Where did Jacob wrestle with God?

Question

Accepted Answer

At the ford of the Jabbok, the river now called the Zarqa in Jordan, at a place Jacob named Peniel or Penuel, “the face of God”. The site is usually sought at Tulul edh-Dhahab, two hills on a bend of the Zarqa gorge about a dozen kilometres east of the Jordan; the map point stands on the eastern hill, about 63 km north-east of Jerusalem in a straight line. Many scholars agree, but which of the two hills was Penuel, and which Mahanaim, is not certain, and some look for Penuel elsewhere along the river. Jacob was coming home from Haran, about 600 km to the north-east, to meet Esau. “And he rose up that night… and passed over the ford Jabbok”; then “Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.” The stranger lamed him and renamed him: “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” Jacob said, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved”, and “as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.” Hosea recalls that “he had power over the angel, and prevailed”. From Penuel Jacob went on to Succoth, about 7 km to the west in the Jordan valley, and then across the river to Shechem, about 39 km away. In the days of the judges Penuel was a town with a tower, which Gideon pulled down, and Jeroboam I later rebuilt it. Eusebius knew only that the place lay by the Jabbok.