ger, Talmud. Worterb. s. v.). In the Koran he is often mentioned in conjunction with the other two patriarchs (chap, ii, and elsewhere). See Mohajimedanism.
JACOB also occurs in certain poetical and conven- tional phrases, borrowed from the relations of the patri- arch to the theocracy and state. " God of Jacob," 2p?.!' ■'■!7''^ (Exod. iii, 6; iv, 5; 2 Sam. xxiii, 1; Psa, XX, 2; Isa. ii, 3); or simply "Jacob" (Psa. xxiv, 6, where the term "^n'^X appears to have fallen out of the text); also "mighty One of Jacob," 3py;;i -l^nx (Psa. cxxxii, 2), are titles of Jehovah as the national deity. " Jacob" frequently stands for his posteritj' or the Isra- elitish people ; but poetically chiefiy, " house of Jacob," ip"^ rr^S (Exod. xix, 3; Isa. ii, 5, 6; viii, 17; Amos iii, 13; ix, 8; Mic. ii, 7; Obad. 17, 18), " seed of Jacob," 2p?.!' y'^.T (Isa. xlv, 19; Jer. xxxiii, 26), "sons of Ja- cob," 2pS'^ "^33 (1 Kings xviii, 37; Mai. iii, 6), "con- gregation of Jacob" SpS'^ ^^r'p (Deut. xxxiii, 4), and simply "Jacob," '^p'J^ (Numb, xxiii, 7, 10, 21, 23; xxiv, 5, 17, 19; Deut. xxxii, 9 ; xxxiii, 10; Psa. xiv, 7, 1 1 ; xliv, 5 ; Isa. xxvii, 6, 9 ; Jer. x, 25 ; xxxi, 1 1 ; Amos vi, 8; vii, 2; viii, 7), all put for the house or family of Jacob; whence the expression "in Jacob," 3py^3 (Gen. xlix. 7 ; Lam. ii, 3), i. e. among the Jewish people. Very generall}- the name is used for the people as an individ- ual, and with the epithets appropriate to their patriar- chal progenitor, e. g. " Jacob, my servant" (Isa. xliv, 1 ; xlv, 4; xlviii, 20; Jer. xxx, 10; xlvi. 27, 28), "Jacob, thy (Edom's) brother" (Obad. 10). In like manner with the term Israel, " Jacob" is even spoken of the kingdom of Ephraim, which had arrogated to itself the title prop- er only to the entire nation (Isa. ix, 7 ; xvii, 4 ; Mic. i, 5; Hos. X, 11 ; xii, 3) ; and, after the destruction of the northern kingdom, the same expression is employed of the remaming kingdom of Judah (Nah. ii, 3; Obad. 18).
JACOB
735
JACOB
— Geseniui?. See Isham, Discriminative uses of ^' Jacob" and '' Israel" (Lond. 1854). Comp. Iskakl.
JACOB'S WELL (7r>/y/) rov 'Ifl(cw/3), on the curb c.f which Christ sat down during his interview with the Samaritan woman of Sychar (John iv, 6). It was a deep spring (ver. 11) in the A'icinity of Shechem, near the road from Jerusalem, probably so called from having been dug by the patriarch Jacob (ver. 8, 28) when dwell- ing in this neighborhood (Gen. xxxiii, 18). It is still kno^vn by the same title, about half a mile south-east of Nablfts (Robinson's Researches, iii, 112), at the foot of Jlount Gerizim (Arvieux, ii, 66 ; Schubert, iii, 136). It is bored through the solid rock, and kept covered with a stone bj' the Arabs (see Hackett's Illustrations, p. 199 sq.). It is thus described by Porter in Murray's Handbook for Syria, ii, 340 : " Formerly there was a stpiare hole opening into a carefully built vaulted cham- ber, about ten feet square, in the tloor of which was the true mouth of the well. Now a portion of the vault has fallen and completely covered up the mouth, so that nothing can be seen but a shallow pit, half filled with stones and rubbish." Dr. Wilson (Lands of the Bible, ii, 57) carefully measured the well, and found it nine feet in diameter, and seventy-five feet deep. It was proba- bly much deeper in ancient times, as there are signs of considerable accumulation of stones and rubbish below its present bottom ; andMaundrell (March 24) saj's that in his time it was thirty-five yards, or one hundred and five feet deep. It contains at times a few feet of wa- ter, but at others it is quite dry. Over the well there formerly stood a large church, built in the 4th century, but probably destroyed before tlie time of the Crusades, as Saiwulf (p. 45) and Phocas do not mention it. Its remains are just above the well, towards tlie south-west, merely a shapeless mass of ruins, among which are seen fragments of gray granite columns still retaining their ancient polish (Robinson's Biblical Researches, iii, 132). (For older descriptions, see Hamesveld, ii, 396 sq.) See Shecheji.
2. Jacob ('Iaicw/3) was the name of the father of Jo- seph, the husband of the Virgin Mary (JIatt. i, 15, 13). B.C. ante 40. See Mary.
Jacob OF Edessa (so called after the name of his residence), one of the most celebrated Syrian writers and theologians, flourished in the second half of the 7th century. He was born in the village of Indaba (in An- tioch), and in early life entered the monastic order. About the year 651 he was appointed bishop of Edessa; but his zeal for the cause of the Church often led him astray, and he made many enemies among the clergy, and finally resigned the episcopal dignity, retiring to a life of seclusion in a monastery at Toledo. He now be- gan an extended study of the Sjo-iac Version of the Old Testament, and made many valuable corrections and annotations, of which parts still remain to us (compare Sj'lvestre de Sacy, in Eichhorn's Biblioth. d. bibl. Utter. viii, 571 sq. ; Notices et extraits des Jf,SS. iv, 648 sq. ; Eichhorn, Bibl. d. bibl. Lit. ii, 270 ; the same, Junl. in d. A . T. ii, § 260 sq.). After the decease of his successor at Edessa lie was invited to reassume the (Uities of the bishopric, but he died while on his journey, June 5, 708. Jacob of Edessa was a zealous advocate of JMonophysi- tism, and he is greatly revered by the Jacobites (q. v.), while he is highly esteemed also by the Maronites. He was distinguished for his thorough knowledge of the Syriac, Hebrew, and Greek, and translated a number of Greek works into Syriac, a task which he so ably dis- charged that he was honored with the surname of " in- terpreter of the books" (in the Sj-riac, sarST X3]ri^Sp). He wTote commentaries and scholia on the O. T. and N. T., of whicli extracts are contained in the works of Ephraem (comp. Assemani, Biblioth. Orient, i, 476 sq.). See Herzog, Real-£nc>/Hopadie, vi, 379 sq. ; Ilalle Ency- klopddie, 2'd sect, xiii,' 165-1 67. (J. H. W.)