Jacob

(Hebrew: יעקב Ya`aqob "heel holder" or "supplanter" from עָקַב "to supplant, circumvent, take by the heel, follow at the heel, assail insidiously, overreach"), later known as Israel (Hebrew: ישראל Yisra'el Gen 32:28 "God prevails"), is the third biblical Patriarch. His father was Isaac and his grandfather was Abraham. His story is told in the Book of Genesis, at Gen 25:19 which begins, "And these [are] the generations of Isaac, Abraham's son: Abraham begat Isaac...."

Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah, sixty years old when Esau and Jacob were born, while Abraham was 160 years old. He and his twin brother, Esau, were markedly different in appearance and behavior. Esau was a ruddy hunter, while Jacob was a gentle man who "dwelled in tents," interpreted by most biblical scholars as a mark of his studiousness in the "tents" of Torah.

And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob [was] a plain man, dwelling in tents. –Gen 25:27

During Rebekah's pregnancy, "the children struggled together within her" (Genesis 25:22).

According to Rashi

Whenever Rebecca passed a house of study, Jacob would become agitated, indicating his natural inclination for Torah study. If she passed a house of idol worship, however, Esau would become agitated, expressing his own penchant for idolatry. (Rashi, Bereishis 25:22) Seeking to understand this paradox, Rebecca approached Shem, the son of Noah, who had an academy of higher learning and was also a prophet. He revealed that Rebecca would give birth to twins whose character would be completely divergent from each other. Jacob would embrace righteousness; Esav, his evil inclination. (Rashi, Bereishis 25:23)

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Isaac

Isaac (Hebrew: יצחק Yitschaq "he will laugh" or "he laughs") was the only son of Abraham (אברם 'Abram / אברהם 'Abraham) and Sarah (שרי Saray / שרה Sarah) and the father of Jacob (יעקב Ya`aqob) and Esau (עשו `Esav) as described in the book of Genesis of the Hebrew Bible. Isaac was the longest-lived of the patriarchs (one hundred and eighty years), and the only biblical patriarch whose name was not changed. Isaac was also the only patriarch who did not leave Canaan, although he once tried to leave and God told him not to do so:

¹ Now there was a famine in the land, besides the former famine that was in the days of Abraham. And Isaac went to Gerar to Abimelech king of the Philistines. ² And the LORD appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; dwell in the land of which I shall tell you. ³ Sojourn in this land, and I will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. ⁴ I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, ⁵ because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

Compared to other patriarchs in the Bible, his story is less colorful, relating few incidents of his life.

Abraham's willingness to follow God's command to sacrifice Isaac has been viewed by early as well as modern Christianity as an example of faith and obedience.

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 Isaac and Abimelech — Genesis 26:1–34

Jacob

Jacob or Ya'akov, (יַעֲקֹב "Holder of the heel"), later known as Israel (יִשְׂרָאֵל "Prince of God") is the third Biblical Patriarch. His father was Isaac and his grandfather was Abraham. His story is told in the Book of Genesis.

Jacob was born 20 years after Isaac and Rebekah were married, at which time his father was 60 (Gen. 25:26), and Abraham, 160 years old. He and his twin brother, Esau, were markedly different in appearance and behavior. Esau was a ruddy hunter, while Jacob was a gentle man who "dwelled in tents," interpreted by most biblical scholars as a mark of his studiousness in the "tents" of Torah.

During Rebekah's pregnancy, "the children struggled together within her" (Genesis 25:22).

According to Rashi, whenever Rebekah passed a house of learning, Jacob would struggle to get out; whenever she passed a house of idolatry, Esau would struggle to get out.

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