‘And he said, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” And he said, “Your name will no more be called Jacob, but Israel (isra-el), for you have striven (from the verb sarah) with God and with men and have prevailed.” '
The asking of the name in such circumstances is to seek the character of the person. Jacob meant ‘he who clutches' and refers to the supplanting of the man Esau. Israel means ‘he who strives with God' or ‘God strives'. This change of name marks the culmination of the change whereby ‘the grasper' becomes the one who is determined to fulfil his purpose within the will of God. Not that he is yet perfect. But his life has taken on a new direction. He is now a man of God, ‘he who strives with God', and his future is secure within the sovereign purposes of God, ‘God strives'. Thus is he now ‘Israel'. And this change of name is the guarantee of his future hopes.
“With God and with men.” ‘With men' may refer to his previous tussles with Esau which have resulted in his seeming predicament, or to his struggles with Laban. But they also refer to his future struggles. The word is prophetic. The point is that he has been, and, what is equally important, will be, victor in all with God's help because he has prevailed here in prayer.
Hosea describes the incident thus. ‘In the womb he took his brother by the heel. And in his manhood he strove with God. Yes he strove with the angel and prevailed. He wept and made supplication to him.' (Hosea 12:3-4). As often ‘the angel' is introduced to refer to the immediacy of God.
‘And Jacob asked him and said, “Tell me, I pray you, your name.'
Jacob” s purpose in asking the name is so that he can worship and appreciate what God is doing in the correct way (compare Judges 13:17-18). He is asking, ‘what are you revealing yourself to be?' He knows that this is Yahweh, but he has never had this kind of experience before. Yahweh had been the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac. He had been El Shaddai, the Almighty God in His sovereignty over the nations in the wider covenant. What is He now to be to Jacob? He is seeking an even greater special relationship with God.
(There is no suggestion here that he is trying to get power over God by knowing His name. We must not judge relationships with Yahweh by primitive ideas. To know a name could signify a total relationship. Compare how often covenants were prefixed by ‘I am --' followed by a name.).
‘And he said, “For what reason do you ask me my name?” And he blessed him there.'
God does not want to introduce to Jacob a new conception of Himself. There is no need for a change of relationship. He wants to be known by the names by which He was known of old. He wants continuation not change. He is the God of Abraham and he wants Jacob to realise that he is to continue the old covenant and purposes, not become involved in new ones as a result of God revealing more of His inner nature. He is still the God of Bethel. Jacob knows all he needs to know about Him.
He had revealed Himself as El Shaddai, the Almighty God, to Abraham when sealing the wider covenant (Genesis 17:1), for then a new covenant was involved. Not that the name was new, it was the significance that was new. He had revealed Himself as Yahweh, the One Who is, and Who will be what He wants to be. He would reveal Himself as the ‘I am', revealing the essential nature of the name Yahweh, when He delivered Israel and established His covenant with them. Again it would not be the name that was new, but the significance of the name. But Jacob is to continue the covenants given to Abraham under the names of Abraham's God.
“And he blessed him there.” Having settled the issue of His name He now ‘blesses' Jacob. He confirms that the covenant promises will go on through him and that his future is certain. The deceitful way in which he obtained his first blessing is now forgotten. He is a new man.