The Enemy of My Enemy
Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. Genesis 32:24 NASB
Wrestled – On the surface, especially in translation, the story seems straightforward. Jacob is alone. He fights all night. He is defeated but tenacious. He is blessed with a new name, Israel. But nothing about this story is so simple. Why does Jacob go back? Why is he alone? Who is this “man”? What is this fight all about? Why is there any concern about the coming dawn? How is Jacob injured? The questions just keep coming.
We have explored a few. Now it’s time to look at the fight itself. The Hebrew verb is ‘abaq. But it’s spectacularly unusual. In fact, this story is the only place where it occurs. There is another, apparently unrelated, word spelled the same way in Song of Songs (3:6). There the word means “powder,” as in the scented dust of the merchants. But maybe these two ideas, wrestling and dust, are not unrelated.
It all depends on the “man.” Nahum Sarna offers a lengthy analysis of the Jewish interpretation of this story.[1] He notes that ancient myths about river gods and nighttime demons have been demythologized in this account so that it is compatible with the monotheism of Israel. He suggests, quite plausibly, that the “man” here is the celestial patron of Esau who battles Jacob on the border of the promised land (Jabbok is the geographical separation) and that, as a result of the battle, Esau’s claim for the birthright is finally relinquished to Jacob (the blessing). Hamilton notes (as does Sarna) that Jacob identifies the “man” as elohim. “The narrator’s use of the term ‘ish provides another illustration of the inability of mortals to ascertain the divinity of a supernatural visitor until this visitor performs some wonder.”[2] But Sarna points out that elohim can be used to designate God, angels and even men. The reference here is ambiguous. Only Jacob determines the man’s identity and only after the encounter.
The text employs unusual words to draw the reader into nuances. Perhaps one of those nuances isn’t about an angelic stranger or a celestial patron. If wrestling is related to dust, perhaps Jacob is fighting with himself. Perhaps he is wrestling with the dust from which he came. There is no way to know for sure, of course. All we have is Hebrew assonance, word play and deliberate choices of unique constructions. We may have demythologized paganism. But what if this is a psychological battle (it may be a physical one too)? What if Jacob returns to the empty side of the river because he is fighting his inner enemy, the enemy of his past life—himself? What if Jacob’s battle is with the character he has crafted from his own origin? That would be a fight he could not win—or lose. Perhaps it is only midrash, but perhaps Jacob’s night of struggle is also ours—each of us, alone, battling the “dust” of our origin and the shape we have made of it. Each of us, alone, pitted against where we have come from and where we are going. We have our own night demons, river gods and strange enemies to fight. We birthed them as we shaped our lives. And now, at the border to the Promised Land, we must leave them behind. We must extricate them from ourselves. We must become someone else or we cannot cross over.
The enemy of my enemy just might be me.
Topical Index: Jacob, Jabbok, wrestle, ‘abaq, Genesis 32:24
[1] Cf. Nahum Sarna, The JPS Torah Commentary: Genesis, Excursus 24, pp. 403-404. But compare Hamilton, Genesis, Vol. 2, pp. 326-339 for the Christian interpretation.
[2] Victor Hamilton, Genesis, Vol. 2, p. 330.
Jacob had suffered all his life from actions that were taken out of a lack of trust. His mother lacked trust that YHVH would cause His own will in His own way, and Jacob kept right on acting as if he would not be taken care of. He suffered from a false core belief system that left him doubtful and distrustful.
In criminal profiling, experts look at the behavior of a person to determine whether or not they have possibly done something wrong. I don’t know what it is called, but if a person, say, has kidnapped someone in the past, they tend to act like they are afraid that they might be kidnapped themselves. I know that liars are always doubting the word of others, and someone who believes that others are going to reject them, tends to act in ways that reject others first. What I believe, then, becomes who I am.
Jacob believed that he was a day late and a dollar short. Israel dropped back and caught up with the truth, that he was already loved, and all he needed to do was start acting like it. Immediately, he changed how he acted, particularly toward his brother. BECAUSE he acted in faith, there was room for YHVH to work on Esau’s heart.
When I start acting in faith, the runway for a more excellent way appears where none existed before, and I clear the way for the Kingdom to express itself through me. At that pont all those around me, I am quite sure, heave a big sigh of relief!
Words of Wisdom, Laurita. Thank you.
Laurita, re: I don’t know what it is called, but if a person, say, has kidnapped someone in the past, they tend to act like they are afraid that they might be kidnapped themselves. “paranoid” comes to mind…
Broken and Beautiful
Close Encounters
~Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with Him until daybreak ~ (Genesis 32:24)
Jacob, after this “event,” this “crisis” (he was a “broken” man), became a new creation. Later, it was said of him, “he worshiped, leaning upon his staff.”
(Hebrews 11.21)
Learning to lean. Yes indeed Israel. Learning to lean. Learning to say, “not my (conniving, conspiring, twisting, cheating, manipulative will), but Thine be done.” Hello. Less of self, —more of the Savior. Yes, John, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3.30) So long “self,” —the final frontier.
Remember EGO? Edge God Out.
A Crisis Followed by a Process
And Yeshua took the bread and broke it.. – the result being? Many were fed.
Losers are Winners
“whoever loses. his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16.25)
It’s a good day to die. So long self.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12.24)
Paul, (formerly known as Saul) knew this (also) up close and personal.
— but he has told me, “My grace is all you need, because My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most happily boast about my weaknesses, so that the Messiah’s power may rest on me. (2 Corinthians 12.9)
Yes LORD. Your [abundant-amazing-assiduous] grace is [always more than] enough. Amen.
There is this very real physical encounter where the “entity” kicked Yakob in the “nuts”. afterwards he limped and did not have any more children. Why and wherefore?
In reading Sarna, Hamilton and ArtScrolls Tanach Series commentaries regarding this story, I am amazed at the number of “probably’s, likely’s, it seems, implies, suggests, most interprets, perceives, general understood as meaning, etc.” there are in the attempts to decipher meanings of this story.
Just a note pointing out appreciation for the awesome respect and focus one must take before making forceful dogmatic statements that render interpretations of this volume of words we so arduously study.
I read several blogs with arguments that simply contain quoted verses in English translations as THE definitive meaning of biblical words. Yet I read vast chunks of words outlining idiomatic meanings, chronological meanings of words, that is what they meant at a particular time as opposed to what they seemed to change to mean hundreds of years later. Then I read the genre of passages that clearly have many possible meanings, yet are epitomized by ONE English rendition virtually eliminating many other possible meanings available.
What a daunting task. I appreciated what Daniel Gruber points out at this end of Chapter Six of his book Copernicus and the Jews:
“I would like to congratulate you for having read through this entire chapter; that is, if you actually did read through this entire chapter. If you only skimmed it and skipped to the end, then what can I tell you? Should I congratulate you for a half-hearted effort? Should I encourage you to continue in your practice of avoiding anything in life you find difficult? Far be it from me to condemn anyone, but whom do you thing you’re kidding?”
Such a gentlemanly way to kind of issue a slap to the face to those of us that sit around the edges, not doing the grunt work of study and relying on those with energy and zest. I sit around the edges more than I do the grunt work. I want to change that around more in this coming year.
Michael I for one appreciate what you already do. May you do more “grunt” work to come.
Thank you, George. I’m finding that for every one door walked through opens up thousands more. Whew!
This is something I have never thought about and maybe never would have had you not given us this food for thought! I can identify with this in my life!
May we be unshackled from our sins/transgressions that hold us back to the closer relationship we so desire with YHWH.
” we learn the principle that a penitent stands higher than even a perfectly righteous individual. Judah the penitent becomes the ancestor of Israel’s kings while Joseph, the righteous, is only a viceroy, mishneh lemelekh, second to the king.” Jonathan Sacks.
We have demons we listen/give attention to that we need to “extricate (them) from ourselves….” to become someone more in the image/character of the One we choose to exalt/reveal in our lives, ” or we cannot cross over”, be a true Hebrew.
What do you do when you have been led down a road to be taught a lesson you didn’t need to be taught? Puzzling and manipulative. Not in a good way either.
Thank you Skip for this account on Jacob, I’ve always loved this story and have been reading up on commentaries on this. The theologian E.W. Bulliger had this to say on Verse 28: “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob (contender-used of the natural Jacob and his natural seed. israel used for spiritual Jacob an his spiritual seed.) but Israel (Cod commands, orders or rules): for as a prince (commander, orderer-here used not to dignify but reproach) hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
He had contended for the birthright and succeeded (Gen 25:29-34). He had contended for the blessing and succeeded (27). He had contended with Laban and succeeded (31). He had contended with “men” and succeeded. Now he contends with God-and fails. Hence his name was changed to Isra-el, “God commands” to teach him the greatly needed lesson of dependence upon God.
Skip, is there any particular reason you mentioned Song of Songs 3:6 in this TW. I don’t get the connection you are trying to make. Just perusing through some of your TWs
Song of Songs 3:6 contains a Hebrew word that is spelled the same as the hapax legomenon used in the Jacob account of wrestling. While the word means “fine powder” in Song of Songs, I find it curious that the same consonants with different vowel points are used in the Jabbok crossing.