Jacob
- This article is about Jacob in the Hebrew Bible. For other uses of the name, see Jacob (disambiguation).
Jacob or Ya'akov, (Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב, Standard Yaʿaqov Tiberian Yaʿăqōḇ; Arabic: يعقوب, Yaʿqūb; "holds the heel"), also known as Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל, Standard Yisraʾel Tiberian Yiśrāʾēl; Arabic: اسرائيل, Isrāʾīl; "Struggled with God"), is the third Biblical patriarch. His father is Isaac, and his grandfather is Abraham. Jacob plays a major part in some of the later events in the Book of Genesis.
Bibilical accounts
Jacob was born to Isaac and Rebekah after 20 years of marriage, at which time his father was 60 (Genesis 25:26), and his grandfather Abraham was 160. Rebekah had been barren, but Isaac's prayers for her were answered when she finally conceived. During Rebekah's pregnancy, "the children struggled together within her" (Genesis 25:22). (According to the medieval rabbinical sage Rashi, whenever Rebekah passed a house of study, Jacob would struggle to be born; whenever she passed a place of idolatry, Esau would struggle.) Fearful of the excessive movement, Rebekah questioned God about the tumult in her womb. The method of her inquiry is not indicated — perhaps through peronal prayer, prophecy, or divination — but she learned that two children, who would become the founders of two nations. "The one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger." (Gen. 25:23)
Esau was the firstborn. His brother Jacob was born immediately afterwards, and was grasping Esau's heel. His name, Ya'akov (יעקב), derives from the Hebrew word for "heel." Rabbinical commentators explain that Jacob was trying to hold Esau back from being the firstborn.
Jacob and his twin brother were markedly different in appearance and behavior. Esau was a hunter whose body was covered with red hair, while Jacob was a gentle man who "dwelled in tents," apparently prefering to stay closer to home. Jacob was favored by his mother, while Esau was favored by his father.
Birthright and Blessing
We are told little of Jacob's boyhood. A major event in his life occurred on a day when he was engaged in cooking a stew when Esau returned from hunting faint from hunger. Esau requested some of the stew, which Jacob agreed to give him in exchange for his birthright as the older brother. Esau agreed, saying, "I am going to die - what is this birthright to me?" (Genesis 25:29-34)
After this, because of a famine, Isaac moved the family to the Philistine town of Gerer. The text does not indicate Jacob's age at this point, but the twins were clearly without their mother for an extended period, as Rebekah was taken in the harem of King Abimelech, posing as Isaac's sister. "After a long time," the king realized she was actually Isaac's wife and returned her to the family. Isaac's clan grew wealthy in both flocks and crops during this period and eventually left the Philistine terroritory to settle in Beehsheba.
At the age of 40, Jacob was still unmarried. Esau, on the other hand, took two Hittite women to be his wives, "who were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah." (Gen 26:35)
Many years intervene in the story here. Isaac grew old and had become nearly blind. He decided to bless his eldest son before he died. He sent Esau out in the fields to hunt down some meat and prepare him a meal, after which he would receive Isaac's blessing. Rebekah, favoring the younger son, overheard this exchange and instructed Jacob to fetch her two goats so that she could prepare a tasty meal for his father. She then command Jacob to bring the meal to Isaac to receive the blessing in his brother's stead. Jacob worried that his father might notice the substitution through touch, since Esau was hairy and he was smooth. "What if my father touches me?," he asked. "I would appear to be tricking him and would bring down a curse on myself rather than a blessing." Gen. 27:12) Rebekah too responsibility for the act, saying, "Let the curse fall on me." She then disguised Jacob by placing hairy goatskins over his neck and arms.
Jacob went into his father's tent. Isaac was surprised that he had returned so soon from the suposed hunt. "Who are you, my son?" Isaac asked suspiciously. "I am Esau your firstborn," Jacob replied. Isaac was still suspicious and asked to feel him, since Esau was hairy. The goatskins seemed to fool him, although he declared, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau." Nevertheless, Isaac blessed him:
- May nations serve you and peoples bow down to you.
- Be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you.
- May those who curse you be cursed and those who bless you be blessed. (Gen. 27:29)
As soon as Jacob left the tent, Esau arrived and exposed the deception. Isaac was shaken, but affirmed that Jacob would indeed be blessed. To Esau's pathetic entreaties, he agreed to give Esau a lesser blessing.
Exile in Haran
Then Esau swore to himself that he would kill Jacob in revenge as soon as his father was dead. Rebekah prophetically intuited Esau's murderous intentions, and commanded Jacob to flee to Haran to the house of her brother, Laban, until Esau's rage subsided. She also convinced Isaac to support the journey, on the grounds that in Haran, Jacob chould marry a woman from their own clan, unlike Esau had done.
Traveling first northward, Jacob experienced a vision in which God conirmed that the covenant he had made with Abraham and Isaac would now pass to Jacob. He also saw a ladder reaching into heaven with angels going up and down it, a vision that is commonly referred to as Jacob's Ladder. He named the place Bethel, and erected a sacred pillar on the spot, vowing:
- "If God will be with me and will watch over me on this journey I am taking and will give me food to eat and clothes to wear so that I return safely to my father's house, then the Lord will be my God and this stone that I have set up as a pillar will be God's house, and of all that you give me I will give you a tenth." (Gen 28:20-22)
Jacob awoke in the morning and continued on his way to Haran. As he approached his ancestral village, he stopped by the well where shepherds were watering their flocks and met Laban's younger daughter, his cousin Rachel. He loved her immediately, and after spending a month with his relatives, asked for her hand in marriage in return for working seven years for Laban.
These seven years seemed to Jacob "but a few days, for the love he had for her." (Gen 29:20) However, when it was time for their wedding, Laban deceived Jacob by switching his older daughter, Leah, as the veiled bride. In the morning, when the truth became known, Laban justified himself by saying that in their country it was unheard of to give the younger daughter before the older. However, he agreed that Jacob could also marry Rachel in exchange for an additional seven years of Jacob's labor. After the week of wedding celebrations with Leah, Jacob married Rachel and continued to work for Laban another seven years.
Jacob loved Rachel, and Leah felt despised. Because of this, "God opened Leah's womb" and she gave birth to four sons in succession: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. Rachel, however, was barren and gave Jacob her slave woman Bilhah as an additional wife, considering Blihah's children to count as her own. Bilhah gave birth to Dan and Naphtali. Seeing that she had left off childbearing temporarily, Leah then gave her slave Zilpah to Jacob in marriage, so that she, too, could raise more children through her. Zilpah gave birth to Gad and Asher. Later, Leah became fertile again and gave birth to Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah. At this point, "God remembered Rachel," who gave birth to Joseph.
Around the time that Joseph was born, Jacob desired to return home to his parents, but Laban was reluctant to release him, on account of Jacob's great profiency in animal husbandry. The two men sturck an unusual deal. Jacob would receive every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and every spotted or speckled goat out of Laban's flocks. In exchange, Jacob would work an additional seven years for Laban. Through a ploy involving clever breeding techniques and miraculous genetic engineering, Jacob became extremely wealthy, not only in herd cattle but also in slaves, camels, and donkeys.
As time passed, Laban's sons suspected trickery, and Laban's friendly attitude toward Jacob began to change. God told Jacob he should now leave, and thus he and his clan did so without informing Laban. Before they left, Rachel stole all the "household idols" (terraphim) from Laban's house.
Laban, in a rage, pursued Jacob for seven days. The night before he caught up to him, God spoke to him in a dream and warned him not to say anything good or bad to Jacob. When the two met, Laban played the part of the injured father-in-law and also demanded his terraphim back. Ignorant of Rachel's theft of the idols, Jacob told Laban that whoever stole them should die, and offered to let him search. When Laban reached Rachel's tent, she hid the idols by sitting on them, pleading that she could not rise because of menstrual cramps — "the way of women is upon me." (Gen. 31:35) Jacob and Laban parted from each other in peace, Laban returning home and Jacob continuing on his way.
Return to Canaan
As Jacob neared the land of Canaan, he sent messengers ahead to his brother Esau. They returned with the news that Esau was coming to meet Jacob with an army of 400 men. In great apprehension, 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 of Jabbok, then crossed over towards the direction from which Esau would come, spending the night alone, in communion with God. There, a mysterious being ("a man", according to Genesis 32:24, or "the angel", according to Hosea 12:4) appeared and wrestled with Jacob until daybreak. When he saw he could not defeat Jacob, he touched him on the sinew of his thigh. Jacob then demanded a blessing, and the mysterious being said that from now on, Jacob would be called Israel, meaning "striven with God." Jacob then asked the being's name, but the being refused to answer. Afterward Jacob named the place Pnei-el Penuel, meaning "face of God"), saying "I have seen God face to face and lived."
In the morning Jacob assembled his wives and 11 sons, placing Rachel and her children in the rear and Leah and her children in the front. Jacob himself took the foremost position. Fortunately, Jacob's bounteous gift of camels, goats and flocks had convince Esau he meant no threat. Their reunion was an emotional one. " Esau ran to meet Jacob and embraced him; he threw his arms around his neck and kissed him. And they wept." Esau assured his brother that he needed no gifts, being wealthy himself, but Jacob implored him to accept his presents, saying, "To see your face is like seeing the face of God." (Gen. 39:10) Esau then offered to accompany them on their way, but Jacob prefered that they go their separate ways.
Jacob arrived in Shechem, where he bought a parcel of land that would eventually house Joseph's Tomb. There he set up an altar and called it "El Elohe Israel" (El, the god of Israel). In Shechem, Dinah, his daughter through Leah, was raped by the prince's son, who then fell in love with her and desired to marry the girl. Dinah's brothers, pretending friendship, agreed on the condition that the men of Shechem first be circumcized. While the men were recovering from their wounds, Levi and Simeon laughtered the residents of the town and fled not only with Dinah, but also with much plunder including their victims' wives and children. Jacob would silent rebuked his two sons for this act on his deathbed.(Genesis 49:5-7).
As Jacob and his clan neared the border of Canaan, Rachel went into labor and died as she gave birth to her second—and Jacob's twelfth—son, Benjamin. Jacob buried her and erected a monument over her grave, which is located just outside Bethlehem. Rachel's Tomb remains a popular site for pilgrimages and prayers to this day.
Jacob was finally reunited with his father Isaac in Mamre (outside Hebron). When Isaac died at the age of 180, Jacob and Esau buried him together in the Cave of Machpelah which Abraham had purchased as a family burial plot.
Jacob and Joseph
The Bible next relates the story of Joseph, who was separated from his father Jacob at the age of 17 and sent down to Egypt as a slave by his brothers, who were jealous of his dreams of kingship over them. Jacob was deeply grieved by the loss of his favorite son, and refused to be comforted. Christian commentators have speculated that this was a punishment from God due to Jacob's earlier sins, which included impersonation of Esau (a form of lying or deception). [citation needed]
Thirteen years after the sale of Joseph, Pharaoh had two troubling dreams which could not be interpreted to his satisfaction. Joseph, who was in the king's prison, was recommended to Pharaoh as an interpreter of dreams, and he explained the dreams as relating to seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh was so impressed that he made Joseph viceroy over Egypt and the manager of Egypt's grain stores. Joseph artfully managed first the storage and then the distribution of Egypt's grain, making Pharaoh quite wealthy.
When the famine struck, the sons of Jacob went down to Egypt to procure grain for their starving families in Canaan. Joseph recognized them, and demanded to see the twelfth brother of whom they spoke, his own full-brother, Benjamin. He took Simeon as a hostage until they returned with Benjamin. Jacob was distraught when he heard this news, for Benjamin was all that was left to him of his beloved wife Rachel's children, and he refused to release him lest something happen to Benjamin, too. But when their food stores ran out and the famine worsened, Jacob agreed to Judah's promise to protect Benjamin from harm. The brothers returned to Joseph, and when Joseph saw Benjamin he was overcome with emotion, and revealed himself to his brothers. He invited them to bring their families and their father, Jacob, down to Egypt to live near him, and gave them a place to live in the Egyptian province of Goshen.
Jacob's last seventeen years were spent in tranquility in Egypt, knowing that all his 12 sons were righteous people, and he died at the age of 147. Before he died, he made Joseph promise that he would bury him in the Cave of Machpelah, even though Jacob had buried Joseph's mother, Rachel, by the side of the road and not in the Cave (Leah was buried there, instead). With Pharaoh's permission, Joseph led a huge state funeral back to the land of Canaan, with the 12 sons carrying their father's coffin and many Egyptian officials accompanying them.
Before he died, Jacob also elevated Joseph's two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, to the status of full tribes. He also blessed each of his sons. According to the Midrash, he desired to tell them the exact date when the Messiah would arrive, but the prophecy failed him. He feared lest one of his sons was not righteous, but they responded, "Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad" - "Hear O Israel [Israel being another name of Jacob], the Lord Our God, the Lord is One!" Satisfied that his sons were united in the service of God, Jacob proclaimed, "Baruch Shem Kavod Malchuso Le'Olam Va'Ed" - "Blessed is the Name of His glorious Kingdom for ever and ever". Today these two verses are said together, the first one aloud and the second one quietly, in the morning and evening Jewish prayer services.
Other references
Jacob is the only person in Old Testament (Jewish) Scripture whom God said He "loved". (Malachi 1:2–3, "...I loved Jacob, and I hated Esau...", also quoted in Romans).
Jacob's sons
Jacob had twelve sons by his four wives, as follows:
- By Leah: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun.
- By Bilhah: Dan and Naphtali.
- By Zilpah: Gad and Asher.
- By Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.
These 12 sons comprise the twelve Tribes of Israel. These tribes were recorded on the vestments of the Kohen Gadol (high priest). However, when the land of Israel was apportioned among the tribes in the days of Joshua, the Tribe of Levi, being priests, did not receive land. Therefore, when the tribes are listed in reference to their receipt of land, as well as to their encampments during the 40 years of wandering in the desert, the Tribe of Joseph is replaced by the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (the two sons of Joseph by his Egyptian wife Asenath, whom Jacob elevated to the status of full tribes).
Rabbinical teachings
According to the classic Jewish texts, Jacob, as the third and last patriarch, lived a life that paralleled the descent of his offspring, the Jewish people, into the darkness of exile. In contrast to Abraham—who illuminated the world with knowledge of God and earned the respect of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan—and Isaac—who continued his father's teachings and also lived in relative harmony with his neighbors—Jacob experienced many personal struggles both in the land and out of it (including the hatred of his brother Esau, the death of his favorite wife Rachel, the sale of his son Joseph, the rape of his daughter Dinah, and the deception of his father-in-law Laban). For this reason, the Jewish commentators interpret many elements of his story as being symbolic of the future difficulties and struggles the Jewish people would undergo during their long exile, which continues to the present day.
According to the Midrash, the day on which Esau sold his birthright was the very same day that Abraham died; the lentil soup which Jacob had cooked was a food traditionally eaten at times of mourning. This sheds some light on Esau's comment that he "was going to die." The midrash further states that Esau had committed the three cardinal sins – murder, adultery and idolatry, which is why he was tired that day. Setting the scene at the time of Abraham's death would mean that Jacob and Esau were both 15 years old at that time.
According to the traditional Midrashic interpretation of the story, both Jacob and Rachel suspected that Laban would pull such a trick, for he was known as the "Aramean" (deceiver), and changed Jacob's wages hundreds of times during his employ. The couple devised a series of signs by which Jacob could identify the veiled bride, but when Rachel saw her sister being taken out to the wedding canopy, her heart went out to her and the public shame she would suffer if she was exposed. Therefore she gave Leah the signs so that Jacob would not realize the switch.
(the gid hanasheh - גיד הנשה). As a result, the Israelites would not consume that part of an animal's thigh from that point on (Genesis 32:33). This incident still has an impact on many Jews today, as Orthodox Jews will not eat the area containing the gid hanasheh (commonly identified as the sciatic nerve) on an otherwise kosher animal.
Because of the ambiguous and varying terminology, and because the being refused to reveal its name, there are varying views as to whether this mysterious being was a man, an angel, or God Himself. According to Rashi, he was the guardian angel of Esau himself, sent to destroy Jacob before he could return to the land of Canaan. Trachtenberg theorizes that the being refused to identify itself for fear that if its secret name was known, it would have been conjurable by incantations (Trachtenberg 1939, p. 80). Some commentators, however, argue that the stranger was God Himself, citing Jacob's own words and the name he assumed thereafter ("One who has struggled with God"). They point out that although later holy scriptures maintain that God does not manifest as a mortal, several instances of it arguably occurs in Genesis, for example, in 18:1, with Abraham.
Jacob in Islam
In Arabic, Jacob is known as Yaqub. He is revered as a prophet who received inspiration from God. The Qur'an does not give the details of Jacob’s life. It is said that he was later honored by God with the name Is'rail (Israel in English) (Yisrael in Hebrew) because of his devotion and dedication to God's will. Isra' means Night Journey and Il simply means God (Allah) (similar to the word El in Semitic Language meaning God). Yaqub was said to have migrated somewhere in a night journey with his children and later favored by God with this name. God perfected his favor on Jacob and his posterity as he perfected his favor on Abraham and Isaac (12:6). Jacob was a man of might and vision (38:45) and was chosen by God to preach the Message. The Qur'an stresses that worshiping and bowing to the One true God was the main legacy of Jacob and his fathers (2:132-133). Salvation, according to the Qu'ran, hinges upon this legacy rather than being a Jew or Christian (See Qu'ran 2:130-141).
According to the Qu'ran, Jacob was of the company of the Elect and the Good (38:47, 21:75). Yaqub is a name that is accepted in Muslim community showing the value attributed to Jacob.
See also
- History of ancient Israel and Judah
- Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, the name given to at least three different major paintings
- During the Second World War the French writer and anti-Nazi resistance fighter André Malraux worked on a long novel, The Struggle Against the Angel, the manuscript of which was destroyed by the Gestapo upon his capture in 1944. The name was apparently inspired by the Jacob story. A surviving opening book to The Struggle Against the Angel, named The Walnut Trees of Altenburg, was published after the war.
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Trachtenberg, Joshua (1939), Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion, Behrman's Jewish Book house, New York
External links
- Behind Jacob’s deal with Laban - its genetics illustrated
- Biblaridion magazine: Jacob as a paradigm for the nation of Israel
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