- published: 09 Jul 2016
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Jacob (later given the name Israel) is regarded as a Patriarch of the Israelites. According to the Book of Genesis, Jacob (/ˈdʒeɪkəb/; Hebrew: יַעֲקֹב Standard Yaʿakov) was the third Hebrew progenitor with whom God made a covenant. He is the son of Isaac and Rebecca, the grandson of Abraham, 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 handmaidens Bilhah and Zilpah.
Jacob's twelve sons, named in Genesis, were Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. His only daughter mentioned in Genesis is Dinah. The twelve sons became the progenitors of the "Tribes of Israel".
As a result of a severe drought in Canaan, Jacob and his sons moved to Egypt at the time when his son Joseph was viceroy. After 17 years in Egypt, Jacob died and Joseph carried Jacob's remains to the land of Canaan, and gave him a stately burial in the same Cave of Machpelah as were buried Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebecca, and Jacob's first wife, Leah.
Jacob Kettler (German: Jakob von Kettler) (28 October 1610 – 1 January 1682) was a Baltic German Duke of the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1642–1682). Under his rule, the duchy was brought to its greatest peak in wealth and engaged in colonization.
Kettler was born in Goldingen (Kuldīga). He was the son of Wilhelm Kettler and Sofie Hohenzollern, Princess of Prussia, a daughter of Albert Frederick, Duke of Prussia. He was the godson of King James I of England. While his father was exiled from duchy Jacob lived in the courts of Stettin and Berlin. He had studied in the Rostock and University of Leipzig and was sympathizing to ideas of mercantilism. In 1634 Jacob traveled through the Europe. He visited Paris, London and studied shipbuilding in Amsterdam. In 1638 he became co-ruler of the duchy but in 1642 he became sole duke of Courland.
Under Kettler's rule, the duchy traded with nations like the Netherlands, Portugal, England, and France. He started large scale reforms of the duchy's economy. The Duke improved the agriculture, opened many manufactures and started active shipbuilding. During Jacobs reign the Duchy became de facto independent from the Polish crown because all contracts with foreign powers were signed as between independent countries. Since 1646 all customs administration of the Duchy also was in the Duke's power.