Genesis 32:31
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The sun rose above him as he passed by Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip.
Commentaries
Excerpts gathered from published commentaries to ground the reading.
The remembrance of this wonderful conflict Jacob perpetuated in the name which he gave to the place where it had occurred, viz., Pniel or Pnuel (with the connecting wound וּ or י), because there he had seen Elohim face to face, and his soul had been delivered (from death, Gen 16:13).
Open source ↗We have here Jacob still upon his journey towards Canaan. Never did so many memorable things occur in any march as in this of Jacob's little family. By the way he meets, I. With good tidings from his God (Gen 32:1, Gen 32:2). II. With bad tidings from his brother, to whom he sent a message to notify his return (Gen 32:3-6). In his distress, 1. He divides his company (Gen 32:7, Gen 32:8). 2. He makes his prayer to God (Gen 32:9-12). 3. He sends a present to his brother (Gen 32:13-23). 4. He wrestles with the angel (Gen 32:24-32).
Open source ↗32:31 he was limping: God injured Jacob’s hip, thus curtailing his proud self-sufficiency. Since the Lord had restricted his natural strength, Jacob would have to rely on the Lord with greater faith. He had thought that returning to his land would be a matter of outwitting his brother once again (32:3-21), but here at the land’s threshold he met its true proprietor. He would get the land, but only if God fought for him. Self-sufficiency—trying to achieve the blessing by our own strength or by the ways of the world—will not suffice. If we persist, God may have to cripple our self-sufficiency to make us trust him more.
Open source ↗Original language
The Hebrew and Greek words behind this passage, with Strong's numbers — from openscriptures (CC BY-SA).
Cross-references
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or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
From there he went up to Penuel and asked the same from them, but the men of Penuel gave the same response as the men of Succoth.
For I am ready to fall, and my pain is ever with me.
But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.
And by the time the sun had risen over the land, Lot had reached Zoar.
“But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.
At daybreak the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.”
When the man saw that he could not overpower Jacob, he struck the socket of Jacob’s hip and dislocated it as they wrestled.