Jacob
Jacob wrestling with an angel, as imagined in a Bible illustration
Prophet, Third Hebrew Patriarch, Seer, Israel, Father of the Tribes, Holy Forefather, 'Possessor of Power and Vision'
Honored in	Judaism Christianity Islam
Major shrine	Cave of the Patriarchs, Hebron
Influences	His forefathers Abraham and Isaac
Influenced	Twelve Tribes of Israel as well as many Jews, Christians and Muslims

Jacob ( /ˈdʒeɪkəb/; Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב‎‎ Standard Yaʿakov, Tiberian  Yaʿăqōḇ (help·info); Septuagint Greek: Ἰακώβ Iakōb; Arabic: يَعْقُوب‎ Yaʿqūb; "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel (Hebrew: יִשְׂרָאֵל‎‎, Standard Yisraʾel, Tiberian Yiśrāʾēl; Septuagint Greek: Ἰσραήλ Israēl; Arabic: إِسْرَائِيل‎ Isrāʾīl; "persevere with God"^[1]), as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.

In the Hebrew Bible, he is the son of Isaac and Rebekah, the grandson of Abraham and Sarah and of Bethuel, and the younger twin brother of Esau. Jacob had twelve sons and at least one daughter, by his two wives, Leah and Rachel, and by their female slaves Bilhah and Zilpah. The children named in Genesis were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, daughter Dinah, Joseph, and Benjamin.^[2][3]

Before the birth of Benjamin, Jacob is renamed "Israel" by an angel (Genesis 32:28-29 and 35:10). The name "Israel" can be translated as "God contended",^[4] but other meanings have also been suggested. Some commentators say the name comes from the verb śœarar ("to rule, be strong, have authority over"), thereby making the name mean "God rules" or "God judges".^[5] Other possible meanings include "the prince of God" (from the King James Version) or "El fights/struggles".^[6]

As a result of a severe drought in Canaan, Jacob moved to Egypt at the time when his son Joseph was viceroy. Jacob died there 17 years later, and Joseph carried Jacob's remains to the land of Canaan, where he gave them stately burial in the same Cave of Machpelah as were buried Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah and Jacob's wife Leah (Genesis 49:29-50:14).

Historicity[link]

Most biblical scholars and historians of ancient Israel today view the patriarchical narratives, including the life of Jacob, as late (6th and 5th centuries BCE) literary compositions that have ideological and theological purposes but are unreliable for historical reconstruction of the presettlement period of Israel’s past.^[7][8]

Jacob in Genesis[link]

The biblical account of the life of Jacob is found in the Book of Genesis, chapters 25-50.

Jacob and Esau's birth[link]

Jacob and his twin brother, Esau, were born to Isaac and Rebekah after 20 years of marriage, when Isaac was 60 (Genesis 25:20, 25:26). Rebekah was uncomfortable during her double pregnancy and went to inquire of God why she was suffering. She received the prophecy that the twins were fighting in her womb and would continue to fight all their lives, even after they became two separate nations. The prophecy also said that "the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger;" (Genesis 25:25 KJV)

When the time came for Rebekah to give birth, the first, Esau, to come out red all over like a hairy garment, with his heel grasped by the hand of the second, Jacob, to come out. According to Genesis 25:25, Isaac and Rebekah named the first עשו, Esau (`Esav or `Esaw, meaning "hairy" or "rough", from Hebrew: עשה‎, `asah, "do" or "make";<sup>[9]</sup> or "completely developed", from Hebrew: עשוי‎, `assui^{[citation needed]}). The second is named יעקב, Jacob (Ya`aqob or Ya`aqov, meaning "heel-catcher", "supplanter", "leg-puller", "he who follows upon the heels of one", from Hebrew: עקב‎, `aqab or `aqav, "seize by the heel", "circumvent", "restrain", a wordplay upon Hebrew: עקבה‎, `iqqebah or `iqqbah, "heel").^[10]

The boys displayed very different natures as they matured. "...and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; but Jacob was a simple man, dwelling in tents" (Genesis 25:27). Moreover, the attitudes of their parents toward them also differed: "And Isaac loved Esau because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob." (Genesis 25:28)

Jacob offering a dish of lentils to Esau for his birthright, 18th century painting by Zacarias Gonzalez Velazquez.

Sale of the birthright[link]

The Hebrew Bible, in (Genesis 25:29-34), tells the account of Esau selling his birthright to Jacob. This passage states that Esau, returning famished from the fields, begged Jacob to give him some of the stew that Jacob had just made. (Esau referred to the dish as, "that same red pottage", giving rise to his nickname, Hebrew: אדום‎ (`Edom, meaning "Red").) Jacob offered to give Esau a bowl of stew in exchange for his birthright, and Esau agreed.

Jacob's deception of Isaac[link]

As Isaac aged, he became blind, and was uncertain when he would die, so he decided to bestow Esau's birthright upon him. He requested that Esau go out to the fields with his weapons (quiver and bow) to kill some venison. Isaac went on to request that Esau make "savory meat" for him out of the venison, according to the way he enjoyed it the most, so that he could eat it and bless Esau.

Rebekah overheard this conversation. It is suggested that she realized prophetically that Isaac's blessings would go to Jacob, since she was told before the twins' birth that the older son would serve the younger.^[11] She quickly ordered Jacob to bring her two kid goats from their flock, so that he could take Esau's place in serving Isaac and receiving his blessing. Jacob protested that his father would recognize their deception, since Esau was hairy and he himself was smooth-skinned. He feared his father would curse him as soon as he felt him, but Rebekah offered to take the curse herself, then insisted that Jacob obey her. Jacob did as his mother instructed, and when he returned with the kids, Rebekah made the savory meat that Isaac loved. Before she sent Jacob to his father, she dressed him in Esau's garments and laid goatskins on his arms and neck to simulate hairy skin.

Disguised as Esau, Jacob entered Isaac's room. Surprised that Esau was supposedly back so soon, Isaac asked how it could be that the hunt went so quickly. Jacob responded, "Because the LORD your God brought it to me." Rashi, on Genesis 27:21 says Isaac's suspicions were aroused even more, because Esau never used the personal name of God. Isaac demanded that Jacob come close so he could feel him, but the goatskins felt just like Esau's hairy skin. Confused, Isaac exclaimed, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau!" Genesis 27:22. Still trying to get at the truth, Isaac asked him directly, "Art thou my very son Esau?" and Jacob answered simply, "I am." Isaac proceeded to eat the food and to drink the wine that Jacob gave him, and then told him to come close and kiss him. As Jacob kissed his father, Isaac smelled the clothes which belonged to Esau, and finally accepted that the person in front of him was Esau. Isaac then blessed Jacob with the blessing that was meant for Esau. Genesis 27:28-29 states Isaac's blessing: "Therefore God give thee of the dew of heavens, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine: Let people serve thee: be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee: cursed be every one that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee."

Jacob had scarcely left the room when Esau returned from the hunt to prepare his game and receive the blessing. The realization that he had been deceived shocked Isaac, yet he acknowledged that Jacob had received the blessings by adding, "Indeed, he will be [or remain] blessed!" (27:33).

Esau was heartbroken by the deception, and begged for his own blessing. Having made Jacob a ruler over his brothers, Isaac could only promise, "By your sword you shall live, but your brother you shall serve; yet it shall be that when you are aggrieved, you may cast off his yoke from upon your neck" (27:39-40).

Although Esau sold Jacob his own birthright, which was his blessing, for "red pottage", Esau still hated Jacob for eventually receiving his blessing that his father Isaac unknowingly given to him. (Genesis 27:41 KJV) He vowed to himself to kill Jacob as soon as Isaac died. When Rebekah heard about his murderous intentions,^[12] she ordered Jacob to travel to her brother Laban's house in Haran, until Esau's anger subsided. She convinced Isaac to send Jacob away by telling him that she despaired of him marrying a local girl from the idol-worshipping families of Canaan (as Esau had done). After Isaac sent Jacob away to find a wife, Esau realized his own Canaanite wives were evil in his father's eyes, and he took a daughter of Isaac's half-brother Ishmael as another wife.

Jacob's ladder[link]

Nearby Luz en route to Haran, Jacob experienced a vision of a ladder or staircase reaching into heaven with angels going up and down it, commonly referred to as "Jacob's ladder". From the top of the ladder he heard the voice of God, who repeated many of the blessings upon him.

According to Rashi, this ladder signified the exiles that the Jewish people would suffer before the coming of the Jewish Messiah: the angels that represented the exiles of Babylonia, Persia, and Greece each climbed up a certain number of steps, paralleling the years of the exile, before they "fell down"; but the angel representing the last exile, that of Rome or Edom, kept climbing higher and higher into the clouds. Jacob feared that his children would never be free of Esau's domination, but God assured him that at the End of Days, Edom too would come falling down.

Jacob awakened, and continued on his way to Haran in the morning, naming the place "Bethel", "God's house".

Jacob's marriages[link]

Arriving in Haran, Jacob saw a well where the shepherds were gathering their flocks to water them, and met Laban's younger daughter Rachel, Jacob's first cousin; she was working as a shepherdess. He loved her immediately, and after spending a month with his relatives, asked for her hand in marriage in return for working seven years for Laban. Laban agreed to the arrangement. These seven years seemed to Jacob "but a few days, for the love he had for her"; but when they were complete and he asked for his wife, Laban deceived Jacob by switching Rachel's older sister, Leah, as the veiled bride.

Rachel and Jacob by William Dyce

In the morning, when the truth became known, Laban justified himself, saying that in his country it was unheard of to give the younger daughter before the older. However, he agreed to give Rachel in marriage as well if Jacob would work another seven years for her. After the week of wedding celebrations with Leah, Jacob married Rachel, and he continued to work for Laban for another seven years.

Jacob loved Rachel more than Leah, and Leah felt hated. God opened Leah's womb and she gave birth to four sons rapidly: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah. Rachel, however, remained barren. Following the example of Sarah, who gave her handmaid to Abraham after years of infertility, Rachel gave Jacob her handmaid, Bilhah, in marriage, so that Rachel could raise children through her. Bilhah gave birth to Dan and Naphtali. Seeing that she had left off childbearing temporarily, Leah then gave her handmaid Zilpah to Jacob in marriage so that Leah could raise more children through her. Zilpah gave birth to Gad and Asher. (According to The Testaments of the Patriarchs, Bilhah and Zilpah were daughters of Rotheus and Euna, servants of Laban.)^{[citation needed]} Afterwards, Leah became fertile again and gave birth to Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah, Jacob's first and only daughter. God remembered Rachel, who gave birth to Joseph and Benjamin. If pregnancies of different marriages overlapped, the twelve births could have occurred within seven years (the first eleven births occur within six years - Genesis 31:38).

After Joseph was born, Jacob decided to return home to his parents. Laban was reluctant to release him, as God had blessed his flock on account of Jacob. Laban asked what he could pay Jacob, and Jacob proposed that all the spotted, speckled, and brown goats and sheep of Laban's flock, at any given moment, would be his wages. Jacob placed peeled rods of poplar, hazel, and chestnut within the flocks' watering holes or troughs, an action he later attributes to a dream. The text suggests that Jacob performed breeding experiments over the years to make his own flocks both more abundant and stronger than Laban's, that Laban responded by repeatedly reinterpreting the terms of Jacob's wages, and that the breeding favored Jacob regardless of Laban's pronouncements. Thus Jacob's herds increased and he became very wealthy.

As time passed, Laban's sons noticed that Jacob was taking the better part of their flocks, and Laban's friendly attitude towards Jacob began to change. God told Jacob that he should leave, and he and his wives and children did so without informing Laban. Before they left, Rachel stole the teraphim, considered to be household idols, from Laban's house.

In a rage, Laban pursued Jacob for seven days. The night before he caught up to him, God appeared to Laban in a dream and warned him not to say anything good or bad to Jacob. When the two met, Laban played the part of the injured father-in-law and also demanded his teraphim back. Knowing nothing about Rachel's theft, Jacob told Laban that whoever stole them should die, and stood aside to let him search. When Laban reached Rachel's tent, she hid the teraphim by sitting on them and stating she could not get up because she was menstruating; this event was considered by the biblical audience as conveying significant defilement upon the teraphim.^{[citation needed]} Jacob and Laban then parted from each other with a pact to preserve the peace between them. Laban returned to his home and Jacob continued on his way.

Journey back to Canaan[link]

Jacob struggles with the angel, by Rembrandt (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin).

As Jacob neared the land of Canaan, he sent messengers ahead to his brother Esau. They returned with the news that Esau was coming to meet Jacob with an army of 400 men. With great apprehension, Jacob prepared for the worst. He engaged in earnest prayer to God, then sent on before him a tribute of flocks and herds to Esau, "a present to my lord Esau from thy servant Jacob".

Jacob then transported his family and flocks across the ford Jabbok by night, then recrossed back to send over his possessions, being left alone in communion with God. There, a mysterious being appeared ("man", Genesis 32:24, 28; or "God", Genesis 32:28, 30, Hosea 12:3, 5; or "angel", Hosea 12:4), and the two wrestled until daybreak. When the being saw that he did not overpower Jacob, he touched Jacob on the sinew of his thigh (the gid hanasheh, גיד הנשה), and as a result, Jacob developed a limp (Genesis 32:31). Because of this, "to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket" (Genesis 32:32). This incident is the source of the mitzvah of porging.^[13]

Jacob then demanded a blessing, and the being declared that from then on, Jacob would be called יִשְׂרָאֵל, Israel (Yisra`el, meaning "one that struggled with the divine angel" (Josephus), "one who has prevailed with God" (Rashi), "a man seeing God" (Whiston), "he will rule as God" (Strong), or "a prince with God" (Morris), from Hebrew: שרה‎, "prevail", "have power as a prince").<sup>[14]</sup> Jacob asked the being's name, but he refused to answer. Afterwards Jacob named the place Penuel (Penuw`el, Peniy`el, meaning "face of God"),^[15] saying "I have seen God face to face and lived."

Because the terminology is ambiguous ("el" in Yisra`el) and inconsistent, and because this being refused to reveal his name, there are varying views as to whether he was a man, an angel, or God. Josephus uses only the terms "angel", "divine angel", and "angel of God", describing the struggle as no small victory. According to Rashi, the being was the guardian angel of Esau himself, sent to destroy Jacob before he could return to the land of Canaan. Trachtenberg theorized that the being refused to identify itself for fear that, if its secret name was known, it would be conjurable by incantations.^[16] Literal Christian interpreters like Henry M. Morris say that the stranger was "God Himself and, therefore, Christ in His preincarnate state", citing Jacob's own evaluation and the name he assumed thereafter, "one who fights victoriously with God", and adding that God had appeared in the human form of the Angel of the LORD to eat a meal with Abraham in Genesis 18.^[17]

In the morning, Jacob assembled his 4 wives and 11 sons, placing the maidservants and their children in front, Leah and her children next, and Rachel and Joseph in the rear. Some commentators cite this placement as proof that Jacob continued to favor Joseph over Leah's children, as presumably the rear position would have been safer from a frontal assault by Esau, which Jacob feared. Jacob himself took the foremost position. Esau's spirit of revenge, however, was apparently appeased by Jacob's bounteous gifts of camels, goats and flocks. Their reunion was an emotional one.

Peter Paul Rubens, The Reconciliation of Jacob and Esau, 1624.

Esau offered to accompany them on their way back to Israel, but Jacob protested that his children were still young and tender (born 6 to 13 years prior in the narrative); Jacob suggested eventually catching up with Esau at Mount Seir. According to the Sages, this was a prophetic reference to the End of Days, when Jacob's descendants will come to Mount Seir, the home of Edom, to deliver judgment against Esau's descendants for persecuting them throughout the millennia (see Obadiah 1:21). Jacob actually diverted himself to Succoth and was not recorded as rejoining Esau until, at Machpelah, the two bury their father Isaac, who lived to 180 and was 60 years older than them.

Jacob then arrived in Shechem, where he bought a parcel of land, now identified as Joseph's Tomb. In Shechem, Jacob's daughter Dinah was kidnapped and raped by the ruler's son, who desired to marry the girl. Dinah's brothers, Simeon and Levi, agreed in Jacob's name to permit the marriage as long as all the men of Shechem first circumcised themselves, ostensibly to unite the children of Jacob in Abraham's covenant of familial harmony. On the third day after the circumcisions, when all the men of Shechem were still in pain, Simeon and Levi put them all to death by the sword and rescued their sister Dinah, and their brothers plundered the property, women, and children. Jacob condemned this act, saying "You have brought trouble on me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people living in this land."^[18] He later rebuked his two sons for their anger in his deathbed blessing (Genesis 49:5-7).

Jacob returned to Bethel, where he had another vision of blessing. Although the death of Rebecca, Jacob's mother, is not explicitly recorded in the Bible, Deborah, Rebecca's nurse, died and was buried at Bethel, at a place that Jacob calls Allon Bachuth (אלון בכות), "Oak of Weepings" (Genesis 35:8). According to the Midrash,^[19] the plural form of the word "weeping" indicates the double sorrow that Rebecca also died at this time.

Jacob then made a further move while Rachel was pregnant; near Bethlehem, Rachel went into labor and died as she gave birth to her second son, Benjamin (Jacob's twelfth son). Jacob buried her and erected a monument over her grave. Rachel's Tomb, just outside Bethlehem, remains a popular site for pilgrimages and prayers to this day. Jacob then settled in Migdal Eder, where his firstborn, Reuben, slept with Rachel's servant Bilhah; Jacob's response was not given at the time, but he did condemn Reuben for it later, in his deathbed blessing. Jacob was finally reunited with his father Isaac in Mamre (outside Hebron).

When Isaac died at the age of 180, Jacob and Esau buried him in the Cave of the Patriarchs, which Abraham had purchased as a family burial plot. At this point in the biblical narrative, two genealogies of Esau's family appear under the headings "the generations of Esau". A conservative interpretation is that, at Isaac's burial, Jacob obtained the records of Esau, who had been married 80 years prior, and incorporated them into his own family records, and that Moses augmented and published them.^[20]

Jacob in Hebron[link]

The house of Jacob dwelt in Hebron,^[21] in the land of Canaan. His flocks were often fed in the pastures of Shechem ^[22][23] as well as Dothan.^[24] Of all the children in his household, he loved Rachel’s firstborn son, Joseph, the most. Thus Joseph’s half brothers were jealous of him and they ridiculed him often. Joseph even told his father about all of his half brothers’ misdeeds. When Joseph was seventeen years old, Jacob made a long coat or tunic of many colors for him. Seeing this, the half brothers began to hate Joseph. Then Joseph began to have dreams that implied that his family would bow down to him. When he told his brothers about these dreams, it drove them to conspire against him. When Jacob heard of these dreams, he rebuked his son for proposing the idea that the house of Jacob would even bow down to Joseph. Yet, he contemplated his son’s words about these dreams. (Genesis 37:1-11)

Joseph's Coat Brought to Jacob
by Giovanni Andrea de Ferrari, c. 1640.

Sometime afterward, the sons of Jacob by Leah, Bilhah and Zilpah, were feeding his flocks in Shechem. Jacob wanted to know how things were doing, so he asked Joseph to go down there and return with a report.^[25] This was the last time he would ever see his son in Hebron. Later that day, the report that Jacob ended up receiving came from Joseph's brothers who brought before him a coat laden with blood. Jacob identified the coat as the one he made for Joseph. At that moment he cried “It is my son’s tunic. A wild beast has devoured him. Without doubt Joseph is torn to pieces.” He rent his clothes and put sackcloth around his waist mourning for days. No one from the house of Jacob could comfort him during this time of bereavement. (Genesis 37:31-35)

The truth was, Jacob’s son Joseph, was turned on by his brothers and ultimately sold into slavery on a caravan headed for Egypt. (Genesis 37:36)

Seven year famine[link]

Twenty years later,^[26] throughout the Middle East a severe famine occurred like none other that lasted seven years.^[27] It crippled nations.^[28] The word was that the only kingdom prospering was Egypt. In the second year of this great famine,^[29] when Israel (Jacob) was about 130 years old,^[30] he told his ten sons of Leah, Bilhah and Zilpah, to go to Egypt and buy grain. Israel’s youngest son Benjamin, born from Rachel, stayed behind by his father’s order to keep him safe. (Genesis 42:1-5)

When the ten sons returned to their father Israel, from Egypt, they were stockpiled with grain on their donkeys. They relayed to their father all that had happened in Egypt. They spoke of being accused of as spies and that their brother Simeon, had been taken prisoner. When Reuben, the eldest, mentioned that they needed to bring Benjamin to Egypt to prove their word as honest men, their father became furious with them. He couldn’t understand how they were put in a position to tell the Egyptians all about their family. When the sons of Israel opened their sacks, they saw their money that they used to pay for the grain. It was still in their possession, and so they all became afraid. Israel then became angry with the loss of Joseph, Simeon, and now possibly Benjamin. (Genesis 42:26-38)

It turned out that Joseph, who identified his brothers in Egypt, was able to secretly return that money that they used to pay for the grain, back to them.^[31] When the house of Israel consumed all the grain that they brought from Egypt, Israel told his sons to go back and buy more. This time, Judah spoke to his father in order to persuade him about having Benjamin accompany them, so as to prevent Egyptian retribution. In hopes of retrieving Simeon and ensuring Benjamin's return, Israel told them to bring the best fruits of their land, including: balm^{[disambiguation needed ]}, honey, spices, myrrh, pistachio nuts and almonds. Israel also mentioned that the money that was returned to their money sacks was probably a mistake or an oversight on their part. So, he told them to bring that money back and use double that amount to pay for the new grain. Lastly, he let Benjamin go with them and said “may God Almighty give you mercy… If I am bereaved, I am bereaved!” (Genesis 43:1-14)

Jacob in Egypt[link]

House of Israel welcomed by Pharaoh, watercolor by James Tissot (c. 1900)

When the sons of Israel (Jacob) returned to Hebron from their second trip, they came back with twenty additional donkeys carrying all kinds of goods and supplies as well as Egyptian transport wagons. When their father came out to meet them, his sons told him that Joseph was still alive, that he was the governor over all of Egypt and that he wanted the house of Israel to move to Egypt. Israel’s heart “stood still” and just couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Looking upon the wagons he declared “Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.” (Genesis 45:16-28)

Israel and his entire house of seventy,^[32] gathered up with all their livestock and began their journey to Egypt. En route, Israel stopped at Beersheba for the night to make a sacrificial offering to his god, Yahweh. Apparently he had some reservations about leaving the land of his forefathers, but God reassured him not to fear that he would rise again. God also assured that he would be with him, he would prosper, and he would also see his son Joseph who would lay him to rest. Continuing their journey to Egypt, when they approached in proximity, Israel sent his son Judah ahead to find out where the caravans were to stop. They were directed to disembark at Goshen. It was here, after twenty-two years, that Jacob saw his son Joseph once again. They embraced each other and wept together for quite a while. Israel then said, “Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive.” (Genesis 46:1-30)

The time had come for Joseph’s family to personally meet the Pharaoh of Egypt. After Joseph prepared his family for the meeting, the brothers came before the Pharaoh first, formally requesting to pasture in Egyptian lands. The Pharaoh honored their stay and even made the notion that if there were any competent men in their house, then they may elect a chief herdsman to oversee Egyptian livestock. Finally, Joseph’s father was brought out to meet the Pharaoh. Because the Pharaoh had such a high regard for Joseph, practically making him his equal,^[33] it was an honor to meet his father. Thus, Israel was able to bless the Pharaoh. The two chatted for a bit, the Pharaoh even inquiring of Israel’s age which happened to be 130 years old at that time. After the meeting, the families were directed to pasture in the land of Ramses where they lived in the province of Goshen. The house of Israel acquired many possessions and multiplied exceedingly during the course of seventeen years, even through the worst of the seven year famine. (Genesis 46:31-47:28)

Final days[link]

Jacob blessing Ephraim and Manasseh

Jacob's funeral procession

Israel (Jacob) was 147 years old when he called to his favorite son Joseph and pleaded that he not be buried in Egypt. Rather, he requested to be carried to the land of Canaan to be buried with his forefathers. Joseph swore to do as his father asked of him. Not too long afterward, Israel had fallen ill losing much of his vision. When Joseph came to visit his father, he brought with him his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. Israel declared that they would be heirs to the inheritance of the house of Israel, as if they were his own children, just as Reuben and Simeon were. Then Israel laid his right hand on the younger Ephraim’s head and his left hand on the eldest Manasseh’s head and blessed Joseph. However, Joseph was displeased that his father’s right hand was not on the head of his firstborn, so he switched his father’s hands. But Israel refused saying, “but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he.” A declaration he made, just as Israel himself was to his firstborn brother Esau. Then Israel called all of his sons in and prophesied their blessings or curses to all twelve of them in order of their ages. (Genesis 47:29-49:32)

Afterward, Israel died and the family, including the Egyptians, mourned him seventy days. Israel was embalmed and a great ceremonial journey to Canaan was prepared by Joseph. He led the servants of Pharaoh, and the elders of the houses Israel and Egypt beyond the Jordan River to Atad where they observed seven days of mourning. Their lamentation was so great that it caught the attention of surrounding Canaanites who remarked “This is a deep mourning of the Egyptians.” This spot was then named Abel Mizraim. Then they buried him in the cave of Machpelah, the property of Abraham when he bought it from the Hittites. (Genesis 49:33-50:14)

Cenotaph of Jacob, Cave of the Patriarchs

Sons of Jacob[link]

Jacob's wives had twelve sons and one daughter: Reuben (Genesis 29:32), Simeon (Genesis 29:33), Levi (Genesis 29:34), Judah (Genesis 29:35), Dan (Genesis 30:5), Naphtali (Genesis 30:7), Gad (Genesis 30:10), Asher (Genesis 30:12), Issachar (Genesis 30:17), Zebulun (Genesis 30:19), Dinah (Genesis 30:21), Joseph (Genesis 30:23), and Benjamin (Genesis 35:18).

The offspring of Jacob's sons became the tribes of Israel following the Exodus, when the Israelites conquered and settled in the Land of Israel.

Religious perspectives[link]

Jewish tradition[link]

According to the classic Jewish texts, Jacob, as the third and last patriarch, lives a life that parallels the descent of his offspring, the Jewish people, into the darkness of exile. In contrast to Abraham — who illuminates the world with knowledge of God and earns the respect of the inhabitants of the land of Canaan — and Isaac — who continues his father's teachings and also lives in relative harmony with his neighbors — Jacob experiences many personal struggles both in the land and out of it - including the hatred of his brother, Esau; the deception of his father-in-law, Laban; the rape of his daughter, Dinah; the death of his favorite wife, Rachel; and the sale of his son, Joseph. For this reason, the Jewish commentators interpret many elements of his story as being symbolic of the future difficulties and struggles the Jewish people would undergo.^{[citation needed]}

There are two opinions in the Midrash as to how old Rebekah was at the time of her marriage and, consequently, at the twins' birth. According to the traditional counting cited by Rashi, Isaac was 37 years old at the time of the Binding of Isaac, and news of Rebekah's birth reached Abraham immediately after that event.^[34] In that case, since Isaac was 60 when Jacob and Essau were born and they had been married for 20 years, then Isaac was 40 years old when he married Rebekah (Gen. 25:20), making Rebekah 3 years old at the time of her marriage, and 23 years old at the birth of Jacob and Essau. According to the second opinion, Rebekah was 14 years old at the time of their marriage, and 34 years old at the birth of Jacob and Essau.^[35] In either case, Isaac and Rebekah were married for 20 years before Jacob and Esau were born. The Midrash says that during Rebekah's pregnancy whenever she would pass a house of Torah study, Jacob would struggle to come out; whenever she would pass a house of idolatry, Esau would agitate to come out.^[36]

Rashi explained that Isaac, when blessing Jacob instead of Esau, smelled the heavenly scent of Gan Eden (Paradise) when Jacob entered his room and, in contrast, perceived Gehenna opening beneath Esau when the latter entered the room, showing him that he had been deceived all along by Esau's show of piety.^[37]

When Laban planned to deceive Jacob into marrying Leah instead of Rachel, the Midrash recounts that both Jacob and Rachel suspected that Laban would pull such a trick; Laban was known as the "Aramean" (deceiver), and changed Jacob's wages ten times during his employ (Genesis 31:7). The couple therefore devised a series of signs by which Jacob could identify the veiled bride on his wedding night. But when Rachel saw her sister being taken out to the wedding canopy, her heart went out to her for the public shame Leah would suffer if she were exposed. Rachel therefore gave Leah the signs so that Jacob would not realize the switch.

Jewish Apocalyptic literature of the Hellenistic period includes many ancient texts with narratives about Jacob, many times with details different from Genesis. The more important are the book of Jubilees and the Book of Biblical Antiquities. Jacob is also the protagonist of the Testament of Jacob, of the Ladder of Jacob and of the Prayer of Joseph, which interpret the experience of this Patriarch in the context of merkabah mysticism.

Eastern Christianity[link]

Russian Orthodox Icon of St. Jacob, 18th century (Iconostasis of Kizhi monastery, Russia).

The Eastern Orthodox Church and those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite see Jacob's dream as a prophecy of the Incarnation of the Logos, whereby Jacob's ladder is understood as a symbol of the Theotokos (Virgin Mary), who, according to Orthodox theology, united heaven and earth in her womb. The biblical account of this vision (Genesis 28:10-17) is one of the standard Old Testament readings at Vespers on Great Feasts of the Theotokos.

The account of Jacob's blessing of Joseph's sons is also seen as prophetic by Christian commentators. For example, the crossing of his arms to bestow his patriarchal blessing on them in Genesis 48:8-20 is seen as a foreshadowing of the blessings Christians believe resulted from Jesus' death on the cross.^{[citation needed]}

Islamic tradition[link]

Muslims revere Jacob (Arabic: يعقوب , Standard: Ya'qub) as a Prophet of Islam who received inspiration from God. He is acknowledged as a patriarch of Islam. Muslims believe that he preached the same monotheistic faith as his forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Ishmael. Jacob is mentioned 16 times in the Qur'an.^[38] In the majority of these references, Jacob is mentioned alongside fellow prophets and patriarchs as an ancient and pious prophet. According to the Qur'an, Jacob remained in the company of the elect throughout his life. (XXXVIII: 47) The Qur'an specifically mentions that Jacob was guided (VI: 84) and inspired (IV: 163) and was chosen to enforce the awareness of the Hereafter. (XXXVIII: 46) Jacob is described as a good-doer (XXI: 72) and the Qur'an further makes it clear that God inspired Jacob to contribute towards purification and hold the contact prayer. (XXI: 73) Jacob is further described as being resourceful and a possessor of great vision (XXXVIII: 45) and is further spoken of as being granted a "tongue [voice] of truthfulness to be heard". (XIX: 50)

Of the life of Jacob, the Qur'an narrates two especially important events. The first is the role he plays in the story of his son Joseph. The Qur'an narrates the story of Joseph in detail, and Jacob, being Joseph's father, is mentioned thrice and is referenced another 25 times.^[38] In the narrative, Jacob does not trust some of his older sons (XII: 11, 18, 23) because they do not respect him. (XII: 8, 16-17) Jacob's prophetic nature is evident from his foreknowledge of Joseph's future greatness (XII: 6), his foreboding and response to the supposed death of Joseph (XII: 13, 18) and in his response to the sons' plight in Egypt. (XII: 83, 86-87, 96) Islamic literature fleshes out the narrative of Jacob, and mentions that his wives included Rachel.^[39] Jacob is later mentioned in the Qur'an in the context of the promise bestowed to Zechariah, regarding the birth of John the Baptist. (XIX: 6) Jacob’s second mention is in the Qur'an’s second chapter. As Jacob lay on his deathbed, he asked his twelve sons to testify their faith to him before he departed from this world to the next. (II: 132) Each son testified in front of Jacob that they would promise to remain Muslim until the day of their death, that is they would surrender their wholeselves to God alone and would worship only Him.

In contrast to the Judeo-Christian view of Jacob, one main difference is that the story of Jacob's blessing, in which he deceives Isaac, is not accepted in Islam. The Qur'an makes it clear that Jacob was blessed by God as a prophet and, therefore, Muslims believe that his father, being a prophet as well, also knew of his son's greatness.^[40] Jacob is also cited in the Hadith as an example of one who was patient and trusting in God in the face of suffering.^[38] Jacob is also important as his life drew numerous parallels with the life of Muhammad. Jacob suffered great loss repeatedly, as did Muhammad in the Year of Sorrow, when both Khadija and Abu Talib died. Muhammad’s famous Night Journey, when the prophet travelled through the Heavens, has been seen by scholars as the obvious prophetic parallel to Jacob’s equally famous vision of Jacob's Ladder coming down from the Heavens. Muslim scholars have also linked both prophets through the fact that both prophets made at least one important journey in their lives; just as Jacob migrated from Canaan to Egypt, Muhammad migrated from Mecca to Medina.

The story of Jacob in Islam also draws many parallels with the Islamic traditions of Job, In that both had lost many things, and still upheld patience. In Islamic tradition, Jacob had lost his father, Isaac as well as his wife Rachel in the same year, followed by his loss of his favorite son, Joseph. Similarly Job lost everything, and stayed patient and kept faith in God, and eventually everything was returned back to him and some things were multiplied for him.

References[link]

Further reading[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Jacob

• Trachtenberg, Joshua (1939), Jewish Magic and Superstition: A Study in Folk Religion, New York: Behrman's Jewish Book house 

External links[link]

• Texts on Wikisource:
  • “Jacob,” a poem by Arthur Hugh Clough
  • Beach, Chandler B., ed. (1914). "Jacob". The New Student's Reference Work. Chicago: F. E. Compton and Co.. Wikisource 
  • "Jacob". Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921. 

This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may only interest a specific audience. Please help relocate any relevant information, and remove excessive detail that may be against Wikipedia inclusion policy. (March 2012)

This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style. Please help rewrite it to explain the fiction more clearly and provide non-fictional perspective. (September 2008)

Jacob "Jake" Black is a fictional character in the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. He is described as a Native American of the Quileute tribe in La Push, near Forks, Washington. In the second book of the series, he undergoes a transformation that allows him to morph into a wolf. For the majority of the series, Jacob competes with Edward Cullen for Bella Swan's love. In the films Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn, Jacob is played by Taylor Lautner.

Concept and creation[link]

According to Stephenie Meyer, Jacob was originally meant to be a device through which Bella could learn Edward's secret in Twilight. Meyer, her agent, and her editor all liked the character so much that they decided to give him a larger role in the following book, New Moon, with Meyer calling the character, "my favorite gift that New Moon gave to me."^[1]

"Jacob was my first experience with a character taking over—a minor character developing such roundness and life that I couldn't keep him locked inside a tiny role....From the very beginning, even when Jacob only appeared in chapter six of Twilight, he was so alive. I liked him. More than I should for such a small part."

Meyer has said that after Jacob started emerging as a prominent character in New Moon, she went back to Twilight, which she was editing at the time, to "weave Jacob and [his father Billy] throughout Twilight more centrally."^[1]

Role in the books[link]

[edit] Twilight

Jacob is given a small role in the first book of the series. He is introduced as the son of Billy Black, an old Swan family friend. When Bella uses him to get information on Edward Cullen and his family, Jacob tells her Quileute legends and introduces her to the idea that Edward is a vampire. Bella comes to like Jacob, and he develops a crush on her.^[2]

[edit] New Moon

In New Moon, Jacob's character is used as a device to help Bella emerge from her months-long depression, brought on by her distress over Edward's departure. The friendship between the two characters grows strong, but Jacob also develops romantic feelings for Bella that she does not reciprocate. It is revealed that, as a member of the Quileute tribe, Jacob is descended from an ancient line of "shape-shifters" that assume wolf form. In their backstory, the Quileutes are vampires' mortal enemies. When Jacob undergoes his first transformation into a wolf, it is in response to a new vampire threat. Soon, the character becomes busy patrolling the forest with his pack, searching for vampires in the area. When Bella is caught by the vampire Laurent alone in a clearing, she is saved by Jacob and the wolf pack, who chase and kill Laurent.

Jacob serves as a rescue for Bella and a foil to Edward on multiple occasions in the narrative. When Bella, whose character has taken increasingly dangerous risks to feel closer to Edward, impulsively jumps off a cliff and almost drowns, Jacob saves her life. After Edward mistakenly believes she has died and plans to kill himself, Bella and Edward's sister, Alice Cullen, rush to Italy to stop his suicide, leaving Jacob hurt and angry. Jacob is disgusted by Edward's return and by Bella's willingness to take him back after he left her. Jacob reminds Edward of his tribe's treaty with the Cullen family, which states that the Cullens are not allowed to bite humans.^[3]

[edit] Eclipse

In Eclipse, Jacob, enraged by the fact that Bella plans to become a vampire, attempts to distance himself by not returning her phone calls and refusing to see her. Later, during the scene when Jacob visits Bella and Edward to discuss the vampire Victoria's return, he tells Bella that he misses her and wishes that they could remain friends. With Edward's approval, Bella begins to visit Jacob on a regular basis. On one of these visits, Jacob tells Bella that he is in love with her and that he wants her to choose him over Edward. Bella is caught off guard by his confession and tells him she only thinks of him as a friend. He forcibly kisses her, much to her displeasure, and she reacts by punching him in the face, breaking her hand and not leaving a scratch on him.

Jacob's werewolf pack and the Cullen family join forces to defeat Victoria and the army of newborn vampires she has created. Before the battle, Jacob overhears Edward and Bella discussing their engagement, which angers him greatly. Jacob threatens suicide and Bella, in an attempt to stop him, kisses him passionately. Afterward, she comes to the realization that she loves Jacob, but her love for Edward is greater. The epilogue is written from Jacob's point-of-view; angry, heartbroken, and hurt at Bella's decision to become a vampire, he runs away in his wolf form to escape his pain.^[4]

[edit] Breaking Dawn

Jacob returns after an absence of several weeks to attend Bella and Edward's wedding in Breaking Dawn. Though described as being still visibly pained by her decision, he tells Bella that he wants her to be happy. However, when Bella inadvertently informs him that she and Edward plan to have sex before she becomes a vampire, Jacob becomes enraged because he is said to know that Edward's strength could kill her. When Bella and Edward return from their honeymoon, Jacob becomes the narrator of the story for several chapters, during which he learns that she is pregnant with Edward's half-vampire, half-human child and has become desperately weak. When Jacob informs the pack of Bella's pregnancy, their leader Sam Uley plans an attack on the Cullens in order to kill Bella and, thereby, her unborn child because of the threat he believes the child presents. Jacob, who feels that the Cullens are innocent, disobeys Sam's command and separates himself from the pack. Fulfilling his birthright as an Alpha wolf, he is joined in a new pack by Seth and Leah Clearwater, who aid Jacob and the Cullens in protecting Bella. After the birth of Renesmee Carlie Cullen, Bella and Edward's daughter, Jacob immediately "imprints"— an involuntary response in which a shape-shifter finds his soul mate—on Renesmee. As a result, his affections are shifted and the romantic conflict between Jacob and Bella's characters is resolved. They remain close friends. The enmity between Jacob and the Cullens is also dispelled, and he and Edward come to view each other as brothers.^[5]

Characterization[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Physical appearance[link]

Jacob is characterized as having primarily dark features by his "dark russet skin", "dark eyes", and "black hair". In Twilight, he is described as a lanky 6' 2" fifteen-year-old with hair down to his shoulders. By Breaking Dawn, Jacob's growing character stands at 7 feet and has a muscular build. In New Moon, after discovering that he can turn into a wolf, he cuts off his long hair. He later grows it out in Eclipse, thinking that Bella prefers it long. This makes his fur as a wolf shaggier and longer than that of the other wolves. He is said to be quite handsome, as Bella once mentions her jealousy of his features and describes him as "sort of beautiful". He tends to wear only cut-off style jeans or shorts with no shirt, since clothes are often ruined during his transformations into a wolf. As a wolf, Jacob has fur that is described as reddish-brown. In the films, the members of the pack all have the same tattoo on their right shoulder.

Personality and abilities[link]

Bella describes Jacob as a "happy person" who extends this happiness to the people around him. As Jacob's character emerges in New Moon, he is shown to be cheery, passionate, and adventurous, but hot-headed. Jacob is also able to shape-shift at will into a giant wolf, and sometimes when angered he will involuntarily phase. His body temperature is warmer than a human's body should be, reaching about 108.9 °F (42.7 °C), which allows him to withstand very cold weather. In human form, his body heals within seconds, he possesses superhuman strength and speed, has a high durability rate, sharp senses and free running abilities. In werewolf form he can communicate with his werewolf pack telepathically, has enhanced superhuman strength and speed and a substantial size increase. Werewolves teeth can cut through the hard bodies of a vampire with ease. Werewolves do not age if they regularly turn into their wolf form, with Jacob's body physically grown to the equivalent of a 25-year-old in Breaking Dawn. Jacob is the strongest of the pack. Once they begin phasing, a werewolf may "imprint"—a method of finding one's soulmate—on someone, and will act as whatever the imprintee needs, whether it be a protector, a lover, or an older sibling. Jacob imprints on Edward and Bella's daughter Renesmee in Breaking Dawn.

While treating Jacob in Eclipse, Carlisle takes a blood sample and runs some tests on it. He discovers that he has 24 pairs of chromosomes, one more than a human. A distinction is made in Breaking Dawn between the Children of the Moon ("true werewolves") and this shape-shifting tribe. The former are held to be a more ferocious type, with a transformative venomous bite and who involuntary phase as do traditional werewolves on the full moon.

Film portrayal[link]

Taylor Lautner played the part of Jacob Black in the film adaptation of Twilight.^[6] Due to major physical changes in the character of Jacob between Twilight and New Moon, director Chris Weitz considered replacing Lautner in the sequel with an actor who could more accurately portray "the new, larger Jacob Black."^[7] In an attempt to keep the role, Lautner stated, "I have been working out. I've been working out since the day we finished filming Twilight. I just weighed myself today; I've put on 19 pounds... [and] I'm guaranteeing Weitz 10 more [pounds] by filming."^[8] In January 2009, Weitz and Summit Entertainment announced that Lautner would continue to play the role of Jacob in New Moon.^[9]

Team Jacob[link]

Many fans of the Twilight franchise, particularly teenagers, like to debate whether Edward or Jacob is the better match for Bella. Both sides of the debate have coalesced around informal "teams" of followers, whether "Team Jacob" or "Team Edward." In a poll done by Novel Novice Twilight and appearing on NNT News in 2008, Team Jacob got 2,641 votes and Team Edward got 5,130 votes. A poll done by Top7 with over 43,000 votes had Jacob trailing Edward by around 3,000 votes.^[10]

Saturday Night Live lampooned these overzealous teenage fans in a sketch on December 12, 2009, with host Taylor Lautner portraying a diehard Edward supporter.^[11]

References[link]

External links[link]

Twilight portal

• Stephenie Meyer Official Website

v t e The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer Twilight New Moon Eclipse Breaking Dawn Film • Soundtrack Film • Soundtrack Film • Soundtrack Films • Soundtrack 1 Characters Bella Swan · Edward Cullen · Jacob Black Spin-offs The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner · Twilight: The Graphic Novel · Midnight Sun (unpublished) · The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide Related Film series · Scene It game · Cast members · Vampires Suck  · Twicon Category · Portal

Daniel Dwayne Simmons III (born March 21, 1995), better known by his stage name Diggy Simmons or simply as Diggy, is an American rapper and the fourth child of Joseph "Rev. Run" Simmons. He, along with his parents and five siblings, were the primary subjects of the MTV reality television show Run's House. Diggy is also the youngest member of the hip-hop collective All City Chess Club.

Music career[link]

Diggy Simmons released his debut mixtape, The First Flight, in 2009.^[1][2] More than 100,000 people downloaded the album from Simmons' blog.^[3] Following the album's release, according to Simmons, five record labels showed interest in signing him; he chose Atlantic Records.^[4] Early in 2010, Simmons uploaded a video of himself freestyling over the Nas song, "Made You Look". The video became a viral hit^[1] and garnered praise from Kanye West, who responded on Twitter: "I knew this kid was [going] to be fresh. I knew it!"^[5]

Airborne, Simmons' second mixtape, was released in 2010.^[1][6] It was preceded by the leak of the song "Oh Yeah!", which featured Pharrell Williams and Lupe Fiasco.^[7] Album track "Great Expectations" was featured that year in a national AT&T television commercial.^[1][8] Simmons released his third mixtape, "Past Presents Future", in December. The album, hosted by DJ Premier, features samples of songs from the 1980s and 1990s by such artists as Nas, A Tribe Called Quest and Rakim. A video was released for the track "Shook Ones", which samples the Mobb Deep song of the same name.^[9]

Early the next year, Simmons was named one of Billboard's "Artists to Watch 2011" and was selected to XXL's annual Freshmen list.^[10][11] "Click Clack Away", a song featuring Bruno Mars, leaked onto the internet in May. Simmons noted that the track would not be included on his debut studio album, set to be released by the end of the year.^[12][13] He released his first major-label single, "Copy, Paste", soon thereafter.^[1][14] The song's video was directed by Phil the God, who previously directed Simmons' "Made You Look", "What They Been Waiting For" and "Shook Ones".^[15][16] Simmons performed the song during the pre-show for the 2011 BET Awards.^[17] "Copy, Paste" peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in September.^[18] That month, Simmons released the song "Just Begun" however Simmons tweeted on twitter it was not going to be on the album.^[19] Simmons is featured on the singles "Like 'Em All" by Jacob Latimore, "Mrs. Right" by Mindless Behavior and "Yeah Right" by Dionne Bromfield.^[9][20][21] "Yeah Right" reached number 36 on the UK Singles Chart in April 2011.^[22] On October 24th 2011 Diggy released "Do It Like You" as the second official single from his debut album, Unexpected Arrival a music video has been released with the song's featured artist Jeremih appearing in the clip. Also on February 24 the song "88" was released as the third official single. The song features Jadakiss and a viral music video was released for the track. ^[23]

Simmons has cited many rappers as his influences including Jay-Z, Nas, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, A Tribe Called Quest and Wu-Tang Clan.^[8] He has also expressed an interest in alternative music, including such bands as Maroon 5, Passion Pit and Arctic Monkeys. Simmons said, "It’s a genre I would want to try in the future."^[2]

Clothing line[link]

In 2010, Simmons launched a line of urban sneakers called Chivalrous Culture. He says he gets inspiration from other artists such as Kanye and Jay-Z ^[1] The first shoe model is called the "Hamachi".^[24]

Discography[link]

Mixtapes

• The First Flight (2009)
• Airborne (2010)
• Past Presents Future (2010)

Singles[link]

As featured artist[link]

See also[link]

• Run's House

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Diggy Simmons

• Official website
• Diggy Simmons on Twitter
• Diggy Simmons's channel on YouTube
• Diggy Simmons on Myspace

Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber at the NRJ Music Awards in Cannes, France in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Justin Drew Bieber[1]
Born	(1994-03-01) March 1, 1994 (age 18)[2] London, Ontario, Canada
Origin	Stratford, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Pop, R&B, teen pop[3][4][5]
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, actor
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano, percussion,[6] trumpet[7]
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Island, RBMG
Associated acts	Usher, Ludacris
Website	justinbiebermusic.com

Justin Drew Bieber ( /ˈbiːbər/ BEE-bər, born March 1, 1994)^[2] is a Canadian Pop/R&B singer-songwriter, musician, and actor.^[3][5] Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun,^[8] who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager. Braun arranged for him to meet with Usher in Atlanta, Georgia, and Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher,^[9] and then to a recording contract with Island Records offered by L.A. Reid.^[6][10] Bieber's debut single, "One Time", was released in 2009 and peaked in the top twenty in Canada and charted in the top thirty in several international markets. His debut album, the seven-track EP My World, followed in November 2009, and was soon certified platinum in the United States. He became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on the Billboard Hot 100.^[11]

Bieber's first full-length studio album, My World 2.0, was released in March 2010. It debuted at number one or within the top ten in several countries and was certified platinum in the United States. It was preceded by the worldwide top-ten single, "Baby". The music video of "Baby" is currently ranked as the most viewed and most discussed YouTube video.^[12] Bieber followed up the release of his debut album with his first headlining tour, the My World Tour, the remix albums My Worlds Acoustic and Never Say Never – The Remixes, and the 3D biopic-concert film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, that nearly matched the record for the biggest opening weekend gross for a concert-film. Bieber released his second studio album, Under the Mistletoe, in November 2011, which debuted at number one on the Billboard 200. Bieber has received numerous awards, including Artist of the Year at the 2010 American Music Awards, and has been nominated for such awards as Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 53rd Grammy Awards. In 2012, Bieber was named Forbes 3rd most powerful celebrity in the world, earning $55 million. As of May 2012, Bieber has sold 15 million albums.^[13]

Early life[link]

Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in London, Ontario in St Joseph's Hospital,^[14][15] and was raised in Stratford, Ontario.^[16] Bieber's mother, Patricia Lynn "Pattie" Mallette, was 18 years old when she became pregnant. Mallette, originally from Stratford, raised her son with the help of her parents, Bruce and Diane.^[17] Mallette worked a series of low-paying office jobs, raising Bieber as a single mother in low-income housing. Bieber has maintained contact with his father, Jeremy Jack Bieber, who married another woman and had two children.^[18][19][20] Bieber's great-grandfather was from Germany.^[21] Bieber's mother's ancestry is French Canadian.^[22] Bieber attended a French immersion elementary school in Stratford called Jeanne Sauvé Catholic School.^[17]

During his childhood, Bieber was interested in hockey, soccer, and chess; he often kept his musical aspirations to himself.^[18] As he grew up, Bieber taught himself to play the piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet.^[16][23] In early 2007, when he was twelve, Bieber sang Ne-Yo's "So Sick" for a local singing competition in Stratford and was placed second.^[6][23] Mallette posted a video of the performance on YouTube for their family and friends to see. She continued to upload videos of Bieber singing covers of various R&B songs, and Bieber's popularity on the site grew.^[10] Chris Hicks, Bieber's A&R at Island/Def Jam, explained the young artist's huge online following to HitQuarters by saying:

"He was doing something different. He was an attractive white kid singing very soulful R&B hits. That set him apart immediately from anyone in his range because no one was covering or singing these kind of records. But equally important was that you believed in these songs – it was real. And you wanted to hear more."^[24]

Career[link]

[edit] 2008–09: Discovery and My World

While searching for videos of a different singer, Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive of So So Def, clicked on one of Bieber's 2007 videos by accident.^[18] Impressed, Braun tracked down the theater Bieber was performing in, located Bieber's school, and finally contacted Mallette. Mallette was reluctant because of Braun's Jewish religion; she remembered praying, "God, I gave him to you. You could send me a Christian man, a Christian label! ... you don’t want this Jewish kid to be Justin’s man, do you?"^[18] However, after praying with her church elders and receiving their encouragement, she permitted Braun to fly Bieber, then 13,^[10] to Atlanta, Georgia, to record demo tapes.^[18] A week after arriving, Bieber sang for R&B singer/songwriter Usher.^[25] Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher.^[9] Justin Timberlake was also reportedly in the running to sign Bieber, but lost the bidding war to Usher.^[9][26] Usher then sought assistance in finding a label home for the artist from then manager Chris Hicks, who helped engineer an audition with his contact Antonio L.A. Reid of Island Def Jam Music Group.^[24] Reid signed Bieber to Island Records in October 2008 (resulting in a joint venture between RBMG and Island Records) and appointed Hicks as executive Vice-President of Def Jam where he would be able manage Bieber's career at the label.^{[6][9][10][24]} At that point, Bieber and his mother moved to Atlanta temporarily, also the home of Usher and Braun, to record and get counseling from Braun.^[9] Braun became Bieber's manager.^[10]

Bieber in September 2009 at the Nintendo World Store

Bieber's first single, "One Time", was released to radio while Bieber was still recording his debut album.^[27] The song reached number 12 on the Canadian Hot 100 during its first week of release in July 2009,^[10] and later peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. During fall 2009 it had success in international markets.^[28] The song was certified Platinum in Canada and the US and Gold in Australia and New Zealand.^[29][30][31] Bieber's first release, an extended play entitled My World, was released on November 17, 2009. The album's second single, "One Less Lonely Girl", and two promo singles, "Love Me", and "Favorite Girl", were released exclusively on the iTunes store and charted within the top forty of the Billboard Hot 100.^[28] "One Less Lonely Girl" was later also released to radio and peaked within the top fifteen in Canada and the US, being certified Gold in the latter.^[28] My World was eventually certified Platinum in the US and Double Platinum in both Canada and the UK.^[31][32][33] To promote the album, Bieber performed on several live shows such as mtvU's VMA 09 Tour, European program The Dome, YTV's The Next Star, The Today Show,^[34][35] The Wendy Williams Show, Lopez Tonight, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, It's On with Alexa Chung, Good Morning America, Chelsea Lately, and BET's 106 & Park with Rihanna. Bieber also guest starred in an episode of True Jackson, VP in late 2009.^[36]

Bieber performed Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas" for U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the White House for Christmas in Washington, which was broadcast on December 20, 2009, on U.S. television broadcaster TNT.^[37] Bieber was also one of the performers at Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest on December 31, 2009.^[38] Bieber was a presenter at the 52nd Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010. He was invited to be a vocalist for the remake of We Are The World (a song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie) for its 25th anniversary to benefit Haiti after the earthquake. Bieber sings the opening line, which was sung by Lionel Richie in the original version.^[39] On March 12, 2010, a version of K'naan's "Wavin' Flag" recorded by a collective of Canadian musicians known as Young Artists for Haiti was released. Bieber is featured in the song, performing the closing lines.

[edit] 2010–11: My World 2.0 and Never Say Never film

"Baby", the lead single from his debut album, My World 2.0, which features Ludacris, was released in January 2010 and became his biggest hit thus far, charting at number five in the U.S. and reaching the top ten in seven other countries.^[28] Two promo singles "Never Let You Go", and "U Smile" were top thirty hits on the U.S. Hot 100, and top twenty hits in Canada.^[28] According to review aggregator Metacritic, the album has received "generally favorable reviews".^[40] It debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, making Bieber the youngest solo male act to top the chart since Stevie Wonder in 1963.^[41] My World 2.0 also debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, Irish Albums Chart, Australian Albums Chart, and the New Zealand Albums Chart^[28] and reached the top ten of fifteen other countries.^[42][43] To promote the album, Bieber appeared on several live programs including The View, the 2010 Kids Choice Awards, Nightline, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Dome and 106 and Park.^[44] Bieber collaborated with Sean Kingston on his single "Eenie Meenie" which also appeared on Bieber's debut album. The song reached the top ten in the United Kingdom and Australia, and the top-twenty of most other markets.

Bieber performing at the Conseco Fieldhouse, in August 2010

On April 10, 2010, Bieber was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live.^[45] On July 4, 2010, Bieber performed at the Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular in New York City.^[46] The second single from My World 2.0, "Somebody to Love", was released in April 2010, and a remix was released featuring Bieber's mentor Usher. The single reached number ten in Canada, number fifteen in the United States, and the top twenty in multiple international countries.

On June 23, 2010, Bieber went on his first official headlining tour, the My World Tour, starting in Hartford, Connecticut, to promote My World and My World 2.0.^[47] In July 2010, it was reported that Bieber was the most searched for celebrity on the Internet.^[48] That same month his music video, "Baby", surpassed Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" to become the most viewed, and most disliked YouTube video ever.^[49] In September 2010, it was reported that Bieber accounted for three percent of all traffic on Twitter, according to an employee of the social-networking site.^[50]

Bieber began recording his second album in July 2010 in New York City.^[51] At this point, because of puberty, his voice was deeper than it was when he recorded his first album. In April 2010, the singer discussing his vocals remarked, "It cracks. Like every teenage boy, I'm dealing with it and I have the best vocal coach in the world. [...] Some of the notes I hit on "Baby" I can't hit anymore. We have to lower the key when I sing live."^[52]

Bieber performing in Jakarta during his My World Tour.

Bieber guest-starred in the season premiere of the CBS crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which aired on September 23, 2010. He played a "troubled teen who is faced with a difficult decision regarding his only brother", who is also a serial bomber. Bieber was also in a subsequent episode which aired on February 17, 2011, in which his character is killed.^[53] Bieber performed a medley of "U Smile", "Baby", and "Somebody to Love" and briefly played the drums at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010.^[54] Bieber announced in October 2010 that he would release an acoustic album, called My Worlds Acoustic.^[55] It was released on Black Friday in the United States and featured acoustic versions of songs from his previous albums, and accompanied the release of a completely new song titled "Pray".^[56]

A 3-D part-biopic, part-concert film starring Bieber entitled Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, was released on February 11, 2011, directed by Step Up 3D director Jon Chu. It topped the box office with an estimated gross of $12.4 million on its opening day from 3,105 theaters.^[57] It grossed $30.3 million for the weekend and was narrowly beaten by the romantic comedy Just Go With It, which grossed $31 million.^[58] Never Say Never is said to have exceeded industry expectations, nearly matching the $31.1 million grossed by Miley Cyrus's 2008 3-D concert film, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, which holds the record for the top debut for a music-documentary.^[59][60] Never Say Never grossed a total of $98,441,954 worldwide.^[61] The film is accompanied by his second remix album, Never Say Never – The Remixes, released February 14, 2011, and features remixes of songs from his debut album, with guest appearances from Miley Cyrus, Chris Brown, and Kanye West, among others.^[62]

[edit] 2011–present: Under The Mistletoe and Believe

On February 27, 2011, Bieber attended the 2011 Vanity Fair Oscar Party with American actress and singer Selena Gomez,^[63] confirming several months of media speculation about a romantic relationship between the pair.^{[64][65][66][67][68][69]}

In June 2011, Bieber was ranked number 2 on the Forbes list of Best-Paid Celebrities under 30. He is the youngest star and 1 of 7 musicians on the list raking in with $53 million earned in a 12 month period.^[70] On November 1, 2011, Bieber released Under the Mistletoe, his second studio album.^[71] It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 210,000 copies in its first week of release.^[72]

In late 2011, Bieber began recording his third studio album, entitled Believe. Kanye West and Drake are confirmed to be featured on the album.^[73] On February 22, 2012, Bieber announced via Twitter that the first single off Believe will be released in March 2012.^[74] The following week, Bieber appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show to announce that the first single will be called "Boyfriend" and was released on March 26, 2012.^[75] The song was co-written by Mike Posner.^[76] The second single, Die In Your Arms, was released on May 29th, 2012. ^[77]

Image[link]

Justin Bieber has a higher score on the Klout online "influence" scale than Barack Obama or The Dalai Lama.^[78] According to Jan Hoffman of The New York Times, part of Bieber's appeal stems from his YouTube channel. Long before he released his EP, My World, in mid-November, the YouTube videos attracted millions of views.^[18] Braun recognized the appeal. Prior to flying him to Atlanta, Braun wanted to "build him up more on YouTube first" and had Bieber record more home videos for the channel. "I said: 'Justin, sing like there’s no one in the room. But let's not use expensive cameras.' We'll give it to kids, let them do the work, so that they feel like it's theirs", recalled Braun.^[18] Bieber continues to upload videos to the same channel and has opened a Twitter account, from which he interacts with fans regularly;^[10] his account was reported in November 2010 to have over 6 million followers.^[79] Since then he has been consistently gaining followers at an average of 24,000 per day.^[80] The accounts also serve marketing purposes; for example, Bieber's music video for "One Time" only began selling quickly after it was uploaded to YouTube.^[81]

Bieber performing "Favorite Girl" in Zurich, Switzerland April 2011.

Usher comments that while he and Bieber were both signed at the same age, "I had the chance to ramp up my success, where this has happened to Bieber abruptly." As a result, Usher, Braun, Bieber's bodyguard Kenny, and other adults surrounding Bieber constantly coach him on handling fame and his public image.^[18] After signing Bieber, Usher appointed one of his former assistants, Ryan Good, to be Bieber's road manager and stylist. Good, once nicknamed Bieber's "swagger coach", created a "streetwise look" for the singer which consisted of baseball caps, hoodies, dog chains and flashy sneakers. Amy Kaufman of The Los Angeles Times comments, "Though a product of a middle-class suburban upbringing in Stratford, Ontario, Bieber's manner of dress and speech ("Wassup man, how you doin'?" or "It's like, you know, whateva' ") suggest he's mimicking his favorite rappers."^[82]

Bieber is often featured in teen magazines such as Tiger Beat,^[18] and has been labeled as a "teen heartthrob".^[83] Bieber has released a collection of nail varnishes to raise awareness for charity.^[84] Wax statues of Bieber are on display at Madame Tussauds wax museums in New York, Amsterdam and London.^[85] His change of hairstyle in 2010, and the consequent alterations to Bieber products, led to it being called 'the most expensive musical haircut of all time;^[86] one company spent $100,000 to fix its dolls for the 2011 Christmas season.^[87]

Bieber has been criticized for looking and sounding younger than his age, his teen-pop music, image, and frequent media attention.^[88] He has been a frequent target of Internet bloggers and message board posters, notably by users of Internet message board 4chan and users of YouTube.^[89] Nick Collins of The Daily Telegraph speculated that "Bieber's character also appears to strike a particularly sour note with his Internet critics, with many remarks commenting on his youthful appearance, his teen-pop songs, his image as a heart-throb to young teenage girls and his manner of speech".^[90]

Personal views and life[link]

Bieber is a Christian,^[91] and said he has a relationship with Jesus, talks to him and that "he's the reason I'm here".^[92]

Bieber's comments in a February 2011 profile in Rolling Stone sparked controversy.^[93] Asked about abstinence, Bieber responded, "I don't think you should have sex with anyone unless you love them." He said he does not "believe in abortion" and that it is "like killing a baby".^[94] He described sexual orientation as "everyone's own decision."^[95] Bieber has contributed to the It Gets Better Project,^[96] which aims to prevent suicide among LGBT youth.^[97]

Bieber has said he is not interested in obtaining United States citizenship and has criticized America's health care system. Praising Canada as being "the best country in the world", he cited its health care system as a model example.^[94]

In May 2012, Bieber purchased a 10,000 square-foot mansion on 1.3 acres of land, located in the community of Calabasas, California, a suburb of Los Angeles.^[98]

Twitter[link]

As of April 2012^[update], Bieber's Twitter account (@justinbieber) is the second most popular celebrity account behind that of Lady Gaga.^[99] By mid-April 2012, he had over 20 million followers.^[100][101] His follower acquisition is one new follower every other second.^[102][103] His popularity on Twitter at one point accounted for three percent of all Twitter related traffic, with a Twitter employee commenting that "racks of servers are dedicated" to Bieber.^{[103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112]} This resulted in over 180 million page views for the service each month.^[105] Bieber was frequently a trending topic on Twitter when the feature first launched^[105] because his fans frequently discussed him on the network. ^[113] and was named the top trending star on Twitter in 2010;^[114] Klout gave his account a score of 100.^[115][116]

The size of Bieber's and Gaga's follower bases are cited as a reason why marketers should pay attention to Twitter:^[117] with an ability to reach millions of people with a single tweet.^[117] 8.3% of tweets mentioning "bieber" were semi-automated and probably Twitter related spam.^[118] Research done about Twitter and the 2011 Egyptian revolution includes Bieber as he made tweets about the topic at a time when he had roughly 8 million followers. His multiple tweets resulted in 32,000 responses each, which made Bieber's Twitter account one of the single largest nodes for discussion about the uprising one of the largest on Twitter.^[119][120]

In March 2012, Bieber fans launched an unsuccessful attempt to unseat Lady Gaga as the most popular celebrity on Twitter. Neither Bieber nor Lady Gaga discussed their mutual fanbase's campaigns on Twitter.^[121]

Discography[link]

Justin Bieber portal

• My World 2.0 (2010)
• Under the Mistletoe (2011)
• Believe (2012)

Tours[link]

• 2009: Urban Behavior Tour
• 2010–2011: My World Tour
• 2012-2013: Believe Tour

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]