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Facts About Jacob In The Bible

Jacob (Hebrew: , Arabic: ), also known as Israel (Hebrew: , Arabic: ), was a Hebrew patriarch and the traditional progenitor of the Israelites. He was the grandson of Abraham and the son of Isaac and Rebekah. Genesis 25:19 is the first place in the Bible where Jacob is mentioned.

The Bible is an important part of our world, and we have all heard of Jacob. But who was he?

Here are five facts about Jacob in the Bible:

  1. Jacob was born to Isaac and Rebekah. He had twelve sons, who became the ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel.
  2. His first wife was Leah; his second was Rachel; his third wife was Bilhah; and his fourth wife was Zilpah. He also had two concubines: Mahalath and Zilpah.
  3. Jacob had a dream in which he saw angels ascending and descending a ladder from heaven to Earth (Genesis 28:10-17). His name changed from Jacob to Israel after this dream.
  4. Jacob worked for Laban for seven years for Rachel’s hand in marriage (Genesis 29:18-20). After marrying her, he worked another seven years as payment for Leah’s hand in marriage (Genesis 29:21-30). When Laban tricked him into marrying Leah and not Rachel as originally agreed upon (Genesis 30:24-29), God appeared to him while he slept and assured him that he would have many descendants through both wives (Genesis 31:11-12
Jacob—The Righteous Deceiver — Knowing Scripture

Facts About Jacob In The Bible

Stories about Jacob in the Bible begin at Genesis 25:19. According to the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), Jacob was the younger twin brother of Esau, who was the ancestor of Edom and the Edomites. The two are representatives of two different grades of social order, Jacob being a pastoralist and Esau a nomadic hunter.

Jacob was given the name Israel by God.

Jacob was a person in the Bible who had 12 sons. He was also a shepherd and wrestled with an angel.

Jacob is given the name Israel by God, who promises to be his father and give him land for his descendants (Genesis 32:28).

Jacob had 12 sons and one daughter.

  • Jacob had 12 sons and one daughter.
  • The sons were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad and Asher; the daughter’s name was Dinah.

Jacob tricked his older twin brother Esau out of his birthright as the firstborn son.

In the Bible, Jacob was a trickster. He tricked his father Isaac, who was blind and partially senile at that point (Genesis 27:1-40). He also tricked his older twin brother Esau out of his birthright as the firstborn son (Genesis 25:19-34; 27:1-29). In addition to these stories, we learn that Jacob was tricked by Laban into marrying Leah instead of Rachel in exchange for seven years of work (Genesis 29:15-30) and again when he returned to Canaan from Haran with two wives and eleven sons after 20 years away from home only to discover that Esau had stolen all their family’s livestock (Genesis 32:4b-6).

These stories show how tricky Jacob could be but also reveal how deceitful others were towards him during this time period—and sometimes even during his entire life before arriving in Egypt—which made it difficult for him not only physically but emotionally as well. For example, when Esau found out about what had happened between him and Jacob he asked God why would he allow such terrible things happen?

Jacob’s ladder, or dream, is also known as “God’s ladder.”

The story of the ladder is also known as “God’s ladder,” but it is also called Jacob’s Ladder or Jacob’s dream. It may be one of the most well-known dreams in the Bible.

The ladder in this dream symbolizes God’s promise to Jacob. God promises that he will not allow any harm to come within three days’ journey around Jacob (Genesis 28:15). The ladder represents the connection between heaven and earth and how our prayers can reach up to heaven through Jesus Christ, who is our mediator between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5).

One of his descendants was King David, ancestor to Jesus Christ.

One of the great kings of Israel, David, was a descendant of Jacob. Jesus Christ was also descended from King David through his mother Mary and her father Joseph. Jesus Christ is considered by most Christians to be the Messiah (a Hebrew term meaning “anointed one”) who came to save humanity from sin, and he is thought to be both God’s son and God himself in human form. He is believed to have been miraculously conceived by Mary through the power of God after she had visited her cousin Elizabeth (who had also been miraculously impregnated with John the Baptist).

Five facts about Jacob from the Bible

  • Jacob is also known as Israel, which means “God prevails.”
  • Jacob had 12 sons and one daughter named Dinah, who was raped by a Canaanite prince (Genesis 34:1-31).
  • Jacob tricked his older twin brother Esau out of his birthright as the firstborn son (Genesis 25:19).
  • God appeared to Jacob in a dream and promised him that he would have descendants who would be blessed with great wealth if he did not go back to their original home in Haran but instead went eastward toward Egypt (Genesis 28:10-22).
  • The ladder that Jacob saw in his dream is also known as “God’s ladder” because it represented a spiritual bridge between heaven and earth (Genesis 28:12-13).

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