Hebrew Word Study – Wrestling – Karav – קרב Qop Resh Beth
Did Jacob Really Wrestle with an Angel?
Genesis 32:24: “And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.”
Psalms 55:18: “He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle [that was] against me: for there were many with me.”
I have always wondered about this story of Jacob wrestling with an angel. I have written about this in the past on a couple occasions but I have never been really satisfied with my conclusions. I have searched out the works of Judaism and no one seems to really have a definite answer as to what was taking place. Was Jacob wrestling with an angel? Was he wrestling with God? Was he wrestling with his conscience? Was he, as mystic Jews teach, wrestling with Esau’s (his brother) spirit or soul?
Christian commentators have given them in-depth thoughts, I have shared my thoughts in the past and still, there is no absolute answer. But I have progressed in my thinking on this matter. Particularly when I started reading a Jewish discourse known as Padah B’Shalom (redeemed in peace) in reference to Psalms 55:18 “He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle [that was] against me:” The word deliver is a bit misleading. In Hebrew, it is the word padah which is the word for redemption or paying a ransom. Why did I have to go to Jewish teaching to find a Christian understanding of this verse? To say he delivered us is not wrong but gives the idea that God rescues us from a difficult situation in this natural world. To use the word redeem we are then caused to consider a spiritual rescue or deliverance.
Would you like Chaim Bentorah as your personal Hebrew teacher?
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In the discourse of Padah B’Shalom we learn that this verse refers to an ongoing battle between the animal soul and the Godly soul. Paul refers to this Jewish concept as the battle between the old man and the new man. The conflict between our old sinful nature and the new nature which in Christianity we believe we receive through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Yet, despite the fact that we have a new nature through the finished work of Jesus we still struggle with that old nature and this is likely what the Psalmist is expressing.
You see, being redeemed does not mean that the enemy is totally vanquished. The enemy is still around. When our country pays a ransom to a terrorist group to release one of our citizens, those terrorists are not vanquished. The war against them still rages but at least the innocent victim has been rescued or released through the payment of a price.
So too, even though we have been redeemed through Jesus Christ, it does not mean the enemy is no longer out there. There is still that old nature to contend with. We are redeemed from the battle or the krav as it is in the Hebrew. Krav is more of a wrestling match or a brawl.
To be redeemed in peace, however, means that the brawl has ended and there is an unsteady truce between you and the enemy. The word for battle krav is closely related to the word kiruv which means closeness. In other words, the battle has not been totally resolved. The ransomed victim may be rescued through paying a price and would be brought back to his own country where he is safe. But he may continue to wage the war against his former kidnappers from a distance. They may not be kiruv, close, but they are still krav doing battle.
So, it is with souls or natures. We now have two natures that are at war with each other, the old man and the new man. We have been redeemed from the old man that held us captive but we are still at war with that old man or nature. Our old nature will still try to take us captive, but we are now fighting with God on our side. Our Redeemer continues to krav, the battle for us and it is our redeemer which is kiruv close, not our old nature, but the war will continue until our final victory when we leave this physical body which holds that old nature.
I wonder if this is what was going on with Jacob when he wrestled with the angel. The Bible does not say it was an angel a malachi, it says it was an isah, a man. Isah could represent a physical being or a corporal being. Only by the context can you know. Yet, the context could suggest either one or the other. Then again, maybe not. For Scripture teaches in Genesis 32:24: “And Jacob was left alone, and there wrestled a man with him.” If there was a man with him he was not alone. But the word alone in Hebrew is bud or bad in Hebrew which is the word for alone or only when used as an adverb which is its common use. As an adjective, it is alone which suggests aloneness with no other corporal being around, man or animal.
Thus, who is this man that Jacob wrestled? I suggest that the isah that he wrestled was the old man or old nature. The word krav in its Semitic root means to get dusty. When you wrestle with someone you are rolling in the ground getting dusty. Jacob could have been wrestling with his old nature and was physically rolling in the ground.
Last night I was wrestling with the old man or nature. It was really intense, I had a decision a make and I was not sure if it were the right decision. Like Jacob, he was wrestling with the decision to meet his brother who threatened to kill him. Should he take the chance and try to reconcile with his brother or maybe just let sleeping dogs lie. The right thing of course would be to reconcile but that appeared pretty dangerous. My struggle was not life-threatening but it was a life-altering struggle. Like Jacob, I rolled back and forth in my comfortable bed where Jacob rolled back and forth on a dusty ground. Jacob may have rolled into a rock and dislocated his hip and metaphorically his hip was dislocated by the old man he was struggling with. Me? I rolled off the bed and like Jacob I’ve been walking with a slight limp.
Ephesians 6:12: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against [places].”
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Thanks & Blessings, it means a lot to me!
Thank you, I enjoy your commentary… SHALOM :)
Thank you.
I really appreciate the fresh perspective into this.
However, Bible says, this man spoke to him and the conversation led to change of his name.
Please, I need more clarity to the connections in respect to further encounter as stated below:
Genesis 32:24-30
And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there.
And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
This makes me think of KRAV MAGA, the self-defense moves which started by IDF.
Again, Teacher, my thanks to you for sharing what you’re learning as you search for understanding of God’s Word.
My own search led to a book called “Into the Father’s Heart” by Pastor Mike Clute. Chapter 15 touches on Jacob’s wrestling match. It can be read on-line at intothefathersheart.com Because I believe that God hurts no one, your explanations of the words ‘isah’, ‘krav’, and others, to me, support the idea that Jacob’s wrestling was a inner struggle.
I especially appreciate the idea that even though we are redeemed, the enemy is still out there. Oh how we need, on a daily basis, an hourly, moment by moment, to fully rely on the Lord’s promise of redemption and peace.
But Jacob had a conversation with ” the man” and he asked him ( the man) to bless him. And the man changed Jacob’s name to Israel.
And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
Genesis 32:25-28 KJV
https://bible.com/bible/1/gen.32.25-28.KJV
How can this be if he was just wrestling with his old nature?
Thank you greatly for sharing your love and zeal for our Father’s Word! Your studies and insight bless me abundantly! God encourages us to PURSUE UNDERSTANDING, and I feel very privileged that He connected me to your ministry,
Through you, He’s answering one of my heart’s prayers which is to receive some of His HIDDEN MANNA of Rev 2:17…. the hidden ‘what is it?’.
I’m unable to return the blessing, but I do pray that He may bless and reward you richly in what you personally need.
That is so odd
Why Jacob asks “old nature” to bless him before leaving 🤔
Very interesting take on this. I never thought of it from this perspective before. I can see this being true in many cases. But I wonder, what about right at the end when Jacob’s opponent says to let him go, and Jacob responds with “not until you bless me”, and his opponent asks him his name, and that’s when he is named Israel by his opponent, adding “for you have contended with God and have won”. I like to think of it as Jesus he was wrestling with. There have been many times where God seemed to impress upon me to wrestle with Him and not hold back when I would be going through a difficult issue where my questions would turn into arguments with God. And when I didn’t hold back, He did bless me with His answers, His Presence, or something else in life. And He has shown me that wrestling with Him is a way of seeking Him, which Scripture says He rewards.
Excellent
Yes! I have experienced this too.