Jacob was on his way home after years away, and he was terrified. His brother Esau was coming to meet him with four hundred men. The last time Jacob had seen Esau, Esau wanted to kill him.
The night before they met, Jacob sent his family and possessions across the Jabbok River and stayed behind alone. A “man” appeared and wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that Jacob would not give up, he touched Jacob’s hip and dislocated it.
Jacob still held on and demanded a blessing. The man asked him, “What is your name?”
Jacob.
Jacob’s name is connected to the Hebrew word for “heel.” He was given the name because he was born holding onto Esau’s heel. Years later, after Jacob took Esau’s blessing, Esau connected his brother’s name with the fact that Jacob had now taken his place twice, first with the birthright and then with the blessing.
Now, before blessing him, the man made Jacob say his name.
Then he gave him a new one. Jacob would also be called Israel, “for you have contended with God and with men, and have prevailed.”
Jacob named the place Peniel because, he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been spared.”
He crossed the river the next morning with a new name and a permanent limp.
Genesis 32:22–32
God has more questions. See Let Me Ask You Something: When God Asks a Direct Question.