| Jacob Wrestles with God | ||
The story of Jacob wrestling with the angel, or God, as the scripture says. Royalty free high resolution images from our huge image library. What Came Before Jacob did not tell his uncle Laban that he was going away, but while Laban was absent from home, Jacob gathered together his wives, and children, and all his sheep and cattle, and camels, and he stole away quietly. When Laban found that Jacob had left him, he was not at all pleased, for he wished Jacob still to care for the things that he owned. Jacob managed them better than Laban himself, and God blessed everything that Jacob undertook. Also, Laban did not like to have his two daughters, the wives of Jacob, taken so far away from him. So Laban and the men who were with him followed after Jacob. That night God spoke to Laban in a dream, and said, "Do no harm to Jacob, when you meet him." Therefore, when Laban came to where Jacob was in his camp on Mount Gilead, on the east of the river Jordan, Laban spoke kindly to Jacob. And Jacob and Laban made a covenant, that is a promise between them. They piled up a heap of stones, and on it they set up a large rock like a pillar, and beside the heap of stones they ate a meal together. Jacob said to Liiban, "I promise not to go past this heap of stones, and this pillar to do you any harm. The God of your grandfather, Nahor, and the God of my grandfather, Abraham, be the judge between us." Laban made the same promise to Jacob, and then he kissed his daughters, Jacob's two wives, and all of Jacob's children, and bade them good-by, and Laban went back to Haran, and Jacob went on to Canaan. And Jacob gave two names to the heap of stones where they had made the covenant. One name was Galeed, a word which means, "The heap of Witness." The other was Mizpah, which means "Watchtower". For Jacob said, "The Lord watch between you and me, when we are absent from each other". Always Royalty Free |
And the angel blessed him there. And the sun rose as the angel left him, and Jacob gave a name to that place. He called it Peniel, or Penuel, words which in the language that Jacob spoke mean "The Face of God." Said Jacob, "For I have met God face to face." And after this Jacob was lame, for in the wrestle he had strained his thigh. Jacob came to Shechem, in the middle of the land of Canaan, and there he set up his tents, and at the foot of the mountain, although there were streams of water all around, he dug his own well, great and deep. This was the well where Jesus sat and talked with a woman many ages after that time. Even now the traveler who visits that place may drink water from Jacob's well. Afterward Jacob had a new name, Israel, which means, as we have seen, "The one who wrestles with God." Sometimes he was called Jacob, and sometimes Israel. And all those who come from Israel, his descendants, were called Israelites. A short time later Isaac died very old, and was buried by his sons Jacob and Esau, in the cave at Hebron where Abraham and Sarah were buried already. Esau with his children and cattle went away to a land on the southeast of Canaan, which was called called Edom. And Jacob, now called Israel, and his family lived in the land of Canaan dwelling in tents, and moving from place to place, where they could find good pasture to feed their flocks. Navigation and Searching – Terms of Use |