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[image] Jacob or Ya'akov, (בֹקֲעַי "Holder of the heel", Standard Hebrew Yaʿaqov, Tiberian Hebrew Yaʿăqōḇ; Arabic يعقوب Yaʿqūb), later known as Israel (לֵאָרְׂשִי "Prince with God", Standard Hebrew Yisraʾel, Tiberian Hebrew Yiśrāʾēl; Arabic اسرائيل Isrāʾīl) is a Biblical Patriarch. His story is told in the Book of Genesis.
Jacob was continually praised by God, and never criticized. In fact, he is the only person in Scripture whom God said he "loved". (Malachi 1:2-3, "...I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau...")
He purchased the Birthright from his brother Esau for a pot of soup, and his wife Rachel from his uncle Laban in return for seven years labour. God later renamed Jacob to Israel after he wrestled with an Angel (Genesis 32:23-30), and he would become the father of the Israelites.
Biography
Jacob was probably born at Lahai-roi, twenty years after Isaac and Rebekah were married, at which time his father was sixty (Gen. 25:26), and Abraham one hundred sixty years old. Like his father, Jacob was of a quiet and gentle disposition because, the Hebrew tells us, he was an "ish tam," which means "simple" or "pure" in the sense of a "perfect simplicity." It also says that he dwelt "in tents," interpreted by most biblical scholars as a mark of his studiousness.
Jacob was the second born of the twin sons of Isaac, by Rebekah. During the pregnancy, "the children struggled together within her" (Genesis 25:22). When Rebekah questioned God about the tumult, she was told that two very different nations were in her womb, and the elder would serve the younger. Rebekah remembered this.
Jacob was favored by his mother. His father, Isaac, favored Esau, who was "a man of the fields and a cunning hunter".
Birthright blessing
The Bible states that as the boys were growing up, Esau, the hunter, came in starving one day and asked Jacob for some stew. Jacob demanded that Esau sell him his birthright as firstborn in exchange; Esau, noting that the birthright was useless to him if he died, agreed, and thus, in the words of the Bible, "despised" his birthright.
This birthright would have included not only the traditional Biblical birthright, which granted superior rank in the family (Gen. 49:3), a double portion of the paternal inheritance (Deut. 21:17), and the priestly office in the family (Num. 8:17-19), but the Abrahamic blessing as well, which promised the seed in which all the nations of the earth were to be blessed.
When Isaac grew old and nearly blind, he sent Esau out in the fields, telling him to hunt down some meat for one last meal before receiving his blessing. Rebekah overheard this, and told Jacob to slaughter two goats and bring them to Isaac to receive the blessing in his brother's stead. Jacob objected that his father, though nearly blind, might notice the substitution through touch, since Esau was hairy and he himself was smooth; Rebekah told him not to worry, and placed hairy goatskins over his neck and hands.
Jacob, thus disguised, went into his father's presence claiming to be his brother, and Isaac, though suspicious of his voice, gave him the blessing. As soon as Jacob received the blessing and left, the real Esau arrived, exposing the deception. Isaac was shaken, but could give Esau only a lesser blessing. Esau, in turn, swore to himself that he would kill Jacob in revenge.
Laban and Rachel
Rebekah, on learning of Esau's murderous intentions, called Jacob before her and told him to flee, sending him to her brother, Laban, until Esau's rage subsided; she also told him to seek out a wife while he was there.
On the way to Haran, he experienced a strange vision in which he beheld a ladder reaching into heaven, a vision that is commonly referred to as Jacob's Ladder; from the top of the ladder he heard the voice of God, who repeated many of the blessings upon him. Continuing on his way, he arrived in Haran. There he stopped by the well and met Laban's younger daughter, his cousin Rachel. After Jacob had spent a month with these relatives, Laban offered him wages for the help he was providing. Jacob stated that he would serve him for seven years in exchange for Rachel's hand in marriage, to which Laban agreed.
These seven years seemed to Jacob "but a few days, for the love he had to her"; but when they were complete, Laban gave Jacob his older daughter, Leah instead. In the morning, when Jacob discovered the switch and complained, Laban told him that in their country it was unheard of to give the younger daughter before the firstborn; he would give Jacob Rachel as well, but only if he stayed with Leah, went through the honeymoon and worked another seven years. Jacob did so.
Though then married to both, Jacob loved Rachel and hated Leah; God, seeing this, made Leah bear many children, and she gave birth to Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah before going barren. Rachel, who had been unable to bear any children of her own, was jealous at this and told Jacob to sleep with her maid Bilhah so she could bear a child through her. Jacob did so, and Bilhah gave birth to Dan and Naphtali. This, in turn, made Leah jealous, and she told Jacob to sleep with her maid, Zilpah, who gave birth to Gad and Asher. Leah then became fertile again, and gave birth to Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah. At this point God remembered Rachel, who gave birth to one final son, Joseph.
Around the time that Joseph was born, Jacob desired to return to home, but Laban, who noted that God had blessed him while Jacob was there, entreated Jacob to stay. Laban offered to pay Jacob, and Jacob brought up the subject of Laban's cattle, which had increased greatly. In exchange for the spotted and speckled cattle and goats, and the brown sheep, Jacob would stay. Laban agreed, and immediately gave all his spotted, speckled, and brown animals to his sons; he then quickly left the area, heading three days away. Jacob, in turn, took rods of green poplar, hazel, and chestnut, and going among the flocks he used them to mark the calves and lambs of the strongest animals with spots and speckles as they were born.
As time passed, Laban's sons noticed that Jacob was taking the better part of their flocks, and Laban's friendly attitude towards Jacob began to change. At this point God warned Jacob to leave town, and after a quick consultation with his wives he fled, giving Laban no warning. Before they left, Rachel stole all the icons from Laban's house.
Laban, in a rage, pursued Jacob for seven days; but the night before he caught up, God spoke to him in a dream and said:
"Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad." (Genesis 31:24)
On the day that they met, on mount Gilead, Laban accused Jacob of sneaking away with his daughters, as if they were captives; and asked why Jacob had not told him in advance. He also warned Jacob that he could have hurt him, but repeated the message he received from God; and finally, he asked why the icons had been stolen.
Jacob, knowing nothing of Rachel's theft of the icons, told Laban that whoever stole them should be killed, and offered to let him search. Laban did so; but when he searched Rachel's tent, she hid them by sitting on them. Once Laban had finished his search and come up blank, Jacob chided him for chasing them down so angrily and insisting on searching all their things, reciting all the time he spent with Laban and the work he did. With this the two made peace, Laban returning home and Jacob continuing on his way.
Return to the Promised Land
"And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him", perhaps to congratulate him on his great 20-year victory over evil through his faith in the God of Abraham. He called the name of the place Mahanaim, i.e., "the double camp", probably his own camp and that of the angels. Here he saw the angels; previously he had a dream and seen the angels of God "ascending and descending on the ladder whose top reached to Heaven" (28:12) [see Jacob's Ladder for more details].
As he neared the Promised land, Jacob sent a message ahead to his brother, Esau. His scouts returned with the news that Esau was coming to meet Jacob with an army of 400 men. In great agony of mind Jacob prepared for the worst. He felt that he must now depend only on God, and he betook himself to Him in earnest prayer, then sent on before him a munificent present to Esau, "a present to my lord Esau from thy servant Jacob".
Jacob then transported his family and flocks back across the ford Jabbok, then crossed over towards the direction from which Esau would come, spending the night alone, in communion with God. While thus engaged, a mysterious man appeared to Jacob and wrestled with him until daybreak, when the man asked to be let go. Jacob refused to do so until the man blessed him; and the man, after asking his name, blessed him with the name Israel (Hebrew ישׂלאר Yisra'el or Yiśrā’ēl, meaning "one who has struggled with God"). Jacob then asked the man's name; but the man refused to answer. Afterwords Jacob named the place Pnei-el (Penuel, meaning face-god), saying "I have seen [either 'a god' or 'God'] face to face and lived."
After the night of wrestling with an angel, Jacob sees that Esau is coming. So he sets his wives and sons in order, with his most beloved Rachel and Joseph in the rear, and himself in front. (Genesis 33:3)
Esau came forth and met him; but his spirit of revenge had been appeased by Jacob's great power and wealth. But Jacob refused to travel with Esau, or to allow any of Esau's men to accompany him. And shortly thereafter, Esau moved all his family and belongings far to the south of the Promised Land. Jacob settled in Succot for a time, then while journeying to Ephrath (the Canaanitish name of Bethlehem), Rachel died in giving birth to her second son Benjamin (35:16-20), about six years after the birth of Joseph.
Jacob then pitched his tent near Shechem, (33:18); but at length, under divine directions, he moved to Bethel, where he made an altar to God (35:6,7), and where God appeared to him, formally changed his name to Israel, and renewed the Adamic, the Noahic, and the Abrahamic covenants with him, as described above.
After the appearance of God at Bethel--and all his family there to witness it--Jacob reached the old family residence at Mamre, the dwelling place of Isaac.
Finding Joseph
Isaac died at the age of 180, 44 years after he blessed Jacob and sent him to Haran to find a wife, and at the time that Joseph (age 30) was raised from prison in Egypt and made ruler of that land. This means that Jacob and his family had been back in the Promised Land about 24 years at the time of Isaac's death. Esau and Jacob buried their father in the burial place of Abraham and Sarah and Rebekah (35:27-29).
Long before this, Jacob had been deeply grieved by the disappearance of his beloved son, Joseph, through the jealousy of his brothers (37:33). The rest of Genesis follows the story of the Famine, and the successive goings down into Egypt to buy grain (Genesis 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 (Exodus 1:5; Deuteronomy 10:22), to sojourn in the Land of Goshen.
In Egypt, 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". At length the end of his 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 51 years had passed 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) at the age of 147 (Genesis 47:28).
At that time, Joseph was about 57, having been about 40 when Jacob was 130 (at the time he and his family arrived in Egypt). This means Joseph was born when Jacob was 90, at the end of the 14 years of service for Rachel, which means his father was 76 when he arrived in Haran, and not a youth as many suppose.
Jacob's 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.
See also: History of ancient Israel and Judah
Initial text from Easton's Bible Dictionary, 1897. Please update.
Jacob's sons

Main article: Israelite
Jacob had twelve sons.
By his first wife Leah, Jacob had Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and his only daughter Dinah.
By Bilhah, handmaiden of Rachel, he had Dan and Naphtali.
By Zilpah, handmaiden of Leah, he had Gad and Asher.
Finally, by his favourite wife Rachel, he had Joseph and Benjamin.
These comprise the twelve Tribes of Israel. However with Levi and Joseph it is a bit more complicated. The Tribe of Levi were priests, and as such had no lands. In order to make up the number of tribes to twelve, where the tribes are listed without Levi, there is no Tribe of Joseph, and instead the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph's two sons by his Egyptian wife Asenath, are listed.
Jacob in Islam

Main article: Yaqub
In Arabic Jacob is known as Yaqub. He is regarded as a prophet in Islam, but as a villain by the Nation of Islam.