Gen 32, 25-31 I have seen God face to face

Genesis 32 (chosen pages)

(Gen 32, 25-31) I have seen God face to face

[25] Jacob was left there alone. Then some man wrestled with him until the break of dawn. [26] When the man saw that he could not prevail over him, he struck Jacob's hip at its socket, so that the hip socket was wrenched as they wrestled. [27] The man then said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak." But Jacob said, "I will not let you go until you bless me." [28] "What is your name?" the man asked. He answered, "Jacob." [29] Then the man said, "You shall no longer be spoken of as Jacob, but as Israel, because you have contended with divine and human beings and have prevailed." [30] Jacob then asked him, "Do tell me your name, please." He answered, "Why should you want to know my name?" With that, he bade him farewell. [31] Jacob named the place Peniel, "Because I have seen God face to face," he said, "yet my life has been spared."

(CCC 707) Theophanies (manifestations of God) light up the way of the promise, from the patriarchs to Moses and from Joshua to the visions that inaugurated the missions of the great prophets. Christian tradition has always recognized that God's Word allowed himself to be seen and heard in these theophanies, in which the cloud of the Holy Spirit both revealed him and concealed him in its shadow. (CCC 2573) God renews his promise to Jacob, the ancestor of the twelve tribes of Israel (Cf. Gen 28:10-22). Before confronting his elder brother Esau, Jacob wrestles all night with a mysterious figure who refuses to reveal his name, but he blesses him before leaving him at dawn. From this account, the spiritual tradition of the Church has retained the symbol of prayer as a battle of faith and as the triumph of perseverance (Cf. Gen 32:24-30; Lk 18:1-8).