Bible Strands
Genesis 32:25
When the man saw that he could not overpower Jacob, he struck the socket of Jacob’s hip and dislocated it as they wrestled.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jacob wrestles with an unnamed man through the night until daybreak approaches. The man strikes Jacob’s hip socket after realizing he cannot overpower him during their struggle.
The words — וַ/יִּגַּ֖ע (va/i.yi.Ga') translates literally to "and he touched," and וַ/תֵּ֙קַע֙ (va./Te.ka') means "and it was dislocated." These verbs describe the precise physical contact that breaks Jacob’s hip joint.
The thread — This event corresponds to Hosea 12:3, which recalls Jacob wrestling with God, and establishes the custom in Genesis 32:32 where Israelites avoid eating the hip tendon. The lasting injury parallels the persistent weakness Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 12:7.
Why it lands — The text records a physical limitation imposed during a spiritual struggle, showing that divine encounters can alter human capacity. It requires readers to acknowledge that seeking blessing persists alongside, not in spite of, imposed vulnerability.
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 when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 12:7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. So to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
- Hosea 12:3 In the womb he grasped his brother’s heel, and in his vigor he wrestled with God.
- Genesis 32:32 Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the tendon attached to the socket of the hip, because the socket of Jacob’s hip was struck near that tendon.
- Isaiah 41:14 Do not fear, O Jacob, you worm, O few men of Israel. I will help you,” declares the LORD. “Your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
- Isaiah 45:11 Thus says the LORD, the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker: “Concerning things to come, do you question Me about My sons, or instruct Me in the work of My hands?
- Matthew 26:41 “Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”
- Genesis 19:22 Hurry! Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you reach it.” That is why the town was called Zoar.
- Numbers 14:13 But Moses said to the LORD, “The Egyptians will hear of it, for by Your strength You brought this people from among them.
- Psalms 30:6 In prosperity I said, “I will never be shaken.”
- Matthew 15:22 And a Canaanite woman from that region came to Him, crying out, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is miserably possessed by a demon.”