And He said, “Let Me go, for the day breaks.” But he said, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!”
Parallel translations
- WEB The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.” Jacob said, “I won’t let you go, unless you bless me.”
- KJV And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
- BSB Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
- NASB Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
- NLT Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking!” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
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
As day breaks the man asks to be released, but Jacob refuses to let go unless he is blessed. Jacob clings in desperate, persistent faith.
Overview
Now lamed, Jacob can no longer wrestle but can only hold on, pleading for blessing. His refusal to let go shows faith that grasps God and will not be denied. This persevering, dependent prayer, born of weakness, is the very faith that prevails with God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Hos 12:4Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us,
- Ps 115:12–13Yahweh remembers us. He will bless us. He will bless the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron.
- 2 Cor 12:8–9Concerning this thing, I begged the Lord three times that it might depart from me.
- Ps 67:1For the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song. May God be merciful to us, bless us, and cause his face to shine on us. Selah.
- 1 Chr 4:10Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my border! May your hand be with me, and may you keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” God granted him that which he requested.
- Song 3:4I had scarcely passed from them, when I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother’s house, into the room of her who conceived me.
- Luke 24:28–29They came near to the village, where they were going, and he acted like he would go further.
- Luke 18:1–7He also spoke a parable to them that they must always pray, and not give up,
- Rom 8:37No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
- Exod 32:10Now therefore leave me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them, and that I may consume them; and I will make of you a great nation.”
- Isa 64:7There is no one who calls on your name, who stirs himself up to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have consumed us by means of our iniquities.
- Heb 5:7He, in the days of his flesh, having offered up prayers and petitions with strong crying and tears to him who was able to save him from death, and having been heard for his godly fear,
- Isa 45:11Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker says: “You ask me about the things that are to come, concerning my sons, and you command me concerning the work of my hands!
- Deut 9:14Leave me alone, that I may destroy them, and blot out their name from under the sky; and I will make of you a nation mightier and greater than they.”
- Ps 67:6–7The earth has yielded its increase. God, even our own God, will bless us.
- Song 7:5Your head on you is like Carmel. The hair of your head like purple. The king is held captive in its tresses.
- 1 Cor 15:58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
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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 32:26 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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