Jacob, along with his twin brother Esau, was born to Isaac and Rebekkah. The two brothers were at odds with each from the womb (cf. Gen. 25:22-26), which was compounded by their parents' favoritism. Jacob doubly crossed Esau out of the family birthright (Gen. 25:29-34) and, later, out of the family blessing (Gen. 27).
In order to escape his brother's death threats, Jacob fled to Haran, a city in which Abraham had lived for a time (Gen. 11:31-12:5), where he met Rachel and her father (his uncle) Laban (Gen. 29:1-15). In an unusual twist, Jacob ended up marrying both of Laban's daughters, Leah and Rachel. Jacob and his two wives, along with their maidservants, in a spirit of competitiveness, produced a total of twelve sons (Gen. 29:16-30:25; 35:18). These sons became the twelve tribes of Israel: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin.
Jacob, with his family and possessions, returned to the land of Canaan. On his way back, Jacob wrestled with a God-man at night, in the process receiving a noticeable limp and a new name, Israel (Gen. 32:22-32).
