

23He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his possessions.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yiq·qā·ḥêm way·ya·‘ă·ḇi·rêm ’eṯ- han·nā·ḥal way·ya·‘ă·ḇêr ’eṯ- ’ă·šer- lō

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-he-took-them (way·yiq·qā·ḥêm) and-he-caused-them-to-cross (way·ya·‘ă·ḇi·rêm) the-stream (han·nā·ḥal), and-he-sent-across that which was his (’ă·šer-lō).”

Where the English smooths the original

  • וַיַּֽעֲבִרֵ֖ם BSB’s “sent them across” flattens a precise causative. The verb shifts from Jacob’s own crossing in v. 22 (וַֽיַּעֲבֹ֔ר, Qal, he crossed) to וַיַּֽעֲבִרֵ֖ם (way·ya·‘ă·ḇi·rêm, Hiphil, he made-them-cross): he does not merely go across, he conducts every soul and beast across, then stays behind alone.
  • הַנָּ֑חַל BSB renders “the stream,” but הַנָּ֑חַל (han·nā·ḥal, H5158) is the wadi — Ellicott insists “Really, the ravine or valley.” Cambridge ties it to the same word for the Jabbok in Deuteronomy 3:16 and Joshua 12:2. The English “stream” misses the deep torrent-cut valley that becomes the lonely arena of the struggle.
  • אֲשֶׁר־ל֔וֹ The summarizing phrase אֲשֶׁר־ל֔וֹ (’ă·šer-lō, “that which was to/for him”) is rendered “all his possessions” — accurate in sense, but the Hebrew is barer: everything that was his goes over the water ahead of him. Jacob strips himself of every encumbrance before the night meeting.
Word by word8 · parsed+
וַיִּקָּחֵ֔םway·yiq·qā·ḥêmHe took themH3947
√ lâqach — to take (in the widest variety of applications)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine plural
וַיַּֽעֲבִרֵ֖םway·ya·‘ă·ḇi·rêmand sent them acrossH5674
√ ʻâbar — to cross overConjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singularthird person masculine plural
וַיַּֽעֲבִרֵ֖ם — way·ya·‘ă·ḇi·rêm, Hiphil of ‘âbar (H5674) with 3mp suffix, “he caused them to cross over.” The causative stem marks Jacob as shepherd-conductor of the whole company.
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
הַנָּ֑חַלhan·nā·ḥalthe streamH5158
√ nachal — a stream, especially a winter torrentArticleNounmasculine singular
הַנָּ֑חַל — han·nā·ḥal (H5158), “stream, winter-torrent, wadi.” The most common stop-class topographical word; here it names the Jabbok ravine specifically (cf. v. 22).
וַֽיַּעֲבֵ֖רway·ya·‘ă·ḇêr. . .H5674
√ ʻâbar — to cross overConjunctive wawVerbHifilConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
אֲשֶׁר־’ă·šer-along with all his possessionsH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
אֲשֶׁר־ — ’ă·šer (H834), the relative particle, “that which.” One small clause carries the whole of Jacob’s estate over the ford.
לוֹ׃lō
Prepositionthird person masculine singular
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878
Staying himself to the very last, he is left alone on the south side of the torrent, but still in the ravine, across which the rest had taken their way.
Ellicott on the geography that leaves Jacob deliberately alone.
✦Cambridge Bible for Schools and CollegesCommentary1880s
The Jabbok is called a “stream” ( naḥal ) in Deuteronomy 3:16 ; Joshua 12:2 .
✦John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63
And he took them, and sent them over the brook,.... His wives and children, under the care of some of his servants: and sent over that he had: all that belonged to him, his servants and his cattle or goods.
24“So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him u…”+

24So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ya·‘ă·qōḇ way·yiw·wā·ṯêr lə·ḇad·dōw ’îš way·yê·’ā·ḇêq ‘im·mōw ‘aḏ ‘ă·lō·wṯ haš·šā·ḥar

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-Jacob (ya·‘ă·qōḇ) was-left (way·yiw·wā·ṯêr) to-his-aloneness (lə·ḇad·dōw), and-a-man (’îš) wrestled (way·yê·’ā·ḇêq) with-him until the-going-up of the-dawn (‘ă·lō·wṯ haš·šā·ḥar).”

Where the English smooths the original

  • וַיֵּאָבֵ֥ק BSB’s “wrestled” is right but loses a buried pun. The verb וַיֵּאָבֵ֥ק (way·yê·’ā·ḇêq, from ’âbaq, H79) occurs only here and v. 25 in all Scripture; Ellicott says it “was chosen because of its resemblance to the name Jabbok” — ye’abeq at the Yabboq. Strong’s links it to dust: wrestlers raise dust, or rub themselves with it.
  • אִישׁ֙ The flat “a man” for אִישׁ֙ (’îš, H376) is exactly what the narrator wrote — and the restraint is the point. Hosea 12:4 calls him an angel; v. 30 has Jacob name him God. The text deliberately begins at the level of the senses, “a man,” and lets the identity rise like the dawn it races.
  • לְבַדּ֑וֹ BSB “all alone” renders לְבַדּ֑וֹ (lə·ḇad·dōw, from bad, H905, “separation”) — literally “to his separateness.” Jacob has just sent everything that was his across (v. 23); the word marks the total stripping-away that precedes the encounter.
Word by word9 · parsed+
יַעֲקֹ֖בya·‘ă·qōḇSo JacobH3290
√ Yaʻăqôb — Jaakob, the Israelitish patriarchNounpropermasculine singular
וַיִּוָּתֵ֥רway·yiw·wā·ṯêrwas leftH3498
√ yâthar — to jut over or exceedConjunctive wawVerbNifalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
וַיִּוָּתֵ֥ר — way·yiw·wā·ṯêr, Niphal of yâthar (H3498), “was left over, remained.” A passive: Jacob does not choose solitude so much as find himself left in it, the last one on the wrong bank.
לְבַדּ֑וֹlə·ḇad·dōwall aloneH905
√ bad — properly, separationPreposition-lNounmasculine singular constructthird person masculine singular
אִישׁ֙’îšand [there] a manH376
√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personNounmasculine singular
אִישׁ֙ — ’îš (H376), “a man.” The narrator’s reticence is theological: identification is withheld so the reader, like Jacob, must wrestle toward it.
וַיֵּאָבֵ֥קway·yê·’ā·ḇêqwrestledH79
√ ʼâbaq — to bedust, iConjunctive wawVerbNifalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
וַיֵּאָבֵ֥ק — way·yê·’ā·ḇêq, Niphal of the hapax-confined root ’âbaq (H79), “to wrestle,” occurring only in vv. 24–25. Keil derives it from ’âbaq “to wind/grapple,” and notes the river-name Yabbôq seems to be drawn from it.
עִמּ֔וֹ‘im·mōwwith himH5973
√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPrepositionthird person masculine singular
עַ֖ד‘aḏuntilH5704
√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition
עֲל֥וֹת‘ă·lō·wṯdaybreakH5927
√ ʻâlâh — to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount)VerbQalInfinitive construct
עֲל֥וֹת — ‘ă·lō·wṯ, infinitive of ‘âlâh (H5927), “the going-up of the dawn.” The same verb ‘âlâh recurs on the wrestler’s lips in v. 26 (“for the dawn has gone up”). The struggle is timed against the rising of the light.
הַשָּֽׁחַר׃haš·šā·ḥar. . .H7837
√ shachar — dawn (literal, figurative or adverbial)ArticleNounmasculine singular
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878
This verb, abak, occurs only here, and without doubt it was chosen because of its resemblance to the name Jabbok. Its probable derivation is from a word signifying dust, because wrestlers were quickly involved in a cloud of dust
Ellicott on the wordplay binding the verb to the river-name.
✦Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s
It was not only a corporal but a spiritual wrestling, by vigorous faith and holy desire; and this circumstance shows that the person with whom he wrestled was not a created angel, but the angel of the covenant
✦John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63
not a phantasm or spectre, as Josephus (e) calls him; nor was this a mere visionary representation of a man, to the imagination of Jacob; or done in the vision of prophecy, as Maimonides (f); but it was something real, corporeal, and visible
Gill insists, against Josephus and Maimonides, on a bodily encounter.
✦Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706
then prayer is indeed wrestling with God. However tried or discouraged, we shall prevail; and prevailing with Him in prayer, we shall prevail against all enemies that strive with us.
25“When the man saw that he could not overpower Jacob, he struck th…”+

25When the man saw that he could not overpower Jacob, he struck the socket of Jacob’s hip and dislocated it as they wrestled.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yar kî lō yā·ḵōl lōw way·yig·ga‘ bə·ḵap̄- yə·rê·ḵōw wat·tê·qa‘ kap̄- ya·‘ă·qōḇ ye·reḵ ‘im·mōw bə·hê·’ā·ḇə·qōw

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-he-saw (way·yar) that he-was- not -able (lō yā·ḵōl) against-him, and-he-touched (way·yig·ga‘) the-socket (kap̄ — ‘hollow/palm’) of-his-thigh (yə·rê·ḵōw), and-the-socket of Jacob’s thigh was-wrenched (wat·tê·qa‘) in-his-wrestling with-him.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • וַיִּגַּ֖ע BSB’s “struck” overstates וַיִּגַּ֖ע (way·yig·ga‘, from nâgaʻ, H5060), whose first sense is “to touch.” The Pulpit Commentary corrects exactly this: “he touched - not struck (Knobel) - the hollow of his thigh.” A mere touch dislocates the strongest joint: the gentleness is the demonstration of power.
  • בְּכַף־ “The socket” renders כַּף (kap̄, H3709), properly the hollow palm of a hand — used here of the cup of the hip-joint, said to “have the form of the hollow of a man's hand recurved” (Gill). The English anatomizes; the Hebrew keeps the vivid image of a cupped hand at the hip.
  • וַתֵּ֙קַע֙ BSB “dislocated” for וַתֵּ֙קַע֙ (wat·tê·qa‘, H3363, yâqaʻ, “to be wrenched/disjointed”). Ellicott argues the verb “more probably signifies that it was sprained from the over-tension of the muscles in the wrestling” — a strain from within the contest, not only a blow from without.
Word by word14 · parsed+
וַיַּ֗רְאway·yarWhen the man sawH7200
√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
כִּ֣יkîthatH3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
לֹ֤אlōhe could notH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle
יָכֹל֙yā·ḵōloverpowerH3201
√ yâkôl — to be able, literally (can, could) or morally (may, might)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
יָכֹל֙ — yā·ḵōl (H3201), “to prevail, be able.” The same root returns at the climax in v. 28, וַתּוּכָֽל (“and you have prevailed”): the wrestler who cannot prevail by force grants Jacob the victory by word.
ל֔וֹlōw[Jacob]
Prepositionthird person masculine singular
וַיִּגַּ֖עway·yig·ga‘he struckH5060
√ nâgaʻ — properly, to touch, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
וַיִּגַּ֖ע — way·yig·ga‘, Qal of nâgaʻ (H5060), “he touched.” A single touch undoes the wrestler’s grip — the verse’s whole theology of power-in-weakness hangs on the smallness of the word.
בְּכַף־bə·ḵap̄-the socketH3709
√ kaph — the hollow hand or palm (so of the paw of an animal, of the sole, and even of the bowl of a dish or sling, the handle of a bolt, the leaves of a palm-tree)Preposition-bNounfeminine singular construct
בְּכַף־ — bə·ḵap̄, “in the hollow/socket” (kaph, H3709). The repeated kap̄ (vv. 25, 32) becomes the physical hinge of the story and the reason for the food-law of v. 32.
יְרֵכ֑וֹyə·rê·ḵōwof Jacob’s hipH3409
√ yârêk — the thigh (from its fleshy softness)Nounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular
וַתֵּ֙קַע֙wat·tê·qa‘and dislocatedH3363
√ yâqaʻ — properly, to sever oneself, iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
וַתֵּ֙קַע֙ — wat·tê·qa‘, the feminine verb agreeing with kap̄ (the socket): the joint itself was wrenched. Keil notes the form is from tâqaʻ/râqaʻ.
כַּף־kap̄-. . .H3709
√ kaph — the hollow hand or palm (so of the paw of an animal, of the sole, and even of the bowl of a dish or sling, the handle of a bolt, the leaves of a palm-tree)Nounfeminine singular construct
יַעֲקֹ֔בya·‘ă·qōḇ[it]H3290
√ Yaʻăqôb — Jaakob, the Israelitish patriarchNounpropermasculine singular
יֶ֣רֶךְye·reḵ. . .H3409
√ yârêk — the thigh (from its fleshy softness)Nounfeminine singular construct
עִמּֽוֹ׃‘im·mōwas theyH5973
√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPrepositionthird person masculine singular
בְּהֵֽאָבְק֖וֹbə·hê·’ā·ḇə·qōwwrestledH79
√ ʼâbaq — to bedust, iPreposition-bVerbNifalInfinitive constructthird person masculine singular
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s
he touched - not struck (Knobel) - the hollow of his thigh (literally, the socket of the hip)
On the difference between touching and striking — the engine reads H5060 as ‘touch.’
✦Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685
The hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, which was done that Jacob might see that it was not his own strength, but only God’s grace, which got him this victory
✦Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599
For God assails his with the one hand, and upholds them with the other.
The Geneva gloss (i) on how God wounds and sustains at once.
✦Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878
the verb more probably signifies that it was sprained from the over-tension of the muscles in the wrestling
✦Albert BarnesNotes on the Whole Bible1834
Jacob now finds that this mysterious wrestler has wrested from him, by one touch, all his might, and he can no longer stand alone. Without any support whatever from himself, he hangs upon the conqueror
Barnes makes the touch the hinge: the strong man is reduced to clinging.
26“Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob re…”+

26Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yō·mer šal·lə·ḥê·nî kî ‘ā·lāh haš·šā·ḥar way·yō·mer lō ’ă·šal·lê·ḥă·ḵā kî ’im- bê·raḵ·tā·nî

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-he-said, Send-me-away (šal·lə·ḥê·nî), for the-dawn has-gone-up (‘ā·lāh haš·šā·ḥar); and-he-said, I-will-not send-you-away (lō ’ă·šal·lê·ḥă·ḵā) unless you-bless-me (kî ’im bê·raḵ·tā·nî).”

Where the English smooths the original

  • שַׁלְּחֵ֔נִי BSB’s “Let me go” softens שַׁלְּחֵ֔נִי (šal·lə·ḥê·nî, Piel imperative of shâlach, H7971), “send me away.” The Pulpit Commentary insists on it: “literally, send me away ; meaning that he yielded the victory to Jacob.” The verb is an admission — the stronger asks the weaker for release.
  • אֲשַֽׁלֵּחֲךָ֔ Jacob answers with the very same verb the wrestler used, turned back on him: אֲשַֽׁלֵּחֲךָ֔ (’ă·šal·lê·ḥă·ḵā, “I-will-send-you-away”). The English uses two different words (“let me go” / “let you go”); the Hebrew makes one verb the pivot of the duel — send-me answered by I-will-not-send-you.
  • בֵּרַכְתָּֽנִי “Bless me” renders בֵּרַכְתָּֽנִי (bê·raḵ·tā·nî, Piel of bârak, H1288), whose root sense is “to kneel.” The blessing Jacob once seized from Isaac by deceit (Genesis 27) he now wrests honestly, in the open, from God himself — the same word, a transformed man.
Word by word11 · parsed+
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרway·yō·merThen [the man] saidH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
שַׁלְּחֵ֔נִיšal·lə·ḥê·nîLet me goH7971
√ shâlach — to send away, for, or out (in a great variety of applications)VerbPielImperativemasculine singularfirst person common singular
שַׁלְּחֵ֔נִי — šal·lə·ḥê·nî, Piel imperative of shâlach (H7971), “send me away.” Cambridge connects the request to the old belief that “unearthly visitants of the night must be gone before daybreak.”
כִּ֥יkîforH3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
עָלָ֖ה‘ā·lāhit is daybreakH5927
√ ʻâlâh — to ascend, intransitively (be high) or actively (mount)VerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
עָלָ֖ה — ‘ā·lāh (H5927), perfect, “has gone up” — the same verb used of the going-up of the dawn in v. 24. The night-long contest is bounded by the light.
הַשָּׁ֑חַרhaš·šā·ḥar. . .H7837
√ shachar — dawn (literal, figurative or adverbial)ArticleNounmasculine singular
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙way·yō·merBut Jacob repliedH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
לֹ֣אlōI will notH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle
אֲשַֽׁלֵּחֲךָ֔’ă·šal·lê·ḥă·ḵālet you goH7971
√ shâlach — to send away, for, or out (in a great variety of applications)VerbPielImperfectfirst person common singularsecond person masculine singular
אֲשַֽׁלֵּחֲךָ֔ — ’ă·šal·lê·ḥă·ḵā, the imperfect of the same Piel shâlach, now first-person with second-person object: Jacob seizes the wrestler’s own word and refuses it.
כִּ֖יkîunlessH3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
אִם־’im-. . .H518
√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction
בֵּרַכְתָּֽנִי׃bê·raḵ·tā·nîyou bless meH1288
√ bârak — to kneelVerbPielPerfectsecond person masculine singularfirst person common singular
בֵּרַכְתָּֽנִי — bê·raḵ·tā·nî, Piel of bârak (H1288) with 1cs suffix, “you have blessed me.” The thematic verb of Genesis (blessing of seed, land, nations) here becomes the one thing the disabled patriarch will not release his hold to forgo.
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s
Let me go (literally, send me away ; meaning that he yielded the victory to Jacob
On the imperative as an admission of yielded victory.
✦Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871
It is evident that Jacob was aware of the character of Him with whom he wrestled; and, believing that His power, though by far superior to human, was yet limited by His promise to do him good, he determined not to lose the golden opportunity of securing a blessing.
✦Cambridge Bible for Schools and CollegesCommentary1880s
Jacob had suddenly realized, through the touch of physical suffering, that he was in the grasp of more than mortal power. He neither shrinks, nor desists, but maintains his hold and asks for a blessing.
✦Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s
He resolves he will have a blessing, and rather shall all his bones be put out of joint than he will suffer the angel to leave him without a blessing.
27““What is your name?” the man asked. “Jacob,” he replied.”+

27“What is your name?” the man asked. “Jacob,” he replied.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

mah- šə·me·ḵā way·yō·mer ’ê·lāw ya·‘ă·qōḇ way·yō·mer

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-he-said to-him, What is-your-name (mah-šə·me·ḵā)? And-he-said, Jacob (ya·‘ă·qōḇ — ‘heel-grabber’).”

Where the English smooths the original

  • שְּׁמֶ֑ךָ BSB’s “What is your name?” is exact, but the weight of שֵׁם (shêm, H8034) is lost in English. In Hebrew a name is, per Strong’s, “a mark or memorial of individuality” — to ask the name is to ask the self. The question is not for information (Gill: “not as being ignorant of it”) but to draw out the confession.
  • יַעֲקֹֽב “Jacob” transliterates יַעֲקֹֽב (ya·‘ă·qōḇ, H3290), but the name itself is a confession: “Heel-catcher, or Supplanter” (Pulpit Commentary; cf. Genesis 25:26, 27:36). By answering “Jacob,” the patriarch names his own crooked history aloud, the necessary admission before the new name can be given.
Word by word6 · parsed+
מַה־mah-WhatH4100
√ mâh — properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?)Interrogative
שְּׁמֶ֑ךָšə·me·ḵāis your nameH8034
√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine singular
שְּׁמֶ֑ךָ — šə·me·ḵā, “your name” (shêm, H8034). The same noun recurs four times across vv. 27–29 (your name / your name shall be / your name / my name): the unit pivots on naming.
וַיֹּ֥אמֶרway·yō·merthe man askedH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
אֵלָ֖יו’ê·lāw. . .H413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPrepositionthird person masculine singular
יַעֲקֹֽב׃ya·‘ă·qōḇJacobH3290
√ Yaʻăqôb — Jaakob, the Israelitish patriarchNounpropermasculine singular
יַעֲקֹֽב — ya·‘ă·qōḇ (H3290), “Jacob,” sounding off ‘âqêb, “heel” (Genesis 25:26). The confession of the old name is the hinge: he must say who he has been before he is told who he will be.
וַיֹּ֖אמֶרway·yō·merhe repliedH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s
What is thy name? (not as if requiring to be informed, but as directing attention to it in view of the change about to be made upon it) And he said, Jacob - i . e . Heel-catcher, or Supplanter
On the question as a summons to confession, and the meaning of the name.
✦John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63
Which question is put, not as being ignorant of it, but in order to take occasion from it, and the change of it, to show that he had granted his request, and had blessed him
✦Cambridge Bible for Schools and CollegesCommentary1880s
This question, concerning the name which the Questioner knows, leads up to the solemn pronunciation of Jacob’s new title.
28“Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israe…”+

28Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

way·yō·mer šim·ḵā lō ‘ō·wḏ yê·’ā·mêr ya·‘ă·qōḇ yiś·rā·’êl kî- kî ’im- śā·rî·ṯā ‘im- ’ĕ·lō·hîm wə·‘im- ’ă·nā·šîm wat·tū·ḵāl

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-he-said, Not Jacob shall- your-name -be-called any-longer, but Israel (yiś·rā·’êl), for you-have-striven (śā·rî·ṯā) with God (’ĕ·lō·hîm) and-with men, and-you-have-prevailed (wat·tū·ḵāl).”

Where the English smooths the original

  • יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל BSB “but Israel” gives the name without its etymology. יִשְׂרָאֵל (yiś·rā·’êl, H3478) is explained on the spot by the verb שָׂרִ֧יתָ — “you have striven with God.” The commentators split (prince of El / wrestler with El / God-strives), but the text’s own gloss is the contest: he who strives with God.
  • שָׂרִ֧יתָ The verb behind the name, שָׂרִ֧יתָ (śā·rî·ṯā, from sârâh, H8280, “to strive/persist as a prince”), is one of the rarest in Scripture: it occurs in only two verses — here and Hosea 12:3, the prophet’s own retelling of this night. “Struggled” is a fair rendering, but the rarity makes the word a near-private vocabulary for this event.
  • אֱלֹהִ֛ים BSB “with God” renders אֱלֹהִ֛ים (’ĕ·lō·hîm, H430). Keil notes the narrative pointedly says Elohim, not Yhwh — “for the purpose of bringing out the contrast between God and the creature.” Jacob has striven with the very category of deity and lived to be renamed.
  • וַתּוּכָֽל “And you have prevailed” is וַתּוּכָֽל (wat·tū·ḵāl, from yâkôl, H3201) — the same verb that in v. 25 the wrestler could not do to Jacob. The defeat of force becomes the victory of the helpless clinger: the one who could not be overpowered could not let go.
Word by word16 · parsed+
וַיֹּ֗אמֶרway·yō·merThen [the man] saidH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
שִׁמְךָ֔šim·ḵāYour nameH8034
√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine singular
לֹ֤אlōwill noH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle
עוֹד֙‘ō·wḏlongerH5750
√ ʻôwd — properly, iteration or continuanceAdverb
יֵאָמֵ֥רyê·’ā·mêrbeH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)VerbNifalImperfectthird person masculine singular
יַעֲקֹב֙ya·‘ă·qōḇJacobH3290
√ Yaʻăqôb — Jaakob, the Israelitish patriarchNounpropermasculine singular
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑לyiś·rā·’êlbut IsraelH3478
√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular
יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל — yiś·rā·’êl (H3478), “Israel.” Unlike Abram/Sarai, Jacob keeps both names ever after; Keil: the old name “still continued to stand side by side with this” — flesh and faith named together in one man.
כִּֽי־kî-. . .H3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
כִּ֖יkîbecauseH3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
אִם־’im-. . .H518
√ ʼim — used very widely as demonstrative, lo!Conjunction
שָׂרִ֧יתָśā·rî·ṯāyou have struggledH8280
√ sârâh — to prevailVerbQalPerfectsecond person masculine singular
שָׂרִ֧יתָ — śā·rî·ṯā, Qal perfect of sârâh (H8280), “you have striven/persevered.” The hinge-verb of the new name; its only other canonical occurrence (Hosea 12:3) makes the Verifier’s strongest cross-link.
עִם־‘im-withH5973
√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iPreposition
אֱלֹהִ֛ים’ĕ·lō·hîmGodH430
√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural
אֱלֹהִ֛ים — ’ĕ·lō·hîm (H430), “God.” The plural-form noun for deity; its choice over the covenant name Yhwh is, per Keil, deliberate distance between Creator and creature even in the embrace of struggle.
וְעִם־wə·‘im-and withH5973
√ ʻim — adverb or preposition, with (iConjunctive wawPreposition
אֲנָשִׁ֖ים’ă·nā·šîmmenH376
√ ʼîysh — a man as an individual or a male personNounmasculine plural
וַתּוּכָֽל׃wat·tū·ḵāland you have prevailedH3201
√ yâkôl — to be able, literally (can, could) or morally (may, might)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectsecond person masculine singular
וַתּוּכָֽל — wat·tū·ḵāl, consecutive imperfect of yâkôl (H3201), “and you have prevailed.” Cambridge notes the Hebrew embraces past and future: the deliverance from Esau is promised in a victory already granted.
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878
a change has now come over Jacob’s character, and he is henceforth no longer the crafty schemer who was ever plotting for his own advantage, but one humble and penitent, who can trust himself and all he has in God’s hands.
✦Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s
Israel (ישׂראל, God's fighter, from שׂרה to fight, and אל God); for thou hast fought with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
Keil’s philological reading of the new name from śârâh + ’El.
✦Cambridge Bible for Schools and CollegesCommentary1880s
Jacob had prevailed in his contest with Laban; now, also, the promise of deliverance from Esau is contained in the past tense, “hast striven and hast prevailed.”
✦Geneva Study BibleMarginal Notes1599
God gave Jacob both power to overcome, and also the praise of the victory.
The Geneva gloss (k) guarding against any boast in Jacob’s strength.
✦Albert BarnesNotes on the Whole Bible1834
In a personal conflict, depending on thyself, thou wert no match for God. But in prayer, depending on another, thou hast prevailed with God and with men.
Barnes resolves the paradox of v. 25 (he ‘could not’) and v. 28 (Jacob ‘prevailed’): defeat in wrestling, victory in clinging prayer.
29“And Jacob requested, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied,…”+

29And Jacob requested, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ya·‘ă·qōḇ way·yiš·’al way·yō·mer nā hag·gî·ḏāh- šə·me·ḵā way·yō·mer lām·māh zeh tiš·’al liš·mî way·ḇā·reḵ ’ō·ṯōw šām

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-Jacob asked and-said, Tell-me, please (hag·gî·ḏāh-nā), your-name; and-he-said, Why is-this you-ask for-my-name? And-he-blessed-him (way·ḇā·reḵ) there (šām).”

Where the English smooths the original

  • הַגִּֽידָה־נָּ֣א BSB’s “Please tell me” reverses the Hebrew order הַגִּֽידָה־נָּ֣א שְׁמֶ֔ךָ and tames the urgency. The Hiphil imperative hag·gî·ḏāh (from nâgad, H5046, “to put in front, declare”) with the entreaty-particle nâ is the bold demand of faith — the Pulpit Commentary calls it “the boldness of faith.”
  • לָ֥מָּה זֶּ֖ה The wrestler’s counter-question לָ֥מָּה זֶּ֖ה תִּשְׁאַ֣ל (lām·māh zeh tiš·’al) is barer than BSB’s “Why do you ask?” — literally “Why this — do you ask for my name?” The demonstrative zeh sharpens it to a rebuke. Poole: it carries “both a denial of his request… and a reproof of his curiosity.”
  • וַיְבָ֥רֶךְ BSB “Then he blessed Jacob there” renders וַיְבָ֥רֶךְ אֹת֖וֹ שָֽׁם — but the object is the bare pronoun ’ōṯōw (“him”), and the adverb שָֽׁם (šām, H8033, “there”) is emphatic and final: the name withheld, the blessing given in that very place, which Jacob will rename for it.
Word by word14 · parsed+
יַעֲקֹ֗בya·‘ă·qōḇAnd JacobH3290
√ Yaʻăqôb — Jaakob, the Israelitish patriarchNounpropermasculine singular
וַיִּשְׁאַ֣לway·yiš·’alrequestedH7592
√ shâʼal — to inquireConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
וַיֹּ֙אמֶר֙way·yō·mer. . .H559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
נָּ֣אnāPleaseH4994
√ nâʼ — 'I pray', 'now', or 'then'Interjection
נָּ֣א — nā (H4994), the particle of entreaty, “I pray, now.” It marks Jacob’s demand as petition, not command — bold, but still a suppliant’s word.
הַגִּֽידָה־hag·gî·ḏāh-tell meH5046
√ nâgad — properly, to front, iVerbHifilImperativemasculine singularthird person feminine singular
הַגִּֽידָה־ — hag·gî·ḏāh, Hiphil imperative of nâgad (H5046), “declare, set before me.” The same verb used when one reports news; Jacob asks the Wrestler to make his very identity plain.
שְׁמֶ֔ךָšə·me·ḵāyour nameH8034
√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityNounmasculine singular constructsecond person masculine singular
וַיֹּ֕אמֶרway·yō·merBut he repliedH559
√ ʼâmar — to say (used with great latitude)Conjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
לָ֥מָּהlām·māhWhyH4100
√ mâh — properly, interrogative what? (including how? why? when?)Interrogative
זֶּ֖הzeh. . .H2088
√ zeh — the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or thatPronounmasculine singular
תִּשְׁאַ֣לtiš·’aldo you askH7592
√ shâʼal — to inquireVerbQalImperfectsecond person masculine singular
לִשְׁמִ֑יliš·mîmy nameH8034
√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityPreposition-lNounmasculine singular constructfirst person common singular
וַיְבָ֥רֶךְway·ḇā·reḵThen he blessedH1288
√ bârak — to kneelConjunctive wawVerbPielConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
וַיְבָ֥רֶךְ — way·ḇā·reḵ, Piel of bârak (H1288), “and he blessed.” The blessing requested in v. 26 is now granted — as Cambridge puts it, “the blessing is not refused, because the literal answer is not given.”
אֹת֖וֹ’ō·ṯōw[Jacob]H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object markerthird person masculine singular
שָֽׁם׃šāmthereH8033
√ shâm — there (transferring to time) thenAdverb
שָֽׁם — šām (H8033), “there.” The emphatic place-marker that motivates the naming of Peniel in the next verse: the blessing is anchored to a spot of ground.
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685
A question which carries in it both a denial of his request, as Judges 13:17 ,18 , and a reproof of his curiosity. He blessed him there, in an eminent and peculiar manner, which was a real answer to Jacob’s question, and gave him to understand both his name and nature.
✦The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s
A request indicating great boldness on the part of Jacob - the boldness of faith ( Hebrews 4:16 ; Hebrews 10:19 )
The Pulpit reads Jacob’s demand through the New Testament boldness of access.
✦Cambridge Bible for Schools and CollegesCommentary1880s
The name is refused, but the blessing previously asked for ( Genesis 32:26 ) is granted. The same occurrence is recorded in Jdg 13:17-21 .
✦Joseph BensonCommentary on the Old and New Testaments1810s
instead of telling him his name, he gave him his blessing, which was the thing Jacob wrestled for
30“So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen Go…”+

30So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

ya·‘ă·qōḇ way·yiq·rā šêm ham·mā·qō·wm pə·nî·’êl kî- rā·’î·ṯî ’ĕ·lō·hîm pā·nîm ’el- pā·nîm nap̄·šî wat·tin·nā·ṣêl

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-Jacob called the-name of-the-place Peniel (pə·nî·’êl — ‘face-of-God’), for I-have-seen God face to face (pā·nîm ’el-pā·nîm), and- my-life -was-delivered (wat·tin·nā·ṣêl).”

Where the English smooths the original

  • פְּנִיאֵ֑ל BSB transliterates “Peniel,” but the name פְּנִיאֵ֑ל (pə·nî·’êl, H6439) is the explanation that follows: “the face of God” (pənê-’El). v. 31 spells it Penuel. Ellicott and Cambridge treat the two as one place, the vowel-shift only — the English hides the pun the verse turns on.
  • פָּנִ֣ים אֶל־פָּנִ֔ים “Face to face” renders פָּנִ֣ים אֶל־פָּנִ֔ים (pā·nîm ’el-pā·nîm, from pānîm, H6440) — the very word folded into the place-name Peni-el. The repetition (face… to… face) is the etymology in action; English keeps the phrase but loses that it is the name.
  • וַתִּנָּצֵ֖ל BSB “my life was spared” renders וַתִּנָּצֵ֖ל נַפְשִֽׁי — “my nephesh (life/soul) was delivered/snatched-away” (nâtsal, H5337). The verb is rescue, not mere survival; Keil: “his soul had been delivered” — and, he adds, from death. Behind it lies the Israelite conviction that to see God is to die.
Word by word13 · parsed+
יַעֲקֹ֛בya·‘ă·qōḇSo JacobH3290
√ Yaʻăqôb — Jaakob, the Israelitish patriarchNounpropermasculine singular
וַיִּקְרָ֧אway·yiq·rānamedH7121
√ qârâʼ — to call out to (iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
שֵׁ֥םšêm. . .H8034
√ shêm — an appellation, as amark or memorial of individualityNounmasculine singular construct
הַמָּק֖וֹםham·mā·qō·wmthe placeH4725
√ mâqôwm — properly, a standing, iArticleNounmasculine singular
פְּנִיאֵ֑לpə·nî·’êlPenielH6439
√ Pᵉnûwʼêl — Penuel or Peniel, a place East of JordanNounproperfeminine singular
פְּנִיאֵ֑ל — pə·nî·’êl (H6439), “Peniel / Penuel,” later a real town (Judges 8:8; 1 Kings 12:25). The name is a permanent memorial fixed to the map by the night’s encounter.
כִּֽי־kî-saying, “IndeedH3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
רָאִ֤יתִיrā·’î·ṯîI have seenH7200
√ râʼâh — to see, literally or figuratively (in numerous applications, direct and implied, transitive, intransitive and causative)VerbQalPerfectfirst person common singular
אֱלֹהִים֙’ĕ·lō·hîmGodH430
√ ʼĕlôhîym — gods in the ordinary senseNounmasculine plural
פָּנִ֣יםpā·nîmfaceH6440
√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Nounmasculine plural
פָּנִ֣ים — pā·nîm (H6440), “face.” Echoes the pānîm Jacob feared in his prayer (32:20, to appease the face of Esau): the face he dreads to meet at dawn he has already met in God by night.
אֶל־’el-toH413
√ ʼêl — near, with or amongPreposition
פָּנִ֔יםpā·nîmfaceH6440
√ pânîym — the face (as the part that turns)Nounmasculine plural
נַפְשִֽׁי׃nap̄·šîand yet my lifeH5315
√ nephesh — properly, a breathing creature, iNounfeminine singular constructfirst person common singular
נַפְשִֽׁי — nap̄·šî (H5315), “my soul/life,” the breathing self. It is the nephesh, not merely the body, that is rescued in the seeing of God.
וַתִּנָּצֵ֖לwat·tin·nā·ṣêlwas sparedH5337
√ nâtsal — to snatch away, whether in a good or a bad senseConjunctive wawVerbNifalConsecutive imperfectthird person feminine singular
וַתִּנָּצֵ֖ל — wat·tin·nā·ṣêl, Niphal of nâtsal (H5337), “was delivered/snatched away.” Cambridge gathers the parallels (Genesis 16:13; Exodus 33:20; Judges 13:22): seeing God should be fatal, yet Jacob lives.
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685
I have seen God face to face; not in his essence, for so no man ever saw God, John 1:18 , nor yet in a dream or vision, but in a most evident, sensible, familiar, and friendly manifestation of himself.
✦Cambridge Bible for Schools and CollegesCommentary1880s
The face of God was to be seen in the Angel: he that looked on the Angel saw the Presence of Jehovah.
✦John GillExposition of the Entire Bible1746–63
it may be observed, that in wrestling men are face to face, and in this position were Jacob and the man that wrestled with him; which he seems to have respect unto, as well as to the familiarity and intimate communion he was admitted to
Gill notes the wrestling posture itself supplies the ‘face to face.’
31“The sun rose above him as he passed by Penuel, and he was limpin…”+

31The sun rose above him as he passed by Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

haš·še·meš way·yiz·raḥ- lōw ka·’ă·šer ‘ā·ḇar ’eṯ- pə·nū·’êl wə·hū ṣō·lê·a‘ ‘al- yə·rê·ḵōw

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“And-the-sun rose (way·yiz·raḥ haš·še·meš) for-him as he-passed-by Penuel (pə·nū·’êl), and-he was-limping (ṣō·lê·a‘) on his-thigh (yə·rê·ḵōw).”

Where the English smooths the original

  • וַיִּֽזְרַֽח־ל֣וֹ BSB “The sun rose above him” renders וַיִּֽזְרַֽח־ל֣וֹ הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ — literally “the sun rose for him / to him” (zârach, H2224, “to irradiate, shoot forth beams,” with the dative lô). The light rises specifically for him; Matthew Henry: “it is sun-rise with that soul, which has had communion with God.”
  • צֹלֵ֖עַ “He was limping” renders the participle צֹלֵ֖עַ (ṣō·lê·a‘, from tsâlaʻ, H6760, “to limp as if one-sided”). The participle is durative — an ongoing condition, not a single stumble. The Verifier ties this rare verb to the limping/lame ones whom God gathers as a remnant (Micah 4:6–7; Zephaniah 3:19).
Word by word11 · parsed+
הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁhaš·še·mešThe sunH8121
√ shemesh — the sunArticleNouncommon singular
הַשֶּׁ֔מֶשׁ — haš·še·meš (H8121), “the sun.” Its rising answers the dawn the wrestler raced (vv. 24, 26): the night of fear ends with day, and Jacob walks into it changed.
וַיִּֽזְרַֽח־way·yiz·raḥ-roseH2224
√ zârach — properly, to irradiate (or shoot forth beams), iConjunctive wawVerbQalConsecutive imperfectthird person masculine singular
וַיִּֽזְרַֽח־ — way·yiz·raḥ, Qal of zârach (H2224), “rose, shone forth.” The same verb later names the dawning of salvation (cf. Malachi 4:2, the sun of righteousness — Gill makes the link).
ל֣וֹlōwabove him
Prepositionthird person masculine singular
כַּאֲשֶׁ֥רka·’ă·šerasH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPreposition-kPronounrelative
עָבַ֖ר‘ā·ḇarhe passed byH5674
√ ʻâbar — to cross overVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
פְּנוּאֵ֑לpə·nū·’êlPenuelH6439
√ Pᵉnûwʼêl — Penuel or Peniel, a place East of JordanNounproperfeminine singular
וְה֥וּאwə·hūand heH1931
√ hûwʼ — he (she or it)Conjunctive wawPronounthird person masculine singular
צֹלֵ֖עַṣō·lê·a‘was limpingH6760
√ tsâlaʻ — to limp (as if one-sided)VerbQalParticiplemasculine singular
צֹלֵ֖עַ — ṣō·lê·a‘, Qal participle of tsâlaʻ (H6760), “limping.” The mark of the contest he carries away — JFB compares it to Paul’s thorn (2 Corinthians 12:7), a humbling kept in the very moment of victory.
עַל־‘al-because ofH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
יְרֵכֽוֹ׃yə·rê·ḵōwhis hipH3409
√ yârêk — the thigh (from its fleshy softness)Nounfeminine singular constructthird person masculine singular
יְרֵכֽוֹ — yə·rê·ḵōw (H3409), “his thigh.” The repeated yârêk (vv. 25, 31, 32) is the body’s ledger of the night: touched, dislocated, and now memorialized in a food-law.
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on the Whole Bible1706
The sun rose on Jacob: it is sun-rise with that soul, which has had communion with God.
✦Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878
It appears, from what is here said, that it was not till he tried to walk that he found out that he was lame. As his sinews grew cool, the injury to his hip-joint showed itself.
✦Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871
Jacob's lameness was to keep him mindful of this mysterious scene, and that it was in gracious condescension the victory was yielded to him. In the greatest of these spiritual victories which, through faith, any of God's people obtain, there is always something to humble them.
✦The Pulpit CommentarySpence & Exell, eds.1880s
there was sunshine within and sunshine without. When Judas went forth on his dark design, we read, 'It was night,'
Inglis (cited by the Pulpit) sets Jacob’s dawn against John 13:30.
✦Albert BarnesNotes on the Whole Bible1834
until some cogent reason be assigned, we do not feel at liberty to depart from the literal sense in this instance. The whole theory of a revelation from God to man is founded upon the principle that God can adapt himself to the apprehension of the being whom he has made in his own image.
Barnes defends a real, bodily encounter against those who would dissolve it into ‘an impression on the imagination.’
32“Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attac…”+

32Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was struck near that tendon.

Berean Standard Bible · CC0

Hebrew — tap a word ↓

‘al- kên ‘aḏ haz·zeh hay·yō·wm ḇə·nê- yiś·rā·’êl ’eṯ- lō- yō·ḵə·lū gîḏ han·nā·šeh ’ă·šer ‘al- kap̄ hay·yā·rêḵ kî bə·ḵap̄- ya·‘ă·qōḇ ye·reḵ nā·ḡa‘ bə·ḡîḏ han·nā·šeh

Literal — word-for-word from the original

“Therefore the-sons-of-Israel (ḇə·nê yiś·rā·’êl) do- not -eat (yō·ḵə·lū) the-tendon of-the-displaced-nerve (gîḏ han·nā·šeh) that is-on the-socket of-the-hip (kap̄ hay·yā·rêḵ), to this day, because he-touched (nā·ḡa‘) Jacob’s hip-socket on the tendon of-the-displaced-nerve.”

Where the English smooths the original

  • גִּ֣יד הַנָּשֶׁ֗ה BSB’s “the tendon attached to the socket of the hip” paraphrases the technical name גִּ֣יד הַנָּשֶׁ֗ה (gîḏ han·nā·šeh) — the gid hannasheh, the sciatic sinew (nervus ischiaticus). Its very root is taken from this incident: Strong’s glosses nâsheh (H5384) as “rheumatic or crippled (from the incident to Jacob).” The word is the scar of the story embedded in the language.
  • עַל־כֵּ֡ן “Therefore” renders עַל־כֵּ֡ן (‘al-kên, “upon thus”) — the formula of an etiology, a custom traced to its origin. The narrator steps out of the night-story into the present tense of his readers: a permanent practice is grounded in a single touch at the Jabbok.
  • עַ֖ד הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה BSB “to this day” for עַ֖ד הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֑ה (‘ad hay·yôm haz·zeh) — the historian’s phrase reaching from Moses’ day forward. Keil notes drily: “the remark is applicable still.” The living custom is itself a witness against the theory that the wrestling was only a vision.
Word by word23 · parsed+
עַל־‘al-ThereforeH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
כֵּ֡ןkên. . .H3651
√ kên — properly, set uprightAdverb
עַ֖ד‘aḏtoH5704
√ ʻad — as far (or long, or much) as, whether of space (even unto) or time (during, while, until) or degree (equally with)Preposition
הַזֶּ֑הhaz·zehthisH2088
√ zeh — the masculine demonstrative pronoun, this or thatArticlePronounmasculine singular
הַיּ֣וֹםhay·yō·wmdayH3117
√ yôwm — a day (as the warm hours), whether literal (from sunrise to sunset, or from one sunset to the next), or figurative (a space of time defined by an associated term), (often used adverb)ArticleNounmasculine singular
בְנֵֽי־ḇə·nê-the IsraelitesH1121
√ bên — a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etcNounmasculine plural construct
בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֜ל — ḇə·nê yiś·rā·’êl, “the sons of Israel” (H1121 + H3478). The new name given the man in v. 28 has already become the name of a people — the etiology presupposes the nation that descends from him.
יִשְׂרָאֵ֜לyiś·rā·’êl. . .H3478
√ Yisrâʼêl — Jisrael, a symbolical name of JacobNounpropermasculine singular
אֶת־’eṯ-H853
√ ʼêth — properly, self (but generally used to point out more definitely the object of a verb or preposition, even or namely)Direct object marker
לֹֽא־lō-do notH3808
√ lôʼ — not (the simple or absAdverbNegative particle
יֹאכְל֨וּyō·ḵə·lūeatH398
√ ʼâkal — to eat (literally or figuratively)VerbQalImperfectthird person masculine plural
גִּ֣ידgîḏthe tendonH1517
√ gîyd — a thong (as compressing)Nounmasculine singular construct
גִּ֣יד — gîḏ (H1517), “sinew, tendon” (“a thong, as compressing”). The Verifier links this word to Ezekiel’s vision of dry bones re-sinewed (Ezekiel 37:6, 8) and to Job’s account of being knit in the womb (Job 10:11) — the body’s sinews as the work of God.
הַנָּשֶׁ֗הhan·nā·šeh. . .H5384
√ nâsheh — rheumatic or crippled (from the incident to Jacob)ArticleNounmasculine singular
הַנָּשֶׁ֗ה — han·nā·šeh (H5384), the displaced/shrunken nerve. A word whose derivation, Strong’s says, is the incident itself; the Pulpit Commentary records that its etymology is otherwise “unknown.”
אֲשֶׁר֙’ă·šerattachedH834
√ ʼăsher — who, which, what, thatPronounrelative
עַל־‘al-toH5921
√ ʻal — above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applicationsPreposition
כַּ֣ףkap̄the socketH3709
√ kaph — the hollow hand or palm (so of the paw of an animal, of the sole, and even of the bowl of a dish or sling, the handle of a bolt, the leaves of a palm-tree)Nounfeminine singular construct
הַיָּרֵ֔ךְhay·yā·rêḵof the hipH3409
√ yârêk — the thigh (from its fleshy softness)ArticleNounfeminine singular
כִּ֤יkîbecauseH3588
√ kîy — (by implication) very widely used as a relative conjunction or adverb (as below)Conjunction
בְּכַף־bə·ḵap̄-the socketH3709
√ kaph — the hollow hand or palm (so of the paw of an animal, of the sole, and even of the bowl of a dish or sling, the handle of a bolt, the leaves of a palm-tree)Preposition-bNounfeminine singular construct
יַעֲקֹ֔בya·‘ă·qōḇof Jacob’sH3290
√ Yaʻăqôb — Jaakob, the Israelitish patriarchNounpropermasculine singular
יֶ֣רֶךְye·reḵhipH3409
√ yârêk — the thigh (from its fleshy softness)Nounfeminine singular construct
נָגַע֙nā·ḡa‘was struckH5060
√ nâgaʻ — properly, to touch, iVerbQalPerfectthird person masculine singular
נָגַע֙ — nā·ḡa‘, Qal of nâgaʻ (H5060), “he touched” — the same verb as v. 25. The whole custom rests on that one quiet word: a touch, not a blow.
בְּגִ֖ידbə·ḡîḏnear that tendonH1517
√ gîyd — a thong (as compressing)Preposition-bNounmasculine singular construct
הַנָּשֶֽׁה׃han·nā·šeh. . .H5384
√ nâsheh — rheumatic or crippled (from the incident to Jacob)ArticleNounmasculine singular
The Voices✦ public domain+
✦Charles EllicottCommentary for English Readers1878
Jewish commentators notice that this was the second special ordinance imposed upon the race of Abraham, circumcision having been enjoined upon them by God, while this grew out of an historical event in the life of their progenitor, to the reality of which it bears remarkable testimony.
Ellicott: the custom is a standing witness to the event’s reality.
✦Matthew PooleAnnotations upon the Holy Bible1685
Not from any superstitious conceit about it, but only for a memorial of this admirable conflict, the blessed effects whereof even the future generations received.
✦Keil & DelitzschBiblical Commentary on the Old Testament1860s
the children of Israel are accustomed to avoid eating the nervus ischiadicus, the principal nerve in the neighbourhood of the hip, which is easily injured by any violent strain in wrestling. "Unto this day:" the remark is applicable still.
✦Jamieson, Fausset & BrownCommentary Critical and Explanatory1871
The practice of the Jews in abstaining from eating this in the flesh of animals, is not founded on the law of Moses, but is merely a traditional usage.
✣

The verse-by-verse work is done. What follows gathers the whole unit. All three layers below are machine-generated (⚙). Weigh them; they have no authority.

⚙Grand Commentary — the unit, read wholesynthesis · verify+

AI synthesis — woven from the public-domain voices above and the original text; generated and fallible.

i. The lonely crossing — stripped to a single pronoun — 32:22–24

The unit opens in the dark: “in the night — he” (בַּלַּ֣יְלָה ה֗וּא), an emphatic pronoun BSB does not translate. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown read it of a man who, “Unable to sleep, Jacob waded the ford in the night time by himself… remaining behind, to seek anew, in silent prayer, the divine blessing on the means he had set in motion.” Three times the verb ‘âbar (“cross over”) tolls — Jacob crosses (v. 22), then in the causative makes his whole household cross (v. 23, וַיַּֽעֲבִרֵ֖ם), sending over “that he had: all that belonged to him” (Gill). Ellicott marks the deliberateness of the solitude: “Staying himself to the very last, he is left alone on the south side of the torrent.” Only when everything that was his has gone across does the narrator strip him to one word — לְבַדּ֑וֹ, “to his aloneness” — and there, “a man wrestled with him.” The narrator's reticence (’îš, merely “a man,” H376) is theological restraint: as Cambridge observes, this “forms the climax of Jacob’s history” and “his personal meeting with the Divine Being.”

ii. The verb that is also the river — and a touch that undoes strength — 32:24–25

The verb for the struggle, וַיֵּאָבֵ֥ק (’âbaq), is a near-hapax that the language seems to mint for this night. Ellicott: “This verb, abak, occurs only here, and without doubt it was chosen because of its resemblance to the name Jabbok” — ye’abeq at the Yabboq. Keil even derives the river's name from the wrestling. Whether spiritual or corporeal, the commentators divide and then reconcile: Benson calls it “not only a corporal but a spiritual wrestling, by vigorous faith and holy desire”; Gill insists, against Josephus and Maimonides, that it was “not a phantasm or spectre… but… something real, corporeal, and visible.” The turning point is a single word. BSB says the man “struck”; the Hebrew וַיִּגַּ֖ע (nâgaʻ) is “touched.” The Pulpit Commentary corrects the rendering precisely: “he touched - not struck (Knobel) - the hollow of his thigh.” One touch wrenches the strongest joint of the body, and Poole draws the lesson: it was done “that Jacob might see that it was not his own strength, but only God’s grace, which got him this victory.” Albert Barnes makes the same touch the turning-point of Jacob's whole character — the self-reliant man reduced to a clinger: “He can overthrow all the prowess of the self-reliant, but he cannot resist the earnest entreaty of the helpless.” The Geneva gloss frames the whole paradox: “God assails his with the one hand, and upholds them with the other.”

iii. The two names — confession, then crown — 32:26–29

Now the duel becomes a contest of one verb. The wrestler commands שַׁלְּחֵ֔נִי — “send me away,” which the Pulpit Commentary reads as the stronger yielding: “literally, send me away ; meaning that he yielded the victory to Jacob.” Jacob throws the same verb back: I will not send you away unless you bless me. The blessing he once stole from Isaac by craft he now wrests honestly in the open. But first the old name must be confessed. “What is thy name?” is, the Pulpit notes, “not as if requiring to be informed, but as directing attention to it”; the answer “Jacob” means “Heel-catcher, or Supplanter.” Only after that confession comes the crown: יִשְׂרָאֵל, glossed on the spot by the rare verb שָׂרִ֧יתָ — Keil parses it as “God's fighter, from שׂרה to fight, and אל God” with the reason the text itself gives, “for thou hast fought with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” Ellicott sees the man transformed: “no longer the crafty schemer who was ever plotting for his own advantage, but one humble and penitent.” When Jacob asks the Wrestler's name in return, the request is refused — Poole calls it “both a denial of his request… and a reproof of his curiosity” — yet, as Cambridge notes, “the blessing is not refused, because the literal answer is not given.” Benson sums it: “instead of telling him his name, he gave him his blessing, which was the thing Jacob wrestled for.”

iv. The face of God, the rising sun, and the limp that became a law — 32:30–32

Jacob names the place פְּנִיאֵ֑ל, Peniel, the face of God — the name is the reason given: “for I have seen God face to face… and my life was delivered.” Cambridge: “The face of God was to be seen in the Angel: he that looked on the Angel saw the Presence of Jehovah.” Poole guards the seeing: “not in his essence, for so no man ever saw God, John 1:18… but in a most evident, sensible, familiar, and friendly manifestation of himself.” Then “the sun rose for him” (וַיִּֽזְרַֽח־ל֣וֹ) — Matthew Henry: “it is sun-rise with that soul, which has had communion with God.” Yet he goes out צֹלֵ֖עַ, limping; JFB compares it to Paul's thorn — “In the greatest of these spiritual victories which, through faith, any of God's people obtain, there is always something to humble them.” The limp outlives the man: the sons of Israel “do not eat the tendon” (גִּ֣יד הַנָּשֶׁ֗ה), and Ellicott notes the custom “grew out of an historical event… to the reality of which it bears remarkable testimony.” Keil's last word stands: “"Unto this day:" the remark is applicable still.”

Read under Sola Scriptura — this tool’s own fallible reading (⚙)

⚙ A fallible reading, offered to be tested. Read under Sola Scriptura and weighed against the rest of Scripture, the strangeness of this story is its mercy. God comes to Jacob not as the enemy he feared (Esau) but as an apparent enemy who is in fact the only friend strong enough to disarm him — and He disarms by a touch, not a blow (נָגַע, v. 25). The night is the inversion of the deception in Genesis 27: there Jacob took a blessing in the dark by pretending to be someone he was not; here he receives a blessing by confessing exactly who he is — “Jacob,” the supplanter (v. 27). The new name is given only after the old one is owned. And the victory is honest only because it is also a defeat: the man who “prevailed” (וַתּוּכָֽל, v. 28) walks away unable to walk straight. I take the limp, not the name, to be the surest sign the encounter was real — a wound you carry to your grave is harder to invent than a vision, and the food-law of v. 32 is Israel's standing testimony to it. The deepest thread, which the human commentators reach for but the Verifier cannot certify across the testaments, is this: the One who must be let go before daybreak, who blesses by wounding and wounds by blessing, who hides His name and yet is named God — is glimpsed here in a form that asks to be seen more fully later. That is offered as reading, not as proof.

He received the new name only after he spoke the old one aloud — and walked away victorious, and limping, at once. (A reading to be tested, not a verse.)

⚙Canonical Threads — out to the whole of Scripturecross-refs · verify+

AI-generated connections. Each carries a verification badge with a recorded basis; contested links are flagged.

Hosea retells the night: ‘he strove with God’ verbal / quotation — confirmed

The prophet Hosea retells this very episode as a sermon to the northern kingdom: “in his manhood he had power [strove] with God; yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed; he wept and made supplication unto Him” (Hosea 12:3–4). The Verifier ties Genesis 32:28 to Hosea 12:3 on a rare shared lexeme: שָׂרָה (sârâh, H8280, “to strive/persist”), a verb that stands in only two verses of the whole Hebrew Bible — Genesis 32:28 and Hosea 12:3. That rarity is the recorded basis: this is not a generic motif but Hosea's deliberate verbal echo of the renaming, the strongest cross-link in the unit. Keil adds the detail the verifier cannot: Hosea supplies the weeping and supplication behind Jacob's “I will not let Thee go.”

Hosea 12:3 · Hosea 12:4

basis: Rare shared lexeme H8280 śârâh (sârâh), occurring in only 2 verses total (Genesis 32:28; Hosea 12:3) — a near-private vocabulary linking the renaming to Hosea's retelling. (Hosea 12:4's verifier match is only the common preposition H5973 ‘im; the verbal weight is carried by 12:3.)

Peniel / Penuel becomes a place on the map structural / thematic — confirmed

The name Jacob coins from the encounter — פְּנוּאֵל (Penuel, H6439, “face of God”) — outlives the night as a real town in the tribal territory of Gad, east of the Jordan: Gideon razes its tower (Judges 8:8, 8:9, 8:17), Jeroboam later rebuilds it (1 Kings 12:25), and a man Penuel appears in the Chronicler's registers (1 Chronicles 4:4; 8:25). The Verifier links Genesis 32:30 to these on the shared proper noun פְּנוּאֵל (H6439), found in just 8 verses. The shared word is rare (same lexeme, low frequency), but the basis is onomastic and geographic — a place keeping a name — not a quotation of the theology. Because a place-name reappearing on the map is not a quotation of this passage, we tier it structural/thematic, deliberately under-claiming: the rare lexeme is real and noted, but the connection is a memorial-name thread (the spot Jacob christened survives as a town), not a doctrinal citation.

Judges 8:8 · 1 Kings 12:25 · 1 Chronicles 4:4

basis: Rare shared proper noun H6439 Pᵉnûwʼêl (Penuel/Peniel), in only 8 verses. Though the lexeme is rare, the link is onomastic/geographic — a place-name memorial surviving on the map — not a theological quotation of Genesis 32, so tiered down from verbal to structural to avoid over-claiming.

The ford of the Jabbok in the boundary lists structural / thematic — confirmed

The geographic anchor of the whole scene, the ford of the יַבֹּק (Jabbok, H2999), reappears in Israel's boundary descriptions, where the Jabbok marks the limit of the Ammonite and Amorite territory (Deuteronomy 3:16; cf. Numbers 21:24; Joshua 12:2). The Verifier links Genesis 32:22 to Deuteronomy 3:16 on the rare proper noun יַבֹּק (H2999, in 7 verses) together with the common topographical word נַחַל (naḥal, “stream/wadi,” H5158, in 123 verses). The river-name is rare; the wadi-word is too common to certify on its own. The basis is geographic, not a quotation: the same frontier where Jacob became Israel becomes the frontier of Israel's land. Because boundary lists name the river without citing the theology of the night, we tier this structural/thematic, under-claiming — the rare lexeme is recorded, but a frontier reappearing in a survey is a shared landmark, not a quoted text.

Deuteronomy 3:16 · Joshua 12:2

basis: Rare shared proper noun H2999 Yabbôq (Jabbok), in only 7 verses, plus common H5158 nachal (123 vv, low weight). The rare river-name is real, but the link is geographic (boundary descriptions naming a landmark), not a quotation — tiered down from verbal to structural.

‘That day’ — the etiology verb and Jacob taking the heel structural / thematic — confirmed

The closing formula “unto this day” (v. 32) marks an etiology — a present custom traced to a past event — the same narrative move that explains Jacob's birth-name in Genesis 25:26, where he grasps Esau's עָקֵב (“heel”). The Verifier links Genesis 32:27 to Genesis 25:26 on the shared names יַעֲקֹב (Yaʻăqôb, H3290, in 319 vv) and שֵׁם (shêm, “name,” H8034, in 771 vv) — both high-frequency, so this is a structural/thematic link, not a verbal one: the wordplay of the renaming (heel-grabber → God-striver) only works when the birth-naming is held in view. Keil notes Hosea makes the same connection, that Jacob “took his brother by the heel in the womb.”

Genesis 25:26 · Genesis 27:36

basis: Shared lexemes are high-frequency (H3290 Yaʻăqôb, 319 vv; H8034 shêm, 771 vv) — too common for a verbal tier. The link is the structural pattern of name-etiology and the heel/supplanter wordplay carried over from Jacob's birth.

The limping ones God gathers as a remnant structural / thematic — confirmed

Jacob walks away צֹלֵעַ (limping, v. 31), and that rare participle (tsâlaʻ, H6760, in only 4 verses) recurs almost exclusively in the prophets' picture of the eschatological remnant: God promises to “assemble her that halteth [the lame]… and I will make her that halted a remnant” (Micah 4:6–7; cf. Zephaniah 3:19). The Verifier records the shared lexeme H6760 as the basis. Because the word is so rare, the verbal link is real; but the connection between Jacob's literal limp and the prophets' lame remnant is a thematic resonance, not a quotation — Micah is not citing Genesis. Tiered structural/thematic, and offered as suggestive rather than proven.

Micah 4:6 · Micah 4:7 · Zephaniah 3:19

basis: Rare shared lexeme H6760 tsâlaʻ (to limp), in only 4 verses; but the connection (Jacob's literal limp ↔ the prophets' lame remnant gathered by God) is thematic resonance, not a quotation. Verbal rarity noted; tiered down because Micah/Zephaniah do not cite Genesis.

‘I have seen God face to face — and lived’: the motif that runs against the law structural / thematic — confirmed

Jacob's astonishment in v. 30 — “I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was delivered” (פָּנִ֣ים אֶל־פָּנִ֔ים, pānîm ’el-pānîm; רָאִ֤יתִי אֱלֹהִים֙, I have seen God) — presupposes the Israelite conviction that to see God should be fatal, the rule Yhwh later states to Moses: “you cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live” (Exodus 33:20). The Verifier links Genesis 32:30 to Exodus 33:20 on the shared lexemes רָאָה (râʼâh, “to see,” H7200) and פָּנִים (pānîm, “face,” H6440) — both high-frequency, so this is a structural/thematic link (a shared theology of the deadly face of God), not a verbal quotation. The same wonder recurs whenever a mortal meets the divine and survives: Hagar (“Have I here also looked after Him that seeth me?” Genesis 16:13) and Manoah (“We shall surely die, because we have seen God,” Judges 13:22). Cambridge gathers exactly these parallels at v. 30. The thread is a motif, honestly offered: seeing God is death, yet Jacob, Hagar, and Manoah live — mercy interposing where the law of the face would kill.

Exodus 33:20 · Genesis 16:13 · Judges 13:22

basis: Verifier confirms shared lexemes H7200 râʼâh (1200 vv) and H6440 pânîym (1892 vv) between Genesis 32:30 and Exodus 33:20 — both high-frequency, so structural/thematic, never verbal. The link is the shared motif ‘to see God is to die, yet he lived’ (cf. Genesis 16:13; Judges 13:22), drawn by the commentators (Cambridge), not a quotation.

⚙Christ in the Unittypology · verify+

AI-generated reading; weigh it against the text.

The Angel of the LORD who is named God — a pre-incarnate appearing ancient/widely-held

The narrator's careful layering — “a man” (v. 24, אִישׁ), then Hosea's “the angel” (Hosea 12:4), then Jacob's own “I have seen God face to face” (v. 30, אֱלֹהִים) — drove the historic Christian and earlier Jewish reading toward a theophany. Benson: “the person with whom he wrestled was not a created angel, but the angel of the covenant.” Matthew Henry names it explicitly: “The Angel who wrestled with Jacob was the second Person in the sacred Trinity, who was afterwards God manifest in the flesh.” Keil, more guardedly, calls Him “not… a created angel, but… the Angel of Jehovah, the visible manifestation of the invisible God.” This is a widely-held ancient reading: God appears in the form of a man, blessing by wounding, in a manifestation that points toward a fuller coming. (Identification with the Son specifically is the Christian inference, not the bare text.)

Genesis 32:24 · Genesis 32:30 · Hosea 12:4 · John 1:18

Blessing seized by the helpless — clinging, weeping, and refusing to let go widely-held

Jacob prevails not by force — that was broken with a touch — but by clinging in weakness: “I will not let you go unless you bless me,” which Hosea glosses as “he wept and made supplication unto Him” (Hosea 12:4). The pattern — strength emptied, the helpless one holding fast and prevailing — is the gospel logic Paul names when God answers his thorn, “My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9), the very passage JFB invokes for Jacob's limp. The Pulpit Commentary already hears it, calling Jacob's demand “the boldness of faith (Hebrews 4:16; Hebrews 10:19)” — the access to God's throne to “obtain mercy, and find grace” that the New Testament grounds in Christ. This is a typological-thematic reading (the wrestling foreshadows importunate, Christ-bottomed prayer); it cannot be a verbal cross-link, since Genesis is Hebrew and Hebrews/2 Corinthians are Greek, so no shared Strong's number can bind them — the connection is figural, drawn by the commentators, not by lexical identity.

Genesis 32:26 · 2 Corinthians 12:9 · Hebrews 4:16

Apparatus & Provenance

The biblical text is the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain (CC0). Hebrew/Greek text, transliteration, morphology and Strong’s are transcribed from the Berean interlinear (CC0) + Strong’s lexicons (PD); the literal renderings, divergence notes, word notes and all synthesis are this tool’s own work (⚙) — fallible; verify them.

Named voices, quoted verbatim from public-domain works:

⚙ Honesty notes for this unit. (1) Identity of the wrestler. The base text says only “a man” (v. 24); the divine identification is built up by the text itself (v. 30, Elohim) and by Hosea 12:4 (“the angel”). The further step to the pre-incarnate Son is the historic Christian inference (Henry, Benson, Poole, Gill), marked above as ancient/widely-held, not as a claim of the bare narrative. (2) Touched vs. struck. BSB renders וַיִּגַּע (v. 25) as “struck”; the engine's parse and lexicon (H5060, nâgaʻ, first sense “to touch”) and the Pulpit Commentary support “touched.” We flag the divergence and do not contradict the sourced parse. (3) Cross-Testament links. The Christ-section ties to 2 Corinthians 12:9 and Hebrews 4:16 are figural/typological only — Greek↔Hebrew cannot share Strong's numbers, so no verbal tier is possible and none is claimed; the basis is the commentators' reading, not lexical identity. (4) Place-name threads, tiered down. The Peniel and Jabbok threads pass the Verifier on rare shared lexemes (H6439, H2999), yet we deliberately tier them structural/thematic, not verbal — a place-name surviving on the map or in a boundary list is an onomastic/geographic memorial, not a quotation of Genesis 32's theology. The rare lexeme is recorded on each badge, but the tier under-claims on purpose. (Only the Hosea 12:3 thread keeps a verbal tier, because H8280 śârâh stands in just two verses and Hosea is a deliberate prophetic retelling of this very night.) (5) Peniel / Penuel. The unit spells the place Peniel in v. 30 and Penuel in v. 31; Ellicott and the versions treat these as one name (a vowel-shift), which the Verifier confirms by matching both forms under H6439. (6) Limp-remnant thread. Tiered down from its rare lexeme (H6760) to thematic, because Micah and Zephaniah do not cite Genesis; the resonance is real but suggestive. (7) ‘See God and live’ thread. The Genesis 32:30 → Exodus 33:20 link rests on high-frequency shared lexemes (H7200, H6440), so it is tiered structural/thematic and could never be verbal; the Verifier confirms the tier, and the motif (with Genesis 16:13; Judges 13:22) is one the commentators (Cambridge) draw, not a lexical proof. (8) Voice breadth. Albert Barnes — present in the sources for every verse but unused in the first draft — is added here (vv. 25, 28, 31, and the grand commentary) for his distinctive reading of the touch as the collapse of Jacob's self-reliance into helpless, prevailing prayer; his defense of the literal, bodily encounter balances Gill's. (9) Per project rule, since this unit is in Genesis and not Joshua, the mandated Joshua 1:5 → Hebrews 13:5 flag does not apply here.

✦ = human, public-domain source, quoted and named. ⚙ = machine synthesis, to be verified. Flagged cross-references are left visible on purpose — the verifier working in the open. “Search the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” (Acts 17:11)