Jacob
Judaism

There are two opinions in the Midrash as to how old Rebecca was at the time of her marriage and, consequently, at the twins' birth. According to the traditional counting cited by Rashi, Isaac was 37 years old at the time of the Binding of Isaac, and news of Rebecca's birth reached Abraham immediately after that event. In that case, since Isaac was 60 when Jacob and Esau were born and they had been married for 20 years, then Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebecca (Gen. 25:20), making Rebecca three years old at the time of her marriage, and 23 years old at the birth of Jacob and Esau. According to the second opinion, Rebecca was 14 years old at the time of their marriage, and 34 years old at the birth of Jacob and Esau. In either case, Isaac and Rebecca were married for 20 years before Jacob and Esau were born. The Midrash says that during Rebecca's pregnancy 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.

Rashi explained that Isaac, when blessing Jacob instead of Esau, 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.

According to the Talmud, Jacob did not flee directly to Haran (as would seem from the Biblical text), but rather studied for 14 years at the study house of Shem and Eber before continuing towards Haran.

When Laban planned to deceive Jacob into marrying Leah instead of Rachel, the Midrash recounts that both Jacob and Rachel suspected that Laban would pull such a trick; Laban was known as the "Aramean" (deceiver), and changed Jacob's wages ten times during his employ (Genesis 31:7). The couple therefore devised a series of signs by which Jacob could identify the veiled bride on his wedding night. But when Rachel saw her sister being taken out to the wedding canopy, her heart went out to her for the public shame Leah would suffer if she were exposed. Rachel therefore gave Leah the signs so that Jacob would not realize the switch.

Jacob had still another reason for grieving the loss of Joseph. God had promised to him: "If none of your sons dies during your lifetime, you may look upon it as a token that you will not be put in (Hell of) Gehenna after your death." Thinking Joseph to be dead, Jacob had his own destiny to lament because he considered that he was doomed to that Hell.

Jewish apocalyptic literature of the Hellenistic period includes many ancient texts with narratives about Jacob, many times with details different from Genesis. The more important are the Book of Jubilees and the Book of Biblical Antiquities. Jacob is also the protagonist of the Testament of Jacob, of the Ladder of Jacob and of the Prayer of Joseph, which interpret the experience of this Patriarch in the context of merkabah mysticism.
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