Charles Ellicott Commentary Genesis 32:9

"And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Jehovah, who saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good:" — Genesis 32:9 (ASV)

Jacob said. —Jacob’s prayer, the first recorded in the Bible, is remarkable for combining great earnestness with simplicity. After addressing God as the Elohim of his fathers, he draws closer to Him as the Jehovah who had personally commanded him to return to his birthplace (Genesis 31:13).

Next, while acknowledging his own unworthiness, he shows that already he had been the recipient of Divine favour, and prays earnestly for deliverance, using the touching words and smite me, mother upon children. His mind does not rest upon his own death, but upon the terrible picture of the mother, trying with all a mother’s love to protect her offspring, and slain upon their bodies.

In Hosea 10:14 this is spoken of as the most cruel and pitiable of the miseries of war. But finally, he feels that this sad end is impossible, for he has God’s promise that his seed shall be numerous as the sand of the sea. In prayer to man it may be ungenerous to remind another of promises made and favours expected, but with God, each first act of grace and mercy is the pledge of continued favour.