A. M. 2148. A. C. 1856; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3418. A. C. 1993. GEN. CH. xxv. 20-xxviii. 8. curseth thee, and blessed be every one that blesseth | beloved wife, and the supposed untimely death of his thee;' for God shall so far interest himself in thy cause, son Joseph; to say nothing of his being compelled by as to esteem those his friends or foes, who shall behave famine to go down into Egypt, and there die : these, and themselves as such to thee. So that the blessing con- many more instances, are proofs sufficient, that his sists properly of three branches: in the first is contained father's blessing was of a different nature. For supposworldly plenty and prosperity; in the second, domi-ing it to relate to temporal prosperity and dominion only, nion and empire; and in the third, family pre-eminence, as well as the divine protection: but then the question is, in what sense is all this to be understood, and to what branch may the peculiar blessing of Abraham, which is doubtless comprised herein, be supposed to belong? If we look back to the call of Abraham, and the promises which attended it, there we shall find, that after enumerating the temporal blessings which were to descend from Abraham to his posterity, one blessing is added, in which all the world has an interest, and which was conveyed to them through Abraham and his seed. In thee,' says God, shall all the families of the earth be blessed.' 36 2 If we proceed to the blessing which he was pleased to give to his son Isaac, we shall find a recital of the same kinds of temporal prosperity; a numerous progeny proinised; the grant of the land of Canaan renewed; the oath given unto Abraham confirmed; and then follows the great and distinguishing promise, in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.' And in like manner we cannot but imagine, that in this great and solemn blessing which Isaac is giving his son Jacob, there must be something of a spiritual nature comprised, though couched under terms which seem to denote worldly felicity only. 46 The author of the Hebrews tells us, that by faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come; and what we are to understand by faith,' he instructs us in the conclusion of his discourse; and these all' (meaning the patriarchs he had mentioned before) having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, God having provided some better things for us, that they, without us, should not be made perfect.' So that this faith did chiefly relate to the blessed seed which was promised in the beginning, and from continued tradition and divine revelation, in every succeeding age, embraced by the faithful; and therefore we can hardly suppose, but that, in this great prophetical benediction, there must be something concerning this seed implied at least, if not expressed. Whoever takes but a cursory view of some of the chief passages of Jacob's life, will soon perceive that had his father's blessing consisted of worldly advantages only, it was in a manner quite lost upon him, since few men enjoyed a less share of that than he, who was forced from his home, into a far country, for fear of his brother; deceived and oppressed by his uncle; and after a servitude of above twenty years, compelled to flee from him; while, at the same time, he was in imminent danger, either of being pursued and brought back by Laban, or fallen upon, and murdered by Esau. These fears were no sooner over, but the baseness of his eldest son, in defiling his couch; the treachery and cruelty of the two next in relation to the Shechemites; the loss of his wherein can we say that Jacob had the pre-eminence 9 C Jacob is to rule over Esau ;' and yet no sooner is the blessing given, but he flies his country for fear of Esau ; he lives abroad for many years; and when he returns, the fear and dread of his brother returns with him; so that his only refuge, in this his distress, was to God; Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau.' When he sends a message to him, he styles himself, Thy servant Jacob:' when he meets him, 10 he bows himself to the ground seven times, until he comes near to Esau;' when he speaks to him, he calls him lord ;' and when he is kindly received by him, he says, "I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wert pleased with me.' What is there in all this that shows any rule and dominion given to Jacob over his brother Esau ? And, in like manner, if we imagine the prophecy relates to temporal dominion only, and yet was fulfilled in the posterity of these two brothers, the question will be, how the case, upon this supposition, stands ? 12 The family of Esau was settled in power and dominion many years before Jacob's family had any certain dwellingplace. The dukes and kings of Esau's house are reckoned up; and the historian tells us, that "these are A. M. 2143. A. C. 1855; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3495. A. C. 1916. GEN. CH. xxviii. 10–xxxvii. the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before there 26 5 3 6 why, though it was certainly obtained by guile, it was What then is the hidden purpose of the words, and in what sense are they to be taken? Why it seems pretty evident, that the blessing given to Jacob, and expressed in words implying a rule over his brethren, was a conveyance of his birthright to him, in the family of Abraham; that the birthright in Abraham's family, besides the promise of the land of Canaan, respected the special blessing given to Abraham by God, and that this special blessing denoted no other than that person in whom all families of the earth were to be blessed, and that is Christ. For that the regard of all nations to the seed, in which they were all to be blessed, should be expressed by their bowing down to him,' is no hard figure of speech; and that the superiority of Jacob's family should one day be broken (as the promise to Esau sets forth) when Jews and Gentiles should equally become the people of God, and all nations be equally blessed, is no more than what the original covenant contains. Upon the whole, then, we may observe, that this prediction had its full accomplishment, neither in the person of Jacob, nor in his posterity in general, but only in one, who, as to his human nature, in the fulness of time, descended from him, and who being in the form of God,' as the apostle acquaints us with both his natures, and thinking it no robbery to be equal with God, made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name, which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus ever knee CHAP. I.-Of the Life of Jacob, from his going into should bow, of things in heaven, and things in the earth, and things under the earth, and that every tongue shall confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.' SECT. III. Mesopotamia, to his return. THE HISTORY. As soon as Jacob had received his father's charge and blessing, he departed privately from Beersheba, and a made the best of his way to Haran; but after his first 2 Pet. i. 21. 11 8 Heidegger's Hist. Patriar. vol. 2. Essay 14. Le Clerc's Commentary 10 Heb. xii. 17. 12 Gen. xxvii. 33. Heidegger's Hist. Patriar. vol. 2. Essay 14. a The Jews tell of several miracles, which they suppose to have been wrought on the very day that Jacob set out from Beersheba; but one more especially, namely, that God shortened the A. M. 2149. A. C. 1855; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3495. A. C. 1916. GEN. CH. xxviii, 10-xxxvii. day's journey, a happening to be benighted, he was forced | thence, he made a d solemn vow to God, "That if he to take up his lodging in the open air, with the spangled a The place where Jacob took up his lodging, was near Luz, which signifies an almond, and might very likely have its name from the many groves of almond-trees which were thereabouts; and under some of which it is not unlikely that Jacob might take up his lodging, because the largeness of their leaves, in that country, would afford no incommodious shelter from the weather. Jacob, upon account of the vision which he had in this place, called it Bethel; and the Israelites, when they conquered Canaan, in remembrance of the same, continued the name. It lay to the west of Hai, about eight miles to the north of Jerusalem, in the confines of the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin. So that upon the revolt of the ten tribes, it belonged to the kingdom of Israel, and was therefore one of the cities where Jeroboam set up his golden calves, whence the prophet Hosea (ch. iv. 15) alluding to the name given to it by Jacob, calls it Bethavan, instead of Bethel, that is the house of vanity or idols,' instead of the house of God.'-Patrick's Commentary, and Wells' Geography of the Old Testament, vol. 1. would protect and prosper him in his journey, provide him with e common necessaries in his absence, and grant him an happy return to his father's house; to him alone would he direct his religious worship; in that very place where the pillar stood, upon his return, would he make his devout acknowledgments, and offer unto him the tenth of whatever he should gain in the land of Mesopotamia." great ingenuity and reason, insists that the name and veneration of the sacred stones, called baetyli, so celebrated in all pagan antiquity, were derived. These baetyli were stones of a round form; they were supposed to be animated with a portion of the Deity; they were consulted on occasions of great and pressing emergency, as a kind of divine oracles. Thus, the setting up of a stone by this holy person, in grateful memory of the celestial vision, probably became the occasion of the idolatry in succeeding ages, to these shapeless masses of unknown stone, of which so many astonishing remains are scattered up and down the Asiatic and the European world.-Maurice's Indian Antiquities, vol. 2. p. 355. d Several annotators have observed, that this is the first vow that we read of in Scripture; but this is no reason for our sup posing that Jacob was the first who worshipped in this manner, but rather, that in this, he did no more than what his fathers, Abraham and Isaac, had done before him, and as they had instructed him both by example and precept. And as for Abraham, though there be no mention made expressly of a vow, yet the Lord is said to have made a covenant with him, Abraham, very certain it is, that in effect he did the same thing. For when on his part, must be supposed to express his consent and accep tation of it, and not only so, but to vow and promise to perform the conditions, in order to attain the benefit of it. And in like manner, when Isaac is said to have entreated the Lord for his wife, it is highly probable, that he vowed a vow to God, that upon his performance of the promise of multiplying his seed. &c., he would, on his part, as an acknowledgment of it, make some or other suitable return; for the word which we render entseat, in its original, has a much stronger signification, and denotes a soliciting of favours, whether from God or man, by gifts, vows, or promises. So that we may justly conclude, that his son did not do this of his own head, or an immediate revelation commanding him so to do, but that he was before taught ard instructed by his father in this solemnity, as a part of both natural and positive religion.-Bibliotheca Biblica. e Jacob's words upon this occasion are, If God will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,' which two articles comprise all the necessaries of life, and therefore we find them, in the writings of the philosophers, always put together. For these are the bounds, says Seneca, (Ep. 4.) which nature has set us, that we should not hunger, nor thirst, nor be cold. For our diet and dress, says Tully, should contribute to our health and strength, not to luxury or pleasure (De Offic. b. 1. c. 13.) We may observe, however, farther, that by the patriarch's covenanting here with God only for food and raiment, does appear the gross mistake of those who pretend that he supplanted his brother for covetous ends; as if his father's estate, and the possession of a rich country for himself and his heirs, were the things which he had only in view.-Le Clerc's Commentary, and Bibliotheca Biblica, in locum. f This is the second mention of tithes or tenths, and the first dedication of them to God; and from this place we may fairly conclude, that Jacob, the grandchild of Abraham, vowing the tenth of all, (as Abraham had given the tenth of the spoil,) was induced to do it by the custom which then prevailed among religious people. How they came to pitch upon this portion, rather than a fifth, a sixth, or any other quantity, is not so easy to be b Hence it seems evident, that Jacob did not leave his father's house, without being first provided for his journey; for it cannot be thought, that if he wanted other necessaries, he would have carried oil along with him, and that in such plenty, as to pour it out, in such a seemingly profuse manner, upon an inanimate sub-resolved; but they seem to speak with much reason, who observe, ject.-Bibliotheca Biblica. e Gen. xxviii. 18. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had set up for his pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel.' This passage evinces of how great antiquity is the custom of considering stones in a sacred light, as well as the anointing them with consecrated oil. From this conduct of Jacob, and this Hebrew appellative, the learned Bochart, with that in this number ten, all nations in a manner do end their account, and then begin again with compound numbers, or, as others phrase it, that this is the end of less numbers, and the beginning of the greater, for which reason it was looked on as the most perfect of all other, and accordingly had in great regard. but after all, it seems most likely, that they had some divine precept and direction for it. At this time it is certain that the order of priesthood was not instituted; and therefore the only purposes to A. M. 2149. A. C. 1855; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3495. A. C. 1916. GEN. CH. xxviii, 10–xxxvii, Having thus performed his devotions, he a proceeded | him, and to let him know, that he neither expected, nor in his journey, and, after some weeks, arrived at Haran. As he came near the town, he saw some shepherds with their flocks, not far from a well which was covered with a large stone; and while he was inquiring of them concerning Laban and his family, he was given to understand, that they were all well, and that it would not be long before his daughter & Rachel would be there with her flock. Nor had this discourse long passed before she came; whereupon Jacob, having very obligingly rolled Laban, we must know, had another daughter, named away the stone, and watered her sheep for her, took | Leah, older than Rachel, but not so beautiful, having occasion to let her know who he was; and as he pro- some blemish or soreness in her eyes; and when the ceeded to salute his cousin, was in a manner ready to time of Jacob's servitude was expired, and he demanded weep for joy; while she made what haste she could home, his wife, his father-in-law seemed to solemnize the in order to inform her father of what had passed. He immediately came to meet his nephew, and received him with all the kindness, and all the tenderness imaginable, whilst he related to him the occasion of his leaving his father's family, and what adventures he had met with in the way. thought it reasonable, to have his labour for nothing, and therefore desired him to name what wages he would have. The lovely shepherdess had already captivated Jacob's heart; and therefore he names her for the reward of his seven years' service, which her father readily consented to, and he as readily entered upon, because the love which he had to his Rachel made him account the longest time short. e d It was a custom which had prevailed almost in all ages, that in contracting marriages, as the wife brought a portion to the husband, so the husband should be likewise obliged to give her parents money or presents, (which sometimes in Scripture are called the dowry,) in lieu of this portion. But Jacob being destitute of money, offers his uncle seven years' service, which must Jacob had not been long in his uncle's house before needs have been equivalent to a large sum; and being so, it is he applied himself to business; and having now served more to be wondered at, that he did not send over to his parents him for the space of a month in the capacity of a shep-for a supply upon this occasion, rather than bind himself a servant herd, his uncle one day took an occasion to discourse which Jacob could appropriate the tithes he gave, were either for a The words in the text are, And came into the land of the people of the east,' Gen. xxix. 1.; which makes some imagine that he travelled eastward. But this is a mistake, because Mesopotamia, and particularly Haran, lay northward from Bethel. Babylon, however, lay eastward from both places; and therefore Mesopotamia being part of the Babylonish dominions, the Babylonians might well be called the people of the east,' and Jacob is only said to have gone into a country of which they were lords and masters.-Bedford's Scripture Chronology, b. 3. c. 4. Rachel, in the Hebrew tongue, signifies a sheep: nor need we wonder at her being called so, since it was a common thing among the ancients to give names, not only to particular persons, but even to considerable families, (as the words Porcius, Ovilius, Caprilius, Equilius, &c., mentioned by Varro, De Re Rustica, L. 2. c. 1. sufficiently shows,) from cattle, both great and small. Much less reason have we to wonder, that we find her keeping her father's sheep, since that employment, in those early days, was accounted very honourable, as from Homer and other ancient writings is sufficiently evident. We need not suppose, however, that the whole drudgery of the work lay upon her; she had those under her who took this off her hands, and her business was only, as the chief shepherdess, to inspect over them.—Patrick's Commentary. for so long a term. But, from the custom in use among us, there is no judgment to be made what the custom and practice was then.-Bibliotheca Biblica, and Le Clerc's Commentary. e Dr Hales states the age of Jacob when he went to Charran at 77 years, which he collects from Scripture thus: When Jacob had been 14 years in Charran, Joseph was born, Gen. xxx. 25; Joseph was 30 years old when made regent of Egypt, Gen. xli. 46; and in the ninth year of his regency, brought his father and family to settle in Egypt, Gen. xli. 53, 54. xlv. 6; the amount of these sums, 14+30+9=53 years from the time Jacob went to Charran; which being subducted from 130 years, his age when he stood before Pharaoh, Gen. xlvii. 9, leaves 77 years for his age when he went to Charran. And this confirms the account of Abulfaragi and Demetrius. Dr Hales farther agrees with Usher, Lloyd, Clayton, &c., in supposing that Jacob's marriage with Leah took place about a month after his arrival in Charran, at the beginning of the seven years, and his marriage with Rachel the week after, and thinks that Jacob's demand, Gen. xxix. 21, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled,' relates to the days of courtship, which by a decorous usage were a month, during which a bride, though betrothed, might put off the consummation of her marriage, a privilege which was afterwards extended by the Mosaic law even to a female captive, who was granted this respite to bewail" her father and mother," Deut. xxxi. 13. And further, considering the advanced age of Jacob when he went to Charran, as stated above, it is not probable that he would have waited patiently seven years before he married; and the selfish policy of Laban would prompt him to secure his attachment and services by a speedy connexion with his family. That he married at the beginning of the first seven years, is further demonstrated by Abalfaragi, who dates the birth of his son Levi, in his eighty-second year, or in the fifth year of his service. On this hypothesis, Dr Hales gives the following table of the birth of Jacob's children by his wives and concubines. The first date is Jacob's age, the second the year before Christ, c The things which Jacob informed his uncle Laban of at this time, may be supposed to be such as related to the occasion of his journey; as particularly all that had passed between his brother and him as to the right of primogeniture; the purchase which he had made of it, and what ensued; their two different manners of living; the design of his father with respect to them; the management of the mother, to procure him the blessing; the resentment of his brother at his disappointment; the prudent dismission of himself thereupon, both by father and mother; the displeasure they had conceived at his brother's matching himself into strange families; and the strict orders they had therefore given him to take a wife out of his own kindred, and of the house of his mother's father, which was the reason of his coming thither; and, lastly, the wonderful occurrences he had met with on his journey, more especially as to the whole affair of Bethel, and the happy meeting of his daughter at the well, to his great-Hales' Analysis of Chronology, vol. 2. pp. 132, 135–137, and surprising satisfaction.-Bibliotheca Biblica. 1 Reuben,... Y. B. C. 1915 2 Simeon, 80 1913 3 Levi,.........Leah, 82 1911 4 Judah, 83 1910 5 Dan,........Bilhah, 84 1909 6 Naphthali,...........S 85 1908 A. M. 2149. A. C. 1855; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3495. A. C. 1916. GEN. CH. xxviii. 10-xxxvii. nuptials with great magnificence, but in the evening he put an unfair trick upon him; for instead of the beauteous Rachel, he a brought the blear-eyed Leah to his bed; which when Jacob perceived next morning, and thereupon made just remonstrances, the father had his answer ready, and in a magisterial tone told him, That it was an unprecedented thing in that country, and would have been deemed an injury to her sister, to marry the younger before the elder; but (continued he, in a milder tone) if you will fulfil the nuptial week with your wife, and consent to serve another seven years for her sister, I am content to take your word for it, and to give Rachel to you as soon as the seven days are ended." Jacob could not but be troubled at such unfair procedure, but he loved Rachel too well not to obtain her at any price; and therefore he consented to these hard conditions, and, at the week's end, was married to Rachel likewise. But though he preferred Rachel much before Leah, yet God put quite another difference between them, by making the latter the mother of four sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, before her sister had one. d This was so great a trouble to Rachel, that she came one day, in a fit of melancholy, and told her husband, a The modesty of those times made them bring the bride to her husband's bed veiled, and without lights, which gave Laban an opportunity to impose upon Jacob, and made it a thing almost impossible for him to discern the deception until next morning. -Howell's History, and Patrick's Commentary. that unless he gave her children also, she should certainly die with grief. Which speech seeming to lay the blame of her sterility upon him, so provoked him, that he sharply rebuked, and told her, “ That it was not in his power to work miracles; that God, who had shut up her womb, was alone able to open it; but that such uneasy and discontented behaviour was the way to prevent, rather than obtain such a favour." This mortifying answer made her bethink herself of supplying the defect of nature by her grandmother Sarah's expedient, and therefore she desired her husband to take her handmaid Bilhah for a concubinary wife, and by that means to try to make her a mother; which he consenting to, had by her a son, whom Rachel named Dan, and, in a proper space of time, another, whom she called Naphthali. After which Leah, supposing herself to have left off childbearing, and willing to imitate her sister's policy, gave her maid Zilpah to her husband, by whom she had likewise two sons, Gad and Ashur. About this time it so fell out, that Reuben, Jacob's eldest son, going into the fields about the time of wheat harvest, chanced to meet with some mandrakes, which he gathered, and carried to his mother Leah. Rachel no sooner saw them, but desiring to have some of them, received from Leah a forbidding answer; "That having robbed her of her husband's affections, she could not "" It was expect to have any part in her son's present.' Rachel's turn that night to have her husband's company, and therefore, to compromise the matter, she tells her b Dr Clarke thinks that the word n raccoth, rendered sister, that in case she would oblige her with some of her tender-eyed' in the common version, means soft, delicate, son's mandrakes, she would wave her pretensions, and lovely; and that the meaning is just the reverse of the signification usually given to it. The design of the inspired writer is to consign the right of his bed to her. Upon Jacob's comcompare both sisters together, that the balance may appear to being home, Leah calls upon him to confirm the bargain, greatly in the favour of Rachel. The chief recommendation of Leah was her soft and beautiful eyes; but Rachel was " yephath tour, beautiful in her shape, person, mien, and gait, and Nyephath morch, beautiful in her countenance. words plainly signify a fine shape and fine features, all that can be considered as essential to personal beauty.-Clarke's Commentary on Gen. xxxix. 17.-ED. The c Some are of opinion, that by 'her week' (as it is in the text) we are to understand a week of years, or seven years, and consequently, that to fulfil her week' was as much as to say, that Jacob was to serve other seven years for Rachel, before he was to marry her. Some old English versions render it thus: but the order of the story seems to gainsay it. For though Jacob lived with Laban twenty years, it is plain, that at the end of the fourteenth year, he proposed to part, and return home; and yet we may observe, that Rachel (though she had been a good while barren) had born Joseph before that time, which could not have been, had not she been married before the end of his second seven years' service. Since Laban then (as we read Gen. xxix. 22.) had invited a great deal of company, and the custom in those days was to devote a whole week to the nuptial solemnities, the plain sense of his words to Jacob (according to Selden's short comment on them, De Jure Nat. b. 5. c. 5.) is this," Since marriages are to be celebrated, according to custom, by a seven days' feast, complete this marriage thou hast begun with Leah, and then upon condition of another seven years' service, thou shalt marry Rachel also, and keep her wedding feast seven days." And the reason why Laban was so desirous of this, was, that a week's cohabitation with Leah might be a means, either to knit Jacob's affection to her, or at least to confirm the marriage so, that it should not be in his power to disannul it-Le Clerc's and Patrick's Commentaries, Howell's History and Poole's Annota tions. d Gen. xxix. 32. 'And Leah conceived and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben.' It seems probable that in common the mother gave the name to a child, and this both among the Jews and the Greeks, though perhaps not without the concurrence of the father. In the age of Aristophanes, the giving of a which accordingly he did, and the consequence was, that she conceived again, and had a fifth son, whom she called Issachar ; after him another named Zebulun; and last of all, a daughter, whose name was Dinab, the feminine of Dan. Rachel had hitherto no issue of her own body; but now it pleased God to remember her, and to bless her with a son, whom she called Joseph. And it was not long after his birth, that his father Jacob, having now served out his last seven years, began to entertain thoughts of returning into his own country, and accordingly desired of his uncle to dismiss him and his family. But Laban, who had found by experience no small advanname to the child seems to have been a divided prerogative between the father and the mother. Homer ascribes it to the mother: Him on his mother's knees, when babe he lay, Odyssey, xviii. G. Pope. Annotations. |