Genesis 32:30
“And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.”
KJV
Read in Genesis 32Meaning
Peniel memorializes Jacob's conviction that the mysterious night encounter brought him face to face with God and yet left him alive.
Read carefully
The statement should not erase other biblical tensions about seeing God or be turned into a claim of ordinary sight of the divine essence.
Reflection
Jacob responds to mystery by naming the place from the meaning he believes the encounter carried: divine presence and preserved life.