Exceedingly interesting are all the names borne by the patriarchs, and the reasons why they were given to them. Indeed, the punning references to circumstances concerning their birth are similar in their character to those of the patriarchs before the Flood. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that many of the names found in this part of the sacred narrative are not by any means unique. Thus the name of Jacob occurs many times in the tablets of the period of the first dynasty of Babylon under the forms of _Yakubu_, _Yakubi_, etc., and there are also forms with the word _îlu_ attached—_Ya’kubi-îlu_, _Yakub-îlu_, etc. In like wise we find what is apparently the same name as that of Joseph, namely, _Yašupum_ with its longer form _Yašup-îlu_, types of many others, such as _Yakudum_, _Yakunam_, etc., _Yabnik-îlu_, _Yagab-îlu_ son of _Yakub-îlu_, etc. As far as I have at present been able to find out, however, none of the names of this class, except _Yakub-îlu_ and _Yašup-îlu_, have as yet been discovered in both forms (_i.e._ with and without the element _îlu_), which may turn out to be of importance, or may be simply a remarkable coincidence. This, naturally, leads to the question: What are the meanings of these names? According to Genesis, Jacob means supplanter, or, rather, “he has supplanted,” and the further query then arises: What does the name mean when _îlu_ is added to it? The meaning in this case ought to be “God has supplanted,” which clearly will not fit. The best explanation probably is, that the name of Jacob was never Ya´kub-ilu, but Ya´kub simply, meaning, “he has supplanted,” and referring, naturally, to the person who bore the name. As the name “Supplanter” is not one which a man would be proud to bear, in all probability it was seen that it would be taken for the usual abbreviation for Ya´kub-îlu, with the probable meaning of “God hath restrained” (another signification of the root ´aqab), and thus it may be that there is no record of any one having reproached him on account of it, except the members of his own family, who knew why it was given to him, and recognized in his character as a man something which corresponded with the name given to him because of what was said to have happened at his birth.