THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
complete form in Jackson s Works (3 vols., 1672-73). Jackson also published three collections of sermons, Nazareth and Bethlehem (Oxford, 1617); Christ's Answer unto John's Question (London, 1625); and Diverse Sermons (Oxford, 1637). His Theological Works, with the Life of Jackson by Edmund Vaughan, have been reprinted at Oxford (12 vols., LS44).
Bibliography: A. a Wood, Athenae Oxonienses, ed. P. Bliss, ii. 664, and Fasti, i. 2S1, 299, 339, 401, 4 vols., London. 1813-20; DXB, xxix. 107-108 (where notices of scattered references are yiven).
2. English Wesleyan; b. at Sancton, near Market Weighton (is m. e.s.e. of York), Yorkshire, Dec. 12, 17S3: d. at Shepherd's Bush, London, Mar. 10, 1873. He joined the Methodist Society in 1801, his education having been attained through reading. From 1804 till 1S24 he was an itinerant in the Wesleyan connection, occupying important circuits. He was editor of the connectional magazines, 1824-42, and professor of divinity in the Theological College at Richmond, Surrey, 1S42-61. His more important works are: The Life of John Goodwin (London, 1S22) ; Memoirs of the Life and Writings of the Rev. Richard Watson (1834); The Centenary of Wesleyan Methodism (1839); The Life of the Rev. Charles Wesley (2 vols., 1841); The Life of the Rev. Robert Xewton (1855); The Institutions of Christianity (1868); and Recollections of My Own Life and Times (ed. B. Frankland, 1873). Jackson also edited numerous works, including The Works of the Rev. John Wesley (14 vols., 1829-31); A Library of Christian Biography (12 vols., 1837-40); The Lives of the Early Methodist Preachers (3 vols., 1837- 1S3S; 3d ed., 6 vols., 1865-66); Anthony Farindon's Sermons (4 vols., 1849); and The Journal of the Rev. Charles Wesley (2 vols., 1849).
Bibliography: Consult, besides the Recollections, ut sup., DNB, xxix. 108-109.
JACOB (or ISRAEL), THE PATRIARCH.
The Names and Their Meaning (§ 1). Jacob's Youth (§ 2). His Life in Haran (§ 3). His Later Life (§ 4). Characteristics of the Sources (§ 5). Jacob's Character (§ 6). Historicity of the Narratives (§ 7).
Jacob, or Israel, the son of Isaac, was the ancestor
who gave his name to the covenant people. Jacob
means " one who holds the heel " or
i. The " one who treads on the heel " (Gen.
Names and xxv. 26), and is also explained as " one
Their who overreaches " (cf. Jer. ix. 4) by
Meaning, means of his practised cunning (Gen.
xxvii. 36). Israel, on the other hand,
which became the designation of the people, was
given him by God as a special distinction after he
had proved his courage and gained a victory (Gen.
txxii. 28). Jacob is probably an abbreviation of
Jacob-el, for, among the Palestinian towns captured
by Thothmes III. and mentioned in his inscriptions
at Kamak, names appear which may be recognized
as Ya'kobh-el and Yoseph-el, a conclusion all the more
probable since the name Ya'kubh-ilu appears in
Babylonian contract-tablets. The inference usually
drawn from this inscription that in the sixteenth
century the Jacob or Joseph tribes were already
established in Canaan is over- hasty, since the analogy of the other names indicates rather that communities are meant. Bathgen explains Jacob-el as " El recompenses "; an alternative is " El wrestles " (Gen. xxxii. 24 sqq.).
Jacob's youth was one untiring effort to secure
for himself the birthright which belonged to his
twin-brother Esau. This struggle had
2. Jacob's even a prenatal origin (Gen. xxv. Youth. 22-23). In contrast with the coarse
and violent Esau, Jacob was quiet and peaceable (Gen. xxv. 27), but shrewd, and able to use cleverly the weaknesses of his more sensuous brother (verse 29). In this he was aided by his mother, while the hunter found favor in the eyes of his father. Isaac, deceived by his wife, unwittingly bestowed the blessings of birthright upon Jacob (Gen. xxvii.; see Isaac), who in consequence was forced to abandon for a time the land of promise, and transferred his abode to Haran, the native land of his mother. In the course of his wanderings Jacob came to Bethel, where Yahweh appeared to him in a dream.
The second period of Jacob's life was passed with
his kindred in Haran, where he founded his house.
He asked of Laban as a reward for
3. His Life seven years' labor the hand of his in Haran. beautiful daughter, Rachel; but her
sister Leah was substituted by the mercenary father, and Jacob was forced to serve seven years longer to gain his beloved Rachel. The latter, however, was unfruitful, while Leah brought him four sons : Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. As a result of a substitution of slaves for their mistresses, Jacob's family was further increased by four sons, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. These were followed by two sons of Leah, Issachar and Zebulun. At last Rachel bore her husband's favorite son, Joseph. As God's blessing seemed to be attached to Jacob's person, Laban was loath to lose his services; to his own disadvantage, however, for although the recompense which Jacob required might seem small, it always turned out to be unexpectedly large, and though Laban frequently changed the conditions (Gen. xxxi. 7), the advantage was always with Jacob. The tense relations between them hastened Jacob's secret departure with his wives and goods. Laban pursued and overtook him at the mount of Gilead, but, although embittered by the loss of his household gods, which Rachel had carried off without her husband's knowledge, he was forced to settle the strife amicably. The name Gilead (explained as Gal'edh, " hill of witness," Gen. xxxi. 48) was from this time a reminder of the treaty thus concluded.
A third phase of Jacob's history began with his reentrance into the promised land and his settlement in the heart of the country. But 4. His first an understanding with Esau was Later Life, necessary, and then to take possession of the disputed heritage, for which a severe struggle was required. Jacob succeeded by the help of spiritual powers (Gen. xxxii. 24 sqq.). After such a victory no human being could do him harm. The dreaded Esau received him kindly and retired again to the desert land of the Edomites,