2007-12-20 01:33:04 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I never heard of 'mama pajama's' interpretation but I guess that works...As a metaphor. But what would the literalists' say?
Edit: I re-read coffee's answer and don't agree but she wasn't being disrespectful...some sincerely think Jesus existed (up in Heaven with God...or as God) before the human thing.
2007-12-20 05:17:17 · answer #1 · answered by strpenta 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Genesis suggests it was G-d, not an angel, that wrestled with Jacob. Opinions differ, though.
~Check out http://www.whatjewsbelieve.org for more info
2007-12-20 01:42:35 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
Lets say as a Dad I am trying to teach my son to believe in himself, to have self esteem, and to lead without fear. Now I know I can take my son in a wrestling match at any given moment, but if I did I would teach him exactly the opposite than what I intended to. This is why.
2007-12-20 04:32:44 · answer #3 · answered by 2U2 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
it was a wrestling of Jacob's faith and inner turmoil in his wrestling with the Leader of the army of the Lord...which is one of the titles attributed to Jesus...
wrestling in prayer...the same concept but this one was much larger and through the battle within and without he received a blessing ....
2007-12-20 01:51:56 · answer #4 · answered by coffee_pot12 7 · 2⤊ 3⤋
Jacob anointed himself with oil first?
2007-12-20 01:35:51 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 3⤋
Simple : Vince McMahon didn't book the match.
2007-12-20 01:36:04 · answer #6 · answered by Deke 7 · 2⤊ 3⤋
Couldn't?
2007-12-20 01:38:09 · answer #7 · answered by joseph8638 6 · 1⤊ 3⤋
Why couldn't he repel chariots of iron either?
2007-12-20 01:50:48 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
It wasn't God. It was an angel. They're not nearly as tough.
2007-12-20 01:36:29 · answer #9 · answered by Purdey EP 7 · 4⤊ 2⤋
The whole object of that story was to illustrate that Jacob was 'struggling" with his notions of God, faith in the covenant of his father, and finding his place and connection to it and God through it.
It wasn't a matter of God not being able to "defeat" Jacob, whether through representative of angel or however..it was about Jacob coming to terms with his own struggle. When he was renamed there..the very name itself, the name of the nation covenant itself, defines a part of our path as the covenant nation to live as a light unto others..through our OWN STRUGGLES WITH GOD.
Israel means quite literally "struggle with God." We struggle with understanding, to learn from our mistakes, to learn who and what we are and why we are here and what we should do with our life..
Israel struggles to fulfill its terms of the covenant to live a life of Tikkun Olam ( Repair of the world) walking with God in attempt to restore it to a harmony of justice, mercy and compassion for all living and to make it a better world for the next generation. It is a continual struggle to master our evil inclinations and this is also something we are reminded of by the very name that Jacob earned in that STRUGGLE. Israel..struggle with God.
God wasn't out to defeat Jacob but to join in the struggle. :)
EDIT: coffee..Jesus had nothing to do with this story. How about someone place Zeus into every aspect of Christian dogma..would that be respectful of your religion to you? Please don't disrespect.
EDIT: In response to Happy's query..well a quick google on that Torah portion revealed this nice quote from a rabbi, Rabbi Maurice Harris of Eugene, Oregon who writes:
God-wrestling in a Conscious Community
"You see, I became a rabbi because I couldn’t stop wrestling with Judaism. Not because I found uninterrupted joy in Judaism, not because it always felt like home, and not because I was drawn like a moth to its spiritual flame. For me, it was the path of Jacob - of Ya’akov - our biblical ancestor who wrestled with God. For those of you who don’t remember the story, one night while Jacob was alone by the Ya-bok River, a mysterious man appeared, and they wrestled throughout the night. Jacob won the contest, and later discovered that he had been wrestling with a Divine being, possibly God, Godself. For many Jews, Jacob is the ancestor who symbolizes the experience of struggling with G-d - and also of struggling with Judaism. Or, to mix religious metaphors, Jacob is the patron saint of those who see the path of wrestling with one’s tradition as a holy path.
"That’s been me for my whole adult life."
EDIT again..I realize I may have been harsh to coffee from her perspective, I was feeling strained from having just read several previous q and a's that were so outrageously disrespectful of Jews and Judaism that perhaps I overreacted..however it is so tiresome as a Jew to see Jesus imposed in EVERY aspect of our religion's Holy texts, no matter what is being asked about. It is as if every single aspect of meaning of faith must be hijacked in order to give theirs meaning. This was the first time I'd seen a method to even put Jesus in THIS story and it didn't strike me very well at the time. Sometimes I must REALLY STRUGGLE to not see that as disrespectful.
Shalom
2007-12-20 01:59:13 · answer #10 · answered by ✡mama pajama✡ 7 · 2⤊ 2⤋