Shemot 33:20 teaches us that: ‘One can’t see G-ds face and live, for man shall not see G-d and live‘ (לֹא תוּכַל לִרְאֹת אֶת-פָּנָי: כִּי לֹא-יִרְאַנִי הָאָדָם, וָחָי.).
When Ya’akov named the place where he wrestled with a ‘men’ Peni’el, because he saw G-d face to face, and yet his life was spared. What did he mean?
It seems like Ya’akov knows that he couldn’t see G-d and live, yet he makes this statement and claims to have seen ‘something’ which he refers to as Elohim face-to-face and survived:
"וַיִּקְרָא יַעֲקֹב שֵׁם הַמָּקוֹם פְּנִיאֵל, כִּי רָאִיתִי אֱלׁהִים פָּנִים אֶל פָּנִים וַתִּנָצֵל נַפְשִׁי."
What did he saw which equals seeing ‘Elohim face-to-face’, and what does it mean to have so? And how was it a treat that he was lucky to survive if it wasn’t HaShem he saw (as mentioned in Shemot 33 no man can and yet still live).
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