Jacob- Hebrew/Jewish FigureMortal"Father of the Twelve Tribes"

The Grasper of Heels

Jacob and Esau wrestled in Rebekah's womb so violently that she cried out and inquired of God. The answer came: "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the older shall serve the younger" (Genesis 25:23). Esau emerged first, red and hairy. Jacob followed with his hand gripping Esau's heel. Ya'akov, from the Hebrew aqev: heel-grasper, supplanter.

The Birthright and the Blessing

Esau returned from hunting, famished. Jacob was cooking lentil stew. "Sell me your birthright first," Jacob said. Esau answered: "I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?" For a bowl of stew, the firstborn surrendered his rights (Genesis 25:29-34).

Years later, when Isaac was old and blind, he prepared to give his patriarchal blessing to Esau. Rebekah overheard. She dressed Jacob in Esau's garments, covered his smooth skin with goatskins to mimic Esau's hairiness, and prepared the food Isaac loved. Jacob approached his father, claiming to be Esau. Isaac was suspicious: "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau." He blessed him anyway, with abundance and dominion. When Esau arrived and the deception was uncovered, Isaac trembled violently, but the blessing could not be revoked. Esau's hatred was murderous. Rebekah sent Jacob to her brother Laban in Haran.

The Ladder at Bethel

At Bethel, fleeing toward Haran, Jacob used a stone for a pillow and slept. He dreamed of a ladder set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven. Angels ascended and descended on it, and above it stood the Lord, who spoke: "I am the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring... I am with you and will keep you wherever you go" (Genesis 28:13-15). Jacob awoke: "This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." He set up the stone as a pillar, anointed it with oil, and named the place Bethel, House of God.

Laban's House

Jacob met Rachel at a well in Haran and was captivated. He agreed to work seven years for her father Laban in exchange for her hand. The years "seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her" (Genesis 29:20).

On the wedding night, Laban substituted his elder daughter Leah. When morning revealed the switch, Laban justified himself: "It is not so done in our country, to give the younger before the firstborn" (Genesis 29:26). Jacob, who had taken the firstborn's blessing by deception, now knew how it felt. He worked another seven years for Rachel.

The rivalry between the sisters drove the growth of Jacob's family. Leah bore son after son. Rachel, barren for years, gave her servant Bilhah to Jacob; Leah countered with Zilpah. Twelve sons were born of this household. At last Rachel herself conceived and bore Joseph, Jacob's favorite. After twenty years, Jacob gathered his family and his flocks and left Laban's house in secret.

Wrestling at the Jabbok

On the night before Jacob would face Esau again after twenty years, he sent his family and possessions across the ford of the Jabbok and remained alone. A man wrestled with him until daybreak (Genesis 32:24).

When the stranger could not prevail, he struck Jacob's hip and dislocated it. Jacob held on: "I will not let you go unless you bless me" (Genesis 32:26). The man asked his name. "Jacob." "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed" (Genesis 32:28). Yisra'el: one who strives with God.

Jacob named the place Peniel, "for I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered." He crossed the Jabbok at dawn with a new name and a limp that never healed.

The Return

Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, fell on his neck. Both brothers wept. Twenty years of murderous anger had dissolved.

Jacob's later years carried grief as sharp as blessing. Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin on the road to Bethlehem, and Jacob set a pillar over her grave. His sons brought him Joseph's bloodied coat and told him a wild animal had killed the boy. In truth they had sold Joseph to slave traders bound for Egypt. Jacob mourned for years, refusing comfort.

But Joseph was alive. He rose to power in Egypt, and when famine struck Canaan, it was Joseph who opened the granaries to his starving brothers. Jacob traveled to Egypt and saw his son again.

On his deathbed, Jacob summoned the twelve and blessed them. To Judah he gave the scepter: "It shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet" (Genesis 49:10). To Joseph, the longest blessing of abundance. His body was carried back to Canaan and buried in the cave of Machpelah at Hebron, beside Abraham and Isaac.