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Genesis 30:8
And Rachel said, With great wrestlings have I wrestled with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called his name Naphtali.

Luke 13:24
Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.

Luke 22:44
And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

man.

Genesis 32:28,30
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…

Genesis 48:16
The Angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth.

Isaiah 32:2
And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

breaking of the day.

Exodus 14:27
And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to his strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it; and the LORD overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea.

Song of Solomon 2:17
Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.

and there a man wrestled with him
The "man" is later revealed to be a divine being, often interpreted as an angel or a theophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ. Wrestling symbolizes struggle and conflict, both physical and spiritual. This encounter reflects Jacob's lifelong struggles, including his contentious relationships with Esau and Laban. The wrestling match can be seen as a physical manifestation of Jacob's internal struggles with God and his identity.

until daybreak
The duration of the struggle, lasting until daybreak, signifies perseverance and the relentless nature of spiritual battles. Daybreak symbolizes a new beginning, enlightenment, and revelation. In biblical terms, light often represents truth and divine presence. The timing suggests that Jacob's struggle leads to a transformation, as he emerges with a new identity and blessing. This moment foreshadows the dawn of a new era in Jacob's life, marked by his name change to Israel, meaning "he struggles with God."

• Jacob has just moved his family and possessions across the Jabbok (Genesis 32:22-23). Being “left all alone” is purposeful; God often meets people in solitude—think Elijah in the cave (1 Kings 19:9-13) and Jesus on the mountainside to pray (Matthew 14:23).

• This isolation strips away every earthly support so Jacob must face God directly.Psalm 46:10 reminds, “Be still and know that I am God,” andHosea 12:3-4 points to this very night, underscoring its historic reality.

• Scripture identifies the figure first as “a man,” yetHosea 12:4 calls Him both “the angel” and “God.” By dawn Jacob declares, “I have seen God face to face” (Genesis 32:30). Taken literally, the “man” is a physical manifestation of God—often understood as the pre-incarnate Christ, the same “Angel of the LORD” who spoke to Hagar (Genesis 16:7-13) and appeared to Moses (Exodus 3:2-6).

• God chooses this humble human form to engage Jacob personally, foreshadowing the ultimate incarnation (John 1:14).

• This is no dream; it is an all-night physical struggle. The verb “wrestled” conveys effort, sweat, and perseverance—mirroring the lifelong contest between Jacob’s self-reliance and God’s sovereignty (Genesis 25:26; 27:36).

• God initiates the struggle, yet allows Jacob to grapple, much like He “tested Abraham” (Genesis 22:1) and later “humbled” Israel in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 8:2-3).

• Wrestling signifies prayerful persistence. Jacob will not release his opponent without a blessing, echoing Jesus’ teaching to “always pray and not give up” (Luke 18:1-8).

• The match lasts through the darkness, a picture of spiritual night giving way to light (Psalm 30:5;Romans 13:12).

• Dawn signals both physical exhaustion and spiritual victory. Jacob emerges limping (Genesis 32:31) yet blessed and renamed Israel—“he struggles with God.” This permanent limp reminds him, and us, that divine strength is perfected in human weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).

• Daybreak also anticipates Jacob’s reunion with Esau (Genesis 33:4), showing that reconciliation with God precedes reconciliation with people (Matthew 5:23-24).

Genesis 32:24 records a literal, nighttime encounter in which God, appearing as a man, deliberately isolates Jacob, engages him in a physical and spiritual contest, and prevails just as the new day dawns. The verse teaches that God initiates life-changing confrontations, meets us personally in our loneliest moments, invites persistent engagement, and turns our darkness into light, leaving us forever marked by His prevailing grace.

A man.--Such he seemed to be to Jacob; but Hosea (Genesis 12:4) calls him an angel; and, inGenesis 32:30, Jacob recognises in him a manifestation of the Deity, as Hagar had done before, when an angel appeared to her (Genesis 16:13). There is no warrant for regarding the angel as an incarnation of Deity, any more than in the case of Manoah (Judges 13:22); but it was a manifestation of God mediately by His messenger, and was one of the many signs indicative of a more complete manifestation by the coming of the Word in the flesh. The opposite idea of many modern commentators, that the narrative is an allegory, is contradicted by the attendant circumstances, especially by the change of Jacob's name, and his subsequent lameness, to which national testimony was borne by the customs of the Jews.