Jacob · Tell me your name · Elias Thorn
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Jacob · Tell me your name

Genesis 32:22–32 (32:23–33 in Hebrew numbering)

32:22 And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.

32:23 And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.

32:24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.

32:25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.

32:26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

32:27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.

32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

32:29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.

32:30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

32:31 And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.

32:32 Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh in the sinew that shrank.

Reading notes

The account begins with an unnamed “man”; after the struggle Jacob says he has seen God face to face. His opponent’s name is withheld. The difference between these descriptions belongs to the narrative rather than being a gap that must be filled.

The blessing and new name do not erase the bodily mark: Jacob leaves limping. The ending retains both his changed standing and his vulnerability. It also connects the injured thigh with a dietary custom.

King James Version (1611), historical English translation, in the public-domain electronic text. This is an independent English edition of the same passage, not a back-translation of the Russian text; wording and textual readings can differ. The participant in 32:24 is called a man. The Hebrew numbering is one verse higher than the numbering used here.

Open source ↗ (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10)

Hebrew text · Masoretic edition (https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0132.htm)