... And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel (âqêbh), and his name was called Jacob" (Heb. Yaaqôbh)...  Jacob in itself means one who follows on another's heels, and was given because the birth of the one child followed hard on the other, with no interval between the two.  This is expressed by the figurative expression that "his hand was holding on to Esau's heel."  There is no doubt that this is the original meaning of the name, and as such it is alluded to in Hosea xii. 3, "He took his brother by the heel" (Heb. Aqabh).  But the name was capable of another and a worse signification, which was brought into prominence by Jacob's after conduct.  To tread on a person's heels often leads to supplanting him; and hence the verb (âqabh) has a secondary sense of overreaching and defrauding, and the noun (Yaaqôbh) may mean defrauder or supplanter. (The Expositor, Moffatt, 1883)