A. M. 2149. A. C. 1855; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3495. A. C. 1916. GEN. CH. xxviii. 10-xxxvii. the washing and changing of their garments, they set forward to Bethel, and arrived there safe, and without any disturbance, because God had struck such a terror into the cities round about them, that, notwithstanding the late provocation in the matter of Shechem, nobody offered to molest or pursue them. As soon as Jacob came to Bethel, where a Deborah, his mother's nurse, happened to die, he erected an altar, as God had commanded him, whereupon he performed his vow; and not long after, God appeared to him again, confirming the change of his name, and giving him fresh assurances of his design to multiply his posterity, and to give him the inheritance of the land of Canaan; which induced him to erect a pillar of stone, whereon he poured a drink-offering and oil, as a lasting monument of his gratitude and devotion. b and had just time to name him Benoni, that is, 'the son of sorrow;' but his father, unwilling to perpetuate the remembrance of so melancholy a subject, called him Benjamin, which signifies the son of my right hand,' or 'my strength.' She was buried in the way to Ephrah, where her husband built & a monument of stone over her grave, which the sacred historian tells us was extant in his days. But this was not the only misfortune which attended Jacob in this place: his eldest son Reuben, having taken a liking to Bilhah, the concubinary wife which Rachel had given him, made no scruple to commit incest with her; which thing grieved his father so, that, though he forbore taking any present notice of it, yet he could not but 'resent it at his dying hour. Soon after this Jacob left this melancholy place, and came at length to Mamre, the place of his father's abode, who was doubtless not a little overjoyed at the return of his The desire which Jacob had to visit his aged father made his stay in Bethel not long; and therefore, remov-son, after so long an absence. ing from thence, he intended to have reached Ephrah, which was not far distant, that night, but was prevented by Rachel's falling in labour of her second and last child, for of him she died as soon as she was delivered, sordidness indeed there is something distasteful, and it is an unseemly thing to appear before a great man in dirty apparel: but the principal design of God's appointing this outward cleanliness, was to be a sign and memorandum to the person approaching his presence, what the inward temper and complexion of his mind should be; and therefore we find the royal Psalmist, in allusion to this very custom, declaring his pious purpose, I will wash my hands in innocency, and so will I go to thy altar,' Ps. xxvi. 6.-Le Clerc's and Patrick's Commentary. a In Gen. xxiv, 59, we read that Deborah went along with her mistress Rebecca, when Isaac's steward was sent to conduct her out of Mesopotamia; how is it, then, that we find her here in Jacob's retinue so long afterwards, and when he was returning from the same place? The Jewish doctors tell us, that Rebecca, having promised her son at his departure that she would send for him again, as soon as she found him out of danger, did now send Deborah to fetch him back. But, besides that a younger messenger would have been much more proper, we do not find that Jacob was sent for, but that he left the country, by God's appointment, and upon the bad usage of his father-in-law. Some Christian commentators are, therefore, of opinion, that after she had brought her mistress Rebecca to her marriage, and seen her well settled in her family, she went back to Haran again, and there dwelt in Laban's house, till, upon Jacob's returning home, she, having a desire to see her old mistress once more, put herself under his convoy. Others again suppose, that Jacob had been at his father's house before this time; or that, after Rebecca's death, Deborah hearing of his return into Canaan, might be desirous to spend the remainder of her life with his wives, who were her countrywomen. Any of these conjectures may be sufficient to solve the difficulty of her being found in Jacob's family; and the reason why Moses takes notice of her death is, not so much because it was a circumstance of moment enough to be preserved in history, as that it was of use to assign the reason why the oak near which she was buried, and which perhaps was still standing in his days, came by its But what will in some measure serve, both to vindicate the sacred historian, and to show, at the same time, how much these nurses and women, who had the care and education of persons of birth and quality, were honoured and esteemed in those early days, is this passage, upon the like occasion, in the poet Virgil:-"Thou Caieta, nurse of Æneas, hast also conferred eternal renown on our shores; even still the memory of thy tomb exists, and thy name points out thy grave in the great Hesperia!"-Eneid, b. 7. name. This place was afterwards called Bethlehem, a city about two leagues distant from Jerusalem, famous for the birth of David, king of Israel, but infinitely more so for the birth of Christ, the Son of God, and Saviour of the world.-Calmet's Dictionary. CHAP. II.-Difficulties Obviated, and Objections Answered. THE worst accusation against our patriarch is that of ខ 1 Gen. xlix. 4. 2 Scripture Vindicated. e From the different names which the father and mother gave this son of theirs, some have observed, that names are ofttimes strangely adapted to things, and the presages of parents have anciently been observed to be fulfilled: "Alas, the auguries of parents are never unfulfilled!" Which was certainly nowhere more than in the fate of Benjamin's posterity, since no tribe in Israel was more valorous, and yet none more subject to disasters, than his; since it was almost quite extirpated in the time of the Judges, ch. xx., and yet, before the conclusion of that age, became so powerful as to have the first king of Israel chosen out of it.-Patrick's Commentary. d The learned Bochart is of opinion that this monument of Rachel's, which is the first that we read of in Scripture, was a pyramid, curiously wrought, and raised upon a basis of twelve large stones, whereby Jacob intended to intimate the number of his sons. It was certainly standing in the time when Moses wrote, ver. 20, and just before Saul was anointed king there is some mention made of it, 1 Sam. x. 2. But that the present monument cannot be the same which Jacob erected, is very manifest from its being a modern and Turkish structure. Mr Le Brun, who was at the place, and took a draught of it, says that the tomb is cut into the cavity of a rock, and covered with a dome, supported by four pillars, on fragments of a wall, which open to the sepulchre. The work is rude enough, and without any ornament; but the whole is as entire as if it had been but just made, which makes it hard to imagine that had subsisted ever since Jacob's time.—Maundrell's Travels, and Calmet's Dictionary. A. M. 2149. A. C. 1855; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3495. A. C. 1916. GEN. CH. xxviii. 10-xxxvii. therein, which are true and righteous altogether, to be the rule and measure of our conduct. We readily grant, therefore, that this action of Jacob's, considered in itself, according to the rules of strict justice, can hardly be vindicated; but then we are to remember, that there was a much superior agent, even the great Proprietor of the world, and who has an undoubted right to transfer possessions where he pleases, by whose direction it was done. For suppose we allow (what some great men, both physicians and philosophers, are wont to maintain) that the fancy of the dam, in the time of conception, is of power sufficient to influence the form, and shape, and colour of the young, and to produce the effect which it had upon Laban's cattle; yet we cannot imagine that Jacob knew anything of this secret, Men had not as yet inquired into the powers of nature, and observations of this kind were not much regarded. Religion and the worship of God was, in these days, the wisdom of the world; and a simplicity of life, and integrity of manners, more studied than any curious and philosophical speculations. If study and philosophy had helped men to this knowledge, how came Laban and his sons to be utter strangers to it? And yet, had they not been strangers, they could not but apprehend that Jacob might by art variegate the cattle as he pleased, and would not therefore have made so weak a bargain with him. They certainly, therefore, had no notion that any such thing could be done, neither had Jacob any intelligence of it when he made the contract with Laban; but being resolved to be contented with what the divine providence should allot him, he made choice of the speckled cattle merely to put an end to all cavils about wages, as not doubting but that God would so order matters that in the event he should have enough: and therefore his words, 'So shall my righteousness answer for me in the time to come,' are just as if he had said, "I may be thought to have acted imprudently in naming this hire, as if it were impossible for cattle that are all white to bring forth any but such as are like themselves; but in the result it will appear that God had respect to my just dealing, and this you will plainly see when you come to pay me my wages." But though Jacob at first might be ignorant of the secret, yet we cannot deny but that, after the bargain was made, God might give him some intimation of it, and perhaps might enjoin him to put it in execution; and yet, after all, he might not apprehend any natural efficacy in the thing. Instances there are, more than enough, in Scripture, of God's requiring persons to perform such actions as might testify their faith and reliance on his promises, in order to receive such blessings as he intended for them. Thus Naaman the Syrian, when he came to beg of God a cure of his leprosy, was directed to wash seven times in Jordan.' Washing in Jordan was to be an evidence of his believing that God would heal him, and upon his giving this evidence he was cured; which was the case of Jacob here before God had told him that he had seen all that Laban had done unto him,' but that he would take care us. that he should not hurt him;' that all Laban's contrivances to defraud him of his wages he would turn so much to his advantage, as that they should tend to the increase of his prosperity; and then, very probably, as a token of his belief and dependance on him, he commanded him to take peeled rods, and use them as he directed. Jacob believed, and did as he was commanded: but all this while he might no more think that the peeling of rods of green boughs, and laying them in the watering places where the flocks were to drink, was a natural way to cause them to bring forth spotted and speckled young ones, than Naaman did, that washing in a river was a cure for a leprosy. But even suppose the case, that Jacob had the notion that party-coloured rods might be a natural means to produce party-coloured cattle; yet if he used them in obedience to the divine command, and not merely as a means to enrich himself at the expense of another, we cannot perceive wherein he was culpable. God Almighty determined to punish Laban for his injustice, and to reward Jacob for his fidelity. He revealed to Jacob the manner in which he designed to bless him, and ordered him to do an action as a token of his reliance on him, for the performance of his promise. Jacob faithfully observed the orders that were given him, and the event proved accordingly. Here was no trick, no circumvention in the matter; though it must be allowed, that had it been lawful for any private person to make reprisals, the injurious treatment he had received from Laban, both in imposing a wife upon him, and prolonging his servitude without wages, was enough to give Jacob both the provocation and privilege so to do. God Almighty, however, was pleased to take the determination of the whole matter into his own hands; and therefore the true conclusion is, what Jacob himself expresses in his speech to his two wives, 'Ye know, that with all my power, I have served your father, and your father hath deceived me, and changed my wages ten times; but God suffered him not to hurt me. If he said thus, the speckled shall be thy wages, then all the cattle bare speckled; and if he said thus, the ring-streaked shall be thine hire, then bare all the cattle ring-streaked. Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and hath given them to me.' A man so highly favoured by God, and so sensible of his peculiar goodness, can scarce be supposed capable of making any vow with a mercenary view, or of neglecting to perform it, when made. The vow which the patriarch made upon his journey into Mesopotamia, is conceived in these terms. If God will be with me, and keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God;' that is, I will religiously worship and serve him : but it is an unfair construction to say, that unless God did bring him home in peace, he would not worship him. The right which God has to the service and homage of his creatures, is absolute and unalienable : his dominion, his power, his goodness, covenant, and promises, do all require this of us; and therefore the words must mean, either that besides God's natural property in him, he should have also a farther demand of duty upon him, in Gen. xxviii. 20, &c. A. M. 2149 A. C. 1855; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3495. A. C. 1916. GEN. CH. xxviii. 10-xxxvii. consequence of this vow; or 1 that he would perform | so far from being a stain upon his conduct, as if he were some signal service to him, and worship him with a more than ordinary devotion, consecrating (as it follows) the place where he then stood to his honour; offering him sacrifices, and giving him the tenth of all he had, to | maintain this worship. Such is the sense of the vow; and the conditions relating to it seem to denote the secret wish and desire of his soul, and not any express stipulation with God. Man certainly cannot insist on terms with his Maker, but he may desire and humbly hope for a supply of his wants. More than this the patriarch does not expect; and less than this God never intended to give. Our heavenly Father knows that we have need of food to eat, and raiment to put on,' and it is a renunciation of our dependance upon his providential goodness not to ask them. To serve God for no consideration, but that of his own glory, is a notion that may well enough comport with our future exalted state, when we shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more,' and where our service will always be attended with vision; but while we are invested with these weak and frail bodies, they and their concerns will tenderly affect us, and God, who considers whereof we are made, expects no other than that they should. Considering then the circumstances that Jacob was in, leaving now his own, and going into a strange country, we need not much wonder that we find him solicitous for his daily bread. With his staff he passed over Jordan; and when he returned with a great retinue, the grateful acknowledgment which he makes upon that occasion, he expresses in these words: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; and a temper like this would never have neglected to pay its vows unto the Most High, had not the patriarch either met with obstructions, that made it not safe for him to go, or waited till God, who had all along conducted him hitherto, should direct him to go to the place appointed for such oblation. Before he came to that place indeed, we are told that he commanded his household, and all that were with him, to put away the strange gods that were among them.' And from hence it may be presumed, that there were several of his family (and possibly Rachel herself) addicted to idolatry, which he might connive at; but this is a mistake, which arises purely from the faultiness of our translation. There the word strange is supposed to refer to gods, and to be another name for idols: whereas the words (Elohei-han-necar) do properly signify the gods of the stranger that was among them,' that is, the gods of the Shechemites, whom they had taken captive, and brought into Jacob's family. This alters the sense of the words quite, and throws the charge of idolatry, not upon Jacob's household, but upon the strangers that were in it. The captives of Shechem, which his sons had taken, were now to be incorporated into his family, and put under new restrictions. Whatever singularities were in their dress or ornaments, or in the rites and usages of religion they had been accustomed to, these he intended to abrogate, and to reduce them all to the same purity of worship, and simplicity of life and manners, which he designed to keep up among them. And this is a tame conniver at impiety, that we find him undertake if he could but reconcile Esau to him, he very prudently It was not from pride or vanity, therefore, or to gratify an ostentatious humour, that Jacob sent his brother an account of his prosperous circumstances, but partly to recognise the goodness of providence, which had so prospered him, and partly to let him know, that he was not come to raise any contributions, either upon him, or the family; that he had brought his substance with him from Haran, and was not going into Canaan to do him any wrong. The whole design of this interview with Esau was to procure a firm reconciliation with him; and therefore it is no wonder that Jacob should make use of such terms as were most likely to ingratiate. He knew his brother's rugged and haughty temper, and considered him as a person, who, by his valour and conduct, had raised himself to a principality and dominion, whilst himself, for twenty years together, had lived in no better capacity than that of a servant; and therefore he might justly think, that this difference of appellations did not misbe come their different conditions of life. By the divine direction indeed, he was constituted Esau's lord; nor did he forego that prerogative by A. M. 2149. A. C. 1855; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3495. A. C. 1916. GEN. CH. xxviii-xxxvii. calling himself Esau's servant. Lord and servant were no more then, than (what they are now) certain modes of civility, which passed between persons of good breeding, without ever adhering to their strict acceptation; and therefore Jacob might make his addresses to Esau in this manner, without any derogation to his spiritual preeminence, and confining himself to the bounds of nature, might reverence him as his elder brother. But how jealous soever we may be of Jacob's honour, it is certain, that the Almighty approved of his conduct, by himself interposing to bring about the desired reconciliation. Before this interview with his brother, and while he lay under terrible apprehensions of his displeasure, the angels,' we are told, met him. They met him, that is, they showed themselves to him, to assure him of their custody; and by and by we see what followed; his brother Esau, contrary to his natural roughness, and avowed revenge, comes and treats him in a most friendly manner; which sudden change in Esau, we may reasonably suppose, was occasioned by one of those angels who appeared; and who, working upon his humours and fancy, sweetened him into a particular benignity of temper, so that Jacob, by his humble and submissive behaviour, gained his end. of Moses, knew any thing of: Ye are not your own, for you are bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.' Of all the adventures which happened to Jacob, that of his wrestling is deservedly reckoned one of the strangest, and has therefore been made a matter of doubt, whether it was a real event, or a vision only. Maimonides, and some other Hebrew, as well as Christian interpreters, are of opinion, that all this was transacted only in Jacob's imagination. They suppose, that the patriarch, being strongly possessed with the sense of the danger he was going to encounter, saw, in a vision, a man coming to him, and who, after some altercations, began to wrestle with him; that the conflict between them continued till break of day, when his antagonist, not able to get the better, desired to be gone, &c.; and that, as a proof that this vision was more than an ordinary dream, it seemed to him, that the angel touched his thigh; and in effect, as soon as he awoke, he found himself lame, probably by the force of his imagination. If this explication be admitted, the whole difficulty is at an end. It is natural, perhaps, for a man, under the apprehensions of a dreadful foe, to dream of fighting; and to dream, at the same time, that he comes off victorious, might be accounted an happy omen. But it must be confessed, that the analogy of the story, and more especially Jacob's lameness, which was consequent upon his conflict, will not suffer us to think that all this was only in a dream. The more general therefore, and indeed the more rational opinion is, that this wrestling was real, and that Jacob was actually awake, when engaged in it; but then the question is, who the person was that did encounter him? There is this peculiar hardship upon Jacob, that in the matter of Leah, he was perfectly imposed upon; that he had no design of having any communion with her; was contracted to her sister; and in all probability, had he enjoyed her first, would never have had concern with any other. But the misfortune was, that, in the other's nuptial night, he had carnal knowledge of her, and thereupon was induced to think, that he could not honestly leave her. Her sister Rachel was all this while (bating consummation) his lawful wife to whom he was contracted, to whom he was solemnly married; and therefore he could not in justice relinquish her neither. In this dilemma he was in a manner under a necessity of adhering to both; and as polygamy was not at that time interdicted, he thought he might do it without any violation of the laws of God. The only question is, whether he did not incur the sin of incest in so doing? And to this some Jewish doctors answer, that the prohibition of marriages, within such degrees of consanguinity, was restrained to the land of Canaan only; and that therefore it was not unlawful for Jacob in Haran to take two sisters, nor for Amram in Egypt to take his father's sister and to this purpose they observe farther, that in the Mosaic law itself, and particularly in the 20th chapter of Leviticus, where the sentence of excision is pronounced against incestuous marriages, there is no punishment assigned to him who shall marry two sisters; which, as they will have it, was, for the honour of Jacob, omitted. However this be, it is certain that there is no such toleration under the Christian dispensation; and therefore he who pretends to pronounce any thing upon a case so singular as this of our patriarch's is, should consider the different state of things, before the promulgation of the law, during the obligation of it, and since the commencement of the gospel; which undoubtedly prohibits both a plurality in wives, and consanguinity in marriages, and requires of its votaries the strictest chastity, from a consideration and motive which neither the law of nature, nor the law Gen. xxxii. 1. 5 'Young's Sermons, vol. 2. Sermon 6, Origen, I think, is a little singular, and no ways to be justified in his conceit, when he tells us, that the person with whom Jacob wrestled, was an evil angel, in allusion to which he thinks that the apostle grounds his exhortation: 5 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord; and in the power of his might, for we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.' But that Jacob, who at this time was so immediately under the divine protection, should be submitted to the assault of a wicked angel; that he should merit the name of Israel, that is, the conqueror of God, for overcoming such an one, or call the place of combat Peniel, that is, the face of God, in commemoration of his conflict with such an one, is very absurd, if not an impious suggestion. Those who espouse this opinion, may possibly be led into it from a thought, that the person here contending with Jacob, was an enemy, and come with a malevolent intent against him; whereas nothing can be more evident, (especially by his blessing him before they parted,) that he came with a quite contrary design. Among the people of the East, from whence the Grecians came, and brought along with them several of their customs, wrestling was an exercise in great vogue, as highly conducive to the health and strength; and a common thing it was for two 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. 'See Heidegger's Hist. Patriar. vol. 2. Essay 17. and Le Clerc's Commentary, and Calmet's Dictionary. Eph. vi. 10, 11, 12. Le Clerc's Commentary in locum A. M. 2149. A. C. 1855; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3495. A. C. 1916. GEN. CH. xxviii. 10-xxxvii. friends, when they met together, to amuse and recreate : 3 How Jacob, who was an hundred years old, could be enabled to do all this, must be imputed to some invisible power that assisted him. An angel is here, in an extraordinary manner, sent to encounter him, and he, in an extraordinary manner, is enabled to withstand him. The whole scene is contrived to cure him of his uneasy fears; and a proper medium to do this was to let him see, that an old man might contest it even with an angel, and yet not be foiled; and the power, he might reasonably conclude, which assisted him in this (if the matter were to come to blows with his brother Esau) would so invigorate his little army of domestics, as to make them prevail and become victorious. 5 9 blood, and called upon thee for aid.' ' Nothing is more known and common in history, than to ascribe an action (especially in military affairs) to the chief commanders in it, how many under agents soever they may think proper to employ: and we should deny Moses the common privilege of an historian, if we should account that a fault and omission in him, which, in other writers of the like nature (especially where they study brevity), is reputed a great beauty and perfection. Moses however is far from pleading his privilege in this respect; It was a common custom among eastern nations, as appears from several passages in Scripture, to convey the knowledge of things by actions as well as words. To this purpose we find Zedekiah making him horns of iron,' thereby to portend victory to Ahab; and Elias, ordering Joash to strike the ground with arrows,' thence to presignify his triumph over the Syrians. Nay, even Hannibal himself, (as the historian tells us,) perceiving that his soldiers were not to be encouraged with words, made a public show for them, not so much to entertain their sight, as to give them an image and representation of their own condition. In like manner, we may sup-for having made mention of Simeon and Levi, as the pose, that God made use of this expedient to cure Jacob of his dejection; and though Moses (who cannot be supposed to insert every thing) says nothing of the angels giving him this intimation, yet we find it in Josephus, that no sooner was the wrestling ended, but a voice called out to him, and said, "Comfort thyself in what thou hast done, for it is not a common adversary that thou hast foiled, but an angel of the Lord: take it for a presage, therefore, that thy posterity shall never fail, and that thou thyself shalt never be overcome." O Lord God of my father Simeon, to whom thou gavest a sword to take vengeance of the strangers, who loosened the girdle of a maid to defile her, and polluted her virginity to her reproach: Therefore thou gavest their rulers to be slain, so that they dyed their bed in blood, being deceived. Thou gavest their wives for a prey, and their daughters to be captives, and all their spoils to be divided among thy dear children, who were moved with thy zeal, and abhorred the pollution of their principal leaders in the action, he then proceeds and tells us, that 10 the sons of Jacob,' meaning the rest of his sons who were of competent age (and with them very reasonably their attendants)‘ came upon the slain, and spoiled the city, because they had defiled their sister.' It is very remarkable of the Jewish historian Josephus, that he gives us no manner of account of Reuben's incest, for fear that his recording so vile an action might leave some blot of infamy upon that patriarch and his posterity. But Moses has given us a better proof of his truth and integrity, in that he not only mentions this abomination once, but even in the benediction which his father gives Reuben, makes a remembrance and recital of it. And this he did, that he might give us a true account, why the right of inheritance, which was originally in him, came to be conferred on Joseph; and the kingdom, or right of dominion, which was forfeited by his transgression, came to be translated to the tribe of Judah. This he did, that he might furnish his countrymen with matter sufficient for their humiliation, who by this and many more instances of the like nature, are given to underJudith ix. 2, &c. Se'den de Jur. Nat. b. 7. c. 5. 10 Gen. xxxiv. 27. |