Jaakobah meaning

עקב

The noun עקב ('aqeb) most literally means heel, but — since the word for foot, namely רגל (regel), euphemizes the male genitalia — is closely associated to a man's testicles, and hence his inner motivations and intentions (when wearing a long robe, the heel was the most obvious part of one's largely invisible legs). Just like the noun for knee yields the verb to kneel (i.e. to be blessed: to be so safe and well stocked as to sit in repose), so the verb עקב ('aqab), "to heel", tells of either (a) having someone "by the balls", i.e. manipulating them, taking control over their subconscious motivations, and (b) discretely covering one's own intentions, will and sentiments.

In the Bible, one's enlightened ratio was considered solar, whereas one's conscious feelings were lunar — and the sun, of course, was the quintessential revealer of the moon.

Both having a grip on someone's else's instincts and hiding one's own intentions could be alarming signs of deceitfulness, but in modern times one's ability to retain one's composure irrespective of one's feelings became a telling sign of one's gentility. The rise of polite society, unfortunately, went hand in hand with the rise of mass manipulation and propaganda, which the general public tends to frown upon (also because the general public rarely considers the alternative: a world without a uniform subliminal guidance).

In Biblical times, the virtues of manipulation and politeness were obviously not clear to everyone and our root was mostly associated with trickery and scheming: adjective עקב ('aqeb) means beguiling; adjective עקב ('aqob), insidious or deceitful; adjective עקב ('aqob), tricky or treacherous (of terrain). Noun עקבה ('aqeba) means deceitfulness and noun עקב ('eqeb), consequence.