זוהר בראשית — דף קע ע”ב

The Zohar stresses that it is written “for the dawn had risen” and not “had come”: when dawn came, the appointed one grew strong and struck Jacob; when the light rose, Jacob grew strong and “the sun rose upon him.” “And he limped on his thigh” alludes to Israel, who at the time of rest will be astonished and pained at what they suffered in exile. The appointed one’s strength wanes with the morning. A bracketed passage, taking up a large part of the folio, expands on the sciatic nerve, its prohibition, the number of limbs and sinews in a person, and the Ninth of Av. Rabbi Hiyya says that had Jacob’s strength not been weakened, Esau’s strength would have been broken. Rabbi Shimon opens with Ezekiel and distinguishes Moses from the other prophets, who fell on their faces.