Genesis 32-34    Listen

Jacob prepares himself for death row (Genesis 32:1-21)

1 So Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
2 When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp.” And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
3 ¶ Then Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Seir, the country of Edom.
4 And he commanded them, saying, “Speak thus to my lord Esau, “Thus your servant Jacob says: ‘I have dwelt with Laban and stayed there until now.
5 I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, and male and female servants; and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.” ’ ”
6 ¶ Then the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau, and he also is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.”
7 So Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed; and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks and herds and camels, into two companies.
8 And he said, “If Esau comes to the one company and attacks it, then the other company which is left will escape.”
9 ¶ Then Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the LORD who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’:
10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies.
11 Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children.
12 For You said, “I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’ ”
13 ¶ So he lodged there that same night, and took what came to his hand as a present for Esau his brother:
14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
15 thirty milk camels with their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals.
16 Then he delivered them to the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, “Pass over before me, and put some distance between successive droves.”
17 And he commanded the first one, saying, “When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, saying, ‘To whom do you belong, and where are you going? Whose are these in front of you?’
18 then you shall say, “They are your servant Jacob’s. It is a present sent to my lord Esau; and behold, he also is behind us.’ ”
19 So he commanded the second, the third, and all who followed the droves, saying, “In this manner you shall speak to Esau when you find him;
20 and also say, “Behold, your servant Jacob is behind us.’ ” For he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face; perhaps he will accept me.”
21 So the present went on over before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp.

The last time Jacob saw his brother Esau was 20 years ago under some pretty strained circumstances. As a matter of fact, the eldest-son blessings had been given to Jacob instead of Esau under some pretty interesting circumstances (Genesis 27, see notes).

Why had Jacob left home? There's your answer in Genesis 27:41-44:

So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing with which his father blessed him, and Esau said in his heart, “The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” And the words of Esau her older son were told to Rebekah. So she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, “Surely your brother Esau comforts himself concerning you by intending to kill you. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: arise, flee to my brother Laban in Haran. And stay with him a few days, until your brother’s fury turns away,

Rebekah had anticipated that Jacob's stay up in Haran would last "a few days." That turned out to be 20 years instead. So, here's the question: Has Esau softened his attitude toward Jacob in the last 20 years? Or...has Esau just stewed for 20 years over what Jacob did and now angrier than ever? Since communicating back home has been a near impossibility for the last 20 years, Jacob prepares for the worst-case scenario as he returns home.

Jacob's first tactic is to send messengers on ahead to meet with Esau and tell him of Jacob's return. Upon the return of these messengers, however, they can only report that Esau knows he's coming home and is ready to meet him...with 400 men in tow. Is that good or bad? It doesn't sound like a positive development to Jacob. Jacob breaks out in prayer to God in verses 9-12 asking for protection. He reminds God in his prayer of the promise given to him by God in that ladder vision 20 years before found in Genesis 28:10-22 (see notes) when he declares in verse 12, "For You said, 'I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.'" Jacob hangs onto the promise that his "seed" cannot prosper if Esau kills him.

Gifts...lots and lots of gifts - that ought to do it. God had spoken to Jacob and told him to go back...so, here goes. He sends a big entourage of servants with cattle and gifts on ahead to meet Esau while he stays back to give them an ample head start. If Esau is more intent on killing than receiving, Jacob figures he'll still have time to flee after he is warned of Esau's intentions. After all, it is better to receive than to kill. Very specific wording (and very humble sounding) had been given the servants on behalf of Jacob when the servants come face to face with Esau (verse 20).

Jacob wrestles with...God? (Genesis 32:22-32)

22 ¶ And he arose that night and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok.
23 He took them, sent them over the brook, and sent over what he had.
24 Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.
25 Now when He saw that He did not prevail against him, He touched the socket of his hip; and the socket of Jacob’s hip was out of joint as He wrestled with him.
26 And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” ¶ But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”
27 ¶ So He said to him, “What is your name?” ¶ He said, “Jacob.”
28 ¶ And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
29 ¶ Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” ¶ And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there.
30 ¶ So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
31 Just as he crossed over Penuel the sun rose on him, and he limped on his hip.
32 Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank.

The night before the big meetin' finds Jacob all alone contemplating his reunion with Esau. Verse 24 says, "Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day." Who was this "man?" We see from verse 30 that Jacob is convinced it is God himself, "for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." This manifestation of God must be like that of Melchizedek in Genesis 14:17-24 (see notes) and the appearance of God's human-like form before Abraham referred to as "the LORD" in Genesis 18 (see notes). I'm convinced that any incarnation of God in human flesh is our Savior, Jesus Christ. John 1:1 (see notes) says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:14 (see notes) goes on to say, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." I view these verses as a description of how God always manifests himself in human form.

So, what's the point of the wrestling match? And...can't Jesus beat Jacob 10 times out of 10 in a wrestling match? This wrestling match seems to be for the purpose of strengthening Jacob's resolve to follow God. The match is a draw, with Jacob asking for a blessing from God. He gets his blessing from God...along with a name change to "Israel."

At the conclusion of this wrestling match, a curious bit of information is passed on to us in verse 32, "Therefore to this day the children of Israel do not eat the muscle that shrank, which is on the hip socket, because He touched the socket of Jacob’s hip in the muscle that shrank." While this has no mention elsewhere in Jewish dietary law, we are told by Jewish sources that this "muscle which shrank" is a reference to the "nervus ischiadicus," the nerve extending through the thigh and leg to the ankle.

The moment of reckoning...the big meetin' (Genesis 33:1-17)

1 Now Jacob lifted his eyes and looked, and there, Esau was coming, and with him were four hundred men. So he divided the children among Leah, Rachel, and the two maidservants.
2 And he put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last.
3 Then he crossed over before them and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.
4 ¶ But Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck and kissed him, and they wept.
5 And he lifted his eyes and saw the women and children, and said, “Who are these with you?” ¶ So he said, “The children whom God has graciously given your servant.”
6 Then the maidservants came near, they and their children, and bowed down.
7 And Leah also came near with her children, and they bowed down. Afterward Joseph and Rachel came near, and they bowed down.
8 ¶ Then Esau said, “What do you mean by all this company which I met?” ¶ And he said, “These are to find favor in the sight of my lord.”
9 ¶ But Esau said, “I have enough, my brother; keep what you have for yourself.”
10 ¶ And Jacob said, “No, please, if I have now found favor in your sight, then receive my present from my hand, inasmuch as I have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God, and you were pleased with me.
11 Please, take my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough.” So he urged him, and he took it.
12 ¶ Then Esau said, “Let us take our journey; let us go, and I will go before you.”
13 ¶ But Jacob said to him, “My lord knows that the children are weak, and the flocks and herds which are nursing are with me. And if the men should drive them hard one day, all the flock will die.
14 Please let my lord go on ahead before his servant. I will lead on slowly at a pace which the livestock that go before me, and the children, are able to endure, until I come to my lord in Seir.”
15 ¶ And Esau said, “Now let me leave with you some of the people who are with me.” ¶ But he said, “What need is there? Let me find favor in the sight of my lord.”
16 So Esau returned that day on his way to Seir.
17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, built himself a house, and made booths for his livestock. Therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.

The next day, here comes Esau with 400 men under his charge. How unsettling must that have been to Jacob - the appearance of a large band of men coming under the command of one who had vowed to kill you. Even though directed by God, Jacob is a little tentative in facing Esau. It's time for backup plan #2. Plan #1 was to send the servants and gifts a day ahead. Look at plan #2 in Gen. 33:2, "And he put the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children behind, and Rachel and Joseph last." If you wonder who Jacob loved the most, this ought to clear it up for you. Jacob himself heads for the front line to face Esau. An incredibly hospitable Esau shows up happy to see Jacob; he even offers to escort Jacob back home. Jacob prevails upon Esau to receive his gifts, even though Esau at first declines. It's a great day for everyone. Esau heads on back while Jacob determines to travel at his own pace.

Hmmmm...why do you suppose Esau showed up with 400 men? Was he anticipating trouble from Jacob? Or...perhaps he thought that the least he could do was give ol' Jacob a bit of a scare. You will also notice that Esau, in verse 16, returned to Seir after their meeting. That's a mountain range east of the Jordan River that later became Edom, the home of Esau's descendants.

Jacob settles down in Canaan (Genesis 33:18-20)

18 ¶ Then Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan Aram; and he pitched his tent before the city.
19 And he bought the parcel of land, where he had pitched his tent, from the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father, for one hundred pieces of money.
20 Then he erected an altar there and called it El Elohe Israel.

Jacob buys a piece of property near Shechem where he settles down. Ahhhhh! Back in the land; my brother no longer wants me dead; property owner - what can possibly go wrong now? The altar that was constructed was given a unique name...so unique that virtually all English translations simply give us the transliterated Hebrew - "el elohe Israel." The word "el" is the shortened form for "God." Of course "elohe" is a variation of "elohim," the word for "God." So, we seem to have redundant usage of the word for "God" in the naming of this altar. The Septuagint translators (2nd century B.C. guys who translated the Hebrew into Greek) rendered it simply "to the God of Israel" - the English equivalent of their translation. It probably was intended to be stronger than that...something like "God, the God of Israel." Interestingly enough, the Canaanite name of their deity during that era (before Baal) was simply "el." So, the name of this altar could be declaring that from this time forward, the god of this land (el) will be the God of Israel.

Marriage or rape? You make the call (Genesis 34)

1 Now Dinah the daughter of Leah, whom she had borne to Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land.
2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her, and violated her.
3 His soul was strongly attracted to Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the young woman and spoke kindly to the young woman.
4 So Shechem spoke to his father Hamor, saying, “Get me this young woman as a wife.”
5 ¶ And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter. Now his sons were with his livestock in the field; so Jacob held his peace until they came.
6 Then Hamor the father of Shechem went out to Jacob to speak with him.
7 And the sons of Jacob came in from the field when they heard it; and the men were grieved and very angry, because he had done a disgraceful thing in Israel by lying with Jacob’s daughter, a thing which ought not to be done.
8 But Hamor spoke with them, saying, “The soul of my son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as a wife.
9 And make marriages with us; give your daughters to us, and take our daughters to yourselves.
10 So you shall dwell with us, and the land shall be before you. Dwell and trade in it, and acquire possessions for yourselves in it.”
11 ¶ Then Shechem said to her father and her brothers, “Let me find favor in your eyes, and whatever you say to me I will give.
12 Ask me ever so much dowry and gift, and I will give according to what you say to me; but give me the young woman as a wife.”
13 ¶ But the sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father, and spoke deceitfully, because he had defiled Dinah their sister.
14 And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to one who is uncircumcised, for that would be a reproach to us.
15 But on this condition we will consent to you: If you will become as we are, if every male of you is circumcised,
16 then we will give our daughters to you, and we will take your daughters to us; and we will dwell with you, and we will become one people.
17 But if you will not heed us and be circumcised, then we will take our daughter and be gone.”
18 ¶ And their words pleased Hamor and Shechem, Hamor’s son.
19 So the young man did not delay to do the thing, because he delighted in Jacob’s daughter. He was more honorable than all the household of his father.
20 ¶ And Hamor and Shechem his son came to the gate of their city, and spoke with the men of their city, saying:
21 “These men are at peace with us. Therefore let them dwell in the land and trade in it. For indeed the land is large enough for them. Let us take their daughters to us as wives, and let us give them our daughters.
22 Only on this condition will the men consent to dwell with us, to be one people: if every male among us is circumcised as they are circumcised.
23 Will not their livestock, their property, and every animal of theirs be ours? Only let us consent to them, and they will dwell with us.”
24 And all who went out of the gate of his city heeded Hamor and Shechem his son; every male was circumcised, all who went out of the gate of his city.
25 ¶ Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword and came boldly upon the city and killed all the males.
26 And they killed Hamor and Shechem his son with the edge of the sword, and took Dinah from Shechem’s house, and went out.
27 The sons of Jacob came upon the slain, and plundered the city, because their sister had been defiled.
28 They took their sheep, their oxen, and their donkeys, what was in the city and what was in the field,
29 and all their wealth. All their little ones and their wives they took captive; and they plundered even all that was in the houses.
30 ¶ Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites; and since I am few in number, they will gather themselves together against me and kill me. I shall be destroyed, my household and I.”
31 ¶ But they said, “Should he treat our sister like a harlot?”

We only have record of Jacob having one daughter, Dinah. A terrible thing happens to her when she goes out to hang with the girls in her new home town. Look at verse 2, "And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her and lay with her, and violated her." Oooooo...now we have a problem, a big problem! Shechem now wants her for a wife and sends Dad out to meet Jacob and make the deal. He offers Jacob a peace pact, a trade pact and every other kind of pact if Jacob will consent to allowing his people to marry Hamor's people...beginning with Shechem and Dinah. Jacob's twelve sons are fumed at what has happened to their sister Dinah. "We won't allow our sister or any of our women to marry uncircumcised men," they replied. "If all of you will be circumcised, we'll make the deal," they conclude.

Incidentally, we don't know how long after moving to Shechem this incident happened. It must have been a few years; Dinah would have been something less than 8 years old when they moved there - probably nearer 7 years old; she was about the same age as Joseph (Genesis 30:21-24, see notes). This incident happened before they moved away from Shechem. Joseph was 17 years old after the move (Genesis 37:2, see notes). So Dinah could not have been more than 17 years old when this incident took place. If Dinah was as old as 17 at this time, that would make Simeon and Levi about 23 and 22. That's based upon the fact that Dinah was the seventh child born to Leah in a seven-year period which began after Jacob's initial seven-year period of labor for Laban to earn his first wife; Simeon and Levi were numbers 2 and 3.

Hamor and son, Shechem accept the deal, but they must sell it to the rest of the men of their city. I just can't imagine the rest of the men being enthusiastic about being circumcised, but they do agree - the free-trade agreement of verse 23 may have made the deal palatable to them. I'm not certain how many of the sons of Jacob were in on the deception, but after the circumcision...on the third day...when the circumcised men of Shechem are good and sore from this unfamiliar (to them) surgical procedure, Simeon and Levi go into the city and kill all the men; it's just hard to fight when you're all doubled over in pain. Moreover, who knows what performance challenging pain remedy they may have employed? It could have been generous portions of pain-deadening alcoholic beverages. Basically, they were in no condition to defend themselves. Simeon and Levi not only take Dinah back, but they also seize all their assets including women and children. Apparently Dinah had not been permitted to go back home pending the consummation of the deal between the men of Shechem and Jacob's family.

Jacob is grieved; he's afraid that the rest of the Canaanites will think he's not a good neighbor when he says in verse 30, "...You have troubled me by making me obnoxious among the inhabitants of the land..." As a matter of fact, he incorporates this incident into his dying blessings to his sons at his death (Genesis 49:5-7, see notes). It is true that neighbors are a little less friendly when they think you might kill them. He is fearful that this action is the prelude to war. We see, however, that the boys do not relent after that comment when they reply in verse 31...indicating that they still felt their actions were well justified.