Penuel on the Jabbok

In the Bible

Jacob sent his family across the ford of the Jabbok and was left alone; a man wrestled with him until daybreak, and Jacob named the place Peniel.

Gen 32:22–31During the night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants, and his eleven sons, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, along with all his possessions. So 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.” The sun rose above him as he passed by Penuel, and he was limping because of his hip.

Tradition

Where Penuel lay is not certain; one view places it on the twin hills of Tulul adh-Dhahab above the Zarqa river, the ancient Jabbok.

Here today

Two hills with scattered ruins above the green valley of the Zarqa; there is no church or shrine, only the river and the view.

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Land outlines: Natural Earth (public domain).