Rambam, Guide To The Perplexed, Part 2, Chapter 42
1 WE have already shown that the appearance or speech of an angel mentioned in Scripture took place in a vision or dream; it makes no difference whether this is expressly stated or not, as we have explained above. This is a point of considerable importance. In some cases the account begins by stating that the prophet saw an angel; in others, the account apparently introduces a human being, who ultimately is shown to be an angel; but it makes no difference, for if the fact that an angel has been heard is only mentioned at the end, you may rest satisfied that the whole account from the beginning describes a prophetic vision. In such visions, a prophet either sees God who speaks to him, as will be explained by us, or he sees an angel who speaks to him, or he hears someone speaking to him without seeing the speaker, or he sees a man who speaks to him, and learns afterwards that the speaker was an angel. In this latter kind of prophecies, the prophet relates that he saw a man who was doing or saying something, and that he learnt afterwards that it was an angel.
2 This important principle was adopted by one of our Sages, one of the most distinguished among them, R. Ḥiya the Great (Bereshit Rabba, xlviii.), in the exposition of the Scriptural passage commencing, "And the Lord appeared unto him in the plain of Mamre" (Gen. xviii.). The general statement that the Lord appeared to Abraham is followed by the description in what manner that appearance of the Lord took place; namely, Abraham saw first three men; he ran and spoke to them. R. Hiya, the author of the explanation, holds that the words of Abraham, "My Lord, if now I have found grace in thy sight, do not, I pray thee, pass from thy servant," were spoken by him in a prophetic vision to one of the men; for he says that Abraham addressed these words to the chief of these men. Note this well, for it is one of the great mysteries [of the Law]. The same, I hold, is the case when it is said in reference to Jacob, "And a man wrestled with him" (Gen. 32:25); this took place in a prophetic vision, since it is expressly stated in the end (ver. 31) that it was an angel.
(ג) ר' חמא בר' חנינא אמר: שרו של עשו היה, הוא דהוה אמר ליה: כי ע"כ ראיתי פניך כראות פני אלהים ותרצני. משל לאתליטוס, שהוא עומד ומתגושש עם בנו של מלך, תלה עיניו וראה את המלך עומד על גביו והרפיש עצמו לפניו. הה"ד: וירא כי לא יכול לו. אמר רבי לוי: וירא, בשכינה. כי לא יכול לו אמר ר' ברכיה: אין אנו יודעים מי נצח, אם מלאך, אם יעקב, ומן מה דכתיב: ויאבק איש עמו הוי, מי נתמלא אבק? האיש שעמו. אמר ר' חנינא בר יצחק: אמר לו הקדוש ברוך הוא: הוא בא אליך וחמישה קמיעין בידו: זכותו וזכות אביו זכות אמו וזכות זקינו וזכות זקינתו מְדד עצמך, אם אתה יכול לעמוד אפילו בזכותו! מיד, וירא כי לא יכול לו. משל למלך שהיה לו כלב אגריון, וארי נמירון. והיה המלך נוטל את בנו ומלבבו בארי, שאם יבא הכלב להזדווג לו, יאמר לו המלך: ארי לא היה יכול לעמוד בו, ואתה מבקש להזדווג לו? כך, שאם יבואו אומות העולם להזדווג לישראל, יאמר להם הקב"ה: שרכם לא היה יכול לעמוד בו, ואתם מבקשים להזדווג לבניו? ויגע בכף ירכו נגע בצדיקים ובצדיקות, בנביאים ובנביאות, שהן עתידין לעמוד ממנו. ואיזה זה? זה דורו של שמד. ותקע כף ירך יעקב ר' ברכיה ור' אליעזר, ר' אליעזר אמר: שעייא. ר' ברכיה בשם רבי אסי אמר: סידקה כדג. רב נחמן בר יעקב אמר: פירשה ממקומה, כדכתיב (יחזקאל כג): ותקע נפשי וגו', כאשר נקעה נפשי. אמר רבי חנינא בר יצחק: כל אותו הלילה היו שניהן פוגעין זה בזה, מגיניה דדין לקבל מגיניה דדין, כיון, שעלה עמוד השחר, ויאמר שלחני כי עלה השחר.
(3) Rabbi Chama bar Chanina said, "He was the ministering angel of Esav. And that is [what he meant] when he said to him, 'For this have I seen your face as I saw the face of God and you have accepted me' (Genesis 33:10). There is a parable about an athlete that got up and wrestled with the son of the king. He lifted his eyes and he saw that the king was standing behind him and [so] he fell to the ground in front of [the son]. This is what [is meant by that which] is written, 'and he saw that he could not overcome him.'" Rabbi Levi said, "'And he saw' the Divine Presence 'and he could not overcome him.'" Said Rabbi Berachia, "We do not know who won, whether it was the angel or whether it was Yakov. And from that which it is written, 'and a man wrestled (vayitabek, the root of which contains the letters that spell dust) with him,' prove who was covered in dust - the man that was with him.' Said Rabbi Chananya bar Yitschak, "The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, 'He is coming against you and he has five charms in his hand: his merit, the merit of his father, the merit of his mother, the merit of his grandfather, and the merit of his grandmother - measure yourself [and see] if you can stand even against his merit.' Immediately, 'And he saw and he could not overcome him.' There is a parable of a king that had a wild dog and a tamed lion. And the king took his son and endeared him to the lion, [such that] if the dog would take him on, the king would say to him, 'The lion was not able to stand in front of him and you want to take him on?' So [too], if the nations of the world will come to take on Israel, the Holy One, blessed be He, will say to them, 'Your ministering angel was not able to stand in front of him and you want to take on his children?'" "And he touched the hollow of his thigh" - he touched the righteous men and women, the prophets and prophetesses, which were to arise from him in the future. And which is this? The generation of persecution (shemad). "And he touched the hollow of Yakov's thigh" - Rabbi Berachia and Rabbi Eliezer [disagreed about this]: Rabbi Eliezer said, "He pressed it down." Rabbi Berachia said in the name of Rabbi Assi, "He split it like a fish." Rabbi Nachman bar Yakov said, "He separated it from its place, as it is written (Ezekiel 23:18), 'and my soul was separated etc... like my soul was separated' [in which the context shows that the verb for touching also means separating]." Said Rabbi Chanina bar Yitschak, "That whole night both of them were striking each other, the shield of this one across from the shield of that one. Once the sun rose, 'And he said, send me away from here as the sun has risen.'
Ramban, Gen. 32:26
When he perceived that he could not overcome them.
[Why was "the man," who was, after all, an angel, unable to overcome Jacob? Ramban explains:]
His messengers are of mighty strength, who do His bidding (Ps. 103:20), and therefore the angel was not able to harm him, for he was not given permission to do anything other than what he did to him in dislocating his hip-socket.
They said in Breishit Rabbah: The angel struck not only Jacob but all righteous people who were destined to descend from him; that is, to the generation of forced apostasy (Breishit Rabbah 77:3). The idea of this Midrash is that this incident was all an allusion to [Jacob’s] future generations, hinting that there would be a generation of Jacob’s descendants which Esau would overpower to the point that he would come close to exterminating him. (Jacob’s injured thogh, which represents a man’s reproductive capacity, signified that the continuity of his line of descent would be threatened one day). This took place during a certain generation during the times of the of the Sages of the Mishnah, such as the generation of Rabbi Yehudah ben Bava and his colleagues, as [the Sages] said: Rabbi Chiyya bar Abba said: If a person would tell me, “Give up your life as a martyr for the sanctity of the Name of the Holy One, Blessed be He,” I would give up my life, provided that he would kill me immediately. However, what transpired during the generation of forced apostasy I would not be able to bear.” And what was it that they did during the generation of forced apostasy? They would bring balls of metal, make them white hot in a fire, and place them under the armpits of their victims [who were caught keeping the Torah], and slowly draw their life from them. (Shir HaShirim Rabbah on 2:7). And there are other generations during which they have done such things to you, and even worse things than this; but we have borne it all, and everything has passed by us, as the Torah alludes to us in the word, And Jacob arrived intact at the city of Shechem.
Talmud Menachot 29b
Rav Yehuda quoted Rav: When Moses ascended to the heights [to receive the Torah] he found God sitting and drawing crowns upon the letters. Moses said to God, “Master of the Universe, what is staying Your hand [from giving me the Torah unadorned]?” God replied, "There is a man who will arise many generations in the future, his name is Akiva ben Yosef. He will interpret mound upon mound of halachot (laws) from each and every marking."Moses requested, “Master of the Universe, show him to me.” God said, “Turn backwards [and you will see him].” Moses [found himself in R. Akiva’s classroom where he] sat at the back of the eighth row. He didn’t understand what they were talking about and felt weak. Then, they came to a matter about which the students asked Akiva, “Rabbi, how do you know this?” He told them, “It is the [oral] law given to Moses at Sinai.” Moses felt relieved.
He returned to God and said, “Master of the Universe, you have a person like this and [still You choose to] give the Torah through my hands?” God replied, “Silence! This is according to My plan.” Moses said, “Master of the Universe, you’ve shown me his teaching (Torah), show me his reward.” God said, “Turn [backwards and you may see it]. Moses turned around and beheld [the Roman torturers] weighing his [Akiva’s] flesh on the market scales. He said to God, “Master of the Universe, that was his Torah and this is his reward!?” God said, “Silence! This is according to My plan”.