Meaning of the Name Jacob
The Hebrew name Ya'akov is explained in Genesis 25:26 by the word 'heel' (akev): he is born holding his twin brother's heel. The name is also linked to the idea 'to grasp the heel, to supplant' from the same root; in Genesis 32:28 he is given the name Israel.
Origin
The name Jacob is of Hebrew origin.
Who is Jacob in the Bible?
Jacob is Isaac's son and the ancestor of the twelve tribes of Israel. His rivalry with his brother Esau, his years in Harran and the wrestling by the river are the turning points of his story; after that night his name becomes Israel.
The story of Jacob in the Bible
Jacob is the younger of Isaac and Rebekah's twin sons; because he is born grasping his brother Esau's heel, he receives a name linked to the Hebrew word for heel, a root also tied to supplanting — and his story bears it out. He obtains the birthright for a bowl of stew and then receives his father's blessing in his brother's place. Fleeing Esau's anger, he sleeps with a stone under his head on the road to Haran and sees a stairway reaching to heaven; the Lord renews the promise given to Abraham: countless descendants, the land he lies on, and God's presence wherever he goes. He works for years in Haran for his uncle Laban, marries, and while returning home with a large family wrestles through the night with a man at a river crossing. At dawn he receives a new name: no longer Jacob but Israel, for he has striven with God and with humans and has prevailed. His twelve sons become the ancestors of Israel's twelve tribes; his personal story becomes a people's story.
Is Jacob mentioned in the Quran?
The name Jacob (Yakup) is also mentioned in the Quran, where Islamic tradition knows him as a prophet, son of Isaac and father of Joseph; in the Bible the same figure is Jacob, who receives the name Israel and fathers the twelve tribes.
Verses where Jacob appears
- Genesis 25:26 —
After that, his brother came out, and his hand had hold on Esau’s heel. He was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
- Genesis 28:10-15 —
Jacob went out from Beersheba, and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place, and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. He took one of the stones of the place, and put it under his head, and lay down in…
- Genesis 32:24-28 —
Jacob was left alone, and wrestled with a man there until the breaking of the day. When he saw that he didn’t prevail against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh, and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was strained, as he…