So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
Parallel translations
- WEB Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day.
- KJV And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
- NKJV Then Jacob was left alone; and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.
- NASB Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
- NLT This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn began to break.
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
Left alone, Jacob wrestles through the night with a man until daybreak. This mysterious figure proves to be God Himself meeting Jacob.
Overview
In the darkness Jacob grapples with a 'man' who, the passage reveals, is a divine appearance of God, often understood as a theophany or pre-incarnate appearance of the Son. The struggle dramatizes Jacob's lifelong striving now brought to a decisive encounter with God. Here the grasping deceiver must come to the end of himself before God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 18
- Hos 12:3–5In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel, and in his vigor he wrestled with God.
- Eph 6:12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
- Gen 32:28Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”
- Luke 13:24“Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.
- Gen 32:30So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
- Eph 6:18Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.
- Gen 30:8Then Rachel said, “In my great struggles, I have wrestled with my sister and won.” So she named him Naphtali.
- Luke 22:44And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.
- 1 Cor 15:47The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.
- Gen 48:16the angel who has redeemed me from all harm—may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”
- Rom 15:30Now I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.
- Song 2:17Before the day breaks and shadows flee, turn, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of Bether.
- Isa 32:2Each will be like a shelter from the wind, a refuge from the storm, like streams of water in a dry land, like the shadow of a great rock in an arid land.
- Col 2:1For I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me face to face,
- Col 4:12Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, so that you may stand mature and fully assured in the full will of God.
- Heb 5:7During the days of Jesus’ earthly life, He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the One who could save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence.
- Rom 8:26–27In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words.
- Exod 14:27So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea returned to its normal state. As the Egyptians were retreating, the LORD swept them into the sea.
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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 32:24 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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