A Biography of Jacob
-For purposes of simplicity, I will refer to Jacob and Israel both as Jacob.
-For purposes of point of view, nearly all of this paper is from Jacob’s point of view, only bringing in other events necessary for this to make sense that happened without Jacob seeing.
Jacob is the father of Israel, for his twelve children each gave life to an entire tribe of Israelites. He wasn’t always pious, sometimes being even blasphemous, but apparently, he always walked with god, and all who came in his way either prospered or were conquered.
Jacob and Esau were born to Rebekah and Isaac. Esau came out first and thus was the eldest, all red and hairy. Jacob came out second, gripping his brother’s heel to be pulled out by him. He was named Jacob because of that. This symbolic moment when Jacob was born was but a glimpse of the events to come between Jacob and his brother, Esau. His mother, Rebekah, had a special place in her heart for Jacob, while his father loved Esau. In all probability the name Jacob was originally theophorous, the divine element of which--commonly el—is now missing (like Isaac, Joseph, Jephthah). The restored form would then be Ya’agobh-el. (61)
As they get older, they develop personalities. Esau was a hunter who spent most of his time out in the field. Jacob was a quiet man who lived among the tents.
One day, when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field very so hungry. He asked Jacob for some stew. Jacob was willing to sell him some for his birthright. Since Esau thought he was dying of hunger, he didn’t think he had much use for a birthright if he died, so he gave Jacob his birthright for some stew.
Some time later, Isaac was in his last days, and his vision was bad. He ca...
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Jacob's name means "deceiver" and he lives up to his name. His deceitfulness began with stealing his brother's birthright. One day, Esau came in from the fields famished and found Jacob cooking a meal. Jacob offered his half-starved brother, "Give me the birthright and I'll give you some soup." Esau being starved, sold his birthright to Jacob. (Genesis 25: 29-34). Sometime later when Isaac thought he was going to die, he called Esau into his tent and told him to kill an animal and make him some soup. Isaac's wife overheard this and connived a plan with Jacob to deceive Isaac. Jacob disguised himself as Esau and obtained his blind and dying father's blessing (Genesis 27).
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Jacob first appears in the Bible in the book of Genesis. The Bible says that Esau was the firstborn of the twins. “Afterward his brother came out, with his hand gripping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob.” (Genesis 25:26). The boys grew up, and Esau was described as a skillful hunter, while Jacob was a quiet man, living in tents. Once when Jacob was cooking a stew in his tent, Esau came in from the from hunting in the fields and was famished. Jacob told Esau he would share with him his stew on the condition that Esau renounce his birthright to him. Esau accepted. Later, as their father, Isaac sat on his deathbed, he blessed Jacob, who was dressed in fur clothing to imitate Esau who had more body hair than Jacob. Isaac thought it was Esau he was blessing (Meeks 41). After this, Jacob’s mother advised him to go live with his Uncle Labon in Padan-Aram – afraid that Esau would become vengeful and kill Jacob after he tricked their father into giving him his blessing of the first born.
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