Penuel

This is the same word as Pentel, which see. There are two persons of this name in Scripture, namely, the son of Hur, (1 Chron. 4: 4.) and Penuel, the son of Shashak, (1 Chron. 8. 25.)

Penu’el. See Peniel.

(See PENIEL.) Between Jabbok and Succoth (Gen 32:22-30-31; Gen 33:17). Gideon after Succoth mounted to Penuel (Jdg 8:5-8.) (See GIDEON.) It then had a tower. Jeroboam fortified Penuel (1Ki 12:25.) The men of Penuel, like those of Succoth, as living on the great army route between Canaan and the East, would not help Gideon through fear of Midian’s vengeance. Penuel was a frontier fortress built "by the way of them that dwelt in tents" (i.e., their usual route along the course of the Jabbok, where they would have a level way and grass and water, down to the Damieh ford of the Jordan, and so into Canaan).

Hence arose Jeroboam’s need of rebuilding the tower which Gideon had broken down long before, and which lay due E. from his capital. Four miles above "Canaan’s ford" are two conical hills called "hills of gold" (Dhahab) from the yellow sandstone; one is on one side, the other on the other side, of the stream. The western one is larger and has more ruins; the ruins on the eastern one are remarkable, a platform running along its precipitous side, strengthened by a wall 20 ft. high and very solid. The work is cyclopean and of the oldest times; and there are no ruins along the Jabbok course for 50 miles save those. The strange aspect of the place harmonizes with the name given after Jacob’s wrestling with the angel of Jehovah, "the Face of God."

[Penu’el]

1. The place where the mysterious man wrestled with Jacob. Jacob gave it this name, signifying ’face of God,’ because, as he said, he had seen God face to face, and his life was preserved. Five hundred years later the place is mentioned, the men of which would not give supplies to Gideon. On his return he broke down the tower and slew the men of the city. Jeroboam rebuilt it. It was situated between Succoth and the Jabbok, but its site cannot now be identified. Gen 32:31; Jdg 8:8-17; 1Ki 12:25. It is called PENIEL in Gen 32:30.

2. A descendant of Judah and father of Gedor. 1Ch 4:4.

3. Son of Shashak, a Benjamite. 1Ch 8:25.

PENUEL (once, Gen 32:30, Peniel).—A place E. of Jordan, and near the Jabbok, at which Jacob wrestled with the angel (Gen 32:24 ff.), and said (Gen 32:30) to be called Peniel (or Penuel), i.e. ‘Face of God,’ because Jacob said, ‘I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.’ (The mention of the ‘face of God’ in Gen 33:10 makes it possible that another explanation of the origin of the name is there alluded to.) There was, however, in Phœnicia, a little S. of Tripolis, a headland called Theou prosôpon, ‘God’s face’; and it is thought by some scholars that ‘Penuel’ really derived its name from some projecting rock in whose contour a face was seen. Penuel is mentioned also in the history of Gideon, as a place with a strong tower or castle which Gideon destroyed (Jdg 8:8-9; Jdg 8:17); it may be inferred from this passage that Penuel was a little E. of Succoth (Jdg 8:6), and also on a higher elevation (‘went up,’ Jdg 8:8). Many years later, Penuel was fortified by Jeroboam (1Ki 12:25); so that it must have been a place of some strategic importance. The site is not more certain than that of Succoth; see under Succoth some account of the data upon which its settlement depends, and a suggestion for it. Merrill identifies Penuel with Tulûl edh-Dhahab (‘the hills of gold,’ so called from the yellow metalliferous sandstone of which they are composed), two conical hills, about 250 ft. high, round which the Jabbok winds, about 6 miles E. of Deir ‘Allâ (which Merrill identifies with Succoth), up the valley, with ancient ruins on the top; and Conder Identifies it with Jebel Osha, a mountain 3597 ft. high, with a fine view, 8 miles S. of the Jabbok. But to each of these identifications there are grave objections: as regards Merrill’s site, it is expressly declared by other travellers that the banks of the Jabbok for many miles above Tulûl edh-Dhahab are on both sides so lofty and precipitous as to afford no way for either the Midianites or Gideon to pass along them (see ExpT [Note: Expository Times.] . xiii. [1902] 457 ff., or more briefly the writer’s Genesis, p. 300 ff.).

S. R. Driver.

pḗ-nū´el, pen´ū́-el. See PENIEL.

One of the more important towns in Israel’s territory east of Jordan was Penuel. It was in the centre of the region popularly called Gilead, situated on the Jabbok River, close to the point where the Jabbok joins the Jordan (Gen 32:22; Gen 32:31). Various Israelite leaders, recognizing the strategic importance of the Jordan and the Jabbok as defence barriers, built special fortifications at Penuel (Jdg 8:9; Jdg 8:17; 1Ki 12:25). (For map and other details see GILEAD.)