“And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau’s heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.”
After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them. The grasping of the heel at birth is the origin of the name Jacob (Hebrew: Yaakov, from aqev, heel — also meaning to supplant or deceive). The name Jacob carries both meanings: the heel-grabber and the supplanter. The birth narrative is the first act of a long story of Jacob's striving. Hosea 12:3 references this birth: in the womb he grasped his brother's heel; as a man he struggled with God. The application: the character that will define Jacob's life is present from the first moment of his birth.
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