כי שרית - מגזרת באונו שרה את אלהים כמו קנה קנית. עשה עשית. אבל וישר אל מלאך ויוכל מגזרת שב קם רץ שיאמר ויקם וישר וירץ. ומה שלקה יעקב ונצלע, לפי שהקב"ה הבטיחו והוא היה בורח. וכן מצינו בכל ההולכים בדרך שלא ברצון הקב"ה, או ממאנים ללכת שנענשו. במשה כתיב: שלח נא ביד תשלח ויחר אף ה' במשה. ולפי הדרש, אף על פי שאמרו חכמים בכל מקום חרון אף עושה רושם וכאן מה רושם יש? הלא אהרן אחיך הלוי עתיד הוא להיות לוי ואתה כהן ועכשיו הוא יהיה כהן ואתה לוי. אך לפי הפשט: לפי שהיה מתעצל ללכת כתיב: ויהי בדרך במלון ויפגשהו ה' ויבקש המיתו. וכן ביונה שנבלע במעי הדגה. וכן בבלעם ויחר אף אלהים כי הולך הוא ונעשה חיגר, כדכתיב: ותלחץ רגל בלעם. וילך שפי חיגר כמו: ושפו עצמותיו. כי שרית, the word is derived from שרה in Hoseah 12,4 ובאונו שרה את אלוקים, “and with his might he fought with a Divine Being (reference to Yaakov).” The construction is parallel to קנה-קנית, or עשה-עשית. However, in the same chapter, verse 5 in Hoseah, the word וישר in the line וישר אל מלאך ויוכל, “he wrestled with an angel and prevailed,” is not derived from the root שרה but is of the same category of verbs as קם, שב, רץ all of which have a letter ו in the middle in the infinitive. The corresponding construction to ours of those examples would be ויקם, ויקב, וירץ, as in וישר from the root שור, ”to wrestle.” As to the fact that in spite of his victory, Yaakov was injured in that struggle, this was a punishment for his attempt to flee, in spite of his having been assured by G’d that He would help and protect him. We find other examples of great people who pursue a path that does not conform with G’d’s will that as a result they experience punishment for ignoring G’d’s will. As soon as Moses refused the mission and told G’d to send someone else, (Exodus 4,13) we find that G’d became angry at him. According to the plain meaning of the text there, although the sages say that wherever G’d’s anger is mentioned the subject at whom G’d is angry is visibly punished, whereas there is no word about Moses being punished for his words שלח נא ביד תשלח, Aaron who was meant to function only as a Levite, became the High Priest, a role which Moses would have filled but for his improper refusal to accept G’d’s mission without demurring. This is an explanation based on an allegorical approach, whereas the plain meaning is that at the inn, when on his way to Egypt, Moses was almost killed for having been remiss in not circumcising his son Eliezer before setting out on his journey. Jonah, too was punished for trying to circumvent the will of G’d and spent three most uncomfortable days inside one or more fish. Similarly, G’d’s anger resulted in Bileam being harmed by his ass when contravening G’d’s will and setting out on his way to curse the Jewish people (Numbers 22,22 indicates that he walked with a pronounced limp, presumably due to having his leg squeezed against the wall by his ass as per Numbers 22,25.