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,altemus' ,children of the ,bible       
,series  ,,the ,,farmer ,,boy2 ,,the    
,,story ,,of ,,jacob  by  ,j4 ,h4       
,,willard  ,illustrated  ,philadelphia  
,henry ,altemus ,company  #aije         
,frontispiece    ,altemus' ,illustrated 
,children of the ,bible ,series    ,the 
,boy who ,obeyed3  ,the ,story of ,isaac
   ,the ,farmer ,boy3   ,the ,story of  
,jacob   ,the ,favorite ,son3  ,the     
,story of ,joseph   ,the ,adopted ,son3 
,the ,story of ,moses   ,the ,boy       
,general3  ,the ,story of ,joshua   ,the
 ,boy at ,school3  ,the ,story of       
,samuel   ,the ,shepherd ,boy3  ,the    
,story of ,david   ,the ,boy who would  
be ,king3  ,the ,story of ,absalom      

,the ,captive ,boy3  ,the ,story of     
,daniel   ,the ,boy ,jesus              
,illustration3  no caption4    ,,the    
,,farmer ,,boy  ,,the ,,story ,,of      
,,jacob  ,abraham1 the father of the    
great ,israelitish1 or ,hebrew1 nation1 
was the chief1 or sheikh1 as he would be
 called now1 of his family or tribe1 and
 with his flocks of sheep1 herds of     
cattle1 camels and other animals1       
servants and followers1 moved from place
 to place1 adding to his wealth as time 
went on and making for himself a        
respected name wherever he went4  ,god  
chose ,abraham to be the founder of this
 mighty nation1 and at his death        
promised a continuation of ,his favor to
 his son ,isaac1 who had married        
,rebekah1 the daughter of ,bethuel1 who 
was ,abraham's nephew4 ,isaac was an    
only son and inherited his father's     
great wealth4  ,illustration3  ,abraham1
 the ,founder of a ,nation4  ,isaac and 
,rebekah had twin sons whose names were 
,esau and ,jacob1 and perhaps no        

brothers were ever more unlike in their 
dispositions4  ,esau grew up to be a    
hunter4  ,nothing pleased him so much as
 to take his bow and arrows and spend   
days away from home in the pursuit of   
deer1 from whose flesh he made food     
which his father liked4  ,among other   
customs of that time which seem strange 
to us now was that of rich men and their
 wives and their sons as well preparing 
food with their own hands1 although it  
is done in the ,east to some extent in  
these days4  ,abraham was certainly a   
rich man with a host of servants at     
command1 yet the ,bible tells us that   
,sarah1 his wife1 prepared with her own 
hands the food for the strangers who    
visited the patriarch as he sat in the  
door of his tent by the ,oaks of ,mamre4
  ,we can understand then that the sons 
of ,isaac1 who were even richer than his
 father1 prepared food themselves4      
,esau was looked upon as the older son  
and treated accordingly4  ,there were   
certain privileges which by custom were 

given to oldest sons at their fathers'  
deaths1 and these things constituted    
what was called a birthright4  ,in      
addition to being treated as the older  
son ,esau was also the favorite son of  
his father4  ,but ,rebekah loved ,jacob 
more than she did ,esau4  ,jacob was of 
a much quieter disposition than his     
brother1 living near his mother and     
probably spending much of his time with 
her4  ,we may think of him as a man who 
liked to live in comfort and peace1     
hospitable to strangers1 as was the     
custom of the country1 yet all the time 
wishing1 as he looked out over the      
flocks and herds1 that his was to be an 
older brother's portion when they were  
divided4  ,the word ,jacob means        
supplanter1 or one who takes the place  
of another1 and ,jacob acted up to the  
meaning of his name at the first        
opportunity4  ,it came about in this    
way4  ,jacob was cooking some food one  
day which smelt and looked very tempting
 to ,esau when he came in hungry and    

tired to the point of exhaustion from   
one of his hunting trips4  ,he asked his
 brother to give him some of this food1 
and ,jacob1 seeing a chance to acquire  
what he coveted1 told him he would do so
 if he would give him his birthright in 
exchange for it4  ,probably ,esau's     
hunger was more to him at the moment    
than any privileges he might have later 
in life1 so he consented and the bargain
 was made4  ,illustration3  ,jacob was  
cooking some food one day4  ,after this 
there was a famine in the land where    
,isaac and his family lived1 but ,isaac 
did not go to ,egypt to escape it as his
 father had done on a similar occasion4 
,instead1 he took his family into the   
land of the ,philistines and lived for a
 time at a place called ,gerar4  ,isaac 
grew so prosperous in ,gerar that the   
,philistines envied him4 ,they had      
filled up the wells which his father had
 dug years before1 so ,isaac1 besides   
reopening them1 dug others1 about which 
there were many disputes4  ,then after a

 while ,isaac took his family to        
,beersheba1 and there ,god renewed to   
him the promises of future greatness    
which ,he had made to ,abraham4  ,both  
,isaac and ,rebekah disapproved of the  
marriage ,esau made with a woman of a   
neighboring tribe1 but in spite of this 
,isaac loved him very dearly1 and when  
he felt that he should not live much    
longer he wished to bestow a blessing or
 promise upon him4  ,so he called ,esau 
and asked him to go once more and get   
some of the meat he liked and cook it   
for him1 telling him that when he       
brought it he would bless him4  ,esau   
set out on his errand1 but as soon as he
 had gone1 ,rebekah1 who had overheard  
what ,isaac had said1 called ,jacob1    
whom she loved more than she did ,esau1 
and told him that now he had a chance to
 get the blessing instead of his        
brother1 and showed him how it could be 
done4  ,jacob was very fond of his      
mother2 he wanted the blessing1 but was 
afraid his father would detect the      

deception and that it would bring a     
curse instead of a blessing4  ,but his  
mother told him she would take all the  
blame and then ,jacob consented to do as
 she told him4  ,rebekah first sent     
,jacob to get some meat1 which she      
cooked in the way ,isaac liked1 and then
 she dressed him in some of ,esau's     
clothes4  ,then she put hairy skins on  
his hands and neck to make him feel like
 ,esau if ,isaac should put his hands on
 him4  ,then she gave him the meat she  
had prepared and sent him on his        
dishonest errand4  ,illustration3  ,the 
hands are the hands of ,esau4  ,so      
,jacob went where his blind father was  
sitting and said1 ,my father4 ,and      
,isaac replied1 ,here am ,i2 who art    
thou1 my son8  ,then ,jacob told him    
that he was his son ,esau1 and that he  
had brought the food as he had been     
asked to do4  ,isaac asked him how the  
meat could have been found and prepared 
so quickly1 and ,jacob replied1 ,because
 the ,lord thy ,god brought it to me4   

,still ,isaac was not satisfied and had 
him come nearer that he might feel of   
him1 but the disguise was good and      
,isaac said1 ,the voice is ,jacob's     
voice1 but the hands are the hands of   
,esau4  ,but before he ate he made one  
more appeal4  ,art thou1 he asked1 my   
very son ,esau8 and ,jacob1 forced by   
the first lie to tell another and then  
another1 replied1 ,i am4  ,isaac ate the
 food and then blessed ,jacob1 whom he  
supposed to be ,esau4 ,he promised a    
great and prosperous future for him4    
,people and nations should serve him1   
and his brothers should bow down to him4
  ,scarcely had ,jacob left his father1 
when ,esau came back with the food his  
father had asked him to bring and       
claimed the blessing4  ,when ,isaac     
realized that he had been deceived he   
told ,esau that he could not recall the 
promises he had made to the one who had 
brought him the food1 and then ,esau1   
who had sold his birthright1 and now had
 been tricked out of the blessing that  

was rightfully his1 cried out bitterly1 
,bless me1 even me also1 ,o my father4  
,then ,isaac told him that it was his   
brother ,jacob who had robbed him1 and  
,esau replied1 ,is not he rightly named 
,jacob8 for he hath supplanted me these 
two times3 he took away my birthright2  
and1 behold1 now he hath taken away my  
blessing4  ,hast thou not reserved a    
blessing for me8  ,and then in the      
bitterness of his heart he wept4  ,moved
 by ,esau's distress1 ,isaac did bless  
him1 but the promises he made were      
different from those he had given       
,jacob4  ,he told ,esau that he should  
live by the sword1 that he should serve 
his brother1 but that the time would    
come when he would break away from his  
brother's rule4  ,esau hated his brother
 after this and made threats that he    
would kill him after their father died4 
,his mother heard of these threats and  
was afraid he would carry them out1 so  
she proposed that ,jacob should go to   
her brother ,laban and stay with him    

until ,esau's anger had cooled4 ,isaac  
agreed to this and told him also to     
choose a wife among ,laban's daughters4 
,before ,jacob's departure ,isaac       
blessed him1 once more telling him that 
he and his descendants should have the  
land which ,god had promised to ,abraham
 and his family4  ,so the mother and her
 favorite son parted4 ,their deceit had 
given ,jacob the blessing that should   
have been ,esau's1 but ,rebekah was     
never to see ,jacob again4  ,jacob      
started on his journey to his uncle's   
house1 and when night came lay down to  
sleep1 making a pillow of stones for his
 head4  ,in his sleep a wonderful dream 
or vision came to him4  ,he saw a ladder
 with its foot resting on the earth and 
its top reaching to heaven4  ,upon this 
ladder angels went up and down1 while at
 the top stood ,god ,himself1 who       
promised ,jacob that ,he would be with  
him wherever he went1 and that he and   
his children should have the land in    
which he was at that time4              

,illustration3  ,upon this ladder angels
 went up and down4  ,when ,jacob awoke  
he made a pillar of the stone upon which
 his head had rested1 poured oil upon   
it1 and called the name of the place    
,bethel4 ,then he made a vow that if    
,god would go with him and provide for  
him he would serve ,him and give to ,him
 a tenth part of all he possessed4      
,although ,jacob knew a good deal about 
,god1 up to this time he had no personal
 knowledge of ,him1 but during1 this1   
his first night from home1 he had1 in a 
vision1 seen ,god and heard ,his voice  
in the most gracious of promises4  ,his 
whole life was changed1 and from that   
time he was ,god's man4  ,then ,jacob   
went on his way again and came to a well
 near ,haran1 where ,laban lived4  ,this
 well was not like the one where        
,eliezer1 the steward of ,abraham1 had  
first seen the maiden who became        
,jacob's mother4  ,it was more like a   
cistern or tank with an opening at the  
top which was covered by a great stone  

which had to be rolled away to get at   
the water4  ,three flocks of sheep were 
lying near by and ,jacob asked the      
shepherds if they knew ,laban and why   
they did not water their flocks4  ,the  
men told him that they knew ,laban and  
that they were waiting for his sheep to 
arrive and then all the flocks would be 
watered4  ,just then ,rachel1 one of the
 daughters of ,laban1 appeared with her 
father's sheep1 and the shepherds told  
,jacob who she was4  ,then ,jacob went  
to the well1 rolled the stone away1 and 
watered ,laban's sheep4 ,then he told   
,rachel who he was and she hastened away
 to tell her father4  ,when ,laban heard
 who had come to visit him he ran to    
meet ,jacob and made him welcome just as
 he had done years before when his      
sister ,rebekah had told him of her     
meeting with her uncle's steward outside
 the city of ,nahor4  ,illustration3    
,meeting of ,eliezer and the maiden who 
became ,jacob's mother4  ,jacob staid   
with ,laban for a month1 helping him    

with his flocks and becoming more and   
more in love with ,rachel4  ,then ,laban
 asked him if he would like to be his   
shepherd and if so what wages he would  
wish4 ,jacob told ,laban he would serve 
him seven years for his daughter ,rachel
 and so the bargain was made4  ,we are  
told that1 ,jacob served seven years for
 ,rachel2 and they seemed unto him but a
 few days1 for the love he had to her4  
,but ,laban was as crafty as ,jacob had 
been when he obtained his brother's     
birthright and robbed him of his        
blessing4  ,he tricked ,jacob and made  
him work seven more years for ,rachel4  
,after the second seven years had passed
 and ,jacob had married ,rachel1 he made
 another bargain with ,laban and this   
time it was greatly to his own          
advantage4  ,he lived with ,laban for a 
number of years and then ,god appeared  
to him1 saying1 ,i am the ,god of       
,bethel1 where thou anointedst the      
pillar1 and where thou vowedst a vow    
unto me3 now arise1 get thee out from   

this land1 and return unto the land of  
thy kindred4  ,so1 without letting      
,laban know anything about it1 ,jacob   
took his family1 his flocks and herds   
and all his possessions1 and started for
 his father's home in the land of       
,canaan4  ,he had been gone three days  
before ,laban knew that he had left him4
  ,after seven days he overtook ,jacob  
camped on ,mount ,gilead4  ,when they   
met1 ,laban accused ,jacob of carrying  
away some of his possessions1 and       
searched his tent for them2 but after a 
while1 not finding them1 they talked    
over all that had occurred since ,jacob 
first came to ,laban's house1 and in the
 end they made a covenant or agreement  
of friendship and set up a heap of      
stones for a witness to it and called it
 ,mizpah1 which means1 ,the ,lord watch 
between me and thee1 when we are absent 
one from another4  ,illustration3       
,laban searched ,jacob's tent4  ,so     
,jacob and his family kept on their way 
to the land of ,canaan4  ,he had now    

eleven sons and one daughter and was a  
rich man1 for ,god had kept ,his promise
 and blessed him abundantly4  ,on the   
way he heard that his brother ,esau was 
coming to meet him with a band of four  
hundred men4  ,jacob remembered how he  
had taken advantage of his brother and  
was afraid the time for ,esau's promised
 revenge had come4  ,but ,jacob prayed  
to ,god to protect him1 and after       
sending his family by night across a    
little mountain river1 he remained alone
 in the darkness on the other side4     
,the ,bible tells us that there he met  
,god in the shape of a man and wrestled 
with ,him until morning1 saying1 ,i will
 not let thee go1 except thou bless me4 
,and ,god did bless him and gave him a  
new name--that of ,israel1 which means a
 prince of ,god4  ,illustration3  ,jacob
 wrestled with him until morning4  ,in  
the morning the brothers met1 but       
,esau's anger was all gone and in its   
place was such love for ,jacob that he  
embraced him and kissed him1 while both 

wept for joy4  ,jacob had prepared a    
present of sheep and cattle and camels  
and other animals for his brother1 which
 at first ,esau did not wish to take1   
but he accepted it at last and then the 
brothers separated1 ,esau going to the  
hilly country of ,seir1 while ,jacob    
continued his journey4  ,illustration3  
,esau's anger was all gone4  ,jacob     
halted for a while at a place called    
,succoth1 where he built a house for    
himself and stables for his cattle4     
,then he went to ,shechem and bought    
some land near the city for an hundred  
pieces of silver4 ,in the time of his   
grandfather ,abraham money was weighed1 
not counted1 but now it was in the shape
 of rude coins with the figures of lambs
 stamped upon them4  ,after a while ,god
 told ,jacob to go to ,bethel1 where1 on
 his first night from home1 he had vowed
 to give ,him a tenth part of all his   
possessions1 and to build an altar      
there4  ,his way to ,bethel lay through 
a hostile country1 but ,god protected   

him as ,he had promised2 and at last    
,jacob reached the pillar which he had  
set up1 and there he built the altar and
 worshipped ,god4  ,jacob's mother had  
died during his long absence from home  
and now her old nurse1 ,deborah1 died1  
so in memory of the great love mother   
and son had for each other he buried    
,rebekah's faithful servant under an    
oak-tree and called it the oak of tears4
  ,illustration3  ,the tomb of ,rachel  
near ,bethlehem4  ,from ,bethel ,jacob  
now set out for ,hebron1 but on the way1
 just before they came to               
,bethlehem--the little village where    
,jesus was born many years              
afterwards--his beloved ,rachel died1   
leaving him his twelfth and last son1   
whom he called ,benjamin4  ,rachel was  
buried where she died and a pillar was  
placed above her grave4  ,then ,jacob   
went on to see his father1 who was then 
living at ,abraham's favorite           
dwelling-place at the ,oaks of ,mamre1  
and there ,isaac died1 being old and    

full of days3 and his sons ,esau and    
,jacob buried him4  ,illustration3      
,isaac died1 being old and full of days4
  ,after their father's death ,esau and 
,jacob parted with the best of feeling  
because they were so rich in flocks and 
herds and servants that the land could  
not sustain two such large tribes4      
,jacob continued to live quietly at     
,hebron as the head of his family1 in   
touch with everything that went on1 but 
leaving the actual work to be done by   
others4  ,he had a great number of      
servants and his ten older sons were in 
charge of his vast flocks and herds4    
,joseph was his especial favorite among 
his sons1 and ,jacob showed his         
preference in ways that were perhaps not
 wise4  ,for one thing1 he gave him a   
very handsome coat which distinguished  
him from his brothers4 ,then he did not 
send him to tend the flocks and herd the
 cattle1 but kept him at home with      
himself and his little brother          
,benjamin4  ,jacob's sons were not slow 

to notice their father's fondness for   
,joseph and it made them angry4  ,they  
were all older than he and had served   
their father faithfully for many years1 
while ,joseph was only seventeen years  
old4  ,another thing made them angry4   
,joseph used to have dreams and tell    
them to his brothers in what they       
thought was a boastful way4 ,their      
jealousy and anger grew to hatred and   
they talked over plans for getting rid  
of him4  ,illustration3  ,joseph used to
 have dreams and tell them to his       
brothers4  ,at this time ,jacob's flocks
 of sheep were at quite a distance from 
,hebron1 cared for by the ten older     
sons4  ,wishing to know how they        
prospered1 ,jacob sent ,joseph to       
inquire if all was well with them4  ,so 
,joseph set out on his errand and found 
his brothers in the pasture-lands of    
,dothan4  ,when his brothers saw him    
coming they decided to get rid of him in
 some way4  ,their hearts were full of  
hatred and they deliberately planned to 

kill their brother4  ,one thing after   
another was suggested until at last they
 decided to leave him in a deep1 dry    
water-cistern to starve to death4       
,reuben1 the eldest son1 intended to get
 ,joseph out of the cistern later and   
send him home to his father1 but he was 
unable to do this1 for in his absence   
his brothers sold ,joseph to some       
merchants who came along just then4     
,illustration3  ,his brothers sold      
,joseph to some merchants4  ,these      
merchants took ,joseph to ,egypt and    
sold him to ,potiphar1 one of the       
officers of the ,king's household4      
,potiphar was very kind to ,joseph1 and 
as he grew up made him his steward or   
overseer4  ,joseph had very winning     
manners and in time rose to be the      
governor or ruler over all the land of  
,egypt and in high favor with ,king     
,pharaoh4  ,illustration3  ,ruler over  
all the land of ,egypt4  ,meanwhile     
,joseph's brothers had told their father
 that ,joseph had been killed by a wild 

beast1 and in proof they showed ,jacob  
his son's handsome coat1 which they had 
taken from him and dipped in blood for  
this purpose4  ,jacob mourned long and  
bitterly for ,joseph1 and then he and   
his sons lived on much as they had been 
doing until there was a famine in the   
land and no food was to be had4  ,then  
,jacob sent his ten older sons to ,egypt
 to buy corn1 for it was plentiful      
there4  ,he would not let ,benjamin go1 
however1 fearing that some harm might   
come to him4  ,when ,reuben and his     
brothers reached ,egypt they were taken 
to ,joseph1 the governor1 who recognized
 them at once1 but pretended to think   
they were spies4  ,they protested in    
vain that they had been sent by their   
father to buy food and that this was    
their only errand4  ,joseph asked them  
if they had any other brothers1 and they
 told him there was one more1 ,benjamin1
 the youngest4  ,then ,joseph told them 
to go home and come back again bringing 
,benjamin with them1 and that he would  

keep ,simeon1 one of their number1 until
 they did this4  ,so back they went with
 their sacks full of corn which ,joseph 
had allowed them to buy1 and told their 
father what the governor had said and   
done4  ,at first ,jacob refused to let  
them take ,benjamin away from him1 but  
when the corn they had brought home was 
all gone he consented4  ,once more the  
brothers stood before the governor of   
,egypt and this time ,benjamin was with 
them4  ,after questioning them once     
more1 letting them start on their       
home-ward journey1 and then bringing    
them back again1 ,joseph told them who  
he was and how he had been prospered4   
,he gave them food and money and clothes
 and sent them back to ,hebron4  ,he    
also told them to bring back their      
father ,jacob and gave them wagons in   
which to bring his goods4               
,illustration3  ,joseph told them who he
 was4  ,pharaoh1 the ,king1 also sent an
 invitation to ,jacob1 and in time he   
and his sons and their families went to 

,egypt and were given the fertile land  
of ,goshen for their home4  ,they were  
put in charge of all the ,king's flocks 
and herds and became very prosperous4   
,but before agreeing to this change of  
home ,jacob asked ,god if he should go  
to ,egypt4  ,god told him to go1 and on 
the way his long-lost son ,joseph met   
him and took him to ,pharaoh1 who       
received him very kindly4  ,jacob and   
his sons lived peaceably in ,egypt for  
seventeen years1 and then ,jacob died at
 the age of a hundred and forty-seven   
years4  ,but before he died he blessed  
,joseph's two sons and made him promise 
to bury him in the family sepulchre1 the
 cave of ,machpelah4  ,as the end       
approached1 ,jacob blessed all his      
twelve sons and foretold what their     
lives would be1 bestowing a peculiar    
blessing upon his third son1 ,judah1    
from whose descendants should be born   
the ,saviour of his people4  ,jacob's   
body was embalmed and carried to the    
land of ,canaan1 attended by his twelve 

sons1 and a great company of ,pharaoh's 
household1 and buried in the cave of    
,machpelah as he had directed4