Darlton recently said there was a reason they picked the name Jacob.
So I decided to look up the etymology and history of the name Jacob. I've seen some people claim that both Jack and John are forms of the name Jacob, but according to this site that's not true. This is what they say about the name Jacob.
JACOB
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, Scandinavian, Biblical
Pronounced: JAY-kəb (English), YAH-kawp (Dutch) [key]
From the Latin Iacobus, which was from the Greek Ιακωβος (Iakobos), which was from the Hebrew name יַעֲקֹב (Ya'aqov). In the Old Testament, Jacob (later called Israel) was the son of Isaac and Rebecca and the father of the twelve founders of the twelve tribes of Israel. He was born holding his twin brother Esau's heel, and his name is explained as meaning "holder of the heel" or "supplanter". Other theories claim that it is in fact derived from a hypothetical name like יַעֲקֹבְאֵל (Ya'aqov'el) meaning "may God protect".
The English names Jacob and James derive from the same source, with James coming from Latin Iacomus, a later variant of Iacobus. Unlike English, many languages do not have separate spellings for the two names.
In England, Jacob was mainly regarded as a Jewish name during the Middle Ages, though the variant James was used among Christians. Jacob came into general use as a Christian name after the Protestant Reformation. A famous bearer was Jacob Grimm (1785-1863), the German linguist and writer who was, with his brother Wilhelm, the author of 'Grimm's Fairy Tales'.
So if Darlton did pick the name Jacob for a reason perhaps this is the reason. Because in many languages James and Jacob are the same name. Let's not forget Sawyer's real name wasn't revealed until well into the first season. Darlton said they gave Sawyer the last name of Ford as a homage to Harrison Ford who played Hans Solo, since they feel Sawyer is their version of Han Solo, but why did they pick the name James?
Perhaps it's just a coincidence, but it's also interesting that the name Jack is considered a diminutive of the name John. And we had Jack and Locke in the whole man of science vs. man of faith thing. Almost like they were two halves of a whole. They even had Jack and John waking up similarly after the crash with the extreme eye-close up. They've also both used the same phrase, "Don't tell me what I can't do."
Richard gave Locke the test to possibly determine who the island's new Jacob or reincarnated Jacob was, and Locke failed it by picking the wrong object. The right object appeared to be the book, and whose the bookworm on the island?
Locke also failed the test to kill Anthony Cooper. Ben, a known liar, claimed Locke brought Cooper to the island, but what if the island brought Cooper to the island for Sawyer to free him from his past so he could do what the island needed him to do. Locke never wanted to kill Cooper. He wanted Cooper to love him and be a real father to him, which is why he couldn't kill him. Sawyer was the one who spent his life hunting Sawyer so he could kill him.
Could the island have had something to do with Hibbs tricking Sawyer into thinking Duckett was Cooper. We've seen the island has influence off the island. Look at Claire's psychic who seemed to get his daughter resurrected as payment for getting Claire on doomed flight 815.
Hibbs showed Sawyer a fake file to prove that Duckett was Cooper. Who always has files on people to convince them of something? The Others. They showed Michael a file that seemingly proved that Widmore was behind faking the crash site of flight 815 that got Michael to do what they wanted. Hibbs even sent Sawyer to someone in Australia to purchase a gun. Is it possible the gun could have been loaded with blanks? Could the whole thing be set up by the island and that's how the Others knew Sawyer "killed" Duckett? Could Duckett be an Other? How else do you explain his voice being amongst the island's whispers. If he had no connection to the island, why would his voice be amongst the whispers on the island? When the police arrested Sawyer in Australia they didn't know he had anything to do with killing Duckett, so how would the Others know it?
Twice Sawyer has tried to leave the island and the island has brought him back. The island's ocean current brought Sawyer and Michael back to the island after the Others attacked their raft and after Sawyer jumped out of the helicopter he had to swim back to the island. It was after he jumped out of the helicopter that the people in the helicopter were finally able to spot the freighter. The island also stopped Claire from leaving, while it seems Locke had no problem leaving the island.
There was also how the freighters fired at Sawyer and couldn't hit him, but had no problem gunning down people that was standing right next to him. Was the island somehow protecting him from harm, similar to the way it wouldn't allow Michael to be shot?
Anyway, it'll be interesting to see what happens when and if Sawyer and Richard Alpert finally meet face-to-face to see.
Theory by SockeRock
So I decided to look up the etymology and history of the name Jacob. I've seen some people claim that both Jack and John are forms of the name Jacob, but according to this site that's not true. This is what they say about the name Jacob.
JACOB
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, Dutch, Scandinavian, Biblical
Pronounced: JAY-kəb (English), YAH-kawp (Dutch) [key]
From the Latin Iacobus, which was from the Greek Ιακωβος (Iakobos), which was from the Hebrew name יַעֲקֹב (Ya'aqov). In the Old Testament, Jacob (later called Israel) was the son of Isaac and Rebecca and the father of the twelve founders of the twelve tribes of Israel. He was born holding his twin brother Esau's heel, and his name is explained as meaning "holder of the heel" or "supplanter". Other theories claim that it is in fact derived from a hypothetical name like יַעֲקֹבְאֵל (Ya'aqov'el) meaning "may God protect".
The English names Jacob and James derive from the same source, with James coming from Latin Iacomus, a later variant of Iacobus. Unlike English, many languages do not have separate spellings for the two names.
In England, Jacob was mainly regarded as a Jewish name during the Middle Ages, though the variant James was used among Christians. Jacob came into general use as a Christian name after the Protestant Reformation. A famous bearer was Jacob Grimm (1785-1863), the German linguist and writer who was, with his brother Wilhelm, the author of 'Grimm's Fairy Tales'.
So if Darlton did pick the name Jacob for a reason perhaps this is the reason. Because in many languages James and Jacob are the same name. Let's not forget Sawyer's real name wasn't revealed until well into the first season. Darlton said they gave Sawyer the last name of Ford as a homage to Harrison Ford who played Hans Solo, since they feel Sawyer is their version of Han Solo, but why did they pick the name James?
Perhaps it's just a coincidence, but it's also interesting that the name Jack is considered a diminutive of the name John. And we had Jack and Locke in the whole man of science vs. man of faith thing. Almost like they were two halves of a whole. They even had Jack and John waking up similarly after the crash with the extreme eye-close up. They've also both used the same phrase, "Don't tell me what I can't do."
Richard gave Locke the test to possibly determine who the island's new Jacob or reincarnated Jacob was, and Locke failed it by picking the wrong object. The right object appeared to be the book, and whose the bookworm on the island?
Locke also failed the test to kill Anthony Cooper. Ben, a known liar, claimed Locke brought Cooper to the island, but what if the island brought Cooper to the island for Sawyer to free him from his past so he could do what the island needed him to do. Locke never wanted to kill Cooper. He wanted Cooper to love him and be a real father to him, which is why he couldn't kill him. Sawyer was the one who spent his life hunting Sawyer so he could kill him.
Could the island have had something to do with Hibbs tricking Sawyer into thinking Duckett was Cooper. We've seen the island has influence off the island. Look at Claire's psychic who seemed to get his daughter resurrected as payment for getting Claire on doomed flight 815.
Hibbs showed Sawyer a fake file to prove that Duckett was Cooper. Who always has files on people to convince them of something? The Others. They showed Michael a file that seemingly proved that Widmore was behind faking the crash site of flight 815 that got Michael to do what they wanted. Hibbs even sent Sawyer to someone in Australia to purchase a gun. Is it possible the gun could have been loaded with blanks? Could the whole thing be set up by the island and that's how the Others knew Sawyer "killed" Duckett? Could Duckett be an Other? How else do you explain his voice being amongst the island's whispers. If he had no connection to the island, why would his voice be amongst the whispers on the island? When the police arrested Sawyer in Australia they didn't know he had anything to do with killing Duckett, so how would the Others know it?
Twice Sawyer has tried to leave the island and the island has brought him back. The island's ocean current brought Sawyer and Michael back to the island after the Others attacked their raft and after Sawyer jumped out of the helicopter he had to swim back to the island. It was after he jumped out of the helicopter that the people in the helicopter were finally able to spot the freighter. The island also stopped Claire from leaving, while it seems Locke had no problem leaving the island.
There was also how the freighters fired at Sawyer and couldn't hit him, but had no problem gunning down people that was standing right next to him. Was the island somehow protecting him from harm, similar to the way it wouldn't allow Michael to be shot?
Anyway, it'll be interesting to see what happens when and if Sawyer and Richard Alpert finally meet face-to-face to see.
Theory by SockeRock
