יַעֲקֹב
Jacob
BDB lists 2 entries for ‘Jacob’ fuller range ↓
Full lexicon entry — Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
From Brown-Driver-Briggs (BDB)
Where this word appears
Grammar key — what these labels mean
Part of speech
- Noun
- A naming word — a person, place, thing, or idea.
Noun type
- Proper
- A name of a specific person, place, or people (e.g. Abraham, Zion, Israel).
Every verse where H3290 appears in the Book of Isaiah — 40 distinct verses. Click any verse to open its interlinear word-by-word view. Verse text shown in the World English Bible for context — . Each verse’s Hebrew form is shown with its reference; the English is not keyword-highlighted, since the data carries no word-level English alignment. Use “Compare translations” on any verse to read it across multiple English versions. This concordance covers the Hebrew Bible; Septuagint (Greek Old Testament) occurrences are not indexed here.
Isaiah
- Isaiah 2:3 יַעֲקֹ֔ב n Proper Many peoples shall go and say, "Come, let's go up to the mountain of Yahweh, To the house of the God of Jacob; And he will teach us of his ways, And we will walk in his paths. For out of Zion the law shall go forth, And the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem.
- Isaiah 2:5 יַעֲקֹ֑ב n Proper House of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of Yahweh.
- Isaiah 2:6 יַעֲקֹ֔ב n Proper For you have forsaken your people, the house of Jacob, Because they are filled from the east, With those who practice divination like the Philistines, And they clasp hands with the children of foreigners.
- Isaiah 8:17 יַעֲקֹ֑ב n Proper I will wait for Yahweh, who hides his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him.
- Isaiah 9:8 בְּ/יַעֲקֹ֑ב prep + n Proper The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it has lighted on Israel.
- Isaiah 10:20 יַעֲקֹ֔ב n Proper It shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and those who are escaped of the house of Jacob, shall no more again lean on him who struck them, but shall lean on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, in truth.
- Isaiah 10:21 יַעֲקֹ֑ב n Proper A remnant shall return, [even] the remnant of Jacob, to the mighty God.
- Isaiah 14:1 יַעֲקֹ֗ב יַעֲקֹֽב n Proper n Proper For Yahweh will have compassion on Jacob, and will yet choose Israel, and set them in their own land: and the foreigner shall join himself with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.
- Isaiah 17:4 יַעֲקֹ֑ב n Proper It shall happen in that day, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.
- Isaiah 27:6 יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב n Proper In days to come shall Jacob take root; Israel shall blossom and bud; and they shall fill the surface of the world with fruit.
- Isaiah 27:9 יַעֲקֹ֔ב n Proper Therefore by this shall the iniquity of Jacob be forgiven, and this is all the fruit of taking away his sin: that he makes all the stones of the altar as chalk stones that are beaten in sunder, [so that] the Asherim and the sun-images shall rise no more.
- Isaiah 29:22 יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב n Proper n Proper Therefore thus says Yahweh, who redeemed Abraham, concerning the house of Jacob: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall his face now wax pale.
- Isaiah 29:23 יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב n Proper But when he sees his children, the work of my hands, in the midst of him, they shall sanctify my name; yes, they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall stand in awe of the God of Israel.
- Isaiah 40:27 יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב n Proper Why say you, Jacob, and speak, Israel, My way is hid from Yahweh, and the justice [due] to me is passed away from my God?
- Isaiah 41:8 יַעֲקֹ֖ב n Proper But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend,
- Isaiah 41:14 יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב n Proper Don't be afraid, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel; I will help you, says Yahweh, and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
- Isaiah 41:21 יַעֲקֹֽב n Proper Produce your cause, says Yahweh; bring forth your strong reasons, says the King of Jacob.
- Isaiah 42:24 יַעֲקֹ֛ב n Proper Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? Didn't Yahweh? he against whom we have sinned, and in whose ways they would not walk, neither were they obedient to his law.
- Isaiah 43:1 יַעֲקֹ֔ב n Proper But now thus says Yahweh who created you, Jacob, and he who formed you, Israel: Don't be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name, you are mine.
- Isaiah 43:22 יַֽעֲקֹ֑ב n Proper Yet you have not called on me, Jacob; but you have been weary of me, Israel.
- Isaiah 43:28 יַעֲקֹ֔ב n Proper Therefore I will profane the princes of the sanctuary; and I will make Jacob a curse, and Israel a reviling.
- Isaiah 44:1 יַעֲקֹ֣ב n Proper Yet now hear, Jacob my servant, and Israel, who I have chosen:
- Isaiah 44:2 יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב n Proper Thus says Yahweh who made you, and formed you from the womb, who will help you: Don't be afraid, Jacob my servant; and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.
- Isaiah 44:5 יַעֲקֹ֑ב n Proper One shall say, I am Yahweh's; and another shall call [himself] by the name of Jacob; and another shall subscribe with his hand to Yahweh, and surname [himself] by the name of Israel.
- Isaiah 44:21 יַעֲקֹ֔ב n Proper Remember these things, Jacob, and Israel; for you are my servant: I have formed you; you are my servant: Israel, you shall not be forgotten by me.
- Isaiah 44:23 יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב n Proper Sing, you heavens, for Yahweh has done it; shout, you lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for Yahweh has redeemed Jacob, and will glorify himself in Israel.
- Isaiah 45:4 יַעֲקֹ֔ב n Proper For Jacob my servant's sake, and Israel my chosen, I have called you by your name: I have surnamed you, though you have not known me.
- Isaiah 45:19 יַעֲקֹ֖ב n Proper I have not spoken in secret, in a place of the land of darkness; I didn't say to the seed of Jacob, Seek you me in vain: I, Yahweh, speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.
- Isaiah 46:3 יַעֲקֹ֔ב n Proper Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel, that have been borne [by me] from their birth, that have been carried from the womb;
- Isaiah 48:1 יַעֲקֹ֗ב n Proper Hear you this, house of Jacob, who are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah; who swear by the name of Yahweh, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness
- Isaiah 48:12 יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב n Proper Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel my called: I am he; I am the first, I also am the last.
- Isaiah 48:20 יַעֲקֹֽב n Proper Go you forth from Babylon, flee you from the Chaldeans; with a voice of singing declare you, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth: say you, Yahweh has redeemed his servant Jacob.
- Isaiah 49:5 יַֽעֲקֹב֙ n Proper Now says Yahweh who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob again to him, and that Israel be gathered to him (for I am honorable in the eyes of Yahweh, and my God is become my strength);
- Isaiah 49:6 יַעֲקֹ֔ב n Proper yes, he says, It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give you for a light to the Gentiles, that you may be my salvation to the end of the earth.
- Isaiah 49:26 יַעֲקֹֽב n Proper I will feed those who oppress you with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
- Isaiah 58:1 יַעֲקֹ֖ב n Proper Cry aloud, don't spare, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and declare to my people their disobedience, and to the house of Jacob their sins.
- Isaiah 58:14 יַעֲקֹ֣ב n Proper then shall you delight yourself in Yahweh; and I will make you to ride on the high places of the earth; and I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father: for the mouth of Yahweh has spoken it.
- Isaiah 59:20 בְּ/יַֽעֲקֹ֑ב prep + n Proper A Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those who turn from disobedience in Jacob, says Yahweh.
- Isaiah 60:16 יַעֲקֹֽב n Proper You shall also suck the milk of the nations, and shall suck the breast of kings; and you shall know that I, Yahweh, am your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob.
- Isaiah 65:9 מִֽ/יַּעֲקֹב֙ prep + n Proper I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains; and my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there.
About this entry
At a glance — auto-summarized from this page’s data, not written by a person. Every figure links to its source below. This summary describes the numbers; it doesn’t interpret them.
יעקב — transliterated Yaʻăqôb — is a Hebrew name carrying the sense “Jacob.” Its uses cluster heavily in Genesis (50% of all occurrences). Spanning 319 verses in 22 books, it ranks among the common words of the Hebrew Bible. Scripture first uses it in Genesis 25:26. Dig into 319-verse concordance and the renderings breakdown below.
Gloss history
Strong's 1890 vs modern scholarship
About this word
Strong's H3290 catalogs a Hebrew word from the Hebrew Old Testament.
These counts are not copied from any lexicon or concordance. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged Hebrew Old Testament. What Lemma adds →
- 319
- distinct verses
- The word appears in 319 distinct verses.
- 22 / 39
- OT books
- The word appears in 22 of 39 Old Testament books.
- #140
- by frequency
- Top 250 most frequent Hebrew words (rank 140 of 8,640 Hebrew words by occurrence).
View all 319 occurrences in the concordance →
By section of the Old Testament
By traditional corpus
Conventional, traditional groupings — biblical authorship is debated, so this is a traditional corpus grouping, not an authorship claim. Each share is this word’s portion of its verses in that division of the Hebrew canon. Each figure is a share of the word’s 319 distinct verses.
- Torah (Pentateuch) 190 verses · 60%
- Prophets (Nevi'im) 90 verses · 28%
- Writings (Ketuvim) 39 verses · 12%
How translations render this word
Counts come from each version’s own published word-to-Strong’s tagging or interlinear alignment — an approximate guide to how each version renders this word, not a word-level alignment the data otherwise carries. Because each total is that version’s own tagged count, the per-version totals vary from one another and need not match the appearance or distinct-verse counts above. These counts may also differ from a printed concordance because Lemma counts each distinctly tagged rendering and does not collapse phrase taggings into a single head-word total. This is a fixed set of word-tagged versions (KJV, ASV, BSB, ULT) and does not change with the reading translation you choose elsewhere. Each version’s license is shown beside its name below (and on Sources).
- King James Version: Jacob 308×, Jacob's 15×, Against jacob 3×
- American Standard Version: Jacob 295×, Now jacob 3×, One of jacob 3×
- Berean Standard Bible: Jacob 283×, Jacob’s 18×, Against jacob 5×
- unfoldingWord Literal Text: Jacob 329×, Against jacob 4×
King James Version Public Domain
Renders H3290 across 349 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 18 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
American Standard Version Public Domain
Renders H3290 across 349 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 32 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Berean Standard Bible Public Domain
Renders H3290 across 341 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 14 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings. Not rendered by a distinct English word in 8 further occurrences.
unfoldingWord Literal Text CC BY-SA 4.0
Renders H3290 across 337 tagged occurrences — most commonly:
Plus 4 renderings that appear only once — usually multi-word phrases or single function words the recovered tagging swept in, not distinct renderings.
Senses in BDB
The 2 senses BDB distinguishes for this word, in lexicon order (not ranked by frequency or importance). The full entry — with sub-senses — is in the Lexicon Entry tab.
- Jacob = "heel holder" or " supplanter"
- son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham, and father of the 12 patriarchs of the tribes of Israel
Word origin
Derived from עקב (ʻâqab) (H6117) — to supplant.
Jastrow Dictionary
A second Hebrew/Aramaic lexicon for comparison, covering Aramaic and post-biblical (Talmudic, Targumic, Midrashic) usage that the biblical-Hebrew BDB does not. Matched by lemma rather than by Strong’s number, so a lemma may carry more than one Jastrow headword (shown separately below), and the entries cover usage well beyond the Bible.
יַעֲקֹב
- (b. h.) pr. n. m. Jacob,
- 1. J. the patriarch. Ber. 13ᵃ לא שיעקר י׳ וכ׳ not that the name Jacob should be entirely abandoned, but &c., v. טָפֵל. Gen. R. s. 1; a. v. fr.—2) R. J., name of a Tannai (or of several Tannaim, v. Fr. Darkhe Mish. p. 202). Ab. IV, 16. Pes. 84ᵃ; Snh. 63ᵇ, a. e., v. שֵׁם. Ḥull. 45ᵇ.—Hor. 13ᵇ ר׳ י׳ בן קרשי; Y. Pes. X, beg. 37ᵇ ר׳ י׳ בן קורשיי.—3) R. J., name of many Amoraim, esp. a) R. J. of K’far Nibburaya. Y. Bicc. III, 65ᵈ top, a. fr., v. נִבּוּרַיָּא.—b) R. J. b. Idi. Y. Ber. II, 4ᵇ; Y. Shek. II, 47ᵃ top; Y. M. Kat. III, 83ᶜ bot.; Midr. Sam. ch. XIX; Yeb. 96ᵇ; a. fr.—V. Fr. M’bo p. 104ᵃ, sq.—4) J. the bathing master (?). Y. Ber. II, 4ᶜ top עד י׳ תרמוסרא היה לובשן until he came to the station of J. &c. he kept the T’fillin on; Pesik. R. s. 22 עד יעקר תורמוסא.—5) J. of K’far Sikhnaya, a disciple of Jesus of Nazareth. Ab. Zar. 17ᵃ; a. e.; v. סִכְנַיָּא.
A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature (Marcus Jastrow; London, Luzac, 1903) — Public Domain. Digitized via Sefaria. Digitized via Sefaria. Full attribution on Sources.
Forms in the corpus
The 63 distinct written forms H3290 takes in the Hebrew Bible, most frequent first — each parse links to that state’s occurrences in the concordance. Hebrew forms include their vowel points and cantillation, so a single lemma takes many written forms.
| Form | Parsing | Example | Uses |
|---|---|---|---|
| יַעֲקֹ֔ב | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 33:28 | 45 |
| יַעֲקֹ֖ב | Noun, Proper | Amos 9:8 | 45 |
| יַעֲקֹ֑ב | Noun, Proper | Amos 7:5 | 28 |
| יַעֲקֹֽב | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 33:4 | 26 |
| יַעֲקֹ֗ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 25:30 | 20 |
| יַעֲקֹב֙ | Noun, Proper | Genesis 29:28 | 18 |
| יַעֲקֹ֣ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 29:13 | 17 |
| יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב | Noun, Proper | Amos 6:8 | 15 |
| יַעֲקֹ֜ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 27:19 | 12 |
| יַעֲקֹ֛ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 27:22 | 9 |
| יַעֲקֹ֥ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 27:6 | 7 |
| לְ/יַעֲקֹ֔ב | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 33:10 | 7 |
| לְ/יַעֲקֹ֖ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 30:5 | 6 |
| לְ/יַעֲקֹֽב | Noun, Proper | Ezekiel 28:25 | 5 |
| יַֽעֲקֹ֑ב | Noun, Proper | Amos 3:13 | 4 |
| יַֽעֲקֹב֙ | Noun, Proper | Isaiah 49:5 | 4 |
| יַעֲקֹ֤ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 29:21 | 4 |
| יַעֲקֹב֒ | Noun, Proper | Genesis 27:30 | 4 |
| לְ/יַעֲקֹ֑ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 31:51 | 4 |
| לְ/יַעֲקֹב֙ | Noun, Proper | Genesis 27:42 | 4 |
| בְּ/יַעֲקֹ֔ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 49:7 | 3 |
| וְ/יַעֲקֹ֖ב | Noun, Proper | Exodus 3:16 | 3 |
| וּֽ/לְ/יַעֲקֹ֑ב | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 9:27 | 3 |
| וּֽ/לְ/יַעֲקֹֽב | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 9:5 | 3 |
| וּֽ/לְ/יַעֲקֹב֙ | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 1:8 | 3 |
| יַ֝עֲקֹ֗ב | Noun, Proper | Psalms 14:7 | 3 |
| לְ/יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב | Noun, Proper | Ezekiel 37:25 | 3 |
| לְ/יַֽעֲקֹב֙ | Noun, Proper | Jeremiah 31:7 | 3 |
| בְּ/יַעֲקֹ֑ב | Noun, Proper | Isaiah 9:8 | 2 |
| וְ/יַעֲקֹ֗ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 30:36 | 2 |
| וְ/יַעֲקֹב֙ | Noun, Proper | Genesis 25:27 | 2 |
| וּֽ/לְ/יַעֲקֹ֖ב | Noun, Proper | Deuteronomy 6:10 | 2 |
| יַ֠עֲקֹב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 27:46 | 2 |
| יַעֲקֹ֨ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 33:18 | 2 |
| בְ/יַעֲקֹ֑ב | Noun, Proper | Psalms 78:21 | 1 |
| בְּ/יַֽעֲקֹ֑ב | Noun, Proper | Isaiah 59:20 | 1 |
| בְּ/יַעֲקֹ֣ב | Noun, Proper | Psalms 78:71 | 1 |
| בְּ/יַעֲקֹ֤ב | Noun, Proper | Psalms 99:4 | 1 |
| בְּ/יַעֲקֹב֙ | Noun, Proper | Lamentations 2:3 | 1 |
| בְּֽ/יַעֲקֹ֗ב | Noun, Proper | Psalms 78:5 | 1 |
| וְ/יַֽעֲקֹ֑ב | Noun, Proper | 2 Kings 13:23 | 1 |
| וְ/יַֽעֲקֹ֔ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 31:47 | 1 |
| וְ/יַעֲקֹ֑ב | Noun, Proper | Jeremiah 33:26 | 1 |
| וְ/יַעֲקֹ֞ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 25:34 | 1 |
| וְ/יַעֲקֹ֣ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 34:5 | 1 |
| וְ/יַעֲקֹ֥ב | Noun, Proper | Joshua 24:4 | 1 |
| וְ֝/יַעֲקֹ֗ב | Noun, Proper | Psalms 105:23 | 1 |
| יַֽעֲק֔וֹב | Noun, Proper | Jeremiah 30:18 | 1 |
| יַֽעֲקֹ֣ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 47:7 | 1 |
| יַעֲק֑וֹב | Noun, Proper | Leviticus 26:42 | 1 |
| יַעֲק֗וֹב | Noun, Proper | Jeremiah 51:19 | 1 |
| יַעֲק֛וֹב | Noun, Proper | Jeremiah 46:27 | 1 |
| יַעֲקֹ֧ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 30:41 | 1 |
| יַעֲקֹב֮ | Noun, Proper | Genesis 28:16 | 1 |
| יַעֲקוֹב֩ | Noun, Proper | Jeremiah 33:26 | 1 |
| יַֽעֲקֹ֑ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 31:11 | 1 |
| לְ/יַעֲקֹ֣ב | Noun, Proper | Psalms 105:10 | 1 |
| לְ/יַעֲקֹ֤ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 46:26 | 1 |
| לְ/יַעֲקֹ֥ב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 30:10 | 1 |
| לְּ/יַעֲקֹֽב | Noun, Proper | Genesis 30:19 | 1 |
The 60 most common forms are shown; 3 rarer forms follow in the full concordance.
Same root — word family
Other BDB entries built from the same root as H3290, grouped by Strong’s listed origin. These share a root / origin per the lexicon — not necessarily a shared meaning. Each links to that word’s own entry.
Derives from
Shares the same root
- עקב ʻêqeb H6118 consequence
- עקב ʻâqêb H6119 heel
- עקב ʻâqêb H6120 supplanter
- עקב ʻâqôb H6121 deceitful
- עקבה ʻoqbâh H6122 craftiness
Proper names from this root
People and places named from this root — a name, not an additional meaning of the word.
Compare all same-root words → Showing 4 of 10 — not the complete family. 3 of the same-root words are proper names (people or places). They share a root, not necessarily a meaning.
Bible dictionary
Public-domain dictionary articles matched to this entry by name (Jacob). A biblical name can be shared by more than one person or place, so an article may treat several.
Easton's Bible Dictionary · M. G. Easton, 1897
One who follows on another's heels; supplanter, (Gen. 25:26; 27:36; Hos. 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 (Gen. 25:29-34).
When Isaac was about 160 years of age, Jacob and his mother conspired to deceive the aged patriarch (Gen. 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 (Gen. 49:3); (2) a double portion of the paternal inheritance (Deut. 21:17); (3) the priestly office in the family (Num. 8:17-19); and (4) the promise of the Seed in which all nations of the earth were to be blessed (Gen. 22:18).
Soon after his acquisition of his father's blessing (Gen. 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 (31:41). He then set out with his family and property "to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan" (Gen. 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 (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 (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" (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.), 33:18; but at length, under divine directions, he moved to Bethel, where he made an altar unto God (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 (35:16-20), 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 (35:27-29).
Jacob was soon after this deeply grieved by the loss of his beloved son Joseph through the jealousy of his brothers (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; Deut. 10:22; Acts 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" (Gen. 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" (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 (50:1-13). (See HEBRON.)
The history of Jacob is referred to by the prophets Hosea (12:3, 4, 12) and Malachi (1:2). In Micah 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 (Rom. 9:11-13; Heb. 12:16; 11:21). See references to his vision at Bethel and his possession of land at Shechem in John 1:51; 4:5, 12; also to the famine which was the occasion of his going down into Egypt in Acts 7:12 (See LUZ; BETHEL.)
Smith's Bible Dictionary · William Smith, 1863
(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 - (John 1:51; 4:5,12; Acts 7:12,16; Romans 9:11-13; Hebrews 11:21; 12:16)
Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary · Roswell D. Hitchcock, 1869
that supplants, undermines; the heel
Classic public-domain reference works; full attribution on Sources.
Septuagint verse parallels
This word appears in 308 verses that also exist in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint), out of the 319 Hebrew verses it occurs in. You can read those verses in Greek by switching the Old Testament edition to the Septuagint.
Read these verses in the Septuagint
- Genesis 25:26
- Exodus 1:1
- Leviticus 26:42
- Numbers 23:7
- Deuteronomy 1:8
- Joshua 24:4
- 1 Samuel 12:8
- 2 Samuel 23:1
- 1 Kings 18:31
- 2 Kings 13:23
- 1 Chronicles 16:13
- Psalms 20:1
This is a verse-level parallel only — the same verses exist in both the Hebrew and Greek Old Testaments. No word-level Hebrew↔Greek correspondence is claimed: the data carries no such alignment, so no Greek word is shown as this Hebrew word’s translation. Coverage is not total — the Septuagint omits the deuterocanon and renumbers the Psalms, so some Hebrew verses have no direct Greek parallel.
