Komentarz do Rodzaju 32:2

ויפגעו בו מלאכי אלהים AND THE ANGELS OF GOD MET HIM — The angels who minister in the Land of Israel came to meet him in order to escort him into the Holy Land (see Genesis Rabbah 74:17).

AND THE ANGELS OF G-D MET HIM. Rashi comments: “The angels who minister in the Land of Israel came to meet him. And he called the name of that place Mahanaim: the plural form implies two camps, one consisting of the angels ministering outside of the Land of Israel who had accompanied him thus far, the other consisting of those ministering in the Land of Israel who had come forth to meet him.”
But I wonder at this, for Jacob had not yet reached the Land of Israel and was still distant from there for he sent messengers to Esau from afar. And then it says there, And he passed over the ford of the Jabbok,²⁵⁶Further, 32:23. which is the river Jabbok which is the border of the children of Ammon.²⁵⁷Deuteronomy 3:16. This is to the southeast of the Land of Israel, and he still had to pass the boundary of the children of Ammon and Moab, and then the land of Edom, and his first entry into the Land was at Shechem, as it is said, And Jacob came in peace to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan.²⁵⁸Further 33:18. This poses a difficulty to Rashi’s interpretation of “Mahanaim.” Instead, we must say this vision came to Jacob as he arrived in enemy territory in order to inform him that “they that are with him are more than they that are with them.”²⁵⁹See II Kings 6:16. And the name of the place was called “Mahanaim” in the plural, for such is the way of Scripture with names.²⁶⁰For a single event or person, a plural name is given, as for example, “Mitzraim”. It may be that “Mahanaim” refers to His camp and the camp of the higher beings,²⁶¹In that case the plural in the word Mahanaim is naturally justified. that is to say that His camp on earth is as the camp of the angels, all of them being camps of G-d, blessing Him and confessing His Unity, may His name be blessed forever.
Vayishlach
This section was written in order to inform us that the Holy One, blessed be He, delivered His servant, and He redeemed him from the hand of him that is stronger than he,¹Jeremiah 31:11. and he sent an angel²Numbers 20:16. and saved him, and in order to further teach us that Jacob did not place his trust in his righteousness and that he strove for delivery with all his might. There is yet in this section a hint for future generations, for everything that happened to our father with his brother Esau will constantly occur to us with Esau’s children, and it is proper for us to adhere to the way of the righteous³See Job 17:9. by preparing ourselves in the three things for which he prepared himself: for prayer, for giving him a present, and for rescue by methods of warfare, to flee and to be saved. Our Rabbis have already derived this hint from this section, as I shall mention.

ויפגעו בו, in order to protect him, as in 28,15 “and here I will be with you.”

ויפגעו בו מלאכי אלוקים, G'd's angels met him. We need to understand the meaning of "they met him." We also need to examine what new insight Jacob contributed by calling the angels' encampment "a camp of G'd." What exactly is the meaning of the word מחנים? Bereshit Rabbah 74,17 offers a variety of explanations all of which are homiletical.

ויעקב...מלאכי אלוקים. G’d sent His angels to him to keep him safe while he was journeying.

ויפגעו בו מלכי אלוקים, ”angels of G’d met him.” Rashi explains that these were the angels assigned to protect him while he was in the land of Israel. These angels now came to welcome Yaakov, whereas the ones who had accompanied him thus far still had not taken their leave.

ויפגעו בו מלאכי אלוקים, “and angels of G’d met him.” These were the same angels who had been mentioned at the beginning of the portion who had been ascending and descending the ladder Yaakov had seen in his dream. This is what the Torah added כאשר ראם, “as he had seen them.” In other words, he was already familiar with these angels. We have a similar construction in Ezekiel 10,20 היא החיה אשר ראיתי , “this is the angel whom I had seen, etc.” Actually, the Torah could have written ויפגע במלאכי אלוקים, “he encountered angels of G’d.” The reason the Torah wrote that the angels met Yaakov instead of vice versa is a compliment to Yaakov. The purpose of the encounter was in order to protect Yaakov. It is similar to Psalms 91,15 כי מלאכיו יצוה לך לשמרך בכל דרכיך, “for He will command His angels to guard you (the righteous) on all your paths.”
There is a discussion in the Midrash Bereshit Rabbah 78,2 as to who is greater, the guardian or the person whom he guards? The Midrash concludes that the person being guarded is greater than the guardian. The Midrash came to this conclusion based on the verse (Psalms 91,12) “to guard you on all your paths to carry you in their hands lest you hurt your foot on a stone.” The Midrash also asks: “who is greater the carrier or the one being carried?” It concludes that the person being carried is the more important of the two. Finally, the Midrash asks: “who is more important the one being met or the one who goes out to meet someone?” The Midrash concludes that the person being met is the more important of the two. We find some support for this in connection with the prophet Elisha. We read in Kings II 6,15: “when the attendant of the man of G’d rose early and went outside, he saw a force, with horses and chariots, surrounding the town and he said to his master: ‘what shall we do?’” The verse goes on to say: “do not be afraid there are more on our side than on theirs.” A little later the verse continues: “G’d opened the eyes of the servant and he saw and here the mountain all around Elisha was covered with horses and chariots of fire.” [The paragraph started with the one who meets, only to conclude with the ones being met, the latter becoming the victors in the ensuing battle. Ed.]

Als Jakob vor zwanzig Jahren aus väterlichem Hause ausgezogen war ויפגע במקום, da "traf er das Göttliche": Jetzt bei seiner Heimkehr, "trafen ihn die Engel". Vor zwanzig Jahren war es für ihn ein "Ereignis", dass ihm das Göttliche erschien und es ihm klar wurde, dass die Schechina wieder also einkehren wolle auf Erden, dass, während die Engel Gott im Himmel suchen, seine Herrlichkeit bei den Menschen auf Erden weile, dass an dieser Wiederkehr der Gottesherrlichkeit auf Erden er und sein künftiges Volk in allen seinen Gliedern arbeiten solle — jetzt, in dem Momente, wo er zuerst, losgelöst von allen anderen Verhältnissen, als selbständige freie Familie aufatmete, war seine Erscheinung ein Ereignis für die Engel, war es ein Ereignis für die Engel, dass sie zum erstenmale eine solche Familie auf Erden trafen. Während er still, und der Göttlichkeit seiner und seines Hauses Bedeutung unbewusst, seines Weges zog, war er für die Engel Gottes ein Ereignis.

מחנים, “i.e. two camps.” Nachmanides is astounded at this interpretation by Rashi of these two verses, in view of the fact that Yaakov had not yet crossed into the territory of ארץ ישראל, and in fact was a long way distant from the border even when he sent messengers to Esau in verse 4. We were told shortly before that he had crossed the fording of the river Yabbok, a river which flows from East to West and ends up as a tributary to the river Jordan, the dividing line between the land of Canaan and the territories of Ammon and Moav. Even the land of Edom still lay between him and the Holy Land. Yaakov’s entry into the Holy Land occurred only when he arrived at Shechem physically and spiritually whole, as the Torah testifies in verse 18. We must therefore view what the Torah described here as a vision granted to Yaakov, a vision which was to reassure him that he had more friendly forces on his side than had Esau, his brother, whom he still had to confront. He called the location מחניים, to symbolize the occasion. There is nothing unusual in that.

The plain meaning of the verse is that G'd sent Jacob angels in the guise of human beings to gain the confidence of Esau and to find out his intentions concerning him, as we observe in the course of what develops. How did Jacob know that he had been met by angels? The arrival of these people (angels) was not in the manner of ordinary human beings who are seen approaching before they arrive and set up camp. These angels materialised suddenly as if out of nowhere, as if they had sprouted up in front of him. The word ויפגעו alludes to the first sudden and unexpected encounter Jacob had with these beings. This is why he described their encampment as a camp of G'd the moment he set eyes on them. He called the place where this occurred מחנים, i.e. two camps. One camp consisted of Jacob's own people who had prepared with him for war against Esau, the second one was the camp of these angels who had assumed the appearance of human beings. They usually do so whenever they are despatched by G'd to assist someone who is dear to G'd, such as Jacob the choicest of the patriarchs.