Yaakov is left alone and a man wrestles him until dawn. By morning he limps, with a new name.
The story
That night Yaakov gets up and takes his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven children, and crosses the Yabbok at its ford. He brings them across the stream, and sends across what is his as well.
וַיַּעֲבֹר אֵת מַעֲבַר יַבֹּק
Bereshit 32:23
Yaakov is left alone, and a man wrestles with him until dawn. The text does not say where the man came from, or why. When the man sees that he cannot overcome Yaakov, he touches the socket of Yaakov’s hip, and the hip is wrenched as they wrestle.
The man says, “Let me go, because dawn has broken.” Yaakov answers, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” The man asks, “What is your name?” and he answers, “Yaakov.” Then the man tells him his name will no longer be Yaakov, but Israel.
וַיֹּאמֶר לֹא אֲשַׁלֵּחֲךָ כִּי אִם־בֵּרַכְתָּנִי
Bereshit 32:27
Yaakov asks the man to tell him his name. The man replies, “Why do you ask my name?” and blesses Yaakov there. Yaakov names the place Peniel, saying he has seen God face to face and his life was spared.
כִּי־רָאִיתִי אֱלֹהִים פָּנִים אֶל־פָּנִים
Bereshit 32:31
The sun rises as Yaakov passes Penuel, and he is limping on his hip. The Torah adds that this is why the children of Israel do not eat the gid hanasheh, the sinew on the hip socket, to this day: the man touched Yaakov’s hip socket at that sinew.
He said, “Your name will no longer be Yaakov, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Words from the verse
יֵאָמֵרwill be called
כִּי־שָׂרִיתָbecause you have struggled
וַתּוּכָלand you prevailed
What it teaches: Courage
Facing fear and carrying on doing what is right.
Yaakov is left alone at night, and a man wrestles with him until dawn. Even with his hip wrenched, Yaakov will not let him go without a blessing. The Torah teaches that courage is not getting through a struggle unhurt, but holding on even after you are hurt, and for a struggle like this, held and won, Yaakov is named Israel.
A question to sit with
Where in your life is it hard to hold on right now, and what blessing might be waiting at the end?
Questions about the story
What did the man do when he saw he could not overcome Yaakov?
Threw Yaakov to the ground
Left before dawn came
Touched Yaakov’s hip socket
Answer
c. Touched Yaakov’s hip socket
The text says that when the man saw he could not overcome Yaakov, he touched the socket of Yaakov’s hip, and the hip was wrenched as they wrestled.
What did Yaakov answer when the man asked to be let go?
He would not let him go without a blessing
He would let him go at dawn
He would let him go once he learned his name
Answer
a. He would not let him go without a blessing
Yaakov said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” His hip was already wrenched, and that was still his answer.
The lesson
Whoever holds on even when hurt comes out of the struggle with a blessing.
For this week
This week, try having one hard conversation you have been putting off, face to face rather than by message.
From the sources
Rashi explains Yaakov’s change of name: it will no longer be said that the blessings came to him “through trickery and deceit,” but “with authority and in the open.” In this reading, his new name means that the blessings Yaakov has already received are openly his.
The verses are from Miqra according to the Masorah (Wikisource, CC BY-SA 4.0), via Sefaria, without the cantillation marks. On this site the four-letter Name is written ה׳.
