Q: In the Bible I think there’s a story where two men wrestle
God and He loses. I think one of them is Jacob, but I don’t know
who the other one is. Who is it, and where can I find the
story?
–Alisa M., Hollister
Q: In the Bible I think there’s a story where two men wrestle God and He loses. I think one of them is Jacob, but I don’t know who the other one is. Who is it, and where can I find the story?
–Alisa M., Hollister
A: That’s not quite the way the story goes. Genesis 32:22-32 tells the story of Jacob, a descendant of Abraham who wanted a blessing from God. He was traveling to meet Esau and had sent his wives and possessions across a wide river when a man appeared. Jacob wrestled the stranger all night. At daybreak, the stranger, seeing that he could not overpower his contender, knocked Jacob’s hip from its socket. Still, Jacob did not give up, insisting that the man, who was really God in human form, bless him.
“The wrestling is a symbol of contending with God,” said the Rev. Dan Derry, pastor of St. Mary Catholic Parish in Gilroy. “We all wrestle with God. He doesn’t give us the right answers, he gives us the right questions.”
Jacob did receive God’s blessing that morning when he asked to know God’s name. He was commanded to receive the name of Israel and become the father of the chosen people, but it is doubtful he considered it “winning” or “besting” the creator. He named the place Peniel because, he said, “I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
The scar of his challenge followed Jacob through his entire life – he walked with a limp from that day on.
