Jacob wrestling with the angel
Jacob wrestling with the angel or God is described in the
In the
Hebrew Bible
The Masoretic Text reads as follows:
On that night, he arose and took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and he crossed over the
Jabbok ford.
He took them and sent them over the river, and he sent over that which was his.
Jacob was left to his lonesome. A man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.
He saw that he was powerless against him. He struck the socket of his thigh, and the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated in his struggle with him.
He said, "Release me, for dawn is broken!" He said, "I will not release you, except if you bless me!"
He said to him, "What is your name?" He said, "Jacob."
He said, "Jacob will not be said as your name anymore, but Israel, for you struggled with God and with men, and you are capable!"
Jacob asked, and said, "Now, reveal your name!" He said, "Why is this, you ask for my name?" He blessed him there.
Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, "for I have seen God face-to-face, and my soul survives."
The sun shone on him when he passed Penuel, and he was limping over his thigh.
Verily, to this day the Israelites do not eat the 'forgotten sinew', which is over the socket of the thigh, for he struck in the socket of Jacob's thigh, in the forgotten sinew.
The account contains several plays on the meaning of Hebrew names—
The Hebrew text states that it is a "man" (אִישׁ,
Interpretations
The identity of Jacob's wrestling opponent is a matter of debate,[8] named variously as a dream figure, a prophetic vision, an angel (such as Michael and Samael), a protective river spirit, Jesus, or God.[9]
Jewish interpretations
In Hosea 12:5, Jacob's opponent is described as
As a result of the hip injury Jacob suffered while wrestling,
Christian interpretations
The interpretation that "Jacob wrestled with God" (glossed in the name Isra-'el) is common in Protestant theology, endorsed by the Protestant reformers Martin Luther and John Calvin (although Calvin believed the event was "only a vision"),[11] as well as later writers such as Joseph Barker (1854)[19] or Peter L. Berger (2014).[20] Other commentaries treat the expression of Jacob's having seen "God face to face" as referencing the Angel of the Lord as the "Face of God".[21]
The proximity of the terms "man" and "God" in the text in some Christian commentaries has also been taken as suggestive of a Christophany. J. Douglas MacMillan (1991) suggests that the angel with whom Jacob wrestles is a "pre-incarnation appearance of Christ in the form of a man."[22]
According to one Christian commentary of the Bible incident described, "Jacob said, 'I saw God face to face'. Jacob's remark does not necessarily mean that the 'man' with whom he wrestled is God. Rather, as with other, similar statements, when one saw the 'angel of the Lord,' it was appropriate to claim to have seen the face of God."[21]
Islamic interpretations
This story is never mentioned in the Quran, but is discussed in Muslim commentaries.[23][24] The commentaries employ the story in explaining other events in the Hebrew Bible that are discussed in the Quran that have parallels, like Moses being attacked by an angel,[25] and to explain Jewish eating customs.[23][26] Like some Jewish commentators, Islamic commentators described the event as punishment for Jacob failing to give tithes to God but making an offering like a tithe to Esau.[25]
Other views
In an analysis of Marxist philosopher Ernst Bloch's 1968 book Atheism in Christianity, Roland Boer says that Bloch sees the incident as falling into the category of "myth, or at least legend". Boer calls this an example of "a bloodthirsty, vengeful God ... outdone by cunning human beings keen to avoid his fury".[28]
The wrestling incident on the bank of a stream has been compared to the Greek mythology stories of Achilles' duel with the river god Scamander[29] and with Menelaus wrestling with the sea-god Proteus.[30] It is also claimed the wrestling incident, along with other Old Testament stories of the Jewish Patriarchs, is based on Akhenaten-linked Egyptian mythology, where Jacob is Osiris/Wizzer, Esau is Set, and the wrestling match is the struggle between them.[citation needed]
Rosemary Ellen Guiley gives this summary:
- "This dramatic scene has spurred much commentary from Judaic, Catholic, and Protestant theologians, biblical scholars, and literary critics. Does Jacob wrestle with God or with an angel? ... There is no definitive answer, but the story has been rationalized, romanticized, treated as myth, and treated symbolically."[31]
In arts
Visual arts
One of the oldest visual depictions is in the illustrated manuscript the
-
Depiction on ahigh cross in Kells, Ireland (10th century)[35]
-
Rembrandt (1659)
-
Eugène Delacroix (1861)
-
Eugène Delacroix (1861), (detail)
-
Léon Bonnat (1876)
-
Jacob and the Angel by Gustave Moreau (1878)
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Alexander Louis Leloir(1865)
-
Bretonvillagers.
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Jacob struggles with the angel, Gutenberg Bible (1558)
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Jacob wrestles with God, 1860 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld
In music
The Latin text of Genesis 32:30 'Vidi dominum facie ad faciem; et salva facta est anima mea' (I have seen the Lord face to face) was set for the third nocturn at
In literature and theatre
The motif of "wrestling with the angels" occurs in several novels including
See also
- Angel of the Lord
- Jacob's ladder
- Theophany
- List of angels in theology
References
- ^ S2CID 258990435.
- ISBN 9780199277186.
- ^ Strong's Concordance H6439
- ^ A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature, ed. David L. Jeffrey (1992). p. 852 "WRESTLING JACOB The account of Jacob wrestling with the angel at the ford of the Jabbok River is replete with Hebrew puns (Gen. 32:24–32). Several of these relate to the root of Jacob's name, 'qb ("heel"), and its compound standing as a West Semitic diminutive of "The LORD will pursue" or "The LORD preserves"
- ^ A Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English Literature, ed. David L. Jeffrey (1992). p. 852: "Jacob was forced to answer, Yaʿaqob, perhaps mirroring the name of the river, Yabbok, but meaning'crooked' (Nahmanides, Deut. 2:10 of Jeshurun, gives this etymology for Jacob, 'one who walks crookedly'; after the thigh wound delivered ..."
- ^ Meir Gertner, Vetus Testamentum, International Organization of Old Testament Scholars, International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament 1960. Volume 10, p. 277: "In Genesis it is a 'man' with whom Jacob wrestled. Later in the story this 'man' appears to be identified with God (Gen. xxxii 29, 31). Talmud, Targum, Syriac and Vulgate take 'God' here to be an angel."
- ^ Anthony Hanson The Prophetic Gospel: Study of John and the Old Testament 056704064X 2006 Page 76 "The Targum of Onkelos offers 'because I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face',14 and the Targum of Palestine 'because I have seen the Angels of the Lord face to face'.i5 No doubt this substitution was facilitated by Hosea 12.4, where
- ISBN 9781576071502.
- ISBN 9780275983499.
- ^ "the word is regarded as a gloss by many writers" Myrto Theocharous Lexical Dependence and Intertextual Allusion in the Septuagint of the Twelve Patriarchs
- ^ ISBN 9781349219865.
- ISBN 9780195327137.
- ISBN 9780765759924.
- ISBN 9780881254310.
- ISBN 9783110184549.
- ISBN 9780195281781.
- ISBN 9780310230823.
- ISBN 9780253002624.
- ^ Joseph Barker (1854). Seven Lectures on the Supernatural Origin & Divine Authority of the Bible. By J. Barker. Containing his reply to the Rev. Mr. Sergeant, etc. George Turner. p. 87.
- ISBN 9783110354003.
- ^ ISBN 9780310230823.
- Evangelical Press of Wales. p. 56.
- ^ a b Ibn Kathir. "The Story of Ya'qub (Jacob)". The Stories of the Prophets. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
- ISBN 978-1-4617-1895-6.
- ^ ISBN 9780700716036.
- ISBN 9780826449566.
- ^ "A critical and exegetical commentary on Genesis : Skinner, John, 1851-1925 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive". Internet Archive. 2023-03-25. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
- ISBN 9789004161115.
- ISBN 978-0-86516-508-3.
- ISBN 9781139494908.
- ISBN 9781438130026.
- ^ Horst Woldemar Janson, Anthony F. Janson (2004). History of Art: The Western Tradition "The Vienna Genesis ... (In the center foreground, for example, we see him wrestling with the angel, then receiving the angel's blessing.)" [full page illustration]
- ISBN 978-8830817326.
- ^ "Sir Jacob Epstein: Jacob and the Angel". Tate. Retrieved 25 June 2017.
- ^ "Irish High Crosses: Kells" [1]
- ^ Anne Walters Robertson (2002). Guillaume De Machaut and Reims: Context and Meaning in His Musical Works, p. 163. "Drawn from the Genesis story of Jacob's wrestling match with the angel, Vidi dominum is a favorite phrase for theologians wishing to express their ecstasy at the moment of sight of God."
- ^ "The text of the tenor for Machaut's motet 15 comes from the third nocturn at Matins on the second Sunday of Lent. Its biblical provenance is Genesis 32: 30. Here Jacob, after having wrestled with the angel and received both a new name (Israel) and a divine blessing, exclaims: 'Vidi dominum facie ad faciem; et salva facta est anima mea' (I have seen the Lord face to face; and my life is preserved.) Kevin Brownlee, "Machaut's Motet 15 and the Roman de la Rose: The Literary Context of Amours Qui a Le Pouoir/Faus Samblant M'a Deceü/Vidi Dominum*, in Iain Fenlon, ed. (2009), Early Music History 10: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Music, p. 14. "The final lines of the paired poems, in which the speaker bemoans his ruin (triplum) and bad treatment (motetus) are opposed to Jacob's wrestling with the angel that lead to his blessing and re-naming as Israel...." Margaret Bent, "Deception, Exegesis and Sounding Number in Machaut's Motet 15," in Iain Fenlon, ed. (2009), Early Music History 10: Studies in Medieval and Early Modern Music, p. 25.
- ^ "Come, O Thou Traveler Unknown". www.cyberhymnal.org. Archived from the original on 2011-10-09. Retrieved 2011-10-27.
- ^ "Noah Reid on Instagram: "Wrestlin with angels. Aren't we all. Jacob's Dream is out now, link in bio as the kids say."". Instagram. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
- ^ "Indie88 Premiere: 'Schitt's Creek' star Noah Reid shares video for single 'Jacob's Dream' | Indie88". 12 March 2020. Retrieved 2020-03-29.
- ^ "Longfellow: Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie, Evangeline: A Tale of Acadie".
- ^ "YouTube". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2014-05-26.
- ISBN 978-1-4516-2728-2. Retrieved August 15, 2019.
Further reading
- Geller, Stephen A. (1982). "The Struggle at the Jabbok: the Uses of Enigma in a Biblical Narrative" (PDF). Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society. 14 (1). New Jork City: ISBN 978-1-31779901-6.).
[I]n the context of the wrestling bout, the name implies that Jacob won this supremacy, linked to that of God's, by a kind of theomachy. [...] By prevailing over God, he has won the name 'God rules'
(p. 22
External links
- Links to images of Jacob Wrestling with the Angel
- Jacob's Wrestling Match: Was It an Angel or Esau? (archived 20 June 2004)
- Wrestling with Angels – chabad.org