Genesis 32:26

the day breaketh A survival of the old belief that unearthly visitants of the night must be gone before daybreak. In Plautus, Amphitr. 532f., Jupiter says, "Cur me tenes? Tempus est: exire ex urbe, priusquam lucescat, volo." Shakespeare, Hamlet, Act i. Scene i.:

" Ber. It was about to speak, when the cock crew.

Hor. And then it started like a guilty thing."

See note on Genesis 19:15; Genesis 19:23.

except thou bless me Jacob had suddenly realized, through the touch of physical suffering, that he was in the grasp of more than mortal power. He neither shrinks, nor desists, but maintains his hold and asks for a blessing.