Penuel Baptist Chapel, Rhymney - geograph.org.uk - 498824.jpg
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Penuel (or ''Pniel'', ''Pnuel''; Hebrew: ''Pənūʾēl'') is a place described in the Hebrew Bible as being not far from Succoth, on the east of the
Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan ( ar, نَهْر الْأُرْدُنّ, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn'', he, נְהַר הַיַּרְדֵּן, ''Nəhar hayYardēn''; syc, ܢܗܪܐ ܕܝܘܪܕܢܢ ''Nahrāʾ Yurdnan''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Shariea ...
and south of the river Jabbok in present-day Jordan. Penuel is mentioned in the Book of Genesis as the site of Jacob's struggle with the angel. In
1 Kings The Book of Kings (, '' Sēfer Məlāḵīm'') is a book in the Hebrew Bible, found as two books (1–2 Kings) in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. It concludes the Deuteronomistic history, a history of Israel also including the books ...
, it is mentioned as a capital for Jeroboam, first king of the northern
Kingdom of Israel The Kingdom of Israel may refer to any of the historical kingdoms of ancient Israel, including: Fully independent (c. 564 years) * Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy) (1047–931 BCE), the legendary kingdom established by the Israelites and uniti ...
, which he fortified.


Biblical narrative

According to the Biblical narrative, the site was named ''Peniel'' ("Face of God") by Jacob: Here Jacob wrestled (Gen. 32:24–32) "with a man" ("the angel", Hos. 12:4) "till the break of day." This episode resulted in God (or the angel) changing Jacob's name to "Israel" (Gen. 32:28) which literally means, "he who strives with God" or "God strives". Penuel is later mentioned in the Book of Judges. The men of this place refused to give bread to
Gideon Gideon (; ) also named Jerubbaal and Jerubbesheth, was a military leader, judge and prophet whose calling and victory over the Midianites are recounted in of the Book of Judges in the Hebrew Bible. Gideon was the son of Joash, from the Abiez ...
and his three hundred men when they were in pursuit of the Midianites (). On his return, Gideon tore down the tower there and killed all the men of the city. According to the Jewish Bible, king Jeroboam of Israel established his capital in Shechem. A short time later, he left Shechem and fortified Penuel, declaring it as his new capital (). He and his son, Nadab, ruled there, until Baasha seized the throne in 909 BCE and moved the capital to Tirzah (). In the scriptures, it is identified as both an El-site and a
Jahwist The Jahwist, or Yahwist, often abbreviated J, is one of the most widely recognized sources of the Pentateuch (Torah), together with the Deuteronomist, the Priestly source and the Elohist. The existence of the Jahwist is somewhat controversial, ...
site. ‘Pnuel’ is also a common name given to males in Assyrian culture. Some scholars consider that the material of Genesis 32–35, including the account of Jacob being renamed Israel at Penuel, may be a later addition that introduces a new power structure centered around the establishment of sacral places in the North (Penuel, Shechem and
Bethel Bethel ( he, בֵּית אֵל, translit=Bēṯ 'Ēl, "House of El" or "House of God",Bleeker and Widegren, 1988, p. 257. also transliterated ''Beth El'', ''Beth-El'', ''Beit El''; el, Βαιθήλ; la, Bethel) was an ancient Israelite sanct ...
).


Identification

Up until 1970, biblical scholars identified Penuel with the twin peaks of Tulul adh-Dhahab in modern-day Jordan. Based on the account given in Genesis, scholars believed Penuel to be the location of a sacred sanctuary, and presumed that there must have been a temple from
Iron Age I The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly a ...
or earlier on one of the peaks. Since such a structure has not been found, this identification was questioned. Contemporary Israeli archaeologist
Israel Finkelstein Israel Finkelstein ( he, ישראל פינקלשטיין, born March 29, 1949) is an Israeli archaeologist, professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University and the head of the School of Archaeology and Maritime Cultures at the University of Haifa. Fin ...
suggested to see the twin peaks as two distinct sites that probably featured distinct names during antiquity. He suggested identifying the western, larger, hill (Tell edh-Dhahab al-Gharbi) with Mahanaim and the eastern one (Tell edh-Dhahab esh-Sharqi) with Penuel.


See also

Vayishlach Vayishlach or Vayishlah ( — Hebrew for "and he sent," the first word of the parashah) is the eighth weekly Torah portion (, ) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading. In the parashah, Jacob reconciles with Esau after wrestling with a "man. ...
, the Torah reading describing the events at Penuel.


References

{{Coord, 32, 11, N, 35, 42, E, type:city_region:JO_source:dewiki, display=title Torah places Jacob Book of Genesis Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)