Why this story matters

(commentary on Genesis 32-33)

(Page 3 of 3)

The match

The details of this wrestling match become intriguing. As the text says, the match lasted from night time till “daybreak.” Most wrestling matches last only minutes, but this one must have lasted for several hours. If it was a real contest then how did it go? Did someone dominate? Did it go back and fourth like the professional wrestling matches seen on television? What type of holds were used? At the end, we are told, Yahweh can't win: “When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched (Gen. 32: 25).” Why could God not beat Jacob? Was Jacob too strong for God? Did he know better moves? Furthermore, Jacob apparently had such a good hold on God that God actually had to plead with Jacob to let him go: “Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’ But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me’ (Gen. 32: 26).”

Obviously the story presented here has filled in gaps that the Bible left, but if any reader is unhappy with this attempt he is enthusiastically invited to come up with a different illustrations of how the match might have gone, preferably including dialogue.

Jacob's name change

There is another perplexing aspect to this story and it's a bit of a problem for believers. It concerns Yahweh changing Jacob's name to Israel. He solemnly declares: “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed (Gen. 32: 28 ESV).” Note that the verse clearly states that Jacob will “no longer” be called Jacob. However, some time later on something odd happens.

After the match, Jacob reconciles with Esau and settles in a new land with his family. Much later, in chapter 35 of Genesis, Yahweh once again changes Jacob’s name to Israel as if it’s being done for the first time: “God said to him, 'Your name is Jacob, but you will no longer be called Jacob; your name will be Israel.' So he named him Israel" (Gen. 35:10). But it gets worse. Much later still, in chapter 46, after twice changing his name and saying he would “no longer” be called Jacob, Yahweh is back to calling him Jacob: “And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, ‘Jacob! Jacob!’ ‘Here I am,’ he replied" (Gen. 46:2). Perhaps Yahweh sustained a head injury during the wrestling match.

Conclusion

Conservative Christians really have a problem here. Even if they say Jacob wrestled with an angel, we still have some very strange images such as Jacob getting an angel in a head lock. Would a mortal really be able to compete with an angel in a battle of strength and skill? And since other parts of the story seem to suggest this really was Yahweh, we have the same problems magnified by an infinite number. Liberal scholars who interpret this as allegory are on much firmer ground. The problem for conservative Christians is that if they take the liberal point of view here, they need to specifically delineate where allegorical interpretations of these ancient Jewish legends end and where literal interpretation begins. Was the tower of Babel allegory too? Was Noah's ark, and Adam and Eve in Eden allegory? It gets very difficult. That's probably why they prefer to say that everything is literal. So then, they need to explain why Yahweh (or an angel) would be unable to defeat a mortal man in a wrestling match.

END OF COMMENTARY

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