Genesis 32:28

And he said, thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel,.... That is, not Jacob only, but Israel also, as Ben Melech interprets it, or the one as well as the other; or the one rather and more

And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. There wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day - an unknown person appeared suddenly to oppose his entrance into Canaan.

No more Jacob, not Jacob only. See the like manner of expression . Israel signifies a prince or prevailer with God; or, a prince of God, i.e. a great prince and conqueror. Thou hast in some sort conquered both God in this conflict and men, Laban, Esau, &c., and hast prevailed; or, and shalt prevail over Esau, of whom thou art afraid.

Genesis 32:28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.Ver. 28. No more Jacob, but Israel.] That is, not only, or not so much Jacob as Israel. Both these names he had given him, of striving and struggling. All God’ s Israel are wrestlers by calling, and, "as good soldiers of Jesus Christ," must "suffer hardness". Nothing is to be "seen in the Shulamite, but as the appearance of two armies," maintaining civil broils within her. The spirit would always get the better of the flesh, were it upon equal terms: but when the flesh shall get the hill, as it were, of temptation, and shall have the wind to drive the smoke upon the eyes of the combatant, and so to blind him, - upon such a disadvantage, he is overcome. For it is "not flesh and blood only" that "we wrestle against," - whether we take the apostle’ s meaning, for the weakness of our nature or the corruption of it, - "but against principalities, against powers," &e.; against many, mighty, malicious adversaries; "spiritual wickednesses in high places," that are above us, and hang over our necks. Wherefore, we have more than need to "take unto us the whole armour of God," and to strengthen ourselves with every piece of it: whether those of defence, as "the girdle of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace" and patience, "the shield of faith, the helmet of hope"; or those of offence, as, "the sword of the spirit," and the darts of prayer. At no place must we lie open; for our enemy is a serpent. If he can but bite the heel, he will transfuse his venom to the heart and head. God’ s "Spirit" in us "sets up a standard". The apostle sounds the alarm, Arm, arm. The Holy Scripture is our armoury, like "Solomon’ s tower, where hang a thousand shields, and all the weapons of strong men". God himself is the ’Aγωνοθεπης, that both ordaineth and ordereth our temptations with his own hand, as he dealt with Jacob. And the Lord Christ stands over us, as he did once over Stephen, with a crown upon his head and another in his hand, with this inscription, Vincenti dabo, "To him that overcometh will I give," &c. Fight but with his arms and with his armour, and we are sure to overcome before we fight; for he hath made all our foes our footstool, and hath "caused us to triumph". Let therefore the assaults of our already vanquished enemies not weaken, but waken us: let their faint oppositions and spruntings before death encourage us, or rather enrage us, to do them to death: we are sure to be "more than conquerors," and to have Victoriam Halleluiatieam, as the Britons, fighting for their religion, had once against the Saxons and Picts in this kingdom. Nunquam bella bonis, nunquam discrimina desunt. Dr. Ussher, De Britan. Eccles. Primord. u.

(28) Israel.—That is, a prince of God, or, one powerful with God. (See Note on Genesis 17:15.) Esau had given a bad meaning to the name of Jacob, nor had it been undeserved. But a change has now come over Jacob’s character, and he is henceforth no longer the crafty schemer who was ever plotting for his own advantage, but one humble and penitent, who can trust himself and all he has in God’s hands. The last words signify, for thou art a prince with God and men; or possibly, for thou hast striven with God and men.

Verse 28. Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel] ושראל Yisrael, from שר sar, a prince, or שרה sarah, he ruled as a prince, and אל el, God; or rather from איש ish, a man, (the א aleph being dropped,) and ראה raah, he saw, אל el, God; and this corresponds with the name which Jacob imposed on the place, calling it פניאל peniel, the faces of God, or of Elohim, which faces being manifested to him caused him to say, Genesis 32:30, ראיתי אלהים פנים אל פנים raithi Elohim panim el panim, i.e., "I have seen the Elohim faces to faces, (i.e., fully and completely, without any medium), ותנצל נפשי vattinnatsel napshi, and my soul is redeemed." We may learn from this that the redemption of the soul will be the blessed consequence of wrestling by prayer and supplication with God: "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force." From this time Jacob became a new man; but it was not till after a severe struggle that he got his name, his heart, and his character changed. After this he was no more Jacob the supplanter, but Israel - the man who prevails with God, and sees him face to face. And hast prevailed.] More literally, Thou hast had power with God, and with man thou shalt also prevail. עם אלהים Im Elohim, with the strong God; עם אנשים im anashim, with weak, feeble man. There is a beautiful opposition here between the two words: Seeing thou hast been powerful with the Almighty, surely thou shalt prevail over perishing mortals; as thou hast prevailed with God, thou shalt also prevail with men: God calling the things that were not as though they had already taken place, because the prevalency of this people, the Israelites, by means of the Messiah, who should proceed from them, was already determined in the Divine counsel. He has never said to the seed of Jacob, Seek ye my face in vain. He who wrestles must prevail.

28. Israel] That is, He who striveth with God, or, God striveth. The name is clearly a title of victory, from a root meaning “to persevere.” (a) The meaning seems here to be applied to Jacob as “the perseverer with God.” It is commonly compared with Jerubbaal = “he that striveth with Baal” (Judges 6:32). The prophet Hosea gives this meaning in Genesis 12:3-4, “in his manhood [or ‘strength’] he had power [or ‘persevered,’ ‘strove’] with God; yea, he had power over the angel, and prevailed.” (b) The meaning, on the analogy of similarly formed words, would be “El persevereth”; and would be exactly similar to Seraiah = “Jah perseveres”; Ishmael = “God hears.” Another suggested derivation is from sar = “prince.” See another account of the origin of the name “Israel” given by P in Genesis 35:10. The narrative of J, from this point onwards, shews a marked preference for the name “Israel” in its application to the patriarch. The name of “Israel” has been found, as is generally believed, in the inscription of the Egyptian king, Merneptah (circ. 1230 b.c.), as Ysir’r; and in Assyrian inscriptions as Sirlai. thou hast striven, &c.] R.V. marg. thou hast had power with God, and thou shalt prevail against men. LXX ἐνίσχυσας … δυνατὸςἔσῃ; Lat. fortis fuisti … praevalebis. Jacob had prevailed in his contest with Laban; now, also, the promise of deliverance from Esau is contained in the past tense, “hast striven and hast prevailed.” The rendering of the R.V. text gives the literal translation of the Hebrew. The past and the future are embraced in one thought.

28. No more Jacob, but Israel — No more the supplanter; no more the self-seeker, filled with all artifice, and cunning, and deceit. This was the grand crisis and turning-point in Jacob’s life and history.