Jacob

==Etymology==
According to the [[folk etymology]] found in [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]] 25:26, the name {{lang|he-Latn|Yaʿaqōv}} {{lang|he|יעקב|rtl=yes}} is derived from {{lang|he-Latn|ʿaqev}} {{lang|he|עָקֵב|rtl=yes}} "heel", as Jacob was born grasping the heel of his twin brother [[Esau]].<ref>{{lang|he|יָדֹו אֹחֶזֶת בַּעֲקֵב עֵשָׂו|rtl=yes}} ([[KJV]]: "and his hand took hold on Esau's heel"). ''[[Strong's Concordance]]'' [https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H6119&t=WLC H6119].</ref><ref name="FreedmanMyers2000">{{cite book|author1=David Noel Freedman|author2=Allen C. Myers|title=Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qRtUqxkB7wkC&pg=PA666|date=31 December 2000|publisher=Amsterdam University Press|isbn=978-90-5356-503-2|page=666}}</ref> The historical origin of the name is uncertain, although similar names have been recorded. {{lang|he-Latn|[[Yaqub-Har]]}} is recorded as a place name in a list by [[Thutmose III]] (15th century BC), and later as the ''nomen'' of a [[Hyksos]] pharaoh. The hieroglyphs are ambiguous, and can be read as "Yaqub-Har", "Yaqubaal", or "Yaqub El". The same name is recorded earlier still, in {{circa|1800 BC}}, in cuneiform inscriptions (spelled ''ya-ah-qu-ub-el'', ''ya-qu-ub-el'').<ref>Victor P. Hamilton, ''The Book of Genesis, Chapters 18-50'' (1995), [https://books.google.com/books?id=zlQ4chBCC5oC&pg=PA179 p. 179].</ref> The suggestion that the personal name may be shortened from this compound name, which would translate to "may [[El (god)|El]] protect", originates with Bright (1960).<ref>Jonathan Z. Smith, ''Map is Not Territory: Studies in the History of Religions'', University of Chicago Press (1978), [https://books.google.com/books?id=a8Vvzr7SeuwC&pg=PA33 p. 33].</ref> Previously, scholars had tended to find the more straightforward meaning of Yaqub-El, "Jacob is god."<ref>Wm M F Petrie, pg 38 Palestine and Israel, 1934. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.</ref>

The name ''Israel'' given to Jacob following the episode of his [[Jacob wrestling with the angel|wrestling with the angel]] (Genesis 32:22&ndash;32) is etymologized as composition of {{lang|he|אֵל|rtl=yes}} ''[[El (god)|el]]'' "god" and the root {{lang|he|שָׂרָה|rtl=yes}} ''śarah'' "to rule, contend, have power, prevail over":<ref>{{lang|he|שָׂרָה|rtl=yes}}  ''śarah''  "to contend, have power, contend with, persist, exert oneself, persevere" (''[[Strong's Concordance]]'' [https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?strongs=H8323&t=KJV H8323]); {{lang|he|שָׂרַר|rtl=yes}}  ''śarar''  "to be or act as prince, rule, contend, have power, prevail over, reign, govern" (''[[Strong's Concordance]]'' [https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H8280&t=KJV h8280])</ref>&nbsp;{{lang|he|שָׂרִיתָ עִם־אֱלֹהִים |rtl=yes}} ([[KJV]]: "a prince hast thou power with [[Elohim|God]]"); alternatively, the  ''el'' can be read as the subject, for a translation of "El rules/contends/struggles".<ref>"The Jewish Study Bible" of [[Oxford University Press]] (p. 68=) "The scientific etymology of ''Israel'' is uncertain, a good guess being '[The God] El rules.'"[http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Bibles/StudyBibles/TanakhJewishversion/~~/dmlldz11c2EmY2k9OTc4MDE5NTI5NzUxNQ==]</ref>

The [[Septuagint]] renders the name ''Iákobos'' ({{lang-grc|Ἰάκωβος}}), whence Latin {{lang|la|Jacobus}}, English ''Jacob''.