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In Genesis, Jacob wrestles a man at the Jabbok until daybreak. Rabbinic tradition in Genesis Rabbah identifies the wrestler as Esau’s guardian angel, basing this on Jacob’s words to Esau that seeing his face was like seeing the face of God.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 32:24
Hebrew Bible
23 He took them and sent them across the stream along with all his possessions. 24 So Jacob was left alone. Then a man wrestled with him until daybreak. 25 When the man saw that he could not defeat Jacob, he struck the socket of his hip so the socket of Jacob’s hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him. 26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” “I will not let you go,” Jacob replied, “unless you bless me.”
Genesis Rabbah 77:3
Aggadah
Rabbinic
Rabbi Ḥama ben Rabbi Ḥanina said: It was Esau’s guardian angel. That is what he said to him: “For therefore, I have seen your face, as the sight of the face of angels, and you welcomed me” (Genesis 33:10). “He saw that he could not prevail against him, and he touched the joint of his thigh; the joint of Jacob's thigh was dislocated as he wrestled with him” (Genesis 32:26). This is analogous to an athlete who was standing and wrestling with the king’s son. He lifted his eyes, saw the king standing over him, and cast himself down before him. That is what is written: “He saw that he could not prevail against him” – He saw in the Divine Presence that he could not prevail over him. Rabbi Berekhya said: We do not know who was victorious, whether it was the angel or Jacob, but from what is written in the verse: “A man wrestled [vaye’avek] with him” – that is, who became covered with dust [avak]; the man who was with him. Rabbi Ḥanina bar Yitzḥak said: The Holy One blessed be He said to him [to the angel]: 'He comes against you with five amulets in his possession: His merit, his father’s merit, his mother’s merit, his grandfather’s merit, and his grandmother’s merit. Evaluate yourself whether you are able even to stand against his merit.' Immediately, “he saw that he could not prevail against him.” This is analogous to a king who had a wild dog and a tame lion. The king would take his son and embolden his heart with the lion, so were the dog to come and confront him, the king would say to him [the dog]: ‘The lion could not stand against him, and you seek to confront him?’ So, were the nations of the world to come and confront Israel, the Holy One blessed be He will say to them: ‘Your ministering angel could not stand against him, and you seek to confront his descendants?’ “He touched the joint of his thigh” – he touched the righteous men and women, the prophets and prophetesses, who are destined to emerge from him. Which is that [generation]? It is the generation of persecution. “The joint of Jacob's thigh was dislocated [vateka]” – Rabbi Berekhya and Rabbi Eliezer, Rabbi Eliezer said: It was smoothed. Rabbi Berekya said in the name of Rabbi Asi: It was split like a fish. Rav Naḥman bar Yaakov said: It was dislocated from its place, as it is written: “I was repulsed [vateka]…as My soul was repulsed [nake’a]” (Ezekiel 23:18). “He said: Release me, as dawn has broken. He said: I will not release you unless you bless me” (Genesis 32:27). Throughout that night each of them was striking the other, this one’s shield against that one’s shield. When dawn broke: “He said: Release me, as dawn has broken.”
Date: 500 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
... Guardian angels of a special kind are those who bear the image of the one they have been tasked with protecting. Midrash Psalm 55 § 3 (146B): Rabbi Joshua ben Levi (ca. 250) said, “What does ‘He redeems my soul in peace’ (Psalm 55:19) mean? The image (namely from the world of the angels) goes before a man, and the (heavenly) beings cry out and say (to the demons who invisibly surround the man), ‘Make way for the image of God!’ ”—Similarly in Deuteronomy Rabbah 4 (201D), where in the Venice edition of 1545, the unusual term for image is supplied. In Midrash Psalms 17 § 8, the plural is used: Images from the angels go before a man. … In any case, the reading of the text is ensured by the designation of men as the image of God. The following contrast is probably intended: The image of God calls out, “Make way for the image of God!” ‖ Genesis Rabbah 78 (50A): Rabbi Hama ben Hanina (ca. 260) said, “It was Esau’s prince of angels (with whom Jacob wrestled); Genesis 33:10, ‘Therefore I saw your face, like the face of the angel (according to the Midrash).’ Your face is like the face of the angel.” ...
Strack, Hermann L., and Paul Billerbeck
A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Midrash, Volume 2: Mark through Acts
(p. 960) Lexham Press, 2022
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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