Educator Guide
Jacob Bible Study Guide
Patriarchs · 1832 BC – 1685 BC (147 years)
Renamed Israel after wrestling with God; father of the twelve patriarchs; led the family to Egypt.
From the family tree
- Parents
- Isaac, Rebekah
- Spouses
- Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, Zilpah
- Children
- Reuben, Judah, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Gad, Simeon, Levi, Naphtali, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Dinah, Isachar
- Siblings
- Esau
- Dates
- 1832 BC – 1685 BC (147 years)
- Era
- Patriarchs
Teaching prompt
How does the schemer who grabs his brother's heel become Israel, the one who wrestles with God?
Reflection
What name has God given you that is truer than the name your past has given you?
Points to Jesus
John 1:51 has Jesus pick up Jacob's Bethel dream: 'You will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.' Jesus is the true ladder between heaven and earth that Jacob saw in shadow.
Discussion questions
- What does Jacob's bargain with Esau reveal about both brothers?
- What does God promise Jacob at Bethel, and how does Jacob respond?
- What changes in Jacob when he wrestles with God at Peniel?