Biblical patriarch in one account, then another (5)
I believe the answer is:
isaac
'biblical patriarch' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'in one account then another' is the wordplay.
'in' indicates putting letters inside.
'one' becomes 'i' (Roman numeral).
'account' becomes 'ac' (abbreviation).
'then another' becomes 'sa' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'i'+'ac'='iac'
'iac' enclosing 'sa' is 'ISAAC'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for isaac that I've seen before include "Biblical patriarch" , "Abraham's son" , "One nearly sacrificed" , "man whose sons bargained over 3 [A MESS OF POTAGE]" , "Man's name" .)