Who is Jacob in the Bible?

Answer 1

Jacob was the younger of twin sons of Isaac. The other son being Esau who sold his birthright to Jacob for a "Mess of pottage". Both were enemies from childhood until reconciled in later life.

Jacobs name was later changed to Israel.

Some would have it that he deceived his father so that he might receive the blessings of Isaac, but as Esau was not a righteous son the blessing was sanctioned by the Lord upon Jacob, who was righteous all the days of his life.

Answer 2

Jacob was Isaac's second-born son. Most of his story begins in Genesis 27. He was renamed Israel, from which Israel gets its name; and it was his sons who started the twelve tribes of Israel.
Jacob was the last of the Patriarchs (Talmud, Berakhot 16b). He spent a lot of time in the tents (Genesis 25:27) studying his ancestors' teachings (Rashi commentary, ibid.); and eventually, like Abraham and Isaac before him, reached the level of prophecy, in which God spoke to him and promised His protection (Genesis 28:10-15).
When the opportunity presented itself, Jacob asked his brother Esau to sell him his first-born birthright (Genesis 25:29:34), since he sensed that Esau wasn't pious enough to fully deserve it. Thus began the fulfillment of the prophecy which Rebecca had heard, that Jacob would become the dominant of her two sons (Genesis 25:22-23).
Jacob's life was replete with tribulations. He managed to come out ahead despite the wiles of the deceitful Laban (Genesis 29:25 and 31:41) and the danger presented by the angry Esau (Genesis 27:41 and 32:12). There were painful events with his daughter Dinah (Genesis 34:1-7) and with his being separated for two decades from his beloved son, Joseph (Genesis ch.37); and his wife Rachel died at a young age in childbirth (Genesis 35:16-19).
These troubles were a portent for the tribulations of the Jews in their times of exile. But Jacob received, in prophecy, God's affirmation of His covenant and blessing (Genesis 28:13-14; 35:9-12; 46:2-4), signifying that the exile would eventually end.

According to biblical tradition, Jacob was the twin brother of Esau, son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, the first of the patriarchs. 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 closely related, supposed fact about Jacob is that he 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

Answer 3

According to biblical tradition, Jacob was the twin brother of Esau, son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, the first of the patriarchs. 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 closely related, supposed fact about Jacob is that he 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 4

Jacob was the son of Isaac, and the last of the Patriarchs (Talmud, Berakhot 16b). He spent a lot of time in the tents (Genesis 25:27) studying his ancestors' teachings (Rashi commentary, ibid.); and eventually, like Abraham and Isaac before him, attained prophecy, in which God confirmed His covenant and promised His protection (Genesis 28:10-15).

When the opportunity presented itself, Jacob asked his elder twin brother Esau to sell him his birthright (Genesis 25:29:34), since he sensed that Esau wasn't pious enough to fully deserve it. Thus began the fulfillment of the prophecy which Rebecca had heard, that Jacob would become the dominant of her two sons (Genesis 25:22-23).

Jacob's life was replete with tribulations (Rashi commentary, Genesis 43:14). He managed to come out ahead despite the wiles of the deceitful Laban (Genesis 29:25 and 31:41) and the danger presented by the angry Esau (Genesis 27:41 and 32:12).

There were painful events with his daughter Dinah (Genesis 34:1-7) and with his being separated for two decades from his beloved son, Joseph (Genesis ch.37); and his wife Rachel died at a young age in childbirth (Genesis 35:16-19).

These troubles were a portent for the tribulations of the Jews in their times of exile. But Jacob received God's affirmation of His covenant and blessing (Genesis 28:13-14; 35:9-12; 46:2-4), signifying that the exile would eventually end. God gave Jacob the honor-title of Israel, indicating his eventual ascendancy (Genesis ch.35).

Answer 5

Jacob is one of the patriarchs in The Bible, the son of Isaac and Rebekah, and the brother of Esau. He was known for his cunning nature and eventually became the father of the twelve tribes of Israel. He is also known for his encounter with God where his name was changed to Israel.

Answer 6

Jacob in the Old Testament was the father of the 12 tribes of Israel (Joseph's two sons being a part of this).

Answer 7

Jacob was the second twin son of Isaac, he was the father of Joseph.

Answer 8

Son of Abraham