It doesn't have to be a mirror image of the Bible story for the reference to be meaningful and valid. It just has to touch on some important details. Like how the striped socks on the body crushed under the scaffold in "Flashes Before Your Eyes" is still a reference to the Wizard of Oz even though there is no obvious Yellow Brick Road parallel in Lost. The socks analogy stilll works. See what I mean?

Jacob did go on to continue the line of Jewish fathers and produced sons who had important stories of their own in the Bible and that is important, but I really do think that his relationship with his brother was a main event in his life and in the Bible. It doesn't have to be THE main event for it to be referenced somewhere else, just an important one. It's sort of like saying "Hey, maybe something more significant happened to Noah after the waters receded?" Well, maybe...but the events before and during the flood are what we hear about most often so we can assume that's the part of his life alluded to most often in other sources.

Here's a connection I've made: We know the group Ben joined w./Richard Alpert exterminated several different groups at different times in their history on the island. The Jacob in the Bible only rose to prominence because he overthrew his brother. We don't need the Jacob in Lost to have an actual blood brother, but I think it's reasonable to assume that at some point we're gonna find out he had a rival whom he similarly overthrew. (Or maybe Jacob's _group_ overthrew a rival _group_, rather than individuals.) MAYBE, there will even be an Esau figure in Lost who will try to turn the tables and restore his power over Jacob. Woah--Wouldn't that be a trip??? Maybe the Losties' purpose on the island (unbeknownst to them) is to enact the restoration?

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"Helen, do you remember that authentic Australian walkabout I told you about?"