Genesis 32

25 Jan 2026 - Theology

Genesis 32 - Jacob Wrestles with God

Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau

Genesis 32:1-21

Jacob sends “messengers” ahead of him to Esau, however, upon seeing that Esau is approaching with 400 men, they act more like scouts and go back to warn Jacob.

Jacob was “greatly afraid and distressed” and so he makes a plan to divide his people into two camps, so that if one camp is killed by Esau and his men, the other camp can escape. He then prays this prayer:

Genesis 32:9-12 - “‘And Jacob said, ‘O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’”

Jacob prepares a plan to send gifts to Esau portion by portion ahead of him, with the hope that the gifts would somehow appease Esau, so that he will accept Jacob (20).

Jacob Wrestles with God

Genesis 32:22-32

Problems:

Man just shows up out of nowhere (24)
How can a person be both alone and yet wrestle with someone at the same time? (24)
The man touches Jacob’s hip and takes it out of the socket (25)
The man injures Jacob, but the next verse is the man asking Jacob to let him go (25-26)
Why does Jacob think to ask for a blessing? (26)
Why does the man resist being identified? (29)

Names are important - you find your identity and characteristics in a name.

This is the start of the Israelites, the people that God has chosen to partner with. As all believers have been grafted in to His chosen people by faith, the question becomes - Does God want to wrestle with us?

How can we wrestle with Him? We do this by asking questions, by having doubts that cause us to lean in to God and his Word. When we lean in and then have our questions answered, we can stop wrestling with God and receive a blessing! Everyone has doubts on some level, but we can not let that stop us from pursuing the truth and asking questions.

Genesis 32:30 - “And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel [meaning, ‘the face of God’]: for I have seen God [Elohim] face to face, and my life is preserved.”

Hosea 12:2-5 - “The Lord hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him. He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God: Yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he spake with us; Even the Lord God of hosts; the Lord is his memorial.”

had power (3) = Hebr. ‘was a prince’ or ‘behaved himself princely’
had power (4) = sūr - ‘to vanquish; to saw, to contend’

Notice here in verse 4, the writer says that an angel visited Jacob. It can then be inferred that the angel was the Lord God [Adonai Elohim], given its claim to be God in the first person in Genesis 32:28.

Deuteronomy 6:4 - “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord:”

Name Change

Jacob -> Israel (or Yisrael [Hebr.])

Yisrael

ysr = to wrestle
el = God

Yisrael

yashar = straight
el = God

This name means ‘the one who shows that God is true’

Yisrael

sar = prince
el = God

This name means ‘prince of God’

References

The Hebrew - Greek Key Study Bible (KJV Version)
The BEMA Podcast, Episode 14: Grappling with God, Part 2
The Torah Portion-by-Portion by Rabbi Seymour Rossel (2007)
Commentary on Hosea 12 (by Matthew Henry) - Blue Letter Bible