a. Let me go. Jacob now has a dislocated hip but he still holds on to the man. The man turns to Jacob and says, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Hosea 12 says that “he wept and sought his favor.” He is not weeping because of his hip but he is seeking this blessing, this favor, this grace with tears. He is clinging on to the man and refuses to let go until he receives a blessing from him. So he is not letting go not out of defiance but with a desire to receive a blessing. This sort of blessing comes when a superior blesses an inferior. We’ve seen this in Genesis several times. When a father, the superior, blesses his son, the inferior. Or when the King of Salem, superior, blesses Abraham, the inferior. And so Jacob knows that he is in the presence of someone who is superior to him and has a valuable blessing to give. b. What is your name? The man asks for Jacob’s name. And then says, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” The man changes Jacob’s name from supplanter to “he strives with God”. The reason given for the name change is that Jacob has striven with both God and man and has prevailed. Again, the man changing Jacob’s name is significant because only a superior could do that. Back in Genesis 17, we saw a similar name change when God changes Abram’s name to Abraham. c. Why ask my name? Let’s stop and review what we know so far about this man that Jacob wrestled. He is a man. The word in Hebrew is the normal word for man. Jacob had the power to wrestle him for some time. But when the man chose he could simply touched (in Hebrew it is the word for a touch) Jacob’s hip and it went out of joint. Clearly, this man has some power and willingly chose to wrestle with Jacob for as long as they did. And this man is superior to Jacob, so much so, that Jacob refused to let him go until he was blessed by him. Then we arrive at verse 29 and Jacob asks for the man’s name. The man’s reply is, “Why is it that you ask my name?” There is a couple of ways to read this statement. Is the man asking why Jacob is asking for his name because he already knows who he is or is he asking because Jacob thinks he has the right to know his name which he is not since they are not equals or is the man asking the question because Jacob can’t know his name? Who is this man?