What is Jacob's story from the Bible?

Answer 1

This information provides a small sampling of Jacob's contribution's and shortfalls from the Book of Gen.

Key Scriptures: Genesis 25-31

Jacob -- His name means "He Grasps the Heel" (Figuratively, "He Deceives")

Genesis 27:6-23(NKJV)

Jacob. Though destined to supplant his brother, Jacob tarnished his name to mean "deceitful" through cunning efforts to gain his brother's privilege (Genesis 25:26) (25:29--34; 27:1--40).

His Work: Jacob served as an indentured servant of his Uncle Laban for 14 years, Jacob was a herdsman

His Character: Jacob learned the art of cunning and deception. In stealing the paternal blessing from his older brother, Jacob was forced run experiencing the consequences of his behavior.

His Sorrow: After seven years of hard labor as payment for Rachel, Jacob was deceived by her father; Laban and was forced to work seven more years. During these years he learned first-hand what his own deception had brought on his brother. Later in his life he thought he had lost his own son Joseph to an attack by a wild animal.

His Triumph: His twelve sons Gen 35:22-26 See also Gen 29:32-35; Gen 30:3-13; Gen 35:16-18

The grandson of Abraham and son of Isaac, who was chosen by God, despite his personal faults and shortcomings, to be the recipient of the promises made to Abraham.

He encounters God at Bethel Gen 28:10-22 The encounter with God at Bethel confirms that Jacob has received the promise made to Abraham, and that Jacob has accepted his role of bearer of that promise to future generations.

Jacob is an outstanding illustration of the presence and conflict of the two natures within a believer. Similar to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of Robert Louis Stevenson's story, Jacob is good and bad; he rises and falls, yet in spite of his failures was a chosen instrument.

Jacob's character then, is full of interest and difficulty because of its weakness and strength. His is not a life to be described by a single word as, for example, the faith of Abraham or the purity of Joseph. Jacob seemed to have a various qualities to his life. He was a man of guile, yet a man of prayer. Inconsistencies are everywhere. His life began with a prophetic revelation of God to his mother, but Jacob's early years were a singular mixture of good and bad---the bad being very corrupt.

I. Jacob was the victim of his mother's partiality. "Rebekah loved Jacob" (Gen. 25:28). This fault must be kept in mind as we judge his character.

II. Jacob was selfish. When his brother came in from the fields faint with hunger, Jacob would not give him food without bargaining over it.

III. Jacob was naturally crafty and deceitful. He violated his conscience when he allowed his mother to draw him away from the path of honor and integrity. He practiced deception upon his blind father with the covering of kid skins. Then he told a deliberate lie in order to obtain a spiritual blessing. He further sinned upon most sacred ground, when he blasphemously used the name of the Lord to further his evil plans.

The thoroughness with which he carried out his mother's plan is one of the worst features in the life of this misguided son. "Had it been me," says Martin Luther, "I would have dropped the dish." It would have been better for Jacob had he dropped that dish of venison. But his proficiency in evil doing is to be despised.

In the life of this sharp trader who mended his ways, for there were two remarkable spiritual experiences in his life---at Bethel and Peniel---the preacher might find the following points suggestive: Jacob cheated (Gen. 25:29-34); deceived (Gen. 27:1-29); was compelled to flee (Gen 27:43; 28:1-5); was brought on to a higher level (Gen 28:10-22); had a romance spoiled, and was paid back in his own coin of deception (Gen. 29:15-30); was affectionate (Gen. 29:18); was industrious (Gen. 31:40); was prayerful (Gen. 32:9-12, 24-30); received a divine call to the promised land (Gen. 31); was disciplined by God through affliction (Gen. 37:28; 42:36); was a man of faith (Heb. 11:21); was blessed with sons who became the foundation of a nation. The Hebrew nation is spoken of as "the sons of Jacob" and "the children of Israel" (Gen. 48; 49; Num.. 24:19).

Answer 2

A:Whether or not Jacob existed, the stories written about him in Genesis are not historically true. While this alone does not prove his non-existence, it points in that direction.

The name Abraham means 'Father of many', Isaac means 'He laughs' (a reference to Abraham laughing when told that Isaac would be born) and Jacob means 'Takes by the heel', but also seems related to the verb meaning to supplant and could thus be given as 'supplanter'. Notice how all these names relate to the stories around them, as if oral storytellers had created the names and/or events to help them remember the storylines. This militates against Jacob's existence.

Genesis 17:17 says that Isaac was exactly 60 years old when Jacob was born, just as Abraham was exactly 100 years old and Sarah was 90 years old when Isaac was born. These seem improbable ages for them to have their sons, not only because of their extreme ages but because they are such nice, round numbers, easy to remember. Coincidences like this point to legend not fact.

Even Jacob's age when he died is a giveaway, as are the ages of Abraham and Isaac. Not just because they were so impossibly long, but because they point to the secret use of numerology based on the number 17:

1. Abraham lived to 175 (5 X 5 X 7)
2. Isaac lived to 180 (6 X 6 X 5)
3. Jacob lived to 147 (7 X 7 X 3)

• Each lifespan involves a perfect square (5, 6, then 7 in a numeric series),
• the third factor also forms a series (7, 5, 3)
• in each case the sum of the factors is 17.

A theme of the story of Jacob is his continuing rivalry with his twin brother Esau, whom he eventually supplants. Even before their birth. Genesis says that Jacob held on to Esau's heel in an attempt to prevent him being born first, something that would have required intelligence, awareness of the outside world and manual dexterity far beyond the capabilities of ordinary mortals. There is quite plausible evidence in the Book of Genesis that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were incarnations of the moon god in early belief, before the story evolved over the centuries into one in which they were mortal heroes, with Esau originally an incarnation of the sun god and therefore the rival of the moon god. This can be seen more clearly in the story of Jacob Wrestling an opponent all night.

In this story, inserted into a narrative about quarrels between Jacob and Esau, Jacob was left alone and wrestled all night with an opponent who was originally no doubt Esau, although the story as it comes down to us leaves the opponent unnamed. At the break of day, the man said he must leave (Genesis 32:24ff). Even though his leg was dislocated, Jacob refused to let his opponent go unless he blessed Jacob. That the 'man' was a god is amply demonstrated - Jacob asked for his blessing, he had the prerogative of changing Jacob's name, Jacob's new name was Israel (generally assumed to mean 'wrestled with God') and Jacob called the place Peniel ('the face of God') because he had seen God face to face. If the man who wrestled with Jacob was a god, then Jacob was also a god in the very early tradition behind this passage, as demonstrated by the fact that he was such an even match for his opponent. And if the opponent was a god, he was also a sun god - daybreak signalled the end of the contest, he had to leave Jacob before the sun could rise, then the sun rose upon Jacob. This was the daily struggle in which the sun god defeats the moon god at dawn.

Answer 3

There are a lot of stories about these two personages. Read them in Genesis Chapters 25-50.

Generally speaking: After conning his brother Esau out of his birthright, Jacob marries two sisters: Leah and Rachel and starts a family. He ultimately has twelve sons, but his eleventh was the first son of Rachel, resulting in his having favorable treatment. In anger, his brothers sold him into slavery. He was a slave in Egypt until, by good fortune, he became the Chief Vizier by proposing a solution to protect Egypt from the upcoming famine. Joseph eventually reunited with his brothers, who were also suffering from the famine and forgave them.

Answer 4

A:

The defining story of Jacob in The Bible is his rivalry with his twin brother Esau. They are portrayed as bitter rivals who were constantly at loggerheads, with Jacob stealing Esau's birthright by subterfuge. Genesis 25:22-26 says that they fought even before their birth and Jacob held on to Esau's heel in an attempt to prevent him being born first, something that would have required intelligence, awareness of the outside world and manual dexterity far beyond the capabilities of ordinary mortals.

Esau was hairy and his hair was red like the sun (Asians more often think of the sun as red, while European children would draw it as yellow). Jacob was smooth-skinned and tricked his elderly and blind father, Isaac, into giving him the blessing intended for Esau, by covering his smooth arms with an animal's skin. Thus, Jacob was able to inherit in place of Esau.

Throughout their story, Jacob lived in fear of Esau's wrath, but they never seemed to come to blows. However, on one occasion inserted into the story just after Jacob left Esau, he was left alone and wrestled with an opponent all night until the break of day, when the man said he must leave (Genesis 32:24ff). Even though his leg was dislocated, Jacob refused to let his opponent go unless he blessed Jacob. That the 'man' was a god is amply demonstrated - Jacob asked for his blessing, he had the prerogative of changing Jacob's name, Jacob's new name was Israel (generally assumed to mean 'wrestled with God') and Jacob called the place Peniel ('the face of God') because he had seen God face to face. If the man who wrestled with Jacob was a god, then Jacob was also a god in a much earlier tradition behind this passage, as demonstrated by the fact that he was such an even match for his opponent. And if the opponent was a god, he was also a sun god - daybreak signalled the end of the contest, he had to leave Jacob before the sun could rise, then the sun rose upon Jacob. This is consistent with the ancient daily struggle in which the sun god defeats the moon god at dawn.

From this we can begin to see why Jacob had such extraordinary powers, even in the womb, and why Isaac and Jacob could not marry a mortal from their own country, but had to marry descendants of Terah. Much earlier in Hebrew tradition, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were incarnations of the moon god. Jacob's bitter rivalry with Esau over ownership of Israel indicates that Esau was the sun god in that ancient tradition. Recent scholarly research, supported by modern Archaeology, does show that the early Israelites did indeed worship the moon god.

Answer 5

According to biblical tradition, Abraham was the first of the patriarchs, followed by his son Isaac and then Jacob. The Book of Genesis says that Abraham was exactly 100 years old and Sarah was 90 when Isaac was born. Isaac, in turn, was exactly 60 years old when Jacob and his twin brother Esau were born. A supposed fact is that Jacob lived to 147 years old, but this can be disputed when we look at the ages attributed to each of the patriarchs and see that these ages were derived from elegant formulas based on the number 17:

1. Abraham lived to 175 (5 X 5 X 7)
2. Isaac lived to 180 (6 X 6 X 5)
3. Jacob lived to 147 (7 X 7 X 3

• Each lifespan involves a perfect square (5, 6, then 7 in a numeric series),
• the third factor also forms a series (7, 5, 3)
• in each case the sum of the factors is 17.

Jacob and Esau are portrayed as bitter rivals who were constantly at loggerheads, with Jacob stealing Esau's birthright by subterfuge. Genesis says that even before their birth Jacob held on to Esau's heel in an attempt to prevent him being born first, something that would have required intelligence, awareness of the outside world and manual dexterity far beyond the capabilities of ordinary mortals.

The story of Jacob wrestling all night with an opponent is consistent with the supernatural rivalry between Jacob and Esau, but creates problems for the modern monotheistic view. Theologians offer a variety of explanations, often based on Jacob's opponent being an angel, although the original Hebrew word means 'god'. Others wonder why the God we now understand would choose to wrestle with Jacob, and why he only managed to dislocate Jacob's leg.

In this story Jacob was left alone and wrestled with his opponent all night until the break of day, when the man said he must leave (Genesis 32:24ff). Even though his leg was dislocated, Jacob refused to let his opponent go unless he blessed Jacob. That the 'man' was a god is amply demonstrated - Jacob asked for his blessing, he had the prerogative of changing Jacob's name, Jacob's new name was Israel (generally assumed to mean 'wrestled with God') and Jacob called the place Peniel ('the face of God') because he had seen God face to face. If the man who wrestled with Jacob was a god, then Jacob was also a god in the very early tradition behind this passage, as demonstrated by the fact that he was such an even match for his opponent. And if the opponent was a god, he was also a sun god - daybreak signalled the end of the contest, he had to leave Jacob before the sun could rise, then the sun rose upon Jacob. This was the daily struggle in which the sun god defeats the moon god at dawn.

This tells us that Jacob was indeed the moon god in early times, but the story had evolved ambiguously by the time Genesis was first written down, to suit the story of Jacob as a human ancestor of the Israelites. There is a great deal of evidence that the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) were originally incarnations of the moon god, but as religious beliefs evolved over the centuries they became regarded as Israel's human ancestors.

I believe that Genesis chapters 28 and 29 tell the story of Jacob's marriage to the ancient Hebrew goddess Asherah. He could not marry any of the mortals in the land, but was told to marry a cousin. Jacob's uncle Labon and his two cousins, Leah and Rachel, lived in the city of Haran, now known to be a chief site of the moon god, Sin. In Hebrew, the name 'Labon' means 'white' or 'bright', and is associated with 'Lebanah' - the moon. Rachel means 'ewe' and Leah means 'wild cow', although it can also mean 'weary'. Clearly, 'wild cow' is the more probable meaning here: Leah was described as 'tender eyed', or cow-eyed, and her sister's name was Ewe. And Weary seems such an improbable name for a daughter. Of course, Ewe and Wild Cow are also improbable names in the modern context, particularly as we think that Labon could not have predicted that Leah really would grow up to have at least one physical attribute of a cow. This begins to make sense when we learn that several ancient hymns to the Sumerian goddess Inanna describe her as a splendid wild cow. Moreover, in shepherd communities, Inanna was usually associated with a ewe. And, while her Sumerian name was Inanna, her Hebrew name was Asherah. Thus we have Asherah symbolised by the wild cow and the ewe, Leah and Rachel. We have already seen that Jacob was a god in early Hebrew mythology, so his marriages to a wild cow and a ewe were doublets of his marriage to the goddess of fertility, who was also Queen of the Night and the Morning Star: Asherah.

Answer 6

This is a long story, covering both Jacob and his sons and you may read it in the book of Genesis from chap. 25 at Jacob's birth, to chap. 50 at his death, when he was called Israel.

Answer 7

Jacob was born, lived, and died throughout the book of Genesis.