¶ … Jacob Wrestle in Genesis 32:24
The Bible if full of apparent contradictions, where information in one passage appears to conflict with information given in another passage. A historical understanding of the social and political circumstances surrounding the authorship of each book of the Bible often helps clarify these apparent inconsistencies and reconcile them into a single theology, which, if not completely consistent, is at least cohesive. However, Genesis 32:24, in which Jacob wrestles with an unnamed man, presents a dilemma. The passage refers to the person as a man, but also suggests that Jacob is wrestling with God. In fact, the passage is sufficiently ambiguous that even commentators have found themselves unable to reconcile its contradictions. By examining what commentators have said about the passage, it may be possible to gain a greater understanding than one gets from simply examining the text.
Jerome Kodell recognizes the ambiguity in the text, but determines that Jacob's wrestling adversary is his brother, Esau. In fact, though the wrestling is considered pivotal in Jacob's development as a godly man, Kodell recognizes that the narrative actually...
Women in Genesis In the Book of Genesis, women are portrayed mostly in a negative light, and are judged by their obedience to God and the patriarchs and how well they fulfill their duties as wives and mothers. God has a plan for the world, but repeatedly the sins of humanity interfere with it, and from Eve onward, women are often portrayed as particularly weak, dishonest or untrustworthy. Adam's duty was
Pentateuch Genesis: In the Book of Genesis, God creates the universe. He begins with the creation of light and then in the following days creates all the things that exist in the world, including mankind. God wants man to be his avatar on Earth, but mankind fails him. First man and woman are thrown out of the Garden of Eden and thrust out into the cruel world. God gets so fed up
"This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of not just one nation, but a multitude of nations. . . I will give you millions of descendants who will represent many nations. Kings will be among them" (Genesis 17:4, 6). Then, in relation to how Joseph ended up where he did -- why was he loved more than his siblings? We know Joseph was born was
The details of the relationship between the mistaken 'husband' are explained as well, unlike Genesis 12, where Pharaoh is merely said to have taken Sarah, with no further explanation: "And God said unto him [Abimelech] in a dream, Yea, I know that thou didst this in the integrity of thy heart; for I also withheld thee from sinning against me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her" (Genesis
God then decides to create a helper for man in the form of a woman (Eve), created by taking "one of his ribs," whereby Adam proclaims that Eve is the "bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" and that she is his wife ("they shall be one flesh"). Thus, the only differences between these two versions is that the creation of the earth and the heavens serves as
However, as time went by Cain became jealous over the kinds of crops that were produced by Able. This resulted in Cain murdering his brother one day while he was in the field. When questioned by God about what happened, Cain lied and said he did not know where he was. (Damrosch) ("Genesis 1 -- 4") God knew this and banished him from the area for these sins. After having
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