1 Jacob also went on the journey he had begun: and the angels of God met him. 2 And when he saw them, he said: These are the camps of God, and he called the name of that place Mahanaim, that is, Camps. 3 And he sent messengers before him to Esau his brother to the land of Seir to the country of Edom: 4 And he commanded them, saying: Thus shall ye speak to my lord Esau: Thus saith thy brother Jacob: I have sojourned with Laban, and have been with him until this day. 5 I have oxen, and asses, and sheep, and menservants, and womenservants: and now I send a message to my lord, that I may find favour in thy sight. 6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying: We came to Esau thy brother, and behold he cometh with speed to meet thee with four hundred men. 7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid; and in his fear divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the sheep, and the oxen, and the camels, into two companies, 8 Saying: If Esau come to one company and destroy it, the other company that is left shall escape. 9 And Jacob said: O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, who saidst to me: Return to thy land and to the place of thy birth, and I will do well for thee, 10 I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of thy truth which thou hast fulfilled to thy servant. With my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I return with two companies. 11 Deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am greatly afraid of him: lest perhaps he come, and kill the mother with the children. 12 Thou didst say that thou wouldst do well by me, and multiply my seed like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. 13 And when he had slept there that night, he set apart, of the things which he had, presents for his brother Esau. 14 Two hundred she goats, twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams, 15 Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and twenty bulls, twenty she asses, and ten of their foals. 16 And he sent them by the hands of his servants, every drove by itself, and he said to his servants: Go before me, and let there be a space between drove and drove. 17 And he commanded the first, saying: If thou meet my brother Esau, and he ask thee: Whose art thou? or whither goest thou? or whose are these before thee? 18 Thou shalt answer: Thy servant Jacob’s: he hath sent them as a present to my lord Esau: and he cometh after us. 19 In like manner he commanded the second and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying: Speak ye the same words to Esau, when ye find him. 20 And ye shall add: Thy servant Jacob himself also followeth after us: for he said: I will appease him with the presents that go before, and afterwards I will see him, perhaps he will be gracious to me. 21 So the presents went before him, but himself lodged that night in the camp. 22 And rising early he took his two wives, and his two handmaids, with his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of Jaboc. 23 And when all things were brought over that belonged to him, 24 He remained alone: and behold a man wrestled with him till morning. 25 And when he saw that he could not overcome him, he touched the sinew of his thigh, and forthwith it shrank. 26 And he said to him: Let me go, for it is break of day. He answered: I will not let thee go except thou bless me. 27 And he said: What is thy name? He answered: Jacob. 28 But he said: Thy name shall not be called Jacob, but Israel: for if thou hast been strong against God, how much more shalt thou prevail against men? 29 Jacob asked him, Tell me by what name art thou called? He answered: Why dost thou ask my name? And he blessed him in the same place. 30 And Jacob called the name of the place Phanuel, saying: I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved. 31 And immediately the sun rose upon him, after he was past Phanuel; but he halted on his foot. 32 Therefore the children of Israel, unto this day, eat not the sinew, that shrank in Jacob’s thigh: because he touched the sinew of his thigh and it shrank.
Genesis · Douay-Rheims (Challoner), American Edition 1899
Genesis 32 Douay-Rheims (Challoner), American Edition 1899
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Jacob
He wrestled with God through the night and rose as Israel, father of twelve tribes.
Cited in the guide: Genesis 25–35; 46–49
Cross references (27)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Psalm 91:11; Psalm 34:7; Ephesians 3:10; Hebrews 1:4; 2 Kings 6:16–17
- 2 2 Samuel 2:8; Joshua 5:14; Joshua 21:38; 1 Kings 2:8; Luke 2:13
- 3 Joshua 24:4; Genesis 25:30; Genesis 14:6; Genesis 33:14; Deuteronomy 2:5
- 4 1 Peter 3:6; 1 Kings 20:32; Genesis 33:8; Genesis 32:18; Genesis 27:37
- 5 Genesis 33:8; Genesis 33:15; Job 6:22; Genesis 33:11; 2 Samuel 16:4
- 6 Genesis 33:1; Amos 5:19; Genesis 32:11; Genesis 27:40–41; Genesis 32:8
- 7 Genesis 35:3; Genesis 32:11; Psalm 107:6; Proverbs 2:11; 2 Corinthians 1:8–10
- 8 Genesis 33:1–3; Matthew 10:16
- 9 Genesis 31:42; Psalm 34:4–6; Genesis 31:3; Genesis 28:13; Genesis 31:13
- 10 Psalm 18:35; Genesis 24:27; 2 Samuel 7:18; 1 Timothy 1:12–15; Job 42:5–6
- 11 Psalm 59:1–2; Proverbs 18:19; Matthew 6:13; Psalm 31:2; Daniel 3:17
- 12 Genesis 28:13–15; Hebrews 6:17; Titus 1:2; Genesis 22:17; Genesis 46:3–4
- 13 Proverbs 18:16; Genesis 43:11; Proverbs 17:8; Proverbs 19:6; Proverbs 21:14
- 14 Job 1:3; Deuteronomy 8:18; Job 42:12; Genesis 31:16; Genesis 31:9
- 16 Isaiah 28:26; Matthew 10:16; Proverbs 2:11; Genesis 33:8–9; Psalm 112:5
- 17 Genesis 33:3
- 18 Genesis 32:4–5
- 20 Job 42:8–9; Proverbs 21:14; Proverbs 16:14; 2 Timothy 2:25; Genesis 43:11
- 22 Deuteronomy 3:16; Deuteronomy 2:37; Joshua 12:2; 1 Timothy 5:8; Genesis 35:22–26
- 24 Hosea 12:3–5; Ephesians 6:12; Genesis 32:28; Luke 13:24; Genesis 32:30
- 25 2 Corinthians 12:7–9; Hosea 12:3–4; Genesis 32:32; Matthew 26:41; Isaiah 45:11
- 26 Hosea 12:4; Psalm 115:12–13; 2 Corinthians 12:8–9; Psalm 67:1; 1 Chronicles 4:10
- 28 Revelation 2:17; Genesis 35:10; Isaiah 62:2–4; Hosea 12:3–5; Genesis 27:33–36
- 29 Job 11:7; Isaiah 9:6; Judges 13:16–18; Hosea 6:1; Genesis 27:28–29
- 30 Exodus 24:10–11; Numbers 12:8; Isaiah 6:5; Deuteronomy 5:24; Genesis 16:13
- 31 2 Corinthians 12:7; Malachi 4:2; Genesis 19:15; Psalm 38:17; Genesis 32:25
- 32 1 Samuel 5:5
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… eternal, and of right belongs eternally to Jerusalem the free mother, where the genuine people of Israel shall be: for this name is interpreted "Seeing God;" in the desire of which reward a pious life is to be led through faith in this miserable pilgrimage.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
And said to Him, "I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me." When the conqueror was blessed by the Conquered, Christ was figured.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)
But this Jacob, when he received another name, heard the same words, "Thou shalt not be called Jacob, but Israel shalt thou be called." Search the Scriptures, and see how that he was always called both, both Jacob and Israel.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)