As Jacob nears home, he hears that Esau is coming with four hundred men. Jacob is greatly afraid and distressed, and for the first time we hear him pray a full prayer: “I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant… Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother.” Jacob is learning to depend on God rather than on his own cleverness.
That night Jacob is left alone, “and a Man wrestled with him until the breaking of day.” When the Man sees that He does not prevail against him, He touches the socket of Jacob's hip, and it is out of joint. Jacob clings and says, “I will not let You go unless You bless me!” The Man asks, “What is your name?” — the same question his father had asked when Jacob lied and said, “I am Esau.” This time Jacob tells the truth: “Jacob.”
Then comes the new name: “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Jacob calls the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” As the sun rises, he limps on his hip. Jacob prevailed not by fighting harder but by clinging in weakness. He walked away with a limp and a blessing.
In the morning Esau runs to meet Jacob, embraces him, falls on his neck, kisses him, and they weep. Jacob says, “I have seen your face as though I had seen the face of God, and you were pleased with me.” Twenty years of fear melt away in God's reconciliation. Chapter 34, the violence at Shechem against Dinah, shows that Jacob's family still has deep wounds, and that God's people must not take revenge into their own hands.
God tells Jacob, “Arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there.” Jacob tells his household, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, and change your garments.” At Bethel God confirms the name Israel and says, “I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply.” Then come sorrows: Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin, and Isaac dies and is buried by Esau and Jacob together. Genesis 36 lists Esau's descendants, the Edomites, before the story turns to Joseph.