Penuel (Peniel)
פְּנוּאֵל
Where was biblical Penuel? At Tulul edh-Dhahab, the twin hills on the Jabbok, in Jordan, about 30 km northwest of Amman. I mark it probable.
Jacob sent his family across the Jabbok and stayed behind alone. A man wrestled with him until dawn, and Jacob would not let go without a blessing. He walked away limping, with a new name, Israel. "I have seen G-d face to face," he said, and called the place Peniel, the face of G-d.
By Aaron Shaffier, licensed Israel tour guide and mapmaker · About the mapmaker
- Site today
- Tulul edh-Dhahab, the twin hills on the Jabbok, in Jordan
- How sure
- Probable The best case we have, with real alternatives.
- Other names
- Peniel, Pnuel, Tell edh-Dhahab esh-Sharqi, Tulul edh-Dhahab
- Location
- 32.1912° N, 35.7140° E (Google Maps)
How we know where it was
The text puts Penuel at a ford of the Jabbok, and Genesis names it right after Mahanaim, so the two were neighbors. Judges adds a second clue. Gideon, chasing the kings of Midian, crossed the Jordan and went up from Succoth to Penuel. The men of Penuel refused his exhausted troops bread. Gideon promised to tear down their tower, and on his way back he did. Later Jeroboam, the first king of the northern kingdom, rebuilt Penuel as a fortress. So Penuel lay up the Jabbok from Succoth, near Mahanaim, and it had a tower worth tearing down.
The map follows the common view. Penuel is the smaller eastern hill of Tulul edh-Dhahab, facing Mahanaim across the gorge of the Jabbok. A tower on its summit would fit the story in Judges. Before about 1970 many placed Penuel on the twin hills as a whole. The newer view splits them, one hill for each town. No inscription has confirmed either name, so this is probable, not certain.
Other proposals put Penuel farther down the Jabbok, at Tell el-Hammeh, where the river leaves the hills, or at Tell Deir Alla, which most identify as Succoth.
Visiting today
The eastern hill rises above the Zarqa River gorge in Jordan, opposite Mahanaim. There are no visitor facilities.
Read it in the Bible
Verse numbers follow the Hebrew Bible. In a handful of chapters English Bibles count one verse off.
See Penuel on the interactive map →
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Get the print + free ebookNearby places
- Mahanaim 1 km west
- Succoth 9 km west
- Adam 18 km southwest
- Jabesh Gilead 23 km north
- Abel Meholah 26 km northwest
- Rabbah of Ammon 32 km southeast