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Audiobook edition · 46 minPaperback · 6 × 9 in · 44 pagesHardcover · 6 × 9 in · 44 pagesAbout this book
What counsel does a father leave when an angel comes to announce his death?
The Testament of Jacob is a short ancient text, traditionally attributed to the biblical patriarch, whose author is unknown. As Jacob nears death, an angel visits him. He gathers his household, offers counsel, and blesses those he must leave behind. The mood is quiet and solemn: a farewell shaped by care for others.
The narrative also shows Jacob places of rest and punishment, bringing questions of conduct and judgment into view. The third of the Testaments of the Three Patriarchs, it follows the Testament of Abraham and the Testament of Isaac. Thought to come from Christian circles in Egypt, it explores how later writers imagine a patriarch’s final days.
What you’ll discover
- An angel at the bedside Enter a solemn encounter that turns approaching death into a time of preparation.
- A father's final counsel Hear Jacob’s farewell advice and consider what matters most to those left behind.
- Rest and punishment Explore the text’s contrasting visions of what lies beyond earthly life.
- Genesis imagined anew Discover how later religious writers extend the story of the patriarch known as Israel.
- An ancient farewell tradition Meet a form in which blessings and moral counsel give shape to a final parting.
Who will love it
This is for readers who love ancient deathbed scenes, angels and visions of the afterlife, and for anyone curious how early Christians in Egypt remembered the patriarchs of Genesis.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A deathbed text kept by Egyptian Christians
- An angel comes to the failing patriarch
- Michael reminds Jacob of a life guarded
- Blessings promised to those who remember the patriarchs
- Jacob comforts a household afraid of being orphans
- An oath, a crossed blessing, and the twelve sons
- A vision of rest and a vision of punishment
- Counsels of mercy and a feast for the fathers
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- Large print hardcover
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The Testament of Jacob
by Attributed to the biblical patriarch Jacob
An angel finds the blind, aged Jacob in Egypt and tells him to prepare, and the whole family gathers to weep.
ChallengingUnder 2 hours to readfrançais
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In short
An old man lies nearly blind in the land of Goshen in Egypt. A figure of light comes to his side and tells him to put his house in order, because the time has come to go to his fathers.
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Listen freeOr hold it in print: paperback, hardcover or large print, at costFrom the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A deathbed text kept by Egyptian Christians
The Testament of Jacob follows the last days of the patriarch Jacob, also called Israel. It is the third of three testaments, for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, which each tell how a patriarch meets death. It survives in Coptic and Arabic Christian manuscripts from Egypt.
Scholars do not agree about its date or its first author. Many think older Jewish traditions lie underneath, and that Christian writers in Egypt shaped the form we have. The Christian layer is easy to hear. An invocation of the Trinity begins the text, and a prayer to Jesus as Messiah closes it.
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- 15-minute summary
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Details
- Language
- français
- Listening time
- 46 min
- Level
- Challenging
- Paperback
- 44 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Hardcover
- 44 pages · 6 × 9 in
- Delivery and returns
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Cite this edition
Jacob. The Testament of Jacob. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-testament-of-jacob.
Jacob. (2026). The testament of Jacob. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-testament-of-jacob
Jacob. The Testament of Jacob. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-testament-of-jacob.
@book{jacob2026testament,
author = {Jacob},
title = {The Testament of Jacob},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/loa-testament-of-jacob}
}
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What is the Testament of Jacob about?
It tells of the last days of the patriarch Jacob in Egypt. The archangel Michael tells him to prepare, Jacob blesses his sons, he is shown places of rest and punishment, and he is buried in Canaan.
Is the Testament of Jacob in the Bible?
No. It is a later retelling built on the Genesis account of Jacob's death and was not placed in the main canons of scripture. Egyptian Christian communities copied and valued it as devotional reading.
Who wrote the Testament of Jacob and when?
The author is unknown. It survives in Coptic and Arabic manuscripts, and scholars disagree on its date. Many think older Jewish traditions lie under a Christian retelling made in Egypt.
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