Back Nabi Ya'qub ACE Jakob Afrikaans ያዕቆብ Amharic يعقوب Arabic يعقوب ARZ Xacob AST Yaqub Azerbaijani یعقوب AZB Jacob BCL Якаў (патрыярх) Byelorussian
Jacob | |
|---|---|
יַעֲקֹב | |
.jpg) Detail from Jacob Seeking the Forgiveness of Esau (1652) by Jan Victors | |
| Resting place | Cave of Machpelah, Hebron, Canaan (traditional) 31°31′29″N 35°06′39″E / 31.5247°N 35.1107°E |
| Other names | Israel (יִשְׂרָאֵל) |
| Known for | Being a Hebrew patriarch and the forefather of the Israelites |
| Spouse(s) | Leah Rachel |
| Partner(s) | Bilhah Zilpah |
| Children | |
| Parents | |
| Relatives | |
Jacob,[a] later known as Israel,[b] is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother Esau, Jacob's paternal grandparents are Abraham and Sarah and his maternal grandfather is Bethuel, whose wife is not mentioned. He is said to have bought Esau's birthright and, with his mother's help, deceived his aging father to bless him instead of Esau.[1] Then, following a severe drought in his homeland Canaan, Jacob and his descendants migrated to neighbouring Egypt through the efforts of his son Joseph, who had become a confidant of the pharaoh. After dying in Egypt at the age of 147, he is supposed to have been buried in the Cave of Machpelah in Hebron.
Per the Hebrew Bible, Jacob's progeny were beget by four women: his wives (and maternal cousins) Leah and Rachel; and his concubines Bilhah and Zilpah. His sons were, in order of their birth: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. He also had a daughter named Dinah, born to his first wife Leah.[2] The descendants of Jacob's sons were collectively known as the Israelites, with each son being the forefather of one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, of whom all but the Tribe of Levi were allotted territory in the Land of Israel. The Genesis narrative also states that Jacob displayed favoritism among his wives and children, preferring Rachel and her sons Joseph and Benjamin to the rest—culminating in Joseph's older brothers selling him into slavery out of resentment.
Scholars have taken a mixed view as to Jacob's historicity, with archaeology so far producing no evidence for his existence.[3][4] Archaeologist and scholar William Albright initially dated Jacob to the 19th century BCE, but later scholars, such as John J. Bimson and Nahum Sarna, argued against using archaeological evidence to support such claims due to limited knowledge of that period. Recent scholarship by the likes of Thomas L. Thompson and William Dever suggest that these narratives are late literary compositions with ideological purposes rather than historical accounts.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ "Esau and Jacob and the Birthright". Life, Hope & Truth. Retrieved 2019-09-16.
- ^ Enumerations of the twelve tribes vary. Because Jacob effectively adopted two of his grandsons by Joseph and Asenath, namely Ephraim and Manasseh, the two grandsons were often substituted for the Tribe of Joseph, yielding thirteen tribes, or twelve if Levi is set apart.
- ^ Faust, Avraham (2022). "Between the Biblical Story and History: Writing an Archaeological History of Ancient Israel". In Keimer, Kyle H.; Pierce, George A. (eds.). The Ancient Israelite World. Taylor & Francis. pp. 71–72. ISBN 978-1-000-77324-8.
- ^ Dever, William G. (2023). "Christian Fundamentalism, Faith, and Archaeology". In Elliott, Mark; Atkinson, Kenneth; Rezetko, Robert (eds.). Misusing Scripture: What are Evangelicals Doing with the Bible?. Taylor & Francis. p. PT110. ISBN 978-1-000-85301-8.
Abraham and the patriarchs may have been itinerant Amorites, but that is all we can say.
© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search