"Did Jacob really defeat God in a wrestling match?"
/
Genesis 32:24-28 And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob's hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
In this passage, Jacob wrestles with a man who is later identified as God. God, unable or unwilling to defeat Jacob by conventional means, appears to dislocate Jacob's hip in order to end the fight. Why did God feel the need to deceive Jacob in this fight? Why did he also need to dislocate Jacob's hip to finish it? Afterwards, when Jacob commands God to bless him, God obliges, but does not heal the injury he gave to Jacob. Why not? The God depicted in this Bible story seems eerily similar to the Greek gods and their mischievous human interventions.
Christian Answers:
- Got Questions?: What is the meaning of Jacob wrestling with God?
- Philip Meade: Did Jacob Physically Wrestle With God?
- Bible Study Tools: The Twofold Wrestle - God's with Jacob and Jacob's with God
Secular Answers:
- A Skeptic's Journey Through the Bible: Jacob Wrestles with the Angel
- An Atheist's Bible Study: Genesis: Jacob Prepares to Meet Esau & Jacob Wrestles With God
- Skeptic's Annotated Bible: Genesis 32:24
Referenced Verses:
Genesis 32:24, Genesis 32:25, Genesis 32:26, Genesis 32:27, Genesis 32:28
