Why did Yaakov now marvel over the fact that he has “seen God face-to-face,” if this was not the first such encounter?
We read in Parashat Vayishlach of Yaakov’s encounter with a mysterious man who wrestled with him throughout the night during his trip back to Canaan. The assailant turned out to be an angel, prompting Yaakov to exclaim after his triumph over his attacker, “I have seen God face-to-face, and my life was saved!” (32:30). Yaakov thus named the site “Peniel,” or “Face of God.”
Yaakov’s response to this incident seems to suggest is that he was amazed or startled by his “face-to-face” encounter with an angel of God, that this was something extraordinary. Yet, as we know, this was not Yaakov’s first encounter with angels. Besides the prophecies of angels which he beheld in Bet El when he left Canaan, and later in Lavan’s home, the Torah writes that Yaakov encountered angels in Machanayim, after his truce with Lavan (32:1). Why did he now marvel over the fact that he has “seen God face-to-face,” if this was not the first such encounter?
The Or Ha-chayim explains that Yaakov marveled not over having seen an angel, but rather over having been compelled to fight against an angel. The phrase, “I have seen God face-to-face,” according to the Or Ha-chayim, refers specifically to confrontation. The Or Ha-chayim cites in this context a verse from Sefer Melakhim II (14:8) which relates that the Judean king Amatzya challenged the Israelite king Yehoash to a battle, and said, “Lekha nitra’eh panim” (literally, “Let us see each other’s faces”). The expression “see a face” in this verse clearly refers to warfare, and thus here in Parashat Vayishlach, too, Yaakov speaks of a confrontation with an angel, rather than simply seeing an angel.
In Yaakov’s previous encounters with angels, the angels were sent to assist and protect Yaakov (see, for example, Rashi to 28:12). Now, for the first time, an angel was sent to struggle and fight against Yaakov, and this was the new, unusual phenomenon that Yaakov experienced for the first time at Peniel. Yaakov already experienced the special divine protection that his unique relationship with God afforded him. Now, he saw that his special bond with the Almighty also entailed formidable challenges that he and his descendants would have to confront. People who are granted the ability to “see angels,” who live with a sense of spiritual mission and responsibility, will inevitably come upon both kinds of “angels.” Am Yisrael’s relationship to God brings them unique protection, but also unique challenges. If we want to enjoy the ongoing accompaniment and assistance of protective angels, then we must also be prepared to confront the hostile angels, the many obstacles that often stand in the way of the fulfillment of our mission and threaten to stop us from achieving our goals.