Jacob Wrestling with the Angel
Jacob Wrestling with the Angel is a biblical story commonly depicted in art. The story appears in chapter 32 of Genesis, and chapter 12 of the Book of Hosea. In the text as we have it, the being with which Jacob wrestles is variously described as an angel, a man, or a god. Some would see here different source texts, while other readings are sensitive to the fluid language of myth. In any case, the being says his name is the same as where the fight takes place, which Jacob names Peniel or Penuel or Phanuel.[1] The event occurs during Jacob's journey back to Canaan.
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[edit] Biblical text
[edit] Authorized King James Version
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. And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had. And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 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. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 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. 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. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. 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.
[edit] New International Version
That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak."
But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
The man asked him, "What is your name?"
"Jacob," he answered.
Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, [e] because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."
Jacob said, "Please tell me your name." But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" Then he blessed him there.
So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."
The sun rose above him as he passed Peniel, and he was limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob's hip was touched near the tendon.
[edit] As a basis for a hymn
Charles Wesley's hymn "Come, O Thou Traveller Unknown", often known as "Wrestling Jacob", is based on the passage which describes Jacob wrestling with an angel. It is traditionally sung to the tune of St Petersburg.[2]
[edit] Depictions in art
Many artists have depicted the scene. These include:
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Rembrandt (1659)
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Eugène Delacroix (1861)
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Eugène Delacroix (1861), (detail)
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Alexander Louis Leloir (1865)
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Léon Bonnat (1876)
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"Jacob and the Angel" by Gustave Moreau (1878)
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Paul Gauguin (1888). Also known as Vision after the Sermon
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Marc Chagall (1970, Fraumünster abbey)
[edit] In popular culture
- Jacob Wrestling with the Angel is the subject of a 1940 sculpture by Sir Jacob Epstein.[3]
- It is a chapter in Herman Hesse's novel Demian (1919)
- It is mentioned in Dodie Smith's debut novel I Capture the Castle (1948).
- It was referenced in the 1990 play Angels in America by Tony Kushner. The version depicted on-screen was the 1865 version by Alexander Louis Leloir.
- It was mentioned in Margaret Laurence's "The Stone Angel" published in 1964.
- It is mentioned in the U2 song "Bullet the Blue Sky" on their 1987 album The Joshua Tree.
- Gustave Dore's image is reenacted in Jean-Luc Godard's Passion by a film extra dressed as an angel and Jerzy Radziwiłowicz.[4]
- It is referenced in Rainer Maria Rilke's poem, "The Man Watching" published in 1920[?].
- It is mentioned in Maud Hart Lovelace's novel Betsy's Wedding, first published in 1955.
[edit] References
- ^ Genesis 32:29-30
- ^ http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/o/comeotho.htm
- ^ On display at the Tate Britain. Tate.org.uk
- ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aITlFnhE6oQ
[edit] External links
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