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| Ira Thomas, Jacob Wrestling with the Angel |
Jacob Wrestles with the Angel
(Genesis 32 :2 2 -31 )
Narr: During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives,
his two maidservants, and his eleven children.
Together they crossed the Jabbok River
When they were safely across, he sent over all his possessions too.
This left him all alone in the camp.
And a man came and wrestled with him all night
until the dawn began to break.
When the man saw that he couldn’t get the best of Jacob,
he deliberately struck him on the hip,
so that Jacob’s hip was thrown out of joint.
Then the man said,
Man: Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.
Narr: But Jacob replied,
Jacob: No, I’m not letting you go until you bless me.
Man: What’s your name?
Jacob: My name is Jacob.
Man: Not any longer. From now on your name is Israel
which means “God-Wrestler”
because you have wrestled with God and with mortals
and have won.
Jacob: And what is your name?
Man: Why do you want to know my name?
Narr: And with that he blessed Jacob and left.
Jacob named the place Peniel (which means “face of God”)
for, as he said,
Jacob: I have seen God face to face,
yet my life has been spared.
Narr: The sun was rising as Jacob left Peniel,
and he was limping because of the injury to his hip.
