Was the man who wrestled with Jacob, God?

Question

It seems to me that the most plain reading of the passage in Genesis 32:22-32 suggests the man who wrestled with Jacob was somehow God, as crazy or as insane as it may sound. I'm looking for alternative understandings that can make proper sense of verse 30 which says: "So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."

I understand that the word Elohim that is translated to "God" above can be used to even refer to human beings or angelic creatures. However, I believe God is the correct translation here because Jacob talks about his life being spared in spite of seeing Elohim face to face. We see a similar wording in Exodus 24:9-11 which is irrefutably talking about God. So if Jacob didn't wrestle with God, was he simply wrong in verse 30? And if so, why would the Torah not correct him, knowing that this may be interpreted as a true statement?

There are other examples in the Torah such as Genesis 16 in which we're told explicitly that an angel of God (Mal-ach Adonay) appears to Hagar for example yet Hagar refers to this angel as YHWH and names him (Attah El Roi) meaning You are the God who sees me. There's more examples of this of course. And there's another interesting example in Genesis 22 in which the angel of God who stops Abraham says to him that you have not withheld your son from Me, even though Abraham was about to offer his son to God so here we have this angel speaking as if somehow he himself is God. Thoughts?

Answer 1

The verse you quote from Exodus actually disproves your theory. There G-d said

And he said, Thou canst not see my face; for no man shall see me, and live.

yet here Jacob says he saw Elohim face to face. So this would prove that Jacob is referring to an angel, and not G-d.

In the case of the last paragraph, Hagar was speaking to G-d directly, as all humans can. G-d was speaking to her through an angel because she was not a prophetess, but she responded to G-d directly.

Answer 2

No. Jacob wrestled with an angel. Or, even better, it was only his dream. He pervades the whole universe and He can't do that with any kind of body. What more proof do you need!

Answer 3

When Jacob talks about G-d after wrestling with a man, he was referring to the past, his internal struggle. Nothing more.