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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And Jacob went on his way; and the angels of God met him. |
And Jacob – Being at this time 97 years old and having been absent 40 years. R1634:3
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| 2 And when Jacob saw them he said, This is the camp of God. And he called the name of that place Mahanaim. |
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| 3 And Jacob sent messengers before his face to Esau his brother, into the land of Seir, the fields of Edom. |
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| 4 And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak to my lord, to Esau: Thy servant Jacob speaks thus--With Laban have I sojourned and tarried until now; |
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| 5 and I have oxen, and asses, sheep, and bondmen, and bondwomen; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favour in thine eyes. |
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| 6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother, to Esau; and he also is coming to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. |
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| 7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid, and was distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the sheep and the cattle and the camels, into two troops. |
Afraid and distressed – Representing the present fears of the Jewish people as they near the time of their restoration. R3970:3
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| 8 And he said, If Esau come to the one troop and smite it, then the other troop which is left shall escape. |
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| 9 And Jacob said, God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Jehovah, who saidst unto me: Return into thy country and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good, |
And Jacob said – The first recorded prayer in the Bible; a perfect prayer as measured by the standard of the Lord's prayer, and following the same general lines of adoration to the Almighty, humiliation in his presence, petition for divine care and protection, and repetition of the divine promises as the ground for faith and hope. R3969:2
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| 10 --I am too small for all the loving-kindness and all the faithfulness that thou hast shewn unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two troops. |
I am not worthy – An excellent example of earnest, persevering prayer. R5481:1
With my staff – Without other possessions. R3969:3, R5481:1
Over this Jordan – When fleeing from home. R2864:3, R5481:1
Became two bands – Referring to his large possessions of herds, etc., which he had divided into two bands. R3969:3, R5481:1
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| 11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, and the mother with the children. |
The hand of Esau – Type of natural Israel and Christendom. D15; F172
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| 12 And thou saidst, I will certainly deal well with thee, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. |
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| 13 And he lodged there that night; and took of what came to his hand a gift for Esau his brother-- |
And took of that – Jacob was not content merely to pray, but labored also to set his affairs in the best possible order for the difficulties ahead. R3969:6
A present for Esau – Despite the fact that he had previously abandoned to him all the immense wealth of Isaac, which was his by birthright. We should not be sticklers for full justice and the last penny in earthly matters. R2865:4
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| 14 two hundred she-goats, and twenty he-goats; two hundred ewes, and twenty rams; |
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| 15 thirty milch camels with their colts; forty kine, and ten bulls; twenty she-asses, and ten young asses. |
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| 16 And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself; and he said to his servants, Go on before me, and put a space between drove and drove. |
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| 17 And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meets thee, and asks thee, saying, Whose art thou, and where goest thou, and whose are these before thee? |
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| 18 --then thou shalt say, Thy servant Jacob's: it is a gift sent to my lord, to Esau. And behold, he also is behind us. |
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| 19 And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, According to this word shall ye speak to Esau when ye find him. |
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| 20 And, moreover, ye shall say, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will propitiate him with the gift that goes before me, and afterwards I will see his face: perhaps he will accept me. |
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| 21 And the gift went over before him; and he himself lodged that night in the camp. |
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| 22 And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of the Jabbok; |
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| 23 and he took them and led them over the river, and led over what he had. |
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| 24 And Jacob remained alone; and a man wrestled with him until the rising of the dawn. |
And Jacob – Type of his faithful ones, the New Creation. F172
Was left alone – To continue his prayer. The account which follows fitly represents our Lord's experiences in the garden of Gethsemane. Our Lord agonized for long hours and finally got the blessing. R3970:1
Wrestled – Permitting Jacob to get into an earnest attitude. We need not wrestle with God, we already have his special blessing. R5835:6
A man with him – An angel in human form. R3969:6
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| 25 And when he saw that he did not prevail against him, he touched the joint of his thigh; and the joint of Jacob's thigh was dislocated as he wrestled with him. |
Of his thigh – Probably the sciatic nerve. R2866:5
Was out of joint – Probably remained so the balance of his life as a reminder that he owed everything he possessed to the Lord's blessing. R2866:5
Wrestled with him – The blessing being withheld until he should more and more feel the need of it and struggle to obtain it. R3970:1
God would have us thus "strive to enter in." (Luke 13:24) R1634:5
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| 26 And he said, Let me go, for the dawn ariseth. And he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me. |
Will not let thee go – Representing the Jewish people when the Lord shall shortly "pour out upon them the spirit of prayer and supplication." (Zech. 12:10) R3970:3
"Men ought always to pray and not to faint." (Luke 18:1) R2865:6
Thou bless me – Similarly our prayers should be for the Lord's blessing, not for temporal prosperity. R2865:6
Jacob was full of faith in the power of God and in his promise to protect him and make of him a great nation. R5481:2
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| 27 And he said to him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. |
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| 28 And he said, Thy name shall not henceforth be called Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast wrestled with God, and with men, and hast prevailed. |
But Israel – Meaning "Mighty with God," or "A prince with God." R5481:4, R5832:3, R2866:2; OV66:1
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| 29 And Jacob asked and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, How is it that thou askest after my name? And he blessed him there. |
After my name – The angel seemingly had no desire to flaunt his own name and have it handed down to posterity. He desired the praise to be given to God. R3970:6
Blessed him there – The darkest seasons of Jacob's life were the special occasions for the manifestations of divine favor. R1635:1
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| 30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel--For I have seen God face to face, and my life has been preserved. |
Peniel – Meaning "The face of God." R5481:5
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| 31 And as he passed over Peniel, the sun rose upon him; and he limped upon his hip. |
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| 32 Therefore the children of Israel do not eat of the sinew that is over the joint of the thigh, to this day; because he touched the joint of Jacob's thigh--the sinew. |
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