Jacob (pronounced /ˈdʒeɪkəb/; Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב, StandardYaʿakov; Septuagint Greek: Ἰακώβ; "heel" or "leg-puller"), also known as Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל, StandardYisraʾel, Isrāʾīl; Septuagint Greek: Ἰσραήλ; "persevere with God"), was the third patriarch of the Jewish people, and ancestor of the twelve tribes of Israel, named after ten of his twelve sons, as well as the two sons of his son Joseph.
As a result of a severe famine in Canaan, Jacob resettled his whole family in Egypt, in the Land of Goshen, at the time when his son Joseph was viceroy. Jacob died there 17 years later, and Joseph carried Jacob's remains to the land of Canaan, where he gave them stately burial in the same Cave of Machpelah as were buried Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca and Jacob's wife Leah (Genesis 49:29-50:14).
Rebekah was extremely uncomfortable during her double pregnancy and went to inquire of God why she was suffering. The Midrash says that whenever she would pass a house of Torah study, Jacob would struggle to come out; whenever she would pass a house of idolatry, Esau would agitate to come out. She received the prophecy that twins were fighting in her womb and would continue to fight all their lives, and after they became two separate nations. The prophecy also said that the older would serve the younger; its statement "one people will be stronger than the other" has been taken to mean that the two nations would never gain power simultaneously: when one fell, the other would rise, and vice versa. Traditionally, Rebekah did not share the prophecy with her husband.
The boys displayed very different natures as they matured. "Esau became a hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a simple man, a dweller in tents" (Genesis 25:27). Moreover, the attitudes of their parents toward them also differ: "Isaac loved Esau because game was in his mouth, but Rebecca loved Jacob" (ibid., 25:28).
Much later, Isaac became blind in his old age and, uncertain of when he would die, decided to bestow the blessing of the firstborn upon Esau. He sent Esau out to the fields to trap and cook a piece of savory game for him, so that he could eat it and bless Esau.
When Jacob protested that his father would recognize the deception and curse him as soon as he felt him, since Esau was hairy and Jacob smooth-skinned, Rebecca said that the curse would be on her instead. Before she sent Jacob to his father, she dressed him in Esau's garments and laid goatskins on his arms and neck to simulate hairy skin.
Jacob had scarcely left the room when Esau returned from the hunt to prepare his game and receive the blessing. The realization that he has been deceived shocked Isaac, yet he acknowledged that Jacob had received the blessings as sworn, by adding, "Indeed, he will be [or remain] blessed!" (27:33). Rashi explained that Isaac smelled the heavenly scent of Gan Eden (Paradise) when Jacob entered his room and, in contrast, perceived Gehenna opening beneath Esau when the latter entered the room, showing him that he had been deceived all along by Esau's show of piety.
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