When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is God’s camp.” And he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
Parallel translations
- WEB When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s army.” He called the name of that place Mahanaim.
- KJV And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God’s host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
- BSB When Jacob saw them, he said, “This is the camp of God.” So he named that place Mahanaim.
- NASB And when he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s camp.” So he named that place Mahanaim.
- NLT When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, “This is God’s camp!” So he named the place Mahanaim.
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
Jacob calls the place Mahanaim ('two camps'), recognizing God's army alongside his own. He names the site to remember God's protection.
Overview
Seeing the angelic host, Jacob acknowledges that God's camp accompanies his vulnerable company. The name Mahanaim memorializes the assurance that heaven's forces surround God's people. This vision strengthens Jacob just before his dreaded reunion with Esau, displaying God's timely encouragement to the fearful.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- 2 Sam 2:8Now Abner the son of Ner, captain of Saul’s army, had taken Ishbosheth the son of Saul, and brought him over to Mahanaim;
- Josh 21:38Out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead with its suburbs, the city of refuge for the man slayer, and Mahanaim with its suburbs,
- Josh 5:14He said, “No; but I have come now as commander of Yahweh’s army.” Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and worshiped, and asked him, “What does my lord say to his servant?”
- 2 Sam 17:24Then David came to Mahanaim. Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.
- Luke 2:13Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying,
- Ps 34:7Yahweh’s angel encamps around those who fear him, and delivers them.
- 1 Kgs 2:8“Behold, there is with you Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim; but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by Yahweh, saying, ‘I will not put you to death with the sword.’
- Ps 148:2Praise him, all his angels! Praise him, all his army!
- 2 Sam 2:12Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, went out from Mahanaim to Gibeon.
- Dan 10:20Then he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Now I will return to fight with the prince of Persia. When I go out, behold, the prince of Greece shall come.
- 2 Sam 17:26–27Israel and Absalom encamped in the land of Gilead.
- Ps 103:21Praise Yahweh, all you armies of his, you servants of his, who do his pleasure.
- 2 Kgs 6:17Elisha prayed, and said, “Yahweh, please open his eyes, that he may see.” Yahweh opened the young man’s eyes; and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha.
- Song 6:13Return, return, Shulammite! Return, return, that we may gaze at you. Why do you desire to gaze at the Shulammite, as at the dance of Mahanaim?
- 1 Kgs 4:14Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in Mahanaim;
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 32:2 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.