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No longer shall your name be called Jacob, but Israel. For you have lorded over angel and man, and have prevailed. (Genesis 32:29).

Let's look at the background for the above verse: Genesis 32

1. Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

2. When he saw them, Jacob said, "This is God's army." He called the name of that place Mahanaim.p>
3. Jacob sent messengers in front of him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, the field of Edom.

4. He commanded them, saying, "This is what you shall tell my lord, Esau: 'This is what your servant, Jacob, says. I have lived as a foreigner with Laban, and stayed until now.

5. I have cattle, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in your sight.'"

6. The messengers returned to Jacob, saying, "We came to your brother Esau. Not only that, but he comes to meet you, and four hundred men with him."

7. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed. He divided the people who were with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies;

8. and he said, "If Esau comes to the one company, and strikes it, then the company which is left will escape."

9. Jacob said, "God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, Yahweh, who said to me, 'Return to your country, and to your relatives, and I will do you good,'

10. I am not worthy of the least of all the loving kindnesses, and of all the truth, which you have shown to your servant; for with just my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I have become two companies.

11. Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and strike me, and the mothers with the children.

12. You said, 'I will surely do you good, and make your seed as the sand of the sea, which can't be numbered because there are so many.'"

13. He lodged there that night, and took from that which he had with him, a present for Esau, his brother:

14. two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,

15. thirty milk camels and their colts, forty cows, ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten foals.

16. He delivered them into the hands of his servants, every herd by itself, and said to his servants; "Pass over before me, and put a space between herd and herd."

17. He commanded the foremost, saying, "When Esau, my brother, meets you, and asks you, saying, 'Whose are you? Where are you going? Whose are these before you?'

18. Then you shall say, 'They are your servant, Jacob's. It is a present sent to my lord, Esau. Behold, he also is behind us.'"

19. He commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the herds, saying, "This is how you shall speak to Esau, when you find him.

20. You shall say,'Not only that, but behold, your servant, Jacob, is behind us.'" For, he said, "I will appease him with the present that goes before me, and afterward I will see his face. Perhaps he will accept me."

21. So the present passed over before him, and he himself lodged that night in the camp.

22. He rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two handmaids, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of the Jabbok.

23. He took them, and sent them over the stream, and sent over that which he had.

24. Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day.

25. When he saw that he didn't prevail against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was strained, as he wrestled.

26. The man said, "Let me go, for the day breaks." Jacob said, "I won't let you go, unless you bless me."

27. He said to him, "What is your name?" He said, "Jacob."

28. He said, "Your name will no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have fought with God and with men, and have prevailed."

29. Jacob asked him, "Please tell me your name." He said, "Why is it that you ask what my name is?" He blessed him there.

30. Jacob called the name of the place Peniel; for, he said, "I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved."

31. The sun rose on him as he passed over Peniel, and he limped because of his thigh.

32. Therefore the children of Israel don't eat the sinew of the hip, which is on the hollow of the thigh, to this day, because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew of the hip.

Now we know that Jacob (Ya-a-kov, Hebrew for "he who grasps the heel"; also "he who shall deceive"): is the sly conniver who disguises himself in Esau's clothes and makes off with the blessings for "the dew of heaven and the fat of the land" intended for his material brother.

And we know that Israel (Yis-ro-el, Hebrew for "prince of G-d"; also related to sarita "you have lorded over"): is the courageous knight who confronts his terrestrial and supernal challengers head on, wrestles with them through the night, and prevails.And that Esau said: "Of course they call his name Jacob. He has twice deceived me..."(Genesis 27:36).

Therefore Jacob and Israel became the two biblical names of the Jewish people. Now let's look at the background for the above verse: Genesis 27

1. It happened, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his elder son, and said to him, "My son?" He said to him, "Here I am."

2. He said, "See now, I am old. I don't know the day of my death.

3. Now therefore, please take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and take me venison.

4. Make me savory food, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat, and that my soul may bless you before I die."

5. Rebecca heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son. Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it.

6. Rebecca spoke to Jacob her son, saying, "Behold, I heard your father speak to Esau your brother, saying,

7. 'Bring me venison, and make me savory food, that I may eat, and bless you before Yahweh before my death.'

8. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice according to that which I command you.

9. Go now to the flock, and get me from there two good young goats. I will make them savory food for your father such as he loves.

10. You shall bring it to your father, that he may eat, so that he may bless you before his death."

11. Jacob said to Rebecca his mother, "Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man.

12. What if my father touches me? I will seem to him as a deceiver, and I would bring a curse on myself, and not a blessing."

13. His mother said to him, "Let your curse be on me, my son. Only obey my voice, and go get them for me."

14. He went, and got them, and brought them to his mother. His mother made savory food, such as his father loved.

15. Rebecca took the good clothes of Esau, her elder son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob, her younger son.

16. She put the skins of the young goats on his hands, and on the smooth of his neck.

17. She gave the savory food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob.

18. He came to his father, and said, "My father?" He said, "Here I am. Who are you, my son?"

19. Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done what you asked me to do. Please arise, sit and eat of my venison, that your soul may bless me."

20. Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" He said, "Because Yahweh your God gave me success."

21. Isaac said to Jacob, "Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not."

22. Jacob went near to Isaac his father. He felt him, and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau."

23. He didn't recognize him, because his hands were hairy, like his brother, Esau's hands. So he blessed him.

24. He said, "Are you really my son Esau?" He said, "I am."

25. He said, "Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless you." He brought it near to him, and he ate. He brought him wine, and he drank.

26. His father Isaac said to him, "Come near now, and kiss me, my son."

27. He came near, and kissed him. He smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him, and said, "Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which Yahweh has blessed.

28. God give you of the dew of the sky, of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine.

29. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers. Let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you. Blessed be everyone who blesses you."

30. It happened, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob had just gone out from the presence of Isaac his father; that Esau his brother came in from his hunting.

31. He also made savory food, and brought it to his father. He said to his father, "Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that your soul may bless me."

32. Isaac his father said to him, "Who are you?" He said, "I am your son, your firstborn, Esau."

33. Isaac trembled violently, and said, "Who, then, is he who has taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before you came, and have blessed him? Yes, he will be blessed."

34. When Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with an exceeding great and bitter cry, and said to his father, "Bless me, even me also, my father."

35. He said, "Your brother came with deceit, and has taken away your blessing."

36. He said, "Isn't he rightly named Jacob? For he has supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright. See, now he has taken away my blessing." He said, "Haven't you reserved a blessing for me?"

37. Isaac answered Esau, "Behold, I have made him your lord, and all his brothers have I given to him for servants. With grain and new wine have I sustained him. What then will I do for you, my son?"

38. Esau said to his father, "Have you but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, my father." Esau lifted up his voice, and wept.

39. Isaac his father answered him, "Behold, of the fatness of the earth will be your dwelling, and of the dew of the sky from above.

So why is he both a prince and conniver -- the dual identity of the Jew?

In his spiritual life, Israel is the uncompromising prince of G-d. He boldly stares the mocker in the eye and lays all his cards on the table: these are my beliefs, these are my standards, these are my ethics; this is what I am, this is what I stand for, this is what I am here for (to teach the world). You may deride me, you may persecute me, you may slaughter me; but I shall prevail. Israel, the one who lords over angel and man, and prevails.

But when it comes to his material existence, Jacob plays the field, but keeps his true objectives close to his chest. He will be absolutely scrupulously honest in his financial dealings ... but he'll be utterly dishonest as to why he's in the business. He eats, drinks, earns money; for all intents and purposes, he's a full-fledged participant in the give and take of physical life. But he is unwilling to relate to the material concerns on its terms (the material's terms); refusing to care, refusing to become involved, refusing to pursue it for its own sake.

Thus we see that the Jew dresses in Esau's clothes, but he refuses to allow the clothes to remake the man. He seeks the dew of heaven and the fat of the land, only to manipulate them to serve a higher end. First he buys out his brother's stake in the spiritual, divorcing the mundane from any pretensions to import or significance. Then he disguises himself as a materialist, and claims the material world's choicest bits for his own purposes ... to become a guiding beacon of light for the entire world. Yes, Esau (speaking for the world) says, "Jacob, who has twice deceived me..."

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