Jacob

Jacob represents Israel in this passage — Edom's twin-nation sibling — whose people Edom pursued with unceasing, unrelenting rage rather than the kinship history demanded.

Jacob — as the patriarch whose name became Israel — is invoked in God's oath, with scholars debating whether 'the pride of Jacob' means God himself or the very arrogance that Israel had inherited and amplified.

Jacob is cited as a prime Old Testament example of family favoritism's destructive consequences — his preferential treatment of Joseph over his other sons echoes the exact pattern this law addresses.

Jacob is identified as the 'wandering Aramean' of the creed — the ancestor who left home with nothing, sojourned in Egypt, and became the father of a nation, making him the starting point of Israel's redemption story.

Jacob is named as the patriarch whose very identity was defined by becoming 'Israel' — invoking him here underscores the irony: the nation bearing his new name is now being told that name no longer applies.

Jacob is invoked here as Israel's founding ancestor whose defining characteristic — wrestling with God and refusing to let go — stands in direct contrast to what the nation has become.

Jacob is invoked as the patriarch whose name became 'Israel' — his mention here sharpens the irony that the leaders of the nation bearing his name renounce God's king in favor of a pagan emperor.

Jacob is invoked here as the ancient patriarch who dug this well and gave it to Joseph — his legacy establishes the historical and sacred weight of the location where Jesus is about to redefine what 'living water' means.

Jacob is referenced here as one who built an altar at Shechem — layering additional patriarchal significance onto a site now assigned as a Levitical city of refuge, showing how God puts historically charged places to ongoing practical use.

Jacob is referenced here as the original purchaser of the Shechem plot where Joseph's bones are finally buried — a land transaction made generations before the Exodus is now the resting place that closes Joseph's story.

Jacob is referenced here as Esau's twin and Israel's namesake ancestor, framing David's conquest of Edom as the resolution of a rivalry that literally predates the founding of the nation.

Jacob is named here in the formal genealogical listing of Exodus 1:1, identifying him as the father of the twelve sons whose families formed the Israelite community now multiplying in Egypt.

Jacob is listed here as making a deathbed act of faith — blessing each of Joseph's sons and bowing in worship, deliberately investing in a future beyond his own life rather than tying up loose ends for himself.

Jacob is referenced here because Bethel was the site of his famous ladder dream — connecting the current military conquest to a foundational patriarchal moment in Israel's story.

Jacob is named first in God's covenant remembrance — the man who wrestled with God and became Israel is the ancestral stand-in for the whole nation, and God's promise to remember the covenant with him is a promise to honor the struggle and identity of every generation that followed.

Jacob is cited as the brother God chose — his selection over Esau becomes God's evidence that divine love operates through sovereign election, pointing to Israel's favored standing as proof of that love.

Jacob is cast here as fire — the image of Israel not as the victim of the earlier sections but as the consuming force that will overwhelm Edom in the final reversal.

Jacob is the third and final patriarch named here, the moment at which the covenant became 'an unbreakable decree' to Israel — the psalmist shows the promise gaining permanence at each generation.

Jacob is referenced as the source of the ancient prophecy — his deathbed blessing in Genesis 49 first named Judah's line as the one from which a lion-like ruler would come, the promise now fulfilled in the Lamb.

Jacob is Paul's strongest evidence for unconditional election — chosen over his twin before either was born and before either had done anything, demonstrating that God's sovereign selection precedes human behavior entirely.