# Jacob — The City of God character guide > Jacob in The City of God by Augustine of Hippo. **Role:** supporting **Also known as:** Joseph, the sons of Joseph, whom Jacob blessed, prophetically changing his hands **First appearance:** 0002-part-i-book-i ## Snapshot The patriarch whose blessing of Joseph's sons with crossed hands foreshadows God's preference for the younger over the elder. ## Who they are Jacob belongs to Augustine's genealogy of the city of God, the line running from Abraham through David to Christ, where divine election repeatedly overturns natural birth order. His prophetic crossing of hands over Ephraim and Manasseh becomes a type of the gospel's reversal of worldly priority. He matters because he shows that God's city advances not by inheritance or power but by hidden, often baffling, choice. ## Relationships ### [Jupiter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/characters/jupiter) _rivalry_ Jacob, a patriarch of Israel, is contrasted with Jupiter to highlight the superiority of the God of Israel over pagan deities. ### [Jesus Christ](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/characters/jesus_christ) _family_ Jacob is a patriarch in the lineage of Jesus Christ, with Christ being the promised descendant of Jacob's line. ### [Jesus Christ](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/characters/jesus_christ) _family_ Jacob is a patriarch in the lineage of Jesus Christ, with Christ being the promised descendant of Jacob's line. ### [Jesus Christ](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/characters/jesus_christ) _family_ Jacob is a patriarch in the lineage of Jesus Christ, with Christ being the promised descendant of Jacob's line. ### [Jupiter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/characters/jupiter) _rivalry_ Jacob, a patriarch of Israel, is contrasted with Jupiter to highlight the superiority of the God of Israel over pagan deities. ### [Jupiter](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/characters/jupiter) _rivalry_ Jacob, a patriarch of Israel, is contrasted with Jupiter to highlight the superiority of the God of Israel over pagan deities. ## In the story ### [Concerning the twins Esau and Jacob, who were very unlike each other both in their character and actions](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-i-iv) One of the twin brothers, beloved by his mother, who obtained honor and never served as a hired servant. ### [That God alone is the Creator of every kind of creature, whatever its nature or form](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxv) Mentioned as an example of how maternal emotions can affect offspring, but not create them. ### [XIV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xiv) Mentioned as living nearly 150 years of the same length. ### [The Significance of Enoch’s Translation](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xix) The Hebrew nation is called the house of Jacob, paralleling Virgil's reference to the house of Assaracus. ### [XI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xi) Jacob's line distinctively constituted God's people and received the covenants, being the progenitors of Christ according to the flesh. ### [Of the third promise of God, by which He assured the land of Canaan to Abraham and his seed in perpetuity](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxi) Mentioned as the grandson of Abraham through whom the nation of Israel was born according to the flesh. ### [Chapter XXXV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxxv) The younger twin, chosen by grace, representing the Christian people. ### [Chapter XXXVII: Of the things mystically prefigured in Esau and Jacob](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxxvii) Jacob, the younger son, receives the blessing through a ruse involving kid-skins, prefiguring Christ bearing the sins of others. ### [Of Jacob’s mission to Mesopotamia to get a wife, and of the vision which he saw in a dream by the way, and of his getting four women when he sought one wife.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxxviii) Sent by his parents to Mesopotamia to take a wife; receives the blessing of Abraham and a prophetic dream of a ladder; fathers twelve sons and a daughter by four women. ### [The Reason Why Jacob Was Also Called Israel](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxxix) Jacob is renamed Israel after wrestling with an angel, symbolizing Christ's passion and the division between believers and unbelievers among his descendants. ### [Chapter XL: How it is said that Jacob went into Egypt with seventy-five souls, when most of those who are mentioned were born at a later period.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xl) Entered Egypt at age 130 with his family; the number of souls includes descendants born later. ### [Chapter XL: How it is said that Jacob went into Egypt with seventy-five souls, when most of those who are mentioned were born at a later period.](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xl) Son of Jacob, 39 years old at Jacob's entry; lived 110 years and saw great-grandchildren. ### [Of the blessing which Jacob promised in Judah his son](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xli) Jacob, also called Israel, blesses his son Judah prophetically while dying in Egypt. ### [XLII](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xlii) Blesses Joseph's sons, prophetically crossing his hands to place the right hand on the younger. ### [The Fulfillment of God's Promise Concerning the Land of Canaan](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-ii) One of the three fathers to whom the promises were made. ### [Of the threefold meaning of the prophecies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-iii) Mentioned alongside Abraham and Isaac as recipients of divine oracles. ### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-iii) Twin son of Isaac and Rebecca, later named Israel; recipient of God's promise of land and blessing. ### [Of the times of Jacob and his son Joseph](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-iv) Jacob, the younger twin, belongs to the City of God; he fathers twelve sons and migrates to Egypt at age 130 during the famine. ### [Of the times of Jacob and his son Joseph](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-iv) Joseph is sold into Egypt by his brothers, remains chaste despite his mistress's advances, interprets Pharaoh's dreams, and becomes ruler of Egypt at age 30. ### [Of Apis king of Argos, whom the Egyptians called Serapis, and worshipped with divine honours](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-v) Mentioned as a biblical example of managing breeding with spotted rods, contrasted with demonic deception. ### [Who were kings of Argos, and of Assyria, when Jacob died in Egypt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-vi) Jacob died in Egypt at age 147, blessing his sons and grandsons and prophesying of Christ. ### [Who were kings of Argos, and of Assyria, when Jacob died in Egypt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-vi) Joseph is mentioned as the son of Jacob whose sons were blessed by Jacob. ### [Who were kings when Joseph died in Egypt](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-vii) Died in Egypt at 110 years old ### [What Jeremiah and Zephaniah have, by the prophetic Spirit, spoken before concerning Christ and the calling of the nations](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xxxiii) Mentioned in Jeremiah's prophecy as the servant to whom God gave the way of prudence. ### [Chapter XLV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/chapters/part-ii-xlv) His prophecy about the scepter not departing from Judah until the coming of Christ is cited. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/characters/jacob - Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se - All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_city_of_god_se/characters