PENIEI, or PENUEL in Gen. xxxii. 31 ; ye Mos Ta co0; in ver. 3o, 5,1100 ; Maas sea ; elsewhere ; Phonic/J. The origin of this name, and the position of the place, are given in the remarkable narrative of Gen. xxxii. 24, seq. The interview between Laban and Jacob was over, and the latter having sent messengers to his brother Esau, they on their return reported that he was coming to meet him, with an escort of four hundred men (6). Jacob was afraid, and made all necessary preparations to appease, and, if unsuc cessful, to escape from his brother. The final arrangements having been made on the banks of the Jabbok, Jacob was left alone ; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of day' (24). The place appears to have been the north bank of the stream. The man' who wrestled with him declared himself to be GOD (28, ; and he blessed him there' (29) ; and Jacob called the name of the place Peni-El (' The face of God') : for I have seen God face to face' (3o). It does not appear that there was any town or village upon the spot at the time of this wondrous event ; but it was probably then marked by some rude cairn or stone to serve as a record of the divine presence. We hear no more of it for five hundred years. After the defeat of the Midianites in the valley of Jezreel, Gideon pursued them to their home in the eastern desert. On reaching the fords of the Jordan at Succoth, he asked the people of that city to supply food to his fainting followers ; they refused, 'and he went aft thence to Fennel, and spake unto them likewise' (Judg.
viii. 8). He probably ascended from the valley of the Jordan through the glen of the Jabbok, which falls into the Jordan a few miles below Succoth. This would bring him direct to the site of Peniel, on which a city appears to have been built in the interval. It was natural, and in accordance with Eastern custom, that a holy place such as Penuel should become the nucleus of a town. In the time of Gideon there was a tower 6`0*) at Peniel, which Gideon destroyed on his return from the conquest of the Midianites. It would seem too that the city was then completely depopulated (ver. 17). It may have remained a ruin till the days of Jeroboam, of whom we read that after taking up his abode in Shechem, he went out from thence, and built Penuel' (i Kings xis. 25). We hear no more of Peniel in Scripture. Josephus merely repeats the Scripture notices (Antiq. i. 2o. 2; viii. 8. 4), as do Eusebius and Jerome (Onovzst., s. v . Famed). They do not appear to have known the exact site; indeed Jerome represents the Penuel of Jaco, Gideon, and Jeroboam as distinct places. The site has not been discovered, nor has that section of country been as yet explored with sufficient minuteness to enable us to say whether any ruins exist.—J. L. P.