Genesis 32:30
in Genesis 32So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for, said he, I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
KJV
And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.
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This verse in Genesis 32
Commentary
8 notes on this verse(Verse 29 and 30.) And he blessed him there and called the name of that place Face of God: for I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved; in Hebrew it is called Phanuel (), so that we know that it is the same place, which in the other sacred volumes of Scripture, as it is written in Hebrew, is read as Phanuel in Greek.
This site's exposition
Please tell me your name
on Genesis 32:29-30
Jacob asks for the man's name and is refused it, and then he is blessed there. He calls the place Peniel, saying he had seen God face to face and his life was spared. Jerome notes the Hebrew form Phanuel, which the later books use. Hosea 12:4 calls the wrestler an angel, Clarke takes him for Christ before the incarnation, and Calvin reads God showing himself in the person of a mediator.
This site's exposition
and yet my life was spared
Spared is natsal, the verb Jacob used in verse 11 when he asked to be delivered from the hand of Esau. The deliverance he names comes from the face of God. Exodus 33:20 states the danger, that no one can see God and live.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
Do you see how much confidence Jacob gained from the vision he had? That is to say, "my spirit survived," he is saying, "which had almost perished from fear. Since I was privileged to see God face to face, 'my spirit survived.' " Now the sun rose on him as he passed the sight of God.Do you see how the Lord shows considerateness for our human limitations in all he does and in arranging everything in a way that gives evidence of his characteristic love? Don't be surprised, dearly beloved, at the extent of his considerateness; rather, remember that with the patriarch as well, when Abraham was sitting by the oak tree, God came in human form as the good man's guest in the company of the angels, giving us a premonition from on high at the beginning that he would one day take human form to liberate all human nature by this means from the tyranny of the devil and lead us to salvation. At that time, however, since it was the very early stages, God appeared to each of them in the guise of an apparition, as he says himself through the inspired author, "I multiplied visions and took various likenesses in the works of the inspired authors."
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
He does not say, "In this place I wrestled with God, and prevailed;" but, "In this place I saw God face to face, and my life was preserved;" not, "It was my praise that I came off a conqueror, but it was God's mercy that I escaped with my life." Note, It becomes those whom God honours to take shame to themselves, and to admire the condescensions of his grace to them.
2 And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim. Jacob, having got clear of Laban, pursues his journey homewards towards Canaan: when God has helped us through difficulties we should go on our way heaven-ward with so much the more cheerfulness and resolution. Here is Jacob's convoy in his journey (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Lord, what will become of that promise, if they be all cut off? Jacob having piously made God his friend by a prayer, is here prudently endeavouring to make Esau his friend by a present. He had prayed to God to deliver him from the hand of Esau - His prayer did not make him presume upon God's mercy, without the use of means.
And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel,....
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּקְרָ֧א | vaiyikra' | and he called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| יַעֲקֹ֛ב | yaako | Jacob | H3290 → | 350 times |
| שֵׁ֥ם | shem | [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| הַמָּק֖וֹם | hamakom | the place | H4725 → | 401 times |
| פְּנִיאֵ֑ל | peniel | Peniel | H6439 → | |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| רָאִ֤יתִי | raiti | I have seen | H7200 → | 1300 times |
| אֱלֹהִים֙ | ʾelohim | God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| פָּנִ֣ים | panim | face | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| פָּנִ֔ים | panim | face | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| וַתִּנָּצֵ֖ל | vatinatzel | and it has been delivered | H5337 → | 212 times |
| נַפְשִֽׁי׃ | nafshi | life my | H5315 → | 754 times |
וַיִּקְרָ֧אand he called
vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times
יַעֲקֹ֛בJacob
yaakoH3290 →350 times
שֵׁ֥ם[the] name of
shemH8034 →864 times
הַמָּק֖וֹםthe place
hamakomH4725 →401 times
פְּנִיאֵ֑לPeniel
penielH6439 →
כִּֽי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
רָאִ֤יתִיI have seen
raitiH7200 →1300 times
אֱלֹהִים֙God
ʾelohimH430 →2601 times
פָּנִ֣יםface
panimH6440 →2123 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
פָּנִ֔יםface
panimH6440 →2123 times
וַתִּנָּצֵ֖לand it has been delivered
vatinatzelH5337 →212 times
נַפְשִֽׁי׃life my
nafshiH5315 →754 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 16:13So Hagar gave this name to the LORD who had spoken to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “Here I have seen the One who sees me!”
it leads to
- Psalms 139:1–12
O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
- Proverbs 15:3
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.
- Proverbs 5:21
For a man’s ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and the LORD examines all his paths.
- Psalms 139:1–12
Through
Isaiah 6:5Then I said: “Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD…
it leads to
- Luke 5:8–9
When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees. “Go away from me, Lord,” he said, “for I am a sinful man.”
- James 3:6–10
The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on…
- Jeremiah 9:3–8
“They bend their tongues like bows; lies prevail over truth in the land. For they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not take Me into account,” declares the LORD.
- Jeremiah 1:6
“Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!”
- Luke 5:8–9
Through
Numbers 12:8I speak with him face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 34:10
Since that time, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face—
- Deuteronomy 34:10
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies2
On this verse
On this chapter
About Genesis
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jerome, Hebrew Questions on Genesis; John Calvin, Commentary on Genesis; John Chrysostom, HOMILIES ON GENESIS 58.11-12; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.