Bible Location
Meaning: same as Peniel · 5 cross references · Modern-day map available
Penuel was the eastern Jordan site associated with Jacob's wrestling and later with a fortified town in Gideon's and Jeroboam's time. It is important because it joins one of the patriarchal turning points to later political and military history. First appears in Gen 32:31.1
Place meaning
same as Peniel
Coordinates
32.18, 35.70
First appears
Gen 32:31
AI summary: Penuel is one of the places where personal encounter and public history meet. In Genesis it is the site of Jacob's night struggle and his naming of the place after seeing God face to face, giving it exceptional spiritual weight. In Judges it becomes a town that refuses to aid Gideon and suffers for it, and in Kings it appears again as a place of royal fortification. The cross references present Penuel as a place of encounter, discipline, and later statecraft east of the Jordan.1
Place meaning
same as Peniel
Latitude
32.18
Longitude
35.70
Bible references
5
Face of God, a place not far from Succoth, on the east of the Jordan and north of the river Jabbok. It is also called “Peniel.” Here Jacob wrestled (Gen. 32:24-32) “with a man” (“the angel”, Hos. 12:4. Jacob says of him, “I have seen God face to face”) “till the break of day.”
A town was afterwards built there (Judg. 8:8; 1 Kings 12:25). The men of this place refused to succour Gideon and his little army when they were in pursuit of the Midianites (Judg. 8:1-21). On his return, Gideon slew the men of this city and razed its lofty watch-tower to the ground. 3
Source note: this 1893 dictionary language reflects its period and may be culturally insensitive or outdated. It is presented as historical source material, not as ai-BIBLE’s language, interpretation, or endorsement.
AI-assisted summary prepared for ai-BIBLE and stored as page content, based on dictionary material, place metadata, and linked Bible cross references.
Alistair de Blacquiere-Clarkson, “ai-BIBLE Bible Names JSON Factsheet Aggregating Material from Smith’s Bible Dictionary & Hitcocks’s New and Complete Analysis of the Bible.” ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
M.G.Easton, Illustrated Bible Dictionary, ai-BIBLE electronic edition, version 1.0.
Robert Rouse, “Theographic Bible Information,” Theographic-Bible-Metadata, 2020, https://github.com/robertrouse/theographic-bible-metadata.