Social Context of Genesis 32

In this chapter Jacob is preparing to return to his home land and confront his brother Esau, but first he must send messengers, and gifts and finally cross the river Jordan. As he does these things, we can see reflected in his actions many important aspects of the cultural background that he lives in.

The naming of places after important events that occurred there is clearly reflected in this chapter when Jacob is ascribed with having chosen the names of two places because of the appearance of the angels of God in 32:1-2 and after the apparition of God himself as the wrestler in 32:20. However, there is a difference between the traditional folk and historical etymologies of place-names, and it seems that the folk-definition has become the religious explanation, regardless of historical evidence. This thereby implies that the nature of the Israelite religion is that of a folk-religion at the time this part of the Bible was written. This could also be related to the role of local contemporary oral folk tales and the oral nature of the religion.

Another custom that appears in this chapter is the sending of messengers with gifts to announce oneís arrival as a guest to another region or kingdom, as Jacob does in 32:3. He sends a vast display of his wealth by the number of livestock which he has as extra to be given away, but still he calls himself ìyour servantî (32:4) Perhaps this is supposed to politely demonstrate superiority while being ìhumbleî in tone, especially because he is justifiably afraid of his brotherís reaction. Jacob admits that he does it to win favor from him in 32:5, probably because of his fear of fratricide. Fratricide seems to be a common theme in Genesis, and in the pre-Israelite world, and was justified in saying ìíI am afraid that he may come and destroy me.íî (32:11), especially since he knows at this point Esau is on his way with a small army.

Jacobís prayers to the ìGod of my father AbrahamÖIsaacî show the importance of family ties and kinship lines within the religion, and implies oneís religion is defined by the religion of oneís patrilinial ancestors (32:9). In this prayer he proclaims he is unworthy of Godís attentions, which is again emphasizing his humility(32:10). At the same time the reader can tell he thinks he really is worthy, because he then reminds God of His covenant. This covenant which promises that his ìdescendants will be like the sand of the sea, beyond all counting,î which grants him a form of immortality, which seems to be greatly desired and very important in the patriarchal Israelite tradition (32:12). This also seems to be related to the point he makes about dividing his family and followers into two camps; two armies shows his importance as a leader of a great family/clan (32:10). Having a large number of sons and male descendants is symbol of fertility, status symbol in society, further demonstrating his worthiness of his position of leader and his claim to the birthright and blessing of their father. It seems that in his culture, the patriarch of a family had ultimate control over his entire clan of people and their animals and women, to do with what he liked, including giving them away as gifts.

Once Jacob has sent the gifts to Esau, and the rest of his camp, he himself stays behind, and at night he attempts to cross the river. He successfully sends his wives, slaves and children across the ford of Jabbok, but then ìwas left aloneî as if he knew he had to fight to get across or as if he was waiting for this man/spirit/god to come test him (32:24).

Here again we see the reference to the significance of crossing the Jordan as in 32:10, though what it may symbolize is not made clear at this point. Jacob pointed out that the last time he crossed the Jordan it was with ìnothing but the staff in my handî (32:10)

Immediately a mysterious man appears who is wrestling with Jacob when the reader meets him. They go on fighting all night and reach no clear conclusion, even after the man dislocates Jacobís hip. Even when the man pleads to let him go because it is daybreak Jacob will not let him go until he has received a blessing from him. The theme of a supernatural figure who must vanish at sunrise is very common in many Indo-European folk/fairy tales, which might lead one to infer that this man is an older pre-Israelite local deity, or a personification of the spirit of the river (footnote, p. 42). Also the request to be let loose and the refusal: ìI will not let you go unless you bless meî is not unlike the Irish Celtic and other Indo-European tales wherein a promise is extracted in exchange for not hurting the person who has caught or been caught by the supernatural being or a gift (32:26).

The role of names and being able to name someone is important here as well. Being able to name someone, either human or supernatural often wields great power, and perhaps this is why the man at the river refuses to identify himself (32:29). Instead he asks Jacobís name, which he then changes to Israel, rather than giving Jacob his name. This seems to be more of a throwback to an older version of the tale, rather than Godís unwillingness to identify himself, because he does imply that he is God. This changing of Jacobís name is parallel to the changing of Abram and Sarai to Abraham and Sarah, further showing this is the God of his fathers. Because he calls him Israel which means ìGod strove,î it is clear that this being used to portray the God of his fathers testing him (32:28, footnote p.42). However why his return is being challenged, while apparently his departure was not is not made clear in the text.

There seems to be a certain amount of evidence that the story of Jacob wrestling God is part of earlier local traditions of a river god, but there are a few other elements that point to the influence of pre-Israelite traditions on place names and food taboos. The folk etymology of the place name Peniel as well as the taboo against eating the meat of the thigh. There seems to be some importance to the thigh since it is shown to be practice to swear oaths on oneís thigh, as Isaac has Jacob do earlier (Gen.24:9). The other reason the thigh might be important is that the dislocation of a hip for a semi-nomadic shepherd could be the end of his life, thus showing the struggle was in earnest.

This river god figure is the most fascinating aspect of this chapter. It is implied that the man is the God of Abraham and Isaac (YHVH) because he names Jacob Israel, meaning ìGod stroveî (footnote, p. 42). However, it seems he cannot be the omnipotent God of the Hebrews not only because he must vanish with the sunrise, and has to ask Jacob to let him go but actually has to wound Jacob and grant a blessing in order to be let go. In the footnotes of the Oxford Study Bible it is suggested that he is a spirit of the river or a border guardian (footnotes p. 42). It would be interesting to look into what the mythological significance of rivers was in ancient Palestine/Mesopotamia and that of the ford at Jabbok on the Jordan, where the story is set.