During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two servant wives, and his eleven sons and crossed the Jabbok River with them.
Parallel translations
- WEB He rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok.
- KJV 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.
- BSB During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
- NKJV 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.
- NASB Now he got up that same night and took his two wives, his two female slaves, and his eleven children, and crossed the shallow place of the Jabbok.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
That night Jacob sends his family across the ford of the Jabbok. He moves his household to safety as he prepares to face Esau.
Overview
Jacob takes his wives, servants, and eleven sons across the river under cover of night. The crossing of the Jabbok sets the scene for his solitary, transformative encounter. By sending others ahead, Jacob is left alone, where God will meet and wrestle with him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Deut 3:16To the Reubenites and to the Gadites I gave from Gilead even to the valley of the Arnon, the middle of the valley, and its border, even to the river Jabbok, which is the border of the children of Ammon;
- Deut 2:37Only to the land of the children of Ammon you didn’t come near; all the banks of the river Jabbok, and the cities of the hill country, and wherever Yahweh our God forbade us.
- 1 Tim 5:8But if anyone doesn’t provide for his own, and especially his own household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever.
- Josh 12:2Sihon king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and ruled from Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and the middle of the valley, and half Gilead, even to the river Jabbok, the border of the children of Ammon;
- Gen 35:22–26While Israel lived in that land, Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father’s concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.
- Gen 35:18As her soul was departing (for she died), she named him Benoni, but his father named him Benjamin.
- Gen 29:21Jacob said to Laban, “Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in to her.”
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 32:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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