Genesis 32:31

Summary

The verse describes the moment the sun rose as Jacob passed Penuel, noting that he was limping because of his thigh. The Hebrew marks this as the immediate aftermath of the preceding encounter, using a converted narrative verb to continue the story sequence.

Key words

• vayyizrach ("it rose", H2224) — qal narrative form, the vav-consecutive construction that advances the story as a sequence of events ("and then the sun rose").
• lo ("to him", H9033) — pronominal suffix attached to the preposition, indicating the sun rose specifically "for him" or "upon him," personalizing the event to the subject.
• Penuel (H6439G) — proper name, the place being passed; grammatically unmarked by the direct object marker's usual force here since it names a location rather than a generic object.
• tzole'a ("limping", H6760) — qal participle, expressing a continuous or ongoing state ("was limping") rather than a single completed action, contrasting with the perfect verb avar ("he passed", H5674A) used just before it.
• yerekho ("his thigh", H3409) — feminine singular noun in construct form with a pronominal suffix, specifying the body part affected.

What the text says

The sentence is built in two halves joined by the narrative vav-chain typical of Biblical Hebrew storytelling. The first half, vayyizrach lo hashemesh ka'asher avar et-Penuel ("and the sun rose for him as he passed Penuel"), uses the converted imperfect vayyizrach to mark this as the next event in sequence, while the subordinate clause with ka'asher ("as/when") and the perfect verb avar ("he passed") frames the sunrise as coinciding with the completed act of passing the place.

The second half, vehu tzole'a al-yerekho ("and he was limping on his thigh"), shifts from narrative verb forms to a participle (tzole'a), which in Hebrew grammar denotes an ongoing or habitual state rather than a single event. This shift in verbal aspect subtly signals that the limping is a continuing condition, not merely part of the sequential action described by the surrounding narrative verbs.

Differences between versions

The Hebrew Penuel (H6439G) is a proper place name, but the LXX renders it as τὸ Εἶδος τοῦ θεοῦ ("the Form of God"), translating the name's components rather than transliterating it as a toponym. The Vulgate instead retains the proper name as Phanuel, aligning with the Hebrew's use of a place name.

Additionally, the Hebrew yerekho ("his thigh", H3409) is rendered by the Vulgate as pede ("foot"), a different body part than the Hebrew specifies, while the LXX's τῷ μηρῷ ("the thigh") matches the Hebrew term.