Midrash su Genesi 33:10

And in the morning Jacob and his men arose and they selected a gift for Esau from the choice ‎of the cattle. And this is the number of the cattle which Jacob selected from his flocks and ‎herds for Esau his brother. And he selected four hundred and forty head from among the ‎sheep, and from the camels and asses thirty each, and fifty head of cattle. And he assorted the ‎cattle after its kind, and he divided all into ten droves and put them into the hands of ten of his ‎servants, every drove by itself. And he commanded them saying: Keep ye at a distance from ‎each other, and put a space be twixt drove and drove. And when Esau and those that are with ‎him meet you and ask of you, saying: Who are ye and whither do ye go and whose are those ‎before you? then you shall say unto him: We are the servants of Jacob who cometh to meet ‎Esau in peace; and behold Jacob also cometh behind us, and that which is before us is a ‎present sent from Jacob to Esau his brother. And when they shall say unto you: Why delayeth ‎he, being so far behind you, in coming to meet his brother and to see his face? then ye shall ‎answer: Verily he cometh cheerfully to meet his brother, yet he is behind us for he said: I will ‎appease him with the gift that goeth before me, and afterwards I will see his face; ‎peradventure he will accept it of me. So went the present ahead of Jacob on that day in the ‎hands of his servants, and he himself lodged that night with his company by the banks of the ‎brook Jabbok. And he rose up that night, and took his two wives and his two women-servants ‎and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. And when he had passed over the ‎brook, all belonging to him, Jacob was left alone; and a man met him and wrestled with him ‎until the breaking of the day, and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he wrestled ‎with him. And when the morning dawned the man left Jacob, and he blessed him and went his ‎way. And at dawn Jacob passed the brook and he halted upon his thigh. And the sun rose ‎upon him after passing the brook and he reached the place of the cattle and his children. And ‎they went on till mid-day with the present passing on before them. And Jacob lifted up his ‎eyes, and behold Esau was in the distance and with him many men, about four hundred of ‎them, and Jacob was greatly afraid of his brother. And Jacob hastened and divided his children ‎unto his wives and unto their two hand-maids, and Dinah his daughter he concealed in a chest ‎and delivered her into the hands of his servants. And he went ahead of his children and wives ‎to meet his brother, and he bowed down to the ground; seven times he bowed down until he ‎reached his brother. And the Lord caused Jacob to find favor and grace in the eyes of Esau and ‎his men, for the Lord hath hearkened unto Jacob’s prayer.‎

And the fear and terror of Jacob fell over his brother Esau; for Esau was in great fear of Jacob ‎on account of what the angels of God had done unto him, and Esau’s anger against Jacob ‎became turned into kindness. And when Esau saw Jacob running towards him Esau too ran to ‎meet him and he embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they wept. And the ‎Lord filled the hearts of the men that came with Esau with fear and kindness, and they also ‎kissed and embraced Jacob. And Eliphaz the son of Esau, with his four brothers, the sons of ‎Esau, wept with Jacob, and kissed and em braced him; for the fear of Jacob had come over ‎them and Esau lifted up his eyes and saw the women and the children of Jacob, following ‎Jacob and bowing down before Esau on their way, and he said: Who are those with thee my ‎brother, are they thy children or thy servants? And Jacob answered: The children which God ‎Whath graciously given thy servant. And while Jacob was speaking with Esau and his men, Esau ‎beheld the entire camp and he asked him: Whence didst thou get all the camp that I met ‎yesterday? And Jacob answered: To find grace in the eyes of my lord, the Lord graciously gave ‎it to thy servant. And when the present came before them Jacob urged Esau saying: Take, I ‎pray thee my blessing that is brought to thee, my lord! But Esau said: What is it good for, my ‎brother? Keep that thou hast unto thyself, for it was my duty to give a gift unto thee, after ‎that I have seen thy face and thou art still alive and in peace. Thus Esau refused to accept the ‎gift, but Jacob pressed him, saying: I beseech thee my lord, if now I have found grace in thy ‎sight then receive my present at my hand; for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I have ‎seen the face of God and thou wast pleased with me. And Esau took the present, and Jacob ‎further gave unto Esau silver, and gold, and bdellium, for he urged him so much that he had to ‎accept. And Esau divided the cattle that was in the camp, giving one-half to the men that came ‎with him, for they came on hire, and the other half to his sons. And the silver and gold and ‎bdellium he delivered into the hands of Eliphaz his oldest son. And Esau said unto Jacob: Let ‎me take our journey with thee and we will go along slowly until thou comest to my place and ‎there we can dwell together. And Jacob answered unto his brother: I should gladly do as my ‎lord speaketh unto me, but my lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and ‎herds with their young are with me; and if men should overdrive them one day all the flock ‎would die. Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant, and I will lead on softly ‎according to what the cattle, that goeth before me, and the children be able to endure, until I ‎come unto my lord into Seir. And Esau said: Let me now leave with thee some of the men that ‎are with me, to take care of thee on the road, and to bear thy burden and fatigue. And Jacob ‎said: Why should I find such grace in thy eyes, my lord? Behold I will come unto Seir to dwell ‎with thee together, as thou hast spoken, only pass thou on with thy people, and I shall follow ‎thee. And Jacob said these words unto Esau simply to free himself from Esau and his men, that ‎he might be allowed to go to his father's house, unto the land of Canaan. And Esau listened to ‎the voice of Jacob and he departed with the four hundred men that. were with him to return ‎on their road towards Seir; and Jacob with all belonging to him went on that very day to the ‎extreme boundaries of the land of Canaan, and he remained there for some time.‎

Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rabbi Ḥelbo: It is written: “A man wrestled with him” (Genesis 32:25). We do not know who was dominated by whom; whether the angel was dominated by Jacob or Jacob was dominated by the angel, except from what is written: “He said: Release me, as dawn has broken” (Genesis 32:27). The angel said to Jacob: ‘Release me, as the time for my lauding has arrived.’ Thus, the angel was dominated by Jacob.
In what guise did he appear to him? Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: He appeared to him in the guise of Esau’s guardian angel. That is what is written: “For I have therefore seen your face like seeing the face of an angel” (Genesis 33:10). [Jacob] said to [Esau]: ‘Your face is like that of your angel.’ This is analogous to a king who had a tamed lion and a wild dog. What did the king do? He brought the lion and incited it against his son. He would say: If the dog comes upon my son, my son will say: If I overcame the lion will I not be able to overcome the dog? So too, when the nations of the world come upon Israel, the Holy One blessed be He says to then: ‘Your guardian angel was not able to withstand their ancestor, will you be able to overcome them?’
Rabbi Huna said: He appeared to him as a herdsman; this one had flocks and that one had flocks, this one had camels and that one had camels. He said to him:⁵⁰The angel said to Jacob. ‘Cross mine and I will cross yours.’⁵¹Help me cross the stream with my livestock, and I will help you cross with your livestock. Some suggest that the text should read: Cross yours and I will cross mine. This is consistent with the version of the text in Bereshit Rabba 77:3 and with the continuation of the midrash here (Etz Yosef). After Jacob our patriarch crossed his, he said: ‘Let us return and see, perhaps we forgot something.’ Once he returned, “a man wrestled with him.”⁵²The angel, appearing as a herdsman, fought with Jacob under the pretense that after crossing his own livestock, Jacob had come to take some of his livestock. Rabbi Ḥiyya the Great and Rabbi Shimon ben Rabbi were engaged in commerce and were dealing silk fabric. They entered Tyre and engaged in their labor. When they exited the city gates, they said: ‘Let us return and see, perhaps we forgot something.’ They returned and found a bundle of silk fabric. They said: This matter is from Jacob our grandfather, as it is written: “A man wrestled with him.”⁵³This event occurred after Jacob had returned to see if he forgot anything. They derived from Jacob’s behavior that checking if one forgot anything is a good habit.
The Rabbis say: He appeared to him as an arch robber; this one had flocks and that one had flocks, this one had camels and that one had camels. He said to him: Cross mine and I will cross yours. The angel crossed Jacob’s flocks in the blink of an eye. Our patriarch Jacob was crossing the flocks of the angel, and he was returning and finding other flocks all that night. What did Jacob our patriarch do? Rabbi Pinḥas said: At that moment, Jacob wrapped a soft woolen scarf around his neck. He said to him: ‘Sorcerer, sorcerer, you are a wizard, but wizardry is not effective at night.’ Rabbi Huna said: At that moment the angel said: ‘Shall I not inform him with whom he is dealing?’ What did he do? He placed a finger on a rock and it began bursting into flames. [Jacob] said to him: ‘With this you are seeking to frighten me? I am constituted entirely from it,’ as it is stated: “The house of Jacob will be fire” (Obadiah 1:18).
Rabbi Ḥanina bar Yitzḥak said: The Holy One blessed be He said to Esau’s guardian angel: ‘Are you standing against him? He is coming against you with five amulets in his hand: His merit, the merit of his father, the merit of his mother, the merit of his grandfather, and the merit of his grandmother. Assess yourself relative to him, as you are unable to stand even against his own merit.’ Immediately, “he saw that he could not overcome him” (Genesis 32:26). Rabbi Levi said: He saw in the Divine Presence that he could not overcome him. [This is analogous] to an arch robber who was struggling with the son of a king. He lifted his eyes and saw that his father the king was standing over him, and he submitted to him. So too, when the angel saw the Divine Presence standing over Jacob, he submitted before him. That is what is written: “He saw that he could not overcome him.” Rabbi Levi said: He saw in the Divine Presence that he could not overcome him.
“He touched the socket of his thigh” (Genesis 32:26), the righteous men and the righteous women and the prophets and the prophetesses who were destined to emerge from him and his sons. What is that? It is the generation of persecution.⁵⁴The generation that lived after the destruction of the Temple, when the Romans persecuted the residents of the Land of Israel. “The socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated [vateka]” (Genesis 32:26), Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Berekhya, Rabbi Eliezer says: He smoothed it.⁵⁵The bone that protrudes from the thigh no longer protruded. Rabbi Berekhya said in the name of Rav Asi:⁵⁶The Hebrew text says Ravasa, which is short for Rav Asi. He fractured it like [one splits] a fish.⁵⁷Lengthwise. Rabbi Naḥman bar Yaakov said: He dislocated it, just as you say: “My soul was alienated [vateka] from her” (Ezekiel 23:18).

(Ib. b) "And when he reached the passage, Thou mayest not," etc. We are taught in the name of R. Nathan: "At that moment when the sages tried to pacify King Agrippa, Israel deserved a punishment, because they flattered King Agrippa." R. Simon b. Chalafta said: "Since the above flattery had taken place, justice became perverted and man's actions became corrupt, so that no man can say to his associate, 'My deeds are better than yours.'" R. Juda b. Ma'araba, and according to others R. Simon b. Pazzi said: "One is permitted to flatter the wicked in this world as it is said (Is. 32, 5) The vile person shall be no more called liberal nor the churl said to be noble. This refers to the future world, hence in this world one is permitted to do so." R. Simon b. Lakish said: "The above may be inferred from the following (Gen. 33, 10) It is as though I had seen the face of an angel, and because thou hast received me kindly." This will differ with R. Levi's statement, for R. Levi said: "Unto what may the incident of Jacob and Esau be likened? Unto a man who invited his friend to a banquet. The guest being aware that the host desired to kill him [was afraid that poison might be in the food] passed a remark that the dish tastes like the dish he eats in the Royal house. His enemy said to himself: 'Since he is known to the Royal family, I am afraid to kill him.' In like manner was it with Jacob, when he mentioned the face of an Angel, it was for the purpose of frightening Esau he should not kill him."

R. Abahu said in the name of R. Simeon the son of Lakish: When Aaron saw that the angel was about to overpower him, he placed the censer before his countenance, as it is said: They shall put incense before Thee, and whole burnt-offering upon Thine altar (Deut. 33:10). This reveals how beloved incense is. R. Isaac the son of Eliezer declared: You know that after he constructed the Tabernacle and all its implements, he slaughtered the sacrifices, and arranged them on the altar, he set the table, made the menorah, and did everything that had to be done, but the Shekhinah still had not descended. Only when the incense was offered did it descend. You know this for it is written: Awake, O north wind, and come, thou south; blow upon my garden that the spice thereof may flow out (Song 4:16). The Holy One, blessed be He, said: You shall be forgiven in this world because of the incense, but in the world-to-come, I will offer unto Thee burnt-offerings of fatlings, with the smoke of rams; I will offer bullocks with goats. Selah (Ps. 66:15).

Rabbi Chama bar Chanina said, "He was the ministering angel of Esav. And that is [what he meant] when he said to him, 'For this have I seen your face as I saw the face of God and you have accepted me' (Genesis 33:10). There is a parable about an athlete that got up and wrestled with the son of the king. He lifted his eyes and he saw that the king was standing behind him and [so] he fell to the ground in front of [the son]. This is what [is meant by that which] is written, 'and he saw that he could not overcome him.'" Rabbi Levi said, "'And he saw' the Divine Presence 'and he could not overcome him.'" Said Rabbi Berachia, "We do not know who won, whether it was the angel or whether it was Yakov. And from that which it is written, 'and a man wrestled (vayitabek, the root of which contains the letters that spell dust) with him,' prove who was covered in dust - the man that was with him.' Said Rabbi Chananya bar Yitschak, "The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, 'He is coming against you and he has five charms in his hand: his merit, the merit of his father, the merit of his mother, the merit of his grandfather, and the merit of his grandmother - measure yourself [and see] if you can stand even against his merit.' Immediately, 'And he saw and he could not overcome him.' There is a parable of a king that had a wild dog and a tamed lion. And the king took his son and endeared him to the lion, [such that] if the dog would take him on, the king would say to him, 'The lion was not able to stand in front of him and you want to take him on?' So [too], if the nations of the world will come to take on Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, will say to them, 'Your ministering angel was not able to stand in front of him and you want to take on his children?'" "And he touched the hollow of his thigh" - he touched the righteous men and women, the prophets and prophetesses, which were to arise from him in the future. And which is this? The generation of persecution (shemad). "And he touched the hollow of Yakov's thigh" - Rabbi Berachia and Rabbi Eliezer [disagreed about this]: Rabbi Eliezer said, "He pressed it down." Rabbi Berachia said in the name of Rabbi Assi, "He split it like a fish." Rabbi Nachman bar Yakov said, "He separated it from its place, as it is written (Ezekiel 23:18), 'and my soul was separated etc... like my soul was separated' [in which the context shows that the verb for touching also means separating]." Said Rabbi Chanina bar Yitschak, "That whole night both of them were striking each other, the shield of this one across from the shield of that one. Once the sun rose, 'And he said, send me away from here as the sun has risen.'