Jacob Wrestles with the Angel

Gustave Doré · 1866 (designs for La Sainte Bible, Tours); this printing 1873–1874
National Library of Poland, Warsaw

C. Laplante cut this plate from Doré’s drawing; his name stands at the bottom right. Two figures locked together fill the upper right, on a hilltop high above a wide plain, and the first light of day spreads along the horizon.

Jacob, in a short tunic, pushes forward with his head down, gripping the other’s arm. The tall winged figure, calm and robed, holds Jacob’s wrist high above them. Jacob’s staff lies on the ground. Far below, palm trees and water lie in the half-light.

From the text

“a man wrestled with him until daybreak” (Genesis 32:24)

“Let me go, for it is daybreak” (Genesis 32:26)

“I will not let you go unless you bless me” (Genesis 32:26)

The artist’s own

The wrestler drawn as a winged angel — the text says “a man”

A hilltop above a plain of palms rather than the ford of the Jabbok (Genesis 32:22)

Details

Jacob

He pushes forward with his head down, gripping his opponent.

The winged figure

A tall robed figure with great wings holds Jacob’s wrist.

The raised hands

Their hands lock together high in the air.

The staff

Jacob’s staff lies on the ground at their feet.

Gustave Doré, French, 1832–1883. National Library of Poland (Biblioteka Narodowa), Warsaw — «Pismo Święte Starego i Nowego Testamentu», vol. 1, Warsaw: M. Glücksberg, 1873 (acc. 75.267 A), tabl. 24 · Wood engraving after Gustave Doré’s design · National Library of Poland (Polona): the record of the volume gives the licence «Domena Publiczna» (Public Domain), «copyrightProtected»: false; the scan was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons by the library itself («Polona Upload», GLAM-Wiki partnership: “This file was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons as part of a GLAM-Wiki partnership between the National Library of Poland and Wikimedia Polska”), linking its Polona record.

The verses

Gen 32:24–30So Jacob was left all alone, and there a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower Jacob, he struck the socket of Jacob’s hip and dislocated it as they wrestled. Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.” But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” “What is your name?” the man asked. “Jacob,” he replied. Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.” And Jacob requested, “Please tell me your name.” But he replied, “Why do you ask my name?” Then he blessed Jacob there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, saying, “Indeed, I have seen God face to face, and yet my life was spared.”