mysterious bible passage
I've always wondered about this. An abrupt short story in the middle of Jacob's return to see his brother Esau. Where did it come from? The author, telling this story, suddenly inserts this in the middle. I wish I knew how to further study the history of the Bible.
Genesis 32.24-33: After he had taken them across the stream and had brought over all his possessions, Jacob was left there alone. Then some man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.
When the man saw that he could not prevail over him, he struck Jacob's hip at its socket, so that the hip socket was wrenched as they wrestled. The man then said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go until you bless me."
"What is your name?" the man asked. He answered, "Jacob."
Then the man said, "You shall no longer be spoken of as Jacob, but as Israel, because you have contended with divine and human beings and have prevailed."
Jacob then asked him, "Do tell me your name, please." He answered, "Why should you want to know my name?" With that, he bade him farewell.
Jacob named the place Peniel, "Because I have seen God face to face," he said, "yet my life has been spared." At sunrise, as he left Penuel, Jacob limped along because of his hip. That is why, to this day, the Israelites do not eat the sciatic muscle that is on the hip socket, inasmuch as Jacob's hip socket was struck at the sciatic muscle.
I don't understand the significance or meaning of this passage. It was clear that God intended to fulfill his promise to Abraham to make his descedents great, as well as his promise to Jacob. Why, then, this passage? Why did God's messenger -- where can I go to learn more about these divine beings? Yet another thing, it seems, that Catholics have information about (through saints), of which Protestants are vainly ignorant. (Jennifer: It seems, if I recall something Scott told me correctly, that Heaven has a hierarchy of angels, and so on. This is defended by the Bible; Satan is even mentioned in Job as a member of God's court, as one who tests devotion to God, etc. It confuses me.)
I don't understand where this passage came from or why it's there. It's so mysterious...
Genesis 32.24-33: After he had taken them across the stream and had brought over all his possessions, Jacob was left there alone. Then some man wrestled with him until the break of dawn.
When the man saw that he could not prevail over him, he struck Jacob's hip at its socket, so that the hip socket was wrenched as they wrestled. The man then said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go until you bless me."
"What is your name?" the man asked. He answered, "Jacob."
Then the man said, "You shall no longer be spoken of as Jacob, but as Israel, because you have contended with divine and human beings and have prevailed."
Jacob then asked him, "Do tell me your name, please." He answered, "Why should you want to know my name?" With that, he bade him farewell.
Jacob named the place Peniel, "Because I have seen God face to face," he said, "yet my life has been spared." At sunrise, as he left Penuel, Jacob limped along because of his hip. That is why, to this day, the Israelites do not eat the sciatic muscle that is on the hip socket, inasmuch as Jacob's hip socket was struck at the sciatic muscle.
I don't understand the significance or meaning of this passage. It was clear that God intended to fulfill his promise to Abraham to make his descedents great, as well as his promise to Jacob. Why, then, this passage? Why did God's messenger -- where can I go to learn more about these divine beings? Yet another thing, it seems, that Catholics have information about (through saints), of which Protestants are vainly ignorant. (Jennifer: It seems, if I recall something Scott told me correctly, that Heaven has a hierarchy of angels, and so on. This is defended by the Bible; Satan is even mentioned in Job as a member of God's court, as one who tests devotion to God, etc. It confuses me.)
I don't understand where this passage came from or why it's there. It's so mysterious...