創世記 32
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
雅各預備見以掃
32 雅各繼續前行，遇見了上帝的天使。 2 雅各看見他們，就說：「這是上帝的軍隊！」於是稱那地方為瑪哈念[a]。
3 雅各先派人到西珥，就是以東，去見他哥哥以掃， 4 並吩咐他們：「你們要這樣對我主以掃說，『你僕人雅各一直寄居在拉班家裡， 5 現在他帶了牛羊、驢和僕婢回來見你，派我們來報信，希望得到你的恩待。』」
6 報信的人回到雅各那裡，說：「我們到了你哥哥以掃那裡，他正帶著四百人前來見你。」 7 雅各聽了非常害怕，便把隨從、牛群、羊群和駱駝分成兩隊， 8 心想：「如果以掃來攻擊一隊，另一隊還可以逃生。」
9 他禱告說：「耶和華，我祖父亞伯拉罕和我父親以撒的上帝啊！你吩咐我回到家鄉和親族那裡，答應厚待我。 10 我不配蒙你以慈愛和信實相待，我先前過約旦河的時候，手上只有一根杖，現在卻有兩隊人丁家畜。 11 求你救我脫離我哥哥以掃的手，我怕他會來殺我和我的妻兒。 12 然而，你曾說，『我必厚待你，使你的後代多如海沙，不可勝數。』」
13 那天晚上，雅各就在那裡過夜，又挑選牲畜送給哥哥以掃作禮物： 14 母山羊二百隻、公山羊二十隻、母綿羊二百隻、公綿羊二十隻、 15 哺乳的駱駝三十頭及其小駱駝、母牛四十頭、公牛十頭、母驢二十頭、驢駒十頭。 16 雅各把牲畜每類分成一群，交給僕人看管，對他們說：「你們走在前頭，每群牲畜之間要保持一段距離！」 17 又吩咐走在最前面的僕人說：「我哥哥以掃遇到你的時候，如果問你是誰家的人？要到哪裡去？前頭這些牲畜是誰的？ 18 你就說，『是僕人雅各要送給他主人以掃的禮物，他自己就跟在後面。』」 19 雅各又吩咐看管第二群、第三群及其餘牲畜的僕人遇見以掃時也要這樣回答， 20 並且一定要說：「你僕人雅各就在後面。」雅各想先用禮物去化解以掃的怨恨，或許見面時以掃會善待他。 21 於是，他派人先把禮物送過去，自己則留在營裡過夜。
雅各遇見上帝
22 那天晚上，雅各起來帶著兩個妻子、兩個婢女和十一個兒子渡過雅博渡口。 23 雅各把他們連同一切所有都送過河以後， 24 自己獨自留下。這時，有一個人來和他摔跤，直到黎明。 25 那人見勝不過雅各，就在他的大腿窩摸了一下，他大腿的關節就脫了臼。 26 那人說：「天亮了，讓我走吧！」但雅各說：「你不祝福我，我就不讓你走。」 27 那人問道：「你叫什麼名字？」他說：「我叫雅各。」 28 那人說：「你以後不要再叫雅各了，你要叫以色列，因為你跟上帝和人角力都得勝了。」
29 雅各說：「請你告訴我你的名字。」那人說：「你為什麼問我的名字？」他就在那裡給雅各祝福。 30 雅各稱那地方為毗努伊勒，因為他說：「我當面見過上帝，竟能活命。」 31 雅各經過毗努伊勒的時候，太陽出來了，那時他的大腿瘸了。 32 以色列人至今都不吃大腿窩的筋，因為那人摸過雅各大腿窩的筋。
Footnotes
- 32·2 「瑪哈念」意思是「兩營軍隊」。
Genesis 32
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 32
1 Laban rose early in the morning, kissed his grandsons and daughters, and blessed them. Then he left and returned home.
Jacob Prepares To Meet Esau.[a] 2 As Jacob continued his journey, angels of God appeared to him. 3 When Jacob saw them he said, “This is the encampment of God,” and he called the place Mahanaim. 4 Then Jacob sent some messengers ahead to his brother Esau in the land of Seir, the country of Edom. 5 He gave them this command, “Say to my lord Esau, ‘Thus says your servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban and I remained there until now. 6 I have come to own oxen, donkeys, flocks, male and female slaves. I am sending my lord this information to seek his favor.’ ”
7 The messengers returned to Jacob saying, “We went to your brother Esau. Now he is coming to meet you and he has four hundred men with him.” 8 Jacob was terribly afraid and filled with anxiety. He divided the men of his camp into two groups along with the flocks, the herds, and the camels. 9 He thought, “If Esau were to come to one group and destroy it, the other would be safe.”
10 Jacob said, “God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, Lord, who told me, ‘Return to your land, to your homeland, and I will bless you,’ 11 I am not worthy of the goodness and faithfulness that you have shown your servant. When I passed over the Jordan I had nothing but my staff, and now I have become so rich that I could establish two camps. 12 Save me from the hands of my brother Esau because I am afraid of him. Let him not come and kill all of us, even the mothers and children. 13 Besides, you said, ‘I will make you prosper and I will make your descendants like the sand of the sea, so numerous that you cannot count them.’ ”
14 Jacob spent the night there. Then he selected the following gifts from among his possessions for his brother Esau: 15 two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, 16 thirty nursing camels and their young, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. 17 He entrusted them to his servants, in separate groups, and told them, “Go ahead of me and leave some space between the groups.”
18 He gave this order to the first group, “When you meet Esau, my brother, and he asks you, ‘To whom do you belong? Where are you going? Who owns all these animals that you are driving?’ 19 you are to answer, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift for my lord Esau. And Jacob himself is behind us.’ ”
20 He gave the same order to the second group and the third and all the other groups: “These are the words that you shall say to Esau when you meet him. 21 Tell him, ‘Your servant Jacob is coming behind us.’ ” He was thinking, “The gifts that I am sending will calm him down, and then I will come before him. Maybe he will greet me kindly.” 22 Thus, the gifts went ahead of him, while he spent the night in the camp.
23 A Mysterious Struggle.[b] During the night Jacob arose, took his two wives, his two slaves, and his eleven sons and crossed over the ford of the Jabbok. 24 He took them, crossed over the brook and carried over all his possessions. 25 So Jacob remained alone, and a man wrestled with him until the dawn. 26 Seeing that he could not beat him, the man struck Jacob at the hip joint. Jacob’s hip joint became dislocated while he continued to fight with him. 27 The man said, “Let me go because it is dawn.”
Jacob answered, “I will not let go of you until you will have blessed me.”
28 The man asked, “What is your name?”
He answered, “Jacob.”
29 The man then said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel[c] because you have wrestled with God and with man and have won.”
30 Jacob said to him, “Give me your name.” He answered, “Why are you asking my name?” And then he blessed him. 31 Jacob called the place Peniel[d] because he said, “I have seen God face to face, and I am still alive.”
32 The sun rose and Jacob left Penuel limping. 33 This is why Israelites to this day do not eat the sinew of the thigh, because the man had struck Jacob’s hip joint and the sinew shrank.
Footnotes
- Genesis 32:2 The way that Jacob has taken obliges him to go through the territory of the Edomites, and the suspicious Esau has undoubtedly not yet digested the wicked trick that his brother has played on him (Gen 27:1-45). According to the traditions, Jacob takes measures to save half of his caravan in case of a struggle or to disarm the hatred by gifts; the prayer that the author places on his lips provides the key to his story. Despite his unworthiness, Jacob is the heir of the promises; that is why the Lord protects him and heaps favors upon him. The adventures of the hero as well as those of the chosen people (Ex 3:11; Deut 7:7f) verify a law of the action of God who causes his power to appear through the weakness of human beings.
- Genesis 32:23 After the twenty years in Mesopotamia that were meant to purify him and straighten him out, Jacob is ready at last to begin his life as Patriarch of God’s people in the Promised Land. In the stranger who wrestles with him at the ford of the Jabbok without revealing his name, Jacob recognizes the Lord and compels him to give his blessing. This is a confirmation of the patriarchal blessing that he had received from his father (Gen 27:27-29; 28:3-4) and also from the Lord (Gen 28:13-15) when he was beginning his journey abroad. Here the blessing is accompanied by the giving of a new name, an action that indicates a special act of taking possession: from this moment on Jacob will truly be God’s man, who along with the name receives his special mission in life. From now on we see a man who has gradually learned to live by faith (see vv. 10-13, etc.).
- Genesis 32:29 Israel: the real etymology is uncertain; it may mean “God is mighty” or “God shows himself mighty.” Here, however, the popular etymology is given: “He has shown his strength by wrestling with God” (see also Hos 12:4-5).
- Genesis 32:31 Peniel: a variant of Penuel, a town north of the Jabbok in Gilead (Jdg 8:8f, 17). I have seen God face to face: apart from the present context, this means to present oneself before God in the sanctuary with offerings for worship (see Deut 16:16).
