As a twin in the womb with Esau, he jostled for position and was born grasping his brother’s heel. In his dream he saw stairs leading from the earth where he lay up to heaven; and angels were going up and coming down upon the stairs. The second son they named יעקב, Jacob (Ya`aqob or Ya`aqov, meaning "heel-catcher", "supplanter", "leg-puller", "he who follows upon the heels of one", from Hebrew: עקב‎, `aqab or `aqav, "seize by the heel", "circumvent", "restrain", a wordplay upon Hebrew: עקבה‎, `iqqebah or `iqqbah, "heel").[10]. The older was named Esau and the younger Jacob. But he did not tell his father. (19:6) Jacob's second mention is in the Quran's second chapter. Go out into the fields, and with your bow and arrows shoot some animal that is good for food, and make for me a dish of cooked meat such as you know I love; and after I have eaten it I will give you the blessing.". [18] As time passed, Laban's sons noticed that Jacob was taking the better part of their flocks, and so Laban's friendly attitude towards Jacob began to change. Joseph even told his father about all of his half brothers’ misdeeds. When they were complete and he was 84 years old[15] he asked for his wife, but Laban deceived him by switching Rachel for her older sister, Leah, as the veiled bride. He is most commonly known in the Bible for his cunning and deceitful ways, especially towards his twin brother Esau. Then Jacob took off the flat stone that was over the mouth of the well, and drew water and gave it to the sheep. He vowed to kill Jacob as soon as Isaac died. "], "The voice sounds like Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. Gad (Genesis 30:10), Asher (Genesis 30:12), Issachar (Genesis 30:17), Then they buried him in the cave of Machpelah, the property of Abraham when he bought it from the Hittites. (Genesis 30:23) and Benjamin (Genesis 35:18) and at least one daughter, Dinah (if there were other daughters, they are not mentioned in the Genesis story)(Genesis 30:21). Rachel therefore gave Leah the signs so that Jacob would not realize the switch. After Esau found that he had lost his birthright and his blessing, he was very angry against his brother Jacob; and he said to himself, and told others: "My father Isaac is very old and cannot live long. [71] It is neither entirely mythical, nor strictly "historical", according to the present understanding of the term. And in the morning Jacob awakened from his sleep, and he said: "Surely, the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it! The night before he caught up to him, God appeared to Laban in a dream and warned him not to say anything good or bad to Jacob. [59], The Nation of Islam and the Five-Percent Nation – Black Muslim movements – teach that the original inhabitants of the world were black (referred to as the "Asiatic Blackman"), while the white race are "devils" who were created 6,000 years ago on what is today the Greek island of Patmos by the Biblical and Qur'anic Jacob, whom the groups refer to as the "bigheaded scientist" Yakub. Goldingay cites R.J Coggins' analogy of looking to Genesis for the history of ancient Canaan as similar to reading Hamlet in order to learn Danish history. When the being saw that he did not overpower Jacob, he touched Jacob on the sinew of his thigh (the gid hanasheh, גיד הנשה), and, as a result, Jacob developed a limp (Genesis 32:31). Who Are the Samaritans in the Bible? Rachel's Tomb, just outside Bethlehem, remains a popular site for pilgrimages and prayers to this day. The Arabic form Ya'qūb (Arabic: يَعْقُوب‎, romanized: Yaʿqūb may be direct from the Hebrew or indirect through Syriac. The name Jacob is derived from the Hebrew verbwhich means “to follow.” Jacob was born grabbing onto his twin brother Esau’s heel. "... and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a simple man, dwelling in tents" (Genesis 25:27). When Laban planned to deceive Jacob into marrying Leah instead of Rachel, the Midrash recounts that both Jacob and Rachel suspected that Laban would pull such a trick; Laban was known as the "Aramean" (deceiver), and changed Jacob's wages ten times during his employ (Genesis 31:7).