1[1] Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him.2When Jacob saw them, he said, ‘This is the camp of God!’ So he named that place Mahanaim.[2]3Jacob sent messengers ahead of him to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.4He instructed them: ‘This is what you are to say to my lord Esau: “Your servant Jacob says, I have been staying with Laban and have remained there till now.5I have cattle and donkeys, sheep and goats, male and female servants. Now I am sending this message to my lord, that I may find favour in your eyes.” ’6When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, ‘We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.’7In great fear and distress Jacob divided the people who were with him into two groups,[3] and the flocks and herds and camels as well.8He thought, ‘If Esau comes and attacks one group,[4] the group[5] that is left may escape.’9Then Jacob prayed, ‘O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, Lord, you who said to me, “Go back to your country and your relatives, and I will make you prosper,”10I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness you have shown your servant. I had only my staff when I crossed this Jordan, but now I have become two camps.11Save me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, and also the mothers with their children.12But you have said, “I will surely make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, which cannot be counted.” ’13He spent the night there, and from what he had with him he selected a gift for his brother Esau:14two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,15thirty female camels with their young, forty cows and ten bulls, and twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.16He put them in the care of his servants, each herd by itself, and said to his servants, ‘Go ahead of me, and keep some space between the herds.’17He instructed the one in the lead: ‘When my brother Esau meets you and asks, “Who do you belong to, and where are you going, and who owns all these animals in front of you?”18then you are to say, “They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift sent to my lord Esau, and he is coming behind us.” ’19He also instructed the second, the third and all the others who followed the herds: ‘You are to say the same thing to Esau when you meet him.20And be sure to say, “Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.” ’ For he thought, ‘I will pacify him with these gifts I am sending on ahead; later, when I see him, perhaps he will receive me.’21So Jacob’s gifts went on ahead of him, but he himself spent the night in the camp.
Jacob wrestles with God
22That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.23After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.24So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.25When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.26Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’ But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’27The man asked him, ‘What is your name?’ ‘Jacob,’ he answered.28Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel,[6] because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.’29Jacob said, ‘Please tell me your name.’ But he replied, ‘Why do you ask my name?’ Then he blessed him there.30So Jacob called the place Peniel,[7] saying, ‘It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.’31The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel,[8] and he was limping because of his hip.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 touched near the tendon.
Genesis 32
English Standard Version
Jacob Fears Esau
1Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.2And when Jacob saw them he said, “This is God’s camp!” So he called the name of that place Mahanaim.[1] (Jos 5:14; Jos 21:38; 2Sa 2:8; 2Sa 17:24; 2Sa 17:27; 1Ki 2:8; Lu 2:13)3And Jacob sent[2] messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom, (Ge 36:8; De 2:5; Jos 24:4)4instructing them, “Thus you shall say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob, ‘I have sojourned with Laban and stayed until now.5I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, in order that I may find favor in your sight.’” (Ge 33:8; Ge 33:15)6And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he is coming to meet you, and there are four hundred men with him.” (Ge 33:1)7Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two camps, (Ge 35:3)8thinking, “If Esau comes to the one camp and attacks it, then the camp that is left will escape.”9And Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, O Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your kindred, that I may do you good,’ (Ge 28:13; Ge 31:3; Ge 31:13; Ge 31:42; Ge 31:53)10I am not worthy of the least of all the deeds of steadfast love and all the faithfulness that you have shown to your servant, for with only my staff I crossed this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. (2Sa 7:18)11Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children. (Pr 18:19)12But you said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’” (Ge 28:13)13So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, (Ge 43:11; Pr 17:8; Pr 18:16; Pr 19:6; Pr 21:14)14two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,15thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys.16These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove.”17He instructed the first, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?’18then you shall say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.’”19He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, “You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him,20and you shall say, ‘Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.’” For he thought, “I may appease him[3] with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.”[4]21So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.
Jacob Wrestles with God
22The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children,[5] and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. (De 2:37; De 3:16; Jos 12:2)23He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had.24And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. (Ho 12:3)25When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him.26Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” (Mt 15:21; Lu 18:1)27And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.”28Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel,[6] for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” (Ge 33:4; Ge 35:10; 2Ki 17:34; Ho 12:3)29Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. (Jud 13:18)30So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel,[7] saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” (Ge 16:13; Ex 24:10; Ex 33:20; De 5:24; Jud 6:22; Jud 13:22; Isa 6:5)31The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. (Jud 8:8; Jud 8:17; 1Ki 12:25)32Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.