Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 24. A man, and so forth This was an angel in human shape, as we learn from Osee 12:4. He is called God, verse 28 and 30, because he represented the person of the Son of God. This wrestling, in which Jacob, assisted by God, was a match for an angel, was so ordered, (verse 28) that he might learn by this experiment of the divine assistance, that neither Esau, nor any other man, should have power to hurt him. It was also spiritual, as appeareth by his earnest prayer, urging, and at last obtaining the angel’s blessing. Challoner.—The father will not refuse a good gift to those who ask him with fervour and humility. Jacob had before set us an excellent pattern how to pray, placing his confidence in God, and distrusting himself, verse 9. and so forth Bible.—It is not certain, whether Jacob remained alone on the northern or on the southern banks of Jaboc. Calmet.