Jacob is the father of Israel, for his twelve children each gave life to an entire tribe of Israelites. He wasnt always pious, sometimes being even blasphemous, but apparently, he always walked with god, and all who came in his way either prospered or were conquered. Jacob and Esau were born to Rebekah and Isaac. Esau came out first and thus was the eldest, all red and hairy. Jacob came out second, gripping his brothers heel to be pulled out by him. He was named Jacob because of that. This symbolic moment when Jacob was born was but a glimpse of the events to come between Jacob and his brother, Esau.
His mother, Rebekah, had a special place in her heart for Jacob, while his father loved Esau. In all probability the name Jacob was originally theophorous, the divine element of which–commonly elis now missing (like Isaac, Joseph, Jephthah). The restored form would then be Yaagobh-el. (61) As they get older, they develop personalities. Esau was a hunter who spent most of his time out in the field. Jacob was a quiet man who lived among the tents. One day, when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the field very so hungry. He asked Jacob for some stew.
Jacob was willing to sell him some for his birthright. Since Esau thought he was dying of hunger, he didnt think he had much use for a birthright if he died, so he gave Jacob his birthright for some stew. Some time later, Isaac was in his last days, and his vision was bad. He called Esau to him. He said See, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me. Then prepare for me savory food, such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die.
Gen27:2-4)(52) Rebekah was listening to the conversation between Isaac and Esau, and after Esau left to get some game, Rebekah went to her son Jacob and told him what she heard. She then said, Now therefore, my son, obey my word as I command you. (Gen 27:8)(53) She directed him to go pick out two select kids so she can cook them for Jacob to bring to Isaac to get the fatherly blessing. Jacob complains, saying that if his father feels him, he will know its not Esau because Esau is hairy and he is not.
Hes afraid his father will curse him for it. His mother says to not be afraid of curses because she will take responsibility, and to do what she says, and he does. She cooked the food the way Isaac liked it, dressed Jacob in his brothers best clothes, and put the skin of the kids she cooked on Jacobs hands and neck. She then gave him the food and sent him in to his father. Isaac had a hard time believing it was Esau, but when he felt his sons hands (feeling the skins), he was convinced it was Esau, even though it was the voice of Jacob.
He asked how he got the food so quickly, and Jacob answered, Because the Lord your god granted me success. (Gen 27:20)(54) Jacob gave his father the food and some wine, and then Isaac asked him to come close and kiss him. Jacob did so, and his father smelled the skins, believing them to be the aroma of the field. Isaac said his blessing: Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed. May god give you the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine.
Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mothers sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you! (Gen 27:29)(55) So Jacob took his brothers blessing, relying on his mothers and his own cleverness to excel, revealing his lack of piety in doing so. (16) Jacob left after that. Almost right after, Esau came in with what his father told him to bring, and asked for his fathers blessing. His father asked who he was, and Esau told him.
Then Isaac trembled violently, and told his eldest son that whoever came in before him, he blessed, and blessed he shall be! (Gen 27:33)(57) Esau let out a bitter cry of desperateness and resentment, and kept asking his father to bless him also. Though, like many at that time of humanity, they believed what was said had power, power which u couldnt simply take back. Isaac knew what was done was done, and he made this clear to Esau. Esau asked again for a blessing, then cried, and his father answered him See, away from the fatness of the earth shall your home be, and away from the dew of heaven on high.
By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother; but when you break loose, you shall break his yoke from your neck. (Gen 27:39-40)(58) A brother who did not want to accept the fate of seeing the elder son get everything without having to make the slightest effort cheated Esau. (29) Frequently, the bible presents characters whose personalities and roles confront those of other characters in order to make its point. (410) In essence, what we have here is the climax of a struggle between natural man (Esau) and covenantal (or, in sixteenth-and seventeenth-century terminology, federal) man (Jacob). 11)
Esau hated his brother for what he did, so he plotted his death for after his father died. Rebekah knew this and told Jacob to flee to her brother Laban in Haran, and that when Esaus rage calms, she will send for Jacob to come back. She doesnt want to lose Jacob. As a cover story for Jacobs fleeing, Rebekah tells Isaac that she doesnt want Jacob to marry a Hittite woman, that she wants him to search elsewhere for a mate, because the Hittite women have made her life miserable. Isaac tells his son to take a wife from one of Labans daughters.
The bible conveys the sense of Isaac as a not-very-strong person, much influenced by his wife, attempting to play a role of strength by issuing commands, something which even god does not ordinarily do. (412)When Esau heard how Isaac didnt like local girls, he took Mahalath, daughter of Ishmael, as wife. When Jacob fled, he came to a certain place and lay down to sleep for the night. This was a dangerous mission, for who could tell if the local gods would protect one across the border? 13) For a pillow, he took a stone.
That night when he slept he dreamed. He dreamt of a ladder to heaven from the earth, on which the angels were climbing and descending, and god said to him that he was the god of Abraham, and how this land shall be Jacobs as promised, and how he shall have great posterity. Jacob awoke surprised at the holiness of the place, and thought it was a gate to heaven. Jacob sees through the dream to the presence of the absent god, and he is filled with awe, the fundamental religious passion. 14)
In the morning Jacob made a pillar with the stone, poured oil on it, and called the place Bethel, even though it was originally called Luz. Then Jacob made a vow saying, If god will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my fathers house in peace, then the lord shall be my god, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be gods house; and of all that you give me I will surely give you one-tenth to you.
Gen 28:20-22)(515) Jacobs response is equally in character. He is awed by gods presence but still tries to make a deal with him by vowing that if god keeps his promise in four specifically personal ways (protection on his way, food, clothing, and a safe return home), he will acknowledge him and even reward him by tithingto sweeten the pot for god, as it werea sure sign of Jacobs contractual approach to the matter. (416) Now Jacob came upon the land of the people of the east. There was a well in the field with flocks around it and shepherds.
The well watered the sheep. There was a large stone on the mouth of the well, and when it was watering time, the shepherds would roll the stone of the mouth of the well to give the sheep access to water, and when they were done they would roll the stone back over the well. He asked them where they were from and they said they were from Haran, and then Jacob asked if they knew Laban son of Nahor, and they said that they did, and his daughter was coming with the sheep. Jacob told the men that there was still much time in the day for the sheep to graze.
The men said they couldnt do this until the flocks were together and the stone is rolled from the mouth of the water hole. When Jacob saw Rachel, was a symbolic moment in Jacobs life and in the pages of the bible. He rolled the stone off the well and watered the flock of Rachel, then kissed Rachel, then wept and told Rachel that he was a relative, and Rebekahs son, and she ran to tell her father. Laban came to meet Jacob, and Jacob told him he was a kinsman, and Laban said he was sure Jacob was a strong relative, and Jacob stayed there a month.
Jacob served Laban, and Laban said, that since he was kin, he shouldnt serve for nothing, so he asked him what he wanted, and Jacob said he will serve for seven years for Rachel, and Laban agreed. The time went by fast, for Jacob was in love with Rachel. Then Jacobs time was up, and he asked Laban for Rachels hand in marriage. So Laban made a great feast to celebrate, but at the end of the feast, presuming Jacob was more than a little drunk, and it was dark, Laban sent Leah, his eldest daughter, to sleep with Jacob, instead of Rachel.
Jacob was surprised in the morning, and asked Laban why he deceived him. Laban explained that it is custom in this land not to marry the younger daughter before the elder. (917) Laban said that in another seven years of servitude Jacob could have Rachel. So he served for that time, and got Rachel finally. The lord saw that Leah was unloved, so he made her conceive. Leah bore Jacob three sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, which she hoped would get her attention from her husband.
Religiously, (through Levi) and politically (through Judah), the leadership of Israel will belong to the sons of Leah, the unloved, because she was an unbeautiful wife to Jacob. (118) Jacobs hatred for Leah is not explained. One is led to deduce that her very presence is a constant reminder to Jacob of how he, the deceiver, was deceived in turn, forced into an unwanted marriage and seven years additional free service to his uncle, in order to claim his beloved Rachel. (419) Leah wouldnt bear any more children.
Rachel was barren, like Rebekah was at first, and she was envious of Leah, so she begged Jacob for a child, but Jacob was angry, telling her it wasnt his fault but god was responsible, and not to put him in the place of god. Rachel then told Jacob to have a child with her maid Bilhah who will bear it over her so it would be hers. Rachels maid bore two children like this, first Dan, then Naphtali. Leah was again jealous of Rachel, so she gave her maid Zilpah to Jacob to have children with, of which he had two: first Gad then Asher.
One day in the field, Rachel bought mandrakes from Leah, the price being a night with Jacob. Jacob lay with her, and she bore two sons, Issachar then Zebulun, and then a daughter named Dinah. Rachel bore one more son, whom she named Joseph. Now it was time for Jacob to go back to his own family. He asked Laban for his wives and his children. Laban said he has learned that Jacob is blessed by the lord and Laban has profited from this blessing from having Jacob around, so Laban says to Jacob to name your wages, and I will give it.
Jacob says he will need food for his household, so he will go among Labans flocks and take every speckled and spotted sheep and goat and every black lamb, and that he will take with him. Jacob says that if any other animals are found with him, they shall be counted as stolen. Laban agrees, but that very day, Laban goes through his flock and takes out all the animals that are to go to Jacob, the spotted, the speckled and the black sheep, and sends them with his sons about 3 days distance away, while Jacob was with the rest of the flock in the pasture.
Jacob, intending to cheat a bit of his own accord, took rods of poplar, almond, and plane, and peeled white streaks in them, exposing the white of the rods, and put them around the flocks watering area, where they were believed to breed. It was believed, that the coloring of the young, would be similar to what the parent sheep saw when they bred. So many young were produced that were speckled, striped, or black sheep, which were to go to Jacob.
Jacob arranged it so, using the rods, and determining whether strong or weak sheep were breeding, that his new flock would be much stronger and Labans young would be weaker. The family of Laban didnt like that Jacob was getting rich off them, neither did Laban himself. God told Jacob it was time to return home, so Jacob fetched Rachel and Leah, told them he was not welcome at Labans anymore, and showed them the coloring of his flocks, telling them the arrangement he had with Laban, and he told them that it was god who made the flocks striped and speckled and such, and not himself (who it really was).
His wives encouraged him to do as god bids, and leave with the advantage he has gotten over Laban. So he set out with all his crew, to go back to his fathers house. Unbeknownst to all, Rachel took her fathers household gods with her when they fled. Laban did not know Jacob had fled, so he chased after him, but god told him not to say any good or bad words to Jacob. Laban caught up to them, and asked why Jacob did this.
Jacob admitted he was afraid if he did not flee in secret that he wouldnt be able to flee at all, not without leaving his family behind. So Jacob told Laban to take what is his that is among Jacobs crew. Laban searched for his household gods in his familys tents, but did not find them. Rachel had hidden them in the saddle of the camel upon which she sits. Laban went to meet her, and she said, Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise before you, for the way of the women is upon me. (Gen 31:35)(520) So Laban could not find his gods.
Jacob grew angry with Laban, over why he has hotly pursued him and searches through his stuff, and how Laban has screwed him over many times. Laban said that all Jacob has is his, but what can he do about it? He wants to make a covenant with Jacob. They set up a pillar of stones, as a witness, that I will not pass beyond this heap and this pillar to me for harm. May the god of Abraham and the god of Nahor judge between us. (Gen 31:52)(521) So Jacob swore on this too, and they celebrated all night. In the morning, Laban returned home.