(The name comes from the Hebrew word "a'kev", which means "heel" in English.)
Jacob (also called Israel) was the
third patriarch of the kingdom of Israel. He was the son of the second
patriarch, Isaac.
He was one of the twin sons of
Isaac and Rebekah. He and Esau were twins, but Esau was born first and Jacob was
born second. So technically, Esau was the older son, and Jacob was the younger
son.
While Rebekah was pregnant with them, the twins
struggled inside her. It was prophesized that Rebekah's older son would serve
the younger son. Finally Rebekah gave birth to twin sons: Esau
and Jacob. Esau was born first, and was therefore legally the "oldest".
He had the legal birthright (the right of the first-born). But when Esau and
Jacob were born, Jacob was holding Esau's heel. This was interpreted as a sign
that Jacob would supplant Esau. (25:21-26)
As the boys grew up. Esau became a hunter, while Jacob
stayed at home. Isaac preferred Esau because he gave Isaac venison. Rebekah preferred
Jacob. (25:27-28)
As adults, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for bread
and a pot of lentil beans. This showed how little Esau valued his birthright.
(25:29-34)
Isaac was
now an old man, and was nearly blind. He was dying. He asked to see his oldest son,
Esau, and give him the blessing of the firstborn. First, Isaac sent Esau to
catch some game over which to give him the blessing. Esau left. (27:1-5)
Rebekah preferred Jacob over Esau. While Esau was gone,
Rebekah told Jacob "Go to our flocks and pick out some game. I will make
him a dish that he likes. He is blind. Tell him that you are Esau, and he will
give you the blessing." Esau's hand was hairy, and Jacob's hand was smooth.
So Rebekah covered Jacob's hand with goatskin to fool Isaac. The ruse worked.
Isaac gave Jacob the blessing intended for Esau. When Esau returned with the venison, he
had to be content with a lesser blessing. (27:6-40)
Esau was mad that Jacob had tricked him out of
the blessing of the firstborn. He wanted to kill Jacob. Rebekah told Jacob
"Get away from here. Go to my brother Laban. He lives in the city of
Haran, in the area of Paddanaram, in Mesopotamia. Stay with him until Esau's
anger cools. When it does, I will send for you."(27:41-45)
Isaac and Rebekah didn't want Jacob to marry a Canaanite
woman, like Esau did. Isaac told Jacob "Don't marry a Canaanite woman. Go
to Laban, Rebekah's brother, and take one of his daughters for a wife."
Jacob agreed. (27:46-28:7)
Jacob left Canaan, and headed for Mesopotamia. On
the way, he stopped near the city of Bethel. (The city was called "Luz"
at the time.) That night, he had a dream. In his dream, he saw a ladder
reaching up to heaven, and angels were going up and down it. God told him
"This land I will give to you and your descendants. They will be countless.
I will be with you." When Jacob awakened, he renamed the city
"Bethel". (28:10-22)
Jacob reached Haran. (Haran
was located in what would today be southeastern Turkey. Archeologists have
actually found its ruins. The ruins of Haran are still there, but today the site
is called Sultan Tepe.)
He met a group of shepherds, and asks if they know Laban. The shepherds say that
they do know Laban, but they can't take Jacob to him yet because it's not time
to gather up the sheep yet. So Jacob waited. While waiting, Jacob saw one of the
shepherd women. She was Rachel, Laban's daughter. He was attracted to her.
(29:1-12)
Finally, Jacob met Laban. Laban has two daughters.
The older was Leah, and the younger was Rachel. Jacob asked Laban if he could marry
Rachel. "I will work for you for seven years if you will let me marry
her." Laban agreed. (29:13-19)
Jacob worked for Laban for seven years. At the end of
the seven years, he told Laban "I have earned Rachel. Give her to me, so
that we may sleep together." But secretly, Laban got his older daughter
Leah, and Jacob slept with her instead. When morning came, Jacob discovered
that Laban had tricked him. Laban had substituted his older daughter Leah for
Rachel! Jacob had married Leah instead of Rachel!
Jacob confronted Laban. Laban said "In our country,
it is not right to marry off the younger sister before the older one. You can
still have Rachel if you work for me for another seven years." Jacob
agreed, and he worked for Laban for another seven years.
At the end of the seven years, he finally married
Rachel. He was still also married to Leah. (At the time, polygamy was legal.)
But he didn't love her. The only reason he married Leah in the first place was
because her father tricked him into it. But Jacob really preferred Rachel. She
was his favorite wife, and Leah knew it.
Leah wanted to give Jacob a son so that Jacob would
love her too. When God saw that Leah was unloved, he granted Leah children. She
finally gave Jacob his first child, a son. She figured that now Jacob would love
her. She was so happy, that she named him "Reuben" (Hebrew for
"Look! A son!"). After Reuben, Leah bore Jacob three more sons:
Simeon, Levi, and Judah. Then she stopped bearing children. (29:20-35)
Rachel was hurt that she couldn't have children. According
to custom, if a wife couldn't have children, she could allow her husband to have
children by her slave girl. So Rachel told Jacob "Here is my slave, Bilhah.
Lie with her, so that through her, I can build up a family." Bilhah bore
Jacob two sons: Dan and Naphtali. (30:1-8)
Leah discovered that she wasn't bearing any more
children. So she gave her own slave, Zilpah, to Jacob to bear children. Zilpah
bore Jacob two sons: Gad and Asher. (30:9-13) Then Leah managed to be able to produce
more children. She bore Jacob three more children: two sons (Issachar and
Zebulun) and a daughter (Dinah). (30:17-21)
Finally, Rachel managed to bear Jacob a son of
her own. She named him Joseph. And she knew that she would someday have another
son. (30:22-24)
Jacob told Laban "I'm going to take my family and
go home to Canaan." Laban didn't want to lose his daughters, but he
reluctantly agreed. Laban allowed Jacob to take all the speckled animals from his
flock. He tried to cheat Jacob by hiding them. But Jacob got the pure-colored
animals to breed, causing more spotted animals. He was rich. (30:25-31:12)
God told Jacob "Return to Canaan." Jacob took
his wives, children, flocks, etc., and
left for home. As they left, Rachel stole Laban's household idols of his gods.
(30:13-21)
When Laban learned that Jacob had left. He took his men and
chased Jacob. He wanted to say good-bye to his family, and also to get his idols back.
He overtook Jacob in the mountainous area of Gilead.
Jacob didn't know that Rachel took the idols, and he allowed Laban to search his
people for them. Laban searched for the idols, but he couldn't find them. (Rachel
was sitting on them.) (31:22-35)
Jacob and Laban made a pact not to hurt each other
again. They set up a heap of stones as a testimony to their peace treaty, and as
a boundary between their two countries. The place where the stones are set up was
called Mizpah. The heap itself was called Galeed by Jacob, and Jegar-Sahadutha by
Laban. Laban said good-bye to his daughters, and went home. (31:36-55)
Jacob continued on his way home. He was afraid the Esau
will kill him for revenge. So he sent ahead some of his flock to be given to
Esau as a present. The rest of the family went ahead, leaving Jacob alone. (32:1-23)
That night, an angel came to Jacob. Jacob wrestled
with him. The angel said "Your name will now be Israel." (Throughout
this summary, he will still be called "Jacob".)
The angel left. Jacob called the place Peniel (also called Penuel). (32:24-32)
Esau and Jacob were reunited. Jacob had been away for
twenty years. (31:38,41) Esau forgave Jacob. They returned to Canaan. (33:1-16)
Jacob's only daughter, Dinah (the youngest child of
Jacob and Leah) visits the women of Canaan. While there, she was raped by
Shechem, the prince of a city of Hivites. Two of Jacob's sons, Simeon and Levi (both of whom are
Dinah's full brothers), attacked the city. They killed every male and took Dinah.
Then they plundered the city, and took all their flocks, cattle, possessions,
women, and children, to avenge Dinah's dishonor. Jacob told his sons "You shouldn't have done
that. Now the Canaanites will hate us. They could attack us, and our numbers are
few." But his sons answered "Is our sister to be treated like a whore?"
(chapter 34)
God told Jacob "Go to the city of Bethel."
Jacob took his family, and went there. At Bethel, God told Jacob "You
shall no longer be called Jacob. You shall now be called Israel. This land which
I gave to Abraham and Isaac I give to you and your descendants." (35:1-15)
(Throughout
this summary, Jacob will still be called "Jacob", rather than
"Israel".)
The family left Bethel, and went to the city of Ephrath.
(Ephrath was a city
in the land of Canaan. It was also called "Bethlehem".) During their journey,
Jacob's wife Rachel gave birth to another son. She died in childbirth. Jacob
named the son Benjamin. Rachel was buried on the way to Ephrath. (35:16-20)
The family continued journeying, and went past the
tower of Edar (also called Eder). Around this time, Jacob's oldest son Reuben
had sex with Jacob's concubine, Bilhah. Jacob heard of it. (35:21-22)
The family continued journeying. They went to Mamre, and
finally reached Arbah (another name for Hebron, a city in the land of Canaan.)
There, Isaac died. Esau and Jacob buried him. (35:27-29)
The family still
lived in the land
of Canaan. Joseph was Jacob's favorite son. His brothers knew that he was the
favorite, and they were jealous. They decided to get rid of him. They tied up
Joseph and sold him to some travelers who were going to Egypt. Then they told
Jacob "Joseph was killed by a wild animal." Jacob took the news hard. (chapter 37)
Years later, there was famine in
Canaan. (41:56-57) So Joseph's brothers went to Egypt to buy food. They left the youngest
brother, Benjamin, at home. (42:1-5)
In Egypt, they went to a viceroy named Zaphnath-Paaneah for
food. Zaphnath-Paaneah told the brothers "I think you are
spies." The brothers said "We are not spies. We are honest brothers,
although our youngest brother Benjamin is back home." Zaphnath-Paaneah said
"If you are not spies, then you will bring your youngest brother Benjamin with you
the next time you come here." He put brother Simeon in jail as a hostage
to make sure that they come back with Benjamin. Then he sold them grain. The
brothers returned home, and told Jacob what happened. (42:5-38)
Jacob was reluctant to let Benjamin join the
brothers on the next trip to Egypt to buy food. He was afraid Benjamin would
be hurt. Judah took responsibility for Benjamin, and the brothers left.
(43:1-15)
They arrived in Egypt with Benjamin. Zaphnath-Paaneah
revealed his true identity to his brothers.
"I am your brother Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. Don't be distressed.
It wasn't you, but God who sent me here. He sent me here ahead of you to save
your lives. There have been two years of famine, and there are five more to go.
God sent me ahead of you to ensure that you will have descendants. Now I am a
prominent man in Egypt. Go back home to Canaan, and bring the whole family here
to Egypt to live. You shall live in the region of Goshen, nearby here. I will
take care of you, and see that you are not reduced to poverty. There are still
five years of famine to come." (45:1-24)
The brothers returned home and told Jacob what
happened. Jacob was surprised to hear that Joseph was still alive, and was a
prominent man in Egypt. He agreed to move the family to Egypt. (45:25-28)
Jacob's entire family moved to the region of Goshen in
Egypt. Jacob and Joseph were reunited. The family settled in the area of Raamses (also called
Rameses). Jacob realized that he was dying. Joseph promised that
he will bury Jacob in Canaan. (chapters 46-47)
Joseph introduced his sons Manasseh and Ephraim to
Jacob. Jacob blessed them. But when Jacob blessed them, he deliberately gave
preference to the younger son, Ephraim. Joseph didn't like this. He asked Jacob
to give preference to Manasseh because Manasseh was the older son. Jacob refused.
He said "Manasseh will become great, but Ephraim will become greater than
he." (chapter 48)
On his deathbed, Jacob spoke to his sons one last time.
He said "Please bury me with my forefathers, in the cave on the plot of
land at Machpelah, where Abraham was buried with his wife Sarah, where Isaac was
buried with his wife Rebekah, and where I buried my first wife, Leah." Then
he died. (chapter 49) Jacob had lived 17 years after the family's move to Egypt.
And he died at age 147. (47:28)
The brothers went to Canaan, and buried Jacob in the cave
of Machpelah. Then they returned to Egypt. (50:1-14)
When Jacob died, he left behind a huge family. All in all, he had twelve sons. By his
first wife, Leah, he had Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
By Leah's salve girl, Zilpah, he had Gad and Asher. By his second wife, Rachel,
he had Joseph and Benjamin. And by Rachel's slave girl, Bilhah, he had Dan and
Naphtali.(35:22-26) He also had one daughter, Dinah, by his wife Leah. (30:21)
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