From legends and mythology there are many tales of epic struggles between mortal man and godlike beings: Achilles’s duel with the river god Scamander, Theseus’s battle with the Minotaur, Perseus’s triumph over Medusa. As heroic as these legendary battles may appear, these tales could be viewed as metaphors for our own struggles with ideas that are beyond our comprehension, our existential clashes with the concept of a higher power.
The biblical figure of Jacob engages with his own conflict against a supernatural adversary, whom some have identified as an angel (Genesis 32:22-32). An important individual who was regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites, Jacob endured much strife throughout ...