ABSTRACT
Jacob Also called Israel, son of Isaac and Rebecca, father of the people of Israel’s twelve tribal progenitors. All Israel then is called “the house of Jacob.” Jacob got the name Israel when, returning to the Land from Mesopotamia, he wrestled with a mysterious angel (Genesis 32:24-30), who changed his name from Jacob to Israel, meaning, “May God strive.” In Genesis 49, he bestows blessings on his sons. In Rabbinic literature of the first six centuries C.E., Jacob’s life is deemed to symbolize later events in the history of Jacob’s children, Israel; he represents the nation as a whole, and his antagonists, Esau-his brotherand Laban-his father-in-law, are identified with Rome.
