The Duration of Jacob’s Stay in Haran Bruno Kolberg Abstract Jacob was the younger twin brother of Esau. Their father was Isaac, the son of Abraham. Their mother was Rebekah, a great-niece of Abraham. They lived in Canaan. When Isaac was old, he prepared Esau to receive his blessing. However, through deception, Jacob received that blessing instead. Enraged, Esau planned to kill his brother. On hearing about Esau’s plan, Rebekah told Jacob to flee to Haran, to the house of her brother Laban. Haran was located in northern Mesopotamia. The widely held view is that Jacob stayed in Haran with Laban for 20 years. This paper presents arguments in favor of Jacob staying in Haran for 40 years. Posted May 2022 – Revised Oct 2022