Question: I was in a class where it was stated that Genesis 32:31-32 is an example of scribal error. The contention was that the use of the word Peniel and then Penuel indicates scribal error. I had heard, a couple of years ago, that this was not scribal error but had something to do with the interpretation of the two words. Would you have any insight into this subject?

Answer: Thanks for the note. It is surely not a misprint, mistype etc. There are deeper levels of meaning within Torah and an incongruity in the next means that we just have to look deeper. The explanation may be this: Jacob called the place Peni’el, referring to the fact that he, possessively, saw God there. But the place is called by other people Pnu’el, referring to the fact that “God was seen there.” The lesson is that when a great person has a first person spiritual experience in a place, the rest of us can still gain from that experience too, but in our own way. God was seen there, so we can connect there too. We relate to the graves of holy people in the same way. Because they are associated with the righteous, they are places where we can connect to God.
Regards,
Rabbi Yaakov Rosenblatt