CHAPTER 32

32:1-12 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 host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim. 3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 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 distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands; 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, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. 11 Deliver 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 mother with the children. 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.

AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO. (Gen. 32:2). GOD'S CAMP. — The camp of God, which Jacob saw on his journey, was undoubtedly a multitude of angels. For this is called in the Scriptures the army of heaven (Cf. Rev. 19:14). [Question 101]

(Gen. 32:6-12). FEAR OF JACOB BEFORE ESAU. — When Jacob received the announcement that his brother was coming to meet him with four hundred men, he was troubled and distressed. Indeed, fear seized him. And as a man might be troubled as he was, he divided his people, dividing them into two camps. When we arrive here we can ask how he could have faith in the promises of God if he said: If Esau should come to one camp, and destroy it, the other camp shall be in safety (Gen. 32:8). But it could also happen that Esau destroyed his camps, and yet, after that affliction, God would help him and deliver him and fulfill what he had promised. This example should serve as a warning to us, so that, even if we believe in God, let us, however, do what men must do to protect their lives, lest by omitting these measures it seems that we tempt God. Finally, after this we must meditate on the words that Jacob himself said: God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you are he that said to me, Depart quickly to the land of your birth, and I will do you good. Let there be to me a sufficiency of all the justice and all the truth which you have wrought with your servant; for with this my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two camps. Deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I am afraid of him, unless he gladly should come and kill me, and the mother upon the children. But you said, I will do you good, and will make your seed as the sand of the sea, which shall not be numbered for multitude (Gen. 32:9-12).  In these words appear both and the weakness of man and pious faith. [Question 102]

(Gen. 32:20). THE PRESENTS OF JACOB TO ESAU. — The Latin manuscripts say about Jacob: For he said, I will appease his face with the gifts that precede him. But these words are to be understood as follows: The writer of the book puts this in the mouth of Jacob: For he said, "I will appease his face," and then adds of his harvest: “with the gifts that precede him.” It is as if he said, “With the gifts that preceded Jacob I will appease the face of my brother.” The order of the words of Jacob is thus the following, “I will appease his face and then I will see his face, and he may welcome me favorably." The author inserted the words of his harvest with the gifts that precede him. [Question 103]

(Gen. 32:26). JACOB FOUGHT AND BLESSED. — The fact that Jacob desires to receive the blessing of that angel whom he overcame in the struggle contains a great prophecy about Christ. For it indicates to us that there is here a mystical sense, by the very fact that every man wants to be blessed by someone superior to himself. And then, how could Jacob want to be blessed by someone he defeated in the fight? Jacob overcame Christ, or rather seemed to conquer him through those Israelites who crucified Christ. And yet Jacob is blessed in those Israelites who believed in Christ, among whom was the one who said, “For I am also an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin (Rom. 11:1).” So the one and the same Jacob was lame and blessed. Lame in the whole length of his thigh, that is to say, in the multitude of those of his race, of whom it is said, “They have limped away from your paths (Ps. 17:46).” Blessed, in those of whom it is said: "there is a remnant according to the election of grace (Rom. 11:5)." [Question 104]

AMBROSIASTER. (Gen. 32:30). JACOB WAS CALLED THE MAN WHO SEES GOD, AND MOSES SAW GOD FACE TO FACE. (EX. 33:11) HE ALSO SAYS: "I HAVE SEEN WITH MY OWN EYES THE GOD OF HOSTS. (IS. 6:5). ON THE CONTRARY, THE EVANGELIST SAINT JOHN SAYS: "NO MAN HAS EVER SEEN GOD.” (I JN. 4:12) THERE IS, THEN, A CONTRADICTION HERE. — To speak the truth, no man really saw God, neither the Father nor the Son. If the Scripture tells us that men have seen Him, it is through intellect, for it can only appear to them in the figure. Just as without knowing the emperors we see them in image and not in reality, so God was seen in the sense that men understood that God appeared to them in a rational and not substantial way, for God cannot be seen in His nature. To put the difficulty of this question into all its light, let us endeavor to explain the meaning of the words of St. John. For he has wished to reveal to us a hidden truth which is part of the doctrine of salvation: "No man," he says, "has ever seen God; the only begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father has manifested Himself.” (John 1:18) Let us examine the meaning of these words of the Evangelist; to show us that it is of all truth that no man has ever seen God, he places this declaration on the lips of the Son himself who cannot be deceived because he is in the bosom of the Father. Now, what is the breast of the Father except the love of the true Father for his Son by the unity of nature that is common to them? No one, then, has ever seen God, except the only begotten Son, which the Apostle of God revealed among other things to the apostle St. John: "It is not that someone to see the Father, only the one who is of God has seen the Father.” Now it is to condemn the Jews who did not want to hear or believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, that the Evangelist proves to them that it was this same Christ who appeared as God to the patriarchs, the Father was never seen except by the Son. Indeed, denying that God the Father was ever seen, and yet declaring that God appeared to the patriarchs, the Son of God wants to reveal himself and show that it was he who appeared as God to their fathers. That is why he said to the Jews speaking of his Father: "You have never heard his voice or seen his face (Jn. 5:37).” There is, then, no contradiction in saying that God has been both seen and invisible. [Questions On The Old And New Testaments, PL 35, Question 71]

JOHN CHRYSOSTOM OF CONSTANTINOPLE. Laban having departed to return to his dwelling, Jacob went on his way, and looking up, saw the camp of God set up; and the angels of God came to meet him. (Gen. 32:1) When the fear that Laban had inspired him had completely dissipated, Esau's fear succeeded it. That is why the good Master, willing to encourage this righteous man and dispel all his terrors, offered to his eyes the camp of the angels. The angels of God came to meet him, saith the scripture, and Jacob said, This is the camp of God. And he called this place the camps (Ibid. 1-2); so that this name would perpetually preserve the memory of the vision he had had in this place. And after this vision, he sent before him, says the Scripture, messengers to get to Brother Esau, with this mission: You will tell my Lord Esau. (Ibid. 3-4) See what fear, even after this vision, still dominates this just. He dreaded his brother's violence and was worried that the memory of what had happened in the past might excite him to walk against him. Say to my Lord Esau: This is what your servant Jacob says. And I dwelt by Laban, and I stayed there until this time, and I became possessors of oxen, and asses, and sheep, and servants, and maidservants, and sent to my servant, that your servant found favor in your presence. (Ibid. 4-5) Consider the fear he had of his brother, and how, desirous of softening him, he sends him to announce his return, the wealth he has acquired, and the place where he lived to there, in order to calm his anger and to be able to make it soft and easy; what happened indeed, God having calmed his heart, extinguished his anger, and softened him. For if God had inspired Laban with so much fear as he pursued Jacob with so much impetuosity, much more so, he inspired the brother of the righteous with gentleness toward him.

These messengers returned, saying, We have found your brother, and he comes to meet you with four hundred armed men. (Ibid. 6) See how this news doubles Jacob's fears. He did not know, in fact, with certainty the design of his brother; but, learning the great number of those who were with him, he conjectured with terror that, because he was prepared for battle, he did not come to him for a peaceful encounter. Jacob, says the text (Ibid. 7), was frightened, and he did not know what to do. Fear disturbed his mind, he did not know what to do in the midst of his anxiety; it seemed to him that he had a lot to dread and that death was before his eyes. He divided his troop into two camps, he said: If he goes against one side and destroys it, the other can be saved. (Ibid. 7-8) This is what fear and fear suggest to him. Seeing himself caught in a net, he resorts to the invincible Master, and he claims from the God of the universe the fulfillment of his promises, as if he were saying to him: Now, here is the time when, because of the under my fathers and because of your promise, I must get your full assistance. Jacob, says the text, spoke thus: You, the God of my father Abraham and of my father Isaac, you who said to me, Return to the land of your birth (Ibid. 9); it was you who made me leave the foreign land, and who commanded me (return him to my father and to the land of my birth, that I should be saved by the justice and truth you have used towards your servant. "(Ibid. 10) May they be my help in this situation, for you who have hitherto taken so much care of me can see, at this very moment, tear me away from the dangers which threaten me, for I am not ignorant that I have crossed this Jordan River with a simple wand. And now, by your Providence, I who carried only a stick, leaving for the earth Foreign, I come back with two camps. So, O Master, you who have given me so much wealth, who have brought me up to this point, now save me from the hand of Esau, my brother, because I fear that he will strike me, with the mother and the children, you said: I will do you good and I will multiply your race like the sand of the sea and its multitude will be innumerable. (Ibid. 11-12) [Homilies on Genesis]

Gen. 32:13-32 And he slept there that night, and took of the gifts which he carried with him, and sent out to Esau his brother, 14 two hundred she-goats, twenty he-goats, two hundred sheep, twenty rams, 15 milch camels, and their foals, thirty, forty kine, ten bulls, twenty asses, and ten colts. 16 And he gave them to his servants each drove apart; and he said to his servants, Go on before me, and put a space between drove and drove. 17 And he charged the first, saying, If Esau my brother meet thee, and he ask thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither wouldest thou go, and whose are these possessions advancing before thee? 18 Thou shalt say, Thy servant Jacob’s; he hath sent gifts to my lord Esau, and lo! he is behind us. 19 And he charged the first and the second and the third, and all that went before him after these flocks, saying, Thus shall ye speak to Esau when ye find him;And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me. 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 Jabbok. 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 will not let thee go, except thou bless me. 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 Israel: 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, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. 30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. 31 And the sun rose upon him, when he passed the Face of God; and he halted upon his thigh. 32 Therefore the children of Israel will by no means eat of the sinew which was benumbed, which is on the broad part of the thigh, until this day, because the angel touched the broad part of the thigh of Jacob—even the sinew which was benumbed.

AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO. (Gen. 32:20). THE PRESENTS OF JACOB TO ESAU. — The Latin manuscripts say about Jacob: For he said, I will appease his face with the gifts that precede him. But these words are to be understood as follows: The writer of the book puts this in the mouth of Jacob: For he said, "I will appease his face," and then adds of his harvest: “with the gifts that precede him.” It is as if he said, “With the gifts that preceded Jacob I will appease the face of my brother.” The order of the words of Jacob is thus the following, “I will appease his face and then I will see his face, and he may welcome me favorably." The author inserted the words of his harvest with the gifts that precede him. [Question 103]

(Gen. 32:26). JACOB FOUGHT AND BLESSED. — The fact that Jacob desires to receive the blessing of that angel whom he overcame in the struggle contains a great prophecy about Christ. For it indicates to us that there is here a mystical sense, by the very fact that every man wants to be blessed by someone superior to himself. And then, how could Jacob want to be blessed by someone he defeated in the fight? Jacob overcame Christ, or rather seemed to conquer him through those Israelites who crucified Christ. And yet Jacob is blessed in those Israelites who believed in Christ, among whom was the one who said, “For I am also an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin (Rom. 11:1).” So the one and the same Jacob was lame and blessed. Lame in the whole length of his thigh, that is to say, in the multitude of those of his race, of whom it is said, “They have limped away from your paths (Ps. 17:46).” Blessed, in those of whom it is said: "there is a remnant according to the election of grace (Rom. 11:5)." [Question 104]

JOHN CHRYSOSTOM OF CONSTANTINOPLE. See the piety of this righteous man and his deep gratitude, which make him feel certain that the sovereign Master can not fail to fulfill his promises. It is after showing his gratitude for the previous benefits, and acknowledging that God took him poor and banished to fill him with riches, that he begs him to tear him away from danger: You told me: I will multiply your race like the sand of the sea, and we will not be able to count it. Having therefore addressed to the sovereign Master his call and his humble prayer, he does what depends on him. He takes gifts among what he brought from the foreign land and sends them to his brother, dividing them into several shipments and recommending to bend him by words and to announce his approach. Say to him, Behold, your servant is following you closely, so that he may bend him before appearing in his presence. Then, says the text, I will see his face; perhaps he will welcome me. And he sent his presents to be given to his brother. (Ibid. 20-21) Consider here again the ineffable goodness of God, and as it testifies well to the order of his Providence. At Laban, when Jacob did not suspect the danger and did not know that he was going to fall into the hands of Laban, who was coming to avenge his secret departure, God shows himself, represses his anger and forbids him to address Jacob a bitter word: "Do not speak to Jacob with any guilty word," he said to him. He regulated things so that the righteous might learn it through Laban himself, so that, knowing God's providence for him, he would be more confident. And now, because Esau has calmed down with time, and his wrath, his resentment against Jacob have calmed down, while he is filled with anxiety, and shuddered with fear when meeting his brother, This good Master does not address Esau, for he had no evil design against Jacob; but he raises that right. After having sent out the bearers of his presents and slept for some time, he rose that very night, and sent the Jaboch to his two wives and children; he took them and passed them over the torrent. Jacob remains alone, and a man struggles with him. (Ibid. 22-24) O great goodness of God! * Because Jacob was going to meet his brother, and so that he would have a sensible proof that he would not feel anything untoward, he deigns to fight with him, under the figure of a man. Then Jacob, seeing that he had the underside, seized him by the width of his thigh. (Ibid. 25) God did not lower himself so as to deliver the soul of this righteous for fear, and to persuade him not to be anxious to meet his brother. Jacob having seized him by the breadth of his thigh, the breadth of Jacob's thigh grew numb while he wrestled with him. Then, so that Jacob would learn what the power of the one he believed to be fighting against him was, the mysterious wrestler said to him, "Let me go, for the morning is rising." (Ibid. 26) This righteous then, perceiving what was the power of him who spoke to him, answered, I will not let you go unless you have blessed me. (Ibid.) I was judged worthy of great benefits and above my merit. I will not leave you, therefore, unless you have blessed me. - What is your name? (Ibid, 27) See again how far God falls. Did he not know, without asking, the name of this just? Surely he knew it, but he wants to increase his faith by this request and to teach him who is talking to him. And when he had answered Jacob, God said to him, Thou shalt not call yourself Jacob any more, but Israel shall be thy name, because having been strong with God, thou shalt be mighty among men. (Ibid. 28) You have understood how God has revealed to him the cause of such condescension; at the same time he teaches to this righteous man, by the name which he gives him, which is he whom he saw, and who deigned to be restrained by him: Thou shalt not call yourself Jacob, but Israel. Now, Israel means seeing God. Then, therefore, that God has deigned to show himself to you, as far as it is possible for a man to see him, I give you this nickname, so that from now on it will be manifest to all of what vision you have been honored. And he adds: Because you have been strong with God, you will be powerful among men. So do not fear anymore and do not apprehend any more harm from anyone. For whoever is given such strength that he can fight with God, still more will prevail over men and will be invincible to all.

The righteous at these words, struck with the greatness of him who conversed with him, said, "Let me know your name." And he said to him, Why do you ask me my name? And he blesses him. (Ibid. 29) As if he said: Stay in the limits that suit you and do not exceed your measure. You want to get my blessing: well! I agree. He blessed him, says the text, and Jacob called this place: Appearance of God. Because, he says, I saw God face to face and denied life was saved. (Ibid. 30) Do you see what boldness gave him this vision? My life, he says, was saved, a life that fear had almost delighted me. Since God deigned to manifest to me face to face, my life was saved. . And the sun was rising when the vision of God disappeared. (Ibid. 31) Have you seen how God condescends to human infirmity to accomplish and govern all things, and how He manifests His supreme goodness? And do not be confused, my beloved, on the greatness of this abasement; but remember that in the time of the patriarch Abraham, when he was sitting at the foot of the oak, the Lord, in the form of a man, received with the angels the hospitality of the just, thus announcing us from afar and from the beginning, that he would take the form of a man to deliver the entire human nature from the tyranny of the devil and lead it to salvation.

As it was then only the principle and prelude of the Incarnation, it was manifested to each patriarch only in an apparent form, as he himself says the Prophet: I have multiplied the visions, and images of I happened under the hand of the prophets. (Hos. 12:10) But when he deigned to take the form of a slave and undertake our regeneration, it is not in an apparent and fantastic form, it is in reality that he clothed himself in our flesh. And so he consented to embrace our entire condition, to be born of a woman, to be little child, to be wrapped in swaddling clothes, to be breastfed, to bear all our miseries, in order to establish the faith in the reality of the Incarnation, and to shut the mouths of heretics. It is for this reason that he sleeps on the boat, that he travels and is tired, that he bears all the human miseries, in order to be able to confirm by faith the facts of each person. That is why he appears before the tribunal, is crucified, suffers an infamous death and is put in the tomb, so that the mystery of the Incarnation is proved until the evidence. For if he had not taken our flesh, he would not have been crucified, would not have died, would not have been buried, and would not be resurrected. And if he were not resurrected, all the doctrine of the Incarnation would be upset. Do you see in what absurdity do those who do not wish to adopt the supreme rule of Divine Scripture fall, but submit everything to their own reasoning? But just as the truth is manifest here, so at the time of this righteousness, there was only one figure who was to confirm his belief in Providence of which he was the happy object, his belief that he was invincible to anyone who wants to pit him up. Then, so that no one in the future would ignore the vision he had had, he limped his thigh. And, because of this, until today, the children of Israel, do not eat the nerve of the thigh which has become numb, because Jacob has touched the width of the thigh, which s is numb. (Ibid. 31-32) Because this righteous, after having completed his career, was to leave life, it was necessary that the vigilant tenderness of God towards him and this immense abasement should be known to all generations; wherefore he saith, Let not the children of Israel eat the nerve of the thigh, which is numb. Knowing all their ingratitude and their forgetfulness of divine blessings, he employed this means of preserving in them the perpetual memory of his benefactions; he has made them keep monuments in his observances: this is found everywhere in Scripture. And this is above all the cause of the greatest number of observances: he wanted successive generations to never cease to meditate on the divine blessings and not to return, by forgetting them, to the misguidance which it was natural to them; for such was especially the custom of the race of the Jews. This people, who so often showed their ingratitude for good deeds, would have, even more still, removed from their minds what God had done for him, had it not been so. But, let's see what happened, let's see how Jacob's encounter with his brother took place. [Homilies on Genesis]