Angels-JACOB WRESTLES WITH AN ANGEL

The same biblical Jacob who dreamed of angels ascending and
descending a ladder between heaven and earth also engaged in a
famous wrestling match with an angel. Jacob’s first encounter with
angels occurred when he escaped his brother Esau’s wrath after stealing
Esau’s blessing from their father, Isaac. The second encounter—in
which he wrestled with the angel—occured many years later as Jacob
was returning home. These angels, then, seemed to act as threshold
guardians between the ordinary world of Jacob’s parental home and
the world of trials and adventures to which he journeyed.
In his wrestling match with the angel, Jacob seemed to be getting
the upper hand until his opponent knocked Jacob’s leg out of joint.
Nevertheless, Jacob continued to cling to his opponent, demanding a
blessing. This blessing, unlike the one he had obtained through
deceit, was won through his persistence:
And Jacob was left alone; and a man [an angel] wrestled with
him until the breaking of the day. When the man [angel] saw
that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched the hollow
of his thigh; and Jacob’s thigh was put out of joint as he wrestled
with him. Then he said, “Let me go for the day is breaking.”
But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless
me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said,
“Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no more be called
Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with
men, and have prevailed.” (Gen. 32:24–28)
Jacob called the place Peniel (“face of
God”): “For I have seen God face to face, and
my life is spared and not snatched away” (Gen.
32:30). Thus, as a consequence of this dream,
Jacob received a new identity and a new status
as the one who provided his people with a
name—Israel.
This unusual story of hand-to-hand combat
with an angel—variously identified as a man, an
angel, a demon, or God himself—has naturally
tended to puzzle commentators. If the attacker
was indeed an angel, as the dominant line of
interpretation suggests, one wonders why a man
so blessed by God would be attacked by God’s
messenger. One explanation is that in some
(nonextant) original version, the “angel” was a
jinn or demigod. According to this line of interpretation,
later priestly editors, in an effort to
remove a seeming affront to strict monotheism,
obscured the true identity of Jacob’s assailant.
Whatever the original story might have signified,
Jacob’s nocturnal struggle has become a
metaphor for struggling with a problem or a difficult
decision during the hours when one
should be resting. And this may not be that far removed from the
tale’s original meaning. After all, on the night of the wrestling match
Jacob had sent his servants and family on ahead—as though he wanted
to be left alone with his thoughts. The situation was precarious,
because he could not predict how his estranged brother would receive
him. Esau might even slay him. With such forebodings disturbing his
sleep, perhaps Jacob awoke the next day feeling like he had been in a
wrestling match all of the preceding night.