32:1
The Mahanaim Encounter and the Wrestling at Peniel
And Ya’aqob went on his way, and the Malakim (Angels) of Alahiym met him.
Reader Chapter
Barashiyt 32
Barashiyt chapter 32 in the Qadmoni reader. Read the full chapter text with direct verse references and continue into the interactive reader.
Browse Barashiyt chapter index32:2
And when Ya’aqob saw them, he said, "This is the Camp of Alahiym": and he called the name of that place Mahanaim (Two Camps).
32:3
The Strategy for the Meeting with Esaw
And Ya’aqob sent messengers before him to Esaw his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
32:4
And he commanded them, saying, "Thus shall ye speak unto my Adun Esaw; Thy servant Ya’aqob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:
32:5
And I have oxen, and donkeys, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my Adun, that I may find favor in thy sight."
32:6
And the messengers returned to Ya’aqob, saying, "We came to thy brother Esaw, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him."
32:7
Then Ya’aqob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;
32:8
And said, "If Esaw come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape."
32:9
The Petition to 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄
And Ya’aqob said, "O Alahiym of my father Abraham, and Alahiym of my father Yitzchaq, 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 which saidst unto me, 'Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee':
32:10
I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Yardan; and now I am become two bands.
32:11
Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esaw: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children.
32:12
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.'"
32:13
The Appeasement Strategy: The Present for Esaw
And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esaw his brother;
32:14
Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams, 15 Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she donkeys, and ten foals.
32:15
Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she donkeys, and ten foals.
32:16
And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, "Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove."
32:17
And he commanded the foremost, saying, "When Esaw my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, 'Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?'
32:18
Then thou shalt say, 'They be thy servant Ya’aqob's; it is a present sent unto my Adun Esaw: and, behold, also he is behind us.'"
32:19
And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, "On this manner shall ye speak unto Esaw, when ye find him.
32:20
And say ye moreover, 'Behold, thy servant Ya’aqob is behind us.'" For he said, "I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me."
32:21
So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.
32:22
The Wrestling at Peniel and the New Name
And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Yabbok.
32:23
And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.
32:24
And Ya’aqob 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 Ya’aqob'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, "Ya’aqob."
32:28
And he said, "Thy name shall be called no more Ya’aqob, but Yashar'al: for as a prince hast thou power with Alahiym and with men, and hast prevailed."
32:29
And Ya’aqob 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 Ya’aqob called the name of the place Peniel: "For I have seen Alahiym 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
The Dietary Law of the Remnant
Therefore the children of Yashar'al eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Ya’aqob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.