Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought trouble on me by making me stink to the inhabitants of the land."GENESIS 34:30+Do Not Rely on YourselfWhere is faith here and the remembrance of the pr...  Read More

Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem. . .. He bought for a hundred pieces of money the piece of land on which he had pitched his tent. There he erected an altar.GENESIS 33:18-20+An Altar Is Raised...  Read More

Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built himself a house and made booths for his livestock.GENESIS 33:17+Good Fruits of DomesticityThe Holy Spirit set forth these matters, namely, to testify that all the...  Read More

"Please accept my blessing that is brought to you, because God has dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough."GENESIS 33:11+I Have Enough[Jacob] wants to say: "I have not brought a magnifice...  Read More

[Jacob] himself went on before them, bowing himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother.GENESIS 33:3+Honor and RespectAlthough Esau had previously been reconciled by the power...  Read More

Jacob lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, Esau was coming, and four hundred men with him.+GENESIS 33:1God Changes the HeartThe matters recounted in this chapter are clear and easy because they ...  Read More

"I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered."GENESIS 32:30+Face to Face with Our LordThis is the joyful climax of this contest. For now Jacob returns from hell to heaven, from de...  Read More

"Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.GENESIS 32:28+Pressed to God's HeartLet us compose a proverb from this history: w...  Read More

Jacob said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me." . . . Then He said, "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel."GENESIS 32:26, 28+In the Arena with GodEven if [God] hides Himself ...  Read More

Jacob said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me."GENESIS 32:26+God Can Be Conquered?[God] is not conquered in such a way that He is subjected to us, but His judgment, or His wrath and fury and ...  Read More

Jacob said, "I will not let You go unless You bless me."GENESIS 32:26+Do Not Yield, but Press OnWhy do you not let him go? Your thigh is hurt and you are already lame; what will you do? "I feel no wea...  Read More

A man wrestled with [Jacob] until the breaking of the day.GENESIS 32:24+God in Hostile FormThe chief significance of this story, then, is the example of perfect saints and of temptations in high degre...  Read More