וישלח

Jacob sent messengers ahead to Esau in Seir, the land of Edom. He told them to say, “To my lord Esau, your servant Jacob says: I stayed with Laban until now, and I have cattle, donkeys, sheep, and male and female servants. I’m sending this message in hopes of gaining your favor.”

When the messengers returned, they said, “Esau is coming to meet you, and four hundred men are with him.” Jacob was frightened. He split his family and all the animals into two camps, thinking, “If Esau attacks one camp, the other may escape.”

Then Jacob prayed to God, remembering the promise that he should return home and that God would deal bountifully with him. He admitted he was not worthy of all the kindness he had received, and he begged to be saved from Esau.

That night Jacob chose a large gift from his herds and sent it ahead in separate groups, with space between them. Each servant was to say, “These belong to your servant Jacob; they are a gift for my lord Esau, and Jacob is right behind us.”

Later that same night, Jacob took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven sons and crossed the Jabbok stream. After he sent everyone and everything across, Jacob stayed behind alone. In the darkness a mysterious figure wrestled with him until dawn. When the figure saw he could not win, he wrenched Jacob’s hip. Still Jacob held on and said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”

The figure asked his name. “Jacob,” he answered. Then the figure said, “You will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with divine and human beings and have prevailed.” Jacob named the place Peniel, meaning “face of God,” because he said he had seen a divine being face to face and lived. He limped as the sun rose.

Soon Jacob saw Esau coming with four hundred men. Jacob bowed seven times. Esau ran to him, embraced him, kissed him, and they wept. Esau accepted Jacob’s gift after Jacob urged him, and Jacob traveled on to Succoth.

Jacob arrived safely at Shechem in Canaan. He bought a piece of land from Hamor’s family and built an altar there, calling it El-elohe-yisrael, a Hebrew name that means “God, the God of Israel.”

Dinah, Leah’s daughter, went out to visit the local girls. Shechem, Hamor’s son, took her and disgraced her, and later asked to marry her. When Jacob’s sons came in from the fields and heard what happened, they answered with a trick: they said the men of the city must all be circumcised. On the third day, while the men were in pain, Simeon and Levi attacked the city, killed the males, and brought Dinah out. The other brothers plundered the town. Jacob feared the nearby peoples would unite against his small family.

God told Jacob to go to Bethel. Jacob’s household buried their foreign gods under a tree, and the surrounding towns were struck with terror and did not chase them. Later Rachel died giving birth; she named the baby Ben-oni, but Jacob called him Benjamin. Isaac died at Hebron and was buried by Esau and Jacob. Esau’s family line is also listed; he settled in Seir and became the father of Edom.