Wrestling in the Bible poster
18" X 24"
One of the most intriguing stories in the Bible takes place in Genesis 31:24 through 35:28 when Jacob, one of the Bible's greatest figures, meets a stranger and they wrestle all through the night. Jacob struggles valiantly until his thigh is injured by a touch from the stranger. Tenaciously, Jacob clings to the stranger and says he will not let go until the stranger blesses him.
"Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel," says the stranger. The stranger is a messenger from God, an angel.....and the new name means "wrestler with God."
Wrestling is the first of three sports mentioned in the Bible. The wrestling match took place around 2000 B.C., near the brook known as Jabbok, just north of the Dead Sea.