Jacob and the angel

Hand colored stencil print on washi by Sadao Watanabe (1970).

Image taken with permission from the SadaoHanga Catalogue where you can find many more images and information about Sadao Watanabe. For other images of Sadao Watanabe art works in TIPs, see here.

The following artwork is part of a series of 56 paintings on biblical themes by Kazakh artist Nelly Bube (born 1949):

Copyright by Norwegian Bible Society , used with permission.

For other images of Nelly Bube in TIPs, see here.

The following is a stained glass window in the Sacred Heart Cathedral in Chiang Mai, Thailand:

Photo by Jost Zetzsche

Stained glass is not just highly decorative, it’s a medium which has been used to express important religious messages for centuries. Literacy was not widespread in the medieval and Renaissance periods and the Church used stained glass and other artworks to teach the central beliefs of Christianity. In Gothic churches, the windows were filled with extensive narrative scenes in stained glass — like huge and colorful picture storybooks — in which worshipers could ‘read’ the stories of Christ and the saints and learn what was required for their religious salvation. (Source: Victoria and Albert Museum )

complete verse (Genesis 32:22)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Genesis 32:22:

  • Kankanaey: “When it was not yet light on that night (i.e., before morning), Jacob got-up and called his two spouses and his two female slaves and his ten and one children so-that he would have- them -cross-over that river.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Newari: “That night, Jacob got up, took along his two wives, two maid servants, and eleven sons, and crossed the Jabbok River.” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “That night, Jacob got-up and he brought his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven children, and they crossed-over the River of Jabok.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “Some time during that night, Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female slaves, and his eleven sons and his daughter, and he sent them across the ford at the Jabbok River.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Genesis 32:22

The same night refers to the night mentioned in verse 21. It is the night before Jacob’s meeting with Esau. Some translations say “In the course of that night….” The time is adequately expressed in both verses 21 and 22 to provide the continuation of the story without a break.

Arose and took his two wives may mean that Jacob got up (from sleeping) and took them. However, the construction is commonly used as initiating an action: “Jacob took his two wives and….”

His two maids: for maids see 16.1. Strictly speaking these women belong to his wives. However, he has some claim on them as they have given birth to his children. Some translations say “… took his four wives.” Good News Translation has “his two concubines.”

His eleven children: Jacob has only eleven sons because Benjamin has not yet been born. Here “sons” is more suitable than children.

And crossed: this seems to indicate that Jacob went across the river; but see comments on verse 23.

Ford of the Jabbok: a ford is a shallow place in a river or stream where people and animals can cross to the other side. The Jabbok is today known in Arabic as the “Wadi Zerga.” It flows westward into the Jordan river about forty kilometers (twenty five miles) north of the Dead Sea.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .