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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When his brother came out with his hand clutching Esau's heel, they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.
just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."
By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise.
By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on 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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Because you have obeyed me, all the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.'"
When his brother came out with his hand clutching Esau's heel, they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.
Now Jacob cooked some stew, and when Esau came in from the open fields, he was famished. So Esau said to Jacob, "Feed me some of the red stuff -- yes, this red stuff -- because I'm starving!" (That is why he was also called Edom.) read more. But Jacob replied, "First sell me your birthright." "Look," said Esau, "I'm about to die! What use is the birthright to me?" But Jacob said, "Swear an oath to me now." So Esau swore an oath to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau some bread and lentil stew; Esau ate and drank, then got up and went out. So Esau despised his birthright.
Esau exclaimed, "'Jacob' is the right name for him! He has tripped me up two times! He took away my birthright, and now, look, he has taken away my blessing!" Then he asked, "Have you not kept back a blessing for me?"
and had a dream. He saw a stairway erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it
This was my lot for twenty years in your house: I worked like a slave for you -- fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, but you changed my wages ten times!
So Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him. When Jacob saw them, he exclaimed, "This is the camp of God!" So he named that place Mahanaim.
When the man saw that he could not defeat Jacob, he struck the socket of his hip so the socket of Jacob's hip was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then the man said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." "I will not let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me." read more. The man asked him, "What is your name?" He answered, "Jacob." "No longer will your name be Jacob," the man told him, "but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have prevailed." Then Jacob asked, "Please tell me your name." "Why do you ask my name?" the man replied. Then he blessed Jacob there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, explaining, "Certainly I have seen God face to face and have survived." The sun rose over him as he crossed over Penuel, but he was limping because of his hip.
After he left Paddan Aram, Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped near the city.
Jacob and all those who were with him arrived at Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan. He built an altar there and named the place El Bethel because there God had revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.
So Jacob came back to his father Isaac in Mamre, to Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed. Isaac lived to be 180 years old. read more. Then Isaac breathed his last and joined his ancestors. He died an old man who had lived a full life. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
He recognized it and exclaimed, "It is my son's tunic! A wild animal has eaten him! Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!"
Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might and the beginning of my strength, outstanding in dignity, outstanding in power.
When Jacob finished giving these instructions to his sons, he pulled his feet up onto the bed, breathed his last breath, and went to his people.
Then Joseph hugged his father's face. He wept over him and kissed him. Joseph instructed the physicians in his service to embalm his father, so the physicians embalmed Israel. read more. They took forty days, for that is the full time needed for embalming. The Egyptians mourned for him seventy days. When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh's royal court, "If I have found favor in your sight, please say to Pharaoh, My father made me swear an oath. He said, "I am about to die. Bury me in my tomb that I dug for myself there in the land of Canaan." Now let me go and bury my father; then I will return.'" So Pharaoh said, "Go and bury your father, just as he made you swear to do." So Joseph went up to bury his father; all Pharaoh's officials went with him -- the senior courtiers of his household, all the senior officials of the land of Egypt, all Joseph's household, his brothers, and his father's household. But they left their little children and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. Chariots and horsemen also went up with him, so it was a very large entourage. When they came to the threshing floor of Atad on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned there with very great and bitter sorrow. There Joseph observed a seven day period of mourning for his father. When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, "This is a very sad occasion for the Egyptians." That is why its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan. So the sons of Jacob did for him just as he had instructed them. His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the field Abraham purchased as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite.
All the people who were directly descended from Jacob numbered seventy. But Joseph was already in Egypt,
For all the firstborn males among the Israelites are mine, both humans and animals; when I destroyed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt I set them apart for myself. So I have taken the Levites instead of all the firstborn sons among the Israelites. read more. I have given the Levites as a gift to Aaron and his sons from among the Israelites, to do the work for the Israelites in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the Israelites, so there will be no plague among the Israelites when the Israelites come near the sanctuary."
When your ancestors went down to Egypt, they numbered only seventy, but now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of the sky.
Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less loved wife as firstborn and give him the double portion of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father's procreative power -- to him should go the right of the firstborn.
The Lord also has a covenant lawsuit against Judah; he will punish Jacob according to his ways and repay him according to his deeds. In the womb he attacked his brother; in his manly vigor he struggled with God.
In the womb he attacked his brother; in his manly vigor he struggled with God. He struggled with an angel and prevailed; he wept and begged for his favor. He found God at Bethel, and there he spoke with him!
He struggled with an angel and prevailed; he wept and begged for his favor. He found God at Bethel, and there he spoke with him!
Jacob fled to the country of Aram, then Israel worked to acquire a wife; he tended sheep to pay for her.
All this is because of Jacob's rebellion and the sins of the nation of Israel. How has Jacob rebelled, you ask? Samaria epitomizes their rebellion! Where are Judah's pagan worship centers, you ask? They are right in Jerusalem!
"I have shown love to you," says the Lord, but you say, "How have you shown love to us?" "Esau was Jacob's brother," the Lord explains, "yet I chose Jacob
He continued, "I tell all of you the solemn truth -- you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
Now he came to a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
Surely you're not greater than our ancestor Jacob, are you? For he gave us this well and drank from it himself, along with his sons and his livestock."
So when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there the first time.
So Joseph sent a message and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come, seventy-five people in all.
even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God's purpose in election would stand, not by works but by his calling) -- it was said to her, "The older will serve the younger," read more. just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."
By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff.
And see to it that no one becomes an immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.
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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Then the man said, "This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one will be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man." That is why a man leaves his father and mother and unites with his wife, and they become a new family.
Then he brought out gold, silver jewelry, and clothing and gave them to Rebekah. He also gave valuable gifts to her brother and to her mother.
and the Lord said to her, "Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples will be separated from within you. One people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger." When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, there were twins in her womb.
The Lord appeared to Isaac and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; settle down in the land that I will point out to you.
May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. You will be lord over your brothers, and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed."
I am with you! I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!"
Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear, and I return safely to my father's home, then the Lord will become my God. read more. Then this stone that I have set up as a sacred stone will be the house of God, and I will surely give you back a tenth of everything you give me."
Leah became pregnant again and gave Jacob a son for the sixth time.
Let me walk among all your flocks today and remove from them every speckled or spotted sheep, every dark-colored lamb, and the spotted or speckled goats. These animals will be my wages.
"Once during breeding season I saw in a dream that the male goats mating with the flock were streaked, speckled, and spotted. In the dream the angel of God said to me, 'Jacob!' 'Here I am!' I replied. read more. Then he said, 'Observe that all the male goats mating with the flock are streaked, speckled, or spotted, for I have observed all that Laban has done to you. I am the God of Bethel, where you anointed the sacred stone and made a vow to me. Now leave this land immediately and return to your native land.'"
Hasn't he treated us like foreigners? He not only sold us, but completely wasted the money paid for us!
"I have been with you for the past twenty years. Your ewes and female goats have not miscarried, nor have I eaten rams from your flocks.
This was my lot for twenty years in your house: I worked like a slave for you -- fourteen years for your two daughters and six years for your flocks, but you changed my wages ten times! If the God of my father -- the God of Abraham, the one whom Isaac fears -- had not been with me, you would certainly have sent me away empty-handed! But God saw how I was oppressed and how hard I worked, and he rebuked you last night."
Jacob was very afraid and upset. So he divided the people who were with him into two camps, as well as the flocks, herds, and camels.
Then Jacob prayed, "O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, O Lord, you said to me, 'Return to your land and to your relatives and I will make you prosper.' I am not worthy of all the faithful love you have shown your servant. With only my walking stick I crossed the Jordan, but now I have become two camps.
I am not worthy of all the faithful love you have shown your servant. With only my walking stick I crossed the Jordan, but now I have become two camps.
I am not worthy of all the faithful love you have shown your servant. With only my walking stick I crossed the Jordan, but now I have become two camps. Rescue me, I pray, from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid he will come and attack me, as well as the mothers with their children. read more. But you said, 'I will certainly make you prosper and will make your descendants like the sand on the seashore, too numerous to count.'"
Then the man said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking." "I will not let you go," Jacob replied, "unless you bless me."
But Jacob traveled to Succoth where he built himself a house and made shelters for his livestock. That is why the place was called Succoth.
Then he purchased the portion of the field where he had pitched his tent; he bought it from the sons of Hamor, Shechem's father, for a hundred pieces of money.
When Jacob heard that Shechem had violated his daughter Dinah, his sons were with the livestock in the field. So Jacob remained silent until they came in.
Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have brought ruin on me by making me a foul odor among the inhabitants of the land -- among the Canaanites and the Perizzites. I am few in number; they will join forces against me and attack me, and both I and my family will be destroyed!"
Then Isaac breathed his last and joined his ancestors. He died an old man who had lived a full life. His sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
He recognized it and exclaimed, "It is my son's tunic! A wild animal has eaten him! Joseph has surely been torn to pieces!" Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourned for his son many days. read more. All his sons and daughters stood by him to console him, but he refused to be consoled. "No," he said, "I will go to the grave mourning my son." So Joseph's father wept for him.
Their father Jacob said to them, "You are making me childless! Joseph is gone. Simeon is gone. And now you want to take Benjamin! Everything is against me."
Their father Jacob said to them, "You are making me childless! Joseph is gone. Simeon is gone. And now you want to take Benjamin! Everything is against me."
Israel said, "Why did you bring this trouble on me by telling the man you had one more brother?"
Then their father Israel said to them, "If it must be so, then do this: Take some of the best products of the land in your bags, and take a gift down to the man -- a little balm and a little honey, spices and myrrh, pistachios and almonds. Take double the money with you; you must take back the money that was returned in the mouths of your sacks -- perhaps it was an oversight.
Then Israel said, "Enough! My son Joseph is still alive! I will go and see him before I die."
So Israel began his journey, taking with him all that he had. When he came to Beer Sheba he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.
Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; the years of Jacob's life were 147 in all. The time for Israel to die approached, so he called for his son Joseph and said to him, "If now I have found favor in your sight, put your hand under my thigh and show me kindness and faithfulness. Do not bury me in Egypt, read more. but when I rest with my fathers, carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burial place." Joseph said, "I will do as you say." Jacob said, "Swear to me that you will do so." So Joseph gave him his word. Then Israel bowed down at the head of his bed.
When Jacob was told, "Your son Joseph has just come to you," Israel regained strength and sat up on his bed.
As one who is above your brothers, I give to you the mountain slope, which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow."
Simeon and Levi are brothers, weapons of violence are their knives! O my soul, do not come into their council, do not be united to their assembly, my heart, for in their anger they have killed men, and for pleasure they have hamstrung oxen.
I wait for your deliverance, O Lord.
These are the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what their father said to them when he blessed them. He gave each of them an appropriate blessing.
The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the Lord by name. The Lord passed by before him and proclaimed: "The Lord, the Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, read more. keeping loyal love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgression of fathers by dealing with children and children's children, to the third and fourth generation."
She said to the men, "I know the Lord is handing this land over to you. We are absolutely terrified of you, and all who live in the land are cringing before you.
He replied, "Don't be afraid, for our side outnumbers them." Then Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so he can see." The Lord opened the servant's eyes and he saw that the hill was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
Would he contend with me with great power? No, he would only pay attention to me.
When I am afraid, I trust in you. In God -- I boast in his promise -- in God I trust, I am not afraid. What can mere men do to me?
in God I trust, I am not afraid. What can mere men do to me?
unless they became my subjects and made peace with me; let them make peace with me.
For the bed is too short to stretch out on, and the blanket is too narrow to wrap around oneself. For the Lord will rise up, as he did at Mount Perazim, he will rouse himself, as he did in the Valley of Gibeon, to accomplish his work, his peculiar work, to perform his task, his strange task. read more. So now, do not mock, or your chains will become heavier! For I have heard a message about decreed destruction, from the sovereign master, the Lord who commands armies, against the entire land.
The Egyptians are mere humans, not God; their horses are made of flesh, not spirit. The Lord will strike with his hand; the one who helps will stumble and the one being helped will fall. Together they will perish.
They will surrender their stronghold because of fear; their officers will be afraid of the Lord's battle flag." This is what the Lord says -- the one whose fire is in Zion, whose firepot is in Jerusalem.
He gives strength to those who are tired; to the ones who lack power, he gives renewed energy. Even youths get tired and weary; even strong young men clumsily stumble. read more. But those who wait for the Lord's help find renewed strength; they rise up as if they had eagles' wings, they run without growing weary, they walk without getting tired.
Remind me of what happened! Let's debate! You, prove to me that you are right!
In the womb he attacked his brother; in his manly vigor he struggled with God.
In the womb he attacked his brother; in his manly vigor he struggled with God. He struggled with an angel and prevailed; he wept and begged for his favor. He found God at Bethel, and there he spoke with him!
and rejected Esau. I turned Esau's mountains into a deserted wasteland and gave his territory to the wild jackals."
Reach agreement quickly with your accuser while on the way to court, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the warden, and you will be thrown into prison.
From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and forceful people lay hold of it.
And after he sent the crowds away, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone.
A Canaanite woman from that area came and cried out, "Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is horribly demon-possessed!"
and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and will be united with his wife, and the two will become one flesh'?
Then Jesus got up early in the morning when it was still very dark, departed, and went out to a deserted place, and there he spent time in prayer.
Now it was during this time that Jesus went out to the mountain to pray, and he spent all night in prayer to God.
"Exert every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to.
He continued, "I tell all of you the solemn truth -- you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
Jesus replied, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
So Joseph sent a message and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come, seventy-five people in all.
"Look!" he said. "I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!"
And we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose,
What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who loved us!
it was said to her, "The older will serve the younger,"
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to serve those who will inherit salvation?
During his earthly life Christ offered both requests and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death and he was heard because of his devotion.
The Holy Spirit is making clear that the way into the holy place had not yet appeared as long as the old tabernacle was standing.
Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,
By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise.
These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth.
By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff.
And see to it that no one becomes an immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal. For you know that later when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no opportunity for repentance, although he sought the blessing with tears.
I will grant the one who conquers permission to sit with me on my throne, just as I too conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.
After these things I looked, and there was a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said: "Come up here so that I can show you what must happen after these things."
and when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders threw themselves to the ground before the Lamb. Each of them had a harp and golden bowls full of incense (which are the prayers of the 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
Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
And he journeyed from place to place from the Negev as far as Bethel. He returned to the place where he had pitched his tent at the beginning, between Bethel and Ai.
The older daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the ancestor of the Moabites of today.
Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant.
Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife because she was childless. The Lord answered his prayer, and his wife Rebekah became pregnant. But the children struggled inside her, and she said, "If it is going to be like this, I'm not so sure I want to be pregnant!" So she asked the Lord,
When his brother came out with his hand clutching Esau's heel, they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born. When the boys grew up, Esau became a skilled hunter, a man of the open fields, but Jacob was an even-tempered man, living in tents.
"But Esau my brother is a hairy man," Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, "and I have smooth skin!
But Isaac asked his son, "How in the world did you find it so quickly, my son?" "Because the Lord your God brought it to me," he replied.
Isaac began to shake violently and asked, "Then who else hunted game and brought it to me? I ate all of it just before you arrived, and I blessed him. He will indeed be blessed!" When Esau heard his father's words, he wailed loudly and bitterly. He said to his father, "Bless me too, my father!" read more. But Isaac replied, "Your brother came in here deceitfully and took away your blessing." Esau exclaimed, "'Jacob' is the right name for him! He has tripped me up two times! He took away my birthright, and now, look, he has taken away my blessing!" Then he asked, "Have you not kept back a blessing for me?"
Esau exclaimed, "'Jacob' is the right name for him! He has tripped me up two times! He took away my birthright, and now, look, he has taken away my blessing!" Then he asked, "Have you not kept back a blessing for me?" Isaac replied to Esau, "Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?"
You will live by your sword but you will serve your brother. When you grow restless, you will tear off his yoke from your neck."
Live with him for a little while until your brother's rage subsides.
Then Rebekah said to Isaac, "I am deeply depressed because of these daughters of Heth. If Jacob were to marry one of these daughters of Heth who live in this land, I would want to die!"
and the Lord stood at its top. He said, "I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the ground you are lying on.
Early in the morning Jacob took the stone he had placed near his head and set it up as a sacred stone. Then he poured oil on top of it.
Complete my older daughter's bridal week. Then we will give you the younger one too, in exchange for seven more years of work."
So Laban asked, "What should I give you?" "You don't need to give me a thing," Jacob replied, "but if you agree to this one condition, I will continue to care for your flocks and protect them:
but your father has humiliated me and changed my wages ten times. But God has not permitted him to do me any harm.
So Jacob went on his way and the angels of God met him.
The messengers returned to Jacob and said, "We went to your brother Esau. He is coming to meet you and has four hundred men with him."
"No longer will your name be Jacob," the man told him, "but Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have prevailed."
The young man did not delay in doing what they asked because he wanted Jacob's daughter Dinah badly. (Now he was more important than anyone in his father's household.)
Then God said to Jacob, "Go up at once to Bethel and live there. Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau."
So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods that were in their possession and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem
He built an altar there and named the place El Bethel because there God had revealed himself to him when he was fleeing from his brother.
So Jacob set up a sacred stone pillar in the place where God spoke with him. He poured out a drink offering on it, and then he poured oil on it.
Jacob set up a marker over her grave; it is the Marker of Rachel's Grave to this day. Then Israel traveled on and pitched his tent beyond Migdal Eder.
So Jacob came back to his father Isaac in Mamre, to Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.
They sat before him, arranged by order of birth, beginning with the firstborn and ending with the youngest. The men looked at each other in astonishment.
So Israel began his journey, taking with him all that he had. When he came to Beer Sheba he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. God spoke to Israel in a vision during the night and said, "Jacob, Jacob!" He replied, "Here I am!" read more. He said, "I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down with you to Egypt and I myself will certainly bring you back from there. Joseph will close your eyes." Then Jacob started out from Beer Sheba, and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little children, and their wives in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent along to transport him. Jacob and all his descendants took their livestock and the possessions they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and they went to Egypt. He brought with him to Egypt his sons and grandsons, his daughters and granddaughters -- all his descendants.
The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best region of the land. They may live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any highly capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock."
So Joseph settled his father and his brothers. He gave them territory in the land of Egypt, in the best region of the land, the land of Rameses, just as Pharaoh had commanded.
Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; the years of Jacob's life were 147 in all.
But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He too will become a nation and he too will become great. In spite of this, his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will become a multitude of nations."
As one who is above your brothers, I give to you the mountain slope, which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow."
"Assemble and listen, you sons of Jacob; listen to Israel, your father. Reuben, you are my firstborn, my might and the beginning of my strength, outstanding in dignity, outstanding in power. read more. You are destructive like water and will not excel, for you got on your father's bed, then you defiled it -- he got on my couch! Simeon and Levi are brothers, weapons of violence are their knives! O my soul, do not come into their council, do not be united to their assembly, my heart, for in their anger they have killed men, and for pleasure they have hamstrung oxen. Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their fury, for it was cruel. I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel! Judah, your brothers will praise you. Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies, your father's sons will bow down before you. You are a lion's cub, Judah, from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches and lies down like a lion; like a lioness -- who will rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; the nations will obey him. Binding his foal to the vine, and his colt to the choicest vine, he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes will be dark from wine, and his teeth white from milk. Zebulun will live by the haven of the sea and become a haven for ships; his border will extend to Sidon. Issachar is a strong-boned donkey lying down between two saddlebags. When he sees a good resting place, and the pleasant land, he will bend his shoulder to the burden and become a slave laborer. Dan will judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel. May Dan be a snake beside the road, a viper by the path, that bites the heels of the horse so that its rider falls backward. I wait for your deliverance, O Lord. Gad will be raided by marauding bands, but he will attack them at their heels. Asher's food will be rich, and he will provide delicacies to royalty. Naphtali is a free running doe, he speaks delightful words. Joseph is a fruitful bough, a fruitful bough near a spring whose branches climb over the wall. The archers will attack him, they will shoot at him and oppose him. But his bow will remain steady, and his hands will be skillful; because of the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob, because of the Shepherd, the Rock of Israel, because of the God of your father, who will help you, because of the sovereign God, who will bless you with blessings from the sky above, blessings from the deep that lies below, and blessings of the breasts and womb. The blessings of your father are greater than the blessings of the eternal mountains or the desirable things of the age-old hills. They will be on the head of Joseph and on the brow of the prince of his brothers. Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning devouring the prey, and in the evening dividing the plunder."
When Jacob finished giving these instructions to his sons, he pulled his feet up onto the bed, breathed his last breath, and went to his people.
His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the field Abraham purchased as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite.
His sons carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave of the field of Machpelah, near Mamre. This is the field Abraham purchased as a burial plot from Ephron the Hittite.
then he promises, "I will send rain for your land in its season, the autumn and the spring rains, so that you may gather in your grain, new wine, and olive oil.
Rather, he must acknowledge the son of the less loved wife as firstborn and give him the double portion of all he has, for that son is the beginning of his father's procreative power -- to him should go the right of the firstborn.
Then you must affirm before the Lord your God, "A wandering Aramean was my ancestor, and he went down to Egypt and lived there as a foreigner with a household few in number, but there he became a great, powerful, and numerous people.
Israel lives in safety, the fountain of Jacob is quite secure, in a land of grain and new wine; indeed, its heavens rain down dew.
That day Joshua drew up an agreement for the people, and he established rules and regulations for them in Shechem. Joshua wrote these words in the Law Scroll of God. He then took a large stone and set it up there under the oak tree near the Lord's shrine.
The bones of Joseph, which the Israelites had brought up from Egypt, were buried at Shechem in the part of the field that Jacob bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for one hundred pieces of money. So it became the inheritance of the tribe of Joseph.
All the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo assembled and then went and made Abimelech king by the oak near the pillar in Shechem.
All the people who were at the gate and the elders replied, "We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman who is entering your home like Rachel and Leah, both of whom built up the house of Israel! May you prosper in Ephrathah and become famous in Bethlehem.
When you leave me today, you will find two men near Rachel's tomb at Zelzah on Benjamin's border. They will say to you, 'The donkeys you have gone looking for have been found. Your father is no longer concerned about the donkeys but has become anxious about you two! He is asking, "What should I do about my son?"'
including Aram, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amelek. This also included some of the plunder taken from King Hadadezer son of Rehob of Zobah.
He placed garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became David's subjects. The Lord protected David wherever he campaigned.
Rehoboam traveled to Shechem, for all Israel had gathered in Shechem to make Rehoboam king.
So Edom has remained free from Judah's control to this very day. At that same time Libnah also rebelled.
Manasseh passed away and was buried in his palace. His son Amon replaced him as king.
let them bring royal attire which the king himself has worn and a horse on which the king himself has ridden -- one bearing the royal insignia! Then let this clothing and this horse be given to one of the king's noble officials. Let him then clothe the man whom the king wishes to honor, and let him lead him about through the plaza of the city on the horse, calling before him, 'So shall it be done to the man whom the king wishes to honor!'" read more. The king then said to Haman, "Go quickly! Take the clothing and the horse, just as you have described, and do as you just indicated to Mordecai the Jew who sits at the king's gate. Don't neglect a single thing of all that you have said."
I will reestablish honest judges as in former times, wise advisers as in earlier days. Then you will be called, 'The Just City, Faithful Town.'"
You will hear a word spoken behind you, saying, "This is the correct way, walk in it," whether you are heading to the right or the left.
Your plunder disappears as if locusts were eating it; they swarm over it like locusts!
You will see a king in his splendor; you will see a wide land.
For the Lord is angry at all the nations and furious with all their armies. He will annihilate them and slaughter them.
to strengthen those who mourn in Zion, by giving them a turban, instead of ashes, oil symbolizing joy, instead of mourning, a garment symbolizing praise, instead of discouragement. They will be called oaks of righteousness, trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor.
The Lord says, "A sound is heard in Ramah, a sound of crying in bitter grief. It is the sound of Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because her children are gone."
In the womb he attacked his brother; in his manly vigor he struggled with God.
In the womb he attacked his brother; in his manly vigor he struggled with God. He struggled with an angel and prevailed; he wept and begged for his favor. He found God at Bethel, and there he spoke with him!
Jacob fled to the country of Aram, then Israel worked to acquire a wife; he tended sheep to pay for her.
As for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, seemingly insignificant among the clans of Judah -- from you a king will emerge who will rule over Israel on my behalf, one whose origins are in the distant past.
Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob,
Now he came to a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, so Jesus, since he was tired from the journey, sat right down beside the well. It was about noon.
Surely you're not greater than our ancestor Jacob, are you? For he gave us this well and drank from it himself, along with his sons and his livestock."
So when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there the first time.
So Joseph sent a message and invited his father Jacob and all his relatives to come, seventy-five people in all.
and their bones were later moved to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a certain sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God's purpose in election would stand, not by works but by his calling) -- it was said to her, "The older will serve the younger," read more. just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."
By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on 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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I will indeed bless you, and I will greatly multiply your descendants so that they will be as countless as the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the strongholds of their enemies.
I will multiply your descendants so they will be as numerous as the stars in the sky, and I will give them all these lands. All the nations of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using the name of your descendants.
Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using your name and that of your descendants.
Israel stretched out his right hand and placed it on Ephraim's head, although he was the younger. Crossing his hands, he put his left hand on Manasseh's head, for Manasseh was the firstborn. Then he blessed Joseph and said, "May the God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked -- the God who has been my shepherd all my life long to this day, read more. the Angel who has protected me from all harm -- bless these boys. May my name be named in them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac. May they grow into a multitude on the earth." When Joseph saw that his father placed his right hand on Ephraim's head, it displeased him. So he took his father's hand to move it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head. Joseph said to his father, "Not so, my father, for this is the firstborn. Put your right hand on his head." But his father refused and said, "I know, my son, I know. He too will become a nation and he too will become great. In spite of this, his younger brother will be even greater and his descendants will become a multitude of nations." So he blessed them that day, saying, "By you will Israel bless, saying, 'May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.'" So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
He struggled with an angel and prevailed; he wept and begged for his favor. He found God at Bethel, and there he spoke with him!
Eliud the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, 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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He continued, "I tell all of you the solemn truth -- you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
Now he came to a Samaritan town called Sychar, near the plot of land that Jacob had given to his son Joseph.
Surely you're not greater than our ancestor Jacob, are you? For he gave us this well and drank from it himself, along with his sons and his livestock."
So when Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our ancestors there the first time.
and their bones were later moved to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought for a certain sum of money from the sons of Hamor in Shechem.
even before they were born or had done anything good or bad (so that God's purpose in election would stand, not by works but by his calling) -- it was said to her, "The older will serve the younger," read more. just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."
By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff.
And see to it that no one becomes an immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.
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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When his brother came out with his hand clutching Esau's heel, they named him Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when they were born.
When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he was almost blind, he called his older son Esau and said to him, "My son!" "Here I am!" Esau replied. Isaac said, "Since I am so old, I could die at any time. read more. Therefore, take your weapons -- your quiver and your bow -- and go out into the open fields and hunt down some wild game for me. Then prepare for me some tasty food, the kind I love, and bring it to me. Then I will eat it so that I may bless you before I die." Now Rebekah had been listening while Isaac spoke to his son Esau. When Esau went out to the open fields to hunt down some wild game and bring it back, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "Look, I overheard your father tell your brother Esau, Bring me some wild game and prepare for me some tasty food. Then I will eat it and bless you in the presence of the Lord before I die.' Now then, my son, do exactly what I tell you! Go to the flock and get me two of the best young goats. I'll prepare them in a tasty way for your father, just the way he loves them. Then you will take it to your father. Thus he will eat it and bless you before he dies." "But Esau my brother is a hairy man," Jacob protested to his mother Rebekah, "and I have smooth skin! My father may touch me! Then he'll think I'm mocking him and I'll bring a curse on myself instead of a blessing." So his mother told him, "Any curse against you will fall on me, my son! Just obey me! Go and get them for me!" So he went and got the goats and brought them to his mother. She prepared some tasty food, just the way his father loved it. Then Rebekah took her older son Esau's best clothes, which she had with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob. She put the skins of the young goats on his hands and the smooth part of his neck. Then she handed the tasty food and the bread she had made to her son Jacob. He went to his father and said, "My father!" Isaac replied, "Here I am. Which are you, my son?" Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau, your firstborn. I've done as you told me. Now sit up and eat some of my wild game so that you can bless me." But Isaac asked his son, "How in the world did you find it so quickly, my son?" "Because the Lord your God brought it to me," he replied. Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come closer so I can touch you, my son, and know for certain if you really are my son Esau." So Jacob went over to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, "The voice is Jacob's, but the hands are Esau's." He did not recognize him because his hands were hairy, like his brother Esau's hands. So Isaac blessed Jacob. Then he asked, "Are you really my son Esau?" "I am," Jacob replied. Isaac said, "Bring some of the wild game for me to eat, my son. Then I will bless you." So Jacob brought it to him, and he ate it. He also brought him wine, and Isaac drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come here and kiss me, my son." So Jacob went over and kissed him. When Isaac caught the scent of his clothing, he blessed him, saying, "Yes, my son smells like the scent of an open field which the Lord has blessed. May God give you the dew of the sky and the richness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine. May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. You will be lord over your brothers, and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed."
Esau exclaimed, "'Jacob' is the right name for him! He has tripped me up two times! He took away my birthright, and now, look, he has taken away my blessing!" Then he asked, "Have you not kept back a blessing for me?" Isaac replied to Esau, "Look! I have made him lord over you. I have made all his relatives his servants and provided him with grain and new wine. What is left that I can do for you, my son?" read more. Esau said to his father, "Do you have only that one blessing, my father? Bless me too!" Then Esau wept loudly. So his father Isaac said to him, "Indeed, your home will be away from the richness of the earth, and away from the dew of the sky above. You will live by your sword but you will serve your brother. When you grow restless, you will tear off his yoke from your neck."
You will live by your sword but you will serve your brother. When you grow restless, you will tear off his yoke from your neck." So Esau hated Jacob because of the blessing his father had given to his brother. Esau said privately, "The time of mourning for my father is near; then I will kill my brother Jacob!" read more. When Rebekah heard what her older son Esau had said, she quickly summoned her younger son Jacob and told him, "Look, your brother Esau is planning to get revenge by killing you. Now then, my son, do what I say. Run away immediately to my brother Laban in Haran. Live with him for a little while until your brother's rage subsides.
So Isaac called for Jacob and blessed him. Then he commanded him, "You must not marry a Canaanite woman! Leave immediately for Paddan Aram! Go to the house of Bethuel, your mother's father, and find yourself a wife there, among the daughters of Laban, your mother's brother. read more. May the sovereign God bless you! May he make you fruitful and give you a multitude of descendants! Then you will become a large nation. May he give you and your descendants the blessing he gave to Abraham so that you may possess the land God gave to Abraham, the land where you have been living as a temporary resident."
Meanwhile Jacob left Beer Sheba and set out for Haran. He reached a certain place where he decided to camp because the sun had gone down. He took one of the stones and placed it near his head. Then he fell asleep in that place read more. and had a dream. He saw a stairway erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it and the Lord stood at its top. He said, "I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the ground you are lying on. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, east, north, and south. All the families of the earth will pronounce blessings on one another using your name and that of your descendants. I am with you! I will protect you wherever you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I promised you!" Then Jacob woke up and thought, "Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not realize it!" He was afraid and said, "What an awesome place this is! This is nothing else than the house of God! This is the gate of heaven!" Early in the morning Jacob took the stone he had placed near his head and set it up as a sacred stone. Then he poured oil on top of it. He called that place Bethel, although the former name of the town was Luz. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food to eat and clothing to wear, and I return safely to my father's home, then the Lord will become my God. Then this stone that I have set up as a sacred stone will be the house of God, and I will surely give you back a tenth of everything you give me."
I was consumed by scorching heat during the day and by piercing cold at night, and I went without sleep.
I am not worthy of all the faithful love you have shown your servant. With only my walking stick I crossed the Jordan, but now I have become two camps.
But Jacob himself went on ahead of them, and he bowed toward the ground seven times as he approached his brother. But Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, hugged his neck, and kissed him. Then they both wept.
But Esau ran to meet him, embraced him, hugged his neck, and kissed him. Then they both wept. When Esau looked up and saw the women and the children, he asked, "Who are these people with you?" Jacob replied, "The children whom God has graciously given your servant." read more. The female servants came forward with their children and bowed down. Then Leah came forward with her children and they bowed down. Finally Joseph and Rachel came forward and bowed down. Esau then asked, "What did you intend by sending all these herds to meet me?" Jacob replied, "To find favor in your sight, my lord." But Esau said, "I have plenty, my brother. Keep what belongs to you." "No, please take them," Jacob said. "If I have found favor in your sight, accept my gift from my hand. Now that I have seen your face and you have accepted me, it is as if I have seen the face of God. Please take my present that was brought to you, for God has been generous to me and I have all I need." When Jacob urged him, he took it. Then Esau said, "Let's be on our way! I will go in front of you." But Jacob said to him, "My lord knows that the children are young, and that I have to look after the sheep and cattle that are nursing their young. If they are driven too hard for even a single day, all the animals will die. Let my lord go on ahead of his servant. I will travel more slowly, at the pace of the herds and the children, until I come to my lord at Seir." So Esau said, "Let me leave some of my men with you." "Why do that?" Jacob replied. "My lord has already been kind enough to me."
So Jacob came back to his father Isaac in Mamre, to Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac had stayed.
Joseph went and told Pharaoh, "My father, my brothers, their flocks and herds, and all that they own have arrived from the land of Canaan. They are now in the land of Goshen." He took five of his brothers and introduced them to Pharaoh. read more. Pharaoh said to Joseph's brothers, "What is your occupation?" They said to Pharaoh, "Your servants take care of flocks, just as our ancestors did." Then they said to Pharaoh, "We have come to live as temporary residents in the land. There is no pasture for your servants' flocks because the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. So now, please let your servants live in the land of Goshen." Pharaoh said to Joseph, "Your father and your brothers have come to you. The land of Egypt is before you; settle your father and your brothers in the best region of the land. They may live in the land of Goshen. If you know of any highly capable men among them, put them in charge of my livestock." Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and presented him before Pharaoh. Jacob blessed Pharaoh. Pharaoh said to Jacob, "How long have you lived?" Jacob said to Pharaoh, "All the years of my travels are 130. All the years of my life have been few and painful; the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors."
Jacob said to Pharaoh, "All the years of my travels are 130. All the years of my life have been few and painful; the years of my travels are not as long as those of my ancestors." Then Jacob blessed Pharaoh and went out from his presence.
As one who is above your brothers, I give to you the mountain slope, which I took from the Amorites with my sword and my bow."
Jacob called for his sons and said, "Gather together so I can tell you what will happen to you in the future. "Assemble and listen, you sons of Jacob; listen to Israel, your father.
The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; the nations will obey him.
When Jacob finished giving these instructions to his sons, he pulled his feet up onto the bed, breathed his last breath, and went to his people.
Then Joseph hugged his father's face. He wept over him and kissed him. Joseph instructed the physicians in his service to embalm his father, so the physicians embalmed Israel. read more. They took forty days, for that is the full time needed for embalming. The Egyptians mourned for him seventy days. When the days of mourning had passed, Joseph said to Pharaoh's royal court, "If I have found favor in your sight, please say to Pharaoh, My father made me swear an oath. He said, "I am about to die. Bury me in my tomb that I dug for myself there in the land of Canaan." Now let me go and bury my father; then I will return.'" So Pharaoh said, "Go and bury your father, just as he made you swear to do." So Joseph went up to bury his father; all Pharaoh's officials went with him -- the senior courtiers of his household, all the senior officials of the land of Egypt, all Joseph's household, his brothers, and his father's household. But they left their little children and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen. Chariots and horsemen also went up with him, so it was a very large entourage. When they came to the threshing floor of Atad on the other side of the Jordan, they mourned there with very great and bitter sorrow. There Joseph observed a seven day period of mourning for his father. When the Canaanites who lived in the land saw them mourning at the threshing floor of Atad, they said, "This is a very sad occasion for the Egyptians." That is why its name was called Abel Mizraim, which is beyond the Jordan.
During Jehoram's reign Edom freed themselves from Judah's control and set up their own king. Jehoram crossed over to Zair with his officers and all his chariots. The Edomites, who had surrounded him, attacked at night and defeated him and his chariot officers. read more. So Edom has remained free from Judah's control to this very day. At that same time Libnah also rebelled and freed themselves from Judah's control because Jehoram rejected the Lord God of his ancestors.
Pilate told them, "Take him yourselves and pass judgment on him according to your own law!" The Jewish leaders replied, "We cannot legally put anyone to death."