Jacob

From the Latin Iacob, which was from the Greek Ἰακώβ (Iakob), which was from the Hebrew name יַעֲקֹב (Ya’aqov). In the Old Testament Jacob (later called Israel) is the son of Isaac and Rebecca and the father of the twelve founders of the twelve tribes of Israel. He was born holding his twin brother Esau’s heel, and his name is explained as meaning “holder of the heel” or “supplanter”, because he twice deprived his brother of his rights as the firstborn son (Genesis 27, 36). Other theories claim that it is in fact derived from a hypothetical name like יַעֲקֹבְאֵל (Ya’aqov’el) meaning “may GOD protect”.

Jacob is the only man mentioned by this name in the Old Testament and is a son of Isaac and Rebekah. His other twin brother is Esau (Genesis 25, 26). Jacob after wrestling with the Angel of YHWH gets his name changed to Israel (Genesis 32, 28).

In the New Testament the Greek transliteration of the name Jacob, is Iakob (Ιακωβ), and is attributed, in addition to the father of faith Jacob (Matthew 1, 2) to another man, namely Jacob the father of Joseph, the adoptive father of Jesus, according to the genealogy of Matthew (Matthew 1, 15; Luke traces his genealogy through Nathan, the son of David, and not Solomon, as Matthew does, and has Eli as the father of Joseph; Luke 3, 23). The name Jacob occurs 27 times in the New Testament.

Instead, the Hellenized version of the Hebrew name Jacob, namely Ιακωβος, Iakobos, is slightly more common. It belongs to the following men:

• A disciple of Jesus and one of the two sons of Zebedee (Matthew 4, 21 ; 10, 2 along with his brother John also known as Boanerges).
• Another disciple of Jesus, namely a son of Alphaeus (Matthew 10, 3).
• A full brother of Jesus, who was known as James the Just (Matthew 13, 55). The English name James is a transliteration of the Greek name Jacobos, which in turn is a transliteration of the Hebrew name Jacob.

These variations of the name Jacob occur a total of 42 times in the New Testament.

In Islam

Yaˈqūb bin Isḥāq bin Ibrāhīm (Arabic: يَعْقُوب إِبْنُ إِسْحَٰق إِبْنُ إِبْرَاهِيم, literally: “Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham” Arabic: يَعْقُوب, romanized: Yaʿqūb; also later Isra’il, Arabic: إِسْرَآئِیل [ˈisraāˈiyl]; Classical/Quranic Arabic: إِسْرَآءِیْل [ˈisrāˈiyl]), also known as Jacob, is a prophet in Islam. He is recognized as a patriarch of Islam, preaching the same monotheistic faith as his ancestors-Abraham (Ibrahim), Isaac (Ishaq), and Ishmael (Ismail).

Jacob is mentioned sixteen times in the Quran.(Jacob”, Encyclopaedia of Islam Vol. XI, p.254) Two other references to Isra’il are believed to be mentions of Jacob, and in most of these references, Jacob is mentioned along with other Jewish prophets and patriarchs as an ancient and pious prophet who remained in the “company of the elect” (Quran 38, 47 & Quran 21, 75). Jacob also for Islam is the son of Isaac and that he preached the Oneness of GOD during his lifetime. As in Christianity and Judaism, Islam claims that Jacob had twelve sons, each of whom would father the twelve tribes of Israel. Jacob plays a significant role in the story of his son, Joseph (Yūsif), and The Qur’ān further clarifies that GOD made a Covenant with Jacob and he was made a faithful leader by the command of GOD (ALLAH). His grandfather (Ibrahim), his father (Ishaq), his uncle (Ismail), his son (Yusuf) and himself are all prophets for Islam.