Wrestling

How Nave’s arranged it

• FIGURATIVEGenesis 30:8Genesis 32:24Genesis 32:25Ephesians 6:12

The passages, in Bible order (4)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 4 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Genesis 30:8

   Then Rachel said, “In my great struggles, I have wrestled with my sister and won.” So she named him Naphtali.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 30:81 voice

   “She called his name Naphtali - נפתלי naphtali, my wrestling, according to the common mode of interpretation; but it is more likely that the root פתל pathal signifies to twist or entwine. Hence Mr. Parkhurst translates the verse, “By the twistings - agency or operation, of God, I am entwisted with my sister; that is, my family is now entwined or interwoven with my sister’s family, and has a chance of producing the promised Seed.” The Septuagint, Aquila, and the Vulgate, have nearly the same meaning. It is, however, difficult to fix the true meaning of the original.

   Everything gathered on Genesis 30:8→

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2. Genesis 32:24

   So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 32:242 voices

   “We are told by the prophet ( Hos. xii. 4 ) how Jacob wrestled: he wept, and made supplication; prayers and tears were his weapons. It was not only a corporal, but a spiritual, wrestling, by the vigorous actings of faith and holy desire; and thus all the spiritual seed of Jacob, that pray in praying, still wrestle with God.

   “Therefore Jacob, who had purified his heart of all pretenses and was manifesting a peaceable disposition, first cast off all that was his, then remained behind alone and wrestled with God. For whoever forsakes worldly things comes nearer to the image and likeness of God. What is it to wrestle with God other than to enter upon the struggle for virtue, to contend with one who is stronger and to become a better imitator of God than the others are?

   Everything gathered on Genesis 32:24→

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3. Genesis 32:25

   When the man saw that he could not overpower Jacob, he struck the socket of Jacob’s hip and dislocated it as they wrestled.

   ›Commentary on Genesis 32:251 voice

   “The hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint - What this implies is difficult to find out; it is not likely that it was complete luxation of the thigh bone. It may mean no more than he received a stroke on the groin, not a touch; for the Hebrew word נגע naga often signifies to smite with violence, which stroke, even if comparatively slight, would effectually disable him for a time, and cause him to halt for many hours, if not for several days.

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4. Ephesians 6:12

   For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this world’s darkness, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

   ›Commentary on Ephesians 6:122 voices

   “Greek, "For our wrestling ('the wrestling' in which we are engaged) is not against flesh," &c. Flesh and blood foes are Satan's mere tools, the real foe lurking behind them is Satan himself, with whom our conflict is.

   “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood - Ουκ εστιν ἡμιν ἡ παλη προς αἱμα και σαρκα· Our wrestling or contention is not with men like ourselves: flesh and blood is a Hebraism for men, or human beings. See the note on Gal 1:16. The word παλη implies the athletic exercises in the Olympic and other national games; and παλαιστρα was the place in which the contenders exercised. Here it signifies warfare in general. Against principalities - Αρχας· Chief rulers; beings of the first rank and order in their own kingdom.

   Everything gathered on Ephesians 6:12→

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