Jacob, in the Bible, ancestor of the Hebrews, the younger of Isaac and Rebecca's twin sons; the older was Esau. In exchange for a bowl of lentil soup, Jacob obtained Esau's birthright and, with his mother's help, received the blessing that the dying Isaac had intended for his older son. Esau became so enraged that Jacob fled to his uncle, Laban, in Paddan-aram. On his way, at Bethel, he had a vision of angels ascending and descending the ladder to heaven. After 20 years serving Laban, Jacob started back to his native land with his two wives, Leah and Rachel, and his many sons—the eponymous ancestors of the 12 tribes of Israel. On the banks of the Jabbok, Jacob wrestled with an angel, received the name of Israel, and reconciled with Esau the next day. Later, Jacob migrated to Egypt, where he was reunited with his son Joseph. Jacob died there, but his sons buried him in the family plot at Machpelah. Modern biblical scholars question the historicity of Jacob. In the New Testament the name James is equivalent to the Hebrew Jacob.

Jacob, François, 1920-, French biologist, educated at the Sorbonne. His medical studies were interrupted by World War II. He joined the Free French Forces and fought in Africa and during the liberation of Paris. In 1950 he joined the Pasteur Institute, and in 1964 he became professor at the Collège de France. He shared the 1965 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with André Lwoff and Jacques Monod for work in genetics, especially his proposal, with Monod, of a mechanism for the regulation of the expression of genes. Jacob and Monod coined the term messenger RNA. Jacob's writings include The Logic of Life: A History of Heredity (1974).

Jacob, Max, 1876-1944, French writer and painter, b. Brittany. His dream-inspired verse, plays, novels, and paintings bridged and gave impetus to the symbolist and surrealist schools. His conversion (1914) from Judaism to Roman Catholicism had great impact on his work. Among Jacob's novels are Saint Matorel (1911) and Filibuth; ou La Montre en or (1922); his verse, usually light and ironic, includes Fond de l'eau (1927) and Rivages (1932). Prose and poetry are combined in his Défense de Tartufe (1919) and the play Le Siège de Jérusalem: drame céleste (1912-14). His critical study, Art poétique (1922), had wide influence. One-man shows of Jacob's paintings were held in New York in 1930 and 1938. He died in a Nazi concentration camp.

Leisler, Jacob, 1640-91, leader of an insurrection (1689-91) in colonial New York, b. Frankfurt, Germany. He immigrated to America in 1660 as a penniless soldier, married a wealthy widow, and became a trader in New York. The overthrow (1688) of the Roman Catholic James II and accession of William III and Mary II in England caused uprisings in the colonies, where many royal officials were suspected of being Roman Catholics, and fear of a Catholic French invasion prevailed. Leisler, a Protestant champion, in 1689 gained control of S New York with the aid of militia, proclaimed the new sovereigns, and was appointed commander in chief by his followers. The lieutenant governor, Francis Nicholson, fled the country and Leisler assumed his office upon seizure of letters from King William that he interpreted as authorization. The council at Albany eventually recognized his authority, although he was bitterly opposed by the rich and aristocratic faction. Leisler maintained power through military force and the suppression of opposition. Meanwhile, William commissioned Col. Henry Sloughter as governor, and troops were dispatched to New York under Major Richard Ingoldesby, who, arriving early in 1691, sided with the faction opposed to Leisler and demanded the surrender of the fort on Manhattan island. Leisler refused, and fighting broke out. On the arrival of Sloughter, Leisler surrendered, was tried as a traitor, and was hanged in May, 1691. Parliament, in 1695, on petition of the Leisler family, passed an act reversing the attainder and later voted an indemnity to his heirs.

Lawrence, Jacob, 1917-2000, American painter, b. Atlantic City, N.J. In Lawrence's work social themes, often detailing the African-American experience, are expressed in colorfully angular, simplified, expressive, and richly decorative figurative effects. He executed many cycles of paintings, often narrative, including Harriet Tubman (1939-40), Migration (completed 1941, Museum of Modern Art and Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C.), Coast Guard (1943-45), and Builders series, on which he worked for parts of the last 50 years of his life. His War series and Tombstones are in the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York City. Also known for the vivid prints he began producing in 1963 and his monumental mosaic mural (designed 1997, installed 2001) for the New York subway system, Lawrence taught at Black Mountain College, the Univ. of Washington School of Art, several other colleges, and a number of major New York City art schools. In 1941 he married Gwendolyn Knight, 1913-2005, an American painter and sculptor, b. Bridgetown, Barbados.

Obrecht, Jacob, c.1450-1505, Flemish composer. Obrecht was ordained as a priest in 1480. He wrote an early four-part setting of the St. Matthew Passion. His sacred music combined the polyphony of Johannes Ockeghem with folk elements. An edition of Obrecht's works, ed. by Johannes Wolf (7 vol., 1908-21), contains 24 masses, 22 motets, chansons, and his famous Passion According to St. Matthew. Obrecht was a victim of the plague.

Eichholtz, Jacob, 1776-1842, American portrait painter, b. Lancaster, Pa.; pupil of Gilbert Stuart in Boston but mainly self-taught. He painted portraits of some of the most prominent men of the day, and he also painted family groups. He was especially successful in handling textures. Among his portraits are those of Chief Justices John Marshall (Historical Society of Penn., Philadelphia) and John Bannister Gibson (Philadelphia Law Association); James Buchanan (Smithsonian Institution); Col. James Gibson (capitol, Dover, Del.); and Nicholas Biddle.

Huysmans, Jacob, c.1633-1696, Flemish portrait painter. In the reign of Charles II he settled in England, where he became one of the fashionable painters of the court. His chief portraits are those of Izaak Walton and Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II (both: National Gall., London), done in the style of Lely.

Albright, Jacob, 1759-1808, American religious leader, founder of the Evangelical Association (later the Evangelical Church), b. near Pottstown, Pa. A German Lutheran, he was converted c.1790 to Methodism. Preaching and forming classes among his converts in the German settlements, he was ordained a minister (1803) by representatives from these classes and was elected bishop in 1807. The movement, unrecognized by the Methodists, did not take the name Evangelical Association until after Albright's death. The Evangelical Church in 1946 united with the United Brethren in Christ to form the Evangelical United Brethren Church.

Harmensen, Jacob: see Arminius, Jacobus.

Jordaens, Jacob, 1593-1678, Flemish baroque painter, b. Antwerp. After the deaths of Rubens and Van Dyck, by whom he was influenced, he became the leading Flemish painter of his day and worked in Antwerp nearly all his life. Like Rubens, Jordaens produced portraits and religious and allegorical paintings, often expressing a joy of life. In early works (c.1612-25), such as The Artist's Family (Hermitage, St. Petersburg) and Allegory of Fertility (Brussels), he reveals the influence of Caravaggio in his firm modeling and realistically treated surface. Works executed c.1625-35 show increased grandeur and richness (Triumph of Bacchus; Kassel), and in the next years Rubens and Van Dyck influences are especially clear. In the last 25 years of his life, Jordaens stressed increasingly the classicist elements in baroque art, moving from the energetic Triumph of Prince Frederik Hendrik of Orange (The Hague) to the more rigidly composed Christ and the Doctors (Mainz). Examples of his work may be seen in many of the major museums of Europe and the United States.

Frank, Jacob, c.1726-1791, Polish Jewish sectarian and adventurer, b. Podolia as Jacob Ben Judah Leib. He founded the Frankists, a heretical Jewish sect that was an anti-Talmudic outgrowth of the mysticism of the false Messiah Sabbatai Zevi. After traveling in Turkey, where he was called Frank and where he joined the Sabbatean sect, he returned (c.1755) to Podolia. Posing as a Messiah, Frank gathered a following, by whom he was addressed as "holy master." Professing to find in the kabbalah the doctrine of Trinitarianism and feigning conversion to Roman Catholicism, he and the Frankists were baptized (1759). The church, however, soon became suspicious of its new converts' sincerity, and in 1760, Frank was arrested in Warsaw on a charge of heresy and imprisoned in the fortress of Czestochowa; he was released (1773) after that section of Poland became Russian. Moving to Moravia, he enjoyed the favor of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, who believed him a disseminator of Christianity. When she discovered his sectarianism, Frank fled to Offenbach, Germany, where he lived in luxury, supported by Polish and Moravian Frankists. Upon his death his daughter Eve became "holy mistress" of the Frankists. She died in 1816, and the sect eventually disappeared, most of its members having actually become Catholics. Many of them later became prominent members of the Polish nobility.

Arcadelt, Jacob, c.1505-1568, Flemish composer, b. Liège. He spent much of his time at the Papal court in Rome. After 1555 he was in Paris in the service of the duke of Guise. Arcadelt was one of many Netherlander composers who worked in Italy. He wrote Italian madrigals, French chansons, masses, and motets.

Tonson, Jacob, 1656?-1736, English publisher. He and his brother Richard purchased the publication rights to Milton's Paradise Lost, a transaction later claimed as the firm's most profitable. With John Dryden he published a series of miscellany volumes (6 vol., 1684-1709), edited by Dryden and often referred to as Dryden's miscellany or Tonson's miscellany. Tonson was secretary of the Kit-Cat Club, a literary club which he founded c.1700, and was publisher of works by Addison, Steele, and Pope, among others.

Viner, Jacob, 1892-1970, American economist, b. Montreal. He taught at the Univ. of Chicago (1919-46) and Princeton (1946-60). A specialist on the subject of international trade, Viner was an adviser on trade issues to the U.S. Treasury (1934-37)and the State Dept. (1943-52). Viner's work ranges from specialized writings on the theory of costs in The Long View and the Short (1931), in which he laid out the envelope cost curve, to such histories of economic thought as Studies in the Theory of International Trade (1937) and Essays on the Intellectual History of Economics (ed. by Douglas A. Irwin, 1991).

Thompson, Jacob, 1810-85, U.S. Representative (1839-51) and Secretary of the Interior (1857-61), b. Caswell co., N.C. Thompson was a prosperous lawyer and prominent Democrat of Oxford, Miss. He was a member of President Buchanan's cabinet until the Fort Sumter crisis, and Mississippi's secession led him to resign in Jan., 1861. In the Civil War he served in the Confederate army, and in 1864 he became a Confederate agent in Canada. There he tried unsuccessfully to persuade Copperhead elements in the North to take up arms against the Union. Falsely accused of complicity in President Lincoln's assassination, he fled to Europe, where he remained for several years, and later lived in Memphis.

Henle, Jacob (Friedrich Gustav Jakob Henle), 1809-85, German anatomist and histologist. A pupil of J. P. Müller, he taught at Zürich, Heidelberg, and Göttingen. He contributed pioneer work on the microscopic structure of tissues, including the renal tubules that bear his name, epithelium, hair, and blood vessels. He anticipated Pasteur in his theory that microorganisms cause infectious diseases. He wrote Handbuch der systematischen Anatomie (3 vol., 1866-71) and other important works.

(born Nov. 10, 1880, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Aug. 21, 1959, London, Eng.) U.S.-born British sculptor. He studied in Paris and settled in England in 1905. His 18 nude figures known as the Strand Statues (1907–08) provoked charges of indecency; his nude angel on the tomb of Oscar Wilde (1912) in Paris was also attacked. In 1913 he became affiliated with Vorticism and developed a style characterized by simple forms and calm surfaces carved from stone; his works often partly retained the shape of the original block, or sometimes they were modeled in plaster. He is best known for religious and allegorical figures carved in colossal blocks of stone and for bronze portrait busts of celebrities. Occasionally he produced monumental bronze groups, such as St. Michael and the Devil (1958) for Coventry Cathedral.

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(born , Jan. 10, 1847, Frankfurt am Main—died Sept. 25, 1920, New York, N.Y., U.S.) German-born U.S. financier and philanthropist. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1865 and in 1875 joined the investment-banking firm of Kuhn, Loeb & Co. He succeeded his father-in-law as head of the firm in 1885 and became one of the leading railroad bankers in the U.S. He played a pivotal role in the reorganization of several transcontinental lines, notably the Union Pacific Railroad and the Northern Pacific Railway. During the Russo-Japanese War he sold Japanese bonds in the U.S., for which he was decorated by the emperor of Japan. His extensive philanthropies included large contributions to Barnard College and the Jewish Theological Seminary.

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German Rudolph Camerer

(born Feb. 17, 1665, Tübingen, Ger.—died Sept. 11, 1721, Tübingen) German botanist. One of the first to perform experiments in heredity, he demonstrated sexuality in plants by identifying and defining the male and female reproductive parts of the plant and by describing their function in fertilization, showing that pollen is required for the process.

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(born May 3, 1849, Ribe, Den.—died May 26, 1914, Barre, Mass., U.S.) U.S. journalist and social reformer. He immigrated to the U.S. at 21 and became a police reporter for the New York Tribune (1877–88) and the New York Evening Sun (1888–99). He publicized the deplorable living conditions in the slums of New York's Lower East Side, photographing the rooms and hallways of tenements. He compiled his findings in How the Other Half Lives (1890), a book that stirred the nation's conscience and spurred the state's first significant legislation to improve tenements.

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(born July 10, 1830, St. Thomas, Danish West Indies—died Nov. 13, 1903, Paris, France) West Indian-born French painter. The son of a prosperous Jewish merchant, he moved to Paris in 1855. His earliest canvases are broadly painted figure paintings and landscapes; these show the careful observation of nature that was to remain a characteristic of his art. In 1871 he took a house in Pontoise, in the countryside outside Paris. These surroundings formed the theme of his art for some 30 years. Pissarro's leading motifs during the 1870s and 1880s were houses, factories, trees, haystacks, fields, labouring peasants, and river scenes. In these works, forms do not dissolve but remain firm, and colours are strong; during the latter part of the 1870s his comma-like brushstrokes frequently recorded the sparkling scintillation of light. These works were admired by the Impressionist artists; Pissarro was the only Impressionist painter who participated in all eight of the group's exhibitions. Despite acute eye trouble, his later years were his most prolific.

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(born 1640, Frankfurt am Main—died May 16, 1691, New York, N.Y.) German-born colonial insurrectionist. He immigrated to New Netherland (New York) in 1660 and became a wealthy merchant. Objecting to the British unification of New York and New England (1685–89), he led the revolt called Leisler's Rebellion, established himself as lieutenant governor of the province (1689–91), and called the first intercolonial congress (1690) to plan action against the French and Indians. When he reluctantly surrendered to a new British governor, he was charged with treason and hanged, along with his son-in-law.

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(born Sept. 7, 1917, Atlantic City, N.J., U.S.—died June 9, 2000, Seattle, Wash.) U.S. painter. He moved with his family at 13 to New York City's Harlem. Art classes sponsored by the Works Progress Administration in 1932 developed his talent. His works portray scenes of African American life and history with vivid, stylized realism. Gouache and tempera were Lawrence's characteristic media. His use of sombre browns and black for shadows and outlines in an otherwise vibrant palette lent his work a distinctive overtone. His best-known works are his series on historical and social themes, such as Life in Harlem (1942) and War (1947). His later works include a powerful series on the struggles of desegregation. From 1971 he taught at the University of Washington.

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(baptized May 20, 1593, Antwerp, Spanish Netherlands—died Oct. 18, 1678, Antwerp) Flemish painter active in Antwerp. He was admitted to the painters' guild in 1615 and by the 1620s had a flourishing studio with many students. After the death of Peter Paul Rubens, to whose Baroque style he was indebted, he became the leading painter in Flanders. His paintings, crowded with robust figures, are noted for strong contrasts of light and shade and an air of sensual vitality bordering on coarseness. He also produced religious paintings and portraits. His most important commissions were two enormous murals for the royal residence called the Huis ten Bosch, near The Hague. His later works are of uneven quality, showing the increasingly important role of his assistants.

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orig. Johann Jakob Astor

(born July 17, 1763, Waldorf, Ger.—died March 29, 1848, New York, N.Y., U.S.) German-born U.S. fur magnate and financier. After emigrating from Germany at age17, he opened a fur-goods shop in New York circa 1786. By 1800 he was a leader in the fur trade, and he established the American Fur Co. He controlled the fur trade with China (1800–17) and in the Mississippi and Missouri valleys (in the 1820s) before selling his interests in 1834. His investment in New York City real estate became the foundation of the family fortune. At his death, Astor was the wealthiest person in the U.S.; he willed $400,000 to found what became the New York Public Library. His son, William B. Astor (1792–1875), greatly expanded the family real-estate holdings, building more than 700 stores and dwellings in the city.

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(born 1640, Frankfurt am Main—died May 16, 1691, New York, N.Y.) German-born colonial insurrectionist. He immigrated to New Netherland (New York) in 1660 and became a wealthy merchant. Objecting to the British unification of New York and New England (1685–89), he led the revolt called Leisler's Rebellion, established himself as lieutenant governor of the province (1689–91), and called the first intercolonial congress (1690) to plan action against the French and Indians. When he reluctantly surrendered to a new British governor, he was charged with treason and hanged, along with his son-in-law.

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(born Sept. 7, 1917, Atlantic City, N.J., U.S.—died June 9, 2000, Seattle, Wash.) U.S. painter. He moved with his family at 13 to New York City's Harlem. Art classes sponsored by the Works Progress Administration in 1932 developed his talent. His works portray scenes of African American life and history with vivid, stylized realism. Gouache and tempera were Lawrence's characteristic media. His use of sombre browns and black for shadows and outlines in an otherwise vibrant palette lent his work a distinctive overtone. His best-known works are his series on historical and social themes, such as Life in Harlem (1942) and War (1947). His later works include a powerful series on the struggles of desegregation. From 1971 he taught at the University of Washington.

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(baptized May 20, 1593, Antwerp, Spanish Netherlands—died Oct. 18, 1678, Antwerp) Flemish painter active in Antwerp. He was admitted to the painters' guild in 1615 and by the 1620s had a flourishing studio with many students. After the death of Peter Paul Rubens, to whose Baroque style he was indebted, he became the leading painter in Flanders. His paintings, crowded with robust figures, are noted for strong contrasts of light and shade and an air of sensual vitality bordering on coarseness. He also produced religious paintings and portraits. His most important commissions were two enormous murals for the royal residence called the Huis ten Bosch, near The Hague. His later works are of uneven quality, showing the increasingly important role of his assistants.

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(born , Jan. 10, 1847, Frankfurt am Main—died Sept. 25, 1920, New York, N.Y., U.S.) German-born U.S. financier and philanthropist. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1865 and in 1875 joined the investment-banking firm of Kuhn, Loeb & Co. He succeeded his father-in-law as head of the firm in 1885 and became one of the leading railroad bankers in the U.S. He played a pivotal role in the reorganization of several transcontinental lines, notably the Union Pacific Railroad and the Northern Pacific Railway. During the Russo-Japanese War he sold Japanese bonds in the U.S., for which he was decorated by the emperor of Japan. His extensive philanthropies included large contributions to Barnard College and the Jewish Theological Seminary.

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orig. Jacob Leibowicz

(born 1726, Berezanka or Korolowka, Galicia, Pol.—died Dec. 10, 1791, Offenbach, Hessen) Jewish false messiah. He was an uneducated visionary who claimed to be the reincarnation of Shabbetai Tzevi. He proclaimed himself messiah in 1751 and founded the Frankist, or Zoharist, sect, based on the Sefer ha-zohar, which he sought to put in the place of the Torah. The sect rejected traditional Judaism, and their practices, including orgiastic rites, led the Jewish community to excommunicate them in 1756. Protected by Roman Catholic authorities, who hoped Frank would help in the conversion of the Jews, Frank and his followers were baptized in Poland. In 1760 he was imprisoned by the Inquisition, who had realized that Frank's followers regarded Frank, not Jesus, as the messiah. Freed in 1773 by invading Russians, he settled in Germany and lived as a baron until his death.

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(born May 3, 1849, Ribe, Den.—died May 26, 1914, Barre, Mass., U.S.) U.S. journalist and social reformer. He immigrated to the U.S. at 21 and became a police reporter for the New York Tribune (1877–88) and the New York Evening Sun (1888–99). He publicized the deplorable living conditions in the slums of New York's Lower East Side, photographing the rooms and hallways of tenements. He compiled his findings in How the Other Half Lives (1890), a book that stirred the nation's conscience and spurred the state's first significant legislation to improve tenements.

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Hebrew patriarch, son of Isaac and grandson of Abraham, and the traditional ancestor of the people of Israel. His story is told in the Book of Genesis. The younger twin brother of Esau, he used trickery to gain Isaac's blessing and Esau's birthright. On a journey to Canaan he wrestled all night with an angel, who blessed him and gave him the name Israel. Jacob had 13 children, 10 of whom founded tribes of Israel. His favorite son, Joseph, was sold into slavery in Egypt by his brothers, but the family was later reunited when a famine forced the brothers to go to Egypt to seek grain.

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orig. Jacob Leibowicz

(born 1726, Berezanka or Korolowka, Galicia, Pol.—died Dec. 10, 1791, Offenbach, Hessen) Jewish false messiah. He was an uneducated visionary who claimed to be the reincarnation of Shabbetai Tzevi. He proclaimed himself messiah in 1751 and founded the Frankist, or Zoharist, sect, based on the Sefer ha-zohar, which he sought to put in the place of the Torah. The sect rejected traditional Judaism, and their practices, including orgiastic rites, led the Jewish community to excommunicate them in 1756. Protected by Roman Catholic authorities, who hoped Frank would help in the conversion of the Jews, Frank and his followers were baptized in Poland. In 1760 he was imprisoned by the Inquisition, who had realized that Frank's followers regarded Frank, not Jesus, as the messiah. Freed in 1773 by invading Russians, he settled in Germany and lived as a baron until his death.

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(born Nov. 10, 1880, New York, N.Y., U.S.—died Aug. 21, 1959, London, Eng.) U.S.-born British sculptor. He studied in Paris and settled in England in 1905. His 18 nude figures known as the Strand Statues (1907–08) provoked charges of indecency; his nude angel on the tomb of Oscar Wilde (1912) in Paris was also attacked. In 1913 he became affiliated with Vorticism and developed a style characterized by simple forms and calm surfaces carved from stone; his works often partly retained the shape of the original block, or sometimes they were modeled in plaster. He is best known for religious and allegorical figures carved in colossal blocks of stone and for bronze portrait busts of celebrities. Occasionally he produced monumental bronze groups, such as St. Michael and the Devil (1958) for Coventry Cathedral.

Learn more about Epstein, Sir Jacob with a free trial on Britannica.com.

German Rudolph Camerer

(born Feb. 17, 1665, Tübingen, Ger.—died Sept. 11, 1721, Tübingen) German botanist. One of the first to perform experiments in heredity, he demonstrated sexuality in plants by identifying and defining the male and female reproductive parts of the plant and by describing their function in fertilization, showing that pollen is required for the process.

Learn more about Camerarius, Rudolph (Jacob) with a free trial on Britannica.com.

orig. Johann Jakob Astor

(born July 17, 1763, Waldorf, Ger.—died March 29, 1848, New York, N.Y., U.S.) German-born U.S. fur magnate and financier. After emigrating from Germany at age17, he opened a fur-goods shop in New York circa 1786. By 1800 he was a leader in the fur trade, and he established the American Fur Co. He controlled the fur trade with China (1800–17) and in the Mississippi and Missouri valleys (in the 1820s) before selling his interests in 1834. His investment in New York City real estate became the foundation of the family fortune. At his death, Astor was the wealthiest person in the U.S.; he willed $400,000 to found what became the New York Public Library. His son, William B. Astor (1792–1875), greatly expanded the family real-estate holdings, building more than 700 stores and dwellings in the city.

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Jacob (Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב, Standard Yaʿaqov Tiberian Yaʿăqōḇ; Arabic: يعقوب, Yaʿqūb; "holds the heel"; Septuagint Greek Ἰακώβ), also known as Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל, Standard Yisraʾel Tiberian Yiśrāʾēl; Arabic: اسرائيل, Isrāʾīl; "Struggled with God", Septuagint Greek Ἰσραήλ), is the third Biblical patriarch. Jacob was the son of Isaac, the twin brother of Esau, and grandson of Abraham. Jacob played a major part in some of the later events in the Book of Genesis.

Jacob had twelve sons by his two wives, Leah and Rachel, and his two concubines, Bilhah and Zilpah. He thus sired the twelve Tribes of Israel. His sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.

Biblical accounts

Jacob, together with his older brother, Esau, was born to Isaac and Rebekah after 20 years of marriage, when his father was 60, and Abraham was 160 years old. He and Esau were markedly different in appearance and behaviour. Esau was a ruddy hunter, while Jacob was a gentle man who "dwelled in tents," interpreted by many biblical commentators as a mark of his studiousness and reserved personality.

During Rebekah's pregnancy, "the children struggled together within her".

Esau was the firstborn. His brother Jacob was born immediately afterwards, and was grasping Esau's heel. His name, Ya'akov (יעקב), derives from the Hebrew root "עקב," "heel." Commentators explain that Jacob was trying to hold Esau back from being the firstborn, and in that way claim the Abrahamic legacy for himself. According to the text, Jacob was favored by his mother, while Esau was favored by his father.

Birthright

During their youth, the twins were raised in the same environment and exposed to the same teachings of their father Isaac and grandfather Abraham. One day, Esau returned from the field faint from hunger. Seizing an opportunity, Jacob informed Esau that he would sell him some lentil soup which he had just cooked, in exchange for the birthright which belonged to Esau as the older brother. Esau agreed "I am going to die — what is this birthright to me?" The fact that Esau would sell his familial rights in exchange for soup indicates the disdain in which he held his fathers' traditions. In the words of the Bible, "Esau despised the birthright. However, there are many interpretations of this statement. Some believe he meant that if he were dead, then his brother would have the birthright anyway; why should he die? If Esau were not to sell his birthright, he may have died from starvation, giving Jacob the birthright either way. The blessing however, wasn't in the possession of the twins either for Esau to sell or for Jacob to buy, as it was a Given Potestas of Isaac's. That both brothers knowingly or unknowingly attempted such iniquity made them guilty equally. Although naturally, the descendants of Jacob would exonerate their Patriarch in placing the blame on his brother. Isaac knew better, not to curse both or bless further.

The text further explains that since he referred to the soup as "red, red, stuff," he was given the name "Edom" (Hebrew: אדום, red one). The name Edom is thus seen as an eponym which gave rise to the national name of the Edomites.

The birthright included not only the traditional Biblical birthright, which granted superior rank in the family (Genesis 49:3), a double portion of the paternal inheritance (Deuteronomy 21:17), and the priestly office in the family (Numbers 8:17-19), but the Abrahamic blessing as well, which promised that his descendants would be a source of blessing for all the nations of the earth (Genesis 21:15-18). However, Esau, knowing that God had declared that Abraham's descendants would be enslaved for 400 years before returning to their own land (referring to the Hebrews' enslavement in Egypt) (Genesis 15:13-14), wanted to exclude himself from being part of God's chosen people.

According to the Midrash, the day on which Esau sold his birthright was the very same day that Abraham died; the lentil soup which Jacob had cooked was a food traditionally eaten at times of mourning. This sheds some light on Esau's comment that he "was going to die." The midrash further states that Esau had committed the three cardinal sins – murder, adultery and idolatry, which is why he was tired that day. Setting the scene at the time of Abraham's death would mean that Jacob and Esau were both 15 years old at that time.

Paternal blessing

When Isaac was aged and blind, he decided to bless his eldest son before he died. He sent Esau out in the fields to hunt down some meat and prepare him a meal, after which he would receive his blessing. (According to the Jewish commentators, since the blessing would be prophetic, and prophecy only rests on one who is in a joyful state of mind, Isaac desired to first eat meat and drink wine to arouse himself to happiness.)

Rebecca overheard this exchange. As Esau went out to the hunt, she instructed Jacob to fetch her two goats so that she could prepare a tasty meal for his father, and commanded him to bring the meal to Isaac to receive the blessing in his brother's stead. Jacob protested that his father might notice the substitution through touch, since Esau was hairy and he was smooth-skinned. Rebecca told him not to worry, and placed hairy goatskins over his neck and arms.

Thus disguised, Jacob went into his father's tent. Isaac was surprised that he had returned so soon from the "hunt." "Who are you, my son?" Isaac asked suspiciously. "I am Esau your firstborn," Jacob replied (the Hebrew words, however, can be divided into two statements: "I" and "Esau is your firstborn"). Isaac was still suspicious and asked to feel him, since Esau was hairy. The goatskins seemed to fool him, although he maintained, "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau." Nevertheless, Isaac blessed him and sent him on his way.

As soon as Jacob left the tent, Esau arrived and exposed the deception. Isaac was shaken, but he affirmed that Jacob would indeed be blessed. To Esau's pathetic entreaties, he agreed to give Esau a lesser blessing. Esau exclaimed, "Is that why he is called Jacob (יעקב), because he has deceived me (ויעקבני) these two times?" (Genesis 27:35), another play on Jacob's name. Then Esau swore to himself that he would kill Jacob in revenge as soon as his father was dead.

Return to Canaan

As Jacob neared the land of Canaan, he sent messengers ahead to his brother Esau. They returned with the news that Esau was coming to meet Jacob with an army of 400 men. In great apprehension, Jacob prepared for the worst. He felt that he must now depend only on God, and he betook himself to him in earnest prayer, then sent on before him a munificent present to Esau, "a present to my lord Esau from thy servant Jacob."

Jacob then transported his family and flocks back across the ford Jabbok, then crossed over towards the direction from which Esau would come, spending the night alone, in communion with God. There, a mysterious being ("a man", according to Genesis 32:24, or "the angel", according to Hosea 12:4) appeared and wrestled with Jacob until daybreak. When he saw he could not defeat Jacob, he touched him on the sinew of his thigh (the gid hanasheh - גיד הנשה). As a result, the Israelites would not consume that part of an animal's thigh from that point on (Genesis 32:32) and Jacob would forever have a limp. This incident still has an impact on many Jews today, as Orthodox Jews will not eat the area containing the gid hanasheh (commonly identified as the sciatic nerve) on an otherwise kosher animal.

Jacob then demanded a blessing, and the mysterious being said that from now on, Jacob would be called Israel (Hebrew ישׂראל Yisra'el or Yiśrā’ēl, meaning "one who has struggled with God"). Jacob then asked the being's name, but the being refused to answer. Afterwards Jacob named the place Pnei-el (Penuel, meaning "face of God"), saying "I have seen God face to face and lived."

Because of the ambiguous and varying terminology, and because the being refused to reveal its name, there are varying views as to whether this mysterious being was a man, an angel, or God himself. According to Rashi, he was the guardian angel of Esau himself, sent to destroy Jacob before he could return to the land of Canaan. Trachtenberg theorizes that the being refused to identify itself for fear that if its secret name was known, it would have been conjurable by incantations (Trachtenberg 1939, p. 80). Some commentators, however, argue that the stranger was God himself, citing Jacob's own words and the name he assumed thereafter ("One who has struggled with God"). They point out that although later holy scriptures maintain that God does not manifest as a mortal, several instances of it arguably occur in Genesis, for example in 18:1 with Abraham.

In the morning Jacob assembled his wives and 11 sons, placing Rachel and her children in the rear and Leah and her children in the front. Some commentators cite this placement as proof that Jacob continued to favor Rachel's children over Leah's, as presumably the rear position would be safer from a frontal assault by Esau, which Jacob feared. Jacob himself took the foremost position. Esau's spirit of revenge, however, had by this time been appeased by Jacob's bounteous gift of camels, goats and flocks. Their reunion was an emotional one. Esau offered to accompany them on their way back to Israel, but Jacob protested that his children were still young and tender; they would eventually catch up with Esau at Mount Seir. According to the Sages, this was a prophetic reference to the End of Days, when Jacob's descendants would come to Mount Seir, the home of Edom, to deliver judgment against Esau's descendants for persecuting them throughout the millennia (Obadiah 1:21).

Jacob arrived in Shechem, where he bought a parcel of land that would eventually house Joseph's Tomb. In Shechem, his daughter through Leah, Dinah, was raped by the prince's son, who desired to marry the girl. Dinah's brothers, Simeon and Levi, offered to go ahead with the match as long as all the men of Shechem first performed the mitzvah of circumcision upon themselves, ostensibly to unite the children of Jacob in familial harmony. On the third day after the circumcision, when all the men of Shechem were most weak, Simeon and Levi put all the residents to death by the sword and escaped with their sister, Dinah. Jacob remained silent about the episode, but later rebuked his two sons for their anger in his deathbed blessing (Genesis 49:5-7).

As Jacob and his entourage neared the border of Canaan, Rachel went into labor and died as she gave birth to her second—and Jacob's twelfth—son, Benjamin. Jacob buried her and erected a monument over her grave, which is located just outside Bethlehem. Rachel's Tomb remains a popular site for pilgrimages and prayers to this day.

Jacob was finally reunited with his father Isaac in Mamre (outside Hebron). When Isaac died at the age of 180, Jacob and Esau buried him together in the Cave of Machpelah which Abraham had purchased as a family burial plot.

Joseph

The Bible next relates the story of Joseph, who was separated from his father Jacob at the age of 17 and sent down to Egypt as a slave by his brothers, who were jealous of his dreams of kingship over them. Jacob was deeply grieved by the loss of his favorite son, and refused to be comforted. Christian commentators have speculated that this was a punishment from God due to Jacob's earlier sins, which included impersonation of Esau (a form of lying or deception).

When Joseph got to Egypt, he was sold as a slave to Potifar, who treated him well. Disaster struck when Potifar's wife accused Joseph of committing adultery with her. So Joseph was thrown into the royal prison. Two other men came to join him in the prison. One was a butler. The other a baker. Both used to work for Pharaoh and both had a dream. Joseph interpreted the dreams and they came true. The butler went back to work for the Pharaoh and the baker got executed. Joseph was left in prison. Nearly ten years after the sale of Joseph, Pharaoh had two troubling dreams which could not be interpreted to his satisfaction. Joseph, who was still in the royal prison, was recommended to Pharaoh as an interpreter of dreams, by the butler and Joseph explained the dreams as relating to seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. Pharaoh was so impressed that he made Joseph viceroy over Egypt and the manager of Egypt's grain stores. Joseph artfully managed first the storage and then the distribution of Egypt's grain, making Pharaoh quite wealthy.

When the famine struck, 10 of Jacob's sons went to Egypt to procure grain for their starving families in Canaan. Upon meeting Joseph for the first time in nearly 20 years, they did not recognize him, since he now dressed and spoke like an Egyptian. However, Joseph recognized them and demanded to see the twelfth brother of whom they spoke, his own full-brother, Benjamin. As a way of making sure they would come back, he took Simeon (being the oldest who plotted to sell him, since Reuben intended to rescue him) as a hostage until they returned with Benjamin.

Jacob was distraught when he heard this news, for Benjamin was all that was left to him of his beloved wife Rachel's children, and he refused to release him lest something happen to Benjamin, too. But when their food stores ran out and the famine worsened, Jacob agrees to Judah's promise to protect Benjamin from harm. The brothers returned to Joseph with Benjamin, and when Joseph saw Benjamin he was overcome with emotion, and revealed himself to his brothers. He invited them to bring their families and their father, Jacob, down to Egypt to live near him, and gave them a place to live in the Egyptian province of Goshen.

Jacob's last seventeen years were spent in peace and tranquility in Egypt, knowing that all his 12 sons were righteous people, and he died at the age of 147 (Genesis 47:28). Before his death, he made Joseph promise that he would bury him in the Cave of Machpelah, even though Jacob had buried Joseph's mother, Rachel, by the side of the road and not in the Cave (Leah had been buried there, instead, along with Abraham, Sarah, Rebecca and Issac). With Pharaoh's permission, Joseph led a huge state funeral back to the land of Canaan, with the 12 sons carrying their father's coffin and many Egyptian officials accompanying them.

Before he died, Jacob adopted Joseph's two teenage sons, Ephraim and Manasseh, as his own. He also blessed each one of his sons. According to the Midrash, he desired to tell them the exact date when the Messiah would arrive, but the prophecy failed him. He feared lest one of his sons was not righteous, but they responded, "Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad" - "Hear O Israel [Israel being another name of Jacob], the Lord Our God, the Lord is One!" Satisfied that his sons were united in the service of God, Jacob proclaimed, "Baruch Shem Kavod Malchuso Le'Olam Va'Ed" - "Blessed is the Name of His glorious Kingdom for ever and ever". Today these two verses are said together, the first one aloud and the second one quietly, in the morning and evening Jewish prayer services.

Sons

Jacob's wives and concubines had twelve sons and one daughter: Reuben Simeon Levi Judah Dinah Dan Naphtali Gad Asher Issachar Zebulun Joseph and Benjamin ():

The offspring of Jacob's sons were destined to become the twelve tribes of Israel following the Exodus, when the Israelites conquered and settled in the Land of Israel.

Rabbinical teachings

According to the classic Jewish texts, Jacob, as the third and last patriarch, lived a life that paralleled the descent of his offspring, the Jewish people, into the darkness of exile. In contrast to Abraham—who illuminated the world with knowledge of God and earned the respect of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan—and Isaac—who continued his father's teachings and also lived in relative harmony with his neighbors—Jacob experienced many personal struggles both in the land and out of it (including the hatred of his brother Esau, the deception of his father-in-law Laban, the rape of his daughter Dinah, the death of his favorite wife Rachel, and the sale of his son Joseph). For this reason, the Jewish commentators interpret many elements of his story as being symbolic of the future difficulties and struggles the Jewish people would undergo during their long exile, which continues to the present day.

According to Rashi, whenever Rebecca passed a house of Torah study, Jacob would struggle to get out; whenever she passed a temple of idolatry, Esau would struggle to get out. Fearful of the excessive movement, Rebecca questioned God about the tumult and learned that she was to give birth to two children who were twins, who would become the respective founders of two very different nations. They would always be in competition, the elder would serve the younger, meaning one's success is attained at the expense of the other. She did not tell her husband Isaac about this prophecy, but kept it in mind.

Eastern Christianity

The Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite see Jacob's dream as a prophesy of the Incarnation of the Logos, whereby Jacob's ladder is understood as a symbol of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary), who, according to Orthodox theology, united heaven and earth in her womb. The biblical account of this vision is one of the standard Old Testament readings at Vespers on Great Feasts of the Theotokos.

The account of Jacob's blessing of Joseph's sons is also seen as prophetic: when he crossed his arms to bestow his patriarchal blessing this is seen as a foreshadowing of the blessings Christians believe resulted from Jesus' death on the cross.

Islam

In Arabic, Jacob is known as Yakub. He is revered as a prophet who received inspiration from God. The Qur'an does not give the details of Jacob’s life. Isra'il is the Arabic translation of the Hebrew Yisrael. God perfected his favor on Jacob and his posterity as he perfected his favor on Abraham and Isaac (12:6). Jacob was a man of might and vision (38:45) and was chosen by God to preach the Message. The Qur'an stresses that worshiping and bowing to the One true God was the main legacy of Jacob Kaaihue and his fathers (2:132-133). Salvation, according to the Qur'an, hinges upon this legacy rather than being a Jew or Christian (See Qur'an 2:130-141).

According to the Qur'an, Jacob was of the company of the Elect and the Good (38:47, 21:75). Yaqub is a name that is accepted in Muslim community showing the value attributed to Jacob.

See also

• History of ancient Israel and Judah
• Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, the name given to at least three different major paintings
• During the Second World War the French writer and anti-Nazi resistance fighter André Malraux worked on a long novel, The Struggle Against the Angel, the manuscript of which was destroyed by the Gestapo upon his capture in 1944. The name was apparently inspired by the Jacob story. A surviving opening book to The Struggle Against the Angel, named The Walnut Trees of Altenburg, was published after the war.

References

Further reading

External links

• Behind Jacob’s deal with Laban - its genetics illustrated