Peniel
The place at the ford of the Jabbok, east of the Jordan, where Jacob wrestled through the night and was given the name Israel. Its exact site is not known.
Genesis sets Peniel at the ford of the Jabbok, the modern Zarqa river in Jordan (Genesis 32:22). It explains the name by Jacob’s words, “I have seen God face to face” (Genesis 32:30). Later books spell it Penuel. A town of that name with a tower stood near Succoth in the days of Gideon, who pulled the tower down (Judges 8:8–9) (Judges 8:17), and Jeroboam I fortified it (1 Kings 12:25). No site has been identified with certainty. The pin stands at Tulul adh-Dhahab, twin mounds on the lower Zarqa where the town is most often sought, and marks the general area only.
What happened here
- about 1929 BC to 1909 BC, traditional dateJacob Becomes Israel
Jacob, fleeing his brother Esau, receives the promise of Abraham in a dream at Bethel. Twenty years later he wrestles through the night at the Jabbok and is given the name Israel, which his descendants will bear.