Kejadian 32:28

32:28 “No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him, ¹  “but Israel, ²  because you have fought ³  with God and with men and have prevailed.”

Kejadian 32:30

32:30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, ⁴  explaining, ⁵  “Certainly ⁶  I have seen God face to face ⁷  and have survived.” ⁸ 

Kejadian 18:1-2

Three Special Visitors

18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham ⁹  by the oaks ¹⁰  of Mamre while ¹¹  he was sitting at the entrance ¹²  to his tent during the hottest time of the day. 18:2 Abraham ¹³  looked up ¹⁴  and saw ¹⁵  three men standing across ¹⁶  from him. When he saw them ¹⁷  he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low ¹⁸  to the ground. ¹⁹ 

[32:28]  ¹ tn Heb “and he said.” The referent of the pronoun “he” (the man who wrestled with Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[32:28]  ² sn The name Israel is a common construction, using a verb with a theophoric element (אֵל, ’el) that usually indicates the subject of the verb. Here it means “God fights.” This name will replace the name Jacob; it will be both a promise and a call for faith. In essence, the Lord was saying that Jacob would have victory and receive the promises because God would fight for him.

[32:28]  ³ sn You have fought. The explanation of the name Israel includes a sound play. In Hebrew the verb translated “you have fought” (שָׂרִיתָ, sarita) sounds like the name “Israel” (יִשְׂרָאֵל, yisra’el ), meaning “God fights” (although some interpret the meaning as “he fights [with] God”). The name would evoke the memory of the fight and what it meant. A. Dillmann says that ever after this the name would tell the Israelites that, when Jacob contended successfully with God, he won the battle with man (Genesis, 2:279). To be successful with God meant that he had to be crippled in his own self-sufficiency (A. P. Ross, “Jacob at the Jabboq, Israel at Peniel,” BSac 142 [1985]: 51-62).

[32:30]  ⁴ sn The name Peniel means “face of God.” Since Jacob saw God face to face here, the name is appropriate.

[32:30]  ⁵ tn The word “explaining” is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[32:30]  ⁶ tn Or “because.”

[32:30]  ⁷ sn I have seen God face to face. See the note on the name “Peniel” earlier in the verse.

[32:30]  ⁸ tn Heb “and my soul [= life] has been preserved.”

[32:30]  sn I have survived. It was commonly understood that no one could see God and live (Gen 48:16; Exod 19:21, 24:10; and Judg 6:11, 22). On the surface Jacob seems to be saying that he saw God and survived. But the statement may have a double meaning, in light of his prayer for deliverance in v. 11. Jacob recognizes that he has survived his encounter with God and that his safety has now been guaranteed.

[18:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ¹⁰ tn Or “terebinths.”

[18:1]  ¹¹ tn The disjunctive clause here is circumstantial to the main clause.

[18:1]  ¹² tn The Hebrew noun translated “entrance” is an adverbial accusative of place.

[18:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”

[18:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to what he saw. The drawn-out description focuses the reader’s attention on Abraham’s deliberate, fixed gaze and indicates that what he is seeing is significant.

[18:2]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew preposition עַל (’al) indicates the three men were nearby, but not close by, for Abraham had to run to meet them.

[18:2]  ¹⁷ tn The pronoun “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.

[18:2]  ¹⁸ tn The form וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ (vayyishtakhu, “and bowed low”) is from the verb הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה (hishtakhavah, “to worship, bow low to the ground”). It is probably from a root חָוָה (khavah), though some derive it from שָׁחָה (shakhah).

[18:2]  ¹⁹ sn The reader knows this is a theophany. The three visitors are probably the Lord and two angels (see Gen 19:1). It is not certain how soon Abraham recognized the true identity of the visitors. His actions suggest he suspected this was something out of the ordinary, though it is possible that his lavish treatment of the visitors was done quite unwittingly. Bowing down to the ground would be reserved for obeisance of kings or worship of the Lord. Whether he was aware of it or not, Abraham’s action was most appropriate.