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Person Old Testament

Jacob

Also known as Israel

Jacob was the younger twin son of Isaac, grandson of Abraham, who received the birthright and blessing and was renamed Israel after wrestling with God. His twelve sons became the tribes of Israel, and in old age he brought the whole family down to Egypt.

Why it matters. The nation, the land, and the promise all pass through Jacob. Both Gospel genealogies run through him, and his blessing on Judah is one of the earliest royal promises.

Dates
2000 to 1700 BC (approximate) (low confidence, Broad range covering the main proposals for the patriarchal period)

Jacob's life is not tied to an externally dated event; the span follows the general range for the patriarchs.

Last reviewed
2026-08-30 by the FaithGraph team

Connections

  1. Jacob is descended from Abraham

    Explicit in ScriptureHigh confidenceLineage: Old Testament

    Genesis names Isaac as Abraham's son and Jacob as Isaac's son; both Gospel genealogies repeat the line.

    Follow Abraham in the graph

  2. Jacob is a parent of Judah

    Explicit in ScriptureHigh confidenceLineage: Old Testament

    Judah is the fourth son born to Jacob by Leah.

    Follow Judah in the graph

Family

Family links from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0). Where the dataset marks an identification as uncertain, the mark is kept. Matthew and Luke give different genealogies for Jesus; see the Lineage page, which never merges them.

Siblings
Esau

Appears in Scripture

Named in 2577 verses across 47 books. Occurrence data from STEPBible TIPNR (CC BY 4.0); references only, no translation text.

Show all 2577 verses

Record type: Person. FaithGraph explanations on this page are editorial and are not Scripture.