Genesis 32:31--33:4

32:31 The sun rose ¹  over him as he crossed over Penuel, ²  but ³  he was limping because of his hip. 32:32 That is why to this day ⁴  the Israelites do not eat the sinew which is attached to the socket of the hip, because he struck ⁵  the socket of Jacob’s hip near the attached sinew.

Jacob Meets Esau

33:1 Jacob looked up ⁶  and saw that Esau was coming ⁷  along with four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two female servants. 33:2 He put the servants and their children in front, with Leah and her children behind them, and Rachel and Joseph behind them. ⁸  33:3 But Jacob ⁹  himself went on ahead of them, and he bowed toward the ground seven times as he approached ¹⁰  his brother. 33:4 But Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, hugged his neck, and kissed him. Then they both wept.

[32:31]  ¹ tn Heb “shone.”

[32:31]  ² sn The name is spelled Penuel here, apparently a variant spelling of Peniel (see v. 30).

[32:31]  ³ tn The disjunctive clause draws attention to an important fact: He may have crossed the stream, but he was limping.

[32:32]  ⁴ sn On the use of the expression to this day, see B. S. Childs, “A Study of the Formula ‘Until This Day’,” JBL 82 (1963): 279-92.

[32:32]  ⁵ tn Or “because the socket of Jacob’s hip was struck.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive. On the translation of the word “struck” see the note on this term in v. 25.

[33:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “and Jacob lifted up his eyes.”

[33:1]  ⁸ tn Or “and look, Esau was coming.” By the use of the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”), the narrator invites the reader to view the scene through Jacob’s eyes.

[33:2]  ¹⁰ sn This kind of ranking according to favoritism no doubt fed the jealousy over Joseph that later becomes an important element in the narrative. It must have been painful to the family to see that they were expendable.

[33:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[33:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “until his drawing near unto his brother.” The construction uses the preposition with the infinitive construct to express a temporal clause.