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Jacob's Fear of Esau
And Jacob went on his way; and the angels of God met him.
And Jacob went on his way; and the angels of God met him.
And when Jacob saw them he said, This is the camp of God. And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
And Jacob sent messengers before his face to Esau his brother, into the land of Seir, the fields of Edom.
Jacob Sends Gifts to Esau
Then Jacob sent messengers ahead to his brother, Esau, who was living in the region of Seir in the land of Edom.
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;
He told them, “Give this message to my master Esau: ‘Humble greetings from your servant Jacob. Until now I have been living with Uncle Laban,
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.
and now I own cattle, donkeys, flocks of sheep and goats, and many servants, both men and women. I have sent these messengers to inform my lord of my coming, hoping that you will be friendly to me.’”
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.
After delivering the message, the messengers returned to Jacob and reported, “We met your brother, Esau, and he is already on his way to meet you — with an army of 400 men!”
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.
Jacob was terrified at the news. He divided his household, along with the flocks and herds and camels, into two groups.
And he said, If Esau come to the one troop and smite it, then the other troop which is left shall escape.
He thought, “If Esau meets one group and attacks it, perhaps the other group can escape.”
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,
Then Jacob prayed, “O God of my grandfather Abraham, and God of my father, Isaac — O LORD, you told me, ‘Return to your own land and to your relatives.’ And you promised me, ‘I will treat you kindly.’
-- 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 of all the unfailing love and faithfulness you have shown to me, your servant. When I left home and crossed the Jordan River, I owned nothing except a walking stick. Now my household fills two large camps!
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.
O LORD, please rescue me from the hand of my brother, Esau. I am afraid that he is coming to attack me, along with my wives and children.
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.
But you promised me, ‘I will surely treat you kindly, and I will multiply your descendants until they become as numerous as the sands along the seashore — too many to count.’”
And he lodged there that night; and took of what came to his hand a gift for Esau his brother --
Jacob stayed where he was for the night. Then he selected these gifts from his possessions to present to his brother, Esau:
two hundred she-goats, and twenty he-goats; two hundred ewes, and twenty rams;
200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams,
thirty milch camels with their colts; forty kine, and ten bulls; twenty she-asses, and ten young asses.
30 female camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys.
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.
He divided these animals into herds and assigned each to different servants. Then he told his servants, “Go ahead of me with the animals, but keep some distance between the herds.”
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?
He gave these instructions to the men leading the first group: “When my brother, Esau, meets you, he will ask, ‘Whose servants are you? Where are you going? Who owns these animals?’
-- 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.
You must reply, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob, but they are a gift for his master Esau. Look, he is coming right behind us.’”
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.
Jacob gave the same instructions to the second and third herdsmen and to all who followed behind the herds: “You must say the same thing to Esau when you meet him.
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.
And be sure to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’”
Jacob thought, “I will try to appease him by sending gifts ahead of me. When I see him in person, perhaps he will be friendly to me.”
Jacob thought, “I will try to appease him by sending gifts ahead of me. When I see him in person, perhaps he will be friendly to me.”
And the gift went over before him; and he himself lodged that night in the camp.
So the gifts were sent on ahead, while Jacob himself spent that night in the camp.
Jacob Wrestles with God
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;
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;
Jacob Wrestles with God
During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two servant wives, and his eleven sons and crossed the Jabbok River with them.
and he took them and led them over the river, and led over what he had.
After taking them to the other side, he sent over all his possessions.
And Jacob remained alone; and a man wrestled with him until the rising of the dawn.
This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break.
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.
When the man saw that he would not win the match, he touched Jacob’s hip and wrenched it out of its socket.
And he said, Let me go, for the dawn ariseth. And he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless me.
Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
And he said to him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
“What is your name?” the man asked.
He replied, “Jacob.”
He replied, “Jacob.”
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.
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.
“Please tell me your name,” Jacob said.
“Why do you want to know my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.
“Why do you want to know my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.
And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel -- For I have seen God face to face, and my life has been preserved.
Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”), for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.”
And as he passed over Peniel, the sun rose upon him; and he limped upon his hip.
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.
(Even today the people of Israel don’t eat the tendon near the hip socket because of what happened that night when the man strained the tendon of Jacob’s hip.)