Then he [Jacob] erected there an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel. (Genesis 33:20)

Epithets about God are found in various combinations. While “Elohe-Israel” occurs 191 times in Scripture, we find it prefixed with “El” only here in Genesis 33:20. While the distinction may seem small, the event precipitating it is not. The Oxford English dictionary defines epithet as “an adjective or phrase expressing a quality or attribute regarded as characteristic of the person or thing.” Something had happened to Jacob, the son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, to cause him to build an altar and call it by this name.

The story began when Jacob had fled from his brother Esau, after conniving to steal the latter’s birthright for the mere cost of some porridge. Jacob’s sense of value clearly eclipsed Esau’s, who when famished opted for some food at the expense of losing what was rightfully his as the firstborn. Jacob fled the land of Canaan, under advice from his father and mother, to find a wife among the distant relatives. Isaac blessed him, “May [God Almighty/El Shaddai) bless you and make you fruitful and multiply you, that you may become a company of peoples. May He also give you the blessing of Abraham, to you and to your descendants with you, that you may possess the land of your sojournings, which God gave to Abraham” (Gen 28:3-4).

As he left, Jacob saw in a dream a ladder with angels on it. Above the ladder was God saying,

“I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants. At that time, Jacob wasn’t even married, let alone a father. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth … Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you” (Gen 28:12-15).

Jacob then made a vow: “If God will be with me … and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the LORD will be my God” (Gen 28:21). Well, he was gone 20 some years (Gen 31:41), and the first thing he had to do upon arrival was to face his brother, Esau. But not before wrestling with the angel of the LORD, an event that left him hobbling the rest of this life. After an unexpectedly pleasant reconciliation with his brother, Jacob “erected an altar and called it El-Elohe-Israel [or Yisrael].” He kept his vow because God had kept His promise to bring Jacob back safely. He was now ready to worship his father’s God, but now El-Elohe-Israel was his God! The God we worship today is that same God of the patriarchs.

Lord, I too worship You as the Mighty God whom Jacob/Israel worshipped.