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Expanded Comments |
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| 1 And Jacob hath gone on his way, and messengers of God come upon him; |
And Jacob – Being at this time 97 years old and having been absent 40 years. R1634:3
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| 2 and Jacob saith, when he hath seen them, 'This [is] the camp of God;' and he calleth the name of that place 'Two Camps.' |
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| 3 And Jacob sendeth messengers before him unto Esau his brother, towards the land of Seir, the field of Edom, |
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| 4 and commandeth them, saying, 'Thus do ye say to my lord, to Esau: Thus said thy servant Jacob, With Laban I have sojourned, and I tarry until now; |
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| 5 and I have ox, and ass, flock, and man-servant, and maid-servant, and I send to declare to my lord, to find grace in his eyes.' |
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| 6 And the messengers turn back unto Jacob, saying, 'We came in unto thy brother, unto Esau, and he also is coming to meet thee, and four hundred men with him;' |
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| 7 and Jacob feareth exceedingly, and is distressed, and he divideth the people who [are] with him, and the flock, and the herd, and the camels, into two camps, |
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 saith, 'If Esau come in unto the one camp, and have smitten it then the camp which is left hath been for an escape.' |
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| 9 And Jacob saith, 'God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Jehovah who saith unto me, Turn back to thy land, and to thy kindred, and I do good with thee: |
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 have been unworthy of all the kind acts, and of all the truth which Thou hast done with thy servant for, with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. |
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 am fearing him, less he come and have smitten me mother beside sons; |
The hand of Esau – Type of natural Israel and Christendom. D15; F172
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| 12 and Thou Thou hast said, I certainly do good with thee, and have set thy seed as the sand of the sea, which is not numbered because of the multitude.' |
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| 13 And he lodgeth there during that night, and taketh from that which is coming into his hand, a present 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 she-goats two hundred, and he-goats twenty, ewes two hundred, and rams twenty, |
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| 15 suckling camels and their young ones thirty, cows forty, and bullocks ten, she-asses twenty, and foals ten; |
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| 16 and he giveth into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and saith unto his servants, 'Pass over before me, and a space ye do put between drove and drove.' |
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| 17 And he commandeth the first, saying, 'When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and hath asked thee, saying, Whose [art] thou and whither goest thou and whose [are] these before thee |
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| 18 then thou hast said, Thy servant Jacob's: it [is] a present sent to my lord, to Esau; and lo, he also [is] behind us.' |
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| 19 And he commandeth also the second, also the third, also all who are going after the droves, saying, 'According to this manner do ye speak unto Esau in your finding him, |
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| 20 and ye have said also, Lo, thy servant Jacob [is] behind us;' for he said, 'I pacify his face with the present which is going before me, and afterwards I see his face; it may be he lifteth up my face;' |
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| 21 and the present passeth over before his face, and he hath lodged during that night in the camp. |
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| 22 And he riseth in that night, and taketh his two wives, and his two maid-servants, and his eleven children, and passeth over the passage of Jabbok; |
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| 23 and he taketh them, and causeth them to pass over the brook, and he causeth that which he hath to pass over. |
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| 24 And Jacob is left alone, and one wrestleth with him till the ascending 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 he seeth that he is not able for him, and he cometh against the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh is disjointed in his wrestling 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 saith, 'Send me away, for the dawn hath ascended:' and he saith, 'I send thee not away, except thou hast blessed 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 saith unto him, 'What [is] thy name ' and he saith, 'Jacob.' |
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| 28 And he saith, 'Thy name is no more called Jacob, but Israel; for thou hast been a prince with God and with men, and dost prevail.' |
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 asketh, and saith, 'Declare, I pray thee, thy name;' and he saith, 'Why [is] this, thou askest for My name ' and He blesseth 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 calleth the name of the place Peniel: for 'I have seen God face unto face, and my life is delivered;' |
Peniel – Meaning "The face of God." R5481:5
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| 31 and the sun riseth on him when he hath passed over Penuel, and he is halting on his thigh; |
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| 32 therefore the sons of Israel do not eat the sinew which shrank, which [is] on the hollow of the thigh, unto this day, because He came against the hollow of Jacob's thigh, against the sinew which shrank. |
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