Jacob
![Detail from ''Jacob Seeking the Forgiveness of Esau'' (1652), by [[Jan Victors]]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/Jan_Victors_-_Jacob_Seeking_the_Forgiveness_of_Esau_-_79.330_-_Indianapolis_Museum_of_Art_%28cropped%29.jpg)
Jacob had twelve sons through four women: his wives (and cousins), Leah and Rachel, and his concubines, Bilhah and Zilpah. His sons were, in order of their birth: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin, all of whom became the heads of their own family groups, later known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel. He also had a daughter named Dinah. According to Genesis, Jacob displayed favoritism among his wives and children, preferring Rachel and her sons, Joseph and Benjamin, causing tension within the family—culminating in Joseph's older brothers selling him into slavery.
Scholars have taken a mixed view as to Jacob's historicity, with archaeology so far producing no evidence for his existence. William Albright initially dated the narratives of Jacob to the 19th century BCE, but later scholars like John J. Bimson and Nahum Sarna argued against using archaeological evidence to support such claims due to limited knowledge of that period. Recent scholars such as Thomas L. Thompson and William Dever suggest that these narratives are late literary compositions with ideological purposes rather than historical accounts.
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