Facts about jacob in the bible
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JewishEncyclopedia.com
Third patriarch; son of Isaac and Rebekah, and ancestor of the Israelites. Hewas born when his father was sixty years old and after his mother had been barren for twenty years. For the account of his birth and origin of his name see Gen. xxv. 19, 26. The name "Jacob" is explained elsewhere as meaning "supplanter" or "deceiver" (ib. xxvii. 36; Hos. xii. 4 [A. V. 3], where there is also an allusion to the struggle before birth between the two brothers). Jacob was the favorite of his mother (Gen. xxv. 28). He is represented as "a plain man [], dwelling in tents," that is to say, pursuing the life of a shepherd (ib. xxv. 27; comp. ib. iv. 20).
Only two important incidents marked the early period of Jacob's life. The first was his obtaining the birthright from his brother Esau. The birth-right being a very important possession, Jacob waited for the opportunity to acquire it, and the opportunity came. Esau, returning one day tired from hunting, and seeing Jacob cooking a mess of lentils, asked Jacob to give him some. Jacob offered to do so
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A Summary of Jacob’s Life
Jacob, the child of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, was born as a twin with his brother Esau. As an unborn infant, he wrestled in the womb with his brother, and it was conflict with his brother that would define the course of his life.
Jacob was a ‘plain man’ who preferred quite living in tents rather than the adventures of outdoor living as a nomad. This made him the favorite of his mother, Rebekah. Jacob seems to have been one who believed in using strategy and cunning rather than force. Recognizing that his brother Esau was the firstborn, with special blessings, he waited until a day when his brother was famished, then offered him a meal of red pottage in exchange for the firstborn’s birthright, which Esau accepted. Later, Jacob took the advice of his mother to ‘dress up’ as his brother Esau and steal his brother’s firstborn blessing from his aged and nearly blind father. This drew the hatred of his brother, and Jacob was sent back by his parents to the family homeland of Padan-Aram in order to this murderous rage.
Jacob headed back to the ance
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Jacob, Patriarch
Jacob (Heb. ya'ăqōb, meaning uncertain), also known as Israel, son of Isaac and twin of Esau. By popular etymology his name was associated with the Hebrew word 'āqēb, "heel" (Gn 25.26) and the denominative verb 'āqab, "to trip someone by seizing his heel, to supplant" (Gn 27.36 and Hos 12.4). Either the sacred writer did not know the true derivation and meaning of the name, or he deliberately set it aside to highlight the fact that, because of divine election, Jacob, and through him, the Israelites, were destined to supplant Esau, and his progeny, the Edomites. It is probable that the name Jacob was originally an abbreviated form of a theophoric name such as ya'ăqōb-’el (M. Noth, Personennamen 179, 197, associates it with the South-Arabic root 'qb and suggests the meaning "God protects").
Ostensibly the biblical narratives concerning Jacob appear as straightforward records of the personal exploits of Israel's progenitor. Yet closer scrutiny reveals that these narratives are, in reality, quite complex.
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