Sublime

Others say the switching back and forth is a subtle way of indicating the direction in which Jacob-Israel’s heart is focused at the time: Jacob is the old man, who looks to himself, but Israel is the new man, who looks to God.

Jacob is called Israel; it’s the first time we see this word in Scripture. The name eventually refers not only to this one man, but to his descendants too.

It appears that finally, she had taken her heart’s deepest hopes off of her husband and her children, and had put them on the Lord. Jacob and Laban had stolen Leah’s life, but when she gave her heart finally to the Lord, she got her life back.

Israël est le nom que reçut le patriarche Jacob. Il eut douze fils, ancêtres des douze tribus entre lesquelles se partageaient les Hébreux sortis d’Égypte.

Abraham gave Jews the courage to challenge the idols of the age. Isaac gave them the capacity for self-sacrifice. Moses taught them to be passionate fighters for justice. But Jacob gave them the knowledge that precisely when you feel most alone, God is still with you, giving you the courage to hope and the strength to dream.

Just as Benjamin is the “beloved (Greek ēgapēmenos) of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 33:12), so John is the “disciple whom Jesus loved (Greek ēgapa)” (John 19:26).

Abraham et Sarah,