Jacob

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The son of Isaac and Rebecca, third great patriarch of the chosen people, and the immediate ancestor of the twelve tribes ofIsrael. The incidents of his life are given in parts ofGenesis 25:21-50:13, wherein the documents (J, E, P) are distinguished by modern scholars (seeABRAHAM). His name-- possibly an abbreviation of Jacob-El (Babylonian:Ya kub-ilu), with which compare Israel, Ismael etc. — means "supplanter", and refers to a well-known circumstance of his birth (Genesis 25:25). His early years were marked by various efforts to get the birthright from his brother Esau. His struggle for it began before he was born (xxv, 22-5). Later, he took advantage of Esau's thoughtlessness and despair to buy it from him for a pottage of lentils (xxv, 29-33). In virtue of this purchase, and through a ruse, he finally got it by securing the blessing which Isaac intended for Esau (xxvii, 1-37), Then it was that, to escape his brother's avenging wrath, and apparently also to obtain a wife from hisparents' stock, he fled to Haran, the dwelling place ofLaban, his maternal uncle (xxvii, 41-xxviii, 5). On his way thither, he had at Luza the vision of theangels ascending and descending by a mysterious ladder which reached from earth toheaven, and ofYahweh renewing to him the glorious promises which He had made toAbraham and to Isaac; in consequence of this, he called the placeBeth-El, and vowed exclusive worship toYahweh should He accompany him on his way and bring him back safely home (xxviii, 11-22). Jacob's relations withLaban's household form an interesting episode, the details of which are perfectlytrue to Eastern life and need not be set forth here. Besides blessing him with eleven children,God granted to Jacob a great material prosperity, so thatLaban was naturally desirous of detaining him. But Jacob, long wearied withLaban's frequent trickery, and also bidden byGod to return, departed secretly, and, although overtaken and threatened by his angry father-in-law, he managed to appease him and to pursue his own way towardsChanaan (xxix-xxxi). He managed also--after a vision ofangels at Mahanaim, and a whole night's wrestling withGod at Phanuel, on which latter occasion he received a new blessing and the significant name of Israel--to appease his brother Easu, who had come to meet him with 400 men (xxxii-xxxiii, 16).

Passing through Socoth, Jacob first settled near Salem, a city of the Sichemites, and there raised an altar to theGod of Israel (xxxiii, 17-20). Compelled to leave on account of the enmity of theChanaanites--the precise occasion of which is uncertain--he went to Bethel, where he fulfilled thevow which he had made when on his way to Haran (xxxiv-xxxv, 15). Proceeding farther south, he came to Ephrata, where he buried Rachel, who died giving birth to Benjamin, and where he erected a pillar on the site of hergrave. Thence, through Migdal- Eder, he came toHebron, where he was joined by Esau for their father's burial (xxxv, 16-29). In Hebron, Jacob lived quietly as the head of a numerous pastoralfamily, received with inconsolable grief the apparent evidence of Joseph's cruel death, passed through the pressure of famine, and agreed most reluctantly to his separation from Benjamin (xxxvii, 1-4; xlii, 35-38; xliii, 1-14). The news that Joseph was still alive and invited him to come toEgypt revived the patriarch, who, passing through Bersabee, reachedEgypt with his sons and grandchildren (xlv, 25-xlix). There it was given him to meet Joseph again, to enjoy the honours conferred upon him byPharaoh, and to spend prosperously his last days in the land of Gessen. There, on his death- bed, he foretold the future of fortunes of the respective descendants of his sons, and passed away at the age of 147 (xlvi, 29-xlix). According to his last wishes, he was buried in the land ofChanaan (1, 1-13). Despite the various difficulties met with in the examination of the Biblical narrative and dealt with in detail by commentators, it is quite certain that the history of Jacob is that of a realperson whose actual deeds are recorded with substantial accuracy. Jacob's character is a mixture ofgood andevil, gradually chastened by the experience of a long life, and upon the whole not unworthy of being used byGod for the purpose of His mercy towards the chosen people. The Talmudic legends concerning Jacob are the acme of fancy.

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