THE APPROACH OF ESAU. JACOB WRESTLES WITH THE ANGEL 1. The angels of God] God had given Jacob, by an angelic vision, a pledge of His watchful love, when he left his home (Genesis 28:12). Now that he was returning to Canaan after twenty years, and with dangers at hand, God renews this assurance by a... [ Continue Reading ]
GOD'S HOST] Heb. _Mahanaim._ It was an important city in Gilead.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LAND OF SEIR] or Edom, S. of the Dead Sea, where Esau settled (Genesis 36:8). 6, 7. Esau's large retinue alarms Jacob, since their parting had been a hostile one. 9-12. Jacob's prayer is a pattern of humility, earnestness, and faith in God's promises.... [ Continue Reading ]
WITH MY STAFF, etc.] When Jacob first left Canaan he was a lonely way-farer with no companion but his staff: now, blest by, God, he returns with a numerous family and large possessions.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FORD JABBOK] i.e. 'wrestler.' Read, 'the ford of the Jabbok,' a stream which flows from the neighbourhood of Rabbath Amnion into the Jordan opposite Shechem. 24-32. The writer of this passage, it can hardly be doubted, was thinking of a physical wrestling. Like the men of his day, he had not re... [ Continue Reading ]
ISRAEL] 'Perseverer with God.' 'As the name was to the Hebrews the symbol or expression of the nature, the change of name is significant of the moral change in the patriarch himself; he is no longer Jacob the Supplanter, the Crafty one, the Overreacher, but Israel the Perseverer with God, who is wor... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREFORE is it, etc.] i.e. Surely you must know who I am.... [ Continue Reading ]