February 4

Although this story holds one of the most mysterious figures throughout the Bible, Jacob’s wrestling opponent, it can be inferred that this opponent is God. It is misleading because in the beginning of the story they refer to the opponent as a man; but as demonstrated in the New Testament, we see that both man and divine can intersect. Despite this misguided lead, we can still deduce that is God because of the numerous other evidence. The most obvious is the fact that Jacob recognizes his opponent as God. Not only does he marvel at the fact that he saw divine and survived, he even names the place “Peniel” which translates to “I have seen God.” Some of the clues are more subtle though, such as how God names Jacob, an action that one can only do if they have a deep understanding of a thing, in this case: his own creation. Not only that, but when Jacob asks his opponent for his name, his opponent scolds him. That’s because to ask for one’s name is to imply a level of understanding of God that is impossible for humans to possess. Lastly, when Jacob requested a blessing, he was demonstrating that he recognized the power of his opponent–a power only God could possess. So while it will never truly be known who Jacob’s opponent was, we can reasonably infer that it was God himself. 

Many when first reading this story think that Jacob wins the wrestling match simply because he has the advantage in the end; however, although he wins, he wins for completely different reasons. Once again we can see the intersection of both justice and mercy in God’s actions: although Jacob rightfully ends with a limp after asking for  a blessing from God, the limp is actually a gift. Just because God blessed, he establishes through a limp that Jacob is still dependent on him–it was not through Jacob’s own doing that he received the blessing but rather God gave it to him. God also did something similar to that when he grabbed him by the groin: he was reminded him of his progeny and how it was made possible through God (Jacob is the son of Isaac after all). Both of these seemingly harmful actions actually prevent Jacob from isolating himself away from the power of God and being too convinced of his self sufficiency. Additionally, God gifts Jacob with the new name “Israel” in a new kind of resurrection—a resurrection which allows Jacob to claim his new birthright.This birthright is reinvented because no longer does brother have to be against brother once they marry: now they are equal in the eyes of God, not property of birthright. This account really highlighted how many subtleties and continuities within the Bible there are, even when many perceive it as a simple and crude book.