Genesis 32:29

Summary

Jacob asks the identity of the being he has been wrestling with, requesting to know his name. The being responds with a counter-question, refusing to disclose the name, and then blesses Jacob at that location.

Key words

• sha'al ("he asked", H7592) — qal narrative form, opens the verse with Jacob as subject; the same root reappears in tish'al ("do you ask", H7592) as an imperfect, marking the being's ongoing/repeated action of asking.
• haggidah ("tell", H5046) — hiphil (causative) imperative with paragogic he (H9012) attached, intensifying the command; the causative stem implies "cause [me] to know" rather than a simple statement.
• shem-kha ("your name", H8034 + H9021) — the noun shem is in construct form, bound to the pronominal suffix -kha ("your"), forming the direct object of Jacob's request.
• lamah zeh ("why this?", H4100 + H2088) — the interrogative mah combined with the demonstrative zeh forms an emphatic rhetorical question, more forceful than a plain "why."
• vayvarekh ("and he blessed", H1288) — piel (intensive) stem, narrative form; the piel here marks the act of blessing as a deliberate, effectual action rather than a simple statement of goodwill.

What the text says

The verse is built on a chain of narrative vav-forms (vayyish'al, vayyomer, vayyomer, vayvarekh), each meaning "and then," which structures the exchange as a rapid sequence of speech-acts followed by a resulting action. Jacob's request uses the hiphil imperative haggidah with the emphatic paragogic he and the particle na' ("please", H4994), producing a polite but urgent command: "tell, please." The object of this telling is shem-kha, "your name," with shem in construct state bound to the second-person suffix.

The response does not use a direct refusal but a rhetorical question built from lamah zeh, literally "why this?" — the demonstrative zeh sharpens the interrogative mah, giving the question an intensified, almost incredulous tone that Hebrew grammar constructs through particle combination rather than a single interrogative word. The verb tish'al is imperfect, which can carry ongoing or habitual nuance, suggesting the question of "asking my name" is treated as a general or repeated matter, not just this one instance. The passage ends with the piel verb vayvarekh, "and he blessed him," a stem form that in Hebrew grammar often marks intensive or effective action, followed by the adverb sham ("there", H8033), anchoring the blessing to that specific location.

Differences between versions

The LXX renders the second speech not as a bare rhetorical question but adds structure with ἵνα τί ("for what reason"), matching the Hebrew lamah zeh fairly closely in force. The Vulgate's Cur quæris nomen meum? ("Why do you seek my name?") uses quæris ("you seek") rather than a verb strictly meaning "ask," diverging slightly from the Hebrew tish'al ("you ask", H7592), which is the same root used for Jacob's initial asking.