one who follows
on another's heels; supplanter, (
Gen. 25:26; 27:36;
Hos. 12:2-4), the second born of the twin sons of
Isaac by
Rebekah. He was born probably at Lahai-roi, when his
father was fifty-nine and
Abraham one hundred and fifty-nine years old. Like his father, he was of a quiet and gentle disposition, and when he grew up followed the
life of a
shepherd, while his
brother Esau became an enterprising hunter. His dealing with Esau, however, showed much mean selfishness and cunning (
Gen. 25:29-34).
When Isaac was about 160 years of
age, Jacob and his mother conspired to deceive the aged
patriarch (Gen. 27), with the view of procuring the transfer of the
birthright to himself. The birthright secured to him who possessed it (1) superior rank in his family (
Gen. 49:3); (2) a double portion of the paternal inheritance (
Deut. 21:17); (3) the priestly office in the family (
Num. 8:17-19); and (4) the promise of the Seed in which all nations of the
earth were to be blessed (
Gen. 22:18).
Soon after his acquisition of his father's blessing (Gen. 27), Jacob became conscious of his guilt; and afraid of the
anger of Esau, at the suggestion of Rebekah Isaac sent him away to
Haran, 400 miles or more, to find a
wife among his cousins, the family of
Laban, the Syrian (28). There he met with
Rachel (29). Laban would not consent to give him his
daughter in
marriage till he had served
seven years; but to Jacob these years "seemed but a few days, for the
love he had to her." But when the seven years were expired, Laban craftily deceived Jacob, and gave him his daughter
Leah. Other seven years of service had to be completed probably before he obtained the beloved Rachel. But "life-long sorrow, disgrace, and trials, in the retributive
providence of
God, followed as a consequence of this double union."
At the close of the fourteen years of service, Jacob desired to return to his parents, but at the entreaty of Laban he tarried yet six years with him, tending his flocks (31:41). He then set out with his family and property "to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan" (Gen. 31). Laban was angry when he heard that Jacob had set out on his
journey, and pursued after him, overtaking him in seven days. The meeting was of a painful kind. After much recrimination and reproach directed against Jacob, Laban is at length pacified, and taking an affectionate farewell of his daughters, returns to his home in Padanaram. And now all connection of the Israelites with
Mesopotamia is at an end.
Soon after parting with Laban he is met by a company of angels, as if to greet him on his return and welcome him back to the Land of Promise (32:1, 2). He called the name of the place
Mahanaim, i.e., "the double camp," probably his own
camp and that of the angels. The
vision of angels was the counterpart of that he had formerly seen at
Bethel, when, twenty years before, the weary, solitary traveller, on his way to
Padan-aram, saw the angels of God ascending and descending on the
ladder whose top reached to
heaven (28:12).
He now hears with dismay of the approach of his brother Esau with a band of 400 men to meet him. In great
agony of mind he prepares for the worst. He feels that he must now depend only on God, and he betakes himself to him in
earnest prayer, and sends on before him a munificent present to Esau, "a present to my
lord Esau from thy servant Jacob." Jacob's family were then transported across the
Jabbok; but he himself remained behind, spending the night in
communion with God. While thus engaged, there appeared one in the form of a
man who wrestled with him. In this mysterious contest Jacob prevailed, and as a memorial of it his name was changed to
Israel (wrestler with God); and the place where this occured he called Peniel, "for", said he, "I have seen God
face to face, and my life is preserved" (32:25-31).
After this anxious night, Jacob went on his way, halting, mysteriously weakened by the conflict, but strong in the
assurance of the divine favour. Esau came forth and met him; but his
spirit of revenge was appeased, and the brothers met as friends, and during the remainder of their lives they maintained friendly relations. After a brief sojourn at
Succoth, Jacob moved forward and pitched his
tent near
Shechem (q.v.), 33:18; but at length, under divine directions, he moved to Bethel, where he made an
altar unto God (35:6,7), and where God appeared to him and renewed the Abrahamic
covenant. While journeying from Bethel to Ephrath (the Canaanitish name of Bethlehem), Rachel died in giving
birth to her second son
Benjamin (35:16-20), fifteen or sixteen years after the birth of
Joseph. He then reached the old family residence at
Mamre, to wait on the dying
bed of his father Isaac. The complete reconciliation between Esau and Jacob was shown by their uniting in the
burial of the patriarch (35:27-29).
Jacob was soon after this deeply grieved by the loss of his beloved son Joseph through the
jealousy of his brothers (37:33). Then follows the story of the
famine, and the successive goings down into
Egypt to buy
corn (42), which led to the discovery of the long-lost Joseph, and the patriarch's going down with all his household, numbering about seventy souls (
Ex. 1:5;
Deut. 10:22;
Acts 7:14), to sojourn in the land of
Goshen. Here Jacob, "after being strangely tossed about on a very rough ocean, found at last a tranquil harbour, where all the best affections of his nature were gently exercised and largely unfolded" (Gen. 48). At length the
end of his checkered course draws nigh, and he summons his sons to his bedside that he may
bless them. Among his last words he repeats the story of Rachel's
death, although forty years had passed away since that event took place, as tenderly as if it had happened only yesterday; and when "he had made an end of charging his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost" (49:33). His body was embalmed and carried with great pomp into the land of
Canaan, and buried beside his wife Leah in the
cave of
Machpelah, according to his dying charge. There, probably, his embalmed body remains to this
day (50:1-13). (See HEBRON.)
The history of Jacob is referred to by the prophets
Hosea (12:3, 4, 12) and
Malachi (1:2). In
Micah 1:5 the name is a poetic synonym for Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes. There are, besides the mention of his name along with those of the other patriarchs, distinct references to events of his life in Paul's
epistles (
Rom. 9:11-13;
Heb. 12:16; 11:21). See references to his vision at Bethel and his possession of land at Shechem in
John 1:51; 4:5, 12; also to the famine which was the occasion of his going down into Egypt in
Acts 7:12 (See
LUZ ; BETHEL.)