Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Brian Roberts <formoria AT carolina.rr.com>]

Dear listmembers;


Genesis 32:24-32 tells the odd little story of Jacob wrestling with 
God(?), and the last verse contains a reference, which, in English, is 
translated in various ways, among them "Therefore the children of Israel 
eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh 
unto this day; because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the 
sinew that shrank."

What is the consensus about the original Hebrew meaning of this? Some 
have expressed the possibility (again, based on one English translation) 
that it may reference a prohibition against cannibalism. I didn't have a 
ready answer for them, not being a Hebrew scholar.


Best Salaams,

R. Brian Roberts
Amateur Researcher in Biblical Archaeology