King James Version

The Book of Genesis

Return to Index Henry's Commentary
1 And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
2 And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's 1host: and he called the name of that place aMahanaim.
1 Josh 5:14, Psa 103:21, Psa 148:2, Luke 2:13
3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of 1Seir, the country of 2Edom.
1 Gen 33:14, Deut 2:5, Josh 24:4
2 Gen 25:30, Gen 36:8, Num 20:14, Judg 11:17, 2nd Sam 8:14
4 And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:
5 And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.
6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and 1distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;
1 Gen 35:3, Psa 107:6
8 And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.
9 And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, 1Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:
1 Gen 31:3
10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands.
11 1Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the 2mother with the children.
1 Psa 59:1
2 Hosea 10:14
12 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
13 And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a 1present for Esau his brother;
1 Gen 43:11
14 Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,
15 Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.
16 And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.
17 And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?
18 Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us.
19 And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him.
20 And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will 1appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me.
1 Prov 21:14
21 So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.
22 And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford 1Jabbok.
1 Deut 3:16
23 And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.
24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I 1will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
1 Hosea 12:4
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but aIsrael: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, 1Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
1 Judg 13:18
30 And Jacob called the name of the place aPeniel: for I have 1seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
1 Exod 24:10, Exod 33:20, Deut 5:24, Judg 6:22, Judg 13:22, Isa 6:5
31 And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
32 Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day: because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank.
Notes on Chapter 32
1
2 (a) "Mahanaim" = Two camps.
Strongs #4266 Machanayim makh-an-ah'-yim dual of 4264; double camp; Machanajim, a place in Palestine:--Mahanaim.
4264 machaneh makh-an-eh' from 2583; an encampment (of travellers or troops); hence, an army, whether literal (of soldiers) or figurative (of dancers, angels, cattle, locusts, stars; or even the sacred courts):-- army, band, battle, camp, company, drove, host, tents.
Return to Verse 2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28 (a) "Israel" = have power with God.
Strongs 3478 Yisra'el yis-raw-ale' from 8280 and 410; he will rule as God; Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity:
8280 sarah saw-raw' a primitive root; to prevail:--have power (as a prince).
410 'el ale shortened from 352; strength; as adjective, mighty; especially the Almighty (but used also of any deity):--God (god), X goodly, X great, idol, might(-y one), power, strong. Compare names in "-el."
Return to Verse 28
29
30 (a) "Peniel" = face of God
Strongs 6439 Pnuw'el pen-oo-ale' or (more properly,) Pniylel {pen-oo-ale'}; from 6437 and 410; face of God; Penuel or Peniel, a place East of Jordan; also (as Penuel) the name of two Israelites:--Peniel, Penuel.
Return to Verse 30
31
32