The Faith of Jacob

April 23rd, 2026
by Lance Waldie

Hebrews 11:21 By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.

The next man of faith in Hebrews 11 is Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. God established His eternal covenant with Abraham and later with Isaac. Then He established the same covenant with Jacob (Gen. 28:13-17) whom He later named Israel (Gen. 32:24-32).

The account of Jacob’s life has far more detail than that of Isaac. From the day he is born his life reveals a colorful character. Among other character traits, Jacob was calculating and deceptive. He cunningly took his brother’s birthright, then he later deceived his aging father in a successful attempt to receive the blessing of the firstborn. His mother Rebekah may have taught him everything he knew, for she too was quite cunning (Gen. 27:5ff.). Jacob traveled away from home in order to avoid his brother’s wrath, and he found himself employed by a man, his uncle Laban, who seems to have had all of Jacob’s negative qualities and more. It was Laban who employed Jacob for 20 years, and also Laban who became his father-in-law. Jacob married Laban’s two daughters, Leah and Rachel, and worked as one of Laban’s hired hands.

At times Jacob acted wisely, and at times he was downright spineless, as in the case of his daughter who was raped by the man Shechem (cf. Gen. 34). He had two wives and two concubines by which he had twelve sons—the tribes of Israel. He also had one daughter, Dinah. While reading the account of his life, “faith” is not the first trait that comes to mind regarding Jacob. Then again, no one’s life, if put under a microscope, would ever reveal a man of faith 100% of the time. People are sinful, yet God works through those sins in order to bring about His eternal promises. Jacob was indeed a faithful man—evident from what he believed about God’s promised future and how he blessed his sons concerning the future.

Jacob told his son Joseph just before he died while they were in Egypt: “Behold, I am about to die, but God will be with you and bring you back to the land of your fathers” (Gen. 48:21). At the time, they were in Egypt, outside of the Promised Land. But Jacob still believed God’s promise of possessing the land. So, the land that Jacob never possessed, he passed on to his 12 sons in faith, knowing that God would be true to his word. He had the “assurance of things hoped for; the conviction of things unseen” in giving these blessings (Gen. 47:29-31; 48:8-20). Jacob, though weak physically as an old man, was strong in faith—faith expressed in the content of his blessing: “Let them grow into a multitude… a multitude of nations” (Gen. 48:16, 19).

An apparent problem exists in v. 21 where the Hebrews author says that Jacob died “leaning on the top of his staff.” Genesis 47:31 says that Jacob “bowed himself on the head of the bed.” The apparent contradiction is reconciled by the Hebrew words for “bed” and “staff” which are exactly alike in their Hebrew consonants (mth). Since Hebrew had no vowels in its original text, vowels being later added as marks between the consonants circa AD 700, the discrepancy lies in these vowels. Though the Hebrew text later rendered the vowels as “bed,” the LXX, or Greek text dating back to 250 BC, renders the vowel points to mean “staff.” Since the LXX reading was used by the author of Hebrews, “top of his staff” is used rather than “head of bed.” Clearly, no doctrine or theology is affected by either rendering. It is thus a moot point.

Food For Thought
Jacob believed in the future of his people because God revealed it. Not much has changed since Jacob’s time except that so much more about the future has been revealed. In fact, the future has been revealed to strengthen the faith of God’s people (1 Thes. 4:18). Since Christ has promised to return, our faith is expressed in our eager expectation of His return (Heb. 9:28).