Jacob had thirteen children, one daughter and twelve sons from four different mothers. One of the sons was Joseph.Jacob loved Joseph more than the rest of the children. This caused his brothers to hate him. In addition, Joseph had dreams which angered his brothers the more. This anger and hatred for Joseph led his brothers to sell him to the Ishmaelites. The Ishmaelites sold him to Egypt where he rose to the position of prime minister. Famine in Canaan forced Jacob's family to move to Egypt. After staying for many years in Egypt, the Hebrews were made slaves.
Isaac lived in Canaan and had two sons, Esau and Jacob. The family of Isaac used to keep livestock as their main occupation. Rebecca, Isaac's wife, planned that the heirship should go to Jacob against patriarchal tradition.Because of this planned deceit, there was rivalry between Jacob and Esau. Jacob fled to Mesopotamia where he lived with his uncle Laban. Laban had two daughters, Leah and Rachel. Jacob loved the younger one, Rachel. The custom required that the older daughter marries first. However, Laban disguised Leah and gave her to Jacob instead of Rachel after seven years of work as dowry (lobola).This became possible because marriage was always consummated in the night. In the morning, Jacob discovered that Laban had given him Leah instead of Rachel. He was angry. Laban promised to give him Rachel after serving another seven years. Because of his love for Rachel, Jacob agreed.
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