1Jacob's vision at Mahanaim. 3His message to Esau. 6He is afraid of Esau's coming, 9and prayeth for deliverance. 13He sendeth a present to Esau; 24wrestleth with an angel at Peniel, and is called Israel. 31He halteth.
1AND Jacob went on his way, and 1the angelsa of God met him.
1 The more to assure Jacob of God’s presence and assistance.
a Gen. 48:16.
2And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place 2Mahanaim.
2 That is, two camps of hosts, or, a double camp of hosts, whether the angels had divided themselves in two armies for Jacob to pass through between them both, or, that the one army consisted of angels and the other of Jacob’s family. At this place there has been later a city which was called by the name of Mahanaim, Joshua 13:26; 21:38.
3And Jacob sent messengers 3before him to Esau his brother unto the land of 4Seir, the country of 5Edom.
3 That is, before his arrival, or, before he would come thither, namely, to prepare the way to regain his brother’s favor. The same phrase we find also Mal. 3:1; Mat. 11:10; Luke 9:52; 10:1.
4 See Gen. 14:6.
5 Namely, Idumea, bordering on the south end of Judæa, and having its name from Esau, who is likewise called Edom, Gen. 25:30, and was now dwelling in this country, Gen. 36:8, having driven out thence the former inhabitants, the Horites, Deut. 2:12, 22.
4And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto 6my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:
6 Though Jacob himself was the lord of Esau by right of his purchased birthright, Gen. 27:29, nevertheless he calls his brother by the title, keeping the right to himself, the better to recover his favor and friendship by this submissive carriage; the rather, because he was not as yet put into the possession of his right, which chiefly pointed to the time to come. Thus did David likewise towards Saul, 1 Sam. 24:7, 9, and 1 Samuel 26 throughout.
5And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent 7to tell my lord, 8that I may find grace in thy sight.
7 Namely, of my coming and opportunity.
8 See Gen. 18 on verse 3. He begs for friendship, partly, to procure an amnesty or oblivion of all former discords, and partly that he may pass safely and peaceably through the country.
6¶And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and 9four hundred men with him.
9 Doubtless armed, as may be gathered by verses 8 and 11.
710Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;
10 Out of human frailty, namely, because the messengers brought no other news back from Esau, than that he was coming against him with four hundred men, without any other message.
8And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall 11escape.
11 Hebr. be for escaping, or, saving.
9¶And Jacob said, 12O God of my 13father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Returnb unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:
12 Jacob, being in distress, does not call upon the hosts of angels, whom he had seen so lately before, but has his recourse to the true God alone.
13 That is, grandfather.
b Gen. 31:13.
1014I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the 15truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my 16staff I passed over this 17Jordan; and now I am become two bands.
14 That is, I am altogether unworthy of the good Thou hast shown me already, and not also what I desire of Thee now, but cast myself and rely only upon Thy mercy and grace, and not at all upon any worth or merits of my own.
15 Or, faithfulness. Hebr. truth. See Gen. 24:27.
16 Understand a plain walking staff. Hereby Jacob acknowledges his poverty.
17 See Gen. 13 on verse 10.
11Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother 18with the children.
18 Or, with the sons. A phrase most lively representing the tenderness of a mother, when seeing her children in distress, she spares not her own body nor life to hazard the same for the children’s preservation by interposing herself, even to be massacred by the tyrants together with and upon them. See Hosea 10:14.
12And thou saidst, Ic will 19surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
c Gen. 28:13.
19 Hebr. well-doing do well.
13¶And he lodged there that same night; and 20took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother;
20 That is, he took in haste some from among all his cattle for a present to his brother; being surprised partly by the approaching night, and partly by fear of the instant danger that it did not permit him to make a large choice. Other, of that which was come to him, that is, of that which he had acquired and gotten.
14Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,
15Thirty milchd camels with their 21colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and 22ten foals.
d giving milk
21 Hebr. sons.
22 Or, foals of an ass.
16And he 23delivered them into the hand of his servants, 24every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and 25put a space betwixt drove and drove.
23 A notable present indeed of so many hundred animals, great and small, of different sorts, which would come to a large amount of money.
24 Hebr. flock flock alone by itself. See such expression Gen. 7 on verse 2.
25 Hebr. properly, breath, and consequently space, room, that gives freedom to breath. This served that his presents, each being viewed apart by his brother Esau, it might make the better show, and by little and little assuage his disposition. See verse 20.
17And he commanded 26the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these 27before thee?
26 To wit, the servant who led the first or foremost flock or drove; and so in the sequel of the first, second, third, etc.
27 That is, which thou art driving before thee, or, which are passing on before thee.
18Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also 28he is behind us.
28 This he said in order that his brother would not think he was afraid to come in his sight, or had peradventure taken another way to avoid him.
19And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, 29On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him.
29 That is, according to what I said before.
20And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For 30he said, 31I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure 32he will accept of me.
30 Namely, by himself; that is, he thought, perceived. See Gen. 20 on verse 11.
31 That is, I shall appease his wrath which commonly one sees in the face. See Prov. 21:14.
32 This kind of expression, being taken in the good sense, signifies to be favorable to another, and to do him good out of a friendly and rational observation of some good in him. And it is spoken of God, when He, of mere mercy and grace, looks favorably upon the good which came only from Him, Gen. 19:21, and of men, when for any fair reason, they are favorable to their neighbor, as here and 1 Sam. 25:35; 2 Kings 3:14.
21So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.
22And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over 33the ford 34Jabbok.
33 Other, shallowness, a crossing-place.
34 This is the name of a brook or river, springing by Rabbah, the metropolis of the Ammonites, and falls into Jordan beneath the Sea of Galilee. See Num. 21:24; Deut. 2:37; 3:16; Joshua 12:2; Judges 11:13.
23And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.
24¶And 35Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled 36a man with him until the breaking of the day.
35 That is, he alone remained on this side the brook, by Mount Gilead to pray to God in private.
36 That is, the Son of God, Who appeared in the shape of a man here; as may be gathered from verses 28 and 30, etc. and Hosea 12:3, 4.
2537And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched 38the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
37 This is said after the manner of men. The Lord, complying with human infirmity, suffers Himself to be overcome to assure Jacob of a good outcome about the instant danger; only He gave him an injury for to teach him to be sensible and mindful still of his own weakness.
38 Other, the joint or hollow.
26Ande he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, 39I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
e Hosea 12:4.
39 Since he felt that he did not have to do with a man, but with Someone greater, therefore he desired of Him to be blessed.
27And he said unto him, 40What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
40 This God does not ask as if the name of Jacob was unknown to Him, but to get occasion thereby of changing his name, for an everlasting remembrance of this wrestling.
28And he said, Thyf name shall be called 41no more Jacob, but 42Israel: for as a prince hast thou power 43with God and 44with men, and hast prevailed.
f Gen. 35:10.
41No more, implies as much here, as not only, or, not so often, not so much. For afterwards he is likewise called Jacob. See the like manner of speaking, 1 Sam. 8:7; John 7:16; 1 Cor. 1:17; 1 John 3:18.
42 That is, a prince of God, or, one having princely power with God; as appears by the following words. God gives this name unto Jacob the second time Gen. 35:10.
43 Having undergone that combat to which God put him, and overcome.
44 Namely, first with Esau, and afterwards with Laban, and being now about to enter the battle again with Esau.
29And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, 45Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And 46he blessed him there.
45 This is a question of refusal, as Judges 13:17, 18. He refuses to reveal His name unto him, to assure him the more that he had not wrestled with a man.
46 This was that, which Jacob had desired in verse 26, and whereby he was now fully assured that God had appeared unto him. See the next verse.
30And Jacob called the name of the place 47Peniel: for I have seen 48God face to face, and 49my life is preserved.
47 That is, God’s face, or the regard of God. See 1 Kings 12:25; in the sequel (it is) Penuel.
48 Not in His Divine Essence, but in such a shape, whereby He hath more clearly manifested Himself unto me than ever before.
49 He admires that he did not die in having seen God. See Gen. 16 on verse 13. Compare Exod. 20:19; Judges 6:22, 23, and 13:22.
31And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
3250Therefore the children of Israel eat not of 51the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he 52touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.
50 As for the not eating of the sinew, there is also to be understood the flesh about the sinew, and this they did not out of superstition or of consideration to do God service thereby, but in remembrance only of that wonderful combat and the victory granted to Jacob and his posterity upon it. The practice hereof was useful before the coming of the Messiah, but since that it cannot be used anymore without superstition.
51 Or, shrunk, or, wrested, that is, which has lost its vigor, and is dulled or sprained, or slipped, and has, so to speak, forgotten its proper place. The Jews call this sinew likewise thus in the beasts, according to what happened here to Jacob. Other, the sinew leaned on, for passing off from the joint or hollow of the Os sacrum, unto the thigh, or being leaned on, or leaning thereon from the Os sacrum.
52 That is, touching, it had hurt the same.