Wrestlin' Jacob

DESCRIPTION: "Wrestlin' Jacob seek de Lawd. I will not let thee go. And wrestle all night till the break ob day." "Wrestle Jacob; day is a-breakin'." "(Brethren/Elders/etc., don't get weary (x4) For de work is almost done. Keep your lamps trimmed and burnin'...."
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: 1864 (Higginson-ArmyLifeInABlackRegiment)
KEYWORDS: religious fight Bible nonballad
FOUND IN: US(SE) West Indies(Trinidad,Tobago)
REFERENCES (4 citations):
Higginson-ArmyLifeInABlackRegiment 19, pp. 209-210, "Wrestling Jacob" (1 text)
Dett/Fenner/Rathbun/Cleveland-ReligiousFolkSongsOfTheNegro-HamptonInstitute, p. 70, "'Raslin' Jacob" (1 text, 1 tune; p. 131 in the 1901 edition)
Brown/Belden/Hudson-FrankCBrownCollectionNCFolklore3 656, "Wrestlin' Jacob" (1 text)
Arnold-FolkSongsofAlabama, p. 167, "Oh Rastle Jacob" (1 short text, 1 tune)
Roud #11836
RECORDINGS:
Venice Talbot, Lovey Gilman, Martha Saunders, Louisa Neptune, Henry Thomas, "'Rastlin' Jacob" (on WITrinidadVillage02)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Wrestle On, Jacob" (lyrics, subject)
cf. "Wrestling Jacob" (lyrics, subject)
NOTES [146 words]: The wrestling match between God and Jacob at Peniel/Penuel, which ended as day broke, is told in Genesis 32:22-32.
There is, incidentally, a strong folkloric element to the story; it appears that Jacob may originally have been wrestling with some sort of minor demon, and the story was cleaned up. Imperfectly, since the place is called both Peniel/Penuel (and what was The Ineffable God doing in a wrestling match anyway?). It even has a "just so" moral: The Israelites did not eat a particular part of an animal, because the demon injured Jacob there.
This may well be the same as "Wrestle On, Jacob," since they have many common lyrics. The form is a little different, though, and "Wrestle On" has New Testament references not found here. If Brown had had a tune, that might have decided me in favor of lumping. But Brown doesn't have a tune, and when in doubt, we split. - RBW
Last updated in version 6.7
File: Br3656

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