PERSON · PATRIARCH

Jacob

Jacob is the third and final patriarch of Israel, through whom God's covenant promises were transmitted to twelve sons who became the ancestral heads of the twelve tribes of Israel (Genesis 49:1–28). His renaming to 'Israel' established the national identity of the Israelite people (Genesis 32:28; Genesis 35:10). His migration to Egypt with seventy members of his household set the stage for the subsequent Israelite sojourn in and exodus from Egypt (Genesis 46:26–27; Exodus 1:1–5).

Genesis 28:10–22

The Story

He arrived in the world already reaching. The Book of Genesis records that when Rebekah's twin sons were born, the second came out with his hand grasping the heel of the first — and so his parents named him Jacob, a name bound up with that act of grasping. It was a beginning that told the whole story of the man, at least the story of the man he was before God remade him.

Jacob was the son of Isaac and the grandson of Abraham, born into a household that carried the weight of divine promise. God had told Abraham that through his descendants all the families of the earth would be blessed, that they would inherit a land and multiply beyond counting. That promise had passed to Isaac. And in God's sovereign ordering — told to Rebekah before the twins drew their first breath — it would pass to Jacob, not to Esau the firstborn. But Jacob did not wait for God to accomplish it. He moved first, and he moved by cunning.

The record Scripture gives of Jacob's early life is uncomfortable reading. He persuaded his famished brother to sell his birthright for a bowl of stew — and Esau, who Scripture says despised his birthright, agreed. Then, at his mother Rebekah's direction, Jacob came before his aged and nearly blind father Isaac wearing Esau's clothing and the skins of goats on his hands and neck, and he claimed to be Esau. Isaac was deceived. The blessing intended for the firstborn — dominion, abundance, the service of nations — fell on Jacob. When Esau returned and the fraud was discovered, there was nothing left to give.

Life & Legacy

Death

Scripture

Jacob died in Egypt at the age of 147 years (Genesis 47:28), after blessing his twelve sons and giving instructions to be buried with his fathers in the cave of Machpelah in Canaan (Genesis 49:29–33). His body was embalmed and carried back to Canaan, where he was buried in the cave of Machpelah by his sons (Genesis 50:12–13).

Genesis 47:28; Genesis 49:29–33; Genesis 50:12–13

Legacy

Scripture

Jacob was renamed Israel by God after wrestling with a divine being at Peniel, and this name became the collective designation for his twelve sons and their descendants (Genesis 32:28; Genesis 35:10). God confirmed to Jacob the covenant promises originally given to Abraham and Isaac, including the land of Canaan and innumerable descendants (Genesis 28:13–15; Genesis 35:11–12). Jacob is invoked repeatedly throughout Scripture as one of the three founding patriarchs in the formula 'the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob' (Exodus 3:6).

Genesis 32:28; Genesis 35:10–12; Exodus 3:6

Character

Scripture

Scripture records that Jacob grasped his twin brother Esau's heel at birth (Genesis 25:26) and later obtained both Esau's birthright through a bargain (Genesis 25:29–34) and his father Isaac's blessing through deception (Genesis 27:1–29). Jacob also negotiated shrewdly with his uncle Laban over wages and flocks (Genesis 30:25–43) and wrestled persistently with a divine being, refusing to release him without receiving a blessing (Genesis 32:26).

Genesis 25:26–34; Genesis 27:1–29; Genesis 30:25–43; Genesis 32:26

Significance

Scripture

Genesis 32:28; Genesis 35:10; Genesis 46:26–27; Genesis 49:1–28; Exodus 1:1–5

DeathScripture

Genesis 47:28; Genesis 49:29–33; Genesis 50:12–13

LegacyScripture

Genesis 32:28; Genesis 35:10–12; Exodus 3:6

CharacterScripture

Genesis 25:26–34; Genesis 27:1–29; Genesis 30:25–43; Genesis 32:26

SignificanceScripture

Genesis 32:28; Genesis 35:10; Genesis 46:26–27; Genesis 49:1–28; Exodus 1:1–5

Roles

Patriarch

In Scripture

Genesis 28:10–22key

¹⁰And Jacob went out from Beer–sheba, and went toward Haran. ¹¹And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. ¹²And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it. ¹³And, behold, the Lord stood above it, and said, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed; ¹⁴And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. ¹⁵And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. … (7 more)

KJV

Genesis 32:22–32key

²²And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. ²³And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had. ²⁴And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. ²⁵And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. ²⁶And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. ²⁷And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. … (5 more)

KJV

Genesis 25:19–34

¹⁹And these are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham begat Isaac: ²⁰And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife, the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padan–aram, the sister to Laban the Syrian. ²¹And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife, because she was barren: and the Lord was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. ²²And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the Lord. ²³And the Lord said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. ²⁴And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb. … (10 more)

KJV

Genesis 27:1–46

¹And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said unto him, My son: and he said unto him, Behold, here am I. ²And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death: ³Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison; ⁴And make me savoury meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die. ⁵And Rebekah heard when Isaac spake to Esau his son. And Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. ⁶And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying, … (40 more)

KJV

Genesis 29:1–30

¹Then Jacob went on his journey, and came into the land of the people of the east. ²And he looked, and behold a well in the field, and, lo, there were three flocks of sheep lying by it; for out of that well they watered the flocks: and a great stone was upon the well’s mouth. ³And thither were all the flocks gathered: and they rolled the stone from the well’s mouth, and watered the sheep, and put the stone again upon the well’s mouth in his place. ⁴And Jacob said unto them, My brethren, whence be ye? And they said, Of Haran are we. ⁵And he said unto them, Know ye Laban the son of Nahor? And they said, We know him. ⁶And he said unto them, Is he well? And they said, He is well: and, behold, Rachel his daughter cometh with the sheep. … (24 more)

KJV

Genesis 35:1–29

¹And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth–el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. ²Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments: ³And let us arise, and go up to Beth–el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. ⁴And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. ⁵And they journeyed: and the terror of God was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. ⁶So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan, that is, Beth–el, he and all the people that were with him. … (23 more)

KJV

Genesis 46:1–7

¹And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer–sheba, and offered sacrifices unto the God of his father Isaac. ²And God spake unto Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob. And he said, Here am I. ³And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: ⁴I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. ⁵And Jacob rose up from Beer–sheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. ⁶And they took their cattle, and their goods, which they had gotten in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him: … (1 more)

KJV

Genesis 47:28–31

²⁸And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years. ²⁹And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said unto him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt: ³⁰But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their buryingplace. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. ³¹And he said, Swear unto me. And he sware unto him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed’s head.

KJV

Genesis 49:1–33

¹And Jacob called unto his sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. ²Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel your father. ³Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power: ⁴Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed; then defiledst thou it: he went up to my couch. ⁵Simeon and Levi are brethren; instruments of cruelty are in their habitations. ⁶O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their selfwill they digged down a wall. … (27 more)

KJV

Artist's impression