Why did Jacob choose the name Mahanaim when he saw an army of angels on his return to Canaan?

Genesis 32:1–2 (ESV)

1 Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.

Please read carefully through the arguments and counterarguments.

Interpretation 1: God's angels as an encouragement

Summary: Jacob experiences this angelic army as an encouragement from God’s side: now that he will soon have to face Esau, he may know himself surrounded by God’s angels. God’s army serves to supplement and strengthen Jacob’s own army: there are two armies.

Arguments in favour of this view:

1. On his way to Haran, Jacob was shown God’s angels in a dream (see Genesis 28:12–15). At the time God also gave him an encouraging promise. Now that he is returning from Haran God’s angels appear to him again.

2. God himself ordered Jacob to return to Canaan, the land of blessing: Genesis 31:3. Therefore the angels, appearing near the border of Canaan, must surely serve as a confirmation and encouragement of that command.

3. Doesn’t the LORD also promise in Psalm 34:7 that the angel of the LORD will encamp around those who fear him, and deliver them? John Calvin therefore thought that we can apply Psalm 34:1–22 here in such a way that this one angelic army that met Jacob split into two armies and stood around Jacob’s camp on either side. Doesn’t Psalm 34:1–22 say that “the angel of the Lord encamps around (!) those who fear him”?

4. Another interpreter believes that Jacob is speaking of two armies because he now sees two armies advancing toward him: the army of Esau, but also the one of God. And fortunately, the angels are there first.

5. There are also interpreters who believe that God has assigned to each country its own army of angels. Jacob would therefore be speaking of two armies because he sees the angels of the land of Canaan coming toward him to guide him and his people to their land, while he sees the withdrawal of angels from the land he is now leaving.

Arguments against this view:

1. The reminder of the angelic appearance at Bethel (Genesis 28:12–15) does not account for the fact that this time Jacob does not see a ladder from heaven to earth with angels ascending and descending on it between Jacob on earth and God in heaven, but an army of angels. These angels are warriors. If these angels were meant as an encouragement, it is difficult to understand why Jacob does not react in a reassured way, and now confidently leaves the outcome of the encounter with Esau to the LORD. Instead, Jacob attempts by way of various measures to ensure that the confrontation with Esau will hopefully not end as badly as he fears.

2. Later God also instructed Moses to return to Egypt on his behalf: Exodus 3:10. And yet, already on his way to Egypt, the LORD threatened to kill Moses because Moses’ youngest son was not circumcised, which posed as an obstacle to execute the given task: Exodus 4:4–9. In this threat to Moses (an illness, or a heart attack...?) the LORD may also have called upon one or more angels (see Acts 12:23).

3. The idea of Calvin to do justice to Psalm 34:1–22—that the one angelic army would have split up in two companies—is nowhere to be derived from the text in Genesis 32:1–32. Moreover, Psalm 34:1–22 does not speak of angels of God (plural) or of an army of angels, but specifically of the angel of the LORD. In the OT this presents an appearance of God the Son. Later on in Genesis 32:1–32 this Angel of the LORD himself wrestles with Jacob, at the border river Jabbok (see also Hosea 12:4–5). This Angel evidently does not want to let Jacob into the Promised Land just like that. But this Angel is also the captain of God’s angelic army: see Joshua 5:13–14. Wouldn’t the appearance of this angelic army to Jacob have served the same purpose?

4. The explanation that there are two armies coming towards Jacob (Esau's army and the angelic army) may be acceptable in the sense that Jacob sees the angelic army in connection with Esau’s army: two armies. But it does not take into consideration, given the sequel of Genesis 32:1–32, that the angelic army might also have a threatening rather than an encouraging intent.

5. The notion that each country would have its own group of angels might possibly be defended by appealing to Daniel 10:13 and Daniel 10:20. But it is more plausible in Daniel’s prophecies that certain angels are connected not so much with a specific country, defined by its borders, as with the circles of government in a given country. However, this explanation does not answer the question of why these national angels, who would be welcoming Jacob, would then form one army.

Interpretation 2: God's angels as a threat

Summary: The English Standard Version translates Jacob’s exclamation when he sees the angels that he meets on his way to Canaan from Haran as This is God’s camp! It is better to translate, This is an army from God. For that reason, it is also preferable to translate the chosen name of the location as: Two camps (as is done in the ESV’s footnote). For God’s angels have not temporarily set up their camp somewhere, but according to the Hebrew verb they are, like Jacob, on their way.

Jacob experiences this angelic army as an additional threat upon his return to Canaan where he was to receive the promised blessing. Will he now have to face God’s army in addition to Esau’s army? Does he have to take on two armies?

Arguments in favour of this view:

1. This time Jacob does not see a ladder with angels as an encouraging bridge between heaven and earth, but angels as heavenly soldiers.

2. The Hebrew verb translated as met (him) usually has the sense of to ambush, to attack, to go out with hostile intentions; to assault: see Judges 8:21; Judges 15:12; Judges 18:25; Ruth 2:22; 1 Samuel 22:17; 2 Samuel 1:15; 1 Kings 2:25, 1 Kings 2:29, 1 Kings 2:31; Amos 5:19.

3. Even though God himself instructed Jacob to return to Canaan, the entering of the Promised Land is not necessarily a given. Jacob was not automatically entitled to God’s support and blessing. On the contrary, he had assumed that he could buy the blessing for a meal of red stew. He had thought that he could steal the blessing by deceiving his father and his brother. Therefore, as God’s border guard, the angels have the right to stop Jacob.

4. Jacob himself begins to realize, according to the remainder of Genesis 32:1–32, that his return to the Promised Land will not be an easy one. The appearance of the angels does not elicit a prayer of thanks for God’s good care, but rather the start of a sense of guilt: see Genesis 32:9–11.

5. After his prayer, Jacob, through a whole set of practical arrangements, continued to try to ensure his own entry into Canaan. Therefore, he still had not completely surrendered himself to God’s grace. That is why the captain of God’s angelic host (Hosea 12:4–5) ultimately places himself as an adversary over against Jacob: Genesis 32:24–25.