God and with men and hast prevailed" are explained to mean that Jacob had contended

with Esau at birth, for the birthright, for the blessing, and with Laban. In contending with

men he had succeeded, but now contending with God he fails, and receives the name

Isra-el, (God commands) to teach him the greatly needed lesson of dependence upon

The notes of the Companion Bible to Hosea 12: 4, 5 are even more complicated. The

words "by his strength" (in his manhood) referring to another occasion of strife; "had

power with" (contended with), Heb. Sarah (hence his name Israel).  The word

"prevailed" is not to be referred to the result of Jacob's contending, but means that He

(the angel) prevailed. "He found him in Bethel", i.e., God found Jacob. If Jacob's new

name Israel indicates "God commands" it cannot at the same time have any connection

with Jacob's own "contending"--see note above--it must be one or the other, yet the

Companion Bible emphasizes both.

We cannot say that the note on Gen. 32: appeals to us as being the true meaning,

and therefore we have no help for it but an independent search into what is confessedly a

difficult passage. One interpretation makes Israel a Prince with God, because he had

power with God and prevailed, the other makes the name Israel mean God commands,

and supposes it used as a reproach not a dignity. Let us turn again to Gen. 32: 24, 25.

"WRESTLED."--This word occurs nowhere else in the O.T. A substantive derived from

this word is translated five times "dust" and twice "powder". This would show the idea

to be more "pounding", "crushing", or "pulverizing" than "wrestling". It does not

seem possible that an ordinary man could in his own strength "wrestle" with the Angel of

God for hours, but from what we have gathered of Jacob's character we can understand

that it was not a trifling thing to reduce his old nature to powder.

"PREVAIL."--This word suits well the idea of wrestling, but when connected with

reducing anything to powder it is not so fitting; it is translated "could" in Gen. 13: 6,

36: 7, 37: 4, 45: 1, 3; "can" in Gen. 13: 16, 19: 19, 22, 24: 50, 29: 8,

31: 35, and as this is the usual rendering we are under no necessity to translate the

passage other than "was not able", or "could not". One suggestive use of the word is

found in II Sam. 17: 20, "they be gone over the brook of water". In II Sam. 17: 20

we have mee-chal, when joined with the word for water it means, "manageable water",

"fordable water", "water that can be overcome". Jacob, by the ford Jabbok, was not so

manageable. As the dawn of day approached it became imperative that the reduction of

Jacob should be accomplished, and the angel touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh, and he

limped the remainder of his pilgrimage. Jacob now clings tight to the angel and says, "I

will not let thee go, except thou bless me".

Now, do the words that follow indicate a blessing for Jacob, or otherwise? First of all

his name is changed, "Thy name shall be called no more Jacob but Israel". Now if Israel

be a term of reproach, we are faced with a problem indeed; we are further told that Jacob

had succeeded in his contending with men, but had failed with God. Neither statement is

true, Jacob miserably failed in the scheme to get the blessing and Scripture settles the