346 NOVATIAN THE ROMAN PRESBYTER
alone; and therewrestledwith him a man even tilldaybreak.
And He saw that He did not prevailagainsthim ; and He
touched the broad part of Jacob's thigh while He was
wrestlingwith him and he with Him, and said to him,Let
me go, for the morning has dawned. And he said,I will
not letThee go,exceptThou blessme. And He said,What
is thy name ? And he said,Jacob. And He saidtohim,
Thy name shallno longer be calledJacob, but Israelshall
be thy name ;becausethou hastprevailedwith God, and thou
art powerful with men." 1 And it adds, moreover : " And
Jacob calledthe name of that placethe Visionof God : for
I have seen the Lord face to face,and my soul has been
made safe. And the sun arose upon him. Afterwardshe
crossedover the Vision of God, but he halted upon his
thigh."* A man, itsays,wrestledwith Jacob. If thiswas
a mere man, who ishe ? Whence is he ? Wherefore does
he contend and wrestlewith Jacob? What had intervened!
What had happened ? What was the cause of so greata
disputeas that,and so great a struggle? Why, moreover,
isJacob, who isfound to be strong enough to hold the man
with whom he iswrestling,and asksfora blessingfrom Him
whom he isholding,assertedto have asked therefore,except
because thisstrugglewas prefiguredas that which should
be between Christ and the sonsof Jacob, which is saidto
be completedin the gospel? For againstthisman Jacob's
peoplestruggled,in which struggleJacob'speoplewas found
to be the more powerful,because againstChrist it gained
the victoryof itsiniquity: at which time,on account of the
crime thatitcommitted,hesitatingand givingway, itbegan
most sorelyto haltin the walk of itsown faithand salvation;
and although it was found the stronger,in respectof the
condemnation of Christ,it stillneeds His mercy, stillneeds
His blessing. But, moreover, the man who wrestledwith
Jacob says," Moreover, thy name shallno longer be called
Jacob, but Israelshallbe thy name ;" and if Israelis the
man who seesGod, the Lord was beautifullyshowing that
itwas not only a man who was then wrestlingwith Jacob,
1Gen.xxxii.24-27. 2 Gen.xxxii.30,31.