Steven Molen

STEVEN MOLEN was an undergraduate at Indiana University when he wrote "The Identity of Jacob's Opponent: Wrestling with Ambiguity in Genesis 32:22-32." It first appeared in Shofar 11 (Spring 1993) and is copyright by Purdue Research Foundation, West Lafayette, Indiana, 47907. It is reprinted, largely unedited from its original published form, with permission, as an example to young scholars in approaching Mormon scriptures with insight and skill.

The Identity of Jacob’s Opponent: Wrestling with Ambiguity in Genesis 32:32

Articles/Essays – Volume 26, No. 2

Who is the “man” Jacob wrestles at the ford of the Jabbok? Critical exegesis has traditionally identified him as an angel, with reliance upon ample evidence in the text: he appears out of nowhere and just as mysteriously disappears; he dislocates Jacob’s hip at a touch; and Jacob himself, at the end of the episode, identifies his opponent as divine: “I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved” (Gen. 32:30).