Jacob (Israel)

One who follows on another’s heels; supplanter, (Gen. 25:26; 27:36; Hos. 12:2-4), the second born of the twin sons of Isaac by Rebekah. He was born probably at Lahai-roi, when his father was fifty-nine and Abraham one hundred and fifty-nine years old. Like his father, he was of a quiet and gentle disposition, and when he grew up followed the life of a shepherd, while his brother Esau became an enterprising hunter. His dealing with Esau, however, showed much mean selfishness and cunning (Gen. 25:29-34).

When Isaac was about 160 years of age, Jacob and his mother conspired to deceive the aged patriarch (Gen. 27), with the view of procuring the transfer of the birthright to himself. The birthright secured to him who possessed it (1) superior rank in his family (Gen. 49:3); (2) a double portion of the paternal inheritance (Deut. 21:17); (3) the priestly office in the family (Num. 8:17-19); and (4) the promise of the Seed in which all nations of the earth were to be blessed (Gen. 22:18).

Soon after his acquisition of his father’s blessing (Gen. 27), Jacob became conscious of his guilt; and afraid of the anger of Esau, at the suggestion of Rebekah Isaac sent him away to Haran, 400 miles or more, to find a wife among his cousins, the family of Laban, the Syrian (28). There he met with Rachel (29). Laban would not consent to give him his daughter in marriage till he had served seven years; but to Jacob these years “seemed but a few days, for the love he had to her.” But when the seven years were expired, Laban craftily deceived Jacob, and gave him his daughter Leah. Other seven years of service had to be completed probably before he obtained the beloved Rachel. But “life-long sorrow, disgrace, and trials, in the retributive providence of God, followed as a consequence of this double union.”

At the close of the fourteen years of service, Jacob desired to return to his parents, but at the entreaty of Laban he tarried yet six years with him, tending his flocks (31:41). He then set out with his family and property “to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan” (Gen. 31). Laban was angry when he heard that Jacob had set out on his journey, and pursued after him, overtaking him in seven days. The meeting was of a painful kind. After much recrimination and reproach directed against Jacob, Laban is at length pacified, and taking an affectionate farewell of his daughters, returns to his home in Padanaram. And now all connection of the Israelites with Mesopotamia is at an end.

Soon after parting with Laban he is met by a company of angels, as if to greet him on his return and welcome him back to the Land of Promise (32:1, 2). He called the name of the place Mahanaim, i.e., “the double camp,” probably his own camp and that of the angels. The vision of angels was the counterpart of that he had formerly seen at Bethel, when, twenty years before, the weary, solitary traveller, on his way to Padan-aram, saw the angels of God ascending and descending on the ladder whose top reached to heaven (28:12).

He now hears with dismay of the approach of his brother Esau with a band of 400 men to meet him. In great agony of mind he prepares for the worst. He feels that he must now depend only on God, and he betakes himself to him in earnest prayer, and sends on before him a munificent present to Esau, “a present to my lord Esau from thy servant Jacob.” Jacob’s family were then transported across the Jabbok; but he himself remained behind, spending the night in communion with God. While thus engaged, there appeared one in the form of a man who wrestled with him. In this mysterious contest Jacob prevailed, and as a memorial of it his name was changed to Israel (wrestler with God); and the place where this occured he called Peniel, “for”, said he, “I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved” (32:25-31).

After this anxious night, Jacob went on his way, halting, mysteriously weakened by the conflict, but strong in the assurance of the divine favour. Esau came forth and met him; but his spirit of revenge was appeased, and the brothers met as friends, and during the remainder of their lives they maintained friendly relations. After a brief sojourn at Succoth, Jacob moved forward and pitched his tent near Shechem (q.v.), 33:18; but at length, under divine directions, he moved to Bethel, where he made an altar unto God (35:6, 7), and where God appeared to him and renewed the Abrahamic covenant. While journeying from Bethel to Ephrath (the Canaanitish name of Bethlehem), Rachel died in giving birth to her second son Benjamin (35:16-20), fifteen or sixteen years after the birth of Joseph. He then reached the old family residence at Mamre, to wait on the dying bed of his father Isaac. The complete reconciliation between Esau and Jacob was shown by their uniting in the burial of the patriarch (35:27-29).

Jacob was soon after this deeply grieved by the loss of his beloved son Joseph through the jealousy of his brothers (37:33). Then follows the story of the famine, and the successive goings down into Egypt to buy corn (42), which led to the discovery of the long-lost Joseph, and the patriarch’s going down with all his household, numbering about seventy souls (Ex. 1:5; Deut. 10:22; Acts 7:14), to sojourn in the land of Goshen. Here Jacob, “after being strangely tossed about on a very rough ocean, found at last a tranquil harbour, where all the best affections of his nature were gently exercised and largely unfolded” (Gen. 48). At length the end of his checkered course draws nigh, and he summons his sons to his bedside that he may bless them. Among his last words he repeats the story of Rachel’s death, although forty years had passed away since that event took place, as tenderly as if it had happened only yesterday; and when “he had made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost” (49:33). His body was embalmed and carried with great pomp into the land of Canaan, and buried beside his wife Leah in the cave of Machpelah, according to his dying charge. There, probably, his embalmed body remains to this day (50:1-13).

The history of Jacob is referred to by the prophets Hosea (12:3, 4, 12) and Malachi (1:2). In Micah 1:5 the name is a poetic synonym for Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes. There are, besides the mention of his name along with those of the other patriarchs, distinct references to events of his life in Paul’s epistles (Rom. 9:11-13; Heb. 12:16; 11:21). See references to his vision at Bethel and his possession of land at Shechem in John 1:51; 4:5, 12; also to the famine which was the occasion of his going down into Egypt in Acts 7:12 (See LUZ; BETHEL.)

Male Born: 1836 BC Died: 1689 BC

People and places

Selected passages

Show passage in OET: GEN 25:26

OET-RV GEN 25:26

26 Then his brother was born and his hand grabbed Esav’s heel, so he was named ‘Ya’akov’ (Jacob) (which means ‘heel-grabber’). Yitshak (Isaac) was sixty years old when they were born.

OET-LV GEN 25:26

26 And_after thus his/its_brother he _came _out and_hand _of_his was_holding on_the _heel _of ˊĒsāv and_he/it _called his/its_name Yaˊₐqoⱱ/(Jacob) and_Yiʦḩāq/(Isaac) was_a _son _of sixty year[s] when_fathered DOM_them.

Show passage in OET: GEN 28:10-17

OET-RV GEN 28:10

10 Meanwhile, Ya’akov (Jacob) had left Be’er -Sheva (Beersheba) and was enroute to Haran.

OET-RV GEN 28:11

11 One night after he’d stopped when the sun had gone down, he laid down in that place and used one of the stones there to put under his head for a pillow.

OET-RV GEN 28:12

12 While he was sleeping, he had a dream, and wow, a stairway was set up on the earth and its top reached to the heavens, and look, God’s messengers were ascending and descending on it.

OET-RV GEN 28:13

13 And look, Yahweh was standing above it and he said, “I am Yahweh, the god of Avraham your grandfather and the god of Yitshak (Isaac). I will give the land that you are lying on to you and to your descendants

OET-RV GEN 28:14

14 and they will be as numerous as dust particles, and you’ll all spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.

OET-RV GEN 28:15

15 So listen, I’m with you and I’ll watch over you everywhere you go. I’ll bring you back to this land because I won’t leave you until I’ve done what I told you.”

OET-RV GEN 28:16

16 Then Ya’akov woke up and said to himself, “Yahweh is certainly here in this place, but I didn’t realise it.”

OET-RV GEN 28:17

17 So he was afraid and said to himself, “This place is spine-chilling—it’s nothing other than God’s house, and it’s heaven’s gateway.”

OET-LV GEN 28:10

10 And_ Yaˊₐqoⱱ/(Jacob) _he/it _went _out from_Bəʼēr- sheⱱaˊ and_he/it _went to_Ḩārān.

OET-LV GEN 28:11

11 And_he _reached (in)_place and_he _stayed _the _night there if/because the_sun it _had _gone and_he/it _took one_of _the _stones _of the _place and_he/it _assigned of _his _head _of_the _place and_he _lay _down in_place (the)_that.

OET-LV GEN 28:12

12 And_he _dreamed and_BEHOLD/LO/SEE a _stairway was_placed towards_land and_his/its_head/top was_reaching to_the_heavens and_BEHOLD/LO/SEE the _messengers _of god were_going _up and_were_going _down in/on/over_him/it.

OET-LV GEN 28:13

13 And_BEHOLD/LO/SEE YHWH was_standing on/upon/above_him/it and_he _said I am_YHWH the _god _of ʼAⱱrāhām father _of_your and_the _god _of Yiʦḩāq the_earth/land which you are_lying on/upon_it(f) to/for_yourself(m) I_will _give _it and_to_offspring _of_your.

OET-LV GEN 28:14

14 And_it _was your(ms)_seed/fruit like_the _dust _of the_earth/land and_you _will _spread _out westward_to and_eastward_to and_northward_to and_southward_to and_they _will _be _blessed in_you(ms) all _of the _clans _of the_soil and_by_offspring _of_your.

OET-LV GEN 28:15

15 And_BEHOLD/LO/SEE I am_with_you and_I_will _protect _you in_every where you _will _go and_I_will _bring _you _back to the_soil (the)_this if/because not I_will _abandon _you until that (if) I _have _done DOM that_which I _have _spoken to/for_you(fs).

OET-LV GEN 28:16

16 And_ Yaˊₐqoⱱ/(Jacob) _he _awoke from_sleep _of_his and_he/it _said truly (there) YHWH is_in_place the_this and_I not I _realised.

OET-LV GEN 28:17

17 And_he _was _afraid and_he _said how awesome is_the_place the_this is_not this if/because (if) the _house _of god and_this is_the _gate _of the_heavens.

Show passage in OET: GEN 32:24-30

OET-RV GEN 32:24

24 Then Ya’akov was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until dawn.

OET-RV GEN 32:25

25 When the man realised he wasn’t gaining on him, he touched Ya’akov on the socket of his hip so that it became dislocated as they wrestled with each other.

OET-RV GEN 32:26

26 Then the man said, “Release me now, because it’s already dawning.”
¶ “I won’t release you until you bless me,” Ya’akov responded.

OET-RV GEN 32:27

27 “What’s your name?” the man asked.
¶ “Ya’akov,” he replied.

OET-RV GEN 32:28

28 “You won’t be called Ya’akov anymore,” the man said, “but you’ll be ‘Yisrael’ (Israel) (which means ‘he struggled with God’), because you have struggled with God and with men, and you won.”

OET-RV GEN 32:29

29 “Please tell me your name,” Ya’akov requested.
¶ “Why would you want to know my name?” the man replied, then he blessed Ya’akov there.

OET-RV GEN 32:30

30 So Ya’akov named the place ‘Penuel’ (also spelt ‘Peniel’, which means ‘God’s face’), because he said, “I saw God face to face, yet my life was preserved.”

OET-LV GEN 32:25