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The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:6
And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee (vide Genesis 33:1), and four hundred men with him. That Esau was attended by 400 armed followers was a proof th…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:9-12
And Jacob said,—the combined beauty and power, humility and boldness, simplicity and sublimity, brevity and comprehensiveness of this prayer, of which Kalisch somewhat hypercritically complains that it ought to have bee…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:9-12
Jacob's prayer. 1. It was the prayer of humility. 2. Of faith—faith in a covenant God, faith in him who had already revealed himself, faith in promises made to the individual as well as to God's people generally, faith…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:13-23
The crisis at hand. Jacob understood the human heart. I. KINDNESS WILL WORK WONDERS. "I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face." It gave Esau time to think of an altere…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:13
And he lodged there that same night; and took—not by random, but after careful selection; separavit (Vulgate)—of that which came to his hand—not of those things which were in his hand, ω}n e!feren (LXX.), such as he had…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:16
And he delivered them into the Band of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Passover (the river Jabbok) before me, and put a space (literally, a breathing-place) betwixt drove and drove—a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:17-20
And he commanded the foremost, saying (with admirable tact and prudence), When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee! then thou sh…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:21-23
So (literally, and) went the present over Before him: and himself lodged that night in the company. And he rose up that night,—i.e. some time before daybreak (vide Genesis 32:24) and took his two wives, and him two wome…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:24-32
Peniel. The face of God. The patriarchal revelation at its best. The main point, the personal wrestling of the believer with the angel of deliverance. Through that scene Jacob passed as by a baptism (ford Jabbok) into t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:24-32
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:24
And Jacob was left alone (probably on the north bank of the Jabbok; but vide on Genesis 32:23); and there wrestled—thus assaulting in his strong point one who had been a wrestler or heel-catcher from his youth (Murphy).…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:24-32
Peniel, or the mysterious contest. I. THE DESCRIPTION OF THE STRUGGLE. 1. The scene. The north bank of Jabbok (vide Exposition). 2. The time. Night; the most suitable season for soul exercises, such as self-examination…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:25
And when he (the unknown wrestler) saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched—not struck (Knobel)—the hollow of his thigh (literally, the socket of the hip); and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as h…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:26
And he (the man) said, Let me go (literally, send me away; meaning that he yielded the victory to Jacob, adding as a reason for his desire to depart), for the day breaketh—literally, for the morning or the dawn ascendet…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:27
And he said unto him, What is thy name? (not as if requiring to be informed, but as directing attention to it in view of the change about to be made upon it) And he said, Jacob—i.e. Heel-catcher, or Supplanter (vide Gen…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:28
A new name. "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel." Twenty years before Jacob learned at Bethel to know God as a living and present Protector. This a great step in spiritual life; belief of God in heaven,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:28
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more (i.e. exclusively, since both he and his descendants are in Scripture sometimes after this styled) Jacob, but Israel:— יִשְׂרַאֵל, from שָׂרָה, to be chief, to fight, though…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:29
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 (Hebrews 4:16; Hebrews 10:19); and importing a desire on Jacob's part to be a…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:30
And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel (i.e. "the face of God." Its situation must have been close to the Jabbok. The reason given for its designation follows): for I have seen God (Elohim) face to face, and my l…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:31
And as he passed over Penuel—this some suppose to have been the original name of the place, which Jacob changed by the alteration of a vowel, but it is probably nothing more than an old form of the same word—the sun ros…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:32
Therefore the children of Israel cat not of the sinew which shrank,—the gid hannasheh, rendered by the LXX. τὸ νεῦρον ὅ ἐνάρκησεν, the nerve which became numb, and by the Vulgate nervus qui emarcuit, the nerve whi…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 33:1-20
EXPOSITION Genesis 33:1, Genesis 33:2 And Jacob, having the day before dispatched his conciliatory gift to Esau, turned his back upon the Jabbok, having crossed to the south bank, if the previous night had been spent up…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 33:1-20
Jacob and Esau, or the brothers reconciled. I. THE MEETING OF THE BROTHERS. 1. The approach of Esau. 2. The advance of Jacob. 3. The reconciliation of both. The conflict of emotions in the breast of Esau was brought to…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 33:1-20
The fruits of prayer. The "prince" who has been lifted by the grace of God out of the humiliation of his fear and shame to the height of his favor at the throne of the Most High now reveals his princely power. He takes…