Genesis 32:29

And he said, Thy name shall be no more called Jakob but Israel, because thou art magnified with the angels of the Lord and with the mighty, and thou hast prevailed with them.

כי שרית, the word is derived from שרה in Hoseah 12,4 ובאונו שרה את אלוקים, “and with his might he fought with a Divine Being (reference to Yaakov).” The construction is parallel to קנה-קנית, or עשה-עשית. However, in the same chapter, verse 5 in Hoseah, the word וישר in the line וישר אל מלאך ויוכל, “he wrestled with an angel and prevailed,” is not derived from the root שרה but is of the same category of verbs as קם, שב, רץ all of which have a letter ו in the middle in the infinitive. The corresponding construction to ours of those examples would be ויקם, ויקב, וירץ, as in וישר from the root שור, ”to wrestle.” As to the fact that in spite of his victory, Yaakov was injured in that struggle, this was a punishment for his attempt to flee, in spite of his having been assured by G’d that He would help and protect him. We find other examples of great people who pursue a path that does not conform with G’d’s will that as a result they experience punishment for ignoring G’d’s will. As soon as Moses refused the mission and told G’d to send someone else, (Exodus 4,13) we find that G’d became angry at him. According to the plain meaning of the text there, although the sages say that wherever G’d’s anger is mentioned the subject at whom G’d is angry is visibly punished, whereas there is no word about Moses being punished for his words שלח נא ביד תשלח, Aaron who was meant to function only as a Levite, became the High Priest, a role which Moses would have filled but for his improper refusal to accept G’d’s mission without demurring. This is an explanation based on an allegorical approach, whereas the plain meaning is that at the inn, when on his way to Egypt, Moses was almost killed for having been remiss in not circumcising his son Eliezer before setting out on his journey. Jonah, too was punished for trying to circumvent the will of G’d and spent three most uncomfortable days inside one or more fish. Similarly, G’d’s anger resulted in Bileam being harmed by his ass when contravening G’d’s will and setting out on his way to curse the Jewish people (Numbers 22,22 indicates that he walked with a pronounced limp, presumably due to having his leg squeezed against the wall by his ass as per Numbers 22,25.

לא יעקב יאמר עוד שמך, a reference to the end of days when Israel will have survived the destruction of the gentile nations When that time comes no one ever will again use the name Yaakov for the Jewish people [and the stigma that used to be associated with that name. Ed.] The very word יעקב already contained within this message that the bearer of this name will triumph at the end. Once he has triumphed there is no more point in having a name which alludes to something which will be realised only in the future. The future will then have arrived!

כי אם ישראל כי שרית, they will only refer to as “Israel.” This new name is to confirm that שרית עם אלוקים ועם אנשים, this is analogous to Isaiah 24,21 יפקוד ה' על צבא המרום במרום ועל מלכי האדמה על האדמה, “in that day the Lord will punish the host of heaven in heaven and the kings of the earth on earth.”

ויאמר, an angel is allowed to expand the parameters of his mission, as we know already from when Lot asked the angel to allow him not to climb the mountain but to spend the night in Tzoar (Genesis 19,21). The angel there describes himself as granting permission, although it is possible that he checked with G’d first and the Torah did not bother to mention this.

לא יעקב יאמר, the meaning is “not only Yaakov will your name be in future.” We have examples of parallel meanings in Joshua 22,20 לא גוע בעונו, “he did not die due to his sin,” where the meaning is that “not only Achan died for his sin, but due to his sin many others died.“ [The Israelites who fell in the first battle of Ai. Ed.] Also in Kings II 6,10, the words לא אחת ולא שתים, “not one and not two,” is such a construction. The expression means: “not once but many times.” Knowing that the meaning of our verse is that Yaakov will henceforth not only be known as Yaakov, helps explain the many occasions later when this original name is applied to him, as distinct from the name change of Avram to Avraham.

כי אם ישראל, the name Yisrael denotes the nation founded by “Yaakov.” Our sages are of two minds if the former name of the additional name is the principal name. Rabbi Zecharyah is of the opinion that the name Yaakov remained the principal name, whereas the majority opinion is that from this point on the name Yisrael became the principal name of Yaakov. (Bereshit Rabbah 78,3) The point of the angel telling him that he would henceforth not be called Yaakov but Yisrael was to tell him that G’d would change his name. This occurred when Yaakov came to Bet El. This is why we read in 35,10 ויקרא את שמו ישראל. The reason for the name change was revealed to Yaakov by the angel.

כי שרית עם אלוקים, with the angel. He wrestled with you and could not overpower you to the extent of felling you.

ועם אנשים. With Lavan and Esau who intended to harm you and were unable to do so. He meant that exactly what had happened to Yaakov in his encounter with Lavan who had pursued him with hostile intent, would happen in his forthcoming encounter with Esau and his soldiers.