Scripture tells us that Jacob saw God FACE TO FACE. That literally means that they met FACE TO FACE. Any other attempt to interpret is blasphemy.
Was Jacob seeing GOD through his *Pineal Gland*
Are you serious?
Could also be interpreted as "directly confronted God" or "Had a direct encounter with God"
I lament at the silliness in which one engages when one equates the sound of a word in one language, Hebrew, with the meaning of a word in another, English.
“Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?”
-Devarim (Deuteronomy) 4:33-35
That giant arm and hand of God literally came down from low earth orbit and parted the Red Sea and squashed the Egyptian army with his only His thumb. He’s like Godzilla but better!
Any anthropomorphisms of God are really the physical side of Him showing the world how He can shake rattle and roll.
It’s a made up story slightly at odds with the other made up stories.
Gen. 32: 30 I have seen God face to face.
Ex. 3: 6 Moses . . . was afraid to look upon God.
Ex. 19: 11 Lord will come down in the sight of all the people.
Ex. 19: 21 charge the people, lest they break through unto the Lord to gaze.
Ex. 24: 11 nobles of the children of Israel . . . saw God.
Ex. 33: 11 Lord spake unto Moses face to face.
Num. 12: 8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth.
Deut. 34: 10 Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face.
Judg. 13: 22 We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
1 Kgs. 11: 9 Lord . . . had appeared unto him twice.
Isa. 6: 5 mine eyes have seen . . . the Lord.
Matt. 11: 27 Father . . . to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.
John 14: 21 I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
Acts 7: 56 I see . . . the Son of man standing on the right hand.
Heb. 12: 14 holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.
1 Jn. 3: 2 we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Rev. 1: 17 when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.
Rev. 22: 4 they shall see his face.
Put the bong down.
He saw the preincarnate 2nd person of the Trinity as did Daniel.
First of all, Peniel, is Hebrew for “Face of God.” It is composed of two words joined together, Peni and El. El is the Hebrew word for “God” , and “Peni” , means face of. It has nothing to do with our anatomy. There are many words in one language that may sound similar to words in another language but have completely different references. The question of how did Jacob see God is most interesting and much debated. The Scriptures tell us that no man has seen God expect the Son of God. Even Jesus tells us that only the Son has seen the Father. So how do we explain this contradiction? Traditionally, from the time of early Christianity, this event was seen as an appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ or theophany. Whether or not Jacob wrestled with Christ in a vision or dream, which is often how God appears to men, or whether or not it was a physical event, I cannot be certain. The Hebrews often used the term, “face” in metaphorical ways, to mean a gracious presence. Considering that God is a Spirit with no human features, God would not have a human face. The human characteristics of God are known as anthropomorphisms.