• Torah (T): Bereshiyt (Genesis) 32:1-32
• Prophets (P): Hosea 12:1-6
• Apostolic (A): Ya’aqov (James) 1:1-12
• Additional (ADD): Jubilees 29:13-20

RELATED SCRIPTURES

• 1 Kings 18:31 (T)
• Hosea 12:1-6 (T)
• 2 Kings 17:34 (T)
• Judges 13:2-22 (T)
• Genesis 32:29-31 – Hebrew Bible Translation (T)
• John 1:14-18; John 5:37; 1 Timothy 6:16; 1 John 4:12 (T)
• Genesis 17:1-8, 15-16 (T)
• Numbers 13:16 (T)
• 2 Samuel 12:24-25 (T)
• Ezekiel 35:15 (T, H)
• Acts 8:1 (A)
• Romans 5:3 (A)
• Isaiah 49:6 (A)
• John 7:35-36 (A)
• 1 Peter 1:1 (A)

RELATED ADDITIONAL READINGS

• Reworked Pentateuch 4Q158 (T)
• Enoch 40:9; Enoch 54:6; Enoch 71:1-13 (T)
• Genesis 32:3 – 33:17 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)
• Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus 1.20.1-3 (T)

Note: (T) means the verse relates to that week’s Torah portion. (P) means the verse relates to that week’s Prophets portion. (A) means the verse relates to that week’s Apostolic portion. (ADD) means the verse relates to that week’s Additional portion.

Torah Portion (T)

32:1 Jacob went on his way, and the angels of Elohim met him. 2 When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is the camp of Elohim.” He called the name of that place Mahanaim. 3 Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom. 4 He commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall tell my lord, Esau: ‘This is what your servant, Jacob, says. I have lived as a sojourner with Laban, and stayed until now. 5 I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and maids. I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.' ” 6 The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, “We came to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” 7 Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed. He divided the people who were with him, along with the flocks, the herds, and the camels, into two camps. 8 He said, “If Esau comes to the one camp, and strikes it, then the camp which is left will escape.” 9 Jacob said, “Elohim of my father Abraham, and Elohim of my father Isaac, who said to me, ‘Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,' 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the loving kindnesses, and of all the truth, which you have shown to your servant; for with just my staff I crossed over this Jordan; and now I have become two camps. 11 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and strike me and the mothers with the sons. 12 You said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your seed as the sand of the sea, which can't be counted because there are so many.' ” 13 He stayed there that night, and took from that which he had with him a present for Esau, his brother: 14 two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 15 thirty milk camels and their colts, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals. 16 He delivered them into the hands of his servants, every herd by itself, and said to his servants, “Cross over before me, and put a space between herd and herd.” 17 He commanded the foremost, saying, “When Esau, my brother, meets you, and asks you, saying, ‘Whose are you? Where are you going? Whose are these before you?' 18 Then you shall say, ‘They are your servant, Jacob's. It is a present sent to my lord, Esau. Behold, he also is behind us.' ” 19 He commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the herds, saying, “This is how you shall speak to Esau, when you find him. 20 You shall say, ‘Not only that, but behold, your servant, Jacob, is behind us.' ” For, he said, “I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me.” 21 So the present passed over before him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp. 22 He rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two servants, and his eleven sons, and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok. 23 He took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had. 24 Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day. 25 When he saw that he didn't prevail against him, the man touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was strained as he wrestled. 26 The man said, “Let me go, for the day breaks.” Jacob said, “I won't let you go unless you bless me.” 27 He said to him, “What is your name?” He said, “Jacob”. 28 He said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have contended with Elohim and with [mighty]^(LXX) men, and have prevailed.” 29 Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” He said, “Why is it that you ask what my name is?” So he blessed him there. 30 Jacob called the name of the place Peniel; for he said, “I have seen Elohim face to face, and my life is preserved.” 31 The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh. 32 Therefore the sons of Israel don't eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the hollow of the thigh, to this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip.

Prophets Portion (P)

12:1 Ephraim feeds on wind, and chases the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and desolation. They make a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt. 2 YHWH also has a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways [and]^(DSS)(LXX) according to his deeds he will repay him. 3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he contended with Elohim. 4 Indeed, he struggled with the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication [with him].^(mss)(Syr) He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us— 5 even YHWH, the Elohim of Armies. YHWH is his name of renown! 6 Therefore turn to your Elohim. Keep kindness and justice, and wait continually for your Elohim.

Apostolic Portion (A)

1:1 Jacob, a servant of Elohim and of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, to the twelve tribes which are in the Diaspora: Greetings. 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the proving of your faith produces endurance. 4 Let endurance have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of Elohim, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, without any doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, driven by the wind and tossed. 7 For that man shouldn’t think that he will receive anything from the Lord. 8 He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9 But let the brother in humble circumstances glory in his high position; 10 and the rich, in that he is made humble, because like the flower in the grass, he will pass away. 11 For the sun arises with the scorching wind and withers the grass, and the flower in it falls, and the beauty of its appearance perishes. So the rich man will also fade away in his pursuits. 12 Blessed is a person who endures trials, for when he has been accepted, he will receive the crown of life, which he promised to those who love him.

Additional Portion (ADD)

Between 1947 and 1956 approximately 15 Jubilees scrolls were found in five caves at Qumran, all written in Hebrew. The large number of manuscripts (more than for any biblical books except for Psalms, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Exodus, and Genesis, in descending order) indicates that Jubilees was widely used at Qumran. A comparison of the Qumran texts with the Ethiopic version, performed by James VanderKam, found that the Ethiopic was in most respects an accurate and literalistic translation. Scholars have dated Jubilees to have been written sometime around 160-150 B.C.

29:13. And he passed over the Jabbok in the ninth new moon, on the eleventh thereof. And on that day Esau, his brother, came to him, and he was reconciled to him, and departed from him unto the land of Seir, but Jacob dwelt in tents. 14. And in the first year of the fifth week in this jubilee [2136 A.M.] he crossed the Jordan, and dwelt beyond the Jordan, and he pastured his sheep from the sea †of the heap† unto Bethshan, and unto Dothan and unto the †forest† of Akrabbim. 15. And he sent to his father Isaac of all his substance, clothing, and food, and meat, and drink, and milk, and butter, and cheese, and some dates of the valley, 16. And to his mother Rebecca also four times a year, between the times of the new moons, between ploughing and reaping, and between autumn and the rain (season) and between winter and spring, to the tower of Abraham. 17. For Isaac had returned from the Well of the Oath and gone up to the tower of his father Abraham, and he dwelt there apart from his son Esau. 18. For in the days when Jacob went to Mesopotamia, Esau took to himself a wife Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael, and he gathered together all the flocks of his father and his wives, and went up and dwelt on Mount Seir, and left Isaac his father at the Well of the Oath alone. 19. And Isaac went up from the Well of the Oath and dwelt in the tower of Abraham his father on the mountains of Hebron, 20. And thither Jacob sent all that he did send to his father and his mother from time to time, all they needed, and they blessed Jacob with all their heart and with all their soul.

Related Scriptures

18:31 Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of YHWH came, saying, “Israel will be your name.”

Hosea 12:1-6 (T)

12:1 Ephraim feeds on wind, and chases the east wind. He continually multiplies lies and desolation. They cut a covenant with Assyria, and oil is carried into Egypt. 2 YHWH also has a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his deeds he will repay him. 3 In the womb he took his brother by the heel, and in his manhood he contended with Elohim. 4 Indeed, he contended with the angel, and prevailed; he wept, and made supplication to him. He found him at Bethel, and there he spoke with us— 5 even YHWH, the Elohim of Armies. YHWH is his name of renown! 6 Therefore turn to your Elohim. Keep kindness and justice, and wait continually for your Elohim.

17:34 To this day they do what they did before. They don’t fear YHWH, and they do not follow the statutes, or the ordinances, or the law, or the commandment which YHWH commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel.

13:2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and childless.  3  the angel of YHWH appeared to the woman, and said to her, “See now, you are barren and childless; but you will conceive, and bear a son.  4  Now therefore please beware and drink no wine nor strong drink, and don’t eat any unclean thing:  5  for, behold, you will conceive, and give birth to a son. No razor will come on his head; for the child will be a Nazirite to Elohim from the womb. He will begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”  6  Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of Elohim came to me, and his face was like the face of the angel of Elohim, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he was from, neither did he tell me his name;  7  but he said to me, ‘Behold, you will conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink. Don’t eat any unclean thing; for the child will be a Nazirite to Elohim from the womb to the day of his death.’”  8  Then Manoah entreated YHWH, and said, “Oh, Lord, please let the man of Elohim whom you sent come again to us, and teach us what we should do to the child who will be born.”  9  Elohim listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of Elohim came again to the woman as she sat in the field, but Manoah, her husband, wasn’t with her.  10  The woman hurried and ran, and told her husband, and said to him, “Behold, the man who came to me that day has appeared to me,”  11  Manoah arose, and followed his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” He said, “I am.”  12  Manoah said, “Now let your words happen. What will the child’s way of life and mission be?”  13  the angel of YHWH said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her beware.  14  She may not eat of anything that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. Let her observe all that I commanded her.”  15  Manoah said to the angel of YHWH, “Please stay with us, that we may make a young goat ready for you.”  16  the angel of YHWH said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I won’t eat your bread. If you will prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to YHWH.” For Manoah didn’t know that he was the angel of YHWH.  17  Manoah said to the angel of YHWH, “What is your name, that when your words happen, we may honor you?”  18  the angel of YHWH said to him, “Why do you ask about my name, since it is incomprehensible?”  19  So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to YHWH. Then the angel did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched.  20  For when the flame went up toward the heavens from off the altar, the angel of YHWH ascended in the flame of the altar. Manoah and his wife watched; and they fell on their faces to the ground.  21  But the angel of YHWH didn’t appear to Manoah or to his wife any more. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of YHWH.  22  Manoah said to his wife, “We will surely die, because we have seen Elohim.”

John 5:37 The Father himself, who sent me, has witnessed about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his form.

1 Timothy 6:16 He alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen nor can see, to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen.

1 John 4:12 No one has seen Elohim at any time. If we love one another, Elohim remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.

Genesis 32:29 as translated from the Jewish Bible with a Modern English Translation

32:29 And he said, “Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, because you have commanding power with [an angel of] Elohim and with men, and you have prevailed.” 30 And Jacob asked and said, “Now tell me your name,” and he said, “Why is it that you ask for my name?” And he blessed him there. 31 And Jacob named the place Peniel, for [he said,] “I saw an angel face to face, and my soul was saved.”

Genesis 17:1-8, 15-16 (T)

17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, YHWH appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am El Shaddai. Walk before me and be perfect. 2 I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.” 3 Abram fell on his face. Elohim talked with him, saying, 4 “As for me, behold, my covenant is with you. You will be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 Your name will no more be called Abram, but your name will be Abraham; for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make nations of you. Kings will come out of you. 7 I will establish my covenant between me and you and your seed after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be an Elohim to you and to your seed after you. 8 I will give to you, and to your seed after you, the land where you are traveling, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession. I will be their Elohim…15 Elohim said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you will not call her name Sarai, but her name will be Sarah. 16 I will bless her, and moreover I will give you a son by her. Yes, I will bless her, and she will be a mother of nations. Kings of peoples will come from her.”

Numbers 13:16 (T)

13:16 These are the names of the men who Moses sent to spy out the land. Moses called Hoshea the son of Nun Joshua.

2 Samuel 12:24-25 (T)

12:24 David comforted Bathsheba his wife, and went in to her, and lay with her. She bore a son, and he called his name Solomon. YHWH loved him; 25 and he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he named him Jedidiah, for the sake of YHWH.

35:15 As you rejoiced over the inheritance of the house of Israel because it was desolate, so I will do to you. You will be desolate, Mount Seir, and all Edom, even all of it. Then they will know that I am YHWH.

8:1 Shaul was consenting to his death. A great persecution arose against the assembly which was in Jerusalem in that day. They were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the emissaries.

5:3 Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance.

49:6 Indeed, he says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give you as a light to the nations, that you may be my salvation to the end of the land.”

7:35 The Judeans therefore said among themselves, “Where will this man go that we won’t find him? Will he go to the Diaspora among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? 36 What is this word that he said, ‘You will seek me, and won’t find me;’ and ‘Where I am, you can’t come’?”

1:1 Peter, an emissary of Yeshua the Messiah, to the chosen ones who are living as foreigners in the Diaspora in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

Additional Readings​

The Reworked Pentateucha (4Q158) is also known as 4QPPa. 4Q158 is grouped with 4Q364-7, and together are called the Reworked Pentateuch, consisting of five Hebrew manuscripts from Cave 4 at Qumran. It contains portions of Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy. Most lines are exactly as they appear in the Torah and some are extrabiblical. In general, 4Q158 parallels quotes from the Torah with minor additions.

… And [J]ac[ob] w[as left a]lone there. And [a man] wrestl[ed with him. When the man did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his thigh; and Jacob’s thigh was put out of joint] as he wrestled with him and he seized him. And he said to hi[m, What is your name? … And he said to him, Jacob. And he said, Your name will be Israel, for you have striven with Elohim and with] men and have prevailed. And Jacob asked [and] sai[d, Tell me, pray, what is your name. And he said, Why is it that you ask my name, and he bless]ed him there. And he said to him, ‘May the Lo[rd] make you fruitful [and multiply] you. [May he grant you kn]owledge and understanding and may he save you from all violence and … until this day and until everlasting generations. And he went on his way after he had blessed him there. And he … [And] the sun [rose] upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his thigh. … on this day. And he said, You will not e[at the sinew of the hip which is] upon the two hollows of the thigh until [this day.

The Book of Enoch (also known as 1 Enoch) was written during the second century B.C. The older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) of the text are estimated to date from about 300–200 B.C., and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably to 100 B.C. Various Aramaic fragments found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as Koine Greek and Latin fragments, were proof that The Book of Enoch was known by early Jews and Christians.

You will note some abbreviations, brackets, and symbols specially used in the translation of 1 Enoch:

• ⌈ ⌉. The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are found in the Greek Version preserved In Syncellus but not in the Ethiopic Version.
• ⌈⌈ ⌉⌉. The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are found in E the Ethiopic Version but not in the Greek Version preserved In Syncellus or the Greek Version discovered at Akhmîm.
• 〉. The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are restored.
• [ ] The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are interpolations.
• ( ). The use of these brackets means that the words so enclosed are supplied by the editor.
• The use of thick type denotes that the words so printed are emended.
• † † corruption in the text.
• . . . = some words which have been lost.

Enoch 40:9 And he said to me: ‘This first is Michael, the merciful and long-suffering: and the second, who is set over all the diseases and all the wounds of the children of men, is Raphael: and the third, who is set over all the powers, is Gabriel: and the fourth, who is set over the repentance unto hope of those who inherit eternal life, is named Phanuel.’ And these are the four angels of the Lord of Spirits and the four voices I heard in those days.

Enoch 54:6 And Michael, and Gabriel, and Raphael, and Phanuel will take hold of them on that great day, and cast them on that day into the burning furnace, that the Lord of Spirits may take vengeance on them for their unrighteousness in becoming subject to Satan and leading astray those who dwell on the land.’

Enoch 70:1 And it came to pass after this that my spirit was translated And it ascended into the heavens: And I saw the holy sons of Elohim. They were stepping on flames of fire: Their garments were white [and their raiment], And their faces shone like snow. 2. And I saw two streams of fire, And the light of that fire shone like hyacinth, And I fell on my face before the Lord of Spirits. 3. And the angel Michael [one of the archangels] seized me by my right hand, And lifted me up and led me forth into all the secrets, And he showed me all the secrets of righteousness. 4. And he showed me all the secrets of the ends of the heavens, And all the chambers of all the stars, and all the luminaries, Whence they proceed before the face of the holy ones. 5. And he translated my spirit into the heavens of the heavens, And I saw there as it were a structure built of crystals, And between those crystals tongues of living fire. 6. And my spirit saw the girdle which girt that house of fire, And on its four sides were streams full of living fire, And they girt that house. 7. And round about were Seraphin, Cherubic, and Ophannin: And these are they who sleep not And guard the throne of His glory. 8. And I saw angels who could not be counted, A thousand thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand, Encircling that house. And Michael, and Raphael, and Gabriel, and Phanuel, And the holy angels who are above the heavens, Go in and out of that house. 9. And they came forth from that house, And Michael and Gabriel, Raphael and Phanuel, And many holy angels without number. 10. And with them the Head of Days, His head white and pure as wool, And His raiment indescribable. 11. And I fell on my face, And my whole body became relaxed, And my spirit was transfigured; And I cried with a loud voice, . . .with the spirit of power, And blessed and glorified and extolled. 12. And these blessings which went forth out of my mouth were well pleasing before that Head of Days. 13. And that Head of Days came with Michael and Gabriel, Raphael and Phanuel, thousands and ten thousands of angels without number.

Genesis 32:3 – 33:17 from the Jerusalem Targum aka Targum Pseudo-Jonathan (T)

Composed in Talmudic Israel (c.150 – c.250 AD). Targum Pseudo-Jonathan is a western targum (translation) of the Torah (Pentateuch) from the land of Israel (as opposed to the eastern Babylonian Targum Onkelos). Its correct title was originally Targum Yerushalmi (Jerusalem Targum), which is how it was known in medieval times. But because of a printer’s mistake it was later labeled Targum Jonathan, in reference to Jonathan ben Uzziel. Some editions of the Pentateuch continue to call it Targum Jonathan to this day. Most scholars refer to the text as Targum Pseudo-Jonathan. This targum is more than a mere translation. It includes much Aggadic material collected from various sources as late as the Midrash Rabbah as well as earlier material from the Talmud. It is effectively a combination of a commentary and a translation. In the portions where it is pure translation, it often agrees with the Targum Onkelos. The date of its composition is disputed. It cannot have been completed before the Arabic conquest as it refers to Mohammad’s wife Fatimah, but might have been initially composed in the 4th Century AD. However, some scholars date it in the 14th Century.

Chapter 32 …And Jakob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother in the land of Gabla the territory of the Edomites, and instructed them to say, Thus will you speak to my lord Esau: Thus saith thy servant Jakob, With Laban have I dwelt, and have tarried until now. And of all that in which my father blessed me there is nothing in my hand; but I have a few oxen and donkeys, sheep, and servants and handmaids; and I have sent to tell my lord that that blessing hath not profited me; that I may find mercy in thine eyes and that thou mayest not maintain (enmity) against me on account thereof.

And the messengers returned to Jakob, saying, We came to thy brother, to Esau, and he also cometh to meet thee, and four hundred chief‑warriors with him. [Jerusalem. And four hundred men, warlike leaders with him.] And Jakob was greatly afraid, because for twenty years he had not been mindful of the glory of his father: and he had anxiety; and he divided the people who were with him, the sheep, and oxen, and camels, into three troops, for a portion. to Leah, and a portion to Rahel. And he said, If Esau come to the one troop of them and smite it, the remaining troop may escape. And Jakob said, Elohim of my father Abraham, Thou, the Elohim of my father Izhak, the Lord, who saidst to me, Return to thy country and to thy kindred, and I wilt do thee good: I am altogether less than any of the (acts of) goodness and truth which Thou hast exercised towards Thy servant: for with my staff, alone, I passed this Jardena, and now I am become two bands.

Deliver me I pray, from the hand of my elder brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him: for he hath been mindful of the glory of his father; lest he come and smite the mother with the children. But Thou hast promised, I Will surely do thee good, and will make thy sons many as the sand of the sea be numbered for that cannot be numbered for Multitude.

And he abode there that night; and he took what was ready at his hand a present for Esau his brother: she‑goats two hundred, and he‑goats twenty; ewes two hundred and rams twenty: milk camels with their young ones thirty; cows forty, and bulls ten, small colts ten. [Jerusalem. Arid small colts ten.] And he made them ready by the hand of his servants in flocks apart, and said to his servants, Pass over before me, and put much (room) between flock and flock. And he instructed the first, Saying, When Esau my brother will meet thee, and ask of thee, saying, Whose art thou, and whither art thou journeying and whose are these before thee? Thou halt and sayth it is a gift of thy servant Jakob, which he sends to my lord Esau, and, behold, he also cometh after us. And so he instructed the second, and the third, and all them who followed the flock, saying According to these words You must speak with Esau when you find him, and say, And, behold, thy servant Jakob also cometh after us. For he said, I will make his countenance friendly by the gift which goeth before me, and afterward will see his face: peradventure he may accept me. And the present passed over before him, and he abode that night in camp And the night in the camp. And he arose in the night and took his two wives, and his two concubines, and eleven children, and went over the ford Jubeka. And taking them he made them pass over the torrent, and all that he had went over.

And Jakob remained alone beyond the Jubeka; and an Angel contended with him in the likeness of a man. And he said, Hast thou not promised to give the tenth of all that is thine? And, behold, thou hast ten sons and one daughter: nevertheless thou hast not tithed them. Immediately he set apart the four firstborn of the four mothers, and there remained eight. And he began to number from Shimeon, and Levi came up for the tenth.

Michael answered and said, Lord of the world is Thy lot. And on account of these things he (Michael) remained from Elohim at the torrent till the column of the morning was ascending. And he saw that he had not power to hurt him, and he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jakob’s thigh was distorted in his contending with him.

And he said, Let me go, for the column of the morning ascendeth; and the hour cometh when the angels on high offer praise to the Lord of the world: and I am one of the angels of praise, but from the day that the world was created my time to praise hath not come until now.

And he said, I will not let thee go, until thou bless me. [JERUSALEM. And the hollow of Jakob’s thigh was displaced in contending with him. And he said, Send me away, for the column of the dawn ariseth, and, behold, the hour cometh for the angels to praise. And he said, I will not release thee until thou bless me.]

And he said, What is thy name? He answered, Jakob. And he said, Thy name will be no more called Jakob but Israel, because thou art magnified with the angels of the Lord and with the mighty, and thou hast prevailed with them. And Jakob asked and said, Show me now thy name. And he said, Why dost thou ask for my name? And he blessed Jakob there.

And Jakob called the name of the place Peniel; for he said, I have seen the Angels of the Lord face to face, and my soul is saved. And the sun rose upon him before his time, (the sun) which on his account had set before his time, on his going out from Beersheba, as he crossed over Peniel. And he began to journey, and was lame upon his thigh. Therefore the sons of Israel eat not the sinew which shrank, which is in the hollow of the thigh of cattle and of wild animals, until this day; because the Angel touched and laid hold of the hollow of the right thigh of Jakob, in the place of the sinew which shrank.

Chapter 33 And Jakob lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men of war. And be divided the children unto Leah, and to Rahel, and to the two concubines, and placed the concubines and their sons foremost; for he said, If Esau come to destroy the children and abuse the women, he will do it with them, and meantime we will arise and encounter him in fight; and Leah and her children after, and Rahel and Joseph after them. And he himself went over before them, praying and asking mercy before the Lord; and he bowed upon the land seven times, until he met with his brother. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell upon his neck and kissed him, and they wept. Esau wept on account of the pain of his teeth which were shaken; but Jakob wept because of the pain of his neck. [JERUSALEM. And Esau ran to meet him, and hugged him, and fell upon his neck and kissed him. Esau wept for the crushing of his teeth, and Jakob wept for the tenderness of his neck.]

And he lifted up his eyes and saw the wives and the children, and said, Who are these with thee? And he said, They are the souls which have been given to me through mercy from before the Lord upon thy servant. And the concubines came near, they and their children, and bowed themselves; and Leah also approached, and her children, and bowed; and afterward Joseph came near and stood before Rahel, and hid her by his stature, and they bowed. And he said, What to thee is all this troop that I have met? And he said, It is a present I have sent to find mercy in the eyes of my lord. And Esau said, I have much substance, my brother; let what thou hast be confirmed to thee. And Jakob said, Say not so, I beseech thee. If now I have found favor in thy eyes, accept my present from my hand; because I have seen the look of thy face, and it is to me as the vision of the face of thy angel; for, lo, thou art propitious to me. Receive now the present which is brought to thee, because it hath been given me through mercy from before the Lord, and because I have much substance. And he urged upon him, and he received.

And he said, Let us journey and proceed, and I will go along with thee, till thou come to the house of thy habitation. And he said to him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and kine giving milk are with me; and if I overdrive them one day, all the flock may die. Let me beseech my lord to pass over and journey before thy servant, and I will lead oil quietly alone, according to the foot of the work which is before me, and according to the foot of the instruction of the children; until the time that I come to my lord at Gabla. [JERUSALEM. That the children are tender.]

And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the soldiers who are with me. But he said, Why this? Let me find favour before thee, my lord. And a miracle was wrought for Jakob, and that day Esau returned on his way to Gabla.

And Jakob journeyed to Sukkot, and sojourned there the twelve new moons of the year; and he builded in it a midrasha, and for his flocks he made booths; therefore he called the name of the place Sukkot…

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Josephus was born Joseph ben Mattathias in 37 AD in Jerusalem of a priestly and royal family. He excelled in his studies of Jewish law and studied with the Sadducees, Pharisees, and the Essenes, eventually aligning himself with the Pharisees. In 62 AD he went to Rome to free some imprisoned priests. After accomplishing this mission through the intercession of Nero’s wife, Poppaea, he returned to Jerusalem in 65 AD to find the country in revolt against Rome. Josephus shrewdly reinterpreted the Messianic prophecies. He predicted that Vespasian would become the ruler of the ‘entire world’. His prophecy became true in 68 AD when Nero committed suicide and Vespasian became Ceasar. As a result, Josephus was freed; he moved to Rome and became a Roman citizen, taking the Vespasian family name Flavius. Vespasian commissioned Josephus to write a history of the war, which he finished in 78 AD, the Jewish War. His second major work, the Antiquities of the Jews, was completed in 93 AD. The extant manuscripts of the book Antiquities of the Jews contain two references to Yeshua of Nazareth (18.3.3. and 20.9.1.) and one reference to the imprisonment and death of John the Baptist (18.5.2.).

1.20.1. Now as Jacob was proceeding on his journey to the land of Canaan, angels appeared to him, and suggested to him good hope of his future condition; and that place he named the Camp of Elohim. And being desirous of knowing what his brother’s intentions were to him, he sent messengers, to give him an exact account of every thing, as being afraid, on account of the enmities between them. He charged those that were sent, to say to Esau, “Jacob had thought it wrong to live together with him while he was in anger against him, and so had gone out of the country; and that he now, thinking the length of time of his absence must have made up their differences, was returning; that he brought with him his wives, and his children, with what possessions he had gotten; and delivered himself, with what was most dear to him, into his hands; and should think it his greatest happiness to partake together with his brother of what Elohim had bestowed upon him.” So these messengers told him this message. Upon which Esau was very glad, and met his brother with four hundred men. And Jacob, when he heard that he was coming to meet him with such a number of men, was greatly afraid: however, he committed his hope of deliverance to Elohim; and considered how, in his present circumstances, he might preserve himself and those that were with him, and overcome his enemies if they attacked him injuriously. He therefore distributed his company into parts; some he sent before the rest, and the others he ordered to come close behind, that so, if the first were overpowered when his brother attacked them, they might have those that followed as a refuge to fly unto. And when he had put his company in this order, he sent some of them to carry presents to his brother. The presents were made up of cattle, and a great number of four-footed beasts, of many kinds, such as would be very acceptable to those that received them, on account of their rarity. Those who were sent went at certain intervals of space asunder, that, by following thick, one after another, they might appear to be more numerous, that Esau might remit of his anger on account of these presents, if he were still in a passion. Instructions were also given to those that were sent to speak gently to him.

1.20.2. When Jacob had made these appointments all the day, and night came on, he moved on with his company; and, as they were gone over a certain river called Jabboc, Jacob was left behind; and meeting with an angel, he wrestled with him, the angel beginning the struggle: but he prevailed over the angel, who used a voice, and spake to him in words, exhorting him to be pleased with what had happened to him, and not to suppose that his victory was a small one, but that he had overcome a divine angel, and to esteem the victory as a sign of great blessings that should come to him, and that his seed should never fall, and that no man should be too hard for his power. He also commanded him to be called Israel, which in the Hebrew tongue signifies one that struggled with the divine angel. These promises were made at the prayer of Jacob; for when he perceived him to be the angel of Elohim, he desired he would signify to him what should befall him hereafter. And when the angel had said what is before related, he disappeared; but Jacob was pleased with these things, and named the place Phanuel, which signifies, the face of Elohim. Now when he felt pain, by this struggling, upon his broad sinew, he abstained from eating that sinew himself afterward; and for his sake it is still not eaten by us.

1.20.3. When Jacob understood that his brother was near, he ordered his wives to go before, each by herself, with the handmaids, that they might see the actions of the men as they were fighting, if Esau were so disposed. He then went up to his brother Esau, and bowed down to him, who had no evil design upon him, but saluted him; and asked him about the company of the children and of the women; and desired, when he had understood all he wanted to know about them, that he would go along with him to their father; but Jacob pretending that the cattle were weary, Esau returned to Seir, for there was his place of habitation, he having named the place Roughness, from his own hairy roughness.