Allusinns to Jacob in sub.icqiicnt piirts of Scrip- ture.— The most importjint are in Hosea, who already aiijilies his history didactically : —
(1) fios lO--" l«-'i :—
• In the womb he supplanted his brother ;
And in his strei.gth he persintfd with (Jod : 4 Yea, he persiMed ["l^"!] with the angel, and preva\led\
He \vept, and made supplication unto him ;
At Bethel he found him, and there he spake with him.*
The allusions to the incidents recoded in Gn 25-° 32^ 28"" are palpable. Ephraira is lax, in- difl'erent, and frivolous : the ambition shown by it« ancestor Jacob to secure pre-eminence even in the womb, the persistence with which afterwards he exerte<l himself to win the blessing, and the tears witli wliicli he sought it,t are held up as examples for its imitation.
(2) Hos 12'2'- ("'•! :—
13 And Jacob (led into the field of Aram,
And Israel served for a wife.
And for a wife he kept (sheep) : 1* But by a prophet did Jehovah bring Israel up out of Egypt,
And by a prophet was he kept (preserved^
For the allusions in v.", see Gn 27*' (cf. 35'- ')t 291s. 11). so 3141 'fiig ilij-ht, the penury, the hard- shii)S (cf. Gn 31**"*') undergone by Jacob are con- trasted with the deliverance of his descendants under the honourable guidance of a prophet.
In Dl 26' 'An Araimean ready to perish ^ was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number ; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous,' the allusion is to Jacob's Aramiean connexions, and to his hard and perilous life as a shepherd in Aram-naharaim. Jacob is also most probably meant by ' thy first father ' in Is 43^'. In Mai !•• ' (cited Ko 9") the reference is really national : see Gore in Utiicfiii Biblica, iiL 37 U.; Sauday-Ueadlam, EoDtavs, 245 11'.
The Cliararter of Jacob. — Of all the characters which are sketched in any fulness in the UT, that of Jacob is the most mixed. (Jn the one hand, he is by nature the ' supplanter ' : ' is he not,' exclaims Esau, 'rightly named Jacob, for he hath sup- planted nie these two times'? Twice he takes a mean advantage of his brother ; he deceives bis
Mizraim,' which, meaning properly Meadow of Kgijpt, — perhape (cf. the so-called 'Job's Stone' (above, L lee^n.] as commemorate ing in some way the Egj-ptian occupation of Canaan, — is here derived, by an assonance, from '^bel, ' mourning.'
• So Pesh., Aq., S)-nim., Theod. The Heb. text has tritA lu, which must mean * with us in the person of our ancestor.'
♦ A trait (v.'i-) not mentioned in On 3'228-29.
J Or, lout ; the word is of ten used of a lost sheep, aa Eik M^ >•
JACOB
JACOB
533
aged father ; even where he does not directly oveiTeach, prudence and expudiuuey are the deter- miiiinf; motives of his life ; his tliouglits centre in himself ; he is ever striving to turn circunislances to liis own proUt, to make the most out of every opportonity. He is a striking contrast to his brother : Esau is frank, straightforward, and generous ; Jacob is sdieiuing, ambitious, and self- Beeking ; by fair means or foul, hy sots himself to comiiaxs Ins ends. On the othe.' hand, Jacob is not destitute of good qualities. Ho has a deeper auil more stable character than Esau : Esau is Coverned by the impulses of the moment, is heed- less of the future, has no thought for any but present and material goods : Jacob, if he is the ' Overreacher,' is also the ' Perseverer ' { ' Israel ') ; he possesses steadiness and consistency of purpose ; he does not llinch from toil and e.xurtion, — even Laban admits that lie has served liira well (30-"') ; he can labour and deny himself in order to attain a far-distant goal ; he has cleverness, versalilitj", and diplomatic ability : he thus possesses qualities which, though thev may be misdirected, are nevertheless adaptetf to form the foundation of a Bound and genuine character. And one aim of the liistory of Jacob, as written in t!ie liook of Genesis, is to snow how, through the discipline and spiritual experiences of life, the better elements of a char- acter may in the end prevail, and becomo its determining and predominant principles.
It may be asked liow a character exhibitn.f, so many doubtful qualities should have been .selected by Providence as its chosen agent, and be repre- sented as receiving so constantly the marks of God's care and approval (2S"-'° SV-''- i3-»J 32' etc.). The answer, no doubt, is to be found in the fact that Providence does not judge by present appear- ances ; and that Jacob possessed qualities which, in spite of the faults, and even the grave faults, by wl.ich they were accompanied, were qualities which, when purilied, and elevated, and freed from purely personal aims, could be consecrated to the service of God, and made subservient to carrying out His purposes. The turning-point in his life is the struggle at Penuel. In all his dealings hitherto, whether with Esau or Laban, he has been true to his name, he has been the Supplanter or Overreacher. His treatment of E.sau was without excuse : in his dealings with Lalian, craft was matched against craft ; though, in judging Jacob here, it is only right to re- member that Laban not only takes the first dis- honest step, but is throughout the chief oll'ender. Had Laban treated Jacob honestly and generously, there is no reason to suppose that he would have sought to overreach him. But since Laban seeks, not once only, to profit at his expense, Jacob retaliates,* — and, so far as material gains are concerned, wins. Uut, as has just been pointed out, Jacob's character includes inconsistent ele- ments ; and the struggle at Penuel marks the triumph of the higher over the lower elements in his character. It is the critical moment of his life. He is at the point of re-entering the land which he left twenty (31") jears before; he is about to meet his brother whom he had wronged and deceived ; memories of the past return upon him ; his con.science smites him, and he is 'greatly afraid.' Hut (iod is his real antagonist, not Esau ; it is God whom his sins have olleiided, and who here comes to contest His right. These thoughts and fears are, as it were, materialized in Irs