Proper noun

Singular Jacob

Plural -

Jacob

1. (Biblical) One of the sons of Isaac and Rebecca, and twin brother of Esau; father of the Israelites.
2. A male given name.
3. A breed of multihorned sheep.

Synonyms

• (father of the Israelites): Israel

Derived terms

• Jacobean

Related terms

• James and its variants
• Jake, Jay, Jacques
• feminine: Jacqueline

Quotations

• 1611, King James Version of the Bible (Authorized Version), Genesis 25:27

  And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents

• 1927 Ernest Hemingway: The Sun Also Rises: Chapter III:

  "Georgette. How are you called?" / "Jacob." / "That's a Flemish name." / "American too." / "You're not a Flamand?" / "No, American." / "Good, I detest Flamands."

  - - -

  Brett smiled at him. "I've promised to dance this with Jacob," she laughed. "You've a hell of a biblical name, Jake."

Danish

Alternative spellings

• Jakob

Jacob (pronounced /ˈdʒeɪkəb/; Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב‎, Standard Yaʿakov; Septuagint Greek: Ἰακώβ; "heel" or "leg-puller"), also known as Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל‎, Standard Yisraʾel, 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.

In the Hebrew Bible he is the son of Isaac and Rebecca, the grandson of Abraham and Sarah and of Bethuel, and the twin brother of Esau. He had twelve sons and several daughters, of whom only one is known by name, by his two wives, Leah and Rachel, and their maidservants, Bilhah and Zilpah. The children were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, daughter Dinah, Joseph, and Benjamin. Jacob had other daughters, whose names are not mentioned. Before the birth of Benjamin, Jacob is renamed "Israel" by an angel, the name after which the modern nation of Israel is named.

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).