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Genesis 32 General Notes
Special concepts in this chapter
Jacob does not trust Yahweh
Jacob does not trust in Yahweh. Instead, he fears that his brother Esau could kill him and his family. He should have known that Yahweh would continue to bless him and protect his family. He should have trusted in Yahweh's covenant faithfulness. (See: rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/bless and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/trust and rc://en/tw/dict/bible/kt/covenantfaith)
Name change
In Scripture, a change in name always occurs at a highly significant point in a person's life. The return of Jacob to Canaan was a significant event in the history of the Hebrew people.
Other possible translation difficulties in this chapter
"A man wrestled with him"
Scholars are divided over the identity of the person Jacob wrestled with. It was probably an angel, but some believe he wrestled with Jesus before he came to earth. The translator will probably have difficulty trying to keep ambiguity in identifying this individual because the word "man" usually indicates a normal, living person. (See: rc://en/ta/man/jit/figs-explicit)