Reference: Jacob
American
Son of Isaac and Rebekah, and twin-brother to Esau. As at his birth he held his brother's heel, he was called Jacob, that is, the heel-holder, one who comes behind and catches the heel of his adversary, a supplanter, Ge 25:26. This was a king of predictive intimation of his future conduct in life. Jacob was meek and peaceable, living a shepherd life at home. Esau was more turbulent and fierce, and passionately fond of hunting. Isaac was partial to Esau, Rebekah to Jacob. Jacob having taken advantage of his brother's absence and his father's infirmity to obtain the blessing of the birthright, or primogeniture, was compelled to fly into Mesopotamia to avoid the consequences of his brother's wrath, Ge 27-28. On his journey the Lord appeared to him in a dream, (see LADDER,) promised him His protection, and declared His purpose relative to his descendants' possessing the land of Canaan, and the descent of the Messiah through him, Ge 28:10, etc. His subsequent days, which he calls "few and evil," were clouded with many sorrows, yet amid them all he was sustained by the care and favor of God. On his solitary journey of six hundred miles into Mesopotamia, and during the toils and injuries of this twenty years' service with Laban, God still prospered him, and on his return to the land of promise inclined the hostile spirits of Laban and of Esau to peace. On the border of Canaan the angels of God met him, and the God of angels wrestled with him, yielded him the blessing, and gave him the honored name of Israel. But sore trials awaited him: his mother was no more; his sister-wives imbittered his life with their jealousies; his children Dinah, Simeon, Levi and Reuben filled him with grief and shame; his beloved Rachel and his father were removed by death; Joseph his favorite son he had given up as slain by wild beasts; and the loss of Benjamin threatened to bring his gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. But the sunset of his life was majestically calm and bright. For seventeen years, he enjoyed in the land of Goshen a serene happiness: he gave a dying blessing in Jehovah's name to his assembled sons; visions of their future prosperity rose before his eyes, especially the long line of the royal race of Judah, culminating in the glorious kingdom of SHILOH. "He saw it, and was glad." Soon after, he was gathered to his fathers, and his body was embalmed, and buried with all possible honors in the burial-place of Abraham near Hebron, B. C. 1836-1689. In the history of Jacob we observe that in repeated instances he used unjustifiable means to secure promised advantages, instead of waiting, in faith and obedience, for the unfailing providence of God. We observe also the divine chastisement of his sins, and his steadfast growth in grace to the last, Ge 25-50. His name is found in the New Testament, illustrating the sovereignty of God and the power of faith, Ro 9:13; Heb 11:9,21.
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And after that his brother was born, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff.
Easton
one who follows on another's heels; supplanter, (Ge 25:26; 27:36; Ho 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 (Ge 25:29-34).
When Isaac was about 160 years of age, Jacob and his mother conspired to deceive the aged patriarch (Ge 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 (Ge 49:3); (2) a double portion of the paternal inheritance (De 21:17); (3) the priestly office in the family (Nu 8:17-19); and (4) the promise of the Seed in which all nations of the earth were to be blessed (Ge 22:18).
Soon after his acquisition of his father's blessing (Ge 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 (Ge 31:41). He then set out with his family and property "to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan" (Ge 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 (Ge 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 (Ge 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" (Ge 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.), Ge 33:18; but at length, under divine directions, he moved to Bethel, where he made an altar unto God (Ge 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 (), 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 (Ge 35:27-29).
Jacob was soon after this deeply grieved by the loss of his beloved son Joseph through the jealousy of his brothers (Ge 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; De 10:22; Ac 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" (Ge 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" (Ge 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 (Ge 50:1-13). (See Hebron.)
The history of Jacob is referred to by the prophets Hosea (Ho 12:3-4,12) and Malachi (Mal 1:2). In Mic 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 (Ro 9:11-13; Heb 12:16; 11:21). See references to his vision at Bethel and his possession of land at Shechem in Joh 1:51; 4:5,12; also to the famine which was the occasion of his going down into Egypt in Ac 7:12 (See Luz; Bethel.)
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And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed: because thou hast obeyed my voice.
And after that his brother was born, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
And Jacob boiled pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint. And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. read more. And Jacob said, Sell to me this day thy birth-right. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birth-right bring to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he swore to him: and he sold his birth-right to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he ate and drank, and rose and went his way: thus Esau despised his birth-right.
And he said, Is he not rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me twice: he took away my birth-right; and behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?
And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
Thus have I been twenty years in thy house: I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.
And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh: and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh; And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. read more. And he said to him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God, and with men, and hast prevailed. And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name: And he said, why is it that thou dost ask after my name? and he blessed him there. And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh.
And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padan-aram; and pitched his tent before the city.
So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan (that is Beth-el) he and all the people that were with him. And he erected there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el; because there God appeared to him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
And Jacob came to Isaac his father to Mamre, to the city of Arbah (which is Hebron) where Abraham and Isaac sojourned. And the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years. read more. And Isaac expired and died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him: Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.
Reuben, thou art my first-born, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellence of dignity, and the excellence of power:
And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, and expired, and was gathered to his people.
And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel. read more. And forty days were fulfilled for him; (for so are fulfilled the days of those who are embalmed:) and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days. And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again. And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear. And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen. And there went with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company. And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days. And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abel-mizraim, which is beyond Jordan. And his sons did to him according as he commanded them: For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a burying-place of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.
And all the souls that descended from Jacob, were seventy souls: for Joseph was in Egypt already.
For all the first born of the children of Israel are mine, both man and beast: on the day that I smote every first-born in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for myself. And I have taken the Levites for all the first-born of the children of Israel. read more. And I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tabernacle of the congregation, and to make an atonement for the children of Israel: that there may be no plague among the children of Israel, when the children of Israel come nigh to the sanctuary.
Thy fathers went down into Egypt with seventy persons; and now the LORD thy God hath made thee as the stars of heaven for multitude.
But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the first-born, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the first-born is his.
The LORD hath also a controversy with Judah, and will punish Jacob according to his ways; according to his doings will he recompense him. He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God:
He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God: Yes, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication to him: he found him in Beth-el, and there he spoke with us;
Yes, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication to him: he found him in Beth-el, and there he spoke with us;
And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.
For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem?
I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, In what hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob,
And he saith to him, Verily, verily, I say to you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
Then he cometh to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground, that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, and his children, and his cattle?
But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.
Then Joseph sent, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, seventy five souls.
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth) It was said to her, The elder shall serve the younger. read more. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff.
Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birth-right.
Fausets
(See ESAU; ISAAC.) ("supplanter", or "holding the heel".) Esau's twin brother, but second in point of priority. Son of Isaac, then 60 years old, and Rebekah. As Jacob "took his brother by the heel (the action of a wrestler) in the womb" (Ho 12:3), so the spiritual Israel, every believer, having no right in himself to the inheritance, by faith when being born again of the Spirit takes hold of the bruised heel, the humanity, of Christ crucified, "the Firstborn of many brethren." He by becoming a curse for us became a blessing to the true Israel; contrast Heb 12:16-17. Jacob was a "plain," i.e. an upright man, steady and domestic, affectionate, so his mother's favorite: Ge 25:24, etc., "dwelling in tents," i.e. staying at home, minding the flocks and household duties; not, like Esau, wandering abroad in keen quest of game, "a man of the field," wild, restless, self indulgent, and seldom at home in the tent.
Having bought the birthright from Esau, he afterward, at Rebekah's instigation, stole the blessing which his father intended for Esau, but which God had appointed to him even when the two sons were yet unborn; "the elder shall serve the younger" (Ge 25:23; 27:29; Mal 1:3; Ro 9:12). His seeking a right end by wrong means (Genesis 27) entailed a life-long retribution in kind. Instead of occupying the first place of honour in the family he had to flee for his life; instead of a double portion, he fled with only the staff in his hand. It was now, when his schemes utterly failed, God's grace began to work in him and for him, amidst his heavy outward crosses. If he had waited in faith God's time, and God's way, of giving the blessing promised by God, and not unlawfully with carnal policy foiled Isaac's intention, God would have defeated his father's foolish purpose and Jacob would have escaped his well deserved chastisement.
The fear of man, precautions cunning, habitual timidity as to danger, characterize him, as we might have expected in one quiet and shrewd to begin with, then schooled in a life exposed to danger from Esau, to grasping selfishness from Laban, and to undutifulness from most of his sons (Ge 31:15,42; 34:5,30; 43:6,11-12). Jacob's grand superiority lay in his abiding trust in the living God. Faith made him "covet earnestly the best gift," though his mode of getting it (first by purchase from the reckless, profane Esau, at the cost of red pottage, taking ungenerous advantage of his brother's hunger; next by deceit) was most unworthy.
When sent forth by his parents to escape Esau, and to get a wife in Padan Aram, he for the first time is presented before us as enjoying God's manifestations at Bethel in his vision of the ladder set up on earth, and the top reaching heaven, with "Jehovah standing above, and the angels of God ascending and descending (not descending and ascending, for the earth is presupposed as already the scene of their activity) on it," typifying God's providence and grace arranging all things for His people's good through the ministry of "angels" (Genesis 28; Heb 1:14). When his conscience made him feel his flight was the just penalty of his deceit God comforts him by promises of His grace.
Still more typifying Messiah, through whom heaven is opened and also joined to earth, and angels minister with ceaseless activity to Him first, then to His people (Joh 14:6; Re 4:1; Ac 7:56; Heb 9:8; 10:19-20). Jacob the man of guile saw Him at the top of the ladder; Nathanael, an Israelite without guile, saw Him at the bottom in His humiliation, which was the necessary first step upward to glory. Joh 1:51; "hereafter," Greek "from now," the process was then beginning which shall eventuate in the restoration of the union between heaven and earth, with greater glory than before (Re 5:8; Revelation 21:1 - 22:21). Then followed God's promise of (1) the land and (2) of universal blessing to all families of the earth "in his seed," i.e. Christ; meanwhile he should have
(1) God's presence,
(2) protection in all places,
(3) restoration to home,
(4) unfailing faithfulness (Ge 28:15; compare Ge 28:20-21).
Recognizing God's manifestation as sanctifying the spot, he made his stony pillow into a pillar, consecrated with oil (See BETHEL), and taking up God's word he vowed that as surely as God would fulfill His promises (he asked no more than "bread and raiment") Jehovah should be his God, and of all that God gave he would surely give a tenth to Him; not waiting until he should be rich to do so, but while still poor; a pattern to us (compare Ge 32:10). Next follows his seven years' service under greedy Laban, in lieu of presents to the parents (the usual mode of obtaining a wife in the East, Ge 24:53, which Jacob was unable to give), and the imposition of Leah upon him instead of Rachel; the first installment of his retributive chastisement in kind for his own deceit. Kennicott suggested that Jacob served 14 years for his wives, then during 20 years he took care of Laban's cattle as a friend, then during six years he served for wages (Ge 31:38,41).
One (zeh) 20 years I was with thee (tending thy flocks, but not in thy house); another (zeh) 20 years I was for myself in thy house, serving thee 14 years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle. The ordinary view that he was only 20 years old in Padan Aram would make him 77 years old in going there; and as Joseph, the second youngest, was born at the end of the first 14 years, the 11 children born before Benjamin would be all born within six or seven years, Leah's six, Rachel's one, Bilhah's two, and Zilpah's two. It is not certain that Dinah was born at this time. Zebulun may have been borne by Leah later than Joseph, it not being certain that the births all followed in the order of their enumeration, which is that of the mothers, not that of the births. Rachel gave her maid to Jacob not necessarily after the birth of Leah's fourth son; so Bilhah may have borne Dan and Naphtali before Judah's birth.
Leah then, not being likely to have another son, probably gave Zilpah to Jacob, and Asher and Naphtali were born; in the beginning of the last of the seven years probably Leah bore Issachar, and at its end Zebulun. But in the view of Kennicott and Speaker's Commentary Jacob went to Laban at 57; in the first 14 years had sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah by Leah; Dan and Naphtali by Bilhah; in the 20 years (Ge 35:29) next had Gad and Asher by Zilpah, Issachar and Zebulun by Leah, lastly Dinah by Leah and Joseph by Rachel; then six years' service for cattle, then flees from Padan Aram where he had been 40 years, at 97. In Jacob's 98th year Benjamin is born and Rachel dies. Joseph at 17 goes to Egypt, at 30 is governor. At 130 Jacob goes to Egypt (Ge 46:1); dies at 147 (Ge 47:28).
The assigning of 40, instead of 20, years to his sojourn with Laban allows time for Er and Onan to be grown up when married; their strong passions leading them to marry, even so, at an early age for that time. The common chronology needs some correction, since it makes Judah marry at 20, Er and Onan at 15. On Jacob desiring to leave, Laban attested God's presence with Jacob. "I have found by experience (Hebrew "by omens from serpents," the term showing Laban's paganness: Ge 30:19,32) that the Lord hath blessed me for thy sake." Jacob then required as wages all the speckled and spotted sheep and goats, which usually are few, sheep in the East being generally white, the goats black or brown, not speckled.
With characteristic sharpness Jacob adopted a double plan of increasing the wages agreed on. Peeling rods of (Gesenius) storax ("poplar"), almond ("hazel"), and plane tree ("chesnut") in strips, so that the dazzling white wood of these trees should appear under the dark outside, he put them in the drinking troughs; the cattle consequently brought forth spotted, speckled young, which by the agreement became Jacob's. Thus by trickery he foiled Laban's trickery in putting three days' journey between his flock tended by Jacob and Jacob's stipulated flock of spotted and speckled goats and brown put under the care of his sons. Secondly, Jacob separated the speckled young, which were his, so as to be constantly in view of Laban's
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And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and raiment, and gave them to Rebekah: He gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.
And the LORD said to her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels: and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.
And the LORD appeared to him, and said, Go not down into Egypt: dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of.
Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee; be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.
And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land: for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have declared to thee.
And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: read more. And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth to thee.
I will pass through all thy flock to-day, removing from thence all the speckled and spotted cattle, and all the brown cattle among the sheep, and the spotted and speckled among the goats: and of such shall be my hire.
And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up my eyes, and saw in a dream, and behold, the rams which leaped upon the cattle were ring-streaked, speckled, and grizzled. And the angel of God spoke to me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. read more. And he said, Lift up now thy eyes and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ring-streaked, speckled, and grizzled: for I have seen all that Laban doeth to thee. I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst to me a vow: now arise, depart from this land, and return to the land of thy kindred.
Are we not counted by him strangers; for he hath sold us, and hath quite consumed also our money.
These twenty years have I been with thee: thy ewes and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.
Thus have I been twenty years in thy house: I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times. Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac had been with me, surely thou hadst now sent me away empty. God hath seen my affliction, and the labor of my hands, and rebuked thee yesternight.
Then Jacob was greatly afraid, and distressed: and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks, and herds, and camels, into two bands;
And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD who saidst to me, Return to thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee; I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shown to thy servant: for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands.
I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shown to thy servant: for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands.
I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shown to thy servant: for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he shall come and smite me, and the mother with the children. read more. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh; And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him a house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth.
And he bought a part of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of money.
And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter (now his sons were with his cattle in the field:) and Jacob held his peace till they had come.
And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me odious among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites, and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they will assemble themselves against me, and slay me, and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.
And Isaac expired and died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days; and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast hath devoured him: Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces. And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth on his loins, and mourned for his son many days. read more. And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted; and he said, For I will go down into the grave to my son mourning: Thus his father wept for him.
And Jacob their father said to them, Me have ye bereaved: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.
And Jacob their father said to them, Me have ye bereaved: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.
And Israel said, Why dealt ye so ill with me, as to tell the man whether ye had yet a brother?
And their father Israel said to them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry to the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds: And take double money in your hand; and the money that was returned in the mouth of your sacks, carry it again in your hand; it may be it was an oversight:
And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die.
And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was a hundred and forty seven years. And the time drew nigh that Israel must die: and he called his son Joseph, and said to him, If now I have found grace in thy sight, put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, and deal kindly and truly with me; bury me not, I pray thee, in Egypt: read more. But I will lie with my fathers, and thou shalt carry me out of Egypt, and bury me in their burying-place. And he said, I will do as thou hast said. And he said, Swear to me: and he swore to him. And Israel bowed himself upon the bed's head.
And one told Jacob, and said, Behold, thy son Joseph cometh to thee: and Israel strengthened himself, and sat upon the bed.
Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.
Simeon and Levi are brethren: instruments of cruelty are in, their habitations. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; to their assembly, my honor, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall.
I have waited for thy salvation O LORD.
All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: and this is it which their father spoke to them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.
And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD. And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth. read more. Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, to the third and to the fourth generation.
And she said to the men, I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror hath fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you.
And he answered, Fear not: for they that are with us are more than they that are with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha.
Would he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.
In the time when I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do to me.
In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do to me.
Or let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me, and he shall make peace with me.
For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. For the LORD will rise as on mount Perazim, he will be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act. read more. Now therefore be ye not mockers, lest your bands be made strong: for I have heard from the Lord GOD of hosts a consumption, even determined upon the whole earth.
Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is helped shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.
And he shall pass over to his strong hold for fear, and his princes shall be afraid of the ensign, saith the LORD, whose fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem.
He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: read more. But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint.
Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.
He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God:
He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God: Yes, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication to him: he found him in Beth-el, and there he spoke with us;
And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
Agree with thy adversary quickly, while thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.
And from the days of John the Baptist, until now, the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
And when he had sent the multitudes away, he ascended a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
And behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same territories, and cried to him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously afflicted with a demon.
And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they two shall be one flesh?
And in the morning, rising a great while before day, he went out and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.
And it came to pass in those days, that he went out to a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say to you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
And he saith to him, Verily, verily, I say to you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
Jesus saith to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me.
Then Joseph sent, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, seventy five souls.
And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
And we know that all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
What shall we then say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
But in all these things we are more than conquerors, through him that loved us.
It was said to her, The elder shall serve the younger.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall inherit salvation?
Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears to him that was able to save him from death, and was heard, in that he feared;
The Holy Spirit this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while the first tabernacle was yet standing:
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh;
By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a foreign country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff.
Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birth-right. For ye know that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.
To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father on his throne.
After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard, was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter.
And when he had taken the book, the four living beings, and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints.
Hastings
1. Son of Isaac and Rebekah. His name is probably an elliptical form of an original Jakob'el, 'God follows' (i.e. 'rewards'), which has been found both on Babylonian tablets and on the pylons of the temple of Karnak. By the time of Jacob this earlier history of the word was overlooked or forgotten, and the name was understood as meaning 'one who takes by the heel, and thus tries to trip up or supplant' (Ge 25:26; 27:36; Ho 12:3). His history is recounted in Ge 25:21 to Ge 50:13, the materials being unequally contributed from three sources. For the details of analysis see Dillmann, Com., and Driver, LOT [Note: OT Introd. to the Literature of the Old Testament.] , p. 16. Priestly Narrative supplies but a brief outline; Jahwist and Elohist are closely interwoven, though a degree of original independence is shown by an occasional divergence in tradition, which adds to the credibility of the joint narrative.
Jacob was born in answer to prayer (Ge 25:21), near Beersheba; and the later rivalry between Israel and Edom was thought of as prefigured in the strife of the twins in the womb (Ge 25:22 f., 2Es 3:16; 2Es 6:8-10, Ro 9:11-13). The differences between the two brothers, each contrasting with the other in character and habit, were marked from the beginning. Jacob grew up a 'quiet man' (Ge 25:27 Revised Version margin), a shepherd and herdsman. Whilst still at home, he succeeded in overreaching Esau in two ways. He took advantage of Esau's hunger and heedlessness to secure the birthright, which gave him precedence even during the father's lifetime (Ge 43:33), and afterwards a double portion of the patrimony (De 21:17), with probably the domestic priesthood. At a later time, after careful consideration (Ge 27:11 ff.), he adopted the device suggested by his mother, and, allaying with ingenious falsehoods (Ge 27:20) his father's suspicion, intercepted also his blessing. Isaac was dismayed, but instead of revoking the blessing confirmed it (Ge 27:33-37), and was not able to remove Esau's bitterness. In both blessings later political and geographical conditions are reflected. To Jacob is promised Canaan, a well-watered land of fields and vineyards (De 11:14; 33:28), with sovereignty over its peoples, even those who were 'brethren' or descended from the same ancestry as Israel (Ge 19:37 f., 2Sa 8:12,14). Esau is consigned to the dry and rocky districts of Idum
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
And he went on his journeys from the south even to Beth-el, to the place where his tent had been at the beginning, between Beth-el and Hai;
And the first-born bore a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites to this day.
And Isaac entreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
And Isaac entreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the LORD was entreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived. And the children struggled together within her: and she said, If it is so, why am I thus? And she went to inquire of the LORD.
And after that his brother was born, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them. And the boys grew: and Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man dwelling in tents.
And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:
And Isaac said to his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the LORD thy God brought it to me.
And Isaac trembled exceedingly, and said, Who? where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me, and I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him? yea, and he shall be blessed. And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceedingly bitter cry, and said to his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father. read more. And he said, Thy brother came with subtilty, and hath taken away thy blessing. And he said, Is he not rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me twice: he took away my birth-right; and behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me?
And he said, Is he not rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me twice: he took away my birth-right; and behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? And Isaac answered and said to Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now to thee, my son?
And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother: and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.
And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury shall turn away;
And Rebekah said to Isaac, I am weary of my life, because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob shall take a wife of the daughters of Heth, such as these who are of the daughters of the land, what good will my life do me?
And behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land on which thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed.
And Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it.
Fulfill her week, and we will give thee this also, for the service which thou shalt serve with me yet seven other years.
And he said, What shall I give thee? And Jacob said, Thou shalt not give me any thing; if thou wilt do this thing for me, I will again feed and keep thy flock:
And your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times: but God suffered him not to hurt me.
And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him.
And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he is coming to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God, and with men, and hast prevailed.
And the young man deferred not to do the thing, because he had delight in Jacob's daughter: and he was more honorable than all the house of his father.
And God said to Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar to God, who appeared to thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.
And they gave to Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and the ear-rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
And he erected there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el; because there God appeared to him, when he fled from the face of his brother.
And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he talked with him, even a pillar of stone: and he poured a drink-offering thereon, and he poured oil thereon.
And Jacob set a pillar on her grave: that is the pillar of Rachel's grave to this day. And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Edar.
And Jacob came to Isaac his father to Mamre, to the city of Arbah (which is Hebron) where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.
And they sat before him, the first-born according to his birth-right, and the youngest according to his youth: and the men wondered one at another.
And Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to Beer-sheba, and offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in the visions of the night, and said, Jacob, Jacob: and he said, Here am I. read more. And he said, I am God, the God of thy father: fear not to go down into Egypt; for I will there make of thee a great nation: I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again: and Joseph shall put his hand upon thine eyes. And Jacob rose up from Beer-sheba: and the sons of Israel carried Jacob their father, and their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. And they took their cattle, and their goods which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and came into Egypt, Jacob, and all his seed with him: His sons, and his sons' sons with him, his daughters, and his sons' daughters, and all his seed brought he with him into Egypt.
The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell; and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.
And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.
And Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years: so the whole age of Jacob was a hundred and forty seven years.
And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations.
Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.
Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye sons of Jacob: and hearken to Israel your father. Reuben, thou art my first-born, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellence of dignity, and the excellence of power: read more. Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it; he went up to my couch. Simeon and Levi are brethren: instruments of cruelty are in, their habitations. O my soul, come not thou into their secret; to their assembly, my honor, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and in their self-will they digged down a wall. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce: and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel. Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise; thy hand shall be on the neck of thy enemies: thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, thou hast gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion: who shall rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh shall come: and to him shall be the gathering of the people. Binding his foal to the vine, and his ass's colt to the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes: His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk. Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea; and he shall be for a haven of ships; and his border shall be to Zidon. Issachar is a strong ass, couching down between two burdens: And he saw that rest was good, and the land that it was pleasant; and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a servant to tribute. Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel. Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse-heels, so that his rider shall fall backward. I have waited for thy salvation O LORD. Gad, a troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last. Out of Asher his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties. Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words. Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well; whose branches run over the wall: The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him: But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob: from thence is the shepherd the stone of Israel: Even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee, and by the Almighty, who shall bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth beneath, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb: The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren. Benjamin shall raven as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.
And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, and expired, and was gathered to his people.
For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a burying-place of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.
For his sons carried him into the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for a possession of a burying-place of Ephron the Hittite, before Mamre.
That I will give you the rain of your land in its due season, the former rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in thy corn, and thy wine and thy oil.
But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the first-born, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath: for he is the beginning of his strength; the right of the first-born is his.
And thou shalt speak and say before the LORD thy God, A Syrian ready to perish was my father, and he went down to Egypt, and sojourned there with a few, and became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous:
Israel then shall dwell in safety alone; the fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine, also his heavens shall drop down dew.
So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak that was by the sanctuary of the LORD.
And the bones of Joseph which the children of Israel brought out of Egypt, they buried in Shechem, in a parcel of ground which Jacob bought of the sons of Hamor the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of silver; and it became the inheritance of the children of Joseph.
And all the men of Shechem assembled, and all the house of Millo, and went and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem.
And all the people that were in the gate, and the elders said, We are witnesses. The LORD make the woman that hath come into thy house like Rachel and like Leah, which two did build the house of Israel: and do thou worthily in Ephratah, and be famous in Beth-lehem:
When thou hast departed from me to-day, then thou shalt find two men by Rachel's sepulcher in the border of Benjamin at Zelzah; and they will say to thee, The asses which thou wentest to seek are found: and lo, thy father hath left the care of the asses, and sorroweth for you, saying, What shall I do for my son?
Of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalek, and of the spoil of Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.
And he put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all they of Edom became David's servants. And the LORD preserved David whithersoever he went.
And Rehoboam went to Shechem: for all Israel had come to Shechem to make him king.
Yet Edom revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then Libnah revolted at the same time.
So Manasseh slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his own house: and Amon his son reigned in his stead.
Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head: And let this apparel and horse be delivered to the hand of one of the king's most noble princes, that they may array the man whom the king delighteth to honor, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honor. read more. Then the king said to Haman, Make haste, and take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew, that sitteth at the king's gate: let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.
And I will restore thy judges as at the first, and thy counselors as at the beginning: afterward thou shalt be called, The city of righteousness, the faithful city.
And thy ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.
And your spoil shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpillar: as the running to and fro of locusts shall he run upon them.
Thy eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that is very far off.
For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter.
To appoint to them that mourn in Zion, to give to them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.
Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.
He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God:
He took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his strength he had power with God: Yes, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication to him: he found him in Beth-el, and there he spoke with us;
And Jacob fled into the country of Syria, and Israel served for a wife, and for a wife he kept sheep.
But thou, Beth-lehem Ephratah, though thou art little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
Then he cometh to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground, that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour.
Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, and his children, and his cattle?
But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.
Then Joseph sent, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, seventy five souls.
And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulcher that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth) It was said to her, The elder shall serve the younger. read more. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff.
Morish
Jacob. Ja'cob
Son of Isaac and Rebekah. Though a twin, he is called 'the younger,' being born after Esau. Before the children were born it was said, "the elder shall serve the younger." The promises made by God to Abraham were thus confirmed to Jacob, as they had been to Isaac. When they grew up, Esau became a hunter, whereas Jacob was a peaceful man, dwelling in tents. Isaac loved Esau, and Rebekah loved Jacob. The typical character of these three patriarchs has been described thus: "In general, Abraham is the root of all promise, and the picture of the life of faith; Isaac is a type of the heavenly Man, who receives the church; and Jacob represents Israel as heir of the promises according to the flesh." The difference may be seen by comparing Ge 22:17 ('stars ' and 'sand'), with Ge 26:4 ('stars' only), and Ge 28:14 ('dust of the earth' only).
Though Jacob was heir of the promises, and valued God's blessing in a selfish manner, he sought it not by faith, but tried in an evil and mean way to obtain it: first in buying the birthright when his brother was at the point of death; and then, in obtaining the blessing from his father by lying and deceit: a blessing which would surely have been his in God's way if he had waited: cf. Ge 48:14-20.
Jacob had then to become a wanderer; but God was faithful to him, and spoke to him, not openly as to Abraham, but in a dream. The ladder reaching to heaven, and the angels ascending and descending on it, showed that he on earth was the object of heaven's care. The promises as to the land being possessed by his descendants, and all nations being blessed in his Seed, were confirmed to him, with this difference that in connection with the latter promise it says "in thee and in thy seed," because it includes the earthly blessings to his seed in the millennium. God also said He would keep Jacob wherever he went, and bring him back to the promised land. Jacob called the place Beth-el, saying that it was the house of God, and the gate of heaven. It is figurative of Israel's position, not in heaven, but the 'gate' is theirs. He made a vow that if God would bless him and bring him back in peace, Jehovah should be his God. This was not the language of faith.
Jacob, who had tricked his brother, was treated in a similar way by Laban, and Leah was given to him as wife instead of Rachel, though he had Rachel, the one he loved, afterwards. He had not learnt to trust God, but used subtle ways to increase his possessions; and he also was dealt with in a like manner, having his wages changed 'ten times.' But God was watching over him and bade him return to the land of his fathers; and when Laban pursued after him, God warned him in a dream not to speak to Jacob either good or bad. They made a covenant together, and each went his way.
Immediately afterwards the angels of God met Jacob, and he recognised them as 'God's host.' Then he had to meet Esau, and doubtless conscience smote him, for he was greatly alarmed. He prayed to God for help, yet was full of plans, sending presents to appease his brother, and
dividing his people into two bands, so that if one of them were smitten, the other might escape. When he was alone God took him in hand: a 'man' (called 'the angel' in Ho 12:4) wrestled with him. He was lamed, yet he clung, and in faith said, "I will not let thee go, except thou bless me." He was accounted a victor, and his name was changed from Jacob to ISRAEL: "for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed." God did not yet make known His name to him.
God protected him from Esau, as He had from Laban: they kissed each other and wept. He then feigned that he would follow Esau to Seir, but turned aside to Shechem, where he bought the portion of a field, thus settling down for his own ease in the midst of the Canaanites, instead of going to Beth-el, God's house, from whence he had started. His peace was soon disturbed by his daughter Dinah going to see the daughters of the land, and being dishonoured, which was avenged by the slaughter of the Shechemites by his sons Simeon and Levi, bringing Jacob into great fear.
God used this humiliating sorrow to discipline Jacob, and recover him to his true calling. He therefore bade Jacob go to Beth-el, and make an altar there. This disclosed a sad state of things: he had to meet God, and must purify himself, and his household must put away their strange gods. He built an altar and called it, 'El-beth-el;' 'the God of Bethel.' God renewed His promises and revealed Himself to Jacob as GOD ALMIGHTY.
Jacob loved Joseph more than all his other sons, which caused them to hate Joseph; they also hated him for the communications given to him through dreams, and eventually sold him to the Ishmeelites. Again Jacob was dealt with deceitfully; his sons pretended that they had found Joseph's coat stained with blood, and Jacob was greatly distressed. But God was watching and overruling all for good. When Jacob and his household arrived in Egypt, he as a prince of God blessed Pharaoh king of Egypt. He lived in Egypt seventeen years, and died at the good old age of 147.
Jacob at the close of his life rose up to the height of God's thoughts, and by faith blessed the two sons of Joseph, being led of God to cross his hands, and gave the richest blessing to Ephraim. Then, as a true prophet of God, he called all his sons before him, and blessed them, with an appropriate prophecy as to the historical future of each (considered under each of the sons' names). He fell asleep, and his body was embalmed and carried into Palestine to lie with those of Abraham and Isaac.
Jacob being named ISRAEL led to his descendants being called the CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. They are however frequently addressed as 'JACOB,' or 'house of Jacob,' as if they had not preserved the higher character involved in the name of 'Israel,' but must be addressed by the natural name of their forefather, Jacob. Gen. 25
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That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is on the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
And I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give to thy seed all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed:
And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands by design; for Manasseh was the first-born. And he blessed Joseph, and said, God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God who hath fed me all my life long to this day, read more. The angel who hath redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac: and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth. And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him: and he lifted his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. And Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father; for this is the first-born; put thy right hand upon his head. And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God make thee as Ephraim and as Manasseh: and he set Ephraim before Manasseh.
Yes, he had power over the angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made supplication to him: he found him in Beth-el, and there he spoke with us;
And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob; And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
Smith
Ja'cob
(supplanter), the second son of Isaac and Rebekah. He was born with Esau, probably at the well of Lahai-roi, about B.C. 1837. His history is related in the latter half of the book of Genesis. He bought the birthright from his brother Esau, and afterward acquired the blessing intended for Esau, by practicing a well-known deceit on Isaac. (Jacob did not obtain the blessing because of his deceit, but in spite of it. That which was promised he would have received in some good way; but Jacob and his mother, distrusting God's promise, sought the promised blessing in a wrong way, and received with it trouble and sorrow. --ED.) Jacob, in his 78th year, was sent from the family home to avoid his brother, and to seek a wife among his kindred in Padan-aram. As he passed through Bethel, God appeared to him. After the lapse of twenty-one years he returned from Padan-aram with two wives, two concubines, eleven sons and a daughter, and large property. He escaped from the angry pursuit of Laban, from a meeting with Esau, and from the vengeance of the Canaanites provoked by the murder of Shechem; and in each of these three emergencies he was aided and strengthened by the interposition of God, and in sign of the grace won by a night of wrestling with God his name was changed at Jabbok into Israel. Deborah and Rachel died before he reached Hebron; Joseph, the favorite son of Jacob, was sold into Egypt eleven years before the death of Isaac; and Jacob had probably exceeded his 130th year when he went tither. He was presented to Pharaoh, and dwelt for seventeen years in Rameses and Goshen, and died in his 147th year. His body was embalmed, carried with great care and pomp into the land of Canaan, and deposited with his fathers, and his wife Leah, in the cave of Machpelah. The example of Jacob is quoted by the first and the last of the minor prophets. Besides the frequent mention of his name in conjunction with the names of the other two patriarchs, there are distinct references to the events in the life of Jacob in four books of the New Testament -
Joh 1:51; 4:5,12; Ac 7:12,16; Ro 9:11-13; Heb 11:21; 12:16
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And he saith to him, Verily, verily, I say to you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
Then he cometh to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground, that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Art thou greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself, and his children, and his cattle?
But when Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he sent out our fathers first.
And were carried over into Sychem, and laid in the sepulcher that Abraham bought for a sum of money of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.
(For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God, according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth) It was said to her, The elder shall serve the younger. read more. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshiped, leaning upon the top of his staff.
Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birth-right.
Watsons
JACOB, the son of Isaac and Rebekah. He was the younger brother of Esau, and a twin. It was observed, that at his birth he held his brother Esau's heel, and for this reason was called Jacob, Ge 25:26, which signifies "he supplanted." Jacob was of a meek and peaceable temper, and loved a quiet pastoral life; whereas Esau was of a fierce and turbulent nature, and was fond of hunting. Isaac had a particular fondness for Esau; but Rebekah was more attached to Jacob. The manner in which Jacob purchased his brother's birthright for a mess of pottage, and supplanted him by obtaining Isaac's blessing, is already referred to in the article ESAU.
The events of the interesting and chequered life of Jacob are so plainly and consecutively narrated by Moses, that they are familiar to all; but upon some of them a few remarks may be useful. As to the purchase of the birthright, Jacob appears to have been innocent so far as any guile on his part, or real necessity from hunger on the part of Esau, is involved in the question; but his obtaining the ratification of this by the blessing of Isaac though agreeable, indeed, to the purpose of God, that the elder should serve the younger, was blamable as to the means employed. The remarks of Dr. Hales on this transaction implicate Isaac also:
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And after that his brother was born, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
And it came to pass, that when Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, so that he could not see, he called Esau his eldest son, and said to him, My son: and he said to him, Behold, here am I. And he said, Behold now, I am old, I know not the day of my death: read more. Now therefore take, I pray thee, thy weapons, thy quiver and thy bow, and go out to the field, and take me some venison; And make me savory meat, such as I love, and bring it to me, that I may eat; that my soul may bless thee before I die. And Rebekah heard when Isaac spoke to Esau his son; and Esau went to the field to hunt for venison, and to bring it. And Rebekah spoke to Jacob her son, saying, Behold, I heard thy father speak to Esau thy brother, saying, Bring me venison, and make me savory meat, that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD, before my death. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice, according to that which I command thee. Go now to the flock, and bring me from thence two good kids of the goats; and I will make them savory meat for thy father, such as he loveth: And thou shalt bring it to thy father, that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death. And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man: My father perhaps will feel me, and I shall seem to him as a deceiver; and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing. And his mother said to him, upon me be thy curse, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me. And he went, and took, and brought them to his mother: and his mother made savory meat, such as his father loved. And Rebekah took goodly raiment of her eldest son Esau, which was with her in the house, and put it upon Jacob her younger son: And she put the skins of the kids of the goats on his hands, and on the smooth part of his neck: And she gave the savory meat, and the bread which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. And he came to his father, and said, My father: And he said, Here am I; who art thou, my son? And Jacob said to his father, I am Esau thy first-born; I have done according as thou badest me: arise, I pray thee, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac said to his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the LORD thy God brought it to me. And Isaac said to Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou art my very son Esau, or not. And Jacob went near to Isaac his father; and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy, as his brother Esau's hands: So he blessed him. And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. And he said, bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he ate: and he brought him wine, and he drank. And his father Isaac said to him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son. And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the LORD hath blessed: Therefore God give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee; be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee.
And he said, Is he not rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me twice: he took away my birth-right; and behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? And Isaac answered and said to Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants; and with corn and wine have I sustained him: and what shall I do now to thee, my son? read more. And Esau said to his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? bless me, even me also, O my father. And Esau lifted up his voice, and wept. And Isaac his father answered, and said to him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven from above; And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother: and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck.
And by thy sword shalt thou live, and shalt serve thy brother: and it shall come to pass when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck. And Esau hated Jacob, because of the blessing with which his father blessed him: and Esau said in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob. read more. And these words of Esau her elder son were told to Rebekah: and she sent and called Jacob her younger son, and said to him, Behold, thy brother Esau, as concerning thee, doth comfort himself, purposing to kill thee. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice: and arise, flee thou to Laban my brother to Haran; And tarry with him a few days, until thy brother's fury shall turn away;
And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, and said to him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. Arise, go to Padan-aram, to the house of Bethuel thy mother's father; and take thee a wife from thence of the daughters of Laban thy mother's brother. read more. And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land in which thou art a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.
And that Jacob obeyed his father, and his mother, and was gone to Padan-aram;
And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went towards Haran. And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set: and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep. read more. And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold, the angels of God ascending and descending on it. And behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land on which thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land: for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have declared to thee. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place; and I knew it not. And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is no other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven. And Jacob rose early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. And he called the name of that place Beth-el: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first. And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my God: And this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth to thee.
Thus I was; in the day the drouth consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep departed from my eyes.
I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shown to thy servant: for with my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands.
And he passed on before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, till he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept.
And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children, and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given to thy servant. read more. Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves; and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves. And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he said, these are to find grace in the sight of my lord. And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep what thou hast to thyself. And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou hast been pleased with me. Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough: and he urged him, and he took it. And he said, Let us take our journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee. And he said to him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me, and if men should over-drive them one day, all the flock will die. Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on slowly, according as the cattle that go before me, and the children are able to endure; until I come to my lord to Seir. And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the people that are with me: And he said, What needeth it? Let me find grace in the sight of my lord.
And Jacob came to Isaac his father to Mamre, to the city of Arbah (which is Hebron) where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.
Then Joseph came and told Pharaoh, and said, My father and my brethren, and their flocks, and their herds, and all that they have, have come from the land of Canaan; and behold, they are in the land of Goshen. And he took some of his brethren, even five men, and presented them to Pharaoh. read more. And Pharaoh said to his brethren, What is your occupation? And they said to Pharaoh, Thy servants are shepherds, both we, and also our fathers. They said moreover to Pharaoh, We have come to sojourn in the land: for thy servants have no pasture for their flocks, for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan: now therefore, we pray thee, let thy servants dwell in the land of Goshen. And Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, Thy father and thy brethren have come to thee: The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell; and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle. And Joseph brought in Jacob his father, and set him before Pharaoh: and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And Pharaoh said to Jacob, How old art thou? And Jacob said to Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years: few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, nor have they attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.
And Jacob said to Pharaoh, The days of the years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years: few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, nor have they attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage. And Jacob blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.
And Jacob called to his sons, and said, Assemble yourselves, that I may tell you that which shall befall you in the last days. Assemble yourselves, and hear, ye sons of Jacob: and hearken to Israel your father.
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh shall come: and to him shall be the gathering of the people.
And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he drew his feet into the bed, and expired, and was gathered to his people.
And Joseph fell upon his father's face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel. read more. And forty days were fulfilled for him; (for so are fulfilled the days of those who are embalmed:) and the Egyptians mourned for him seventy days. And when the days of his mourning were past, Joseph spoke to the house of Pharaoh, saying, If now I have found grace in your eyes, speak, I pray you, in the ears of Pharaoh, saying, My father made me swear, saying, Lo, I die: in my grave which I have digged for me in the land of Canaan, there shalt thou bury me. Now therefore let me go, I pray thee, and bury my father, and I will come again. And Pharaoh said, Go up, and bury thy father, according as he made thee swear. And Joseph went up to bury his father: and with him went all the servants of Pharaoh, the elders of his house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt, And all the house of Joseph, and his brethren, and his father's house: only their little ones, and their flocks, and their herds they left in the land of Goshen. And there went with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company. And they came to the threshing-floor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation: and he made a mourning for his father seven days. And when the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, saw the mourning in the floor of Atad, they said, This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians: wherefore the name of it was called Abel-mizraim, which is beyond Jordan.
In his days the Edomites revolted from under the dominion of Judah, and made themselves a king. Then Jehoram went forth with his princes, and all his chariots with him: and he rose by night, and smote the Edomites who encompassed him, and the captains of the chariots. read more. So the Edomites revolted from under the hand of Judah to this day. The same time also did Libnah revolt from under his hand; because he had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers.
Then said Pilate to them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said to him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death: