Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” He said, “Why is it that you ask what my name is?” He blessed him there.
Parallel Translations
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Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” He said, “Why is it that you ask what my name is?” He blessed him there.
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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.
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(32-30) 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.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (11)
Passages linked to Genesis 32:29 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Judges 13:16-18 Yahweh’s angel said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I won’t eat your bread. If you will prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to Yahweh.” For Manoah didn’t know that he was Yahweh’s angel. Manoah said to Yahweh’s angel, “What is your name, that when your words happen, we may honor you?” Yahweh’s angel said to him, “Why do you ask about my name, since it is incomprehensible?”
- Job 11:7 “Can you fathom the mystery of God? Or can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
- Isaiah 9:6 For a child is born to us. A son is given to us; and the government will be on his shoulders. His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
- Genesis 27:28-29 God give you of the dew of the sky, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers. Let your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you. Blessed be everyone who blesses you.”
- Genesis 28:13-14 Behold, Yahweh stood above it, and said, “I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. I will give the land you lie on to you and to your offspring. Your offspring will be as the dust of the earth, and you will spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south. In you and in your offspring, all the families of the earth will be blessed.
- Proverbs 30:4 Who has ascended up into heaven, and descended? Who has gathered the wind in his fists? Who has bound the waters in his garment? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name, and what is his son’s name, if you know?
- Hosea 6:1 “Come! Let’s return to Yahweh; for he has torn us to pieces, and he will heal us; he has injured us, and he will bind up our wounds.
- Luke 1:19 The angel answered him, “I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God. I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news.
- Genesis 28:3-4 May God Almighty bless you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you, that you may be a company of peoples, and give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your offspring with you, that you may inherit the land where you travel, which God gave to Abraham.”
- Genesis 32:26-27 The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.” Jacob said, “I won’t let you go unless you bless me.” He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob”.
- Deuteronomy 29:29 The secret things belong to Yahweh our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 29. Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. This…
29. Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. This seems opposed to what is declared above; for I have lately said, that when Jacob sought a blessing, it was a token of his submission. Why, therefore, as if he were of doubtful mind, does he now inquire the name of him whom he had before acknowledged to be God? But the solution of the question is easy; for, though Jacob does acknowledge God, yet, not content will an obscure and slight knowledge, he wishes to ascend higher. And it is not to be wondered at, that the holy man, to whom God had manifested himself under so many veils and coverings, that he had not yet obtained any clear knowledge of him, should break forth in this wish; nay, it is certain that all the saints, under the law, were inflamed with this desire. Such a prayer also of Manoah, is read in Judges 13:18, to which the answer from God is added, except that there, the Lord pronounces his name to be wonderful and secret, in order that Manoah may not proceed further. The sum therefore is this, that though Jacob’s wish was pious, the Lord does not grant it, because the time of full revelation was not yet completed: for the fathers, in the beginning, were required to walk in the twilight of morning; and the Lord manifested himself to them, by degrees, until, at length, Christ the Sun of Righteousness arose, in whom perfect brightness shines forth. This is the reason why he rendered himself more conspicuous to Moses, who nevertheless was only permitted to behold his glory from behind: yet because he occupied an intermediate place between patriarchs and apostles, he is said, in comparison with them, to have seen, face to face, the God Who had been hidden from the fathers. But now, since God has approached more nearly unto us, our ingratitude is most impious and detestable, if we do not run to meet with ardent desire to obtain such great grace; as also Peter admonishes us in the first chapter of his first epistle. (1 Peter 1:12,13.) It is to be observed, that although Jacob piously desires to know God more fully, yet, because he is carried beyond the bounds prescribed to the age in which he lived, he suffers a repulse: for the Lord, cutting short his wish, commands him to rest contented with his own blessing. But if that measure of illumination which we have received, was denied to the holy man, how intolerable will be our curiosity, if it breaks forth beyond the contended limit now prescribed by God.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Gen 32:29 And Jacob asked [him], and said, Tell…
Gen 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.
Ver. 29. And he blessed him there.] That was a better thing to Jacob than to answer his curious request of knowing the angel’s name. So when the disciples asked our Saviour, {Act 1:6} "Wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?" "It is not for you to know the times," saith he, "but ye shall receive the Holy Ghost"; that is better for you, &c. {Act 1:8} God sometimes doth not only "grant a man’s prayer," but "fulfil his counsel." {Psa 20:4} This if he do not, because we sometimes ask we know not what, yet some better thing we shall be sure of. "I will strengthen the house of Judah, and they shall be as if I had not cast them off l and I will hear them." {Zec 10:6}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Tell me, I pray thee, thy name, that I…
Tell me, I pray thee, thy name, that I may give thee the honour due to it. Art thou a created angel, or art thou the ever-blessed God?
Wherefore dost thou ask after my name? A question which carries in it both a denial of his request, as Jdg 13:17,18, and a reproof of his curiosity.
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He blessed him there, in an eminent and peculiar manner, which was a real answer to Jacob’s question, and gave him to understand both his name and nature.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain And Jacob asked him, and said, tell me, I…
And Jacob asked him, and said, tell me, I pray thee, thy name,.... Being asked his own name, and told it, and having another given him more significative and expressive, he is emboldened to ask the person that wrestled with him what was his name; Exo 3:13; for Jacob knew that he was God, as appears by his earnest desire to be blessed by him; and he knew it by the declaration just made, that he had power with God as a prince; but he hoped to have some name, taken by him from the place or circumstance of things in which he was, whereby he might the better remember this affair; as he was pleased to call himself the God of Bethel, from his appearance to Jacob there, Gen 31:13; therefore since he did not choose to give him his name, Jacob himself imposed one on the place afterwards, as a memorial of God being seen by him there:
and he said, wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? which is both a reproof of his curiosity, and a denial of his request; signifying that he had no need to put that question, it was enough for him that he had got the blessing, and which he confirms:
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and he blessed him there; in the same place, as the Vulgate Latin version, where he had been wrestling with him, as he was taking his leave of him; for this was a farewell blessing, and a confirmation of that he had received, through the name of Israel being given him.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Wherefore dost thou ask after my name? - What…
Wherefore dost thou ask after my name? - What good will it do thee to know that? The discovery of that was reserved for his death-bed, upon which he was taught to call him Shiloh. But instead of telling him his name, he gave him his blessing, which was the thing he wrestled for; he blessed him there, repeated and ratified the blessing formerly given him. See how wonderfully God condescends to countenance and crown importunate prayer? Those that resolve though God slay them, yet to trust in him, will at length be more than conquerors.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 29. Tell me, I pray thee, thy name.]…
Verse 29. Tell me, I pray thee, thy name.] It is very likely that Jacob wished to know the name of this angel, that he might invoke him in his necessities: but this might have led him into idolatry, for the doctrine of the incarnation could be but little understood at this time; hence, he refuses to give himself any name, yet shows himself to be the true God, and so Jacob understood him; (see Ge 32:28;) but he wished to have heard from his own lips that name by which he desired to be invoked and worshipped.
Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name?] Canst thou be ignorant who I am? And he blessed him there - gave him the new heart and the new nature which God alone can give to fallen man, and by the change he wrought in him, sufficiently showed who he was. After this clause the Aldine edition of the Septuagint, and several MSS., add ὁ εστι θαυμαστον, or και τουτο εστι θαυμαστον, which is wonderful; but this addition seems to have been taken from Jdg 13:18.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Gen 32:29-30. Wherefore dost thou ask after my name?…
Gen 32:29-30. Wherefore dost thou ask after my name? — Canst thou be at any loss to know who I am? The discovery of that was reserved for his death-bed, upon which he was taught to call him Shiloh. But instead of telling him his name, he gave him his blessing, which was the thing Jacob wrestled for; he blessed him there — Repeated and ratified the blessing formerly given him. See how wonderfully God condescends to countenance and crown importunate prayer! Those that resolve, though God slay them, yet to trust him, will at length be more than conquerors. Peniel — That is, the face of God. For I have seen God face to face — Not in his divine essence, for no man ever saw God in that respect, Joh 1:18; but manifested in a more satisfactory, familiar, and friendly manner, than in dreams or visions.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Why, &c. He represses Jacob’s curiosity, (Haydock) perhaps because…
Why, &c. He represses Jacob’s curiosity, (Haydock) perhaps because God did not as yet choose to reveal his name, Exodus vi. 3. Some Greek and Latin copies add, which is wonderful, taken from Judges xiii. 6, 18. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain Jacob asked, Tell me . . . thy name--The…
Jacob asked, Tell me . . . thy name--The request was denied that he might not be too elated with his conquest nor suppose that he had obtained such advantage over the angel as to make him do what he pleased.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 29. Tell me… thy name — In the loftiest…
29. Tell me… thy name — In the loftiest attainments of soul-struggle with God this is the profoundest prayer that can be uttered. It is a rising above human desires, a ceasing even to ask for blessings, and a yearning to know the sacred name. It is equivalent to, Reveal to me thy nature; or, as in Exo_33:18, “Show me thy glory.” Such was Manoah’s prayer.
Jdg_13:17. But he learned that he might not ask too deeply after the Wonderful, פלא.
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He blessed him there — In what particular form or manner, besides the giving him the new name, we are not told. But Jacob’s prayer for a blessing was answered. At the same time an implied rebuke was administered for his asking after the angel’s name. When shocks of divine power are felt, sufficient to prove the personal presence of Omnipotence, it is presumptuous for feeble man to essay to “find out the Almighty to perfection.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 29. And he blessed him] The name is refused,…
29. And he blessed him] The name is refused, but the blessing previously asked for (Gen_32:26) is granted. The same occurrence is recorded in Jdg_13:17-21. The prayer may not always be right or wise. But the blessing is not refused, because the literal answer is not given. The blessing is the sign of God’s Presence and the pledge of man’s salvation.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (29) Wherefore . . . —In much the same…
(29) Wherefore . . . —In much the same manner the angel refuses to tell Manoah his name (Jdg_13:18). Probably, however, in the blessing which followed there was a clear proof that Jacob’s opponent was a Divine personage.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I…
And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. A request indicating great boldness on the part of Jacob the boldness of faith; (Heb_4:16 Heb_10:19) and importing a desire on Jacob"s part to be acquainted, not merely with the designation, but with the mysterious character of the Divine personage with whom he had been contending. And he (the mysterious stranger) said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? Cf. Jud_1:13:18, where the angel gives the same reply to Manoah, adding, "seeing it is secret;" literally, wonderful, i.e. incomprehensible to mortal man; though here the words of Jacob"s antagonist may mean that his name, so far as it could be learnt by man, was already plain from the occurrence which had taken place (Murphy, "Speaker"s Commentary," Bush) And he blessed him there. After this, every vestige of doubt disappeared from the soul of Jacob.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain Tell me, I pray Thee, Thy name
Gen_32:29
Tell me, I pray Thee, Thy name
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The great question
This is the question of all questions.
For the name of God denotes His nature and His essence, the sum of all His properties and attributes.
I. It is a question worth the asking. There is a despair of religious knowledge in the world, as though in Gods rich universe, theology, which is the science of God Himself, were the one field in which no harvest could be reaped, no service of sacred knowledge gained.
II. The knowledge of God is the one thing needful. He who seeks to do the work of a Paley in presenting Christian evidences in a sense conformable to the intellectual state of thoughtful men, as the shadows are folding themselves about this wearied century--above all, he who cultivates and disciplines his spirituality until it has become the central fact of his being--it is he who offers in a right and reverent spirit the prayer of Jacob at Penuel, Tell me, I pray Thee, Thy name.
III. It is necessary not only to ask the great question of the Divine nature, but to ask it in a right spirit. Jacob acted as though there were no other way of asking the question aright than by prayer; he must also ask it at the cost of personal suffering.
IV. What is the answer when it comes? Jacobs question was asked, but was not answered; or, rather, it was answered not directly and in so many words, but effectually: He blessed him there. It is not knowledge that God gives to striving souls, but blessing. He stills your doubtings; He helps you to trust Him. You go forth no longer as Jacob, the supplanter, mean, earthly, temporal, but in the power of a Divine enthusiasm, as an Israel, a prince with God. (J. E. C. Welldon, M. A.)
Inquiry and reply
The Lord had asked Jacob how he was called, not as if He did not know it, but in order to give him a name more in accordance with his present state of grace. Jacob, meanwhile, feels emboldened to ask his antagonist His name. It may be that he was desirous of knowing how the Lord ought properly to be called. He was usually called Elohim--the Most High. God Himself had said to Abraham, I am the El Shaddai, the Almighty or All-sufficient God. He was also called simply El, the Strong One. But these appellations no longer satisfied the patriarch after his recent experience. They all expressed something of the Divine glory, but none of them the whole of it. There was probably an ardour in his soul, which would gladly have poured itself out in hymns of praise, but for which he could not find words. But Jacob doubtless was not anxious merely about the name when he said, Tell me, I pray Thee, Thy name. I think he meant to say by it, Lord, how shall I call Thee? I know not what to think, much less to say. Such a condescension as that which Thou hast shown to me, who am but dust, is more than my heart could have remotely anticipated. I know and confess that Thou, O Lord! art wonderful and gracious. It was Thou who madest me competent to all this, and yet commendest me, as if I, a poor timid creature, had done it of myself. Thou, who art the Holy One, sufferest Thyself to be embraced by my unholy arms; Thou, who art Almighty, to be overcome by one so weak as I! This is too much, this is too wonderful and too lofty; I cannot comprehend it. Tell me, what is Thy name? What shall I say of Thee? for I know not. Who, indeed, can know how he ought to bless, praise, exalt, and extol Thee as he ought, when he learns and is conscious of what Thou doest to Thy children? If it had been said to Jacob, thus filled with God, This that the Lord hath now done unto thee is something very trifling compared with that which He is willing to do for thee. He has, in this instance, assumed the human form only for a short time; but in the fulness of time He will really be born of a woman, and not spend merely a few hours, but three-and-thirty years, upon earth; suffer in body and soul the most extreme anguish; and even die for Israel that they may live. And the people will not meet Him, as thou hast done, with prayers and tears, but with great wrath and bitter fury will they do Him all conceivable injury; whilst He, from love, will bear it as a lamb. If the patriarch could then have been told these things--which were not fitted, however, for that period--Oh, he would have exclaimed, by Gods grace, I can believe it! I can believe it! What can be too much for Him to perform? Had he been told that He would be called Love, he would have exclaimed, That is His true name! And who can say what an insight Jacob may have obtained into the mystery of salvation during this event, and of which he uttered many things in his parting blessing? At least, Jesus says of Abraham, He saw my day, and was glad. But tell me, I pray Thee, Thy name. Reveal Thyself more intimately to my soul. Such a desire is very laudable. Christ declares that this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. Paul found so much comprised in the knowledge of Jesus Christ that he regarded everything else in comparison with it as loss and dung. Moses also once experienced such a strong desire that he prayed, saying, If I have now found grace in Thy sight, I beseech Thee show me Thy glory. And the Lord really granted him his request, as far as was possible. Who would not tong for such an acquaintance, and pray, Make Thyself known to me; cause Thy face to shine upon me; make me acquainted with Thee! especially since we have the promise, Thou shalt know the Lord? Certainly this is a pearl worthy of the whole of our poor property; a treasure for the sake of which we may well sell everything in order to obtain it. But it is only in the light of God that we see light. Blessed are the eyes which see what ye see. Flesh and blood has not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven. The Lord does all things well in due time, in general, as well as in particular--He only knows also the proper manner; and hence we must be content to be told, my hour is not yet come. Jacobs question was also fully answered; eternity, however, is destined for its further elucidation. Israel thought he might then become acquainted with the whole mystery of redemption; but a couple of centuries must elapse ere it was fully made known. Israel was obliged to learn to wait--to see the promises afar off, and to be satisfied with it. He was satisfied, and held his peace. (D. C. Krumreacher.)
The search after God
In this experience there seem to be three things--a request, a denial, and a compensation.
I. THE REQUEST here, as Jacob urges it, is this: Tell me, I pray Thee, Thy name.
1. The manner is bold and abrupt. It appears strange, sometimes, as we note the real prayers on record in the Bible, to find them so short, so sharp, so resolute in utterance. Master, carest Thou not that we perish!--Lord, remember me when Thou comest into Thy kingdom! . . . Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me!--Lord, save me, I perish! It is an old Reformers saying: Prayer is the Christians gun-shot. As then the bullet out of a gun, so prayers out of the mouth, can go no further than they are carried. If they be put out faintly, they cannot fly far. If they be hollow-hearted, then they will not pierce much. Only the fervent, active devotion hits the mark, and pierceth the walls of heaven, though, like those of Gaza, made of brass and iron.
2. But what does this request of Jacobs mean? Indeed, it seems quite fair to retort the question of the angel. Jacob asked to know the name of the Being he had been wrestling with. Most surely, we are not left to imagine he still remained in ignorance who his antagonist was. You have already learned, from the change in Jacobs own name, that names in those days meant character--indicated personality. And when this wearied man girds up his remaining force for a new petition, he is simply pressing the old answerless question of the human soul: Who is God--and What is God?
3. The order of experience in this heart-history is of special value, and must be noted also. It follows success and not failure. It best becomes, therefore, the symbol of prayer founded on encouragement. It suggests to us a rewarded soul standing on the vantage-ground of a previous welcome, and stretching out its hand for a yet more advanced disclosure of love.
II. THE DENIAL. It seems to be the settled determination of the Divine will to hold in a holy and unbroken reserve the heights and depths of His character and being. Enough only is revealed for us to be sure He is our friend and our well-wisher. It cannot be called an unwholesome question, this in our text, even though it never meets an earthly answer. It stimulates the soul. Even a reverent curiosity about God is better than a dead apathy.
III. THE COMPENSATION. And He blessed him there. There is something surpassingly beautiful in this quiet statement. The mystery remains unrelieved, but the affection pays for it. Just as a loving mother grants every wish of her little one, until a serious mistake is pressed as a petition. Then she declines with a smile, and compensates with a kiss, so that the child is glad to be disappointed. And that is exactly the delicate figure of the Scripture: As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you, saith the Lord. But now you press the inquiry--Is there any answer to the old question--does not this same Being, who is to judge us at the last, as He made us in the beginning, elude our every search--oh, that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come even to His seat--has He no word to speak to me? Yes--I answer; there are two disclosures at least in this experience of compensation that give relief. They are always made. They are here, as elsewhere, in the story of Jacob. One of these is a clear revelation of the right of human petition. The other is a new repetition of Divine confidence. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
The secret revealed to wrestling Jacob
I. Jacob in that hour felt THE DARK SECRET AND MYSTERY OF EXISTENCE.
1. The contrast observable between this and a former revelation made to Jacobs soul. Twenty years before he had seen in vision a ladder reared against the sky, and angels ascending and descending on it. Exceedingly remarkable. Immediately after his transgression, when leaving his fathers home, a banished man, to be a wanderer for many years, this first meeting took place. Fresh from his sin, God met him in tenderness and forgiveness. After twenty years God met him again; but this second intercourse was of a very different character. It was no longer God the Forgiver, God the Protector, God the covenanting Love, that met Jacob; but God the Awful, the Unnameable, whose breath blasts, at whose touch the flesh of the mortal shrinks and shrivels up.
2. Again I remark, that the end and aim of Jacobs struggle was to know the name of God. Tell me, I pray Thee, Thy name. In the Hebrew history are discernible three periods distinctly marked, in which names and words bore very different characters. These three, it has been observed by acute philologists, correspond to the periods in which the nation bore the three different appellations of Hebrews, Israelites, Jews. In the first of these periods, names meant truths, and words were the symbols of realities. The characteristics of the names given then were simplicity and sincerity. They were drawn from a few simple sources: either from some characteristic of the individual, as Jacob, the supplanter, or Moses, drawn from the water; or from the idea of family, as Benjamin, the son of my right hand; or from the conception of the tribe or nation, then gradually consolidating itself; or, lastly, from the religious idea of God. But in this case not the highest notion of God--not Jah or Jehovah, but simply the safer and simpler idea of Deity. The second period begins about the time of the departure from Egypt, and it is characterized by unabated simplicity, with the addition of sublimer thought and feeling more intensely religious. The heart of the nation was big with mighty and new religious truth--and the feelings with which the national heart was swelling found vent in the names which were given abundantly. God, under His name Jah, the noblest assemblage of spiritual truths yet conceived, became the adjunct to names of places and persons. Osheas name is changed into Jehoshua. The third period was at its zenith in the time of Christ--words had lost their meaning, and shared the hollow unreal state of all things. A mans name might be Judas, and still he might be a traitor. Yet in this period, exactly in proportion as the solemnity of the idea was gone, reverence was scrupulously paid to the corpse-like word which remained and had once enclosed it. In that hollow, artificial age, the Jew would wipe his pen before he ventured to write the Name--he would leave out the vowels of the sacred Jehovah, and substitute those of the less sacred Elohim. In that kind of age, too, men bow to the name of Jesus, often just in that proportion in which they have ceased to recognize His true grandeur and majesty of character. In such an age it would be indeed preposterous to spend the strength upon an inquiry such as this--Tell me Thy name? Jehovah, Jove, or Lord what matter? But Jacob did not live in this third period, when names meant nothing; nor did he live in the second, when words contained the deepest truth the nation is ever destined to receive. But he lived in the first age, when men are sincere, and truthful, and earnest, and names exhibit character. To tell Jacob the name of God was to reveal to him what God is and who.
3. This desire of Jacob was not the one we should naturally have expected on such an occasion. He is alone--his past fault is coming retributively on a guilty conscience--he dreads the meeting with his brother. His soul is agonized with that, and that we naturally expect will be the subject and the burden of his prayer. No such thing l Not a word about Esau--not a word about personal danger at all. All that is banished completely for the time, and deeper thoughts are grappling with his soul. To get safe through to-morrow? No, no, no! To be blessed by God--to know Him, and what He is--that is the battle of Jacobs soul from sunset till the dawn of day. And this is our struggle--the struggle.
II. THE REVELATION OF THE MYSTERY.
1. It was revealed by awe. Very significantly are we told that the Divine antagonist seemed as it were anxious to depart as the day was about to dawn; and that Jacob held Him more convulsively fast, as if aware that the daylight was likely to rob him of his anticipated blessing; in which there seems concealed a very deep truth. God is approached more nearly in that which is indefinite than in that which is definite and distinct. He is felt in awe, and Wonder and worship, rather than in clear conceptions.
2. Again, this revelation was made in an unsyllabled blessing. Jacob requested two things. He asked for a blessing--and he prayed to know the name of God. God gave him the blessing. He blessed him there, but refused to tell His name. Wherefore dost thou ask after My name? In this, too, seems to lie a most important truth. Names have a power, a strange power, of hiding God. Speech has been bitterly defined as the art of hiding thought. Well, that sarcastic definition has in it a truth. The Eternal Word is the revealer of Gods thought; and every true word of man is originally the expression of a thought; but by degrees the word hides the thought. Language is valuable for the things of this life; but for the things of the other world, it is an encumbrance almost as much as an assistance. Lastly, the effect of this revelation was to change Jacobs character. His name was changed from Jacob to Israel, because himself was an altered man. Hitherto there had been something subtle in his character--a certain cunning and craft--a want of breadth, as if he had no firm footing upon reality. The forgiveness of God twenty years before had not altered this. He remained Jacob, the subtle supplanter still. For, indeed, a man whose religion is chiefly the sense of forgiveness, does not thereby rise into integrity or firmness of character--a certain tenderness of character may very easily go along with a great deal of subtlety. Jacob was tender and devout, and grateful for Gods pardon, and only half honest still. But this half-insincere man is brought into contact with the awful God, and his subtlety falls from him. He becomes real at once. Every insincere habit of mind shrivels in the face of God. One clear, true glance into the depths of Being, and the whole man is altered. The name changes because the character has changed, No longer Jacob the supplanter, but Israel the Prince of God--the champion of the Lord, who had fought with God and conquered; and who, henceforth, will fight for God and be His true loyal soldier: a larger, more unselfish name--a larger and more unselfish man--honest and true at last. No man becomes honest till he has got face toface with God. (F. W. Robertson, M. A.)
Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after My name?--
Gods revelation of Himself to Jacob
This answer of the Being--Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after My name?--what does it mean? So far as I can judge, it is the same reply that was given long afterward to the wise and learned Moses--When I speak to the people, who shall I say hath sent me? What is Thy name? . . . I am that I am. This shalt thou say, I AM hath sent me unto you; that is, as I think, I am, the nameless One, the One who refuses to be named, whose being transcends all description. The highest revelation of God must consist of two sides--the apprehensible, the inapprehensible. God must be the apprehensible and inapprehensible God. Throughout the Bible He is introduced generally with the definition and distinction of a high man; He talks, acts, feels before us as plainly as any character in the history, and we have the satisfaction of the clearest knowledge. But were this all, it would not have been God, and would have ended in the rankest idolatry. So in this singular tale of Jacob--so far back--for the first time, I think, is there a revelation of theinfinite, unspeakable God, manifested so simply in the fact that He refuses to be or cannot be revealed. Wherefore? I am. (A. G. Mercer, D. D.)
He blessed him there
Blessing from God
God blessed Jacob at Penuel because he asked to be blessed, and his desire for it constituted at once his worthiness and his capacity. He began the blessing by the agony of prayer, and he completed it with the discipline of sorrow.
1. Life being itself a blessing, and to one who believes in God and hopes from Him the greatest of all blessings, God makes it a yet greater blessing by ordaining for it a fixed plan.
2. God does not expect perfect characters to fulfil His purposes. He chooses the fittest instruments He can find for His purest purpose, and trains them and bears with them until their work is done.
3. God uses circumstances as His angels and voices to us, and He has special epochs and crises in which He visits our souls and lives.
4. The perfection of youth is eagerness without impetuosity; the perfection of old age is wisdom without cynicism, and a faith in the purpose of God which deepens and widens with the years. (Bishop Thorold.)
Fulness of blessing
1. Evil conduct will, sooner or later, bring trouble to those guilty of it.
2. We may meet with trouble in the way God bids us go.
3. The memory of former wrong-doing robs us of comfort and hope under new trials.
4. God will help us if we repent, confess, seek pardon, and call for His aid.
I. THERE IS A FULNESS OF BLESSING IN GOD TO MEET OUR NEEDS BEYOND ALL WE HAVE EVER REALIZED. We can have blessings spiritual, moral, mental, physical, secular, personal, family, national.
II. GOD IS WILLING AND WAITING TO BESTOW ALL WE NEED OUT OF THAT FULNESS. We see this from--
1. The nature of God. God is love.
2. The promises.
3. Past dealings.
III. THE MEANS BY WHICH THE BLESSING BECOMES OURS IS EARNEST, FERVENT PRAYER. This the key that opens the treasure, the channel that conducts the water to my soul, the hand that grasps the blessing. (J. Marsden, B. A.)
Blessed by God
I. WHAT WAS JACOBS BLESSING IN THAT PLACE?
1. He was saved from a great peril--Esaus attack.
2. He was forgiven a great wrong--supplanting.
3. He was able to feel that a great breach was healed (Gen_33:4).
4. He had won a new name and rank (Gen_32:28). He was knighted on the spot, made a prince on the field.
5. He was now under a fresh anointing: he was a superior man ever after. The angel redeemed him from all evil (Gen_48:16).
II. WHAT WAS THE PLACE? He blessed him there.
1. A place of great trial (Gen_32:6-7).
2. A place of humble confession. I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which Thou hast showed to Thy servant (Gen_32:10).
3. A place of pleading (Gen_32:11-12). There wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day (Gen_32:24).
4. A place of communion. I have seen God face to face (Gen_32:30).
5. A place of conscious weakness. As he passed over Penuel, the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
III. ARE THERE OTHER SUCH PLACES?
1. Before the earth was created the Lord blessed His chosen people in Christ Jesus (Eph_1:3-4).
2. At the Cross the tomb, and the throne of Jesus.
3. In the heavenly places.
4. At conversion (Psa_32:1-2).
5. In times of stripping, humbling, chastening, pleading, &c. Jam_1:12).
6. In times of prompt obedience (Psa_1:1).
7. At the ordinances (Act_8:39; Luk_24:30-31).
IV. IS THIS SUCH A PLACE? Yes, if you are--
1. Willing to give up sin.
2. Willing to have Jesus for your all in all.
3. Willing to resign yourself to the Fathers will.
4. Willing to serve God in His own way. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Lessons
1. Gods blessing on His saints unites their hearts unto Him to seek His praise.
2. Saints ascribe all their blessings to the face or favour of God.
3. Gracious souls desire that exaltations of God be monumental and perpetual.
4. Gods face-discoveries have been in measure to sight towards His saints of old.
5. Gods sensible discoveries of Himself have been dangerous to the life of His saints (Dan_8:27).
6. Gods appearance, visible in grace, hath been to the preservation of humbled souls (Gen_32:30).
7. God giveth a pass to His servants in their way after He hath tried them. (G. Hughes, B. D.)
Jacobs blessing
This blessing wherewith Christ here blessed Jacob was a Divine blessing containing all other blessings within its bowels. It was that blessing of the throne which comprehended in it the blessings of the footstool. Jacob had got already a great store of footstool mercies--much wealth, wives and children, &c. These worldly blessings would not (and indeed could not) content him. He tugs hard still, and must have some better mercy than these, even the throne mercy, to wit, peace with God; well knowing that this would bring peace with his brother, and all other good things; as Job saith, Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee (Job_22:21). He knew that his power to prevail with Emmanuel Himself would fill him with power to prevail with Esau. (Christopher Ness.)
Blessing sought and found
It was with a young man a day of seeking, and he entered a little sanctuary and heard a sermon from Look unto Me, and be ye saved. He obeyed the Lords command, and He blessed him there. Soon after he made a profession of his faith before many witnesses, declaring his consecration to the Lord, and He blessed him there. Anon he began to labour for the Lord in little rooms, among a few people, and He blessed him there. His opportunities enlarged, and by faith he ventured upon daring things for the Lords sake, and He blessed him there. A household grew about him, and together with his loving wife he tried to train his children in the fear of the Lord, and He blessed him there. Then came sharp and frequent trial, and he was in pain and anguish, but the Lord blessed him there. This is that mans experience all along, from the day of his conversion to this hour: up hill and down dale his path has been a varied one, but every part of his pilgrimage he can praise the Lord, for He blessed him there.
Blessed by God
I have here (said Mr. Fuller) two religious characters, who were intimately acquainted in early life. Providence favoured one of them with a tide of prosperity. The other, fearing for his friend, lest his heart should be overcharged with the cares of this life and the deceitfulness of riches, one day asked him if he did not find prosperity a snare to him. He paused and answered, I am not conscious that I do, for I enjoy God in all things. Some years afterwards his affairs took another turn; he lost, if not the whole, yet the far greater part of what he had once gained, and by this disaster was greatly reduced. His old friend, being one day in his company, renewed his question, whether he did not find what had lately befallen him to be too much for him. Again he paused and answered, I am not conscious that I do, for now I enjoy all things in God. This was truly a life of faith. To him it was as true as to Jacob--He blessed him there. (Arvines Anecdotes.)
The present blessing
It is a common temptation to men to think that if their circumstances were different they could become religious, put forth all its fruits, enjoy all its blessings; but with things as they are they can hope for little. By this miserable temptation thousands are deluded, life is wasted, souls are lest. What I wish to show is that the realization of salvation and the maintenance of a holy life are possible to us anywhere, everywhere, if we have the true disposition of heart. Goodness is never a question of the outer world; it is always a question of the inner world. Now, in nature climate determines everything respecting the animals which live, the flowers which grow; the character of the climate, not the nature of the soil, or the conformation of the ground. It is from difference of climate that tropical life differs so much from arctic, and both these from the life of temperate regions. It is climate, and climate alone, that causes the orange and vine to blossom, and the olive to flourish in the south, but denies them to the north of Europe. It is climate, and climate alone, that enables the forest tree to grow on the plain, but not on the mountain top; that causes wheat and barley to flourish on the mainland of Scotland, but not on the steppes of Siberia. Not the quality of the ground, or the form of the ground, but the climate; the products of the landscape are determined not by the soil itself, or by what is below the soil, but by what is outside it, above it, beyond it. But human character is not governed by circumstance as the landscape is determined by climate. The supreme distinction of man, the characteristic that marks him out from the mere physical universe, is that there is in him a self-energy, an inner freedom, a fundamental liberty and strength of soul, by which he triumphs over the unfriendliest conditions in pursuit of his ideal. How Demosthenes, in spite of his stammering, became an orator; how Huber, in his love of science, triumphed over his blindness; how Beethoven created splendid music despite his deafness! It is the same in the moral life of man; victory is from within, no matter what may be the state of things without. The patriarch struggling with the angel until he overcame is the picture of mans ability to overcome all difficulties in the way of the highest life, to realize purity and peace and uttermost salvation. And so we constantly see men getting goodness and exemplifying goodness in circumstances which seem altogether to forbid moral excellence. We see here how mistaken men are in fancying that they cannot give themselves to God and live for Him just where they find themselves. And yet that is a common mistake. Thousands to-day are waiting for the propitious hour, the fitting place, the convenient season.
1. I cannot serve God in this home, says one. If their parents and friends had been religious, if their training had been otherwise, it would have been otherwise with them. Now, believe it, God can bless and keep you there. There was some good thing in the house of Jeroboam, the most unlikely house in Israel. Abijah was there, a God-fearing and a God-favoured youth. Some little while ago I noticed in a field quite a vast growth of fungi--yellow, purple, black, spotted, no end of toadstools and devils snuff-boxes--and right in the middle of the ghastly, pestilent, poisonous growth there was a single mushroom, white and fragrant, a veritable pearl of the field. So Abijah stood in the house of Jeroboam.
2. I cannot serve God in this neighbourhood, says another. Ours is a bad neighbourhood, say they, and nobody can live in it and be what they ought to be. Have you never thought how wonderfully God preserved the primitive Christians in such cities as Rome and Ephesus and Corinth, full of atheism, idolatry, sensuality, as they were?
3. I cannot serve God in this calling, says another. They feel their business is unfriendly to religious life, that their business relations are so. The tailor says, We are a loose set; the shoemaker feels as if all his comrades were infidels; the horse-dealer wants to know how he is going to keep a conscience; the collier, the soldier, the sailor, feel how difficult it is with their vocation to serve God. Do not spend your life sighing for another and more helpful calling; God can bless you where you are; He can give you grace to resist the special temptations of your lot; m slippery places He can make you to stand, in dark places He can make you to shine.
4. I cannot serve God in this situation, says another. The domestic servant feels this sometimes. She lives where there is not a thought of religion, and it seems incredible that she could keep her soul alive there. Seek Gods blessing now. That was a strange place where Jacob wrestled with the angel, on the wild heath beneath the stars; but he was resolute for the blessing, and he got it. Are you earnest for the blessing as he was? (W. L.Watkinson.)
Deliverance from affliction
Be not earnest, in time of affliction, to use inordinate means to speed deliverance. Jacob was too nimble in bending his knees for his fathers blessing. It cost him twenty years exile and a shrunk sinew before he obtained it fully from the angel. Stay Gods time, and mercy will ripen more kindly. It is no wisdom to break prison unadvisedly; our troubles will end more auspiciously when angels are sent from heaven to open the iron gate, as they did to Peter, and led him to the house of prayer. When God intends a salvation, the shackles will fall off easily, and the gates will fly open at night; and you shall be like them that dream, when God turns your captivity like streams in the south. (J. Lee.)
Power of wrestling prayer
Theres nae gude dune, John, till ye get to the close grips. So said Jeems, the doorkeeper of Broughton Place Church, Edinburgh, to the immortal Dr. John Brown, the author of Rab and His Friends. Old Jeems got into a marvellous nearness with God in prayer, and conversed with Him as he would with his ain father. (Dr. Cuyler.)
The name of that place Peniel
Peniel
This world possesses many uncommonly glorious places. The natural man finds those the most remarkable where Nature manifests herself in peculiar splendour and majesty, where lofty mountains yield delightful prospects, and smiling plains exhibit the blessings of heaven; where majestic rivers roll along, or the wide ocean expands itself like an eternity before the eye which seeks in vain its limit. The scientific man lingers with pleasure on the monuments of ancient and modern art; he gazes with admiration at the enormous dome which ancient times reared heavenwards, or is ravished with the productions of the painter or the statuary, which animate, as it were, the lifeless canvas and the solid marble. He admires the magnificence and beauty of princely palaces, and lingers astonished at the works of art. The historian loses himself in reflection when visiting the scene of former important events, when coming in sight of ancient Rome with all its reminiscences; or when upon a field where memorable battles have been fought. Who at this present period does not think with admiration of Wittenberg and its royal chapel, of the Wartburg, of Zurich and Geneva, and of the names of Luther, Zuinglius, and Calvin, because they remind us of a multiplicity of events connected with them? The Christian has also his memorable spots and places in the world; Bethlehem, Capernaum, Jerusalem, Calvary, and the Mount of Olives, are these remarkable spots. Formerly they were personally visited by the piously superstitious pilgrim, whilst his heart, perhaps, was far from God. His bodily eye saw the remarkable places, whilst the eye of his spirit remained closed against the wonders which there took place for the salvation of sinners. His feet wandered in what is called the Holy Land, where Abraham once sojourned; which the Son of God touched with His sacred feet, and even with His face; which He bedewed with His tears, His bloody sweat, and His atoning blood; in which His lifeless body slumbered three days, and where He again rose to heaven from whence He had come down. There the foot of many a pilgrim wanders, whilst it is not given him to walk in the steps of faithful Abraham, and to know the way of peace--nay, whilst rejecting the Son of God, by thinking to render his own works effectual as an atonement for his sins. These places are Peniels to believers, revelations of the glory of God, since His faith and love find the pastures of eternal life in that which there took place. And has not every Christian his particular Peniels in which God revealed Himself to him in an especial manner?--his closet, a sermon, a book, a company, a solitary hour, and the like, which continue ever memorable to him. Jacob called this remarkable place Peniel--not as a memorial of himself, nor of that which he had there performed and accomplished; but of that which he had apprehended and experienced of God, and of the gracious benefit bestowed upon him. (D. C. Krummacher.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 He said, "Why is it that you ask my…
He said, "Why is it that you ask my name?"
"He said, 'Why would you ask about my name?'" This rhetorical question was meant to shock, rebuke and cause Jacob to ponder over what just happened between him and the other man he just wrestled with. AT: "Do not ask me for my name!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
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Peniel
Translators may add a footnote that says: "The name Peniel means 'the face of God.'" (See: How to Translate Names)
face to face
Being "face to face" means that two people are seeing each other in person, at a close distance.
and my life is delivered
This can be stated in active form. AT: "yet he spared my life" (See: Active or Passive)
translationWords
bless
God
face
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 32:29 Jacob knew who was with him (32:30); the…
32:29 Jacob knew who was with him (32:30); the request was his attempt to regain some control. God would not reveal his name, which cannot be had on demand.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.