I. Name

‘The mighty one of Jacob’ was interpreted as a divine name by Alt (1929). He classified it as a designation of one of the anonymous gods ‘of the father’. The only place where it may occur as a proper name is Gen. 49.24; elsewhere it is always an epithet of Yahweh (Isa. 49.26; Isa. 60.16; Ps. 132.2–5; cf. Sir. 51.12; see also ʾăbîr yiśrāʾēl as a parallel to ʾădōn and yhwh ṣĕbāʾōt in Isa. 1.24). It is doubtful whether ʾăbîr Yaʿăqōb may be translated as “Bull of Jacob” (Cross 1973:4). The only possi…