וַיִּוָּתֵר יַעֲקֹב, לְבַדּוֹ; וַיֵּאָבֵק אִישׁ עִמּוֹ, עַד עֲלוֹת הַשָּׁחַרHow can Jacob be described as alone, if a man was there? In what sense was he alone if he had a wrestling partner? Elsewhere, Jacob is described as אִישׁ תָּם, a man of integrity, yet nowhere in the subsequent stories does he ever demonstrate that characteristic. Instead he is depicted as a bargainer, and swindler. Could the wrestling match have been the final battle between the two different Jacobs, between the אִישׁ תָּם and the "one who acts crookedly?"
And Jacob was left alone, and a mand wrestled with him until the break of dawn
Sunday, December 14, 2008
More notes on the man who wasn't a man
The argument that Jacob encounted himself on the far side of the Yabok stream on the night before his reunion with Esav is bolstered by a neat bit of exegesis. The verse reads:
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