Bible Strands
Genesis 32:24
So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jacob remains isolated after ferrying his family and goods across the Jabbok. A man engages him in physical combat as night transitions to dawn.
The words — The Hebrew verb אֵבֵק ('eveq) means to wrestle or grapple. It pairs with אִישׁ ('ish, man) to describe a sustained physical contest that continues until daylight.
The thread — This grappling imagery resurfaces in Hosea 12:3’s summary of Jacob’s early life and shapes Ephesians 6:12’s framework for spiritual conflict. Genesis 32:28 later identifies the opponent as God and explains the name change.
Why it lands — The passage records a literal struggle that leaves Jacob physically marked and alone. It requires acknowledgment that divine confrontation often happens in isolation and tests endurance rather than granting immediate resolution.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
Cross-references
- Hosea 12:3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel, and in his vigor he wrestled with God.
- Ephesians 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
- Genesis 32:28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”
- Luke 13:24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.
- Genesis 32:30 So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
- Genesis 30:8 Then Rachel said, “In my great struggles, I have wrestled with my sister and won.” So she named him Naphtali.
- Luke 22:44 And in His anguish, He prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.
- Ephesians 6:18 Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints.
- 1 Corinthians 15:47 The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven.
- Genesis 48:16 the angel who has redeemed me from all harm—may He bless these boys. And may they be called by my name and the names of my fathers Abraham and Isaac, and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.”