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LXX Genesis

Septuagint

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Chapter 32

1 And Laban rose up in the morning, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them; and Laban having turned back, departed to his place. 2 And Jacob departed for his journey; and having looked up, he saw the host of God encamped; and the angels of God met him. 3 And Jacob said, when he saw them, This is the Camp of God; and he called the name of that place, Encampments. 4 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother to the land of Seir, to the country of Edom. 5 And he charged them, saying, Thus you will say to my lord Esau: Thus says your servant Jacob; I have stayed with Laban and tarried until now. 6 And there were born to me oxen, and donkeys, and sheep, and menservants and women-servants; and I sent to tell my lord Esau, that your servant might find grace in your sight. 7 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to your brother Esau, and look! he comes to meet you, and four hundred men with him. 8 And Jacob was greatly terrified, and was perplexed; and he divided the people that was with him, and the cows, and the sheep, into two camps. 9 And Jacob said, If Esau should come to one camp, and strike it, the other camp shall be in safety. 10 And Jacob said, God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Lord, you are he that said to me, Depart quickly to the land of your birth, and I will do you good. 11 Let there be to me a sufficiency of all the justice and all the truth which you have done with your servant; for with this my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I have become two camps. 12 Deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid of him, for fear that perhaps he should come and strike me, and the mother upon the children. 13 But you said, I will surely do you good, and will make your seed as the sand of the sea, which shall not be numbered for multitude. 14 And he slept there that night, and took of the gifts which he carried with him, and sent out to Esau his brother, 15 two hundred she-goats, twenty he-goats, two hundred sheep, twenty rams, 16 milch camels, and their foals, thirty, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty donkeys, and ten colts. 17 And he gave them to his servants each drove apart; and he said to his servants, Go on before me, and put a space between drove and drove. 18 And he charged the first, saying, If Esau my brother meet you, and he ask you, saying, Whose are you? and where would you go, and whose are these possessions advancing before you? 19 You shall say, Your servant Jacob's; he has sent gifts to my lord Esau, and look! he is behind us. 20 And he charged the first and the second and the third, and all that went before him after these flocks, saying, Thus you will speak to Esau when you find him; 21 and you shall say, Look, your servant Jacob comes after us. For he said, I will propitiate his face with the gifts going before his presence, and afterwards I will see his face, for perhaps he will accept me. 22 So the presents went on before him, but he himself lodged that night in the camp. 23 And he rose up in that night, and took his two wives and his two servant-maids, and his eleven children, and crossed over the ford of Jabbok. 24 And he took them, and passed over the torrent, and brought over all his possessions. 25 And Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him till the morning. 26 And he saw that he did not prevail against him; and he touched the broad part of his thigh, and the broad part of Jacob's thigh was benumbed in his wrestling with him. 27 And he said to him, Let me go, for the day has dawned; but he said, I will not let you go, except you bless me. 28 And he said to him, What is your name? and he answered, Jacob. 29 And he said to him, Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name; for you have shown strength with God, and are mighty with men.⁠ 30 And Jacob asked and said, Tell me your name; and he said, Why do you ask after my name? and he blessed him there. 31 And Jacob called the name of that place, the Face of God; for, said he, I have seen God face to face, and my life was preserved. 32 And the sun rose upon him, when he passed the Face of God; and he limped upon his thigh. 33 Therefore the children of Israel will by no means eat of the sinew which was benumbed, which is on the broad part of the thigh, until this day, because the angel touched the broad part of the thigh of Jacob, even the sinew which was benumbed.

Texts in conversation

Compare Genesis 32:28 and LXX Genesis 32:29 and Wisdom of Solomon 10:12

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint · Deuterocanon

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Summary

In Genesis 32, Jacob’s new name “Israel” comes from wrestling “with God.” The Greek Septuagint softens this with abstract language, and the Wisdom of Solomon goes further, portraying Jacob’s struggle as a victory of wisdom rather than physical strength.

Passages

Genesis 32:28

Hebrew Bible
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.” 27 The man asked him, “What is your name?” He answered, “Jacob.” 28 “No longer will your name be Jacob,” the man told him, “but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have prevailed.” 29 Then Jacob asked, “Please tell me your name.” “Why do you ask my name?” the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Genesis

LXX Genesis 32:29

Septuagint
27 And he said to him, Let me go, for the day has dawned; but he said, I will not let you go, except you bless me. 28 And he said to him, What is your name? and he answered, Jacob. 29 And he said to him, Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name; for you have shown strength with God, and are mighty with men. 30 And Jacob asked and said, Tell me your name; and he said, Why do you ask after my name? and he blessed him there.
300–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Genesis

Wisdom of Solomon 10:12

Deuterocanon
11 When in their covetousness men dealt harshly with him, she stood by him and made him rich. 12 She guarded him from enemies, and she kept him safe from those who lay in wait. Over his severe conflict, she watched as judge, that he might know that godliness is more powerful than every one. 13 When a righteous man was sold, wisdom didn’t forsake him, but she delivered him from sin. She went down with him into a dungeon,
50 BCE – 50 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in the Wisdom of Solomon

References

"... But such was hardly the only way of understanding the meaning of Jacob's new name. The 'with' in 'struggled with' is somewhat ambiguous, in Hebrew as well as English. It could mean that Jacob had fought 'in the company of' or even 'with the help of' God. And even the Hebrew for 'struggle' - an extremely rare word - might be understood differently: it could also mean something like 'was strong' or 'was a ruler.' As a result, many interpreters concluded that Jacob's new name had nothing to do with struggling with (in the sense of 'against') God or even an angel of God. It meant that Jacob had been strong with the help of God or had been exalted with (that is, into the company of) God ..."
James L. Kugel, The Bible as It Was (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998), 226–227.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Genesis 32:28 and LXX Genesis 32:29 and Wisdom of Solomon 10:12

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