NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible | Page 71

Genesis 33:5  | 75
32:18 a  Ge  18:3
32:20 b  Ge  33:10;
Pr 21:14
32:22 c  Dt 2:37; 3:16;
Jos 12:2
32:24 d  Ge  18:2
32:25 e  ver  32
32:26 f  Hos  12:4
32:28 g  Ge 17:5; 35:10;
1Ki 18:31
32:29 h  Jdg  13:17
i  Jdg  13:18 j  Ge  35:9
32:30 k  Ge  16:13;
Ex 24:11; Nu 12:8;
Jdg 6:22; 13:22
33:1 l  Ge  32:6
33:3 m  Ge 18:2; 42:6
33:4 n  Ge  45:14‑15
18 then you are to say, ‘They be­long to your ser­vant  a Ja­cob. They are a gift sent to my lord
Esau, and he is com­ing be­hind us.’ ”
19 He also in­structed the sec­ond, the t ­ hird and all the oth­ers who fol­lowed the h
­ erds:
“You are to say the same ­thing to Esau when you meet him. 20 And be sure to say, ‘Your
ser­vant Ja­cob is com­ing be­hind us.’ ” For he t ­ hought, “I will pac­ify him with ­these ­gifts I
am send­ing on a
­ head; later, when I see him, per­haps he will re­ceive me.”  b 21  So Ja­cob’s ­gifts
went on ­ahead of him, but he him­self ­spent the ­night in the ­camp.
Jacob Wrestles With God
22 That ­night Ja­cob got up and took his two ­wives, his two fe­male ser­vants and his elev-
en sons and ­crossed the ford of the Jab­bok.  c 23 Af­ter he had sent them ­across the ­stream, he
sent over all his pos­ses­sions. 24 So Ja­cob was left a
­ lone, and a man  d wres­tled with him till
day­break. 25 When the man saw that he ­could not over­power him, he ­touched the socket
of Ja­cob’s hip  e so that his hip was ­wrenched as he wres­tled with the man. 26 Then the man
said, “Let me go, for it is ­day­break.”
But Ja­cob re­plied, “I will not let you go un­less you ­bless me.”  f
27 The man ­asked him, “What is your ­name?”
“Ja­cob,” he ­an­swered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no lon­ger be Ja­cob, but Is­rael,  a   g be­cause you have
strug­gled with God and with hu­mans and have ­over­come.”
29 Ja­cob said, “Please tell me your ­name.”  h
But he re­plied, “Why do you ask my name?”  i Then he ­blessed  j him ­there.
30  So Ja­cob ­called the ­place Pe­niel,  b say­ing, “It is be­cause I saw God face to face,  k and yet
my life was ­spared.”
31 The sun rose ­above him as he ­passed Pe­niel,  c and he was limp­ing be­cause of his hip.
32 There­fore 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.
Jacob Meets Esau
33
Ja­cob ­looked up and t ­ here was Esau, com­ing with his four hun­dred men;  l so he di­
vided the chil­dren ­among Leah, Ra­chel and the two fe­male ser­vants. 2 He put the
fe­male ser­vants and t ­ heir chil­dren in f ­ ront, Leah and her chil­dren next, and Ra­chel and
Jo­seph in the rear. 3 He him­self went on ­ahead and ­bowed down to the ­ground  m seven
times as he ap­proached his ­brother.
4 But Esau ran to meet Ja­cob and em­braced him; he ­threw his arms ­around his neck and
kissed him. And they wept.  n 5 Then Esau ­looked up and saw the women and chil­dren. “Who
are ­these with you?” he ­asked.
a  28 
Israel probably means he struggles with God.    b  30  Peniel means face of God.    c  31 Hebrew Penuel, a variant
of Peniel   
32:22 – 32  Jacob Wrestles With God. Jacob’s
nighttime face-to-face encounter with God
at Peniel remarkably transforms Jacob. Jacob
previously met God when he left Canaan, and
he encounters him again on his return (see
note on 28:10 – 22). The events at Bethel and
Peniel ar