Lifespan

Approximately 570 B.C.

Ministry

Jacob was a Nephite prophet and the fifth son of the prophet Lehi. He was born after the family left Jerusalem, so he was apparently taught by his parents and strongly influenced by his older brother Nephi. Although the extended family probably grew rapidly, obviously his ministry was restricted to that small but growing population. His recorded words, however, continue to teach millions today. He also had responsibility for the small plates of Nephi, which stewardship remained in his direct family line.

Preparation and Calling

Jacob was blessed with both great tribulation and great faith as a young man. Nephi, his older brother, consecrated him to be a priest and a teacher, which role he fulfilled with prophetic diligence. His vocabulary and ability to recall teachings from disparate sources show him to be well-educated and versed in scripture.

Interaction with God

Jacob seems to have been a man of unusual faith. He declared to Sherem, an anti-Christ, “I truly had sen angels, and they had ministered unto me. And also, I had heard the voice of the Lord speaking unto me in very word, from time to time” (Jacob 7:5). Nephi wrote that Jacob had seen the premortal Jesus Christ, and indeed perhaps his greatest teachings are of the Savior and His coming mission on earth.

Social Situation

Jacob was born in the wilderness to an aging prophet-father and righteous mother. As he matured, the rift between those who believed in God’s direction for the family and those who did not grew. In the promised land, the two groups grew apart spiritually and physically, even to the point of warring with each other. As the Lord blessed the righteous Nephites, they began to prosper. Jacob, a spiritually and emotionally sensitive man, was tasked with being a priest and a teacher to the Nephite tribe. Many of his teachings center on warning his people of pride, materialism, and unchastity, knowing that the spiritual downfall that these sins could cause was far greater than the afflictions, even death, that the Lamanites would cause.

Key Teachings

Though Jacob taught several doctrines clearly and powerfully, his witness of the coming Messiah to the Jews is remarkable. He was visited by the premortal Jesus and recorded that the purpose of this writing on the plates was for future peoples to “know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming” (Jacob 4:4). His teachings regarding the scattering and gathering of Israel are also worth noting (see Jacob 5).

Living with the Prophet

Jacob was not blessed to live a life of ease. He was born in the wilderness, crossed a mighty ocean by ship, and helped his family carve out an existence in a new and foreign country. He had no fine schools to attend. Yet he must have been diligent in his personal studies, for he learned in those humble circumstances to read and write and was familiar with all the writings of the sacred records carried by the family. Perhaps because of this, he developed strong feelings for the power of written records. He was associated with previous generations primarily through the written word, and he tried to leave a legacy for his future generations by recording his testimony on the plates. Consider your own circumstances. Do you strive to not only get through life but also to improve your education? What kind of legacy can you provide to others by recording your testimony and experiences?

Sources

Encyclopedia of Mormonism, vol. 1, s.v. “Jacob.”

Book of Mormon, the books of Mosiah and Alma.

Book of Mormon, Reader’s Edition, ed. Grant Hardy.

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Lifespan

Unknown (approximately 2000 B.C.?)

Ministry

Jacob is a pastoral man who spent most of his life in Canaan, except for 14 years working in Mesopotamia in order to win Rachel as wife, and some time in Egypt towards the end of his life when his son Joseph brings the family down to avoid starvation. The time frame is quite uncertain, but many scholars estimate in the vicinity of 2000 B.C.

Preparation and Calling

Jacob’s early years in preparation for serving as a patriarch and high priest present him in a double light. Yes, he is the younger of two twins, but he tricks Esau, his older brother, into giving him his birthright, and then tricks his father into giving him the birthright blessing. The Bible does not seem to condemn these actions, however, and attribute to Jacob the greater righteousness. After getting married and returning home to Canaan, Jacob has an experience which is described as “wrestling” with an angel. At this occasion, he receives the new name of Israel and gains special favor with God.

Interaction with God

Aside from gaining blessings through trickery, little is said about Jacob’s interaction with God until he wrestles with God Himself (Genesis 32). This is obviously a sacred theophany that changes Jacob’s life forever. Unfortunately, little is known of Jacob for the rest of his life, except as he appears in stories about his children.

Social Situation

Jacob is the younger twin to his brother Esau, sons of Isaac and Rebekah. He and his brother were rivals from birth, and this rivalry makes its way throughout the biblical record of his life. He tricked his brother into giving him his birthright and his father into giving him the blessing that should rightfully have gone to his brother Esau as the firstborn. Eventually, he and Esau do become reconciled with each other.

Jacob is also a righteous leader, and God himself gives him the new name of Israel after “wrestling” with the Lord at Penuel. His search for and ultimate marriage to Rachel, for which he himself was tricked into fourteen years of service, is one of the great love stories of the Old Testament. He fathered twelve sons, who became in turn the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel. Most of the scriptural record of his later years deals with him only as he appears in stories of his children.

Key Teachings

Jacob’s life is hallmarked by a firm commitment to do whatever the Lord asked of him. He is also possessed of a quick mind, which he uses sometimes to “bend the rules” a bit to obtain righteous ends.

Living with the Prophet

One of Jacob’s most obvious legacies that he left was as the father of twelve sons. These sons became significant leaders in the history of Israel. It is often within the walls of our own homes that the greatest battles are won, for the family provides the best situation for living God’s teachings. How can you make a difference to the members of your own family?

Prophecies of Christ

“The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come” (Gen. 49:10).

“Joseph is a fruitful bough . . . (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)” (Gen. 49:22, 24).

Sources

Oxford Companion to the Bible, s.v. “Jacob”

Encyclopedia of Religion, s.v. “Jacob”

Holy Bible, book of Genesis