Peniel standard
said to have been given to the place by Jacob after his night of wrestling by the Jabbok, because, as he said, "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." It was a height evidently close by the stream over …
Where is Peniel in the Bible?
Peniel, also called Penuel, was located in ancient Palestine east of the Jordan River, near the Jabbok stream in the region that is now modern-day Jordan. This place is most famous as the site where Jacob wrestled with God throughout the night and received a new name, Israel, as recorded in Genesis 32. The name Peniel itself means "face of God," which Jacob gave to the location because he said he had seen God face to face and survived the encounter. The theological significance of Peniel centers on this transformative moment, where Jacob's struggle with the divine resulted in both a physical mark and a spiritual rebirth, making it one of the most pivotal encounters with God in the Old Testament.
In Scripture2 biblical books; 1 with study content
- Genesis
- Judges
Peniel
ISBE 1915 (Public Domain)said to have been given to the place by Jacob after his night of wrestling by the Jabbok, because, as he said, "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved." It was a height evidently close by the stream over which Jacob passed in the morning. Some have thought it might be a prominent cliff, the contour of which resembled a human face. Such a cliff on the seashore to the South of Tripoli was called theou prosopon, "face of God" (Strabo xvi.2,15 f). In later times a city with a strong tower stood upon it. This lay in the line of Gideon's pursuit of the Midianites. When he returned victorious, he beat down the place because of the churlishness of the inhabitants (Jud 8:8,9,17). It was one of the towns "built" or fortified by Jeroboam (1Ki 12:25). Merrill would identify it with Telul edh-Dhahab, "hills of gold," two hills with ruins that betoken great antiquity, and that speak of great strength, on the South of the Jabbok, about 10 miles East of Jordan (for description see Merrill, East of the Jordan, 390 if). A difficulty that seems fatal to this identification is that here the banks of the Jabbok are so precipitous as to be impassable. Conder suggests Jebel 'Osha. The site was clearly not far from Succoth; but no certainty is yet possible.
W. Ewing
pe-nin'-a (peninnah, "coral," "pearl"): Second wife of Elkanah, father of Samuel (1Sa 1:2,4).
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