Names in the Hebrew World

The story raises all these questions as you read it. Who has the authority to change names? You have to have authority over a person. Names in the jewish world communicate. It's not just what we call you by, it's who you are. The fact that jacob has a name that means heel holder and he has deftly been living out his name which essentially means usurper. And for the first time in his story he is confronted with and has to grapple wit a who he is. This man, ah says, what is your name? That question has a lot more weight to it than just he e,. What do they call you? As we sit here wrestling