The Case of the Inverted Male Wrestlers: Assessing Lyle Eslinger's Reversal of the Participants in Genesis 32:26–33

A popular article by Lyle Eslinger makes a vigorous case for revising the common understanding of Jacob's wrestling match with the stranger at Penuel (Gen 32:23–33 [Eng. 32:22–32]). Eslinger proposes that Jacob was the one who struck his opponent in the כַּף יָָרֵֵךְ, rather than vice versa. Notably, Eslinger's approach to the text is synchronic and thus a clear departure from previous source-critical attempts to accomplish the same thing (e.g., Hermann Gunkel). Consequently, he justifies his exchange of the participants in v. 26a with grammatical, literary, and exegetical arguments—all of which have yet to be addressed in academic literature. In thoroughly examining Eslinger's evidence, I have detected numerous deficiencies in his analysis. His conclusion, therefore, that Jacob struck the stranger in the כף ירך lacks adequate support and does not merit serious consideration.