FYI: Some really important Jacob history that is in Lostpedia but that hasn't been discussed on Losttalk yet.

JACOB WAS A TWIN, IN THE FIRST SET OF TWINS EVER MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE. He is among the most famous twins in literature (along with Castor & Pollux, Romulus & Remus, MaryKate & Ashley, etc.)--that's got to be significant.

Here's the story:

Jacob and Esau were the twin sons of Isaac & Rebecca. Rebecca had a very rough pregnancy because they were always fighting inside her. Esau was born first w/Jacob following behind holding on to his brother's heel (hence the name "Jacob.") The heel-thing shows that they were each fighting to be the 1stborn. Esau was a hairy hunter/outdoorsman. Jacob was a smooth-skinned sophisticate who "dwelled in tents." a Jacob was the favorite twin but Jacob could never get over not being first, so one day he forces his brother to sell him his birthright. Later on, when they were adults and Isaac was blind and close to death, he told Rebecca to send in Esau to come into his tent to be blessed. Rebecca told Jacob to wear a goat skin and pretend to be Esau so he could receive his father's blessing instead. So, basically, Jacob screwed over his brother twice and Esau never got his comeuppance.

Obviously there are strong Biblical references in Lost. My question naturally is, who will we meet who will fit the role of Esau on Lost? Who is Jacob's nemesis? (Someone from a group he already wiped out on the island, pre-Dharma?) Who will be Rebecca? Etc.

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

maybe the significance of the jacob character is something that happened to jacob later on in the bible, in his adult hood, that figures into the reference of the character on lost being named jacob, as opposed to it being a literal mirror image of the bible story.

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?"

Jacob is in LOST.

It's explained in the enhanced version of Through the Looking Glass that that episode in particular is about mirror opposites. I think we see that theme quite often, not just in the last episode of Seasonm 3. Makes me think I'm on to something with my Jacob vs. His Unnamed Nemesis theory. Eh?

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