Yacob Wrestles With YAHWEH
With the fording of the Jabbok we come to one of the most enigmatic accounts in Bereshith. So far it has been possible to avoid long Scriptural quotations, but here it will be necessary to reproduce a sequence of verses which Old Covenant scholars usually group together under the somewhat dramatic title of 'the struggle or fight with YAHWEH'. After this an attempt will be made to examine the terms and provide the necessary explanations.
Yacob had just dispatched the three droves to Esau in the hope of appeasing the anger which might still be in his heart. Yacob passed that night there, that is, at Mahanaim. That same night he rose, and taking his two wives and his two slave-girls [concubines] and his eleven children he crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream and sent all his possessions over too. And Yacob was left alone. And there was ONE that wrestled [another play on words: ye'abeq, 'wrestled', in conjunction with the name of the river] with him until daybreak who, seeing that HE could not master him, struck him in the socket of the hip, and Yacob's hip was dislocated as he wrestled with HIM. HE said, 'Let me go, for day is breaking.' But Yacob answered, 'I will not let YOU go unless YOU bless me.' He then asked, 'What is your name?' 'Yacob,' he replied. HE said, 'Your name shall no longer be Yacob, but Yisrael, because you have been strong against YAHWEH, you shall prevail against men.' Yacob then made this request 'I beg you, tell me YOUR NAME,' but HE replied, 'Why do you ask MY NAME?' And HE blessed him there.
Yacob named the place Peniel, 'Because I have seen YAHWEH face to face,' he said, 'and I have survived.' The sun rose as he left Peniel, limping because of his hip. That is the reason why to this day the Yisraelites do not eat the sciatic nerve which is in the socket of the hip; because HE had struck Yacob in the socket of the hip on the sciatic nerve (Bereshith 32: 23-33).
Yacob's Physical Combat
The caravan had taken advantage of the cool of the evening to ford the Jabbok. Most probably they had chosen the season when the waters were low, but the operation remained difficult nonetheless and quite dangerous for the animals of the flock. The patriarch who was directing the crossing in person was the last to leave the river bank, but just at the moment when he was thus alone on the other side of the river he was attacked by YAHWEH (literally, 'ish, 'someone') and was obliged to wrestle with HIM until dawn. It was a hand-to-hand struggle whose strange ups and downs always impress the reader of this passage of the Scriptures. We can now examine this account more closely.
The episode falls naturally into three phases: by a skilful hold his opponent immobilized Yacob by a blow on the sciatic nerve in his hip; Yacob's name was changed to Yisrael; Yacob, who finally discovered the identity of his assailant, declared that he has seen YAHWEH face to face.
The sciatic nerve. Because he could not master Yacob, YAHWEH struck Yacob on the hip to put him out of action. It appears that from this moment Yacob was to limp for the rest of his life. In addition, Bereshith adds, in memory of the combat waged by their great ancestor the Yisraelites never ate the sciatic nerve of the wild or domestic animals which they killed. This dietary prohibition appears here in the Scriptures for the first and last time. It does not seem that the Jews ever observed it, but it is found elsewhere than in Yisrael; some scholars believe that sometimes in the East the sciatic nerve is regarded as the seat of the reproductive powers.
Yacob's change of name
This is characteristic of the nomadic period. For the name designates the inner nature of a person, so that to know this name means knowing the person and also gives a certain power over him. We have already seen how YAHWEH gave Abram a new name, Abraham, and at the same time his wife Sarai became Sarah. In the ancient Near East a person made a sudden change of name, either on his own authority or, more frequently, on the orders of a supernatural power, in order to mark a new vocation, or to emphasize and in some sort explain a moral or social transformation. And so here we find YAHWEH saying, 'Your name shall be no longer Yacob, but Yisrael; because you have been strong against YAHWEH, you shall prevail against men'.
About a thousand years after the fording of the Jabbok the prophet Hosea makes this comment, 'In maturity, he [Yacob] wrestled against YAHWEH. He wrestled with the malak [who here takes the place of YAHWEH] and beat him' (Hos. 12: 4-5). The original reads that Yacob 'was strong against' YAHWEH, and indeed this expression has almost something of a shocking implication: how can a human creature claim to 'beat' HIM WHO alone is ALMIGHTY?
In fact this expression should be considered as a popular explanation, unconcerned with accuracy of terms, whose obvious purpose is to give cause for pride to the patriarch's descendants. The linguistic meaning of this expression is the root sarah, to be strong. But the nomad shepherds, and the scribes after them, no doubt, overlooked the fact that in a proper name composed of a verb and the term ‘EI’ (means Almighty referring to YAHWEH which we have used in some places) the latter must of necessity be the subject of the sentence. The modern school of Hebrew scholars has examined the problem and has come to the conclusion that the name Yisrael should be translated not by the expression 'strong against EL' (which it is difficult to admit) but rather by the statement, which has a certain majesty, 'EL is strong' or 'May EL show HIS strength'.
This translation is far more satisfactory than the standard one, for it allows us to see how YAHWEH manifests himself increasingly in Yacob's soul, hitherto plunged in darkness.
Yacob named the place Peniel [face of EL], 'Because I have seen YAHWEH face to face,' he said, 'and I have survived.' The little village of Peniel is situated on the left bank of the Jabbok, near the ford over the river. It is to be identified with the modern Tulul edh-Dhahab, a double hill commanding the ford of the Jabbok. It is not entirely certain whether the centre was already in existence in Yacob's time.
Peniel (face of EL or YAHWEH). 'I have seen YAHWEH face to face, exclaimed Yacob at the end of his nocturnal adventure, 'and I have survived'. In the Scriptures the face of YAHWEH is synonymous with YAHWEH HIMSELF. The expression is used to refer to YAHWEH's active presence and through it HIS protection. On HIS Chosen Ones YAHWEH sometimes bestows the favour of direct knowledge. It must not be inferred from that that YAHWEH is seen with the bodily eyes; what we are here concerned with is a spiritual but direct relationship between the invisible YAHWEH and HIS creature. But it is rare for a human being to survive even a partial experience of this sort. Scripture warns us that we shall only see the face of YAHWEH clearly in the next life. Yacob's astonishment can be understood at finding himself alive after this extraordinary experience.
At this point of the story it should be observed that at the strictly historical level its various elements taken as a whole seem questionable. And that is the view of the majority of Scriptural scholars. Nowadays, exegetes believe that the interest of the narrative is to be found, in accordance indeed with the intentions of the spiritual writer, in its spiritual teaching. And it should not be forgotten that the author in ancient times, in order to record and explain Yacob's conversion, had at his disposal only a concrete vocabulary. Thus modern commentators are in general agreement that this hand-to-hand struggle of the two opponents should be regarded as a spiritual combat which took place in Yacob's heart. And this even if Yacob's lameness was due to an injury of the sciatic nerve, to be explained in another way.
Yacob's Spiritual Combat
Night fell on the banks of the Jabbok. We may also believe that Yacob's conscience had been concerned, and for sometime past, by the darkening forces of evil. Cunning and crafty as he was it seemed that he no longer felt at ease in this materialistic, suffocating universe in which he had enclosed himself.
Already at Bethel Yacob had been privileged to hear the word of YAHWEH which had been full of encouragement and goodwill. In addition YAHWEH had revealed the great mission awaiting him. Now at Bethel he did not understand, or did not want to understand, the spiritual meaning of the message addressed to him. He still remained at the level, which he felt to be safer, of human wisdom. Without rejecting the unexpected help offered by YAHWEH, his acceptance of the fulfillment of YAHWEH’s promises was conditional; he was certainly very cautious when dealing with the supernatural. Earthly good came first. During his sojourn in Paddan-aram, nonetheless, he did not forget YAHWEH. A careful reading of the account of his life at this period shows in this still untutored soul the secret workings of YAHWEH’s unmerited love and favour. There are just a few indications, still infrequent, but worth pointing out. Thus at the end of his long service in the Land of the Fathers we observed him making a sort of primitive examination of conscience, in which he acknowledged that YAHWEH the Sovereign of Abraham, the one Sovereign Ruler of the Hebrew tribe, had protected him in a very special and effective way throughout his whole life as a shepherd. A little later, when in the highlands of Gilead Laban succeeded in overtaking him, he made no mystery of the favours and care lavished on him by YAHWEH: 'If YAHWEH of my father,' Yacob explained to his uncle, 'had not been with me, you would have sent me away empty-handed; but YAHWEH has seen my weariness and the work done by my hands' (Bereshith 31: 42; cf, verse 7).
The modern reader will no doubt find some cause for astonishment at this sort of belief so closely bound up with a businesslike approach: what was promised has been received. Obviously we should like to discern a purer, more spontaneous impulse in the heart of the representative of the third generation of patriarchs, endowed with a mission by the one YAHWEH. Yacob is still very close to the polytheistic mentality based on the idea of a gift for a gift: 'For my prayer to be heard I will sacrifice an animal on YOUR altar" or, again, 'I make this sacrifice to thank YOU for having answered my request, for having allowed the success of my plans'. Any movement of real, deep love, seems entirely absent from the ceremony. The only concern was the ritual, that is, the correct pronouncing of the formulas.
And yet as the hours went by Yacob felt the onset of fearful anguish. The future was dark: it had been announced that Esau was on his way to Peniel, there would be heated argument and the accounts concerning the matter of the paternal blessing would have to be settled. As a way out of the difficulty Yacob was depending to some extent on his talents for maneuver and particularly on his skill in argument. Even so, he wondered whether these purely human methods would be enough.
Yisrael Turns To YAHWEH
So it was natural that in this predicament he should turn to YAHWEH to implore HIS help. In fact at this dramatic turning point of his existence he recognized his own weakness. For the first time, it appears, there rose up from his heart a fervent and really humble prayer: 'O YAHWEH of my father Abraham...I am unworthy of all the kindness and goodness YOU have shown YOUR servant I implore YOU save me from my brother's clutches, for I am afraid of him. It was YOU who said, "I will make you prosper...'
But YAHWEH, as we know, asks to be loved for HIS own sake; HE requires the complete, whole-hearted adhesion of HIS faithful follower. At that time Yacob was still far from possessing Abraham's pure and lucid faith, or even Yitschaq's, which though less apparent was nonetheless sincere. With Yacob there was too much bargaining, too much wavering, and insufficient concern for the things of the spirit. What was still lacking in this man of materialist outlook whom YAHWEH had chosen was about to be made good. The time seemed favourable for an infusion of unmerited love and favour.
Thus gradually we come to the incident often referred to as Yacob's struggle with YAHWEH. It is a struggle that we have all experienced, indeed most men have gone through it. Yacob means us. The night at the Jabbok we have also experienced in our own souls, in the depths of our conscience by the resistance that we have offered to the Spirit of YAHWEH.
YAHWEH needed Yacob for the carrying out of the plan that the patriarch was shortly to bring to a successful conclusion. Yacob accepted his defeat willingly; henceforth his eyes were to be open to spiritual realities. Thus HE agreed to let HIS vanquisher go, and on leaving him YAHWEH gave him his blessing. 16
The change of name was a symbol of conversion. By giving Yacob this new name YAHWEH took possession of HIS patriarch. In the future Yacob-Yisrael was to be animated with a real and living faith which by definition made him ready to carry out the will of YAHWEH.
Yacob must have had features like this.
16 In this chapter, which is difficult to explain adequately, I have followed Fr Tamisier, PSS in his article 'L'ltineraire spirituel de Yacob' in Bible et Terre sainte, no. 47, May 1962.
Yacob Called Yisrael Index Yacob Sitemap Scripture History Through the Ages Yacob Called Yisrael Yacob and Esau Theft Of The Paternal Blessing Flight, The Only Solution For Yacob Yacob's Dream At Bethel Yacob Puts Up A Stele Named BethEl The Location Of Bethel Importance Of The Well, A Meeting Place Details Of The Mohar The Sons Of Yacob How Yacob Became Rich Yacob Leaves The Land Of The Fathers Treaty Between Yacob And Laban Messages Between Yacob And Esau Yacob Wrestles With YAHWEH Two Brothers, Yacob and Esau Meet Towards The Promised Land The Departure From Shechem The Conclusion Of Yacob