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COMMENTARY
UPON
G E N E S I S.
Imprimatur;,
Lambeth*,
JMaii
COMMENTARY
U PON THE
FirftBookof MOSES,
CALLED
GENESIS.
505695
B Y ai. 3.50
The Right Reverend Father sn GOD,\
S YMO N> Lof d BifHop of ELY.
E 0 N D 0 Ns
Primed for EK Cljlflaell, at the ^ and Crown in St. ^W's Ckurch'TanL MDCCIV,
THE
AVING been perfaaded to pnt
together fome fcattered Notes ,
which I long ago made upon fe*
veral f laces of Holy Scripture^ I
began the laft Tear to conftder fome Texts in
the Book AGENESIS. Where I
foon found there would be a nee e flit y of ma-
tyng an entire Commentary, upon a good fart
of it : And therefore J refolded to go throngh
the whole, in the fame manner as I had done
the three fir ft Chapters.
After I had fimfied the better half of nty Work^ I was informed that Monfleur TClerk had pnblifud a Critical Commentary upon
A the
r a E p A G E.
the fame Bvokj But whether lhave concurred its any thing with him^or contradt&ed him J am not able to fry, having wanted lei fife to pentfe his W<n\> by reafon of the Publicly Bti/inefs, which came upon me in the end of the lear When I lify- ivife under flood that a very Learned Friend and brother had put into the Prefs, Annota tions nfon all the Five Bool^s of Mofes. But by wwwnnictting fame of our Papers to each othjr, r^fq^iAd tkefa frvuld be no rta* fon, that eitfter of uf fhould lay a fide our Defign ^ but go on^ in our federal ways^ to make the Scriptures better under flood , by all forts of Perfons : >Fot till hetpf lyre little enough in thi* Age ^ which feems to takg plea- fure in being ignorant of the moft important Truths.
In which vre are fo particularly inftrn&ed by Mofes5 as by no other Author^ nor by all the Au thors that are, or have been known to be^ extant in the World. For to him we owe the Knowledge of the beginning of the Worlds of the fir ft Parents ef Mankind i the Inverters of Arts , the Original of Nations ; the Founders of Kingdoms and Em pires ; t he Inftitution vf Laws , the Fountain of Religious Rites , Yea, of all the ancient My- thology\ and) which is ntoft conftderable^ the
means
PREF
means of propagating that Senfe of God and of Religion j which Mankind brought into the World with them , and how rt came to be cor rupted.
Jhsre have beeittl&fe whobwe tatyn the It- btrty to fay ^t hat it is impojjihfavo give aty Me\ rable Account of the Creation 'of the World, in Six Days ; pfthe Situation of Pafadife, the Fall of our ^t^^rMtf\byth^fedn&iohof^ Serpent^ &c. But, I hope, I have made it appear , there is no ground for fuch prefuffipiuous Words : But wry good neafea to bdi&ve every thing that Mo* fes%ath Y elated ^with^t for faking the literal Sence^ and betaking ow felvesto, I do not fyiow titha*, Allegorical Interpretations^ articularly^ I find the Truth of what I have noted concernifrgP&radiki very much confirmed by a Learned and Judici* ous Dijccurfe of Monf. Huetfus ; which I did not meet withal^ till / had made an end of thefe rCommentaries: But thentovk^a review of what I had written^ aud found cattft to correct what I bad noted out of Mr. Carver \concernirig the Spring ^/Tigris a#d Euphrates. 1 might alfo have given ^aclearer Account of the ^Deluge, if lhad obferved fo we things ) which are come to my notice fwte thefe fapers went to the frefs ; But^ I hope, I
A a have
The PR. EF A c E.
have fa id enough to wince that it is not fo in ere* dible, as fowe have pretended. F0r, having made thetargeftConceJpons concerning the height b of the highefi Mountains** which^according to the old 0- pinMX* frhave allowed way he thirty Miles high, Gen.VH 19. (whereas if infleadof thirty ^1 bad faidnot above three perpendicular, I had had the be ft of the Modern Philofopbers to defend me) it appears there might be Water enough to cover the loftiest of them \ <*$ Mofes hath rela ted.
Whofe acccunt of the Families by whom the Earth wot peopled after the Flood) is fo furpri- fwgly agreeable to all the Records that remain in any Language $ the fever al Nations of theEarth% that it carries with it an uncontrouLble Evi dence of his Sincerity and frnrfe, as well as of his admirable IJniverfal Knowledge. For of there is no Writer that h#th given u$ an Account of fo many Nations <>and fo remote as he bath done : So he hath not fatted hiwfelfwitb naming them \ but acquainted m with their Original^ and told w at what r/we, and from what place, and on what occasion they were differ fed into far diftant Countries. And this with /uch brevity , that he hath informed n$ of more in one Chapter jhan we eanfnd in the great Volumes of all other Authors :
Having
The PR E F A C^E;
Uwing fhownw from whom all thofe People de» fcetidtd\ who are jpread over the Face of the Earth, from the Cafpian and Perfian Sea^ to Hercules his Pillars (as the Ancients fpeak^) that is, all the World over.
to fart, what foe ver is wo ft ancient in thofe Countries, 'which are fart heft from all Commerce with hit own, is clearly explained by Mofeg -° wkofe Writings therefore cannot but be highly va lued by all thofe who will apply their Minds feri- oufly to the fludy of them. For if they, who now have no regard to him? would but compare what he hath written on the fore-named Subject) with what they find inthvf^'tfeafhen Writers^ whom they have in the greateft veneration^ they would be forced to confefs him to be a Man of wonder ful ^nderjkanding ; and could not rzafonably doubt he had an exaSl kpowledge of the* Truth of, thofe things > whereof he wrote* To this pu*po(er I rttmmber^ the-jawows Bochartus fpeakfy who hath given the greateji Li%ht to the Tench of Genefis y wherein theft things are delivered.
And truly, it is fowe wonder, That they who (oWnchcry up the Egyptian Learnwg, fbouldnot eajily grant (unlefs they will bdteve all Hiftori* ansbxt only^ofe whom we acccurt Sacred) that
Mofes
. "The P R E F AC EC
Mofes mnft needs be qualified^ even without the help of Divine Revelation (which he certainly had^) to write both of their Original, and of all thofe who were related to them » being bred up in their Country } nay, in their Court till he wo* XL Tears old j and well verftdin all the Wifdomfhat was to be found among them, A &s VII. 22* Whith Wijdom of theirs, I doubt not, was much augmented by Abraham'/ living among them<>(a$ 1 have obferved upon XI J I 2.) but efpecially by JofephV long Government of that Country Jor the fpace of LXXX Tears :Wh&wat indued with fuch an incomparable Spirit, that the wifeft Men among them learnt of him \for he taught their Senators Wifdom* ffalm CV. 22. And^ in lify manner , Mofts lived XL Tears more among the Midia- nites5 rvhere, it appears by Jethro, there wanted not Ferfons of great Knowledge. And from thence he might enfily be inftm&td in all that the A- rabians^f?en? *• Who were no mean People (it ap pears by the Story of job and his three Friends^ and Elihu, who is Juppofed by fonie to have wrote that admirable Book^) and were near Neighbours to the mojl famom Nations of the Kaftern Conntries 5 From whom, it is evident by this Hijlory, aft Learning^ Art s^ and Sciences originally came,
I
The PR E FA c E; .-,,-,
I could add a great deal more to this purpofe ; bat the Keader^ I hope^ will find enough to fa- titjie him in the Commentary it felf. And there fore I jkall only tnakg this one Kequeft to hinh That he would taty his Bible and read every Verfe intirdy along with /^Commentary •• For I have not fet down every Word of the Text , for fear of {welling this Work^nntotoo great a Bulk*
April 10. 1694,
AN
t
Chapter I.
A
COMMENTARY
UP ON THE
CALLED
GENESIS,
THat MOSES wrote this and the Four fol lowing Books hath been fo conftantly be lieved, both by Jews, Chriftians, and Hea thens, that none, I think, denied it, till Aben Ezra (a Jewifh Doftor, who lived not much above five hundred Years ago) raifed fome Doubts about it, in his Notes upoti the Ftrjl of Deuteronomy ^ out of XII Paffages in thefe Books themfelves : Which he pretended could not be his, but the Words of a later Author. But when 1 meet with thofe places, I (hall make it appear, that all fuch Exceptions are very frivolous, and ought not to (hake our belief of this Truth, That thefe Five Books were penned by MOSES and no Body elfe.
The firft is called GENESIS, becaufe it con tains the Hiftory of the Creation of the World, with
B which
2 A COMMENTARY
Chapter which it begins $ and the Genealogy of the Patri- I, archs, down to the Death of Jojepb, where it ends. L/"VNJ It comprehends an Hiftory of Two thoufand three hundred and fixty nine Years, or thereabouts: The truth of all which it was not difficult for Mofes to know , becaufe it came down to his time5 through but a very few Hands. For from Adam to Noah% there was one Man (Metbufdali) who lived fo long as to fee them both. And fo it was from Noah to Abraham: Shew converted with both. Aslfaacdidi with Abraham and Jojeph : From whom thefe things might eafily be conveyed to Mofes^ by Amram ^ who lived long enough with Jofeph. In (hort, Mofes might have been confuted, if he had written any thing but the Truth, by learned Men of other Na tions, who fprang from the fame Root, and had the like means of being acquainted with the great things here reported by Tradition from their Fore-fathers : Who lived fo long in the beginning of the World, that they more certainly tranlmitted Things to their Pofterity. Befides, it is not reafonable to think, they had not the ufe of Writing as we have 5 whereby they conveyed the knowledge of Times foregoing, to thofe that came after.
Verfe i. Verfe i. In the beginning."] The World is not eternal, but had a beginning, as all Philofophers ac knowledged before Ariftotle. So he himfelf informs us, L. 1. de Ccehy cap. 2. (fpeaking of the ancient
Opinions concerning the Original of the World) T&6/A&W fjwv Sv a7TO7fc£ *T) pacJv, they all f aid it had a
beginning : But fome thought it might have no End 5 others judged it to be corruptible.
God created."] He who is Eternal gave a Being to this great Fabrick of Heaven and Earth, out of No
thing.
ttpon GENESIS, 5
thing. It is obferved by Eufebiu* (in the beginning Chapter of his Book De Prapar. Evang. p. 21, €^25. Edit. I. Parif.) That neither the ancient Hiflorians, nor the Philofophrs, do fo much as mention GOD, *>& p*%gi &QiAcil&., no, not fo far as to name him, when they write of the beginning of the World. But this Di vine Law-giver, defigning to hang the whole Frame of his Polity, upon Piety towards GOD, and to make the Creator of all, the Founder of his Laws, begins with him. Not after the manner of the fc~ gyptiaMs and Phoenicians, who be do wed this adora ble Name, upon a great Multitude : But puts in the Front of his Work, the Name of the fole Caufe of all Things : the Maker of whatfoever is feen or un- feen. As if he had told the Hebrew Nation, That he who gave them the Law contained in thefe Books, was the King ani Law-giver of the whole World : Which was, like a great City, governed by him. Whom therefore he would have them look upon, not only as the Enafter of their Laws 5 but of thofe alfo which all Nature obeys. See L. VII. De Pr<epar. Evang. c. 9, 10. & L. XII. r. 1 6.
The Heaven and the Earth."] The Hebrew Particle Eth, put before both Heaven and Earth, fignifies as much as with, if Maimonides underftood it aright} and makes the Sence to be this : He created the Hea vens, with att things in the Heavens, and the Earth with all things in the Earthy as his Words are in More Ne- vocMm, P. H. cap. 50, Certain it is thefe two words, Heaven and Earth, comprehend the whole vifible World. Some would have the Angels compre hended in the word Heaven^ particularly Epiphan/M, H9eref.LXV-n.45-. £>* %&*& £ yy £ vA/eAoi o«7id&ii- But others of the Fathers are of a different B 2 Opi-
4 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Opinion, as Petavms there obferves. It is a pretty I. Conceit ofTbeofhlltts Antiochenvs, L\\. ad Atttolychuvr, ^x-v^^ That the Heavens are mentioned before the Earth^ to fliovv that God's Works are riot like ours : For he begins at the top, we at the bottom: That is, he firft made the firft Stars and all beyond them, (To I take the word Heaven here to fignifie) for they, had a > beginning, as well as this lower World, though they do not feem to be comprehended in ^ fix days Work* which relates only to this Planetary World^ as I may call it, which hath the Sun for its Center. And thus Phth underftood the firft word Berefchjth, in the beginning, to refpeft the order wherein things were created. God began his Creation with the Heaven^ as the moft noble Body, and then proceeded to the Earth 5 an account of which follows.
Verfe 2^ Ver, z. And the Earth was without form, &C.1] Some conned this Verfe with the foregoing, by tranflating the firft Verfe in, this manner, When God firft created^ or began to create, the Heaven and the Earth , the Earth was without form, S>c. That is, at firft be only created a rude Matter of thofe things, which after wards were fafhioned as we now fee them.
Without form. ~\ A confufed, indigefted heap, with out arvy order or fhape.
Andvold^] Having no Beafts, nor Trees, nor Herbs, nor any thing elfe, wherewith we now behold it adorned.
So thefe two words, Tohn Vabohu, are ufed in Scrip ture, where we meet with them ("which is not of ten) for confufeon and emptinefs, XXXIV. Ifaiab n. IV. jfer.ij. Beingadefcriptionof that which the An cients called the CHAOS (of which the Barbari ans had a Notion, no lefs- than the Greeks) wherein
the
upon GENESIS 5
the Seeds and Principles of all things were blended Chapter together. This is called, in the Pagan Language, by I. Epicharvtvt, Tr/saw 0^, the firft of the Gods: Be- ^~ caufe all things fprang out of this $ which wasindeed the firft of the Works of God, who, as Mofes (hows in the fequel, produced this beautiful World out of this CHAOS.
And darknefs was upon the face of the deep.~\ No thing was to be feen, for want of Light : Which lay buried, as all things elfe did, in that great Abyfs, or vaft confufed heap of Matter before-mentioned. So the Hebrew word Tehom fignifies (which we tranf- late deep) tumult and turbid confufion : The firft Mat ter being very heterogeneous, as they fpeak, i. e. of various forts and kinds, hudled together without di- ftin&ion.
And the Spirit of God moved."] Men have been ex- treamly fanfiful in the Expofition of thefe plain Words: Some underftanding by the Spirit of God, the Sun^ which gives Spirit and Life to all things up on Earth} others the Air, or the Wind: When as yet there was no Sun in the Firmament, nor any Wind that could ftir, without the Power of the Almighty toexcite it. This therefore we are to underfhnd to be- here meant } The Infinite Wifdom, and Power of God, which made a vehement Commotion, and mighty Fermentation (by raifing, perhaps, a great Wind) upon the FacecftheWaters: That is, on that fluid Matter before-mentioned, to feparate the parts of it one from the other.
Waters^] That which Mofes before called the Deep, he now calls the Waters.- Which plainly (hows that fome Parts of the confufed Mafs, wcre////d and tight 5 as other Parts vt&zfolid and heavy* The hea vy
6 A COMMENT4RT
Chapter vy naturally funk, which he calls the Earth ^ and the I. lighter Parts got above them, which he calls theff*-
L/"VNJ tcrs: For it is clearly intimated the Waters were up- pemnoft,
The Word we here tranflate moved, fignifies lite rally brooded upon the Waters, as an Hen doth upon her Eggs. So the ancient and modern Interpreters hive obferved : And Morinus, who oppofes it, hath faid nothing to make us doubt of this Sence of the Phraie. From whence fome have, not unhappily, conje&ured, the Ancients took their Notion of a ^ff&lvywov <x>%v, a fir (I laid Egg, "out of which all things were formed. That is, the CHAOS Cout of which all the old Philofophers, before Ariftotle, thought the World was produced) confifting of Earth and Water, of thicker and thinner Parts, as an Egg doth of 20/4 and White.
Now the Spirit of God thus moved upon the Wa ters, that by its incubation (as we may call it) k might not only feparate, as I faid, thofe Parts which were jumbled together 3 but give a vivifick Virtue to them, to produce what was contained in them. The Souls and Spirits, that is, of all living Crea tures, were produced by the Spirit of God, as Por phyry faith Nuwemttf underftood it. For his Opini on, he tells us, was, That all things came out of the Water Sioi&vfy w1i, being Divinely infpired : For which he quoted thefe words of the Prophets, as he called Mofes. See Porphyry, -mfi Tfc Ny/jp'Awpa, on thofe words of Homer:
Which gives us to underftand, that the Spirits of all living Creatures ( which we call their Aftive Forms)
did
upon GENESIS. 7
did not arife out of Matter, for that is ftupid; butCharter proceeded from this other Principle, the Powerful I. Spirit of God, which moved upon the Face ofthe Waters, by a vital Energy, (as St. Chryfoftom fpeaks) fo that they were no longer (landing Waters, but mo ving* having ^ornxZw) rivet, VKJUOL^V, a certain living Power in them. From whence we may alfo ga ther, that the Spirits of living Creatures are diftinft things from Matter 3 which of it felf cannot move at all, and much lefs produce a Principle of Mo tion.
And thus indeed all the Ancient Philofophers ap prehended this Matter: And fome of them havemoft lively exprefled it. For Laert twin the Life of Ana- xagoras tells us5 that he taught among other things,
all things were hndled together : And then the Mind came and fet them in order. Ahd Thales before him (zsTully informs us, L.I. de Nat, Deor.) Aquam dixit, ejje initium rerum : Deum autem earn mentew qua ex aqub cunfta fingerett) faid, Water was the beginning of wings : And God that Mind who formed all things out of the Water.
By the Spirit of God fome of the ancient Jews have under flood the Spirit of the Mejfiak, fas Hacfapa* obferves in his Cabala Judaica, n. LXVI. out of Baal Hatturim^ the Hierufalem Tdrgum, 8cc.) which ex plains the Evangelift St. John^ who in the beginning of his Gofpel fays, all things were made by the Eter nal AOFOS or WORD of God, (the fame with theN& of the ancient Philofophers) whofe Almighty Spirit agitated the vaft confufcdMafs of Matter, and put it into Form*
8 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 3. And Godfaid^] Thefe words are taken
I. notice of by Longmn^ *&*), 84**, as a truly lofty ex-
L^VNJ preffion 5 wherein appears -the Wifdom of Mofit,
Verfe 3. who reprefentsGbd like' himfelf, commanding things
into Being by his Y/ofd $ that is, by his Will: For
wherefoever we read thefe words in the Hiftory of
the Creation, Hifaid, the meaning muft beunderftood
; to be He willed, as Mdmomdes interprets ic, More
- Nev. R I. cap. 65. This Juftin Martyr demonft rates
Orphetts had "learnC'oiit of Mofcs his Books, when
he fwears by the Heaven, the Work of the Great
; and Wife God, and by the Word of the Father, which
hefpakeatfirji, when he eftablifo'd all the World
by his Couniels. So his words are in n*e£^T- &
*E/9wa$, p. 1 6.
And as there is nothing more famous in Antiquity than the TD 'Of^r <wi», Orpheut his Egg, which I be fore mentioned 5 fo it is remarkable that the F-gypti- ans famong whom Orpheus travelledj defcribed their God KENEPH, with an Egg corhing out of his Mouth: Which was a lively Reprefentation of this World (noted by the Egg) produced by God's Omnipotent Word. For how richly foever the CHAOS was furniQied with Materials, it would have brought forth nothing, without his Powerful Motion, and Wife Contrivance, by whom it was created. So Anaxagoras himfelf refolved v£v JMV «^!M? Hwhivs-i that Mind was the Principle of Motion, (as Laertivs tells us in his Life) by which Mind he un- derftood God, as others have reported his Opinion more largely in thefe admirable words. The Begin ning of aU things is 5 NSs, the Mind, who is the Caufe and the Lord of the whole World ^ and gave m%v TO^ % uwvff TO?; -aMfflJims, &c. order to things in
difordtr,
upon GENESIS. 9
and motion to things iwmoveabh, and di- Chapter to things confttfed^ and beauty to things de* I. formed.
Let there be Light J] Having fpoken of the Crea tion of all things, now follows an account of their Formation out of that rude Matter which was at firft created. And the firft thing produced was Light ; \v\\\ch Greg. Nazianzen (Ontf. XLIII. £.699. a.) calls a-rw ,ua,Tov ^ ani Aioi>, becaufe it was not yet colleffed in to a Body, as it is now in the Sun. Others think it to have been a dimmer fort of Light from the Sun, not yet perfe&ly formed. Abarbind (upon the XL ofExodxt) takes this to be the SCHECHINAH, the moft excellent of all created things, called, in Holy Scripture, the Glory of the LORD 5 which God, faith he, fealed up in his Treafures, after the Lumi naries were created, to ferve him upon fpecial Oc- caiions, (for inftance, to lead the Ifraelites in the Wildernefs, by a cloudy Pillar of Fire) when he would make himfelf appear extraordinarily Prefent. And becaule of the Perfe&ion of this Light he fanfies it is that Mofes fays in the next Verfe, That God Jaw the Light ("repeating the word Light) that it VHK good : Whereas in all the reft of the Six Days Work, he only fays, He/in? it was good^ without naming a- gain the thing he had made.
But it feems to me moft rational by this Light^ to underftand, thofe Particles of Matter, which we call F/re, (whofe two Properties, every one knows, are Light and Heat) which the Almighty Spirit that formed all things, produced as the great Inftrument, for the Preparation and Digeftion of the reft of the Matter } which was ftill more vigoroufly moved and agitated, from the top to the bottom, by this reft-
C lefs
IQ A COMMENT A RT
Chapter lefs Element, till the purer and more (bining Parts I. of it, being feparated from the grofler, and united
L/'V'NJ in a Body fit to retain them, became Light.
Verfe 4. Ver. 4. And God faw the Light, that it was good.~] He was pleafed in this Work of his, as agreeable to his Oefign. Which for the preient was (we may conceive) to influence the upper Parts of the CHA OS, and to be the Inftrument of Karefaftion, Sepa ration, and all the reft of the Operations, which were neceflary to mold it into fuch Creatures, as were afterwards made out of it.
And God divided the Light -from the Darknefs.~\ Ap pointed that they fhould conitantly fucceed one ano ther 5 as we fee they do now, that this Light is em bodied in the Sun 3 and as they did then, by the cir cular Motion of this firft Light of Fire, round a-- bout the CHAOS, in the fpace of Twenty-four Hours} which made it Day to thofe Parts where it Chined^ and Night, where it did not. It is remark able how Mofes afcribes every thing to GOD, the Former of all things 5 who by making this Light move round about the Chaos, (till more prepared ,c and ex alted the remaining, indigefted, Parts: of Matter, for their feveral ufes.
Verfe 5 Ver. 5. And God calkd the Tight, day^ ajtdthe darkc nefs he called Night.'} He fetled them (that is) ia fuc.h a-conftant Courfe, that it gave them thefe di- fti,n£f Names,
And the Evening and, the Morning were the firft Day-^ In the Hebrew Language, Evening and Morning figni- fi^ a whole Day 5, which the: Motion of this Light n6a"4e, if we conceive it to have been formed about Noon, and to have gone round the fore-mentioned Heap of Matter in Twenty-four Hours.
How
upon GENESIS. ii
How long all things continued in mere Confufi- Chapter on, after the CHAOS was created, before this I. Light was extra&ed out of it, we aje not told. It L/"V\J might be (for any thing that is here revealed) a great while $ and all that time the mighty Spirit was raaking fuch Motions in it, as prepared, difpofed, and ripened every Part of it, for tuch Productions as were to appear fucceffively in fuch fpaces of time, as are here, and afterward mentioned by Mofes 5 who informs us, That after things were fo digefted, and made ready (by long Fermentations perhaps) to be wrought into Form, God produced every day, for fix davs together, fome Creature or other, till all was finifhed ^ of which Light was the very firft. Th\saMazMmldes hath very happily illuftrated,inhis More Nevochim, P. II. c. 30. where he obferving that all things were created at once, and then were af terwards feparated one from another fucceffively $ • he fays, their wife Men referable this proceeding to that of a Husbandman, who fows feveral Seeds in the Earth at the fame moment 5 fome of which are to come up after one day, others after two, and others not till three days be paft $ though the whole fowing was in one and the fame moment. Thus God made all things at the firft, which did not ap pear together ^ but, in the fpace of fix Days, were formed and put in order one afcer another: Light being the Work of the firft Day.
Ver. 6. And God faid, Let there 'be a firmament!] Verfe 6. • The next thing that God commanded to come forth of the Chaos, was the Air } particularly, that Region next to us, wherein the Fowls fly, as it is expounded after wards, verfe 20. The Hebrew word Rachia properly fignifies a Body expanded, or fpread forth, (as may be
C i feen
A COMMENTARY
feenin FaW. XXXIX, ^Ifai. XL.I9- jfer.X.p. where it can have no other meaning) but is by the LXX. tra Dilated ztpiu^, and from thence by us, Firma ment 5 became the Air, though vaftly extended and fluid, yet continues firm and ftable in its place.
In the wrJ.ft of the Waters, and let it divide the Wa ters from the (-'I aters.'] This Region pf the Air, ma- nifeftly parts the Waters above it in the Clouds, from thofe below it, here upon Earth 5 the one of which Waters bear a good proportion, and are in fome mea- fure equal unto the other 5 for there are vaft Treafures of Water in the Clouds; from whence the Waters here below, in Springs and Rivers are fupplied. This appeared afterwards in the Deluge, which was partly made by continued Rains for many days. The great Objeftion againft this Expofition is, That now there were no Clouds, neither had it, after this, rained on the Earth, Gen. II. 6. But itmuft be confidered, That neither were the Waters below, as yet gathered into one place : And therefore Mofes here fpeaks of the Air, as a Body intended to be ftretched between the Waters above and beneath, when they Ihould be formed.
That the Clouds above are called Waters in the Scripture- Language, is plain enough from PfalwClV. 3. Jer.X. 13, and other places.
Verfe 7. Ver. 7. And God made the firmament, and di vided, &c."] What his Divine Will ordered, his Power effe&ed 5 by that Light which rowled about the CHAOS, and that Heat which was excited within it 5 whereby fuch Exhalations were rai fed, as made the Firmament. That is, the thicker Parts of them made this Region of the Air^ which is the low>- er firmament^ verfe 20. And the thinner Parts of
them
upon GENESIS- 13
them made the JEther, or higher Firmament^ where- Chapter in the Sun and the Planets are feated, verfe 14, 15. I.
Ver. 8. And God caOcd the firmament Heaven^] o^\^*^-* Made it fo different from the reft of the Mafs, cal- Verfe 8. led Earth, that it had the Name of Heaven, to di- fti nguifh it from the other. So all above the Earth is called, as appears by the following part of the Chapter^ in the Verfe s now mentioned. And that's the very import of the word Schamaim, which, in the Arabic^ Language, (as JEben Ezra obferves) fignifies heighth or altitude.
And the Evening and the Morning were the fecond Day^] This was the Work of another whole Day. Concerning which it is commonly noted, That it is not faid of this, as of all the Works of the other five Days, Godfaw that it was good. What thereafon of this (hould be, is enquired by all Interpreters 5 and the mod folid Account that I can find of it, is this $ That the Waters mentioned upon this Day, were not yet feparated and diftinguilhed from the Earth .- And therefore in the next Day's Work, when he did ga ther the Waters together, verfe 10. and when he com manded the Earth (which was become dry) to bring forth, verfe 12. thefe words, God faw that it was good, are twice repeated. Which made Picherellw and Ger.Fcffiw, think the two next Verfes (9, 10.) belonged to the fecond Days Work 5 and that the firft words of the ninth Verfe (hould be thus tranflated, And God had faid^ Let the Waters under the Hea ven.. &c. And fo the words in the end of the tenth Verfe > Godfaw that it was good> relate to the fecond Day. L.2,de Orig. Idolol. c. 67,
Ver,
A COMMENT ART
Ver. 9. And God faid^ Let: the Waters under the. Heaven^ All the Waters which continued mixed with the Earth, and covered the Surface of it. Verie 9. Be gathered together, &c.] Colle&ed into one Bo dy by themfelves.
And let the dry Land appear."] Diflrinft and feparate from the Waters.
There being fuch large Portions of Matter drawn out of the CHAOS, as made the Body of Fire and Air before-mentioned, there remained in a great Bo dy, only Water and Earthy but they fo jflmbled to gether, that they could not be diftinguifhed. It was the Work therefore of the third Day, to malre a 'Separation between them } by comparing together all the Particles which make the Earth, which before was Mud and Dirt $ and then, by rafifing It abdve the Waters which covered its Superficies, (as the Pfd- t»ift alfo defcribes this Work, Pfalm CIV. 6.) atid, lajlly, by making fuch Caverns in it, as were fufficient to receive the Waters into them. Now this we may conceive to have been done by fuch Particles of Fire as were left in the Bowels of the Earth : Whereby fuch Nitro-fulphureous Vapours were kindled, as roadeian Earth-quake 5- which both lifted up rtie Earth, aindailb made Receptacles for the Waters to run into 5 as the Pfalmift (othefWife I fhou Id not ven ture to mention this) feems in the fore- mentioned place to 'illuftrate it^ Pfalm CIV. 7. where he fays, At thy relmfy they (i.e.»the Waters) fled 5 at the voice of : thy" tlmnder 'they haft-ed'away. And fo God himfelf (peaks, Job XXX VII I. 10. rbrakeupfor it (i.e. for the Sea) my decreed place, and fet bars, and doors. Hifcories alfo tell us, of Mountains that have been, in feveral Ages, lifted up by Earth-quakes ^ nay,
Iflands
npon GENES! S. 15
Iflands in the mid ft of the Sea : Which confirms this Chapter Conjecture, That poffibly the Waters were, at the I. firft, feparated by this means, and Co feparated, that L/~Y"NJ they fhould not return to cover the Earth. For the Word, in the beginning of this Verfe, which we tran- flate gathered^ comes from Kav, which fignifies a Square, a Rule, or perpendicular Line : And therefore denotes they were moft exaftly collefted, and fo poi- fed in (uch juft Proportions, that they fhould not a- gain overflow the dry Land.
This Work of God (" whereby the Waters were fent down into their proper Channels, and the Earth made dry, and fitted for the Habitation of fuch Crea tures, as were afterwards created) is obferved by Strabo in his Geography as an Aft of Divine Provi dence, L. XVII. Becaufe, fays he, the Water covered the Earth, and Man is not Iv'jfr&v ££ev, a Creature that can live in the Water, God made c%o%a$ e^ ry yy ^73?v\as ^ G^O;^, See. many Cavities and Kecepta- des in the Earth for the Watery and raifed the Earth above it, that it might be fit for Man's Habitation.
Ver. 10. And called the dry Land^ Stcf) This i$yerfe i fufficiendy explained, by what hath been faid upon Ferfe 5, & 8; only this may be added, That the word Eretz, Earth, in Arabic^ fignifies any thing that is low and funk beneath, oppcfite to Schamajm, Heavens, which in that Language, as I noted before, fignifies. high and lifted up.
Ver. n. And God fatd, Let the Earth bring /orfAVerfe II grafs, the Herb yielding, 8cc«3 Or, rather, it (hould be tranflated, and the Herb yielding^ Sec. though the copula be omitted, which is ufual in Scripture : Parti cularly in Habak: III. 1 1 , the Sun, Moon, 5. e. the Sun and Muon.
Mo-
16 AGO UME NT ART
Chapter Mofes having fhown how the firft Matter, (ver. 2. I. and then the Elements of things, as we call them (ver.
L/'WJ 3,6,9, 10.) were produced, he proceeds to the Pro- du&ion of more compounded Bodies. And here an account is given of all forts of Vegetables, which are ranged under three Heads :, Grafs, which comes up every Year without fowing^ Herbs, bearing a Seed, which comprehends (as Abarbinel here notes) all fort of Corn, and whatfoever is fown^ and Trees, which alfobear Fruit. There are feveral kinds of all thefe :, which iome have caft into Eighteen^ others into Si xand thirty Clafles; none of which could at the firft fpring out of the Earth, of it felf, by the power of external and internal Heat, and of the Water mixed with it, (no, not fo much as one fingle Pile of Grafs) without the Almighty Power and Wifdom of God} who brought together thofe Parts of Mat ter, which were fitted to produce them ^ and then formed every one of them, and determined their feve ral Species ^ and alfo provided for their continuance, by bringing forth Seed to propagate their Species to the end of all things. And here it is very remarka ble, how God hath fecured the Seeds of all Plants, with fingular Care : Some of them being defended by a double, nay, a treble inclofure.
Verfe 12. Ver. 12. And the Earth brought forth Grafs , and the Herb^ &c.] Thefe things did not grow up out of Seed, by fuch a long procefs, as is now required to bring them to Maturity 5 but they fprung up in their Perfe&ion, in the fpace of a Day, with their Seeds in them, compleatly formed, to produce the like throughout all Generations. Thus Mofes gives a plain Account of the firft Produftion of things, ac cording to the natural Method : For fuppofing they
had
upon GEN E S I S. 17
'had a Beginning, the Herb and the Tree muft natural- Chapter ly be before the Seed they bear: As the Hen is be- I, fore the Egg (lie lays. And to make a Queftioh, L/*V*NJ which was firft (as fome of the Philofophers did) is very frivolous $ becaufe that Power which alone could produce the Seeds of all things., could as ea(I- ly make the things themfelves, with a power to pro pagate their Kind, by Seed.
It is therefore moft judicioufly noted by Abarbi- nel, a learned jfnr, That theProdudtionof Plants ih the beginning, differed from their Produ&ion ever fince in thefe two things : Firft^ That they have fprung ever fince out of Seed, either fownbyus, or falling from the Plants themfelves 5 but at the be ginning were brought out of the Earth, with their Seed in them, to propagate them ever after. And, £> cvndly^ They need now, as they have done fince the firft Creation, the influence of the Sun, to make them fprout : But then they came forth by the Power of God, before there was any Sun, which was not form ed till the next Day. Of this laft Theophilw Antio- chenv*^ long before Abarbinel took notice, jL II. ad Autolycu^ where he fays, God produced things in this order 5 forefeeing the Vanity of Philofopbers, who, faying nothing of him, made all things to be produced by the Sun, Sare iff ror^&tcw, out of the Elements. Porphyry himfelf alfo (£,. II. TO£/ ^ra- $s) could obferve out of Theophraftvs, That the Earth brought forth Trees and Herbs before Beads, Siv$£& {MV $ $» Tff%3 tyw dvlSbxt * y^ 5cc. Which Eufebivs remembers in his Prapar. Evang. L. I. c. 9. p. ^8.
Ver. 14. Let there be Lights.*] This is a different Verfe 24. word from what we had, verfe 3, fignifying, as Pan to It*
1 8 A* C
Chapter /^r Fagiw obferves, that which is made out of Light ; I I. luminous Bodies, whereby Light is comn-unicated to us : The Hebrew Particle, Mem, before a word, be ing ufed to exprefs the Inftrument of an Aftion : And lo now we are to conceive, that the Light pro duced ac firft, having for three Days circulated about the Earth, and that near unto it, to further the Pro- duftion of the things before-mentioned, was on this fourth Day diftributed into feveral Lunrinarhs, at a great diftance from the Earth. So it follows $ In the firmament of Heaven , in the upper Region,which we call the JEther-QtSkyi where the Sun and the Pla* nets are placed.
To divide the Day from the Night ~] By a conti nued circular Motion, finifhed in four and twenty Hours,- in one part of which, by the prefence of the Sun, the Day is made ^ and in the other part, by the Sun's abfence, Night is made, in a conftant fuc- ceffion.
And let them be for Signs and for Seafons.~] That IS, for Signs of the Times or Seafons ^ as Ger, Vofllv? ex pounds it, by the Figure of \v §«x>§vtiv. And by Times are meant, the Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter: And, by confequence, the Seaibns for Ploughing, Sowing, Planting, Pruning, Heaping, Vintage, Sailing, dv. L. de Scienttis Mathemat*
c- 38-
And for Days^ and Tears'] By a fpeedy fwift Mo tion round, in twenty-four Hours to make Days^ and by a (lower, longer Motion to make Years 5 and a grateful variety of Seafons in the feveral Parts of the Earth, which by this annual Motion are all vifited with the Sun's Beams,
¥er.
-Apia G E N E !§ 1 S. i£
Ver. 15. 'And let them be for Light, &c/] 'i.e. Let Chapter them there continue to give conftant Light and I, Warmth to the Earth : And fo they do irnmova- iv^yXJ bly. Verfe 15.
Ver. 1 6. And God made two great Light s~] It is Verfe 1 6. obfervable, that nothing is faid to have been created, fince the firft Matter, out of which all things were made or formed. And the two great Lights, or Lu minaries, Iniightners, (as the wordfignifies) are the Sun, which Enlightens us by Day 5 and the Moon, '-.which inlightens us by Night. The Moon indeed is not to 'great as the reft of the Planets, ("for it is the 'leaftof all, except Mercury.*) but it affords the great- eft Light to us $ by reflecting the Beams of the Sun to !us, in its abfence ^ and thereby very much abating the difconfolate Dirknefs of the Night.
He made the Stars alfoJ] That is, the reft of the Planets, and their Attendants.
Ver. 17. And God fet them in the firmament of He a.- Verfe 17. <ven^ &c^ By the repetition of this fo often, Mofet intended to fix in the Peoples Mind this Notion $ That though the heavenly Bodies be very Glorious, yet they were but Creatures, made by God, and fee or appointed by his Order, to give us Light: And therefore he alone is to be wor(hippedy not they.
It is commonly taken notice of, that there is no mention of the Creation of Angels, in all this Hifto* ry$ nor was there any need of it. For the anci ent Idolatry confiding in the Worftiip of the Sun, Moon, and Stars, (as appears from the very Names of the moft ancient Idols in the Old Teflament^ fuch as Moloch, Afl}taroth,&nd the like,) which they believed to be Eternal Beings : The great Defign of Mofes
D z was
A COMMENtART
Chapter u*as to confute this Opinion, by reprefenting them? I. (over and over) as the Work of the Eternal God 5,
L^VNJ which ftruck at the very Root of Idolatry. The wor- fhip of Angels was a Jater Invention,
Verfe 18. Ver..i8- Audio rule aver the day, and over the Night."] Some have fanfied, that the ancient Idolatry fprung from this word Rule: Men looking uponthefe glorious Lights, as having a Dominion over them. Whence the Sun was called Baal, that is, Lord,or Go vernor, by the Eaftern People 5 and Moloch, that is, King, by the Egyptians. But one word fure was not the ground of fo foul an Error y when the Scope of Mofes was to (how that thefe things were made by an higher Being, and made not to, rule over Men, but over the Day and the Night 5 which the SRQ makes when it rifes and fets, by the order and ap* pointment of God.
And God farv that it wo* gooJI} He was plfcafed with this Work, asfuitable to the end&for which he intended it. The firft Light was gaod (ver. 4.^ for* the purpofe to which it ferved $ which was, by its heat, to agitate, rarifie, and feparate the Matter of the CHAOS, for the making of Air^ and gather ing together the Waters, and drying the Earth, and- producing Grafs, Herbs, and Trees ; which made it neceflary it (hould continue fome Days near to the Earth, that it might powerfully penetrate into the Matter it was to digeft : But, if it (hould have con tinued longer fo near to the Earth, it would not have been good for it 5 becaufe it would have burnt up all the Plants, that the Earth had brought forth 3 and, by its too fcorching heat, havehindred. the Pro- duaion of thofe living Creatures, which were rea dy on the next Day to be made 3 or, at leaft, made
tfe
upon GEN E S I a
the Earth unfit for their Habitation. For the Air, Chapter which alL living things, even Fifties themfelveS} L need, Cnay, the Plants alfo^ which have Veffels for WV\J conveying. Air to all their Parts,) would have been fo very hot, that it would have afforded no refrefti* menttothem: Therefore it VMS good that it ftiould be advanced into the Firmament of the Heaven, and there embodied in thofe Luminaries, which, be ing removed further from us> give fuch a moderate heat as is neceflary. for the prefervation of us, and of all things living that dwell upon the Earth.
Ver. 19, And the Evening^ &c.7|. Thus the fourth Yerfe 19, Day concluded.
Ver. 20. ArtdGodfaidi> Let the Waters, &c.] Now Verfe ttfc God proceeded to form the lower fort of Animals^ or living Creatures, viz. The Ftft9 and the fowl\ which are in many refpefts inferior to Beafts*. And the Fifties are called moving fin the Hebrew^ creep ing') Creatures v becaufe their Bellies touch the Wa» ter, as creeping things do the Earth. Both Fi(hes> and Fowls were made out of theWaters-$ that is, out of fuch Mat ter as was mixed with the Waters> which1 contained in them many things befides fimpk Wa ter 5 for the Sea. and Rivers are ftill very richly fur- nifhed with various Compounds, for the nourifhment of an innumerable multitude of Fifties. The great, congruity that there is between Filh and Fowl in* many particularSj will not let us doubt they had the fame Original: For they are both oviparotM^ which ^ makes them more fruitful than the Beafts of the Earth 3 neither of them have any Teats \ they both - direflr, (and, as I may fay, fteer) their Courfe by their Tail, &c. See Gm Rffim, de Orig. 8f Protr+Idolol. &. III. c. 78,
Ering
A COMMENT ART
Chapter Bring forth abundantly."] That is, various forts of i; both kinds 5 there being many hundred kinds of V^NOwVF/^/, and Birds'^ or Fowls $ many of the latter of which live in the Water, (which (hows their Origi nal to have been from thence,) and others of them live both in the Air and Water. The Formation of theu? Creatures is, in every part of them, very won derful, especially in thole parts whereby they are fitted to fwim, and to fly. Which demonftrate a molt wife Agent, by whofe infinite Power they were fo contrived, as to be able alfo to propagate their Kind.
'Verfe 21. Ver. 2-1. And God created great Whales'] The vafl> •C-» ill nefs of thefe Creatures, perhaps, made Mofes again ufethe word Create, ( which he had not done fmce the beginning of thz Chapter,) notbecaufe they were tnade as the C HAG S was, out of Nothing 5 but becaufe it required a greater Power to make out of the precedent Matter, moving things of fo huge a Bulk, and of fuch great Agility, than to make any other thing hitherto formed.
> The Hebrew word Tanim, which we tranflate
Wfalef, comprehends feveral forts ot great Fifhes, as
Bochartw obferves in his Hierozoic. P. I. L. I. c. 7.
where he (hows the prodigious bignefs of fome of
them. But he fhould have added, that this word
alfo fignifies Crocodiles^ which, he himfelf fliows, are
fet forth in Job XLI. as the moft aftonifhing Work
of God. For Job Ludolplw^ I think, hath demon-
ftrated, that nothing but the Crocodile can be meant
by this word Tanim, in £2,4. XXIX. 3. and XXXII.
2. and fome other places. Vid. L, I. Comment, in
.Hiftor. Mtbhf. Cap. XI. n. 86.
And
upon GEN E S I S.'
And Godfaw that it was goad.} Was pleafed with Chapter ' the Stru&ure of thefe feveral Creatures: Of the I. Birds^ who were fiumfhed with Wings to fly in the Air 5 and of the .'FiJhSs, wtrofe Fins ferve- them to iwim in the Watery' and of Water-fowl^ whofe Feet are formed fo, as to ferve for the fame ufe ; and fome of them (fuch as dive under Water) co vered fo thick with Feathers, and thofe fo fmooth and flippery, (as the Learned and Pious Mr. Ray hath obferved) that the Bodies are thereby de fended from the cold of the Watery which cannot penetrate or moiften them. See Wifdom of God in the Creation^ P. I. p. 135-.
Ver. 22. And God blejjed them, &c.] His bleffing Verfe them, was giving them a Power to multiply and in- creafe, till they had filled the Water with Fi(h, and the Air With Fowl. Which required a particular Gare of Divine Providence, as Abarbinel obferves y becaufe they do not bring forth young ones per- feftly formed, as the Beafts do ; but lay their Eggs in which they are formed, when they are out of their Bodies. This, faith he, is a wonderful thing,. That when the Womb, as we may call it, is fepa- rate from the Genitor, a living Creature like it felf fhould be produced. Which is the reafon, he fan- fie , that a Bkffing is here pronounced upon them, and not on the Beafts, that were made the next Day. The ancient Fathers are wont to obferve, That the Jfrjt r Effing was given to the Waters, as a Type of Baptilm. Theop&lus ad Autolyc. L. II» and Tertuffiaiv
J D -L'/~
de Uapttjwo, cap, 3.
And lei Fowl multiply intheEarthT} There, for* the moft part, they have their Habitation and their; Food 5 though fome live upon the Water*
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 23. See verfe 19.
I. Ver. 24. ^W Godfaid, Let the Earth bring forth.*]
<L/V^sJ Thus by a gradual Procefs, the Divine Power rpro- Verfe 2 3. duced Creatures dill more Noble : The Matter be- Verfe 24. jng mOre digefted and prepared in five Days time, than it was at firft. I do not know whether there beany weight in the Note of Abarbinel^ who obferves that Mofes here ufes a new word, which we tran- flate bring forth ^ to fhow the difference between Plants and Animals. The former of which fpriqg out of the Earth indeed, but continue fix'd in it, and ;peri(h if they be feparated from it: Whereas Ani- ntdls^ though made out of the Earth, and living up on it, have a feparate evidence, and do not ftill ad here to it.
After his /{ind."] Three forts of living Creatures are immediately mentioned, which were formed out of fuch Matter, as rtie Earth afforded, (not fimple Earth, we mu ft underftand, no more than before fimple Water 5 for it was impregnated with many other Principles 3) the firft of which, Belevtah, which we translate Cattle, always fignifies the Flocks and Herds of tame Beads, when it is diftingui(hed from Chaja^ which we tranflate in the end of the Verfc^ Beafts of the Earth^ that is, wild Beads : Between which two, he mentions a third kind of living Crea tures on the Earth, which he calls Rewe/h, creeping things 5 becaufe whatever Feet they have, they arc fo (hort and fmall, that they feem to the naked Eye to have none at all } but to crawl on their Bellies up on the Ground. Of all thefe three kinds, there are various forts wherewith God hath repleniftied the Earth: And of every kind, fome vaftly great, and -others very little .5 as Abarbinel notes even among
-Reptiles,
upon GENESIS. 35
Rtptilef, there being Serpents of a prodigious length, Chapter and other creeping things far fmaller than Ants. I.
Ver. 25. And God ma.de, &c] The Earth did L/VXJ not bring them forth by Virtue of the Influence of Ver^e 25' Heaven, upon prepared Matter : But God framed them out of the Matter fo prepared, and produced them in their full perfection, after their feveral kinds.
And Godfaw It was good."] Was pleafed with the great variety of thefe Creatures, and their compleat Stru&ure, fitting them for their feveral ufes.
Ver. 26. Let us ntake Man."] God not only re- Verfe 26, ferved Man for the laft of his Works} but doth, as it were, advife and confult about his Produ&ion. Not to fignifie any Deliberation within himfelf, or any Dif ficulty in the Work $ but to reprefent to us the Dig nity of Man, and that he was made (as Abarbinel glofles) with admirable Wifdom, and great Pru dence. To the fame purpofe S. Chryfoftom here fpeaks. And fee Greg. Nyjfin^ de Opjficio Homiwsj cap. 3. and Orat. I. on thefe words : With Greg, tfazianzev. Orat. XLIII p. 699. who obferves that God brought him into this World, as into a noble Palace, ready furnifhed with all manner of things. Which is the No tion alfoof Methodius: SzzEpjphanius^ H<eref. LXIV. n. 1 8. It is to be obferved a!fo, That God doth not fay, Let the Earth bring forth Man, as he faid before, verfe 24. of other Animals ^ for the fame Reafon : To reprefent Man as a far more noble Work, than any other upon Earth. For though he was made (as we read in the next Chapter] of the duft of the ground $ yet a greater Power and.Skill was imployed, in producing a Creature of fuch Beauty and Ma- jefty.
E Let
^ C&MMENTARr
Chapter Let u*7\ The ancient Chriftians look'd upon this L as a plain intimation of a Plurality of Perfons in the
L/"V"NJ Godhead, Infomuch that Epiphantw fays, This w the Language of God to his WORD and only Begot ten, a€ all the faithful believe^ HaoWTXXHI; n. x. and fee Htref. XLI V. n. 4. and Haref* XL VI. ». 3. where he fays, Adam was -TnTfXct^iv^ w %&& n&l&s, % ifS, ^ a'^/a wljpuvr©^) formed by the Hand of the Fa ther, and the £?«, and the Holy Ghoft. To which one cannot but incline, who confiders how poorly the Jews expound this place: Who fanfie a kind of Senate or Council of Angels^ without whom God doth nothing, (which they ground uponD^. IV. 14.) whereas there is not the leaft fignification as yet of any fuch Beings 3 much leis, that they had any hand in the making Man 5 who was not made in their Image, but in the Image of God. Yet thus Satur* mitt* foolifhly expounded thefe words, as Fpjphaniuf informs us, in the fore-named H<eref. p. 62. fi- dit. Parif. And Mofes Gervndenfc ftill more foolifb- ly imagines God fpake to the Earth, that it fhould bring forth Man, as it had done other Creatures. But b&aimonides, who magnifies that Saying of (heir Matters, (That God doth nothing without his Coun cil,.) is forced to acknowledge, (More Nevoch. P. IF. cap. 6 ) Thatit is notto be underftood, asifheaskt their Advice, or was affifted by their Judgment, but, only that he ufed them as Instruments in the pro ducing of every thing. Which is direftly contrary to the very words, which are not in the form of a Command^ but of a Confutation before Execution. Others therefore think God fpeaks after the manner of Kings $ who advife with their Council, but do things themfelves: And are wont to fpeak in the
Pin-
upon GENE S I S. ij
Plural Number, when they declare their Pleafure. Chapter But I take this to be a Cuftom much later than the I, Days of Mofes } when they fpake as the King of £- L/"V\J gypt doth tojojeph, Gen. XLI. 41, 44. 1 am Pharaoh $ and fee I have fet thee (not we have fet thee) over the Land of Egypt. In which Stile the King of Per- fa writes long after this, Ezra VI, 8. / Daritts mak? a decree.
All thefe poor fhifts are a plain Confeffion, that they found it very hard (as the Socinians do at this day) to give any account of this way of fpeaking., without granting a Plurality of Perfons in the God head. And therefore Menajjeh Ben Ifrael in his Con ciliator, mentions one of their Doftors, who, in Be- refchhh Rabba, fays, That when Mofes by God's Di- reftion was about to write thefe words, Let us makz Man, he cryed out, 0 Lord of the World, why wilt thou give Men occaflon to err, about thy moft fimple Unity? To which he received this Anfvver, Write as I bid thee $ and if any M.an love to err, let him err. The fame Scory is told by Jofeph Albo* Which (how$ that their Doftors have been long puzzled with thii manner of Speech, which unavoidably fuggefted to their Thoughts, more than One Perfon in the Dei ty : Which till they believe, they are at a lofs what to fay about it.
In our Image, after our Ukgnefs."} Two words (fome think) to exprefs the fame thing : With this diffe rence only, as Abarbinel explains it, That the laft words, after our lifymfi, give us to underftand, that Man was not created properly and perfectly in the Image of God $ but in a refemblance of him. For he doth not fay, in aur lll^nefs (fays that Author,) as he had faid m our Image, but after our likenefs :
E z Where
A COMMENTARY
Chapter where the Caph of Similitude (as they call it) abates I. fomething of the Sence of what follows^ and makes it figntfie only an approach to the Divine Likenefs, in TJnderftanding, freedom of Choice , Spirituality, Im mortality, &c. Thus Tertullian explains it, Habent it- las utique Uneas Dei, qua immortalis anrnta, qua libe- ra & fui arbitrii, qua prafcia pleruntque, qua rationa- lis, capax intellect us & fcienti<e> L. IL contra Mar riott, cap. 9. And fo Gregor. Nyjjen. cap. 16. De Qpific. Horn. Yldvlts Ta $ICLVQ£\&CVI fy 7T£ji£x/\£jtiv SujuafjjLy fyxav, 8cc. All have a Power of Confidering and Defigning, of Confulting and Fore-appointing what we intend to do. Purity and Holinefs likewife feem to be comprehended in this : As may be gathered from the Apoftle, Colojf.lll. ic. For the new Man confifts in Right eoufnejs, and true holinefs, Ephef. IV. 24. But though he was created with a Faculty to judge aright, and with a Power to govern his Ap petite, which he could controul more eafily than we can do now 5 yet he was not made immutably good, (quit hoc Sail Deo cedit^ which belongs to God alone, zsTertuIIian excellently difcourfesin that place,) but might, without due care, be induced to do evil, as we fee he did. For an habituated, confirmed eftate of Goodnefs, was even then to have been acquired ty Watchfulnefs and Exercife : Whereby in procefs of time, he might have become fo ftedfaft, that he could not have been prevailed upon by any Temptation, to do contrary to his Duty.
And let them have dominion^ Sec."] Some have thought the Image of God confifted in this alone. fSee Greg. Nyjfin. cap. 4. DeOpipc* Horn. p. 133.) Which rather follows upon Man's being made in God*s Image, z/fc. An Intelligent Being $ which gave him
Hfon GENESIS.
Dominion over other things, that are not indued, with Chapter fuch Underftanding. I conclude this Note with a I. very pertinent Observation of his in that Book, cap.i6, That Mofes fpeaks more magnificently of Man, than any Philofopher ever did : For they could fay nothing of him beyond this, That he was Mixg^c Ko^@o, a little World : But according to the Churches account, his Greatnefsconfifts not in his Likenefs to the crea ted World; but in his being made ^T &J»oW #79 ittiffBtrf^ $u0w>$i after the Image of the Nature of the Creator of all things.
Over all the Earth.'] Over all four-footed Crea tures in the Earth, though never fo wild $ as Bochar- tus obferves.
Ver. 27. And God created Mart in his own Imaged] Verfe From thefe words Or/gen gathers there is a great deal of difference between E&ay, Image, and fO/uuo&- juuzy Likenefs 5 becaufe, though God faid, verfe 26. Let us make Man in our Image, and after our Likencfs^ yet here he is faid to have made him only in his own Image ; and not, for the prefent, after his Likenefs. For that, faith he, (Lib. IV. contra Celfuvi) is refer- ved to the other World ^ when, as St. John fays, I Ep/Jl. III. 2. o/uuoiot. tiumA iav/M&ot, we /hall belike him. But this feems toa curious. No doubt God made Man juft as he defigned, in fuch a compleat refem- blance of himfelf, that there is no Creature like to Man, no more than God hath any equal to himfelf i As fome of the Hebrew Doftors explain this Matter. And therefore Mofes repeats it again, In the Image of G^d created he him: To imprint upon the Minds of Men, a Senfe of the great Dignity of Humane Na ture:, which was foully debafed by worihippingany Creature*
Mate
# COMMENT A R
Chapter Male and Female created be them.~] He
I. the fame Day he made Man^ as he did both Sexes
.C/"V*SJ of all other living Creatures, and as he made Herbs and Plants with Seed in them to propagate their Species, on the fame Day they were produced. It is plain by this alfo, That Woman as well as Man was made in the Image of God. And it feems to be per tinently obferved by Abarbinel^ That Mofes here again ufes the word Create, (and that three times) to denote the Original of Humane Souls 5 which are not made out of pre-exiftent Matter, as our Bodies are } but by the Power of God, when they had no Being at all.
'Verfe 28. Ver. 28. AttXGodBefcdthems&c^ The former part of this Blefling, be fruitful and multiply, God had beftowed before (verfe 22 .) upon other Crea tures : Unto which he adds two things here, replenift the Earth and fitbdue it. He gives them the whole Earth for their Poffeffion, with a Power tofnbdueit; That is, to make it fit for their Habitation, by bring ing under, or driving away wild Beafts. For, Se condly, he gives them the Dominion (unto which he defigned them in their Creation) over all other Creatures 5 whether in the Water, Air, or Earth. And he fpeaks to them in the Plural Number; which is a demonftration, that -Man and Woman were both created, and received his Blefling, on the fame Day. Verfe 29, Ver. 29. Behold^ I have given you ^ &c.] Here be afligns them their Food 5 and makes no mention at all of Beafts, but only of Plants and Fruits of the Earth. For Beafts being made by pairs, in their fe- ' veral Species, f we may well fuppofe) as Man and Woman were, and not being yet multiplied ^ the billing of Beafts, Birds, and Fifhes, would have been
the
upon GENESIS.
the Deftrudtion of the kind : Whereas there were Chapter Plants innumerable, and great variety of Fruit for L their Suftenance. And therefore here being no grant made to them of Animals for their Food, though no prohibition neither, it is very probable they abftained from eating Flelh, till after the Flood, (when God exprefly gave them every living thing for Meat, as much as the Herbs, IX. 2.) unlefs it were upon fome fpecial occafions : As, perhaps, when they facrificed living Creatures $ which they did in procefs of time, (IV. 4.) though not at the firft.
Ver. 30. And to every Beaft, &C."] Here he gives to Verfe the Beafts, and Fowl, and Creeping things, all Herbs for their Food, but faith nothing of fritft ; from which we cannot well think the Birds would abftain: And therefore they are included in the Phrafe, of every green Herb.
Ver. 31. Very good.'] From thefe words Eptyha- Yerfe mut confutes the Manichees, H<eref. LXVI. n. 18. where there is an explanation of this Phrafe (God faw that it was good) throughout this whole Chapter. Where it being faid at the end of every Day's Work^ God faw it was good-^ and particularly here on the Sixth Day, before he had quite ended the Work of it, he faith foof the formation oftheBeafts, ver. 25, Abarbinel will have this to relate particularly to the Creation of Man and Woman. But the beginning •- of the Verfe plainly (hows that he fpeaks of every thing that he had made : And therefore their Doftors in BeriCchethRabba (whom he mentionsj fay a great deal better, That Man is meant in the firft and prin cipal place, when Mofes fays, Godfaw every thing that he had made 5 and behold^ it was very good.
GHAP,'.
A COMMENTARY
Chapter II.
CHAP. II.
MOSES having given a ftiort Account of the orderly Production of all Things, from the meanefl to the nobleft, explains more largely in tfrs Chapter fome things, which were delivered briefly in the foregoing, becaufe he would not too much in terrupt the coherence of his Difcourfe about the Works of the Six Days. Particularly he relates how Eve was made 5 and alfo further illuftrates the Pro- duftion of Adam i Sec.
Verfe i. Ver. I. Thu* the Heavens , and the Earth."] /. e. The vifible World,
Were fin foed.~] Brought to that Perfection where in we fee them.
And all the hofl of them7\ That is, all Creatures in Heaven and in Earth 5 which are called Hoft, or Army^ becaufe of their vaft variety, and excellent order.
Verfe 2. Ver. 2. And on the feventh Day God ended his Work^\ Or rather, had ended^ (as it may be tran- flated) for he did not work on the Seventh Day : But, refted from all his Work^ which he had made $ ha ving focompleatly finifned it, that there remained no more to be done. An Emblem of the Reft that we (hall have, when we have done our Work faithfully, and left none undone, as Qrigens words are, L. VI. contra Cdfum.
Verfe 3. Ver. 3. And God blcjfid the feventh Day, andfanfti- fied it.~] As God fandtified Jeremiah in after- times
from
upon GENES IS.
from his Mother's Womb, (Jer. I. 5.) by ordaining Chapter him to be a Prophet .• So he now determined and a\)- If. pointed the Seventh Day, from the very beginning of l^VNJ the World., to be obferved in Memory of its Creation. And this fettingit apart, and confecrating it to that Holy life, was h\sblejji*g it, or recommending it to be obferved, as a Day of blefling and praifing him, in all his Works of wonder : And (I know not why I fhould net add) of his beftowing Bleffings upon all his pious Worfhippers.
There is no men ion, indeed, made Q$ Adam's, or Abel's, Scc.obfervingthis Day ; which hath inclined many to conclude thefe words to have been written by way of anticipation : This Diy being fet apart in after- times by the Law of Mofes for God's Service $ but, in their Opinion, not till then. To which I can not agree $ becaufe it feems to me far more reafona- ble to think, That God took Care to preferve the Memory of the Creation in the Minds of Mankind $ and the Worftiip of Him, the One Only God, by whom it was created .- Which could not be done by any means more effe&ually, than by letting apart this day for that purpofe. Which if he had not ap pointed, yet Men being made Religious Creatures, I cannot but think they would have agreed upon fome fet time for the Exercife of their Religion, as well as fome fet place (though that be not men tioned neither) where to meet for Divine Service .• And what time more proper, wherein to Honour their Creator, with their Sacrifices, Praife% and Thanksgivings, than this Day? Which Phllo well ftiles T«^(T^8 ytviaov, the birth- day of the World : Which was fo much obferved all the World over, (though they forgot the reafon^) that the Seventh
F Day,
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Day, he obferves, may be truly called PEofn*
I f. f*@^ the Univerfal Feftival, kept by all People. Jo- jfy/6//.rfpeaks to the fame purpote, and there is a great deal more faid by Artftobulus a Pmpatetick. Philo- fopher, out of He/fed, Homer, and others, in Ettfett- its his Pr<epar. Evang. L. XIII. c. 12. concerning the Sacred nefs of the Seventh, Day. Which though Mr. Sdden (L. Ml.de Jure N. &G. cap; 17, &c.); endeavours to prove is meant of the Seventh Day of the Month, not of the Seventh Day of the lVeek$.\ y,et we may look upon that as a Remain of this an cient Tradition. Which, in time, Men forgot, as they did the moft Natural Duties v having fo cor rupted their ways, (as we read Gen. VI. 10, n.) that there was nothing good among the generality of them* And therefore no wonder if they did- not regard the Service of God, every Seventh Day i- To which I (hall (how in due place, AWA,.the only righteous Man among them, had fome regard. Which; continued in the Family of Abraham after the Flood : Mofis fpeaking of it, not long after their coming out of Egyft) (where it is likely they were not fuffered to cbferve it, having no time free from their intole rable Labours,) as a Day known to them before the giving of the Law at Mount Sinai,. Exod. XVL 23, 25, 26;
Which is not to be underftood,as if the Patriarch before and after the Flood, kept fuch a Reft, as God enjoyned the Ifraelites by Mofes: For that was proper to them, for a peculiar reafon ^ becaufe they had been Slaves in Egypt; and therefore were com manded tot keep the Sabbath, without , doing any wanner of work, upon tha^ Day, Dent . V. 1 5. Which & all the Chriftian Fathers tnean> when they fay the
upon G E N E S 1 S,
Patriarchs did not Sabbatizare^ keep the Sabbath as Chapter the Jews did. (See Tertullian adv. Judteos^ cap.i^& U. 4. Iren&us.^ and others.) For in Religious Offices I U/VNJ doubt not they obferved the Seventh Day ^ as a .proper time for that Sacred Hymn ^ which Galen himfelf (L. III. de nfii partiuni) fays, we (hould all fing to the Creator of all $ // we ourfelves firft know^ an 'd then t -ell other 's $ ct@L pJiv 76£t r!w onp&i/, Sec. how wonderful he is tn\Vifdom^ how great in Power ^ and how rich in Goodnefs.
Bee ait fe that in it he had refled from all his Work^\ This is the reafon why this Day was diftinguifhed from the other Six 5 That a remembrance of Cod's refting from all his Works on this Day, might be pre- ferved 5 by Mens laying afide their other Employ ments fo long as to praife him Solemnly, by whom this great World was made.
Which God created, and Made.'] Or, as the Hebrew phrafe is, created to wake, i. e, refted from all the Six Day's Work. For he created fomething atthefirft,out of which to vtakeM the reft, in fix Days fpace ^ and now he ceafeth from all.
Ver. 4. Thefe are the generations^ &c.~] That is, this Verfe 4* is a faithful Account of the Original of the World. Which Mofes here repeats, more deeply to imprint on the PeoplesMinds, that the World was not a God, buttheWorl^tfGod: Which they were to acknow ledge every Seventh Day.
In the Day.] i.e. At that time (fo Day often fig- nifiesj when the LORD God made the Earth and the "Heavens. It is obferved by Tertullian^ That exinde Dotninus qni retro Dens tantnm^ &c. from hencefor ward (verfej, 8,9, 15, &c.) he is called Lo a D, 'who hitherto was called only God : Of which he
F 2 en-
A COMMENT 4 fit:
Chapter endeavours to give.a reafon, L. adv. Hertttog. cap. 5. II. The Hebrew Doftors obferve, that Jehovah Elohim 'v/'VNj L o R. D God} joyned together, is the full and per fect Name of God : And therefore fitly referved till this place, when the Woiksof God were perfected, and not before.
Verfe 5. Ver. 5. And every Plant in the Field, before it was in the Earth^ 8cc.] That is, before there was any Seed to produce them, God made them tofpringup, with their Seed in ihem$ as was faid before, in the firft Chapter. And Mofes here mentions thefe alone, becauie they were the firft Productions our of the Earth 5 without which there had been no Food for living Creatures.
lr or the LO R D God had not caufed it to rain on the Earth, and there was not a, Man to till the Ground7\ Here are two Reafons to confirm, that Plants were not produced, in the way they are now .• For there had been nothowers of Rain 5 nor was there any Man to prepare the Earth to receive the Seed, (~if there had been anyj both which areneceflary in the ordinary Method of Divine Providence, ever fince the World was made. From hence fome collect there was no Pr#adar/ijtes, (People before Adam,*) for then Mofes could not have faid, there was no Man to tillthe Earth.
Verfe 6. Ver. 6. But there went up a Mift, Sccf] Many think this will bed cohere with what went before, by tran* dating it, nor did there ("taking the Particle 8*7 vot, from the foregoing Verfe, as is ufualj a Mift go u$ from the Earth. Sec Drnfius, Levit. X. 6. and Hot- linger \n Hexapl. Parif. p. 89. But J fee no necef- fityofthis^ and think it moie likely there did go up bVtyoHTQi Steam out of the Earth, when it came
reek-
upon GEN E S f & 37
reeking out of the Waters, (as was fa id upon Verfe 9. Chapter of the i. Chap.) to moiften the Superficies of it 5 be- II. fore any Clouds were ra'ifed, by the Power of the L/"V\J Sun,tp give Rain.
Ver. 7. Out of the Dpft of the Ground^] Not dry,Verfe 7. but moid Duft,as theLXX* have it, r,lp^?o^i*j£j# ^m j*fe. From whence the Apoftle calls him avS^wTrw Xp'incv, i Corinth. XV. 47. which teaches us this Duft was mixt with Water : For fo %5$ fignifies , Limus^ as the Vulgar Latin hath it. Which agrees with the Hebrew jatzar, formed 3 which is ufed concerning Potters, who make their Veffels of Clay, not of dry Earth. Dhdorus Sicnlus feems to have had foine Notion of this, when he faith Man was made out of the Slime or Mud of Nik. Upon which Original of Man's Body, the ancient Fathers make many Pious Refleftions .• But none better or (horter than that of Nazlan&etfs, who fays, it is to teach us, °v omv r rf^oi/a &a %• 3v au?t\\vuutS'z, that
when we are apt to be lifted up becaufe we are made after God's Itnage^ the thoughts of the Dirt out of which we were taken, may humble and lay us low.
And God breathed into hisNoftrrts the breath of life^ This being faid of no other Creature, leads us to con ceive not only tha;t the Soul of Man is a diftind: thing, of a different Original from his Body 5 but that a more excellent Spirit was put into him by God (as appears by its OperatipnO than into other Ani mals. For though the finilple Speech of tnfpiring him with the breath of Life would not prove this, yec Mofes fpeaking in the Plural Number, that God breathed into him Nifchmath chajim, the Breath or Spirit of Lifts, it plainly denotes not only that Spirit which
makes
f8 A COMMENT 4 KT.
Chapter makes Man breathe and move , but think* alfo -reafon
•11. and cljfcoitrfe.
t/"V"SJ ^W /;e became a living &?///.] This is the imme diate refnlt of the Union of the Soul with the Bo dy. Which Eufebim thus explains, JL.VJI. Prspar. Evarrg.cap. ID. M0/e.r having laid the Foundations of Religion before- mentioned, vfa. The Knowledge of God, and of the Creation of the World, proceeds to another Point of DoftrVne molt -neceffary to be underftood 5 which is the Knowledge of a Man's felf 5 to which he leads him by (bowing the diffe rence between his Soul and his Body : His Soul be ing an Intelligent Subftance, made after the Image of God ^ his Body, only an Earthly Coveringof the Soul. To which Mofes adds a third, rnvdw £<»?£ ivurmtw rivet, % fftw&'&Tiidw SWa/x^ &c. A certain Vital Breath, whereby the other two are united and linked together by a. powerful Bond, or ftrong Tie. His Soul, it is manifeft, did not come out of the Earth, or any power of Matter 5 but from the Power of God, who infufed it into him by his Divine In- fpiration.
And this was the Original of Eve's Soul alfo, though it be not mentioned: For if her Soul had been made out of Adam^ as her Body was, he would have faid not only, She is Bone of my Bone, but Soul of my Soul 5 which would have mightily ftrengthned the Bond of Marriage, and exceedingly heightned Conjugal Affe<3ion.
Verfe 8. Ver. 8. A*d the LO RD God planted^ Or, had planted 5 for it doth not feem to be a new thing. A Garden."] A moft pleafant part of the Earth. EaftrvardsJ] Or, as others tranflate it, before^ in beginning, viz. On the Third Day, when he made
all
ttpm GENESIS..
all Vegetables. And it cannot be denied that////'^- Chapter kgdem may fignifie tzwe, as well zsplace : But as the IL greateft part of Interpreters, Ancient and Modern, take it here to fignifie place $ fo Mofes hinifelf ufes it in the following part of this Book, III. 24. XI. 2. XII. 8. XIII. ii.
In Eden,"] A Country (as moft underftand it) fo called, perhaps from its Pleafure .• ToWm> Sidpo&v PATH, Slctuyt tiiigjL Aa^t^^T^fSi*, PUZO?; 7ray^cAo^,as Theo- philus ad Autolyc fpeaks, L. II. Where Eden was, there are two or three places of Scripture, that give fome direftion to our fearch, 2 Kings XIX.I2./A.XXXVII. 12. Ez*k: XXVII. 23. which (how there was a Coun try, that for many Ages after this,, retained the Name of Eden: And that Eaftward, as Mofes here tells us it was fituated. That is, Eajlwardoi Jud<eay or of the Defart of the Amorites^ where he wrote thefe Books. For the Scripture calls thofe People, the Children of the Eaft, who dwelt in Arahi^ Mefo<- fotamia, m&Perfia. But in what Country of the EaftEde^was, will be beft underftood from^ wr*
ID,
And there he put the Man* whom he had formed ."J He was formed we muft fuppofe in fome other place ;. and conduced hither by God, in Token of his fin- gular Kindnefs to him. Where he declared him, faith a Syriae Writer mentioned by Hottinger^ (in his Dif- fert. ,de Hexaplij, Parif.p. 1 1 5.) an Heir of Paradife^ and made him #311 sr\Dl 83^0 a King, a Prieft^ and a Prophet.
Ver. 9. AnAoutof the Ground.'] Of that Garden Verfe before-mentioned.
Made the L 0 R D God to grow every Tree^ &c/] The greateft variety of the choiceft Plants, Flowers^
A CO MM EN TAR?
and Fruit.' For Tree comprehends every thing that grows out of the Earth.
Pkafant to the fight?] He gratified Man's Eye, as well as his Tafte, and his Smell.
The Tree of Life?] So called, becaufe there was a Virtue in it, as feveral of the ancient Fathers think, not only to repair the Animal Spirits, as other Nou- tifhment doth 5 but alfo to preferve and maintain them, and all the Organs of the Body, in the fame equal Temper and State, wherein they were created, without any decay : Until Man fiiould have been fit to be tranflated into another World. To this pur-" pofe Iren&us^ St. Chryfbjlbm^ Theodoret, but efpecially Greg. NazJanzenfyeak) 'Et-fuvSv l^eW^sv, &c. If there* fore we had continued what we were, and kept the Cow- mandment^ we flwuld have been what we were not by coming to the Tree of Life, ci7rzS<zvct,Ti£jiv1t$ ^ 0sd2> TTAtftnaffut/TK, being Made immortal, and approaching nigh to God. Orat. XLIII. p. 699. D. And why we {hould think it impoffible or unlikely, that God (hould make fuch a Fruit, I do not fee. Nay, it feems neceffary there {hould have been fuch a kind of Food y unlefs we will fuppofe God would have pre- ferved Adam (had he continued innocentj from dy ing, by a continual Miracle .• Which is a harder Sup- pofition than the other.
But this Garden being alfo a Type of Heaven 5 perhaps God intended by this Tree to reprefent that immortal Life, which he meant to beftow upon Man withhimfelf, Revel. XXII. 2. And fo St.'dufKn in that famous Saying of his, Erat el in c<eterh lignis alimentum^ in ifto autew Sacrawentum^ L. VIII. deGen. ad Lit. cap. 4. In other Trees there was ' tfourijhment for Man 5 but in this alfo a Sacrament. Per it was
both
upon G B N E S I S. 41
toth a ty#/<W of that Life, which God had already Chapter beftowed upon Man, (who was hereby put in mind, II. that God was the Author of his Being, and all his C/'VSJ En joymentsj and of that Life he was to hope for in another World, if he proved Obedient.
In the mtdftof the Garden."] This fignifies either its Situation, or its Excellence*- For that which is moft Eminent in any place, the Hebrews fay is in the midji, XXIII. 10.
The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil"] So caK led, as I take it, becaufe God intended by this Tree to prove Adam and Evey whether they would be good or bad : Which was to be made known, by their abftaining from its Fruit, or eating of it. It is gene rally thought indeed by Interpreters, (of which I leave the Reader to judge,) that it had this Name afterward 5 either becaufe the Tempter pretended it would make them fo wife, as to know all things, (Tor fo g ood and evil may be expounded, (III. 5.) to fignifie as much as alt things whatfoever^) or be caufe in the event, upon the eating of this Fruit, they did actually know by miferable experience, (which they would not learn without it J the great difference between obeying, and difobeying God's Commands. That is, they who did not fufficiently attend to their Duty, nor confider what it was to Sin, and what the effeft of it would be $ prefent- ly, upon the eating of this Fruit, reflected upon both. For they faw how grievous it was to incur God's Difpleafure, by believing a Creature rather than Him, and by being fo ungrateful as not to acknowledge his Bounty in all the Bleflings they enjoyed $ with out thinking Him envious in denying them one, as a proof of their Obedience.
G Some
A COMMENTARY
Some think it was fo called, as a Caveat to them, not to ftudy Craft and Subtilty ^ but to content themfelves in a fimple, plain way of life, ( wherein God made them,) without any Curiofity to know more than was needful for them. Which they think is confirmed by III. 6. Shefaw it was good to make one wife $ i. e. cunning and wily.
Verfe 10. Ver. 10. And a River went out of Eden, &c.] Thefe words affords us fuch a Key to open tons the Place where this Garden was planted, that one can fcarce doubt whereabout it was; though the precife fpot of Ground be not marked out in this defcription of it. For it lay in the Country of Eden\ and we are direfted to find that out by this remarkable Circnm- ftance, That a River went out of it. Which doth not fignifie that the Spring of the River was in Eden; but that the River run through that Country into the Garden, to water it. The Garden therefore, it ispropable, was a part of the Province of Eden$ and was water'd by that River which came from it. The only difficulty is to find what River this was. Our Country-man Mr, Carver, in his learned Difcourfe of the Terrejlrial ParaJtfe, chap. VII. endeavours to prove, that the two great Rivers, Euphrates and Tigris, having but one and the fame Fountain in A- wcnia the greater, run along for fome time in one Stream called Tigris : Upon which he thinks this Garden was feated, before this River parted into two Streams, Euphrates and Tigris: This he confirms out of the Two Epiftles of the Neftorian Cbriftians written to Rome 1552. and tranflated by Mafius $ where they called Tigris the River tfEden. And there are indeed fome ancient Authors, particularly Lucan^ and Boetius> who fay that thefe two Rivers come out
of
upon GENESIS, 4.
of the fame Spring: But their miftake arofe, its like- ly from hence, That they fprung (as Strata tells us ^haP out of one and the fame Mountain, viz. Ntyhates^ "• which is a part of Taurus : And Euphrates fprung out of the Northern fide of it, and Tigris out of the Southern 5 as Salmafius obferves upon S0//#//j, p. 621, Sec. Certain it is, that the bed: Authors, both Ancient and Modern, make them to have different Springs, from whence they hold different Courfes, Euphrates toward the Weft, and Tigris toward the Eaft : And do not make one River, till (after they have run through many Countries^ they meet and joyn together about Apamia according to Ptolomy. And then indeed they make for a long way, but one great Stream / Which I take to be the River here mentioned by Mofes, and run through the Country of Eden, which perhaps lay on both fides of the Ri ver 5 as the Garden it is plain by verfe 8. did on fa* E after* fide of it $ extending it felf to the place, where thefe united Rivers parted again. For fo it follows.
And from thence."] i.e. Below the Garden. It farted."] Or, was divided again, as it had been before into two other Streams. By which words we feem to have found the Place where the Garden end ed 5 but being not told where it began, nor how far it fpread it felf Eaftward from the River fide, I will not prefume to fay what Country or Countries it included. Certain it is there was a Country, as I obferved before, called Eden in after-times, which was part of the Kingdom of Ajjjria^ 2 Kings XIX. 12. And that Kingdom then comprehended not^only the Country anciently called AJhar, but Mefopotamiti, and Babylonia^ &c. In fome part of
G 2 which
44 A COMMENT ART.
Chapter which laft Province it is probable this Garden was> If. fcated.
And became hit o four Heads?] He doth not fay was parted into four Heads* but became into four; Heads, (whofe Names here follow,) two before they united, viz. Tygris, and Euphrates v and two after they again parted, vfe. Pifon, and Gihon. Thefe he calls Beads, or Principal Rivers, as David Chytr<ew, I think, rightly underftands it, quatuor illuftria & magnafluwiriaejjiciebant, made four famous and great Rivers. For all Divifions from the main Stream are called the Heads of a Water 5. as Sir W. Raleigh ob- ferves out of Ulpianus* And it is indifferent whe ther the Water come out of aFountain^ or out of a River, oraLake.- For that part of the River (Tup- pofej where the Branch forfakes the main Stream, is called the Head of that Branch $, which becomes a new River. Ifc like manner may Euphrates and Ti gris be called the Heads of that River which they made at their meeting : As where they part again, the beginnings (as the LXX. tranflate the word) of the other two Rivers* Pifon and Giho*% are properly called the Heads of them,
M» Ver. n. The name of the frft is Pifon, orPhifon7\ This is that Branch which runs Wefterly ^ and being neareft to the place where Mofes wrote, on the other fide of Jordan, is firft mentioned by him. It is a long time fince both this River and Gihon have loft thefe Names -.-• The Greek^ and Roman Writers cal ling them ftill, after their parting, by the Names they had: before they met, Euphrates and Tigris. But there was a remainder of the Name of Pifon prefer- ved in the Eaflerly River called Pafetigris, which is the fame with Oroatis, as Salmafius obferves in his
Exerc*
upon GENESIS, 4$
Exerc. Pliniante in Solin. f. 701, 702. And is called Chapter fas Mr. Carver notes) by Xttiopbon (imply Phyfcus $ If. in which the Name of Phifott is plainly enough re- U'VNJ tained. Which continued till the time of Alexander the Great : For. SL Curtius, as he further notes, com monly calls Tigris it felf, by the Name of P/ta/j,and fays it was fo called by the Inhabitants thereabouts. Which, in all probability, was at firft the Name of this other Ri ver Phifon $ but loft by the many alte rations which were made, for a long time, in the courfe of it, as Pliny tells us. For he fays, the Or- cheni^ and other neighbouring Nations, made great and deep Cuts or Canals to carry the Water of Eu phrates (meaning this River) into their Fields, and fo it loft its courfe, and run through Tigris and the Marfhesinto the Sea. Sir aba- faith the fame, that from thefe $i&gjy<q, as he calls them, deep Trenches which carried the Water of Euphrates into Tigris? came the Name vfPafitigris 5 that is, Pife& mixed with Tigri*. See Salmafius in the fore-named Ex- ercitations* fag. 703. where he (hows this River was not perfectly reftored to its Courfe till the times of Alexander the Great.
Thai if it) which compajfith the whole Land of Ha* vilah.] By finding where this Country was, we cer tainly find the River PIrifon. Now Mofes makes mention of two HaviUKs 5 onedefcended from 6//S, Gen. X. 7. and the other from Jottan, ver. 29, The latter of thefe cannot be here meant, for his Pofte- rity were planted Eaftward ^ but the former, who were a more Weftern People, in that part of Arabia. Fcelix which bordered upon this Stream, For the Jfhmadites (who inhabited Arabia Deferta') are de- feribed by Mofes ^ XXV. 18* as bounded by Shur to-
A COMMENTARY
Chapter wards Egypt^ and by Havilah in the way to
II. And Saul found Havilah in after-times in the very
L/"VNJ fame fituation, i Sam. XV. 7. And (till, much later,
Strabo mentions the XaeAo7a?Q« (" which are certainly
the Pofterity of Chavilalf) among the People of Ara
bia. See Boc hart's Pbaleg. L. IV. c. I r.
Where there is Gold.~] Nothing is more famous than the Gold of Arabia. : Where Dhdortts Skttlus fays it is digged up in great Lumps, as. big as a Chef- nut, L. II. p. 93. Edit. H. Stepb.
Verfe 12. Ver. 12. And the Gold of that Land is good."] t.e. Is excellent : For the fore-named Author fays, it isof fuch a flaming Colour, that it adds much to the Lufti e of precious Stones, that are fet in k.
There is Rddltu.ttt^\ The Hebrew word being Be- delach, ibme have thought Bdellium to come from thence, which is an Aromaticl^ Gunj. Others think Bedolach to be Chryftaly otheiS Amber ^ but ftochart rather thinks it fignifies Pearl: Which he -proves fin his Hkrozoic. P. IL L. V. r. 25.) from the Country it felf here mentioned, viz. Bavilah, which he looks upon as that Part of Arab/a, which lies upon the Per/ian Gulfh : Where, ztCatipha^ there is a great Pearl-fifiing. The Manna alfo wherewith the Ifrae* lites were fed in the Wildernefs, is defcribed Numb. XI. 7. to be round like Coriander-Seed, and of the Colour of Bedolach. Now in his former Defcripti- onMofeshys it was white, Exod. XVI, 14. which agrees to Pearls, as alfo doth roundnefs, but not to the fweet Gum called Bdellium: Of which fee S*/- maptts in his Exerc. Plin. p. 1 150,
And the Onyx Stone ~] This Country alfo was fa mous for precious Stones 5 as appears by the Report which Ncarchus (Alexanders Admiral ) made of the
Weflern
up*n G E N E S I S. 47
Wcftern Coaftof the Per/** Gnlph, \nStral>o,JL. XVf. Chapter But Brannms (L. II De Veftitu Sacerd. Hebr cap. 1 8.) {I. thinks Schoham fhould rather be rranilued the Sar- L/"VNJ do^yx. Which foever it be, Arabia was famous both for jtheO/fpcand Sardonyx^ as Salmafms obferves out of Pliny, Ib.p. 562, 563.
Ver. 15. The name of the fecond River is Gihon7\ Verfe 13* There are no footfteps of this Name remaining that (can find $ but we are directed, by the Country it is faid to compafs, to take it to be the Eaftern Stream that arofe from the parting of Euphrates and Tigris ; as Pifov I faid was the Weflern.
Cowpajfith, OT runneth along by the whole Land of JEthiopia^] QrCHfo: VVho was feared more Eafiward than his Sons, Havilah, Seka, and the reft, .(menti oned Gen. X. 6, 7.) upon the Borders of this River. For when People firft began to fpread themfelves, they kept as near to great Rivers as they could 5 for the better communion one with another, and afbrding mutual Succour and Affiftance. ft is prp- bj&le that he gave Na-me to the Country of Stifiana 5 which the Greeks called K/te<«, and is now called by the Perfi&ns Ch^zeflan^ i. e. The Province of Chus. And when his Pofterity multiplied, they went more WeJJward toward the A^i/rfw Sea : From whence his Brother Miter a;m parted into Egypt. Our Tran- flators follow the LXX. in rendring the Hebrew NameG/S, by JEthiopia : Not meaning that in Afri ca^ but this in Afia. For the Ancients frequently mention a double ^Ethiopia, as many haveobferved^ particularly Job Ludolphus, who herein juftifies the LXX. in great part, L. II. Comment, in Hrfior. JEthicp. Ctp.lll. n. 1 6.
Ver.
A COMMENTARY
Ver. 14. The name of the third if Hiddetgl.'] Which River being called by Daniel, X. 4. the great Rivbr $ cannot be, as many have fanfied, Nahar-malcai For that was but a Cut, made by Trajan to waft his Ar my out of Euphrates into Tigris, (as Amman. Mar- tdlinus tells us,) and therefore HidJekel^ is Tigris it felf. Which, as Pliny fays, was called Digtito, in thofe Parts where its Courfe was flow 5 and where it began to be rapid, it took the Name of Tigris. And fo the Arabians call this River Deglat, and Degela^ from the Hebrew word Hiddekel. Which Salmafius derives from Hadda^ or Chadda^ (harp pointed 5 and KalY fwift 5 becaufe of its very quick and hatty Mo tion „• And thence the Greeks he obferves derive the Name of Tigris ', ^CTO £ o|uT7/7(|k, Exerc* inSolin.p. 694, Rauv>oljf\n his Travels^ P. II. c. 9. fays, That when he was at Caruch, on the Confines of Media, (which was about an hundred Years ago,) Tigris was ftill called in their Language Hiddekel*
Which goeth toward the Baft of Ajjyria.^ If it make a great bend Northward, (as Pliny faith it doth about Apamia^ it muft needs run toward the Eajt of Affj- ria, for fome time. But this is not the Courfe of the River ^ and therefore the LXX. tfanflatc the word Kidt&ath^ which we Englifh toward the Eaft, fimply toward : And it is certain Tigris did run by Ajjyria 5 for Nineveh, the chief City of AJfyria* ftood upon the Eajt fide of this River, as Ro- chart hath demonftrated in his Phaleg. L. IV. cap.
20.
The fourth River is Euphrates."] None doubt that the River called here in the Hebrew Perah or Phrath, is the fame that hath been called for many Ages Euphrates. The Courfe of which was fo well
known
upon GENESIS
known in thofe Days, that Mojes gives no Defcription Chapter of it. II.
Ver. 15. And the LORD God took, the Man."] w*"V~SJ After fuch a manner as he took^ David from the Verfe *5' Sheepfolds, (Pfalm LXXVIII.yo.) by an extraordina ry Motion. For as a Prophet was fent from God to anoint him 5 fo God himfelf, I fuppofe, appeared to Adam, in a vifible Glorious Majefty, which the Jews call the SCHECHINAH, (as was noted before, I. 3.) becaufe it was a Token of God's Jpecial Prefence^ and by it he dwelt among hit People. It feems to have been a very ftintng Flame, or amazAng Splendour of Light, breaking out of a thick Cloud : Of which we afterward read very often, under the Name of the Glory of the LORD 5 which at firft appeared to Mofes, as aflame of Fire out of the mid ft of a BuQi, Exod. III. 2. To this I cannot think our firft Pa rents to have been Strangers ; but look upon it as highly probable, that this Divine Majefty conduced Adam from the place where he was formed, into the Garden of Eden.
And put him."] Or, placed him there.
To drefs ft, and to keep it."] To preferve it by his Gare and Labour, in the Condition wherein he found it. Theophilw Antiochenvt thinks it is not without a Myftery, that God's putting Man into Paradife is twice mentioned, (here, and verfe 8 ) to fignifie that after Man was caft out of one Paradife, he fhould ftill have a right to another: By being well inftru&ed in hts Banifhment, and prepared for a Restitution^ at the general Refurreflion and new Creation ^ L. II. ad Au- tolycum.
Ver. 1 6. And the LORD God commanded tke Verfe \6. Man.~] This is a further Indication, that the Divine
H Atf-
50 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Majefy appeared to Adam and fpake to him 5 as he II. did to Mofes^ out of the flame in the Bufti, fay- L/""VNJ ing,
Of every Tree In the Garden thou ntai ft freely eat.'] A very liberal Conceffion 5 which was abundantly fufficient to demonftrate that it was not Envy (of which the Divine Nature is not capable) which mo ved their Creator to abridge our firft Parents Liberty, in one particular.
Verfe 17* Ver. 1 7 . But of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil^ (why fo called fee ver. 9.) thouftalt not eat of it."] This fmall reftraint it was fit to lay upon Adam^ to make him fenfible, that though he had Dominion over all things, yet he was not their Lord $ but a Servant to the moft High: Who required this AbftSnence in token of his Subje&ion, and to prove his Obedience to him. This Account many of the Fathers give of it $ particularly Tertullian^ who calls this the Primor dial Law } which was, qnap matrix omnium precept o » rum Dei, (adv.Jtfddos, cap. 2.) including, as it were, in its Womb, all the Natural Laws of God. For, as in obferving this Law he had teftified his unfpotted Love and Obedience to God ^ fo in violating it, he threw off the Divine Government, and oppofed his own Will to God's. But ftill fome ask, Why (hould his Obedience be tried, in fuch an Inftance as this > Not considering that an Experiment of it, could fcarce have been made in any of the Moral Precepts .: Which there was no occafion to violate. For what (hould tempt him to Idolatry, or to take God's Name in vain, or to murder his Wife? How was it poffible to commit Adultery, when there was no Body but he and (he in the World > How could he Steal, or what room was there thea for Coveting, when God had
put
upon GENESIS. 51
put him in poffeffion of all things? It had been in Chapter vain to forbid that, which could not be done $ and II. it had not been Vertue toabftainfrom that to which there was no Temptation } but from that which invi ted ihem to Tranfgrefs. I fpeak in the Plural Num ber $ becaufe it muft be reirombred that this Prohibi tion was given not only to Adam but to Eve alfo, (HI. 1,2.) An Account of whofe Piodu&ion imme diately follows.
Theophiltts Antiochenttf in the place before- named, hath feveral pretty Refle&ions upon this Prohibition 5 and this among the reft: That Adam and Eve being but newly brought into the World, were in fimplici- ty, to be wholly ordered and governed by the Will and Pleafure of their Heavenly Parent 5 and nor af- feft much Knowledge, (as not agreeable to their Infant State,) but to grow up in it by degrees, and not ^f' T $\ueix9 QZJV&V, to aim at Wifdom above their Age. To which purpofe Greg. Nazianzen al fo difcourfes in many places: Or^.XXXVlII.p. 619. Odf.XLII.p. 681. and Carm. Arcan.VU.p. 162. And indeed many excellent Meditations may be raifed from hence 5 particularly, That Chriftians new-born (hould not be fo greedy of Knowledge, as careful and felicitous of well-doing: For many have been ruin'd by early Speculations. Which, if one could pick any good Senfe out of fuch fluff as the Vahtimans uttered, I (hould think they intended to reprefent$ when they faid, The laft of their .#?<?#/, whom they called Wif dom, labouring to comprehend the B^Jx, or Depth, (i. e. the Father of all) had like to have loft it felf, till it was helpt by P/O/>©,, or Limit. That is, we are pre- ferved byfetting fame Bounds to our Defires after Know ledge.
H 2 Ihou
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Thou /halt furely die.*] In the Hebrew^ dying thou II. ft alt die $ to thow the certainty of it, as we rightly
L/*W; tranilate it. Which doth not fignifie, as appears by the event, that he (hould inftantly die $ but become Mortal 5 lofe the Immortality wherewith he was in- \efted, Gen. III. 19. And, as Athanafiut thinks, the doubling the Expreffion denotes, M« /uubvov Scro&tf- extiv, a/9va % £* rip T£ <3"ayaT« (pdnpot Slzjuuiv&iv, (L. DC In earn. I'erbi^) he fhould not only die^ but remain in the Corruption of Death } as we {hould all have done, had not the Second Adam obtained for us an happy Refurreftion.
I need not add, That Difeafes, Sickneffes, and Pains, the fore-runners of Death, are included in this Threatning.
Verfe 18. Ver. 18. And the LORD God fold.] Or, had faid^ as it is by fome tranflated ; the berter to (how that the foregoing Precept was given to both. And to fay in this place, is as much as to refolve and de cree: As Melanflhon well explains it, in one of his Epiftles, Dicere, hoc loco fignifie aty miranda fapientia fancire^ © nobfc hoc decretum tradere ^ to fay^ here fignifies to eftablilh with wonderful Wifdom, and to deliver this Decree to us. L. I. Eptft. 126. Where he again repeats it, The LORD fatd, that is, by hit wife Cottnfel and immutable Decree^ he eftablifted this Order.
It is not good that the Manfhonld be alone."} Uncom fortable to want Society, and unfit there (hould not be an increafe of Mankind. Concerning which Pla to hath left thefe wonderful Words, L. VI. De Legi- bus : This is the Encouragement to Marriage, not on ly that humane Race may be perpetuated 5 but a Man may, ^aiSfcs <5ra*3^v «et Taf ©gdo *j&^ (TO; dv&*
cctn/
upon G E N E S I S. * 53
^5&oy, leave Children* Children behind him Chapter when he is gone, tofirve God in his ftead.
I will make him an he!p.~] For all the Neceffities U^V^vJ and Ufes ot Life.
Meet for him ] In whofe Company he fliall take Delight $ fo the Hebrew Phrafe, ^k/#re him, imports 3 being as much as, anfwerable to him, every way fit ted for him 5 not only in likenefs of Body, but of Mind, Difpofition, and Affeftion: Which laid the Foundation of perpetual Familiarity and Friendfhip. Or, as the Author of CetherSchem Tobh^ mention'd by Hackjpan, interprets it, She fiatt always be ready toob- ferve andferve him. For to ft and before any one, in the Hebrew Language, fignifies to do what is defired. See more on verfe 15.
Ver. 19. And out of the Ground the LORD God Verfe 19. formed."] Or, had formed^ 1.20.25.
Every Be aft of the Field , &c/] The Ground here muft be uoderftood to comprehend the Water alfoj out of which the /wlwere made.
And brought then* unto ADAM.'] It is common- ly thought that this Name of Adam, given to the firft Man, fignifies as much as red Earth. But Job Ludolphw hath made it far more probable, that it imports Elegant ^ or Beautiful. See his Hiftor. JEthiop. L.l. cap. 15. n. 17, 1 8. and his Commentaries upon that Chapter, N. 107. How the Beafts and Birds were brought to him, we are not told : But, it is likely, by the Miniftry of Angels 5 who were perpetual Atten dants upon the SCHECHINAH, or Divine
o fee what te would call them."] To •cercife and improve his Underftanding.
And
4 COMM£NT/fRr
Chapter And whatever Adam called^ &c/] God approved of
II. it.
VVVV Ver. 20. And Adam gave Nantes, &c.~] Or, though Verfe 20. Adam gave Names, to all Creatures 3 yet among them all, when they were brought before him, there was not a fit Companion found for him. It doth not jollow from \\\$ giving. Names, that he knew the Na ture of all thote Creatures : For the Names of them in Scripture (which they who are of this Opinion generally fnppofe were the Names given by Adam} are taken from their Voice, their Colour, their Mag nitude, or tome fuch External Difference, and not from their Nature. Therefore this impofing Names upon them, denotes rather his Dominion, than his Knowledge. The Anonymous Author of the Ckron. Excerpta. before Joh. Antiochenut Malala fays, That Adam impofed.Naines upon all Creatures, nv 0«8, bv the Commandment of God,
but his own Name and his Wife's were told him by an Angel of the Lord.
Verfe 21. Ver. 21. And the LORD God canfed a deep Jleep, Sec.] Whereby he was made lefs fenfible of the Pain, which otherwife he would ha\e felt in the opening his Side 5 if his Mind had not been wholly intent upon fomething elfe. As it was in this Sleep s> which was accompanied with an Ecftafie^ (fo the LXX tranflate this Word, and it is agreeable to what we read Job IV. i^O wherein was 'reprefented to his Mind, both what was done to him, and the Myftery of it 5 as appears by verfe 23,24. Vid. Epjfhan.Htfref. XLVIII. ^.-4,5,6.
And he took, one of hfc Ribs.'] Tho. Bartholinw^ a late famous Phyfidan, thinks it probable that Adam
had
upon GENESIS.
XIII Ribs on each Side, and that God took away Chapter one pair, with the Mufculous Parts that adhere to II. them 5 and out of them made Eve. For commonly Men have but XH Ribs, though .fometimes there have been found fas Galen and Riolanvs upon him tefti- fiej thofe who have had XIII. and, very rarely, fome who have had but XI : As Bartholin himfelf ob- ferved in a Jufty ftrong Man whom he differed. An. 1657. who had but XI on one fide, and a fmall ap pearance of a XHth on the other. Hi/tor. An atom. & Medic. Centur. V. cap. ^. It is fit here to be ob- ferved, That God did not form Eve out of the Ground, as he had done Adam $ but but of his Side: That he might breed the greater Love between him and her, as the Parts of the fame, Whole. Whereby he alfo effeftually recommended Marriage to all Man kind., as founded in Nature y and as the re-union of Man and Woman. It is likewife obfervable, That there is no mention here of his breathing a Soul into her, as into him: For Mofes only explains what was peculiar to Eve, ("which was her being made out of his Side,) the reft is fuppofed in thofe Words, verfe 19. I will make him an help meet for him ^ which the vulgar Latin rightly tranflates/^/Ve ei\ like unto him. For fo the Hebrew word KenegJo\$ ufed by the Jewifh Writers, particularly by Benjamin in his 'Iti nerary 5 where, fpeaking of the Jews ztGermttda, and naming feveral, he fays there were many more Ke- negdem, like unto them. And fo the word aVn a- mong the Greelis denotes likenefs and /im/litHcJe, as well as contrary. Of which fee Conft. L* Bmpereur, Annot. m Benj.Tudel. p. 138. The Woman there fore was in all things like him ^ only he made out of the Earth, the out of him: That he might cleav%
to
A COMMENT/fRr
Chapter to her with the deareft Love and Affeftion. It was H. alfo faid before this, I. 27. That both Man and Wo- Lrf^V'SJ man were made in the lil^enefs of God.
And clofed up the Flefl^ ivftead thereof. ~] Made the Flelh as firm, as it was before.
Verfe 22. Ver. 22. And the Rib, &c. Made he Woman.'] Which was as eafie for the Divine Power to do 5 as to make the Man himfelf out of the Earth.
And brought her to him~\ Not merely by ccn- duftingher to the fame place where he was 5 but the Divine Majefty (which now appeared to Eve*) pre- fented and gave her to him, to be his Wife. God himfelf made the Efpoufals (if I may fo fpeak) be tween them, and joyned them together in Marriage.
Verfe 23. ver. 23. And Adam faid, &c.j Now indeed I have found, what I could not fee before among all God's Creatures, another felf.
She fiall be called Woman, See.] Partake of my Name, as (hedoth of my Nature. For he called her Jjfiha, as he was called Iffcb. From whence Sephtr Cofri, and Abarbinel endeavour (in a very long Dif- courfej to prove the Hebrew to be the Primitive Lan guage. And Abarbinel obferves the Chriftians to be of the fame Opinion, quoting fora proof of it, St. AH- flm's Book, DeCivitate Dei.
Verfe 24. Ver. 24. Therefore foall a Man leave his Father and Mother, and cleave to his Wife.] Cohabit with her, rather than with his Parents, (if they cannot all dwell together,) and be joyned to her in the clofeft and moft infeparable Affeftion : As if they were but one Perfon, and had but one Soul and one Body. That's the meaning of the next words.
And
upon GENESIS 57
And they foall be one Flefi."] Moft intimately con- Chapter joyned in entire and infeparable Love. Which arofe II. from the fingular Union of the Flefh of our firft i^/"V\J Parents 5 one of them being taken out of the other. From whence Maimonides and other Hebrew Doftors infer all mixture with Beafts to be contrary to Na ture 5 who are neither one Flefh with us, nor one with another. For in this our Bodies, as well as our Souls, have a preheminence above theirs ^ which were not made one Flefh after fuch a manner as Man and Woman were. They hence alfo conclude all inceftuous Marriages^ &c. to be unlawful, as may be feen in Mr. Selden^ D. Jure N. & G. Lib. 5. cap. 2. Their Obfervation is more pertinent who take no tice, That God creating and joyning together but one Man and one Woman in the beginning ^ intend ed Mankind fhould be fo propagated, and not by Polygamy. Which in procefs of time indeed became the general practice -5 but from the beginning it was not y#,as our Saviour fpeaks in the Cafe of Divorces.Which he concludes, from th«fe very words, were againft the Divine Inftitution, which made two to be one Flefh, (Matth. XIX. 5 6, 8.) So he interprets thefe words, fandSt, Paul doth the fame, i Cor. VI. i6.J theyjhattbe one Flefh: And fo doth Jonathan's Para- phrafe, and the Samaritan Code, as Mr. SeMcn ob- ferves in the place now named.
Ver. 25. And they were both naked , the Man andy&fe. 25 his Wife!] They did not yet find any neceffity of Cloths.
And t hey were not aflamed."] Did not blufti 5 no more than little Children do, when they behold one another naked and embrace with an innocent Af* feftion. Befides3 there was no Body but they two
I who
A COMMENT ART
Chapter (who in effeft were as One) to behold them: III. And therefore they had no more reafon to blufh, than a Man doth when he is naked alone by him- felf.
C H A P. III.
EVfibiw obferves, (JL. VII. Pr^epar. Evang. cap. 9, ic.) That Mofes having fettled the great Do&rines of the Creation of the World, and the Dig- nityofMaK) made in the Image of God 5 proceeds very wifely to inftruft the Israelites, that there are none fo happy, but without due Care and Watch- fulnefs, may become moft miferable: There being Ilowf^ ^u'tuyy, (as his words are) a wicked Daemon at every Man's Elbow, /3a<7^v©u £ jjutoj»&h@^ % £ a>/9^»7toup d%%Yi3tv S^r7o«A@^ <iry7wf/a^, envious, a ha ter of thofe that are good, and from the beginning a wily undernainer of Mens Salvation.
Now this following immediately after the relati on of the formation of Eve, hath madefome fanfie, that our firft Parents fell the very fame day they were made. And thus much, I think, muft be fup- pofed, That they did not continue v«ry Jong in their happy ftate: For, if they had perfifted ftedfaftly in tiieif Duty, for a confiderable time ^ they would have acquired fuch an habit of well-doing, as would DOC have been fo eafily loft. But that they conti nued longer than a Day, there are many Circum- flances to induce us to believe. For it required fome time for AAam to be acquainted with nil other Crea- tnd to impofe Names upon them; And there
being
G E N E S I &
being none of them a meet help for him, he flept Chapter Ibme time, till Eve had taken her Beginning out of III. him. Whom, when he faw, he received, and own'd u^VNJ her for his Wife ^ and no doubt made more Refledti- onsupon God's Wifdom, Power, and Goodnefs, than are fet down in this Sacred Story. They both alfo received a Command from God, not to eat of one Tree in the Garden : Into which, when they were brought, we cannot but think they walk'd about it> and took fuch a view of it, as to be convinced, by the bountiful Provifion God had made for them, they had no reafon to complain of the fmall Reftraint he laid upon them. All which could not be per formed fo fpeedily as fome have imagined 5 for though God can do what hepleafes in an inftant, yet Man cannot ; and God himfelf did not in one Day create the World. And, befides, that fome time was neceflary for tranfa&ing all thefe things ^ it is not likely the Devil would immediately fet upon Eve, as foon as the Command was laid upon them,- but rather let it be a little forgotten. And if the time be obferved when he affaulted her, it will much con- firnrthis Opinion, which was in the abfence of her Husband 5 for that we cannot eafily believe to have been upon the fame Day they were created. The extraordinary Kindnefs they had one for the other, will fcarce allow us to think it poffible, they {hould be fo foon feparated. It is plain alfo, God fanffified thefeventh Day before their fall : Which it is highly probable they fpent in admiring and praifing the Al mighty Goodnefs.
Ver. I. Now the Serpevt.~] Or, that Serpent (as fome Verfe i think it (hould be tranflated) which the Tempter made ufe of, as his Inftrument to deceive.
I 2 ^Was
6o A COMMENTARY
Chapter Was more fubtlll} The whole Species of Serpents TIL is noted by Anjiotle (L. I. Hiftor. Animal, c.i.) to be t/~y^sJ fjwbufa, t^&X&i extremely infidious: But this was extraordinary wily. What fort it was, is not here exprefied : But all agree there is now none like it 5 the Curfe of God having degraded it St. Bafil.m his Book of Paradtfe, (p. 62 7. ) faith it was not a frightful Creature, as it is now, dfax srg^owJte % YIJLM- p(§0, but mild and gentle : Not crawling and wind ing about, in a terrible manner, upon the Ground, a?v\3 J-vjMJs £3rJ -Ttvcfcv &t£mu$9 but lofty, and going upright upon its Feet. Several of the Jews have been of this Opinion $ and our famous Mr. Mede in clines to it, DifcoMrfe XXXVIIL p. 291, &c> But I take the conjefture of another very learned Perfon, now a Bifhop of our Church, to be far more proba ble : Which I (hall endeavour to ftrengthen. There were (and ilill are in the Eaftern and Southern Parts of the World,) Serpents having Wings, and (hi- ning very brightly, like to Fire, So we read, Ifaf. XIV. 29. of aflyingfiery Serpent. Which fiery Ser- fents are called Seraphims^ in Numb. XXI. 6, 8. and termed fiery ^ not merely with refpeft to their Ve nom, which made fore Inflammations in the Bodies of thofe who were bitten by them $ but becaufe they appeared fhining like Fire, when they flew in the Air.
Whence Seraphim is the Name alfo of the higheft fort of Angels, (called the Angels of the Prefence,*) Ifai. VI. 2, 6. Who appeared, I fuppofe, in fome fuch form with flaming Wings. For otherwife, I cannot think Serpents would have been honoured as Sacred things in fo many Countries, as we find they anciently were 5 unlefs they had been the Symbols of
Angels
upon GENESIS. 61
Angels. The Devil therefore, I conceive, made ufe Chapter of fome fuch Serpent, (but of a more furpaffing III. brightnefs, than any now extant,) that he might re- L/'VNJ femble one of the moft illuftrious Angels, who ap peared fometimes in the like fhape. Which moved Eve the more readily to hearken unto the Voice of the Serpent $ taking it to be one of the heavenly Seraphim s, which (he had feen fometime, in fuch a fplendid form, attend upon the Divine Glory, or Ma- jefty : For the Angels always made a part of the ScHECHINAH. And thus, one would think, Tertullian underftood this matter, when he faid in this Book De Prefcript. B<eret. C. XLVIl. Iftttm $$$k Serpentem^ cuiEva, utfilio Dei crcdiderat, this was the Serpent, to whom Eve gave credit, as to the Son of God. Which if any one take to be the words of the Hereticks he is there fpeaking of } yet thofe are not, which we find in this Book againft die Falenti- nians, cap. 2. where he faith the Serpent was a Pri- mordio Divina imagink frado, an Ufurper of the Divine Image from the beginning. See Bp Tenifon of Idolatry^ p. 356. To which that paflage in Epi- phanitts may be added, who mentions fome Hereticks C who might have fome Truth among them) that faid, the Woman liftned to the Serpent, £ i^et^ fife 45 0«£, and believed him, or was perfuaded by him, as the Son of God, H<eref. XXXVII. n. x$. And, one would think, Rabbi Bechai had this Notion in his Mind, when he faid (upon the i4th Verfe of this Chapter,} this is the Secret (or Myftery) of the Holy Language, that a Serpent is called SAR.APH, as an Angel is called SARAPH. For which he quotes the fore-named place, Numb. XXI. 6. and then adds, The Scripture calls Serpents Seraphim^ becaufe they
were
A COMMENTARY
Chapter were Toledoth hanacaf/j hakadwoni, the off- fpring of HI. this old Serpent : Underft and this, (fo he concludes, as our Saviour fpeaks in another Cafe, whofo readeth^ let kirn under ft and^) as a Matter of great concernment. Which can have no other meaning, I think, but this } That the Devil ("whom St. John alfo calls the old Serpent, Revel. XI I. 9.) in this Sevpent^here fpoken of, counterfeited a glorious Seraphim, and thereby feduced Eve to give Credit to him.
However this be, it is moft reafonable to fup- pofe, it was fome beautiful Creature, whom Eve thought an Angel, who wifh'd them well,difcourfed with her: For (lie was not fo fimple as to think that Beafts could fpeak 5 much lefs, that they knew more of God's Mind than her felf. Nor doth it feem at all credible to me, that (he (hould have been other- ways deceived, but by fome Creature which appea red fo glorioufly, that (he took it for an heavenly M5- mfter^ who, (he thought, came to explain to them the meaning of the Divine Command.
Tea, hath Godfaid.~] This doth not look like the beginning of a Difcourfe, but the conclufion : As the Jews themfelves have obferved. And, it is not im- ' probable, that the Tempter, before he fpake thefe words, reprefented himfelf as one of the heavenly Court $ who cime,or was fent, to congratulate the hap- pinefs that God had beftowed upon them in Paradtfe : Which was fo great, that he could not eafily believe he had denied them any of the Fruit of the Garden. He defired therefore to be fatisffed from her own Mouth, of the Truth of what he pretended to have heard :, or to know how they underftood the Com mand of God. For fo thefe words may be tranfla- ted, Is it true indeed, hath God faid, Te /hall not eat
of
upon GENESIS. 63
of every Tree, 6cc. Which is a very ancient Inter- Chapter pretation, and more probable than theirs, who would III. have the Hebrew Particles, aph fy, fignifie as much L/"V^SJ as ut nt : Although God hath f aid, ye fh all not eat, not- withjia nding ye fhatt not die. So they fuppofe he was going to add, but before he had fpoken the latter part of the Sentence, Eve interrupted him faying, We may eat of the Fruit of the Tree of the Garden. This had been too grofs, flatly to contradift what God had faid : Whereas the beginning of the Verfe tells us, he went morzfttbtily to work.
Ver. i. And the Woman faid unto the Serpent, We Verfe 2. may eat of the Fruit of the Trees of the Garden."] She feems to have underftood him, as if he thought God had forbid them to eat of any Fruit in the Garden, And indeed the foregoing Queftion is ambiguous ^ like thofe Oracles of his which made him be called Aogjflfe, (oblique or crooked J by the ancient Hea then ^ becaufe they had two meanings. She truly therefore reports the Sence of God's Prohibition, in this and the following Verfe. Though there are thofe who think, (he pronounced thefe words, We may eat of the Fruit, Sec. with feme admiration, that they fhould be retrained from one Fruit, when God had moft liberally granted them all the reft. The reafon of which flie did not know, and (bowed her deftre perhaps to underftand it.
Ver. 3. But of the Fruit of the Tree, which™ mtheVerk 3. midftofthe Garden, God hath faid, ye jhallnot eat of ft, nor twch it, kft ye dlt7\ Some fiunfiethe Woman here began to prevaricate in two things : Frrff, In faying they might not touch it : Secondly, In faying only there was danger, if they nreddted vrithit, and not an abfolute threatning. Of which the Devilv
they
A COMMENT A KT
Chapter they think, took advantage ; and immediately af- IH. fured her, there was no danger at all. This laft
t^/V^SJ they ground upon the Hebrew Particle pen, which we tranllate lej}^ and exprefies a doubting. But I do not think either of thefe Obfervations are folid : For " that Particle doth not always imply a Doubt, as we may learn from the Second Pfalm, the laft Verfe, and many other places : And the touching of the Fruit, fignifies the plucking it off from the Tree, in order to eat it : Which was exprefly forbidden.
Verfe 4. Ver. 4. Te flal! not furely d/e.~] You are under a miftake : Death will not be the certain Confequence of your eating this Fruit. For God is too Good to inflift fuch an heavy Punilhment, for fo fmall a Fault.
Verfe 5, Ver. 5. For God, &c."] The Particle #, which we tranflate/0r, fignifies here as much as but, (as Abarbi- nel and others obferve,) juft as in PfalmCKV. i. So che meaning is, you (hall be in no danger, but quite contrary, be great gainers by tafting of this Fruit : As God himfelf knows, who only keeps you in Awe by his Threatning, but will not be fo fevere as to execute it 5 when he fees you much improved, not impaired by eating it.
Then your Eyes (hall be opened."] For you will im- .mediately difcover abundance of things, whereof you are now ignorant.
And ye {hall be as Gods.'] Like unto us, the An gels of God : Who are frequently called Elohirn^ i. e. Gods, in Scripture. Thus Maiwonides underftands it. More Neuoch. Pars 1. c. ^. and Onk$los-> who tranflates it Princes^ meaning Angels, who are called Principalities and Powers^ &C.
owing
upon G E N E S I S.
Knowing Good and Evil."] i. e. All manner of Chapter things. Or, as fome of the Hebrews underftand it, III. •know what is fit for yon to do, without any Advice or In- -. ft mill on, and without any Reftrittion ^ being fubjeS to none, but enjoy freely what you pleafe. For to know is fometimes as much as to enjoy, in the Scripture-Lan guage : So that according to this Interpretation, he promifes them likenefs to God himfelf 3 who is abfo- lutely free, and fubjeft to none.
But in this Suggeftion the Devil proved, what our Saviour fays of him, That he was a Lyarfrom the begin ning : For there are no lefs than four Lyes (as fome reckon them) in "thefe two Verfes. Which makes it feem ftrange that Eve {hould give Credit tothefe Sug- geftions, which were very foolifh : It being incredi ble that God (hould envy them any thing, who had given them their Beings, and innumerable Bleffings. I can give no account of it, but this: that when we are fearching after the Reafon of things (as fne, I fuppofe, was of this Prohibition ) and cannot find it 3 if one be fuggefted to us, which never came into our Mind before, though in it felf unlikely, we are rea dy to catch at it, and to bepleafed with it. For when the Mind is weary with enquiring, it is fatisfied with a falfe Reafon, rather than have none. The Promife alfo of Knowledge was very tempting ; efpecially of fuch Knowledge as he gave her hope would raife and advance her, to a more noble Condition. And it is likely (tie thought an heavenly Minifter (as (he took him to bej might underftand God's meaning better than her felf.
Ver. 6. And when the Woman faw the Tree was Verfe good, &c,"] This Verfe gives a further account of that which feems very ftrange, the Difobedience of our
K firft
Chapter firft Parents. She look'd fo long upon the forbid- III. den Fruit, till (he not only had an Appetite to it, as excellent Food, but was taken with its beautiful Co lour $ and wasalfo ftrongly poffefled, by the perfua- fion of the old Serpent, that her Mind would be no lefs pleafed than her Palate, by an increafe in Know ledge and Wifdom. Thefe are powerful Tempta tions, (expreffed inthefe wOrds, good for Food, plea- fant to the Eyes, and to be defired to make one wife,} and (he could fee no Evil in the thing it (elf 5 it be ing the mere Pleafure of God, of which (he did not apprehend the Reafon, that made the eating of it a Crime. This Fruit alfo was planted, not in an ob- fcure place, but in the ntidft of the Garden, (Verfe 3 J near to the Tree of Life / Which made it the more inviting $ by its being always in her Eye, as well as very beautiful 5 and raifed, perhaps, the greater won der in her, that God (hould forbid a thing, which he hati made fo eminent for its Beauty. Hereupon (he yielded, and (as it followsj took, of the Fruit thereof and did eat.
And gave unto her Husband with her.'] Who re turned to her, it is likely, as (he was eating the Fruity and was foon perfuaded to bear her company -y for it immediately follows, and he did eat.
Ft is a quefkion whether he debated the Matter tvith her, till he was fatisfied with the Arguments that moved her to eat 3 or, his great Affe&ion to her drew him in, to do as (be did .• Without any other Confideration, perhaps, than this ; That he chofe ra ther to die, than out-live one, whom he loved moft pafTionately. To this laft, the Apoftle's words feem to incline, iTim. II. 14. Adam was not deceived : Though they do not neceflTarily (ignifie, it muft be-
con-
upon GENESIS,
confefled, That he was not feduced by the Tempter's Chapter Arguments, but only that Eve was firft feduced, .IU. and thenhelp'd to feduce him. So that he might be L/~VXJ wrought upon, both by thofe Arguments, and by his Affeftion alfoto his Wife : But could have been de ceived by neither, had he not been firft guilty of a great dvrsjttfa and patSt/juist, (""as St, Chryfoftom calls it) heedlefnefs and non-attention^ arifing from jloth and negligence. The Reflexion which Grcgor. Nazienzet? makes upon her gazing upon the beautiful Fruit, is this 3 Q&jyDuuzv m<; iv y£0is£ &$ Yifj^^dur^^^liroo/jucv^ &c. Or at. XLVHL p. 700. D.
Ver. 7. And the Eyes of them loth were opened."] Not Verfe 7* in the Senfe the Serpent promifed, but a very much different : For they foon faw their Folly, and made fad Reflections upon what they had done.
And they knew ("or feltj that they were naked~] A cold (hivering feized on them } and they perceived alfo that they were ftript of their intellectual Orna* ments, (as Athanafius expounds it, contra Gentes^ p.
4.) and blufh'd alfo at their Bodily Nakednefs, of
which they were not before at all afhamed.
And they few ed Fig-leaves together."] Of, twifted
the young Twigs of the Fig-tree, with the Leaves on
them .• Which are very broadin t he Eaftern Countries.
Pliny reckons this among the Trees that have the
largeft Leaves, L. XVI. cap. 24, And cap. 26. where he
faith, it hath folmm maximum, umbrofiiJimurnqHe* the
greateft and moft (hady Leaf of all other.
And made themfelves Aprons."] A Covering, which
they girt about them.
Ver. 8. And they heard the Voice of the LO R D Verfe 80
walking in the Gardev.~] The Sound of the Majeflatick.
Presence, or the Glory of the LORD, approaching
K 2 nearer
69 A COUMET^TAKT
Chapter nearer and nearer unto the place where they were. For III. the waling may be referred to Voice* as well as to the LORD: Signifying that the Sound* as I faid (for fo Voice is often ufed in Scripture) of the Divine Ma- jeflys approach, came flill nearer, and made a louder Nolle, to terrifie them. For thus the word walk, is applied to the Voice* (*• e. SoundJ of the Trumpet at the giving of the Law, when Mofes fays of it, (hxod. XIX. I9jpmi ^Tft it walked orjncreafed* and grew ftronger.
Juft fo, I conceive, the Sound which the Motion of the SCHECHINAH made, did at this time. And that,
In the cool of the Day^] When the Wind began to rife, (foit is in the Hebrew, in the wind of the Day,) that is, towards the Evening, as moftunderftand it.- For then there was wont to be a gentle breath of Wind ; as Ariftotle obferves of his Country, -r Zi$u- %c,v m%£$% $&\ijw TVV&V, the Weft Wind was wont to blow towards theclofe of the Day. Which being a foftand gentle Gale, the Sound they heard was the more aftonifhing, which feemed to threaten a dread ful Storm.
Onkelos thus paraphrafes the fir ft words, they heard the Voice of the WORD of the LORD: That is, of the Son of God ^ who appeared in very glorious Clouds 3 or rather, inflaming Fire, of fuch an amaz ing Brightness, that they were not able to endure the fight of it. For fo it follows .-
Adam and his Wife hid themfelves from theprefence of the L 0 R D God^ Sec.} It's plain by this there was the appearance of an extraordinary Prefence .• Which affrighted them, and made them run among the Trees of the Garden^ i. e. into the Thickets, or the clofeft places they could find there. I
N upon GENESIS,
I cannot but think the SCHECHINA H, Divine Majefty, appeared quite otherwife than for merly .• That is, not in fomild a Luftre as when they were firft acquainted with him 5 but in a more terri ble burning Light, as if it would confume them. For fo we read in after- times, that the fame L o a D who • appeared unto Mofes in aflame of Fire out of the midft of a Bu(h,(£*W. III. 2.) camedown in a more dreadful manner, at the giving of the Law, from Mount Sinai. When the Mountain was altogether on a fmoak* (Exod. XIX. 18.) becauje the LORDde- fcended upon it in Fire: And that Fire fo great, that it flamed unto the midft of Heaven, (Deut. IV. n.) with darknefs, clouds, and thick^ darknefs.
Ver. 9. And the LORD God called unto Adam.~\ Verfe 9. As he did to Mofes out of the Bufh, Exod. III. 4. and to Ifrael out of the midft of the Fire, Dent.
IV. 12.
And faid unto him.'] With a Majeftick Voice, a- gainft which he could not ftop his Ears.
Where art thou?~] Why doft thou run into Co verts, like the wild Beafts > Such Queftionsdo not argue Ignorance in him that asks them 5 but are in tended to awaken the Guilty to a confeffion of their Grimes. As appears from IV. 10. Where is Abel thy Brother ? Of whom Cain ftubbornly refufing to give an account, the LORD faid immediately,? ("to (how h needed not to be informedj the Voice of thyBro* thers Blood crieth unto me, from the Ground.
Ver. IO. And he faid, I heard thy Voice, andlwas afraid, becaufe Iwas naked, Scc.^ The very Sound of the approach of thy Prefence, fo affrighted me, be- cauie I found I had loft my Innocency -, that I hid my felf from thee. This was a foolifh and vain attempt $
but
;o A COMMENTARY.
Chapter but as Guilt makes Men fearful, fo that bereaves them IV. of all Confederation.
t^VNJ Ver. i iT And he fad, Who told thee that thou waft
Verfe *i' naked?] Divefted of thole noble Endowments, which I befrowed on thee.
Haft thou eaten, &c.]j TranfgrelTed my Command ment ?
Verfe 1 2. Ver, 12. And the Man fad, The Woman whom thon gave ft, &c.] I confefs my Guilt ; into which I was drawn by her, whom thou gaveft me for an help. Thus we are apt to excule and palliate our Faults ; by laying that Lead upon others, with which we ought to charge our felves.
Verfe i 3. Ver. 1 3. And the LORD God fad unto the Wo man, &c.~] What moved thee to violate my Com mand >
Andfljcfad, The Serpent legtoiltd we.~] My Weak- nefs was deceived, by theCunningof the Devil. Thus (he allb threw the blame upon another. But God, no doubt, convinced them both, of the greatnefs of their ,v Guilt, and the rniferable Condition into which they were fain by (heir Tranfgreffion ^ before he ended this Difcourfe with them. Which fhows the Infinite Mercy of the Creator of all, who would not abandon them $ but fought after them, to fave them, when they had loft themfelves.
Verfe 14. Ver. 14. And the LORD fad unto the Serpent, Thou art curfid, Src."] It is obferved by Tertullian, That though God inflicted Punifhmenrson Adamm& Ew, yet he did not curfe them, as he did the Serpent, //* jreftitutionJs canditalos, they ftanding fair fora Refti- tution to his Favour, L. II. adv. Marcion, c. 25. And I may add, God did not begin with them 5 but firft Sentences the Serpent, before he proceeds to Judgment
upon
upon GENESIS. 71
upon them : VVhich denotes that he . (the okl Ser- Chapter pent) was the great O.fender, being the firfi: Mover IIL to Sin $ which made his Crime more grievous than theirs.
Now, to be Curfid, is to be deprived of what was before enjoyed, and doomed to a miferable wretch- ed Condition of life : The particulars of which fol low. The only Difficulty is, Why the Serpent (lite rally fo called) fhouid be curled, as it manifeftly is, (though the Devil alfo, I (hall (how is intended J being but an Inftrument which the Evil Spirit ufed ^ and had neither Will to Sin, nor yet underfhnding or Knowledge of what the Devil did ? It is com monly anfwered, That this is no more than the Curfe which God inflifted upon the Earth, (which was not capable of Sinning) for Adams fake, vcrfe 1 7. f3ut ftill the Reafon of that Curfe is required ^ which is evident enough .• Man hi mfelf being punifhed by the Curfe upon the Earth : Which did not yield its Fruit fo plentifully and fo eafily, as it had done before his Tnnfgreffion. And the Reafon of this Curfe upon the Serpent^ may be the better difcerned by another Inftance which we find Exod. XXI. 28. where an Ox which gored a Manor a Woman., that they died, is ordered to be ftoned, ani his Flefi not to be eaten. This fure was to fhow. the great value God fet upon Man's Life : VVhich he fecured alfo by this Punifh- menc^ which moved all Owners to iook well to their Beads that might indanger it. Even fo was the Serpent condemned, in Mercy to- Adam and his Wife, ("whom, it is manifeft by what follows, God intended to reftore into his Favour,) that they might be ever mindful of the foulnefs of their Gilt, and excited t'O Repentance^ by feeing a noble Creature, ('who
was
?l A COMMENT ART
Chapter was but the Inftrumentofit,) fo extreamly debafed m. into a moft vile Condition.
^?~v-*~» Upon thy Belly fialt thougo."] This (hows the Serpent was a more noble Creature before this Faft .• But changed after it, from a flying Seraph (as the word is Nnr,jL XXI. 6.) into a foul creeping Serpent 5 not moving aloft in the Air, but crawling upon the Earth, and licking the Duft. So it follows.
And duft {halt thou eat, all the days of thy life. ] There is no viler Food than this „• Which doth not fignifie the Serpent fhould feed upon nothing elfe.- But that creeping on the Ground it cannot but lick up much Duit together with its Food, whatsoever that be.
All this 5s literally the Curfe of the Serpent : But as the Devil lay hidden under the Covert of the Ser- pent) though he be not named } fo his Curfe is in tended in this Curfe of the Serpent, though it be not feparately mentioned. As appears by the following •Perfe, which hath a peculiar refpeft to the Devil, under the Name of the Serpent. And the Devils Curfe in general was this 5 to be thruft down further than before, from his ancient Heavenly Habitation 5 and condemned to live in the lower fmoaky Regi on of the Air : Where he hath loft all relifh of Ce- leftial Enjoyments, and pleafes himfelf only in his vile Endeavours to make Mankind as wicked as him felf.
Verfe 15. Ver. 15. I will put enmity between thee and the Wo man, and between thy Seed and her SeectJ] An irre- concileable Feud, throughout all Generations. Which is true of the Serpent, literally underftood, between whom and Mankind there is fuch an Antipathy, that :it difcovers it .felf both in the natural znAfenJitive
Faculties
.upon GENESIS. 73
faculties of them both .* Their Humours being Poi- Chapter fon to each other } and Man being aftonifhed at the HI. fight of a Serpent more than any other Creature ^ and the Serpent in like manner at the fight of a Man, efpecially (if Naturalifts fay true) of a naked Man. Thus Mr. Mede, Difcourfe XXXIX. p. 295. But this is far more true and certain of the Spiritual Serpent^ the Devil, and his Angels, (who joyned with him in his Apoftafie J and the Woman and her Seed, in whom thefe words are more literally fulfilled. For Maimonides juftly admires, rhat the Seed of the Wo man (hould be only mention'd, and not ofAdaw, (^without whom {he could have no Seed 5 which therefore muft be bis Seed J and that it ftiould be faid of^erSeed, not of hte9 that it bruifed the Serpent's Head. MoreNevochivt, P. II. cap. 30. Thfr, faith he> is one of the Pajjages in Scripture which is moft won- derful^ and not to be underftood^ according to the Letter ; but contains greatWifdom in it. In which Words he wrote more Truth than he was aware 5 but was not able tounfold this hidden Wifdom, as we Chriftians, bleffed be God, are able to do. For this Seed here fpokenof is Chrift, as both the Tar gums (that afcri- bed to Jonathan, and that called the Hierufalenf) ex pound it 3 and as we are taught to underftand it, by God's Words to Abraham^ when he renewed this Promife .• In thy Seed (that is Chrift, faith the Apo- b\e)jhatt all Nations be ble/ed, Gen. XXII. 18. Gal. III. 8, 1 6. For he vanquished the Devil, who had now vanquifhed Mankind. So it here follows.
ItjhallbntifethyHead.~\ \.e.ThatSEED of the Woman (hall defpoil thce of thy Power, (meaning the Devil,) and abolifh thy Tyranny. For in the Head of the Serpent (to which there is here an allu-
L fion)
74 A COMMENTARY.
Chapter fion) lies his ftrength : As Epaminondas reprefented III. to the Thebans, when he exhorted them to fee upon E^nd of Lacedemonians^ by (bowing them the Head of a vaft Snake, which he had cruftied, (r Jt*paAko T£ «3«eJ» frzotfe^Jo*.) &ying, Loofye, the Body can do no hurt, now the Head if gene .-Meaning, That if they routed the Lacedemonians, the reft of the Confede rates would fignifie nothing. Pofyen. L. II. Strateg. And therefore Mr.Mede hath rightly interpreted the Serpent's Head, to fignifie the Devil's Soveraignty, (DifcovrfeXXV.p 143. and XXXIX. p. ifi.) and that Soveraignty, is the Power of Death : Which Head (hip of the Devil, theSW of the Woman fthat is Chrift the Lord) hath broken in pieces, and at laft will utterly deftroy, i Cor. X'^. 25, 26.
There is a notable Example of this Enmity, in the ftruggle between Chrift and the Devil for the Empire, in Rev. XII. 7, 8. where Chrift deftroyed the Sove raignty of the Serpent in the Roman Empire fo ef- feftually^ that there was.** more place found^ for the Dragon and his Angels, in Heaven $ i.e. The Devil utterly loft his Soveraignty in that State 3 as Mr. Mede interprets it.
AndthoH /halt brnife his Heel.~] This Viftory over the Devil was not to be gotten without Blood .• For the Devil did all that he was able to deftroy this Seed. But that was impoffible to be done 5 he could only aflault hislowerpart, (called here the Heel,) viz. His Body or Flefli : Which, by his Inftruments, he perfecuted, defpitefully ufed, and at laft crucified. By which very means (fo admirable was the Wif- dom andGoodnefs of God) the Seed of the Woman conquered the Devil as the Apoftle (hows, Heh. II. 14, i j. For itmuft be here noted, That Chrift was
pro-
npon GEN E S 1 S. 75
properly and literally the Seed oftkeWomati^ andChapter not at all of the Man : Being born, without him, of lf-- a pure Virgin. The tender Mercy of God alfo muft ( here be acknowledged ^ which gave our firft Parents hope of a recovery, as foon as they were fain .• By making them this moft gracious Promife. Which, though here fomething obfcurely delivered, grew clearer and clearer, in every Age, till Chrift came.
It cannot be deniedTikewife, but that by Seed, may beunderftood (colle&ively) all the Faithful, who by the Power of the Lord, vanquifh all the Power of their Spiritual Enemy. (See Luke 10. 19.) Yet fo, that we muft confefs, there was one Eminent Seed here primarily intended, by whom they overcome. Un to whom another Seed is not here oppofed in this laft part of the Verfe^ (as in the former part,) but the Serpent himfelf: Which points at a jingle Corn- bate fas I may call it) between this promifed Seed and the Devil But if we will take in the other Sence alfo, unclerftand by Seed, Chrift with all his Members, then the brni/tng their Heel fignifies, ("as Mr. Mede expounds it,) the Devil's deceit and guile in aflaulting us unawares : As they do who come behind others, when they do not obferve them, and catch hold of their Heel. For that this is an Emblem olf guile and deceitful dealing, appears from the. Story of Efau and Jacob 3 the latter of whom had his*Nacne from catching his Brother by the Heel at his Birth, which Efau took for an indication of his beguiling him, as he did two times. See Difcourfe XXXVII. p. 184,
It is fit, I think, here to note further, (what the learned Mr, ^//>, hath obferved,) That God in this Promife did a particular Kindnefs to our Father
L 2 Adam,
A COMMENTARY.
Adam. Who having been feduced by his Wife to eat the forbidden Fruit, it might have occafioned & Breach between them v had not God taken Care to prevent it, by making this gracious Promife of a Redeemer, to depend upon this Union with his Wife .- Frohi whom, he affures them, one fliould defcend, that mould repair their Lofles,
The time likewife when this Promifc was made is remarkable „• Which was, before God had reje&ed 'din and preferred Setkto him , and long before any reftri&ion made to Noah's Family, or Sem\ (who derived from him,) that all the World might look upon the MESS I AH as a common Benefit to all the Sons of Adam.
Verfe 1 6. Ver. 16. Unto the Woman he faid.~] Next to the Serpent, the Woman receives her Sentence, fas MR Mede well notes,) becaufe flie was more in the fault than Adam : Being guilty, as his words are (Difcourfe XXXVIII. p. 287.) both of her own per- fonai Sin, and of her Husband's alfo. Whence it is that he, who had only finned himfelf, and not caufed others to fin* had his Judgment laft of all. This fliould be a little more confidered than it is, by all thofe, who not only do Evil themfelves, but draw others into the fame Guilt
1 r y>iU greatly multifly thy farrow and conception**] i. e. Thy forrow in thy Conception .• Which in cludes all the time of Womens going with Child § when they frequently naufeate all their Food 5 or have troublefome Longings 5 and endure many o- ther things which are very grievous to them $ efpe- cially when they arc in danger to mifcarry of their Burden*
7*
upon GENESIS. 77
In forrow /halt thou bring forth Children.] Brute Chapter €reatures are obferved to bring forth their Young, III. with far lefs pain, and difficulty, and danger, than Women commonly have in their Labour. Who, after they are delivered of their Children, are ftill in dan ger, by many Accidents : Efpecially when that ftays behind which (hould follow the Birth, (as it fome- times doth from various Caufes, noted by Bartholinus^ in his Hiftor. Anotow. & Medic. Cent. V* Htft. XXXII. n. 3.) which occafionsforc Torments, and puts their Lives in thegreateft hazard.
And thy de/ire Jhall be to thy Husband?] That is, it (hall be fubjedt to him 5 as the Vulgar Latin and AbenEzra expound thisPhrafe: Which is fo ufed, IV. 7.
And he Jhall rule overtkee^] Have Power to con- troll thy Defire. This looks like putting her more under the Will of her Husband, than was intended in her firft formation: Becaufe (he had not given. a due regard to him ; but eaten the forbidden Fruit, without flaying to confult him and ask his Advice.
Ver» 17. And unto Adam he faid^ Becaufe thou haft Verfe Learkped to the voice of thy Wife^ &c] Been fo weak, as to mind her more than me.
Curfed Jhall the Ground be^ It (hall not bring forth fo plentifully, nor fo eafilyas it did.
For tfyfake.] Becaufe of thy Sin $ which (hall be puniflied partly by its barrennefs.
In forrow flak thou eat of it.] It Ihallcoft thee a great deal of Labour and Toil., before thou reaped the Fruits of it.
All the days of thy life.'] Every part of the Year* (hall bring along with it new wearifom Labours
78 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 18. Thorns and Thiflles, &c.] It (hall coft thee III. abundance of Pains to root up the Thorns, Thirties,
IXV%J and unprofitable Weeds 5 which (hall come up in (lead
Verie 1 8- Of better Plants.
And thou flult eat the Herl of the Field.'] Be con tent with fuch things as the common Field produces $ inftead of the delicious Fruits of Paradife. Here the Rabbins cry out Menfurafro menfura, behold the Juftice of God, who ftrved Man in his kind. He was not fatisfied with the choice Fruits of the Gar den in which God put him ,• and therefore he took them from him, .and fent him to eat the ordinary- Food of Beafts 3 and that not without hard Labour. Maitnon. More Nevoch. P. I., cap. 2.
Verfe 19. Ver. 19. In thefweatofthyface, Src.^j Some con clude from hence, that the Earth brought forth, be fore the Fall, without any Pains to cultivate it. And indeed there needed none ; all things being pro duced at the firft, by the Divine Power, in full Per- feftion. But what Labour would have been necef- fary in time, if Man had continued Innocent, we do not know : only thefe words fignifie, that lefs Toil would have ferved than Men muft now take for their Suftenance.
Some of the Jews reckon up Nine Punifhrnents be- fides Death, which God infii&ed upon Adarn^ and as many upon Eve. See Pir^e Eliefer> cap. XI V« and Vorjtius upon him.
Till then return to the Ground."] i.e. Till thou dicft, and mouldreft into Duft.
For out of it thou waft takenT] From whence thou waft taken, as it is explained, verfe 23. which (hows the Particle ty is not always to be tranflated for 5 but focnetime 8>fo#re, or who/v, as IV. 25. God hath
given
Hpon GENESIS.
given me another Seed inflead of Abel^ irn ^D whom Chapter Cain flew. in.
The reft of this Verfe needs no Explication. l/VNJ
Ver. 20. Called her name Eve.'] Some think (he was Verfe 20. called Ijfcha before, and now he changed her Name intoEz;e: In belief that God would make her the Mother of all Mankind 5 and of the promifed Seed particularly $ by whom fas D. Chytraus addsj he hoped to be raifed from the Dead, to immortal Life.
Mother of all living."] Of all Men that fhould live hereafter 5 or of him that (hould give Life to Mankind. So Havah may be interpreted, viva or vivificairix : Becaufe (he was the Mother of all Mankind, or be- caufe Mankind, now fentenced to death, were by her Seed, to be made alive.
Ver. 2 1 . Vnto Adam and his Wife, did the LORD Verfe . a i, God make coats ofskjns, Scc.^ The firft Cloaths of Mankind were of the Leaves of Trees^ which they made themfelvesv being ready at hand, woven by Divine Art. The next were of t^Q Skins ofBeafts $ which were much warmer, and better able to defend them from the injury of the Cold and Weather : And thefe were made by God's Direftion. Who having: made a moft gracious Covenant with our firft Pa rents, (verfii$) it feems not unreasonable to fup— pofe, that he alfo fignified to them, they fiiould, for the confirmation of it, offer to him Sacrifices .• By the Blood of which, Covenants were ratified in after- times, from this Example. For it is not likely, that the Beafts, of whofe Skins thefe Coats were made, died of ihemfelves $ or, that they were killed mere ly for this ufe, or for their food. And therefore what is fo probable, as that, by God's Order, they
8o A COMMENTARY
Chapter wereflainfora Sacrifice to him, (the better to re- IH. prefent to them their Guilt, and that the promifed
l/"WJ Seed (hould vanquifh the Devil, and redeem them, by (hedding his Blood J and that of the Skins of thofe BeaftsGod dire&ed Coats to be made, to cloath them > But whether, by dreffing them and making Leather of them $ or, only by drying them, and Jet ting the Hair ftill continue on them, we cannot tell. Certain it is, that this was a very ancient fort of Cloathing 5 as we learn not only from Profane Au thors, but from the Sacred : Particularly, HeL XL 37. The Jewtfh Do&ors have carried this Matter fo far, as to fay, That Adam being a Prieft, thefe were his Prieftly Garments. The Skin indeed of the Burnt-Offering under the Law, is given to the Prieft, Lev. VII. 8. but not to make him Cloaths : And Eve, if this were true, mud tjave been a Prieftalfo$ for (he had a Coat made of Skins, no lefs than Adam. Who, they fanfie, left this Coat to his Pofterity 5 fo that Noah, Abraham^ and all the reft of the Patriarchs (as Abel they faid did} facrificed in the very fame Coat, till Aaron was made High-Prieft, and hadfpe- cial Garments appointed him by God. Among which, one beingcalled by this very Name of njro (Exod. XXVIIIJ it gave ground to this idle Con ceit.
Verfe 22. Vet. 22. Behold the Man is become, &c.] Man, in this place, includes Woman: And thefe words are ge nerally thought to be fpoken Sarcaftically 3 to reprove their great Folly, in thinking tocncreafe their Know ledge, whether God would or no.
jLlhf one ofusi\ Thefe words plainly infinuate a Plurality of Perfons in the Godhead 5 and all other Explications of them, feera to be forced and unna tural i
'upon G E N E S I S, 81
tural: That of Mr.Cahms being as difagreeable to Chapter the Hebrew Phrafe, as that of Socinwto the Excellen- III. cy ot the Divine Nature. This, I think, is well pro- L/"VNJ ved by Theodoricl^ Haclypan, Diffut. IV. De Locut, Sacris, n. 15, Sec.
And now, left he put forth hi? Hand, Sec."] This feems an abrupt kind of Speech 5 fomething being kept back: As, let us turn him out, (or fome fuch like words,) left he take alfo of the Tree, of Life^ and live for ever. Which many of the ancient Fathers look upon as a merciful Difpenfation 5 that Man might not be perpetuated in a State of Sin. So Irdneut, L. Ill cap. 37. and Greg. Nazianzen. Orat. XXXVIII. p. 619. God thus ordered, *lv& pti a&dvcflov YI TO w w*v-> £j yun£) ^«Aa^9^Wa YI TifAw&ct,, &C. That Sin might not be Immortal^ and the Punishment might be a, Kindnefs. Which he repeats, Orat. XLII.p. 68 1. So Eflfbaniifg alfo, Htref. XXXVIL*. i. When Man had fpoiled himfelf, God unmade him, that he might make him better. And Methodius in him, H<eref. XLIV. n. 24, 2?, 8cc. and 29. where he proceeds fo far as to fay, That Death was not fent upon Man, . £sH *a- K$ TO), out of any evil Defign to him, but as a Mercy.
Ver. 23. Therefore God fent him forth, &c.] Or5Verfe 23, caft him out 5 and that with reproach and difgracej as Aben Ezra obferves the Hebrew word, in this form, to fignifie. And fo caft him out, that he (hould not return again.
To till the Ground, from whence he was tak$n7\ This confirms what I faid upon the Second Chapter, ver. 8. That Adam was made in another place, and thence brought into Paradife: From whence being now expelled, he was fent back to the place, where he
M was
8a A COMMENTARY
Chapter was firft formed ^ there to labour in all the Toils of III. Husbandry. Though it muft be confeffed, thefe
IXVNJ words may fignifi- no more, than thofe Verfe 19. of rfihCA^ter, That he had his Original from the Earth: By the tilling of which he was put in Mind of his return thither.
Verfe 24. Vena 4. So he drove out the Man.'] (With his Wife) or, as Aben Ezra tranflates it. After he had driven him out ^ he placed, &c. This word unji is that which the Hebrews properly life in Divorces : And there fore denotes, they think, that the Lord put him a«- way from his Prefence, as a Man did his Wife, to whom he gave a Bill of Divorce : Or, as a Prince banifhes a Subjeft that hath rebelled again ft him, whom he fends into Exile out of his own Country.
And he placed at- the Eaft of the Garden."] This fhows the Entrance into Paradjfe, was from the Baft.: At which Entrance Adam, being caft out, it is likely he afterwards inhabited feme of the Eattern Coun tries. Eutychius, Patriarch of Alexandria^ faith a Mountain in Indra> which the Mahometans common ly call Sarandib, as Mr. Selden obferves, L. I. De Sy- nedr. cap. 2. p. 45 2, &c. But Aben Ezras Conjefture feems more reasonable, That hedwelt in fome Coun try, not far from Paradife.
Cherubims.'] Some of the heavenly Minifters^ that waited upon the Divine Majefty : Who were called by this Name in Mofes his time, when he wrote this Hiftory in the Wildernefs, after the giving of the Law. For the Glory of the LORD, I take it, here appeared, at the expulfion of Adam and Eve^ in a moft dreadful manner 5 to deter them from at tempting to come near this place again 3 for fear of being conftmred.
And
upon GENESIS
And a flaming Srvordr\ Or, flame of a Sword. Con- Chapter cerning which ftlatnttoiiAes thus difcourfes, P. I. More HI- Ncvoch cap. 4. Our wife Men underftand by lahat (flame) an Angel: According to tharof the VJj&mifa He wakcth his Angels Spirits : His Minifters (lobet^ a flaming Fire, Pfalm CIV. 4. That is, one of the Se- rafhiws, or a flaming Angel, in the form of a flying fiery Saraph, (or Serpent,) whofe Body moving in the Air, refembled the vibrations of a Sword, was ap pointed, with the Cherubivrs, to guard the Entrance of the Garden. For the Cherubims and Seraphims^ are frequently mentioned in Scripture, as Attendants upon the SCH'ECHINAH, or Divine Majefly : Which appeared here in great Glory, at the Paffage into the Garden of Eden $ as it did in after- times at the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation of Ifrael, to their great aftonifhment.
Which turned everyway."] Angels fays Maiwonides, in the fore-named place, can turn themfelves into all forms and (hapes : Some of which ftrike greater Ter ror into thofe that behold them, than others do. But I take this Expreffion, not to fignifie mutation of Shapes, but the motion of the Angel : Which was fo very fwift and glittering, that devouring Flames feemed to come ftreaming out on every fide.
To keep the way of the Tree of Life.'] To fecurethe PafTage into the Garden of Eden^ where this Tree was 3 that none (hould dare to attempt a re- entrance. H>\\tAdam was fo far from thinking of this 5 that, if thzEaftern Traditions were to be credited, I (hould add. He plunged himfelf into the deepeft Sorrow for a long rime$ bewailing his Sin, begging Pardon,dta till God difpatcht an Angel to comfort him, and fur ther aflure him of his Favour. Which being but
M 2 pro-
84 A COMMENTARY
Chapter probable Conjectures, I fay no more of fuch Matters, III. Nor can I affert with any degree of Confidence, what our great Primate of Ireland fays in his Annals^ That it feems to have been the tenth Day of the World's Age, when Adam was caft out of Paradife : In Memory of which Calamity, the Solemn Day of Expiation, and the great Faft was inftituted in after- times, wherein all were toaffiift their Souls, JlezOt VI. 29. This indeed is the Dodrine of the Jews, who fay, The great Day of Expiation ("which was on the tenth of September) was appointed and fanftified from the Creation of the World ; But there is no other Au thority for it.
It will be more ufeful, I think, to obferve what Footfteps there are of thefe things remaining in the Gentile World. I will mention but two. One of which is noted by Eufebivf, who (hows (L.XII. Pr<e- par. Evang. cap. 1 1 >) that Plato in his Sympofium hath preferved the Memory of Paradife : His ww(&, Asos, Garden of Jupiter, being the fame with this Garden of God, in which Man was at firft placed. The other by St* Auftm^ who fays Plxrecydes, the Scholar of Pythagoras, called the Beginner of Evil, 'Qpjoon'a : That is, a Daemon in the Shape of a Serpent. So Heideggeru* obferves out of him, Exercit. IV. De. Adatno
CHAPc
upon GENESIS. 85
Chapter
; iv.
C/W CHAP. IV.
Ver. I. A ND Adam knew Eve his Wife, &c.] After Verfe i.
£\ they were thrown out of Paradife ; not before, (whatfoever fome of the JewXhDo&ors fan- lie to the contrary 5) nay, as fome will have it, after they had fpent fome time in A&s of Repentance, which is not an improbable Opinion.
I have gotten a Man from the LORD."] i. e. The promifed Mejfia-h 5 which (he imagined would have been her Firft-born. For the words of the Promife, (III. 15.) might as well be expounded of the firtl Seed the Woman had, as of any of his Pofterity.
Ver, 2. She bare his Brother Abel.~] But gives no Verfe 2 reafon of his Name, which fignifies Vanity $ as (he did of Cains, which fignifies Acquisition, or Pojfijfion. Nor is it faid who gave this Second Son the Name of Abel: But it feems they made no account of him, in comparifon with the Firft-born. Quod non pofuerunt in eofpem fa£l<e fromifponi* de Sevtjne, ut in Kain, (as Joh. Forfterus judicioufly fpeaks, in his Lexicon, on the word Hevel^) becaufe they did not place in him their hope of the promifed Seed^ as they did in Cain.
And Abel was a keeper ofSheep^ Sec."] The younger Son was a Shepherd 5 and the elder an Husbandman and Planter. For this laft feems to have been Adam's chief Imployment, both before and after his Fall, (Gen.ll. 15. 111.23.) and therefore, either chofen by Cain in Imitation of his Father, or put upon him by his dire&ion, 3S the more noble of the two*
Whence
95 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Whence the Eaftern People gave him the Name of IV. Abdalcariths ^ which (bme miftook for another Son
^.V'VNJ °f Adam : But in truth was another Name of Caw y fignifying a tiller of the Field, as Mr. Leiden (hows, I. V. DC Jure N. & G. cap. 8.
The Patriarchs indeed after the Flood, at leaft in Abrahams Family, chofc to feed Cattle : But that was becaufe it was lefs Laborious, and more fuitable to that unfettled Condition wherein they lived for ma ny Years, removing like the ancient £\oMadcs> from one Country to another.
Verfe 2. Ver. 3. In procefs of tir/te^} In the Hebrew ^ the words are, In the end of Days : That is, in the con- clufion of the Year :, or, after Harveft. So Days fig- nifie in many other places, particularly, Judg. XL 4. where, after Days, is after a Tear. This was a veiy feaibnable time to make their grateful acknowledg ments to God j who had given them a fruitful Year, and blefled them with increafe. Accordingly God ordained in future times, that the Jfraelites (hould keepafolemn Feaft, in the Years end, to thank him for the ingathering of their Fruits, Exod. XXIII. 16. XXXIV. zx. But in what Year of the World it was that Cam and Abel brought thefe Sacrifices, we have no means to know. It was, no doubt, when they were grown Men 5 and perhaps had more Brothers and Sifters befides themfelves. See Verfe 17.
Cain brought of the Fruit of the Ground^ an offering unto the LORD.~\ Thefe were the moft ancient Sa crifices among the Gentiles, both Greeks and Rowans^ as their Authors tell us 5 and therefore it is moft like ly that Adam began with thefe Oblations, of Herbs^ Flowers, Frankincenfe, Meal, &C. in which Cain fol- Jowed him 5 being of the fame Profeffion, and pro vided
*pon GENESIS. 87
vided with ftore of fuch things. Now as there were Chapter fomzfblemn Times of making their devout Acknow- IV. ledgments to God : So, I doubt not, there were fome fet Places, where they met for that purpofe. For the word in Hebrew for brought, is never ufed about Domeftick or Private Sacrifices,- but always about thofe Publick Sacrifices, which were brought to the Door of the Tabernacle of the Congregation, to be offered by the Prieft. As Lev. IV. 4. HejhaU bring the Bullocl^to the door^ 6cc. Which occurs all along, efpecially in the ninth Chapter of that Book.
And therefore, I fuppofe, they brought thefe Sacri fices here mentioned, to fome fixed Place 5 looking towards the SCHECHINAH, or Glorious Pre- fence ofGod^ at the Entrance of the Garden of Eden, from which Adam had been expelled. For there be ing, no doubt, fome fettled Place, where they perfor med Sacred Offices $ it is moft reafonable to think it hadrefpeft to the SCHECHINAH, or Divine Majefty. Wherefoever that appeared, there they ap peared (as the Scripture fpeaks) before God .• Becaufe there he manifefted his fpecial Prefence, which mo ved them to go thither to Worfhip him, to give him Thanks, or to enquire of hivt^ as we read Rebefaak did, XXV. 2x.
What kind of Sacrifices thefe were, is aQueftion among learned Men. The Talmudifts are of Opi nion they were whole Burnt-Offerings^ and that there were no other before the Law wasgiveny ("which I (hall not now examine, ) nor would the Jews, after the giving of the Law, permit the Gentiles to offer any other at their Temple.
It is their Opinion alfo, That Cain and Abel brought thefe Sacrifices to Adam9 to be offered by him. For
which; .
''88 A COMMENTARY
Chapter which I fee no convincing Reafon: But, rather, they IV. themfelves feem to have offered them. And then X/"V"NJ this place effe&ually confutes their Opinion, who fay the Firft-born, were feparated to the Office of Priefthood : For by thefe words it is plain, the young- ett facrificed, as well as the eldeft. And ib they did in following Ages 5 when we find Jacob per* forming the Office of a Prieft, Gen. XXVIII. 18. XL VI. i. Which proves their Opinion rather to be true, who fay, That every Man anciently had the Power, in his own Family, to do the Office of a Prieft, as Job did, I. 5. But when Families combined toge ther, under one Head, Prinde, or Governor, he had the fole Right of Sacrificing devolved to him, as their common Father. Thus Mdchfaedecl^ was both King of Salem^ and Prietf of the moft High God. All which was taken away by the Law of Mofes, which permitted none to officiate among the Ijrae- lites, but the Family of Aaron $ and no Sacrifices to be offered, but at the Tabernacle of the Congrega tion, Lev. XVII. 3,4, 5.
It is a much harder Queftion, How they came to facrifice at all 5 either Meal or Beafts : Since we read of no Command from God requiring them to bring him fuch Oblations: Which had led fome to con clude, That Men did this out of a grateful Inclina tion, to return him fome of his owfa Bleffings^ though they had no Directions from him about it. But if this were true, how earned/ to believe that his Sacrifice of aBeaft, would be fo acceptable to God, as the Apoftle fays it was by Faith? Heb. XI. 4. That Faith had fomething elfe to warrant it, than barely his own Reafon. Adam^ in all likelihood, had re ceived fome order concerning it 5 and began to
facrifice
upon GENESIS. 8-9
Sacrifice fas I noted before, III. 21.) by dire&ion Chapter from the SCHECHINAH, or Divine Majeffy: IV. From whence a Voice fpake to him upon feveral oc- vVV%J cafions, II. 16, 17. III. 8, 9, ($c. This Order in deed is not recorded, no more than many other things which Mofer in this fhort Hiftory omitted, fas Enoch's Prophecy, Noah's Preaching, the Peopling of the World, &c. SezPerfe 15.) but it doth not feetn probable that Adam would have prefumed to invent a way of Worflnp, by killing Beafts, and burning their Fat : Efpecially fince one cannot perceive any Inclination to it in Nature. And therefore Eufebiw very judiciouOy refolves, in my opinion, that this way of Worfhip was not taken up by chance, or by a Humane Motion, ^m rS^a? ^ %3nvoia,v \l&ro/Sg- /gAH/^ov, but fuggefted to them by a Divine Intimati on, L. I. Demonflr. Evang. Cap. 10. Of which Plato one would think had fome Notion., when he forbids his Law-Maker (in tiisEfmoMJs) to make any altera tion in the Rites of Sacrificing, becaufe, 8 bvuj<ttw&&- vcq rjj Swry <pi)<ru rff TTH&TW Tfigji, it is not poflible for our Mortal Nature to know any thing about fuch Mat ters.
Ver. 4. And Abel he alfo brought of the Firftlings of Verfe 4 his flock^ &c.] Many have fanfied from hence, that Cain's Guilt lay in this, that he did not bring theyfr/? of his Fruit, as he ought to have done, and as the Heathens ever did, or were bound to do by their Pontifical Laws, (as Mr. Selden obferves,Chap. I. of his Hift. of Tythes) in their Pr<entejjkm, i.e. the Firft- fruits of their Corn, or their Calpar, which was the richeft of their Wine. For it is only faid, he brought of the Fruit of his Ground, when AM brought of the Firftlings of his Flock: And Mofes alfo adding,
N that
A COMMENTARY
Chapter that Abel brought of the Fat thereof, that is, the IV. very beft ^ they think Cams Fault was, that he brought not the fulleft Ears of Corn, (which he kept for himfelf,) but the lankeft, or brought them with a niggardly Hand, or a grudging Mind. Thus Pattadiw in his Life of St. Chryfoftovt fays, He was the firft that tafled the Firft- fruits, and kept the be (I things for his own Belly, Toy dur&px&v dTny^urtTD^^ T^U, ?y istjuTV faqjULcipytqp, TO 9i£orr&c £L>Aa|a$, p. 1 08. But there is no certainty of this$ and the Apoftle to the Hebrews hath dire&ed us to a better account, XL 4. Abel offered with a pious Mind -y Cam with out a due Senfe of God, and fincere Affeftion to him. He offered the Fruit of his Ground $ but did not devote himfelf to God. Therefore it fol- lows,
The LORD had refpeff unto Abel and his Offering.'} He gradoufly accepted them : and his Offering was accepted, becaufe he himfelf was accepted. It is a Metaphor from thofe who when a Prefent is made to them, look kindly upon the Perfon that brings it, if they like him and his Prefent 5 or turn away their Face, if they difdain them. .
How God teftified his Acceptance of 'Abel's Sacri fice, is the only difficulty : Which the Jews fay was by Fire coming from Heaven (or rather, I think, by a Stream of Light, or a Flame from the SCHECHINAH, or glorious Prefence of God, to whom it was offered) which burnt up his Sacri fice. Thus Theodotjon oif old tranflated thefe Words, 9A7ji£A&\£«' ^i TO$ <$i/ows£ 'A€lA5 ^ dnTrpttt:, He looked upon Abel'/ Sacrifices , andfet them on Fire. Which St. Hierom, and other ancient Writers approve. The Footfteps of which we meet withal in Gen. XW 17.
and
upon G E N E S i S. 91
and Examples df it very many, in future times : Chapter When Mofes offered the firft great Burnt-offering IV. according to the Law, I ev. IX 24. When Gideon L/"V*SJ ofter'cl upon the Rock, Judg VI. 21. And David flayed the Plague, i Chron. XXI. 56. and Solomon confecrated the Temple, 2 Chron. VII. 13. and when Elijah contended with the Baalites, i Kings XVIII. 38, dv. Whence the Ifiaeljtes> wifibingall Profperity to their King, pray that God would accept ('in the Hebrew, turn into AJhes) his burnt Sacrifice^ PfaL XX. 4. And we find fome Relicks of this among the Heathen. For when the Gretas went on Ship board to the Trojan War, H0«?er*reprefents Jupiter promifing them good fuccefs in this manner, Iliad. 2. *;. 354.
by lightning on the Right-hand of them (as it may be tranflated) or fhining gracioufly upon them, fas the ancient Scholiast expounds it) and making favourable Tokens appear to them. In like manner he gave the fame encouragement to the Trojans^ when they were going to fet upon the Greek?, Iliad. X. v. 236, 237-
3 erpJv
avjuutTx fzvow,
Jupiter giving them good figns, lightmd upon them, And Thunder fometimes accompany ing thefe Flafties of Lightning (as it did on Mount Sinaf) Virgil makes him to have eftablifhed Covenants in that man ner, JEneid. XII. v. 200. Where after JKneas had cal-
N 2 led
A COMMENTARY
Chapter led the Sun to witnefs, &c. Latinut lifts up his Eyes IV. and Right-hand to Heaven, faying,
Audi at htfc genitor^ qui fader a fulmine fancit.
Let the (Heavenly) Father hear what I fay, who blrfies Covenants with Thunder.
If fuch Paffages as thefe were attended, no confi- dering Man would think the Books of Mofes to be of lefs Antiquity than they pretend to } they opening to us the very Fountains of things, particularly of the ancient Religion.
Verfe 5. Ver. 5. But unty Cain and his Offering he had not refyeft^\ He did not fo much as (hine upon his Sheaves,* much lefs make them afcend up to Heaven in a Scnoak: Though he were the Elder Brother, and brought his Offering firft.
And Cain was very wroth."] This highly incenfed him again ft Abel : When he fhould have made fevere Reflexions on himfdf, and confidered what it was that provoked God to flight his Sacrifice $ that fo he might amend it, and procure his favour. Unto which he had not a Title by his Birthright, but by his Piety. It is poffible indeed that Eve might have inftilled an Opinion into him, that he being the Firft-born, was the Blefled Seed which God had promifed. And then this may be conceived to have enraged him the more againft his Brother 5 when he faw fuch a diftinguifti- ing mark of God's fpecial Favour to him in the very aft of Sacrificing. Which made him look upon Abel with a jealous Eye, and tempted him to kill him 5 that he might not fupplant him in his hope, of being the Fulfiller of the Oracle before-mentioned. III. 15.
And
upon GENESIS.
And hi* Countenance fell.~] He did not meerly look Chapter dejeftedly Through grief 5 but knit his Brows, and IV, had a down-look (as we fpeak) lowring and cloudy : WV% Like thofe who have evil Defigns in their Heads, and meditate nothing but Revenge.
Ver. 6. And the LORD faid unto Cain, &c.] He Verfe 6. did not intend wholly to caft off Cafo, by refuting his Sacrifice, it is plain, I think, by this Queftion. Which was, in effeft, to tell him, He had no reafon to be angry, or out of humour 5 but only to become a better Man : And then God would have refpeft unto him alfo. So it follows,
Ver. 7. If thou doft well, (halt thoti not be accep- ted? 8cc.] There are vaft varieties in the Interpre tation of this Verfe, with which I (hall not trouble the Reader. (See Theodorick, Hack/pan, L. I. Mifcel C. 4. Mercer, and L. de Dieu^ different from all, with Dr. Lightfooi) but only give the Sence of our Tran- flation. If thou doft wett, (halt thou not be accepted? Canft thou doubt that I have an impartial Refpeft to true Goodnefs, wherefoever I find it>
But if thou doft not well^ Sin (that is, the Punifhment of Sin, as Verfe 13. XIX. 15. and many other pla- cesj lieth at the doorJ} Is ready to follow the Of fence.
And. unto thee {hall be hfe de/ire^ and thou /halt rule over himl} He is ftill thy younger Brother, and fhall be fubjeft to thee, (See III. 16.) and thou (halt be his Superiour. So here are Three things fuggefted to Cain, to appeafe his Anger againft his Brother. jRrtf, That the reafon of his not being refpefted, was not in his Brother, but in himfelf: Who, if he would do well, as Abelhzd done, (houldfind favour no lefs than he. Secondly ^ That there was no reafon
he
A COMMENTARY
Chapter he that did ill.ihould fare like him that did well 5 IV. but quite contrary, {hould feel the marks of God's U'VSJ Dilpleafure. And yet, Thirdly, This (hould not al ter his civil right, nor give Abel any Authority over him: But he (hould ftill retain the Priviledge of his Birth-right ^ and need fear no harm from his Brother, who was his inferiour.
Verfe 8. Ver. 8. And Cain talked with Aid his Brother^] Asked him in a friendly manner (as one Brother fpeaks to another) if he would walk into the Fields. This feems more likely to me, than that he told him how the LORD had chidden him, fas Abcn Ezra interprets it) or that he difputed with him about the other World, and the Judgment to come, as others of them expound it; Which Mr. Selden very judici- oufly concludes to have arifen from Onkelos his Pa- raphrafe on the foregoing Verfe, which is this 3 If thou amend thy Worfoip (or Service of me) (halt thou not be pardoned? but if then doft not amend /V, thy Sin foatt remain to the day of Judgment , in which thou ft alt be punifhed, jfthon doft not repent. Upon which fol lows in fome Editions of the Pentateuch^ the difpute which Cam had with Abel about the Day of Judgment, as a traditional Explication of this 8 Vkrfe. L. VII. de Jure N. & Gent. cap. 4.
When they were in the Ffeld^] When he had drawn him from Company, and had him alone.
Cain rofe up againft Abel his Brother."] Aflaulted him on a fudden $ took him at an Advantage.
And flew him.'] Gave him a ftab $ or fome other way wounded him 5 fo as to (bed his Blood. Verfe n.
Verfe 9 ver. 9. The LORD faid unto Cam, Where is thy Brother f] Which is not fpoken, as if he was Ig norant $
upon GENESIS.
norant} but to awaken Cain, and make him fenfible, Chapter that he knew what had pafled. IV.
And hefaid, I &ov> not>~\ I can give no account V-/"VNJ of him.
Am I My Brother s Keeper ?"] Was he committed like a little Child, to my care 5 to look after him, and fee he took BO harm ? Rage made him rude $ and not mind what he faid, nor to whom he fpake. Salvian indeed (L. I. de gubern. Dei) thinks this Speech proceeded from Atheifnt ^ and that, in thofe early days the Opinion fprung up, which, in his time, had infefted many, Deum terrejtria non refpicere, 8tc. That God did not mind what we do on Earth $ but the fouleft Faft may be covered ,$ith a Lye. But this Conceit is confuted by the very queftion which is put to Cain.
Ver. 10. And he faid, What haft thou done .^] Con- Verfe 1C. fider, \\hat an heinous Crime thou haft committed y which cannot be concealed from me. For,
The Voice of thy Brothers Blood cryeth^ &c] Calls for fpeedy and fevere Vengeance. In the Hebrew \i\sBloods, in the Plural Number,- becaufe, fay the Hebrew Doftors, he killed Abel and all his Pofterity, which were in his Loins: According to what we read 2 Kings IX. 26. Ihavefeen the Blood of Naboth, and the Blood of his Sons, (though we read of no body Honed but Naboth himfelf) faith the LORD, and I will requite thee in this Plat, &c. See Sanhedrim^ Cap. IV. and Excerpt. Gemara, Cap. VL N. 7. a^ Joh> Coch.
Ver. II. And now thou art curfed from the £*?'£> Vcr& £§•• which hath opened^ Scc.^ I pafs a Sentence of perpe tual banUhment upon thee, from this Country $ which hath drunk in the Blood of thy Brother. Hi therto
4 COMMENTARY
Chapter therto Adam and his Children had lived together $
IV. but now, as Aben Ezra well obferves, Cain was ba-
L/"V*\J nifhed into a Region far off from his Father : Who
dwelt in the Neighbourhood of Paradife. Verfe 12. Ver. 12. And when thou tilleft the Ground, Sec/] And wherefoever thpu (halt flee, the Earth, which thou tilled, (hall be barren 5 and not bring forth an- fwerable to thy Labour.
A Fugitive and a Vagabond/halt thou be in the Earth."] In that ftrange Country thou (halt have no reft 5 but wander up and down unquietly, and not know where to fettle: Or as the LXX. tranflate the Words, go a- 'bout groaning and trembling^ full of Anguifh in thy Mind, and with a continual (baking in thy Body. Thus St, Bajil in his //0>//#?againft Drunkennefs underftood it, when he faid, A Drunkard draws upon hiwfelfthe Curfe ofCa/n, TpifA&v ;£ ^xr^ji^^iMv©^ £)a TTZJWTD^ /S/»» Staggering and turned about uncertainly all his life long. Hen. Vahfiw thinks his Brother's Ghoft haunted him whitherfoever he went : Which made him run from place to place to avoid its Perfecution. So he para- phrafes thefe Words, (Annot. in L. III. Eufeb. Hrft* Ecclef. Cap. 6.) Umbra fratr is tut quern occiJifti, per~ fequeterte ubique^ & aderit infefta. And fo he inter prets the foregoing Words, The Voice of thy Brother's Blood cryeth to me from the Ground. Thy Brother, whom thou haft impioufly flain, requires me to a* venge him, and exaft the Puni(hment of thee, which is due for his Murder. And indeed it was a Notion, not only among the Pagans but among the Jews alfo (as he (hows) that the Ghoft of thofe who were mur dered, perfecuted their Murderers, and required Pu* smfhmentofthem*
Ver*
upon GENESIS. 97
Ver. 13. My punijhment is greater than I can bear.'] Chapter This is too heavy a Punifhment, for I fink under the IV. weight of it. Others interpret it, fas appears by the <VV"NJ Margin of our Bible?) My finis unpardonable $ or, too Verfe 1 3. great to be forgiven. Thus he, who at fir ft was not io fenfibleof his Sin as to confefs it, now thinks it to no purpofe to beg Mercy.
Ver. 14. Behold, thoti haft driven me this day from Verfe 14. the face of the Earth.'] Baniftied me (as was faid be fore, Verfe n.) from my own Native Country.
And from thy Face fhall I be hid."] And more than that, lam banifhed from thy bleffed Prefence, (as ap pears from verfe 16.) and (hall not have the liberty to come before thy Glorious Majefty. With refpeft to which he may be faid to have been Excommuni- cated, though not in the full fence of that word, as Mr. Seldm (hows, L. I. deSynedr. cap. x. p. 446, 455, &c.
And Ifoall be a Fugitive^ See."] Wandring up and down in unknown Regions.
And it Jhall come to pafs that every one that fndeth me, jhallflay me7\ I (hall be look'd upon as a Com- njon Enemy / So that whofoever lights upon me, ta king me for a dangerous Perfon, will kill me. To find another, in Scripture-language, fignifies to fall upon him by chance or unawares 5 without any pre cedent hatred .• As Bochart obferves from i Sam. XXIV. 14. and other places, L. \\.Hierozoic.P.l. cap. 2 1 .
Ver. 1 5. And the LOR Dfaid unto him, Therefore Verfe If* whofoflayeth Cain^ &c-"] Or, (as the word we tran- flate therefore may be rend red,) not fo : It (hall not be as thou fufpedteft. But Lud. de Diett gives ma ny Inftances where this word p'1? is ufed as an Af-
O firmative9
98 A COMMENTARY
Chapter firmative, fignif ying as much asfetrely. So the mean- IV. ing is, Take it for a certain Truth, that if any Man flay Cain, he (that is Cam, ) {hall be avenged feven. fold ; or, rather, through feven Generations. God will puni(h the f laughter of Cam a long time : For the Number/e^e# is do&zu T&dSus sH/uAttftx&, (as the Chronic. Except, before Job, Antiochenus fpeak,) an Indication of an indeterminate, but great Number ^ fignifyingas much, as he (hall endure many Punifh- ments. For God intended the Life of Cam (hould be prolonged, in a miferable eftate, as an Example of his Vengeance 5 to deter others from committing the like murder.
And the LOR D fet a marl^iipon Cain, &c.~) What this Mark, was, we muft be content to be ignorant. Some think God (ligmatized him with a Letter of his Name., in his Forehead $ ("or, rather, I (hould think, fet fuch a Brand upon him, as fignified him to beac- curfed $) others, that he look'dmott frightfully, fo that every Body avoided him 5 or, that his Head (haked continually $ or, fas othersj he had a trem bling in his whole Body 5 or, his Face, perhaps, was blafted by Lightning from the Prefence of the Lo a D. Certain it is, that it was fome notorious Mark of God's Difpleafure-' Which made Men fhun him* For we muft not imagine there was no Body in the World, at this time, but Adam, Eve, zn&Cain: But confider that the Defign of this Holy Book is not to give us a particular Account of the whole Race of Mankind defcended from Adam, (who, no doubt, had a great many more Children than Cam and Abel$ and they alfo had Children before this hapned ,Jf but onlyofthofe Perfons who were moft remarkable $ and wjhofe Story was neceffary to be known, for the
under-
upon GENESIS. 99
underftanding of the Succeffion down to Mofcs his Chapter time. Accordingly we read, prefently after this, that IV. Cam had a Wife 5 and more than that, he built a Ci- vx"v-v^ ty : Which fuppofes a great Company of People to inhabit it, verfe 17. And here, by the way, we need not wonder, there is no mention made of the Infti- tution of Sacrifices 3 when the firft Peopling of the World is only fuppofed, not related.
Ver. 1 6. And Cam went out ^ Not voluntarily, but Verfe 16. by the force of the Divine Curfe.
From the frefence of the LO R D.~] There was a Divine Glory, called by the Jews the SCHECHINAH, which appeared from the beginning, (as I have of ten faid before,) the fight of which Cam never after this enjoyed ; but was baniftied from it.- And God withdrawing his gracious Prefence from him, (fo St. Chryfoftow^) he was alfoforfaken by him, and put out of his fpecial Prote&ion. If Cam, after this, turned a down-right Idolater fas many think) it is very likely he introduced theWorlhipof the SW, (which was the moft ancient fort of Idolatry,) as the bed refemblance he could find of the Glory of the LO R D: Which was wont to appear in a flaming Light. And in after-times they worshipped Fire in the Eajiern Countries 5 as the beft Emblem of the Sun, when it was abfent.
And dwelt In the Land of Nod?] At laft he fettled in a Country, which had the Name of Nod ; from his wandring up and down, like a Vagabond, till he fixed here. Where it feems, he ftill continued reft- lefs, moving from one part of the Country to ano ther, till, in conclufion, he built a City, (for his fe- curity, fome think,) as we read in the Verfe follow ing.
O 2 Some
,oo A COMMENTARY
Chapter Some translate it, in the Land of Vagabonds .-And IV. £• Solomon fanfies the very Ground (hak'd under him, v'-v'*^ and made People run away from him, faying, Thk fa the cruel Maa^ that lotted hw Brother.
OntheEaftofEden^\ He ftill went Eaftwardirom that Country, where Adam fettled after he was thruft out of Paradife. SeeIIL24. Which Juntos thinks was in that Traft of Ground where fatNomadts af terwards dwelt, bordering upon Sufiana. Which is far more probable than the Conceit of the Author oC the Book Gj/r/,. (Pars II. § 14.) who would have Cain's going from theprefence of the LOR D nothing elfe, but his Expulfion out of the Land of Canaan^ where Adam dwelt after he was thruft out of Para~ dife : And, confequently, the Land of Nod was not far from the Land of Canaan. Nothing can be more ungrounded than this y which overthrows alfo.all that Mofes faith of Eden^ and the Garden planted there, from whence Adam went out on the £<?/? Jide^ and therefore not toward Canaan which was wefl- ward.
Verfe 1 7. Ver- r 7- ^*J Cam knew his Wjfe^] There hath been no mention hitherto of any Woman in the World but Eve^ much lefs of Cains having a Wife. And therefore it is uncertain whether this were a Wife he took before he killed his Brother, or after. It is moft probable before -y becaufe we may well think all the World abhorred the thoughts of Marriage, with fuch an impious Murderer, whom God alfo had ac- curfed. But whether it were before or after y I fee no reafon to conclude that this Wife was his Sifter: There being Women enough in the World befide^ before this time, as we faid before, verfe 15. For tveu in our Coyntry, in the Age before us, there
fprung
upon GENES IS. 101
fprung from two Perfons, Three hundred fixty feven Chapter Children, within the fpace of eighty Years- And IV. therefore, the World being now (when Cam ftew L/* Abel) an Hundred and twenty eight , or an Hundred and thirty Years old, according to Archbilhop Vfber, and Jac. Capellvis Chronology, we cannot but con ceive there were a great Number of People in it, defcended from all thofe Sons and Daughters which <&{*#/ begot, Chap. V. 4. We are not told how ma ny, but feme of the ancient Eajlern Traditions (in Cedrenus) fay, he had thirty three Sons, and twenty feven Daughters.
It is true indeed, That at the firft Cain could mar ry none but his own Sifters. Which was then Lawful, becaufe abfolutely necefiary / But prohi bited by God, when that Neceffity ceafed. Of which the Eajlern People were fo fenfible, that they took care to have it thought, thatd//* and Abel did not marry thofe who were neareft of Kin to him, but thofe that were at forae diftance. For their Tradi tion is, ThatEt/e, at her two firft Births, brought Twins, a Son and a Daughter, viz,. Cain with his Si fter Azron, and Abel with his Sifter Awin $ as Saidus yerfe Patricides Patriarch of Alexandria reports. Now, fuch was their Caution, not to match with thofe that were neareft in Blood, but with thofe furthfer oft, as much as was then poffible 3 Cam was not fuffered to marry his Twin-Sifter, nor Abelhis : But Adam gave Awn to Cam, and Az>ron to Abet. I cannot vouch the truth of this Story .• Which I mention only to fhow, That Mankind have had a Senfe, that all poffible Care (hould be ufed, to avoid Marriages with the neareft Relations: For though this Story was derived, per haps, from the jfea?/, yet it was believed by other
People.
A COMMENT^KT
Chanter People. See Mr. Selden, L. V. De Jure N. & G. y c. 8. Whence Diodorus Statins fays, Lib. I. it was
the common ufe of M that Brothers and Sifters (hould not be joyned in Marriage. And Plato (L. VIII. de Legib.} calls fuch Marriages fjundttfjuSs oW % Stojuuafa by no means holy, but hateful to God. For though they were not fo in the beginning of things, they became fo afterwards : That being natural m one flate of things (as Grot/us well obferves, Lib. de Jure B. d^P. t- IO.J which is unnatural in another flute.
And he built a. City~\ Not as foon as he came into this Country ^ but when he had a numerous Proge ny, able to People it: And consequently in his old Age. His end in building it, fome think, was to crofs theCurfe of wandring too and fro : Others, to defend himfelf againft thole whom his guilty Con- fcience made him fear 5 or, to fecure the Spoils which by force and violence (zsjofephus relates, L. I. An- tiq. c. 3.) he had taken from others. There are thofe, who imagine, that when he attempted to build the City, he often broke off the Work, out of a pa- nick fear .- Such an one as Romulus felt, after he had killed his Brother Remus.
And called the Name of the City^ after the Name of his Son.'] Sortfe think he declined his own Name, becaufehe knew it to be odious every where. But it is more likely, it was for that reafon, which moved Men in after-times to do the fame. For it hath been a very ancient Ufage, for great Men to call the Ci ties which they built by the Name of their Sons, ra ther than their own : Out of the great Love they bare to their Children. Thus Nimrod called Nineveh after the Name of his Son Ninus. Which the PJat-
mijl
upon GENESIS. 103
mil notes as a piece of the Vanity of Mankind, to Chapter call their Lands ( that is, the Hotifes where they dwelt, . IV. as R. Solomon Jarchi interprets it) by their own Name** to be a lading Monument of them and of their Family.
Enoch.~] There were an ancient People called by Pliny ^ Heniochi 5 by Mela,Emochi } .and by Luc an, Enochii: Some of which lived fo far Eaflward, that Sir W. Raleigh fanfies they might be the Pofterity of this Enoch.
Ver. 1 8. And unto Enoch was born Irad, Scc.^ Itisyerfe remarkable, that though Mofes gives us fome account of the Defendants of Cain^ yet he faith not a word of the Years that they lived, and carries their Ge nealogy but a little way. Whereas he deduces the Genealogy of Setkdown to the Flood, and fo to his own time, &c. And alfo relates particularly , (Chap.. V.) to what Age the Life of his principal Pofterity was prolonged. Itfeems, he look'd upon Cains Race, as fuch a Reprobate Generation, that he would not number them in the Book of the Living ^ as St. Cyril fpeaks.
Ver. 19. Lantech took, unto him two Wives.'] By ayerre fmall tranfpofition of Letters, Lantech being the fame with Malecb, which fignifies a King 5 fome of the jtap/ fanfie him to have been a great Man : For none but fuch, they fay, had two Wives in thofe ancient Times .• Though they hold it was lawful fas Selden (hows, L. V. De Jure N."& G. cap. 6.) for any Body that could maintain them, to have had more. But it is more likely that Lamech was the firft, that ad ventured to tranfgrefs the Original Inftitution: Which was obferved even by the Cainites till this time. Whenx perhaps, his earneft defire ofieeing
that
io4 A COMMENTARY
Chapter ^thztbleffedSeed which was promifed to Eve, might IV. induce him to take more Wives than one: Hoping,
U^VNJ by multiplying his Pofterity, fome or other of them might prove (o happy as to produce that Seed. And this he might poffibly perfuade himfelf was the more likely 5 becaufe the Right that was in Cain the Firft- born, he might now conclude was revived in him- felf .• Who being the Seventh from Cain, had feme reafon to imagine the Curfe laid upon him, of being pumfazd^fevenfold, i.e. for Jeven Generations, was now expired 5 and his Pofterity reftored to the Right of fulfilling the Promife.
Verfte 20. Ver. 20. He was the Father^ The Hebrews call him the Father of any thing $ who was the firft In- venter of it 5 or, a moft excellent Matter in that Art. Such was Jabal in the Art of makftig Tents, folding Flocks, and all other parts of Paftorage. Which though begun by Abel, was not by him brought to Perfedion.- Or, if it were, Jabal was the firft in the Family of Cain, that was Eminent in the follow ing Inventions*,
Of fuch as dwell in Tents?] Taught Men to pitch Tents 5 which were movable Houfes, that might ea- fily be carried from place to place, when there was occafion to remove for new Pafture. Under this is comprehended all that belongs to the Care of Cattel, in their breeding, feeding, and preferving, as appears by what follows. *
And of fitch as have Cattel.'] In the Hebrew the words are, andofCattel. Where the copulative Vau^ which we tranflate and, fignifies as much as with: And fo the words are to be here tranflated, fuch as dwelt in Tents, with Cattel ThusBochartus obferves sit is ufed, I Sam. XIV. 18. The Ark, of God was at
that
upon GENES IS. 105
ihat time^ with the Children oflfrael $ as we, with the Chapter Ancients, truly tranflate it. And fo it fhould be IV* tranflated, Exod. I. 5. All the Souls that came out 0/L/"VSJ Jacob's Loms were feventy Souls, withjofeph. For Jo- feph is not to be added fas we feem to underftand it) unto t\\z Seventy $ but made up that Number, as appears from Gen. XLVL 27. So that the Sence of this whole Verfe feems to be, That though Men fed Cattel before in good Failures 5 yet Jabel was the firft that, by the Invention of Tents, made the more Defart Countries ferviceable to them .• Where, when they had eaten up all the Grafs in one place, they might in a little time take up their Tents, and fix them in another. To this purpofe R. Solomon Jarchj. And in thefe Tents, it's likely, he taught them to de fend their Cattel, as well as themfelves, from Heat and Cold, and all other Dangers to which they were expofed in thofe Defart Places.
Ver. 'L i . Father of fitch as handle the Harp and Or- Verfe 2 1 ganJ] The firft Inventer ofMufical Inftruments, and that taught Men to play upon them. What Cinnoris, (which we tranflate //dr/>,)fee in Bochartu* his Canaan^ L. II. cap. 7. p. 808. 1 believe the firft word includes in it all Stringed, the latter all Wind Mufical Inftruments,
It is poffible that Apollo, or Linus, or Orpheus (for there are all thefe various Opinions) might be the Inventer of the Harp among the Greeks : But it was their Vanity that made them fanfie fuch Inftruments had their Original, in their Country.
Ver. 22. Tubal-Cain.~] The Arabians ftill call a Plate Verfe 2 2 of Iron or Brafs, by the Name of Tubal, ("as Bwharttts obferves out of Avlcenna^ and others, JL. III. Phaleg, oip. 12.) who as it follows in the Text, was
P
,od A COMMENT A KT
Chapter An Inftrufter of every Artificer in fyrafs andiron."] IV. *• *• Found the Art of melting Metals, and making ^x-v^ all forts of Weapons, Arms, and other Inftruments of Iron and Brafs. Many think that Vulcan is the fame with Tubal-Cain, (their Names being not un like,) particularly Gerh. Vofljus^ DC Or/g. Jdolol. L. L cap. 1 6.
His Sifters Name wa* Naamah.'] Whom Vcffius, (/<&. cap. 1 7.) takes to have been the Heathen Miner va, or Venus. Her Name fignifies Beautiful, or Fair, one of zfaeet AfpeS : And the Arabians' fay, (he in vented Colours and Painting^ as Jabaldid Mufick. See Elm acinus , p. 8.
Verfe 23. Vcr. 23. And Lantech faid unto his Wives, &c Hear ntj Vbice^ ye Wives of Lantech^ hearken unto nty Speech.'] Something had preceded thefe Words, which was the occafion of them •• But it is hard to find what it was. Jacobus Capel/us indeed (in his Hijtoria Sacra & Exotica) hath a Conceit that La ntech was now in a vapouring Humour, being puffed up with the glory of his Son's Inventions $ to whofe M*/M_and other Arts, he endeavoured to add Poetry : Which he exprefled in the following Words, that feem to him a Thrafonical Hymn, wherein he brags what Feats he would do. For fo he reads the Words, (with E£e* E*r<0 not I have flain, but I will k^U a Man with one blow of my Fift, &c. But I can fee no warrant, for this Tranflation, without a Violence to the //e£ra*> Text, and therefore we muftfeekfor another Interpretation.
/ havejlain a Man to my wounding^ &C.3 Thefe words would have a plain Expofition, (which other- wife are difficult,.) if we could give Credit to the Hebrew Tradition 3 which St. Hhrom fays feveral
Chrifti-
upon GENESIS. 107
Chriftians followed .• That Lantech being informed Chapter by a certain Youth, as he was a Hunting^that there was IV. a wild Beaft lay lurking in a fecret place, went thi- *s~>s*^ ther 5 and unawares killed &/*, who lay hid there : And then, in a Rage at what he had done, fell upon the Youth that had occafion'd this Mirtake, and beat him to Death. But, as there is no certainty of this ^ fo it doth not agree with ihe next ferfe : Which feems to fuppofe Cain to be now alive. Therefore Lud* de Dieu, following Qnkelos, reads the Words by wdy of Interrogation } Have IJlain a Man ? Or, fo ntuck as a Boy ? that you (hould be aftraid of my Life > It feems the ufe of Weapons being found out by one of his Sons, and grown common 5 his Wives appre hended that fome Body or other might make ufe of them to flay him. But he bids them comfort them- felves, for he was not guilty of flaying any Body himfelf} and therefore might reafonably hope, no Body would hurt him.
And then the Meaning of the nextFer/e is eafie.
Ver. 24. If Cain Jh all be avenged fey en fold ^ fra/yVerfe 24. Lantech feventy and feven fold7\ If God hath guarded Cam fo ftrongly, who was a Murderer, as to threaten great and long Punifhments to thofe that flay him 5 he will punilh them far more, and purfue them with a longer Vengeance, who (hall flay me, being aguilt- JefsPerfon.
There are divers other Interpretations, which I (hall not mention ; becaufe this is moft pertinent to the preceding Difcourfe.
Ver. 25. Bare a Son.~] The Jews think he was born Verfe 2$. a Year after Abelvti& killed.
And called his Name Seth.~] Mothers anciently gave Names to their Children, as well as the Fathers.
P 2 And
iq8fr A COMMENT ART.
Chapter And Eve gave this Son, the Name of Seth 3 becaufe IV. (he look d upon him as appointed (fo the word fig-
f**~*~> nifies) by God, to be what Cain^ (he thought, Ihould have been 5 till God rejefted his Sacrifice, and he flew Abel. In whofe room (he believed God had fubftituted this Son, to be the Seed from whom the Redeemer of the World (hould come.
The Arabians fay ^ ( particularly Elm<Lcinus, p. 7.) That Seth was the Inventer of Letters and Writing, (as Jubal was of Mufkk, and Tubal-Cain of Arms,) which fo much furpaffed all other Inventions, that fome fas Cedrenus tells usj called him, a God 5 /'. e. the higheft Benefactor to Mankind. Which, if it were true, we might think that thence his Children were called the Sons of God, VI. I. But it is luoft likely this miftake arofe from Symmachus his Tranfla- tion of the laft Words of the next Ferfe, which, if we may believe Stiidas, was thus, Then began Seth to be called by the Name of God. For which there is no Foundation either there, or any where elfe in Scrip ture. For though it be faid that Mofes was made a God toPharaoh^y^ he is never fimply called a God, as Jacobus CapeUtis well obferves. Nor is any King, or Prince called by that Name particularly, in Scripture, though ia general it fays of them all, That they are: Gods.
Verfe 26, Ver. 26. To him alfo was born a Son.'] When he was an Hundred and five Years old, as we read, V. 6.
And he catted his Name, Enos.~] Signifying the weak and miferable Condition of Mankind 5 which be feemed, by giving him this Name9 to deplore.
upon GENES I S, 109
Then began Men to call upon the Name of //>£ Chapter LORD."] This doth not import that Men did not IV. call upon the LO RD (which includes all his Wor- (hip and Service^ before this time : But that now fas Jac. Capellus conceives) they were awakened, by the Consideration of their Infirmity before- menti oned, to be more ferious and frequent in Religi ous Offices .- Or, rather, (as others underftand it,) they began to hold more Publick Affemblies. For Families being now multiplied, to which Religion was before confined, they joyned together and met in larger Societiesand Communion, for the folemn Worfhip of God by Sacrifices, and other Religious Services. For, to call upon God, comprehends, as 1 laid* all Religion .-Which confifts in acknowledging him to be the LORD of all $ in lauding all his Glorious Perfections ; giving him Thanks for his Benefits, and befeeching the Continuance of them.
But it being fcarce credible, that Publick Affem- blies were not held long before this, (it being pro bable that even when Cain and Abel facrificed, their Families joyned together to worfhip God,) it hath moved fome Men of Note, (fuch ^Bertram and Hack* fpanj to follow our Marginal Tranllation } then be~ ganMen (i.e. the Children of- Set h^ to call them* felves by the Name of the LORD : That is, the Ser vants or Worfhippers of the Lord 5 in diftinftion from the Cainites^ and fuch prophane Perfons, as had forfaken him.
And indeed a great number of the Jewiflj Wri ters, with whom Mr. SelJen joyns,in his DeD'ris Syrte^ Prolegofft. 5. would have the Words expounded thus^ to fignifie that Apoftafie ^ then was there Profanation v fey invoking the. Name of the LORD, For the word
# COMMENTARY
Chapter hochal, which we here tranflate began, fignifying pro- IV. phaned, in lei;. XIX. 12. (Thou {halt not prophane the awe of the LO KD thy GodJ they take Mofes his meaning co be, That the tnoft Holy Name vokicl belongs to the Creator and Poffkffor of Heaven and Earth alone, was now impioufly given unto Creatures : Particularly to the Sun. And thus the Arabhk Interpreter, in Er- peniushis Edition, Then began Men to apoftatfaefrom the Worjbip of God. But a great Number of very Learned Men have qppofed themfelves to this Inter pretation ^ and with much Judgment.- Mofes being here f peaking of the Pious Family ofSeth, and not of Impious Cain's : And the word hochal (as Halifax obfervesj with the Prepofition le following in the next word, being conftantly ufed in the Senfe of Be- ginnings, notQfProphanatfonAnd therefore they con- tept themfelves with our Marginal Translation .• Or, elfe think that God was now firft called upon by the Name of Jehovah :Or, that Liturgies^ as we call them, or Publick Forms of VVorfhip were now appointed, at let Hours: Or, fome other confiderable Improve ments made in Religious Offices. For the Arabian Chriftians reprefent this Enos as an excellent Cover* nor.- Who, while he lived, preferved his Family in good order, and when he died, called them all toge ther ^ and gave them a Charge to keep God's Com mandments, and not to aflbciate themfelves with the Children of Cain. So Elw&cintts,
CHAP.
GENESIS.
CHAP. V.
Ver. li'TTYffirjir the Book, of tie Generations of A- Verfe i
JL damT^ i.£. Here follows a Catalogue of the Pofterity of Adam. So the word Book %ni- fies, Matth. Li. An Account of thofe from whom Chrift the Second Adatnczmzi> as herein Account of thofe who came from the Firft Adam. Yet not of all, but of the principal Perfons, by whom in a Right Line, the Succeflion was continued down to Noabfcc. As for the Collateral Lines, which, no doubt, were very many, by the other Sons and Daughters which the Perfons here mentioned begot, they are omitted „• Becaufe no more than I have faid, was pertinent to Mofes his purpofe.
In the Day that God created Man.'] This is repeated again, only to imprint on their Minds, that Adamvizs not produced, like other Men, by Generation, but by Creation.
In the likenefs of God created he him.~\ This alfo fe again mentioned $to remember Men how highly God had honoured them,andhow(hamefully they had re quited him.
Ver. a. Male and Female created he thew, kc.~] Of Verfe 3 different Sexes, to bejoyned together in Holy Marri age .• As Mofes had fhown, Chap. H. 22, 23, &c.
Calledtheir Name Adam f} The common Name to both Sexes ^ like Homo in Lat*n> &c.
Ver,
n,2 A COM ME NT ART
Chapter Ver. 3. And Adam lived an hundred and thirty V: Tears7\ This doth not affure us he had no Children U^V^V,1 but Cam and Abel till now : But only acquaints us with his Age, when Setb was born.
And begat a Son in his own likenefs^ after his image7\ Not fo perfed as himfelf, when he was created 3 but with thofe Imperfe&ions which impaired him, after he had eaten the forbidden Fruit .• That is, inclined to Sin, and fubjeft to Death. For hk own Likenefs ^nd Image, wherein this Son was begotten, feems to be oppofed to theLtkenefs and Image of God, wherein Adamwzs made, I 26. which, though not quite loft, was lamentably defaced.
Maimonides will have this to refer to Seth's Wif- dom and Goodnefs ; he proving truly a Man like to his Father Adam : Whereas the reft before him proved rather Beafts. More Nevochim^ Par. I.e. 7.
Called his Name Seth.'] He intends to give here an Account of thofe defcended from Seth alone, not of his Pofterity by Cu/«, (who are only briefly men tioned in the foregoing Chapter, verfes 17, i8.J be- caufe in Seth the Pofterity of Adam were preferved, when all the Children of Cam perifhed in the De luge.
Verfe 4. Ver. 4. An A he begat Sons and Daughters^] After the Birth of Seth he begot more Children, (fas he had done, it's probable, many before) whofe Names are not here recorded : Becaufe Mofes fets down only that Race of Men, from whom Noah and Abraham^ ("the Father of the Faithful,) and the Melfiah were derived.
Verfe 5, Ver. 5. Lived nine hundred and fifty Years.] It is not reafonable to take a meafure of the length of the Lives of the Patriarchs^ by the (hortnefs of ours.
For,
upon GENESIS. 113
For, as Jofephu* well obferves, (X.I. j4ntjq.eaf. 4. Chapter and out of him, E«/e&/#f, L. IX. Pr<epar. Evang. cap. V. 13.) they being Men much beloved of God, and iWNJ newly made by him, with a ftrongConftitution, and excellent Temper of Body, and ufing better Diet, the Vigor of the Earth ferving at the firft, for the Production of better Prints : All thefe things, joyn- ed with their Temperance, conftant Exercife and La- bour, a fweet Temper of Air, their Knowledge in the Nature of Herbs and Plants, &c. might well contribute very much, to as long a Life as is here men tioned. Which was but neceflary alfo, (and there fore GodJs Providence took fpecial Care of them,) that the World might be the fooner peopled ^ Know ledge and Religion mbre certainly propagated, by the Authority of Living Teachers $ Arts and Sciences brought to a great Perfe&ion, which could not have been effe&ed in a (hort Life, like ours. And there fore Jofephu* fhows, that herein Mofes hath the Tefti- mony of all the Greeks and Barbarians alfo: Who have wrote about ancient Affairs : Of Manethw ("for inftance) who wrote the Egyptian Hiftorys Bero- y#f, who wrote the Chaldean $ Mochw^ Heftitivs^ &c. who wrote the Phoenician $ with a great Num ber of GreeJ^ Writers whom he mentions : Who all fay, Men lived anciently a thoufand Years. None indeed came up to that full Summ $ but fome fo near it, that they who were not exa£Hy acquainted with the Sacred Story, might well fpeak in that manner.
And this ought not to feem incredible to us in thefe Days, when we confider how Jong feveral have lived in the later Ages of the World 5 as Pliny re ports in his Natural Hiftory, L. VII. cap. 48. Nay, in
Times
i/4' £ COMMENT ART
Chapter Times nearer to us, there are Inftances of this kind,. V. as the Lord Bacon obferves in his Hi/I. Vit£ & Mor- and Bartholin. ID his Biftor. Anatom. Rariorumr
But nothing is more remarkable than that which Gajfindu* reports in the Life of Nicol. Peiresk*Wy L. V. That he received a Letter from Aleppo, no lon ger ago than the Year 1636. of a Man then in Per- jia, known to feveral Perfons worthy to be believed, who was Four hundred Years old : iJque ipfis omnino- effe exfloratuW) atque indubnim : And the Perfons that wrote this, were fully affured of the undoubted Truth of it.
Such Inftances indeed are rare , and there is one that thinks Men did not generally live to fuch a great Age in the old World. For Maitnontdes is of Opi nion, That none attained to fo many Years as are here mentioned 5 but only the particular Perfons ex- prefly named by Mofes : All the reft of Mankind, in thofe Days, living only the ordinary term, which Man did in after- times. Or, in other words, this ex traordinary length of Days, was the Priviledge on ly of thefe fingular Individuals,' either from their accurate way of Living and Diet, or God's fpecial Favour in Reward of their eminent Vertue and Pie ty, More Nevoch. Pars II. cap. 47. But Nachwamdes (another great Jewijh Doftor) oppofes this with much Reafon^ For that their eminent Vertue was not the Caufe they only had this Priviledge, appears by Enoch) the moft holy Man of them all, who did not live to the Age of Four hundred Years. And as there is no ground to believe thefe were the only Perfons who lived exaftly Temperate in, all things: So it is manifeft Mofes doth not defign to give us an Ac
count
upon GEN E S I \ rie;
count of thofe that lived longeft, but of thofe from Chapter whom Noah defcendtd, and it is incredible that V. . they alone (hould be very long lived, and no Body IXVNJ elfe, though defcended from the fame Parents.
Ver. 6. And Seth lived an hundred and five Years, yerfe 5 and begat EnosJ] We muft not think he lived fo long, before he begat any Children $ No more than that Adam had none till he was an Hundred and thirty Years old, when he begat Seth, (verfe %.) foi we know he had Cain and Abel, and, in all likelihood, many others before. Therefore to explain this and other things that follow, verfe 18. and 28. which feem more ftrange (forjared is faid to have lived an Hundred jixty two Years, before he begat Enoch 5 and Lamech an Hundred eighty two Years before he begat Noah,} we rnuft confider, as was noted, verfe 4. that Mofes fets down only thofe Perfons by whom the Line of Noah was drawn from Seth, and Abrahams Line from Noah, by thtir true Anceftors 5 whether they were the Eldelt of the Family or no. Seth it's likely had many other Children before Enos was born, as Noah, we may be confident had before he begat Sem, Ham, and Japhet : Which was not till he was Five hundred Years old, verfe 32. As Lamech alfo had feveral before Noah was born : Though Mo fes doth not mention them 5 becaufe he was here concerned only to inform us, who was the Father of Noah.
Begat Enos.'] The Arabian Chriftians, as I obferved before, (IV. 26.) make him to have been a Man of fingular Goodnefs.
Ver. 9. Begat Cainan."] The fame Writers fepre- Verfe 9. fent him to have been like to his Father 5 and fay, he gave his Children a Charge not to mingle with the
Q. 2 Seed
n6 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Seed of Caw. So Eh/acinus. Yet there is but little V. difference between his Name, and that of Cains $ no L/"V"NJ more than between Jrad and Jared, and fome other of 6Ws Pofterity and Cain's. Which may teach us, fays Jac. Capellus, (in his Hiftor. Sacra & Exotica^) Ne ftitale nefcio quod omen nominibus fropriis effinga- MU* ^ that we ftiould not fanfie there is, we do not know what, fatal Omen in Proper Names. The Wickednefs of Jttdas Ifcariot did not make the other Judas, called by that Name, to think the worfe of it. And therefore Jared feared not to call his Son Enoch, by the very Name of Cams eldeft Son, IV. 17. And Methufelah alfo gave his Son Lantech, the Name of one of Cams Grand-children, IV. 18.
Verfe 12. Ver. 12. Begat MahalaleeL"] This Name imports as much as a Praifer of God : Which Cainan impofed upon this Son of his, (as Jacobus Capelltts fanfiesj becaufehe was born after he had lived ten Weeks of Years, (i.e. when he was Seventy Years old) in the beginning of the Stbbatick. Year : Which was the Eighth Jubilee from theCreation. For, as there were Sacrifices, and a diftinchon of clean Beafts and unclean^ fo he con ceives there might be a diftribution of Years by Se vens or Weeks, fas they fpake in after-times,J from the very beginning of the World. But there is no certainty of this : Nor of what the fore-named Ara bian Writers fay of this Mahalaleel^ that he made his Children fweai\ by the Blood of Abel, ("fo Patri- tides,) not to come down from the Mountainous Country where they dwelt, to converfe with the Children of Cain.
He is mentioned alfo by iht Mahometans ^ zsHottin- ger obferves in his Hiftor. Orient, p. 20.
Ver,
upon GENESIS. 117
Ver. 1 5. Begat fared.'] The fame Arabian Writers Chapter makehimalfoa ftridly Pious Man, and an excellent Governor: But fay, That in his Days fome of 6W//S vv*V"VJ Pofterity, (about an hundred in number J notwith- Verfe iy. (landing all his Perfuafions to the contrary, would go down and converfe with the Children of Cain; by whom they were corrupted. And thence they fanfie he was called fared, (~which fignifies defcend- ing ;) either becaufe they went down from the Ho* ly Mountain, as they call it, where Seth's Pofterity dwelt 5 or Piety, in his time, began very much to decline. See Hotttngers Smegma Orient. L.I. cap. & p. 235, 8cc.
Ver. 1 8. Begat Enoch.'] Whom the Arabians call Verfe 1.8;. Edrfr $ and reprefent him as a very learned Man, as well as a Prophet : And efpecially skilled in Aftrono- niy. See Hottinger, Hi/for. Orient. L. I. c. 3. and Smegma Orient, p. 240. The Greeks anciently had the fame Notion of him, as appears by a Difcourfe of Eupolemu*, which Eufebivf quotes out of Alexand. Polyhiftor. L. IX. Pr<epar. Evang. c, 17. where he fays Enoch was the firft who taught the knowlege of the Stars, and that he himfelf was taught, Si *A.-$?w» ®&^ by the Angels of God ^ and was the fame Perfon whom the Greeks call Atlas. Certain it is his Story was not altogether unknown to the ancient Greeks 3 as appears in what they fay of 'Awa^fe, or Kawa^V, which is the fame with Enoch, whofe Name in Hebrew is Chanoch. For Stephanas in his Book De Urbibv* fays, that this Annacuf lived above Three hundred Years, and the Oracle told the People, that when he died they fhould all perifh , as they did in the Flood of Deucalion : In which he confounds theHiftory of Enoch and Me- thttfelah, as Bochart well obferves, L.II. Phaleg.c.1%.
Ver..
^ii8 4 COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 21. Begat Methttfelah.'] Enoch being a Pro- V. phet, (as we learn from St. jfW*,) and forefeeing the VV^SJ Deftru&ion that was coming upon the Earth by a Verfe 21. Deluge, immediately after the Death of this Son of his, gave him this Name of Methufeld) which im ports as much. For the firft part of it, Methtt, evi dently carries in it the Name of Death ^ being as mochas, he dies : And/e/rf fignifies, the fending forth of Water,- in Job V. 10. And therefore Methufela, is as much, as when he is dead, fhMenfue an ewi$ion or inundation of Waters, to the deftrudion of the whole Earth. Which ingenious Conje&ure of Bocharttts, in his Phaleg, L. II. c. 13. is far more probable than any other Account of his Name.
Werfe 22. Ver. 22. Enoch walked with Gad after he begat Me- thufelah.'] Of all the reft Mofes only faysy they li ved after they begat thofe Sons here mentioned ^ but of this Man, that he walked with God: i.e. Was not only fincerely Obedient to God, (as we fuppofe his Fore- fathers to have been,) but of an extraordinary Sanftity, beyond the rate of other Holy Men ^ and held on alfo in a long courfe of fuch fihgular Piety, notvvithftanding the wickednefs of the Age, where in he lived. And the very fame Chara&er being gi ven of Noah,, VL 9. it may incline us to believe, That as Noah was a Preacher of Righteoufnefs ^ fo Enoch, being a Prophet, was not only Exemplary in his Life, but alfo Severely reproved the Wickednefs of that Age, by hjs Word.
"¥trfe 24. Ver. 24, And Enoch walked whhGod^] Perfevered in that Courfe before-mentioned, to the end of his Days.
And was not."} He doth not fay, that he died, (as he doth of the reft in this Chapter, both before and
after J
upon G EN ESI S. itp
after,) but that he was not, any longer among Men Chapter in this World. For, V.
God tool^ him.'] Tranflafed him to another place. U'VNJ Which plainly fignifies the different manner of his leaving this World 5 in fo much that the Apoftle faith, he did not fee death, Heb. XL 5. Which con futes the Conceit of Aben Ezra, ^ft&'Ri$6lbaojL and others, who would have this word tool^ to tignifie, that he was fnatcht away by an untimely death. Contra ry to the Opinion of their other better Authors, parti* cularly Menachem ; who in his Commentary on this place faith 5 that God too\ from Enoch kit bodily Cloatha^ and gave bim Spiritual Raiment.
But whither he was tranllated we are 'not told; The Author of the Book otErr/t//^/a//, Chap.XLlV. (according to the Vulgar Tranflation^) faith into Paradife. And upon this Suppofition, the SLthiopici^- Interpreter hath added thefe words to the Text: God translated him into Paradife, as LvdolphtM ob- ferves, L. III. Commentar. in fEth'tcp.l-lift.Cap. V. #,•• 40. And accordingly we find in the Calendar of that Church, aFctfival upon July XXV. called, The Afcm- fion ^/Enoch into Heaven, (for the^ were not fo foo- li(h as to underfbnd by Paradifc a place upon Earth, but a Heavenly Manfion,) unto which he was ad vanced, £i OLKOC/LV a^sT^s TiAei^wy, (as EufcbJits fpeaks^ L. VII. Prepar..Evang. cap. 8.) becaufe of his confurn- raate Vertue.
And it is no unreafonable Conjecture, That God was gracioufly pleafed to take 'him untQ hlrnfelf at this time, to fupport and comfort Mankind in their State of Mortality, {Adam, the Father of them all; being dead not above fifty feven Years before,) with the hope of a better Life, in the other World. For
which-:?
A COMMENTARY
Chapter which reafon it is not improbable, that he was tran- V. dated in fome fuch vifible manner, as Elijah afterward
V^/'VVJ was, by a glorious Appearance of the SCHECH I- N AH, from whence fome heavenly Minifters were fent to carry him up above.
Verfe 25. Ver. 25. Begat Lamech~\ The fame Name with one of Cains Pofterity, IV. 1 8. But, as he was of ano ther Race, fo he was the Grand-child and the Fa ther of the beft Men in thofe Days, viz. Enoch and Noah.
Verfe 27. Ver. 27. All the days of Methufelah, .&c.] What was wanting in the Days of his Father, God, in fome fort, made up in his Age: Which was extended to the longeft term of all other Men. He died in the very Year of the Deluge, according to the import of his Name. See Verfe 2 1.
Verfe 29. Ver. 2,9. He called fw Name Noah.'] Which fig- nifies Reft, or Refrefintent $ which proceeds from Reft and Quiet. Becaufe, fays he,
This fame /hall comfort us, concerning our work^and toil of our Hands.*] He expefted, fome think, that he (hould be the blejfid Seed, promifed III. if. Or, that it {hould fpring immediately from him. But the laft words, toil of our hands, feem to import fome inferiour Confolation, which he expefted from No ah : And the Hebrew Interpreters generally expound it thus 5 He (hall make our Labour in tilling the Earth, more eajie and lefs toilfome to us. Which agrees to what follows.
Becatife of the Ground which the LORD hath curfed.~] There was a general Curfe upon it, for the Sin of Adavt^ and a particular upon fome part of it, for the Sin of Cain : Now God, he foretells, would take them both off in great mcafure 5 and
blefs
upon GENESIS. 121
blefs the Earth to the Pofterity of this fame Man: Chapter Who perfefted the Art of Husbandry, and found out V. fitter Inftruments for plowing the Earth, than had W'VNJ been known before. When Men being chiefly em ployed in digging and throwing up the Earth with their own Hands, their labour was more difficult : Which now is much abated, becaufe the pains lie more upon Beafts than upon Men. And indeed Noah is called, IX. 20. Jfch haadawah, a Man of the Ground (which we tranflate an Husbandman) one that im proved Agriculture^ as other famous Men had done Pattorage, and found out other Arts, IV. 20, &c.
In the fame place alfo (IX. 20.) we read that Noah planted a Vineyard : With refpeft to which, if he was the firft Inventer of making Wine, he might well be fa id here, to comfort them concerning their TV or \ and toil of their hands : Wine chearing the Heart, and re viving the Spirits of Men, that are fpent with Labour.
But if the laft Words of this Verfe be expounded of the LORD's Cur/ing the Ground^ by fending a Flood upon it, as Enoch had foretold $ then Noah is here called their Comforter, with refpeft to his being the Reftorer of the World, after it had been difpeo- pled bv that Inundation. And fo Jacobus CappeOus% not unreafonably interprets them to have relation to both Curfes, a malediflione, quam Terra infltxit, & in- fliflurus eft Dens. He (hall give Men reft from the Curfe which God hath infli&ed, -and intends further to inflift upon the Earth. H/ft. Sacra & Exot. ad A.M. 1053.
Ver. 32. And Noah was Five htindredYears old.~\ Verfe 32, SeeFer/e 6. where I have faid enough to (hew, it is not reafonable to think he had no Children till this Age of his Life.
R And
A GO.
And Noah begat Shsm, Haw, and f}aphet\] Herfc ends t.be Line of Adam, before the Flood. For thotrgh tlKrfe Three were married, it appears (VII. 15.) before the Flood came^ yet they either had no jQrildren, or they did not live: For they carried none with then? into the Ark.
It doth not follow that Shtm was the Eldeft of thefe Three, becaufe he i.s here, and every where elfe in this Book, mentioned firft : For I (hall (how plainly in its due place that Japhet was the Eldeft. (X. 2*.) ' Scali* gcr indeed would; have this a fettled Rule, that, Hunc Or dine m Filii m ScrrptHrfr habent^ quern illk nqtum de~ djt That Children are placed in Scripture, accord ing to the Order which Nature hath given them. But it is apparent from many Inftances, that the Scripture hath regard to their .pig-nity otherways, and not to the Order of their Birth., As Abraham is mentioned be fore Nahorand Haran, meritoexctl/enti^ with refpe£t to his Excellence (as St.Auftin fpeaks) to which God r^aifed him, though he was not the Eldeft Son of Te- rah, Gen. XI. 2.8* Thus Jacob is mentioned before j^«, Mai. I. i. and Ifaac before Iftmatl, i Clwon* I. 28. Thus Shems Eminence in other refpefts, placed him before Japket^ tp wliom he waainferiour inth^ qrder 06 Nature : A^appear^ even from their Genea- /^/both,in:G€:iw.X, and' i Ghren. I; where>$&ew's Po- ft.erity. are plac^4ibelpw thpfe p£ bo(ih his other
fTr" A * o
upon G E N E S I 'S.
CHAP. VL
Ver, i.T \JH™ Men began to nulfyly?± To en- Verfe
VV creafe exceeding fa ft ^ for they were multiplied before, bat not fo as to fill the Earth. Or the Word Men may be limited to the Children of Gr/#, (fee Ferfe 2.) who now began to be very nu merous.
And Daughters were born to tkew.~] In great num bers: For Daughters no doubt they had before $ but now fo many more Daughters than Sons, that they had not Matches for all: No, though we (hould fup- pofe they folio wed the ftepsof Lamech^ (IV. 19.) and took more Wives than one.
Ver, 2. The Sons of God.~] There are two famous Verfe Interpretations of thefe Words, (befides that of fome of the Ancients, who took them for Angels.) Some underftand by the Sons ofGod, the great Men, No bles, Rulers, and Judges, whether they were of the Family of Set h or of Cain: And fo indeed the word Elohim fignifies in many places, Exod. XXI. 6. XXII. 28, &fc. and the ancient Greel{ Verfion, which Philo and St. Auftin ufed, perhaps meant no more, where thefe words are tranflated, of a^gAoi iS 0sa, The An* gels of God, his great Minifters in this World 5 who in after-times were miftaken for Angels in Heaven. Thefe great Perfons were taken with the Beauty of the Daughters of Men, z e. of the meaner fort, (for fo fometimes Men fignifies, PfaL XLIX.2, (§cf) and took* by Force and Violence, as many as they plea- fed 3 being fo potent as to be able to do any thing
R i with
IH A COMMENTARY
Chapter with impunity. For they that (hould have given a VI. good Example, and punifhed Vice, were the great Promoters of it.
But there are other ancient Interpreters, and moft of the latter, who by the Sons of God underftand the Pofterity of Seth, who were the Worfhippers of the true God. IV.Vlt.
They faw the Daughters of Men."] Converfed with the Daughters of Cain. So Tho. Aquino* himfelf in terprets it. Pars \. 41. 5 1. Art. 3. ad 6.
That they were Fair.~] Being exceedingly taken with their Beauty.
And they took, them Wives.'] Made Matches with them, and perhaps took more than one apiece.
Of all that they chofeJ] Whomsoever they liked, (fo the word chafe is ufed in many places, Pfal. XXV. I2,®6-.) without regard to any thing elfe but their Beauty. Some of the Hebrews by Daughters under- ftand Virgins, which they diftinguifh from Najim^ Wives or married Women , whom they alfo took and abufed as they pleafed. But there is no evidence of this. The plain Sence is, that they who had hi therto kept themfelves (unlefsit were fome few, fee f^erfei^.) unmingltd with the Pofterity of Cain, ac cording to a Solemn Charge which their godly Fore fathers had given them, were now joined to them in Marriage, and made one People with them. Which was the greater Crime, if we can give any credit to what an Arabjck, Writer faith, mentioned firft by Mr. Seldenin his Book de DTK Syris, Cap. 3. Prolcgovt. & de J*re>N. & G. L. V. Cap. 8. / 578.) that the Chil dren of Seth had fworn by the Blood of Abel, they would never leave the mountainous Country which they inhabited, to go down into the Valley where the
Children
upon G E N E SI S. 1-1,5-
Children of Cain lived. The fame Author (viz* Pa- Chapter tricides with Elmacinw alfo) fays, that they were VI. inveigled to break this Oath, by the Beauty of Naa- WV%J mah before-mentioned, IV. 22. and the Mufick of her Brother Jubal For the Cainites fpent their time in Feafting, Mufick, Dancing, and Sports : Which al lured the Children of Set h to come down and marry with them. Whereby all manner ci impurity, Impi ety, Idolatry, Rapine and Violence, filled the whole Earth, and that with Impunity, ttEitfebiw obferves, L. VII. Pr#par. c. 8. This Mofu here takes notice of, that he might give the reafon, why the whole Pofte- rity of Seth, even thofe who iprang from that holy Man knock (except Noah and his Family ) were over flown with the Deluge, as well as the race of Cain : Becaule they had defiled themfelves with their curfed Affinity } and thereby were corrupted with their wicked Manners.
Ver. 3, And the LORD faid.*] Refolved with Verfe 3, himfelf.
My Spirit. ~] Either fpeaking by his Prophets, fuch &s Enoch had been, and Noah was : Or working in wardly in all Men's Hearts.
Shall not always ftr/ve with Man7\ Chide and Reprove them, and thereby endeavour to bring them to Repen tance 5 but proceed to punifhthem. There are feveral other Interpretations, which may be feen in all Com mentators : Which to me feem more forced than this. For that he alfo is Flefl}.~] For that befides his wicked Actions, he is grown wholly Flefhly in his Inclina tions and Affeftions. He favours nothing but carnal things ^ and confequently is incurable. Or, as others expound it, even the bed of them (the Children of Seth) are become flefhly Men.
Tet
A COMMENT ART
Chapter let .his days fiati l?£ an Hundred and twenty years. ~\ VL I will not deftroy Mankind prefently 3 but have pa-
.•tXV%J tience with them fo long, that it may appear I would •willingly have faved them.
Verfe 4. Ver. 4. There were Giants in the Earth."] Men of vaft Stature and Strength, which tempted them to o.pprefs others by Violence : For fo feveral of the An- ciciics tranflate the Hebrew word Nifhllrm by B/ayw, Vwltnt Men, who carried all before them by main force : Tyrants who filled the World with Rapines and Murders, and all manner of Wicked.nefs, having Society with the Devil, (as Evfebiw underftands it, I. VII. pr£par. c. 8.J in infernal Arts, which they introduced . Jofefhut calls them -JSgx^aV fc, Tmvlk 'vL'^poTTiKs £^A«, infolent Contemners of all the Laws of God and Maw. Which made Origen look upon them only as impiowAtheifts : But, no doubt, the ex traordinary Bulk and Strength of their Body is alfo intended.
In thofe days."} /. e. Before the Sorts of God married with the Daughters of Men. For thefe Giants were produced by thofe who went down and mixed with the Pofterity ofCW# in the days of Jared : As both ElwdciMM and Patricides underftand it.
And alfo after that, when the Sons of God came in unto the Children of Men ^ and they bare Children to them7\ The word Children is not in the Hebrew : and it bet ter agrees with what goes before to tranflate it, Even they bare Giants unto them. Befides thofe which were before, there was a new Race of Cigantick Perfons begot by the Sons of God on the Daughters of Men.
The fame became mighty Men.'] Of great Power, as well as Strength of Body.
Which
ufon GENESIS.
Which were of old "] This may refer either to what Chapter goes before, or to that which follows. VI.
Men of renown. ~\ Of great Undertakings, and. ad- s^^v^- venturous A&ions : Which got them a great Name irt Ancient? tinw. But they were no left famous for their Wickednefs, than for their valorous and great £x- ptoitis} for by their means all Mankind were over* run with Impiety, as it follows in the nextVerfe.
Ver. 5. Godfaw the Whfydncfs of Man that H ivas Verfe 5, great^Stc.'] AM forts of Wicked neis in.an high degree overfpread the whole Earth*.
And that &uery> imagination of the thoughts o^ his: heart, &c.] And that there were no hopes o.f tlkir amendment 5 their very Minds being fo fet upon Wickednefs, that they thought of nothing ejfe but how to fattefie their Luffe. Ifc the Margin it isv tktir whole iMttginattott,) i.e. aHv the Defigns, and'Contjriv,an- ces of alii the Men of that- Age, and this continnatty* Day and Mighty were only Rapine, Filthineft,fand all manner of Evil.
Ver. 6. Atod.G&d repented^ &cQ; God can neither y€rfe ^ properly repent, nor be grieved': But fuch.Expre'ffir ons fignifie he refolved to do, as Men dd^ who vvhen they repent of any thing, endeavour to undo ii. And (Q it here follows.
V<?r. 7^ The LORD fad, I u>?!} 'deftroy Man whom ZVerfe- 7. fwve created, Stc."] Though they be my Creatures, I am refolved to have no pity upon them, but tr> abo- lift them, and all things elfe upon the Earth. For that fort of Punifbment which Cod intended, would; in its own nature fweep all away.
For it reftttteth me that- 1 have wadk thet&J] See Verfe 6. This reprefems- how highly God was of-- fendedv that he would leave nothing of the old
World
* COMMENTARY
Chapter World remaining, but only to prefer ve the Seed of a
VI. new one.
^/•VSj Ver. 8. But Noah found Grace, &c.] This fingle Verfc 8» perfon God refolved to fpare, becaufe (as it follows) he continued untainted in the midft of an univerfal Contagion.
Verfe 9. Ver. 9. Thefe are the generations of Noah."] An ac count of his Family. Or as Pattlus Fagitts ("who up on XXXVII. 2. expounds the Word we tranflate Ge nerations, to fignifie Events) Thefe are the things which befelNoah and his Family. Which way foever we ex pound this, the next Words are inferted by a Parenthe- fs as a Character of Noah^ who was,
Ajuft Man."] Free from that Violence, which the reft committed.
And perfeff m hi? generations^ Not guilty of any of thofe other Sins, which every where abounded.
And Noah walked with God.~\ Not only did well, but was addi&ed (as we fpeak) to it 5 continuing conftant in the way of Righteoufnefs.
Verle IO. Ver. io/] And Noah begat three Sons , &C/] V. 32.
Verfe if. Ver. 3CI'J ^he Earth alfo was corrupt before God."]
* The Jewifi Doftors fay, That by Corruption is always
underftood either Filthinefs (or forbidden mixtures)
or elfe Idolatry. Some take the firft to be here meant,
and then the next words, Filled with Violence^ denote
their perverting of Juftice, taking Bribes, and op-
prefling Men by open force. But others think it
better by Corruption to underftand Idolatry : And then
this Generation is accufed of the two higheft Crimes
that can be committed 5 the one of which is between
Man and his Neighbour, and the other between Man
and God. The higheft degree of the former is,
when they that fit in Judgment make Unrighteous
Decrees :
upon GENESIS.
Decrees.- Which/?. Solomon thinks is principally Chapter meant in thefe words, the Earth was filed with Violence. V f. See Mr. Selden, L. V, De Jure N. & G. cap. 9. latter fXA^. end. However we undeiftand the words, they point at fomefpecial enormous Sins, which are only com prehended in general words before.
Ver. 11. God looked npon the Earth, 8tc.] No Verfe 12. Fruits of God's long-fu-fering appearing, herefolved tj vifit Men for their Wickednefs .• Which had ra ther encreafed, than been leflened, by his forbearing them One hundred and twenty Years .• which now we muft fuppofe, drew near to an end, Verfe \ 3. The obfervation of fome of the Hebrew Doftors perhaps is too curious, which is this : That the Name of Jehovah^ which we tranflate LORD, is u- kd.Ferfe 3. where the firft mention is made of this matter $ for it betokens inclemency of the Divine Majefty$ till the One hundred and twenty Years were out, and then Mofes ufes the Word Elohtm^ which is a Name of 'judgment-, the time of which was come.
For all Fle/h, i.e. all Men, had corrupted his way upon EarthT] Wholly departed from the Rule of RJghte- oufnefs} or had made their way of Life abominable throughout the whole World.
Ver. 13. The end ofallflefh is come before me.'] I Verfe 13 am determined to make an end of, 7. e. to deftroy all Mankind fhortly, So it follows.
Iwill deftroy them with the Earth."] i. e. With all the Beafts and the Fruits of the Earth. Or, from the Earth^ as it is in the Margin.
Ver. 14. Make thee anArkJ] This Veflel was not in Verfe 14 the form of one of our Ships, or Boats : for it was not made (harp forward to cut the Waves, but broad
S like
J C&MMENT4RT
Chapter \\fe a Cheft 5 and therefore had a flat bottom, with a Cover or a Roof. We do not find it had any Rud- " der, being fteered by Angels.
Of Gopher wood.] There are various Opinions about Gopher, which fome take for Cedar, others for Pine, &c. but our learned Nic. Fuller in his Mifcel- lanies hath obferved, that it is nothing elfe but that which the Greek* call KwTra&wj©,, the C^re/j Tree. For taking away the termination, Cuper and Gophar differ very little in their found. Bochartus hath con firmed this, and (hown that no Country abounds fo much with this Wood, as that part of AJfyria which was about Babylon : Where Arrianus fays Alexander built a Navy of thefe Trees, T£TTM $ /uubvov T&V <J£y- fyw lum^v 2)e*t# %»& 7$f 'Aaj^eV, Sec. (L. VII.) for there is great plenty of thefe Trees alone in the Country ofAjfyria, but of other fit for making Ships, there is great fcarcity. Strata faith the fame, JL. XVI. from whence Bochart thinks it probable, that Noah and his Children lived Hi this Country before the Flood 5 for it is not likely that fuch a vaft Bulk as the Ark, was carried far from the place where it was made: And the Mountains of Ararat, which he will have to be the Gordtean Mountains, are upon the Borders of Affjria, North ward 5 which way the Wind blew C if there were any) in all likelyhood 3 the Rain coming from the South Sea, JL. I. Phaleg. c. 4.
Rooms fodtthou,>make.~] Little Cabbins or Cells 5 to fever the Beafts from'the Birds $ the clean Beafts from the unclean j and to preferve their feveral forts, ©f Food.
And ftull pitch it, &c.] So the A^/V^Tranflation exprefly, pitch it with pitch. For the bitumen, which was plentiful thereabouts (*which others think is here
meantji
upon GENESIS, 131
meant) was of the fame nature, and ferved for the Chapter fame ufe with Pitch : Being very glutinous and te- VI. nacious, to keep things clofe together. But not on- fV^/wH ly the Chinks were filled with it 3 but the whole Body of the Ark feems to have been all over daub ed with it.
Within.~\ To give a wholfome Scent, fome think, among fo many Beads.
And withoHtl} To make the Ark more glib and flip- pery, tofwim in the Water more eafily.
Ver. 15. Andthfristhefajhion, &c.] There areVerfe 15* thofe who take thefe for Geometrical Cubits 5 every one of which contains Six of the common. But there is no need of fuch ; For taking them for com mon Cubits, containing each only one Foot and an half, it is demonftrable there might be room enough in the Ark, for all forts of Beads and Birds, with Noah's Family, and their neceflary provifion. See Verfe 20. r
Ver. 1 6. AWindow (halt thou make to the Ark;~] ToVerfe l6b let in the Light into the feveral Apartments : For which, (hould we conceive, that one great Window might be fo contrived as to be fufficient $ I do not fee how that would exclude many little ones, here and there, for greater convenience.
And in a Cubit foali than finifi it above."] That is, fi- nifh the Ark 5 which had a Cover it is plain From VIII. 1 3. and was made (helving, that the Rain might flide oft.
And the Door of the Arl^ /halt thou fit in ike fide thereof^} But on what fide, or whereabouts on the fide, is not certain. It is probable on one of the long fides, and in the middle of it. Patricides calls it the Eaftern fide*
S 2 With
133 A COMMENTARY
Chapter With lorver^ fecond^ and third Stories, &c.] That Vf. Arabian Author, and Pirk* Eltefer '(cap. 23.) place
1/"VNJ Noah and his Family in the uppermoft Story $-. the Birds in the middle -y and the Beajls in the loweft. But they forget to leave a place for their. Provifion A And therefore they make a better diftribution who think the Beafts were beftowed in the lower Story, and that the third ferved for the Birds, with AW>andhis: Family .- Thefecond between bothvbeing left for the Stores that were to be laid in of Meat and Drink for them all. The creeping things, fome think, might well live in the fpace between the lower Story, and the bottom of the Ark,
Verfe 17. Ver. 17. And behold^ J^evenl, do bring a Flood of Waters^ &c.] /. e. They (hall unavoidably be all fwept away ^ for I my felf will bring a Deluge upon them:Notan ordinary Flood, but one of which I will appear to be the Author. All Nations, it plainly ap pears, by fuch Records as remain, had heard fomething of this Flood. Lucianin his DeaSyriatzlls a long fto- ry of it, out of the Archives of Hierapolis very like to this of Mofes, only he puts the Name of Deuca lion inftead of Noah. Plutarch mentions the Dove fent out of the Ark. And fo doth Abydenus^ men tioned by £/*/££////, fL.IX. Pr<cpar. Evang. cap. 12.) fpeakof B/Wx in general, which being font out, re- tnrned again to the Ship, finding no place to reft in but there only. Jofephus mentions a great many more, not only Berofus theChaldtfanJaut Hkronynws JEgyptius who wrote the Ancient Phceniciax Hiftory, Mnafeat^Ni- cholans DaMafcentiS)W\th many others. St.Cyril alfo^L.I. againft Julian, quotes a pal&ge out of Alexander Po- lyhiftor^ wherein is part of the Story 5 only he calls Noah by the Name of Jfifuthrof) (as Abydenus calls
him
upon GENESIS. 133
Him Seifithrw) inTthe Dialeft of the Ajfyrians, as fome Chapter conjefture. And now it appears that the Americans VL have had. a Tradition of it, (as credible Authors, L/*V"NJ Acofla, Herrera, and others inform us J which faith The whole Race of Mankind was deftroyed by the Deluge, except fome few that efcaped. They are the words of Augujtin Corata, concerning the Peruvi an Tradition. And Lupus Gomara faith the fame from thofe of Mexico. And if we can believe Mart. Mar- tinius his Hiftory of China, there is the like among the People of that Country.
Ver . 1 8. And with thee I will eftablifi my Covenant.'] Verfe 1 8. I will make good the Promife I have made to thee, to preferve thee and all that are with thee in the Ark. For fo the word Covenant is fometimes ufed : And it is reasonable to think Godjmade him fuch a Promife } which is plainly enoqgh implied inverfe 8. Or> other- wife,- we muft unde/ftand thisof the Covenant about the promifed Seed/III. 15, Which he faith he will e- ftablifh with him } and confequently preferve him from perifhing.
Thouy thy Sons ^ and thy Sons Wives wltt>thee."]Th\S Paflage (hows the Ark was not an hundred Years in building, as fome have imagined : For none of thefe Sons were born aa hundred Years before the Flood 5 and we muft allow fome Years for their growth, till they were fit to take Wives. Compare V. 52. with VII. 6. And, if we obferve how Sem^ though he had a Wife before the Flood, yet had no Children, ffor Arphaxad his firft Child was not born till two Years after the lood, XI. 10.) it will incline us to think, that Noah received the Command for building the Ark, not long before the Flood catne,
Ver,
Chapter Ver. 19. Two of every fort. "] /. e. Of unclean Beads, VI. as it is explained, VII. 2.
<s~\s^*j They /hall be Male and Female.'] To preferve the
Verie 19. Species. Luciaa in his Book of the Syrian Goddefs, where he defer ibes the Flood, faith, all Creatures went into the Ark, &t ^4J>ea, by pairs.
Verfe 20. Ver. 20. Of bowls after their kind, &c.] In fuch Numbers as is diredted afterward, VII. 3. Which Teems to fonie to be fo very great, there being ma ny forts of living Creatures, that they could not pof- fibly be crowded into the Ark 5 together with Food fufficient for them. But fuch Perfons never diftindt- ly confidered fuch things asthefe. Firfl, That all thofe which could live in the Water, are excepted : And To can feveral Creatures befides Fifties. Secondly > That of the Species of Beafts, including alfo Serpents, there are not certainly known and defcribed above an hun dred and fifty, (as Mr. Ray hath obferved,) and the Number of Birds above five hundred. Thirdly, That that there are but a few Species of very vaft Creatures, fuch as Elephants, Horfes, &c. And Fourthly, That Birds are generally of fofmall a bulk, that they take up but little room. And, Fifthly, That if we fuppofe creeping Infedls ought to be included, they take up Ms, though very numerous. And, Laftly, That lefs Provifion would ferve them all, when they were (hut up clofe, and did not fpend themfelves by Motion 5 and befides, were in a continual confufed Agitation, which paird their Appetites. From all which, and rainy more Confiderations, it is eafie to demonftrate there was more than room enough, for all forts of Creatures that God commanded to be brought into the Ark.- And for their Food, during the time they flayed in it. <*
Two
nfon GENESIS. 135
Two of every fort /hall come untothee, Sccf] In the Chapter foregoing Verfe he had faid, Two of every fort fi alt thou VI. bring into the Ark; Which he might think impoflible 5 L^V\i for by what means (hould he get them all together > Therefore hereit is explained in thefe wovds9tt>eyjhal/ come unto thee$ by the Care of God, who made them and moved them to it. JR. Eliefer (?. 13. of his P/V^e) is commonly cenfured for faying, The Angels that go vern every Species of Creatures, brought them thither. But (Tetting afide the Opinion of Angels peculiarly prefiding over every kind of CreatureJ I fee no in congruity in affirming that God, by the Miniftryof his Angels, brought them to the Ark; But it is rather agreeable to the Holy Scriptures, which reprefent the Divine Majefty, as employing their Service in all Af fairs here below.
Ver. 2 1. Take unto thee of all Food that is eaten, &G] Verfe 2 rv Either by Man or Beaft :Food fuitable to every Crea ture. Among which, though there be many that feed on Flefh $ yet other Food, as feveral Hiftories teftifie, will go down with them, when they are ac- cuftom'd to it. See Philoftratus, L. V. c j 5. Tzetzer Chil. V. Hift. 9. Sulpit. Severn*, De Monacha Thebaid* Dial I. c. 7.
Ver. 12. Thus did Noah, according to all thatGodVzife 22 commanded Mm, &C.3 He made the Ark of fuch Dimenfions, and laid up Provifions for all Creatures, as he was direded. This he did when the hundred and twenty Years drew towards an end. See Ver.
CHAR
A COMMENTARY.
CHAP. VII.
Verfe i. Ver. i.f~^0v/e than and all thy Honfe into the Ark~j \^j When the time of God's Patience was expired, he required him to enter into the Ark which he had prepared ^ and unto which -all ibrtsof Crea tures were gathered.
For I havefeen thee^ Sec.] I have obferved thee fin- cerely Obedient, when all the reft of the World were impious.
Verfe 2. Ver. 2. Of every clean Beaft, Sec.] The diftindion of Beafts clean and unclean being made by^the Law of Mofes, hath given fome a colour to fay that he wrote this Book after they came out of Egypt and received the Law : Which made him fpeak in that Style. But it may be anfwered to this, That though with refpeft to Mens Food the diftin&ion of clean and unclean Creatures was not before the Law -5 yet fome were accounted fit for Sacrifice, and others not fit, from the beginning. And then clean Beafts in this place, are fuch as are not rapacious } which were not to be offered unto God. In fhort, the rite of Sacrificing being before the Flood, this difference of Beafts was alfo before it. The only Queftion is, How Men came to make this difference? Some ima gine, That they confidered the Nature of Beafts, and by common Reafon determined that ravenous Crea tures were unfit for Sacrifice: But it is more likely that they had Diredions from God for this, as they had for Sacrificing. Which though they be not re corded, yet I think, are rather to be fuppofed, than
imagine
upon G E N E S I S. 137
-imagine Men were left in fiich Matters to their own Chapter Difcretion, Abarbinel indeed here fays, That Noah VII. out of his pro found Wifdom difcerned clean from unclean : C/"VNJ And if he had ftop'd here, and not added, That he difcerned the difference, from their Natures^ he had faid the truth. For, he being a Prophet, may be thought to have had Inftruftionsfrom above about fuch Mat ters ; though others, who firft were taught to facrifice had them before him.
By fevens7\ Seven couple, it is moft probable, that they might have fufficient for Sacrifice when they came out of the Ark 5 and, if need were, for Food if other Provifion did not hold out.- At leaft for Food, after the Flood, when God inlarged their for mer Grant, IX. 3.
Ver. 4, For yet feven Days ', &r/] So much time he Verfe 4. gave him for the difpofinghimfelf3and all things elfe in the Ark.
Ver. 5. And Noah did according unto all that the Verfe 5. LORD commanded him.] He had faid the fame be fore, VI. 22. with refped to the preparation of the Ark, and provifion of Food .• And now repeats here again with refpeft to his entring into it himfelf, with all other Creatures. For fo it follows, verfe 7, 8,&c.
Ver. 6. Noah was fix hundred years old, &c.] Cur- Verfe 6. rent, as we fpeak, not compleat, as appears by com paring this with IX. 28, 29. where he is faid to have lived three hundred and fifty Years after the Flood, and in all nine hundred and fifty. Whereas it (hould have been nine hundred fifty one, if he had been full fix hundred Years old when the Flood began.
V. 10. And H came to pafs after feven Days, Sec.] Verfe ia As he had faid, verfe 4.
T Ver.
138 A C'ffJttMENTART
Chapter Ver. 1 i. In thefecond Month^] Of the Year, and of VII. the/x hundreth Year of Noah's Life : i. e. In Ottober ;
t^V^VJ for anciently the Year began in September : Which • 1 *• was changed, among the 7/r^e//Ye/, in Memory of their coming out of Egypt, into March, Exod. XII. 2.
The feventeenth Day of the Month.'] Which was the beginning of our November.
All the Fountains of the great deep were broken up^ Scc,^ Here are two Caufes affigned of the De luge.- F/V/2, The breaking up the Fountains of the great Deep; And, Secondly^ The openingthe Windows of Heaven. By the great Deep is meant, thofe Waters that are contained in vaft quantities,within the Bowels of the Earth. Which being preffed upward, by the falling down of the Earth, or fome other Caufe un known to us, gufhed out violently at feveral parts of the Earth, where they either found or made a vent. For that's meant by breaking up the Fountains of the great Deep : The great holes, or rather gaps that were made in the Earth $ at which thofe fubterrane- ous Waters burft out. This joined with the continual Rains for forty Days together, might well make fuch a Flood, as is here defcribed. For Rain came down not in ordinary Showers, but in Floods 5 which Mo- fes calls opening the Windows^ or Flood-gates of Hea ven .• And the LXX tranflite CataraSs. Which they can beft underftand, who have feen thofe Fallings of Waters in the Indies, called Spouts: Where Clouds do not break into Drops, but fall with a terrible Vio lence, in a Torrent. In (liort, it is evident from this Hiftory, that the Waters did once cover the Earth, £we know not how deep,) fo that nothing of the Earth could be feen, till God feparated them, and mi fed Come into Glouds5 and made the reft fall into
Ghan*-
upon G E N E S I S,
Channels, which were made for them, and comman- Chapter deddry Land to appear, Gen. 1.2,7, 10, Therefore VII. it is no wonder, if thefe Waters were raifed up again, by Come means or other, to cover the Earth as before .• Efpecially when the Waters above the Firmament, came down to join withthofe below, as they did at the beginning.
This fome wife Heathens look'd upon as apoilible •thing. For Seneca treating of that fatal Day , fas he calls it, L. III. Nat. gueft. c. 27.) when the Deluge flail come, (for he fanfied it ftill Future,) queftions how h may come to pafs. Whether by the force of the Ocean overflowing the Earth 5 or, by perpetual Rains without intermiffion } or, by the fwelling of Rivers, and the opening of new Fountains $ or, there (hall not be one Caufe alone of fo great a mifchief 5 but all thefe things concur, uno agmine ad exitiuvi human* generis , in one Troop to the Deftru&ionof Mankind. Which laft Refolution, he thinks, is the Truth, both there, and in the laft Chapter of that Book. Where he hath thefe remarkable Words 5 Where hath not Nature diffofed Moifture, to attack^ us on all fides, when it pleafes ? Immams funt in abdito Sec. c There are huge Lakes which we do not fee 5 much of the Sea, that lies hidden $ many Ri- vers that Hide in fecret. So that there may be Caufes of a Deluge on all fides, when fome Waters flow in under the Earth 5 others flow round about it, which being long pent up overwhelm it , and Ri- vers join with Rivers, Pools with Pools, &c. And as our Bodies fometimes diflblve into Sweat, fo the Earth (hall melt, and without the help of other Caufes, (hall find in it felf, what will drown it, &c. There being on a fudden, every where, openly,
T 2 c and
A COMMENTARY.
and fecretly, from above, and from beneath, an E- ruption of Waters. Which words are written as if he had been direfted to make a Commentary upon Mofes.
Verfe 12. Ver. 12. And the Earn was upon the Earth forty Days, &c-3 It continued raining fo long, without any intermiffion.
Verfe 13- Ver« 1B- Inthefelf-faweDay^ &c.] In that very Day, when the Rain began, did AW; and his Fami ly, &c. finifh their going into the Ark. Which could not be done in a Day or two 5 but required a good deal of time : And now he had compleated it ^ the very laft Creature being there beftowed. For, it is likely, he put in all other things firft 5 and then wentinhimfelf, with his Wife, and Children, ard their Wives .• Who were no fooner entred, but the Waters brake in upon the Earth from beneath ^ and came down pouring from above.
Verfe 16. Ver. 16. The LORD ff^t him in."] Or, (hut the Door after him : Clofed it fo faft, that the Waters could not enter, though it was not pitched, as the reft of the Ark. How this was done, we need not en quire. It is likely by an Angelical Power ; which, I fuppofed before, conduced the feveral Creatures into the Ark.
Verfe 17. Ver. 17. And the Flood was forty Days upon the Earth, &c."] After forty Days Rain, the Waters were fo high 5 that they bare up the Ark, fo that it did not touch the Earth.
Verfe 18. Ver. 18. And theWaters prevailed.'] By more Rain, which fell after the forty Days, the Inundation grew ftrong and mighty, fas the Hebrew word fignifies,) fo ftrong, that the Waters bore down Houfes, and Trees, as fome expound it.
And
upon GENES IS, 141
And were increafed greatly 7\ He faid before, verfe Chapter 17. they were increafid, but now, that they were Vil. greatly increafed. Which muft be by more Rain ftill PVwV^i tailing on the Earth ^ though not in fuch uninterrup ted Showers, as during the forty Days.
An d the Arkwent upon the face of the \Vaters.~] Moved from place to place, as the Waves drove it. .
Ver. 19. And the Waters prevailed exceeding lyupon Verfe IQ the Earth?} This is an higher Expreffion tha^n before • fignifying their rifing ftill toa greater pitch by contir nued Rains.
All the high Mountains, that were under the whole Heaven, were covered.*] There were thofe anciently, and they have their Succeffors now, who imagi ned the Flood was not Univerfal, aftf- <& -&.o? . TOTS <Zv$0w7mt. fioxw,. but only there, where Men then dwelt 5 as the Author of the Queftions, Ad Ortho- doxos^ tells us, Q 34. But they are confuted by thefe Words, and by other Paflages, which fay all Flefli died. For the Truth is, the World was then fully peopled, as it is now, and not only inhabited in fome Parts of it, as may be eafily demonftrated, if Men would but confider, That in thefpace of Onethou- fand fix hundred fifty fix Years, when Men lived fo long as they then did, their increafe could not but be/* times more than hath been in the fpace of Five thoufand Years fince Mens Lives are fliortned, as we now fee them. Therefore it is a ftrange Weaknefs - to fanfie, that only Pal<eftine^ Syna^ or Mefopotamia, or fome fuch Country, was drowned by the Flood 5 no more of the Earth being then inhabited : For thofe Countries could not have held the fortieth part of the Inhabitants, which were produced be tween the Creation and the Flood : no, all the Earth \
was.
A COMMENTARY.
Chapter was not more than fufficient to contain them ^ as VII. many have clearly proved.
Plato hys, there were in his days, rfctA«/o/ A<fyoi, ancient Traditions, which affirm'd there had been fundry Deftruftions of Mankind by Floods, as well as other ways .• In which @&,%u n •?$ dvfytiir&v A&f- <7rsK&fle/ yii'dH, a fmall parcel of Mankind were left. And particularly he faith concerning Floods, That they were ib great, that only crjLuxegi ^vm^c., fome very little Sparks of Mankind were laved, and thofe upon the tops of Mountains : And the like he faith of Beads, That^t/j^raum, very few of them were left, to fupport the life of Mankind. JL III. DeLe- gib. p. 677. Edit. Seran. But this appears to have been an imperfeft Tradition, the higher Mountains having been covered with the Waters, as well as the Idw Countries :, and that all the Earth over. Which need not feem ft range if we confider what was faid before upon Verfe u. And withal obferve that the ^Diameter of the Earth being feven thoufand Miles ^ and consequently from the Superficies to the Cen ter, no lefs than Threethottfandfive hundred Miles, it is not incredible4 fas Sir W* Raleigh difcourfes, L. I. c.-}.§. 6.) that there was Water enough in the 'great Deep, which being forced up from thence, might overflow the loitiert Mountains: Efpecially, when Water came pouring down alfo from above fo faft, that no Words can exprefs it. For there is no Mountain above thirty Miles high, upright5 which thirty Miles being found in the Depths of the Earth, One hundred and/fxtecn times$ why fliould we think it incredible that the Waters in the Earth (Three thoufandfiw hundred Miles deep) might be well -able to cover the fpace of thirty Miles in heighth ? ft
would
upon G E N E S 1 S. 14:3
would help Mens unbelief, if they would likewife Chapter confider the vaft Inundations, which are made yearly VIL in Egypt, only from the Rains that fall in JEthio- L/^VXS pia: And the like Overflowings yearly in America, of the great River Orenoqne ^ whereby many Iflands and Plains, at other times inhabited, are laid twenty Foot under Water, between May and Septem ber.
Ver. 20. Fifteen Cubits upwards did the Waters pre- Verfe 2O, vail, Sccf) Mofes doth not here plainly fay, That the Waters prevailed j?//ee« Cubits above the higheft Mountains 5- though I do not fee, but there might be Water enough heaped up, by the fore-mentioned means, to cover them fo high .• And the whole Vcrfe be thus interpreted, The Waters prevailed fifteen Cu bits upwards^ after the Mountains were covered. Other- wife, by the high Hills in the Perfe before, we rauft underfland only fuch fingle Hills, as are in feveral Countries 5 and by Mountains in this Verfe ^ thofe long Ridges of Hills (fuch as Caucasus and Tan* rtts, 8cc.) which ftretch themfelves many hundreds • of Miles, through a great part of the Earth. See VIII. 5,
Ver. 24. And the Waters prevailed upon the Earth Ve'rfe'~ 24.' an hundred andfifty days.'] Thefe v/ords feem to me to import. That whatfoever (lion Jntermiffions there might be, yet the Rain continued an Hundred and ffty Days. Otherwife, if is hard to explain how the Waters increafed more and more, as it isfaid, Vtrfi 17,18, 19. Befides, had the Rain ended as we com monly fuppofe, at forty Days end, .the Waters could not have prevailed an Hundred and fify Days, but ' would have funk much before that time 5 by rea- fon of the Declivity of the Earth,. And yet they
wtre v
144 A COMMENTARY
Chapter were fo far from falling, that fas Mr. Ray hath ob- VI If. fervedin his pious and learned Difcourfe of the Dtffb- " info* of the World ) the tops of Mountains were not feen, till the beginning of the tenth Month 5 that is, till Two hundred andfeventy Days were, pafled.
CHAR VIII,
Verfe i. Ver. i. A ND God rewembred Noah, Sec.] Took /A CompafEon upon him, and heard his Prayers, which we may well fuppofe he made for himfelf, and for all Creatures that were with him. Thus the word rev/ember is ufed, XIX. 29. XXX. 22. The Hebrew Doftors here again take notice of the word Elohim> f See VI. 1 2.) which is the Name for Judges 5 and obferve that even God's Juftice was turn ed to Mercy. Juftice it felf was fatisfied, as Sol. Jar- chi expreffes it.
And God made a Wind topafs over the Earth, &c.] Some gather from hence, that during the fall of the Rain, there was no Storm or violent Wind at all 5 but the Rain fell down-right. And confequently the Ark was not driven far from the place where it was built .• It having no Mafts, or Sails, but moving as a Hulk or Body of a Ship, without a Rudder, up on a calm Sea. Philo indeed (in his Book De Abra- hamo) gives a quite different Defcription of the De- luge 5 reprefenting the inceflant Showers, to have been accompanied with dreadful Thunder and Light ning, Storms and Tempefts. But there is not a word in this Story to countenance it.
This'
upon G E N E S IS. 145
This Wind it is very probable was the North-wind, Chapter which is very drying, and drives away Rain, (Prov. VII. XXV. 130 which came, perhaps, out of the L/"V\J South, as I faid upon VI. 14. Thus Ovid repre- fents it in the Flood of Deucalion , where he faith Jupiter,
Nffb/la difjecH, nimbifqite Aqttilone remotify &C.
And the Waters ajjwaged."] This drying Wind, and the Sun, which now began to (bine, with great pow>- er, made the Waters fall. For, if the Second Month, when the Flood began, was part of our OSober and November } then the Flood abated ("after an Hun- dred and fifty Days) in the beginning of A%, when the Summer came on apace.
Yer. 2. The Fountains alfo of the Deep."] There Verfe 2. was no further irruption or boiling up of the Wa^ ter out of the Bowels of the Earth.
And the Rain from Heaven was reftrained.~] So that the Rains ceafed at the end of an Hundred and fifty Days.
Vef. 3. And the Waters returned from v/ the Earth Verfe 3. continually. Sec.] The Waters rolling to and fro by the Wind, fell by little and little : And after the end of the Hundred and fifty Days began to decreafe. So the Vulgar Latin well tranflates the lattei* end of this Verfe, were abated, i. e. began fenfibly to decreafe.
Ver.4, And the Ark reftedin thefeventh Month ^8cc.] Verfe 4. Of the Year, not of the Flood.
Upon the Mountains of Ararat^] i.e. Upon one bf: the Mountains, as XIX. 19. God overthrew the Cities .. in which Lot dwelt; i.e. In one of which he dwelt. Judg. XII. 7. Jephtah was buried in the Cities ofGi~<
V leadi
A COMMENT A KT
Chapter fc^, *• *• In one of the Cities. For there was no VII. one Mountain called by this Name of Ararat : But it belonged to a long Ridge of Mountains, like the Atpt or Pyrettdan, which are Names appertaining, not to one, but to all. And Sir W. Raleigh, I think, truly judges that all the long Ridge of Mountains, which run through Armenia, Mefopotamia, Ajfyria, Media, Snjiana, 8tc. i. e. From Cilicia to Paraponifa, are cal led by Mofes, Ararat, as by Pliny they are called Tau nt*. And that Author thinks the Ark fettled in fome of the Eaftern Parts of Taurus, becaufe Noah planted himfelf in the Eaft after the Flood, ("and it is likely did not travel far from the place where the Ark refted,) as appears^ he thinks, from Gen. XI.2. where we read his Pofterity, when they began to fpread, went WeftwardznA built Babel. The common Opi nion is, That the Ark refted in fome of the Moun tains of Armenia, as the Vulgar Latin tranflates the word Ararat 5 i. e. faith §t+Hierom, upon the higheft part of Taurw. Bat Epiphanius (who was before him) faith, Upon the Gordiaan Mountains 5 and fo Jonathan, and Onkelos, and the Nubien/ian Geographer, and many others mentioned by Bothartw : Who is of this Opinion, as having the moft Authority. Many of which fay, That fome Relicks of the Ark were remaining upon thofe Mountains: Which (as Theo* doret obferves upon Ifa. XIV. i^.J were accounted the higheft in the whole World, V. Phaleg. L. II. c. %. and 1.1 V. c. 38.
There were fuch Remainders of this Hiftory among the ancient Scythians, that in their difpute with theE- gyptians about their Antiquity, they argue it partly from hence 5 that if the Earth had ever been drown'd^ their Country nmft needs be firft inhabited
again,
upon GE N.-EH& I S. 147
again, becaufe it was firft clear'd from the Water $ Chapter being the higheft of all other Countries in the World. VII.
Thus their Argument runs in Jujliny L. II. cap. i. ^~\r^ where he hath given us a brief relation of \t9 (If we had Trogvt, whom he Epitomizes,it's likely we (hould have underftood their Tradition more perfectly,) in this manner, If all Countries were anciently drown d in the Deep, profe&o editiffimam quamque partem, we muft needs grant the higheft parts of the Earth, were jir(l uncovered of the Waters, that ran down from them ; And tie fooner any part was dry, the fooner were Ani mals there generated, Now Scythia if fo much raifcd above all other Countries, that all the Rivers which rife thereyrun down into the Mc£Qt\S,andfo into the Pontick And Egyptian Sea, 8cc.
Ver. 5. And the Waters decreafed continually until Verfe $» the tenth Month.] For the Summer's heat muft needs very much dry them up, when there was no Rain.
In the tenth Month were the tops of the Mountains feet?."] This (hows the Mountain on which the Ark refted was the higheft, at leaft in thofe Parts : Becaufe it fettled there above two Months before the tops of other Mountains were feen. And, perhaps, the Ark, by its weight, might fettle there, while the top of that Mountain was covered with Water : Which, it's poffible, might not appear much before the reft.
Ver. 6. At the end of forty days."] Forty Days after Verfe 6. the tops of the Mountains appeared, i.e. onthee/e- venth Day of the eleventh Month 5 which was about the end of our July.
Ver. 7. Hefentfortha Raven."] For the fame End, Vtrfe f. tio doub^ that the Dove was fent forth : To make tlifcovery whether the Earth were dry : For if it
V a were
148 A COMMENTARY
Chapter were, the fmell of the dqad QrcafeSj he knewy VII. would allure it to fly far from the Ark : Which it did, L/"V%J not, but, only hover'd about it, a.s it follows in the next Words*
Went forth to and fro.'] In the Hebrew more plain^ ly, going forth) and returning. That is, it often went; ; from the Ark, and as often returned to it. For af ter many flights, finding nothing but, Water,, it ftill ; betook it felf ,unto the Ark : either entring, into it> or fitting upon it $ till at laft the Waters, being drW ed up, it returned no more, That is, Fifty Days after its firft going, forth, Vetfe 1 3. All which time it, fpent in going, out, and coming back. Bochar* indeed approves of the Greek, Verfion 5 which makes the Raven, not to have returned: For which he gives fome fpecious Reafons, (L. II. cap. 12. P. IL Hiero- *oic.) and hath fqch of the Hebrews to countenance him^ as R. Elhfer^ who faith, (Pirke,cap. 23.) That the Raven found a Car cafe of a Man uf on a Mountain^ andfo would return no mere.
Butthe next words .(which in the .Greek, and He brew ^ are both alike) confute this Trandation.
Until the Waters mrt dried np from, the Earth ^] Which make this plain and eafie Sence, in connexion with the foregoing, (as they run in the Hebrew,} that while the Earth continued covered with Wa ter, the Raven often flew from the Ark, but find ing no convenient place to reft in, returned thither again: Till the Ground was dry. Whereas, accords- ing to the Greek we muft fuppofe the Raven to have returned to the Ark, when the Waters were. dried up from the Ground. Which, is very abfurd : For, if it had fome time fat upon a Carcafe floating in fcfce Waters, before they were dried up, or upon the
top
upon G-E":N- E S I £
of fome Mountain which already appeared : Chapter what.fliould make it return when all the Waters were VII. gpne every > where, and not rather while they > re- L/"V*sJ mained uppn the Ground >
Ver. 8. Alfo he fent forth a Dovel} As a proper Crea- Verfe 8. > ture to make further Difcoveries : Being of a ftrong flight, laving to feed upon the Ground, and pickup Seeds } and conftantly returning to its reft, from the remoteft places. Thefe two Birds, (the Raven and < the Dove,), fome imagine were fent forth upon one and the fame Day^ or but a Day between } as Bo- charts conjectures. But this doth not agree with Verfe xo. where it is faid, Noah flayed yet other feven Daysi> and then fent out the Dove again: Which- relates to feven Days preceding 5 which feem to ^ have pafled between the fending^out^ oi ^ the Raven and of the Dove.,..
Ver. 9. .The Dove found no r^Scc/] For, 'though Verfe 9*.:» the tops of the Mountains appeared, yet they con tinued muddy, a&* fome conceive ^ or, they were fo far off,. that the Dove could noteafily reach them. 5
Ver. IO. And he ftatdyet other feven days."] It ap- Verle to. pears by this, that on thefeventh Day, AWAexpefted aBleffing rather than on another Day : It being the Day devoted from the beginning to Religious Ser vices. Which he having (it is likely) performed, thereupon fent out the Dove upon this Day, as he had done before, with hope of good Tidings.
Ver. 1 1 . AnJ, /0, in her Mouth was anOlive- leaf ',(br Verfe 2 F&- Branch the word fignifies) pluckt off\~\ Bochart thinks the Dove brought this out of Affyrla, which abounds with Olive-Trees, and lay South of Ararat; the Wind then blowing towards that Country from the Worth. (See Hierowic* L> r. ,c. 6:. p. i.) where he (bows out
# COMMENTARY
Chapter of many Authors, that not only Olive-Trees, bu'tfome VTL other alfo, will live and be green under Water. All
t/V'VJ the difficulty is, how the Dove could break off a Branch (as the Vulgar tranflates it) from the Tree. But it is eafily folved, if we allow, as I have faid before, that now it was Summer time , which brought ftew Shoots out of the Trees, that were eafily cropt.
bo he kpew the, Waters were abated.'] The tops of Mountains were feen before, verfe'$. but now he un- derftood the Waters had left the lower Grounds. Yet not fo left them that the Dove would ftay ^ the Earth it is likely, remaining very chill.
Verfe 12. Ver. 12. And he staid yet other feven days'] See 'Verfe 10. The Obfervation there, being confirmed by what is repeated here.
Returnedwot again to him any tnore7\ There want ing neither Fbod, nor a Neft wherein to repofe it felf* By which Noah underftood, the Earth was not only dry, and fit to be inhabited : But that it was not quite fpoiled by the Flood, but would afford Food for all Creatures.
Verfe 13. Ver. 13. Noah removed the covering of the ArkJ] Some of the Boards on the top. For he could fee further by looking out there, than if he look'd out at the Door, or the Window, which gave him a pro- fpeft but one way.
The face of the Ground was dry?] Quite freed from Water, but yet fo foft and muddy, that it was not fit to be inhabited : As appears by his flaying (till, al- moft two Months more, before he thought fit to go out. So the following Verfe tells us.
Verfe 14. Ver. 14. In thefecond Month, See] Iftheir Months werefuch as. ours, twelve of which make Three hun dred
GENESIS
dred fixty five Days, then Noah ftaid in the Ark a Chapter whole Year and ten Days, as appears by comparing VII. this Ferfe with VII. n. But if they were Lunar Months, which is mod probable, then he was in the Ark juft one of our Years: Going out on the Jhree hundred and Jixty fifth Day after his entrance into it.
Wa* the Earth dried.] Perfedly dried, fo that no moifture remained 3 and Grafs,it is likely,was fprung up for the Cattle.
It need not feem a wonder, that Mofes gives fo punctual and particular an Account of this whole matter, and of all that follows } for he lived within Eight hundred Years of the Flood : And therefore might very well know what had been done within that Period, and eafily tell how the World was peo pled by the Pofterity of Noah. Which could not but be frefh in memory, when Men lived fo long 5 that not much above three Generations had paffed> from the Flood to Mofes. For &hem, who faw the Flood was contemporary with Abraham^ as he was with Jacob, whofe great Grand-child was the Fa ther of Mfffef.
Ver. 1 6 Go forth out of the Ark^\ Though he faw Verfe the Earth was fit to be inhabited -y yet he waited for God's Order to go out of the Ark, as he had it for his entring into it.
Thou and thyWife^&c^ I do not think the Obferva- tion of fome of the Jews is abfurd} who by comparing thisFerfe with VII. 15. make this Collection : That while they were in the Ark, the Men did not coha bit with their Wives 5 it being a time of great Af- fliftion : And therefore they kept afunder in fepa- rate Apartments. So R. Elteferin his P/r£e, Cap. XXII!. where JR. Levitas thus gathers it : When they went
mto
r^2 A COMMENT ART
Chapter into the Ark it is faid, VIL-ij. Noah and his Sons en- VII. *red, and then Noah's Wife, and /;# SW Wives : Be- ty'WJ hold, faith he, here the Men are put together, arid the Women together. But when they come out it is here faid, Go forth ^thott and thy Wife^ <ind thy Sons, and thy Sons Wives, with thce 5 lo, here they are cou pled together, as before they were feparated. And io we find them again, verfe 1 8. where it is faid, -Noah went forth and his Wife, &C.
: Verfe 17. Ver. 17. Bring forth every living Creature, &c. that they way breed, Sec.] One would think, by this, that no Creature bred in the Ark, no more than Men: But now are Cent forth to breed and multiply in the Earth.
Verfe 20. Ver" 2a ^n^ Noah ttj? ban Altar to the LO RDJ]
* We never read of any built before this time : Though
we may reafonably conclude there was an Altar upon
which Ctijr-and Abel offered 3 in the place appointed
for Divine Woi (hip.
Offered Burnt-offerings^ He reflores the ancient Rite of Divine Service } which his Sons and their Pdfterity followed. Some think thefe Burnt-Offer ings had fomething in them of the Nature of a Pro pitiatory Sacrifice, as well as Euchartftical, which they certainly were for their Deliverance from the Flood. Their Reafon is taken from what fol lows.
Verfe 21. Ver. 21. The LORD fuelled a faeet favour.*] That is, as Munfter underftands it, -he ceafed from his Anger and was appeafed. So the 5yr/^4alfo, and Jofeph**, I . I. Antiq. c. 4. But it may fignifie no more, but that his Thankfulnefs was as grateful to God, as fweet Odors are to us.
And
upon GENESIS.
And the LORD f aid in his heart.~] He determi- Chapter ned, or refolved in himfelf. The W^r underftands VIII. this, as if the L o & D fpake comfortably to Noah^ ^xv*.-* (which in the Hebrew Phrafe is,Jpealtfxg to ones heart) aud faid,
/ will not again Curfe the Ground any more.'] i. e. Af ter this manner, with a Deluge.
For the imagination of Mans heart is evil from his youth.'] Such a proclivity there is in Men to evil, that if I (hould fcourge theai thus, as often as they deferve, there would be no end of Deluges. But the Words may have a quite different fence, being conneded with what went before in this manner $ I will not curfethe Ground any more for Mans fake 5 tho he befo very evilly difpofeJ^ &c.
Thofe Words, from hit Touth^ fignify a long radi cated corruption, as appears from many places, Ifa. XLVIL 12, 15. Jeretn. III. 25. Ezel^. XXIII. 8, &c. Sol. Jarchi extends it fo far as to fignifie, from his Mo thers Womb.
Ver. 22. While the Earth remaineth.~\ While MenVerfe 22* (hall inhabit the Earth.
Seed-time and Harveft, &c.] There (hall not be fuch a Year as this laft has been : In which there was neither Sowing nor Reaping 5 nor any diftinfti- ons of Seafons, till the Rain was done.
Day and Night flmU not ceafe."] One would think by this Expreffion, that the Day did not much differ from Night 5 while the Heavens were covered with thick Clouds, which fell in difmal Floods of Rain.
CHAP,
A COMMENTARY
CHAP. IX.
Verfe I. Ver. i. A ND God blefed Noah and Im Sons, See.] JL\, The Divine Majefty appeared now to Noah and his Sons 3 to aflure them of his Favour and Protection $ and to renew the Bleffing beftowed up on Adam fas after a new Creation^ faying, Increafe and Multiply.
Verfe 2. Ver. 2. The fear of you^ Sccf] He feems alfo to confirm to them, the Dominion which God gave to Adaw^ at firft, over all Creatures, I. 26.
Verfe 3. Ver. 3. Every moving thing that liveth [hall be meat for you, &C.1] Here the firft Grant made to Mankind concerning Food, is enlarged, as St. Baftl obferves, « ttrp&TH vojuuoSsna, 7$ %&p7c£v *&zv\ou>viv 0iujs%clpai^ The firft Legislation granted to them the ufe ot Fruits 5 but now of all living Creatures $ which they are as free ly permitted to eat of, as formerly of all the Fruits of the Garden. For God feeing Men to be apa^&i$, contumacious, as Greg. NyJJl exprefles it (Tom.l.p.i 57.) %3n Trdrr&v r ~$m\ct,vnv ffu^^^ip^^Q conceded to them the enjoyment of all things. This is the general fence of the Jews, and of the Chr'ifttan Fathers ^ and of the firft Reformers of Religion. They that would have this only a renewal of fuch an old Charter, are of la ter ftanding 5 and can (hew us no Charter, but are led by fome reafonings of their own, not by the Scrip ture : Unlefs we will admit fuch a Criticifm upon Gen. L 3$..as feems to me very forced. And they would have this alfo underftood only of clean Crea tures : But I do not find any Ground for the diftin-
ftion
upon GENESIS. 155
ftionof Clean and Unclean Creatures, withrefpeft Chapter to Food, but only to Sacrifice, as was faid before. IX.
The reafon why God now granted the liberty to ^v~^ eat ¥hfh,Abarb/nel thinks was, becaufe otherwife there would not have been Food enough for Noah and his Sons: The Fruits of the Earth, which before were a- bundant, being all deftroyed 5 fo that for the prefent there was not fufficient for their Suftenance. Others think the reafon of it was, becaufe the Fruits of the Earth, were not now fo nutritive as they had been, before the Salt-water of the Sea very much fpoiled the Soil.
Ver. 4. Butflefh with the life thereof y &c.] Here is Verfe 4. one Exception to the foregoing large Grant, that the Blood of Beafts (hould not be eaten : Juft as at the firft, one Fruit in the midft of the Garden was ex- cepted, when all the reft were allowed. The He brew Do&ors generally underftand this to be a pro hibition to cut off any Limb of a living Creature, and to eat it while the Life, that is, the Blood was in it : Dum adhuc vivit^ & palpitat, fen tremit^ as a Modern Interpreter truly reprefents their fence. Which is followed by many Ghriftians. See Mercer, Mnfculuf^ efpecially Mr. Selden, L. VII. c. i. de Jure N.&G. who think, y&Maimomdes doth, that there were fome People in the old World fo fierce and barbarous, that they eat raw Fleth, while it was yet warm from the Beaft out of whofe Body it was cut : And he makes this to have been a part of their Ido latrous WorQiip. (See More tfevochi^Parslll. £.48. ) But, fuppofing this to be true, there were fo few of thefe People, we may well think, (for he himfelf faith, it was the Cuftoru of the Gentile Rings to do thus) that there needed not to have been a Precept
X 2 given
A COMMENTARY
Chapter given to all Mankind, to avoid that, unto which IX. Humane Nature is of it felf averfe.
*x-V^-* St. Chryfoflow therefore expounds this,of not eating things ftrangled : And L. de Dim of not eating that which died of it felf : For Nepheft in Scripture fignifies fometime a dead Carcafe. But it is manifeft, it was not unlawful for all People to eat fuch things ^ for God himielf orders the Ifraelites, to give that which died of it felf to a Stranger, or to fell it to an Ali en, Dart. XIV. 21. And therefore the fimpleft fence feems to be, that they fhould not eat the Blood of any Creature: Which was a pofitive Precept, like that of not eatingof the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. And the reafcn of it, perhaps, was, that God intending in after-times to referve the Blood, for the Expiation of Sin, required this early abfti- nence from it, that they might be the better prepared to fubmit to that Law, and underftand the reafon of it : Which was, that it was the Life of the Beaft, which God accepted in (lead of their Life,, when they had forfeited it by their Sins;
And there is another plain Reafon given of this Prohibition, immediately after it $ that they might be the more fearful of fhedding the Blood one of another $ when it was not lawful fq much as. to tafte the Blood of a Beaft.
Verfe 5. Ver. 5. Andfurely.~] Or rather, for furely, as the LXX. the Vulgar Latin^ and a great number of learn ed Men, expound the Particle Van as a Caufal^ not as a Copulative in this place. So that the fence is this : Therefore I command you to abftairr from the Blood of living Creatures, that you may be the farther off from fhedding the Blood of Men. For that is fo pre cious in my account, that I will take care he be fe-
verely
upon G E N E S I & 157
verely punifhed, by whom it is (bed 5 yea, the very Chapter Bead (hall dye that kills a Man. So it follows, IX.
At the hand of every Beaft mil 1 require it.~] Not as if Beads were to blame, if they killed a Man $ ("for they are capable neither of Vice nor VemieJ but this was ordained with refpeft to Men, for whofe.ufe Beads were created. For, Firft, fuch Owners as were not careful to prevent fuch Mifchiefs were hereby pu mped : And, &econdiyy others were ad monifhed by their example to be cautious: And, Thirdly, God hereby inftrufted them that Murder was a molt grie vous Crime, whofe Pianifhment extended even to Beafts. And Laffljr, the Lives of- Men were hereby much fecured, by the killing fuch Beafts, as might otherways have done the like Mifchief hereafter. See Bochart ift his Hierozoic. P. I. L, I. c. 40.
At the hands of every Mans brother^ Sec.] And therefore much more will! require it at the Hand of every Man. Whom he calls Brother, to (how that Murder is the more heinous upoa this account 5 be- caufe we are all Brethren. Or the meaning may be^ (as fome will have it}' that though he be as nearly re lated as a Brother, he (hall not go unpuniChed.
Ver. 6. Whofo (beds Mans blood."] He repeats it o- Verfe ver again, to enaft this Law moreftrongly. Or, as the Hebrews underftand it, he fpake before of the puni(h- ment he would inflift himfelf upon the Murderer 5 and now of the care we fhoutd take to punifh it.
By Man/hall his blood be fhed~] That is, by the Magiftrate or Judges. For God had kept the pa- nifhment of Murder in his own Hand till, now 5 as we may gather from the ftory of Cam, whom he ba- nifhed, butfufFered no Body to kill him. Btit here gives authority to Judges to call every Body to an
account .
A COMME^TART
Chapter Account for it, and put them to death. They that IX. would fee more of the Senfe of the Jews about thefe
t/*WJ anc* ^e foregoing words, may read Mr. Selden de Jure N. & G. L. I. cap. 5. and L. IV. cap. i. and de Synedrifc) L.I. cap. 5.
I will only add, That they rightly conclude, that as Courts of Judicature were hereby authorized ; fo what was thus ordained againft Murder, by a parity of Reafon, was to be executed upon other great Of fenders 3 there being fome things which are no lefs dear to us than Life $ as Virginal Chaftity, and Ma trimonial Fidelity, &c.
Form the Image of God made he Man."] Not with- ftanding the Sin of Man, there remained fo much of the Image of God in him, as intitled him to his pe culiar prote&ipn.
Verfe 7. Ver. 7. And ye, be ye fruitful, 8tc.] You need not doubt therefore of the bleffing I now beftowed upon you, (Verfe i .) for you fee what care I take of the prefervation, as well as the propagation of Mankind.
Verfe 9. Ver. 9. Irvill eftablifo my Covenant with you.'} Be- caufe Beafts cannot Covenant, moft understand by that Word fimply a Promife $ as Jer. XXXIII. 25. But there is no need of this Explication 5 the Cove nant being made direftly with Noah^ including all o- ther Creatures, who were to have the benefit of it.
Verfe 10. Ver. 10. From all that go out of the Ark^ to every Beaft of the Earthr\ That is, it (hall extend not only to thofe which now go out of the Ark , but to all their breed in future Ages.
Verfe n. Ver. n. And I will effablifl} my Covenant with you^ &c/] Doubt not of it$ for I tell you again, I will faithfully keep this folemn promife.
Any
upon GENESIS.
Any more be a Flood to deflroy the Earth.] That is, Chapter the whole Earth} for particular Inundations there IX. have been often, w-v^
Ver. 12. And the LORD faid, This is the Token Verfe 12. of the Coven ant, &£.~] I do not only give you my Word 5 but a Token or Sign that I will keep it.
Ver. 13. Idofetmy Row m the Clouds, &c.°] Moft Verfe 1 3, think this doth not fignifie there never had been a Rain-bow before the Flood $ for fince there was both Sun and Clouds, it is likely, they fay, there was a Rain-bow alfo : Only now it was appointed for a Srgn^ which it was not before. But as this Opinion hath nothing in Scripture to enforce it, fo grounds in Na ture there are none to warrant it 3 unlefs we will af- fertthis manifeft untruth, That every difpofition of the Air, or every Cloud is fitly difpofed to produce a Rain-bow. They are the words of that great Di vine, Dr. 'jackson^ (Book I. upon the Creed, c. 16.) who adds, That if other Natural Caufes, with their Motions and Difpofitions depend upon the final ("as Scripture Philofophy teaches us) they who acknow ledge the Scripture, have no reafon to think that either the Clouds or the Air had that peculiar difpofition be fore the Flood, which is required to the produ&ion of the Rain-bow : When this wonderful Effeft had no fuch ufe or end, as it hath had ever fince. For it was appointed by God, to be a Witnefs of his Co venant with the new World ^ a Meflenger to fecure Mankind from Deftrudion by Deluges. Now if it had appeared before the Flood, the fight of it after the Flood would have been but a poor comfort to Noah and his timorous Pofterity : Whofe Fear leaft the like Inundation might happen again, was greater than could be taken away by a common or ufual
Sign,
,60 A COMMENT A &r
Chapter Sign. The ancient Poets had a better Philofophy IX. (though they knew not the original of it) when they
.L/VNJ feigned Im to be the Daughter, or (as we would now fpeak) the Mother of Wonderment, (Qavjuutvl©^ ixyovw] theMeflenger of the great God Jupiter, and his Goddekjttno: whom Hvmer fas he obfervesj repre- fents as fent with a peremptory command to Neptune not to aid the Grecians 5 by the fwelling we may fup- pofe, of Waters, which much annoyed the Trojans.
My Bow.'] It is called His, not only becaufe he is the Author of all things, which have Natural Cau- fes, as there are of this : But becaufe He appointed it to a fpecial end $ as a fignification and an afTurance of his Mercy to Mankind.
Verfe 14. Ver. 14. When I bring a Cloud over the Earth.'] i. e. When there are great figns of the Rain, which come out of the Clouds.
That the Bow {hall be feen in the Cloud."] Not always but at certain times ; often enough to put Men in mind of this promife, and ftir up their belief of it. For it doth as it were fay, I will not drown the Earth again, though the Clouds have thickned as if they threatned it. Common Philofophy teaches us, that the Rain-bow is a natural fign there will not be much Rain after it appears $ but that the Clouds begin to difperfe. For it is never made in a thick Cloud, but in a thin : So that if it appear after Showers, which come from thick Clouds, it is a Token that now they grow thin. But the God of Nature chofe this to be a fign, that he would never let them thicken again to fuch a degree to bring a Deluge upon the Earth. And indeed the admira ble Form or Compofition of thisgloriow Circle (as the Son of Syrtcb calls it, Eccluf. XLIII. I2.J bent by the
Hands
upon GENES IS- 161
Hands of the moft High, doth naturally excite one to Chaptef look beyond the material and efficient caufe of it, un- IX. to the final (as the fore-named Author fpeaks.) And U^VNJ now that we have Mofes his Commentary upon it, we may fee in the mixt Colours of the Rain-bow, thefe two things } the Deftruftion of the old World by Water, and ti\z future Consumption of theprefent World* by Fire 5 whofe flaming Brightnefs is predominant in the waterifh Humour*
Ver. 15. And J will remember my Covenant , See."] Verfe 15. Look upon it as a Token of my Faithfulnefs to my Word.
Ver. 1 6. I mil look^upon. it, that I may remem-y&k 16. ber, &c.^ This is fpoken after the manner of Men $ the more to confirm their belief, that God would not go back with his Word.
Ver. 17. AndGodfaid, This is the Token, 8cc.] As Verfe 17. the Promife is repeated twice, to exprefs its certain ty, ver. 9, 1 1. So is the Token of it as oft repeated, for the famereafon, ver. 12. and here ver. 17.
Ver. 1 8. And the Sons of Noah, &c.] They are here Verfe 18. again named, with refpeft to what follows : But not in their order, as (hall be proved in its proper place, (X. 2i.J for Japhet was the Eldeft.
And Ham Is the Father of Canaan."] This Son of Ham is here all alone mentioned, becaufe he was concerned in the following wicked Fad of his Father : And his Pofterity were thofe wicked People whofe Country God gave to the Ifraelites.
Ver. 19. And of them was the whole Earth over- Verfe 19- fpreadJ] By this it appears, that though Noah lived above three hundred years after he came out of the Ark, yet begat no more Children 5 or if he did, none of them lived to have any Pofterity
Y Ver.
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 30. Began to be an Husband-man^] To im prove the Art of Husbandry 5 which wasunderftood
LX"yXJ before, but he much advanced it : There being 20- nothing in old time, which the greateft Men thought more worthy their ftudy ^ as we fee by the Romans themfelves, 'till they were corrupted by the Luxury which their Conquefts brought in among them.
And he planted a Vineyard.'] There were Vines here and there before the Flood $ but Noah feems to have been the firft that made a Vineyard, and put them in order. And the firft, perhaps, that invented Wine- Prejfis^ toprefsout the Juice of the Grapes, and make Wine. If he was not the Inventer of thefe two, (planting of Vineyards^ and making Wine} yet we may well allow him to be the Improver of them, as he was of Husbandry.
Verfe 21. Ver. 21. And he drank of the Wine, and was drun ken^ Being unacquainted with tfoe ftrength of the Liquor, ("as feveral of the Fathers, as well as of the Jewifh Doftors, think) or elfe being old and unable to bear its ftrength .• As Eptymwus underftands 'it. See Haref. LXIII. n. 3. For it is manifeft, from what follows, that this hapned a great while after the Flood ^ Ham having a Son 5 nay more than one, for Canaan was not his firft-born.
And he was uncovered in his Tent^] The heat of the Weather, or of the Wine, perhaps, made him throw off the Clothes: Or he was negligent being not him- felf.
Verfe 22, Ver. ax. And Ham the Father of Canaan^ Sec."] There are fome Circumftances, which follow, that make the Opinion of the Hebrew Doftors not improbable $ that Canaan firft faw Noah in this indecent pofture
and
upon GENESIS, 1*3
and made fport with it to his Father .• Who was fo Chapter far from reproving him, as he ought to have done, IX. that he alfo did the fame. L/~V\J
And told his two Brethren without."] In the Street, publickly before the People,he proclaimed his Father s iliame, and mock'd at it. For it is hard to think that God curfed him meerly for his Irreverence, but there was fomething of Derifion joined with it, and perhaps of Prophanenefs and Irreligion :in laughing (we may conceive) at the promife of the Meffiah, which, it is likely, he heard his Fatheroften fpeak of$ but now thought him incapable to beget. For Ham is generally thought to have been an impious Man ^ and Come take him to have been the firft Inventer of Idols after the Flood 5 nay, of Magick, which he learnt of the wicked Cafaites before the Flood. Thus Gafpar Schottus, L. I. de Magra, cap. 3. frolegom. Where he endeavours to (how he was the fame with him whom the Per/tans call Zoroafter.
Ver. 23. And Shemand'jafhet took^ a, Garment, &c.] Verfe 23- A great Argument of their Piety, and dutiful Affedti- on to their Father 5 which God therefore greatly re warded.
Ver. 24. And knew what his younger Son had done."] Verfe 24* Finding himfelf covered with Clothes that were not his own, he enquired, it is likely, how it came about „• And was informed how he had been abufed by one of his Sons, and honoured by the other.
His younger Son.'] Some make this an Argument that Canaan was the firft made himfelf merry with his Grandfather .- And is here called his younger or tittle Son, (nothing being more common than to call thofe theSons of another, who were his Grand-Chil dren, as Coufin-Germans are called Brothers) for Har,t
Y 2 was
^ COMMENTS RT
Chapter was neither little^ nor hisjw/ffger Son ,• but the middle* moft, as he is always placed. Nor doth it feem at 'w'VNj ail pertinent to the matter, to mention the Order of his Birth $ but very fir, if he fpake of'the Grandfon, to diftinguifh him from the reft. And what follows is a farther proof of it.
Verfe 2 jr. Ver. 25." Cnrfid be Canaan, S^cf] If whatlfaid before, (verfe 22, 24) be allowed, it makes it eafie to give an account why Canaan iscurfed rather than li&m } becaufe he was firft guilty. Ham indeed was punilhed in him : But he had other Sons, on whom the Punifhment did not fall, but only on this. For which I can find no reafon fo probable as that be fore-named. Which if it be not allowed, we muft have recourfe to an harfh Interpretation ; and by Ca naan underftand Canaans Father, as fome do.
A Servant of Servants."] That is, the bafeft and vileft of Servants. See the next Verfe.
Verfe 26. Ver. 26. Ble/ed be the LORD God ofShew.~] The Lo R D was the God ofShem^ after a peculiar manner juft as he was the God of Abraham, becaufe of the gracious Covenant made with him.- For God fettled his Church in the Family of Shem 5 and Chrift was born of his Pofterity 5 and he himfelf in all likeli hood, kept up the Worfhip of the true God, and oppofed Idolatry. In ftiort, to be the God of Shem^ was to beftow all manner of Bleffings upon him 3 which N0#Hiere prophefies to him, by bleffing the LoaD for them.- Whom he acknowledges to be the Author of them, out of his fpecial Grace and Favour towards him. For he was the younger Brother of Japhet, as I (hall (hew, X, 21. Thus Jacob interprets thisPhrafe, XXIX, 19, 20.
And
upon GENESIS. 165
And Canaan fljall be his fervant."] This was fulfil- Chapter led eight hundred Years after, when the Ifraelites, IX. ("who were defcended from Shem) tookpoffeflion of U^VNJ the Land of Canaan •-> fubduing thirty of their Kings 5 killing raoft of the Inhabitants ,• laying heavy Tri butes upon the Remainder 3 and ufing the Gibeonjtes (who faved themfelves by a wile) though not as Ser vants to them, yet as mere Drudges for the fervice of the Tabernacle. Whofe Name David is thought to have changed into Nethinim, (Ezra VIII. 20.) Peo ple who had voluntarily furrendred themfelves, (as they did to Joflwa when he had difcovered their Fraud } to do what he would with them. Solomon alfo made all the Remainders of the People of Canaan fubjeft to fervile Labours, when all the Israelites were free, as is plainly fignified, 2 Chron. VIII. 7, 8, 9. And fee Jofeph. Antiq. L. VIII. c. 2. Thus, as the Bleljing promifed to Abraham, was not fulfilled in his own Perfon, but in hisPofterity, many Generations after his Death $ fothis Curfe upon Cham, did not take place till the fame time .• The Execution of God YCurfe up on the one, being his conferring of a Bkjfing upon the other.
Ver. 27. Godftallinlargejaphet^] i. e. His Habita- Verfe 27; tion 5 for God gave him, for his Poffeffion, all the Ides of the Sea Weftvurd, and thofe Countries near to them, as Spain, Italy, Greece, Afia the lefs, &c. as Bochart hath obferved in his Phaleg. L.I.c.i. Who further notes, That in the Hebrew word for inlarge there is a plain Allufion to Japhet's Name 5 as there is to many others in Scripture ; Noah, verfe 19. JH- dah,Dan, Gad, 8cc. XLIX. 8, 16, 19. 'They, that tranflatethis word perfitade, (as it is in the Margin,) did not confider> that it is commonly taken in a-
bad
A COMMENTARY.
Chapter bad Sence, when it is fo ufed, for deceiving andyj- IX. during : And that it governs, as Grammarians fpeak, an Accufative Cafe, and not a Dative, fas it doth here,) when it fignifies to allure or perfuade. In (hort, this is a Promifeof a very large Portion to Japhet's Pofterity in the Divifion of the Earth. Which was but neceffary 5 for that part of the World which bends to the North being afligned to him, vaft Re gions were requifite for fuch a numerous Offspring as were likely to come from him : The Fruitfulnefs of People being wonderfully great in cold Climates. And accordingly, befides all Europe, and the lefler Afia, there fell to the (hare of his Pofterity, Media, part of Armenia, Iberia, Albania, and the vaft Re gions towards the North, which anciently the Scy~ tkians, now the Tartars, inhabited : From whom the People of the New World, (as we call itj feem to be derived $ the Scythians going thither by the Streights of Anian. Of which more upon
X.?2.
Mofes hath not told us, what were the Names of any of their Wives, but the Greeks have given to Japetus his Wife the Name of KAi^w, (as Hejiod calls her, } becaufe (he was the Mother of fo many famous Nations. So Vojfius, L. I. De Orig. Idolol. c. 18. And Cawpanella's Oblervation in this Verfe is, That<*# Empires defcended from the Sons of Japhet. L. De Monarchist Hifpan. c. 4. Which may be true of the great Empires, but the Egyptians feem to have been the firft confiderable Princes, and NimroJ was of the Race of Ham.
And he /hall dwell in the Tents of Shem.~] i.e. His Territories (hall be fo dilated, that in future times he fhall poffcfs fome of his Brother's Countries;
Which
upon G E N E S I S.
is alfo prophefied of, Numb. XXIV. 24. where Chapter it is faid they of Cittim JbaO «ffl!3 the Children of Af- IX, for andEber : i. e. Afflict the Affyrians and the Pie- brews, who were of the Pofterity of Shew. And fo boththeGree4r and the Romans did, who invaded and conquered that part of Apa which belonged to Shem. The Chaldee Paraphraft gives a Spiritual In terpretation of this Paffage, which is very apt, That the Gentiles fhould come into the Church, which was in the Family of Shem. And it is very remarkable, C which is obferved by our Mr. Mede, B. I. Difc. 48.) That all the Offspring of Japhet are at this day Chri- ftians, Magog only excepted (/. e. the Turks,*) whom God feems to have referved, as he did fome of the Canaanites in the Land of Ifraet, to prove and punifh us withal. Our Learned N. Fuller gives a quite dif ferent Interpretation from all ihefe, making God the Subjeft of this Speech, not Japhet 5 and thus tranflates it .• God /hall dwell in the Tents of Shem 5 among them fhall be the Schechinah^ or the Divine Majefty. But this doth not agree with what fol lows.
And Canaan flail be his Servant."} The Greeks and Romans defcended from Japhet conquered Canaan : And whatfoever Relicks there were of them any where, ("for inft mce at Tyre^ built by fazSidonians 5 at Thebes ^ by Cadmus ^ at Carthage, by Dido 3) they were all cut off by the Greeks or Romans. It is obferved by Campanella^ That None are defcended from Cham, but Slaves ^ and Tyrants^ who are indeed Slaves, Cap. IV, De Mon. Hifpan. But Mr. Medes Obfervation is more pertinent, (in the fore-named Difcourfe.p.^^) There hath never yet been a Son of Chamy that hath (haken a Scepter over the Head
of
1 68 A COMMENTARY.
Chapter of Japhet. Sew hath fubdued Jabhet, and Japhet fub- X. dued Sem : But Cham never fubdued either. Which
<-*"v*(o madeHrftfff/W, a Child of Canaan, cry out with a- raazementof Soul, Agnofco fatum Carthagints, I ac knowledge the Fate of Carthage. Livy, L XXVII. in fine.
Verfe 28. Ver. 28. And Noah lived after the Flood three hun dred andffty Tears.'] Which was of great Advan tage for the certain Propagation of the Knowledge of thofe things before related, and of thofe that follow in the next Chapter. For he died not above two and thirty Years before Abraham was born.
CHAP. X.
Verfe i. Ver. i. IV TO W thefe are the Generations of the Sons l\l of Noah, &C.1] As he had often before mentioned the three Sons of Noah, fo now he men tions them again, being to give an Account of their Children, by whom the Earth was peopled after the Flood. And he reckons them in the fame order he had always done, (VI. icv VII. 13. IX. 18.) firft Shew^ then Havt, and laft of all Japhet. But itisob- fervable, that in the next Verfe he gives an Account firft of the Sons of Japhet : Who was indeed the el- deft. There is great ufe of this Genealogy, as Mai- monides (hows, (Par. III. More Nev. c. 50.) becaufe the Dodrine of the Creation of the World, which is. the Foundation of the Law, (i. e. of Religion J would not have been fo eafily believed 5 if Mofes had not given an Account of the Succeffion of Man kind,
upon GENE SI S, 169
kind, from the firft Man to the Flood $ and from Chapter the Flood to his own time .• Showing from whom X. all Nations were derived, and how they came to be difperfed.
Shew, is named fir ft of Noah's Sons, becaufethe blefled Seed was to fpring out of his Family : In which the true Religion was preferved : Which was foon loft in the Pofterity of the other two ,* among whom their Names remained in great Honour. For,
Ham was the Heathen Jupiter , who was called Hammon in Egypt, which, it will appear, was part of Hani* Portion, and is called the Land of Ham, as eve ry one knows, in many places of the Pfalms. And accordingly the fame Country is called by Plutarch
Japhet alfo feems to have been the fame with Jape- tfts, whom theGrfe'4/ own to have been their Fa ther. Nor do they know any Name of greater An tiquity ^ which made them give it to decrepit Per- fons, (as many, particularly Bochart, have obferved,) and it-became a Proverb in that Country, Older than Japetus. Whom their Poets feign to have attempted War againft Jupiter 5 becaufe of the Diflentions which the unlikenefs of their Manners begat between them. Which feems to be nothing but the Story in Chapter IX. of this Book, verfe 12. For Ham, as I faid, is the Heathen Jupiter.
Ver. 2. The Sons of Japhet.~] Were feven 3 the el- deft of which, Gotner% had three Sons ^ and the fourth Javan, had four .• Whole Names we have in the fol lowing Verfes.
Gower.~] It's hard, at this diftance, to find what Country was peopled by his Pofterity 5 but Bochar-
Z tits
A COMMENTARY
Chapter tus in his PhaJeg hath madefuch probable Conjeftures, X. ^ about this and all that follow, from other Scriptures, and from Neighbouring Places, and the Relicks of their Names in ancient Geographers, and fuch like things, that they carry a great appearance of Truth in them. Our famous Catnden (in his Account of the firft Inhabitants of Britain) thinks that the dm- bri and Cimmern defcended from this Gomer, who gave them their Name 5 and that the old Britams came from him, becaufe they call themfelves Knmero, Cymro, and Kumeri 3 which feems to denote them the Pofterity of Gomer. But this, asalfo the Notion ot Ludov. Cappellns in his Chron. Sacra, p. 104. ( whot if this of Mr. dWe^-be not accepted, propounds another, of the Comari and Chowari, a People in Scy- thia (mentioned by Ptolomy} within the Mountain Ijnavs, near Baftriana,) is confuted by what we read in Ezekfel^ who makes Gomer to have been a Neigh bour of Torg&mah^ Ezek. XXXVIII. 6. And Torga- vtahwzs a Nation thatufually went to the Marts of Tyre^ XXVII. 14. and confequently were not feated in thefurthermoft part of the North 5 but, as will appear afterward, not very far from Tyre. And in fome Country thereabouts we muft feek for Gomer :• who, it's likely, gave Phrygia its Denomination. For a part of it was called Ka7a^^ty/x^w, by Diodorus and Hejychittf, becaufe it look'd as if it were burnt. Such was all the Country about Cayfter, M<eanderr and the City Philadelphia. Now this is the very fignification ofGower. For in the Hebrew Gamar is to confume 5 and fo the Chaldee and Syriack frequent* ly ufe it .-• Whence Gumra, or Gumrov* a Coal. &nd Phrygia is of the fame fignification, (for yglyw in is to torrifie^ which being the Name of part
of
upon GENESIS. iji
of the Country, ia time became the Name of the Chapter whole. X,
Magog-'] The fecond Son of Japbet, was in all likely hood the Father of the Scythians $ which is the Opinion of Jofephus, Theodoret, St. Hurom, and o- thers. For all that is faid in Scripture about Magog exa&ly agrees to them$ as Bochartus hath (hown at large, out ofEzekiel: L. III. Pbaleg. c. 13.
Madai."] From him the Country of Media took its Name : Where he and his Children fettled. And it is the farthermoft Country Eaftward, where any of the Pofterity of Japhet inhabited. What is the Name of this Country at prefent,is not eafie to tell $ the ancient name and limits of Countries fo remote, being quite worn out of memory. But it is no improbable Conjefture of Bochartus^ (L. III. c. 14.^ That the ancient Sarntata took their Name from this Man, Sear or Sar-Madai, being mCbaldee, as much as the Relicksof Madai^ or the Medes. Dr. Jackc fony I think, hath well obferved, (Book I. c. 16.) that Scythia or the North part of Afia-Niinor^ and o- ther parts adjacent, were inhabited by the Sons of Ja- phet, before they came into Greece, (where the next Son fettled J or the other parts of Europe.
Javan.~\ Planted himfelf in Greece^ under which word is comprehended^ not only Acha?a&r\A the reft of the Countries thereabout ^ but even Macedoma, and the Nations neighbouring to it, towards the Weft : The Sea that wafhes them, being called the Io nian Sea. And indeed the Hebrew word P"1 taking away the Vowels, may be either read Java* or Ion. From whence the lones^ whom Homer calls J&omt, which is near to Java* 5 which a Per fan in Arifie- phanes his Acharnenfes pronounces Jaonau • As Gro-
Z 2 tins
i;2 A COMMENTARY
Chapter tius obferves. Annot. in L. I. De V. R. C. Hence Da- X. niel calls Alexander, who came out of Macedonia, the Kwgtfjavan, VIII. 2i. And the GMtfeefPeraphrafc hath here inftead otjavan, Macedonia. See Bochark L. III. ^/?. 3.
T»/>*/ rfW Me/heck."] Thefe two are conftantly joyned together by Ezekjelin many places, XXVII. 13, XXXII. 26, &c. Which is a fign thefe two Bro thers planted themfelves not far from one another. And noCon)efture feems fo probable as that of Bo~ chartus^ who takes thefe to be the People, whom the Greeks call Mofihi and Tibareni : who are as con* ftantly joyned together in Herodotus, as Mafchech and! Tubal are in Ezekiel. And none need wonder that Tubal was changed into Tubar, and then into Tibar: For nothing was more common among the Greeks^ than to thange the Letter L into R, as B^Aiap for Beli- al> and $r£»p for Phicol^ 8cc. The Mofchi inhabited the Mountains called Mofchict, North-eaft ofCappado- ^,and all the Mountains fas Bochart thinksj from the River Pbafis to the Pontus-Cappadocicus. The 7/V bareni were in the middle between the Trapezuntnm& the Inhabitants of Armenia \hz lefs. SoSiraho defcribes them, who was born not far from thefe Countries-, and had reafon to know them. Nor is this a new Opinion of Bocharfs, that the Tibareni came frort> Tubol : For Epiphanms in his Ancorats, mentions a- mongthe Defcendantsof Japhet^ Ti£a&tv%$, together- with the Chafybes and Moffyn&ci : whom our Bwugh- ton follows.
Tlras."] Or, Thirty the youngeft of the Sons of Japhet, poffeffed Thrace and My/ia, and the reft of£w rope towards the Narth. For ®g£% is Thiras or Thras by the change of the Letter Samech into Xi : Which
in
upon G E N E S I S
in. the Greek^ Alphabet (received from the. Plotnict* Chapter rf///)anfwers to the Letter Samec h 5. ib that (ome of X. the Hebrews write Thracia with an i, Thrajtn : And a Thrac'nm Woman is called by the Greeks themfelves 0£#cxju and ©£u<Ma.: Which comes very near to Thiras. And that great Man Bochartus fays a great deal more to confirm this , which was the Opinion, he (hows, of many of the Ancients, Pbaleg. L.,MLc. 2- And in late times, of Ludovtcus Capeltus, who adds that poffibly Troj and Trees were derived from this
Ver. 3, And the SONS o/Go.#/er.~] Now follows arvVerie g* Account ofthofe that defcended from the eldeft Soa of Japhet. A/bfanaz was the eldeft Son of dower ; whofe Pofterity- fettled in Bithyni^ (where we find the foot-fteps of his Name, in the Sinus .Afianius, and Afcamus LacHS^ and Amms^) and in Troas, and the. leffer Phrygia : In which is a Country and a City called Afcani*) and Afcania /»////<£. Into which Coun try the Offspring of Afok^naK brought Colonies from Gomer, or the greater Phrygia :, And extended them- fel.ves to the Sea. Which- being caHed by the Peo ple upop theCoaft^/2'^^&, was pronounced by the 6rt£Jy,*A%&@(*. Which being an odious ^ame in their Language, fignifying inhofphable, they changed. it into the contrary, and called it BU|G«*©U, the £*- xin Sea. Seemoreinthe fore-named Author, L. III. r. 9, Ludov. CapMtts hapned upon the fame Con- jefture. Riphath, or Diphath, as it is written in I* Ckfon. 1.6. whofe Pofterity Jofephus thinks to have inhabited Paphlagonia : which is a Country near to Phrygia, upon the Evxine Sea.: And there are. re mainders of the Name in feveral places, both ways
written, with Reft, or withD^/e/> ; zs.Bacbart (hows3 ,
* * * *
L. ILL
i>4 J COMMENTARY
Chapter L. lll.c. i o. Mela places the Rjphaces in this Country X. as Grotius obferves, Annot\ in L. I. de V. R. C.
t^V^SJ Togarmah,~] His Pofterity, it is manifeft, fettled Northward of Jnd<ea, by that place in Ezel{. XXXVIIL 6. where the Greel^ Scholiaft faith, fome hereby un- derftand the Cappadocians and Galatians. And in deed Cappadocia lies near to Corner or Phrygia, with whom Togarmah is wont to be joyn'd .• And in re- fpeft of JuJtfa it lies Northward: And was molt fa mous for excellent Horfes:> which the Prophet faith came from Togarwah, Ezek- XXVII. 14. The Greek. Interpreters conftantly write itTorgav/a, or Tborga- wa^ from whence the Name -of theTr^m or Troc- wi may well be thought to be derived : Who, Stra- bo faith, L. XII. lived near Pontus and Cappadocia : And it appears by Ptolomy, they pofleffed fome Ci ties in Cappadoc'id it felf. This People are called by Stephamts, Trocmeni, and in the Council of Chalcedcn^ Trocwades^ or Trogmades : For their Bi (hop is often mentioned 'ETnV^OTrigi. T&xjuulbw. See Bochart in the fame Book, cap. n.
Verfe 4. vef0 ^^ ^^ tfa Sons of Javan^\ Having told us what Sons Gomcr had, he informs us who had de» fcended from Javan : Who had/^/r Sons^ that gave Names to four Provinces.
Elifoa."] His Firft-born inhabited Peloponnefus ; In which there was an ample Country, called by the Ancients £//'/ / and one part of it called by Hower, Alifinm. I omit the other Arguments whereby Bo- chartus proves this to be the part of the Earth, where El/foas Pofterity fettled, not far from their Father Javan. Nay, L^ldoviclts CapeUus, p 105. Chro- nol. Sacra, thinks the At'oA^, JEoles, and the Coun try jfEolia had its Name from thence.
Tar-
upon GENES IS. 275
(Or, 7>/f.) Neither peopled Glicia Chapter where we meet with a like Name, nor the Coaft a- X, bout Carthage, as fome of the Ancients thought 5 but, as Eufebiusy and from him our Broughton^ and fately Bochart, have obferved, from him came the Ibcri in Spain. 0«p<7&fe c£ 5 yl£»/Dfc$ Which Name oflberi came, as Bochart thinks, from the Phoenicians^ who called the Bounds and utmoft Limits of any thing Ehrim or llrim, a word often ufed in the Syriac Verfion of thePfalws and the New Jeftawent. From whence, it is not unlikely, the Spaniards were cal led by this Name of Iberi, becaufe they were thought to poffefs the utmoft Ends of the Earth Weftward. However we may well think Tarfoffi to be Spain v or that part of it which was moft frequented by the Phoenicians, viz. about Gades and Tarteffiis : As Bo- chartus, I think, hath proved by evident Arguments y fetched chiefly from what Ezefyel fays of Tar/is> (XXVII. 12.) and comparing it with this Country., L. III. Phaleg. c. 7.
Kittim7\ The fame Author hath proved by folid Arguments, and by good Authority, that from him came the People who inhabited Italy : In which there were anciently many footfteps of this Name. For there was in Lalmm itfelf a City called Ke-nar as Halycarnafaus tells us : Which was one of thofe feven great and populous Cities taken by Coriolanus, as Plutarch^ in his Life, tells us. There was a River called KfcTos about Cutn<e 5 mentioned by Ariftotle, as turning Plants into Stones. And the very Name of JLtf/«e.f anfwers to Chittint: For moft fay it comes a latendo, being formed to exprefs this ancient Scrip ture Name. For Chetema in Arabic^ (which is a branch of the Hebrew Tongue) is to hide : And
# COMMENT ART
Chapter Cheiim is hidden^ and latent. And fo no doubt it was
X. anciently ufed in Hebrew : For what better fence can
+s-\s**-* we make of thofe words of Jeremy II. 22. thy iniquity
•uU'rOJl, fr hidden or laid up with me : According to an
ufual Expreilion^in Scripture, Dent. XXXII. 34. Job
XXI. 9. Jfe/TXflLia. where there are words of the
like import with this. That famous Man, Bochart,
faith a great deal more, to affertthis, L. HI. r« 5.
Dodanjx*^ He is called Rhodanint^ in i CAr0#. I. 7, By whom the 6ree^ Interpreters underftand the Peo ple of Rhodes, .(and fo do feveral of the Ancients,^ but the Name of that Hland is much later than Mo- fes his time / And therefore it is better to underftand hereby, that Country now called France : Which was peopled by the Pofterityqf this Son of Javan. Who when they came to this Goad, gave Name ("as Bochart conjectures^ to the great River Rhodanus. Where it is likely they firft feated themfelves, and called the adjacent Coaft Rhodanufla: which had anciently in it a City of the fame Name, menrion'd by Stephanas ^ and faid to be feated hi MaworaA/^ in tratiu MaQilienfi, where now ftands Marfetlles. See Bochart) L. Ill, c. 6 Thefe Dodanites were never men tioned in any other places of Scripture, which makes it the more difficult where to find them : But this Account feems more probable than that of our learn ed Mede, who places them in Epirus^ (where there was a City called 'Dzdona^) and part of Peloponne- JHS : All which, and feveral Countries thereabout, feem to be comprehended under the Name of Ja va??.
Verfe 5. Ver. 5*. By thefe were the Ifles of the Gentile r di- tyided^] By the word Ifles we commonly underftand Countries compared round about by the Sea. But
there
upon G EN E S I S.
there were not fuch I/lands enough to contain the Sons Chapter ofjaphet, (though thefe were part of their Portion,) and therefore we muft feek for another fence of this word. Which the Hebrews ufe (asMr.Mede hath ob- ferved) to fignifie, aSthofe Countries divided, from them by the Sea; or, fuch as they ufed not to go to, but by Sea* See Bookl. Difc. 47. Many places teftifie this, Ifai. XI. 10, n. XL. 15. Jcr. II. 10, &c. Now if Mofes wrote this Book in Egypt ^ (as he thinks it pro bable) they commonly went from thence to Phrygia, Cappadocia, Paphlagonia by Sea, as well as to Greece, Italy, See. To Media indeed, he thinks, they did not ufe to go by Sea, and therefore makes this an Ob- jeftion againft Madai being the Father of the Medes ; For their Country cannot be called an Ijle. But the far greater part of the Regions, peopled by the Sons o£Japhet> being fuch as he confeffes the Hebrews call Ijles $ Mofes might well fay, the IJles of the Gentiles were parted among them, though Media be compre hended which was not fuch an Ijle. But there is no need of all this, if we take the word we tranflate Ifle^ for a Region, Country, or Province. And fo it plain* ly fignifies, J^XXII. 30. Ifai. XX. 6. where, in the Margin, we tranflate it Country. And then the word GOJW, which we render Gentiles^ fignifies a multitude of People 5 as it doth often in Scripture : Particularly Gen. XVII. 4, 16. And fo we tranflate it, Nations^ in the laft word of this Verfe ^ and in the laft Claufe of this Chaffer :> by thefe were the [Goim~\ Nations divided in the Earth. Which may ferve to explain this Phrafe here ^ which we may thus interpret, by thefe^ or among thefe, were divided the Regions of the People or Nations (defcended from Japhet*) in their Lands $ in the feveral Countries which they pofTefled.
A a £>/-
i78 A COMMENTART
Chapter Divided*] It appears by the following words,, X. ("according to his Language^ Family^ and Nation^) this great Divifionof the Earth was made orderly ; and not by a confufed irregular Difperfion, wherein eve* ry one went whither he lifted, and feated himfelf where he thought good. This Mr. Mede thinks is alfo fuggefted in the very word we tranllate divided :-. Which fignifies not a fcattered, but a diftinft Parti tion.
Every one after his Tongue, or Language."] The fame is faid, ver. 20. and ^.3 1 . of the Pofterity of Cham and Shem. Which fignifies they did not all fpeak the fame Language, but doth not prove that every one of the fore- mentioned People, had a Language peculiar to themfelves, diftinft from the reft, and notunderftood by them. As when Ahafuerus is faid to have caufed Letters to be written to an hundred twenty feven Pro^ vinces, according to their Language and their Wri ting, (Efth. XIII.p.) it doth not prove there were fo many Teveral forts of Writing, and fo many feveral Languages in his Empire: But only that to each of them was direfted a Letter, in that Language which they fpake.
After their Families^ in their Nations."] The Parti cle in denotes, as Mr. Mede obferves. Families to be fubordinate to Nations^ as parts to a whole. Fami nes are parts of a Nation^ and a Nation is an Off- fpring containing many Families. So here was a two fold order in this Divi/ion. Firfl, They were ranged according to their Nations } and then every Nation was ranked by his Families. So that every Nation had his Lot by himfelf 5 and in "every Nation, the Families belonging to it, had their Portion by them felves. The number of Nations defcended from Ja-
Hfon GENESIS,
phet were/k>etf, according to the number of his Sons, Chapter who were all Founders of feveral Nations. But the X. number of Families is not here entirely fet down : L/"WJ For Mofes names only the Families of Gomer and Ja- van. \ Whofe Children perhaps are rather to be lookt upon as Founders of Nations 3 and therefore men tioned by Mofes , when the Pofterity of the reft are omitted.
Ver. 6. And the Sons of Ham.'] Having given any^rfe 6* account of the Sons and Grand-Sons of Japhet, the elded Son of Noah, he next proceeds to the Sons of 'Ham, the fecond Son of Noah, which were Four : And gives an account alfo of every one of their Sons, and of fome of their Grand-Sons.
Cujh.] Gave name to a Country very often men- tion'd in Scripture 3 which moft of the Ancients take for JEthiopia, and fp we commonly tranflate the word Cufl). But, if by ^Ethiopia they meant that Country South of Egypt^ and not an Eaftern Coun try, (which may be a queftion,) Jonathan is rather to be followed, who here Paraphrafes it Arabia. For Cufh is the fame with Chufan^ (only this latter is a diminutive,) which is made the fame with Midian^ Habak: HI- 7- And fo Mofes his Wife is called a Cufhite, (we read it lEthiopian^ for (he was a Midianite, Exod. II. 1 6, 21. and therefore was of Arabia^ not of JEthiopia : And fo we (hould tran flate it, (JfHmb. XII. 2.) an Arabian Woman. And there is a Demonftration of it in Ezek, XXIX. 10, that tu/b cannot be ^Ethiopia 3 for, when God faith he will make Egypt defolate, from theTomr ofSyene, ,to the Border ofCu/h^ifwe (hould underhand by Cujb the Country of ./Ethiopia, it will be as if he had faid, from JEthiopia fo ^Ethiopia. For every one
A a 2 knows
i8o A COMMENTARY
Chapter knows Sjene was the Border of Egypt towards JtLthio- X, fia : And therefore here being two oppofite Borders, it is manifeft that £/*/&, which is the oppofite term to Syenc, cannot be JEthiopia, but Arabia : Which bounded that part of Egypt ^ which is moft remote from Ethiopia. A great number of other Arguments, out of the Scriptures, evince this: Which Bochartvs hath collected, L. IV. Phaleg.c. 2. and Philip. Beroal* dus aflerted the fame thing, before him.
Mizraivt."] The Father of them who inhabited E- gypt, whofe Metropolis \_Alcairo~] the Arabians at this Day call Mefer 5 and the firft Month among the an cient Egyptians was called Mefori : And Cedrentt* calls the Country it felf Meftra, as Grotiu* obferves in his Annot. m L. I. De V. R. C. and Lud. Cappettw in his Chron. Sacra p. 109. And this word Mfaraim be ing of the Dual. Number, (which (hows it to be the Name of the Country rather than of aPerfon,) de notes two Egjpts^ as Bockart obferves. For fo there were, the higher and the lower. All that Coun try was called the higher^ where Nile runs in one Stream : The lower was that, where it is divided into many : Which the Greek? call Delta, from its trian gular form.
P/Mtf.] All Africa was divided between Mfaraim and Phut, as Bocharitts obferves. For all Egypt^ and feveral other parts of Africa, as far as the Lake Tri- tonides, (which divides .^/ravnnto twoalmoft equal parts) fell to Mfaraim. The reft, beyond that Lake, to the Atlantick, Ocean, was the Portion of Phut. Of which Name there are fome footfteps, in the City Putea, which Ptolemy, L.IIL c. i. calls $aW. And the River called Phut, mentioned by Pliny, zsGrotitts notes,' and a Country, which St ftierom in his time
fays
upon GENESIS, i8g
fays was called ReghPhutenfis .• Which Iks not far Chapter from Fez. Another name of Africa is Lub, which we X. often meet withal in Scripture: Whence the Name of Lybia. Concerning which, and a great many other- Proofs that Phut was planted in Africa, fee the famous Bochartu*, L. IV. Phaleg. c. 33.
Canaan."] The youngeft Son of Ham, everyone fcriows, gaVe Name to that Country, which God gave afterwards to the Israelites. Which the Phoenicians •, who defcended from the CanaAnitcs, called Xj>a, by a contraction of the word Canaan, as many have ob~ ferved out of Eufibius, L. I. Prtpar. c. 10. who quotes Sanchnniathon and Phito Bybliu* for it. It is fo certain that the Phoenicians had their Original from the Canaanites^ that the LXX ufes their Names promifcuoufly. For example, Shanl is called, Gen. XL VI. 10. the Son of a Canaanitijh Woman : Whom in Exod. VI. 15. they call the Son of a Phoenician Woman. And fo in the New Teftament, the Woman whom St. Matthew calls & Woman of Canaan, XV. ax. St. Mark^ calls a Syrophoenician, VII. 26. We never indeed find the Phoenicians called Canaanites by the Greeks : For their Pofterity being aihamed (as we may fuppofe) of that Name, beCaufe of the Curfe pronounced upon Canaan, chofe to be called rather Syrians, or Ajfyrians, or Sidonians, or Phoenicians. For Syria, which was a common Name to a great many People round about, was at firft proper to them $ from the Metropolis of Phoenicia^ which was Tyre, in Hebrew Sor or Sttr ^ from whence Surim, and thence the Grie^. Srfg^i . They that would fee more of 'this, may read the fore-named Author, L. IV. Phaleg. '•34-
Ver.
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 7. In this Verfe Mofes acquaints us, what Peo X. pie descended from the eldeft Son of Ham, viz, UTNTSJ Citfa who had Jive Sons: And the fourth of them Verfe 7. had two.
Seta.*] There were four Nations, that had the Name of Seba or Shebah, as Bochart obferves, L. II. ^.25. Three of them are mentioned here in this Chapter. The firft of them, this Son of Cujh\s written with Satnecbs) all the reft with &•&*.• viz. The Grand-fon of C///&, who was the Son of Raamah or Rhegma, iti the end of this Fer/e. The fA*W was the Son of ' tyctyani the Son of Stew, verfe 28. And the fourth was a Grand-Child of Abraham^ by his Son ^ockshan XXV. 3. They that defcended from the f£r<?e firft of thefe, were a People .given to Trade 5 from the jfatfrf/j came a People addided to Robbery. The frft, thefecond, and the fourth^ were feated near the Perfian Sea $ the f£/r^ near the Arabian. Whence •Pliny faith the Sab<eans ftretched themfelves to both Seas, L.V. c, -i'8. For all thefe four People, were comprehended under the Name of Sah#ans> though very different one from another. But it may t>e doubted whether the Sabaans^ who defcended from Jocly/jan'tiie Grand- Child of Abraham, did live near theFer/^«Sea. And I (hall fhow upon XXV. 3. that Bochart himfelf thought otherwife, upon further Confideration.
And as for this Seba, he was the Father of a Peo ple in Arabia called J.emamites, as Alcawut an Ara- blan Writer tells us. Whofe words are, A certain Man called Saba gathered together the Tribes of the je- mamites: •/. e. He was the Founder of the People called by that Name, from a famous Queen of that .Country called Jemama. SzzBochartw, L.IV. c. 8. * where
upon GENESIS. if 3
where he (hows where they were fituated : And that Chapter they are the Sabaans who are faid by Agatharchles to X, have been a very tall proper People, mentioned Ifai. XLV. 14.
Havilab."] Or, Chavttah. There were two Havi- lahs alfo : Onethe Son ofCufh here mentioned 5 ano ther the Son of Jockfan, verfe 29. From this Havi- lah feem to have come the People called Ckauloth^^ by Eratofthenes : Who were feated in Arabia F%l/xy (as Strabo teJls us,) between the Nabat<et and the Agrai, i. e. the Hagerens. ByP/;>ythey are called Gfwveldi, (which comes neareft to the He^ren?Name,) tvho were feated in that part of the Country, which lay \owards Babylon. As appears by this, that in the Scripture the Wildernefs of Shur ( nigh Egypt) and Havtlah are oppofed, as the mod remote oppofite Bounds of Arabia. Thus the Ifhmaetites are faid to have dwelt/r^^ Havtlah to Shur, Gen. XXV. 18. that is before Egypt ^ k Regions Kgypti^ over-againft Egypt , as Bochart trandates it. That is, Havllah bounded them on the North-Eaft 5 andS/wron thz South-Weft ; Which Shur was near to Egypt. And To Saul is faid to have fmitten the Amalekjtes from Havilah to Shur^ &c. i Sam. XV. 7. where we trandate the laft words, over againft Egypt.
SabtaJ] Or Sabtha, fwhom the Ancients call Saba- 'tha, or Sabathes^} feems to have been fettled in that part of Arabia Foelix called Learntis^ upon the Per- fian Sea. Where there was a City, not far diftant from the Sea, called by ttohnty 25kpiaS* From whence they fent Colonies over the Sea into Per/ir, as Bo- chart (hows by feveral Arguments, L.lV.e. 10, For there is an Ifland on that Coaft called Sophtha^ and a People called Meffabate or Mejjabatlw upon the
A O
Chapter Confines of Media : From the Chaldean wofd X. (which fignifies middle) and Sab#iha$ as if one would hy-> the Mediterranean Sabte.
Raamah~\ Or, as the Ancients pronounce his Name, Rhcgma, wasfituated in the fame Arabia^ up on the Perfean Sea. Where there is a City mention ed by Ptolewps Tables RktgAwa. 5 in the Greek^ Text exprefly 'Plyjuut, Rhegwa. And (oStephat?#f mentions both rp?fyfcut 7rv\i<; and ^'AvrgL 'Fify^, about ithe Per-
Gulph.
Sabtecha7\ Or Sabtheca, as fome read it, was the youngeft Son of Cujb $ except Nimrod, who is men tioned by himfelf. It is hard to find the place of his Habitation : But the reft of the Sons of Cufli be ing feated about the Per/ian Sea, (except Nlmrod^ who, as Mofcs tells us, went to Babylon) Bocharttts thinks it reafonable to feek for him in that part of Caramania, where there was a City called Sawydace, and a River SaMydacIw : ,Which,he thinks may have come from Sabetecha^ by the change of the Letter B into M: Which was very frequent in Arabia, and the Neighbouring Countries. For Merodach, is alfo called Berodach, in the Book of Kings. And in the Chaldee Paraphrafe, Bafan is called Bathnan and Math nan : And Abana (the famous River of Dawaf- is expounded Amana. : And Meccha and Bee* are the fame City among the Arabians. In like manner Sabtecka or Sabithace^ might be changed into Samydace. Now into Caramania there was a fhort cut over the Streights of the Perjian Gulph, out of Arabia. I fee nothing any where more probable than this Conjecture of that very Learned Man. L. IV. P ha leg. c. 4.
And
upon GENESIS. 185
And the Sons ofRawah 5 Sheba and Dedan.~] He Chapter gives an Account of none of Cujh's other Sons po- X, fterity,but only of this : Whofe two Sons were feated U'VNJ near him, and one other. For the younger of them, Dedan, feems to have left his Name in a City now called Dadan^ hard by Rhegma, upon the fame Shore, Eaftward. And from this Dadan the Coun try now hath its Name : Of which Ezefyel fpeaks, XXVII. 15. as Bochart (hews plainly, L. IV. c. 6. And Sheba for as others read it5 Seba, orSaba) his elder Brother, was feated in the fame Country, not far from Dedan, where Powponius mentions a Peo- \ pie called Sab&i 5 and Arrianus fpeaks of a great Mountain not far off, called Sabo, from this Saba : Whofe Pofterity eafily paffing over the Straits be fore-mentioned, into Caratvania, might poffibly give Name to a City there, which Ptolemy calls Sabis : And Pliny mentions a River of the fame Name : And Dionyf. Periegttes fpeaks of a People called Sa- b<e. Of whom the Scripture feems to fpeak in thofe places where Sheba and Seba are joyned together, LXXILio. The Kings of Sheba (i.e. of this Coun try) and Seba fhaff offer Gifts. And fometimes She- ba and Raavtah (or Rhegnta) are joyned, Ezeb XXVII. 22. where the Prophet fpeaks of this Sheba the Son of Rhegma 5 who brought thofe precious Commodities there mentioned, out of Arabia : They lying very commodioufly for Traffick upon the Per- fan Gulph. And thefe are the People alfo mention ed, verfe 23. of that Chapter, with fundry other Na tions 5 who lived upon Tigris and Euphrates^ which run into the Perjian Sea 5 and therefore it is rea- fonable to think that Shebas Pofterity lived near the fame Sea.
B b Ver,
1 8(5
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 8. And Cuff} begat
Befides all the
X.
Verfe 8
fore- mentioned, he alfo begat this Son :, whom Mo— fes diftinguifhes from the reft, and mentions him a- lone by himfelf, becaufe he was the moft eminent among his Brethren, though born the lad $ a migh ty Commander, as Mofes here defcribes him. Thus in the Title of Pfal. XVIII. it is faid David was delivered out of the hand of all his Enemies, and out of the hand of baul : Who is particularly men tioned by himfelf, becaufe he was his Chief Enernyo Sir W. Raleigh thinks he was begotten by Cujb, when his other Children were become Fathers 5 and fo be ing younger than his Grandfons, he is named after an account is given of every one of them.
Niwrod.~\ The Author of the Chronicon Alexandr. thinks he was the fame with Nivw : But Voffiw rather takes him for him, whom the Greek, Writers call Beln^ that is, Lord: And that Nrnvt was his Son, fo called from the very thing it felf, Nin in Hebrew fignifying a Son, L. I. de IdoloL cap. 24. The fame Chronicon faith, that Niwrod taught the Ajfyrians to worfhip the Fire : And both Elmacinw and Patricides af firm the fame. See Hotting. Smegtna Orient. L. I. c.S. p. 271. Which if it be true, J doubr not was as an Emblem of the Divine Majefty 5 which ufed to ap pear in a glorious Flame, Vr a City of Chaldta feems to have had its name from the Fire which was there worftipped : And that Vr alfo from whence Abraham came, the Hebrews fanfie had the fame original 5 for their Fable is, That Abraham was thrown into the Fire, becaufe he would not Wor- (hip it'} and by the power of God delivered, as St. Hierom tells us in his Que (lions upon Genefis.
H*
upon GENESIS, 187
He began to be a mighty one in the Earth."] He was Chapter the firft great Warrior and Conqueror $ fo Gwbor X. is to be underftood, not fora Giant •, or Man o great Stature ^ but for a potent Perfon : And as fome will have it, a more fevere Governour than they had been, who only exercifed Paternal Authority. For he was the firft that put down the Government of Elder- (bip, or Paternity (as Sir W.Raleigh fpeaksj and laid the Foundation of Soveraign Rule.
Ver. 9. He was a mighty Hunter^] Or rather, mighty in Hunting : For the word tzid doth not fig* nifie a Hunter, but Hunting. Which (hows by what means he came to be fo great a Monarch. He hard- tied himfelf to Labour by this Exercife (which was very toilfomj and drew together a great Com pany of robuft Young Men, to attend him in this fport : Who were hereby alfo fitted to purfue Men4 as they had done wild Beafts. For this was lookt upon in all Ages, as the rudiment of Warfare, (as Bochdrt (hews out of a great many Authors, L. IV. cap 12.) All the Heroes of old, fuch as Neflor, The- feus, Catfor, Pollux, Ulyjfis, Diomedes, Achilles, JE~ neat, tec. being all bred up to hunting, zsXenophott informs us. And it was not without fome fuch rea- fon, that noble Families carry in their Coat of Anns (as Enfignsof their valorous Atchievements) Lyons ^ Bears, Tygers, 5cc. from their killing fuch like fierce Creatures. For it muft be farther noted, that in this Age of Niwrod, the Exercife of Hunting might well be the more highly efteemed, and win him the Hearts of Mankind ; becaufe he delivered them, by this means, from thofe wild Beafts, whereby they were much infeiled, and very dangerouily expofed, while they were but few, and lived fcattered up
B b i and
i88 A COMMENTARY
Chapter and down, in the open Air, or in Tents, but weakly X. defended. The deftroying of wild Beafts, (and per- haps of Thieves whom he hunted alfo) was a great Service in thofe times, and made many joyn with him in greater Defigns which he had at laft 5 to fub- due Men, and make himfelf Mafter of the People^ who were his Neighbours, in Babylon!, Sufiana, and Ajjyria. The memory of this Hunting of his, was preferved by the Ajjyrians (who made Nirr/rod the fame with Orion) who joyned the Dog and the Hare (the firft Creature perhaps that was hunted) with his Conftellation. This Mr. Selden obferves in his Ti tles of Honour, Part. I. cap. i. where he farther notes that he is to this day called by the Arabians? Alge- bar, the mighty Man, or the Giant : From the He brew Gibbor here in the Text.
Before the LOR D.] i. e. To the higheft degree. For fo, a great City to God, is a very great City, Jonah III. 3. and a Child very beautiful is called &$&©» ©e£ fair to, or before God, A8s VII. 20. Or the meaning may be, he was truly fo, not only in com mon Opinion. For that is faid to be before God, which really is : Becaufe God cannot be deceived with falfe Appearances.
Wherefore it if faid, even at Nimrod the Mighty, &C."] /. e. Thence came the common Proverb : Which Mofes alledges as a proof of the Truth of what he deli vered. Nothing being more ufual in his days, than for Men to fay when they would exprefs how exceeding great any Man was, He is like Nimrod, the mighty HunUt before the LO R D> Thus com mon Sayings are quoted in other places, nothing be ing more notorious than fuch Proverbial Speeches,'
. 12,
It
upon GENESIS.
It is not improbable that Nimrod is the fame Chapter with him whom the Greek/ calls Bacchus $ whofe X. Conquefts in the Eaft, as far as Indla^ are nothing elfe but the Expeditions of Nimrod and his Succef- fors. The very Name of Bacchus imports this, which was made out of Bav-Ghus the Son of G//&, as Dam- mafel{, (i. e. Damafcvs^) was out of Darmafek: Ma ny other Arguments for this, are colle&ed by Bochar- tw, L. I. Phaleg. cap. 2.
Verio. The beginning of his Kingdom was Babel.~] Verle (See XI. 5,8.) Which, according to the Gentile Wri ters, was built by Belw, (the fame with Nimrod, who was called Belw, as I noted before, from Baal., be* caufe of his Dominion and large Empire, over which he was an abfolute Lord?) They that fay, his Son Ninus (or, as Philo-Byblius^ his Son Babylon) was the Builder, may be thus reconciled with the fore- men- tion'd Opinion $ That Belv* began it, and his Son much augmented it. See Voff. L. I. de Idol. cap. 24. & L. VII. c. 9. There are thofe that fay it was built by Semiramis^ but as they have it only fronj Cte- Jtas, who is not to be relied on againft Berofus^nd Abydenut, who wrote the Hiftory of that Country out of the ancient Records, and fay Relw built it 5 , fo if it be true, we muft underftand it of her re building it, after it was decayed, or adding greater Splendor to it. And this alfo muft be underftood not of the Wife of Ninw 3 for it is a queftion whe ther he had any Wife of that Name: Or, if he had, (he was different from her whom the Greeks fo much magnifie, who lived almoft Two thonfand Years after the Son of Belus, as Salma/ias obferves (Exercit. in Solin. p. 1x28.) out of Pkilo-ByttiHs.
And,
A COMMENTARY
Chapter dad Erec, &c.] Having built Babel, which he X. made the chief City of his Kingdom, he proceeded to build three Cities more, in the fame Country. Which, they that think he won by Conqueft, imagine alfo that he made Babe! the Head City, becaufe he won it firft, and then the other. And all this, fay fome before the difperfion we read of in the next Chap ter : which others think hapned after the difperfion. Erec feems to have been the City, which Ptolemy calls Arecca^ and Awnrianw Arecha : Which lay in the Country of Sufiana upon the River Tigris. Whence the Arecc^i Cawpi in TibuUw^ as Salwajiw obferves in his Exerdt. in Sol'mum* p, 1194. From whence Huetiw thinks the Country below it was called Iraque $ mentioned by Alferganuf^ and other Arabian Writers.
Acchad.~] It is an hard matter to give any account of this City $ but the LXX. calling it Archad, from the Chaldee Idiom, which is wont to change the Daghes, which doubles a Letter, into R, fas Dar- wtafek for I^ammafek^ 5. e. Dawafcus ^ and by th< famereafon, Archad forAcchad^) thefootfteps of thii Name may be thought to remain in Argad^ a Rivei of Sittacene in Per/ia. For nothing is more common, than to change eh intO£.
Chalne.~] It is foraetimes called Chalno^ Ifai.K. 9, and Change, Eze^. XXVII. 23. From whence th< Country called ChalonJiis^ ("mentioned by Pliny, an< Strabo^ Polybins, and Dionyf. Pericgetes^) may well be thought to have taken its Name : Whofe chief Ci ty was called Chalne^ or Chalone, (which is the fame.J and afterwards changed by Pacorus^ King of Per/ia, into Ctefyhon.
Ver.
Hpon G E N E S I S; 1^1
Ver. II. Out of that land went forth A/hut 7] This Chapter Tranllition is not fo likely, as that in the Margin, X. He went out into Ajfyria. For Mofcs is f peaking of *w^VS what Niwrdd the" Son of Cujh did, and not of the Verfe Sons of Shem> among whom Aflutr Was one. Nor is it agreeable to the order of Hiftory to tell us here what Afhur did,, before there be any mention of his Birth, which follows, verfe 22. Befides, it was not peculiar to^/Zwr, the Son of Shew, that he went out >f che Land of Shinar: For fo did alrnoft all Men who were difperfed from thence. Add to this, that Ajfyria is called the Land ofNimrod by Micah, V. 6. Ihey jhall wafte the' Land of Ajjyria with the Sword ^ and the Land of Nimrod with their Lances ; or, In the entrance thereof, as we tranflate it. Therefore ic is very reafonable to take Afbinr here, not for the Name of a Man, but of a Place, as it is frequent ly: And expound the word Ajhur, as if it were Lea- Jhur into Afhur } zsbeth in 2 Sam. VI. 10. is put for Ubeth; other Examples there are of this, 2 Sam. X, 2. I Chron. XIX. 2. By going forth into Aflwr^ Bo- chart thinks is meant (iimrod's making War there : For fo the Hebrew Phrafe, go forth, imports in 2 Sam. XI. i.Pyi/wLX. 12. Ifii. XL1I. Zach. XIV. 3, So Nimrod went forth into Affyrl^ which belong'd to the Children of Shew: But was ufurped, he thinks, by this Son of Cu[h 5 who had no right to it, but what he got by his Sword. If this be true, Mr. Mede'-s Obfervation which I mentioned upon verfe 27. of the foregoing Chapter, QThat the Po (Verity of Cham never fubdued either thofe of Japhet, or Shent^] muft be underftood of inch large Conquefts as they two made over one another., and over him,
And
15?2 A COMMENTARY
Chapter -And builded Nineveh.~\ Which Nimrod fo called
X* from his Son Ninus: The very word Niniveth being
l-/*V*\j as much as Ninus his habitation, mu p. Thus Cam
built a City, and called it, not by his own, but his
Son's Name, IV. 1 7. This was the chief City of Affyria^
and flourifhed in great Glory till it was utterly razed
by the Medes, and never again re-built. It flood on
the Eaft-Jtde of Tygrit.
Rehobofh.'] There was a City of this Name upon Euphrates, which was famous for the Birth of Sauly one of the Kings ofEdom, Gen. XXXVI. 37. which the Arabians \va\\ Rahabath-Melic^ i. e. Rahabath of the T&ngs^ a little below Cercufium^ at the Mouth of the River Chaboras. But this being too far diftant ftomNinivtb, (to which this and the two following Cities were Neighbours) Bocharfs Conjefture is not unreafonable, That this is the City which Ptolemy calls Birtha, on the WeftotTigrn, at the Mouth of the River Lycus. For in the Chaldee Tongue Streets are called Birtha $ and that is the fignification of Rehoboth, as the Margin of our Bible will inform the Reader.
Calah, or Calach.~] Seems to have been the chief City of the Country called Calachene ; about the Fountain of the River Lycus : Which Strobe often mentions.
Verfe 12. Ver. 12. And Refin, Sec."] The fore-named great Man conjectures this to have been the City, which Xenophon calls Larffa, fituate upon the Tigris: Which Mofes might well call a great City. For fo Xenophon fays it was, and defcribes the heighth of the Walls to have been an hundred Foot, the breadth five and twenty , and the compafs of it eight Miles about. The Greeks found it in Ruins? and uninhabited, when
they
upon GENESIS.
they came into thofe parts $ being deftroyed by the Chapter Per/ians, when they fpoiled the Medes of their Em- x. pire. And it is poflible, as Bochart goes on, the i^v% Greeks asking whofe City that was, and the Ajjyrians anfweringLere/etf, i. e. Refen\ ( adding, asisufual, /e, the Note of the Genitive Cafe) they might thence call it Lariffa. Such a Miftake, he (hows, there is in the Vulgar Tranflation of the Bible $ which takes this Particle le for part of the Name. For, in i Chron. V. 26. where it is faid the King of Ajjyria^ carried the Ifraelites to Hatah, the Vulgar fays unto Lahelah. Whereas it is certain from 2 Kings XVII. 6. that it fliouldbeunto Halahyor Ffelah. However it is rea- fonable to think, that thefe words, this is a great City, belongs to Refen, not toNineveh : Whofe great- nefs as well as Babylon* was very well known } and therefore thefe words feem to be added, to denote Refen to be a great deal bigger than the two before- named, Rehoboth and Calah. See Bochart^ L. IV. c. 23. They that think NtmroJ fettled his Kingdom in Ba- bel before the Difperfion, by confufion of their Lan guages, imagine that he made this Expedition into AffyriA) (where he built Niniveh, and the reft of the Cities here mentioned) after they were forced to leave off their vain-glorious Building at Babel, and to difperfe themfelves into other Countries.
Ver. 13. And Mfcraim ("the fecond Son of Cham) Verfe 13. begat Ludim7\ By whom we are to underftand the lEthiopians, as Bochart hath proved by many Argu ments, (" which I (hall not mention) and therefore underftands by thefe words, that the JEthiopianf were aColonyof the Egyptians^ L. IV. Phaleg, c. 26. For it appears by Diodorus that they were near of kin 3 having many things common to both Nations 5 which
Cc he
IP4 ACOMMENTAKY
Chapter he reckons up, and are fufficient to perfuade thofe X. who confider them, that they have the fame Original .•
IXV"\J The only difference among them, being this ; which of them was of greateft Antiquity. The Egyptians fanfied they were the firft of all Men $ and the 1E- thiopians pretended that they living more Southerly^- had a ftronger Sun ^ which contributed more cffida- cioufly to natural Generation .- And that Egypt 'vrw a Country thrown np by the Mudd which Nihs left, and Sfo got out of the Sea. But Mofes hath de termined this Controverfie in thefe words, and by the reft of his Hiftory. Which (hows that the firft Men after the Flood, came from the Mountains of Armenia^ which is in the North 5 and confequently they went to the Southerly Countries by degrees, through AJfyria, Babylon^ Syria^ and Egypt into HLthi- opi(t: And their difcourfe is ridiculous about the Ori ginal of Egypt) unto which we fee nothing added by the Nile, in many Ages,
Anamim7\ Our Broughton takes thefe to be the Ntiwidians, among whom he finds Annbis. Others take them for the Anait<e in JEthhpia. Hut thefe And- mints being derived from Mizrai^ we are rather to feek them about Egypt : And the Opinion ofBochar- tusis probable, that they are the Nomades^ who lived about Antmon and Nafamonitis ^ and called Anamn from Anam, which fignifies a.Sheep among thb ancient Egyptians ^ as it doth among the Arabians. For the Nomades fed Sheep, as Herodotus tells us, and lived Hpon them, (whereas they abftained from eating Gw or£*v//e,) and their Garments alfo, as he tells us, were of Sheep-Skins.
G E N E S I S, tp$
Lehabim.'] Thefe are thought to be the Lybians 5 Chapter butthat being a Name which belongs to the greateft X. part of Africa, it cannot be well thought that fo great L/" a Portion fell to this Son ofMizraim, or that fo ma ny People were defcended from him, Therefore Bo- chart with great reafon thinks the Lehab<ei were not all the Lybians $ but thofe whom Ptolemy, Pliny, and others call Lybi<egyptii : Becaufe they lived next to Egypt on the Weft ofThebais, in a fandy, aduft Soil, burnt by exceffive heat $ from whence he thinks they had the Name of Lehabim. For Lehaba fignifies both a Flame and Heat. As in Joel I. 19, The flame (leha- tain the Hebrew) mfcorching heat, hath burnt all the trees of the field.
Naphtuhint.~] Thefe feem to be the People of Nephthuah 5 and what that is, we may learn from Plutarch : Who in his Book De Ijtde & Oftride, fays, the Egyptians call the Country and the Mountains that lie upon the Sea, Nephthun, which may incline us to think that the Naphtuhim were thofe People that lived upon the (hoar of the Mediterranean in Marntarica : For the People upon the Red-Sea be longed to Arabia, not to Egypt. It is not improbable that from hence came the Name of Neptune, who ori ginally was a Lybian God ; and known to none but that People.
There was a City called Nepata by Pliny ^ which Grotiuf thinks may explain this Name: But it was in HLthiopia$ and Mofes isfpeaking of the Sons of Mfc- raim.
Ver. 14. AndPathrufem.~\ Who were the Inhabi- V-erfe 1 tants, it is likely, ofPatfos: Which was a part of Egypt $ though reprefented fometime in Scripture as a Country diftinft from it : Juft as Thebais is in fome
Cc 2 Au~
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Authors faid to be, whereas it was the upper Egypt. X. Bocbart hath brought a great many Arguments to prove this- Particularly from Ezelyel XXIX. 14. which (hows clearly that Pathros belongs to Egypt : For the Prophet foretelling that God would bring again the Captivity of'Egypt, he faith he would caufe them to return into the Land of Pathros , into the Land of their Habitation^ or Nativity : That is, into The- bais^ which Nebuchadnezzar had principallyafflifted carrying moft of the Inhabitants ofr Thebes into Cap-, tivity. This feems a more probable Account of the Pathriijim> than theirs who take them to be the Pha- rufi, fas Grotius doth ) or Phatttujii 5 who were a Peo ple of JEthiopia.
Cafluhim^ or CaJ}iichim.~\ Thefe were the Colchi^ who though they lived far from Egypt , from whence they are faid here to defcend, yet there are a great many Arguments, that they had their Original from that Country. For feveral ancient Authors fay fo, as He- rodotujyDiadoruSyStrabo^znA. Ammianus : All of great Credit And there are many Keafons whereby He rodotus proves it, (as Bochart (hows in his admirable Work> often mentioned, L. IV. Pfaleg^ c. 31.) they agreeing in fo many things, efpecially in their Man ners and Language, that one can fcarce have any doubt of it. Thefe People were feated at the Baft-end of the Euxine Sea.
Out of whom cante Pkiliftint^ They were the Off- fpring of the People of Colchis, as will appear in what follows.
And Ctyhtorim^ Thefe were a People near to Cokhir* te appears from hence $ that - tne Pbilijtixn9 who are faid here to come from Cafluckim^ in other places are faid to have come from Caphtor, ier>,
XLVIt
nfon GENESIS.
XLVII. 4. AmosYL. 7. And Mofes himfelf relates Chapter how the Avims nigh to Gaza (a famous City of the X. Philiftiii*) were driven out by the CaphtoriM^ Dent. *s^s*** H. 23. All the Ancients therefore are in the right, who take the Caphtorim^ for the Cappadocianf •• Yet, not all the Inhabitants of that Country, (part of which was pofleffed by other People, as was faid be fore) but that part of Cappadoda, which was next to Colchis, viz,. About Trapezund, where Colchis end ed. For there we find the City called Side, and the Country Sidene, mentioned by Strabo. Now Side in Greek{ as Bochart ingenioufly obferves) fignifies the fame with Caphtor in Hebrew^ viz. Malum punicum : And therefore in all likelihood, the fame Country was called by the Hebrews Caphtor, and by the Greeks Sidene.
What invited the CafKtori'm out of Egypt into this Country, is hard to tell at this diftance of time. But Strabo thinks it was the Fame of the Gold, wherewith the Country abounded. And as thi* drew them thither, fo perhaps the Coldnefs of the Country very much different from that wherein they were born $ or elfe their Neighbours the Scythians^ and Mefech&nd Tubal^ (vfa. theM0/Htf and TibareniJ who dwelt near them, and might be troublefome to them, made them think of returning back again. And in their way through Paleftine, they fell upon the Avlm^ whom they difpoffefled of their Country, and fettled there, (Deut> IL 25.*) by the Name of fhittftim.
Ver. 15. AndCanaan^] Now follows an account Verfe 1 5 of the Pofterity of '»H*»f% youngelt Son.
Sidon.~\ Was his Firft^born .- Who was the Foun- der of the famous City called by his Name, Side* /
Which
A COMMENTARY.
Chapter Which Trogus faith was fo called horn plenty of Fifh X. on that Coaft. And fo the prefcnt Name of it,
WV1^ Said^ fignifies Fijhing or Fifhery : As the Town in Ga lilee called Bethfaida, is as much as the place ofFf/h- ing: For that Sea upon which it lies, the Hebrews fay, abounded with Fifti. However the Sidomans came from this Son of Canaan 5 and fome of them, ("if he did not found it himfelf,) called the City by this Name, in memory of him. It was far more an cient and famous than Tyre : For we read of it in the Books of Mofes and Jo/hua, and the Judges : But nothing of Tyre till the Days of David. Nor doth Hewer mention Tyre 5 though he fpeaks of Sidon, and the Sidonians in many places.
Heth."] His fecond Son, was the Father of the Hit- tites, or the Children of Heth, often mentioned in Scripture .• Who dwelt about Hebron and Beer/beba,\n the South of the Land of Canaan. They were a very Warlike People, and ftruck a Terror in to their Neigh bours .- From whence the word Hittha^ feems to be derived, which fignifies fright and fitdden Conftern a- tion^ fuch as came upon the Syrians, when they thought the Kings of theHi/titer were comingagainft them, 2 Kings VII. 6. This was the Country of the Anatyms : For from Arba, who was an Hittite, de- fcended Anafa and from him thofe three Giants, Ahi* man, Shejhai^ and Talmai, and the reft of the Ana- kims^ Numb. XIII. 22, 33. Jo/b. XV. 13, 14.
Verfe 16. Ver- I^' The Jehu/ite."] This People, who were * fituated near to the former, defcended from Jehus the third Son of Canaan: And were a very Warlike People alfo 5 for they kept JerufaleM and the For- trefs of Z/0«, to the times of David 3 notwithftand- ing all the Power of the Benjamttes. And when
David
•
upon GENESIS. 199
David befieged it, th:ey mock'd at his Attempt, z Sam. Chapter V. 8. X.
And the Eworite.'] They 'came from £mor, the L/VSJ fourth Son -of &»**#, and are commonly called A- morites : Who pofleffed the Mountainous Parts of Jtidda^ and many of them pafied over Jordan^ and making Wa* upon the Moabites and AmmonHes^ fei- zed upon Bafoan and Hefolon^ and all the Country between the Rivers of Jabbok. and Arnon, Numb. XIII. 29. 5fy/&- V. i. In memory of which Vidto- ry fome Canaanitt Poet made a Triumphing Song, which -Mofes hath recorded, Numb. XXI. 2 7. What a mighty People thefe were we learn from Amos II.p.
Gergafite.~\ There was a Remnant of this People about Gerafa or Gadara beyond Jordan in our Savi our's time, Af*M&.Vni. 28. ALHV. i. ZMeVIIL 26. And they were called, perhaps, by this Name from the fat, clayie Soil of the Country where they lived £ for garges in Hebrew is n?toe C/^y.
Ver. 17. Andth&Hivite^ or Hevite.~] They lived Verfe 1:7 in and about Mount Hermon^ as we read jfy/7j. XI. 3, which being toward the Baft of the Land of Canaan^ they arecall'd Kadmonites^i. z.Orientah^or Eafterlings, Gen. XV. 19. The Giheoniies and Sichetnttes were Colonies for them, fjf<?/7;. XI. 19. 6e^. XXXIV. 2.^) who dwelt more Weftward: The former of them, Neighbours to Jerufalem • and the latter to 5^- maria.
ArkiteJ] This People, Bochart thinks, inhabited Mount Libams^ where Ptolemy and Jofephus men tion a City called ^4 or Jr^e .• In which, he thinks, was the Temple Veneris Architidis, worfhipped by the Phanmant) as Macr.obius tells us, X. I. Saturn.
2oo <* COMMENTARY
c. 27. Ptinj alfo mentions Area among the Cities of the Decapolitan Syria^ and faith it was one of thofe which had a Royal Jurifdi&ion, under the Name of a Tetrarchy, as Salwa/ius obferves in his Exerc. in Solin. p. 576.
Sinite."] St. Ukrom faith, that not far from Area there was a City called Sin 5 where we may fuppofe thefe People to have dwelt. But Bochart rather by the Smites underftands the Peleu/lots, whofe City was called Sin $ which is of the very fame fignification
Verfe 18. Ver. 18. An A the Arvadite.~\ Thefe People are the fame with the Aradii, who pofiefled the Ifland called Aradus upon the Coaft of Phoenicia^ and part of the Neighbouring Continent .• Where a place cal led Antaradus^ oppofite to the Ifland, was feated. Strabo and others fpeakof this Ifland, and mention another of the fame Name in the Perfian Gulph, ("as Salmajius obferves upon Solinus, p. 1023.) whofe In habitants, faid, they were a Colony from this Ifland I now fpeak of, ajid had the fame Religious Rites with thefe Aradians. Who were very skilful in Naviga tion, and therefore joyne4 by Ezeltfet with Zidon, XXVIF. 8. where he makes them alfo a Warlike Peo ple, verfc u.
Zemarite^} They who make thefe the fame with the Samaritans 5 do not obferve that thefe Names are written quite differently in the Hebrew. And that the Samaritans fo much fpoken of in Scripture, had their Name from Somron. And therefore Bochart thinks thefe are the Samaritans mentioned by St. Hie- rom, who fays, they inhabited the Noble Cify^of Edeffa in Ctelofyria (it (hould be the City of Emefa ifa^ which was in that Country, but Edeffa in
Mefi*
upon G E N E S I S. 20 1
beyond Euphrates') and fo both the Chapter Chaldee Paraphrafes have here for Zemarite^ Evtifiei. X, But I do not fee why we (hould not rather think this Son of Canaan (Zemartts^) from whom the Zewar/tes came, was the Founder of the City of Zemaraim. .(Jofo. XVIII. 22.) which fell to the Lot of the Tribe of Benjamin.
Hamathite^] Thefe were the Pofterity of the laft Son ot Canaan: From whom the City and Country of Hamath took its Name. Of which Name there were Two , one called by the Greeks Anthcha, the other Eptphanza : The former called the Great, Amos •VI. 2. todiftinguilh it from this, which St. Hierom. fays in his time was called Epiphania^ and by the A- rabians (in the Nubian Geographer) Havta. This is the City which is meant when we fo often read that the bounds of Jud#a were to the Entrance ofHtt- math, Northward, Numb. XIII. xi. XXXI V. 8. and other places. For it is certain they did not reach to Antiochia, but came near to Epfphanta.
Afterwards were the Families of the Canaanttes fpread abroad.~\ In procefs of time they enlarged their bounds: For they pofleffed all the Country, which lies from Unman and Paltfftine, to the Mouth ofO- rontes : Which they held for Seven hundred Years, or thereabout. Mofes indeed confines the Land of Canaan in narrower bounds toward the North^. (#s hath been faidj but we muft ccnfider that he de- fcribes only that part of Canaan^ which God gave to the Ifraelites for their Portion. Now* there being Eleven Nations who had their Original (as appears from, this and the foregoing Verfes) from fo many Sons of Canaan ^ we do not find that the F/V/r, and the Five laft were devoted by God to deftruftion,
Dd &
A COMMENTARY.
Chapter as the reft were. For we read nothing of the ZV- X. donians, Arlytes^ Smites ^Aradites, Zewarites^ and
«*"-V^ Hdwathites, among thofe Nations upon whom the Sentence of Excifion was pronounced by God, and their Country beftowed upon the Ifraelites. But we read of Two others not here mentioned, who made up the Seven Nations, whom God ordered to be cut off, viz. the Per/zzttes, and thole who were pe- culiarlf called Canaan/tes, who fprang from fbme of the fore-named XI. Families ^ but we do not know from which. We (hall meet with it in the XV. Chap- ter of this Book.
Verfe 19. Ver. 19, And the border of the Canaanitres^ &
Here Mofes defcribes the Bounds of that Country', which was given by God to the Jews.
From Sidon7\ i. e. The Country of Sidon^ which extended it felf from the City, fo called, towards the Eaft, as far as Jordan, or near it. This there fore may belookt upon as the Northern bounds of the promifed Land.
As thoiicomeft ta Geras unto Gaza, &c.^ Thefe and all the reft belonging to the Southern bounds : For thefe two were Cities near to the Philiftwis. We often read of Gaza ^ and Gerar was famous for Abra hams andlfaat's fojourning there (Gen. XX. i. XXVI. ij and for the overthrow of. the. Cuprites^ 2 Chro*. XIV. i j.
Sodom and Gomorrha, &C.3 Thefe Four Cities, are femous for their deftruftion, by Fire and Brimftone from Heaven^
Even, unto LafhahJ] Or Lafa9 which St. Hieron* lakes for CaBhrhoe^ as doth Jonathan alfo .-. A place famous for hot Waters, which run into the dead But Boehartus (L. IV. Phateg, €. yr+) doubts
o£
upon G fc N fe SIS.
of this, becaufe C^ZC/rr^e was not in the Southern part Chapter of Jud<eai as La/bob was: He propounds it there- X. fore to confederation, whether it may not be a City CX"Wl of the Arfta called £*/*: Which Ptolemy places in the middle way, between the Dead Sea, and the Red.
- Ver. 20. Thefe are thefons of Ham^ after their Fa- Verfe 20. milts, Sec.] This is fufficiently explained by what wasfaid upon verfe 5. where Mufes concludes his account of the Sons of Japhet. Only it may be ob- ferved in general, that thefe Four Sons of Ham and their Children, had all Afi'ica for their Portion (Mfer*7*m having Egypt, and Phut the reft) and no (mall part of Spa which fell to the (hare of Cujh and Canaan.
Ver. 21. Unto Shew alfo, the Father of all the CM-Verfc 2r' drenofEber.'] That is, of the Hebrew Nation, whom Mofes would have to know from what an illuftrious Original they fprung} and therefore breaks off the Thread of his Genealogy, to give a (hort touch of it. I can give no reafon fo likely as this, why he calls Shew the Father of Ewer's Children, rather than of any other defcended from him. He having told them before, that H*m was the Father of Canaan, (IX. 21.) whom God curfed, and at the fame time bleffed Shem : He now tells them, that this bit flVd Man was the Father from whom their Natron was defcended} that they might comfort thcmfetves in their noble Stock, and believe Canaan (hould be fub- dued by them.
The Brother of Japhet the Elder."] Scal/ger tran-
.flates thefe words, §em the Elder Brother of Japhet:
But the^c which is prefixt to Gadol, /. e. Greater,,
plainly direfts us to refer the word Greater or Elder
Dd 2 to
2 04 A C 0 M ME N T A RY.
Chapter to him who was laft fpoken of, vfa. Japhet. Who. X. maybe plainly proved to have been the Elded: Son
<**~v*^ of Naab, from this obfervation, That Noah was Fivt- hundred years old, before any of his Three Sonsj.. &#/, Ham, and Japhet were born, V. 32. When he was Six hundred Years old he entred into the Ark with them, VII. n. And when he came out, two Years after the Flood, Shem begat Arphaxad, being then mHundred Years old, XI. 10. and consequent- ly Noah was Six hundred and two. From whence it - follows, that Shem was born when Noah was Five hundred and two Years old.- And therefore Japhet mutt be Two Years older than he $ for Noah began to have Children when he was Five hundred* But God ; preferred Shem before him 3 giving hereby an early demonftration (of which there were many inftan- ces afterward) that he would not be confined to the order of Nature, in the difpofal of his Favours $ which he frequency beftowed upon the younger Children: As he did upon Jacob, and in after-times ^ upon David, who was the youngeft and meaneft of; all his Father's Children.
Even unto him were Children born.'] Perhaps ta was the laft of his brethren that married 5 and then Mofes (hews in the following Verfes, had Five Sons : the Progeny of Two of which are mentioned, but the reft pafled over in filence.
V£rfe 22. ^er- 22- ElamJ] Was his Firft-born 5 from whom came the Elamites, mentioned A&s II. 9. whofe Me tropolis was the famous City of Elymais. They lay between the Medes and Mefopotamian-s (as Bochartns (hows, L. II. Phaleg.c.i.) and were a very Warlike and Fierce People, zslfaiah, Jeremiah, ^ and Ez>ek*el teftifie. The Sufeans were a Neighbouring People,
but
upm- GENESIS, 205
biit different from them : And therefore when Drf- Chapter nkl fays Suftian was in the Province of Elam, he X. takes Elant in a large fence $ as Pliny and Ptolemy L/*V\J alfo do , who mention Ehtnhcs at the mouth of the River EuUus (Vlai\n Darnel) which was be low Sufi ana. See S alma/ins Exerc. m Sotin. p. 1193, 1194. And thus Jofephus may be allowed to fay the Elamites were Tltganv *f%*S*&i the Founders of the Per/tans^ who were a dittindt People from them .• Though often comprehended under this Name of Ehm.
A(Imr.~] From whom came the People called at jfirft^^re/, and afterward Ajfyrians : Which was a Name as large as their Empire, comprehending even Syria it felf 5 which in feveral Authors is the fame with AJJyria. But in proper fpeaking it was only that Country, whofeHead was Nixivebj called fome- timzsAdiabene, and Aturiaor AJJyria.
ArphaxadJ] Many, following Jofepkus^ make him the Father of tbe.CbaUees. But 1 find no good rea- fon for it | and it feems more probable that the Chal~ dees(inHebreW)Chafdtw}c&n\?from Chefed one of Abrahams Brother's Sons, Gen. XXII. 22. which St, Hierotv pofitively afSrms. Therefore it is more rea- fonable to think A/>Ad.xW gave Name-to that Coun try, which Ptolemy calls Arraphacbitis : which was a - part of AJJyria.
Lud.~] Seems to have given Name to the Coim-' try of L^/X which lay about M<candtr ; and inclu* ded in it Myjia and Caria^ which lay on the South "- fide of that River. Which having the mod Wind ings and Turnings in it, of any River in the World (for it returns fometimes towards its Fountain) the call this Country, and another, vi*. /E-
thiopja.
a-o-6 % COMMENTARY
Chapter '-'thiopfa, that lay upon die Nile (which next to X. i <W*r is the mod crooked of all Rivers) by the Name
L/~V%J ofLud: which in their Language fignified bending^ or crooked. SzzBochart. L. If. Phaleg. c. 12.
Aram."] From whom fprung-the Syrians, whofe Name anciently was Aramei • the Children of ^4- ram. A Name not unknown to the ancient Gr<e- c'lans 5 for Homer mentions the *A&tjuoi in his fecond Book of Iliads ^ and fo doth He/tod; and 5/r^ alfo faith, that many underftood by the Arim^ the Syrians. And the Syrians at this day call them- felves Aramaeans. But 5)r/<i being fo large a Name, that ancient Authors extend it to all thofe Countries that lay between Tyre, and Babylon; we muft not take all the People of them to have been the Pofte- rity of Aram. For it is evident fome of them de- fcended from Canaan, others from A/hnr^ others from Arphaxad. Therefore thofe are to be thonght to have come from him, to whom the Name of Aram is prefixt or fubjoyned, as Aram-Naharajim^ and Pad an- Aram (/, e. the Mefopotatttians) Aram- Soi^a (the People v& Palmyra, and the Neighbouring Cities ) Aram-Damefil^ (fituated between Libanus and Ariti-Libanus, whofe chief City was T*<imaf- cits) and perhdps Aravt-Maacha, and Aram-Beth- rehob $ which were places bevond Jordan, one of which fell to the (hare of Manajjeh, the other of A/er.
Verfe 22. Ver. 23. And the Children of Aram, &c.] The
'*Four Perfdtis that follow in this Verfe, are called
the Sons of Shew, i Chron. I. 17. Nothing being
more ordinary in Scripture, than to call thofe the
Sons of any Pcrfon, who were his Grandfons^ XXIX.
Hfon GENES FS, Vz.'] Or Vtz, the Firft-born of Aram, is gene- Chapter rally faid to have been the Builder of Dawafcns : X. The Bailey belonging to which, is by the Arabians at this day called GUirf, and Ganta, which differs from Vtz in the Letters, but not ia the Pronunci ation } it being common to pronounce the Letter Ajin by our G. as in the words Gaza and Gomor- rha. Accordingly the Arabick^ Paraph raft for Utz, hath here Algauta. There were two other £Vs be- fides this, one the Son of Nahor (Abrahams Brother } Gen. XXII. 21. whofe Country was Auptus in Ara bia, Deferta : The other was of the Pofterity of Edom^ Gen. XXXVI. 28.
Hull.*] Or Chul. Grotius cbferves out of Ptole my that there was a City in Syria called CholU, which he thinks might be founded by this fecond Son of Aram. But Bochart more probably conjectures that his Pofterity poffefled the Country called Cholobctene^ which was a part of Armenia. For the Armenians , and Arabians > and Syrians were much alike, as Stra- bo faith, in their (hape of Body, Speech, and Man ner of Life. And there are divers Cities, which Ptolemy places in this Country, that begin with Hoi or Choi $ bsCholus^ Cholttata^Cholana : And Cho- lobetene (the Name of the Country) which in their Language is Cholbeth^ fignifies as much as the Honfe m Seat of Choi.
Gether^] It is hard to give any account of the Country where his Pofterity fettled, unlefs they gave the River Getrl its Name, which the Gree^ call Kiy/e/™ 5 which runs between the Carducki, and the Armenians^ as Xenophon tells us. This is Bochart's Conjedure, which is a little nearer than that of Grotius, (Ann& in L. I. fa F. R. C.) who explains
this
208 A COMMENTARY
Chapter ^'^ by the City Gindarus, in Ptolemy, and the Peo-
X. pie called by Pliny , Gindanni, in Casio - Syria f But
U^V%jaftfralK itmayfeem as probable that Gadara, the
chief Gity of Per&a, which Ptolemy places in the
Decapol'/s of Ccclo Syria^ had its Name and Original
from this Gether.
Ma/h."] Who is called Mefcch, in i Chron. L 17. feated hitnfelf, as Borhart thinks, in Mefopotamra, about the Mountain Mafias, (which is Grotius's con- jefture alfo) from whence there flowed a River which Xcnophon calls Mafca. The Inhabitants of which Mountain Stephamts calls Mafr&tl; and per haps the Mofcheni^ whom Pliny (peaks of, between Adiabene and Armenia, the greater, were defcended v ~ from this Mafh or Mefech.
• ?4» Ver. 24. Av^ .Arphaxad begat Salah.'] Having gi ven an account of thePofterity of Shews youngeft Son s he now tells us what People defcended from hisj/j/WSon.
Salah.'] In Hebrew Shelah. His Father being born but two Years after the Flood, (XL 10.) feems to have given this Name to his Son, to preferve the Memory of that dreadful Punifhment : That his Pofterity might not incur the like by their Sins. For Sela iignifies the letting forth of Waters, Job V. 10. He is thought to have been the Father of the Sufi* am : The chief City of their Country, next to S*fi% being called Sela, as we find in Ammfan. Marcelli* nus : Either becaufe he was the Founder >of it, or in Memory of him.
And Sdah begat Eber.~\ The Father of thofe from
•whom came the Hebrew Nation (as was fa id before,
%rfe 21.) Abraham being defcended from him in
-.the Sixth. Generation. All other derivations of the
Name
Hpon GENESIS. so?
Name of Hebrew have great Obje&ions He again ft Chapter them 5 but this hath none, that I can fee $ and is moft X. agreeable to the Grammar of that Language, in which U/"VSJ all fuch Names ending in Jod (as HDJ; doth) are noted to come either from a Place, or Country, or People, or Author: Therefore fince there is no Coun try, or Place, from which the Name of Hebrew can be derived, it is moft reafonable to deduce it from the Author of this People, Heber. And it is autho rised by that Speech of Balaam, Nnmt. XXIV. 24. Where as by AJIwr is meant the Affyrians^ fo by He- her, in all reafon, we are to underftand the He* brews.
Ver. 25. Peleg,"] Either he, or feme of his Pofte* Verfe 25 my in memory of him, it is not unlikely^ gave Name to a Town upon Euphrates , called Phalga , not far from the place, where the River Chaboras runs into it: Upon which Charrah ftood, biiilt by Charan the Brother of Abraham.
Form his Days was the Earth divide d.~\ The great Difperfion, which we read of in the following Chap ter, fell out )uft when he was born, which made his Father call him by this Name, fignifying D*Y'//£W,and Separation. Which it appears, by the Account given of his Ancellors, (XL. tromverfe 10, to i6J hjipned in the hundred and fir ft Year after the Flood. In that Year the Tower of Eabd and their Language were confounded ^ upon which neceffirily followed the Separation here mentioned The Age that pre ceded, from the Deluge to this Dlvifion, is called by the ancient Poets, the Golden Age, (as Bochart ob- forrves, I.I. Phakg. c. y.) btcaufe the Earth not be ing divided, they enjoyed all things in common. And Noah (whom they called Satnrn) governing
E e them.
sic A COMMENTARY
Chapter them, not as Kings do their Subje&s, but as Parents X. their Children, not fo much with Fear and Dread, as C/'V'NJ with Love and Reverence to his Fatherly Authori ty $ it made the World fo happy as it hath not been fince.
Jokfan or Jektav.'] The Brother of Peleg, had & numerous Offspring,, of thirteen Sons $ all feated in the inmoft parts of Arabia Ftflzx. So the Arabians^ it is certain, derive their own Original : Who in this may as well be credited, as the Europeans who de rive themfelves from Jafetus, or Japhet, and the Afri cans from Cham or Hamtnon. They call him Cahta»r (as our Mr. Pocock^ as well as others, obfervesj by which Name the Arabick. Paraphraft upon this place,, explains that ofjektan. And this Cahtan they fay exprefly was the Son of Eber^ the Son of Salab, &c From whence the Name of Catanit<e> a People in Ara bia F&lix mentioned by Ptolemy $ and a City, in the Territory of Mecha, ftill remains the very Name of Jetyan, being called Batfath-Jefyan $ i. e. the Seat or Habitation oijekfan^ in the Arabian Geographer. See Mr. Poco,cl(s Notes upon Abul-Farajus concerning the Original of the Arabians^ p. 38, 39.
Yfcrfe 26. Ver. 26. Altnodad'.] Theeldeft Son of Jokfankzms to have given Name to the People whom Ptolemy calls 9Ato»fAcu£3i in the middle of Arabia Fcelix, near the Original of the River Lar, which runs into the Per/ian Gulph. The Greeks who knew little of this People, who lived a great way from the Sea, might eafily mifpronounce their Name 5 calling them AUn* m£ot<e^ inflead of Almod&i.
Shelefh, or Saleph.'] Was, it is likely, the Father ©f the Sahtpvrt. For fuch a People there were, men tioned by PtofcMy* who calk them SaAa^o/ :
Wh*
i
GENESIS, in
Who were remote from the reft, about the Neck Chapter of Arabia $ not far from the Spring of the River X.
BttJHS.
Hatzermaveth."] Though the Arabians write this Name with the very fame Letters, yet it founds a- mong them thus, Hadramnth,mChadrawuth. Which the Greek? pronounce divers ways, becaufe of the ambiguous Sound of the two Letters, T&adi and Cheth : For fometimes he is called Afar moth, fometimes ("without an A) Sarwouth, and Armoih, and Ater- moth, as Bochartus hath obferved. Who thinks the Country called Chatramitte or Atr&matw, Chair atnotis or Atrametis^ to have been peopled by the Children of this Hadramnfh, as the Arabians pronounce this Name Hatazmaveth. 5A^e$tjwx>7a, Salmafius (hows is the Name of a City or Place, and 'A^^uT), of a People or Nation, Exercit. in Solin. p. 498. And the fame People he obferves (p. 490.) are called by Artemidorus, 'Ar&./Mrn'?), whole Country was that part of Arabia which abounded with Frankjn- cenfe, Myrrh, Cajjia, and Cinnamon^ as Thevphrajlus tells us. And Strabo calls them (as he there notes) X&- r^jU^-n^, and Uranins in Stephanus X<zrgp.[M)^) : So differently was this hard word pronounced. Who were fo famous, that Euftathius Antioch. Enfebms, and others, make this Hatzerwaveth the Father of the Arabians, 'and Efiphanws derives their Language from him ^ which they (as was faid before) derive from Jektan himfelf ; looking upon the Dialed of Chadramitis as barbarous. See Bochartns, L. II. Pha- leg. c. 1 6. Where he obferves that Hafaertnaveth in Hebrew fignifies the Entrance of Deaih, and Hadhra- maitth in Arabic!^ the Region of Death : Becaufe the Air of that Country was very thick and foggy, (and
E e 2 corv-
2i3 A COMMENTS Kr
Chapter confequently unwholfom) as Arrianw relates 5 who X. faith, that the Frankincenfeand Myrrh, were there- fore gathered only by the King's Slaves, and by con demned Perfons.
Jerah, or Jerach."] From whom came the People called Jeracfwr, who lived near the Red-Sea $ called by Agatharcides and others, 'AA/Aalbi, AliUl : Which is the very fame in Arabic!^, with the other in He brew. For Hilal is the Moon in that Language, as- Jerach is in Hebrew. And the Nttbiettjian Geogra pher mentions a People about Mecha, who at this day are called Bene-hilal, the Children of Jerach, as the Hebrews would have exprefled it. It feems they are come more towards the Eaft, when anciently they dwelt in the South. Ptolemy mentions alfo an ) upon the Coaft of theAliki, which he calls &ff@(. : But it doth not fignifie the Ifle of , (as the Greeks fanfied, who imagined all thefe old words to come from their Tongue) but of the
Verfe 27* Ver. 17.; Hadoram^} He Teems to have fixed his Ssat in the utmoft Corner of Arabia to wards the Eajt,. where there was a People, whom Pliny calls Dr/wa- ti : A Name eafily made from Hadoratntts. And the extream Promontory of that Country is called by the Greeks C0ra/rf«r0tf, by tranfpofing the Letters D and R from Hadoramut. I can find nothing more likely, than this Conjefture of that great Man Bochartvs^ who hath out-done all that went before him in this Argu ment, L. II. Pbakg. c. 20.
Vzal.~] Abraham Zachrtt, as he alfo obferves, fays- the Jews (who in his time dwelt there) called the chief City of Atjewan, by the Fjame of TJzaL Now the Kingdom of Aljzman or Jeman> is the South-
part
*p*n GENE S IS. 213
part of Arabia F&l/x : As the very Name of Jema* Chapter imports, which fignifies both the Right-hand and the X, South.
Diklah.'] Both in the Chaldee and Syriack, Lan guage D/r/rf fignifies a Palm, QV z Grove of Palms : Which led Bochartw to conclude that the Mtn&i, a People of Arabia Felix* whofe Country abounds with fuch Trees, were the Pofterity of this Dil(lab. Both Pliny and Strabo mention them. And this is far more probable than the Conjefture of Lvdovicw Cappelltts, That the Country of Dangala in jEtfapf*, near £- gypt, might have its Name from this Man : For that- is too remote from the reft of this Man's Pofterity : And fo is Aifcitoetoi' mentioned, as heobferves, ty Herodo- tttf, Chronolog. Sacra^ p. 108.
Ver. z8. And Ohal.'] -Which in the Aralack^ Pro- yerfe nunciation is Aubal^ as Cocab, & Star in Hebrew, is in Arab-icl^Cancab^ 6cc, The Pofterity of ihis'-Aubal or Qbal> Bochart thinks, pa fled over the Streights of the 6///«/ ArabictiSi out of Arabia Felix ^ into Arabia Tr0- glodytica ^ where we meet with this Name, in the £/- nut Abalitet, (which Bothers call A**lHtf) and in a great Trading Town called by Arriaw* "hua^T^ ^ and in a People who lived in that £/*#/, called by Ptolemy^ cAL»aATr^, and 'A^8A?ro/ ;> I believe it fhould be 'A/SbArr^ from this 0£*/.
Abiwael^ Which the Arabians pronounce Alimal^ i. 9. the Father gf Mali^ or the Matite ; a People in Arabia next to the Mw<ei before-mentioned. 77?e^-' p.-br*J}0f faith, Mali \s the Metropolis of a Country in Arabia the Spicy. From whence the People called Mdlitt^ whom Ptolemy calls Manit^ fey an ufual change of the • Letter L into N, as N*bonidM~\s the fame with Labonidus^ 8cc. And it is -probable that
A COMMENTART
Chapter M#If\s the Contraction of Abiwali: Nothing being X. more common than in compound Names to omit the firft part. At Sittim^nmb. XXV. i. for Abel- Sittim, XXX. 49. Hermon very often for Baal- Her- won, Jxdg. III. 9. Nivtrim for Betb-Nimrim% and Salem for Jertifalem.
Sheba.~] From whom came the Sabatns, who fome- times comprehend a great many People, but here are to be taken (trictly for thofe, upon the Red-Sea $ between the Min#i and the Catabanes : Whofe Me- tropli*) which ftood upon an high Mountain full of Trees, is called by ancient Authors Saba and Saba?> Sabo and Sabot, as Salma/ius (hows out of Stephanns^ Agatharcides, and others ^ who fay that this City was sroAu ^>^^cj/, much the faireft of all in Arabia. Ex- cerc. in Solln. /?. 491, 492, &c. In latter times this Name was changed into Mfritka^ the ancient Name being loft, as the fame Salma/ius there obferves, p. 497, & 1118. Which Pliny iaith fignifies as much as Dominos omnium, the Lords of all : For from Rabba, to rule, comes Marab, which fignifies in their Language, (as Bochart obferves) $the Seat of thofe that Rule .• That is, the Royal City, where their Kings lived. The Nubienfian Geographer faith, the Queen of Sheba came from hence to hear the Wifdom of Solomon.
29- Ver. 29. And OphirJ] Which the Arabians pro nounce Attphir^ fignifying abundance: Gold being found there in fuch plenty that they exchanged it for Brafsand Iron, giving a double or triple propor tion of Gold for them. Bochart thinks he gave the Name of 'Owppw to an Ifland in the Red Sea, menti oned by Eupolemtu in Eufebhts. And obferves that 'there were two Ophirs^ one belonging to India^ whi ther
upon G E N E S I S, 2*5
ther Solomons Ships went once in three Years, (which Chapter i he takes for Taprobana^ now Zeilan) and the other X-
belonging to Arabia, where the Pofterity of this 0- ; fhtr, here mentioned, fetled. Whofe Country .he- takes to have been near to the Sabaans their Bre- ? thren $ which Stephanus and Ptolemy call Caffkttitfr. The fame in fenfe with 0/?/>/> 5 for Lhofan is a Trea- I fure, which the Arabians write Chazan^ from which | comes the word Gaza> for abundance of Riches.
Havilah) or Cbavilat.'] See /^r/e 7. where we had I this Name before, among the Sons of Cujh , from whom the Havilah here fpoken of is very different : Giving Name, it is probable to the Country which the Nubienjian Geographer calls Chaulan: And fays it was a part of Arabia Fcelix^ nigh alfo to the Saba- ans 3 which he accurately describes. See Phalsg. L. 1L
Jobab.*] The Father of the Jobabites* near to the Sachalites^ as Ptolemy exprefly fays 5 if inftead of Jo- ^r//<einhim, we fliould read Jobabtte, as Bcclartns correfts the Paflage, with great R^afon, A-nd thinks alfo the Reafon of this Name to be plain : For Jebab in Arabzck, fignifies a Defart : And there are many Cuch in the Country of the Jobabites-zbove the Sinus of Sachalites.
Ver. 30. And their dwelling was from -Mefij, Scc.^ Verfc Their Conclufion confirms what hath been faid, that all the thirteen Sons of Jokfan were feared in Arabia Fcelixtj except Obal ^ who went it's likely, after-M^- fes's time, over anto Abatites^ the Paffage being fliort crofs that Streight before-mentioned, (lrerft cS.J which was not above JW or^e Miles broad. For Arabia Fozlix lies between the Red^Sea and the Pev- pan Gulph. Now Mefa. or Mxfa^ or Al«s^, was a
famous-
s f6 % C OMMEtifA RT
Chapter famous Port-Town in theifo4-&4, which
X. rftf/and Ethiopians frequented in their way To the Country of thzSapharites in the Eaft$ from whom they brought Myrrh,Frankincenfe,and fuch like things. Ptolow/s Tables plainly (how this>That from Mufa the Sapharit<e lay direftly Eaftward 5 and Saphar was the Metropolis of the Country at the foot of the Moun tain Climax: Which anciently, it's likely, was called Saphar, from the City at the bottom of it. And thus we are to underftand Mofes when he fays here, that Sepher was a Mountain of the Eaft 5 not Eaftwwd from Jttdtea, but from Mefba, which was- in the Weft. See Bochart,L.l\. Phaleg. c. 50. where he obferves that the Arabic!^ Paraphraft (of the Paris Edition) takes Me/ha to be Meccha, and in [lead offrotit Me/ha to Septwr faith from Meccha to Medina. Which is nearer Truth than their Opinion, who place the Children of Jokfdn a- bout Otyhetes, upon the Coaft of Irtdia* But he fhow7s that fome of the Children of Cujh fetled be tween Meccha and Medina: And it fufficiently ap pears that Jokfan* Children dwelt in the inmof part of Arabia F&lix 5 and are the Genuine Ard- bians .
31, Ver. 91. This is explained, J^erfc 5.
;j2» Ver. 32. By thefe irere the Nations divided after the Flood^] They and their Defcendanfs (bared the whole Earth among them as it is (aid exprefly, IX. 18. Of them was the whole Earth over-fpread. But according to the foregoing Account we find only three parts of the Earth, Europe, AJia, and Africa pofleflfed by the three Sons of Noah and their Children. Which hath made fome fo bold as to fay, there were other Peo ple in America, who were not drovv'n'd by the Flood. And one of their Pveafons why it was not peopled
from
upon GE N E S ! S 217
from any of the other three parts of the Earth is, that Chapter we can give no Account how Lyons, Bears, Wolves, X. Foxes, and fuch like Creatures fhould get thither : For none, fure, would carry them by (hipping, though Men themtelves might, by that means, pafs over into thofe Regions. But this difficulty is not fo great as they make it. For it is manifeft, That though the Continent of America, was found full of fuch Beafts, when the Spaniards firft came thither, yet none of the Iflands, though very large, whi<h lay remote from the Land, had any Lyons^ Tigers, or fuch l;ke Creatures in them. Which is a demonftration, that thefe Creatures, were not originally from that part of the Earth 5 for then the Iflands would have been furnifhed with them, as well as the Continent 3 juft as they are with all forts of Vegetables : And confe- quently the Continent it felf was ftored with thefe Creatures from fome other part of the Earth. Which might be done by fome Neck of Land not yet dif- covered $ which joy ns fome part Q( Europe, wAfia^ to the Continent of America. Or, if there be no fuch Neck of Land now extant, yet there may have I been fuch a Bridge (as we may call it) between the Northern parts of Apt, or Europe, and fome Northern part of America^ or, between the Swth-Eaft part of China, or the Philippine Iflands, and the Southern Con tinent of that other part of this World : Though now broken off fas many fuppofe England to have been from France*) by the violence of the Sea, or by Earthquakes 3 which have made great alterations in the Earth. And truly, he that obferves (as that great Man the Lord Chief Juftices Hales fpeaks, in his Book of the Origin of Mankind, § II. c. 7.) the in finite number oif Iflands, lying between the Conti-
F f nent
ai8 A COMMENTARY
Chapter nent of China, and Nova Guinea, the moft contiguous XI, to each other ^ hath probable reafons to believe, that thefe were all formerly one Continent, joyning China, and Nova. Guinea together: Though now, by the irruption of the Sea, crumbled into many fmall Iflands.
CHAP. XL
Verfe i. Ver.r. \ND aU the Earth.'] i.e. The Inhabitant? jf\ of the Earthy as i Kings X. 14. all. the- Earth is explained 2 Chron.-Yf^ 23.. all the Kings of the Earth.
Were of one Language."] In the Hebrew of one Lip 5 which is one Inftrument of Speech, comprehending the reft. Their Mouth formed the fame words. So it follows.
And of one Speech 7\ Or, Word> as the Hebrew hath * it. Some diftinguifh thefe two fo fubtilly, as to fay,, they had not only the fame Language, but the fame manner of pronunciation 5 which is often very dif ferent in the fame Language. The Heathens them- felves acknowledge there was but one Language an- - ciently, (kzjofephus^ and out of him Eufebiust L. IX. Prsf. Evang, c. 14, 1 5.) which in all likelyhood was the fame that had been from the beginning,which Adam himfelf fpake. For Methufelah, the Grand father of Noah, lived fome time with him, and fpake, we may wellfuppofe, the fame Language that he did. And we caniiot but think the fame of Noah : who propagated it among his Pofterity till this time. But whether this was the Hebrew or no, we cannot be
certain.
upon GENES! S. 219
certain. The ChaUee Paraphraffo, and the Hebrew Chapter Writers generally fay it was $ and nioft Chrillian XL Writers have been of their Opinion : Infomuch L/"V-NJ, that R. Gedal/ah, upon thefe words, faith 5 The wife Men among the Chriftians have fiarched what rras the ! firft Tongue ^ and all the World confejjes that from Adam to the Flood they fpak? the Holy Language. Which it is not to bethought, we have now entire and pure^ but that a considerable part of it ftiil remain in the Bible. As may be proved by no contemptible Argu ments $ particularly this, that Shew the Son of Noah, was forfome time con temporary with Abraham , who defcendecj/fromhim} and in whofe Family continu ed the fame Language which they both ipake, unto Mofes his days.
They that have fanfied there were more Languages than one, at this time, grounded their mi ftake upon thofe words, Gen. X. 5, 20, 31. where the Sons of Noah are faid to have had the Earth divided among them, according to their Tongues. Not confidering, that he fpeaks of this very Divifion, of which he is going to give an account 5 and briefly mentioned there, verje 25. For the thirteen Sons of Joktan, im mediately after mentioned, (who had their (hare in the divifion,) were not in being, when their Uncle Peleg was born 3 as the nioft learned Primate Vfitr* hath demonftrated in his Annals, A. M. 1757.
Ver. 2. Asthey journeyed from the Eafl.~\ He doth Verfe 2. not fpeak of all the Pofterity of Noah, who after the Flood planted in the Ea$ 3 much lefs Noah himfelf : But of a great Colony of them, who when the Eatt was much peopled^ chofe to go Weftward. By the East, moft underftand Armenia, where they fuppofe the Ark retted, and Noah with his Sons planted. But
F f ^ this
A COMMENT ART
Chapter this hath great difficulty in it, for the Mountains of XI. Armenia lay North of Shinar, or Affyrla, and not Eafl.
-' Which Bochart folves in this manner: A/yrza being
divided into two parts ^ one on this fide, the o» ther on the further fide of Tigris, they called all that part beyond Tigris, the Eafl Country 5 though a great part of it towards Armenia was really North- wards and that part on this fide they called IVefl, though fome of it lay to the &*?£,. L. i. Phakg. c. j. But there is no need of the help- of this folution $ the Mountains of Ararat running a long way Eaft- wardi From, which when Noah and his Sons defcend ed, they fettled, it's likely, hi Countries, which were very much Eaftward of Affyria.
They found a plain J] They continued to dwelt in the Mountainous Countries of the Eafl, where the Ark refted, till they grew very numerous, and wan ted room $ and then defcended into the Plain, and fome of them went Wejfaardty into the Land of Shi nar, that pleafant Plain, (as Mr. Mede fanfies) where God at the Beginning had placed the firft Father of Mankind, Adam.
Shinar.~] By this Name we are to underftand not only that part of Ajfiria, where Babylon flood 5 but all that Country which bordered upon Tigrfr unto the Mountains of Armenia^ from whence Noah and his Sons are fuppofed to have defcended, when the Earth was dry, and not to have gone far from thence at firft till they were multiplied } and then fome of them came into this Country ; which Noah had in> habited before the Flood, Thus Bochart, in the place before-named. But therein no certainty the Ark retted in Armenia 5 it might be further ^aftward, upon fome other part of that long Ridge of Mountains, called
Ararat '
Hfon GENESIS 221
Ararat: From whence they defcended when the Earth Chapter was dry, and dwelt in the lower Grounds, which XI. were warmer and more fruitful than the Mountains. *s~v~++*
But that from the Eaft Mankind were propagated, is apparent from the increafe of Arts and Sciences, which, as Dr. Jackson obferves, (Boot I.e. 16.) were in fome meafure perfefted there, (in Times as anci ent as any prophane Hiftory can point us unto,) and thence derived as from a Center, to more remote parts of the World. The ripenefsof Literature, Civil Difcipline, and Arts among the Eaftern People, be fore they did fo much as bud forth in Greece or Italy (I may add Egypt either) is a demon fixation, that thefe were the Stock, and the other but Slips or Bran ches tranfplanted from thence. Nay, the State and Grandure of thofe Eaftern Countries, before Greece or Italy-) or any other Wejlern People, grew into the fafhion of a Kingdom, (hows, that the Eastern Peo ple were the Heirs of the World, and ethers Nations but as Colonies from them.
Ver. 3. They f aid on* to another."} i» e. Confulted Verfe y, together.
Go to."] And ftirred up one another to lay all their Hands to this Work.
Let us make Brick:"] In that low and fat Soil, there was no Stone, as is intimated in the next Words, and they had Bricl^for btone. No Body doubts but this is a true Tranflation of the Hebrew word Lake- nah : For Herodotus, and Juftin^ and many others, defcribe the Walls of Babylon as made of fuch Mate rials. What Chemar is ("which was the Cement to joynthe Bricks rogetherj doth not fo plainly ap pear. We tranllite it Slime 5 following herein a great many of the Hebrews: Particularly Kimch*^
who
•3 s~2 d & O'M'M JE N T A--K T
Chapter who fays it is Mortar, made of Satid and Lime. Bat XL there is much reafon to think it was that which the L/"V*S~ Ancients calledyA^A7@u, a kind of Pitch, (as Kim- chi himfelf acknowledges ibaiennderftand it, j which is defcribed by Aurhors as a very glewy thing, an< therefore u-fed by Noah, by Gcd's Dire&ion, about the Ark. There was great plenty of it in Affyria, as TheoJoret here obferves, from fome Fountains which vomited it up with the Water. And fo Strabo and Dion affirm, that it was very fit for this purpofe ^ and Herodotu* fays exprelly, that the Walls of Ba bylon were cementeA^vkh it 5 and fo do many others, both Greel^ and Roman Authors, mentioned by Bo* chartus, L. L Phaleg. c.i$. And it is very obferva- ble, that Arrianw faith, L. VII. The Temple of Be- lus in the mid ft of the City of Babylon, of a vaft bignefs, was made of Brick, cemented with phaltttf.
'• Verfe 4, Ver. 4. And they faid, Go to now7\ At the firft per haps they fpake only of building themfelves Houfes ^ but now they laid their Heads together, and confulted tq make a huge Monument of their Greatnefs.
A City and a Tower."] Some fanfieone thing to be expreffed in two words : A City and a Tower ^ being a City with Turrets. But both this Ferfe and the next, exprefs them fo feverally, that we ought to think them to have been diftinft. Yet, that the Tow er was part of the City, is plain by verfeQ. where it is faid, they left off to build tke City, making no men tion of the Tower : Which was contained in the Ci ty, as a part of it 5 and may well be thought, to have been the Acropolis, (as the Greeks fpeak,) a ftrong Place, in the higheft part of the City ^ fuch ;as we call a CittadeL For the Scripture by a Tower,
means
upon GENE S'I'S;"
means fome Fortrefs to keep out an Enemy, which was Chapter wont to be built in themidit of the City, that it might command every part of it.
Some fanfie the Temple of -Belus, before-menti oned, was afterward built, where this Tower flood } and was nothing elfe but the Tower perfected for ano ther ufe. Or; rather, a Temple was built round a- bout the Tower, which (food in the mtclftofit, as Herodotus ; defcribes it, L. I. 'Ev /miey 3 TV itf£fxv$y(§k s^gJf, 6cc. in the mid ft of the Temple, was aftrong Tower, &c.
Whofe top may reach up unto Heaven.~\ i. e. To the Clouds. As much as to fay, an exceeding high Tow er. For the fame is faid of the Walls of the Cities of Canaan? Deut.l. 28. IX. i. and therefore can mean no more here. And is an ufual Phrafe in Scripture 5 as when the Pfalmift fays, They that fail upon the Sea, are fometime lifted up to Heaven^ CVII. 25. which is a Language that other Authors fpeak 5 for Homer mentions'?. Fir-tree which was uggeyo/u&ff^ ex tended to Heaven, /. e. very tall. Which I note to (how the fenflefs fpite of ftttia* the Apoftate, who endeavours to difcredit this Sacred Story, by the Poetical Fiftion of the Grants warring with Heaven : As if there were no more Truth in the one, than in the other. But St. Cyril in his Fourth Book againft him, truly obferves, That in Scripture, this Phrafe, ek-ag^iv to Heavev, is put dvri T£ Si^, for that which is highly elevated $ as this Tower was. Which being half a quarter of a Mile in breadth and length, had another Tower ftood upon it 3 and a third up on that 3 and fo on, f*&%gj, 5 $%!<» Tnpyw, ^as Hero dotus fpeaks,) till there were eight Towers in all : Which made it of a
A COMMENT AKT
Chapter Let us make M a Naive, Sec.] Here he plainly ac- XI. qvuints us with their Intention in building this City and Tower : which was to be a perpetual Monu ment of their Fame. To fpread it far and wide, while they were alive $ and that their Names might live in this Monument when they were dead : All Pofterity faying, fuch and fucb Perfons were the Founders of the-F/V/? and Mother City of the World. So David is faid to have got hiwfelf a Name, 2 Sam. VIII. 13. 7. e. extended his Fame by his great At' chievements. And God is faid to do the fame, Ifai. LXIII. 12, 14. Therefore there was no occafion for affigning other Reafons for the building of this Tow er $ when Mojes gives one fo clearly. That which hath been commonly fanfied is, That they might fe- cure themfelves agairift another Inundation : From which they were fecured by the Divine Promife, (if they would believe it,) together with the addition of a Sign to it, IX. 12. And if they did not believe it, why did they come down from the Mountains in to the plain Country, to build this Tower } which might more rationally have been erefted upon the top of the higheft Mountains, if their meaning had been, by this means, to preferve themfelves from fu ture Floods. If there were any other meaning be- fides that mentioned by Mofes, I fhould think that moft probable which I find in Dr. Jackson, (BooJ^L on the Creed, c. 1 6.) That it might be a Refuge where- unto they might refort^ and continue their Combination : Something of which feems to be intimated in the next words. There is a Conjecture alfo made by a moft worthy Friend of mine, a good while ago, Dr.Tent- fon^ now Archbifhop of Canterbury, in his Book of Ido latry (which is notinconfiftent with thefe,) That this
Tower
upon GENESIS. 225
Tower was confecrated by the Builders of it to the Chapter Sun, as the caufe of drying up the Waters of the Deluge (or rather, as the moft illuftrious and near- WVN eft refemblance of the Schechinah, as I noted on Chap. IV.) and that it was intended as an Altar whereon to Sacrifice to it. But it is propounded only as a Conjecture .• Which thofe Jews feem alfo to have had in their Minds, who by the Word .Shem^ (Name) underftand God : As if their meaning were, Let us make us a God } and raifehim a Temple. And perhaps future times did convert it to that ufe.
Leaft we be featured abroad upon the Face of the whole Earth^] Here they fpeak as if they feared a Difperfion $ but it's hard to tell from what caufe, un- lefs it were this, That Noah having projeded a divi- fion of the Earth among his Pofterity, (for it was a deliberate bufinefs, as I noted upon X. 5^) thefe People had no mind to fubmit unto it ; and there fore built this Fortrefs to defend themfelves in their Refolution of not yielding to his defign. Thus the moft learned V/her, ad A. M. 175*7. But what they dreaded, they brought upon themfelves by their own vain attempt to avoid it.* And now there is no memory preferved of the Names of thofe that confpired in this attempt. Thus what Solomon faith, was long before verified, Prov. X. 14. The fear of the Wicked fhall come upon him. But this evil by God's Pro vidence was attended with a great Good .- For by this difperfion the whole Earth was peopled, and the foun dation laid of feveral great Nations and Kingdoms.
Ver. 5. And the L 0 R D came down to fee, See.] ^erfe 5 This is an Accommodation to our Conceptions ^ and means no more ^ but that by the effefts, he made it ap pear, that he obferved their Motions, and knew their Intentions. G g Which
J COMMENTARY
Chapter Which the Children of Men builded."] It is general- XL ly agreed that Children of Men in Scripture, is op* pofed to Children of God : As bad Men and Infidels, are to the good and the Faithful. Which gives us to under ftand, that neither Noah^ nor Shew, nor Arphax- ad, Salah or Heber were engaged in this Work : But fome of the worfer fort of People who degenera ted from the Piety of their Anceftors. It is pro bable Tome of the Race of Ham 5 who its likely; carried much of the Spirit of Cain with him into the Ark: Otherwife he could not have behaved- himfelf fo vilely towards his Father after they came out of it. For that terrible Judgment, it Teems, had not reformed him $ and then it is no wonder if he grew more wicked after it was over. Jofephus and others, take Nitnrod (his Grand-child ) to have been the C^Q&JK, as his Word is, Ring-leader ol this Crew, who combined in this defign. But I take it to be more probable that he came and fetl< here after the Difperfion. For there being not much above an Hundred Years befcveen the Flood and this time, it is not likely fuch a great Kingdom could beereftedin that fpace, as we read of, Gen. X. 10, And therefore he grew fo great after this Difperfion, when he came out of Arabia^ or fome Neighbouring Couhtry, and fetled here in Babel :~ Which was called by this Name, upon occafion of the Gonfufion of Languages, and had it not before. Which is an Argument that what we read, X. 10, n* mutt be underftood to have hapned after this time. But, if all this be true that fome of Chaafs Race began this defign, which other bad People were too muchdifpofed to follow, and that they who retain^ ed the true Religion(from whom Abraham defcended)
were
upon GENE § I S.
were not of the number, it is credible that they efcaped Chapter , the Punilhment here mentioned, (in the next Verfes) 1 retaining ftill their ancient Seat, and the ancient Lan- guagealfo 5 which continued in the Family of Hcber, and was called Hebrew.
Ver.6. AndtheLORDfaid, &c.] This Verfe Verfe 6, only expreffes a Refolution to fpoil their Project ^ and the neceflity of fo doing.
Ver. 7. Let usJ] The Rabbins fanfie this is fpoken Verfe f. to the Angels. But it i&beyond the Angelical Power to alter Mens Minds fo in a moment, that they (hall not be able to underftand what they did before. Therefore God fpaketo himfelf.- And this Phrafe fuggefts to us more Perfons than One in the God head. In (hort, None but he who taught Men at firft to fpeak, could, in an inftant, make that variety of Speech, which is described in the next words. No- vattanus therefore anciently took it, that this was fpoken by God to his Son.
Confound their Language.'] The word Confound is to be mark'd : For God did not make every one fpeak a new different Language, but they hadfuch a confufed remembrance of the Original Language which they fpake before, as made them fpeak it very differently/ So that by the various Inflexions, and Terminations, and Pronunciations of divers Diale&s, they could no more underftand one another, than they who underftand Latin can underftand thofe who fpeak French, Italia*, or Spanifh 5 though thefe Lan guages arife out of it.
And yet it is not to be thought, there were as many feveral Dialedts as there were Men $ fo that none of them underftood another : For this would not meerly have difperfed Mankind, but deftroyed
Gg 2 them.
A COMMENTARY
Chapter them. It being impoffible to live without Society,
XI. or to have Society without underftanding one am>
U'VNj ther : For if the Father could not have underftood
the Son, nor the Husband his Wife, there could have
been no comfort in living together. Therefore it is>
likely that every Family had its peculiar Dialed 5
or rather the fame common Dialeft (or way o£
fpeaking) was given to thofe Families, whom God:
would have to make one Colony in the following
Difperfion. Unto which Difperfion they were con-
ftraine^ by their not being able to have fuch Pamir
liarity as they had before with every body ; but
only with thofe who underftood their particular
Speech.
Into how many Languages they were divid< none can determine. The Hebrews fanfie into LX! which Opinion hath much prevailed .-Being grounded, upon the foregoing Chapter $ where the Defendants, from the Sons of Noah are juft fo many. The Greek Fathers make them LXXII. becaufe the Greek^ Verfion adds two more (Elifa among the Sons of Japhet^ and: Cainan among the Sons of Sheni) and the Latin Fa thers follow them. Butthisis a very weak Founda tion \ it being apparent that many of the Sons of Gt- naan ufed the very fame Language in their Country,, and fodid Javan and Elijhah in Greece : And in other places fo many concurred in the life of the fame: Speech, that fcarce Thirty remains of the Seventy to be: diftinft, zsBoehart hath obferved. See Seldeny L. It deSynedr. cap. 9. Se£L III.
Yerfe 8. Ver. 8. So the LORD fcattered them^ Broke their Combination by making them fpeak feveral Lan-- guages 3 which cut off the common bond of one Society. For as the Unity of one common Lan guage
upon GENESIS.
guage (to ufe the Words of Mr. Mede.p. 362.) had Chapter knit all Mankind into one Community : So God in XL his Wifdom faw that Plurality of Languages was the L/"V\J beffc means to force them into a Plurality of Socie ties.
Abroad front thence."} Into all the Regions of the North^ South^ and Weft: The Effacing inhabited before by Noah and iuch of his Offspring as abode with him. Which is not to be underflood as if they were immediately Scattered into the remoteft places from Babel : But firft into the neighbouring Coun tries ^ and by degrees into thofe which were further off, according as their Families increafed.
How long this Difperfion hapned after the Flood, cannot be certainly determined. But we can de- monftrateit was not much above 100 Years. ForPeleg (in whofe days this came to pafs, X. 25.) was born but an Hundred and one Years after .• As was ob- ferved before upon that place. Now fome think this Divifion was juft made at his Birth .-. Which St. Auftin takes to have been the reafon why his Father called Kim Pelegj quiaJunc ei natv* efl^ quando per Itnguas ter ra divifa eft, becaufe he was then born to him, when the Earth was divided by their Languages. But the T^xt doth not make this out, for it only fays in his Days the Earth was divided.. And the Thirteen Sons ofjofyan (Pelegs Brother^ who had their (hare in this divifion, being not then born, we-muft conclude that if this divifion began at Pelegs Birth, it was not finiftied till fome Years after. Elmacinns fays in the Fortieth Year of Pelegs Age $ ib& Hebrews generally fay at his Death.
See Hottingers Smegma Orieat. p. 62. and 1 66.
And
-* COMMENTARY
Chapter And they left of to build the Tower J] I fee no rea- XL fon to believe that God over-turn'd it by a terrible IXVV) Tempeft, as BpiphoKJiu expreffes it, Jwmpyov dvi/M>v £oAy} ^?f*4&. Which is the Opinion ot Jofephus^ L. I. c. 5. dntiq. and Abydetws mention'd by Eufe- />/'#/, L. IX. c. 4. Pr<epar. Evan, and divers others of the Ancients. Nor is there any ground for what O- thers fay, (particularly Benjamin Tudal, in his Itine- vary, p. 77.) that it was burnt by Fire from Hea ven. For Mofes doth not intimate that this was ei ther burnt, or over-turn'd .• But only that they de- fifted from their Enterprize .• Which naturally cea- fed, when they could no longer joyn to carry on the .Building. Which may rather lead us to think, that the City and Tower flood long after this .• And thatBtfc/^rf's Conjeftureisnotunreafonable, That it <was the very Tower which was afterward confecrated 4o Belt**} defcribed by Herodotus, L. I. For it is evi dent, that though this City and Country lay wafte *for fome time, Men being frighted by the confufion of their Languages from living there, yet NimroJ, a bold Man, came and made this the Seat of his Empire : And, it's very probable, carried on that Work which was broke off by the DHferfion. For it is not faid, Ge». X. 10. that he built Babel, (as he did Niniveh^ and other Cities, verfe n.) but only that it was the beginning of his Kingdom^ the head City, where he made his refidence.
Verfe 9* Ver. 9. Therefore is the Name of it called Babel.~\ Which (ignifies in Hebrew Confu/lon: So frivolous is their Conceit, who make it to have been called by this Name, from Babylon, the Son ofBelus. All the difficulty is to know who called ic by this Name. Some think the Children of Heber, in whofe Family
the
upon GENESIS. 231
the original Language continued. But it may be as Chapter rationally conceived, that in the confufion of Lan- XL guageS;, all retained fome of the ancient words, and L/"V*\ particularly this .- By which they all commonly cal led this Place.
Confound tbe Language of all the Earth. That iSj the Language of all thofe People who were in this Wejlern Colony $ not the Language of Noah, and his Plantation more Eafterly, who kept, as Ifaid, the Primitive Language.
Scatter them abroad upon the face^ &C."] This Dir fperfion was fo ordered, that each Family and each Nation dwelt by it felf .• Which could not well be done, as Mn Mede obferves, but by dire&ingan or* derly Divifion .-Either by cafting of Lots, or cha fing according to the Birth-right, after Portions of the Earth were fetout according to the Number of their Nations and Families. For other wife, fome would not have been content to go fo fa North as Magog did,, and others fuffered to enjoy more plear fant Countries*
Ver. 1C. Thefe are the Generations of Shent?]\tz$»V&fe i pears from the foregoing Chapter, that thefe here men tioned, were not all the Perfonswho defcended from him .• But thefe were the Ancettors of Abraham^ whom Mofes derives by thefe from Shew.
Ver. n. Lived after he begat Arphaxad,five hundred Verfe I Tears.*] So that as he had kznMethufelah and Lantech before the Flood, he might alfo fee> not only Abraham, but his Son Ifaac^ who by this Account was one and twenty Years old when Shew died.
Ver. 14. Begat Eber.~] Who was the Father of thofe from whom came the Hebrew Nation .• Abraham^ being defcended from him in the fixth Generation.
And
23a A COMMENTARY
Chapter And that Nation being called Eber, JV/^i.XXIV. 24.
XI. and the Children ofEber, Gen. X. 21. It is not rea-
L/""V\J fonable, as I obferved before, to feek for any other
derivation of the Name of Hebrews.
Verfe 16, Ver. 16. Pelcg, or Phaleg.~] It is not unlikely that either he, or fome of his Pofterity in memory of him, gave name to a Town upon Euphrates called Phalga : Not far from the place where Chalorusruns into it, upon which Harah, (or Charrali) ftood, built by Haran* Abrahams Brother.
Verfe 18. Ver. 18. Rett, or -Regan."] ( As foitie pronounce the Hebrew word,) gave Name to a Field near AJJyria, Judith I. 5. or, as Tobit faith, in Media: Where Strabo mentions a City called Raga9 and fo dothS/e- phanus^ TPa)"^ ^Ai; 2^ .MxiSzf. In the Hundred and thirtieth Year of his Life, if wemay belie vzElfnacinM^ (p. 29.) Niwrod began to Reign in Babylon. And in his days alfo he fays, the Egyptian Kingdom began. Which need not feem ftrange, though fcarce two hun* dred Years werepafled fincethe Flood, when we con- fider the vaft increafe of People in thefe Ages, from a few Planters, within fuch a compafs of time .• And likewife the extraordinary Fruitfulnefs which God after the Flood beftowed upon them for the Peo pling ofthe Earth. For he fays twice to Noah, and his Sons, immediately after they came out ofthe Ark, increafe and multiply, Y£. I, 7. and replenfjh the Earth. From this Antiquity of ' ^Egyptian Kingdom, it is, that the later Pharaohs called themfelves the Sons of ancient Ktngs^ Ifa, XIX. 1 1.
In Reus time alfo both the Egyptians and Babyloni ans now began to make Images and worlhip them, if Patricides may be credited. See Hotting. Smegwa. Orient, cap. 8. n. 16.
Ver.
Hpon GENESIS, 233
'Ver. 20. Begat Seng.*] From whom (Bochartu* Chapter thinks) fomeofhis Defcendants might call the Ci- XL ty Sarug : which the Arabian Geographer fays was L/WJ near to Charr<g or Haran. He firft began to celebrate every Year the Memory of famous Men, after they were dead } and commanded them to be honoured as Benefa&ors $ if we may believe Suidas in the word 2tp;£, and Dawafien, and a long Roll of other Au thors mentioned by Jacobus Gen/ius, Par. I.e. 2. De Viftimis Httntanis.
Ver. 22. Begat Nahor."] The fame Writers fay, Verfe 22* That Idolatry increafing much in his days, there was a great Earthquake ( the firft that had been obferved) which overturned their Temples, and broke their I- mages in Arabia.
Ver. 24. TerahJ] Whom they make to have been Verfe 24. an Idolatrous Prieft $ but to have repented and been converted to the Worfhip of the True God. See Verfe 31.
Ver. 26. And Terah lived feventy Years, and begat Verfe 26. Abraham^ Nahor, and Haran."] i. e. He was feventy Years old before he had any Children 5 and then had three Sons one after another : Who are not fet down in the order wherein they were born. For Abrahams being firft named doth not prove him to have been the eldeft Son of Terah $ no more than Shems being firft named among Noah's three Sons, proves him to have been the Firft-born, IX. 18. For there are good Reafons to prove that Abraham was bornyftcfp Years after Haran $ who was the eldeft Son 5 having two Daughters, married to his two Brothers, Naborand Abraham: Who feems to be the youngeft, though named firft, both here and in the next Verfe^ becaufeof his preheminence. See'Fer/e 32.
Hh Ver.
A COMMENTAR-r
Chapter ^er* 2^' H*?** died before hfs Father, &.CJ] In his *X I. own7 Country, (as it here follows J out of which he t^V-'sj did not go, as the reft of this Family did. Verfe 28, In Vr of the Chaldees."] That part of Mefopotamia^ which was next to Ajfyria^ is called thz Land of the Chaldees. For Vr> as Abarbwelobkrves, was in Me- fvpotamia : Lying in the way from Tigris to Nijihis* And therefore St. Stephen makes Mesopotamia and the Land of the Chaldees the very fame, Aits VII. 2, 4. Eupolemus indeed, as Bochart notes, places this TJr^ from whence Abraham came, (Verfe 31.") in Babylon :. But AmmiAnus fpeaks of an Vr in MefofotamJa, fi- tuated as before-mentioned 5 which we have reafon to think was the place from whence Abraham came, becaufe from thence to Canaan the way lay ftraight through Charran (or Haran-^) but it did not do fo, if he came from Babylon. And no good account can be given why he fhould go about through Mefopo- tar/na^ and Charran 5 when there was a (horter way through Arabia^ if he came from Babylon. Verfe 29. ^er- 29* ^e ^at^er oflfcah^]?. e. Of Sarxt, whom Abraham married 5 (he being his eldeft Brother's Daughter, Sifter to Lot. For H*rj# had three Chil dren, L0J, ^er/e 27. and Milchah^ whomNahor mar ried, and SWA whom Abraham married. That is, Haran dying, the two remaining Brethren married his two Daughters. For if we ihould underftand any Body elfc by Ifcah^ but Sarah ^ there is no ac count whence flie defended :.. Which Mofes fure would not have omitted 5 becaufe it very much con cerned his Nation to know from whom they came, both by the Father's and the Mother's fide. It is no wonder (he flbould have twoNames 5 one perhaps be fore they came out of Chald<ea, and another after.
Ver,
upon GENESIS. Ver. 9 1 . Went forth from Vr of the ChaldeesJ] See Chapter •what was faid Verfe 26. unto which I have nothing to add but this, That this Country was fo famous for VXV"VJ Superftirion, that the Chaldeans in Daniels time were ^e™ reckoned as a diftinft fort of Diviners, from Magici ans y Aftrologers, and Soitth-fayers, or Sorcerers , {Dan. II 2, 10. IV. 7. V. ii.) And, it's likely, from fome fiich fort of Men Terah and his Family learnt the worfhipof Idols, Jofb. XXIV. 2. But though he had been an Idolater, yet it may be probably con cluded from his leaving Vr of the Chaldces, with an intention to go to Canaan, (as it is here faid) that now he was become a Worfhipper of the True God. For what (hould move him to it, but Obedience to the Divine Direction, which Abraham received, (as we read in the next Chapter,) to which he would not have agreed, if he had not believed in God. As Lot it's plain did, whom he took^ along with him. That word is much to be remarked ^ which makes him the principal Agent in their removal : Abraham himfelf being governed by his Motion. For Mofes fays, He took^Abrahaw, and Lot, the Son ofHaran, &c. And though Nabor did not now go along with his Fa ther toHaran, ("being left behind perhaps to look af ter fome concerns,) yet afterwards he followed him, with all his Family. Asappears from Chapter XXVIL 43. and the following Chapter. And he alfo forfook Idolatry; for Rcbel^ah his Grand-child was married to Ifaac, and his great Grand-children, Rachel and Leah, nay, their Father Laban^m tohave been wor- fhippers of the true God, (though with a mixture • of fome Superftition J for he makes mention of Je hovah upon feveral occafions, Gen. XXIV. 31, 50,
5*.
H h 2 And
A COMMENTARY
Chapter And they came unto Haran.~\ It is poffible that Te* XI. rah going from Vr to Canaan, and ftaying in this place, called the City X*pp*f, (ffanrr*) after the Name of his Son Haran^(ovCharan) who died a little be* fore,verfe 28, For both the Greek, and Rowan Wri~ terscall a City, famous for the death of Crajfiis, by, the Name of Charrte : Situate on a River of the fame Name. It's likely from Abrahams Brother were de rived both the Name of the River and of the City, which the Arabians to this day Gall Charanor Char-
And dwelt thereJ] It's plain he intended to go to Canaan, and not to fettle here : But being arreftedi with the Sicknefs of which he died, could go no< further.
Verfe 32. Ver. 32. And the days of Ter ah were two hundred
and five Years.~] Mofesdoth not fumm up the Years
of any Man's Life mentioned in this Chapter, fas he
doth mChapterV.) but only of Terah's. Which he
doth on purpofe that we may know when this new
Period of Time began, ("of Abrahams leaving his
own Country, and thereby becoming the Father of
the Faithful,) which we are not to count from the
time when Terah began to have Children, (Ver. 26 .)
but from the time of his Death ^ immediately after
which Abraham went on towards Canaan. See Uffer.
Chronol.C.ll\.*i\AC.Vll.
From this alfo we learn when Abraham was born. For, \ffeventyfive Years ("which was Abrahams Age when his Father died9 and he went from Haran^ XII. 4.) be fubdufted from Two hundred and five^ it is znanifeft that he was born when his Father was an Hundred and thirty Years old .• That is, Threefcore Years after his Brother Haran^ as I faid on Verfe 26.
CHAR
upon GEN E S I S. 237
Chapter XII.
C H A P. XII.
MAny ancient Authors fpeakof Abraham, as Jo* fephus obferves, and out of him Eufebius : who names others alfo, L. IX. Pr<epar. Evang. c. 1 6, 1 7,&c. All that I (hall note is, That one great Defign of Mofes being to lead the Jews to underftand the Ge nealogy of this noble Anceftor of theirs , he haftens to it : Relating other Matters briefly 5 but fpending many Pages about him. For he comprifes, for in- ftance, the Hiftory of the World from the Creation to the Flood, containing One thoufandfix hundred fifty fix Years, in the compafs of fix Chapters :. But beftowson the Hiftory of Abraham nineteen Chapters ; though it continue no longer fpace of time than an Hundred and f evenly five Years.
Ver. i. Now the LORD had fad unto Mra While he lived in Vr of the Chaldees $ from whence it is certain he called him while his Father was alive, XI. 31. We are not told how he fpake to him$ for here is no mention, as Maimonides obferves, (P. II. £.41.) of his fpeaking in a Dreant^ Qi&Vifien, or by the Hand of an Angel : But only (imply and ab- folutely that the LORD faldto him. By a Voice, when he was a wake, Ifuppofe, fron theSehech/nah, or Divine Glory : For St. Stephen faith exprefly , The God of Glory appeared to him^ before he dwelt inCharran^ AGsVII. 2.
Get thee out of thy own Country^ fcrc^ Which be^an a good while ago to be infefted with Idolatry, fSee XI.vi8, xa.) Some of Shew's Pofterity forgetting
the
A COMMENTARY
Chapter the Creator of All, and worfhipping the Sun, as the XII, great God, and the Stars as leffer Gods. So Maimo-
LS^/*\3nides'm his More Nevoch. P. III. e. 29. where he faith the Zabii relate in one of their Books, (which he there name*,) That Abram contradicting their worfhip, the King of the Country imprifon'd him, and afterward banifhed him into the utmoft parts of the Erf/?, and confifcated all his Eftate. A Tale in vented to take away from him the Honour of his voluntary leaving his Country 5 and todifcredit this Sacred Hiftory, which tells us he diredted his Courfe quite another way , towards the Weft. Abarbinel and others will not have this Call of God to Abram to have been when he was in Vr, but after they came to Haran $ to which he fanfies Terah came, becaufe of fome Misfortunes he had in Vr. But this is invented to contradift St. Stephen , Afts VII. 2. with whom Aben Ezra agrees, who expounds thefe words of his calling out of Vr. For it's hard to find any other reafon why he defigned to go to Canaan^ (XL 3 i.J the place whether he went after Terah was dead.
Into a Land that I will /hew thee.~\ He had the Di vine Dire&ion, it feems, all along, toconduft him in his Journey. But it argued, astheApoftle ob- ferves, a great Faith in God, that he would follow him, not knowing the Country to which he would lead him.
Verfe 2. Ver. 2. And I mil make of thee a great fJatfon^] Fkrft, by multiplying his Pofterity 5 and then by ma king them a feleft, peculiar People .• whom he di- ftinguiftiedby his Favours, from all other Nations. So it followso
nfon GENESIS.
IwUblefs thee.'] Beftow many Benefits both Tern- Chapter poral and Spiritual upon him. XiL
And make thy Name great.~] Make him famous U"VN throughout the World 5 as he is to this day, not on ly among the Jeves^ but among Chriftians and Maho metans. So Maimonides obferves 5 that all Man kind admire Abraham,, even they that are not of his Seed.
And thoufialt be a Blelfing^] Others (hall be the better for thee 5 as Lot was, and the Ring of So- dom^ &c. Or, as the Hebrews underftand it 5 thcu {halt be fo profperous, that when Men would wifh well to others, they (hall ufe thy Name, and fay ; The Lord blefs thee as he did Abraham,
Ver.3. 1 will blefs them that blefs thee, &c.] TheVerfe 3 higheft Token of a particular Friendfhip, which he here contrails withAbraw (who is called the Friend efGoJ) in promifing to efpoufe his Intereft fo far, as to have the fame Friends and Enemies that he had. Which is the form, wherein Rings and Princes make the ftrifteft Leagues one with another.
AndCurfe them that Curfe thee."] Maifftonides will have it, (in the place before-named) that the Za- btanr loaded Abram with all manner of Curfes and Reproaches, ("when he was fent out of their Coun try) which, he bearing patiently, God turned upon themfelves..
And m thee {hatt all the Families of the Earth be blejfid."] Which was moft eminently fulfilled in Chrift. An \ here it muft be remarked that this Pro- mife, of Bleumg all the World in Abram^ was made to him before he received Circumcifion, while he was in Vr of the Chaldees, and before he had any Iffue, (for Sarai was^rrearand had no Child \ XI. 30.) And
there-
A COMMENTARY
Chapter therefore before any preference of Jfaac to Ifomaeh
XII. or any diftinftion made between his Pofterity, and
LXVNJ the reft of Mankind. In token that they were all
concerned in this Promife } whether defcended from
Abraham^ or not. In (hort, this Promife only limits
the Birth of the Mejfiah to the Seed of Abraham ^ but
declares that his Benefits fhould be common to all o-
ther Nations.
Verfe 4, Ver. 4. So Abram departed^ &c/] Having ftaid fome timeia Harm, where his Father fell fick and died, he profecuted his Journey from thence to Ca- naan^ after his Father was dead. So St. Stephen tells usexprefly, A£ls VII. ^. from thence (i.e. from Char- ran) when his Father was dead^ he removed him into this Land^&e. It was a wonderful effeft of Abrahams Faith (lobferved before J to move him to leave his own Native Country to go to Ear an : But it wj ftill a greater, after he had travelled a long way from 1)r hither ; to go three hundred Miles more from hena to Canaan .5 a Country of which he had no know ledge, nor had fent any Body before him to difc verit.- Taking his Journey through the dangeroi ^nd barren Defarts otPalmyrena^ and having nothinj to fupport him, but only the Promife of God. Whicl made him climb over the high Mountain, either .Libanus^ Hermon^ or Gi lead: For in that part of thi Country heentred, as Sir W. Raleigh hath obferve< .See Verfe 5.
And Lot went with him7\ He might conclude per haps, that Abram being called in a fpecial manner out of Chald<ea, was thereby diftinguiflied from the reft of Shem s Pofterity $ and that he joyning with him in obeying the fame Call, might claim the priviledge of fulfilling the Promife of theMeJ//d£5no lels than Abram.
And
upon GENESIS.
And Air am wasfeventy and five Tears old^ when he Chapter departed out of Haran.~] See XL ult. XII.
Ver. 5. All the Souls they had gotten. (Hebr* had LXVNJ vtaAi) inHaran^] i.e. All the Slaves born in their Verfe 5. Houfe, or bought with their Money, The Chaldee Paraphraft interprets this of the Profelytes they had won to God: For fuch only would Abram carry with him. And fome of the Hebrew Doftors are fb nice, as to fay, That Abram inftrufted the Men, and Sarai the Women, in. the true Religion: Concerning which he wrote a Book, (if we may believe Maitno- nides, Deldolol. c. i.) and left it to his Son Ifaac. We read alfoin Pirltf Eltezer, c. 25. that he took a Houfe, which fronted Charran, where, according to the ancient Piety, he kept great Hofpitality : And in viting thofe that went in or came out of the Town, to refrefh themfelves if they pleafed, fet Meat and Drink before them 5 faying. There is but one God m the World.
And into the Land of Canaan they ca#*e.~] We are told before, XI. 31. that Terah went forth to go to this Country, but could not reach it, as Abram did. Who entred into it, at the North part of it, as appears by the following part of the Story : Where we read he went to Sichem and the Plain, zndverfey, went onfttl/ towards the South.
Ver. 6. Sichem and the plain of Moreh.'] Or, as Mr. Verfe & Mede, following the LXX. will have it, the Oal^ of Moreh : Underftanding by Oak, not only one (ingle Oak, butafiW* or Grove of Oaks. See XIII. 1 8. Where, I fuppofe, he intended to have fixed his dwel ling 5 had not the Temper of the People, who inha bited that Country, made it inconvenient.
I i AnA
A COMMENTARY
And the Canaanite was then in the Land"]. It was very pertinent to Mofes his Defign, fpeakingof A- brattis Paflage through this Country, to tell who was at that time poffefled of it. But it is dubious whe ther he mean by the Canaanite a particular Peopl^ de- fcended from Canaan, as he doth XV. z\t or, in ge neral, all the Nations, which the Jfraelites afterward deftroyed. It feems tome the firft of thefe is meant, and that by Land he means only that part of the Country where Sichem lay, which was then poflefled by this particular People. For, in the n^xt place that Abram went to, it is faid, The Canaanite and, the Pertzzite dwell then in the Land, (XIV. 7. ) /. e. in that part of the Country. Where we do not read what Entertainment Abram met wtth^ 5 but I take it, as an Argument of .4foWs great Faith, that he would adventure among fuch a rough and fierce People .• Who had no kindnefs for the Pofterity of Shevtnpon arc aid Score $ and if the ancient Tradi tion inEpiphanius be true, upon a frefli Account. For hefaithfH^re/:LXVI.w.84.) that this Country cal led Canaan, did really belong to the Children -of Shem^ by Virtue of the Divifloa made among the Sons of Noah : But the Children of Canaan had difpoflefled them. So that thefe words, the Gaxaanite was then in the Land, figtiifies, they had already invaded this Country, before Abraham came thither. To whom God promifing to give itr he only reftored the Po fterity of Shem^ (from whom Abram defcended) un to that which the Children of Ham had wrongfully feized.
By all which it is eafie to fee how frivolous their Reafonings are., who from this place conclude Mofe* did not write this Book : Becaufe thefe words feem
to
upon GENESIS. 343
to fignifie the Writer of them lived after the Canaanitet Chapter were thrown out of this Land: Which was after XII. Mofes his Death. U^sTV
If thefe Men had not a greater Inclination to Cavil, than to find out the Truth, they would rather have faid the meaning is, The Canaanite was poflefled of this part of the Country in Abraham's time, though thrown out of it by Jacob's Sons, (Ge«.XXXIV.) be fore the Times of Mofes. Which is another way of explaining thefe words : Againft which I fee no Ob- jeftion but this, That their Prince is called an Hivite, XXXIV. 2. To which there is an Anfwer, verfe §c. which (howS'the Peopk were partly Cannanites.
Ver. 7. And tfe LORD appeared unto AbramJ] Verfe 7. As he had done before, (Verfe i) but now, it is likely, in a more glorious manner 5 to eftablifh him in Faith and Obedience.
And fad, unto h\m^ &c.*] There was a Voice came From the Shechinah, or Divine Glory ^ which now ap peared to him $ and told him this was the Country he intended to beftow upon his Pofterity. It is very remarkable that he no fooner entred Canaan, but God renewed his Promife to him, made before he came out of his own Country.
And it is further obfervable, ( as we (hall fee in the following Story ) that Abrawt's Obedience was conftantly rewarded in kind, according to the qua lity of the Service he performed : Though in quan tity, the Reward far exceeded the Service. Thus having left his own Country and Father's Houfc, (which was the firft trial of his Obedience) God promifes to give him the whole Land of Canaan^ and to make his Pofterity a mighty Nation. See XVH. 6. XXII. 16.
I i 2 And
244 V A COMMENTARY
Chapter And there he built an Mar, &c. J This was fo glo- XII. rious an Appearance, that it moved him to offer up L/*V*SJ a folemn Sacrifice to God 5 for which he built an Altar here in Sichem. And it being the firft that he built in this Country, it made this become the firft place that was eftabliftied for Publick Worfhip, af ter the Ifraelites conquered the Land of Canaan. For here was the Sanftuary of God in Jo/hua's time, near this very Grove where Abram firft pitched his Tent, and built an Altar, Jofh. XXIV. i, 25, 26. It conti nued famous alfo in after-times, as appears from Jndg. IX. 6.
Verfe 8. Ver. 8. And he removed from thence unto a Moun tain, 8cc-3 Though the LORD here appeared to him, yet he did not think fit to truft himfelf among the Canaanites, (who were the chief of the wicked Nations, that pofleffed this LandJ or, he thought fit to fee the reft of the Country, which God pr mifed to give him: And therefore came hither, which was about twenty Miles further Southward.
And there he built an Altar.'] Upon the Mountain where they anciently chofe to facrifice, rather than in other places. And, it is likely, God again appeared to him here, to encourage and ftrengthen him againft all his Fears. Which made him build a new Altar and offer Sacrifices of Thankfgiving to God, to im plore his continued Favour.
And it is obfervable, That the Promife which God made in the former place, verfe 7. he renewed again in this, and more at large, after became out ofEgjfff XIII. 3,4, 14, 15,16.
On the Ea(l of Bethel."] So- it was called in after- times*
upon GEN E'STS? 245-
Ver. 9. And Abram journeyed, Scc/J H.e did not Chapter think fit to fix yet in the fore- named place : But XII. made a further progrefs into the Southern parts of ^^f*^ the Country. Yet, after he had been in fe,g#f, ?•
(the Story of which follows) he returned to this place.
Ver. 10. A Famine In the Land.'] Of Canaan. Verfe 1C.
He went down^\ Egypt lay low in companion with Canaan.
Tofojonrn^] Not to dwell there : For he doubted not of God's Promife to him, of poffeffing the Land which he had left.
Ver. 1 1. Thou art a fair Woman, Sccf) She was now Verfe 1 1. threefcore Years old : But having comely Features, and being of a fair Complexion, (in comparifon with the Egyptians, who were fallow) (he feemed to be younger than (he was.
Ver. ix. They will fytt me7\ Knowing them to Verfe 12. be a libidinous People, he was afraid they might be tempted to make him away ^ that they might have his Wife,
Ver. 13. Say^thon art my Sitter."] He himfelf, upon Verfe 15* another occafion, explains in what fence (he was fo, XX. 12. Therefore he teaches her not to tell a Lye, but to conceal the Truth.
Ver. 15. Pharaoh.~] The Egyptian Kingdom began Verfe 15. about three hundredYzMS before this, (in the days ©f Ragati) XI. 1 8. if the Arabian Writers fay truej) and now was grown to be very powerful, by the means of fome King of this Name ^ which (it appears by this place) was very ancient, and continued to be the Name of all the Kings of Egypt > till the Cap tivity of Babylon 5 and we know not how much lon ger. Juft as Ptolemy was their Name after the times
of
^ COMMENTARY
Chapter of Alexander: And C<efar and Auguftw were the XII. Names of all the Emperours of Rome 5 and Candace of
~^v~*~> all the Queens of JEthiopia \ and the like may be ob- ferved in feveral other Countries. Ludolphus takes Pharaoh to be a compound word, fignifying as much as Father of 'the Country : For that's the meaning of Phar-ot^ jn the JEthiopick^ Language , as Phartnut is Mother of the Country.
The Princes alfe, &c.] The Courtiers who ftudied to gratify their Prince's Pleafure.
Was taken into Pharaoh's Ho fife.'] Into the Houfe of the Women, it is probable, (for the Egyptian Kings were now, as I faid, very great $ like thofe of Per/la in after-times) intending to make her one of his Concubines.
Verfe 16. Ver. 16. And he had Sheep and Oxen, &C.3 By the Gift of the King 5 befides thofe he had of his own before.
Verfe 17. Ver. 17. And he plagued Paraoh, &c/] 'Some of the Hebrews think they had grievous Ulcers in the Secret Parrs 5 which made both him and his Ser vants uncapable to enjoy either her, or any one elfe.
HK Houfel} His Courtiers partake of the Punifli- ment, becaufe they were Partners in the intended Sin.
'Verfe 18. Ver. 18. Why didft thov not tell me, &c.] Some think he fpeaks this fubtilly toAbrtham, to fee what he would fay ; not knowing yet that ftie was his Wife. Or, that his Priefts and wife Men had con- fult^d the Oracles about the Caufe of their Plagues. But the fimpleft Account is, That Sarai being inter rogated about it, confefied the whole Truth. Where upon he expoftulated thus with Abram^ who being
filent,
upon GENESIS, 347
filent, betook it for granted, that indeed (he was Chapter his Wife. XIII.
Ver. 19. Now therefore behold thy Wife, &C.] He *s-\s*^s difclaims all Intention of abufing another Man's Wife^ Verfe 1 9. ; (fo Vertuous they were in thofe days) but would have made her his own, (as he faith in the forego ing words, / might have taken her to me to Wife 5 ) that is, a fecondary Wife, as the manner was in thofe days $ for it is not likely he had no Wife at all before.
Ver. 20. Pharaoh commanded his Men concerningVzife 20. £*'*», &£.*] Gave ftrift Orders none (hould hurt him, or any thing belonging to him .-. But conduct him fafely, whether he had a mind to go. And accord ingly the next words tell us they did.
They fent htm avpay^c."] Not with Violence, but gave him a fafe Conduft : Sending him away, per haps, with a Guard for his Security. Such was the Generofity of the Egyptian Princes in thofe times.
CHAP. XIII.
Ver. i. \Nto the Smth.'] Info the Southern part of Verfe i*
X Canaan, where he had been before, XII. 9, Ver. 2. Very rich. &c/] His Riches were increafed yerfe 2t fince he went into Egypt , by the Bounty of Pharaoh^ XII. 16. And, (if we could believe Jofephus, L. I. Anttq. c. 8.) by the Rewards he had for teaching them feveral Pieces of Learning, which he brought out of ChaUUa. The Author of Schalfch. Hak&b. quotes Eufebiw his Pr<epar. Evang. L. IX. c. 4, to prove this, And indeed, I find Ejifebiut quoting Jofephus
in
348 * CVM MENTOR t
Chapter in the XVI. Chapter of that Book $ who fays he taught
XIII. Arithwetick. and AJtrology^ of which the Egyptians
\S*S\J were ignorant before : And in the XVIIth Chapter
Eupolemvs, who fays that Abram was familiarly con-
verfant with the Egyptian Priefts at tjeliofolis^ (when
he went thither by reafon of the Famine in Canaan)
and taught them many things^ particularly the CK-
leftial Sciences $ which he calls Attrology^ 5. e. the
Knowledge of the Stars.
r¥erfe 3. Ver: 3. Unto Bethel, Sec/] Which was the fecond Place wherein he dwelt, after his firft entrance into Canaan^ XII. 8.
Werfe 4. Ver. 4. Unto the place oj the Altar ^ Sec."] This feems
-to intimate that the Altar it felf, was either fain or
thrown down. Some think demoliOied by Abram
himfelf, when he left the place , others by the Canaa-
nites when he was gone.
And there Abram called on the Name of the LORD' Commended himfelf, and all he had, to God's Pro- te&ion : Who had promifed to beftow this Countn upon him. Perhaps he built the Altar again, and oi fered Sacrifice thereon. >Vsrfe 5. Ver. 5. And Lot alfo, Sec.] God had blefled him likewife as a faithful Companion of Abraham in his Travels 5 and Partaker alfo of his Faith.
Werfe 6. Ver. 6. The Land was not able to bear hivt^ &C."] There was not fufficient Pafturage for them both, in that part of the Country.
Werfe f. Ver. 7. And there was aftrffe, Sec.*] Wealth com monly breeds Contentions. Yet here was no diffe rence between the Majiers 5 but between their Ser vants: Each endeavouring to get the beft Paftures, and the beft watering Places for their FJocks.
And
upon GENESIS. 24?
And the Canaanite find the Perizzite, See."] This Chapter part of the Country, was inhabited by the People, XIII. peculiarly called Canaanites^ and by the Perizzites, (a L/'VNJ very rugged and barbarous Nation. See XV. 20,^) among whom Contention would have been danger ous, at leaft very fcandalous.
Ver. 8. AbramfaidtoLot.~] The beft, the wifeft, Verfe 8. and Men of greateft Experience in the World, are mod inclined to Peace 3 and moft yielding in order to it.
Let there be no flrife between me and thee~\ There had been none yet 5 but their Servants Quarrel, might have proved theirs at laft.
And between my Herds-men, &c.] And here, figni- fiesor.- As XIX. 1 2. ExW.XII. 5.
For we are Brethren."] Near Kinfmen, whom the Hebrews call Brethren.
Ver. 9. Is not the Land before thee, &c] There is Verfe 9. room enough, though not here, yet in other parts of the Country: Now, fince we cannot remain toge ther, take thy choice which way thou wilt go, &c. A wonderful Condefcenfion in Abram, to let the younger, and leaft in Eftate, pleafe himfelf. And be did not defire Lot to leave the Country, but only to fettle himfelf in what part of it he liked beft 5 hat he might be near to help him, as he did af terwards.
Ver. 10. Beheld all the Plain of Jordan, Sec.] A Verfe ID. Tuitful and pleafant Country, well watered by the Streams of Jordan: Which in many windings and urnings run through it, and at fome times overflow ed it $ which made the Ground very rich. And herefore Mofes compares this Plain to the Garden of Eden, (as moft underftand thofe words, the Garden
Kk of
250 A COMMENTARY
Chapter of the IDR-D,} which was well watered by a Ri- XIII. ver running through it : And to the Land of Egypt ;
L/~V"NJ which is fatned by the overflowing of Nik, as this was by the overflowing of Jordan.
As thoH comejt to Zoar.~] Thefe words are not to be referred to the Land of Egypt, immediately fore going, ffrom which Zoar was at a great diftance,) but to thofe words in the beginning, a Plain well wa tered every where 5 even to the utmoft Skirts of it, which was Zoar.
Verfe 1 x. Ver. 1 1. And Lot chafe him all the Plain of Jordan.} He was invited by the richnefs of the Soil ^ without regard to the Manners of the People : Which proved afterwards a great Affii&ion to him.
And Lot journeyed Eaft.~] For the Plain of Jordan lay Eajl from Bethel^ where they now were.
Verfe 12. Ver. 12. And Abram dwelt in the Land of Canaan, 8cc.] In that pare of the Country, where the People peculiarly called Canaanites (Verfe /.and XII.6.) were feated : Otherwife, if the Land of Canaan be ta* ken largely, the Plain of Jordan was alfo a part of it.
Verfe 1 3. Ver. 1 3. The Men of Sodom were wicked, &c.] Their Sins were grown ripe for Puniihment $ having been brought (as it were) before the LORD , and fen- tenced at his Tribunal, to the Judgment which fhortly after befel them.
Verfe 14. Ver, 14, And the L 0 R D fatd unto Abram^c."} It is likely the Lo&D appeared again to htm, fas he had done formerly, XII. 7.) after Lot was fepa- rated from him : Both to comfort him in his abfence, by renewing his Promife in larger words 5 and to affure him that his Pofterky, not L^Js? (hould inherit this Country,
Dff
upon GENESIS, 251
Lift up thine eyes^ 8cc/] He dwelt now, it is like- Chapter ly, upon the Mountain, which was on the Baft of XIII. Bethel, (where he pitched his Tent before he went t/*V"NJ into Egypt, XII. 8. and returned to it when he came from thence, Ver. 3,4. of this Chapter,') which gave him the advantage of a fair and long profpeft of the Country every way.
Ver. 15. For all the Land thou faft, &c."] ThatVerfe 15* whole Country, fome Parts of which he faw a great way, in every Quarter of it, and all the reft conti guous to them, were hereby affured to him.
For ever."] It doth not fignifie ftri&ly Time with out end : But a very long Period. The Jews indeed fay that this word Qlam, when it is written full, as they fpeak $ that is, with Van, denotes Eternity 5 though without Van they confefs it fignifies only a long time. But this fmall Obfervation is quite over thrown by many Examples to the contrary. For, Exod. XV. 1 8. where the Lord is faid to reign for evtr^ this word Olam\s without zVau^ and yet de notes Eternity. And Dent. XV. 17. where it is faid, hejhall he thy Servant for ever $ it is written with a VAU^ and yet denotes only a term of fifty Years at the moft.
Ver. 16. 7 mil make thy Seed as the Juft of the Verfe 16. Edrf£,8cc»3 More than could be contained in that Land.
Ver. 17* Arlfe, walk, t hrtwgh the Lattd,ikc."] He Verfe 17. would have him, for his fatisfaftion^ go and view it all more nearly, in every part of it. Or, he gives him leave (if he delired to underftand more fully, both the Quality and Quantity of the Inheritance he beftowed on him) to go and furvey it: Prornifing he would protect and preferve him in his peratnbu-
Kk 2 lation.
s$2 A COMMENTARY
Chapter lation. Nay, fome look upon this, as giving him a XIII. Warrant to take pofieffion of the Country, though
s^\/~^ he (hould not yet enjoy it.
Verfe 18. V7er. 18. Then Air am removed his Tent.~] , To a place about Twenty four Miles from Bethel, where he was before.
And dwdt in the Plain.'] Here the word we had before Xlt, 6. is in the Plural Number } and is taken by many for Oaks, i. e. for an Oaken Grove : So the Arabic^ Interpreter. The LXX. tranflate it, TTSL^. r S"PK£, bytheOa^ in the Singular Number } for there feems to have been one Oak^ more eminent than the reft. Under which Abram pitched -his Tent, and built an Altar unto the LORD.
This is confirmed by XVIIL i. compared with Verfe 8. And indeed the Ancients very much reve renced an Oak an<3 thererefore planted this Tree very frequently. Jacob buried the Idolatrous Trumpery of his Family under an Oak, (XXXV. 4.) which was by Sthechem^ where the place of Publick Worfhip feems to have been fix'd in Jo/hua's time, Jojh. XXI U. 1,26. The Angel of the L o a i> alfo appeared to Gideon under an Oak^ Jndg* VI. 11,19,25. IX. 6. And of all other Trees, an Oak was held moft Sacred by the Heathen $ particularly by the Druids. SeeP//- ny, L. XVI. c. 44. Max. Tyriw, Dffert. 34. And Paufanzasin his Account of Arcadia fays, the Anci ents made the Images of their Gods of 0*4, being the moft durable Wood.
This 0^4 fome fanfie was in being in the time of Conftantine^ and there was great refort to it. See «fo- zowev, L.II. cap. 4. Here Abram dwelt a long time, and many great things paffed here, before he removed to any other place,
upon GENESIS 253
? ~) Was the Name of a Man among the Chapter Atnorites, as appears from the next Chapter, verfe XIII. 13,
Which is in Hebron."] Or rather, by or near He- bron, (for iothe Particle Beth is often ufed,J which was a very ancient City, built feven Years before Zoar, i. e. the famous City of Tank in Egypt, Numb. XIII. 22. It was called Arba, or Kirjath-Arba at the firft, XXIII. 2. but in Mofes his time, Hebron. There are thofe indeed who fay it was not called Hebron till the time of Jofhnai who gave it to Caleb for his Portion, Jojh. XV. 13, 15* And thence con clude this PaflTage was not wrote by Mofes, but put in by fome other Hand, after his time. But I fee not the lead proof of this Afiertion,- that Caleb was the firft who gave it this Name. His Grandfon, menti oned i Chron. II. 4X5 43. may rather be thought to have taken his Name from this Place, than to have given a Name to it. Befides, there have been two Occafions of giving one and the fame Name 5 as ap pears by what is laid of Beer/heba, XXI. 31. XXVI. 33. And therefore this City might have the Name of Hebron in Mofes his time 3 and it might be confirm* ed in JoJIma's*
G H A
•X COMMENT ART
Chapter XIV.
CHAP. XIV.
Verfe i. Ver. i. \ ND it came to pafs, 8cc.^ It is v£ry e&» JL\ fie to give an account of this War, which the Kings of the Baft made upon the King of Sodom and Gomorrah^ Sec. if what was faid before, XII. 6. be admitted 5 that the Ganaanites had invaded the Rights of the Children of Shew, and gotten pofleffi- on of a Country belonging to them $ which they now endeavoured to recover, (as they had attempted before, verfe 4.) For Elam* of which Chedorkomr was King, defcended from Shew, Get*. X. 21.
Amraphel King of Sh/nar."] i. e. King Of Babylon^ as it is commonly underftood. But it cannot well be thought that fo potent a King, as he is fuppofed to have been in thofe days, fhould need any Aflbciatcs in a War againft fuch petty Princes, as thofe menti* oned verfe 2. Or, that the King of Elam ( whofe Quarrel this was, as appears from verfe 4.) fhould not be able of himfelf to grapple with them : Or, that the Kings of Sodom and Gomorrha^ 8cc. durft have adventured, with a handful of People in comparifon, to rebel againft him, after he had brought them un* der his fubjeftion. Therefore we muft either take Amraphel to have been fome fmall Prince in the Coun try of Shinar^ i. e, Ajfyria: Or, if he were King of Babylon^ that Monarchy was not very great in the days of Abram. And we muft alfo look upon the reft as Names of fome particular Places (like Sodom and Gomorrha) over which Arioch and Chedorlaomer reigned : Who were fuch Kings as thofe in Canaan
when
upon GENESIS.
when Joflma conquered it: Or elfe, Commanders of Chapter Colonies, which they had led out of Affyri* and Per- XIV. fia, and fettling thereabouts endeavoured to inlarge their Plantations. As the manner was in thofe and in fucceeding Times 5 when the Captains of a Troop, and Leaders of a fmall Body of Men, were called Princes or Kings.
Arioch King of EUafarJ] There was a City (men tioned by Stephanta de TJrbibw) called El/as, in Ccelo- Syria., on the Borders of Arabia 3 where Arioch per haps commanded.
Chedorlaomer KingofElam."] Concerning this Coun try feeX. 2z, where Chedorlaomer was either Gover nor of fome little Province or City 3 or, a Commin- der of fome Troop of that Nation.
Tidal King of Nations^] Some take Gojiw in this place, which we tranflate Nations, for a Country or City. But it is mere agreeable to the common ufe of the word in Scripture, to take it to fignifie a Peo^ pie : Who either wanted a fixed Habitation, or were gathered out of fundry Regions.
Thus part of Galilee being inhabited by a mixed People of divers Countries, was thence called Galilee of the Nations, or Gentiles, Matth. IV. 15. There were alfo, as Sir W. Raleigh obferves, feveral petty Countries which adjoyned to Phoenicia, (viz. Palmy- rena, Batanea, Apamena, Laodicene, &c. which lay to wards Mefofotamia on the North, and Arabia on the Eafl,) over which we may fuppofe Tidal reigned. Eupolemut, an ancient Greek Writer, relating this Sto ry, calls them Armenians, who made this Jnrode up on the Phoenicians, as Eufebhts tells us out of Alexan der Polyhiftor. L. IX. Prspar. Evang, c. 17.
A COMMENTARY
Ver. 2. Thefe made War with Bera King of Sodom ^ Sec.] They were Lords of the Country called Ten- tapolfc, or five Cities. Which were (6 fmall, that there
Verfe i. vvas no great need to bring a great King from beyond Tigris, with fuch a mighty Monarch as he ofBabjlm, is thought now to have been ^ and feveral other Na tions between thefe Kings and Euphrates^ to fubdue their petty Province. It had been madnefs alfo for thefe Kings to refift fuch powerful Armies, as the Ea- ftern Kings are commonly fuppofed to have brought againft them. And therefore I think it reafonable by the Kings in the frft Verfe to' underftand fome fuch petty Princes as thefe mentioned in the fe- cond.
Verfe 3, Ver. 3. VaUey of Siddfte.*] The five Cities ftood in this goodly Valley, which now is the Salt-Sea or Lake: Since the overthrow of thefe Cities by Fire and Brimftone from Heaven. Some will not have •Siddim a proper Name, but tranflate it ploughed Lands^ in which this Valley was very rich.
Verfe 4. Ver. 4. Twelve Tears theyferved Chedorlaomer, 8cc.] This (liows he was the Principal in this War : And if he had been King of all that Country called Elam^ we cannot think he would have pafled through fo great a part of the World, as Aflyria, Mefopotamia^ and part of Arabia to conquer five Towns. All whofe Riches could not countervail the Charge 3 though -he -had fent only one of his Lieutenants, with a fmall Force to bring them under.
Verfe 5. Ver, 5. Smote the Rephaiws.~] In their way to So- dom, they fubdued thefe Warlike People, who7 it is likely, oppofed their Paflage into Pentapolh./ And thefe Rephatets9 it appears by XV. 20. were a part of Cavaans Pofterity, fituate ^as one may gather from
Jojb.
upon GENESIS.
Jofh. XII. 4. XIII. 12.) on the other 'fide Jordan, in Chapter Bafhan, or Batanea. They were of a Giant-like Sta- XIV. ture .• And therefore the LXX.here and in otter pla- W"W ces, in (lead of Rephaim, have G/'^/zf .r .
Ajhtaroth'K.arnaim.'] It is plain from the fore- named place, and fromDeut. 1.4. that Aflrtaroth was a place in Bafhan. Whether fo called, becaufe the Goddefs Aftarte, \. e. Diana or Juno, was here wor- (hipped, no Body can refolve. They that are of this Opinion fanfie that Karnaint, which in Hebrew fig- nifies two horned, denotes the New Moon. But this word may as well note that Ajhtaroth was a City in the form of a half Moon.
And the ZUZJMS."] Another Warlike People there abouts .• Who, fome think, are the fame with the ZawLummims, Dent. II. 10.
The Emims.'} It appears from Dent. If. 9, 10, &c. that thefe were alfo a Gigantick People, and near Neighbours to the Horttes, mentioned in the next Verfe. For the Emims poflefled Ar and the Field of Kirjath-jeariM 5 and the Horttes poflefled Mount 6W> 5 till the former were driven out by the Moabttes, and the latter by the Children of Efau : And then the Country of the ILmims was called Moab, and the Country of the Horttes was called Edom.
Ver. j . And they returned.*] From the Conque ft of Verfe 7 the fore named People.
And came to En-mjfopat.~] Fell upon this Country, which was called afterward by this Name ; becaufe God \i&zjudged the Israelites for their Murmurings, and Contention with Mofes. From whence alfo it was called Kadefo, becaufe here the Lord was fantti- fed among them, AW. XX. 13.
LI All
A COMMENTARY
Chapter AH the Country tf the Awakkttes^] The Country
XIV, which was afterwards poffefled by the Amalekites'y
L/"V*NJ who were not yet in being .• For they were the De-
fcendants of Ffau, as Mofes (hows, Gen. XXXVI. i<$.
And alfothe Amdrites^ who dwelt m Hazezon- Tamar.'J.
Which is the fame with En-Gaddi^ near the dead "Sea,.
2 Chron. XX. 2.
Verfe 10. V(?r. lO.Full of Slime-pit s7\ Into whfch they hoped their Enemies might fall, and fo be broken : Which made them draw up their Army, and wait for them in this place.
And- the Kings of Sodom and Goworrhaficd.~} Were routed, as we now fpeak. Of the word Slime fee XL 3.
And fett there.] i.e. A great daughter was made of their Armies / For they thtmfelves efcaped, it ap pears by the following part of the Story. Some will have it, that many of them fell into thofe Slime-pits, in which they hoped to have feen their Enemies plunged. But the fimpleft Sence is 5 many of them wereflain, and the reft, as it follows, efcaped to the "Mountain. Bur made fuch ill ufe of their Prefervati- on, from being killed with their Fellows, that they only lived tofuffer a greater Vengeance.
Verfe 11. Ver. n. And they took^all the Goods ^ &c.] This is a further proof that Chedorlaower, and the reft of his Confederates in this War, were but petty Princes, (like the Kings of Sodom and Gomorrha^ &c.) for ha- ., ving broken the Army of the five Kings, they refted contented, and march'daway with the Priibners and Booty 5 but took not one of their Cities : Which, if they had been fuch great Kings, as is imagined, they would have certainly fack'd, and perhaps burnt, if they had not thought fit to keep them. But we read,
Verfi
upon GENESIS.
J^erfe 17. the King of Sodom ftill reigned after this Chapter vidtory, and went out of his City, to meet A- XIV, Iram. (*/~V~\J
Ver. 12. And they took.Lot, &cfj Who is here cal- Verfe 12, led his Brother s Scn^ and Verfe 14, and 16. Abrams Brother, This was the Foundation of Abr'am'% Quar- rel with the Pour Kings 5 whofe War was juftagainft the King of Sodom and his Confederates.- But they unjuftly feized upon Lot and his Goods.} who was but a Sojourner in that Country, and had no hand in their Revolt. ig,
Who dwelt m Sodom ~] In the Country of Sodow, where he hired ibme Ground for his Cattel 5 hut it is not likely he yet dwelt in the City, ("for then he had not been taken Captive,) but afterwards, for more fe- curity, betook himfelf thither.
Ver. 13. Told Abram the Hebrew,'} So called fromVerfc 13. his Anceftor, Heber^ as was before obferved. To which may beadded, That if he had been called by this Name, as many think, only from his pafling over Euphrates, (which- the LXX. took to be the reafon, when they tranflatedit Ti^^WJ ft would not have defcended to all his Pofterity, vyho did not come from beyond the River. So little a thing as that? • would not have given a Name to a whole and eminent Nation .5 who are ufually denominated from fome e- minent Progenitor.
And thefe were confederate with Abram^] The three fore-named Families were near Neighbours to Abrant ; who, it is likely, farmed (as we now fpea^; iome Ground of them: and fo entred into a Leuj.;-. of Mutual Defence, having the fame Intereft. 1 (hould think alfo, that having the Prieft of themoft High God not far from them, Verfe 18. they were good,
L 1 2 pious
^ COMMENTARY
Chapter pious People, ("rather than conclude, as I find fome XIV. do, that they were utter ftrangers to the true Religi- L/^VNJ on) which made Abram more forward to embrace, if notto court, their Friendfhip. For the Sins of the Anioritesbzmg not yet full, (XV. 16.) there might be fome remainders of true Piety among them : And it is no Argument, that becaufe thefe three Familes were of that Nation, they were wicked Idolaters. Verfe 14* Ver. 14. Armed his trained Servants.'] Drew forth a fele& number of his Servants, whom he iiad inftruft- ed to handle Arms $ in cafe of any Aflaults by Rob bers or injurious Neighbours. We read before, XII, 5. of the Servants they brought with them from Haran^ and now they were more increafed, as their Cattel were, (XII. i6.XIII, 2, 6.) fo that he might well make a fittle Army out of them.
And purfued them to Dan.'] As far as that place, where one of the Heads or Springs of Jordan breaks forth, called Dan,zs Jofephus relates, where he fpeaks of this very Hiftory, L. L Antiq. c. jo. This plain and (hort Account of this word Dany Overthrows the Argument which Cavellers draw from hence to prove thatM0/ex did not write thbBook^ 15. Ver. 1 5. And he divided hintfelf againft them, he and Ins Servants by night.] The Vulgar Latin here reads, f/jf Companions being divided^ he fell upon them ly Night : Minding rather the fence^ than the words. For here is no mention of any but Air am and his Ser vants*. Though it appears by the laft Verfe of the Chapter, that his Confederates before-mentioned, Perfe I j. Aner,Efficol^ and Mamre> )oyned with him in this Expedition. Which they managed with great Judgment, (for Stratagems in War were never want- itog,. from the beginning) Abram and his Servants
making
upon GENESIS.
making one Troop, or Battalion, (as they now fpeak) Chapter and the Confederates making three more. Who, di- XIV. viding themfelves, fell upon thejW Kings, in the/wr L^VNJ Quarters of their Camp.- That they might the more i diftraft them $ &nd make them apprehend their For ces to be more numerous, than indeed they were. They were put alfointo the greater Confufion, be- caufe this Affault was made in the Night : When, perhaps, they were buried both in Wine and in Sleep.
Ver. 15. Vnto Hobah."] Which lay in the Vale Verfe 15. , between Libanus and Antilibantts : Called by Amos I. y. the Valley ofAven, and Beth Eden, or the Seat of Pkafure. In this Vale was Damafcus feated.
Ver. 1 6. He brought bac^all the Goods, &c.] All Verfe 16. the Prey, whether in Money, Cattle, or other things, which the four Kings had carried away.
The Women alfo, and the Peopled] It feems they had carried away all the People of Pentapolis, who did not flee to the Mountains, or fenced Cities. And Women^ in thofe days, were a fpecial part of their Booty.
Ver. 17. Went out to meet him."] To congratulate Verfe 17. his Vi&ory 3 and to defire his People might be refto- red to him.
At the Valley of Shaveh.~] This feems to have been a pleafant Place, wherein the King (that is Melch/ze- decl{, I gU€f§ by what follows) took delight. Whence it was called the Kings-Dale. In which the King of Sodom met Abram $and Me/fteedcc^entertained him with Bread and Wine.
Ver. 1 8. And Melchizedec^ The Jews generally Verfe 18^ fay this was Shem, the Son of Noah. But we have teafon to look upon this Opinion, as proceeding
from
A COMMENTARY
Chapter from their Pride and Vanity : Which could not en- XIV. dure to think the Father of their Nation had any Su- ior in another Nation, efpecially among the (V naanhes. And therefore they will have j4fov*;» to* have been blefled by his great Anceftor Shew $ to whom alfo he paid Tithes : Which is a fancy fo plain ly confuted by the Apoftle to the Hebrews, that it is ftrangeany Chriftianstbould follow it. For he faith expreily, that Melchfaedeck. was not yto&tfojgiwevfSk $, auuftov, VH. 6. his Defcent^ or Pedigree, was not counted from them ; Which is not true of Skew. Nor could Shembz faid to be without Father or Mother ; whofe Genealogy is evident from Adam. Nor was Shews Priefthood, if he had any, of a different Or der from Levfs ; who was in his Loins, as well as in the Loins of Abram. And therefore it could not be faid that Levi paid him Tithes in the Loins of Abram, but it would be as true that he received Tithes in the Loins of Shem : For, according to this Interpre tation, he was in the Loins both of him that received Tithes, and of him that paid them $ and fo the whole Argumentation of the Apoftle falls to the Ground. But letting afide thefe and other Chriftian Reafons, f which areftrongly urged by Bocharttts, L. II. Phaleg^ c. i.) there is no Caufe, that we can difcern, why Mofes Qiould call Shew (whom he fo often mentions) by any other Name* than his own .• Nor is it likely thftf jAtife reigned in the Land of Canaan -^ which now was in thepofleifion of his Brother's Son .'Nor could Abram be faid to fojourn there as in a jlrange Country, if his Noble Anceftor, Shem, had been a Ring there. Nor is this an ancient Opinion among the Jews^t leaft not conftantly believed / For Jofepfats fays exprefly, that Melchizedeck was TLxvcLvawv Sujudzw^ a Potentate
of
upon G E N E S I S,
of the Canaanites^ L. VII. de Bella, Jud. c. 18. And Chapter yet it was fo common that it went to the Samaritans, XIV. as Btptyhantus tells us, H#ref. LV. n 6. (though not to the Arabians, who fay he was the Son ofPeleg. See Hotting. Smegma Orient. 256, 169,306.) and many Chriftians have embraced it, merely (as far as I can difcern) becaufe they would not acknowledge any good Man to have been then among the Canaamtes. Some Hereticksheld him to be/x^Ako TW* SWCJCLUULV^ as Eflfhwius tells us in the place fore-mentioned, Num.l. Which was the Opinion of Rkracas, a great Scholar and famous Phyfician mE,gypt, H<eref. LXVII. n. 3. And fome of the Church took him to have been the Son of God himfelf, who then appeared to Abram, dv i$ia, aV9/3»7r8i in the form of a Man, H<eref. LV. n. 7. But the plain truth is, he was a King and Prieft C for thofe two Offices anciently were in the fame Perfon) in that Country •• Where Men were not as yet wholly degenerated, and fain from the true- Religion.
King of Salem.'] It is a great Error to think that this Salem was the fame with Jerufalem. For it is plain, as Bochart obferves, (JL II. Phaleg^ c. 4.^ that 6We#/was In the way which led from the Valley of Da;nafcusur\to Sodom: Which we learn from this very place of Scripture. And fo St. Hierow fays, that he learnt from the Jew in his time, that it was fcated on this fide of Jordan : And it retained it's Name in our Saviour's days, as appears by the Story of Johns Baptizing near Soling Joh. HI. 23. Several of the Fathers are of the fame Mind, quoted by Mr. Stlden in his Review of the Hi/lory ofTithesy p. 432.
Brought
J COMMENTS Rr
Chapter Brought forth Bread and Wine.'} This he did as a XIV. Kiffgi not as a Priejt: For it was not an Aft of Re- L/"V"NJ ligion,1>ut of Hofpitality. Thus Heathens themfelves underftood this HiQory., as we find by Eupolemus^ (quoted by Etifcbrus, L. IX. c. 17.^) who faith he re ceived Abram as they were wont to do Strangers 3 in a City called Argartzm, which he interprets the Mount of the ntoft High : We know not in what Language it fo fignifies, or whether it bemifprinted for Harelion: But, I think, the pla\n fence is, that he treated Abram and his Followers, by caufing Provifions to be brought forth for their Refreshment after the Fight. For Bread and Wine comprehended all fort of Provifion for their Repaft : As to eat Bread with another, in this Book, is to feafl with him, XLIII. 25. And thus Tertullian it is certain underftood it 5 who faith exprefly, he brought them forth to Abram^ and offered them to him, and not to God, L. adv. Jud&os, c. 3. And E- ptyhanius obferves that the word in the Greek, is not •jgrffifojjw, but ^eSaAs, not he o/ered, but brought out. So it feems his Copy had it.
Verfe .19* Ver. 19. And he blejjed him."} This he did as a Prieft, (which Office isjuft before-mentioned) as he did the other as a King.
Blejjkd be Abram of the mofl high God."] He prayed 'God to confirm the Bleffing, which he had pronoun ced upon him.
Pojfijjbr of Heaven and Earth."] Rather Creator, as the LXX. and Vulgar Latin tranllate it. See Dr. Spen cer ^ L. I. de Leg. Hebr. c. 4. § IO. and Lud. de Dieu before him, in his Notes on this place, and Hotting. Smegma Orient, p. 87. By this, and the next f^erf^ wherein he gives Glory to the moft high God for Abram 's Viftory, it is apparent that he was a Wor-
(hipper
upon GENESIS.
fhipper of the One only True God, the Maker and Chapter Governor of all things .• To whom he alfo miniftred XIV, in the Office of a Prieft 3 who bleffed Men in his Name.
And he gave htw.'] 5. e. Abraham gave to Mel- k, as the Apoftle explains it, Hebr. VII. 2. But the words are fo doubtful as they lie here, that Eupolemus (in the place above-mentioned J thought Melchizedecl^ had beftowed Gifts upon A- Iravz.
Tithes of aUJ\ He doth not fay of what all $ but that which goes before leads us to think he means Tithes of all the Spoil, which he had taken from Che- dorlaomer, &c. For he had nothing elfe there to Tithe $ unlefs it were the remainder of the Provi- fions he had carried along with him in this Expedi tion / All the reft of his own Eftate being many Miles off, ztMamre. And thus Jofephns interprets it, &t<J,T!w ^Aeias, the Tithe of what was gotten by War. And thus the Apoftle himfelf feems to ex pound it, Hebr. VII. For having faid, Ferfe 2. he gave him the tcnthpartofall : When he comes to ar gue from this, he calls it the tenth part of the Spoils^ lferfe 4. And indeed it was a very ancient Cuftom to offer to God fwhofe Prieft Melchfaedeck was) the tenth part of what they took in War. Dhdorus Sknlits reports it of the Greeks ^ and many Authors ofthe Rowjns. From whence we cannot infer that they gave only Tithe of fuch things 3 but ra ther, that thefe were extraordinary Acknowledg ments of God's Mercy to them.* Which it wasufual to make, out of thole PofleHions which he had blef fed them withal. For why (hould they give Tithe ofthe Spoils, If they were not wont to pay Tithe
Mm of
e '& m m E NT ART
Chapter of other things? And therefore St. Chryfoftont makes •, Xl\r. this Refleftion upon this Prafticeof Abram^ That C/*V**SJ it (hould teach us to be willing and ready to offer unto God, a^rz^ct^ the Firft-Fruits of all that he hath beftowed on us. This is confirmed by the Story of Jacob : Which, together with this of Abram, (hows plainly the Cuftom of paying Tithes was before the Law of Mofes : • And that not only of the Spoils of War^but of their Flocks, Corn, and other Fruit,which Jacob vowed unto God, XXXIII X2. See there. Verfe 21^ Ver. 21. Give me the Perfons^ 8rc/) A truly gene rous Difpofition becoming a King ^ to love the Per- fonsof his Subjects better than their Goods. Verfe 22. Ver. 22, I have lift up my Hand.~\ L e. Sworn, as ; the Phrafe is ufedinmany places, Exod. VI. %.Nnwb. XIV. 30, &c.
Pojfijfor of Heaven and Earth."] See Ferfeig. Vtrfe 2 3 . Ver. 2 3. 7 mil not take from a Tbred, 8cc.] / . e. The meaneft thing.
I have made Abram rich.~] He would have thista> be only the Work of God 5 who promifed, a great while ago, to blefs him, and had now renewed his Promifeby Melchfaedeck; And he would not have it thought that love of Spoil had carried him to the War ^ but only love of JulHce. In ftiort, here is as moft noble Example ("as Maiwonides obferves, P. III. More Nevoch.c. 50.,) of Contentednefs with what he had, of defpifing Riches, and feeking Praife rather from Virtue.
24. Ver. 24. Except only that tohich theyoungMen (i. e. the SoldiersJ have eaten.'] For which he did not think k teafonable they (hould pay-
AxM
upon G E N E SIS. 2*7
And the Portion of them that went with me^} He Chapter i could not bind his Confederates by his own Aft 5 but i left them to deal with their Countrymen as they v pleafed.- In either keeping their (hare of the Spoil, or parting with it, as he had done. The Jews truly jobferve, that they who ftaid with the Stuff and Car riages, had their Portion equal with thofe that fought : As we read in the Story of David^ i Saw. XXX. 25. But it is not certain that this Cuftom was as old as Abravis time $ which they would gather from this place. For here they take the young Men for thofe who fought and purfued the Enemy : And Aner, EJhcol, and Mamre, ftaid to guard the Carriages, But I fee no ground for this ; it being moft proba ble, as I obferved before, that they attack'd the Ene my, as well as Abraw's Servants 5 and thereby acqui red a Title to part of the Spoil. But whether we confider it this way, or the other, Abram could not -give away their Right, when he generoufly parted with his own.
CHAP. XV.
Ver, i, \ND after tf^fe things.*] After this great Verfe
Ji\ Viftory, and his generous refufal ot the Ring of. Sodom** offer.
The Word of the LORD came to Abram.~] God revealed himfelf more clearly to him. For this is the fir ft time we read, of the Word of the LOR D coming to him } and of his having a Vifion .• That is, being made a Prophet, and that in an high Degree j
M m 2 God
A COMMENTARY
Chapter God revealed his Mind to him, not ina Dr^;?/, but XV. in a Vifion ^ when he was awake, but having his l^V^NJ Senfes (as Mainonidcs explains itj bound up from their ordinary Functions} during the time that the heavenly Influence came upon his Mind, and diffufed itfelf to his Imagination 5 where it reprefented fe- veral things to him 3 More NevochiM, P. II. c. 41; But thefe woads may be underftood, of his having thefe things reprefented to him, by the Divine Ma- jefty v when he wasperfe&Iy awake, and ufed all his Senfes.
Fear not, Abram.'] He heard thefe words, while he was in the Ecftafie, (according to Maiwonide\- Explication) incouraging his hope in God, that he and Lot (hould be fafe from any new Invafion by thefe, or any other Enemies. For, perhaps there were fome Rumours abroad of thzAjfyrians recruiting their Forces 5 with an Intention to renew the Wan
I am thy Shi eld ?\ I will proteft and defend thec.
And thy exceeding great Reward."] Will give thee far more, than thou haft lately denied to take, for my fake.
Terfe 2. Ver. 2. L 0 R D God^ what wilt thou give me, &c.^; What good will all the Riches in the World do me, if I have not a Child to inherit my Eftate >
To go childlefs.~] Is to die, (to go out of the World without Children) as Luke XXII. 22. truly the Son ofMangoeth^ i. e. muft die fliortly- He doth not flight God's Promifemade in the foregoing Ferfe ; but only defires him to be fo gracious as to give him a Child for his Remrd*
And
upon GENESIS 169
And the Steward of my Houfe is this, Sec.]] He that Chapter takes care of all I have, (and therefore defervesbeft of XV. mej is not of my Kindred. L/"V~VJ
Elzczer of Dam.ifcus^] Some think this fignifies no more, but that he was born of a Syrian Wo- man.
Ver. 3. And Air am f aid. Sec.] He repeats the Verfe 3* fame again, out of a great Concern to have God's Promife fulfilled .• Which he did not disbelieve, but earneftly long'd for, more than for all the Kiches in the World.
One born in my Houfe is an Hetr.~] It is likely, that EHezer was one of thofe Souls ("\. e. ServantsJ) gotten in Haran^ (XII. 5.) and had been fuch a wife and faithful Manager of all things committed to his Care, that Abram intended, before the Promife made to him, to have left him his Heir : Thinking he {hould have no Child of his own 5, Sarah being barren, as we read, XI. 30.
Ver. 4. And behold, the Word of the LORD came to Verfe 4^ to/, Scc-1 Anew AiTurance is given him, from the Schechinah^ or Divine Majefty^ that he fhould have an Heir begatten by himfelf;
Ver. 5. And he brought him firth abroad , and Verfe 5^ fazd)&C.~] Maimonidcs thinks fM<?re Nev. P. II. c. 46.) that all this which follows was done in a Vifion. But others will have it, that he was really conducted out of his Tent into the open Air, and look'd upon the Stars. The former Opinion is more probable, be- caufe the Sun was not yet gone down, verfeii, and therefore the Stars were not to be feen with the Eye; but were reprefented only in a Villon.
So flail thy Seedbel] Nchew. IX. 2;. He not only" promifes him an Heir 5 but that this Heir {hould
have
^ COMMENT ART Chapter have a numerous Pofterity. Which, as before XIIL XV. 16. he compared to theDuft of the Earthy To here he compares ro the Stars of Heaven. Showing ("fay fome of the Jews) by the former their Humiliation 5 and by this their Exaltation and Advancement, And indeed, in this Chapter, hefpeaksof both. 6. Ver. 6. He believed in the L 0 R £>.] Was folly perfuaded that God both could and would perform his Promife $ though it feemed to be very difficult, if not impoilible, according to the ordinary courfe of Nature .• He and Sarah both, being very old.
And he accounted It to him fir Right eoitfneff.~] The Ilord efteemed it a 'moftnoble Ad, and high Expref- fion of a pious Confidence in him, (as that Aft of Phineaswqs^ in after- times, Pfalm CVI. 31.) and thereupon gracioufly owned him for a righteous Per- fon .• Though he was not free from all Sin whatfo- ever ^ but was guilty of fome that were not confident with perfeft Righteoufnefs.
It is here to beconfidered, That Alram believed this Promife before, ("XIL \\ 2,3, 4.) but now his Faith was the more remarkable ^ becaufe, notwith- {landing fome time had paifed fince the firft making of the Prornife, and he had noIlTue ^ he (till perfifted in the belief, that God would beftow a Son upon him ^ though it grew every day more and more un likely.
'Ver. 7. lam the LORD that brought thee, &c.] He fe-minds him of what he had already done for him-, that he might confirm him in the belief of what he promifed further to do.
To gi>ve thee this Land, Scc.^ To beftovv it upon thy Children for their Inheritance.
Ver.
GENE SI S' 271
Ver. 8. Whereby foall Ilytvw, Sec."] This is not fpo Chapter k£n doubtingly , for the ftrength of his Faith is high- XV. ly commended $ buthedefires to have it more and L/"VN more ftrengthned and confirmed .• Asfomegood Men Verfe 8 did in after-times, when they were put upon very dif ficult Services. SoGideon^ Jndg. VI. 37, &C.
Ver. 9. And he faJd unto him , Take nte an Hei- Verfe o. /er, Sec."] /• e. Offer unto me (To it (hould be ren dered, as Mr. Mede obferves, Boo!^ II. p. ^72.) the following Creatures : Which are of four forts. From whence the Hebrew Doftors would perfuade us the rife and the fall of the four Monarchies are fignified in thefe words. But it is a better Observation., That God hereby fore-fignified their Sins fhould be expia ted by Sacrifices. For thefe were the Creatures, and thefe alone, which were appointed to be offered in facrifice to God, by the Law of Mofes. And it jufti- .fi<ts their Opinion, who think there were clean and Hvclean Beafts, with refpeft to Sacrifice, before the Law $ though not with refpect to Meat.
Yet here is fomethingfingular, That God required Abram to offer an Heifer of three Tears old, with a Goat and a Ram of the fame Age ; whereas after wards, under the Law, they were commonly of one Tear old. I know not the reafon of this difference 5 but certain it is, that a Ram of threeTearsold^\s\n its - full ftrength, and the vigour of its Age ^ zsBochart obferves. Whence it is that Lucian introduces Gany mede proffering to offer unto Jupiter, fif he would I difmifs him ) -r re/aryf, T* fjuiyoat^ &c. A Ram of three Tearsold^ a bfg one^ the Lender of the Flock* fiiero&wc- P.I.-L/A.-II. c. 46.
A • :"
37§ A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ayoung Pigeon^ The Hebrew word Gozal, fignifies XV. the young Ones of Ring- Doves, Wood-Pigeons, or any L/*WJ other of that kind 5 as he alfo obferves. Verfe 10. Ver. 10. And he tookjunto him^] Now we muft fuppcfe he was come out of his Ecftafie $ and really performed all that follows / Until he fell into it more yrofoundly than before.
Divided them in the ntidft.~] There is no fbotftep of this Rite any where in the Scripture, fave only in the Prophet Jeremy, XXXIV. 18, 19. But this place thows it to have been very ancient .• And St. Cyril in his Tenth Book againft Julian, derives thisCuftom from the ancient Cbatct&atis. As others derive the very word Beriih, [n^Tal which fignifies a Covenant, from the word ufed both here and in Jeremy, viz. in^, Batar, which is the very fame by Tranfpofition of Letters, and fignifies to divide or cut afunder. Becaufe Covenants were made by dividing a Beafi\ and by the Parties covenanting, pafling between the parts of the Beaft, fo divided / Signifying, that fo fhould they be cut afunder who broke that Cove nant. Thus Mr. Mede in the place fore- mentioned, truly explains thisPviie ; which was as much as if they had fair! ; Thus let we Ic divided (indent in pie ces, if I violate the Oath I have novpma.de in the prefenct of my God,
We find in Zenobhts that the People called Molotii. retained fomething of this Cuftom ;, for they con firmed their Oachs; when they made their Covenants,
CUttlDg
into little bits.
Laid each piece one again ft another, ~] So that there was a fpace left between them 5 through which the Parties covenanting' might pafs. Which feems to be
meant
upon GENESIS.
meant by Homer when he fays, Iliad, d. v. 461. that Chapter i after the Prieft had prayed to Apollo^ the Sacrifice XV, | was ilain and flea'd, and then they cut it up, ' ^^
making Duplicates, which were exaftly anfwerable one to the other.
But the Birds divided he notJ] Thus it was pre- fcribed afterwards, Levit- 1. 17. becaufe they were but an appendage to the Sacrifice, and their Blood was not fprinkled upon the Altar. It is likely, not with- ftanding, that the Birds were laid one againft the o- ther, as the pieces of the Beads were* And there being a Prophecy of the ftate of Abrams Family in future times, verfe 1 3, 14. Some fanfie that the Divifion of thefe Beafts represented the Difperfion of his Pofte- rity into divers Countries.
Ver. 1 1 . And when the Fowls came down^ &c.~] The Verfe 1 1 Birds of prey. For the Hebrew word Ajlty fignifies Avis rapax & carnivora^ ravenous Birds, that feed on Flefh. Whence Bochartus thinks an Eagle is cal led in Greek *ht™$ and 'A/STOS, as the principal Bird of prey. Hterozo. P. I. L.lII.^. iz. And by thefe Fowls fome think the Egyptians are reprefented, who fell upon the Ifradites^ as rapacious Birds do upon dead Carcafies, and endeavoured to hinder their offering Sacrifices unto God.
Abram drove them away^\ He fat by the pieces of Flefh (as the LXX tranflate it) to watch left Vul tures, or fuch like Creatures, (hould fnatch them a- way. For he looking upon them as things hallowed, watched to fee what God intended in them.
N n Yen
Chapter Ver. n. Adeepjleep, &c] Some would have It; XV. That he being tired with the great Labour of fetch- •
^"y^"* *mg fhe Sacrifices, cutting them up, and watching I2t them, naturally fell into a Sleep. But Mtimonides, more reafonably, looks upon this as the continuance of what was begun before in vVifion : Which at laft was converted into a profound Jleep $ wherein things were reprefented to him in a Dream. And therefore their wife Men fay, this was a Prophetical Sleep. More Nevoch. P.II.c. 45.
An horror of great darknefsfell upon him7\ Prophecy faith the fore- named Author, begins fometimes in Vi- fion ; afterwards that Terror and vehement Paffion, which follows the high working of the imaginative Faculty, being multiplyed, it ends in a deep Sleep, as it did here in Abraw. Such a Terror alfo pof- feffed Daniel in fome of his Vifions, while he was awake, Dan. X. 8. as the fame Maimonides obferves in the XLI. Chapter of that Book.
This Horror of great Darknefs, many think figtiified the difmal Condition of Abrav/s Pofterity in Egypt : Which God now reprefented to him. And this Hor* ror coming upon him, at tte going down oftheSunjNQ&i they think, a further Signification of it. For we fay,a Man's Sun is fet, when he falls into great Calamities. And it fignified, fome imagined, thefe Calamities fliould come upon them a great while hence.
Verfe rj. Ver. 13. And he f aid unto Abram,&c.~] Here he informs him, what the State of his Family (hould be, from the birth of Ifaac : (which he had promifed to him, Ferfe 5 ) for the fpace of Fonr hundnA Years.
Thr
upon GENESIS.
Thy Seed,'] This (hows from whence the Four hun- Chapter dred Years are to commence : viz. From the time of XV, his having a Son.
Be aftranger in a Land that j$ not theirs.'] i. ?. So journ partly in Canaan and partly in Egypt. There are thofe indeed who fanfie Canaan cannot be faid to I be a Land that was not theirs ; God having beftowed it upon Abram. But God himfelf teaches us other- wife, Exod. VI. 4. where he calls it, the Land of their Pilgrimage, wherein they were ftntngers : Becaufe they were not at prefent poffeffed of it, though they had a good Title to it.
And they/hall affl/£t them four hundred Tears."] Thefe four hundred Years are not to be referred only to what immediately goes before, [jheyjhallafflitt them} but to all the reft, their fojourning in a ftrangeLand, and their being in Servitude. Thefe three things were to come to pafs within that fpace: So that it is as if he had faid, Thy Seed (hall not poffefs this Land till four hundred Years hence. During which time, they (hall be Sojourners in this Land and in Egypt, andalfo, fome part of it, be no better than Slaves, nay endure fore Affli&ion.
It muft here be noted, That from the Birth of /- faac, when thefe Years began, to their Deliverance out of the Egyptian Bondage, was juft Four hundred and Jive Years. But t\\zfive odd Years are not men tioned $ it being the manner of all Writers to take no notice of broken Numbers, (as they call them) when they name a round Sum. Thus the Greck^ Interpreters of the Bible are commonly called the LXX : Though there were Seventy two of them. And the "Roman Writers call thofe CentuMviri^ who were in all an Hundred and five. And Mofes in another
N n 2 place,
A COMMENTARY.
Chapter place, Numb. XL 21. faith, the Ifraelites were Six XV. hundred thoufand 5 not reckoning the Three thoufand
<*'~v~**J five hundred and fifty above that Number, as appears from Numb. L 46* and II. 3,2.
If it feems a difficulty, that their fojourning is faid in Exod. XII. 40. to have been Four hundred and thirty Years, it is removed by confidering, that in thofe Years is comprehended the time of Abram\ fojourn ing alfo 5 as well as his Seed. And it was juft twenty five Years from his coming into Canaan to the Birth oflfaac: Which, added to Four hundred and five Years before-mentioned, make up the Number of Four hundred and thirty. And this is fo exaftly true,, that if we divide this Sum of Four hundred and thirty into equal parts, it is computed by the beft of the an cient, as well as later Writers, that the Hebrew Nati on fojourned juft Two hundred and fifteen Years in Canaan, (reckoning that (hort time Abram was in E- gypt, Ghap. XII.) and as many after they went into E- gypt. See 'Uffir, ChronoL Sacra, C. X.
Verfe 14. Ver. 14. I witt judge^ i.e. Punifti them,
Verfe 15. Ver. 15-. Goto thy Fathers."} i. e. Die, and depart to the other World.
In Peace."] And fee none of the fore- named Cala mities.
Verfe i6« Vet. 16. The Iniquity of the Amorites, &c.] Air am now lived among the Amorites, XIV. 13. But un^ der their Name is comprehended all the other Na tions of Canaan. Who were very wicked } but God forbare them till their Wickednefs had overflow ed the whole Country, and that to the greateft heighth. Their moft heinous Iniquities, were abo minable Idolatries, Cruelty, beaftly Filthinefs, to a prodigious excefs, Lwit. XVIIL 12, 25, &c. See
Theo*
upon GENESIS, 277
fheodoret upon Pfal/n CV. 44. and P. Fagiw upon Chapter Levit.V.i. XV.
But in Abravis time their Iniquity was not full, i.e. L/"V%J There were feveral good Men ftill remaining among them, as Mamre^ Efocol, and Aner feem to have been, who were confederate with Abram 5 and Melchizedel^ certainly was, who being Pried of the moft high God, had fome People fure worfhipped together with him. And therefore God ftaid till there was an uni- verfal Corruption, and they were all ripe for De- ftruftion. For we read of none but Rahah whofe Faith faved her and her Family, when the time of their Deftru&ion came.
Ver. 17. Behold, dfaoktng Furnace. ~] If the great Verfe ijr. Horror, ver. 12. reprefented the extream Mifery of the Children of Ifrael in Egypt : Then this feems to fignifie God's Vengeance upon the Egyptians, for op- preffing them in the Furnaces, wherein they wrought, Exod.lX.8.
A burning Lamp, or a Lamp of F?re.~] i. e. The Schechinah, or Divine Majefly, appeared in great Splendor, (fo Maimonides rightly explains it, P. I. More Nev. cap. 2 1.) like to a flaming Fire. So it ap peared to Mofes, when God came to deliver them from the Egyptian Bondage, Exod. III. 2, 6, &c.
Pajfid between the pieces.'] In Token, as it follows, verfe 18. that he entred into a Covenant with Arrant and with hisPofterity: Forpaffing between the pieces, he confumed them, (as St. Chryfoftom rightly uader- ftands it) and thereby teftified his Acceptance of the Sacrifices which Abram offered. I noted before, that there is no fuch Rite we read of any where in Scripture, but in Jeremiah, of making a Covenant in this manner, But there are thofe who think they
find;
^4 CO MM E NTdRY
Chapter find this Cuftotu in other Nations: For if
XV. Cretenfis do not Lye, after the manner of the Creti-
lXVg'X; anst fas Bochart fpeaks) both the Greeks and Tro jans, from the time of Homer, did make Covenants, in this fafhion. Certain it is, the B&ottaxs and Mace donians pa-fled on fofne occaficns, through the parts of a Bea-ft di Hefted : But it was for Li/ftratioii9-notfot Covenanting, as the hmt Bochart obferves, P. I. Hie- rozoic. L. II. f. 46.
Verfe 1 8. Ver. 1 8. <LW0 % Sea/ will I give this Land, &c.] Here is the utmoft extent of the Donation made to Abrdm : Which began to be fulfilled in David^ (x Sam. VIII. 3,6cc.J for till then they did not in- large their Borders, as far as Euphrates.
The River ofEgyfL] So Nile is commonly called, but cannot be here meant 5 becaufe the Ifraelites ne ver enjoyed all the Land ofEypf, on this fide Nile. Therefore we are to underftand by it, that little Ri ver, which came out of that Branch of Nile, called Peleufiacttm brachzttm : From whence a fmall River not Navigable, ran toward Judaea ^ falling into the Egyptian or Phoenician Sea. For this River was the Bounds of Palefline ^ and is mentioned by Strabo and others, whom G. Voffiw cites, L. II. De Idolol c. 74. It is called, Amos VI. 14. the River of the Wltdentefs ; becaufe it run through the Wildernefs, which is be tween Egypt and Palafiine, into the Sea.
Verfe 19, Ver. 19 TheKcnhes^ and Kewzzftes."] Thefe are put into the Number of the Nations, whofe Coun try God gave to Abram^ but whether they were de- fcended from any of the Sons of Canaan we cannot tell : Nor are we certain where they dwelt. Only Eitftathiu*, Bifhop of Antioch, lays the Kenttes dwelt about L/£rftf&f and Amanw : And the Kenizz/tes its
likely
upon GENES IS,
likely were their Neighbours. But the Names of thefe Chapter People were quite extinft between the times of Abram XV. and Alofes, for we find no mention of them by Jo- L/V^vJ fina in the Divifion of the Land of Canaan $ nor in the Account he gives of the Nations he conquered*. We read indeed of the Kenezites^Nnmb. XXXII. 12. Joft. XIV. 6, 14. but they were of the Children of ifrael. And of the Kemtes^ Judg. 1. 16. IV. 1 1, 17. but they defcended from the Father-in-Law of Mc~ fet. And therefore thofe whom Mofes here fpeaks of, it is probable loft their Name, being incorporated into fome of the feven Nations who inhabited this Country when Joftua fubdued it.
The Kadmonites.~] Thefe are no where elfe men tioned : But are thought by Bochartvs to be the fame with the Hivites : Who living about Mount Her- mon, toward the Eaft of the Land of Canaan, were .. thence called Kadmonites^ 5. e. Orientals. See IX. 1 7.
Ver. 20. HittitesT] See X. 15. Verfe 20.
Perizzttes.~] They were a People inhabiting the Mountainous and woody Country of Canaan^ as ap pears fror^i Jo/h. XI. 3. XVII. 13. From whence we may gather they were a wild fort of People, who lived far from Cities, in little Villages $ and thence perhaps had their Name : For Pherazoth in Hebrew fignifies Pagi, Villages. But from which of the Sons of Canaan they defcended, there is not the leaft fignifir . cation in Holy Scripture.
Rephaz*<~] They dwelt in Bafban ; and perhaps in other Countries thereabouts. See XIV. 5.
Ver. 21. AMorites*] Thefe were the mightieft Peo- Verfe 2i% pie in the Land of Canaan. See X. 16.
Canaan'jtes.~] Thefe were fome of the Pofterity of Canaan^ who peculiarly inherited his Name :, living
upon
280 A COMMENTARY
Chapter upon the Sea-Coaft, and upon the Banks of
£VI. Nnmb. XIII. go. Dent. I. 7. XI. 30. And it is a rea L/"WJ fonable Conjefture, That they iprang from fuch of Canaan $ Sons, as had, for a time, the greateft Power and Authority in that Country : And therefore had the Prerogative of being called by his Name. Or elfe, they were fo called, becaufe they were Merr chants, and great Traders by Sea. For fo the word is ufed in Scripture.
Gergafie.'] See X. 16.
^ See there alfo.
CHAP. XVI.
Verfe i. Ver. i.QArai bare him no Child."] Still the fulfilling
C5 of God's Promife was deferred $ lor the
greater trial of Abrams Faith. Which now had held
out ten Years, (Verfe 3.) without feeing any Fruit of
it.
She had an. handmaid^ an Egyptian?] An Egyptian by Nation 5 but a Profelyte to the true Religion. St. Chryfoftom thinks Pharaoh beftowed her upon Sa- rai^ when he took her into his Houfe, or when he fent her away, XII. 15, 20. Which he learnt from the Jew, who fay the fame 5 as may be feen in Pirkf Eliefer^ c. 26. who fays alfo, as R. Solomon Jarchi doth, that (he was Pharaoh's Daughter, by his Con cubine. But it is more likely (lie was fuch a Servant to , Sarai as Eliezer was to Abram 5 born in his Houfe of an Egyptian, as he was of a Syrian Woman.
Ver,
upon GENESIS. a8i
Ver. 2. And Sarai Jaid unto Air am, &c.] It is like- Chapter ly he having acquainted her with the Promife, (he XVI. crew impatient to have it fulfilled, fome way or. ty"V"N other. Verfe i.
Go in unto my Maid.'] i. e. Take her to Wife, Verfe 3.
It may be I may obtain Children by her.] Being born of her Bond-Have, they would be Sarai's Children ; according to the Cuftom of thofe Times, XXX. 3. Exod. XXI. 4.
And Abram hearkned to the voice of Sarai. ~] Think ing, perhaps, that God might fulfil his Promife this way $ becaufe he had only told him he fhould have Seed, but had not; as yet, faid by Sarai.
Ver. 3, Gave her to her Husband Abram to be hit Verfe 3, Wife."] A fecondary Wife., (which was a Liberty they took in thofe days) who was not to be Miftrefs of the Houfe } but only to bear Children, for the in- creafeof the Family. Now I can fee no good Rea- fon, why Sarai her felf fhould perfwade her Husband (contrary to the inclination of all Women) to rake another Wife, which (he her felf alfo gave him } but only the eager defire fhe was poffefled withal of ha ving the promifed Seed. Which gives^ good account alfo of Jacob's Wives contending fo earneftly, as they did, for his Company.
Ver, 4. Her Miftrefs wot defyifed in her Eyes."] Ha- Verfe 4, gar began to take upon her, as if fhe had been Mi ftrefs of the Houfe 5 at leaft much more favoured by - God, who had made her Fruitful :. Which was ac counted a great Bleffing, and Honour in thofe days 5 efpecially in a Family that had no Heir.
Ver. 5-. My wrong be upon thce.~] Thou art the caufe Verfc 5. of this Injury (or thefe Affronts) which I fuffer, by
O o be-
A COMMENTAKT
Chapter being too indulgent to my Maid, and not repreffing XVI. her Infolence. Or, it is incumbent on thee, to fee *^v"^ me redrefled of the Wrong that is done me. See Ltd* de Dieu.
The Lord judge between me and thee.'] Sometimes this Phrafe fignifies an Appeal to God, as the Aven ger of Wrongs : But here it feems only to denote her committing the Equity of herCaufe to the Judgment of God.
Verfe. 6. Ver. 6. Behold, thy Maid n m thy hand.'] Is fubjeft unto thee.
Do with her as fleafes thee."] Ufe her as thy Maid, and not as my Wife.
And when Sarai dealt hardly with her.~] Beat her perhaps $ or, impofed on her., too much, or too fer- vile Labour.
She fled front her face*~] Run away, to avoid her cruel ufage.
Verfe 7. Ver. 7. And the Angel of the LOR D,8cc.] This is the firft time that we read of the Appearance of an AngeL By whom Maimonides will fcarce allow us to underftand more, than a Meffenger, (More Nevoch+ P. II. c. 42.) But fome Chriftians go fo far into the other extream> as to underftand hereby, the Eternal AOTOS, or Son of God. It .feems to me more reafonable, to think, that though the Schechinah, or Divine Majefty, did not appear to her 5 as it had of- ten done to Abram t Yet one of the heavenly Mini- fters, who were Attendants upon it, and made a part of its Glory, was fent to ftop her Proceed ings. And a great Favour it was, that the Lo R B would difpatch fuch a Meflenger after her* Who was fufficient to do the bufinefe.
n G E N E S I S.
In the u><y to ShnrJ] She was flying into Egypt^ her Chapter own Country, (upon which the Wildernefs of Shttr XVL bordered) and only refted a while at this Fountain,, to U'VNJ refrefh her felf.
Ver. 8. And hefaid, Hagar, Sarafs Maid.'] He takes Verfe 8. notice of her being Sarafs Maid, rather than Abraris Wife 5 to put her in mind of her Duty $ and that (he could not honeftly leave her Miftrefs without her Confent : For fo it follows in the next Verfe.
Ver. 9. Return to thy Miftrefs, andfubmit, Sec.] It is Verfe 9. the fame word here tranflated/#/>/##,with that Verfe 6. where it is rendred dealt hardly : Signifying that (he fliould be Patient, and indure theHardfhip of which (he complained, (or, fuffer her felf to be afflifted by herj
Ver. 10. 1 will multiply > Sec] I will make thee par- Verfe 10. taker of the Promife to have made to Abram^ XV. 5. The Angel delivers this Meffage to her, in the Name of God, whofenthim.
Ver. n. Behold^ tbon art with Child, Scc.^ Do not Verfe u. doubt of what I fay $ for thou art with Child of a Son, who (hall be the Father of a great People. This Promife was renewed to Abram in the next Gb^pter^ XVII. 20. and we find was performed, XXV. 12,.
Shalt call lw Name IfitxaeL'] Some of the Jews take notice of the Honour which was here done him, in calling him by his Name before he was born : There being but Six, they fay, who were thus diftin- guiflied from others ^ the two firft were the Sons of Abrnw^ (I/hwael, and Tfaac,) and thelaft was die
The LORD hath heard thy affl,8iott,] Thy Com plaint under the AffMion thou haft endured from thy Miftrefs, and here in the Wildernefs. This Paf-
O o x fage
A COMMENTARY
(hows it was an Angel which appeared and fpake to her from the LORD, and not the LORD him- felf.
Verfe 12. Ven I2- A wild Ma ft."] The Hebrew word Pherc here joyned with Man,fignifiesa wild Afs, And fo is well tranflated by Bochart, Tamferus quam onager^ as wild as a wild Afs. Which loves to ramble in De- farts 3 and is not eafily tamed, to live in Society.
His Handftall he agahjft every Man, &C."] He (hall be very Warlike : And both infeft all his Neighbours, and be infefted by them.
He {hall dwell in the prefence of his Brethren."] Be a Nation by himfelf} near to all his Brethren, whether defcended from Ifaac, or from the reft of Abrams Sons by Keturah: Who, though annoyed by him, (half not be able to difpoflefs him. This is fuch an exaftDefcriptionof the Pofterityof Iflwael, through out all Generations, that none but a Prophetick Spi rit could have made it } as Doftor Jackson truly ob- ferves, (Book^l. on theCreed^ c. XXV.) wildnefs be ing fo incorporated into their Nature, that no change of Times hath made them grow tame.
Verfe 13. Ver. 13. She called the Name of the LORD that fpa^e to her."] By his Angel, for (he look'd upoir the Prefence of the Angel, as a Token of the Di vine Prefence ,• though (he faw it not in its full Glory.
Thou God feejl me7\ Takeft Care of me, where- foever I am.
For foe f aid , Have 1 alfo here looked after htm that
feeth me f\ There are various Interpretations of thefe
words : The plaineft is that of De Diett: Who ob-
ferves that the word Halom always fignifies Place, not
Xlfare^.or, that which is done in any Place} and fo
we
upon GENESIS,
we tranflate it by the word here. But there he makes Chapter a ftop, after that word, by way of admiration ,• in XVI. this manner: And even here alfo ! Or, even thu* far! «^"V*-' I It had been lefs wonder, if God had taken care of me ! in my Matter's Houie $ but doth he follow me with I his Favour even hither ? This is wonderful. And | then the next words, (have I looked after him that feethmi) carried this fence, Have I beheld God, who taketh care of me? What a Favour is this that he- would fo far condefcend to me ? It ought never to be forgotten $ therefore (lie called his Name, Thou God feeft me.
Ver. 14. Beer-lahai~roi~\ Some would have thisVerfe 14 refer, both to Hag'ar^ and to God : in this manner : The Well of her that liveth, and of him that feeth^ (i. e. who preferves me in Life.) So it was an acknow ledgment that (he owed her Life and Safety to God.
Ver. 15. Abr am called his Son s Name, &cC\ Ha-Verk 15 gar having told him at her return the foregoing Sto ry, he gave his Son this Name $ in Obedience to the Angels Command, Ferfe n. .<-•)•
Ver/l6. Fourfcore and fix years old.~] He was Seven- Verfe 1 6 tyfive Years old when he came \^o Canaan^ XII. 4. and had been ten Years there when he took Hagar to Wife, (Verfe 3. of this Chapter) and therefore was \hzn eighty five Years old :, and confequemly eighty fix ..the next Year, when I/hmaelwas born.
CHAP.
A COMMENTARY
Chapter XVII.
CHAP. XVII.
Verfe i. Ver, i.T T Tfle« Abram was ninety nine years old.]
V V Thirteen Years after IJhmael's Birth. TZe LO RD appeared to AbramI} In a vifible Ma- jefty ^ to fatisfie him that the Promife made, (X V.4, 5.) (hould not be fulfilled in J/hmaet.
I am the Almighty God.~] Or, All-fufficient. This is the firft time we meet with this Name : Which was moft fitly ufed here, when he fpeaks of a thing very difficult to be done $ but not beyond the Power of God, who can do all things, and needs none to affift him.
Walk before vte.'] Go on to pleafe me. And be thou perfefl.'] Till thou haft compleated thy Faith and Obedience.
Verfe i. Ver. 2. And I will make my Covenant^ &c.~\ Efta- blifti and perform my Covenant : For it was made be fore, and now only confirmed, by a Sign or Token of it, verfe n.
Verfe 3. Ver. 3. Abram fell on his face.] Being aftonifhed at the Brightnefs of that Majefty which appeared to him, verje I.
Verfe 4. Ver. 4. As for me, behold, nty Covenant , &c.] Be not afraid, for it is I, who am confront to my word, and now again ingage my felf unto thee.
Thoufoalt be a Father of many Nations^] Not only of Jews, and Ifljmaelites, and others 3 but, in the Spiritual Sence, of all thzGentile World. Verfe 5. Ver. 5. Neither /lull thy Name&c.'] Abram is com monly interpreted, high Father, and Abraham the
Father
npon GENESIS. 287
Father of a Multitude. So the very Text expounds Chapter the reafon of this Name : For a Father of many Nations XVII. Ifwel made the$. There are many ways of making L/VXJ out this meaning^ but none feems to me fo plain, as that of Hottingers^ who makes it a compofition of A\>, (a Father) and the old word Raham, which ftill in Arabick. fignifies a great Number -, Smsgma Orient. cap. 8. S 19-
Ver. 6. And Iwittmakg thee exceeding fruitful, &c.] Verfe 6* 1 obferved before, XII. 7. that Abram's Obedience was conftantly rewarded in kind, &c. of which here is a new proof, For upon his fubmiffion to be Cir- cutncifed, (wherein his Obedience was next tried J which might feetri to weaken the power of Gene ration, (as Maintonides affirms it doth, MoreNevpch* P. III. c. 49, } God promifes that he would make him fo exceeding Fruitful, that Nations and Kings fhould proceed from him : As there did both by IJraet, EdoW) and Ifimael^ from whom the Saracens came,. &c.
Ver. 7. An everlasting Covenant^ The word Olaw, yerfe %, which we tranflate Everlafllng^ hath often a limited fignification, to the end of fuch a Period, (asExoJ. XXI. 6. a Servant for ever, is till the Year of Jubilee) though with refpeft to the thing fignified, this Co venant is abfolutely everlafting 5 and continues now that the fign is aboliflied. The next words tell us what was fignified in this Covenant of Circum- cifion*
To be a God unttt thee, &c/} I think Maimonide* hath truly obferved, that in Circumcifion, they co venanted with God, to have no other God but him : Or, in his Phrafe, they covenanted concerning the be* Kef of the Unity of God, More Ntwch. P. HI. cap. 49*
Who
,288 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Who promifed to be their God ^ that is, to beftow XVII. all manner of Bleffings upon them, and at laft to
-~""V-^ fend the Mcjfiah.
Verfe 8. :' Ver. 3. "And. I w?U give thee, &c] Here he again renews his Promife, (XII. 7. XIII. 15. XV. 18.) and confirms it by this Covenant, to give him that Land, wherein he was at prefent a Stranger, and to put his Seed in poffeffion of it.
An everlafting pojfijjiott.~] If they did not forfeit it by their Difobedience to him.
Verfe 9. Ver. 9. Thou flialt keep wy Covenant therefore, Sec.] 'Now follows Abrahams part of this Covenant, which was mutual between God and him.
Verfe 10. Ver* 10. Tim is my Covenant.'} Which the next Verfe explains, by the Sign or Token of the Covenant. As the Pafchal Lamb is called the Pajfover.ofthe Lord, Exod.Xll.ii. That is, the memorial of the Angel's .paffing them by, when he killed the Egyptian Chil dren, XIH. 9. But Circumcifion was fuch a Sign, that they entred thereby into a Covenant with God to .be . his People. For it was not a mere Mark, whereby they fhduld be known to be Abrahams Seed, and diftinguifhed from other Nations; But they were made by this, the Children of the Covenant, and Sntitled to the Bleffings of it. Though, if there had been no more in it but this, That they who were of the fame Faith, as Maimonides fpeaks, fhould have one certain Character, whereby they fho-uld be known and joyned one to another, without the mixture of any other People ^ it had been a very wife appoint ment. And -this Mark was very fitly chofen, be- caufe it was fuch a Token, as no Man would have fet upon himfelf and upon his Children $ unlefs it were for Faith and Religion fake. For it is not a
Brand
vpon G E N E S I S.
*Br<md upon the Arm, or anincifion in the Thigh; but Chapter a thing very hard, in a mod tender part .• Which no XVII, -Body would have undertaken, but on the fore -named U*V\ account, ?. III. More Nev. ^.49.
It may be proper here to add $ That Covenants 'Were anciently made in thofe Eaftern Countries, by dipping their Weapons in Blood, fas Xenophon tells ^us) and by pricking the Flelh, and fucking each others Blood, as we read in Tacitus-. Who obferves, .( L. XII, Annul) that when Kings made a League, they took each other by the Hand, and their Thumbs being hard tied together, they prick'd them, when the Blood was forced to extream parts, and each Party lick'd it .• Which he faith, was accounted Area.- numfadus^ quafimutuo cruorefacratum, a myfterious Covenant, being made Sacred by their mutual Blood. How old this Cultom had been, we do not know .- But it is evident God's Covenant with Abraham was folemnized on Abrahams part., by his own and his Son I^afs Blood, and fo continued through all Ge nerations, by cutting off the Fore-skin of their Flefb, fas it follows in the next Ferfe) whereby as they were made the Seleft People of God: So God in conclusion, fent his own Son, who by this very Ce remony of Circumcifion, was confecrated to be their God and their Redeemer.
Ver. 1 1 . Tefhall circutttcife the Flcjh of your Foreskin^] Verfe 1 1 *. e. The Foreskin of your Flelh : For that Member, which is the Inftrumentof Generation, is peculiarly called by the Name of Flejh, in many places, Lev. XV. i. Ezek. XVI. 26. In which part of theJBody, rather than in any other, God appointed the Mark of his Covenant to be made 5 that they might be deno ted to be an Holy Seed^ confecrated to him from the
Pp be*
A COMMENTARY
Chapter beginning. The Pagans made Marks in feveral parts XVII. of their Bodies, (fome in one, fome in another) whereby they were confecrated to their Gods: But the Character which God would have imprinted up on his People, was in one peculiar part and no other, (from which they never varied,) viz. In that part which ferved for the Propagation of Mankind. Of which fome have given Natural, others Moral Rea- fons 5 but the moft plain and obvious is, That it might be an apt Token of the Divine Covenant made with Abraham and his Pofterity .• That God would multiply their Seed, and matte them as the Stars of Heaven^ XV. 5. It is probable alfo, that this part was chofeti, rather than any other 5 to make them fenfible, that this was a Divine Sacrament : For no thing but God's Inftitution, could at firft engage Men to lay that part bare, which Nature hath co vered.
It is of late indeed made a Queftion by feme learned Men, whether this were the Original of Cir- cumcifion: Which they fanfie the Jews borrowed from the Egyptians^ and not the Egyptians from the Jews. Certain it is, that not only the Egyptians^ but feveral other Nations, did very anciently ufeCir- cumcifion. Now it is improbable, fay they, that the Egyptians^ (who feem to have had it the moft early of all NationS?who fprang not from Abraham) would borrow this Cuftom from the Hebrews ^ whom they perfectly hated, (Shepherds being an abomination to them, XLVI. 34.) and therefore they gave them- felves the liberty to fay, That God did not now en- joyn Abrahams new thing, when he ordered him to be circumcifed 5 but only made this a Sign of his Covenant with him, which it was not with other
Na-
upon GENESIS. Nations. But unlefs it can be proved that Circutn- Chapter cifion was in ufe before Abrahams time, (which doth XVII. not appear from any good Authors, though fuch as 'Celfits werefo bold as to affirm it, as we find in Qri- gen, L. V.) fuch Arguments as thefe will not per- fuade us to believe, that it came from the Egyptians or any other Nation .- But they had it, if not from the Hebrews, yet from the Pofterityof 1/hmael, or other People defcended from Abraham. Who being highly beloved of God, *it is not credible that God would fetthe Mark of Haw's Race upon him and his Pofterity .• Much lefs make it the Token of his Co venant with them. See J. Ludolphus, L. III. Comment, in. Hiftor. JEthiop.-c. i. n. 3. The only Authority up* on whom the broachers of this Novelty rely is He- rodotus : Who in his Second Book^ cap. 104. fays, c The People of Colchis and the Egyptians, were the c only Nations that were circumcifed , drf «f £tfe, ' from the beginning: The Syrians and Phoenicians 6 who live in Paleftine acknowledging they had this c Rite from them. Which is juft fuch a Tale as he tells in theSecond Chapter of that Book, that the £- gyptians, were the firft inhabiters of the Earth, unlefs perhaps the Phrygians. This Opinion proceeded from their own vain Conceit 5 which made them loath to confefs they received Circumcifion from any other People. Though I think there is a con vincing Argument of it in Mofes himfelf ; who tells us in Chapter X. 14. that the Philiftim came from the Caflucbim, i. e. the People of Colchis 5 as that Peo ple came originally from Egypt. (So Herodotus him felf, Diodorus, and abundance of other credible Au thors, teftifie.) This, it appears by what I noted there, was before the time of Mofes^ nay, before
Pp 2 Abra-
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Abraham : For the Philiftim had a King among them: XVII. in his days ; As we read in this Book* XX. and;
u^VNJ XXVI. Now thefe Phttijiim were an undrcumcifed People, and therefore the People of Colcbfrno doubt were fo alfo, when they went out of their Country^ and drove the Avim out of Paleftine. Andconfe- qiaently the Egyptians had no fuch Rite among them,, when the Cajluchim came from Egypt 5 but put a grofs cheat upon Herodotus when they made him be lieve they had been circumcifed, «V af;$$, from the beginning. And, in like manner they impofed upon him, who told him the Inhabitants of Paleftine, C whom he calls Syrians and Phtevicians) confefled^ they received Cifcumcifion from the Egyptians. For there were no Inhabitants of Paleftine circumcifed but the Jews, who always-profefled they received it from Abraham. Who, we may be confident was the firft Perfon in the World that was circumcifed .-There being nothing to induce any Body to ufe fuch a Rite, unlefs they had been direfted to it by God, zs Abra ham was. From whom the Iflimaelties received it; and from them the Arabians : And from thdfe Coun tries^ from Abraham's Children by Keturah, it was derived (as feems moft probable to mej to the E- gyptians : From whom the People of Colchis, \vho knew themfelves to be an Egyptian breed, imbraced it 5 in imitation of their famous Anceftors. But, af ter Abrahams time, who found no fuch Rite among the Philiftim^ a Colony of theirs 5 to whom in all likelihood they would have communicated it, as the Egyptians <&& to them, if it had been then ufed in that Country.
Verfe 12. Ver. 12. And he that is eight day sold, &C.J Mai- " monides thinks that if Circumcifion had not been
per-
upon. GENES! S,
performed in their Infancy, it might have been in Chapter danger to have been neglefted afterward. For an XVII. Infant felt* not fo much pain as an adult Perfon L/*VNJ would have dorre 5 in whom the Flefh is more com- pa6t> and his Imagination ftronger, The Parents al- fo, fefpecially Fathers } have not fo ftrong an Af- feftionto»a» Child when he is newly born, as they have when he is grownup .• And fo more eafily fub- mitted to this harlh Rite, at their firft appearance in th-e World v than they would have done, after they were more endeared to them, But the Child could not be circumcifed before the eighth D&y after his? Birth 5 becaufe till then he was look'd upon as im- perfeft ;and not yetfufficiently cleanfed and purged Ov For which reafon Beafts were not accepted by God,, till feven Days were paft, after their Birth, ExedJ XXII. 30. See More Nevoch. P. III. cap. 49. '
And, as the Child was not to be circumcifed be* fore the eighth Day, fo he was not (unlefs perhaps in cafe of great weaknefs) to be kept uncircumcifed beyond that Day, On which, if the Parents did not caufeit to be circumcifed, the Houfe of Judgment^ as the jfen?/ fpeak^ were bound to do it. And if they did not ("being ignorant perhaps of the negleft) the Child when he came of Age, (L*< was thirteen Years old) was bound himfelf to get it done. If he did not, the Judges (if it were known to them) were obliged to take care of it .- As Mr. Selden obferves, L. I. de Synedr. cap< 6. p. 96, 97*
Ver. 1 3. He that is born in thy Houfe, or bought with Verfe 1 3.;- Money, wuft needs be circumcifed.'] Not whether they would or no.- For Men were not to be compelled to Religion ^ which had been a profanation of this Co venant, ^t Abraham was toperfuade them to it $
and.
•A COMMENTARY
Chapter |and, if they confented not, to keep them no longer XVII. in his Houfe: But to fell them to fome other Peo-
L/*"V"\J pie. So Maiwonides expounds it, in his Book^ of Cir~ cuMcifionCap. I. which is^rueboth of Servants born in the Houfe, and bought with Money .• But as for the Children of thefe Slaves, they were to be cir- cumcifed whether their Parents would or fio .• Be- caufe they were the poffeffion of their Mafters, not of their Parents. For which caufe, when the Pa rents were fet free, their Children were left -behind, as their Mafters Goods, Exod. XXI. 4.
Verfe 14, Ver. 14. That Soul /hall be cut of from hte People."] That is, if when became to the Age of thirteen Years, he did notcaufe it to be done.
What it is to be cutoff is very much difputed. The fimpleft Sence feems to be, he (hall not be accounted one of God's People. But the Hebrew Doftors ge nerally take this to have been aPunifhment inflifted by the Hand of Heaven, i. e. of God .• Though they be much divided in their Opinions about it. Of which Mn Selden treats at large in L. VII. De Jure N. & G. c. 9. and De Synedr. L. I. c. 6. and more briefly L'Empereur in his Notes upon Cornel. Ber tram De Republ. Jud. p. 351. Some fay it was the ftiortning of the Man's Life 5 others fay it was the making him Childlefs $ fo that his Family and Name perifhed in Ifrael. Matmonides would have it the extin&ion both of Soul and Body, like a Brute. And Abarhinel fates it for the lofsof the Happinefs of the World to come. Some Chriftiaus would haveit, to be Excommunication : which cannot be, becaufe fuch a Perfon never was a Member of the Church, which he was to be made by Circumcifton. The firft of thefe Opinions feems more probable than the
reft.-
upon GENESIS;
reft .- For God himfelf faith of feveral Offenders, to Chapter whom he threatens this Punifhment, / witt icut him XVII. off, and Iwillfet my face againft him, Lev. XVII. 10. L/V"NJ XX. 5, 6. XXIII. 30. Yet in other places, it muft be confefled, this Ccreth, or cutting off, .fignifies more largely, a Punifhment by the Judge, and not by the Hand of God. And therefore the fignification of it muft be determined by the Matter, with which it is yoyned. Thus the violationof the Sabbath is threat- ned with cutting off, Exod. XXXI 14. which was to be done bv (toning him : And fo were inceftuous Perfons, Blafphemers, Idolaters, and others, to be ju dicially cut off by the Rulers.
Ver. 15. Sarah fi'all be her Name.'] The fame Let- Verfe 15. ter is added to her Name, that was to Abraham s^ and for the fame reafon 3 for in the next Ferfe it is faid, /he fiatt be a Mother of Nations.
Ver. 1 6. Give thee a Son alfo of her."} Here now Verfe 16. the promifed Seed is determined to fpring from Sa rah. See XVI. 2.
Ver. 17. Abraham fell on hh face.'] Worlhipped God Verfe 17. with the humbleft Reverence.
And laughed^} Not doubting of the Promife, (for the Apoftle tells us quite contrary, ROM. IV. 19,^ but out of the exceeding great Joy wherewith he wastranfported ; and the Admiration wherewith he was furprized. Which produced the following Que- ftions.
Shall a Child he born unto him^ who is an hundred Tears old ? &c/] As if he had faid, ftrange ! that I and Sarah at this Age fhoulcl ^ have a Child. What joyful News is this f Accordingly the Chalclee tran- flates the word laughed } herejoyced,
Ver;
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 18. 0 that Ijhmael might live before <thee !] ffi XVII. his Pofterity $ as appears by God's Anfwer to this {^y^/^J Petition, ferfe 20.
Verfe 18. Ver. 19. Callhh Name Ifaac.'] He had this Name Verfe 19. from Abraham s> not from Sarah's Laughter :.- For that was after this ^ and proceeded not from the fame Caufe with Abrahams.
Verfe 20. Ver. 20. / have heard ihee.~] He (hall 'have a nu merous Pofterity. See Doftor Jackson's FirftBook.on the Creed, c. 26. where he (hows .how the Hagerens grew a mighty Nation v And at laft (when they were called Saracens) became the Scourges of all thefe parts of the World.
'Verfe 21. Ver. 21. But my Covenant will I eftablifo with £
faac.~] The great Bleffings I have promifed in the
Covenant I have made with thee, (hall come to thy
Pollerity by Ifaac, not by Jfomad : Particularly the
Metfiah.
Verfe 22. Ver. 2 2. And God went up from Abraham.*] That vifible Majcfty wherein he appeared to him, (Verfe •I.) called often, in after-times, the Glory of the LORD, went up to Heaven from whence it came.
Verfe 25. Ver. 25. Iftwael was thtrteenTears old^ &C."] From hence it was that the Saracens, defcended from him, did not circumcife their Children till they were teen Years old. So it was in the days of L. I. Antiq. c. 13. And the Saracens in Afrkk^ obferved the fame Cuftom. -26. Ver. 26. Inthe f elf -fame day.'] The Jews will have this to be the fame with the great Day of Expiati on, inftituted in Mofes his time.- So that God every Year remembred, fay they, the Covenant of Circum- But this is an ungrounded Fancy.
Ver,
upon GENESIS
Ver. 27. And all the Men of his Houfe.~] Maimo- Chapter nides under ftands by the Men of his Houfe^ thofe XVIII. whom Abraham had converted from Idolatry, and L/*WJ made Profelytes to the true Religion. So do others Verfe 27 among the Jem (fee his Treatife of the Worjhif of the Planets, c*l.$ 9. But it is more proper to un- derftand by the Men of Hi* Honfe^ all his Family in
feneral. Who were either (as it follows) born in is Houfe, ( and therefore it is likely were bred up in the true Religion, and fo eafily perfuaded to re ceive the Mark of^Circumcifion) or bought with his Money ^ who fubmitted to Abraham's Arguments, not to his Authority „• For Religion is to be chofen, not compelled.
C H A P. XVIII.
Ver. i. \N Dthe LOR D appeared to him^] Tire Verfe t
£\ Glory of the L o a D, or the Divine Majefty, which the Jews call the Schechinah^ as it had done lately, XVII. i. And as the L o a D then appeared to eftablifh his Covenant with him, by Cir- cumcifion / So fome of the Jews imagine he again appeared to vifit, comfort, and heal him, now that he was very fore of his Circumcifion. Or, rather, I fhould think, to teftifie by this illuflrious Manifefta- tion of his Glory, (Verfe 2.) his high Approbation of Abrahams ready Obedience to fo harlh a Com mand. So thejFen?/themfelvesefteem it, and there fore think that by receiving it, Abraham fulfilled that Precept, which goes juft before it, XVIL i. be
Qjq ikon
& COMMENT ART
Chapter thottperfeff. Which may have forae truth in it, if right- XV III. ]y underftood .• For his Faith and Obedience grew L/"V*SJ more per felt, by fubmitting to this Command 3 and was compieated, when he facrificed his Son.
However this be, I think it is plain from ferfe 10. '. that this Appearance of the Divine Majefty, fwas not long after the former.
In the Plain."] Or, the Oaks, of Mamre $. men tioned before, XIII. 18. This Place continued fa mous till the time of Conftantine 5 both Jews^ Gentiles, and Chrjftians^ meeting here once a Year, not only for Traffick, but for Religion :Chriftians here calling upon God v and there being an Altar here alfo, on which the Gentiles facrificed, and invoked the An gels. Of which Superftition Conftantine being in formed by his Mother, hecaufed that Altar to be de- moliilied, and a Church to be built in its place. See Sozowen, L. II. cap. ^.Eufeb. in vita Conjl ant. L. III., cap. 53.
And he fat in the Tent door."] To obferve what Stran gers pafled that way.
In the heat of the Day ^] In the Afternoon, when Travellers.fought for places of IVefrefhment. ¥erfe 2, Ver. 2. And he lift up his Eyes, and looked-"] Having fain down on his Face, (ifuppofe) and worfhipped the Divine Majefty, as he did, XVII. 17. he beheld, when he rofe up again.
Andlo^ there flood three Men by hint7\ Three An gels, in theftiapeofMen, (forfothe Apoftle to the Hebrews calls them, XIIL 2. And to Mofes himfelf calls two of them, XIX. i) who were part of the heavenly Retinue, as I may call it, waiting upon the Divine Majefty, mentioned in the Ferfe foregoing, 1 here is a maxim among the Jews that no Angel per*
forms
upon G E N B S I \
forMstwoMinrfteries, (is fent, that is, on two Meffa- Chapter ges) nor are two Angels fent upon one EmbaJJy, fas XVIII. MaJmonides fpeaks, More Nevoch. P. II. cap. 6.) and therefore they think thefe three Angels were difpatch'd for different purpofes ^ one of them, and the prin cipal, to bring a Confirmationof the Birth of IJaac 5 another to bring Lot out of Sodom , and a third to overthrow the Cities of Sodom and Gomorrha. And therefore when one of thefe Angels had delivered that Meffage to Abraham, there were but two that went to Sodom, XIX. I. and Lot fpeaks to one of them, as taking a particular care of him, verfe 1 9, &c. and then it is faid, The Lord rained Fire and Brim- ftonejrom the Lord out of Heaven , verfe 24. That is, that Angel of the Lord, who was fet by the Lo R D of Heaven and Earth over that Work. Some of v them indeed aflign another Work for one of them, (as we find in that Title of the Tdmud called Bava- Metzia,cap. 7,) but they agree in the main Notion, That they had different Offices with which they were intruded. Butfome Chriftians, and thofe of great Authority, have made a Queftion whether they were all created Angels 5 one of them at leaft, feeming to be the LORD of all. Kay, St. Cyrtliu his firft Book agairift Julian thinks there was a Reprefenta- tion of the bkfled, individed Trinity $ for Abram fpeaks to them, verfe 4. of; &$ Zv-nc, Ol rp&s9 as if the three were but one. But St. Hilarys Opinion f and Eufebius's, L. V.Devtonflr. c. 9.) is more likely. That the Son of God only appear'd with two Angels at tending on him: Which many think is evident from verfe 21, and 25. of this Chapter. Yet, I think, ano ther Account may be given of thofe Verfes^ and if we (hould make that an Argument that one of them
2 was
300 A COMMENrART
Chapter was the increated LORD^ another of them muft XV III. be fo alfo .• For he is called likewife by the Name of UT\T\J Jebovah.Gen. XIX. 24. See St. AvjtinJL. II. de Trin. cap. ii. and L. III. cap. ii. where he confutes the fore- named Opinion.
And when he faw them ^ he ran to meet them"] Was forward to invite them to refrefh themfelves with him : For he took them to be confiderable Perfons,as appears by what follows.
And bowed himfelf towards the grounds] After the
manner of theEaftern People $ in Token of th« Re-
fpeft and Honour he had for them. For this was a
Civil A&ion ("not Religious J it is manifeft by this .•
That he did not know them to be Angels 5 but only
Perfons of Quality, (as we now fpeak) their Afpeft
and Habit, I fuppofe, being extraordinary.
Verfe 3. Ver. 3. My Lor d^ If now I have found \ Sec/] One
of them appeared more Honourable and Superior to
the other two $ and therefore he makes his addrefs to
him, as the chief / Praying him, if he thought him
worthy of fuch a- Favour, tO'honour him with their
Company.
Verfe 4. Ver. 4. And vwjh your Feet.~] f. e. To wafh your Feet. For this was performed by Servants , and not by the Guefts themfelves.
And reft yourfelves under the TreeJ] In an Arbour under a great Tree : Where they were wont to eat, for coolnefs fake. See Dr. Hammond upon Pfalm CXXVHLj. St. Hierom fometimes ^^ calls this Tree,an Oak 5 fometimes a Turpentine-Tree , fas J. Filefa- cm obferves , L. I. Setett. c. 13.} Unlefs we will fay, that he thought Abraham dwelt under the one , and entertained them under th$ other. And fo Eufebiuty. . Evang. c. 9, exprefly relates it* That
God
upon -GENESIS. jor
Cod appeared to him under theO^where he dwelt.- Chapter ; And that he entertained the Angels under zTurpen- XVIII, tine-Tree $ which was had in great Honour in his Lr^V^NJ time.
Ver. 5. 1 will fetch aworfdofBread'] Or,rather, Verfe 5. a Loaf of Bread $as de Dieu fhows the word imports: j Under which is comprehended, all neceflary Provi- fion at a Meal.
And comfort ye yonr hearts^] Refrefti you rfelves.
For therefore are ye come toyourfcrvant."] Divine Providence hath directed you to come this way, at this time a day $ that I may havean opportunity to entertain you hofpitably.
Ver. 6. Make Cakes upon the Earth."] Many inter- Verfe 6. pret it upon the Coals or hot Embers $ according to what we read,i Kings XIX. 6. But Bocktrtm thinks the wordthere , fignifies as it doth here, upon hot Stones* Others will have it, that they were laid up on the Hearth and covered with hot Embers , (P. I. Hierozok. L. II. c. 340 and fo they prepare them at this Day , as Leon. J^n?nWjftells us in his Travels , P. IL c. 9, where he faith, Thatas he wentthrough a Country, that lies between Mefopai am/a and Media, a Woman prefently made them Cakes, about a Fin ger thick, and of the bignefs of a Trencher-; Which? fte firft laid upon hot Stones , and turned them ot- ten $. and th^n threw Afhes and Embers over them ?.: Which he fays were very favour?.
Ver. 7. A Calf tender and good."] Which was averfe 7." noble Entertainment in thofe Countries.
Ver. 8. And he took Butter.) Though we read Verfe 8; of CheefeinHoffter, EuripiJes^rheGcrita?, and others 5 ytt they raver mention Butter .• Nor hath Ariftorte a word of it 9 (at Bochart obferves, Hmw>ic< P. I-
f* 2,
Chapter ^. 2. r. 4iO though he hath fundry Obfervations a-
XVIII. frout Cheefe : For Butter was not a 'thing then known
IVVNJ among the Greek* $ though we fee by this and many
other places, it was an ancient Food among the Ea-
jlern People.
And he flood by tlem.~] Waited upon them, and miniftred to them. For he did not ftand unmovable 5 but as Servants do that attend upon the Table, who, as there is occafion, bring or take away, &c. See P. Fagius on Dent. 1. 38.
Verfe 9. Ver. 9. And they f aid unto him, Where is thy Wife .<?] One of them (the reft fignifying fome way their Con- fent) ask'd him for his Wife; not being ignorant, but to introduce the following Difcourfe.
In theTent.'] In her Apartment: For Women had their Apartments by themfelves.
Verfe 10. Ver. 10. Andhefaid.] The principal of the three Angels 5 or, rather the L o R D himfelf, as it is ex plained, verfe 13. For, as Theodorick. Hack* fan ;u- dicioufly obferves, this appearance of the Divine Ma- jefly was different from the foregoing .• Not being immediate by himfelf alone, like that XVII. i. nor merely mediate by an Angel, like that XVI. 7, 10, u, 12, &rc. But mixed, the Lo R D himfelf (ver r.) being conjunft with the Angels, whom he imployed in this Embaffy.
I mil certainljLretnrntothee^ To fulfil the Promife which I m^de thee, XVII. 19.
According to the time ofltfe7\ Nine Months hence 5 which is the time of perfefting the Life of a Child in the Womb. This appears to be the Sence from verfe 14. where he calls it the time appointed^ or a fet time* / ".-. -^.*
In
vpon G E N E S I S. 303*
In the Tent door, which was behind him.'} The An- Chapter gels fat with their Backs to Sarah's Tent .- Unto the XVIII. JDoor of which (he was come to Hften, having heard WV"VJ that they ask'd for her.
Behind him7\ This fhows the Truth of what Hack? ffan notes, That this was a mixt Apparition: For this word him plainly relates to the Angel, whofe words were in truth the LORD'S, who was there pre- fent. For as he obferves in another place, (Dljfnt* II. de Nominibus Divmis, n. 15.) the Scripture re- llates thefe Matters fo, that fometitties it mentions the principal Caufe, whofe words are related 5 fometimes only the fecondary Caufe : In which latter Cafe, it muftbe underftoodb That when the words exceed the Dignity of the Minifter, the Lo R B himfelf fpakethem. For the Sacred Writers mind more by whofe Authority ^any thing is fpoken, than by whofe Mimftry : So that it is not much material, from whofe Mouth any Meflage comes 5 but what is faid, muft be attended. This will be made plainer, when I come toGe*. XXII. n, 12, &c.
Ver. ii. It ceafed to be with Sarah after the manner Verfe n0 of Women.~\ She was no longer capable of Con ception 5 according to the ordinary courfe of Na ture.
Ver. 12. Laughed within herfelf."] Not as Abraham Verfe 12 for joy ^ but out of Incredulity : Not thinking it poffible for an old Woman, to Conceive by an old Man. And her fmiling at this, was the more excu- fable, becaufe (he did not know them to be Angels of the L o R D, but took them only for feme great Men.
Ver. 15. And the LORD faid."] The Divine Vak 13 Majefy (mentioned Verfe i.) faid, Why doth (he
nor
* co MM E N
Chapter not believe myMeflenger? The Angel fpake thefe XVHL words, but the words were the LORD'S , (not his) ISV\J who was now prefent with the Angels,and in a little
time appeared without them, v. 17, &c.
Verfe 14. Ver. 14. At the time appointed will I return to thee.*] Take it from my felf,that what hath been told thee by them, (hall be effefted.
Verfe if. Ver. 15. Sarah denied*"] Fear (as it follows)put her into a confufion .• So that (he did not mind what (he faid. Otherwife (he would not have denied, what fhe might well think they knew. Therefore (he is only made fenfible of her Fault , by a frniple Affirmation, of what (he denied 3 without any further Reproof.
Nay, but thou didfl laugh^ The perfon that fpeaks feems to have turned to her, and faid, Do not deny, what I know to be true.
Verfe 1 6. Ver. 1 6. Looked toward Sodom?] As if they intended to travel that way.
And Abraham went with them ^ to bring them on the r»ay-~] A piece of Civility like the former : Having entertained them , he accompanied them fo far as to direct them in the Road to Sodom.
Verfe 17. Ver- 1 7- And the LORD faid.'] The Divine M.ajejlyy mentioned Verfe i. began now to difcourfe plainly and openly with him.- not by the Miniftry of Angels, but by himfelf. For, I take it , the three Angels had now left Abraham alone : Who returning towards his Tent, faw the Glory of the LORD , and head him fpeak what follows.
Shall I hide from Abraham, &c.~] Thefe words feem to have been fpoken to Abraham : Otherwife , how came he to expoftulate with the LORD, as he doth, verfe 23, &c. unlefs we will conceive, (as we may)
verfe
upon GENESIS.
Verfe 20, 21. td be the declaration of God's Intend- Chapter onto deftroy Sodom: And th^fe words and the next, XVIII. to be his refolution within himfelf, to acquaint Abra- L/"V%J ham with that Intention.
Ver. 1 8. Seeing t hat Abraham fiall furely&cl] ThisVerfe 180 is one reafon why the Divine Majefty refolves to ac quaint Abraham with his intended Proceedings: Be- caufe he had already revealed to him greater things, and made him moft gracious Promifes.
Ver. 19. Forlknow,&c.~\ This Verfe contains ano-'Verfe 19. ther reafon } becaufe he knew Abraham would ap prove himfelf fo faithful to him : That Ire would not fail to enjoy all that he had promifed.
To keep the way of the LORD.~] Is to petfift in the True Religion and Worfhip of God.
•To-do Juftice and Judgment."] Includes in them all thofe Vertues which were oppofiteto the Sins of Sodom.
Ver. 20. Eecanfe the cry.~] Of their Sins: Which Verfe 1C. are faid to cry, Firft, To (how the enormous Greatnefs and Impudency of them : For grandn abfque dubio clamor eft, qui a terra afcendit ad cesium .• As Salvian fpeaks. And, Secondly, to (how that the Goodnefs of God could no longer bear with them } their Sins com pelling him, as one may fay, to punifh them. For De^ us eos noluent perdtre, fed ipji extorferint, ut ferirent. They not only called, but cried to him for Venge ance, as he alfo fpeaks, L.l.de Gubern. Del, p. 19, 20. Edit. Baluzii $ and L. IV. p. 75. L. V.p. 113.
Of Sodom and Gomorrba,'] As they were tfie prin cipal and greateft Cities, fo they were the moft wjcked 5 and led the reft into all manner of Impie ty ; Who therefore alfo periftied with them.
R r Fery
A COMMENTARY
.
Chapter Very grkvons.~] Not to be tolerated any longer. XVI1L There are prodigious Stories related of the Wicked-
^^v"^ nefs both of their Judges and of the People, in the Gemara Sanhedrim, cap. XI. which are there alledged as an Explication of this Verfe.
Verfe 21, Ver. n. I will go down now, &c."] Heufes the Lan guage of a good Judge, (Verfe 15.} who never pafles Sentence, much Ms executes it, till he hath examined the Caufe.
Whether they have done altogether^ Sec °] Whether they are come to the higheft pitch of Wkkednefs : Or, (as de Dieti) whether they are fo refolved to go on in Sin, that there is no hope of them.
If not, I witt know.~] That fo I may ufe means for their Reformation.
Verfe 22. Ver. 22. And the Men^\ The three Men menti oned Verfe 2. It is commonly faid that only two of them went away from Abraham, and that the third- remained and held difcourfe with him. But I fee no reafon for this: They that came in and eat with him, and rofe up from the Table, (Verfe 1 6.) who no doubt were all three, being the Perfons that are here faid now, to have turned their Faces from t hence y i. e. From the place where they had been entertain ed by Abraham : Or, where he parted with them.
And wwt towards Sodom.] As they in tended T Verfe 16.
But Abraham flood yet before the LORD.~\ Not before any of thofe three, but before the Divine Ma- jefty : Who appeared to him, verfe i. and had fpo- ken to him, verfe 13. and difcourfed with him, verfe 17, 20- in whofe Prefence he ftill continued. Some by flood under ftand> he prayed : But that follows in the next Verfe.
Ver
upon GENESIS. go;
Ver. 23. Abraham drew near] Approached to- Chapter wards the Divine Majefty, to make his Addrefies by XVIII. Prayer and Supplication to him. Perhaps the Di- t/"V"NJ vine Majefty remained in the place where it firft ap- Verfe i^. peared, verfe i. and Abraham by conducting the three Men fome part of their way, being gone further from it, now came nearer to it. Though the Phrafe doth not neceffarily import it, to draw njgh to God, in the Holy Language, fignifying no more but to wor* (hip him.
Wilt thon deflroy the righteous with the wielded ?*] As much as to fay, I know thou wilt not. For fuchQue- fiionsftrongly deny; as in verfe 17.
Ver. 24 Fifty righteou* within the City I] Of So- Verfe 24* dom, which was the Chief, and comprehended the red of the Country of Pentapolis : Which one would guefs, by Gen. XIV. 17. depended upon Sodom as the Metropolis. So what is faid here of it, I take to refer to the whole Region.
Wilt thon nbtfpare the place for the fifty, &c.] He de- fires two things of God. Firfl, That he would not deftroy the Righteous with the Wicked. Secondly, That he would fpare the Wicked for the fake of the Righteous } if any confiderable Number of them were found among the Wicked.
Ver. 25. Shall not the Judge of all the Earth do Verfe 15, right?] This refers (as we tranllate it) only to the firft part of his Requeft, not to deflroy the Right c- OIM with the Wicked. Which was contrary to com mon Ju Price, much more to that exaft Juftice, which is admtniftred by the Supreme Lord of the World : From whom there lies no Appeal. But, ac cording to the Vulgar Tranflation, which is this, [Thon vho judgcft all the Earth, wilt by no means exe*
R r 2 cut*
A COMMENT A KT
Chapter cute this Jydgwent.~] it refers to the other part alfo :.- XVIII. That God would not be fo fevere as to deftroy ft
^*v~^ whole Country -?. whilft -there were many good Men dill remaining in it: And fo the word Right, in cludes in it .Clemency. And indeed this PafTage feems to relate to both parts of his Requeit : And is to be interpreted thus$ Shall not the Supreme Judge /how Mercy ^ as wel/.as do Juflice?
Verfc 26, Ver. 36, And the LORD faid, If I find fifty, &c. then will Ifpare, Sec.] This fhows the foregoing In terpretation to be right : God promifing moft gra~ cioufly to be merciful to all, for the fake of a few, in comparifon with the Multitude of Offenders.
Verfe 17. Ver. 27. Who am hut Duft and Aftes.] Very mean and vile.
Verfe 28. Ver. 28. Lack five of the fifty right eota.'] A great Argument of Abrahams Modefty ^ who durft not prefume to ask too much at once } but by degrees proceeds, in the following Verfes, to petition for grea ter Abatements .• And that with Fear and Trembling, leaft the LORD, fhould be angry with his Importu nity.
Verfe 32. \V£t*3'i'Iwittnotdeftroyitfortensfake.~] A won derful Reprefentation of the tender Mercy of the raoft High 5 who condefcended fo low as to grant a Reprieve to the whole Country, for the fake of fo fmall a Number, if they could have been found in ft. And his Mercy was ftill greater, even beyond A- brafcam's defire 5 for he fpared one of the jfoe Cities :- For the fake of three or four Perfons, as we read XIX<
20, 2,1.
We do not find, that Abraham makes exprefs men* tion of Lot in any of the foregoing Petitions : But k is plain from XIX* 29, that he was in his Thoughts*
which
upon GENESIS, 309
which God knew 3 and he is comprehended in thofeChapter words, Fer/e ^3. of this Chapter, Wilt thou Jeftroy XIX. the righteous with the wicked .<? L^V^SJ
Ver. 35. And the LORD went his way ^ TheVerfe 33 Divine Majejly^ or the Glory. of the Lord, difappeared j(and afcended perhaps towards Heaven) after this Communication with Abraham was finiftied.
And Abraham returned to bis place. ~] In the Plain of Mature, verfe I *
CHAP. XIX.
Ver. i. \ND there came two Angels. ~] There were Verfe i*
£\ three at the firft, (XVIII. 2.) but the Chief of them was gone ^ having difpatch'd hisMef- fage to Abraham 5 unto whom he was peculiarly fent, See XVIII.
At even."] They had been with Abraham in the heat of the Day : And were now come to the Gates of Sodom.
Lot fat in the Gate ofSodom.~] The Hebrew Doctors' will have it, that he was made a Judge in this City $ and the prime Judge of all : For they adventure to name five (in Berefchith Rabba^) and fay Lot was the Prefident of the Court, which fate in the Gate of the City. But this is only a fanfie of theirs : He ra ther fat in the Gate of Ms City, zs Abraham did at his Tent door 3 to invite Strangers to his Houfe, ("ac cording to the Hofpitality of thofe days) which was the greater Charity, becaufe he knew the City to be- fo wicked, that (if we may believe the Hebrew Do- ftors) they not only denied them all affi fiance, bur
abufecl*
3ro A COMMENT A KT/
Chapter abufed them, and were cruel to them, (fee XIX. Sanhedrim, C. X I. •&> Pirkp Eliefer, cap. 25.) for Which
l/V~SJ laft, they quote thofe words of Ezefal, XXII. 29. f/fcy/ have ofprejfed the ftr anger wrongfully* Which are fpoken of Ifrael, whom XVI, 49. he had compared vi\t\\ Sodom : One of \yhcfe Sins he fays was, want of Compaffion to the poet and needy.
Rofe ^p to Meet them, &c/] Juft as Abraham did $ whole Civility he imitates, as well as his Charity. For the bow/vg hiwjclf'fo lowly, was a Token of the great Honour he paid tneiif: Who had the appearance of great and noble Perfons. And therefore he calls them Lords in the next Verfe.
Ver-fe ^. Ver. 2. Turn in, I pray yoifj^and tarry affntgt>t,'&cJ] It is late, and the Night draws on, take up your Lodging with me, and refrefK your felves 5 and go away as early as you pleafe.
And theyfaid^ Nay, Sec.] It was as great a Civility in Strangers, not to be forward to accept, as it was in him to invite. And therefore they refufe him at firft, to try his Kindnefs: But intending, no doubt, to embrace his Offer, if he prefled them further. So the following words are to be underftood.
We will abide in the ftrect all night. ,] Unlefs you perfiil in your Invitation. In thofe hot Countries, it was not unufual to lie in the open Air, efpecially in Summer. And in a City, they were fafe from being infefted by wild Beads, or Robbers.
Concerning wafting tkcfcet."] See X VIII. 4.
Verfe 3. Ver. 3. Heprejfed upon them greatly"] Would not be denied, but wasib earneft that they yielded. It is the fame word with that verfe 9.
Bakp unleavened Bread."] Which would be fooneft ready, that fo they might, in good time, repofc them- felves. Ver.
uyon GENESIS, 511
Ver. 4. And before they lay down^\ To take their Chapter reft. XIX.
Both old and yoitngT] A manifeft Token of an uni- L/^VNJ erlal Depravation ot Manners, and Diffolution of Verfe 4. Government.
from every quarter."] Or, as fome underftand it, from the mod extream parts of the City : As in Pfalw XIX. 4. One, k feems, told another, what goodly Perfons were come to their City : And ail ran to the Houfe where they heard they were$ with the fame wicked Inclinations. This is a proof there were not ten righteous Perfons in Sodom.
Ver. 5. That we may kpvw thew.~] A modeft word Verfe 5* for a lewd Faft. Some indeed- will have it underftood firaply, of their examining what they were, whence they came, and what their bufinefs was. Which might perhaps be their pretence ^ but Lot's anfwer to them, verfe 7, 8. interprets their meaning- to be filthy.
Ver. 6. Went out at the doorl} To try if he could Verfe 6- perfuade them to depart. From whence, perhaps, the Jews gathered he was a Man of Authority among, them.
Ver. 7. Do not fo wickedly"} As to break the Verfe 7* Rights of Hofpitality , and violate the Laws of Na~ lure.
Ver, 8. Behold now, I have trva Daughters, &C/}Verfe 8. This mutt be underftood to have been (poke n in a great Perturbation and Perplexity of Mind 5 and out of a vehement Deflre to preferve the Men whom he had entertained : Which made him fay, he had ra ther they (hould abufe his awn- Daughters, than thofe Strangers,
312 A COWMEN TART
Chapter For therefore came they under the foadow of my roof] XIX. He pleads the Laws of Hofpkality, which obliged him
LX"V*SJ to proteft them 5 though he himfelf fuffered by it.
Verfe 9. Ver. 9. And they faid^ Stand back^\ Give way to us.
T/w one fellow, &c."] Here is one, and he but a
Sojourner 5 who takes upon him to be a Cenfor Mo*
mm, and controul the whole City.. This (hows he
was no Judge.
Now will we deal worfe with thee, Stcf] Abufe thee more than them. For it is the fame word with verfe 7. doing wickedly.
Verfe li. Ver. n. Smote the Men with blindnefs.~] Not with a total Blindnefs, ( for then they would not have fought for the Door of Lot's Houfe, but rather have groped for the way home) but fuch a Dimnefs that they could not fee any thing diftinftly, or in its right place : But there feemed to be a Door, fuppofe, where : there was none : Or, there was fuch a Confufion in their Brain, that all things were turned topfie turvy, fas we fpeak^) in their Imagination ^ and appeared quite otherwife than they were.
Verfe 12. Ver. 12. Son-in-law, and thy Sons, andthyDaugh- \ters7] Here the Copulative and, muft be expounded or: As it is ufed in many places,XIII.8. Let there be no ftrife between me and thee, or between my herds-men, and thine. And fo we tranflate it, Exod. XII. 5. Thouflialt take it oat of the Sheep, or out of the Goats : And Exod. XXI. i$.He thatfmiteth hi* Father, or his Mother, Jhtll be fut to death. And fo it (hould be tranllated here, Haftthott any here befides, Son-in-law^ or thy Sons, or thy • Daughters: As niuch as to fay, we aredefirous tofave all that are nearly* related to thee? for thy fake. ? - .
Ver.
upon GENESIS* 313
Ver. 14. Which warned his Daughters."] Had efpou- Chapter •Ted them for their Wives, but had not yet confum- XIX, mated the Marriage 5 as <fome tinder ftand it. O- LXVNJ thers will have it, that, Befides thofe two Virgin Verfe 14* Daughters at home with him, he had other Daugh ters, who were actually married in the City. Which 1 they gather from the next f'erfe^ take thy Wife and 'two Daughters^ which are here -: As if he had more Daughters elfewhere. And R.Jehuda (in Pirke E- Ihfer, c. 25.) names one of them married to one of the great Men of Sodom, and calls her Pelothit. But ^his feems rather to have been the Name of one of them who were faved by the Angels, and thence fo called : For it fignifies delivered^ otfnatch'd from de- .ftruftion.
He feemed as one that mocked^] Who was not in *arneft$ but only made fport with them, and fpake in jeft. For it is the fame word from whence Ifajft is derived, which fignifies Laughter.
Ver. 15. And when the morning arofe.~] At break of Verfe 15. Day : For the Sun did not rife, till Lot was got into Zoar, verfe 23.
Takf thy Wife^ and thy two Daughters, which are here."] Thefe laft words, which are here^ are not with out Emphafis .- And paraphrafed thus by the Chal- dee Interpreter, which are found faithful with thee: Are not corrupted by the common Wickednefs of this place} or, that believe what we threaten.
Ver. 1 6. While he lingred^ Being loth to leave Verfe 16. his Goods, or his Sons-in-law, and Children: Or, as fome think, praying God to fpare the City.
The Men laid hold upon hi? hand^ &C.3 One of the Angels laid hold upon him and his Wife^ and the other upon his two Daughters.- Whom they pulled
Sf out
& eOMMENTART
out of the Houfe with fome kind of constraint} and led them out of the City.
yen ljt Hefald."] That Angel who had a pecu- verie 1 7 liar Charge of preferving Lot and his Family. See XVIII. 2.
Efcapejorthy life."] Make hade, if thou loveft thy Life.
Loot^ not behind thee.~] To fee what becomes of thy Goods $ or, as if thou waft loth to leave Sodom. Make no delay, no not fo much as to turn about and look back.
Neither Stay thou in, the Plain."] Do not reft, until thou haft got out of the Plain : For every Place in it is to be deftroyed.
Verfe 18. Ver.iS. And hefaidunto them, 8tc.] Both the An gels were ftill with him : But he feems particularly to fpeak to him that led him and his Wife out of Sodomy who had fpoken before to him, and bid him make hafte, verfe 17. But there are thofe (Franzlw for inftance) who would have the word Adonai tranflated not, myLord^ but my Lords ^ as if he fpake to both.
Verfe I Q» Ver. 19. I cannot efcape to the Mountain, Sccf] He that lingred before, verfe 16. now thought he could not make hafte enough. Either being crazy $ or, tired with fitting up all Night, or, fearing the de- ftru&ion would overtake him, before he could reach the Mountain 3 and defiring, perhaps, to have a bet ter dwelling than that. Verfe 10, Ver. 10. MySoHlfhattlrve.~\ Rejoyce, and be ex-
' ceeding thankful. Verfe 21* Ver- 2*« ^> 1 have accepted thee^] Granted thy
I will
upon G E N E S I S. 3 ' $
overthrow ^t.} A wonderful Inftance of Chapter the Divine Clemency : Which in the midft of Wrath XIX, remembred Mercy. L/"VNJ
Ver. xx. Haftethee.'] Make no more delates .• No,Verfe 12. not to make any further Petitions.
I cannot do any thing tillthoit be come thither.'] Ha ving made thee this Promife, I muft defer the Venge ance till thou art fafe there.
Called ZoarJ] In after-times it had this Name ^ from the fmalnefs of it 5 which he twice mentions, verfe 20.
Ver. 24. The LORD rained from the LOR £>.] Verfe 14. It cannot be denied that here is an Intimation of a Plurality of Perfons in the Deity. Yet there are ma ny both ancient and modern Interpreters, who think the meaning is no more, than the LORD fent this Rain from himfelf, it being the manner oif the Scri pture Phrafe, to repeat the Noun inftead of the Pro- noun ("as Grammarians fpeak) of which Cocceivs (up on theGemara of the Sanhedrim, C. IV.J gives thefe Inftances, Gen. II. 20. ivSW.XII. n.Zecb. I. 16. And there are others, which come nearer to thefe words, Exod. XXIV. and he (i.e. the LORD* verfi 3.) faid unto Mofes, Come up unto the LORD. Hof. I. 7. Iwtllfave them by the LORD their GoJ. Zech. X. iz. I willftrengthen them in the LORD, &c. The Council of Sirmium indeed anathematizes thofe who thus interprets thefe words, and do not fay, the Son rained from the Father, Socrat. L. II. c. 30. Yet St. Chryfotfom did not fear to fay this is an Idiom of the Scripture-Language, which intended only to (how, <fa *»&(&, r'77|w^e/^ l-Mytyiy that the LORD brought this Puniftiment upon them. Others alfo have obferved, that the Scripture-Phrafe being very
S f 2 con-
-
316 v* COMMENTARr
Chapter concife, by the LORD (in the beginning of the XIX, forfe) may be meant the. Angel of the LORD. For wherefoever mention is made of the LORD it is to be underftood of him, UH nm, and his houfe of judgment, (as the Jewifi Doftors fpeak ) ?. e. of the -Angels which attend his Divine Majefty. And thus I find Arethas, ("or Andreas Cdfarienfiis ) in his Com mentaries upon the Revelation, p. 729. under ftand tjiefe words. For he there compares that Captain who was over the Locufts, Revel. IX. 1 1. to the An* gel that was fent to cut off the Army of Senacherib± and to this Angel, cO>?$f SbS^jUAv -r Si^^v cA^pcv ^75^rtt^ who had the Charge of executing the fiery deftrudhon upon Sodom committed to him. For all Angels, faith he, are not miniftring Spirits, &?$ <^a^- vioiv cvTv&tw, for Mens Prefervation, but fome ferve, w TifMveJiav, for Punifhment, And that they can bring Fire from Heaven, and raife Storms and Tern- pefts, appears by the Story of Job.
Ovt of Heaven.'] From the Lord whofe Seat is in Heaven* The like expreiEon we have, Revel. XX. 9.
^Upon Sodom and upon Goworrha.~] And the neigh bouring Cities, Admah and Ztboim y as appears from Dent. XXIX. 23.
Brimftone and Fire.'] A moft hideous Shower, or, rather Storm of Nitre, Sulphur , or Bitumen^ mingled with Fire, fell upon this Country from above $ and, as the Tradition was among the Heathen, accompa nied with a dreadful Earthquake : Which made an irruption of thofe bituminous Waters, whereby this Country was turned into the Lake called Afphaltites^ or thejkfr, or dead Sea. So Strabo, L.XVI. in his defcription of that Lake. And indeed it doth not
feens
upon G E N E S I 8. 917
feern improbable, that the Earth quaked, while the Chapter Heavens did fo terribly frown, and the Almighty's XIX, Voice thundred from the Clouds, as Dodor Jackson fpeaks, Rook\-on the Creed, c. 15. For the word ^c- Tttcppn, (which St. Peter ufes, i Pet. II. 6.) may be thought to import ibme fuch Subverfion. But it was his ignorance of the Sacred Tradition in the Scri ptures, which made Strabo wholly afcribe the defo-* lationof that Country to the Earthy and not at all to the Heavens. Whereas Tacitus was better infor med : Who fays thefe Judaical Cities (as he calls * them) fulminant jaftu (or iftit) arj/ffe, were burnt by the ftroke of Thunder -bolts from Heaven : And, a little after, jgne c#lcftiflagraffe^ were fet on fire and confumed by Lightning, L. V. Hiftor. With which fell fuch abundance of bituminous Stuff, that the Valley which had only fome Pits of Bitumen in it be fore, XIV. £, 10. became a Lake of it.
Ver. 25. And he overthrew thofe Cities ^ &c] Super impium $o$ulum gehennam mijit % c&lo^ as Salvian. gloffes, L. L 6T L. IV. de Gttbern. Dei. He fent Hell from Heaven upon an impious People. Ofwhofe deftru&ion there remains an everlalting Monument in the Salt-Sea : Inco which that plain Country is turned. The quality of which, and of the Soil about it is fo contrary to the Nature of all other Seas, or Inland Lakfs^ that no Philofopher can give an account of it, like that which Mofes hath given us : As the fame Doftor Jackson truly obferves. He that will read Tacitus in the place forementioned, or Plinj^ or Diodorut, may be fatisfied of this. The Coun try where thefe Cities ftood, being become a Pan^ or Receptacle (as the fore-named Doftor well calls it) of fuch a ftrange Moifture, that it may be cal»
led'
3iS A COMMENTARY
Chapter led Liquid Pitch, rather than Water. For it is fo XIX. ftiffthat no Wind will move it 5 nor will a Camel
L/'VNJ fink, if thrown into it} nor any Fi(h, or Bird, that ufes the Water, live in it : And therefore called the Dead-Sea, and Salt-Sea, asSalwafius thinks, (Exerc. Plinian. Pag. 577, 614.) becaufe no creature can live there, and becaufe the noifom Steams that come from it, blaft all that grows of it felf, or is fown in the Earth about it. Nor do the Rivers that run in to it, at all alter it^ but it infefts all their Waters, with the loathfom Qualities of thofe Dregs of God's Wrath ("to ufe Doftor Jackson $ words once morej which firft fettled in it, at this overthrow: Juft like bad Humours, when they fettle in any part of our Bodies, plant, as it were, a new Nature in it, and turn all Nourifhment into their fubftance.
Verfe 26. Ver. 26. His Wife looked back, from behind hi m^\ She not only lagg'd behind, as we fpeafc, but turned about and ftood ftill a while, bewailing perhaps the lofs of all there.- Or, as fome of the Jews fanfie, to fee what would become of her Kindred, and whe ther they would follow her or no.
Became a fillar ofSalt.~\ Or, as fome underftand it, an everlafting Monument : Whence, perhaps, the Jews have given her the Name of Adith, (as they call her in Pirke Eliefer^ cap. 25.) becaufe (he remain ed a perpetual Teflimony of God's juft Difpleaiure. For (he (landing ftill too long, fome of that dreadful Shower before-mentioned, overtook her ^ and fal ling upon her, wrapt her Body in a Sheet of Nitro- "Sulphureous Matter : Which congealed into a Cruft ^as hard as Stone: And made her appear like a Pillar of Salt, her Body being, as it were candied in it. J&mchi calls it an heap of Salt 5 which the Hebrews
fay
upon GENESIS. 319
ifay continued for many Ages. Their Conjecture isChapter not improbable, who think the Fable of friobe was XIX. hence derived : Who the Poets feign, was turned in- L/"V"V) jto a Stone, upon her exceilive Grief for the death of 'her Children.
Ver. 17. Gat to the place, where he flood before fAe Verfe 17* LORD.~] Where he prayed, (ay the Jews, or commu ned with God, XVIII. 22, 33.
Ver. 28. Tfofa0l%rftheCcHntrj,fc£.~] Some think,. Verfe 28. the Hebrew word fignifies, lik$ the fwokc of a Lfiwe- Kilv$ or of a boiling Cauldron. After the Showre was over, the Reek or Steam of it remained : And made that Country look difmally, which before was like the Garden of God, (XIII. 10.) but now be* come a (linking Puddle of filthy Water, ^ '&$- SoAke) £f<jayw, as Diodorta fpeaks, noiibm beyond ex- preffion.
Ver. 29. Overthrew the Cities, wherein Lot dwelt,'] Verfe 29. In one of which he dwelt: Which is an ufual man ner of Speaking in Scripture, Gen. VIII. 4. the Arl^ rejled on the Mountains, (i. e. on one of the Moun tains) of Ararat, Jitdg. XII. 7. Jepthah was buried in the Cities (\. e. one of the Cities) of Gilead. Which explains that of St. Matthew, XXVI. 8. when his Difctples, (i. e. one of his Difciples, Jttda*} faw it he had indignation, &C.
Ver. 30. And Lot went up out of Zoar, &G.] It Verfe appears from hence, that this good Man was very ti- ruerous, not having fo ftrong a Faith as his Uncle J- krahaw* For he that had lately obtained a Pardon for this Place, becaufe he was afraid he (hould not have time enough to get to ttte Mountain, now tor- fakes it: For fear, I fuppofe, a new Showre {hould come from Heaven and deftroy it, after the reft 5
A COMMENTARY
Chapter becaufe the Inhabitants, perhaps, continued unre- XIX. formed, though they had feen inch a terrible Exam-
U'"V"NJ pie of the Divine Vengeance upon their wicked Neighbours, If his fear to dwell in Zoar proceeded from this Caufe, it was the more reafonable 5 be caufe he might think, though God had fparexl them for the preient, yet they taking no warning by the Calamity of their Country, would fhortly perifh as the reft had done. And fo Jheodoret and others think this City was afrerwards deftroyed .- Of which there is no certain Record $ and if the Tradition be true, it was not fpeedily fwallowed up, as they re port, but retained for fome time the Name of Zoar $ being before called Bel*, XIV. 2.
Dwelt in the Mount am.'] It is not £aid what Moun tain $ but it is probable one of the Mountains in the Country afterward called Moab $ from one of his Children, which he here begat. For Eptyhan?#s H<c- ref.Llll. defcribes the Country of Moab, as lying *ni$2.v £ &AvKfi<;, 6cc. beyond the Salt, or Dead Sea. See Salmaf. Exerc. Plin. />. 6 1 5 .
Verfe 31. Ver. 31. There is not a Man in ail the Earth. ~] Nat one remaining of their Kindred, that they knew: For they were not much acquainted, we may fup- pofe, beyond that Country which was deftroyed ^ and thofe of Zoar were fo wicked, that they look'd upon them as Beads, rather than Men.
Verfe 32. Ver. 32. Let us make him drink^ Wine.'] Which they brought with them out of Sodom, to fup- port their Spirits in their flight} or, elfe got at Zo ar : Of which they invited their Father to drink liberally, and chear himfelf under his ex tr earn great Sorrow.
That
upon G E N E S I S, 321
That we May preferve Seed of our Father.^ This Chapter Tad of theirs being objeded by Celfns againftour XIX. Religion, Origen gives this account of it, (L/i. IV. L/*VNJ contra Celf.) That thefe two Maids having learnt fomething of the Conflagration of the World, and -feeing their own City and Country deftroyed by Fire, imagined tyrw%$% T£ ywu*, £$ «V9f tewv, that the Se minary of Mankind remained only in their Father and them. And if what they did was upon this fuppofi- tion, That there was no other way to reftore the 'World $ they did no worfe than the Stoicfa thought their wife Men might do, if the Race of Mankind wereextind, To that none but he and his Daughter were left alive. Jren<eus makes the fame Excufe for them, and fays they did this innocently, and in their fimplicity, believing all Mankind were deftroyed, L. IV, cap. 51. But f take their Conjedure to be highly probable, who conceive tha.t the eager De- fire, vvhkh then poflefled the Hearts of good Peo ple, to fulfil the Promife of the Meffiah, was that which put them upon this, other wife-monftrous, Crime. For which there are! thefe Ps,eafons. f/rf?, That they had lived fo chaftly in the midft of the Impurities of Sodorn^ that one cannot think a Spirit of Uncleannefs now entred into them, and carried them to this Adion. And indeed, Secondly,, Their joyning together in this Contrivance, (whereas Mat ters of this Nature ufe to be carefully concealed from the neareft Friends, or make them fall out, if they find themfelves ingaged in the fame Intrigue) (hows that they were aded by Counfej. and Defign, and not by brutiih Luft. And, Thirdly., Their per petuating the Memory of this Fad, in the Nimes of their Children, is a Demon ftration there was fome-
T t thing
A COMMENTARY
Chapter thing extraordinary in it} and that they were not XIX. afhamed of it, but rather gloried in it 5 defiring it
%^^v^^ might be remembred that thefe Children were defcen- ded from Lot. Who they thought, perhaps, might pretend to fulfil the Promife as well as Abraham^ Be ing the Son of Abrahams elder Brother ; and called out of Sodom by the Miniftry of Angels, as Abraham was called out of Chald<ea.
Verfe 33. Ver. 33. He perceived not whenjhelay dorvn^ &c] This feems hard to be underftood .• But it muft be noted , That Mofes only fays he did not perceive when (he came to bed to him , and when (he got up again ; not that he did not perceive when he lay with her , of which he could not but have fome percep tion.
Chough MMontaigne in his Effays^ relates a Story of k Widow , who5 being drunk , wasabufed by a Hind in herHoufe , and afterward finding her felf with Child, could not remember how it came to pafs. But the Fellow atlaft confefled his Fa£L- Of which, whatfoever Senfe (he had then, (he had perfeftly for^ got it when (he awaked.
Verfe 34. Ver. 34' Gothotiin,&c^] If he had retained any remembrance of what he had done the Night before, one cannot think he would have fain into the fame Snare fo foon again. For which reafon, it is pro bable, he did not think he had been intoxicated,but only drank fo freely , as to make himfleepfoundly, and forget his Sorrow.
Verfe 37- Ver. 37. Moab."] Moft will have this word to fig - nifie, pom my Father. But Drujiw in Dent. II.8. takes the import to be, Aqna Patrfr*
Ver.
upon GE N E S I S. 323
j8. Ben-ammi.'] This fignifies as much as, Chapter the Son of my People. Which doth not acknowledge XX. fo plainly, as the other, That this Son was begot- L^V^J- ten by her Father .- But only that he was the Son of VerU one of her own Nation, or Kindred 5 not by a Stran ger.
CHAP. XX.
Ver. i. ^TOurneyed from thence.'] i. e. From Mamre^ Verfe i.
J where he had dwelt a great while, and where many remarkable Paflages had hapned, XIII. 1 8. XVIII. i.
Toward the South Country.'] Toward Egypt : For fome fanfie the very Stench of the Lake ot Sodom was ofFenfive to him in Mamre.
Sojourned in Gerar."] The Metropolis of Paleftine $ and, as fome compute it, not much above fix Miles (mm Mamre.
Ver. 2. Abraham faid of Sarah, &c.] Juft as he y + had done in Egypt ^ XII. 13. when there was greater reafon for it 3 fhe being then thirty Years younger than now $ when fhe was no lefs than ninety Years old. But it feems her Beauty remained at this Age 5 being healthful, and having born and fuckled no Children.- And Women in thofe days living fo long that they were as frefh at ninety, as they are now at forty or fifty. Where many that are of excellent Con- ftitutions, and naturally handfom, continue very lovely.
Ablmelech^] The Name of all the Kings of Pale- fane 3 as Pharaoh was of the King's of Egypt. It is
T t 2 not
324 * COMMENTARY
Chapter not improbable, as the Author of Tzemath David*. XX, conjeOures, that the fucceeding Kings took the Name lyv^w of him who was the firft Ring of the Country : Ad- A. M. 2600'.
S'ent and took,Sarah.'} By violence, fome think $ but I fee no ground for it. Hedefired to have her 5 and might tmvte:Akrahaw would look upon it as a great Honour , to have his Sifter become Wife to a King : And Abraham it is likely (howed no unwil? lingnefs, not being in a condition to deny him* Verfe 3* Ver. 3- AnA God came to Abimdech m a dream by Nigh."] Two differences are obfcrved by Mat mo? nides ^ between this manifethtion, which God made of his Mind to Abimekth^ and that which he made to the Prophets. For it is only faid here , God came to Abimdech , and that he came in a dream by night. The very fame is laid oi: Labati "the Syrian^ who doth not feem to have been fo good a man as Abitnelecfy XXXI. 24. But of Jacob it is faid, God fpake mtv Ifrael , and he fpake to him in the Vifions of the Islight , CNotin a Dream J and faid;, Jacob, Jncob9 XLVI. 2. See More Nevoch. P. IF. c. 41: God was not a Stranger to other Nations, when he was pecu liarly kind to Abraham .: But {pake to them in Dreams, and fometimes in Vifions 3 as appears in Elfphaz and Elihu, JoblV. 13. XXIII. 14, 15, 8rc.
Thou art but a dead Mm.] viz. If thou doft not reftore Abraham his Wife,^erp 7.
She it a Mans Wife.'] Or, married to a Hatband, (as wetranflate it in the Margin) fo compleatly, that he hath enjoyed her as his Wife. For from this place the Jewijh Dodlors prove , that the Marriage Contraft was not perfefted in thele days, till the Par ties had lain together : After which if any other Per-
fon
upon GENE SI S. 325
ibn lay with the Woman, he was to be puttodeath^Chapter as an Adulterer 3 but not 5 if he lay with her after XX, the Contract , before it was confummated by aftual W*V"NJ Enjoyment. See Mr. Selden, dejure N. &G. £. W ^4,>55i:
Ver. 4; But Abimelech had not come near her."] To Vene 4, ufe her as his Wife.
Wilithonflay alfo a righteous-Nation ? ~] He was afraid (as became a good Man and a good K'mg) left his- People ftiould fuffa$upon his account- 5 who in this particular, had no Guilt upon them.
Ver. $;Saidhenotunto me&cl] The Fault is ia Verfe 5* them, not in me : For I had both their words for it, that he was their Brother 5 and he faid nothing of her being his Wife.
In the integrity of my hearth] Not with any inten tion to Defile her 5 but to make her my Wife.
And innocence of my hands'] I did not take her by Violence from Abr aham 5 but he and (heconfented to it.
Ver. 6.; And God faid nnto him in a dream,'} The Verfe 6. fame Expreffion is ftill retained , which we had verfe 3. to (how that this was a lower Degree of Divine Manifeftation, than was in Abrahams Family.
I know thoH didft thfc in the integrity^ &C."] /. e.Thet thou didft not defign any Evil.
tor I alfo, 5cc.j Or, rather, And I alfo withheld thee. I dealt well with thee, becaufe of thy integri ty. Some think he was withheld by a Difcafe in the Secret Parts, verfe 17.
From finning again ft me."] From committing A- dultery.
Ver. 7. He if a Prophet^] This is the fir ft time we Verfe 7, meet with the word AW>/va Prophet ,• And Abrahdte
is
A COMMENTARY
Chapter is the firft that is honoured with this Name. Which XX. fignifies one familiar with God 5 who might come to
*^v*^ him , to confult him upon all occafions $ and be ap- thorifed to declare God's Mind and Will to others 5 and alfo prevail with him by his Prayers for a Blef- fing upon them. So it here follows.
tie ftall pray for thee."} Obtain Life and Health to thee. The greater any Prophet was, the more pow erful he was in Prayer .• As appears by the Stories of Mofes, Ellas, and Samuel. See Pfalm XCIX. 6.
It appears by this whole Hiftory of Abimelechfozt he was a Man of great Vertue in thofe Days .• And not an Idolater , but a Worlhipper of the true God, as Melchifedeckfa High-Prieft of that Country was : Yet not fo well acquainted with Divine Revelations as Abraham was.
Verfe 8, Ver. 8. Abiwelech rofe up early In the worning.^Ttiis is a farther Token of his Goodnefs, that he delayed not to obey the Divine Command.
Called all bis Servants."] His Privy Council, (as we fpeakjwho were all of the fame Mind with him^That this was a Divine Admonition 5 which it was notfafe to difobey. From whence we may probably gather, his Court was not fo corrupted , as Abraham fufpeft- ed.
Verfe 9- Ver. 9. What haft thou done unto vs?~] Into what Danger haft thou brought us.<?
Thou haft brought on me and my Kingdom a great Sin. 3 Run me into the hazard of committing a great Sin , or fuffering an heavy Punifhment , (for fo Sin is fometimes taken) in not telling me the truth. Thou haft done deeds unto me, that ought not to be done.~] This is not fair dealing; fuch as I might have expe&ed from thee.
Ver.
upon G E N E S I S: 327
Ver. 10. Whatfaweft thott,&c.~] What did ft thou Chapter obfcrve in my Country , that made thee think we XX. would meddle with thy Wife ? What Tokens of In- •x-v1^ juftice, or Impurity didftthou fee among us ? Verfe 10.
Ver, 1 1 . Becaufe I thought furely, &c.] The word Verfe 1 1 . Rak. which we tranflatey/ire/j>,lignifies only .-and may be thus well tranflated here , This only I few wanting $n jour Country, ike fear of God : i. e. A Sence of Reli- ;ion , which reftrains Men from all manner of Wick- dnefs. It feems the People were not fo good as their ing.
Ver. n. And yet indeed foe is my Sifter^] Do not Verfe 12. ondemn me of telling a Lye $ for (he is truly my Sifter. Such was the Language of thofe Days , to call their Wives, Sifters 5 and their Nephews , Bro- hers. As he calls Lot, XIIL 8. who was his Nephew* and the Brother of Sarah y as was obferved upon I. 29.
She is the Daughter of my Father^] i. e. His Father's Grand-daughter } who are frequently in Scripture called the Children of their Grand- fathers. For (he was Daughter to Haran , elder Brother of Abra ham.
But not the Daughter of my Mother^ It feems Te- rah had two Wives , by one of which he had Haran^ the Father of Lot and Sarah ^ and by the other he had Abraham. So Sarah was Daughter to one who was his Brother by his Father's fide , but not by his Mo ther : And with fuch a Niece they thought it not un lawful then to marry. No regard being had toCon- fanguinity (if we may believe R.Solomon Jar chf) by the Father's fide, before the Law of Mofes, but only by the Mother'*,
Ttie
-.3iS A COMMENTAKr
Chapter The more received Opinion indeed of the
XX. Doftorsis., (as Mr.Selden obferves, L. V. de Jure N. iyV^VJ ^ Q- *v#.« 2") th^ SW<*A was indeed the Daughter ofTerah by his feccnd Wife, and fo Abrahams half Sifter. And Sakl Batricides (Patriarch of Alexan dria above feven hundred Years ago) in his Arabic!^ Hi (lory, tells us the Name of Terah's firft Wife was Jofga '•> and the Name of his fecond Tevhha, by whom he had Sarah. But there is no other Authority for this.
Yerle 13. Ver. I j, WhenGod caufed me to wander^] The He brew word which we tranflate wander, being in the Plural Number, the LXX. render the word Elo- fam (God) the Angels : Who by the Command of God led him from his Father's Houfe, through di vers Countries. But the Chaldce tranflates it, when becaufe of the Idols ofChald<ea I was called away from my own Country, e£v. For fo the Gods, thatis, the Idol Gods, might befaid to caufe him to wander : Be- caufe it was by reafon of them, that God would not have him flay any longer in his own Country. But there is no need of thefe Devices: Nothing being moreufual, in the Hebrew Language, than for the Plural Number to be put inftead of the Singular ^ efpecially when they fpeak of God, as Boehart ob ferves in many places, G^.XXXV./. Exod. XXXII. 4. PJalm CXLIX. a. Ecckf. XII. i. See Hierozotc. P. I. L. II, c. 34. Nay, Hacks^an hath rightly obfer- ved, that there are Nouns of the Plural Number in their Termination,which infignificationare Singular 5; with which it is ufual to joyn a Ferbof the Plural Number; becaufeof the Plural Termination of the Noun. A plain Example of which we- have Gen. IV, 6. Why is thy Countenance (in the Hebrew Faces} fain.
The
m
upon GENESIS.
The like he obferves in the Syriack Language, John Chapter I. 4. The life (in the Syriacl^ lifes) was the light of XX^ Men.
Ver. 16. I have given thy Brother a thoufand pieces ofSilver.'] The word pieces is not in the Hebrew. But by CefephSilver, all, in a manner, underftand She kels. For anciently there were no Shekels of Gold or Brafs,but only of Silver. Yet there are thofe who think he did not give him thus much in Money ^ but in the Goods before-mentioned, verfe 14. which were worth a thoufand Shekels. See XXIIL 1 6.
He is nnto thee A covering of the Eyes, Sccf) Thefe words are very varioufly expounded, according as the firft word hu is interpreted .• Which may relate either to the Gift before-mentioned, and be tranflated, thh$ or, to Abraham, and be tranflated, he, as it is by us. If they refer to the former, then the Sence is $ I have given him that Sum of Money to buy thee a Veil, that all who converfe with thee here, or in any other Country \ (where tkon /halt come) may know thee to be a married Woman. For a Veil was worn in Token of Subjedrion to the Power of the Husband 5 and that thereby their Chaftity might be preferved fafe from the Snares of others. As G, Vorftitts obferves upon Pirk? Eliefer^ Cap. XXXII. Or, as others interpret it, Tbit Money willbe a covering to thine Eyes, ("that is, a defence to thy Modefty) it being a tejlimony that Abimelechfaid dear for taking thee into bis Hwfe.
If they refer to Abraham, then the meaining is $ ThoH needefl no other defence of thy Modefty and Chafti ty than he, nor haft any reajon to fay hereafter, he it thy Brother ^ for he is fo dear to God that God will defend him, and he will defend thee, without fnch^Jhiftf AS this thou haftufed : Nay, not only thee-> but all that
V V 4W
330 A COMMENTARY
Chapter are with thee $ and that even agafaftftravgers. I omit XXI. other Interpretations .• ?And refer the Reader to L.
^^v^-* de D/en.
Thus Jhe was reproved^ Or, inftruSed^ (as fome tranflate it) not to diffemble her Condition, Or this was the Reprehenfion he gave her, for faying Abraham was her Brother.
Verfe 17. Ver. 17. So Abraham frayed unto God, &c^ Be- feeched God to reftore them all to their Health, now that his Wife was reftored to him., verfe 14.
Verfe 1 8. Ver. 1 8. For the LORD had faft clofed ///>, &c.] By fuch Swellings (fome underftand it) in the Se cret Parts, that the Men could neither enjoy their Wives } nor the Women who were with Child, be delivered.
CHAP. XXI.
Ver- r- ND the LORDvted S*r^Scc Be*
Verfe i. e- r- A
JL\ ftowed upon her the Bidding he had
promifed her, I e. made her conceive. For fo the word vijptfiffAGes ; either in a bad Sence to inflift Puniftiment, (Exod. XX. sO°r> ina good Sence, to confer Bleffings 5 as here, and Exod. III. 1 6. and ma ny other places.
And he did unto her as he %adfpoken.~] Performed his Promife, by making her bring forth a Child / For fo it is explained in the next Verfe, Sarah conceived and bare Abraham a Son.
Verfe 2. Ver. 2. Sarah conceived, &c^\ God not only made her Wamb fruitful, but brought the Fruit of it to perfe&ion 5 and then brought it into the World.
At
-upon GENESIS. 331
Atthefet f/V/e, of winch God had ffoken to him^ Chapter XVIII. 14. It is not faid, where Ifaac was born; For XXI, we are not told here, whether Abraham departed from t/"VNJ Gcrar into any other part of this Country, as Abime- lech kindly offered and gave him liberty to do, XX. i f . But it appearing by the latter end of this Chapter, that he continued a long time in Abimelech's Country, though not at Gerar ; it is probable Ifaac was born at Beer/heba, Ferfe 31.
Ver. 6. God hath made me t0lat/gh.~] ?. e. To rejoyce Verfe 6* exceedingly.
So that all that hear, will laugh with we 7\ All my Friends and Neighbours, will congratulate my Hap- pineft, and rejoyce* with me.
Ver, 7. Give Children fuck^] It is ufual to put the Verfe •). Plural Number for the Singular, as was obferved be fore XIX. 29. Or, (he hoped perhaps to have more Children after this. And her giving him fuck, was a certain proof, that (he had brought him forth of h^r own Womb 5 and that he was not a fuppofititious Child, as Menochms well obferves. Others note, That the greateft Perfons in thofe ancient Days, fuck- led their own Children : Which Favorinus, a Greek Philofopher, prefled as a Duty upon a Noble Wo man by many ftrong Arguments .• Which are record ed by A. Gellius, who was prefent at his difcourfe, L. XII. Nott. Attic, up. i.
Ver. 8, The Child grew > and was weaned.] At the Verfe 8* Age of Jive Years old, at St. Hierom reports the Opi nion of fome of the Hebrews.
Made a great Feafl the fame day.'} Rather now, than at his Nativity $ becaufe there was greater hope of life, when he was grown fo ftrong, as to betaken from his Mother's Breaft.
Vv a Ver.
A COMMENTARY
Ver. 9. Sarah faw the Son ofHagar, &C. mocl$ng~\ He laugh'd and jear'd, perhaps, at the great bulUe which was made at Ifaxcs weaning r Looking upon Verle 9. himfelfas the Firft-born, and by the right of that, to have the privilege of fulfilling the Promife of the Meffiab. This gives a good account of Sarah's Ear- neftnefs for the Expulfion, not only of him, but of his Mother alfo$ who, it's likely, flattered and bare him up in thofe Pretenfions. Many think he did more than ^^4him,becaufe St. Paul calls it Perfection, Gal. IV. 29. which St. Hierom takes for beating Ifaac : Who, perhaps, refenting his Flouts, might fay fome- thing that provoked Ifivtael to ftrike him. And it ft very probable his Mother encouraged him to this, or maintained him in hislnfolence : Which was the rea- fon Sarah preffed to have them both turned out of doors.
Some think he jetted upon his Name, and made it a matter of Merriment. For fo the word is ufed, XIX.
Verfe 10. Ver. 10. Caft out^ Scc.^ Let them not dwell here any longer $ nor continue a part of thy Family.
Shall not be Heir ^ &c] She judged, by what (he had feen of his fierce and violent Spirit, that it would not be fafe for her Son, to let Ifht/ael have any (hare in his Father's Inheritance: For (he was afraid he would make himfelf Matter of all.
Verfe n. Ver. n. Grievous ^ becanfeofhis Son."] His Wife is "not here mentioned $ becaufe his principal Concern was for her Son .• But it appears, by the next Verfe, he had fome Confederation of her alfo.
Verfe 12. Ver. 12. Godfa&unto Abraham, &C.3 By this he was fatisfied that Sarah's Motion proceeded not merely from her Anger j but, from a Divine Incitation.
For
upon GENESIS. 333
For m Ifaac fhati thy Seed be called^ Here the Blef- Chapter fing promifed to Abrahams Seed, XVII. 7, 8. is limi- XXI. ted to the Pofterity of Ifaac : And the meaning of L/"WI the Phrafe is , they that defcend from Ifaac ^ and not they that defcend from lfamadft&\\ be owned by me forthe Children of Abraham $ particularly the Mefi ftttk (hall be one of his Seed.
Ver. 13. Alfo of the Son of thy hand-maid, &C,]HeVerfe 13. renews the Promifehe made him before, XVII. 20. that Ifontael (hould have a numerous Pofterity •• Be- caufe he wasdefcended from Abraham.
Ver. 14. Rofe up early in the morning.'] Delayed Verfe 14* not to fulfil the Divine Will.
Took Bread and a bottle ofiVater.~] Which includes all fort of Provifion for their prefent necedity .• Till they came to the place unto which, in all probabili ty, he direfted them to bend their Courfe. For it is not reafonable to think, that he fent them to feek their Fortune (as we fpeak) without any care what became of them. It may feem ftrange rather, that he did not fend a Servant to attend them, but let Hagar carry the Provifion her felf.- Which I fuppofe was done to humble. her $ and to (how that her Son, was to have no Portion of Abrahams Inheritance, nor of his Goods ^ of which Servants were apart. Doftor Jaclyon, Bool^l. on the Creed^chap. 25. thinks that A- brahtm would fcarce have fuffered them to go into a Wildernefs^ fo poorly provided, when he had ftore of all things, unlefs he had been direfted by fome fecret Inftinft 5 prefaging the rude and (harking kind of life, unto which his Progeny was ordained, Yet, it is pro bable, he was as kind to him, as he was to the Sons he had by Keturah, and Tent him fome Tokens of his JLove afterwards. See XXV. 6.
Ver.
334 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 15. She caft the Child under one of the Shrubs."] \ XXI. He being faint, and ready to die with Third. A Pre-
IXVNJ fage (faith the great Man before-named) that his
Verfe I5.pofterity fhould be pinched with the like Penury .• Scantinefsof Water fwhich was their beft Drink :) ftreightning their Territories in Arabia^ as S'trtiboob- ferves, L. XVI. And after they had inlarged their Bounds, even in Mefopotatnla it felf, they were ftill confined to the dry and barren Places of it.
Verfe \6. Ver. 16. And /he went and fat her d,own^ Sec.] Her Strength carried her further than he could go/ But her Affeftion ftill kept her within light of the place where he was.
Verfe 17. Ver. 17. And God heard the Yoke of the Lad.'] Who cried, it feems, as well as his Mother.- And it moved the Divine Pity to fend an Angel to their Relief.
Fear not."] Do not think I come to terrific thee .• Or, do not fear the Death of thy Child,
Verfe 18. Ver. 18. Lift up the Lad, &c«3 It feems he was fo faint, that he was not able to ftand without f up- port.
Verfe 19, Ver. 19. Opened her Eyes."} Made her fee what (he did not obferve before ^ by reafon of her Tears, or the great difturbance of her Mind.
Verfe 20. Ver. 20. And God was with the Lad."] Preferved and profpered him : So that he grew to be a Man.
Became an Archer. ~] A skilful Hunter and Warri- our alfo, with Bow and Arrows. Am. Marcellinus^ L. XIV. tells us, that the Saracens^ who were of the Pofterity of IJhmael^ never fet their Hands to the Plough, but got their Living for the moft part, by their Bow. For fuch as they were themfelves,
fuch
ufon G E N E S I S. 935
fuch was their Food, (VjStis univtrfis caro feri- Chapter na, &c.) they all lived upon wild Fle(b, or Venifon, XXI. and fuch wild Fowl as the Wildernefs afforded, with Herbs and Milk. Dr. Jackson obferves that he com pares them to Kites $ ready to fpy a Prey, but fo wild withal that they would not ftay by it, fas Crows or other ravenous Birds do by Carrion j but prefently fled with what they caught into their Nefts.
Ver, 21* He dwelt in the Wildernefs of Paran.~] Verfe^ Which was near to Arabia : In which Country all the Oriental Writers fay thePofterity ofl/fwtael lived. Particularly Patricides, who fays he went into the Land of Jathreb 5 which is that part of Arabia, in' which is the City of Medina.
A Wife out of Egypt."] Out of her own Country, where (he was beft acquainted. The fevi/b Doftors fay he had two Wives, whofe Names they tell us were Aifchab and Phatimah : The firft of which re ceived Abraham churlifhly when he went to vifit his Son 5 and therefore he put her away and took the other, who proved more civil, when he made a fe- cond Journey thither. Which, though it look like a Fable, yet I think it not improbable that Abraham might go to fee how his Son lived, and that Ifomad might fometimes wait upon him, (as the Author of Schalfihali. Hakab. *nd Pirkg Eliefer affirm ) for we cannot think they were fo unnatural, as never to have any correfpondence .• Efpecially fince we read = that Ifomad^ as well as Jfaac^ took care of Abrahams Funeral, XXV, 9. After which, it is not improba ble Bagar might have another Husband .• Which is « the account Aben Ezra (upon Pfalm LXXXIII, 6.) gives of the People called Hagarews^ who are there : mentioned as diftinafrom the Ifhtt/Aelitcs : They
were,,
336 A COMMENTARY
Chapter were, faith he, defcended from Hagar by another XXI. Husband, not by Abraham. L/*W) Ver. 22. Abimelech and Pichol^ See."] It is plain by
Verfe 22. this that Abraham ftill lived, if not in the Country of Gerar, yet very near it.
God is with thee In all that then doft.~] They faw j him fo thriving and profperous, that they were afraid he might grow too ftrong for them ; if he fhould have a mind to difturb them.
Verfe 23. Ver. 23. Swear that thou wilt not deal falfly, Sec.} That as there hath been a long Friendlhip between me and thee, fo thou wilt not violate it j but al way preferveit, even when I am dead .- According to thy frequent Profeffions, and (perhaps) Promifes.
According to thekindnefs^ &C/] Abimelech thought he .might claim this Oath from Abraham } by Virtue of the Obligations he had laid upon him.
* Verfe 24. Ver, 24. Iwllfwear.'] He was as forward to con firm his Promifes, as to make them.
Verfe 25. Ver. 2 5. And Abraham reproved Abimelech.~\ But before he fware, he thought it neceffary to fettle a right Underftanding between them .- And therefore argued with Abitnelech fas it may be rendred) about a WeH of Water digged by Abrahams Servants, which AbimdtcKs had injurioufly taken from him. This was Wifdom to complain of Wrongs now, be fore they entred into a Covenant, that they being redrefled, there might remain no occafion of Quarrels afterward.
'VerTe 26. Ver. 2(5. Abimelech fa?d^ I wot not^ &c] This is the firft time I heard of it. If thou hadft complained before, I would have done thee right.
Ver. xi. And Abraham toe^Sheep, &c.] Some think they were a Prefent he made to Abimdech , in gra titude
upon GENESIS. 337
titude for what he had be (lowed on him,(XX.i4.) or Chapter in token of Friendfhip with him. But others think XXL they were defigned for Sacrifice ^ by which they made C/*V"NJ' a Covenant one with another. At leaft, fome of them ferved for that ufe.
Ver. 28. And he fetfeven Ew-lambs by thetnfelves.~\ Verfe 28. The meaning of this is afterwards explained, verfe 30. That though they were part of the Prefent he made him } yet they fhould be underftood alfo (being fet ;;: apart frbm the reft) to be a purchafe of a quiet poffef- fion of that Well.
Ver. 30.* A wltnefs unto me that I have Jigged this Verfe 30, Wei/.] By this Token it (hall be remembred hereafter, that I digged this Well, and that thou didft grant me quiet poffeffion of it.
Ver. 31. Called the place Beer-jheba^] The H^m? Verfe 31. word Sheba fignifies both an Oath, and z\fofeven. Per-^ haps for both reafons this Place had this Name. We are fure for the^/fr/?, which is here mentioned .• Becaufe they fware to each other.
Ver. 32. Thus they made a Covenant , 8cc.] By giving Verfe 31. and excepting thofe Sheep and Oxen,mentionedz>.27< and perhaps by offering Sacrifices 3 or, at leaft, by eat ing and drinking together : As Ifaac and Abimelech did in after-times, XXVI. 30.
Here fome obferve it was not unlawful, by the Law of Nature, to make Covenants with Infidels and Idolaters, for mutual Defence and Commerce, or fuch like reafons. But I fee no proof that Abimelech was fuch a Perfon. In future Ages the People of Canaan were fo corrupted by this, as well as other Sins, that God commanded them to be exterminated, and made it unlawful to enter into a Covenant with them, Exod. XXXIV. 15. But as the Philiftims were none
Xx of
A COMMENTARY
of them: So it ftill remained lawful to make Leagues vvith other Gentiles, who were not of the fever? Na- tions of Canaan, as we fee by the Examples of David and Solomon, and others.
They returned into -the Land of the PhiljftinesT] Into that part of the Country, where they dwelt : For both Abiwekch and Abraham were now in that Land, as ap pears from the laft Ferfe of this Chapter.
Verfe 33. Ver. 33. Abraham planted a GroveJ] For a folemn and retired place wherein to wor(hipGod. Foi*as6er- vi us fays upon the IX. JfLneid. Nunquam eft^ Litcutfine Religion*. There never was a Grove, in ancient times, without Religion. And therefore here, we may well fuppofe Abraham built an Altar : Which was fenced and bounded with anlnclofure,and (haded with Trees, as Mr. Mede (Dtfcourfe XIX.) obferves their Profeuch's or Places of Prayer to have been in after- times. For that this was intended for a Place of Prayer appears by the following words, and called there on the Name of the Lord, &c.
From hence, fome think, the Cuftom of planting Groves was derived into all the Gentile World : Who fo prophaned them by Images, and Filthinefs^ and Sa~ erifices to D&Mons^ that God commanded them, by the Law of Mofes, to be cut down. But Abraham made ufe of a Grove before this, XII. 6, 8. where we find he built an Altar on a Mountain, which I^fue- ftion not was compafled with Trees. See XIH. 18. therefore I take this only to have been the firft Grove that he planted himfelf.
Called upon the Name of the LO RD, the everlaft- ing God~\ I find that maimomdes in feveral places, of :.his More tfevochim± tranflates the laft words, The LORD ^God of the World, <n the LORD the Al mighty
upon G E N E SI S. 33$
mighty Creator of the World. For this was the great Chapter Article of Faith in thofe Days, That God made the XXII. World, Par. II. cap 30. & Par. III. c. 29. L/"VNa
Ver. 34. Sojourned many day s^ &c."] The word IXyu Verfe 34 often fignifies Te^r/ •• And, it is likely, fignifies fo in this place. For here Ifaac was born, and here he was weaned : And after that Abraham found fo much friendlhip from Abimelech^ and fo many conveniencies of Life, that they invited h$m to ftay a long time in this Country.
CHAP. XXII.
Ver. i. A ND it came to pafs after thefe ftAfg^Vcrie
£\ That which follows, fell out while A- braham dwelt at Beer-fljeba, or near it, verfe 19.
God did tempt Abraham.] Proved or tried his Faith, in a very difficult Inftance. The Hebrews take great notice, that the Name of Elohim ( which they call Nomen Judicn) is here ufed 5 as it is in feveral of the following Verfes.
And f aid unto him^ Abraham^ I fuppofe there was fuch a vifible appearance of the Divine Majefty to him, as he had often feen, XV. i. XVII. i. XVIII. i.
Here lam."] A Phrafe, expreffing readinefs to hear ken, and to give anfwer, ver. 7, 12. Ver. 2. Take now.~] Immediately. Verfe
Thy Son."] A hard thing, had it been IftmaeL Thy only Son Ifaae.~] His only Son by Sarah^ and the Child of the Promife, XXI. 12.
X x 2 Whom
340 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Whom thon bvcft.'] Who was far dearer to him XXIL than any thing in this World } dearer than his own Life : For Men will venture that to preferve their Children. According to an old faying in Eurl-
fjdes: >?<'
p' Children arc to all Manfynd^ their very Life, or
Whence it was that Pacatm Drepaniu* faid in his Panegyrick to Theodojius the Great, Inftitttente Natura ylus ferk fillos quant nofmetipfos djljgjviuf. We are taught by Nature to love our £ons, jn amanner,more than our felves. But the love of God in Abraham was ftronger than either.
Get thee into the Land ofMoriah.~] So it was called afterwards, from God's appearing there (verfe 14) for the Deliverance oflfaac, as many think. Certain it is,that the Temple of Solomon was built upon Mount Morjah, iChron.\[\.i. But this Name belonged not only to that Mountain $ but to all the Mountainous Country thereabouts : Which is here called the Land of Mcriah. Which Aquila tranflates jwrfapawt, confpi' cuous: For it is derived from the word Rash, to fee. And the LXX. tranflate it not araifs, yh£*fyMu$, high Country: Which is very confpicuous. But Mount; Sion, and Acra, and other neighbouring Mountains, being alfo very high, this Name of Moriah belonged to them 5 becaufe they were: \ery confpicuous. In- fomuch that Mount Sion is often ufed in Scripture for Mount Month : For all that Mountainous Country, went by one and the fame Name.
ufon- GENESIS, 341
And offer him there.~] The Hebrews obferve the word Chapter is ariibiguous^and may be translated, mak$ him to go up: XXII. But Abraham underfiood it in the ufual fence, That he L/'V^J (hould kill him, as they did the Hearts for Sacrifices. A very hard injunction $ which fome think God would not have laid upon Abraham, if he had not had a power thus to difpofe oflfaac, inherent in him, as his Father. See Dr. Taylor, Duct. Dubit. L. III. c. 5. Ride 2. n. i.
Upon one of the Mountains."] There were more Hills than one thereabouts, (Pfalm CXXV. i.) as I obferved on the foregoing Ferfe. And it may be further here noted, That, in ancient Times, they chofe Mountains, or high Places, whereon to wor- (hip God and offer Sacrifices, XII. 8. Which God himfelf approved of, till they were prophaned, as the Groves were, (fee XXI. 33.) and then he com manded Abrahams Pofterity, not to worfhip in -high Places, but only in one certain Mountain, where he ordered his Temple to be (eated. Nothing is plainer in the Gentile Writers, than that they chofe Moun~ tains for Places of WorQiip: And herein Celfw the Epicurean compares them with the Jews$- obferving, particularly out of Herodotus, that the Perfans of fered Sacrifices to Jupiter, going up-, l£3n rd J%f*Ao7^7a ?$ upivvi to the top of the higheft Mountains, as his words are in Origen, L. V. contra Celf. It is vv'ell known alfo that thefe Mountains were well (haded with Trees 5 fa that commonly Groves and Moun tains are mention'd together, as Places for Religious WorOiip.
Ver. 3. And Abraham rofe up early in the Morn- Verfe 3. ing, &C.J Some here take notice of the readinefs of bis Obedience, in feveral Inftances. Fir ft ^ That he
rofe
A CO MM E NT A RT
Chapter rofe up early. Secondly, Sadled his Afs himfelf,
XXII. (though the Phrafe doth not certainly import fo
U^VNJ much.) Thirdly, Carried Wood ready cleft along with
: him, for the Offering $ left he (hould find none
, there,
And Ifaac his Son."] It is an Enquiry among the Jews, how old Ifaac was at this time. Some of them fay (even and thirty, whom the Arabic^Chritthn Wri ters follow, Patricides and Elniacinw. Alen Ezra more probably faith he was thirty. But there is no certainty of fuch things. For I find in the Gentara Sanhedrim, .cap. 10. n. 4. it is faid, this fell out a lit tle after he was weaned. See verfe 9.
And went unto the placed] That is, toward the Place : Which he did not fee, till the third Day af ter he fet out.
Verfe 4. Ver. 4. On the third day.'} It was not much above one Days Journey from Beerflwbato Moriah: But an Afsgoesflowlys efpecially being loaded, as this was, with a burden of Wood $ and with Provifions, we muftfuppofe, for their Journey: And Abraham, and his Son, and Servants, went on foot, and could not travel far on a Day, (Ifaac being but youngj for it doth not appear, they had more than one fingle Afs, verfe $.
And faw the place afar off.'} It is moft reafonable to fuppofe, that God had given him fome Token or Sign, whereby he (hould know it. And I cannot but think it highly probable, that the Divine Glory ap peared in the place, where he was to make the Ob lation. Which Conjefture I find confirmed by R. Eliefer, among other of the Jews, who fays, Tha.c when God bad him go to the place, he would tell him of, verfe x. and there offer his Son 3 he akt how
he
upon G E N E S I S, 543
he (hould know it? And the Anfwer was, Wherefo- Chapter ever thoufeeft my Glory ^ there I will ft ay ^ and wait for XXII. thee, Sec. And accordingly now, He beheld a Pillar U^V*VJ of Fire reaching from Heaven to the Earth^ and thereby knew this was the place. See Pirke Eliefer^ c. 31.
Ver. 5. Go yonder and worfhzp."] This confirms the Verfe 5.-, fore-mentioned Conjedhire, That the Divine Qlory appearing upon the Mountain, he went .thither to worfaip God.
And co we again to you."] He either fpeaks of him- felf alone ^ or, believed God would re ftore JfaactQ Life, though he did Hay him.
Ver. 6. And laid it upon Jfaac frfr Son.^ A Figure Verfe 6, of Chrift, who carried his own Crofs, John XIX. 17. according to the Rowan Cuftom. Philo's Refledtion upon Ifaacs carrying the Wood for hisown Sacrifke is, That nothing is more laborious than Piety.
Ver. 7. Behold, the Fire and t he Wood>&c.~] It ap- Verfe 7* pears by this, that he had not hitherto acquainted Iftac with his Intention.
Ver. 8. So they went both of them together."] It feems Verfe 80 they ftaid a while, (as they were going together,^. 6.) till Ifaaff had finifhed this Difcourfe with his Father 3 and then they proceeded.
Ver. 9,. Emit an Afar there.'] Of Turf, fome think -y Verfe 9- or, of fuch Stone as he could gather there.
Aud bound Ifaac his Son."] Both his Hands, and his Feet 5 as it is explained in Pirkt Eliefer, cap. 31. When the Gentiles offered Humane Sacrifices, they tied both their Hands behind their Backs, as appears from Ovid, L. III. d* Pwt.Eleg. 2. and other Au thors. Whether Ifaac was thus bound, it matters , not, but we cannot doubt that Abraham had now acquainted him vniththe Will of God, and perfuaded
hina
344 A COMMENTARY
Chapter him willingly to comply and fubmitunto it : Where* XXII* in he prefigured Chrift the more exa&ly, who laid t/"V"\J down his Life of him/elf? and no Man (without his Confenr) could take it from him, as he fpeaks, 'John X. 17, 1 8. We have reafon to believe this of Ifaac, becaufe he being younger and ftronger, could have made refiftance, had he been fo minded. Jofepbw fays he was twenty five Years old, L.I. Antiq. 14. And Bochartus makes him twenty eight 5 the word Naar, which we tranflate Lad, being ufed for one of that Age ^ nay, Jofeph is called fo when he was thirty years old, Hierozoic. P. I. L. III. c. 9, This is certain, That he was old enough to carry fuch a load of Wood, (Verfe 6.) as was fufficient to make a fire to offer up a Burnt-offering. There are thofe al- fo, who think Ifaac was laid upon the Altar to be of fered, in that very Place where Chrift was crucified, And thus much is true, That though Mount Calvary was without Jerufalem, and therefore different from Mount Moriah, on which the Temple flood 5 yet they were fo near, and it's likely only parts of one and the fame Mountain, that they were ancient ly both comprehended under the Name of Mo- riah.
Verfe IO. Ver. 10. Abraham flr etched forth lw Hand^ &c.] His Obedience proceeded fo far, that it evidently ap peared he was fully refolved to do as he was bid den : For the Knife was juft at Ifaac $ Throat, ready to do the Execution. Infomuch that God made ac count of it, as if it had been aftually done, and ac cepted his Obedience as fafafap(jk ^ -TTai/kAJte, as in- tirely perfefl, and abfolutely coMpleated, as Philo fpeaks. And yet there have been thofe, who difparage this Obedience, by endeavouring to make the World be lieve,
upon GENESIS. 345
lieve, that the Sacrificing of Children was in ufe be- Chapter fore Abrahams time. And the very firft thing that XXII. hath been alledged, as a proof of it, is the very Ob- jeftion in Philo, made by cavilling Calumniators fas he calls thenO whofaid, Why fhould fuch Praife be beftowed on Abraham, w<; ty%&fY\r!ju) 'x&tcuvufiyHfMims *&&$£&*>•> M tf he had attempted a thing altogether newy which private Men, and Kings, and whole Nations do upon occafion? The learned Reader cannot but know that one of our own Countrymen, (Sir jF. Mar/fiaw in Canon. Chronic. § V.) hath fet this in the front of all his Arguments, to prove that Abraham was not the firft who facrificed his Son : Without acquainting the Reader with Philo's Anfwer to this, which quite overthrows all his Pretenfions. For he fays (Lib. de Abraham, p. 375, 376. Edit. Parif.) That fome Bar barians have done this, following the Cuftom of their Country, or being in great diftrefs, &c. But no thing of this Nature could move Abraham to it, for the Cuftom of Sacrificing Children was neither in Babylon^ nor Mefopotamia, nor Chald<ea^ where he had lived a long time : No, nor (as it follows a little after) in that Country where he then lived $ But
, he was to be the Beginner ofaper- feffly new and unufnal Example. What plainer Con futation can there be of what the fore- named Au thor pretends, than this: Which he moft difingenu- oufly concealed ? Nor is there more ftrengthin what follows in him, out ofSanchnniathon^ who fays that Saturn offered his only Son. For by Saturn it is evi dent he meant Abraham^ as appears by the Name of that Son, whom fuch like Authors call JEUD$ which is plainly the very fame with J E HI A as
Y y
Af COMM ENT'JKT
Chapter (fa^ '1S called in the Second Verfe of this Chaffer. I XXIL omit the relt, which is of the like ftarflp. w~>^-^ Ver. ii. And the Angel of the LO RD ctUcd to Vcrfe ii.hiot, Sec] That is, the LORD himfelf, by his An gel. See upon XVIII. 10. To which I (hall here add, That, whether it be faid in thefe Holy Books, the LORD faid any thing, or an Angel fpake, we are always to underftand both to have been prefent:. For the Angels ever attend upon the Divine Maje- fly 5 and being minifters of his, do nothing but by his Order. Therefore when he is faid tofpeak, it is by them 3 and when they are faid to fpeak, it is from him. It is the LORD therefore that fpeaks, who- foever be the Minifter. Of which St. A^-jlin gives a demonftration from this very place, L. III. de Trini- Me, Cap. XI. In the beginning of this Chaffer, verfe i, 2. 4 We read that God tempted Abraham^ and bad c him go and offer to him his Son .• But here the Angel
* of the LORD called to him and bad him not to do c it. What is the meaning of this ? Will they ( whofe
* Opinion he there oppofes) fay that God commanded c Ifaac to be flain, and that his Angel forbad it : And
* that Abraham obeyed the Angel who bad him fpare c his Son, againft the Command of God, who bad
* him flay him? This Sence is ridiculous and not to be
* endured. The plain meaning is, lhat God fpake $ both times ^ in the oneGafe and in the other : But
* by an Angel who was his Minifter. That's the rea-
* fon Angels fometimes fpeat as if they were the
5 LORD, becaufe they fpeak in his Name: Juft as
6 when a Publick Crier pronounces the Sentence of
* a Judge, NonfirjbJtur in geftis, ille pr<eco dixit, fed iUe JudeX) it is not written in the Records, That
Crier, but the Judge pronounced that Sentence.
And
upon GENES I & 347
And thus R.Jehudah underftood this Paflage,whofe Chapter glofs is this (inPzrfyEliefer,cap.$iJ) He, i.e. the XXH» Lord, made his f^oice to be heard from between the two Cherubim*, and J 'aid , Lay not thy hand upon the Lad. I do not know whether it be worth obferving, That Cod is not called in all this Story (as the Jews note) by the Mime of Jehovah, till now: Which being, fay they, Nomen vtifericprdfa] is moft agreeable to this part of the Story, as Elohim was to the former part, verfe i.
Abraham, Abraham."] He ingeminates his Name, that he might make him attend to what he faid, and put a (top to his proceedings.
Ver. 12. Now I kpow thou fearefl God, Sec.] Thou Verfe haft given fufficient proof of the regard thou haft to God and his Commands. It is apparent from what thou haft done 5 and thou needed do no more to evidence it, And fo Hakspan tranflates the word know in this place, now I have proved, or approved, as Pfalm \.ult.Matth.V\\. 23. Which Proofs do not argue Ignorance, no more than gueftions do, Gen. III. 9. John VI. 5, 6.
No Body (that I know of) hath better explained this whole Matter than Mofes Matmontdes, whofe words are thefe, ( More Nevochim, P. III. c. 24.) This Story of Abraham makes good two great Foun dations of the Law. c One is, to (how us how far c the Fear and Love of God extends it felf. For here c was 3 Command to do that, with which the lofs of 1 Monev, or of Life it felf is not to be compared 3 ' nay, that from which Nature abhorred, viz. That a ' Man very Rich and in great Authority, who earneft- *1y defired an Heir, which was born to him, when ''he had no hope of one, in his old Age 5 fhould fo
Y y 3 over-
^ COMMENTARY
Chapter c overcome his natural Affection to him, (which XXII. c could not but be exceeding great) as to forego all c the Expectations he had from him, and Confent, af- c ter a Journey of three Days, to flay this Son with 6 his own Hands. This is the greateft thing that ever
* was performed. For, if he had done it, in that mo-
* ment when he was commanded, it might have been* c thought a fudden, precipitant, and inconfiderate
* Aft : But to do it, fo many days after he received fc the Command, upon mature deliberation, is the
* higheft Proof of his Obedience 5 and that this Aft *• proceeded from nothing but from the Fear and Love 4 of God. For he did not make hafte to flay his 4 Son, out of any fright he was in, left God (hould c have flain him, or taken away his Eftate, if he had c difobeyed .: But took time to confider of it, that he 'might (how to all Men what one ought to do for c the Love and Fear of God, and not for fear of
* Puniftiment, or hope of worldly Reward: For the V Angel faith, Now I know thou fzarejl GocL
' The Second thing we are taught by this Hiftory is,
* That the Prophets were fully ajfitred of the Truth of c thofe things, which God fpake to them, either in
* Dreams, or in Vifions, or any other way : Which
* they believed as ftrongly, as things of Senfe. For 4 if Abraham had in the lead doubted, whether this 1 were the Will of God or no, which he received ei- 4 ther in a Vifion, or a Drea^ he would never have 4 confented to a thing, which Nature abhorred.
This very Story is told by Alexandria Polyhiftor> as Eufebiy* -.relates out of him, L.l
15?. Ver. 1-3* Abraham lift up hi? EptJ] From looking upon Ifact or upon the. Angel,
Ant*
upon GENESIS.
And lookeJ."] He heard, we may fuppofe, a buftfing Chapter Noife, which the Ram made, when it was caught in XXII. the Thicket: Which made him look that way, from whence the Noife came.
And behold , behind him a Ramy 8cc/] Bochart gives many Reafons to prove that the moft ancient read ing, and much better was, Behold^ one Ram : Achar* which we tranflate behind^ being put for Achad, one or a fingular Ram, P. L Hierozo/c. L> II. £.49. But it is not material which way we take it: Nor need we enquire how the Ram came there. Nothing is more common than for Sheep to go aftray 3 and by God's Providence this Ram was caught in a. Thicket mot far from Abralwm: Whereby he made good what Abraham had told his Son,, God will provide a Lamb for a Burnt-Offering. In which this Ram was & notable Type of Chrift, who was a Sacrifice provided by God, not by Man 5 as this Ram was brought by Divine Providence to be offered, not by Abva- ham.
And Abraham tookjhe Ram, and offered turnup for &• burnt- offer ing) inftead of his Son."] Saying, as R.S.. reprefents it, Lord, accept this Sacrifice, as if m^ Son himfelf were flain^ and his Blood (bed, and hi$.s Skin flea'd offi^ and he -were burnt and reduced to Afhes.
And the Ram being accepted inftead of his Son5 may be thought to fignifie that the offering of the Ue/ed Seed, God's only Son, fhould be fufpended tili? future times* and that in the mean feafon the ofFerr ing the Blood of Beads fhould ferve as a Pledge fta ufe the words of Mr. Medt) of that Expiation which the ikjjed Setd: tf Abraham fhould one day make,. e XXV.. where he obferves, that the more
lively
^ COMMENT A KY
Chapter lively to exprefs this, God fo difpofed,That the very XXIL Place where the Ram was offered inftead of Ifaac,
w^v^-> fhould be the Place of Sacrifice for Ifrael. For there it was, where the LORD anfwered David by Fire from Heaven (t Chron. XXL 26.) and fo defigned it for the Place he had chofen for his Altar: There David pitched him a Tabernacle, i Chron. XXIL i. and there Solomon built him an Houfe, 2 Chron. . HI. i.
Verfe 14. Ver. \^ Jehovah-jireh.~] The LORD will fee or provide: That is, take care of their Safety who fted- faftly obey him.
As it is faid to this day7\ Which is thus called to this day. Or, as others interpret ic, now it is a pro verbial Speech when Men are in great (traits, in the Mount of the LORD it [hall he feen : Where a dou ble variation is obferved, from what was faid be fore : For here is Jehovah inftead of Elohim, (verfe i%.) and then Jeraeb, inftead of }/reh, i. e. the Pajfive inftead of the Active : Signifying, that the LORD will not only fee or provide, but make himfelf con- fpicuous, by fo providing, that all (hall behold the Care he takes of thofe that fear him. '1,5. Ver. 1-5. And the Angel of the LORD called, &c.] This confirms what was noted on verfeii. that it was God himfelf, who called to Abraham to ftay his Hand, and now fays, By my felf have I fworn, faith the LO R D, Sec. What can be clearer, as Hack/fA glofles, (Difput. II. de Nominibw Divinis, n. 16.) than that we are to turn away our Eyes from the Angel, and fix them upon God v who blefled Abra- har/t, and is called the LORD., for whofe fake (verfe -12.) Abraham fpared not his only Son. In all like :Cafes therefore, which exceed the Angelical Digni-
upon G E N E S I S 351-
ty, we are always to underftand, fame fuch.wftnls as Chapter thefe, here mentioned, Nenmjthovah, thus faith the XXII. LOBiD. ^s^*
Ver. 1 6. By My felf hive I feorn, kc.] ! obferved Verfe 16* upon XII, 7. and XVII 6. Thu God inlarged his Mercies to Abraham, proportionable to his Obedience. Which is apparent in this great and la ft Tryal of all, the offering his Son .• Which was rewarded by the Ratification of God's former Prdnflife or Covenant, by a-moft folernn Oath: By my filfhave I fa or x^ I will multiply thy Seed, fkc. This was promifed before, but not confirmed by an Oath : And befides the ve ry Promife is now more Affectionate, fif I may fo ftileit) in bleffing I will kiefs thee, and in multiplying I will multiply tkee, 8cc. In the latter end alfo of the Bkfling, there feems to be couched the higheft of all Bleffings, That God would make Jm own only Son fuch a Sacrifice as Abraham tea* read) to have made hit So& Ifiac: That all the Nations of the World fverfe l8J might he klejfid in him, i. e. all that would follow the Faith of Abraham, So Abarbind himfelf interprets upon XII. 3.
^ Ver. 17. Poffefs the Gste, thai b, the Cities of IM Verfe 17. Entmhs7\ And confequfenfl}" their Country. For the Gates being taken, thereby they entred into their Cities: And their Cities being furrendred, the Coun try was conquered.
Ver. 1 8. /;; thy Seed fiall all the Nttrons of the Earth Verfe 1 8, k* b!ejfid.~] God promrfed to make Abrahams Seed as numerous as the Stars of Heaven, XV. 5. which Promife he affures him here (hall be fulfilled in Ifaac, vtrfe 17. But moreover direfts him to expeft after
the multiplying of his Pofterity, One particular who (hould bring a Blefiing to all Mankind,
This
352 A COMMENTARY
Chapter This Singularity St. Paul obferves and prefles very
XXII. much, Gal.lll. 16. applying it to the Mejjiah. And
U*WJ it is further obfervable, that there is an increafe of
Sence in thefe words, as there isin the former. For
he doth not fimply fay, HD:u, they foallbebleffed, but
1D*nnn, (hall blefs themfelves, or count themfelves blef-
fed m him : To (how, as Jacobus Altingiw thinks, that
this Perfon fhould not ftand in need of any Blef-
fing himfelf, as the reft of Abrahams Seed did 5 But
be the Author of all Bleffings unto others, who
(hould derive them from him alone, L. II. Schilo.
c. 2.
Becaufe thou haft obeyed, &c] As a Reward fthe word in the Hebrew fignifies) for obeying my Voice. Verfe 19. Ver. 19. Went together to Beer-fieba.'] Whefirhe
had for fome time fetled his abode, XXL 33. Verfe 20. Ver. 20. Milcah hath bar n Children ^ &c/] The fol lowing Genealogy is fetdown to (how, whence Re- bekah the Wife of Ifaac was defcended. For (he alone of all Bethuefs Daughters (which is probable were many) is mentioned, verfe 23.
Verfe ii. Ver. 21. Huz, his firft- born. ~\ There were twoo- ther of this Name. One the Son of Aram, X. 23, another of the Pofterity of Efau, XXXVI. ^S. But this Vz, here mentioned, is he from whom Job de fcended : Whofe Country was called Aufitk, (fo the LXX. tranflatelte, Job 1. 1.) and his Pofterity cal led Attjita by Ptolemy 5 who were a People of Ara bia Deferta, near Chald<ea^ not far from Euphrates.
Buz.'] From whom came Elihu the Buzite, Job XXXII. 2. a People in fome part of the fame Country, or near it.
Aram.1}
upon GENESIS. 353
Who inhabited, perhaps, fome part ofChapter Syria : Which had the Name of Aram from another, XXIII. mentioned X. 23. tVVNJ
Ver.22. Chefed.'] He was the Father of the CfoA Verfe 22- d<eans^ w ho are called Chafdim in Scripture from this Chefed or Chafad, as fome read it. Where the reft that followed fettled, or whether they had any Pofte- rity, or no, I cannot find. It's likely they never grew to make a Nation or a Family , and fo left no Name behind them.
Ver.24. And his Concubine."] This was not .an ill Verfe Name in thefe ancient Times .• But fignifies a Wife, who was not the Miftrefs of the Family $ but only taken for theincreafe of it, by Procreation of Chil dren. Such Wives were generally Servants 5 where as the prime Wife was a Free Woman $ or made fo by being married to govern the Family, and bring Children to inherit theEftate.
C H A P. XXIII.
Ver. i. \NDSarahwajatt hundred andfeven and Verfe i.
JL\ twenty ,&c.~] The whole ^er/emay be thus tranflated, And the years of the life of Sarah, were fin the wholej an hundred twenty and feven years: It being ufual with the Hebrews to repeat a word (as Life is herej when they would fignifie any thing to be compleat. And Sarah is the only Woman whofe intire Age is fet down in Scripture.
Ver. 2. Kirjath arba."] i. e. The City of Arba, who Verfe 2. was a famous Man among the Anakints^ fas we read,
354 <* COMMENTARY
Chapter Jofi. XIV. »&.) and either built this City, or made it XXIII. the place of his Refidence $ from whence he took his
wV*-' Name.
It doth not appear when Abraham left Beer-fieba, and removed to this place.
The fame h Hebron.~] A very ancient City, as ap pears from Numb. XIII. 22. When it is aflumed this Name, infteadof Kirjath-Arba, is not certain .- But fome conjedure it might be after Abraham purchafed a Burial-place in- this Country. See XIII. 18.
Abraham earned] Some fanfie he was in fome other part of the Country, when his Wife died. And fe- veral of the Jews have a Conceit, that he came from Mount Moriah, (which is confuted by what we read XXII. 19.) where Sarah hearing he was gone to fa- crifice her Son, died with Grief. But Maimonides fpeaks better fence, when he hy$, Abraham came from his own Tent, which was feparate ("as I noted before, XVIII. 9.) from his Wife's : As appears further from XXIV. 67.
To mourn for Sarah, and it weep for her.1] The firft relates to private Sorrow .-• The other to the publick, efpecially at the Funeral Solemnities ; when they made great Lamentation* After Abraham had performed the former, he made preparations for the latter : But what the Rites of Mourning were in thofe days, we do not know. It's likely they (hut themfelves up from Company, negle&ed the Care of their Bodies, ab- ftained from their ordinary Food .• Which, with ma* ay others, were the Cuftom'sof Abrahams Pofterity , who made it a part of their Religion, to mourn for the dead.
Terfe 2* Ver. 3. And Abraham flood up from before his dead*^ By this itfeems to be apparent, that in Abrahams
time
upon GENESIS. 3515
time they fat upon the Ground while they mourned, Chapter as it is certain they did in future Ages. In which Po- XXIII. fture they continued till they had fatisfied natural Af- CXV^Vi fe&ion, and the decent Cuftpm of the Age and Coun try where they lived. Then they rofe wpte Abraham here did, to take care of the Interment of his Wife. Seven Days, in after Ages, werethe commontime of Mourning: And for illuftrious Perfons, they mourn ed thirty Days.
Spake unto the Sons of HethI} In whofe Country he now lived .• Concerning whom fee X. 15. By the Sons are meant the principal Perfons of that Na tion.
Ver. 4. I am a Stranger and a Sojotirner 8>//Ajw.] Verfe 4. Though I am not a Native of your Country 5 yet I have lived long enough among you, to be known to you.
Give we po/ejjlon of a burying place, &C.] I do not defire any large Pofleffions among you, being but a Sojourner, let me only have a place, which I may call my own, wherein to bury thofe of my Family, which dye.
Ver. 5. And the Children COT SonsJ of Heth an- Verfe $> fwered, Scc.^ By one of their Body, whofpake in the Name of the reft .• As appears by thefirft words of the next Perfe. Hear UF, my Lord ; In which form they were wont to addrefs themfelves to great Men, ver. ii, ij, 15, 16.
Ver. 6. Thou art a might jf Prince^] We haye a great Verfe t$ Honour for thee.
In the choice of our Sepulchres , 5cc.3 Make choice ©f any one Sepulchre } and no Body will deny to let thee have it. Every Family (at lead great onesj had their proper place for Burial : Which, I fuppofe,
Z i 2 were
^ COMMENTAKT
Chapter were fometime fo large, that they might fpare others XXIII. a part of them $ or, of the Ground wherein they
*x"v~^ were made.
Verfe 7. Ver. 7. Abraham flood up."] It feems they had de* fired him to fit down among them, while they trea ted this bufinefs : Which when they had granted, he ftood up to thank them.
And bomd himfelf] The Hebrew word fignifies the bowing of the Body ; Ancjl there are other words in that Language proper to the bowing of the Head^ or of the Knee.
Verfe 8. Ver.8. Intreatfor me toEphron, Sec.] He defires them to mediate between him and this Man (who per haps was not then prefentin the Affembly) for a Pur- chafe of a convenient Place in his Ground.
Verfe 9. Ver. 9. Cave of Machpelah.'] We take this word Macbpelah fora proper Name, as many others do : But the Talmudifts generally think it to have been ff dune am duplicem, (as the Vulgar Latin alfo, with the LXX. understand it) a double Cave. Yet they cannot agree in what fenfe it was fo $ whether they went through one Cave into another 5 or, there was one above another. For that by zCave is meant, a Vault r arched over with Stones, or Wood, wh'ich the An cients called Crypta, no Body doubts. Salmajius hath defcribed them in his PlimExercit. p. 1208. where he fays this Gave is faid to have been double, in the fame fence that the Greeks called theirs tm'XhqcL df*- pj§$tyut, becaufe they had a double Entrance,fo that one might go into them at both Ends, as Hefychius expounds it. Which (hows, as he adds, it was a large place, and would contain many Bodies. And of this; he is fo confident as to fay, Non quarenda eft aliadu- flich ffeluttcti interpret atio. No other Interpretation
of
upon GENESIS, 357
of this double Sepulchre ought to be fought after. Chapter But learned Men will not hearken to fuch Dictates } XXIII. and particularly Theodorick^H^cb^fan maintains Mach- L/*V"\J pelah to be a proper Name (as we take it) by thefe two Reafons. kirft, Becaufe the Field it felf where in this Cave was, is called the Field of MachpeUh^ verfe 19. Which doth not fignifie fure that there was a double Gate to this Field, but that it was in that Trad of Ground, called Machpelah. And, Se condly ^ This Field in Machpelah, is faid to be before Mamre, verfe 17. Which plainly denotes it to be a place fo called, Mifcell. Lib. I. cap. 10. For which laft Reafon, GniL Vorfljus alfo takes it to have been the Name of a Country, or Province, in which this Field and Cave lay, Animadv. in Pirke Eliefcr^ p. 179.
Whisk is in the end of his Field."] Burying places were not anciently in the Cities, much lefs in their Temples v but in the Fields, in Caves, or Vaults made to hold a good number of Bodies. And fo they continued it's mamfeft in our Saviour's Time among the Jews $ as appears by Lazarus his Monu ment, John XL 30, 31. and by the Burying places for Strangers, Mttth. 27. 7. and their carrying the Widows Son out of the City, Luke VII. 12, 8cc,
This feems to have been in the corner of the Field before- mentioned^ which perhaps was near the High way : For there they fometimes affetbed to bury their dead, as appears from Gen. XXXV. 8, 1 9. Jojb. XXIV. 30.
Ver. 10. And Ephron dwelt."} The^ Hebrew word Verfe io> for dwelt fignifies literally fat. Which hath made fome think that Ephron was a great Man (a Ruler, or Governor) among the Children of Heth : Who
(at
A COMMENTARY
Chapter fat as a Prince or Judge in this Affembly. And that XXilL this was the reafon why Abraham (ferfeS.) addref- fed himfelf to others of the fame Rank, that they would make way for him into his Favour.
In the audience of the Children ofHeth^ Scc,^ It is judicioufly obferved by Cornel.Bertram, that all weigh ty Matters in thofe days were determined by the King, C if they had any) or the Elders, with the Confent of the People, <sfe Repub. Judaic, cap. 3. Marriages were a Matter of Publick Right, XXIX. 12. as Sepulchres were it appears by this place .• Both of them being held to belong to Religion.
e II. Ver. 1 1 . In the prefence of the Sons of my People^ Sec.] Contrads, or Grants, were wont to be made before all the People, or their Reprefentatives, till Writings were invented.
Verfe 12. Ver. 12. Abraham bowed, &c/] Becaufe by their Interceffion this Favour was granted him.
Verfe 13. Ver. 13. J&i&givethee Money for the Field.~\ This was the fureft Title, he thought, by Purchafe. And it was btlt reafonable he fhould buy it, if he would have any Land in Canaan } for the time of poflef- fing it, according to God's Promife, was not yet come.
Verfe 15. Ver. 15. The Land is worth four hundred Shekels?] This is the firft time we meet with the Name of She- kel. - Mention was made of Money before in general, XVII. 12,13. and of pieces of Silver. XX. 16. (which (hows the ufe of Money was found out in thofe ear ly days, and they did not Trade merely by the Ex change of one Commodity for anotherj but we have no Name for the Money till now „• And cannot exaftly tell of what value a Shekel of Silver was. But Jofyhns, L III. Antiq. c. 10. faith
Hfon G E N E S F S. 359
™>sz-&-*>-> it was as much as four Attkk Chapter Drachms $ that is, half an Ounce.* Which in our XXIIT. Money wants not much of half a Crown.
What is that between me and thee .<?] Some will have this to fignifie, as much as, This is not worth fpeaking of between Friends ^ and therefore I had rather thoH wouldft accept it as a gift. But it is more rea- fonable to think, that he only pretended to ufe him kindly, and not to exaft upon his Necefiity. It be ing as much as to fay, This is no great Price^ but A friendly Bargain : Pay it therefore^ and bury thy dead.
Ver. 1 6. Abraham weighed to Ephron^ &c.~] TheyVerfe did notfe#Money as we do now, but weigh it ; for it was not ftampt anciently, as Ar'jftotie obferves .• But in the beginning of the World was received, fj&- yifaty ?c&ju,q), by its bulk and its weight. Which being very troublefome, they learnt in time to feta Mark upon it, to free them from that inconveni- tnce. PO y5 ^ag^^p IT?^ T§ trie* MJUL&QV, for that Mark was fet upon it to denote its Quantity, /. e. how much it is worth. For having the Publick Stamp^ that made it current, at a known value. Which muft not be underftood of Foreign Money, which was ftill weighed, though ftampt.- But oftliatof their own Country, which they were affured was worth fo much as the Mark expreffed. Yet it is con tinued to be weighed among the Jews in David's time, i Chron. XXI. 25. nay, till the Captivity of Ba bylon, Jerem. XXXII. 9. And indeed the very word iSie^e/comes from Shakgl to weigh. And may be in- terpretred as Wafer -us obferves, the weight.
From all which Flerw. Conringius well concludes there is no Truth in what the Jews fay, in Berefchith
360 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Rabb<t, and other Booksv that Jofhua, David, and XXIIF. MorJecai) nay Abraham') coined Money in their days.
U^V%J To fupport which Fi&ion they have counterfeited fome Coins, with thelnfcription of Senex & Anus. on one fide, and Juvemts & Virgo on the other. As -iflfaac and Rebekph were now married ; Or Abraham had power to coin Money in a Country where he did but fojourn and was no Soveraign.
Verfe 17. Ver. 17. Which were before MamreJ] Over againft Mamre. See XIII. 18.
Were made fur e.~\ By a folemn Contrad, in a Pub- lick Aflembly, (verfe 1 1.) where the Money was ten ded and accepted ^ and all there prefent defired to be Witnefs to it.
Verfe 18. Ver. 18. In the Defence of the Children of Heth.~] See Verfe II.
Verfe 19. Ver. 19. And after this Abraham buried Sarah, &c.] It is not likely that Ephron had ever buried any of his Family here, but had only begun to make a Vault in this Field which Abraham bought of him, with all the Trees therein, (verfe \j.) or, if it were finilhed, he fold it before he had made ufe of it. For we can not think Abraham would lay his Wife's Body among thofe of the Hittites : But in a vacant place where he intended to be interred himfelf : As his Family after him alto were, XLIX. 50, 31.
Verfe 20- Ver. 20. Was made fure^\ He repeats this, which had been faid verfe 1 7. becaufe now the Purchafe was more confirmed, by the laying Sarah's Body in this place : It being a kind of taking aftual poffeffion of it.
CHAP.
|
upon |
G |
E |
N |
E |
S |
I |
S. |
36.1 Chapter ,., . xxiv, |
CHAP. XXIV.
Ver. i. A ND Abraham was old.'] Some of the #o Verfe i.
ji\ brews^ and Chriftian Writers alfo, refer this to his Wifdom $ as the next words [rvellftrjcken in Tears'] unto his Age : No Body being called Zak$* (though far more aged) in the Holy Scripture till now : And therefore they tranflate it Elder $ which is the Name of a wife Man. See Selden, L. I. dv Sy- nedr. cap. 14. f. $56, &c. Certain it is that Abraham was now an hundred and forty Years old : For he was an hundred when Ifaacwas born, XXI. 5. and Ifaac was forty when he married Rebel^h^ XXV. 20.
Ver. 2. And Abraham faid unto his eldejt Servant Verfe -l. of his Houfe.'] Or, rather, as the LXX. tranflate it, fie faid to his Servant ^ the Elder of his Houfe : That is, the Steward, or Governor of his Family, as the Hieruf. Targum tranllates it. See Mr. Selden, L.I. de Synedr. cap. 14. p. 55*0. And Dr. Hammond upon A8. XI. not. b. All take this Servant to have been Elfezer, men tioned XV, i.
Put thy Hand under my Thigh.~] Some will have this Phrafe to import no more than, Lift me ;//?, that I may ft and, and call God to rvitnefs. But Abraham^ no queftion, was nowfo vigorous, as to be able to rife of himfelf : Having many Children after this, O- thers therefore follow the Opinion of the Jewifi Doftors, which is this, in fliort ^ Before the giving of the Law, the ancient Fathers ftvore by the Covenant of Circumci/ion. They are the words of R. Eliefer in his Pf'r^e, cap. 49. And it is not improbable that this
A a a man-
362 A COMMENTARY
Chapter manner of Swearing, by putting the Hand under that XXI V. part which was the fubjeft of Circumcifion, had re- C/WJ fpeft to the Covenant God made with that Family, and their right to accomplifh the Promife of the Mef- fiah. But this was not a Cuftom peculiar to Abraham's Family, for we find it among other Eaflern People: And therefore, it is likely, more ancient than Gircum- cifion. For which Caufe, Aben Ezra himfelf, thinks, putting the Hand under the Thigh, was a Token of Subje&ion and Homage, done by a Servant to his Lord/ He fitting, and the Servant putting his Hand under him. Grotiut imagines, that the Sword hang ing upon the Thigh, (PfafaXLV. .%*} this was as much as to fay, If I faljifie^ k^U me. Which is very witty ^ but the ether feems plainer $ fignifying as much as, / am under thy power ^ and ready to do what thoH commandeft,
Verfe 3. Ver. 3. Swear by the L07MV] It was not law* ful tofwear by any Creature 5 but only by him that made them all. For they took the greateft Care to declare, that they worftiipped him alone.
That thou wilt not take a Wife unto thy Son^} It feems he intended to leave the Guardianfhipof his Son to him, fifhefhould die, before he had difpofed of him) as unto a wife and faithful Servant, who had managed his Affairs abovejjy/y Years 3 and we do not know how much longer.
Of the Daughters of the Canaanites.] For though there were fome good People among them, as ap pears by Melchfaedec^ and Abimelech 5 yet he faw them degenerating apace into all manner of Wickednefs$ efpecially into Idolatry : Which would bring them, he knew, to utter Defolation, when they had filled ; up the meafure of their Iniquity, XV, i£
Ver,
upon G E N E S I S. 363
Ver. 4. But go into nty Country^ /. e. Into Mefopo- Chapter a^ where he lived for fome time inHaran^ after XXIV. became from Vr: Which was alfo in that Country, L^Wf as I obferved upon XI. 3 1 , It feems alfo his Brother Verfe 4. had removed hither : Following his Father Terah's and Abrahams Example. See XI. 31.
And my lyndred^] The Family of his Brother Na- hor^ which he heard lately was increafed, (XXII. 20.) who, though they had fome Superftition among them, retained the Worfhipof the True God ^ as ap pears from this very Chapter, verfe 31, 50.
And tab? a Wife unto my Son Ifaacf] Which, no doubt, was by Ifaacs Content, as well as his Father's Command.
Ver. 5. Muft I needs bring thy Son again into the Verfe 5* Land from whence thou cameft?"] He de fires (like a confcientious Man) to underftand the full Obligation of his Oath, before he took it. And his doubt was, whether, if a Woman would not come with him in to Canaan^ he fhould be bound to go again, a fecond time, and carry Ifaac to her.
Ver. 6. Beware, that thou bring not my Son thither Verfe 6. < again. ~\ He would by no means his Son fhould go to that Country, which God commanded him to for- fake : That Command obliging not only himfelf, but his Pofterity. See Verfe 8.
Ver. 7. The LORD God of Heaven, 8cc/] He who Verfe 7. rules all things above, as well as below, who brought me from my own into this Country, and hath promi- fed, and confirmed that Promife with an Oath, that my Pofterity (hall inherit it, will profper thy Journey, and difpofe fome of my Kindred to come hither, and ;be marrred to my Son.
A a a 2 Send
g<$4 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Send fa Angel before thee."] Good Men were ever
XXIV. very fenfible of God's Providence, governing all
L/^VNJ things, and profpering their Proceedings, by the Mi-
niftry of Angels : Which Abrahams Servant takes
particular notice of, verfc 40.
Verfe 8. Ver. 8. And if the Woman will not be willing 1ofol- hwthee^ &c] If it fall out otherways than I hope, thou haft done thy Duty : If thou bring not my Son into that Country again. He fpeaks (both here and verfe 6.) as if Ifaac had once been there: Becaufe Abraham himfelf came from thence, and this Servant alfo, andagreat many of his Family, ("XII. 5.) who if IJaac went to fettle there, mud have, gone with him, as part of his Subftance.
Verfe IQ. Ver. 10. And.the Servant took^ ten Camels f<c^] Ca mels were of great ufe in thofe Countries, as they are at this day : Some of them being made for carriage of Burdens y and others for fwift travelling $ which latter fort were called by a peculiar Name, A^ta^s, Dromedaries^ &$ Salmajiw obfervesin hisPlznzan. Ex- ercit.p. 987. Thefe perhaps were of that kind, for the greater expedition: Like thofe ^ we read .of I Sam. XXX. 17.
For all the Goods of his Majter were in his Hands."] He might chufe what Accommodations he pleafed for his Journey $ having every thing belonging to his Mafter at his Command .• Who being a great Perfon, it was fit his principal Servant (hould be well attend ed, fas it appears he was, verfe^i.) efpecially when he went upon fuch an Errand, as to court a Wife for hisMafterYSon. Moft refer this to, the Prefents he carried along with him : And R. Solomon will have if that he carried a Writing with him under his Ma- Hand, fan Inventory ^ we call it} fpecifying all
his
upon G E N E SIS.
his Goods and Hiches, that they might know what a Chapter great Match his Son was. XXIV,
City tfNakor.'] Which was Haran> from whence L/*V%J Abraham came, XI. 31. and to which Jacob went to find his Kindred, XXVIII. 10. How far it was thi ther we are not told, nor how long they were go ing to it: And Mofes omits alfo whatfoever pafled in the way, as not pertinent to his Story.
Ver. ii. Camels kneel down^\ The Po (hi re wherein Verfe II they reft themfelves.
Ver. 12. 0 LORD God of my Matter Abra-V&k I 2, ham, 8tcf] He had obferved the Kindnefs of God to b^ve been fo great to Abraham, and Abraham to have fuch a peculiar Intereft in his Favour 5 that in con fidence he would make good Abrahams words, (verfe 7, & 40.) he not only begs he might have good Succefs in his Journey, but defires a fign of it, to confirm his Faith ; and fuch a fign as was mofc appofire to denote the Perfon that would make a good Wife$ by her Couftefie, Humility, Condelcen- fion, Hofpitality, prompt and laborious Charity : All which are included in what./je defires, and./Je did,
Ver. 14. Thereby fliall 1 know thai thox haft {hewed Verfe 14;, k}ndnefs to my MafterJ] He had no Confidence that God would do any thing for his own fake, but for his Matter's 3 whom God had mod wonderfully blefTed.
Ver. 15. And it came to pafs before he had • done Vetfe 15*- fpe^kixgi&t^] This (hows it was by a Divine Sug- geftion, that he made this Prayer ^ which was an- fwer^d immediately. Such is the Divine Goodnefs 3 or, rather, ("to ufe the words of SaM.BocharttM, upon occafion of many fuch InftancesJ Stc enim parata &
obvia
A COMMBNTdRT
Chapter obvia ejfe folent Dei beneficia^ it a ut preces noftras non XXIV. taw Jequantur^ quam occufent atque antecedant^ P.I. . ^ ^ Hierozoic. L. i. cap. 4^. So forward is God to be- ftow his Benefits upon us, that they do not fo much follow our Prayers, as prevent and go before them.
*-» rr /"
With her Pitcher upon her Shoulder. ~\ Behold the Sim plicity, Frugality, and Induftry of that Age. Verfe 10. Ver. 20. Drew for all hfr Camels. ,~] There were ten of them, (verfe 10) and they are a very thirfty fort of Creatures : And therefore (he took a great deal of Pains to ferve him who was but a ftranger, in this manner. Which (hewed extraordinary Goodnefs, and a mod obliging Difpofition 5 at which he might well be amazed, as it follows in the next Verfe.
Verfe 2*. Ver. 21. Wondring at her^ held his peace ^ Sccf) He was fo aftonifti'd at her Rindnefs, readinefs to do Good, and laborious Diligence, &c. and alfo at the Providence of God in making things fall out fo pat to his Defires 5 that for the prefent he could not fpeak : Having his Mind employ'd in marking and obferving every Paflage 5 where he might judge how to con clude, whether this was the Woman, or no, whom God defigned for his Matter's Son.
Verfe 22. Ver. 22. The Man took^} Gave her, as the Phrafe is often ufed. But he firft asked her whofe Daughter (he was, as appears from verfe 47.
A golden Ear-ring^] Or, rather, (as the Margin hath it) a Jewel for the Forehead. And fo we tran- flate the Hebrew word, Ezek, XVI. 12. and this Per- fon himfelf expounds it, verfe 47. I put the Ear-ring or Jewel^ upon her Face, i. e. her Forehead. For fuch Ornaments were ufed in thofe Times and Countries, hanging down between the Eye-brows, over the Nofe.
Two
upon GENESIS.
Two Bracelets for her Hands.'] i.e. Wrefts, Chapter
Ver.26. Bowed htf Head, and wor/hipped the LORD."] XXIV. Gave folemn Thanks to God for hearing his Prayer .• WVSJ And acknowledged that by his Providence he was conduced to the execution of his Defires, as it fol lows in the next Verfe.
Ver. 27. Mercy and Truth.] Mercy in promifing, Verfe 27, and Truth in performing: Or, hath truly been mer ciful to him according to his Promife^ verfe 7. See Verfe 49.
The Houfe of my Mafters Brethren.'} i. e. His near Kindred.
Ver. 28. Told them of her Mother's Houfe^ The Verfe 2& Women in the Eaflern Countries, had their Apart ments by themfelves} as was before obferved, and appears again, verfe 67. Thither it was proper for Rebekah to go, and acquaint her Mother with what had pa(Ted.
Ver. 30. When he fan the Ear-ring, &c."] This was Verfe 397 the reafon, why he ran to invite the Man to their Houfe.
He flood by the Camels at the WeUT\ Expefting to fee the iflue.
Ver. 3 1 . Come in, thoa blejfed of the LORD.'] Whom Verfe 3 1 a
od favoureth, and I pray may ftill continue in his savour. For it refers both to the time paft and fu ture.
Ver. 31. Water to wa/h his Feet, &c.] As the Cu- Verfe 32, lorn was in thofe Countries. See XVIII. 4.
Ver. 33. I. mil not eat, &c.] An excellent Ser- Verfe 33. vant;> who preferred his Matter's Profit, to his own- Pleafure.
Ver.
3 68 "A COM ME N TAKY
Chapter " Vef. 35. The LORD bath ble/ed my Maftcr XXItf, ly, Sec.] Inriched him exceedingly, fothat he is be- LX'VNj come a Perfon of great Eminence, XXIII. 6. Verfe 35. ^er. 36. Given all that he hath.'] Declared him his Verfe 36. Heir, and fetled his whole Eftate upon him. Verfe 40. Ver. 40. The LORD before whom Iwalki] Whom I worfhip and ftudy to pleafe 3 keeping a grateful re membrance of his Benefits always in my Mind. For fo Abraham 's own words are, verfe 7. The God which brought mz from my Father s Houfe^ &c.
v Verfe.; 41. Ver.. 41. Thou {halt be clear from this my OathI} Or Curfe, as the Hebrew word imports : For all Oaths were made anciently with fome Imprecations upon themfelves, if they fware falfly.
>• Verfe i42' Ver. 41. 0 LO R.D God of my Mafler, Abr*. ham, &c.] He doth not relate juft the very words which he faid 5 but the Senfe of them, and moft of the words.
Pro/per nty way which I go.'] The Defign in which I am engaged. v Verfe 48. Ver. 48. My Mafters Brother's Daughter^ The
Grand- Daughter of his Brother Nahor.
"Verfe 49. Ver. 49. If ye will deal kindly and trudy^\ Be really and fincerely kind.
'That I may turn to the right-hand, or to the left?] A kind of proverbial Speech ^ fignifying, that I may take fome other courfe (which way God {hall direff) to fulfil my Mafters defire. It is the fancy of fome of the Hebrew Dofrors, that he meant, he might go either to the Ifomaelites^ or the Children of Lot.
'Yerfe 50. Ver. 50. Laban andBethnel.~] The chief Manager of this Affair was Laban ; for Bethuel is not men tioned till now 3 becaufe, perhaps, he was old, and
unfit
•upon GENESIS. 369
unfit for Bufinefs: But confents to all that is de- Chapter fired. XXIV,
The thmg proceeded from the LOR D.~] It appears IX"V*\J to be the Divine Will and Pleafure.
We cannot fpeal^nnto thee good or bad."] No way contradift it.
Ver. 51. Rebekah if before thee.~] Is by us delivered Verfe 51, to thee, to be difpofed of according to thy defire: As the Phrafe is ufed XX. 1 5*.
As the LORD hathfpoken.'] Declared, by thofe Signs which thou haft related to us.
Ver. 52. Worfhipped the LORD, to the Earth.'] Verfe 52. Gave the moft humble Thanks unto Almighty God, for his Goodnefs to him.
Ver. 5-3. Gave to her Brother and Mother.*] Here is Verfe 53. no mention of the Father : Which hath made fome think, as Jofephvs did, that the Father was dead 5 and Bethuel, mentioned verfe 50. was her younger Bro ther. But I take it to be more likely, that her Fa ther being Infirm, had committed the Care of his Daughter to Laban and his Wife : Andfo appeared no more, than was juft abfolutely neceffary in this Treaty of Marriage. Which was carried on princi pally by Lab an, who is mentioned therefore before her Mother,
Precious things.] Prefents of great value.
Ver. 55. Let the Damfel abide whh u* afeiv days> Verfe 5*5. at leaft ten^] There is nothing more common in Scrip ture, than by Days to exprefs a Tear. And there fore we have exactly tranflated thefe words in the Margin, afallYear, or ten Months. See IV. $>Lev. XXV. 19. i Sam. I. 3. compared with verfe 7, and 20. Some think this cannot be the meaning, becaufe the Servant was in fuch hafte to return to his Iviafter.
B b b But
A COMMENTARY
Chapter But it was as fit for them to (how their Love to Rebe- XXIV. l^ih, as it was for him to (how his Concern for his
<*TV^- Matter. Befides, there was fomething of Decency in it, the Cuftom being in all Countries, for her that was efpoufed to a Husband, to ftay fome time with > her Parents, before the Confurnmation of the Marri age. And one would think the Cuftom then was, for to keep her a Year or near it 3 which makes them defire (he might ftay at leaft ten Months, that they might not depart too far from the common Ufage,and that (he might have the longer time to fit her felf with the ufual Nuptial Ornaments. Thus Onkglos it is cer tain underftood it, and the Paraphrafe of UzidiJes, and tiitmauritaniau Jews, as Mr. Selden obferves, £.V. de JureN.&G.cap. 5.
Verfe 56. Ver. 56. ThatImaygotoMyMafier.~\ Whom he would have to rejoyce with him.
Verfe 57* Ver. 5 7. Enquire at her MontL~] Let her refolve how it (hall be. St.Awbrofe obferves upon this Paf- fage,That .they do not confult her about the Marriage, for that belonged to the fodgment of the Parents, but a- bout the time of going to cpmpleat it. Upon which > occafion he quotes the words of Hermione when fhe was courted by Oreftes, (\n Ettrjpjdesliis Androntacha} which he thinks were taken from hence,
K
My Father will take care of my Marri age : Thcfe things do not belong to my determinati on, Lib. I. de Abrahawo Patrtarcha, cap. ult. ¥erfe 580 'V«r. 58. Wilt than go withthit Man?"] Thatis, pre- fently, as he defires. For that (he (hould be Ifaac's Wife was agreed already between them 5 and we are to fuppofe (he had confented. The only Queftion was. Whether fo foon as the Man defired ? .
And
"upon G E N E S 1 S.
And flx faid, I will."] I agree to go, without any Chapter delay: Which no doubt, very much indeared her to XXIV, Jfaac. C/-VM
Ver. 59. And her Nurfe.~\ Whofe Name was De- Verfe 50.. borah^ XXXV. 8. who did not fuckle her, perhaps : But was (as we fpeak) her Dry-Nurfe / For whom, it is likely, (he had a great Affedion. It being a piece of ancient Piety and Gratitude, to keep fuch Per- fons as long as they lived, who had taken care of thetp irf their Infancy. It is probable alfo (he was -'femarkable for Prudence, and other eminent Quali ties ^ or, elfe Mofes would fcarce have let her Name, and her Death and Burial had a place in this Hiftory, XXXV. 8.
Ver. 60. And they blejfed Rebekah,&c.~] Her Fa- yerfe 66. ther and Mother, with all the reft of their Family and Kindred, prayed God to make her exceeding Fruitful ^ and to make her Pofterity Victorious over their Enemies: Which were the great things they defired in thofe days. The Hebrews look upon this (as Mr. Selden obferves in the place before-named on verfe 55.) asan Example of the folemn Benediftion, which was wont to be given (even before the Law of Mofes*) when theSpoufe was carried to her Husband.
Thou art our S/Jler.~] Near Coufin or Kinfivoman : For all that were near of Kin called one another Bro thers and Sifters.
Ver. 61. Her Dar,tfels.~\ Who waited upon her 5 Verfe 6r. and were given as part of her Portion.
Ver. 62. Well of Lahai-roi.~] Mentioned XVI. 14. Verfe 62, By which it appears that Abraham, after the death of Sarah, returned ro live at Beer-Jbela, or thereabouts, for that was nigh this Well : And it is probable Abra ham and Ifaac were not parted.
Bbbc* Ver.
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 63. To meditate^ Sec.] The cool of the Even-
XXIV. ing and Solitude, are great Friends to Meditation. vX~V~*T* ^er' ^4" ^^e ti&h^doffthe CameL"] As they always Verie 63'did, who met any Perfon whom, they honoured Ver 64, Ver 6?< ToQ^ a yM^ Not only out of Moderty, Verie 65..^ jn j0fcenof jjer Subjection to him. Many will have this to have been a peculiar Ornament belong ing to a Bride, called by the Romans tUmeum, by the Greeks ©/pi^v, as Mr. Selden obferves, L.V.de Jure N. & G. cap. 5.. Whence thofe words of. Ter- tuUiaH) de Feland* Plrgjtt. c.i. Etiam apud Eihnicos velat£, (i>e>ft<»if&) advirumducuntur. Even among Heathens^ Brides are brought to their Husbands with a Veil over their Faces. Verfe 66. Ver. 66. And the Servant told Ifaac all things that h
had done^\ How (he had confented to be his Wife. Verfe 67*, Ver. 67. Brought her into his Mother Sarah's Tent^] That Apartment wherein his Mother dwelt : Which was diftinft from that of the Husband's.
And Ifaac was comforted after: the death of hfe Mo ther.'] The Love he had, to -bis- Wife helpt to alle viate the Sorrow he had conceived at his Mother's death: Which was fo great, that now it had conti nued three Years. Such was the pious affeftion Chil dren had for their Parents, in ancient Days.
Ifaac was forty Years old when he married Rebekah> (XXV. 20.) and, if we can believe the Jews, (in 6V i (he was
CHAP.
upon GENES I S.
Chapter XXV.
C H A P. XXV.
Ver. i.^T^HEN again Abraham took a £F//e.] Verfe i»
JL Sarah being dead, and Agar long ago fent away, and his Son Jfaac lately married, he want ed a Companion in his old Age. For, having given up Sarah's Tent unto Rebe^ah (XXIV. ////.) it is pro bable he gave up his own to Ifaac, and fo dwelt in a Tent by himfelf 3. where he found it neceffary to have a Wife to look after his Family.
And her Name was Keturah."]: We a*e not told what Family fhe was of: But it is not unlikely (he had been born and bred in his own Houfe, as Eliefer his Steward was y and, perhaps, was Chief among the Women, as he among the Men-Servants. Many of the Jews will have her to be Hagary whom (Sarah^ who was the Caufe of her Expulfion, being dead) he now received again. So the Hiernfalem Paraphrafe, and Jonathan alfo : But Aben Ezra confutes this Opi nion with good reafon 3 for no account can be given of Abrahams having more Concubines than one (verfe 6.) unlefs we make Keturah diftinftfrom Hagar. Nor can any Body tell why he (hould call Hagar by the Name of Keturah here, when he calls her by her own Name, verfe 12.
Ver. 2* And/he bare him^\ He was now an hun- Verfe 2. dred and. forty Years old : But fo vigorous as to be get many Children. Which need not feem ft range, confidering the Age to which they then lived, (for he Jived thirty and five Years after this Marriage,
verjpc
374 A COMMENT ART
Chapter verfe 7. and that now, in our time, Men have had XXV. Children after they have beenfeventy, nay eighty Years of Age.
To the Truth alfo of this Hiflory we have the Te- ftimony of Pagan Writers. For Alexander Polyhtflor (mentioned by Jofephw and by Eufebittf, L. IX. Pr<e- par. Evang. cap. 20.) tells us that Cleodewvs (called by fome Malchas) writing the Hiflory of the reports juft as Mofes doth/'O-Ti vx. XgTls'g^ y £y*vovlo i&cfiSte; it&vot. That Abraham had a good Children by Keturah : Three of which he mentions by Name.
ZimranT] This Son of his, with all the reft of his Brethren, were fent by Abraham into the Eaft Coun try (as we read verfe 6.) and therefore we muft feek for them in thofe Parts, .viz. in Arabia, and the Coun tries thereabout $ where fome footfteps of them have remained for many Ages 5 particularly of Zimran, from whom we may well think the Zamareni were defcended, a People mentioned by Pliny, with their Towns in Arabia Fcelix^ L. VI. cap. 28.
And Jockshan^] Concerning whom I can find no thing but only this, That Theophanes a Chronogra- pher, in the beginning of the IX. Century ^far he hath treated of the IfoMadites and Madalnhes^ (the latter -of which came from one of K.eturah*s Children) and the Parts of Arabia where Mahomet was born ^ im mediately adds, that there were other People, o^m- £p/, more in the Bowels of Arabia^ defcended from Jetfan^ called Am<iHit&, that is Homtrite. Perhaps it fiiould be written Jokshan^ not Jettan: For PMo- ftorgiw exprefly fays of the Homerites^ 'E^J Q TD g!5- y@i. -rffi WL X^b£^^, &c. That they are one of the Nations defcended from K>///nz.6and Abraham, jL.III.
mn.
upon G E N E S IS-
Hift. Ecclefi § 4. where he relates a famous Embaffy Chapter which Conftantivs fent to them, to win them to Chri- XXV. ftianity, and the good fuccefs of it. And there is this L/*WJ | ftrong proof of their defcent from fome of Abraham's \ Family, that they retained the Rite of Circumcifion, 1 even when they were Idolaters. For he fays ex- prefly, That it was a circiimcifed Nation^ i&lai % oy- Stfjuu Trs<iuivQfMtov Y\[Mg$.v^ and circuwcifed alfo onthe eighth Day. Which was not the Cuftom of all the Arabians^ if we may believe Jofephus^ L.I. Antiq.c.^^. and Euftathiw in Hexaemeron^ &c. who fay the Ara bians (laid till they were thirteen Years old before they were circumcifed.
Medan^] From whom the Country called Madia- nia> in the Southern part of Arabia Fcelix, it's likely, had its Name.
M.idian.~] From whom Midanitis^ in Arabia P<£- tr<ea, had its Denomination.
And Ifibak^] I can find no Footfteps of his Pofte- rity, unlefs it be mBacafcami^ which Pliny fays was one of the Towns of the Zamareni-, who defcended from hiseldeft Brother Zimran. There were a Peo- le alfo hard by, called Bachitit<e, as he tells us, L.VL rat. Hift. tap. 28.
AndShnah.'} Perhaps he had no Children, or fo ew that they were mixt with fome of their other Brethren, and left no Name behind them. Yet P//'- in the next Chapter, mentions a Town called Suafa, n that part of Arabia which is next to Egypt, L. VI. cap. Q^.
Ver. 3. And Jokshan begat Sheba.'] I obferved be- Verfe 3 :ore upon X. 7. that there are four of this Name, or near it, all comprehended by the Gree^and iloman Writers under the Name of Sab<zans, One of them
Uie .
)le
Na
A COMMENTARY
Chapter the Son of Raawab had a Brother called Dedan, a$ XXV. this Shebd here hath. But they were the Fathers of a diftinft People,- as is evident from the Scripture- Story, and from other Authors. For, befides the Sabdi in the furthermoft parts of Arabia^ near the Per- pan and the Rcd-Sca> there were alfo a People of that Name (defcended, it is very probable, from this Son ofjokfhan) in the very Entrance of Arabia Fcelix 5 as Strabo tells us. Who fays, that they and the Na- batai were the very next People to Syria : And were wont to make Excnrfions upon their Neighbours. By which we may underftand,( which otherwife could not be made out} how the Sal&ans broke into Job's Country, and carried away his Cattle. For it is not credible they could come fo far as from the Per/tan or Arabian Sea : But from this Country there was an eafie Paflage, through the Defarts of Arabia, into the Land of Uz, or Aufitis, which lay upon the Borders of Euphrates. SeeBocbartin his Phaleg. L.IV. cap. 9.
And Dedan^ There was one of this Name, fas I faid before } the Son of Rbegfffa, Ge«.X. 7. who gave Name to a City upon the Per/tan Sea, now called DA- dan. But befides that, there was an Inland City called Dedan in the Country of-Idum** : mention ed by Jmmub, XXV. 23. XLIX.8. whofe Inhabi tants are called Dedanim^ Jfai. XXI. 13. And this Dedan here mentioned, may well be thought to be the Founder of it, as the fame Bocbart obferves, LIV. cap. 6.
And the Sons of Dedan were Aflmrim, and Letttftj^ and Leummim.~\ If thefe were Heads of Nations, or Families, the Memory of them is loft. For it is a miftake of Cleodemw (who mentions the firft of
thefe
upon GENESIS, 977
thefe in Eufeb. Pr<epar. Evang. L. IX. c. 20.) to de- Chapter rive the Affynans from this AJburim-: They having XXV. their Original from Afhur^ one of the Sons of Shew, L/"V"V» X. 22.
Ver.4. And the SonsofMidian,Ephah*] The Name Verfe 4. of Ephab, the eldeft Son ofMidfan, continued a long time } for thefe two are mentioned by Ifaiah as near Neighbours, LX. 6. And not only Jofet>hu*y Eufebi- fcf, and St. HieroM, but the Nubienfian Geographer alfo, tells us of a City called Median in the Shoar of the Red-Sea : Near to which was Ephab in the Pro vince ofMadian. ns^, Epba or Hip ha is the fame with that Place the Greeks call "ITTTT^, and Ptolo- my mentions both a Mountain and a Village of this Name, on the fame Shoar, a little below Madiane which is the Madiaa here mentioned, as Bachart ob- ferves in his Hierozoic. P. I. L. 2. <:<*/>. 3.
And Epber."] I can find no remainders of his Fa mily, unlefs it be among the Homeritx before-men tioned, whofe Metropolis was called Tdfctyp : In which Theophilns (fent by Conftantivs to convert that Country) built a Church } as Philoftorgiu* relates, I. III. Hl/l. Ecclef. § 4. Which City is mentioned by many other Authors, as Jacobus Gotofredus ob- ferves in his Dffertations upon Philoflorgius ; Parti- culary by Arrianus in his Periplus of the Red-Sea^ where he calls the Metropolis of the Homerit<e ex- predy by the Name 'ApaJf : Which one cannot well <loubt came from this Epher.
And Hanoch.'] In that part of Arabia Ecelix where the Adranitd were feated, there was a great trading Town called Cane as Ptolowy tells us, and (hows its diftance from Alexandria. Kzvxj e^^^oi/ ^ ajc^pv. L. VIII, P//Vy alfo mentions a Country in A^/'a which
C c c lie
378 A* C&WMENT ART
Chapter he calls Regi* Canauna^ which may be thought to XXV, have taken its Name from this Peribn and his Po-
And Atidah^ The Reiicks of this Name remain (if the two laft Syllables, as is ufual, be inverted) in the People called Albwo), who lived in an Ifland called Ai£J or Ai£S$, which lay between Arabia and India^ and is by Authors faid to belong fometimes to the one, and fometimes to the ottter. Philoftor- gjus faith only they bear the Name of Indians, ("m the place before-named, where he faith Theophilut^ who was fent to cx>nvert the Howerites, was born here.) But Pliny reckoning up the Trafts of Arabia places the Ifle called Bevada ("which I take to be this) over againft the fore-named Region called Canavna> L. VI. cap. 28. And Straboj (zsG fred obfervesj Agatharcides, and others call it
I know not where to find any Re mains of this Name, unlefs it be in the City Elana, (which might eafily be formed from Eldaah, by lea ving out the Daleth and -turning the? Atn into A7^, than which nothing more common } which was fea- ted in the Sinus Arabic^ toward the Eaft v called by others 9Ai\<zv&y (JElana*) from whence the Sinus itfelf wars called Elan it es, and the People that lived in it Elamt#, as Salnta/iv* (hows out of many Au thors, Exercit. in Solinum, p. 482.
Verfe 5. Ver. 5. Gave all he had to IfaacJ] As he defigned long before, XXIV. 36.
Verfe 6. Ver. 6. Sons of his Concubines?} Which were Ha- gar and Ketttrah .• Who were Wives 5 but of an in* ferior fort, according to the manner of thofe Times and Countries. Keturah is exprefly called his Con-
upon G E N E 51 S. 379
e^ i Chron. I. 32. as (he is above, verfe i. of Chapter this Chapter called his Wife. Which R. Bechai pn XXV. Mr. SelJen, cap. 3. */e Succeffionibus) thus explains. U/VV :£/ta n?^r /$• Concubine, becaufe of a fervile Condition 5 £/jf Im \Vrfe ^ becaufe married with Coven ants ^ to fro- vide for her and her Children^ though they were not 'to heir his Eftate. The Talmudifts indeed do not perfectly agree in this matter: For though they all • agree (and prove it evidently) that they were real Wives ^ yet forne fay they were made fo only by 'Solemn Efponfals^ without any Marriage Settlement in Writing, as the principal Wives had : Others think they had a Writing alfo, but not with fuch Conditi ons as the principal Wives enjoyed. Abarbinel hath an accurate Difcourfe about this, which Btfxtorfhath tranflated into his Book deSponfalibttt^ n. 17. And fee alfo Mr. Selden, L. V. de Jure N. & G. cap. 7. p. 570, 8cc. and G. Sckickard, de Jure Regio> cap. 3. p. 70.
Gave gifisl} Some Portion of his Money, or move- able Goods: Or, perhaps, of both. Which, in all probability, he gave to Ifomad, as well as to thefe Sons, (though it be not mentioned Gen. XX 1. 1 4.) becaufe Mofes here faith, he gave' Gifts to the Sons of his Concubines^ of which Hagar was one.
Into the Eajl Country?] Into Arabia and the adja cent Countries, as was faid before. For the Midia- titts are called the Children of the Eafl in Judg. VI. 3, 33. VII. ix. VIII. TO.
Ver. 7. Thefe are the Days of the Tears of Abra- Verfe 7, ha#t9 &c/] This is fpoken by anticipation, (to finifh the Story of Abraham} for Efan and Jacob were born before he died : And were now fifteen Years old. For Ifaac was but fixty Years old when they were
Gcc x born.
A COMMENT ART
born, verfe 26, and fevcnty five when Abraham di ed : Who was an hundred Years old at Ifaac $ birth> and lived to the Age of one hundred fevcnty and five.
Verfe 8 Ver. 8. Abraham gave up the ghoft.~\ Died of no Dif- eafer but old Age.
In a good old Age.'] Without Pain, or Sicknefs. Full of Tears."] The Hebrew hath only the word full. We add Tears to make up the Sence. Which fome think rather to be this, That he was fatisfied and had enough of this World, defiring to live no lon ger. Like thatExpreffion in Seneca, Epift. LXI. ft, xi) Lucili Charjffima, quantum fatte eft 5 mortem flenus expeffo.
Gathered to hfa People."] It doth not relate to his Body, which was no$ buried with them 3 and there fore muft relate to his Soul, which is fuppofed by this- (till to- live in that place,, where his pious Fore fathers were gone. Or elfe, it is an Hebrew Uiotifm, fignifying no more, but that he left this World as all his Fathers had done before htm.
Verfe 9, Ver. 9. His Sons, Ifaac and Ifiwael, 8cc.] By this it appears that Ifaac and Ifhvtael were not Grangers one- to another. Nay, fome of tilt Orientals tell us, that Abraham went to fee Ifhmael at his Houfe, and that Ijhmael came to fee him after he was fent away ? Which is not at all improbable. For no doubt Abra ham provided for him fuitable to the Condition of his Birth: And Ifomad could not but be convinced that the Inheritance of his Father belonged of right to Ifaacy who was the Son of a Free- Woman^ and he only pfa Bond- Woman. Nor could he well be ig norant that Ifaac , was to be Heir of Abr alum's Eftate, by God's Defignation,
In the Field ofEfbran^.'] See XXIIL 17.
VCE,
*p<m G E N E S I S 381
Ver. n. IJaac dvett by the Well Lahai rot.'} He Chapter continued after Abrahams death, his former Habita- XXV. tion which he had when he married, XXIV. 62. ~"*-x/-^
Ver. 12. Now thefe are the Generations of Iff}- Verie 1 1, mad, &c.] Having mentioned the Bleffing of God Verfe iz, which went along with Ifaac, after his Father's death fin the foregoing Verfe) he takes this occafion to (how, that God was not unmindful of his Promile made to Abraham concerning Jjbmaela\(o9 XVIf. 20.
Ver. 13. Nebahth.~\ As he was the firft-born of Verfe 13 Jfomael, to his Pofterity gave the denomination to the whole Country of Arabia Pctrxa (in the beft part of which, fte verfe 3. they inhabited) which Pliny , Strdbo^ and Ptolowy call Nabataa^ and fome- times other Authors call Nabathis : As the Inhabitants were called Nabat<ei ^ who are mentioned alfo by DJO- nyfius Per/egetes in his Defcription of the World, and by Plutarch in the Life of Demetrius 5 who, he faith, was fent to fubdue the Arabs called Nabat&iy (r^ ^Aa/^i/as Nfl^8a7a*W) where he was in great dan ger to perilh, by falling, efe jwt*$af$p&i into places where there was n^ Water. Thefe are coairnonly called in Scripture I/h'0taelJtes, as if they had been the fole Heirs of their Progenitor/ And they dwelt near to thzMidiamtes, (their half Brethren) for in the Story of Jofiph, he is faid in one place to be fold unto the Iftwaelite^ in another ta the MttUanhes, (Gen. XXXVII. 27, 28, 36.) they being Neighbours, and Co-partners in Traffick. The Country of Moab alfo was near to thefe Nabat&i, as appears from E/?/- fhanius^ H<enf. LIII. where fpeaking of the Coun tries that lay beyond the Dead-Sea he mentions this, which he calls Na/SccnK* Xc^^the Region ofNebaiot/^ , and Moabitis. $£zSalmafiHS>Prtn. Exercit. p.6 1 5,.
Kedar^
A COMMENT ART
Kedar.'] His Pofterity called Kedareni were affo feated in Arab/a Petwa, together with their elder Brother. And their Name alfo was fo famous, that fome Authors call the whole Country Kedar. For the Language of Kedar is ^Arabian Language: And when David complains that he had dwelt long in the Tents of Kedar , the Chaldee expounds it, in the dwel ling of the Arabians. But thole Arabians called See- n'jt<e were properly the People of Kedar. And yet not all the Scenit<e, (/. e. all the Arabs who dwelt in Tents) but thofe only who dwelt in Arabia Petr#a. For there were divers kinds ofthem,. ('all called '2«w- j/5) fome n^ar Euphrates, others in Arabia Fcelix, &c. as Sdlmafu* (hows in his Plin. Exercit. p. 484. Some take them to be the fame with thofe whom Ptolomy calls Pharanita: For what the Pfalmift calls dwelling among the Tents of Kedar, is called, i Sam. XXVI I. dwelling in the Wilder nefs of Par an. Pliny only fays Pharanitis bordered upon the Arabs, (in or a con* termina gentw Arabi<e) and fo later Writers make P bar an and Arabia Petr&a to be near Neighbours, as the fame Saltnafius (hows, p. 485.
Verfe 14. Ver.i4. Dumth.'] He feems, by Ifawh XXT/tf. to have been feated near Idutȣa.
Verfe 15. Ver. 15 Hadar.~] Some think the Athrite in Ara b/a F&lix came from him. In which likewife there was a City called Tewa, from the next Son of IJh* wael. And jfetar the next Son to him, may well be thought to have been the Father of the -Iturxi in Ctfo-Syrfa. And Kedemah the laft of his Sons to have dwelt near his Brother Kedar. For fo Jacobus Capellw expounds thofe words, Jer. XL1X. 18. G^ up to Kedar ) and fpoil the Mm df Kedem, ("which we tranflate the Men of the E*/?.) And there are fome
other
. upon G E N E S I S. 383
other People in thofe Countries, whofe Name found Chapter fomething like the reft of the Sons of Ijbmael, but XXV. not krlike as thefe I have mentioned. Whirh makes *s~v~*+* me omit all further fearch after them, enough having been faid to (how the truth of this Account which Mofes gives us of Ifhmaefs Pofterity,
Ver. 1 6. Thefe are their Names, by their Towns 1} Verfe 16, Though fome of them dwelt in Tents fand thence were called Scenite Arabes) yet they did not live fo fcatteringly 5 but pitched them together and made a Town.
And their Co/Iks'] They had even then Places of Defence : Which may make it probable, that they had alfo walled Towns, to which they reforted from their Tents in the Fields, when they were in any danger, Ifai. XLII. n. For it muft be here noted, That as there were divers People of this Name office- nit<e Arabes $ fo there was this difference among them ("as Salmafi** obferves in the fore-named place^ I that fome of them were Novtades> who wandred from place to place ,• others of them were not. Par ticularly tbe&6*«* Scenit<e9 and moft of the reft dwelt in Tents, but were fixed in their Habitations, and did not remove from one place to another : As thofe that dwelt in* Mefofotamia did, who were both Scenit<e and alfo Nomades. They therefore who were fettled in Tents, as the Sons of IJhwael were, had reafon to build Fortress for the fecurity of their (lender Habitations.
Twelve Princes according to their Nations.'] Or, ra ther, (as Dr. Jack*on well glofles, Bookl- on the Creed, c. 2$J twelve Heads of fo many feveral Houfes, Tribes^ or Clans. Which kind of Government they continued till fonr hnndred Years after Chrift 5 and
is
584 A COMMENTARY
Chapter is better expreflfed by Heathen Writers than by many XXV. Chriftian Interpreters, when they call them StfAo^of
WX''"*-' A*g$i£<w Rulers of their Tribes, zsStrabo fpeaks, L. XVI. in his Defcription of Syria. And fo the later Writers fpeak of the Saracens f who were the fame People formerly called Scenit<e Arabes) whofe Gover nors they called Phylarchi Saraeenorum, as may be feen in Sextvt Rufuf^ and Jornandes. See Salwaf. as before, p. 484, 485.
Verfe 1 7. Ver. 1 7. Gathered unto his People.*] The fame Phrafes being tifed here of the Death of Ifomael, that were VerfeS. of the death of Abraham 5 they fhow the meaning is no more, but that they left the World as others had done before them. We do not read where Ifimael was buried. It is likely in his own Country, not in the Cave otMachpelah : For that had been to give his Pofterity a claim to a Qiare in the Land of Canaan.
' l8« Ver. iS. They dwelt from Havilah unto Shur, &c.] See Gen. X. 7. Jofephus L.I. Antiq. cap. 12. makes the IJbmaelites to have poflefied the whole Traft be tween Euphrates and the Red-Sea .* Which appears by this place not to be true. For between them and Euphrates were the Awalekites and Moabites, who did not reach to Euphrates neither. The Ifhmadlies therefore pofleffed the Country^ which in that part EaJlwarJ, that was next to the Amahtytes^ was called the Wildernefs of Havilah ^ and in that part next to Egypt was called the Wildernefs of Shur. And in 0- ther places of Scripture 'is called Kedar, the Wilder- mfs of Par an 5 and the Wilder nefs of Sin. A-ll which was comprehended afterward under the Name ot Arabia. For Stephanus ("as Salmajius obferves, Plin* Exerc. p. 488.,) makes but two Arabia '/. Ofie
which
upon GENE S I & 3$ 5
which he calls the Spicy ^ between the Per/fan and the Chapter 'Arabian Sea : The other on one end of it Weftward, XXV. was next to Egypt } on the other end Northward, next W"V\J to Syria.
As thoti goeff towards AJfiria.*] The Wildernefs of Shur was over againft Egypt $ and touched it in that part, by which the Way lay from Egypt to Affyria. Or, as fome underftand the whole Verfe^ The Sorts of Ifomael dwelt from Shur^ which if towards Egypt 5 nnt'o Havilah, which if towards Affjria } in the way from E- ••gypt thither.
He died (Heb./eZQ in the prefence of all hi? Brethren.] Of all his Relations, or Kindred: Which are call'd Brethren in Scripture. But his Death has been fpoken of before, and in this forfe mention being made only of the Situation of his Country, fome interpret it in this manner, ffe Lot fell, i.e. he had his Portion in the prefence of all his Brethren: According to the Pro- mife made to his Mother, XVI. 1 2. The^Children of Keturah lying on the Eaft of his Country, and Ifaac's Seed on the Weft. Or, if we take it to relate to his Death, it may have the fame Sence : Till Death he dwelt m the, prefence of all hif Brethren^ and was in a flourifltfirg Condition.
Ver. 19. Thefe are the Generations of If aacl] His Verfe 19. principal defign being to give an Account of thofe defcended from Abraham by Ifaac 5 Mofes returns to that, after a fhort Account of his other Pofte- rity.
Ver. 20. The Syrian, ofPadan-Aram, &C.] BethuelV&k 20. and Ldban are called Aramites or Syrians; not be- caufe they were of that Nation, but becaufe they lived in the Country of Aramvt Sjri*, that is 5nP^- dan Aram 5 as it is here explained, and appears more
Odd fully
£ COMMENTARY
Chapter fully from Rebekah's difcourfe with her Son Jacob,
XXV. when (he fent him thither, XXVIH. 2, 5. where he
\^/~V~\j Jiving twenty Years with his Uncle Laban, was upcn
that account called a Syrian, though born in Canaan,
|fc*l.XXVI. 5.
Padan-Aram, was a part of Mefopotaw/a. I fay a fart of it } for Mefopotamia it felf was called Arf*#- Naharazvt 5 that part of tyr/d (for there were many other Aram's) which lay between the two great Ri vers of Euphrates and Tigris. Which Country had two parts alfo: One toward the North, from the Mountains of Armenia, to the River Chaboras, i. e. A- raxes, (from whence Balaam feems to have been fetcht, Nuwb. XXIII. 7.) which was exceeding fruit ful, and upon that account called Pedan. Which fig- nifies in Arabic^ the fame that Sede doth in Hebrev>y i.e. a Field. And therefore what Mofes calls going toPadan-Araw, Gen. XXVIII. 2. the Prophet Ho* fea calls fleeting to Sede- Aram, into the Country, or Field of Syria, Hofea XII. 12. This being a culti vated Country, abounding with all plenty. The other part of Mefopotar/ita was Southerly, from the fore-named River unto Babylon : And was very fto ny and barren The Syrians lived in the former: And the Arabians in the latter 5 as Bockart obferves, L. II. Phaleg. cap. 6.
Verfe ai. Ver.il.Ifaac intreated the LORD for hi* Wife, Sec.} The Hebrew word ./4tar doth not fignifie barely to intreat or pray : But to befeech with earneftnefs, ve hemence, and importunity. It's moft likely he con tinued thefe importunate Prayers feveral Years : The defire of feeing the Mejfiah, making them very un- eafie under Barrennefs, And fome of the Hebrews fanfie, That (he remaining barren twenty Years, Ifaac
at
upon G E N E § I $. 387
atlaft carried her with him to Mount Moriah (where Chapter he (hould have been offered J and there made moft XXV. fervent Supplications for a Son : As if he would re- C/"V"NJ member God of the Promife he had there made him, that he would multiply Abraham sSeed, as the Stars of Heaven, XXII. 17.
Ver. 22. And the Children pntggted together within Verfe 22 her.'] Sometime before her delivery (verfe 24) (he felt as if two were wreftling together in her Womb : And put her into Pangs, by (hiving which (hould get cut firft.
If it befo^ why am Ithtts?~] If I cannot be delivered, why did I conceive?
And foe went."} The Struggling and Pangs, we muft fuppofe, ceafed for fome time : So that (he was able to go and confult the Divine Mujefly^ about this unufual Conteft.
To enquire of the LO RD."] There was fome Place where the Divine Majefty ufed to appear, which was the fetled Place ofWorthip. See IV. 3. Malmonlde* will have it, that fhe went to the School of Sem, or Heber, who were Prophets, to defirethem to confult the Divine Majefty about her Cafe, MoreNevoch. P. II. vap. 41. And it is very probable, that there was fome divinely-infpired Perfon attending the SCHECHI- NA H wherefoever it was : Such as Melchfaedek. was ztSalem. Whom Patricides takes to have been the Per fon, to whom Rebekah retorted, for refolution other Doubt.
Ver. 23. And the LORD faid unto her.'] By Verfe a£ Melch/zedc^ faith the fore-named Patricides : By an Angel, faith Maimonides. Who tells us (in the place now mentioned) their Matters are fo fettled in their Opinion, that (he went to enquire of the fore-named
D d d 2 Pro-
388 A COMMENT A RT
Chapter Prophets, and that by the LORD is meant his An- XXV. gel 5 that they will have Heber to be him that t/~W> gave theanfwer, (Tor Prophet s^ fay they, are fometimes called Angels) or the Angel that fpake to Heber in this Prophecy. But it is moft reafonable to think that the LORD fpake to her by an Angel,, from the SC HE- CHIN AH.
Two Nations are in thy IVombC] The Heads of two Nations*
Two manner of People fhall be fepar at ed^~\ Greatly dif fering in their Difpofitions, Manners, courfeof Life, and Country: Which will make them perpetually; difagree.
From thy Bowels."] Shall ifllie from thee. The elder ftall ferve the younger C] In his Pofterity, not in his own Perfon.
Verfe 24. Ver. 24, When her days to be delivered were fulfi&ed*\ This demonftrates, the time of her Delivery was not come, when the ftrugling firft began.
V^rfe 25. Ver.25. Red all over >~] Some will have it with red Hair, not only on his Head, but all over his Body.
Like an hairy Garment."} As rough as Hair-Cloth: Juftasthe Poets defcribe Satyrs. He was hirfutus $ not only hairy all over, but thofe Hairs as ftiff asBrifUes, arguing great ftrength of Body : And a rough, fierce Temper.
They called his Name EfauJ} Which fignifying made in Hebrew^ that is commonly taken for the rea- fon of his Name 5 that he was as full of Hairs when he was born, as others are at Man's Eftate. But I think it may as well denote his a&ive Genita, which they thought this prefaged,
Ver,
G E N E s l S; : &•
Ver. 26. jf*™£.] He certainly had his Name, from Chapter his taking his Brother by the Heel at his birth : As if XXV. he would fupplant him:, as he afterwards did. ^X^"
Was three/core Tears old."] God exercifed $4&jF$ 2° Faith and Patience (juft asiie had done Abrahams) for the (pace of twenty Years, before he gave him a Chi!d_. For he was/0r)^ Years old when he married (fcrfe 20.J a°d no\v fixty.
Ver. 27. A canning Hunter^] Had great Skill in Verfe 27* Hunting, in which his active Genius delighted.
A Man of the Field.'] That took pleafure to be abroad, purfuing wild Beafts, in Woods and Moun tains •* Where afterwards he had his Habitation.
A plaza Man, dwelling In Tents."] He loved not violent Exercife, but kept at home 5 or lookt after the Flocks of Sheep, and the Breed of Cartel.
Ver. 28. And Ifaac loved Efau, Sec.] Not only Verfe a8. becaufe he was his firfk-born, and becaufe his love of Hunting argued him to beaMan of great Activity and Valour, who was likely to prove a great Perfon : But becaufe he alfo took care frequently to entertain his Father with Venifon, (which was of divers forts) and afforded him fuch variety at his Table, as gave his Fa ther frequent occafion to commend him.
But Rebekah loved Jacob.'] Being a Man of a more meek and quiet Temper, fuitable to -her own Diipo- fition 5 and more at home alfo with her, than hfau was } and defigned by God to inherit the Promiie, verfe 23. It is likely Efan made great court fas we fpeakj to his Father } and Jacob to his Mother: Whereby they won their Affection.
Ver. 29. He was faint."} With too violent and long Veffe 20. } purfuit of his Sports.
Ver,.
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver.jo. Feed me, I fray thee, with that fame ra/,&c]
XXV. It was made ofLentiles, as we learn from the laft Verfe
L^-N^NJ of this Chapter. And St. Anfttn upon Pfalm XL VI.
Verfe 30. faith they were Egyptian Lentiles ; which were in great
efteem, and much commended by Athenem^ and A.
GeUiut : And gave the Pottage, it is probable, a red
tin&ure. Some think Ffau did not know what it was,
and therefore calls it only by its Colour $ asking for
that red, that fame red, as it is in the Hebrew.
Therefore rpas his Name called Edom^] This repeated eager defire 6f he knew not \\hat, for which he fold his Birth-right;, gave him the Name of Edom : Which fignifies red. Whence the City which he built, and the whole Gauntry his Pofterity inhabited, was cal led by the fame Name } and by the Greeks ldum<ea $ bordering toward the South upon Judaa^Arabza, and Egypt.
Verfe 31, Ver. 31. Sell me this day thy Birth-right."] Theeldeft Son had feveral Priviledges belonging to him above the reft : The chief of which was to have a double Portion of his Father's Eftate. As for the right of Prkftkood, there are many reafbns to prove it did not belong thereunto. But whatfoever they were, Jacob cunningly made an Advantageof £/^//'s Neceffity, to purchafe them all fora fmall matter. In which fome think he did notamifs/ About which I (hall not dif- pute.
32. Ver. 32. What profit foall this Birth-right do to we ?~\ He fpeaks very flightly, if not contemptuoufly of it : Preferring the prefent Satisfaftion of his Appetite, be fore his future Dignity and Greatnefs. For fome are of Opinion he pretended to be fainter than really he was v out of a vehement longing for the Pottage $ which, perhaps, was a rarity.
Vef.
upon GENES! S.
Ver. 33. Swear to me this day^] That I (hall peace- Chapter able enjoy the Prerogative of the Birth-right. XXVI.
Efau feems to have been very violent in all things $ WY~\J and to have purfued this as eagerlv as he did his^erfe 33 Sports : Jacob, on the contrary, very fedate and craf ty to make the beft ufe of the Opportunities he met with, to promote his Ends.
Ver. 34. Rofe up and went his way ~] Well fatif- Verfe 34 fied, and without any trouble for what he had done. Which the Apoftle cen fares as a piece of Prophane- nefs: Parents being wont to give a fpecial Bleffing to their Firft-born.
Defftfe his Birth-right^] He thought, perhaps, he could recover that by Force, which he had loft by his Brother's Craft.
CHAP. XXVI.
Ver. I. A ND there was a famine in the Lattd, &C.3 Verfe i,
JL\ Such a Scarcity of Provisions, as were in Abraham's days ("XII. ic.J when he was newly come into Canaan^ happened again in the days of Ifaac.
And Ifaac went.'] It is not faid from whence he went : But it is probable, after the Death of Abraham, he went and dwelt where his Father had often done, at Mamre near Hebron. For he was not now at Beer- fheba, or the Well Lahai-roi, (which was the hft place of his Habitation that we read of, XXV. 1 1 J for that was in this very Country of Ger.tr, to which he now went.
Vnto
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Unto Abj?nelech.~] The Son, it is raoft likely, of him XXVI. to whom Abraham went : For he is not to be thought the fame $ it being an hundred Years fince that time. And all the Rings of that Country were, for many Ages, called by the Name of Abintekch~$ as appears from the Story of David : Who fled to one of that Name called Ackifh in i Sam. XXI. 10. but Abimelech in the Title of {he XXXIV. Pjfife/. See Gen. XX. 2.
'Ver. 2. And (or for') the LORD appeared to him7\ He intended to have gone into Egypt, as Abraham his Father had done in the like Cafe,* XII. 10. But God forbad him, (appearing to him either in a Vi llon, or a Dream, or as the Glory of the LORD ap peared after ward -to-Mofes and the Congregation of Ifrael upon fevcral occafionsj and direfted him to ftay in this Country, which was in the way to Egypt: Where he promifes to provide for him.
Though Egypt was a mod plentiful Country $ yet the King of it at this time, was not fo good a Man, perhaps, as him that reigned in the Days of Abra ham.
Verfe ,3, Ver. 3. Sojourn in this Land, Sccf] He not only promifes to take care of him at prefent, during the Famine : But renews the Promifes made to Abraham his Father at fundry times, and in divers places* XII. 3.XV.5. XVII.ijS. and at laft confirmed by an Oath, XXII. 16,17.
I will be with thee, and blefs thee.~] Thefe, and fuch
like words Maintonides (hows exprefs zfpecfal Provi-
• dence over thofe to whom they are fpoken, and
overall belonging to them. More Nevoch. Par. III.
cap. 18.
Unto
upon GENESIS.
Unto thy Seed will I give allthefe Countries^ Which Chapter he repeats again in the next ferfe $ having mention- XXVK 1 ed the vaft multiplication of his Seed. VXVNJ
Ver. 4. In thy Seed Jhallali the Nations of the Earth Verfe 4. teblejjed."] In this is contained the Promife of the Meffiah , the higheft Bleffing God could beftow / Which he aflured Abraham (hould fpring out of his Family, XXII. 18. and now aflures the fame to Ifaac*
Ver. 5. Becaufe that Abraham obeyed my Voice.~] In Verfe 5. going out of his own Country, when God called him; in circumcifing himfelf and his Family 5 but efpecially (XXII. i8J in offering his Son Ifaac.
And kept my charged] i. e. Obferved the Sabbath- Day, faysMeva/fihBen-Ifrael, out of the Hebrew Do- ftors, L.de Great. Problem. VIIF. But it feemsmore rational to understand by this word which we tran- flate charge, all that he commanded him to obferve : The Particulars of which follow.
My Commandments, my Statutest and my Laws.'] Thefe are nicely diftinguilhed by feme of the Jews * efpecially Abarbmel : Who, by Commandments, Under- ftands not only that of Circumcifion, but of Expel ling Ifomael : And by Statutes, (Hebr. Chukkothai, which always relates to Ceremonial Things) not on ly binding his Son Ifaac to offer him in Sacrifice, but his offering a Ram afterwards in his ftead .• And by Laws, (which include the Judicial part of Mofes his Writings^ his taking a Wife for Ifaac out of ano ther Country $ and beftowing Gifts upon the Chil dren of his Concubines, referving the Land for Ifa ac. But this may feem too curious; And fo many words may be thought rather to be ufed, only to cxprefs his exa& Obedience to God in every thing,
E e e whe-
•4. . rA COMMENT ART
Chapter whether belonging to Religion, or to Juftice, Mer- XXVI. cy, or any other Duty : According to what he requi-
w"'v-»w red of him. XVII. i. Walk before me. and be, thon pcrfttt.
Verfe 6, Ver. 6. And Ifaac dwelt in Gerar.'] This is a frefh Inftance of his conftant Obedience 5 in trufting ro God's Providence here, and not going down into Egypt i as he was inclined.
Verfe 7. Ver. 7. She is my Sifter."] Or, Coufn 5 for fo (he was. He told part of the Truth, but not all.
For he feared to fay 0 8cc.3 He Imitated his Father 5 as Children are apt to do.
Verfe 8. Ver. 8. S for ting ivith Rebekah his Wife.'] Ufing fuch familiarity with her, and blandifhments, as were not allowable between Brethren and Sifters 5 but com mon between Man and Wife, even openly* As em bracing her in his Arms, and killing her, perhaps, ve ry often.- He having an exceeding great love to her, XXIV. 67.
Verfe 9. Ver. 9. Of afurety fheisthy Wife.'] Itfeemshe took Ifaac to be fo good a Man, that he lookt upon the Liberties he took with Rebekah, as Tokens of Conju gal Love, not of inceftuous Defires.
Verfe 10. Ver. 10. Brought guiltinefs upon us.*] It is likely the Punifhment inflifted upon his Father and Family, (XX. 1 7.) only for taking Sarah into his Houfe, with an intention to make her his Wife, was yet in memo ry among them.
Verfe 1 1. Ver. 1 1. He that toucheth this Man or his Wife, &c.} This looks like a modeft word, as it is ufed, XX. 6. ; and i Cor. VII. i. But the Chaldee Paraphraft (and the Hebrew Doftors_) interpret it of not doing them any injury „• Becaufe he fpeaks of the Man, as well as his Wife 3 and fo it is explained, verfe 29.
Ver.
upon GENESIS.
Ver. n. Then Ifaac forved in that Land."] Moft take Chapter this to have been in the time of Famine: Which XXVf. makes it the greater wonder, that the Ground (hould t/"VNJ then bring forth fo plentifully. But it feerns more Verfe 12. likely to me, that the Dearth was at an end .• For it isfaid Verfe 8. that he had been in that Country a •long time, when Abimelech faw him fporting with his Wife.
An hundred fold ~] This., in it felf, is not wonder ful 5 though, at this time, it was a fingular Blefiing of God, after there had been fome time ago a Dearth^ and, perhaps, the Soil not rich, which af forded fo large a Crop. Otherwife, Varro fays, (L.I. de re Ruftica^c. 44..) that in Syria., about Gadera^ and in Africa about By&acium^ they reap'd an hundred Bulhels for one, (ex modio nafci centum.) Pliny and Solinus fay the fame of that Country ByLacmm, : In fo much that Bochartus fanfies the Metropolis of that rich Country, viz,. Adrumentum^ had its Name from hence } fignifying in the Phoenician Language, as much as, the Region of an hundred fuld^ Lib. I. &'#/z#«/z, cap. 14. Nay, fome places in Africa were fo rich that they produced two hundred, yea three hundred fold, as he (hows out of feveral good Authors in the 25^ Chapter of that Book. Whence he thinks Africa had its Name $ being as much as *Ei/s> «;$/$; J^5 Terra Spicarum, a Land of Ears of Corn. All which I have noted, that this Pafiage may not feem incredible to any Reader.
And the LOR Dble/ed him.'] Or, for >he Lo R D blefled him. This is the reafon of the fruitiulnefs of that Soil $ which naturally would not have yield ed fo much.
-O
M;Eeea Ver.
A CO MME NT ART
Chapter Ver. 13. And the Man waxed great, &c.] I fuppofe XXVI. he had many fuch fruitful Years 5 fo that his Riches
WV"*^ increafed till he grew very great \ and bought more
Verfe 13. Cattel than he had before. For in them confifted the ancient Riches, as Servhu tells us on the firft of Virgil's Eclogues. Omne Patriwonium apud majores , feculmm dicebatur, a pecor'ibus 5 in quibus univerfa eo-
ruwfubftantjaconftabat. Unde etiam PECTJNIA diStfmt, a PECVLIO. The fame alfo we find faid by Columdla.
Verfe 14. Ver. 14. Great ft ore of Servants. ~\ The Margin hath, (lore of Husbandry. Which is very likely 5 becaufe he was incouraged in it, by his great Crops .- Which could not likewife but increafe the Number of his Servants. The Arabjck. fet forth by Erpenius hath on ly, a great revenue, or vaft increafe : Which among the Eajlern People, as I faid, was principally from their Cattel. But God bleffed him with abundance of Corn alfo.
Verfe 16. Ver. 16. Thou art much mightier than we-"] As the People envied him, verfe 14. fo the King himfelf, it feems, began to fear him. And therefore defired him, in a friendly manner, to leave his Country. For they were not yet grown fo wicked, as to attempt to deftroy thofe who lived quietly among them 5 when they apprehended they would become richer and ftronger than themfelves.
Verfe 17. Ver. 17. The Valley of Gerar.'} Where that was, 'is uncertain ^ but at fome diftance from the City where Ablmelech dwelt, and near to which Ifaac had inhabi ted before.
Verfe 18. Ver. 1 8. Wtich they had digged in the days of Abra ham.'} He chofe to open the old ones, rather thar* dig new 5 both becaufe he was certain there to find a
Spring
Hpon GENESIS 397
Spring of Water, and becaufe it was moftenfie, and Chapter lefs obnoxious to Cenfure or Envy : And becaufe he XXVI. would preferve his Father's Memory $ for which rea- vx-^^^ fon he did not give them new Names3but thofe they had in his Father's Days.
Ver. 19. They digged in the Valley ^ &C."] In pro- Verfe 19. cefs of time, they found a neceffity of more Water } and fo digged till they met with a new Spring, in the Valley.
Ver. 20. The Water is oursl] Becaufe it was found Verfe 20. in their Soil, as Menochitts obferves. But they having let the Ground to Ifaac, the Water was truly his, as long as the Contract lafted.
Ver. 21. And they digged another Wett-"} I fuppofe Verfe 2F. in the fame Valley .• For rather than contend, he re ceded from his Right in the other WelL
Ver. 22. He removed from thence.] To avoid Verfe ox ftrife, he quitted that part of the Country, and went to another .- Where he was not ditturbed in his Pafturage.,
For now the LORD hath made room for us."] He was ftrcightned before for want of fufficient Wa ter for his Flock .• Which now he enjoyed in abun dance.
And we jhall be fruitful in the Land*'] Increafe more than formerly : Now that they could water their Flocks quietly and plentifully.
Ver, 23. Went upfrom thence to Beer-fheba."] Where Verfe 23* he and his Father had anciently lived, XXI. 33, XXV. ii,
Ver. 24. And the LORD appeared unto him the Verfe 24* jame Night..'] As he had done before he came to Ge- verfe 2,.
1 am
4 COMMENTARY.
Chapter / dm the God of Abraham'] Who was fo kind to XXVI, him, and made a Covenant with him.
tX"V"NJ I AM w/th thee.~] My fpecial Providence is over thee $ as was explained before, verfe 3.
Verfe a J. Ver, 25. Built an Altar there.'] To offer Sacrifice unto the LORD.
Called upon the Name of the LO R D."] As Abraham had done before him, in this very place, XXI. 33.
And pitched hisTent there.'] Refolved to fettle in this place.
Verfe 26. Ver. 2 6. P£/V<?/, 8tc.] The fame Name and the fame Office that he had, who is mentioned XXI. 22. but he was not the fame Man, no more than Abinteleck the fame King. It is probable this was a Name of fome Dignity among them 5 like that of Tribunus or Diffator among the Rowans /Which paifed from one to another.
Verfe 28. Ver. 28. Wefaw certainly the L 0 R D was with thee,&c.~] We have obferved fucha fpecial Provi dence over thee, that we come to eftablifli a perpe tual Friendfhip with thee, by a folemn Oath, if thou wilt confent to our defire. They were afraid, it feems, left being difobliged by their fending him out of their Country, he (hould fall upon them one time or other 5 being mightier than they, as they acknow ledged, verfe 18.
Verfe 29. Ver. 29. Have fent thee away in peace."] They re member him how they difmiffed him peaceably 5 and did not go about to feize upon his Eftate, while he li ved among them : Which they make an Argument, why he fhould contraft a nearer Friendfbip with fuch Civil People.
Thou art now the blejfid of the LO RDJ] This looks like an high Complement, or flattering Expreflion.
Ver.
upon GENESIS,
. Ver. 50. He made them a Feaft, Sec.*] So Covenants Chapter were made, by eating and drinking together. XXVI.
Ver. 32. Told him concerning the Well they had dig- ^s^s"^* ged, Sec.] They had begun to dig before Abitndechv^ 3°- and -Phicol cams, verfe ^. and now they came at a^er*e 82' Spring of Water.
Ver. 33. He called it Sbeba.~] From the Oath which Verfe 33. was lately made between him and Abimelech. It had been called fo before by Abraham, XXI. 31. but that Name, perhaps, was forgotten, and fo he revived it, as he had done others, verfe 18.
Ver. 34. The Daughter of Been the Hittitey See.] Verfe 34. Jofefhus faith thefe two Men, Been and £/<?#, whofe Daughters Efau married, were Dyndfttf^ powerful Men among the Hittites : Which is not improbable. But his Father fure had given the fame Charge to him,that Abraham had done concerning his own Mar riage, XXIV. 3. and then it was a very undutiful, nay, an impious aftion, to marry with thofe People, who were under the Curfe of God. The Scripture might well call him frophane : Who feems not to have regarded either the Curfe or the Bleffing of the Almighty.
Ver. 35. Agrkfofmmdl} His very marrying with Verfe 35. them, forely af&i£ted his Father and Mother. Or, as others interpret it, their Idolatrj' and bad Manners . extreamly grieved them.
CHAR
400 A COMMENTARY.
Chapter XXVII.
CHAP. XXVII.
fen Jfaac nas olcf] A
and /even Years old, as many have de-
Verfe i. Ver. i.T 1C JHen Jfaac was old] An hundred thirty
monftrated.
He faid unto him, My Son, &a] It appears by this and what follows^ that though Efau had difpleafed him by his Marriage ; yet he retained his natural Af- fedtion to him, which he had from the beginning.
Verfe 3. Ver. 3. Thy Quiver.'] Some take the Hebrew word to fignifie a Sword : Which was as neceflary for a Huntfman, as a Bow and Arrows.
Verfe 4. Ver. 4. Make mefavorymeat, &c/] To raife his feeble Spirits, and enable him to deliver his laft and foiemn Benedi&ion, with the more vigour.
My Soul may blefs thee before Idk^ It feems Jfaac did hot underftand the CXivine Oracle, XXV. 25. as Rebel(ahdid$ Or, (he had not acquainted him with it. For he intended to beftow upon Efau the pro- mifed Land 5 which was that God told Abraham he would blefs his Poflerity withal. Fcr the laft Bene diction of thefe great Men, was the fettling of their Inheritance 3 and making thofe their Heirs upon whom they beftowed their Blefling. Now the Birth right which Efau had fold Jacob gave him right only to thegreateft part of Jfaac s Eftate .• But not to the Land of Canaan, which was to be difpofed of by Ifaac, according to Divine Diredion.
Verfe 7. Ver, 7. And blefs thee before the LOR D.] Thefe words fhow it was not a common Blefiing, but a fo-
kmn
upon GENE S IS, 40 1
kttm Benediftion, and by Divine Authority or Ap- Chapter probation, which 7/i^meantto give his Son Efau. XXVII.
Ver. 8. ObeyntyVoice^ &c.] Rebekah hiving juft *~^s^* reafon to conclude, that Efau had forfeited the Blef- Verle 8. fing, which (he was defirous to preferve in her Fa mily, by marrying with the People of Canaan, who were curfed by God 5 thought of this Device to get Jacoh preferred before him. And indeed, it cannot be denied, that it was a prophane thing (as I noted before) to marry with a Daughter of Heth. And he feems afterwards to have had no good Defign in marrying with a Daughter of Ifhwael, (XXVIII. 9 .} for it looks as if he went about to fet up the Pretenfi- ons of that Family, againft Ifaac's.
Ver. 9. Two good Kids of the Goats.~] Two fatVerfe 9. fucking Kids, as Aben Ezra expounds this Phrafe, Kid of the Goats, ( upon Exod. XXIII. 1-9.) which in old time were accounted very delicious Meat: A Prefent fit fora King, i Sam. XVI. 20. and which Manoah prepared for the Angel, whom he took for a Noble Gueft, Judg. XIII. 15. And C which is moft proper to be here confidered) allowed to decayed and weak People, as an excellent Nourilhment.
Both thefe Kids were not prepared for Ifaac : But foe took the moft tender and delicate parts of both, and dreffed them for him.
And I will make them favory Meat.'] Drefs it fo, as tOvpleafe his Palate ^and not to be diftinguifhed by him for Venifon. For, we know, the natural tafte of things may be quite altered, by various forts of Seafonings, as we call them : And ordered in fuch manner, that Bochartus fays, he knew skilful Hunts* men take a Party made of Beef, for Venifon,
Fff Ver.
4: COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. M. An hairy Man."] In the Hebrew, ifch Satr, XXVII. a rough Man, hairy.like a Goat For the fame word
V^-fe^ S^r fi8nifies'a Goat> Getf.XXXVII. 31. iez;. IX, 15. • "• :f V and other places.
Ver. I*. A deceiver'.] One that cheats his Father 5 impofing on his Age, and on his Blindnefs : Which, he wifely confiders, would have been an high Pro vocation if it had been difcovered.
Verfe 13, Ver, 13. Vf on me be thyCurfe.~\ L e. There is no
danger: I will warrant the fuccefs. *5- Ver. 15. Took, goodly Raiment, &c.] His beft Clothes 5 which molt fuppofe were laid up in a Cheft, among odoriferous Flowers, or other Perfumes .• Both to preferve them from Moths, and to comfort the Brain when they were worn .• For their Smell is mentioned verfe 27. It is a groundlefs Fanfie of the Jew, that thefe werq Sacerdotal Garments, ( and the very fame that Adam wove, which descended to Noah, &c.) for. as there was no Sacrifice now to be made, fo the Primogeniture did not make him 4 Prieft, more than Jacob j.te was noted before. One may rather fay, thefe were 'Garments belonging to him, as Heir of the Family : Between whom and the other Sons, it's very probable the Affe£Hon of Parents was wont to makefome difference in their Ap parel.
Verfe 16. Verf 16. Put. the Skin of the Kids of the Goats.'] It isobferved by Bochartus, That in the E'aftem Coun tries, Goats-Hair was very like to that of Men, P.I. Hzerozoic. L. 2. c. 51. So that Ifdac might eafily be deceived, when his Eyes were dim, and his Feeling no-left decayed than his Sight.
Verfe 1 8* Ver, 1 8. Who art thou, my Son f] He fufpefted him5. from his Voice, and returning fofoon from Hunting^
Ver,
upon GENE S LS. ,403
Ver. 19. I amEfau thy firft- born, 8cc.] Here are Chapter many Untruths told by Jacob, befides this, ( for his XXVII. Father did not bid him go, get him force Venifon, U^NTV nor did God bring this Meat to him, which he hadVerfe 19* prepared, 0v.) which cannot be wholly excufed : But it muft be confefied, he and his Mother were poifeffed with a falfeOpinicn, That they might de ceive Ifaac, for the good of his Family. :j *
Aipjfo Ifraythee^ and fit and eat ^ 8cc.3 He was lying upon his Bed, one would guefs by this, being aged and infirm „• And he intreats him to arife up himfelf, and fit : Forfo they did in thpfeDays (~as wedonowj at their Meals. This appears after wards, when Jofeph's Brethren/** down to eat Bread, XXXVII. 25. and fat when they eat with Jofeph in Egypt* XLIII. 33. And fo Homer makes ajl his He-, ros fit at their Feafts, as Athenaus obferv.es / Which Cuftom continued among the Macedonians in the days of Alexander, as Bochartus obferve-9 ift. his -Hie*. rozoic.P. I..JL. II. c. 50.
Ver. 21. Cotnenear^ Sccf] Ifaac ftill fafpe£ted;by Verfe 21. this long difcourfe with him, wherem he obferved his Voice, that it was not Efau. And the Hebrews^ in Berefchith Rabba, fay, that he fell into a great fweat> and his Heart melted in him like Wax, while he talked with him .- So that an Angel came to fupport hiro^ from falling down.
Ver. 23. So he blejjed Um7\ After he had onCeVerfe 23. more askt him whether he was his very Son Efau^ which Jacob affirmed, verfe 24. who. was puniftied for this Deceit, when he was cheated himfelf by La+ ban^ in the bufinefs of his Wives, as well as in other things : And fas the Hebrews obferve) he that de ceived his Father by the Skins of the Kids of Goats,
F f f 2 was
404 A COMMENTARY.
Chapter was deceived himfelf into a falfe opinion that Jofeph XXVII. was killed 5 by his Brethren dipping his Coat in the U"V~\j Blood of a Kid of the Goats, Gen. XXXVII. 31. Verfe 26. Ver. 26. Come now and fyfi me^\ Some think he had adefire to be fatisfied that way, whether he was Efau or not. But I take it rather, to be a Token of his great Love and Affe&ion, wherewith hebeftowed his Bleffing upon him.
Verfe 27* Ver. 27. He fmelledtheSmell of his Raiment. ~] As he embraced him, he perceived the Fragrancy of his Garments.- Which he could not before, while he ftood remote } his Senfes being weak and dull. The Jews who fanfie thefe to have been the Garments wherein Adam miniflred 5 imagine alfo that they re tained the fcent which they had in Paradife. So Be* .' refchith Rabba9 and R. Sol. Jarchi^ as Braunius ob- fcrves, L. I. de Veflib. Hebr. Sacerd. c. 4.
See thefaelloffxy Son."] The apprehenfion of one Senfe, is, in this Language, often ufed for the appre- henfionof another, ("as Mtf/w<?/;/We/ fpeaks, P. I. More Nevoch. cap. 46.) as,^e theWordoftheLOR D, Jer. II. gi.i. e. Hear his Word.h&A fo in this place, Seethe fvtellisas much, as Smell the Odour of my Son , 8cc. But it may fimply fignifie, Behold^ orobferve $ no Field that God hath adorned with the greateft variety of the moft fragrant Flowers^ fmdls Jweeter than my Son. Verfe 18. Ver. 28. Therefore God give thee^ &c.} I take it for afignthat God will give thee^ (for fo it may betran- flated, as a Prophecy, as well as a Prayer) the grea teft abundance .• Which proceeds from a rich Soil, well- watered from Heaven. Thefe two are the Gaa- fes of Plenty*
It*
upon GE N E S I S. 405-
The Dew of Heaven."] Rain fell only at certain Chapter Seafons, in that Country .• But there was a recom- XXVIL pence for it by large Dews $ which very much re- WVNJ frefhedthe Earthy and are reprefented in Scripture as a Divine Gift, Job XXXVIII. 28. Mteat> V. 7. which God threatens fometimes to withhold, becaufe of Mens Offences, i Kings XVII. i.
Ver. 29. Let People ferve thee,&c.~] As \\\z former Verfe 29* part of the Bleffing relates to Wealth : So this, to Dominion and Empire : Which was> fignally fulfil led in the days of David, when the Maabites, Ammo* nltes^ Syrians^ Philiftines, and Edomites alfo^ were fubdued under him.
Let thy Mothers Sons bow down to thee^] This is a third part of the Bleffing, giving him a Prerogative in his own Family : And in the next words-he pro- y^ nouncesa Bleffing upon all that (hould be Friends to him 5 as on the contrary, a Curfe upon his Enemies.
Ver. 33. Ifaac trembled very exceedingly^ What the Verfe 33* Eebrewt fay upon verfeii. (fee there) had been more proper here .• That his Heart melted 5 and he was rea dy tofwoon away.
Who?~] A broken form of Speech.'
Tea, andbefiaVbeblefed.'] He had bleffed- him fo ferioufly, and with fuch Affeftion, and (it is like ly) extraordinary Confidence in Gods Approbation, that he would not revoke it. For he felt, as I take it, the Spirit of Prophecy upon him, when he pronoun ced this Bleffing : And it inlightned him to under- ftandthe Oracle formerly delivered, XXV. 23.
Ver. 35, Taken away thy Ek/ing."} Which I intend- Verfe 55* ed to have beftbwed on thee ^ looking upon it s thine, by the right of being my Firft-bprn.
Vcn
4od> A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver, 37. All his Brethren."] His Kindred.
XX VI I. What ft) a// 1 now do unto thee, my Son .<?] Having
VVVNJ given Jacob fo much } it was but a fmall matter he
Verfe 37. could do for him.
Verfe 39. Ver. 39. Behold^ thy dwelling fhall be thefatnefs^ &c.] Some have tranflated it. Thy dwelling jhall be without the fatnefs of the Earth, and the Dew from above: But by thy Sword /halt thoti livey &c. i. e. He prophefies that he fhould inhabit a poor Country/ But maintain himfelf plentifully by his Sword; For, otherwife ("they think) hisBleffing would be the fame with Ja cob's, verfe 28. But if we retain our Translation, there is a manifeft difference between this and jtao^'sBene- di&ion. For here he makes no mention of plenty of Com and Wine 5 and gives him no fuch Dominion as he did to Jacob, (the Jews obferve other differences J and whatfoever/dtoe/} was in the Soil of his Coun try, it did not laft, as appears by Mai. I. 3.
Verfe 40. Ver. 40. By thy Sword fl^altthoHliveJ] Live upon Spoil. Or, as others interpret it, be in perpetual War to defend thy Country.
Andfljaltferve thy Brother^] Here Ifaac fpeaks out, the very words of the Oracle mentioned before, XXV. 23. which was fulfilled in the days of David> 2 &*».VIII. 1 4. and i Chrm.XVlll. 13. (the.Cir- cumftances of which Conqueft are more fully de- fcribed, i KfvgsXl. 15. &c] And again, after they had recovered fome ftrength, Amaziah made great flaughters among them52 Kings XIV. 7. As theAf^- cabees did afterwards, I Mace. V. 65. andatlaft were utterly difabled by Hircanus^ the Son of Simon Mac- .as we read in Jofephus, L. XIIL Antiq. c. 17.
When
upon GENESIS, 407
If heft thottf/jalt have the Dowinion7\ St. Hicrom and Chapter , the LXX.donot underftand this oftheir having any XXVII. ! Dominion over the -Seed of Jacob, (which we never L/^VNJ read of) but only oftheir re- gaining Power to (hake, • offSubjeftion to them, as it follows in the next words. Ihoufljalt break, his Toke from off thy Neck^] Which" hey did in the days of Joram^ as \ve read, 2 Kings II. 20, 22. 2 Lh-on. XXL 8, &c.
Ver. 41. And h(anfaid m his Heart. ~\ Defigned and Verfe 41. fefolved within hirmelf .• And, as it fhould feem, was/ (b full of it, that he could not contain his Purpofe within his own Breaft, but in his Anger blurted it eut to iome Body^. who told it toRebek^h.
The dajs of mourning for my Fat her ? Scc.^ He will die fhortly, (hi which he was deceived, for he lived and forty Years after this) and then I will be re venged. He had fome regard to his Father ftill re- nv'ning (whom he would not grieve ) but nocon- fidcration of his Mother, who had helpt Jacob to fnpplant him.
Ver. 44. Tarry with him a few daysT] A Year or Verfe 44, two. But herein (he alfo was miftaken .* For he did not return in twenty Years time.
TJntJlthy Brother's Fury7\ Time, in which various things happen, very much allays Fury and Rage.
Ver. 45. And he forget, 8cc.] The metaoryofit be Verfe 45.; much worn out, and grown weak.
Why fhonld 1 be deprived of you both in one day / J She had reafon to think, that ifEfaa killed Jacob, and the Publick Juftice did not punifh it (according to the Precept, IX. 6. which had fetled Courts of Judica ture) God himfelf would profecute Efat with his Vengeance, as he did Cain.
# CO MMENTART
Chapter Ver. 46. lam reearyofmy life, becaufeoftheDau$- XXVIIL tersofBeth.] The two Wives of E/*«5 who were ^ V~^ Hittites, were fuch a continual Vexation to her 5 that Vcrie 46.^ wjfllt rather to die, than tolive among them.
If Jacob take a Wife^ &C."] She pretends only this reafon for fending Jacob among her Kindred 5 and fays not a word of the danger his Life was in : For (he would not afflift her Husband 5 but only pre- lerve her Son.
What good fiatt my life do me ?"] I had rather die than live in fuch perpetual Vexation : Therefore let him go and take a Wife, as Abraham did for thee, of our Kindred*
C HAP. XXVIIL
Verfe i. Ver. i. A N D Ifaac called Jacob^] Sent for him to
JL\ come to him.
A- And-bleffed htm7\ Renewed and confirmed the Blef-
fifig he had already given him .- That it might not be thought to be of lefs force, becaufe.procured by Arti fice and Subtilty, XXVII. 3 5. . Ver. 2. To P*da*-Aram*] See XXV. 20. . Ver. 3. And God Almighty blefs thee, &c.] This is the folemn Bleffing mentioned Verfe i. wherein ta ratifies what he had done .• And more fully and di- ftinftly fettles the Land of Promife upon him 5 and makes him the Father of the promifed Seed. Vsrfe 4. Ver. 4. Give thee the Bleffing of Abraham."] The Bleffing of Abraham was, that he fhould inherit the •t'Lan&of Canaan j and that in his Seed all the Nations
of
GENESIS, 409
of the Earth (hould be bleffed, Gen. XV. j8. XXIL Chapter 18 : Both which he now confirms to Jacob. XXVIII.
Vcr. 5. And Ifaac fent away Jacob."] In fome hafle,tW*VJ as the LXX. tranilate verfe ^. Arife, flee, i.e. de-Verfe *. part without any delay. Which looks as if Rebe- kah had at laft, (uggefted fomething to him of the Danger he was in.
And he went to Padan-Aram^] Prepared himfelf to go, and fet forward. Or, elfe it isfpoken by an ticipation } for he did not come thither till after fe- veral Pa(ftges$ which are related in this and in the next Chapter.
Son ofBethuel the Syrian."] See XXV. 20.
Jacob's and Efatis Mother.] Now Jacob is put firft ; as being lately declared Ifacs Heir, and Heir of all the Prornifes.
Ver. 9. Then went Efan nnto IflMiael^ &c.] To the Vcrfe 9. Family oil[htnael$ for he himfelf died fourteen Years ago. And therefore Nebawth (his eldeft Son, XXV. ij.) is here mentioned, as the prefent Head of the Family: Whofe Sifter Efan married. Whereby he fhowed himfelf not to have any great regard to the Divine Revelation : Otherwife he could not but have known, that this Family, being defcended from a Bond- Woman, was not to inherit the Promifes made to Abraham and Ifaac.
Ver. 10. Jacob went out from Beer-flseba^ &c/| Quite Verfe 10. alone, without any Servants to attend him, and with out any Prefents to court a Wife, or gain the Kind- nefs of Laban: Neither of which were wanting, when Abraham fent Eliefer to take a Wife for Ifaac. But as he was fent away in hafte^ fas I noted before, vwfe SO fo hereby the Anger of Efau was mitiga ted, who at prefent was left the fete Poffcflbr of
G g g all
4io A COMMENTARY
Chapter all Ifaacs Riches, and faw Jacob depart in a poorCon- XXVIII. dition. This alib was an aft of Divine Faith, that would take a fingular Care of him,, and let him want nothing. And as they could not but hope thatLrfidw, being fo near a Relation, would be glad to fee him and entertain him : So it is probable he * might carry Letters of Credence with him, that he was to be Heir to lfa*c-\ as Etiefir affured them Jfaac was to be to Abraham, XXIV. 36. We are to fnppofe likewife, that he was not fent without Mo ney to bear his Charges, fas we fpeakj and had fome Provifibn with him : For we read of 0/7, verfe 1 8. which he poured on the top ofthfc Pillar. 1 1. Ver. 1 1. And he lighted upon a certain place, Ssc.] A -.convenient place, ("(haded with lovely Trees; fee verfe 19.^ to lodge in : Unto which he did not go by defign } but hapned (as we fpeak) upon it, when ? he did not think of it.
And he took, of the Stwestfihatplace.'] One StotiCj , from among many others that were there : As ap pears from verfe 18. The fame form of Speech was obferved before, XIX. 29. XXI. 7. ia.: Ver. 12. Andhe dreamed.'] He had the following Reprefentation made to him in a Dream. .
Behold, a Ladder, Scc.^ It is- judicioufly obferved by Maimonides in his Preface to More Nevvchivr^ that there a*e two forts of Prof hetick Parables (a$ he calls them,) in one of which, every word hath fome peculiar fignification : In the other, the whole Para ble reprefents the thing intended, but every word hath not its weighty .fomeferving only for Elegance, Among the firft fort he reckons this.- In which ifa Ladder may be thought to reprefent the Divine Pro vidence, which governs all things 5 and particularly
now
upon GENESIS. 411
now direfte,d Jacob in his Journey, every iicp of Chapter which .was under God's Guidance. It being fet ///KXXVIIL on thz Earth denoted, he thinks, the ftedfaftnefs of (*/~V~\J Providence^ which nothing is able to (hake. And the top of it reaching to Heaven fignifies, that it ex tends it felf all the World over$ to every thing, great or fmall, high or low: And the kvmlfteps in the Ladder, the Motions and Actions of Divine Providence. The. Angels which went up and down, fignifies that they are the great Minifters of God's Providence, by whom he manages all things here be low: And that they are never idle, but always in motion to ferve thofe efpecially who ferve God faith fully. Their tf/^W/#g; represents their going to re ceive the Divine Orders and Commands 5 and their defcendmg, the execution of his Orders. Or, (with a peculiar refpect-to Jacob's prefent Condition) the one fignified, their fafe Condud of him in his Jour ney to PaJdti'Aravt^ and the other, their bringing him fafe home again.
This is infinitely more folid, than the Conceit of almoft all the ancient Rabbins, that God reprefented in this Ladder, ther//e, and the fall of ihzfottr great Monarchies. For where is there any mention in this Dream of four Angels ? Or, of feventy Steps repre- fenting the feventy Years Captivity \nBabylon? Or, of two and fifty Steps reparefenting the time of the Reign of the^r Kings ofPerfia and Media, accord ing to their computation > 8cc. All this is the pure invention of idle Men, who dream upon the Holy Scriptures.
Ver. 15. And behold the LOR D flood above It.7] Verfe j Finally, he faw the Dwine Majefty or Glory, ( fo the Targum here expounds itj as the unmovable Mover
G g g z of
4i2 A COMMENTARY
Chapter of all things. From whom all comes as the firft XXVIII. Caufe, and to whom all returns, as the laft End. L/"VNJ lam the LORD God, &c.] This is the firft time that we read of God's appearing to Jacob : And it was only in a Dream. But it made fuch a deep im- preffion upon him, that he doubted not of the Truth of what was now exprefly promifed him by God; himfelf ^ that he (hould have the bk$ing ofAbrafximr as his Father had told him, verfe 4.
Verfe 15. Ver. 15. Behold 1 am with theel} Or, will be with thee, 7. e. My peculiar Providence (hall be over thee, and take Care of thy fafety, as Mawonides well ex pounds it 5 in his More Nevoch. P. III. cap. 18.
I will not leave thee^ &cJ] This (hows the intent of the Dream was to comfort J,acob, in his folitary and poor Condition, by an aflurance that God's watchful Providence (hould attend him, till he had' accompliftied all his Promifes to him.
Verfe 16. Ver. 16. Surely The LORD is in this place."] By his fpecial extraordinary Prefence : For here he had manifefted himfelf to him, and given him fingular Aflurances of his Favour $ and that the very firft Night, after he went from home : Which made this place more acceptable to him than his Father's Houfe. For now he was become a Prophet, as Maiwonides obferves. More Nevoch. P. IL cap. 45. where he fays, That they who Prophecy in a Dream do not call it a Dream after Prophecy is come to them in a Dream, but fimply fay, it was a Prophecy. Thus the Patri arch Jacob, after he awakned out of his Prophetick Dream, (wherein he heard the LORD fpeak to him, verfe 13, 14.) he doth not call it a Dream, but round ly fays, Surely the LORD &/V* J/MT />/*«?, &c.
And
upon GENESIS. 4*3
And I knew it not.'] I did not expeft to meet with Chapter fuch a Divine appearance and Revelation to me. XXVIII.
Ver. 17. And he was afraid^ Pofleifed with a Re- ^O^. ; ligious, Awful Apprehenfion of God. Which made Ve™ him fay,
How dreadful if this place ?~] With what Reverence j ought L here to behave my felf >
This is none other but the Houfe of GodJ] The Di vine Majefly dwells here : This is not a common Place, but a Sacred 3 having a Divine Prefence in it.
And this is the Gate of Heaven.'] Here God keeps his Court attended by his Holy Angels: Whom he had feen come from Heaven hither, and go up from hence thither. So Mr.Mede explains it, jBo04.II. p. 436. The Prefence of God in one Place more, than another, confifts in his Train or Retinue. A King is there, where his Court is : And fo God is there Jpe- cially frefenty where the Angels keep their Station. Which is the meaning of the Gate of Heaven^ i.-.e. Heaven's Court .• For the Gate was wont to be. the Judgment-Hall, and the Place where Kings and Se>- nators ufed to fit, attended by their Guards and Mi- nifters,
Ver. 1 8. Took the Stone andfet it up for a Pillar^ ,Up- Verfc, 1 8* . on the top of feme other Stones, which he heaped up together : That it might remain as a Monument of the Divine Mercy to him 5 and preferve, the Me mory of this Heavenly Vifion : And that by this Token he might know this Place, when God brought him back again, and commemorate, his Goodnefs to him here.
This Stone was held in great Veneration by the Jem in future times, and tranflated to jernfuhm.
Afttc
41-4 A COMMENTARY
Chapter After the deftruftion of which by Titus, they were XXVHI. wont ('upon that Day when it was taken, which •"VV was t'ie only -Day they were permitted to come thi ther) with great Lamentation and rending their Garments, to go and anoint this Stone, Such is the Power of fond Superftition. See Voffiw^ de Idolol. Lib. VI. cap. 38.
Poured OH on the top of it.'] Not in honour of this Stone,' (as Bonfrenv* hitnfelf confeffes) much jefs of any Idol to which it Was dedicated : But to confecrate it as a Monument of God's great Mercy to him, in the before-mentioned Celefiia! Vifion. Oil, it appears by this, was anciently ufed, in confe- crating things, before the Law ofMofes : And not oq- ly in this Family5butin others alfoit i$ probable^ from whence the Pagan Cuftom came of anointing Scones, which by Theophraftv? are called AiTrzgo} A^c/, upon which Superftitious People were wont when they met with them in the High-ways, to pour Oil and fall down and worfhip. A great many Authors meq- tion them, which are collected by Elmenhorftius in his Obfervations . ^^upon Arnobiw, p. 37. Ttey th$t would be fatisfied how wretchedly fome of the Ro- mift Writers plead for tliewr/S//? of Images from this very place, may read Dr. Jackson $ Treatife of the Original of Vnhelkf, C%. XXXV. where he excel lently y explains this aftion of Jacob, n. 5, 6,7. Verfe 19. Ver. 19. And he called the Name of that place Be- ihcl.*] From this word Bethel, capie the word B^- -n;%a (as Scaliger in his Ammadv. upon Eufeb. p. 198. and others thinkj among the Heathen: Whereby they denoted rude Stones, which they worshipped either a§ Symbols vof Divinity, or as true Gods, aei- tnated by fome heavenly Power. Of which worfliip - -V fee
upifo O E N E S I «. 415
:fee Phofite in his -Bibijoifaca, CGXL1I. But efpeci- Chapter ally Bvchartttf, L. ll.'Canxan, cap. !. Where he ftiowsXXVIII, | the Ph&nicikns (at leaft as the Jews- think) fit ft wor- I {hipped this very Stone which Jacob anointed: ! And afterward cohfecraied others, which they called ifctytoi) and Batyli, in memory of this Stone anom- jted at Bethel. See p. 785, ;8<5. Certain it is, this Idolatrous.Praftice came very early into the World : Which made Mofes forbid the ereftittg of fuch Pil lars, they being in his time converted to a prophane ufe, Lev. XXVI. i. Dent. XII. 3. XVI. 22.
But the Natoe of that City."} Which was near to the place, where this Pillar was fet up.
Was Lnz at thefirfl."} So ed led ^ perhaps, from the marty Almond- trees which grew there, (for Litz fignifies an Almond, fee XXX. 37.) atttong which it is probable Jacob took up his lodging, becaufe they were a kind of Covering to him. Both this Luz iti Tribe of Benjnritfo^ and the other among the te* in the Tribe QfBphraw^ JtiAg. 1. 16. Bochart doubts not had there Name from this Original, L. I. aan, cap. 3 5 .
Ver. 20. Jacob wfoed aVou>7\ This isthe firft Vow Verfe that we read of in Scripture : Which all Men allbW is a part of Religion, and fo was acknowledged by the Law of Mofis, Dtfit. XXIII. xi. Pfalm L. li. Pfalb LXV. a, &c.
Perhaps Jacob was the firft, that in this manner ck- - prefled hfe devout Affeftion towards God.
odixiUbewHhmei&z^ Perform his Promift fo me, wrfe 15;
Give me Bread to eat, &c] Support and maintain which is the explication of the Promife,
4i6 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver.ai. Then fiall the LORD be nty God.'] \ XXVIII. will moft Religioufly worfhip and ferve him. Which iVVNJ doth not imply, that he would not worfhip him, if Verfe 21. he did not bring him home in Peace : But that,' if he did, he would perform fome fpecial Service to him, and worfhip him with extraordinary Devotion : Confecrating (as it follows) this Place to his Ho nour $ offering him Sacrifice, and giving him the Tenths of all he had, to maintain his worfhip. Verfe 22. Ver. 22. And thk Stone, winch I have fet for a Ptl* lar.'] All Pillars were not unlawful, but fuch only as were for Idolatrous ufes: As Maimamdes re- folves, L.Je Idol. cap. VI. § 8, And therefore the Jews fo expound thofe words, before mentioned, Thoufialt not fet thee ftp any Statue or Pillar^ which the LORD thy God hateth, Dent. XVI. 22. con cerning Pil/ars fet up for worfitp, not of thofe for memorial.
Shall be Gods Houfe.~\ Here will I fet apart a Place for Gods Solemn Worfhip and Ser vice: Build art Altar, and offer Sacrifice, &c. See XXXV. 3.
Give the tenth unto thee."] A&t&rlw 7$f TOTOP/J- Ijuiv&v9 faith Jofepfw, the Tithe of all his In-come $ for the maintenance of Burnt-Sacrifices, and fuch like pious Ufes $ and, perhaps, for the relief of the Poor. As for the Priefts we do not yet read of any Tithe given to them : Though Mr. Selden (in his Hiftoryof Ttthes, p. 4, Sec. and Review^ p. 45 1.) thinks they were paid to Ifaac, who was then Prieft of the Fa* mily. And fo Bifhop Mont acute in his Book againft him, p. 199. who obferves that we read only of Abra* ham and Jacob paying Tithe, not oflfaac ; Becaufe Tfaac was a more fpecial Type of Chrift than either
of
upon GENESIS. 417
of thefe. And Abraham and Jacob were Types of Chapter thofe two People who were to have part in the trueXXVIII. Jfaac ; for Abraham was Father of all the Faithful ^ .-and Jacob was the Type of the Synagogue^ as St. Am- Irofe handles thefe Matters in the Life of Abraham. Yet the fame Bilhopconfefles, That many doubt whether Jacob paid the Tenth of all to Ifaac, or immediately to God : Becaufe Jacob alfo was a Prieft himfelf. See f. 205, Sec.
This, I think, we may certainly conclude from this place, That Jacob, the Grand-child of Abraham, vowing the Tenth of all, as Abraham had given the Tenth of the Spoil, he was induced to it, by the Cu- (torn, which was then among Religious People. How they came to pitch upon this Portion, rather than a Fifth, Sixth, or any other, is not fo eafie to be refol- ved. But they feem to fpeak with milch reafon, who obferve that in this Number Ten, all Nations in a manner end their Account (Ariftotle in his Pr<?- blews, § XV. L.1II.) and then begin again with com pound Numbers. Or, as other phrafe it, This is the end of lefs Numbers, and the beginning of greater. So that it was lookt upon as the moft perfeft of all other $ and accordingly had in great regard. But, after all, it feems moft likely to me, that they had fome Divine Direction for it, as they had for Sacrificing. And it may be further noted, That what they gave to their Kings was the Tenth Part, as well as what they gave to God. And nothing more common a* mong the Gentiles than Tenths paid to their Kings ^ and that very anciently, for it appears from i Sam* VIII. 14, 15,17. that it was part of the Jus Regi- uw among the Eaflern People. Ariftotle himfelf men tions it under the Name of naAaios *o/^5 an anci-
Hhh em
4i8 A COMMENTARY
Chapter ent Law in Babylon : And it was alfo ufed in Athens > XXIX. which was a Commonwealth, as Dr. Spencer (hows
in his Learned Work, de Leg. Hebr. Ritual. L. III.
cap. 10. § i. And Bifhop Mount ague (hows they were
paid among the Romans , p. 248, &c.
C H A P. XXIX.
Verfe i. Ver. I. A ND Jacob went onhisjonrney.'} Becaufe JL"X the Hebrew Phrafe, for went on^ is liftnp hfcfeet $ fome will have it that he proceeded raoft cheerfully in his Journey, after this Glorious Vifion. Which we may believe to be true, though not figni- fied by this manner of fpeaking.
To the People of tbeEaft{] ToMefopotawitt, which lay Eaftmard from Canaan. Verfe 2. Ver. 2. Agreat Stone upon tlx Wells Month.'] To
keep the Water clean and cool.
Verfe 5- Ver. 5. Laban the Son of Nahar.J Grandfon of Nahor: Who is mentioned rather than Bethwl^ be- caufe he was the Head of the Family.
Verfe 6* Ver. 6. Rachel his Daughter^ Her Name in He- brew fignifies zSheep. For it was anciently the man ner to give Names, even unto Families, from Cattle both great and fmall. So Varro tells us, Lib. II. de Re Rnfttca^ c. i .
Mult a, nomina hab&tnw ab Htroqne pecore^ &c. a mi" nore PORCIVS, OVILIVS, CAPRILI- VS$ a majore, E&V1TIVS, TAVRVS, &c. See Bochart, P. I. Hierozoic. Lib. II. cap. 43.
Ver,
upon G E M E £ t S. 419
Vet. 7. 7f *r jef £/£& day, &c.] A great deal of Chapter the Afternoon yet remains. It was the Cuftom of XXIX. thofe Etfern Countries., where the Sun had great t-/*VNJ I power in Summer time, to bring their Flocks towards Verfe 7. Noon into (hady places, where there was Water to refrefh them: Otherwife the extream Heat would ihave killed them. There they relied (it appears by itflany places oLScripture^ particularly Cantic. I. /.J* till the Heat of the Day was over, and then having watered them again, they carried them out to feed till Sun fet.
Ver. 9. For fie kept them.'] It was a noble Employ- Verfe f ment in thofe Days to keep Sheep: Whence God himfelf hath the Name of the Shepherd of Ifrael. She b^d thofe under her, we are to fnppofe, who took ^y
th£ greateft pains about them^ but (he was thfe Chief Shepherdefs, who infpeded them all.
Ver. 10. Went near, and rolled the Stone"] He wasVerfc icv ftronger, or more dextrous at fuch things, than any |Body there: Or, the meaning is, he affiftcd in this Work 5 and, perhaps, was the firft that fet to his Hand about it.
Ver. n. Jacob ktjfed Rachet.~] Having told her Verfe it. Who he was, and fatisfied her of the Truth of it, then (after the Cuftom ufed among near Relati ons, at their firft meetiiig) he faluted her: And that with more than ordinary Affeftion, for he wept for joy to fee her. Laban in like manner kifled him.
Ver. 12. Her Fathers Brother.'] So all near Rela- Verfe 12. tions are called verfe 1 5.
Ver. 13. He told Laban attthefe things^ Which Verfe 13. are mentioned in the foregoing and this Chapter ; The reafon of his coming from home 5 God's Pro-
H h h 2 vidence
7
4^0 A COMMENTS RT
Chapter vidence over him in his Journey 3 and his happy meet- XXIX. ing with Rachel.
L/"VNJ Ver. 14. Surely tkou art my Bone And my : Flefo.~] Verfe 14.50 very near of Kin to me, that I can deny thee no-/
thing,
Verfe 15. Ver. 15. Becaufe thou art."] Or, as de Dhu tran- flates the word 'Had, (and gives many Inftances of itj Art thou not nty Brother $ It is fit then, that thou, (houldft ferve me for nothing?
Verfe 17. Ver. 17. Leah wo* tender-eyed.*] Some translate it,, had delicate Eyes. So the Chaldee : And then the mean ing is, All her Beauty lay In her Eyes.
Beautiful and well- favoured^ Was every way ami able.- Being well fhaped, having good Features, and a fine Complexion.
Verfe 1 8. Ver. 1 8. / wil/ ferve theefeven years for Rachel^ 6<c,] He had not brought Money enough with him to pur- chafe a Wife, fas the manner was in thofe Days) and therefore offers his Service, for feven Years^ inftead; of it,
Verfe 19. Ver. 19. It is better that I give her thee, &c.] He feems to anfwer cunningly : And yet one cannot but take it for a Contraft 5 as it appears .to have been, by verfe 21,
Verfe 20^ Ver. ^o. They feewed unto him but a fen? Days.'] He valued Rachel fo much, that the Price at which he pur-chafed her Teemed inconsiderable.
Verfe 2 1 * Ver. 2 * » Give me my Wife\~] So (he had been by
Gontraft, ever fince :it was -made (verfe 19.) and he
doth not now demand that he might have her to Wife 5
,-ttV but that he might enjoy her -. Being already his Wife
by that folemn Agreement made feven Years ago., Verfe 22*; V^r. 22. Laban gathered together the Men of the flace^ ) AU'fuch^pfivate Contra^s were compleated,
by
Hpon G E N E S I S. 421
by the Elders or Governors of the Place, in the pre- Chapter fence of all the People. We had an Inftance of this XXIX. before in Abrahams purchafe of a Sepulchre for his Fa- mily, XXIIf. ii, 18. Which was a Sacred and Re ligious thing, as well as the Rites of Marriage 5 and therefore both of them Public! Juris ^ as Cornel. Bertram fpeaks, part of the Publick Care.
Ver. 13. In the Evening."] At Bed time.
Brought her to /&/>//] The Modeity of thofe Times made them bring the Bride to her Husband's Bed, veiled, and without lights : So that it was the eafier for Laban to deceive Jacob by bringing Leah to him. Whom he could not hope To readily to difpofe in Marriage, zsRachel^ becaufe (lie was homely.
Ver. 24. Gave unto his Daughter, ZilpahhwMaid^ &c.^ A very poor Portion: Yet all that he gave to Rachel aftzrward.verfe 29. which made them lay, That he ufed them as Strangers, not as his Children 5 put ting them off without any Portion, XXXI. 14, 1 5.
Ver; 76. It mujl not befo done in 4itr Country ^&c] We do not read of any fuch ancient Cuftom .- And therefore this feems a mere (hift, or a je(i. Or, if it had been true,, he fhouLd have fold it Jacob- before^ hand.
Ver. 2 7. Fulfil her week,, Sec.] "Per feO' 'this' Marriage Verfe with Leah by keeping zfeven Diys Feaft, (^ the Cu- ftom was) and then thou (halt have Rachel alfo. For' * "he doth not (peak of a Week of Tears',- but of Days ^ asMr.5e/<5/e«(h6'vvsout of many Authors, L.V, de Ju re N. & 6. cap. 5-., where he hath this plain Commen tary upon thefe words.
Marriages are to be celebrated^ according to Cnjiow, by afcven Days Feaft : Cowpleat thfe Marriage: thou * haft began with Leah, and then upon Condition of ano ther v
A COWMEN TART
Chapter the? feven Tears Service^ than foalt viarry Rachel alfo* XXIX, and !{ecp her Wedding Fe aft five n Days. U/^VNJ Ver. go. Andfirved with 'MM yet other f even Tears'] Verfe 30. After he had folemnly married Rachel, and bedded her, (as we fpeak) for that he did, feven Days after his Marriage w'uh Leah was accompliftied. So this ferfe begins, And he went in alfo unto Rachel, and then began his other feven Years Service. There was no •pofitive Law, as yet, againft fuch Marriages as this, (with two Sifters J which were afterwards exprefly condemned: But at prefent indulged 3 as the Mar riage of a Man's own Sifter was in the beginning of the World. Whence that faying of the Jews in the Gevtara Hzerofol. upon the Title Sanhedrim, The World vow built by Indulgence. And Jacob, it is very likely, thought there was an unavoidable neceffity for his marry ing thefe two Sifters. For Rachel was his true Wife } Leah being impofed upon him by a Cheat, But, having known her, he concluded he could not honeftly leave her ^ no more than he could Rachel, to whom he was fir ft contracted.
Verfe 31. Ver. 31. Leah was hated.~] Comparatively, notab- folutely. For Leah having joyned with her Father to deceive him, he could not love her fo well as Ra chel 5 to whom he had engaged his firft Affeftion. Verfe 32. Ver. 32. Reuben?] The Name of this Son, and of all the reft that follow, are derived from the Hebrew Tongue: Which {hows that Labans Family fpake the fame Language with Abrahams $ with fome little va riation, as appears afterward, XXXI. 47.
CHAP.
upon GENESIS.
Chapter XXX.
CHAP. XXX.
Ver. i . T^Nvied her Sifter.'] Was fo grieved, that it Verfe i ,
iV made her fret, into Impatience and Rage. For it is a frantick Speech which follows.
Give me Children or I die.'] I (hall make my felf away, (as we now fpeak) or die with Grief. See here the great danger of too eager and impati ent Defires.- The fulfilling of which was her death indeed.
Ver* 2. fficob's Anger was kindled."] He conceived yerfe 33. a juft Indignation againft her Impatience, which he exprefles with fome heat.
Am I in God's flead^ &c.] Isit in my power to give what God thinks fit to deny ? Thus he puts her in mind of what the P/*/a»//2 faid afterward, Children are a gift that cotneth of the LORD, as the old Tranf- lationhathit,CXXVH.3.
Ver. 3. Behold nty Maid Bilhath, go in unto her.~\ Verfe 3? She followed the fteps of Sarah^Jacob's Grand-mother, (XVI. i.) in adopting the Son of her Maid-Servant .- Whom ftie gave to Jtcob out of the fame Principle, that Sarah %zvzHagar to be Abrahams Wife 5 a vehe ment defire to fulfil the Promife, that their Seed fhould fce as the Stars of Heaven ^ and efpecially the Promife of the Mejfiah 5 which made them fo extreamly trou^ bled at Barrennefs.
She /half bear upon my Knees."] Bring me a Child, whom I may fet upon my Knees, as my own. For fo it follows.
.424 -
Chapter TJW 7 m%y have Children?] Though not by my XXX. own Body, yet by her. For (he being Rachel^ Ser- L/^V^SJ vant, the Children that were born of her, were Ra chel's Children, not her own.
Verfe 4. Ver. 4. And' foe -gave him Bilhah her hand- maid to Wife.'] Of fuch kind of Wives as this and ZilpaL <vetje.<). fee-XXV. 6.
Verfe -6. "Ver. 6. G0d hath judged meT^ Decided1 the Con n-overlie between me and my Sifter 5 and-grven Sen tence on riiy fide.
She called hff name D##."] The Mothers fometimes
- gave Names to theirChildren, fas Leah had done to
rites, mentioned in the foregoing Chapter) but wii!h
the Approbation of the Father, who fometime con-
, 13- trolled them, XX'XV. 18.
Werle 8 . ; rVTer.8. With great wrcftlingt, &c.] I have ftrug- led exceeding hard ( /. e. in inceflant, vehement De- 'fires, and perhaps in Prayers to God) to have ano- ther Child, before my Sifter^ and have prevailed, •Verfe ^.-/ Ver. 9. Took, Zllpah her Maid^ and gave her to Ja cob to Wife."] Imirating her Sifter, and perhaps out of the fame Principle x .hoping fome or other of her ^li«,V r,Children might be the Father of the Meffiah: And therefore the more Children the had, the more likely iome of them might be fo happy.
Werfe n. [< Ver. 1 1. A troop cometh^] The Hebrew Writers-ge- nerally expbund it, Goo'd fortune cometh: as Mr. &/- •Jen (hows in his Syntagm. de D/*f SyrK^cdp.i. And theLXX. trandate it G^ ™jy^ in a lucky hour : And •other Greek Verfioras Ts7J^xa, as in St. Chryfoftow, (How. LVI. on this Book) who expounds it l-rrivjyw TV <7X07T^, / have obtained wy aim. Others have \dt$v)fllf*l which is the fame : Whence the Latin an ciently had it, Beatafaffa, or Fozlixfum^ as in St. Au-
upon GENES! S.
^ 4J.XCI. in Gen. And this feems to fome to be Chapter nearer to thef/eimr than any other Translation 5 XXX, becaufe what ether way foever we expound the CXVNJ- word Gad either for a Troof, or Fortune^ we muft make two words of Ragad^ as the JAaforltcs do, and take a to fignifie as much as NH, according as we tranflite it, A Troop cotneth^ or Good Fortutee conteth. But I fee no neceffity of this, for taking Gad for a Troop, it may be (imply translated, Wit'haTroop $ a Troop (hall follow this, i.e. a great many more 'Children. And it muft be confeffed that Jacob in his Bleffing, XLIX. 19. doth allude to this iignifica- ti on of the word, which I doubt not is the trueft. For Gad) or Gada never denotes Fortune any where, but in the Targum of Onfylos and "Jonathan ^ and a- mong the Rabbins who follow them -: And therefore this may be lookt upon as a later not the ancient fignificationof the word.
Ver. 14. In the days of Wheat- harve[l.~\ Which Verfc 14* >cgan at Pentecoft, when the Firlt-Fruits of it were ffered ^ as Barley-harveft began at the Paffbver. Mandrakes^] In the Hebrew the word is Dudaifft : Which here Cgnifies ihe Fruit of a Tree or Plant, whatfoever it be^) and in the Book of Canticles VII. 3. it fignifies the Fkrvers $ and thefe are the only wo places where this word is found in the Bible. Which Job "Lndolfkus gives many reafons to prove, annot lignifie a Mandrake : For the Flowers of that ave a bad fmell, and the Fruit of it a bad tafte. And therefore after great variety of Opinions, he oncludes it to be that which in Syria they call A&fe? Which is an excellent fort of Fruit, growing upon a ^lant, in the top of which there aife great Bunches of it, Hkea'CV/wmcr. From whence hefanfies this
I i i Fruit
4atf ACOMMENTAKT
Chapter Fruit was anciently called Dudaim : From the He- XXX. brew word Dud, which fignifies, propinquas cognatus^ w v^ ar/ricus, a Neighbour, Kinfman, or Friend. Such were thefe Ditdaim, which he calls Cognatos ant pa ir neks ah unaflir^Q profeSos^ vide Somntent. m L. I. Hzjior. JEthivp. cap. 9. n. 72.
Verfe 15. Ver. i 5. Taken away my Husband."] It feems he had eftranged himfelf, for fome time, from Leah's Bed, out of his great Love to Rachel^ or becaufe he took little Delight in her. Or, Rachel's envy at her ha ving fo many Children, when (he her felf had none $ made her contrive ways to keep him from Leah. Verfe 16. Ver. 16. Thou muft come intome^ &c.j I cannot think of any goodReafon, either of this Contention among Jacob's Wives for his Company, , or their gi ving him their Maid's to be his Wives, or for Mofes his taking fuch particular notice of all this 5 but on ly the earneft Defire they had to fulfil the Promife made to Abraham^ That his Seed fhould be as the Stars ofHeaven for Multitude 5 and that in one Seed of hisfthe MejfiaH) all the Nations .of the Earth fhould be blefTed. It had been below the Dignity of fuch, a Sacred Hiftory, as this is, to relate fuch things, if there had not been fomething of great Confideration in them. And what can that be, but chiefly the Birth of the btejjed Seed 5 which was the Objeft of the Hopes of all pious people in thofe Days. For it is evident, both by Rachel and her Sifter, that it was Children they defired, and not meerly the Company of their Husbands .• As it here follows. Verfe 17. Ver.i;. God hearkened to Leah.'] To her earned Prayer, or vehement Defire : And gave her another Son,,
Ver.
upon GENESIS. 427
Ver. 1 8. God hath given me my hire."] I purchafed Chapter my Husband's Company, and God hath repayed me, XXX. by the Gift of another Son. Unto which (he adds V-/*VNJ a further Reflection.' as if this was the Reward of Verfe 18. her Kindnefs.to her Husband, in beftowingher Maid upon him, to be his Wife.
Ver. 19. Conceived agam^] The birth of this Son Verfe 19. begat a greater Rindnefs between them $ and made him lefs a ftranger to her Bed.
Ver. 20. God hath endowed me wit h a good Dowry.'] Verfe 20* By refloring her Husband to her, and beftowidg new Fruitful nefs upon her .• For (he had ceafed to bear, XXIX. ult. •
Ver. 2 1 . Dinah7\ No reafon is given of her Name / Verfe 2 1 . But it feems to have the fame with that of Rachel's Firft'born by Bilhah, verfe 6. For, as if (he had now got the better of Rachel, (he calls this Child by a Name, importing Judgment.
Ver. 22. God remembred RacheF.~] He would not Verfe 22. have Leah infult over her, nor triumph too much 5 and therefore bleffed Rachel with a Son out of her own Womb. For that was to remember her.
Ver. 24. Jofeph.*] His Name feems to have been Verfe 24. taken both from ending her Reproach, which (he mentions before, verfe 23. The LORD hath taken away (Afaph) the Hebrew word is) my reproach: And from adding another Son to this.
God Jhall add tome another Son.'] This was a great Expreffion of her Faith 5 more than we find in all the former Births.
Ver. 25. Send me away.'] It is plain,by this, that the Verfe 25. feven Years Service for Rachel were now finifhed ; juft when Jofeph was born : And therefore he defires to be difmifled, havinglived with him fourteen Years.
I i i 2 To
43 8 A COM MEN TAR IT
Chapter To my own PI ate, and to my Country^] \ h e. .To his XXX. Father's Houfe in Canaan : Which was his Country, becaufe he was born there*
Ver. 26. For. thou kpowefi what fervice I haw-dene : thee.*] He appeals tohimfelf, whether he had not ierved him with all Diligence and Fidelity : And, therefore deferved to ..be difmified .after fuch long Labours.,
27. Ver. 27. I have learned by experience.'] Orr.as the Ancients underftood the word Nichafktt, I have- found by Divination .-And AbeaEzra thinks he learnt it by confultingvwith h\$Teraphim, But there need ed no fuch advice with them 5 the thing was plain in it* felfy that he had brought Profperity along with h.ira into hi3 Houfe. ,
Vverfe 19, Ver. 29. Thou knomfihow Ihaveferved thee.~] With how much Care and Fidelity, as he had admonilhed him before, verfe 26.
And, how thy Cattle was witb me ~\ How they, pro- fpered under my Care.
30... Ver^ 3,0. BleJJed iheefiuczwy c0Mtng.~] So St. Hie- rom explains the Hebrew Phrafe, at. my Foot : Ever fincel fet my Foot within thy Doors 5 or, fince I entred into thy Service. Others expound it, Where* foever I went* or by wy hading thy flock. But M*/~ mwides fays this Phrafe, Lcragli (at my Fooi) figni' fies, becaufe ofme^ for my fake. And fo he explains - the like Phrafe, XXXIII. 14. P. l.More Ntvoch.caf.rt. 3:!* Ver. 3 ][, Thou foali not give MC anything^ 6cc»3 I will take nothing of thee at prefent 5 but make this fbllawipg: Bargain with ttee, for the future. 32. Ver. 3^. All theft eckled and fatted. Sec.] In this ptace^ and in XXXf. 10. there are^»r diftind words T.ifed taexprefs what (hould be his,,
Tfie •'
upon G EN E S I S. 4:9
Thefirft of them is Nakpd, which we well tran- Chapter fattfpeckled. For the word fignifies little Points or XXX. 1 Pricks, which the Greeks call ziy^m : As many have obferved.} .particularly Bocbart'inhis Hierozo/c. P.I.
L. II. c. 45.
The fecond is Tain, which fignifies broader and larger-Spots ^.which we frequently fee in Cattle.
The next is Akod, which fignifies fpotted with di vers Colours : But moft properly, Spots, or rather Circles, or Rings about the Feet or Legs (which we tranllate Ring-ftraked)tfo Syntmachus renders it A<$L- MOTrvSkS, white-footed : And Onkelos and Jonathan, ha ving Marly on the tr Feet^ rather Lifts ronnd their Legs or Feet 5 for the word denotes binding or twi- $ing about. any thing.
And then the laft word Barud Ggrii&Swhiti/h Spots like Hail ForBarud, in Hebrew, 5s Hail.
This f/)alLbe.Myhire.~]Re dothrifct mean, thatthofe Cattle which were already fpectyed and fpotted, &c. ftiould be given him : For that doth not agree with what went before, thou Jhalt not give me any thing, (i, e. I will take nothing that is now thine) and be- fides, it would have been no wonder, if thofe that were fpotted already,, (hould bring forth others like to themfelves. Thereofre the Sence is, That he would feparate all the Spotted Sheep and Goats 5 and then out of thofe which were of one Colour, he would have all ihat ftiould prove hereafter at all marked with any of the fore-mentioned variety. , Now this was a thing fo unlikely to happ^rr, that La- \)An, in the next Verfe, embraces the motion very gree dily •• Thinking that white or black Cattle, would • bring forth none but fuch as were Hke themfelves..
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 33. Softallmy Righteoufnefs^ Stc.^ This fe- 3QCX. paration being made, it would appear that if he had
\Jr~VT\j znyfpottcd, they were not taken from Labatfs Flock ;
Verfe 3 3. but given to him by God out of them, as a Reward of his honeft Diligence.
Verfe 34. Ver. 34. I would it might be according to tly word>~\ He thought this fo good a Bargain, that he was afraid Jacob would not ftand to it.
Verfe 3 5 . Ver. 3 5 . Into the hands of his Sons\] i. c. of La- ban's Sons, who were now grown up .• Though, per haps, when Jacob firft came to him, they were fo lit tle as not to be able to look after the Flocks ; which his Daughter therefore fed, XXIX. 9. As for J*- cob's Sons., the eld eft of them was farce Jeven Years old j and therefore could not be fit for fuch Em ployment. Laban therefore went and feparated the fpotted Cattle from the reft 5 and then, left Jacob fhould get any of them to mix with thofe of one Colour, he committed tham to his own Sons, to be fed apart by themfelves.- And, as it follows in the next 'fcrfi, made a diftance of three days journey, be tween the one and .the other 5 that none might be in danger to ftrayv the Flock which was fed by Ja cob: Unto whofe Care were committed all that had no Spots at all.
V fe a£» ^er* 3^' ^et ^ree day* journey^ &c.^ That they 'might be fure, not to come near, fo much as to fee one another.
Verfe 37. Ver. 37. Of the Bafel.~\ The Hebrew word Lu% fignifies an Almond^ as Bochart proves at large, out of •a great many Authors. And therefore St. lirerom here rightly tranflates it, Virgas Awygdalinas. And the Hebrew Interpreters, who will have it fignifie an ^ confefs that herein they depart from the
Opinion
upon GEN ESI S, 431
Opinion of thofe that went before them. . So Aben Chapter Ezra and Kimcht^ who both acknowledge that the XXX. ancient Doftors expound it, Alston-rods. ^O^"^
And filled white ftrahs m them.'] He had three Ar- Ver{e tifices to compafshis end. The firft was this- To peel off the Bark from the Rods, at certain diftances. till the white appeared between the B.ark, which was of a different Colour. And thefe Rods, thus dif- coloured, h£ laid in the Channels of Water, at that* time when the Cattle were wont to couple, (as it follows in the next Verfe) that their Fancies might be painted with fuch divers Colours, as they faw in the Rods. See verfe 40, 41.
Ver. 30. And the Flock* conceived before the Rods, Verfe 39. and brought forth, &c.] The Greek, Fathers afcribe this to the miraculous Operation of Gbd, as Bochart obferves in ., his Hierozwc. P. I. I; II. cap* 49. > But the Latin Fathers, particular!^ St. tfierom, look upon it as done by the natural Operation of the Imagina tion. For which he alledges the like thing done in Spam among Horfes and Mares .• And brings Sinin&i- Uan and Hippocrates* to jiaftifie the like Conception^ in Women. Which he backs with a great Number of Authorities, out of Gilcn and other Writers : Who have obferved indelible Marks, to have been impreiTed upon Children, by the Objefts that were prefented to their Mother's Imagination, at the time of her Conception.
And St. Auftm faysthe Egyptians, by the like De vice with this of Jacob's, had (till a new Apti, or Phd- B«//, to fucceed that which died '.• To whom they gave Divine Honour. But whatfoever Power there might be in natural Imagination to produce fuch Effefts, it muft be acknowledged that God gave an
extra- -
432 A COMME NT^RT
Chapter extraordinary Bleffing to this Contrivance.' Asap- XXX. p^ars by the Vifion which Jacob fays he had, where- V*VNj inGod ("who had direfted him -to this Invention) promifed to give it fuccefs, -XXXI. 'icyn, 12. 'For Beafts have very rarely fuch a ftrong and vehement Imagination, as produces fuch EfFefts 5 unlefs it be moved by forae unufual Paffion. And therefore we muft confefs that God excited and ftirred up their Imagination } which orherwife would not have wrought in that manner ^ at leaft, not in all the Ca rle. For, let any Shepherd now try this Device, and he will not find it do, what it did then by a Divine Operation. Vide G. Voftns^ L. IIL de IdoM. cap. 22.
\Verfe 40. Ver. 40. And Jacob did fiparate the Lambs, &c.] One Species is, put for all : And the meaning is, That thbfe young Cattle( whether Lambs, or Kids of the Goats, e£r.) which were thus broughrforth fported, he did not fufFer to remain with the Flock of Laban $ left he fhould fay that he did him wrong by letting them mix together, and To bring forth fpofcted Cat tle, (and perhaps he might alfo think that they look ing upon Labans one-coloured Cattle, might bring forth young ones like to them) But, inftead of this way of inriching himfelf, he had a fec&nd Artifice 5 which was to put the (potted Cattle, (produced by ithe former Device) foremo»(l .• So that Labans Flock fhould always look upon them, and thereby be the more apt to conceive the like. And then it follows, in the end of this fer/e.
, He put his own Flocks by themfelves, and put them ^ot to LabaHS Cattle^} Which looks like a repetition of what was faid in the beginning of the Ferje : But the meaning is, that thofc which brought forth
fpotted,
upon G E N E$ I S. 433
fpotted, by this fecond Artifice, he alfo put by them- Chapter
felves $ andfufFered them not to be mingled with La- XXX.
\ bans Cattle, as before he had feparated thofe that
I Were brought forth fpotted, by looking upon the
Rods.
Vcr. \\.AnditCAmt topafi, when theftronger Cattk Verfe did conceive, that Jacob, Sec.] This was his third Ar tifice.- Which is thus expounded by the Chaldee and a great number of other Authors, (which may befeen in Bochart, P. I. ttierozoic. L. II. cap. 46.) that he laid the Rods before the Cattle only in the Spring- time, when the Sun was afcending, and the Cattle luftyand vigorous; But let them alone when the Cattle 'came together in Sefiewler, or the declen- (ion of the Year, (for they bred twice a Year in thofe Countries) at which time they were become more feeble. If he had always laid the Rods befb're the Cattle, there might have been none but fpotted, and fo Lab an have been quite impoverifhed. There- ore he chofe to do it only in their firft and prime Copulatiom, which was in the Spring-time .• And o- mtttedit in the latter, which was in the AutumnB Our famous Mr. Mcde follows this Interpretation, bifiourfi XLV. p. 355. But there is no certainty in it : For Pliny and GoluMelta prefer thefe begot in Autumn, to thofe begot in the Spring. And there fore our Tranflation is moft proper, which reprefents Jacob, asulingthis Artifice, of laying the Rods be fore their)., only when the ftronger Cattle came toge ther, and not when the weaker. And fo the LXX. underftood the words, without refpeft to the former' or latter breed .• And fo the Hebrew words import, as (hows in the place before named, p. 514.
K k k Ver,
434
Chapter Ver. 43. And the Man increafed exceedingly y &C.J
XXXI. Some have made it a quefton, whether he gp^alUhis
WV"\J Riches honeftly $ becaufe Laban did not think of his
Verfe 43»ufingany Art, but only of barecafual Produ&ions.
But, as what was not direftly again ft the Contraft,
may be thought to be allowed by it 5 foit is certain
that Jacob might lawfully take what God beftowed
upon him .• Who feems to have dire&ed hrm by an
Angel to ufe this Artifice 5 or, atleaft, teftified his
Approbation of it : Intending to transfer unto Jacob
the Wealth of Labany as he gave the Riches of the
Egyptians toihe Ijraelites.Vor the World is his, and the
Fulnefs thereof.- And he may difpofe of every thing
in it, as he pleafes.
Maid-Servants^ &c.} To look after his Cattle $ and after his Camels and Afles, which he alfo pur- chafed.
CHAP. XXXI.
Verfe i. Ver. t.T TE heard the words ofLaban's Sons."] Who
JL x uttered fuch difcontented or threatning
Speeches, as made him fear they would fall upon him
and do him rnifchief. This was the firft Caufe of hii
Eefolved flight.
Hath tak$n away all that was our Fathers."] They fpeakof him, as if he had been a Thief : which made him fufpeft they would ufe him accordingly. AUthis Glory."] All thefe Riches, verfe \6. Verfe x. Ver. 2. And Jacob beheld the Countenance of La- bo*, &c.] This was the fecond Caufe of his Refolu-
tion
upon GENESIS. 455
tionto be gone $ That he faw by Laban's looks things Chapter were not likely to go well with him if he ftayed any XXXI. longer. ^^r^^
Ver. 3. And the LOR Dfaid unto Jacob, 8cc.] This Verfe. 3. was the third Caufe, the Divine Majefty appeared to him, and bad him be gone. And as he had his War rant, fo hefeals it with his Promife to proteft him in his Return to his own Country.
Ver. 4. Jacob fent and called Rachel and Leah."] Verfe 4. ! Rachel is firft mentioned as his chief Wife/ forfo (he was in his defignment .• And fo the Pofterity of Leah afterward acknowledged, naming her firft in the Blefling of Ruth, IV. u.
To the Field unto his Flock~] That he might dif- courfe them privately /Fearing alfo, it is likely, that tie might be feized byLaban and his Sons, if he went o the Houfe.
Ver. 5. The God of my Fathers hath been with me."] Verfe $. Hath appeared to me, (verfe 3..,) and bid me not fear your Father.
Ver. 6. With all my power.'] I have omitted nothing Verfe 6. hat 1 could do, to promote his Intereft.
Ver. 7. Hath deceived we."] Dealt unjuftly with Verfe 7. me, in not (landing to his Agreement.
Changed my Wages ten times!] i. e. Very of ten $ as many interpret it from like Eypreffion in other >laces, particularly Levit. XXVI. 26. where ten Wo men are put for a great number of Women. But others think that he really changed his Wages, juft en times. For he ferved him fx Years, after he made the Agreement with him, mentioned in the foregoing Chapter , verfe 31, &c. And the firft Year heftood to his Bargain.- But feeing him thrive ex- eedingly, he altered the form of their Covenants,
Kkk 2 a*
A COMMENTARY
Chapter at the end ofthat Year. And ip like manner, everp XXXI. half Year, whenthe Ews brought forth young ones, vrv-^ ("which they did twice a Year) arid he faw them fpot* ted 5 he broke his Contract* and made a new one, lefs advantageous to Jacob : Sometimes re (training it to one fort of Cattle, fometimes to another : And not letting him have the whole benefit of his Contract Which is not at all improbable : For Jacob mentions his ill dealing with him in the very fame words, verfi 41. And in the next Verfe to this he relates how Laban would fometimes let him have only the fpecl^ led , at another time, none but the rjng:jlraked .-, and fo we may fuppofe of the reft. See this explained by St. tiierom m §>u<eft. Heir, and by St. An* Jtm&JiCV.inGen.
But God fitffered him not to hurt we."] To defraud me of my Wages, by thefe changes which he made in them.
¥erfe 9. Ver. 9. Thus hath God taken away^ , &c/] He pru* dently conceals his own Artifice,and only relates what hand God had in the bufinefs, fwMch indeed was^ht Chief, for without his Bieffing.it could not have pro* fpered)for fear perhaps that they fhould any way di vulge it, and bring him into danger with Laban. For every Rody cannot keep a Secret, fthe Hebrews make too fevere and foolifh Refleftions on Women upon this occafionj and his whole Eftate depending on this, he thought it be ft" to keep it to himfclf for the prefent.
Yerfe 1C, Ver, 10. R&tMMtopafi, at the time the Cattle con- cejved^ &c.] to confirm them in the Opinion, that the hand of God had transferred all the Riches of their Father unto him • he relates what was reprefen*
ted. to him in a Dream.
The
upon GENES IS; 43 jr
The Rams that leaped, Sec.] He behtld them fuch, Chapter as he had agreed to have for his Hire 5 and therefore XXXI. likely to procjuce others fpotted^ and finked, like L/"V"\J themfelves. According to the common Obfervation of the Poet .-
i^-
Sic cattilos* canibns fa/tiles ,- yfr matribns htedos,
For in the Hebrew the words ring-ftr-akgd zndfpeckled^ may be referred to the Ews as well as to the kams: And it is probable he had this Vifion before he made his Agreement with Laban $ whereby he was directed,' to the Artifice of which he made ufe : Or, elfe God • reprefented to him afterward, that he approved it, and would make it fuccefsful.;
Grtzled."] This word (Barud^ is not u fed before ^ But I took notice of it, in the foregoing Chapter ^ verfe 52. that it fignifies as much as great white or grey Spots^ like to Hatl-ftones. It is juft the quite contra ry to Nakpd; fpeekkdor fprinkled, with little black- Spots, which were upon the Sheep that were white : Asthefe were whitijb orgrrfled Spots, upon thole that were black.
Ver. ii. And the Angel of God fydke unto we ^ &c]Verfe 11.- Id the Name of God, as his Ambaffadour : Cod being fuppoftd to be prefenr, where his A-iigels, who. are his Retinue, are faidto appear, as I have often noted „ SeeXXVIlL 17.
Ver. 12. Lift up now thine eyes."} He fold verfe iorVerfe I- that he did lip up his Eyes : Therefore the meaning-. here is, Obfervenow^ and nw\ what thou feeft.
Ihavefeen all that Lab an doth unto -tkee.~] Taken fuch notice of ity that I v/illdothee Right,
Ver,
H COMMENT ART
Chapter Ver. 13. I am the God of Bethel.'] It is plain by XXXI. this, that though the Angel only appeared, verfe n. ^fy~*** Tet God hiBjfelf was prefent and remembred him,how Verfe 1 3. he had appeared unto himiin Bethel, XXVIII. If> I2,&c. and how Jacob had anointed the Pillar -, and vowed avow unto him. So Maimonides expounds it $ for Jaco^ no doubt, faith he, made the Vow to God, and not to the Angel; And therefore the Angel (as he underftands it) fpeaks here in the Name of God and notofhimfelf, More Nevtch. P. i. cap. 27 See Chapter II. n, 15. But I fee no reafcn why* we (hould not fuppofe the Divine Majefty himfelf to have appeared alfo, as he did at Bethel : When Ja cob faw the Angels afcending and defcending upon the Ladder, and the L o a D himfelf (landing at the top, andfpeaking to him, as he doth here. For up on a ferious Consideration of all the Circumftances, this Vifion, here mentioned, feems to me to be di- ftinft from what was represented by an Angel in a Dream, verfe 1 1. For he had that it is evident, at the beginning of his la ft/* Years Service 3 this, at the conclusion of them •> But he puts them both together, becaufethey belong to the fame Matter.
And God now remembers his Vowjo (how him that he was well-pleafed with it 5 and to excite him toper- form it, when he had brought him (as he aflures him he would) to that place again.
?¥erfe 14. Ver. 14. Rachel and Leah anfaered> Sec.] They im mediately confented to go along with him $ and not fo much as to acquaint their Father with it •• For they knew he would give them nothing.
// there any Portion, &c/] We (hall get nothing by flaying with him :The reafcn of which follows.
Ver.
upon G E N ESI S;:
Ver. IJ. Are we not counted as Strangers ? &ic.*] He Chapter hath not dealt with us as if we were his Children: XXXI. But as if we were of fome other Family ^ whom he CXV"NJ had bought, and fold again. Verfe 15.
Sold H*.'} Not fo much giving us in Marriage 3 as felling us for the Price of Jacob's Labour.
§>ujte devoured our Money"] Kept to himfelf all the Money he got by thy Service 3 and given us not a Far tiling of it.
Ver. 1 6. For all the Riches, &c.] God hath but Verfe 16. given us that which was our own : And therefore thou maift lawfully keep it, and go away with it.
Ver. 17. Jacob rofe up J} Prepared himfelf for the Verfe 17* Journey.
Andfet his Sons.'] As was but needful .• Reuben. his eldeft, being fcarce fourteen Years old ,• and Jofefh hisycwngeft, fcarce/^:.
Vpon Cantels^] They ufed to ride upon Camels in the Eaft-Country 5 efpecially when they made long Journeys, See XXIV. 10.
Ver. 18. He carried away all his Cattle."} But no- Verfe i& thing of L*ban$ ; as Jofephus, without any reafon, fanfies.
Ver. 19. Labanwent to/hear hts Sheep.~] Which gave Verfe 19, Jacob the better opportunity to efcape, whilft he was bufie about that 5 and feafting, perhaps, his Shearers.
And Rachel had ftolen^]ln all likelyhood hi^Wivea returned to the Houfe, to fetch what they had left there, when Jacob fent to fpeak with them in the Field, (verfe 4. } and then Rachel took away thefe Images.
The Images that her Father had,"] Thefe Images in- the Hebrw are called TE R A P HIM: Of which
we
440 A COM ME NT ART
Chapter we read very often, afterward, in the Holy Scripture. XXXI. Mercer and Simeon de Mais take it for an exotick VV\J word .* But others derive it from the Hebrew word Rapha, which fignifies to cure or heal ^ as if chefe were lookt upon as Salvatoret^ Saviours and Deli verers, or Prefervers from Mifchief.
There are other Derivations, of which .there is no certainty : But mod agree they were a kind of Pe- nates, as the Romans called them, Honftold Golds: In which ftyle Laban fpeaks of them, when he fays, verfe "30. Wherefore haft thon ftolen my Gods .<? But it is a great Queftion among the Hebrew Doftors, Whether in thefe ancient Tirn'es,tfeey worftiipped them as Gods, or only ufed them as Inftruments of Divination $ as Mt.Selden obferves, de Dns Syris Syntagm. L cap. 2. Where he (hows, thatfeveral of the Hebrew Doctors ta-ke-them to have been Figures in Humane {hape, (i Sam. XIX. 13.) made by Aftrologers to be capa ble (as they fanfied) of the heavenly Influences. And for this reafon, they think, Rachel ftole them, t\\ztLaban might not enquire by them, which way Jacob and his Family were gone. HottingerMv hath many ingenious Arguments to prove, that they were the fame with the Arabian Tatifmans, in after times : which were Images made under fuch or fuch Con- ftellations, to receive the heavenly Influences .'Either to be a Phylaftery, or an Oracle. See L. I. Hifto*. Orient, cap. 8.
But the Conjefture of Lud. de Dieu upon this place, feems to rne far more, probable, that they were the Keprefentations of feme Angelical Powers, (Te- raphim and Seraphin being the very fame, by the change only of a Letter) who, they imagined, de* dared the Mind of God, by them. For, in thofe
Coun-
Hfon GENESIS, 441
Countries where the SCHECHINA H, or Pre-Chapter fence of the Divine Majefty did not appear, as it did XXXI. in Abrahams Family, they had at lealt fome Tradi- '^ tion of it, and of the Angels that were its Atten dants: The refemblance of which they made, in hope they might by that means have a Communica tion with them, and gain Intelligence from Heaven. Of which, evil Spirits made their Advantage $ and abufed Mankind by the lying Anfwers they gave to their Enquiries. For there is no reafon to think that God allowed, much lefs appointed the making ofthefe Teraphiw : Which Gaffarel adventures to fay, were Pioully ufed before the Law of Mofes, and God ma- nifeftecl his Mind and Will by them. This had been to lead Men into Idolatry, by Image- wor (hip: Un to which they were too prone of themfelves.
Expofitors differ very much about Rachel's Inten tion in dealing them. Some fanfie, (he ftill retained a tang of Superftition : But I take it to be more like ly, that Jacob^ who loved her extreamly, and was no lefs beloved by her, had brought her off from the falfe Notions and bad Cuftoms of her Country. And then fhe did not carry them away, for fear Laban (hould enquire by them, which way they were gone: (for (he knew they were but vain Idols, which could give no Direction) But, rather defigned to convince her Father of his Superftition ^ by letting him fee, that his Gods (as he called them) could not preferve themfelves, much lefs do any fervice to him. Or, perhaps, fhe intended to give her felf fome Portion of his Goods, which (lie thought juftly belonged to her : And fo took thefe Terafhim^ which were of fome value ("though fmall Images J becaufe they are .generally fuppofed to have been madeof Silver-
LI 1 Ven
442 A COMMENTART
Chapter Ver. 20. Jacob ftole away unawares7\ Without the XXXI. knowledge of Laban. For the word Heart ("as it is
WWJ in the Hebrew) is here put for the 'Understanding and Verfe 2O.jfv//.
Laban the Syrian!^ There being no neceflity of mentioning his Country, ( which was well known from the preceding Story J feme think he is htre called the Syrian, to denote that as cunning as he was, Jacob was too hard for him. For the Syrians^ in an cient Authors, are obferved to have been a very craf ty, fubtil People. But there is no certainty of this $ there being a frequent redundance very obvious in this Language. See verfe 2 5-.
Verfe 21. Ver. 21. So he fled, See}, Pack'd up his Baggage (as we now fpeak) and made all ready for a fpeedy flight: And (as it follows) rofe up^ and made all the hafte he could to get over the River.
And pajfid over the River.] i.e. Euphrates^ fre quently called in Scripture, the River, in regard of its eminence.
Mount Gilead.~] So called afterward, from what Jacob and Laban did there, verfe 48. Injoyned to Mount Libanits;
Verfe 22 Ver. 22. On the third day."] There was fuchadi-
'ftance between Jacob's Flock and his (~XXXIL 36.)
that he could not hear fooner : Efpecially when he
was taken up with other bufinefs, (verfe 19^ and did
not make enquiry.
¥£rfe 22* Ver. 23.. Tookhw Brethren*] Some of his near Kin dred.
They overtook. him~\ The .Hebrew word imports, They came clofe up to him*
24,, Ver. 24. And God^ came to Laban the Syrian in a Dream, &C.1] See concerning this Expreffion5XX. 3.
upon GENESIS, 445
Speal( not to Jacob either good or bad.~] About his Chapter return to thee. Unto which God charges htm, he XXXi. fhould neither allure him by Promifes, nor affright u'VNJ him by Threats.
Ver. 15. ThenLabanovertookJjacob^ This is a dif- Vcrfe 2>> ferent word from that in verfe 23. fignifying he came near, or approached juft to him : So that they might confer one with another*
Now Jacob had filched his Tent, 8cc.^ For Jacob and Laban had both pitched their Tents in the fame Mount : not far from one another. This Jofephus thinks they had done, in the Evening; when Laban came up fo clofe to him, that if the Night had not parted them, they might then have difcourfed toge ther : Which they did the next Morning, when they came nearer one to another $ after God had warned Laban not to ftop his Journey.
Here Gilead is redundant, as the word Syrian was before in verfe 20, 2^.
Ver. 2 6. As Captives taken with the Su>ord.~\ As Prizes Verfe 2 6. in War ^ which are wont to be carried off with force and violence.
Ver. 18. Thou, haft now done fooliflily in fo */0/#g/] Verfe ^8» He feems to pretend, that he would have been very kind to him, if they had parted with mutual Con- fent : And would have him think he had loft by ftealing away, not only the Mufick and Merriment, ("before-mentioned, verfe 17.) but fuch Gifts as he would have beftowed upon him.
Ver. 29. The God of your Father fpakg unto me, &c^] Verfe zg. There is no ground to think that the S CHEC HI± N A H, or Dlvme Majefty appeared to him , for we do not read either here or verfe 24. of his feeing any thi-ng, but hearing one fpeak to him, and that in a
t, 1 1 2 -Dream „*
444 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Dream.- Who told him, I fuppofe, that he was the
XXXI. God of Ifaac, and of Abraham. Or, if he faw a glo-
L^VNJ nous Appearance, it was in his fleep only ^ not when
he was awake.
Verfe 30, Ver, 30. Stolen my Gods."] See verfe 19. Verfe 31. Ver. 31. Becaufe Iwa* afraid.] This is an An- fwer to the firft part of Labans Expoftulation, verfe 26,27, See.
Verfe 32. V&.qi. With who wfoever thoufindeft^&c.~] This is an Anfwer to the laft part of it. From which fome gather., that Theft was punifhed with death, in thofe days. Sacrilege perhaps was.
Verfe 33. Ver. 33. Laban went into Jacob's Tent^ 8cc.] This {hows that Men and Women had every one of them, their diftinft Tents, apart by themfelves 3 as was no ted before, XXIV. ult.
Verfe 34. Ver. 34. Camels Furniture!] The Saddle upon which they rode, or laid their Carriage.
Searched alt their Tent.] Except that place where (he fat.
Verfe 25. Ver. 35. Let it not difpleafe^&c.'] She begs his Pardon that (he did not ftand up to do him Reve rence, as became a Child to her Father,- And excufes it, by an. Infirmity which was upon her.
And he fearched.~] He looked all about the place where (he fat.
Verfe 36. Ver. 36. Jacob anfaered andfaid^&z.] He pro ceeded farther in his Anfwer; and expoftulates with Laban^ as he had done with him .• Setting forth the cauflefnefs of his Purfuit, the injuftice of Charging him with Theft, and all his unkind ufage of him, from the time he came to him, till his Departure 5 notwithftanding his faithful Services, which he re- prefents moft admirably*
Ver.
upon GENESIS. 44$
Ver. 38. Thy Ews and She-Goats have not c*ft then Chapter j I lookt fo carefully after them, and fuch was XXXI, the Bleffing of God upon my Care, none of them L/^V^O mifcarried. A mod high Commendation of hisSer- Verle $ vice, Who would not have valued fuch a Servant, for whofe fake God beftowed fuch an unwonted Fe cundity upon Lab an s Flock ?
TheRamsofthyFlocl^hdve I not eaten,"] Under Rams are comprehended the Lambs Mo : For if he ' had eaten any of them, it had been no great Com mendation to abftain from the Rams. But he con tented himfelf with Pulfe, or fuch like mean Diet, to promote his Matter's Profit.
Ver. 39. That which was torn of Be aft s^ Sccf] And Verfe 39 that alfo which was ftolen by Theft, was not brought to Labans Account 5 but Jacob made them good. Which was not only an unjuft exadion, but an in humane: For the moft careful Shepherd in the World could not have his Eye every where, to pre vent fuch things, efpecially in the dark 5 as it fol lows.
Whether ftolen by day or by night. ~] A mo ft barba rous ufage of a Nephew, and a Son-in-law, to make him pay for that which wild Beafts devoured, or Thieves ftole-againft his will ;, when no Body could fee their approach in the Night. Some queftion where Jacob got Money to pay fv>r them. But it is to be confidered, that he did not come quite un provided, from his Father's Houfe $ with which al- fo, we may reafonably think, he ftill held fome Cor- refpondence.
Ver. 40. Thus was 7, in the day the drought, Sec.] Verfe 4, While I ferved thee, the Heat confumed me in the Day-time, and the Froft nipt me by Night, For m
thole
446 ^ COMMENT ART
Chapter thofe Countries Shepherds were wont to watch their XXXL Flocks ^ efpecially about the time that Ews were L/"VNJ likely to yean : As we read Lnkf II. 8. See Bochart in his Hierozoic. P. I. L. II. cap. 44.
My Sleep departed from wine Eyes.~] Many times he took no reft ^ being awakned by wild Beaft, or by Thieves, or kept awake by his great folicitude for his Flock.
Verfe 41. Ver. 41. Thw have I been Twenty Tears m thj H0ufe.~] This hath been my manner of life, for no lefs than twenty Years, that I have been a Servant in thy Family.
Verfe 42. Ver. 42. The fear of Ifaac^ The God whom Ifaac feared 5 that is, worihipped : As the Chaldee inter prets it.
Thou hadjlfetit me away now empty. ~] Without Goods, Wives or Children : For he feems to have been fa barbarous, that if he had been left to himfelf, he would have made them all his Slaves.
God hath feen my afflift/on.'] How ill thou haft treated me -5 and taken care to relieve me. For fo the wordyee/z fignifies in many places 5 particular ly, XVI. 13-
Verfe 43. Ver. 43. Thefe Cattle are my Cattle, &c.] Becaufe they belonged to his Daughters, and their Children^ therefore he calls them his. That is, now he is in a good mood, and pretends the fame Care of every thing that Jacob had, as if it were his own. So it follows.
And what can I do this day unto thefe my Daugh ters? 8cc.] How can I do them any harm^ when they are fo very dear to me ?
44. Ver. 44. Let us make a Covenant, &c."] Enter in to a flrift League, by forne Monument or other*
that
upon GEN 'E S I S, 447'
that (ball remain as a Teftimony of our Friend- Chapter (hip. XXXI.
Ver. 45. Set H up for a Pillar^] For a Monument of ^^T^J what Laban defired. Verfe 45-
Ver. 46. Jacob faid to his Brethren gather Stones^ &c.] Verfe 46. \ He prays every one, whom Laban had brought with 1 him, to bring a Stone 3 and they did fo, and laid them together on an heap :, which was flat at the top like a Table: So that they did eat upon it the next Morning, verfe 54.
Ver. 47. Laban called it Jegar-Sakadutha, Sec] One Verfe 47, of them gave it a Syriac Name, fignifying the heap of Teftjmoxy : The other an Hebrew, fignifying the heap of Witnefs. For Gal is an Heap in Hebrew, and Ed, a Witnefs. Thefe two Languages were different : But not fo much that they did not underftand one a- norher, as appears by the whole Story.
Ver. 48. This heap K a Witnefs between me and thee Verfe 48. tkfr day^\ It (hall remain as a Monument, that we agree ^ not to tranfgrefs thefe Bounds, as it is ex plained, verfe 52.
Ver. 49. MizpahS] A Watch-Tower. This (hows Verfe 49.; that Laban underftood Hebrew as well as Syriac : Or, rather, that thefe were two Dialefts : Which differed in pronunciation, and in many words, (as thofe mentioned verfe 47. -) but in moft, had the fame common to them both.
The LORD watch between me swdthee"] Obferve how we behave our felves, when we cannot fee one another. Here he ufes the Name of Jehovah ; which < (hows he was acquainted with the Religion offacob, as well as his Language^ and wcrrtiipped, it's likely, the LORD of Heaven and of Earth 5 though not without fomefuperftitious mix'.ureSo
Ver,'
448 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 50. Ifthou/hatt affliSf my Daughter, &c] It XXXI. feems to be a (hort form of Speech, importing $ God ^^y1^ who cbfervesall things will punilh thee for it.
Tie 50. jj tj}OH taj^Q otf)€r Wives fa faM my Daughters^
Which might have been worfe for them and their Pofterity : And therefore he lays this reftraint upon him.
No Man is with /&, &c.] Though here be no Man befidts ourfelves, to be Witnefs of this Agreement 5 yet, confider -that God (which is infinitely more) knows it, and will punifti him that tranfgreffes it.
fnthefe two laft Perfes, he difcourfes very Religi- oufly^ which revived alfo his natural Affedion to his Children.
'-Verfe -51. Ver. 51. Thfr heap be wttnefs, and ihi* Pillar be wit- nefs^ $cc.3 it feems that Lab an and his Company fet up an Heap, made of the Stones which every one brought $ and Jacob fet up one fingle large Stone (verfe 45.) in the form of a Pillar. And, it's likely, his Pillar lookt towards the Land of Canaan 5 and their Heap towards Haraw.
;•• .pt- That I will not pafs over thif heap, &c.] As Stones were fet in the Confines of Fields to be Boundaries, and Land-marks fas we call them) to diftinguifh Mens Poffeflions, and limit them from incroaching one upon another: So were this Heap, and this Pil lar intended to be in the nature of fuch Boundaries , beyond which neither of them (hould pafs armed, to offend the other.
'Verfe 53. Ver. 59. The Godof Abraham^ and the God 6f AV bor.~] Thefe two were Brethren, (for he doth Dot mean, fure, their Grand- father, the Father of Te- , XL 24.) and before Abraham^ was called out of t they both w.orfhipped other Gods, Jofi. XXiV.2.
upon GENESIS, 449
But then Abraham renounced thofe Gods, and wor- Chapter (hipped only the Creator of Heaven and Earth. As XXXL Nahor, I have formerly conjeftured, alfo did $ when U^Wi he followed him to Haran. Therefore, I think, we need not make aqueftion by which of Abrahams Gods Lab an now fvvears: For I take him to have been )red up in the true Religion, which made Abraham delire his Son (hould have a Wife out of his Family ^ for which reafon Ifaac alfo fent Jacob hither.
The God of their Father.'} As much as to fay, by the God of our Anceftors: Who, after God's appearing to Abraham and calling himout of his own Country, became the Worlhippers of the LORD of Heaven and Earth alone. See XL 31,
Jacob five ar by the fear of his Father Ifaac.~] By him whom Ifaac wor (hipped, verfe 42. He mentions the fear of Ifaac rather than the God of Abraham-*, to de clare more plainly and undoubtedly, by what God he fware. For Abraham had been an Idolater } but Ifaac never was.
Ver. 54. Jacob offered Sacrifice.'] Peace -Offer ings, Verfe 54* (as they were afterward called) part of which were eaten by him that offered them, and by his Friends. This further (hows they were of the fame Religion, by their partaking of the fame Sacrifice : Which Ja cob no doubt offered to the True God.
Called his Brethren to eat Bread."] Invited them to Teaft viith him upon that Sacrifice : Whereby they confirmed the Covenant lately made between them.
Ver. 5^. Laban blejfed them^ Prayed God to pre- Verfe 55, ferve and profper them.
Returned to his place."] Viz. Harax*
Mmm CHAP
A COMMENT^KT
Chapter
xxxn.
CHAP. XXXIL
Verfe i. Ver. i.'TpHfi Angels of God mtt him.'] To in- X courage and comfort him, with the at- furance that God was with him. Th5s is a remark able PaflTage, (bowing the fingular Care God had of him : Who, as he appeared to him when he went from Canaan $ fo now appeared to him again in hi* return thither $ that he might depend upon the Pro- mife he then made him, XXVIII. 13, 14, 15.
Verf« 2. Ver. 2. This is God's hofi.~] Which attend upon the ScHECHINAH, or Divine Majefty ^ to execute his Commands.
Mahanaim.'] i. e. TwaHofts, or Camps, as it is in the Margin. Either, becaufe there werefeveral Squa drons (aswefpeak) of the Angels 5 drawn up like an Army, ready for his defence: Or, becaufe, befides his own Family, which was pitched here in order like a Camp, there was that of the Angels alfo. The former feems moft probable, becaufe this Name re lates to God's Hoft) mentioned before 5 which con* fitted of feveral Troops of Angels.
Verfc 3* Ver. 3. And Jacob fent Me/fingers before him^ &C.J As he was about to pafsover 'Jordan (verfi 10.) he fent fome to wait upon his Brother.
VntotheLandofSeir.'] Which Efau, it feems, had conquered in Jacob's abfence, according to the Blef- fing of his Father, XXVII. 40. By thy Sword fialt tho* live. This Jacob thought fit to congratulate to him 5 and at the fame time to try how he ftood affe&ed towwds himfelf*
J&
upon G E N E S 1 & 45 1
The Country ofEdom.] So it was called in Mofes Chapter his time. XXXII.
Ver. 4. Thv* fhaS ye fpeal^ to my Lord, Efau."] He L^VN calls him his Lord, that he might mollifie his Anger, Verfe 4. if any remained, by humble Language. Which I (bunded as if he had no thoughts of the Birth-right ! he had purchafed of him. This alfo was the Style wherein others addreffed themfelves to E/i/*, afier he had won the Principality of Stir.
Thy fervant Job."] Thefe are fubmiffive words alfo, importing his Inferiority.
/ have fojottrned with Laban, &c.^ This hath the fame defign with the foregoing words 5 to infinuate that he was much inferior to Efan } having been a Servant a long time to Laban.
Ver. ^. And I have Oxen, &c.} Yet he adds this, Verfe 5. That he was plentifully provided for, left Efan (hould think he came a begging, and might prove a burden to him ^ fo the Hebrews underftand it. And Mai- monides obfervesthat he mentions only Oxen, Ajfif, and Flockj, (/. e. of Sheep and Goats) becaufe thefe were the common Pofleffions of all Men, and in all "Countries, thattiad anything. But Horfes and Ca mels, were not ordinary Goods, but the Pofleffions of a few-great Perfons, and in fome Countries only. More Nevoch'wt, Par. III. cap* 39. Jacob indeed had Caarels (verfe 7, 15. and XXXI. 1 7.) but, it is likely, they were not many, and he had no great breed of them.
Men- Servants And Maid-Servsnts.~] Thefe were a part of their Potfeffions, as Oxen and Sheep were 5 which they bought and fold ^ and were no where more plentiful than in Syria, ffrom whence jf*- •cob came) if it were then fuch a Country, as it
M m m 2 was
A COMMENT ART
Chapter was in after-times, when the Roman Writers
XXXII. they wazfervituti natj, born to flavery.
W^V^NJ That 1 may find grace in thy fight.'] He courts his
Friendship, and defires he would favour hira, and:
not hinder him in his Paflage to their old Father.
Verfe 6. Ver,6. We came to thy Brother Efatt^ and a If a he
eoweth to meet thee.~] They reported, no doubt, what
he reply'd to Jacob's Meflage $ and this coming to meet
him fignifies, that he gave them a civil reception :
And pretended, at leaft, to be glad to hear of his
Brother's return 5 and therefore prepared to corns
and welcome him into his own Country,
Four hundred Men with him."] Nobly attended y partly to (how his Greatnefs, and partly to do ho* nour to Jacob by a Publick Salutation.
Verfe 7. Ver. 7. Then Jacob wo* greatly afraid, Sccf) Being confciousto himfelf whatcaufe Efau had not to love him. He interpreted his coming to meet him, with fuch a Number, otherwife than it was represented. The Vifion of Angels indeed, who meet him, (verfe K). might have fortified him againft all fear of Efatts meeting him : But the firft Motions of fuch Paflions cannot always be prevented.
He divided the People that were with him, C&c.^ Put his Family and all belonging to him, in as good a Poflure, as he was able.
¥erfe 9, Ver. 9. OGod of my Father Abraham, &c.] As he had prudently difpofed- all things for the prefer- vation of his Family, at leaft of fome of them .• So he addreffes himfelf to God, fof whofe Goodnefs both Abraham and Ifa<tc had had very long experience) without whoCe Favour, he knew the Angels them- felves could do nothing for him. For they are hn i verfe.*, and aft only by his Command,
Return
upon GENESIS. 453
. Return unto thy Country^] He represents to God that Chapter he was in the way of Obedience to his Orders : And XXXLL then remembers him .of his gracious Promife, / ^/^L/VSJ deal well with thee.
Ver. 10. I am not worthy^ Sec."] Next, he acknow- Verfe 10. i ledges what God had done for him already 5 and how unworthy he was of the fmalleft part of it.
With my Staff.'] As a poor Traveller, having no more than I could carry about me. Travellers ufed Staffs then, as they do now 3 for their Eafe, and for their Defence.
Ver. n. The Mother with the Children.'] i.e. My Verfe if* whole Family : Which could not confift with God s Promife, mentioned in the next^r/e.
Ver. 12. As the Sand of the Sea.*} The words of Verfe 12. God's Promife are as the duft of the Earth, XXVIII. 14. But that fignified the fame with what God had faid to Abraham^ XX H. 17. which this Promife authori zed him to apply to himfelf, as the Seed whom he intended to blefsr
Ver. 13. He lodged there."]' Le. In Mahanaim, or Verfe 1 3, - thereabouts: Where he hoped God would com mand the Angels., which he had feen, to protect him.
And took^of that which ca-me to his handi^ &cf] Ac cording to this Tranflation, he took what he firft ^ light upon, without any choice 5 being ftill in a Paf- (ion of Fear. But the Hebrew Phrafe ITD, that which was in his Hand, fignifies what was in h's Power to prefent him withal, viz,. Such Cattle as are after men tioned 5 though he had no Jewels, or precious Rai ment. And it appears that he chofe them with' great Confederation, in exaft Proportions: Forha- ving commended himfelf, upon fuch good Grounds,
454 "'# COM MEN? ART
Chapter to vtlie Protection of the Almighty, his Fear va- XXXII. nifhed.
Ver. 14. Two hundred She-Go at *> and twenty He* l^ Goats, &c.] The M*/« bear the proportion of m to /e# Females. And fo it was in the Rams and B0#/ j which was the proportion Varro faith was obferved in his Days and Country. See Boohart in his Him- zoic. P. I. L. II. cap. 54.
' Verfe 15. Ver. 1 5 . Milch Camels.'] Who had lately-foaled : For nothing was more delicious in thofe Countries ("as Bochart obferves out of AriftoHe^ Pliny , and ma ny other Authors, Ib. lib. II. cap. ^.} than Camels Milk.
*' Verfe >i8. Ver. 18. It is a prefent.~] With which he hoped to fweeten him $ there being a great Power in Gifts to win Mens Hearts, even when they are difaffefted: As the wife Man obferves in many places, Prov. XVII. 8. XVIII. 1 6, &c.
And behold he is behind us^\ He would not have Efau think that he was afraid to fee him.
^Verfe 19. Ver. 19. Andfo he commanded the fecond, &c/] He therefore diftributed them into feveral Droves, that they might make a greater appearance $ and that he might ftill be more and more pleafed, with the Re- fpeft which was fhown him, and the Prefent intended him. For every new Drove, and new Speech, made a new Impreffion upon him.
Verfe 21 • Ver. 2i. Lodged that night in the company. ~\ Or, •Camp, i. e. where he pitched the Tents for his Fa mily.
Verfe a2. Ver. 22. Herofe up that night ^] Before it was Day $ in the laft Watch of the Night.
His Eleven Sons.'] /. e. All his Children : For the Daughter is comprehended.
upon GENESIS.
Pajfed over the ford JMak^\ This was a little R.i- Chapter
i ver, flowing from the Country of the Ammonites, XXXII.
! and falling into Jordan , where it comes out of the L/*V\J Lake of Genefareth. It was in one place fordable 5
j and there Jacob firft parted over himfelf, to try the
! depth of it.
Ver. 23. And he took them, andfent them over ^ 8cc/] Verfe 03 8 Having tried the Ford, he returned : and caufed them all to pafs over : And fo (as it follows) was left alone, on the Eaft-Jide of the Brook*
Ver. 24. And there wreftled a Man mthhim^ He Verfe 24. ftaid alone, in all likelihood, that he might commend himfelf and his Family to God, by earned Prayer.- Which feems to be confirmed by the Prophet Hofea^ XII. 4. And as he was Praying, or when he had done, a Man encountred him, with whom he gra* pled 5 taking him, perhaps, for fome of Efaus Atten dants come to furprife him. For it was fo dark, that he could not fee what kind of Countenance he had: Or, if he could, Angels were wont to appear fo like to Men, that at the firft they did not difcera •< the difference. Maimonides fanfies all this was done in a Prophetick Vifion, More Newel* P. II cap. 42 . but the whole Narration confutes this. The only queftion is, whether this was a created Angel, or the Eternal AOFO2,- as many of the ancient Fathers underftood it. Whofe Opinion is oppofed by St, AH- Jim, fas I obferved upon the XVIII. Chapter) and feems tome not fo probable, as that this Angel was one of God's Hoft, mentioned verfe 2. tent from the SCHECHINAH, or Divive Majefly : By whofe Order, and in whofe Prefence, he ftrove with Jacob 9 in fuch manner, as is here defcribed; In fhort, t take him to be OE« of thpfe whom the Jews call
Angds
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Angels of the Prefence^ that wait continually upon
XXXII. the Divine Majefty, and make a part of his Retinue
^^^^ See XXXV. 10. '
Verfe 25. Ver. 25. And when he faw that he prevailed not a- gainji hiw.~] Though Jacob, no doubt, was extraor dinarily ftrengthned by God, in this Combat, (Jtiofk* XH. 5.) yet the Angel who reprefented God, could have prevailed againft him, if his Orders had not .been to let Jacob\\wt the better.
He torched the hollow of his Thigh."] The Angel gave over the Combat ^ but made him know, by this light touch, what he could have done, if he had .pleafed, i.e. quite overthrown him, as eafily as he made him go limping. This difcovered to Jacob that he was more than a Man, who wreftled with him: And that he had riot prevailed againft him by his own Strength $ but by the Power of God.
The hvllow of Jacob's Thigh was out of joyntJ] The Thigh Bone ilipt out of the Cavity, or Socket, into which it was inferted.
"'Verfe 16. ^er' ^ And, hefaid, Let me go'] Though the An gel ceafed to wreftle any longer, yet 'Jacob would not let go his hold : And, the more to fet off his Vifto- ry, the Angel feems not to be able to break from him, without his Confent.
For the Day breads.'] It is time for thee to follow thy Family over the Brook. ]<^i\
And hefaidy I will not let thee go, except thon blefs me.~\ By this it plainly appears, Jacob began to un- derftand who -he was.
27. Ver- 27- ^hdt ™ *fy ^ur/lQ 0 T<'le AnSel t1oth *nbt yet own his Quality } but fpeaks as if he were
^unacquainted with Jacob.
Ver
upon GENESIS. 457
Ver. 28. Thy Name {hall be called no more Jacob, Chapter lut Ifrael.'] i. e. Not only Jacob, (as this Expreffi* XXXII, . on is ufed I Sam. VIII. 7.) or not fo much Jacob, l~/V*i-* telfrad. Which Name abolifhed the other, inhisVerfe l8 Pofterity: Who were called Jfraelites^ but never Ja cobites.
For as a Prince haft thou fower with God^ and with MenJ] Thefe words explain the End and Intention of this Combat , which was to (how, That he having fuch Power with God, as to prevail over one of his Minifters, needed not fear his Bi other Efau. So the Vulgar jLzf/#exprefles it, If thou haft been ftrong againft tjW, how much more {halt thou prevail whh Men ? And it is the Sence of our Tranflation, which more lite rally renders the Hebrew words, Thou haft behaved thy
flik? a Prince ("fo the word Scharitha imports) with God, and with Men, &c. That is, haft (bowed fuch an Heroick Spirit ("as we fpeakj in this Com bat, that thou need-eft not fear Efan and all his fol lowers. This Viftory is anaffurancethat thou (halt get the better of him.
There is no Body skilled in the Original Lan guage, but eafily fees no other Derivation of the Name of Iff ad is to be fought for, but what is contained in this word Scharitha: Which gives thereafon of it. For &zr, as St. Hierom obferves, fignifies a Princes and the Jod in the beginning, is the common note of a proper Name. So *he meaning of Ifrael is as much as a Prince with God.
Ver. 29. Jacob askt hiwandfaid, Tell me, 1 prayV&fe 29.
ee> thy Name."] Jacob having told him his own Name, defires him to requite him in the fame kind : That thereby he might more certainly know, whe ther he was an Angel or a Man. For thefe words
N n n feem
NT A K T.
Chapter feem to* demonftrate, he did not think him to be God
-XXXII. himfelf.
U'VNJ Wherefore doft- thou ask^ after my Name .<?] Do not enquire after it. Rafi thinks Angels changed their Names according to the Offices and Funftions to which they were affigned.
And he blejfid him . there."] Renewed the Blefling which God had promifed to Abraham and his Seed :.- Whereby Jacob was fully fatisfied who he was. For he pronounced this Blefling in the Name of God, from whom he came.
Verfe 30. Ver. 30- Ihavefeen God face to face."] Been admit ted to the neareft Familiarity with him. For he lookt upon this Angel, as a part of thzSCHECHI- NAH$ which* now alfo, it's likely, vifibJy appeared, and made him call this Place Peniel> the Face of God. Whichdothnot import that the &CHECHINAH appeared in an humane Figure, (for it never didj but that he lookt upon it as a Token of the Divine Prefence, and that it approached very near him $ as when one Friend fpeaks to another face to face, as the ancient Phrafe was.
And my life fspreferved."] This is commonly inter preted by the Opinion, which was in old time, that if they faw one of the heavenly Minifters, they were to be no longer Men of this World, but die prefent- ly. But it raay refer (zsMenochius obferves) to the principal Scope of the Combat, which was to con firm Jacob againft the fear of Efau : And fo the mean~ ing is, I doubt not, I a#* fafe$ God will freferve m from any hurt by Efau.
Yerfe 31. Ver. 3 1 . He halted upon his Thigh.'] Becaufe the Hip- Bone was out of its place. Many think thislafted only for a time .-And fome will have it, that the An gel
I upon G E N E S I S. 45?
gel cured him before he gat to E/i*. But there is Chapter nocertainty of either of thefe Conjectures. XXXIII.
Ver. 32. Therefore the Children oflfradeat not of the o-N/^-* \ Sinew which ftranl^ &c.] That Sinew (or Tendon) Verfe 32. ! which fattens the Hip-Bone in its Socket .• Which \ comprehends the Flefh of that Mufcle, which is con- netted to it. He that eat of this was to be beaten, as the Jewjh Matters tell us. See Mr. Selden, Lib. II. deSynedriisf. 552. Hottinger de Leg. Hebr. § 3. Vor- ftittfupon Pirke Eliefer, p. 221.
CHAP. XXXtIL
Ver. i.'Tdcobliftedup hisEyes, &c.] Being come to Verfe r.
J his Family, (whom he fent before him over the Brook, XXXII. 23.) and looking about him, he beheld Efau and his Train, at fome diftance : And put himfelf, his Wives, and Children, in good order to meet him.
Ver. 2. Jofeph hinderMoft,~\ As more dear to him, Verfe 2* than any of the reft.- For he did not yet know that the Mejfiah was to proceed from Jvdah, one of the Sons of Leah.
Ver. 3. And he faffed over before them^\ Put hi felf in the front of them.
Bowed hiwfelftothe Ground feven times."] At fome convenient diftance he began to bow 5 and fo, at every other ftep, or more, he bowed again (feven times J till he cart* near to his Brother.'], This was to teftifie the great Honour he had for him .• And to take out of Efa*$ Mind all fufpicion, that he lookt upon himfelf, as the elder Brother.
N n n 2 Ver,
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 4. Efau ran to meet him.'] This declares the XXXIII. forwardnefs of his Affeftion : Which would not let jf^y~**^ him proceed fo ceremoniously as Jacob did. Verle. 4. Kijfid hwi7\ This word is mark'd in the Hebrew Text fas fourteen other words in the Bible are) with four unufual Points over it-.-- To denote, as the He- brew Doftors think, fome remarkable thing $ which fome of them take to be, the fincerity of kfaus Re conciliation to his Brother. And truly, if be hearti ly pardoned the Injury, which he conceived Jacob had done him, it is much to be noted $ and ought to be lookt upon as a fignhe was become a good Man. And fo Mart.Bucerl remember underflood it, in his Commentaries upon the Epiftle to the Romans :, Where he makes this an Argument thatE/^0 was not a Reprobate, as fome are apt to imagine^ It it be faid that God deterred him from doing his Brother any hurt, it is more than can be proved* For it is recorded indeed that God threatned Laban in fuch a manner, that he durft not meddle with him .• But no fuch thing is faid of Efau 3 though it would have been of more concern to have recorded the fame here, if Mofes had known of any fuch Divine Apparition to him.
Verfe 7. Ver. 7. jofefh and Rachel] The Hebrew Doftors here obferve, that Jofepb goes before his Mother 5 but the Mothers of all the reft went before their Children .• Of which, I think, it is not needful to feek a reafon. For it is likely Mofes did not take care to place his words exa&ly. Or, if he did, no more ought to bs made of it than this,- that Jofepb being a goodly Child, his Mother put him before her , as we commonly do, when we would (how a Child to advantage. Or, he being very young and a forward
Child,
upon GENESIS.
€hildrftept before his Vlother 5 as Children are wont Chapter to do, whenfome fine (how appears which they ea- XXXIII. gerly defire to behold. ^S~y\j
' Ver. 8. What nteaneft thou by all this drove .<? &c.] Veri'e 8. The Servants, no doubt, had told him, fas their Ma- fter had ordered, XXXII. 1 7, &c.) but he asks Ja- cvl?) that he might have an opportunity to declare how little he needed or defired fuch a Prefent.
Thefe are to find grace in the fight of my Lord.'] To teftifie my refpeft to thee, that I may obtain thy Fa vour and Good-will towards me. For Inferiors were wont to approach to their Superiors with Pre- fents, to make thernfelves the more kindly accep ted. And it is obfervable, that as he and all his made fuch Obeyfance to Efau, as fignified he was his Ser vant, (as he calls himfelf, verfi 5 .) fo he ftill Ho nours Efait by the Name of his Lord.
Ver. 9. I have enough my Brother, &c.] In this he Verfe 9*. (hows himfelf not to be of a covetous Humour : But as free from that Vice, as from Revenge.
Ver. 10, If I have found grace in thy fight.] If thou Verfe 10. loveft me.
As though I had feenthe face of God.'] For Efaus- kind Reception of him, he could not but look upon as a Token of the Divine Favour towards him. Some think by God may be meant an Angel, or a great Man .• Intowhofe prefence, Inferiors, as I faid, were wont to approach with Prefents.
And thou waftfleafedwithffte."] Received me kindly. Vetfc I X Ver. 1 1 . Take my Ble$ng7\ L e. My Prefent, as we expound it in the Margin of i SW.XXV. 27.
I have enough^*] It is a larger 'wordih the Hebrew^ than that ufed by Ffau, verfe 9. fignifying that he had enough to fpare of all forts of things ,• And there fore ;
% COMMENT ART
Chapter fore Efau need not fear his impoveri foment, by ac- XXXIII.cepting thisPrefent.
w «\/-%^ Ver. 12. Andhefaid^ Let us take our journey &C.] Verfe ii*Efau invites him to go along with him, to the Land of &*>, and there refrefh himfelf.
I will go before thee."] Show thee the way and con- dud thee.
Verfe 13. Ver. 13. And be fad unto him, &c.] i.e. Jacob faid this in excufe, that he could not go fo faft as Efau 5 and therefore defired to follow after byeafie Journies.
Children are tender^ Jofeph was not above fix or feven Years old.
Flocks and Herds with young.'} The Hebrew word Aloth (in i Sam. VI. 7.} fignifies Kine that had fuck ing Calves. Unto which Sence Bochart inclines in this place } and fo do Jonathan Qnkelos^ and other ancient Interpreters. See his Hierozoic. P. I. Lib. II. cap. 30. Are with me.~] Muft be lookt after very carefully. All the Flock, will die] /. e. All that are big with young 5 or have newly brought forth young. Verfe 14* Ver. 14. / mil lead onfoftlyl] Follow thee with a gentle pace 3 fuch as the Flocks and Children can -bear.
According as the Cattle that go before me.~\ It was ob- ferved before, XXX. 30. that Maiwonides interprets this Phrafe [Leregel~\for the fake : And fo he under- ftands it here, with refpetf to the Cattle andChildren. More Nevoch. P. I. cap, 28. Or, becatife of the Cat tle^ Sec. that they may not be over-driven.
Until I come to wy Lord, untoSeir^] Mofes omits this Journey toSetr^ as hedothhisVifit to his Father, Which one cannot think he deferred for fo many rYears, as were between his return to Canaan^ and the
men-
upon GE N E S ! S?
mention of his coming toMawre, XXXV. 27. Or, Chapter Jacob was hindred, perhaps, by fomething which he XXXIII. could not forefee, from performing this Promife to L/"V*NJ his Brother .-Of which, no doubt, he gave him an ac- count,that he might not be thought to break his word.
Ver. 15. Let we now leave withthee, &c.^ He would Verfe 1 5. have left fome of his Followers with Jacob^ to (how him the way, and to be a Guard to him 5 or honou rably attend him.
Let Me find grace in the fight of my Lord.~] In this alfo be fo kind, as to gratifie my defire, XXX! V. i r.
Ver. 16. Efatt returned that day^] The fame day Verfe 1 6. they met together 5 becaufe he would not be a bur den to Jacob.
Ver. 17. Journeyed toSuccothr\ After he had been Verfe 17* with his Brother in Seir, if he did follow him thither $ as it .-is likely he did, though not here mentioned ^ No more than the Entertainment he gave him, and fuch like things $ which one cannot think were want ing at this meeting.
Built him an Houfe."] Intending to make fome ftay in this place.
Ver. 1 8. And Jacob came to Shalem, a City ofSche- Verfe i80 chtM-"] Or, he came fafe and found (fo the Hebrews generally underftand the word Shalew) to that City called Schechem. And it may refer either to the foundnefsof his Leg ^ which was perfectly well, fo that he halted nolonger : Or, to the fatety of his Perfon } in that he was not at all hurt by Efau : Or, rather, to the fafety of everything he had, no evil accident having befallen him, of any fort, fince he left Laban. Which is the rather now mentioned, be^ caufein the nextCta/tfer, Mofes givesa relation of a very &d misfortune, which befel his Family.
Wk*
464 ^ COMMENT A KY
Chapter When he came frout Padan-Aram.~] Some think this XXXIII. needed not to have been added : Whereas it expref- \S~\T\J fes more fully what was faid before, that he came fafe all the way from thence thither.
And pitched his Tent before the City.'] Becaufe it was the Sabbath-Day, faith Menajfih ben Jfrael, out of the Hebrew Doftors (Probl. VIM. de Creatione) which made him ftopand reft here, and not enter the City, till it waiended. But this is a mere fancy, for the Reft from all Labours on this Day, was not command ed to be qbferved tilt they came out of Egypt $ And the true reafon of pitching his Tent here, was for the convenience of Pafturage.
Verfe 1 9 - Ver, 1 9. And he fought a parcel of a Field."] He made a fmall purchafe, ihat he might be the lefs impofed upon by the Inhabitants of that Country .• Who had difturbed Abraham and Ifaac, about the Wells they digged in the Ground they hired of them.
For an hundred pieces of Money.'} The Margin hath an hundred Lambs. But this is the right Tranflati- on, it appears from ^Att- VII. 16. And Bochart hath taken a great deal of Pains to (how that Xe/ft<* doth not fignifie a Lamb, but fome fort of Money : Though of what value is uncertain, P. I. Hierozoic* Lib. I. cap. 2. and Lib. II. cap. 43. For a great while before this time, money was in ufe 3 with which they trafficked, and not by exchanging one Commodity for another. See XXIII. 16.
Verfe 20. Ver. 20. Called it El-Elohe-Ifrael.'] This Altar is dedicated to God, the God of Ifrael^ who had de livered him from Laban and Efau^ and lately honou red him with with a new Name$ importing his great Power with him.
CHAR
upon GENESIS. 465
Chapter
XXXIV.
WVSJ CHAP. XXXIV.
Ver. i -T 7E TEnt out."] From her Mother's Tent, Verfe i.
V V which was without the City, XXXIII. 18.
To fee the Daughter of the I and.] Into the City of •Shechem, to look about her with the young Women, (as the Hebrew word imports) who, as Jofepkus re lates, celebrated a Feftival at this time, where fome fine Spectacles were, prefented.
Ver. i. Andwben Shechem."} lErorn whom the City, Verfe 2, 3erhaps, had its Name.
Prince of the Country^] Or, one of the Prime Nobi- ity of the Country, verfe 19.
Toother, Sec.] By force, fas both the 7*rg#«'s, and many others underftand it) and raviftied her, ?rom whence we learn, that this was done feme Years after Jacob's return into Canaan : For then Dinah was not much older than Jofepk , and now we muft fup- pofe her, at \zzfcjifteen. And indeed the bloody Faft of her Brethren (hows as much, who muft be grown up to be Men ..- Which they were not when Jacob re turned to Canaan $ the eldeft of them being then fcarce a (tripling of fourteen Years old.
Ver. 3. His Said clave unto Dinah.'] He could Ver»e think of nothing elfe but her .- For he loved her ex- treamly, as it follows in the next Words.
Speak kindly to the Dawfef] Courted her to mar* jy him , with fuch Profeffions of flncere Affedion, as might gain her Heart, notyvithftanding the Injury he had done her.
O o o Ver
466 A COMMENTARY.
Chapter Ver. 4. Get me this Dawfel to Wife7\ Treat with
XXXIV. her Fatherabout our Marriage.
U^VXJ Ver,_s. And Jacob heard, 8tc.] By fome of D/W/s
Verfe 4. Servants, or Companions 5 for it is not to bethought,
Verfe 5. that (he went out alone.
AW his Sons were with the Cattle in the Field.~] which he had lately purchafed^XXXIII. 19. or, in fome hired Ground remote from the City.
Held his peace, Jkc."] Took no notice of what he heard , till he could have their Advice and Affi- ftance.
Verfe 6. Ver. 6. And Hamorwent out.'] Of the City, to treat with Jacob in his Tent, XXXIII. 18.
Verfe 7. Ver. 7. And the Sons of Jacob., 8cc.] As they were treating, in came Jacob's Sons / Who, hearing how their Sifter had been abufed, were very much affiifted, and no lefs angry.
Wrought Folly in Ifrael."] Or, againft IJracl. Com mitted a Wickednefs, highly to the difgraceand inju ry of Ifrael's Family.
Which tkingought not to le dom7\ Contrary to the Law of Nations 5 That a Virgin ftiould be violated without Punifhment. So Raj/.
Verfe 8, Ver. 8. Hawor communed with them.'] With the whole Family, Jacob^ Leah, and Dittah's Brethren. Longeth."] Is extVeamly in Love. For your Daughter."] The Daughter of Jacob and Leah ^ unto whom he fpeaks in the prefence of her Brethren.
Verfe 9. Ver. 9. And make ye Marriages with us, &c. ] Be come one People with us, Verfe 1 6.
Verfe 10, Ver. 10. And ye Jhall dwell with us.*] Settle your felvs among us.
And
upon GENESIS, 467
And the Land fiaU be before yon.'] In any part of our Chapter Country. XXXIV.
Dwell ye.'] He repeats it again, to beget in them a *>******. confidence of a Settlement among them 5 in the En joyment of all their Rights ancTPrivileges ,• as much as if they had been Natives.
And frWe^e.^Exercife what Traffick you pleafe up and down the Country, without any Lett or Impedi ment.
AndgetyoH Pojfejfions therein^ Purchafe Land.
Ver. ii. Let me find Grace in yonrEyes^\ GrantVerfe n« this Petition, which my Father makes in my behalf, XXXIII. 15,
And what ye foattfay unto me, &c.] Make your own Terms, I will agree to them.
Ver. 12. Ask me never fo much Dowry and G////] Verfe 12. This (hows more fully, That the Cuftom of thole times was (as was noted upon XXIX. i8.J for Men to give Money for their Wives. But there was a greater reafon for a Dowry now, and a large one too $ that he might make Compenfation, for the Wrong he had done. For there was a natural Equi ty in thofe Laws of Mofes, (Exod. XXII. 16. Deut. XXII. 28.) by which Men were bound to make Sa- tisfaftion to the Fathers ^ if either by Inticement or Violence, they had abufed their Daughters.
Dowry and Gift, feem to be diftind things : The Dowry being given to the Parents 3 the Gift, to the Kindred.
Ver. 13. The Sons of Jacob anfaered, &c/] Hence Verfe 9. fome infer that by the Cuftom of thofe Days, the Confent of the Brethren was required, rather than of the Parents .• For the Sons of Jacob here make the Contract, as L^«had done with AbrahamsSt*-
O o o 2 vant
468 A COMMENTARY
Chapter vant XXIV. 50. But it is more reafonable to think, XXXIV. that Jacob left ic to them to confider what was fit to WVNJ be done, .in a matter which required great Delibera tion : and then to report their Opinion to him .• Who had the greateft intereft in her, and right to difpofe of her.
Verfe 14. Ver. 14. We cannot do this thing?] It is againft our Religion. Which was partly true $ for though Ja cob himfeH had married one whofe Father wasuntir- cumdfed (as Ifaac had done before him) yet by de grees this Opinion prevailed among them $. till it was eftablifhed by the Law of Mofes.
For that were a reproach to us,~\ They plead Honour, as well as Confdence, Verfe 15. Ver. 15. In this will we confent- untoyoH.~\ Upon
thefe Terms, we will agree to the Match. Verfe I7« Ver. *7- Wiwyidfour Daughter > andbt gtneC\ By this it appears they treated in their Father's Name, as was noted before, Verfe 13.
Verfe 18. Ver. 18. And their words f leafed Hanior, Sec."] It may feem ftrange, they fhouldfo eafilyconfent to be circumcifed, till we confider how paffionately She- chev* loved Dinah, and the great Affeftion HamorhzA to Shechem .-Who was his beloved Sen, verfc 19. Be- fides, this was but a poor Prince, and his City little and mean .• Which he thought to inrich and ftrength- en by Jacob's Family (*who,were very wealthy ) being incorporated with them, verfe2%.
Verfe 19. Ver. 19. He was more honourable.] In greater efteern with his-Father, and all the Family, than any other belonging to it.
Verfe ao. Ver. 10 Came into the Gate of the City.9] Where all Publick Affairs were tranfafted.
upon GENESIS.
And communed rv/th the Men of the City.*] Such Chapter
freat Matters could not be concluded without the XXXIV* ublick Confenr. See XXIII. 18. XXIX. 22. U'WJ.
Ver. 21. Tbefe Men are peaceable.*) They uie many Verfe 21 Arguments to perfuade the People to Confent .• And thej7r/Hs that the Ifradites had hitherto lived inof- fcniively among them.
Let them dwell in the Land and trade therein."] By a Publick Decree, or Law.
For the Land is large enough^] This is the fe- cond Argument, there was Land enough in their Country uncultivated 3 which thefe Men would im prove.
Ver. 23. Shall not their Cattel, &c.] This is the Verfe 23. greateft Argument of all 5 taken from the Profit they fhould have by them 5 the gain of no lefs than all they had. Which is not to.be under ftaod, as if they intended to over-power them, and feize upon all their Stock: But that by Intermarriages, their E- ftates would be inheited by them, as much as by the Israelites.
Ver. 24. All. that went out of the Gate of his City^} Verfe 24* i. c. All the Citizens (XXIII. 18.) who were met to gether in the Common -Hall, (or Place of Publick AfTemblies) and werefoon perfuaded to yield to the Reafons, which had, perfuaded their Rulers.
Ver. 25. Oft the third Day, when they were fore.~] Ver^e a5' And began to be a little Feverifh. For the grea- teft Pain and Anguifh, the Jews obferve, was upon the third Day after Circumcifion ^ which very much ndifpofed them. See Pirl$ Elief. cap. 29, and For* his Annotations^ p. 195. And i ndeed Hippo* the fame of all Wounds and Ulcers 5
that
470 A CO MM E NT ART
Chapter that they are then moft inflamed, by a conflux of (harp XXXIV. Humours to them.
WV-XM* Two of the Sons of Jacob^ Sec.] With their Ser vants.- For they two alone, could not deftroy a whole City, though but (mail.
Slew M the Males.~] The Women and Children in thofe Days were^always fpared in the moft dead ly Wars : As when the Midianitcs were killed, Numb. XXXI. 7, 9. and the Edomites, I Kings XI. 16- And foMofes commanded they (honld do even with th?Cttaa#ttes9Deut.1£X. 15, 14, SezBocKart, P.I. ffierozorc. L. II. c. 56. Selden de Jure N. & G. Lib. VI. c. 16. /?. 745. and de Synedr. L.I.p.8i.
Verfe 26. Ver. 26. 70*4 !>/»** out of Shechems Houfe.~] Where it feems (he remained after the Rape he had committed, in hope of a Marriage. And went out.] Carried her home.
Verfe 27. Ver. 2 7. And the Sons of Jacob.'] The reft of his Sons (who were able to bear Arms) came after the (laughter; andhelptto plunder the City. Thus they were all involved in the Guilt } which was very great and manifold 5 as Bonfrerms^ and, out of him, Meno- chins have obferved.
Becaufe they had defiled.^ Their Prince had defiled her/ Whofe Faft, it feems, they did not disapprove ; And therefore it is imputed to them all, as the canfe of their flaughter.
Verfe 28. Ver- 2^. They tool^ their Skeep, &c.] It is a rea- fonable Conjecture of Bonfrerius^ That Jacob caufed all thefe to be reftored to the Wives and Children of the flain : Whom he fet at liberty.
AnA
upon GENESIS. 471
And fpoiled even all that TO as in the Hottfe^Qf Ham or Chapter zndShechem : Which, perhaps, they kept to them- XXXIV. felves, in eompenfationof the Wrong he had done 5 WVNJ and none of the Family, perhaps, furvivingto own them.
Verfe 30. Te have troubled me7\ Difturbed my Verfe 30. Quiet, and made it unfafe for me to live in this Country } where I hoped to have fettled.
Made me toftink^ Sec,] Made me odious to all the Country, as a Murderer, a Robber, and a Breaker of my Faith.
Ver. 31. Should he deal with our Sifter , as with an Verfe 31. Harlot^] As with- a common Whore, that profti- tuted her felf to his Luft .<? If (he had done fo5 there had been no ground for their Quarrel, (according to the Hebrew Doftors) becatrfe Shechem had not then offended againftthe Laws of the Sons of Noah, (as they fpeakj/.e. The right of Nations.- Which was not violated by a Man's lying with a fingle Woman, by her free Confent. But Dinah beijig forced and violently ravifhed, (as they takeihefence of verfe 2. to be) they tell their Father they might right them- felves by making War upon them. For there was no other way to deal with Princes, whom they could not ittiplead in any Court 5 and therefore betook them- felves to Arms. See Mr. Selden, L. VII. de Jure N. &G.-jftxtaHel>r. cap. 5.
CHAP,
A COMMENTARY
Chapter XXXV.
CHAP. XXX V.
Verfe. i. Ver. r. A ND God faid untojacob^ There were £\ feveral ways, as MarmonrJes obferves, whereby God communicated himfelf unto the Pro phets. Unto whom he is faid, fometimes to (peak by an Angel in a Dream, as he did to Jacob, XXXI. TI. Sometimes by an Angel, without any mention how it was, whether in a Dream or Vifion, or not: Of which he takes this place to be an Instance $ and verfe the i oth of this Chapter, and XXII. 1 5. Third* ly, In other places there is no mention of an Angel, but of God alone fpeaking $ yet in a Vifion, or Dream, XV. I. And, Laftfy, God is faid to fpeak ab- folutely, neither in a Dream, nor Vifion, nor by An gel, XII. I. XXXI. 3. More Nevochlnt, P. II. cap. .42. In which Claflis, I think he might have put this Apa- rition to Jacob, as well as thatlaft mentioned.- For there isno difference between them, but this $ That in the former place ("XXXI. 3.) it is faid, The LORD faid unto Jacob ^ and here, God faid unto Jacob.
Arife^goup to Bethel^ and dwell t her eJ] By this ad vice God fhowed, he ftill took Care of hira$ and delivered him from the Fear he was in of the Ganaa- nites and Pertzites. Who, one would think, de- tefted the Faft of Shechem ^ or, elfe it may feem ftrange that they did not immediately cut off Jacob and his Family, who had taken fuch a terrible Re venge for it } but let them remove quietly to Bethel &utMofes gives us the true reafon of th\$+ Verfe 5.
AM?
upon GENESIS. 473
Make there an Altar J] Perform the Vow which Chapter thou madeft in that place,XXVIII. 20, 1 i, 22. Some XXXV. wonder Jacob made no more hade to this place, after L/VN his return to his own Country, (for now he had been about nine Years in Canaan) and fome of the He brew Doftorsfanfie, God punifhed him for deferring folong to go thither (where he promifed to wor- [hip him, if he profpered his Journey and brought him back again in fafetyj by fuffering his Daughter Dinah to be raviftied. But it is more probable, that he met with obftruftions, which made it notfafe for him, as yet, to go thither } or, that he waited till God, who had conduced him hitherto, (hould direft him to take his Journey to that place. For, it is very probable, he enquired of him about his re moval.
Ver. 2. Then Jacob fad unto his hottfiold, &c.] Verfe 2. Being to perform a folemn Sacrifice to God, he calls upon his Family to prepare themfelves for it,
And to all that were with himT^ Hired Servants who lived with him.
Put away the flrange Gods.'] Rachel had her Fa- thers's Terafhim, which now, it is to be fuppofed, (he confeffed. And he fufpefted there might be fome among the Men-Servants and Maid-Servants, he brought with him out of Mtfofotanti^ (XXXII. $*) where there was much Superftition : And that in the facking of Shechem they might bring away fome Images with them (for the fake of the Silver and Gold) which they kept fecretly among them.
And be clean.*] Wafh your Bodies, as Aben Ezra, truly interprets it : For this was the ancient Rite of cleanfing. Wherein he feems to have followed Jo nathan, who thus paraphrafes it, Purifie your felves
P p p from
474 J COMMENT ART
Chapter from th* potntion of theflain, whom you have touched XXXV. referring it to the foregoing (laughter of the People WVNJ of Shechem.
And change your Garments^] Put on clean Cloaths. Which was but a reafonable Injunction,' being to appear before the Divine Majefty : In whofe Prefence it was rudenefs to be feen in iordid Raiment : Efpe-^ cially in thofe, wherein they had newly defiled them- felves, by a bloody (laughter. Thefe two, I doubt not, were pious Cuftoms, which their godly Ance- ftors, had obferved, from the beginning of offering Solemn Sacrifices. It being very unfcemly to appear before a great Man, in dirty Apparel, or with a fweaty Body. And I do not fee, why we fhould not look uponthefe, as an external Profeffion, of the like Purity in their Minds and Hearts. All Natiois retained thefe Wafhings, and white Raiment , when they performed the Solemn Offices of Religion .- Which were not derived from Idolaters, but from the pureft Antiquity.
Vterfe 4* Ver. 4, And they gave unto Jacob all the ftrange Gods.'] Which, it feems by this Expreffion, were nu merous.
And the Ear-rings that were in their Eart{] In the Ears of the Idols 5 for there was no harm in the Ear- Rings they wore themfelves. So fome interpret it 5 not confidering, that befides the Ear-Rmgs which; were Ornaments, there were others worn in the na^ ture of Amulets 5 or, for fome other fuperftitiou* Ufes : Having the Effigies of fooie God or other $ ©r, fome Symbolical Notes, in which they fen0ed there was fome Power to- preferve them from feve* ral Mifchiefs. Maimonide* in his Book of Idolatry mentions fuchJdotolatrical Rings, as were ut terly
upon GENESIS. 475
tcrly unlawful to be ufed $ and Veffels marked with Chapter the Image of the &#, the Moon, or a Dragon : Which XXXV. were Symbols of Divinity among the Heathen $ who l/VN made Marks alfo, in feveral parts of their Bodies.
Awd Jacob hid thent.~\ Buried them in the Earth $ after he had firft broke them in pieces fas fome think) or melted them, as Mofes and Hezekiah did, Exod. XXXIf. 20. 2 Kings XVIII. 4. Which, if it be true, it is but a Tale which is told of the Samaritans $ that they digged upthefe Idols and worfhipped them. See Hottinger Smegma, Orient, f. 359.
Under an Oak. which was by ShechemJ] It was fo unknown under what Oak this was, that there is no ground for their Opinion, who think this was the fame Oak mentioned in Jo/h. XXIV. 26. For he in tended to abolifh the memory of thefe Idols 5 and therefore hid them, where he thought no Body would find them.
It took up fome time to do all this $ and yet the People of the Land did not fall upon Jacob's Family.- The Providence of God watching over him, as it follows in the nextKer/e.
Ver* $. And they journeyed : And the terrow of the Verfe 5 L 0 R D was upon the Cities round about them, &c.]] Here is the true reafon why the Country did not, at lead, fall upon the Rear of Jacob's Family, when they marched away : Becaufe God made a panick Fear to fall upon them. Who, otherwife (one would guefs by this) had an inclination to be revenged for the deflruftion of Shechem. For, though they could not juftifie the Faft of Shechem $ yet they might think Jacob's Sons too cruel in the Punifhment of it: For their own Father was of that Opinion.
P p p 2 Vef>
476 A COMMENT A KT
Chapter Ver. 6. So Jacob c*we to Luz.°] See XXVIII. 19. XXXV- Ver. 7. Built there an Altar, Sec,] And offered Sa-,' 'w^VNJ crificesof Thankfgiving to God, for performing his Verfe 6. Promife to him, befeeching him ftill to continue his Verfe 7. Care of him.
Verfe 8. Ver. 8. Deborah Rebekah's nurfe died.] She went to attend Rebek&h^ when (he was married to Jfaac ;. Which troubles the Jews to give an account how fhe came here into Jacob's Family. R. Solowon folves it thus 3 That Rebel{ah having promifed Jacob when he- went away, to fend for hi m, ("XX VII. 45.) (lie per formed this Promife by Deborah : Whom fhe fent to Vadan-Aram to invite him home 5 and in her return fhe died here. But it is more reafonable to fuppofe, that Jacob had been at his Father's Houfe, before this time : And Rebekah being dead, ("whether before or after, is uncertain) Deborah was defirous to live with his Wives, who were her Country- Women. And that her death is here mentioned (though we read nothing of Rebet^atis) to give an account how this Oak came by the Name of Atton-Bacitth^ in after- times.
Vnder an Oak~] There were many about Bethel : Near to which there was a Wood, orForeft} out of which the Bears came, who devoured the Children that curfed Eli/ha, 2 Kings II. 23. And under an Oak alfo, the old Prophet found the Man of God fitting, as he went from Bethel, i Kings XIII. 14. Verfe 9* Ver. 9. And God appeared unto Jacob again, StC.] The SCHECHINAH, or Divine Majefy, who bad him go to Bethel^ verfe i, appeared to him when he came there 5 in a moft glorious manner -• As he had done when he lodged there in his Journey to
upon GENESIS; 477
Ver. 10. Ifrael fliall be thy NaweJ] Tliis is a far Chapter more honourable Name than that of Jacob : And XXXV, therefore by it thou (halt be commonly called. For u/^V^NJ the Name of Jacob was given him from the fupplant- Verfe 10. ing of his Brother, and getting the advantage of him .- But this of Ifrael from his prevalence over the Angel of God.
And he called bk Name IfraelJ] He folemnly con firmed that Name, which v/is given him before by his Angel, XXXII. 28;
This feems to me to prove, That it was no more than an Angel, who wreftied with Jacob, and told him his Name (hould be changed. For, if it had been God himfelf; Jacob, was as much fatisfied then, as he could be now, that Ifrael (hould be his Name. But I take it, God referved the declaration of it from his own Mouth, till this time: When he ratified what he had before fpoken by his Angel.
And thus I find (fince I noted this) St. Hierom under ftood this Paflage : Whofe words are thefe* DuAum nequaqnam ei nomen ab Angela imponitur, 6CC. This Name was not heretofore impofed on him by the Angel ^ who only foretold that God would impofe it on him : That therefore which -was there prowrfed foould be, we are taught was fulfilled.
Ver. n. lam God Almighty, &c.] Here God re- Verfe news his Promife to him, as he had often done to Abraham. He had firft bleffed him by Ifaac, XVIII. 3. when he fent him from home, Then he himfelf blefled him when he appeared to him, the firft Night of his Journey, verfe 13. of that Chapter. And now again, when he was come back to the very fame place $ where he bleifed him before. And he fpeaks to him, by the Name of El-fljadda'^ i. e. God
AUS-
478 ^ COMMENTARY
Chapter Ati-fufficknt : The very fame whereby his Father had
XXXV. bleffed him, XXVIII. 3. and whereby God blefied
+S*S*** Abraham, XVII. I.
Verfe 13. Ver. 13. And God went up from him.'} It is evident by this, that a vifible Majefty or Glory appeared to him at this time .- From whence the foregoing words were fpoken to him : Which being done, it went up towards Heaven. In the Hebrew the words are, wert up from upon him, or, over him 5 and 'the very fame is faid vi Abraham, XVII. 21. as if the SCHECHI- NAH appeared over his Head, in great Luflre$ whilft he, perhaps, lay proftrate upon the Ground.
Verfe 14. Ver. 14. Set up a. pillar in that piacs.~] To be a Monument of the Divine Goodnefs^ Who there ap peared to him $ and made him fuch gracious Pro- mifes, as thofe before- mentioned, verfe n, 12. And to ferve for an Altar whereon to offer Sacrifice. For fo the word Matzektih fignifies, Hof€a III. 4. And therefore Ifaiah feems to make an Altar and a Pillar the fame thing, XIX. 19.
Poured a drink: offering thereon.] To confecrate it unto the Solemn Service of God. For which end he poured Oil upon it, as he had done upon the Stone, (XXVIII. 18.) which, in all likelihood^ was a prin cipal part of this Pillar. And having done all thi?, we are to fuppofe he not only oifered Sacrifice $ but paid the Tenth of all that God had given him, ac cording to his Vow, XXVIII. tdt.
Verfe 1-5. Ver. 15. Called the Nawe of t/je place."] Or, rather, of that place^ that famous Place, which God had made fo remarkable by his Gooclnefs to him. For the He brews, not without Reafon, make the He before Ma- k$m^ to add an Emphafis to that word,
Bethel.']
upon GENESIS. 479
Bethel.'] /. e. The Houfe of God. So he faid heChaptd1 would make this Place, XXVIII. 12. and now he is as XXXV. good as his Word, by renewing the Name he had gi- iXWi ven it thirty Years before, when he firft went into JAefopotami*.
Ver. 1 6. And there was but a little way to come to Verfe 16. Ephrath."] When they were come within a little of Ephrath. The Hebrew word for a little is Chibrath : Whofe precife fignification is uncertain. Benjamin Tndelenfis faith, this Place was within half a Mile and a little more of Ephrath. See his Itinerar.p. 47. and Conp. L. Empereur on the Place, p. 176.
Ver. 17. rear not : Thou ft alt have this Son alfo~] Verfe 17* The Midwife feems to comfort Rachel with her own Predidtion, XXX. 24.
Ver. 1 8. She called his Name Ben- onl~] Rachel feems Verfe .18. to give her former Hopes of a fecond Son for loft 5 at leaft (he expefted no Comfort from him : Being ready to expire. And therefore (he called him a Son of Sorrow : His birth being her death.
But hh father called him Benjamin.'] To comfort Rachel\n her Sorrow, and to avert the finifter Omen, Jacob immediately changed his Name into Benjamin, ,* fignifyingTAe&tftf/fer Right-hand, or of his Strength, as it is commonly interpreted. Though others will have it, The Son of Tear s^ i.e. of his old Age: or, put ting both together, the fupport and ftay of his old Age.
Names are oft-times ftrangely adapted to things; and the Prefages of Parents have anciently been ot» - fexved to be fulfilled.
—Hew mtnqttam vana farentun*
480 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Which is in no Inftance more verified than in this XXXV. Child of Jacob's : Who did not bear either of thefe ********* Names for nought. There being two very different Fates of his Pofterity (as Dr. Jackson obferves in a Difcourfe of his upon St. Matth.ll. 17, 18.) anfwera- ble to the contrary importance of the Names given him by his Father and his Mother. No Tribe in If- rael more Valorous, yet none fo fubjedt to forrow- ful Difafters as this Tribe of Benjamin. It was al- moft extirpated in the time of the Judges, XX. 35, &c. and yet before the conclufion of that Age, Ben- jamln became the Head of his Brethren : The firft King of Ifrael being chofen out of that late defolate Tribe. And though that King proved at laft but a Ben-oni*.) yet this Tribe ftuck clofe to Judah, when all the reft revolted to his Brother Jofeph. Verfe 20. Ver. 20. Jacob fet a pillar upon her Grave.} After that Law was made (Deut. XVI. 22.J againft ere- fting Pillars 3 the Jews did not think all Pillars un lawful 3 but only thofefor Superftitious Ufes : Not thofe which were in Memory of fome thing} as Mai- monideshis words are, L. de IdoloL cap. 6. Verfe XT. Ver. 21. And Ifrael journeyed^] This is the firft time that Mofe s calls him Ifrael $ after this Name was given him by God. Which he repeats twice in the nextFerfe: And then calls him Jacob again, in the latter end of it. It is in vain tofearchfor a Rea- ibn. Some of the Jews will have it, That he calls I him Ifraely becaufe he bear the death of his beloved Wife, with admirable Patience and Submiffion to j God's Will. But they cannot give fo good a Rea- | fon, why he immediately alters his Style, and calls him Jacob again. See Ferfe 12.
Beyond
upon GENESIS,
Beyond the Tower of Edar.~] i. e. The Tower of the Chapter as fome translate it. Who think there was XXXV. fuch a Tower near Jerufalem, becaufeof thofe words L/VNJ of-Micahj IV. 8. 0 tower of 'the Flock , the ftrong-hold of tie Daughter ofZion. Which if it be true, it doth not prove there was no Tower in Jacob's days called by that Name.' But rather, that in future Ages this Tower was renewed, in the fame, or a neighbouring Place 5 and called by the ancient Name, which it had in the days of Jacob.
Ver.22. Went and lay with Bilhah, his Fathers Con- Verfe 12 cubme^] She is called his Wife, XXX. 4. and, accord ing to the Laws of thofe Times, was truly fo ; as I have often obferved all thofe called Concubines were : Though not the principal Wives,but of a lower Rank. See Mr. Selden, de Jure N. & G. L. V. cap. 7, p. 570, 571, &c.
Andlfrael heard jf/Tj And highly refented it, as we find XLIX. 4. But in this fhort Hiftory Mvfes pafles over Ifraefs Cenfure of this Inceft till he came to die : Which (hows fufficiently, how he was affefted when the Fad was committed. Or, perhaps, thefe words, Ifrael heard it, may fignifie } That though Reuben thought to have committed this Sin fo fecretly, as to have concealed it from his Father 5 yet he came to the knowledge of it : And gave him fuch private Re- buke*, as were fitting 5 but proceeded not to Publick Punifhment, to avoid Scandal.
Now the Sons of Jacob were twelve?] Their Number being now compleated by the Birth of Benjamin^ after whom he had no more Children $ Mofes thought good here to enumerate them. And they being all bora (fave Benjamin alone)before he had the Name oflfrael, it may be the reafon, perhaps, why he calls him Jacob.
Qqq Ver.
482 A COM MEUTAR T
Chapter Ver.26. Which were born to him in Padan-Arxm.']hM XXXV. except Benjamin 5 who (as was faid juft before, verfa VVNJ 1 8.) was born in Canaan.
Verfe 26. Ver. 27. Jacob came tolfaac- his Father, &c] To. Verfe 27.<iWell with him, and to be the Comfort of his old ?• Age. For it is not to be doubted, he had been with him before, fince he-came from Mefopotamfa : But now {> came to ftay with him, till Death parted them,
Unto the City of Arba, &C.] Called Kirjath-Arbaf J XXIII. i. from a great Man (Jofi. XIV. 15.) among the AnaktmS) whofe Name was .Arba 5 and either was p born, or dwelt, or ruled here. It was afterward cal-.- led Hebron^ where Abraham dwelt a long time, XIIF., r 1 8. and where he bought a Burying- place for his Fa mily , XXIII. 19.
Verfe 28. Ver. 28: The dtys oflfiacwere an hundred and four •-- fcore Tears."] He lived five Years longer than his Fa ther Abraham^ XXV. 7.
Verfe ^Q. ^er* 2 9* Hfo Sons Efatt and Jacol buried.~] As Ifaac> y'and I{hwad\&& done Abraham, ("XXV. 9.) and no doubt in the fame place.- He fojourning there fas was faid before) as his Father had done before him,. By this it appears, the Friendihip between Efau and Jacob continued; after theinterview they had at J&* ' return into this Countryc ,
CHAP.
GENESIS- 485
Chapter — - ~ XXXVL
CHAR XXXVL
Ver. \.'~^HefearetheGenerationsofEfau!] Which Verfe I
JL are here fet down, to (how how ef- fe^ual his Father's Bleffing was, XXVII, 29. And, as Maiwonides thinks (P. Ill, c. 50. More Nevoch?) to prevent the deftruftion of any of the Family ofEfau, but only thofe of Amaleck? Who defcended from the Firft-born of Efau by a Concubine, the Sifter of Lo- tan^ an Horite^ one of the ancient Inhabitants of Se/r, Verfe 12, 8c 21. His Defendants were to be deftroyed, by an exprefs Precept, for a particular Offence, (Exod. XVII.) but the Divine Juftice took Care of the reft, by diftinguiftung them thus exaftly from him: That they might not perifti under the Name of Amak-
.
Ver. 2. Efau took, his Wives, Sec.] the Names of Verte thefe Wives are not the fame with thofe, he is faid to have married, XX VI. 34. Therefore it is probable his former Wives died without Iffue : And fo he took another Daughter of Elon ("when Judith was deadj called Adah : And the Daughter of a Man called Anahs by whom he had fuch Children as here fol low.
The Daughter ofZibeon^ The word Daughter here fignifies Neice } or, the is called Zibeons Daughter, becaufe he bred her : As the Children of Michael are mentioned, 2 &*;*/. XXI. 8. Though (he had none at all$ but only educated the Children of her Sifter: As Zibeon, perhaps, did -his Brother Anah's Daughter, verfe 20.
Qq q 2 Ver,
484 A COM MENTOR r
Chapter Ver. 3. Ba/beatath, I/hwael's Daughter. ~] She iscal- XXXVI. led by another Name, XXVIII. 9. But it is likely i^WJ Efan changed her Name from Mahalah, which figni- Verfe 3. G&j/dfy and infirm, into this of Bafiwath, which fig- nifies Arowath\ and Fragrant. Either becaufe the Name better pleafed him, or he thought would bet ter pleafe his Father: Or, (he grew more healthy after Marriage $ or, perhaps, (he had two Names given her at the firft.
Verfe 6. Ver. 6. Went into the£ountry jrom the face of his Bro ther Jacob.'] Into another Country out of the Land of Canaan: Into which he lately came to bury his Farfier, as we read in the latter end of thelaft Chapter. Which being done, he and Jacob, no doubt, agreed about the divifion of Ifaacs Eftate: Out of which a large (hare came to Efan : Who had fomething alfo of his own there before, (all his Sons before-mentioned being born to him in Canaan, verfe 5.) befides what he had in Sew.
His Brother Jacob.'] He knew of no other Name his Brother had 5 that of IJrael, it's likely, being not yet publiftied, and commonly ufed.
Verfe 7. Ver. 7. For their Rkhes were more than that they might dwell together."] There was not room enough in the Land of Canaan (where they were but fojour- ners, and could have no more than the prefent Poflef- fors would let to them) for fuch a vaft Stock as they had between them: And therefore were conftrained to feparate, as Abraham, for the fame reafon, had done from Lot, XIII. 6, 8cc, And Efau having begun be fore to fettle in Stir, did not think fit to bring what he had there hither .• But carried what his Father left him thither. Where he had enlarged his Dominion, fince Jacob's return to Canaaw.
Ver,
upon GENESIS.
Ver. 8. Thus dwelt Efau in Mount Seir.~] It is a Que- Chapter ftion how he couid be faid to have gone to dwell in XXXVI, Seir, upon this occafion : Seeing we find him there LXV^O before,when Jacob came out of MefopotamiaX%3M.%. Verfe 8. But the Anfwer is eafie5 That then he had only Come part of the Country, and not the beft of it neither : And therefore, perhaps, had fome of his Eftate ftill in Canaan^ while the reft of it was in Se/r. And it feems remarkable to me, that he isnotfaid till now, to dwell in Mount Seir, but only in the Land ofSeir^ or barely in Sezr, to which he invited Jacob at his return, (XXXII. 3. XXXIII. 14, 1 6.) This Mountainous Country, which was richer than the other, he got into his poffeffion after that time.
Efau is Edom^\ The Father of the Edowite-f, as it follows, Verfe 9.
Ver. 12. She bare to Eltphaz, AmahckJ} This was Verfe 12, neceifary to be fet down fas I obferved on verfe i.J that there might be a diftinftion between the Amah- tytes, who were to be deftroyed, and the reft of the Pofterity of Efau: Concerning whom it is faid, Thou ftalt not abhor an Edomite^ becaufe he is thy Br other ^ Dent. XXIII. 7. Thus Jofeph Albo. For, though they made a diftinft People from the Edomites-, and .lived in a Neighbouring Country 5 yet they pofTefTed that part of Mount Seir which was near Kadeft Bar- mti, as may be gathered from Numb. XIII. 29. and XIV. 43.
Ver. 15. Thcfe wertD*J(ejJ] The word Allouphe^V&fe 15 if we may believe TH. Solomon jarchL> fignifies Heads^ Chiefs , or Rulers of Fatuities. Who may be called Princes $ though their Government was not yet Re-; gal, but. a kind of Ariftocracy in the beginning.
Ver,,
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver; 16. Duke Korah.'] He is not reekon'd among
XXXVI. the Sons of Eltphaz, verfe n. but called the Son of
trO'"^ Aholibamah, verfe 14. and accordingly faid to Rule
xover a Family defcended from hers, wrfi i& We
mud fuppofe therefore, there were two Korah's $ one
the Son of Aholibamah 5 the other a Nephew of E//-
phaz, by fome of his Sons or Grand-Sons v Who came
to be a great Ruler, and to get the Government of
fome of thefe Families.- And, according to the Style
of Scripture, is reckoned for El/phaz his Son.
Verfe 20. Ver. 20. Thefe are the Sons ofSeir the Horite.~] From
this Serr the Country had its Name.- But from whom
he defcended is not recorded.
Who inhabited the Land?] Who were the ancient Inhabitants of this Country, before Efau conquered it : And, perhaps, were the firft that poflefled it after the Flood. Whofe Genealogy, T fuppofe, is here mentioned, becaufe Efarts Pofterity married with fome of them: Particularly his eldeft Son Eltyhaz took Timna, Sifter of Lot an (one of &/V'sSons) for his Concubine, verfe 2x. Yea, Efan himfelf feems to have married one of his Family, vfa. Aholibamah / Whofe Father and Uncle are faid to be Hivites^ ver.i* but here plainly called Horites : Being defcended from Sefr the Hortte, though dwelling then among the Hivites.
¥erfe n« Ver. 21. Thefe are the Dukes of the Horites.'] The Heads of their Families 3 who governed the Coun try, before Efan and his Pofterity difpoffefled them : And fettled themfelves in the fame form of Govern* ment, which they found among thefe Horites.
In the LandofEdom.'} So it was called in the days of Mofes*
Ver,
upan GENESIS. 487
Ver. 24. This is that Anah, who found the Mt/les in Chaps er the WildernefsJ] Not by Accident, but by his Art and XXX VI. Induftry* he invented (as we fpeak) this mixture, (V"VSj and produced this new kind of Creature. So it isVerfe 24. c-ommonly interpreted. But the word found^ though \\k& four hundred times in Scripture, never fignifies ("as Bochart hath obferved, P.I. Hierozoic. Lib. II. cap. xi.) the Invention of that which was not before 5 but the finding that which already is in being. Nor doth Jemim fignifie Ajjes in Scripture : And there fore others have read the Hebrew word as if it had been written Jamim, (as St. Hierom obferves) ima gining that as Anah fed his Father's Afles, he found a great collection of Waters, (Tee Pofliw^ L. III. de IdoloLcap. 75.) which fome fanfie to have been hot Waters, or Baths, as the Vulgar Latin interprets it. But then we muft read the Hebrew quite otherwife than we do now : And Bochart gives other Reafons a- gainft this Interpretation $ and endeavours to efta- blifh another Opinion. That by Jenrim we are to underftand Emim, a Gigantick fort of People, men tioned in Scripture, and next Neighbours to the Ho* rites. Thefe ^»^is faid to find, /. e. to meet with al and incounter 3 or, rather, to havefall'n upon, on a fudden and unexpededly 3 as this Phrafe he fhows fignifies in Scripture. This Opinion he hath confirmed with a great many Reafons 3 to which another late learned Writer (Wagenfeir) thinks an Anfwer may be given: Though he inclines to it, if one thing were not in the way 3 which makes him think, here v is rather meant fome Herb or Planfl called IOL^V which word the LXX. retains; not knowing how to tranflate it. And thus Aben Ezra affirms many In-! terpreters of the Scripture have underftood it.-
Which*-
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Which feems to be the moft probable Conjecture of XXXVL all others. See W^agenfeil in his Annot. upon that Ti- *s°*s^ tie of the Talmud, called Sot a, p. 117, 2i8,8tc.
As he fed the Ajfis ofZibeon his Father.'] The Sons of Princes were wont to follow this Imployment, in ancient Times, as Bochart (hows out of many Au thors^: Particularly theScholiaft upon Homers Odyjfes. Ti TraActyov, fc, ol 7$P BaojAtav *&&i&$ tTrvfaajvov. Hiero- z,otc, P. I. L. II. Cap. 44.
Verfe 28. Ver,28. The Children of D/fian- are thefe.: Vz, 8tc.] From this Man the whole Country, or a great part of it, is called by the Name ofVz.Lament. IV. 21. which was in Arabia, Petr&a^ in the Borders of the Land of Canaan.
Verfe 30. Ver. 30. Thefe are the Dukes that came of Hon.'] This Hori was the Anceftor of Seir ^ by whom this Country was firft planted.
Among their Dttkes.~\ Or, according to their Fami lies 5 or Principalities.
Verfe 31. Ver. 31. And thefe are the Kings that reigned in the Land of Edow^\ It appears by this, that after fe- veral Dukes (as we tranflate it) had ruled the Coun try $ the Edomites changed their Government into a Monarchy. And here follows a Catalogue of their Kings. For I can find no ground for the Opinion of the Hebrew Do&ors, that Alluph, a Duke, differed in nothing from Mdech^ a King 5 but that the latter \ was crowned, the former not crowned.
Before there reigned any King over the Children of
.)
Mofes having a little before this (XXXV, n mentioned the Promife of God to Jacob, That Kings fiould come out of his Loins 5 obferves it as a thing remarkable, being a great exercife of their Faith, that Efaus Pofterity fhould have fo many Kings :
And
upon GENESIS.
And there was yet no King in Ifrael when he wrote Chapter this Book, nor (as it is commonly interpreted) along XXXVI. time after. This Mofes might well write without a v**v~^ Spirit of Prophecy , nor is there any reafon to fay, this Paflfage wasinferted by fome Body elfe, after the death of Mofes. We might rather affirm, if it were needful, that Mofes his meaning is., AUthefe were Kings in Edom, before his own time: Who was the firft King in Jfrael.Dettt. XXXIII. 5. For he 'truly exercifed Royal Authority over them, as Mr. Selden obferves, L. II. de Synedr. cap. 1,2.
Ver. 32. The name of his City was Dinhabah^ Of Verfe 32. which he was Governor, perhaps, before he was made King $ and wherein he reigned.
Ver. 33. OfBozrah."] Which was afterward the Verfe 33. principal City of the whole Country 5 as we read in the Prophet Ifaiah. XXXIV. 6. and Jeremiah XLIX.3, and Amos I. 12.
It feems, by this Lift of their Kings, that the King dom at this time was EledHve 5 for the Father^tua not fucceedr/une Son. Which may have been the reafon, perhaps, why it lafted but a while, before their Government was altered again, verfe 40. Mai- monides hath an Opinion different from all others, that none of thefe Kings were of the Race of E- Jau , bm ftrangers, who oppreffed the Edowites : And and here fet down by Mofes to admoni(h the Ifraelites^ to obferve that Precept, Dent. XVII. 1 5*. Not to fet a ftr anger to be a King over them, who is not their Brother, i. e. One of their own Na tion.
Ver. 35. Who f wot e Midian m the Field of Moab^ Verfe 35. The Midianites, perhaps, came to invade them 5 and Hadad march'd out and met them in the Frontiers
R r r of
A COMMENTARY,
Chapter of their Country, which joyned to that of Moot : XXX VL Where he got a great Viftory over them. U'Wj Ver, 37. And Saul of Rehoboth by the River reign- Verfe 37. ed, &c.] If by the-R/^rwe(hould underftand Eu phrates, ('as itufually fignifiesj near to which flood the City of Rehoboth, (Gen. X. n.) it may feem ftrange that one (hould be chofen from fo remote a Country, to be King of Edom: Unlefs we fuppofe him to have been born there, but to have lived in Edom: And by his great Atchievements, to have got into the Throne. Otherwife, we muft take this for fome other City 5 which Rood by the moft known River of this Country. Verfe 38. Ver. 38. Baal-hanan^ This Name is the reverfe
(as I may call it) of Hani-ball.
Verfe 39. Ver. 39. His Wifes name was Mehetabel, &c.] None of their Wives, much lefs their Pedigree, are named befides this alone : Which (hows (he was an eminent -Wjoman in thofe times, and that Country $ either for Wifdom, or Parentage, orEftate, ,oj: fome other Excellence.
Verft 40, Ver. 40. And thefe are the names of the Dukes that came ofEfau^ They feem now to have returrad to their firft Conftitution 5 and Rings were laid afide for fome time. But in future Ages, we find they chang- ed;again, and then Kings reigned fucceffively, the Son alter the Father, as they didmlfrael. Some think, thefe were the great Men, who ruled in Edom, id Mo- fes his time.
According to their Families ^ &c.] They were the Heads of different Families y and lived indifferent Places $ and, perhaps, reigned at the fame time, in fe- veral Parts of the Country :, So thf words feem to import
Ver.
npon GENESIS. 491
Ver. 43. In the Land of their Pojfejjton."] In their Chapter own County^ whilfl the Seed of Jacob fojpurned in a XXXVII ftrange Country, and poffefled no Land of their own. v-<-v->w>
He is Efaa, &c.] He ends as he began. ThisisVerie 43 the Account ofEfau -y the Father of the People who are now called Edomites.
CHAP. XXXVII.
Ver. I. \ND Jacob dwelt in the Land, Sec.] Ha- Verfe i.
£\ ving given us an Account of Efaus re moval to Sefr, ("XXXVI. 6, 7.) and of the Profperity of his Family there .• He now goes on to tell us, that Jacob dill continued in the Country, where his Fa ther had fojourned, in the Land of Canaan.
Ver. 2. Thefe are the Generations of Jacob^} Thefe v erfe 2, words are to be connected with the latter end of XXXV. 2 3, 24, &c. where he relates how many Sons Jacob had 5 and then gives an account of the Family of Efan, (in the XXVI Chapter) which being ended, he returns to finifli the Hiftory of Jacob.
And the Lad was with the Sons ofBilhah, &c.] Thefe words vehu naar^ fignifie he was very young, in the fimplicity of his Chi Idifh Years 5 and come in by way of a Parenthefis, in this manner. Jofepb being ft- vevteen Year sold, was feeding the Flock with his Brethren, (and he was but a Touth, unexperienced, and therefore called a Child, verfe 30.) with the Sons : vfBilhah^ &c. Which laft words are an Explication of the former, (howing with which of his Brethren he was. Not with the Sons of Leah^ but with the
R. r r 2 Sons
A COMMENT ART.
Chapter Sens of his Hand-Maids: Particularly with XXX VH; whom we may look upon as a Mother to him, now C/'VNj Rachel was dead, having waited upon her. And Zilphas Sons were alfo mentioned in the fecond place, as-thofe, it is likely, who were thought tohavelefs emulation to him, than the Sons of Leah. But we fee by this, how much our greateft Prudence often fails : For Reuben and Jtidah^ the Children of Leah±. had more kindnefs for Jofeph than any of the, reft.
Their evil report."] What evil Lives they led; ¥erfe 2.. ^er' 3* Becaufe he was the Son of his old Age.'] Ben* jamin was more fo than he 3 and the reft were born not many Years before him .-. But he is fo called, be- caufe he had been married a good while to Rachel before he had him .• And he was the greateft Comfort of his old Age 5 Benjamin not being yet grown up, to give any proof of his future worth.
He made him a Coat of many Colours.'] It is com monly thought to fignifie a Garment wrought with Threds of divers Colours $ or made up of pieces of Silk or Stuff, which had much variety in them 5 or, wrought, as fome think, with Figures of Fruit, or o- ther things. See Salma/ins upon Flav.Vopifius, p. 396; But Braun'ms (jde Veftib. Sacerd. Hebr. L. I. cap. 17.) hath proved, I think, that the Hebrew word Pajjim here figniffes a long Garment, down to the Heels or; Ankles 5 and with long Sleeves, down to the Wrefts.- Which had a border at the bottom, and a Facjng fas we fpeak) at the Hands, of another Colour, different from the Garment. See verfe 23.
¥erfe 4, Ver. 4. Couldnot fpeak. peaceably to him?] In a kind and friendly manner.- But churliftily, and with evi dent figns of hatred. A# Esnzfanfies, they would
not:
upon GENESIS* 493
not fo much as falutehim, or wifhhim peace (as the Chapter Phrafe then was, peace he tothee}or, ask him how he XXXVII. did $ as our Cuftorn is. IWNJ
Vcr. 5. Jofifh dreamed a Dream."} This was ufual Verfe 5. among the ancient Patriarchs^ and others alfo, as ap pears by Elihfi : Who (hows that all Dreams were not Illufions of Evil Spirits, Job XXXIII. 14, 15, &c. And long before his time Abimelech was warned by God in a Dream, Chapter XX. of this Book., Verfe 3, 6, 7. Upon which Confideration, (as Dr. Jackson well obferves) we fhould not miftruft the Reports of feveral ancient Hiftorians 5 who tell us how Princes and Fathers of Families have had Fore- warn ings of future Events : Either concerning themiel ves, their Kingdoms, or Pofterity, Book I. upon the Creed, chap. 9.
He told his Brethren*"} This argues his great Inno cence and Simplicity 5 that he had not yet under- ftanding enough to confider, how ill this Dream might be expounded ; or, not Prudence enough to conceal, what might be ill interpreted by them.
They hated him yet more.} The firft ground of their Hatred was, their Father's great Love to him 5 and then, his informing their Father of their bad Be haviour .-Which was ftill increafed by the fine Clothes his Father beftowed on him 5 and now moftof all, by this Dream 5 which they interpreted to fignifiehis Superiority over them.
Ver. 7. Tour Sheaves flood round about ^ and obeyfance, &C."] Or, gathered round about mine „• Which was fulfilled, when they came for Corn into Egypt ; of which thefe Sheaves, fome think, were an apt Reprefentation.
494 A co M M EN r ART |
Chapter Ver, 8. Shalt thou indeed reign over us <Q It feems XXXVI!. they could readily interpret the meaning of a Dream: •^ A/-^ Which (hows how common they were in thofe Verle 8. r\,frc
->
bis Dreams^ and for his Words."] This feems to import, that he had more Dreams of like nature ^ and was wont to talk of them : W'hich they thought favoured of Arrogance.
Verfe 9. Ver. 9. He dreamt yet another Dream."] Which con firmed the former 5 by repeatingthe fame thing, under different Figures. For as the former was tak£n from the' Earth $ fo this from Heaven : And is more com- prehenfive than the former $ for it concerns his Fa ther as well as his Brethren.
Behold the Sun and the Moon^ 8tc,] They feemed to defcend to him, or he to be carried up to them : Where they bowed, and layed at his Feer. -Verfe 10 Ver. 10. His Father rebuked him.] Gave him a ctteck 5 that fifeph might not grow conceited of him- felf -^ and his Brethren might not be provoked to hate him.
Whatfc this Dream that thou haft dreamed /] What an idle Dream is this ?
Shall /, and thy Mother, and Brethren, &c.] Who can believe this ? Thy Mother is dead, (which is fuf- ficient to ftiow the vanity of this Dream) and thy Father fure is not to truckle unto thee 3 no, nor thy elder Brethren.
' Verfe i j. Ver. n. His Brethren envhd him.] Though Ja- ' cob feemed to flight what he faid 5 it incenfed his Bre thren againft him.
But his Father obferved the Sayingl] He [did not look upon it as a mere fancy $ but thought there might be fomething in it. And therefore, though
he
GENESIS,
he thought fit publickly to (light it, yet he took fuch Chapter notice of it privately, that he preferved it inMind,XXXV{|. and laid it up in his Heart 5 as the^Scripture elfewhere WVNJ fpeaks. And it really was fulfilled, when he went down into Egypt $ and , no dobbt, (howed that Refpeft which was due to the Vice-Roy of the Country : And fo did his Mother Btlbath, and all his Brethren.
Ver. ix. His Brethren went to feed their F^tkersflocl^Vzrk 12* in Shechem.'] As their Flocks increafed, fo they inlar- ged their Pafture : And they often removed to find fre(h Pafture. Befides, he had made a Purchafe in . Jfe
this Place $ where they fed his Flocks in his own Ground.
Ver. 13. Corne^ I will fend thee unto them.~] MakeVerfe 13. > thy felf ready, that I may fend thee to inquire of thy Brethrens welfare, About which he was now the more folicitous $ becaufe they were gone to a place, where they had, fome Years ago given great provoca tion to the Country, and their barbarous Cruelty.
Ver. 15. A certain Man found him."} Some rake Ver fe 15*, this to have been an Angel : Who took care of him, when he was at a lofs, which way to go. So Maimo- nides, P. II. More Nevoch. cap. 42. Where he makes this Pafiage the very fame with that XVI. 7. The Angel of the LORD found her, &c,
Ven 1 8. They confptred again ft h\m7\ The He^mVerfe 1 8V word fignifies, they took fubtil and crafty Counfel a- gainft him to ilay him. Laid their Heads together (as we now fpeak) to kill him fo, that the Murder might be concealed from their Father.
Ver. 19. Beholdythis dreamer coweth.~] In the He- Verfe 19, im*>, This Mafterof Dreams ; or, a frequent Dreamer y one that hath Dreams at command*
* COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 20. Caft him into fomepitT] Which they were XXXVII. wont to dig frequently in thofe Countries, to hold w^y-^ Rain- Water for their Cattle, when they could not Verle 20. fjncj a Spring, or were near to a River. Verfe 2 1 . Ver f e zi.He delivered him out of their Hands.'] Pre- ferved him from being murdred by them, as they in tended : Which he did by the following CounfeJ, Wliich feemed to have Comething of Humanity in it 5 and yet would effeft what they refolved. Verfe 22. Ver. 22. Caft him into this fit.'] That he might pe- rifh with Hunger.
And lay no hands upon him, &C.] Let US not kill him. This he faid that he might fave his Life 5 in tending fecretly to draw him out of the Pit, and re- ftorehim fafe to his Father. By which piece of good Service, fRw£?« , perhaps, hoped to reconcile his Fa- thertohim 5 who was juftly angry with him, for de filing his Bed, XXXV. 22.
Werfe 23. Ver. 23. His Coat of many Colours.'} By this itfeems he was dirtinguiihed from the reft of his Brethren .• Being not yet grown up to fuch laborious ImpJoy- rnents as they followed abroad; an4 therefore in dulged to wear a richer fort of Garment, with his Father at home. For, according to the common No tion, it was wrought, or embroidered with Flow ers 5 which was accounted Noble, as well as Beauti ful, in ancient Times. As appears by Plato, who, com mending the Government then admired in Greece^ compares it to fuch a Garment that hath variety of Colours in it, I. VIII. de RepM. p. 557.
oiv avSsn 'Tr&rwuteMvcV *i& 8,urrn TrSin
Ver.
upon GENESIS. 497
Ver. 24. The pit was empty ^ there was no Water in Chapter it.'} This (hows, the ufe of fuch Pits was to hold Wa- XXXVII. ter .• Which at this time was dried up, for want of t/V\J Rain. Verfe 24.
Ver. 25. A company oflffwaelites.*] In the Language Verfe 15. of thefe Times, it is called a Caravan : Merchants not daring to travel alone, or in ftnall Numbers, in thofe Eaftern Countries, through the Defarts 5 for fear of Robbers, or of wild Beafts.
From Mount Gilead.] They came from Parts be yond that :> but patted that way to Traffick there.
With their Camels^] Which were, and ftill are, the moft proper Beafts for Carriage in thofe Countries : Being able to travel a great way, in the Defarts, without Drink, And the Midianites ("who are here the fame with the IjhMaelites^ #. 28.) had ts great a breed of them, as any other Country : As Bochart obferves, P.I. Hterozoic. L. II. cap. 3.
Bearing Spicery^] The word Necoth, which we, and a great many others tranflate Splcery in general, feems to fignVfie feme particular fort of Spicery, as the fol lowing words do. A great many Conjeftures there are, what fort 5 and Bochart moft probably concludes it to be Storax. See the fore-named Book, P. II. L. IV, cap. 12.
'Balm.'] SoKi»/chi, whom the Modern Interpre ters generally follow, expounds- the Hebrew word Tze» ri : Which the Ancients interpret Re/In 5 and Bochart juftifies them, by fuch Reafons as thefe. That there was no Balm in G/lead in thefe Days $ but it was brought thither out of Arabia Falix in the Reign of H\ngSolowoM : And then it grew on this fide ^ordan^ about Engaddiznd Hierzcho $ not beyond Jordan in th« Land of G/lead. Ib. Par. \.Lib. II, cap. 51.
Sff Ver,
<* co MM EN TART
Chapter Ver, 26. What profit is ft, if we flay our Brother f &C.] XXXVII. We (hail get nothing by letting him dye in the Pit .- -vWA/>^ Had we not better make Money of him > Verfe 26. And conceal his Blood."] Though we thould beable
to conceal his Murder $ which is not eafie to do. Verfe 27. Ver. 27. Far he & our Brother, and our fleffj."] Na tural Affe&ion perfwaded to this 5 rather than to the other.
And his Brethren were content!] As many of them as were then prefent 5 for Reuben was not among them at this Confutation.
Verfe 28. Ver. 28. Then faffed by Midianites.'] They are cal- led lJbnHieIitejjto&. before, verfe 25. And fo they are immediately in this very Ferfe, [Sold Jofepb to the Ifi- maelites.] For they were very rear Neighbours, and joyned together in Trade, making now one Ca- rxvan, with a Joynt Stock, as this Story intimates* Read Judg* VIII. 1,9, 22, 23,24,26. and it will ap pear the Scripture fpeaks of them, as one and |he fame People, in after-times.
For twenty pieces of SifoerJ] Moft underftand fo many Shekels / Which was a very (mall Price 3 but therefore demanded and no more, that the Bargain might be clapt up the fooner.
Verfe 29- Ver. 29. Reuben returned to the fit. ~] He pretend ing fome bufinefs, ted withdrawn himfelf from the Company, with an intention, when his Brethren were gone from the Pit, to come privately and take Jofeph out, and carry him to his Father. Upon that Defign he now came thither,
Rent his Clofhes.~] As they ufed to do, when they mourned for the dead .• Whereby he exprefled his real Grief for his Brother,
Ver.
upon GENESIS.
Ver. 30. The Child Is not."} He is dead $ as this Chapter Phrafe commonly fignifies. XXXVII-
Whether /hall I go?] I know not whether to flee, WVNJ to hide my felf from my Father's Anger. Who might Verfe 30. juftly exped the eldelt Son (hould take the greateft Care of him.
Vtt.^i. And they took. Jofeftt* Coat, &c.] His Bre- Verfe 31. thren it feems perfwaded; Reuben alfo, to joyn with them, in concealing the Sale ofjofeph 5 and making their old Father believe he was devoured by fome wild Beaft.
Ver. 32. Theyfent the Coat, &c.] They firft fent it Verfe 32. by a Meflenger 5 and immediately followed thera- felves, with the Tale which is here related.
Ver. 33. An evil Beaft.] Some wild Beaft, of which Verfe 33. there were great ftore in thofe Countries, (fuch as Li ons, and Bears) for he could not fufpe& his Brethren would kill him.
Ver. 34. Rent his Clothes, and put Sackcloth on his Verfe 34. LefasJ] This was the higheft degree of Mourning in thofe Days. We read often of putting on Sackcloth in future Ages, upon fuch fad Occafions .• But this is the firft time we meet with it 5 which (hows the great Antiquity of fuch Cuftoms.
Mourned for his Son many days. ~\ Beyond the or dinary time of Mourning. Many Years (as the word Days fometimes fignifies") perhaps, till he heard he was alive. So the following Ferfe feems to denote 5 that he refolved not to ceafe Mourning for him, as long as he lived.
Ver. 35. All his Sons and Daughters.'] He had but Verfe 35. one Daughter : Therefore the meaning is, his Sons, Wives, or their Daughters.
Sffft Imtt
500 A COMMENT ART
Chapter 1 mil go down into theGraver &c."] If Scheol here XXXVII.be expounded Grave, then the next words muft be V v^-r thus tranilated, mourning for my Son 5 as R. Solomon interprets them. For Jofeph was not buried in a Grave 5 and therefore he could not think of going down to him thither. And thus Chriftophortts a Ca- ftro upon the Second of Btruch acknowledges Scheol fignifies in this place, and interprets it in 8 this man ner. Lugere non definam^ donee me fepulturd deman* detis. I will not ceafe to mourn, till you lay me in my Grave. But if we follow our Tranflation, which is moft common, / mil go down to my Son, then Scheol muft fignifie the State, or Place of the Dead 5 as it often doth .• And particularly IfaiahX\V+ fwhere the King of Babylon is exprefljr denied the ho nour of a Grave, verfe 19, 20.) Scbeolis faid, to be wovedfor him^ and to meet him> and to far up the dead forhiw^Verfeq. r.iil.^i ^ >.
Thns his Father wept for fam.~] Continue^ his Mourning^ not only by, wearing Sackcloth, but in fuch paffionate Expreffions as thefe.
¥erfe 36. Ver. 56. And the MidianftesJ] In the Hebrew ti\z word is Medanim (a diftinft Name from thofe Perfi. 38.) who were a People derived from Medan, one of the Sons of Keturab, and Brother to Midian^ XXV. 2. They and the Midianites lived near toge ther in Aratia, not far frpm the Ijhmaelites : Who^ ail joyned together in this Caravan^ and made one Society of Merchants y confifting QiMedanites, Mi- dianites, and Ijhmaelites.
An Officer."] The Hebrew word Saris, often times fignifies an Eunuch : By whom the Eaftern Queens were attended. But it likewife fignifies all the great Courtiers^ (as thfeC&i/tfet.here tranflates it) fuch as
the
upon GENESIS.
the Bed- Chamber-Men^ the Lord Chamberlain ^ (as we Chapter now fpeak) and fuch like Officers of State .• And XXXVII therefore is rightly tranflated here, for Potiph^r had a Wife, The truth is, this was the prime fignificauon of the word .• Till, in after times, the depravation of Manners, and the jealoufie of the Eaftcrn Kings, made them fet none but Slaves, who were caftra- ted, to attend their Queens $ by whom they were preferred to great Offices 3 and fo came to enjoy this Name.
Pharoah7\ This was a common Name to all the Kings of Egypt. See XII. 15.
Captain of the Guard.'] TheLXX. tranflate it, Ma- fterCooh^: And fo Epiphanius calls his Wife, r iS'Af- %i,ua,ydpu, H<eref. XXVI.». 17. Our Margin hath it, Chief of the Slaughter-men, or Executioners. But the word Tabachim may better be tranflated Soldiers^ than Butchers^ or Executioners : And here, fome think., may denote him, whom we call the Provoft-MarJhah Others, will have it, The Mafter of the Horfe. But I fee no more proper tranllation than ours, Captain of the Guard : Or, rather, Chief Commander of the Kings's Guard 5 fuch an one as Nebuzaradan was, x Kings XXV. 20. For Schar is more than one whom we now call a Captain. See XL. 9. This Phrafe Schar-Hatabachim is explained by Hottinger out of the See Smegma Orient, p, 85.
CH.A.P,
A COMMENTARY.
Chapter XXX VIII L/-VVJ
CHAP. XXXVIII.
Verfe i. Ver. i. A Tthat tiwe.~\ It is uncertain whether he
±\ mean at the time Jofeph was fold (which
is juft before-mentioned ) or, at thetime Jacob return
ed from Mefopotawrato live in Canaan, XXXIII. iS.or
when he went to fettle with his Father at Mamrey
XXXV. ^J. But, take it any of thefe ways, there was
time enough for all the Events following, before they
went into Egypt ^ fuppofing Judah's Children to have
married very young .• As may be feen in moft Inter
preters.
Judahwent down from his Brethren.] Either upon fome bufinefs, or in fome difcontent.
Adul/an*2te.~] A Citizen of AdttUam 5 which was a femous Town or City, that fell afterwards to the Tribe of Jnda h: Whofe King was flain by Jo/hua, XII. 19. And where there was a famous Cave, in which David hid himfelf, i Sam.XXll.-i. Verfe 2. v^r. 2. Judahfaw there^] So as to fall in Love with her. For, according to the old Saying, 5E* r«
A Daughter of a. certain Canaanite ] It was notfo bad for a Man circumcifed to marry the Daughter of one uncircumcifed 5 as it was to give their Daughters in Marriage to an uncircumcifed Husband, ( XXXIV. 1 4.^ For an uncircumcifed Man was accounted unclean,, though he had renounced Idolatry .• But a Woman born of uncircumcifed Parents, was not (b accounted ^ if (he embraced the worfhip of the True God. Whence
Salmon
upon G E N E S I S
Salmon, a great Man in the Tribe of Judah, married Chapter Rahab who was a Canaanite. Such a one we mufl fup- XXXVIII pofe this Woman, whom Judah married, to ha\e been $ oreife he had offended his Faiher, as much as Efan did Jfaac, by marrying the Daughters of Heth.
Whofe name wat Shuah."] Her Father's Name was Shuah) verfe 12.
He toother."] To be his Wife, verfe 12.
Ver. 5. And be was at Chezib when fie bare /;/#// Some think this Town the fame with Achzi^ belong ing to Judah^ Joflj. XV. 44. But why Mofes menti ons his Abfencewhen this Child was born, and why he fets down the Place where he then was. we cannot give an account : Though there was, no doubt, fome {pecial Reafon for it. Perhaps it is to ftiow, why (he gave the Name to this and to her former Son, ( where as he himfelf named the firtt, verfe gjbecaufe he was not at home when they were born.
Ver. 6. W hofe nam e was Tawar."] She feems alfo to Verfe 6. have been a Woman of Canaan 5 but not an Idolater.
Ver. 7. Was wicked in the fight of the LORD.'] Verfe 7. i.e. Exceeding impious 3 and thatnotorioufly. See Gen. X. 9. What particular Sins he was guilty of, is but conjeftured. Some fanfie they were of the fame Nature with his next Brothers. See Bonfrcre^ or Me- nochins out of him.
And the LORD flew hlmJ} Cut him offfudden- ly, by fome unufual ftroke.
Ver. 8. Go in unto thy Brother s Wife, Sec.] This Verfe 8. (fay the Hebrew Doftors ) was an ancient Cuftom, in force by the Law of Mofes : Which only enafted what had been formerly pra&ifed, (Maimon. P. III. cap. 49. More Nev&ch.) that when a Man died with out Ifftie, his next Brother ftiould marry his Wife,
Deat,
504 ^ COMMENT ART.
Chapter Deut. XXV. 5. Which Cuftom afterward extended
XXX VIII to the next Coufin, if no Brother remained. IX'VNJ And raife up Seed unto thy Brother.'] Preferve thy Brother's Name and Family 5 by begetting a Child, which may be accounted his, and inherit his Eftate. For fo the Law was; that the Firft-born offuch a match was not to be lookt upon as a Child of him that begat him , but as his Brother's, who was the Mother's firft Husband. AU the following Children were to be his own.
Verfe 9. Ver. 9. Onan knew that the Seed jhould not be his.] i.e. The Firft-born fhould be reputed his Brother's Child.
Left heflwuld give Seed to his Brother^] Or, left a Child fhonld be born In the name of his Brother, as the Vulgar Latin interprets it very exaftly, according to the Opinion of the Hebrews 5 as Mr. Selden obferves, L. Vll. de Jure N.&G. cap. %.
Vsrfe 10. Ver. 10. The thing which he did difpleafed the LOR D."] This made his Sin the more heinous, that he afted againft the Divine Promife made to Abraham^ concerning the multiplying of his Seed 5 Efpecial- ly againftthe Belief of the Promife of the Metfiah 5 that Seed For which all good Men longed.
Verfe 1 1 . Ver. 1 1 . Remain a Widow in thy Fathers Houfe, &C. ] It feems the Contraft of Marriage at firft, was fo un- derftood in thofe Days, that if the Husband died without Iffue, the Woman muft marry his next Bro ther 5 and, as long as any of his Brethren remained, they were bound to marry his Wife, and preferve their Brother's Memory .• Or,elfe folemnly renounce her, to their great infamy and difgrace. This was fo well known, that there is nothing in the Law, that enjoyns any new folemn Contraft in fuch a
Cafe .•
npon GENESIS, 505
Gafe : Becaufe the firft Husband being dead, (he and Chapter the next Brother were Man and Wife, Without any XXXVIIL further Agreement, by Virtue of the Original Law : Until he renounced her. Yet by the Conftitutions afterwards made by their Elders, it was ordained, that he (hould efpoufe and endow her folemoly be fore Witneffes: As Mr. Selden (hows in his Vxor Hebr. Lib. I. cap. 12. and Lib. 2. cap. 2. and 10.
But Judah thought Selah was too young to per form this contraft 5 and therefore defired her to ftay till he was grown up.- And to abide in her own Fa ther's Houfe, rather than in his$ that Selah might not think of Marriage too foon.
For hefaid^ Left peradventure he die alfo^] This fome make an Argument, that he never intended to give her his Son. But it is more agreeable to verfe 2,4, and 26. to think that according to the Cuftom of thofe Days, he could not refufe it. And there fore he thought it was their youthful Folly, which made his two other Sons perifti : Which made him refolve to keep this till he had more Difcretion, and was better inftrufted in his Duty. Or, if we imagine their Sin was known to none but Tamar^ the mean ing may be, that he thought their marrying too young was the caufe of their death: And therefore he de termined to keep this only remaining Son, till he was of a riper Age.
Ver. ix. In procefs of timt^} In the Hebrew the Verfe words are, The Days were multiplied^ i. e. after fome Years.
70 Tintndth.~] A Town not far from Adulhm, it is probable, for it was alfo within the Lot of the Tribe , Jofi.XV. 57.
Ttt He
•$o5 A COMMENTS KY
Chapter He went up to Tiwnatb."] Some have made a diffi- XXXVHI.culty about this Phrafe: For Sawpfon is faid to have v-/"W» gone down to Timtfatt^Judg. XI V. 5. But they (hould have coniidered (as Bochan obterves, P. I. Hiero- zo/c. L. III. .cap. 4.*) that thefe were two different Places, one called T'unnah, the other Timnathah : : This in the Tribe of Judah :, the other iin the Tribe of Dan. To this they went up, becaufe it was in a mountainous Country : To the other they vrent down, becaufe it was in a Valley.
To h?s Sheep '/hearers."] It was the Cuftom at fuch times to make a Feaft, (as we do now) and to in- vite their Kindred and Friends to it, (as he doth his Friend Htrah') which appears fufficiently from the Story of dbfaloM^ 2 Sam. XIII. 2 3. For in thofe Countries, where they had vaft Flocks, Sheep-jhearing was a kind of Harveft : Which made that time to be obferved with fuch Joy, as there ufed to be m, Harveft, Whence David's Servants faid to Nabal, that they were come to him on a, good Day ^ for he was (hearing Sheep, i Sam. XXV. 8. Accordingly Jtidab having finiQied the time of mourning for his Wife, went to recreate himfelf, with his Friends, at this Feftival Seafon.
Verfe 1 4. ^er- * 4- ^e PHt °ffher Widows Garments.] In which, itfeems, fuch Perfons continued, till they were mar ried to the next Brother. But (he, at this time, laid them afide, that he might not have the leaft fufpicion (he was the Perfon whom he courted.
Covered her with a Veil.'] As all Women did, in the Eaftern Countries, when they went abroad: And there are Examples of it alfo in the Weftern Parts of the World 5 as Mr. Selden at large fhows, in his Uxor Hebraica, L. III. cap. 1 7. Where he pro duces
Hpon GENESIS-
duces feveral Paflages out of the Alcoran requiring Chapter this. .; XXXVIII,
Wrapt her felfJ] Muffled her Face with it, as we fpeak, that (he might not be known.
And fat in an open place. ~] Where two Ways met, as the Hebrew words feem to import: Unlefs we take it for a proper Name, as it is in the Margin of our Bibles. Either way, it fignifies, in a Publick Place, where every Body might fee her. It is commonly noted, That there was fo much Modefty left, in thofe ancient Days, that Harlots both went veiled, and alfo fat without the Cities, (fee Origen L. IV. contra Celfunt) p. 206.) But, however the latter part of this Obfervation be, the former part of it is not true. For, as Bochartw obferves, (P. L Hierozoic. Lib. IL cap. 46.) Proprittm frit vteretricHfft non velari, fed re- velari 5 it was proper to Harlots not to be covered, but to go bare-faced : As appears from Ifai. XLVII. 9. Nahum. III. 5, &c. All that can be anfwered to this is, That it might be otherwife, in very ancient Times. Which I do not take to be true : For all Women, as I obferved before, were covered 5 and therefore Harlots were diftinguifhed only by their fitting in the High- ways, not by their \feils.
For Jhe Jaw that Selah wo* grown^ and (he ivas not given, &c.] She refolved, if (he could, to have a Child by one of this Family 5 and hoped, perhaps, that Selah might come along with his Father, and have the fame Defires his Father had : And in thofe Days (as I noted before^ there were no fuch So lemnities required, as the Jews afterwards tifed (though the Law did not enjoyn it) to the making a Marriage with one's Brother's Wife. Which was to be contra&ed, they fay, before two Witnefles, and
T 1 1 * by
$08 A COMMENTARY
Chapter by giving a piece of Money v or a Writing; But this -: XXXVIII. was ordained only by their Elders, not by the Om, L/"V*VJ g'mal Law. Szsverfe n. And therefore (he thought if (he could, have caught Selah by this Device, it-?, would have been held Lawful : But this Plot failing her, (hefo far tranfgrefled, as to admit Jadah himfelf- to lie with her.
Verfe 15*. Ver. 15. Becaufe Jhe covered her face."] This is not the reafon why he took her for an Harlot $ but why he did not know her to be his Daughter-in-law, (as Mr. Selden obferves in the place before-named, verfe- 14,) becaufe he could not fee her Face: And he; thought her to be an Harlot, becaufe (he fat in tri- vio, in the High-way 5.. where (he publickly expofed her felf.
Verfe 16. Ver,i6. Letwecoweinuntothse.~] There was an, exprefs Law that there (hould be no Kedefiah for Whori) among the Daughters of Ifiael^ \. e. none who (hould proftitute her Body without Marriage, Dcut. XXIII. iB.Zewf. XIX. 29. But before the giving of the Law (faith Maimomdes} if a Man found a fingle Woman in a Publick Place, and they agreed on certain terms, to lie together without be ing married, they were notpuni(hed. See Mr. Sd- den, L. V. de Jure N. ®!G. cap. 4..
What wilt thoti give me f] That which made fuch Fafts not to be punifhed, was (faith the fame Mai- monuhi) becaufe of the Contraft which pafled be tween them. This Reward which he gave the Har lot for the ufe of her Body, being like the Dowry a Man gave his Wife, when he put her away .- Which being paid, it was thought he did her no wrong. More Nevoch: P. III. cap. 49. They that would now have then? wicked Practices warranted by fuch Ex amples^
ufrn O EN E S I S.
amplest (hould confider that every thing not punifh- Chapter ed by Men, was not allowed by God.: And that weXXXVIIL no.v live under another Difpenfation, which exprefly vyv^NJ forbids fuchundeannefs $ and declares, that not on ly Adulterer sy but Whoremongers, Cod will judge ^ i, e». punifh, Hebr. XIII. 4. See verfe 23.
^er. 17, A Kid. from the Flock;'] Which was look t Verfe -'-17. upon as a valuable Prefent, in thofeDays-:, as 1 have obferved before, XXVII. 9..
Wilt thon give we a Pledge^ Scc.~] A Pawn, as we now fpeak, to be returned, when he fent what he prpmited.
Ver. 18, Thy Signet7\ His Ring, wherewith he-Verfe 18, fealed.
Thy Bracelets^] The Hebrews generally underiland by this word, his Cloak, or fome fuch Garment. O-. thers, his Girdle,
And thy Staff.&zC] Which, it is likely, had fome- thing in it, to diftinguifh it from other Mens Staffs, And (he asks- fo many things, that by fome or other ; of them f if not by.allj it might be xrertainly known, who was the Father, if fhe proved with Child*
And he came muntoher^\ Not pnblickly 5 but in fooie by place, to which they retired.
And fie conceived by h)m~] Though he did not know her, yet (he knew him : Which aggravated her Crime, and made it Inceft in her, though only Forni cation in him. Unto which, one, would think, fhe was tempted, by her vehement defire to have a * Child, by one of this Fatailv 5 unto which the Pro- mife of the Mejflah belonged. For though foe Ceenis to have been one of the Seed "of Canaan, (as I fa id before, verfe6.) yet embracing the Reiigion-of Jacob^ C7 ' ' (he renounced the Impiety of thz.Cavaamtes :. And *
fo
5 i o ' V 0 0 M M ENT4KY
Chapter fo is mentioned in the Genealogy of our Saviour, as
XXXVIII. well as Rahab and Ruth.
u^VNJ Ver. 19. Lard ly her Vail from her, Sec."] Retired
Verfe 19. jn|-0 |jer father's Houfe ("for wiihin Deors they did not wear Veils) where (he cloathed her felf again, like a Widow.
Verfe 21. Ver. 11. H'fore # /Ae Harlot ?~] By this it is appa rent that the word Kedefchah, fignvfies a common Whore (as we fpeakj who publickly proftituted her feH for hire : As the Hebrew Doftors obferves up on this place, and upon Dc;/r. XXIII. 17. But whence this Name fhould be given to Harlots is a great doubt $ it coming from a Root, which fignifies that which'is Sacred. Which hath inclined fome learned Men to think, that the Women-Prhfts confecrated to the Ser vice of Baalphegor^ or Priapus, who were no bet ter than Whores ; ;and the Men-Priefts, who ferved Afcteroth, mentioned 2 Kings XXIII. 7. made all Whores be called Kedcfchiw, which was the Name for thofe devoted to fuch impure Minifteries. See Mr. Seldcn^ De dm Syrh Syntag. I. cap. 5. and Syn- tag. II. cap. ^. But fuch beaftly Idolatry, furely, was not fo old, as the Days of Jacob: And it feems more reafonable to me to think, that the Original word fignifying Separation ; it was applied either to thofe who were feparated unto Holinefs, or unto Unclean- nefs, as Harlots were.
And they faid there WM no Harlot in thir place."] They knew of hone, that publickly profeffed to be a Proftitute : Nor had they feen any one fit publick ly to invite Cuftomers.
-Verfe ^3. Ver. -25. Let her take it to her.~] Keep the Pledge to her felf.
upon GENE SIS. 5 fi
le/? we be a/hawed^ Though the Fact he~had corn-Chapter mitted was in thofe Days Lawful, (faith Maimonid that is, was n <>t punifhed by the Judges 5 yet Men did not publickly b: aft of it, nor were willing to own it ,• but we e aihamed it fhould be known, (which was a fign they were fen fib! e there was a mo ral turpitude in it} and therefore endeavoured to hide and conceal it} even with the iofs of thofe Goods which were of greateft value. For the Sence, faith he, of Jadah's words is this, It is better to loft what ftie hath of ours, than, by inqHiJition after /Y, to di vulge the bu/inefs, and increafe our fljawe, More A7e-. vochini, P. III. cap 49. where he bids his Reader ob- ferve, this is the Moral Vertiie, which ought to be learnt from this Hiftory^ together with Juftice and Equity 5 Which appears in his performing the A- greement he made of fending a Kid $ of which he defires his Friend to be a Witnefs, that he might not lie under any fufptcion of having offered Violence to her.
Ver. 24. Bring her forth.'] Out of her Father's Verf^ Houfe, into the place of Judgment: Where he would have her fentenced to the fevered Punifhment.
Let her be l>tirnt~\ Not prefently, ffor that had been the higheft InjuQice and Cruelty, to burn the Child in her BellyJ but after (he- was delivered :' Till which time he would have her kept io.ftich fafc Cuftody, that this Execution might be done upon her. Some think burning was the Punifhment for Adultery in thofe Days. Others think 'the Punifh ment depended on the Will of the Supreme Gover nor, whofoever he was.- Whom forr^aiib take to have been JxdahhimMf x as Chief in his own Fami ly: And that he was fo fevere agaiuft her becaufe
. •-.
5 1^ ''* C&M M E N T A:-R'T
Chapter (he had difgraced his Family, and he was glad to be XXXVIII. rid of her, that he might not give his Son Selah to c/fV"\J her. But there are thofe, who think by burning is meant no more, but branding her in the Fore-head, to denote her to be an Whore. See Mr. Selden, L. VII. de Jure N. & G\ cap. ?. If Judah did mean burning her at a Stake, fas we now fpeakj it was a Punifhment not then commonly ufed, but infli&ed fas his words are L. III. TJxor Hebr. cap. n.J ex wore feu Icge alzqi/a fingulari : By fome fingular Cu- ftom or Law.
All this proceeds upon a fuppofition, that (he real ly was Selatfs Wife, though not folemnly married (as the Jews pretend it was neceflary, after the Law was given) by Virtue of the firft Contraft with his eldeft Brother. Which was the reafon of her being kept at her Father's Houfe 5 that no Body elfe might .pretend to her, but (he be referred for him / Other- wife there could have been no ground for proceed ing agahrft her as an Adulterefs.
:Verfe %6. Ver. 26. She ha* been more righteous than II} Thefe words do not fignifie, that (he had in this matter committed a lefs Sin than he, (for (he had commit ted a greater) but that in another matter, which was the occafion of this, he had broken his word with her, when (be had, till now, kept her Faith with him^ and lived a Widow honeftly in expecta tion of his Son. Befides, (he committed this Fad, out of defire to have a Child , he, to fatisfie his Luft.
J(nd he knew her no wore.'] Which fome have trail- flated quite contrary, and he ceafed not to know hcr> L e. he iolcmnly married her, and took her to be his Wife : Which was unlawful after the Law of M&jes
was
upon G E N E S I S- 513
was given, but as lawful before, as many other things Chapter which they praftifed. And two of the Cbaldec Pa-XXXIX. raphrafts have feigned a Bath-coll to have come from L/*V"NJ Heaven, to countenance the Fact. See Mr. Selden^ L. V. Je Jure N. & G, cap. 9. and L. VII. cap. 5. But, it is not likely, he would take his Son's Wife, to be his own. And likewife having known her, though by an Error, mod think Selab himfelf after ward had her not to Wife : But (he rather did Pe nance fas we now fpeakj in Widowhood all her Days. For Selah, we find, had Children by another, Numb. XXVI. 19,
Ver. 28. Thfr came out firft.~\ Perceiving there were Verfe 28, Twins ftruggling in her Womb, the Midwife, to di- ftinguifti this from the other, as the Fir ft- born, bound this Thred about his Wrift.
Ver. 29. How h*ft thoH broke forth ?~\ What is the Verfe 29. Caufe of this > Or, what a Violence is this > Speak ing as one aftonifhed at his Eruption. For it was without Example 5 and therefore the Novelty of the thing, made her break out into this Exclamation, Though, if it be true which a learned Anatomift af firms 5 that where Twins are of the fame Sex, they are wrapped in the very fame Secundines, as they call ibera, (whereas thofe that are of a different, are fepa- rated by diftinft Inclofures) the other Son being ftronger and more vigorous, might force his way the more readily, when his Brother was nearer to the Birth. Fernelivf , L. VII. Pbyfiolog. cap. 1 2.
This breach be upon thee.] Take thy Name from this Breach. Be thou ever called Eruption or Breach ^ as Bochart interprets it. Hterozotc. P. I. L. II. cap. 30*
V v v Ver,
$i4 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 30 Called Zarah.'] Which moft think figni- XXXIX. fiesas much as, he arifeth, (being ufed commonly of LXVNj the Sun's rifing) bccaufe this Child appeared firft, by Verfe 3O.pUtting out h;s Hand before the other.
CHAP. XXXIX.
Verfe i. Ver. i. \ND JofefhJ] Having ended this Story
JLJL of Jttdah, he returns to that of Jofeph,
which he had begun before in the XXXVII Chapter ^
repeating, where he left off, how he was fold to Po-
tiphar.
Brought down.'] It is a defcent from Judta to E- gyft : Which lies very low.
v f Ver. 2. And the LORD was with Jofeph.~\ To
2* guide him in his Deportment, and in rhe Manage ment of all Affairs committed to him .- So that, as it follows, he was a profperow Man.
He was in the Houfe of his Mafter.'] One of his Do- meftick Servants.
Verfe 3. Ver. 3. His Matter faw that the LORD w^s with him, 8cc.] Found by Obfervation and Experience, that he was an extraordinary Perfon. It is not like ly that Pottpharknew God, by the Name of Jehovah : But the meaning is, he obferved the happy Fruits of Jofeph's Service 5 which Mofe*y not he, afcribes to the Loan's peculiar Bleffing.
Verfe 4. Ver. 4, And heferved him.'] Found fuch Favour with his Mafter, that he took him to wait upon his Pcrfon.
And
upon GENESIS, 515
And he made him Overfeer over his HottfeJ] In time Chapter he advanced him to a higher Station, to be (as they XXXIX* now fpeak) his Major Domo 3 to whom all the Ser- \*SV\J vailts in the Family were to be obedient.
And put all he had into his Hand."] Committed all his Eftate, both within Doors and without fas ap pears by the next Verfe) to his Care and Manage ment.
Ver. 6. He left *# he had in Jofeph's Hand^ Did Verfe 6. not call him to a daily Account, nor concerned him- felf about any Bufinefs : But trufted intirely to his Prudence and Fidelity.
And he knew not ought he had, fave the Bread whids he did eat.'] This is the higheft Expreffion of Confi dence $ fignifying that he was utterly carelefs about any thing that concerned his Eftate : Not minding what hisExpence or Receipts were 5 but, taking his Eafe, left all tojofeph'% Honefty. In (hort, he thought of nothing, but only to enjoy what he had, without any Care or Trouble.
And Jofeph was a geodly Perfon, Scc.^ Being the Son of a beautiful Mother.
Ver. 7. C*ft her Eyes upon JofephI} Lookt upon Verfe 7.] him Amoroufly, or rather Lafcivioufly: He being young as well as handfom.
Ver. 9. How can I do this great Wickednefs ? Sec.] Verfe 9. Here are three He Hejedias^ as the Hebrews call them 5 pointing us to fo many remarkable things. How (hall I commit fuch a Wickednefs as Adultery > Such a great Wickednefs > Againft fokind a Matter, who fo intire ly trufts in my Integrity? Efpecially, fince it can not be committed without the higheft Offence to Cod?
V v v 2 Vere
$16 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 10. Day by day.] Took all occafions to fo- XXXIX. licite him.
WVNJ Or to be with her.~] He avoided, as much as waspof- Verfe lo.fible, to entertain any Difcourie with her, (humling
her Company, &?c.
Verfe 1 1. Ver. 1 1, About this time.'} The Phrafe in the -He brew (where there are again two He's, of the fame kind with the former) fignifies fome remarkable Day; R. Sol<jMon-and Jofephtw think it was fome FeftivaI3x when theMafter and the reft of the Family were gone to the Temples 5 and (he ftaid at home, feigning her felf not well. But the Vulgar tranflates it (imply, upon ] a certain Day. Or, it may fignifie, having the like Op- \ portunity, as formerly, and Jofeph being about his hiii finefs in the Houfe, (he caught him, &e.
To do hn bu/inefs^] To caft up his Accounts 5 faith < the Chaldee Interpreters.-
None of the Men of the Houfe were within?] In t hat part of the Houfe, where he was. ,
Verfe 19. Ver. 12, Left the Garment in her Hand."] If he had ftruggled to get the Garment a way from her 3 the Accufation might have been more fpecious, that he went about to ravifh her. Epiphanius hath made a good Refleftion upon this Example. TO ijuutTix,, ^ TD cSfJUk.W c&rvfauoiVi TDTrcy, Iv&fjw Triey rjf •sra^, &C. vzd. n. 9, He left hfe. Gar went , that he might not lofe his Body. Andflmnttd the Place, that he might not fall in to the Snare. And indeed it was dangerous, to ad venture himfelf in her Company 5 much more to touch her, left he fhould fall into Temptation. 14. Ver, 14. She called unto the Men of her Hottfe."} Cried to them, who were in her Apartment, to come and hslpher.
upon G E N E S I S. $17
He hath brought /».] In her Rage, fhe reflefts upon Chapter Her Husband, as aeceffory to her danger, that (he XX XIX. might the more incenfc him again ft Jofeph. There is U/'V^vJ fomething like this in Apuleius his Story (L. X. Me- faworph.^) of the Step-Mother's Love to her Son- in- Uw 3 which was turned into Hatred, and made her contrive juft fuch a Lye as this, when he would not yield to her.
To mock. w*~] To abufe our Family. I cried with a loud Voice~] An improbable Story* (for no Body heard it) '-but was eafily believed a- gainft a Servant $ whom they all, perhaps, envyed. If (he pretended it was done in Jofeph's Apartment, the Queftion might have been askt her 5 What (he did there >
Ver. 1 7. Came m unto me to mock. ^0 To offer Verfe 177 Violence to me (as the Hebrew Phrafe fignifies) and rob me of my Chaftity.
Ver. 18. He left his Garment wlthme^ Phllo ob- Verfe i8*;. ferves, that this was an Argument rather, that (he laid hands on him : For he could have eafily taken his Garment from her^ if he had not fled haftily from her Importunity. But her Husband's Jealoufie made him credulous.
Ver. 20. Jofeph' s Mafter took ktm, &c.] Caufed Verfe .zo^ him to be apprehended, and carried to Prifon. Du ring his Anger, he would not hearken to the Apolo gy, which we cannot but think he offered to make for himfelf. Unlefs we fuppofe (which is not un- likelyj that his Mafter would not fo much as fee him$ but ordered him immediately to be hurried to < the Goal.
A place where the Kings Prifoners were bound.] } Where the King himfdf ciufed thofe, who had of fended
*d COMMENT ART
Chapter fended Mm, to be committed. This (hows Pottphar
XXXIX. was a great Man, (fee XL. 3 J and that he lookt up-
L/VNJ on the Crime as very great : For this Prifon, we muft
think, was moft ftridly guarded, that they who were
thrown into it, might not efcapePuniflhment. And
it appears by what the Pfalmift fays, CV. 18. that the
Prifoners were hardly ufed : And that Jofeph (XL.
15.) was thruft into the lowed part of the Prifon :
Which was the moft difmal , as well as of greateft
difficulty to make an efcape out of it.
And he was there in the Prifon.'] His Mafler pro ceeded no further againft him; But there he left him. Perhaps, Jofeph found means to let him know the truth j which made him not form any Procefs to take away his Life, or inflid any other Punilhment on him: And yet, to fave his Wife's Credit, he let him lie in the Prifon.
Verfe xi. Ver.2i. The LORD was with Jofeph."] The fame Wifdom, and Vertue appeared in him, now he was in Prifon : That his Matter difcerned, when he came fir ft into his Houfe, verfe 2.
Give him > favour f] So that he had more liberty than the reft, after fome (hort Confinement.
Keeper of the Prifon.~] The llnder-keeper, it ap pears from XL. 4.
22. Ver. 1 2 . Committed to Jofeph' s Hand^ &c/] His Fa vour increafed fo much ("as it had done in his Ma- fter's Houfe, verfe 4 J that he, ineffeft, was the Kee per of the Prifon 3 not a Prifoner.
CHAP.
upon G E N E S I S.<
Chapter XL.
C H,A P. XL
i . T_Tp4 D offended their Lord."] In the Hebrew Verfe I,
J[jL is a word of the Plural Number for Lordr\\T. Adonim ^ ratione dignitatw, faith Bochar- tvs $ becaufe of his high Authority. And fo it is ufed not only, when he fpeaks of the King, but of great Men 5 particularly of Jofeph's Mafter, XXXIX. 2.
Interpreters do butguefs at their Offence .- Which might as well be an attempt upon his Life, ("by Poi- fon, or other waysj) as any thing elfe.
Ver. 2 . Wrath againfl two of his Officers'] They are Verfe a* called by the fame Name of Dignity (vi&.Sarisy which we met withal before, XXX VII. 36. For in allGourts fuch Officers had a principal Place. See verfe 4
Chief Butler."] Or, Cup-bearer to the King, verfe 1 3. He (Imply named the Butler and Baker in the fore going Verfe : But now the Schar ("as the Hebrew word isj which in the next Perfe we tranfiate Captain^ i. e. the Principal Officer of thofe kinds. Which would incline one to think, that fome Under- Butler and Ba ker wereaccufed of a great Fault, for which the Head- Butler and Baker were to anfwer : Who,perhaps, were difcovered to have ordered them to do what they did.
Chief Baker."] Who took care of all baked Meats, and Confeftions, &c. verfe 17.
Ver. 3. He put them in Ward, &cfj To be kept Verfe 3. clofe Prisoners.
In
$20 A COMMENT4RT
Chapter In the Honfe of the Captain of the Guard, Sec.] In that X L. Prifon, of which Potiphar had the chief Guftody. Who IXWJ by this appears to have been fuch an Officer, as we call Lieutenant of the Tower.
Into t he Prifon i where Jofeph was bound."] Into that very place where Jofeph had been bound. For now he was at liberty, in the Prifon.
Verfe 4. Ver. 4. And the Captain of the Guard charged Jo- feph, 8tc.] By this it appears Potiphar $ Anger was mitigated towards him (having heard the Truth, it is likely, before this time) and was of the fame Mind, with the Under-Keeper of the Prifon : Who intrud ed all in JofepKs hand.
And he ferved them7\ Attended upon them (which ftiows they were great Perfons) to provide them what they wanted, &c.
And they continued afeafon."] The Hebrew word is, Jamim, i.e. Days: Which frequently fignifiesa Year 5 as hath been obferved before, XXIV. 5-5.
'••Verfe 5. Ver. 5. Each Man according to the Interpretation of hfcDream^ Suitable to the Office which he had held^ and to the Events, which were (hortly to befal them. Verfe 6. Ver. 6. Jofeph came unto them in the Morning^ To fee that they were fafe, and to know what they wanted.
And behold they were fad.'] It was very extraordina ry, that they (hould both of them dream, in the fame . Night, fuch Dreams ashad a great refemblance, one to the other,- and feemed to import a great Change in their Condition : Which made fuch a deep Impreffion upon them, that they were felicitous to know the meaning.
Verfe 8. Ver. 8. We have dreamed a Dreaw, and there is no Interpreter of it, ,] i.e. Here in Prifon, we have not
the
upon GENESIS. 52 t
the opportunity, of getting them interpreted. If they Chapter had been at liberty, there were Men in thofe Coun- XL. tries who pretended to the Skill of Interpreting Dreams. Which for the moft part were not to be re garded $ but fome Dreams carried fuch lively repre- fentations in them, and fo fuitablc to their prefent Condition, and made likewifefo great a Commotion in their Spirits ^ that they could not but attend to them .• Nay, think God had fent them, and therefore dcfire to know the meaning of them.
Tims we find Achilles advifing Agamemnon (in Ho- Homers Iliadl.*) to confult with the Interpreters of their Gods, for what Offence they had fent the Plague among them } faying, TowhatPrieft, or to what Pro phet/hall we go ?
Or to what vender of Dreams ? For even Dreams come from Jupiter.
Do not Interpretations belong to God ?"] Who can (how the meaning of Dreams, but he that fent them ? viz,. God. This (hows that God did fometime admo- ni(h other Nations (as we faw XX. 6. XXXI. 24.) as well as the Jews by Dreams .• Until they forgot (as Dr. Jackson judicioufly fpeaks) that Interpretations were from God^ and laboured to find out an art of In- terpreting.'lThzn they either ceafed, or were fo mix ed with delufions, that they could not be difcerned .- Or, if their Events were in fome fort forefeen 5 yet Men, being ignorant of God's Providence, common ly made choice of fuch means for their avoidance, as brought upon them the Events which they feared, . on the Creed , chap. 9.
X x x Ver.
522 J COMMENT ART.
Chapter Ver. 12. The three Branches^ are three Days,~] i.e.
XL Signifie three Days. So he underftood their meaning
L^V^Xj to be, rather than Months or Tears ^ because of their
Verfe 12. fudden budding, bloflbming, knitting, and ripening of the Grapes, verfe 10.
Verfe 13. Ver. 13. Shaffl/ftup thy Head.~]l e. Advance thee j, or, as it is in the Margin, recfytt thee $ number thee among his Servants (as thePhrafeisufed, Exod.K XXI, 12.) For there being a Roll, or Catalogue of all the Officers of the Court, with their feveral Salaries, they were all called over on fome certain Oay (it ftiould feem by verfe 10. before the King's Birth* Day) and fummoned to give their Attendance. And then fuch as the King was offended withal^ were ftruck out, and punifhed according to their deferts $ or pardoned and gracioufly reftored to their Places. This Expofition beft agrees with the Event, verfe 20. where the Heads of both thefe Officers are faid to be lifted up : Though one of them only, was advanced to his former Sta tion.
¥erfe 14. Ver. 14. But think^on tne, when it flwll be well with thee^ 8cc-3 When my Prediftion is come to pafs, I ask no other Reward of thee, but that thou wilt be an Inftrument of delivering me from my Im- prifonment. Jofcph was not only grown expert in interpreting Dreams, (which he was not before he came into Zgypt, XXX VII. 6, 8cc,) but fully aflured he knewthc right meaning of them y as appears by this Paffage. And fuch kind of Predictions by Dreams were frequent in ancient Times, among the Heathen^ as well as among the Hebrews: Though in after Ages they grew rare in both. For (as Dr. Jack- fon admirably fpeaks, in the place before- named^ the of Wicfydnefs in the World 3 multiplicity of
Enjinefs ^
upon G E N E S I '£ $t$
Buftnefs ^ folicitnde of Mind about worldly Affairs 3 Chapter and Mens too much defending on Politick. Devices to XL. accomplifh their Ends 5 caufed the defedt of true ^*~v~*+* Dreams, and of other Divine Admonitions , for the wel fare of Mankind.
Ver. 15. Iwasjlolen^] Carried away by Violence, Verfe if. without the knowledge of my Father 5 and fold for a Slave. His Brethren, in felling him, committed that Crime, which the Latins call Plaghtm. For, £>ui hontinem libertim vendit^ plagiaries eft.
Out oj the Land of the Hebrews.'] Some Men would have it thought, that thefe words were added by Jo- ftwa^ or fome other., after Mojes his time .• Becaufe Canaan was not called the Land of the Hebrews in his days, much lefs in Jefeph's. But they ftiould have confidered, that Jofeph doth not call all the Land of Canaan by this Name 5 but only that part of it, where Abraham^ Ifaac, and Jacob had very long li ved, viz. about Hebron. There Abraham f who was the firft that is called an Hebrew) fettled with his Fa mily, when he came out of ChalJ<ea^ XIII. 17, 18. There Ifaac dwelt alfo,XXXV.27-and jf^iXXXVIL i, 14. where it is faid indeed, they were Strangers or -Sojourners^ in this Country >* But they vVere Strangers t)l great Note and Name (as Jacobns Altingins hath well ohferved) who were treated as Princes, XXlIIc 6. lived by their own Laws x made Leagues, not on ly with private Men, but wich Cities and with Rings, XXL 22,23. XXVI. 28. XXXiV, 6. and the Fame of them could not but be fpread abroad, both by the Victory which Abraham got, in a Battel, over feveral Kings ^ and by the facking of Shechew, which the Neighbours durft not revenge. All which might well make that part of the Country wherein they
X x x 2 had
534 A COMMENTARY.
Chapter had refided for three Generations, be called the Land XL. of the Hebrews : Where they were at firft planted, by
U^VNJ theconfent of the Natives 3 who were confederate with Abraham, XIV. 13.
That they fiottld put me into the Dungeon, T]IntQ which he was thrown at the firft, as a great Malefactor : For this was the lowed and darkeft place in the Prifon, being underground. So the Hebrew word commonly fignifies, a P/f, either with or without Water in it .-. And thence, this part of a Prifon. Which Bochartus well tranftates, cryptamfubterraneam 3 and fometimes fignifies a Grave, Pfal* XXVIII. i. Hierozoic. P. L L. III. cap. 4.
Verfe 16* Ver.i6. The chief Bak$rfau> the Interpretation was good."} !t was well the chief Butler propounded his Dream firft, which had a good fignification .• For if this Man had fpoken firft, the other, it is likely, would not have propofed his Dream.
Three white Baskets.'] Or, as we now fpeak, three Wicker Baskets, and (as the Margin hath it} the Twigs fotwifted,that they were fuU of 'holes 3 as ours many times are wrought.
Verfe 1 7^ yen 1 7. In the upperntofl Basket.] They were fet one upon another : In the lowermoft of which, we may fuppofe, was Bread 3 in the middlemoft Pies 3 and in the higheft, the finer fort of Paftes of all forts, Bisket, Tarts, &c.
Verfe 19. Ven , ^ JJQ ^ tty Head.'] The fame Phrafe which
was ufed of the other, (verfe i%.) but with this addi tion, from offthee. To fignifie, that his Name (hould be called for another purpofe 3 that he might not on ly have his Name ftrnck out of the Roll, but his Head ftruck off from his Body. Though there is no necef- fity fo to underftand it 3 but only fimply, that he frtttld lofe his life*
•upon GE N E S'l S. ip$
Andjhall hang thee on a Tree."] They that fanfie his Chapter Head was firft cutoff, will have the Body only hang- XL. ed on a Gibbet. But it is more likely he was hanged IX"VNJ by the Neck, as Malefa&ors are now among us, upon a Gallows.
And the Birds fhall eat thy Flejh.~] He was left there, to be devoured by Birds of Prey.
Ver. 20. Pharaoh's Birth-day f] Either the Day on which he was Born, or the Day on which he came to the Crown : Which was Natalis Imperil^ the Birth-day of his Empire. Both of them were wont to be cele brated with Rejoycing and great Feafts 5 in ancient time, as well as now. See the Commentators upon Matth. XIV. 6.
Ver. 21. And he gave the Cup^] His Fault we may Verfe 21 fuppofe, was of a fmaller Nature 5 or, there was not evident proof againft him $ or, he had better Friends^ who interceded for him : So that he was not only pardon'd, but reftored to his Office.
Ver. 22. But he hanged the chief Baker ~] Ordered Verfe 22 him to be hanged, being found guilty ot what he was accufed, &c.
Ver. 23. Tet did not the chief Butler remember Jo- Verfe 23 feph^but forgat him.'} He repeats it, to (how how ve ry unmindful he was of him/ After the manner of thofe vain Courtiers, whohave no value for Wifdom or Vertue, but are wholly given up to their PJeafures. It would have coft him nothing, to mention Jofeph to Pharaoh : But hefeermto have been one of thofe who will fpend their Intereft, as we trow fpealc, for no * Body but themfelves. Of, as it may be interpreted, he did not as foon as he came to his Place call him to mind, who foretold his good Fortune: And fo, in procefs of time, he quite forgot him,
CHAP;
A COMMENT ART
Chapter XLL
CHAP. XLI.
Verfe i. Ver. i. A T the end of two full Tears.*] It is uncer- ±\ tain whether two Years after Jofeph was firftput in Prifon, or after the Chief Butler was ta ken out of Prifon. It feems to relate to the latter, being connected immediately with that Hiftory.
Pharaoh dreamedr\ Had an extraordinary Dream ^ fentfrom God.
He flood hy the River7\ Where they were wont to recreate themfeives ^ efpecially in hot Weather, and when they expefted its Rife tofuch a Degree^ as to give hopes of a plentiful Year.
Verfe 2. Ver. i. Behold^ there came up out of the Rfver."] This is a moft apt and lively Figure $ reprefenting things exaftly conformable to the (late of that Country : Which was inriched by the yearly overflowing of the River Nilus. Without which the Beads would have had no Grafs to feed them, much lefs to fatten them. But Bochart thinks the Htbrerv word Jear (which we tranilate River) properly fignifies, a Cut^ as we fpeak, or a Canal out of Nile : Of which there were many, for the drawing its Water intofeveral Parts of the Country, Hierozorc. P. I. Lib. l\,cap. 42. Well-favoured Kine, &cfj Or, Oxen. By which the Fields being ploughed, and all the bufinefs of Husbandry managed, their farnefs was a proper To ken of Fertility $ as their leannefs was of Famine. So Bochart obferves 5 and fee V_o$tns de IdoloL Lib. I. cap. 29.
And
upon GENESIS 5^7
And they fed in a Meadow.'] This reprefented Nile Chapter as having overflowed a great way , to the inriching XLI. of a Pafture, at adiftancefrom the River. tyVN
Ver. 3. Stood by the other Kine."] This fignified, Verfe 3. the Events denoted hereby, to be near one to the other.
Upon the Brink^of the River .*] Not feeding in a Meadow ("as the former did) but picking up Grafs here and there near the River. For this was a fign, it had not overflowed at all, or very little.' There being no Food for the Cattle $ but on the River's Bank : Where, perhaps, he faw them eating the Flags.
Ver. j. Came up upon one StalkJ] A Token of great Verfe 5.* Plenty.
Ven 6; Blafted with the Eaft-wind~] To this Wind Verfe 6. (which the Hebrews call Kadim} is afcribed in Scrip ture, all the Mifchief that was done to Corn,or Fruit $ by Blafting, Smutting, Mildews, Locufts, &c~ and was more pernicious in Egypt, than other places, be- caufe it came through the vaft Defarts of Arabia.
Ver. 7. And behold^ it was a Dream.'] Or, behold Verfe 7*. the Dreaw^ continued to run in his Mind. When he was awake, he could not put it out of his Thoughts* but it perpetually prefented it felf to him $ as it had done, when he was afleep. This (hew'd it to be one of thofe Dreams, which ihtGreekj called OaoT^/^Tr?^, fint from God : As the Interpretation and the Event: (hewed afterward more evidently. Bochart notes out ofjofefhusi L. XVII. a Dream of Arcbelaus (men tioned Matth. II. 2x.) compofed of both thefe Fi* gures. For he faw re«Ears of Corn very plump - and ripe, devoured by Oxen. Which Simon Ejfaus interpreted tofignifie, that he (hould live ten Years 5
and
A COMMENTARY
Chapter and then there (hould be a great turn of Affairs, ( be- XLI. caufe Oxen turn up the Ground, by the Plough) and accordingly it came to pafs, Hicrozoic. P. I. Lib. II.
Verfe 8. Ver. 8. His Spirit was troubled."] He could not reft fatisfied till he underftood the meaning of thefe Dreams .• Which he thought imported iome great Al* tension, in the State of his Country.
Catted for all the Magicians of Egypt \] The word in Hebrew^ (or rather Chaldee) for Magicians, had a bad fignification in after times/ But what kind of Men they were now, we do not know. Whether they profefled to interpret Dreams and expound Things fecret, by natural Observations $ or, fuch Rules as are now found in the Books of Oneirocritkks $ or, by confultingD^0/<?#.f ^ or, only by the toolifh Art of Aftrology^ to which they were muchaddided in future Ages.
Our learned Ntc. Fuller^ Lib. V. Mifceli.Sacr. cap. II. thinks the Hebrew word Ckartummim imports, fuch as divined by certain Superftitious Characters, Piftures, Images, and Figures $ which they engraved with Magical Rites and Ceremonies.
All the wife Men thereof^ Thefe were the fame, I fuppofe, with thofe who were called Philofophers in Greece. From whence feveral great Men went to learn of the Egyptian Priefts : Who were famous for Wif- dom before it came into Greece.
Told them his Dream.'] He told them both his :Dreams, as appears from what follows .- But Mofes fpeaks in the Singular Number, becaufe they were, in efFeft, but one and the fame Dream.
But there was none that could interpret tbem^] Either they were amazed? and did not attempt an Expofi-
tion,
upon GENESIS.
nion,as beyond their Skill 5 or, what they faid gave Chapter no fatisfaftion to the King. Thzjeven Rive, and the XL!. feven Ears, it is likely they thought had a great My- -ftery in them , if the worfhip of the Planets were then among them. Which they invoked with fecret or inutterable Invocations, KA^fir^n d$$*yxTOL(;r (as the •Oracle mentioned by Porphyry fpeaks) which were in vented by that mofl excellent of all Magicians (faith the fame Oracle) the King of the feven Sounds, whom all Men kptv>-> *• e. Qftanes or Hcanet.
By which feven Sounds (of which he was the Ifr- ventor and Governor^ Mr. Selden thinks is meant the Harmony, which the Ancients fuppofed the Seven Planets to make. Whom thefe Magicians called up on vnloMt$Jt»lM9 with feven Invocations to each Pla net, upon its proper Day. As he (hews, Lib. HI. de Jure N. & G.cap.ig. But the more they laboured to find out this Myftery, the more they were puz zled and perplexed in their Thoughts .- Nor could their Prayers (if they went that way to work) help them to difclofe the Secret.
Ven 9. I do remember my Faults this dayJ} Call to Verfe 9. mind the Offences I committed againft Pharaoh : Or, asfome will have it, my Ingratitude to one, who was in Prifon with me.
Ver. n. Each Man according to the Interpretation 0/Verfe M« his Dreaw."] Ju ft according to the Event, was each of our Dreams.
Ver. 13. As he interpreted to «/, fo it was.] Here- Verfe 13. peats the thing often ^ to (how how exaftly Jofeph hit the Truth in his Interpretation.
Yyy Afe
A COMMENTARY.
Chapter Me he reftored to my Office. See.] He told me, that on XLI. fuch a Day, I (hould be reftored to my Office $ and
U/"V"\J he told the other he (hould be hanged.
Verfe 14. Ver. 14. Brought him haftily^} With all fpeed 5 that Pharaoh might not continue in fufpence.
Out of the Dungeon.~] It is reafonable to think, That though he was thrown into the Dungeon at the firft, (XL. 15.) he did not continue there, when he lookt after all the Prifoners, and did the whole bufi- nefs of a Keeper, XXIX. Z2, 25. Therefore this Part, as isufual, is put for the Whole.- Signifying no more, than that they brought them out of Prifon^ where he had been in the Dungeon.
And hefiaved himfelfc &c.] It was the Cuftom in moft Countries, when Men were in a mournful Con dition, tonegleft their Hair, both of the Head and the Beard .• And not to fhift their Clothes, as in Pro- fperity $ but to continue in a rueful Drefs, where by they exprefled the Sence they had of their Cala mity.
Verfe 16. Ver. 16. It is not in we.'] A modeft anfwer. I do not pretend to more Wifdom, than thofe then haft already confulted.
God flail give Pharaoh an anfwer of peace."] But God, I doubt not will direft me to give the King a fatif- faftory anfwer .-Nay, an anfwer that (hall be fervice- able to him and his Kingdom.
Verfe 17. Ver. 17. AndPharaoh faid untojofeph, &c.] We may well fuppofe that Jofeph defired to know the Dream .- Which Pharaoh repeats in this, and the fol lowing Verfes, fomething more fully than it is fet down before.
Verfe 21. Ver. 21. When they had eat en them up it could not be kpown that they had eaten them> 8cc.] An Emblem
of
upon GENESIS. 331
of a very grievous Famine .• Which is reprefented, Chapter not only by the lean Kine devouring the Fat, (as XLL much as to fay, the barren Years confuming all the vx>r-v^ growth of the Fertil) but by their remaining Lean, as if they had eaten nothing : Which reprefents what often happens in Famine: that Men eat greedily, but are notfatisfied .• Becaufe God break? the Staff of Bread^ Levit. XXVI. 26. i. e. takes away its nourith- ing Virtue 5 as Bochart expounds it, Hierozotc. P. I. Lib. II. cap. 41. But this feems to be a draining of that Phrafe, breal^ the Staff of Bread : Which fignifies no more, than want of Bread to fupport Man's Life. And all that can be gathered from this part of the Dream> is $ That there (hould be fuch exceeding great fear- city, that Men (hould have but juft enough to keep them alive.
Ver. 25. The Dream of Pharaoh is one.'] One and Verfe 2f* the fame thing is reprefented, by two feveral Fi gures.
God hathfhewn Pharaoh what he if about to do.'] God hath in thefe Dreams revealed by Pharaoh^ what he intends (hortly to bring to pafs.
Ver. 26. The feven good kjne> &c.] He reprefents Verfe 2<5. in this, and in the following Verfe> how one thing is fignified by two Dreams. Seven good Kine, and fe- ven Good Ears, reprefenting feven Years of plenty 5 and feven lean Kine, and feven empty Ears, as many Years of fcarcity.
Ver. 28. Ihisisthethingwhichlhavefpoken, &c.] Verfe 28. I have told the King in (hort, what the Divine Pro vidence is about to effeft.
Ver. 29. Behold there come feven Tears ^&c.] I will Verfe 29. repeat it more at large. Take notice then, that in the next feven Years to this, there (hall be very
Y y y 2 great
53* A COM MEN TART
Chapter great crops of Corn,, every where,., throughout the* XLI, whole Country.
w:' V-N^ Ver. 30. And there Jhatt arife after them, &c/] And,
Verfe 3o.jmrnediately after they are ended, (hall follow feven Years as barren as the former were fruitful 5 the Earth bringing forth little or no Corn. Which will make, fo great a Famine, that there (hall be no memory of the foregoing plenty $ for there (ball be no Corn left, but all eaten, up, throughout all the Land of Egypt.
Verfe 31. Ver. 31. Arid the plenty foall not be known, Sec.] I fay, there (hall be no mark remaining of the fore going Plenty -y by reafon of the extream Scarcity, in the following Years, which will be very heavy.
Verfe 32, Ver. 33. And for that the Dream was doubled, &£,~$1ihz repetition of the Dream fignifies the certainty of what I fay : God having. fo determined $.. who will (hortly jdftifie the Truth of my Predidions. But here^ and in the foregoing Difcourfe, verft 25, 28. he di rects Pharaoh to look up unto God, as the Author of a[j thefe. Events 5 and that not in an ordinary, but- extraordinary manner. For fuch Fertilty, and fuch Famine did not proceed from mere Natural Caufes ^ but from an Over-ruling Providence. It is obferved by Pliny > L. V. Nat. Hi ft. cap. 9. that when Nik rofe only twelve Cubits, a Famine followed .• Whe»7/>/>- teen> great Scarcity .• Whznfiurteen, they had a good Year : Wheny5y/ee#, a very good .• And if it rofe Jfx« teen, it made^e//V/^, luxuriant Plenty .• And the greateft increafe they ever knew, was to eighteen Cu bits. Now that this River Ihould overflow fo large ly for feven Years together, as to make vaft Plenty $ and then for the next feven Years not to overflow 5ts Banks at all or very little,, and fo make a fore
and
upon GENESIS. 533
and long Famine; could be afcribed to nothing but Chapter an extraordinary Hand of God ^ it beingquite out XL1. of thecourfe of Nature. And indeed the Dream ^s~v^* feemsto fignifie fomething beyond that; for it is unnatural for Oxen to devour one another.
Ver. 33. Lookout a Man difcreet and wife.'] OneVerfe 33. fit to manage fo great an Affair. He that could fore- tel fuch Events, was fit to advife what was to be done upon the forefight of them .- But, it's probable, he did not prefume to give fuch Directions, till he was askt his Opinion. *j
Ver. 34. Let Pharaoh do tbi*.'] When this isVerfe 34*, done.
Let him appoint Officers."] Let that chief Ruler ap point Officers under him, in the feveral Provinces of the Kingdom.- Such as the Rowans called Prtfeffos
Take up a fifth part."] Some have askt why not the half, fince there were to be as many Years of Famine, as of Plenty. To which fuch anfwers as thefe have been given by Interpreters.: That the greater and richer fort were wont in time of Plenty to fill their Store-Houfes , 95 a Provifion againft a fcarcer Year, * which (ometimeshapned. And, Secondly, That in time of Famine, Men are wont to live more frugal* ly 5 and not fpend fo much as they do in better times. And, Thirdly, That even in thofe Years of greateft Famine^ fomething might be fown .• at lead near the Banks of Nile. But the plained Anfwer is, That ten Parts being the Tribute due to Kings in many Coun tries, and it is likely here, (as I obferved upon XXVIII. ft//.) Pharaoh was advifed to double this Charge, in the Years of extraordinary Plenty : When Part was not more than the tenth in other
Years.
$34 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Years. Or, (which is rather to be fuppofed from
XLI. a good King and a good Councellor)tobuy as much
^'V^more as was his Tribute'* Which he might do at
an eafie rate, when vaft Plenty made Corn very
cheap.
Verfe 35. Ver. 25. Gather aU the Food ofthofegood Tears that coweT] The fifth Part of the growth ot the next fe- vcn Years.
And lay ///? CornI} In places provided for that pur- pofe.
"Under the Hand of Pharaoh.'} Not to be medled withal, but kept by Pharaoh9* order 5 to be difpenfed hereafter, as need (hall require.
And let them keep Food in the Cities.'] Let this Food be referved in the feveral Cities of the King dom.
Verfe 36. Ver. 36. And that Food fhall be for ftore.'] Shall not be f pent 5 but laid up and prefer ved again ft the time of Famine.
That the Land, &c.] The People of the Land do notperiQi.
Verfe 37. Ver. 37. And the thing was good in the Eyes, &C."] The King and all the Court were pleafed with this Advice. Butfomemay wonder that Pharaoh and his Minifters (hould fo readily believe a young Man, and a ftranger 5 of a Nation whom they did not con- verfe withal, and lately accufed of a great Crime. But they may be fatisfied, by confidering, that Jofeph had cleared himfelf in the Opinion of the Keeper of the Prifon 5 where he had been known already to have interpreted Dreams exaftly according to? the Events, in two notorious Cafes, which the chief But ler had reported, verfe 12,13. And befides, his Ex- pofition of the Figures which Pharaoh faw in his
Dream,
upon GENESIS. 535
Dream, was fo natural, that it was apt to beget be- Chapter lief, if he had not been an Expounder of Dreams XLI. before. And above all it is to be confidered, that WWJ God who fent the Dreams, and made them ftick in Pharaoh's Thoughts, difpoled his Mind alfo to re ceive the Interpretation, with a deep Senfe of its Truth.
Ver. 38. Pharaoh/aid to his Servants."} The great Verfe 38 Minifters of the Kingdom, and Officers of the Court, who flood about him.
In whom is the Spirit of God."] Without which, he could not forefee and foretel fuch things.
Ver. 39. And Pharaoh faidunto Jofeph^] It feems Verfe 39 all his Servants were of Pharaoh's Mind, andconfen- ted to whathefaid .• Being amazed at the Wifdom, which appeared in Jofeph.
Farafwitch as God hath fhewed thee all thtsJ] God wrought in him the higheft Opinion of Jofeph^ as a Man Divinely infpired.
There is nonefo difcreet and wife asthon art.'] Thou thy felf art the only Perfon, whom thou advifeft me to fet over the Land, verfe 33.
Ver. 40. Thotifhalt be over my Houfe.~] Be the chief Verfe 40, Minifter in my Court „• For that is meant by his Honfe.
And according to thy word^\ As thou (halt give Orders.
Shall all my People be ruled^] The Margin tran- Hates it armed 5 as if he put the whole Militia of the Kingdom into his Hands .• But this feems too narrow aSence 5 nor was there any thoughts of War at this time, but of the Government of the Kingdom in time of Peace. And therefore we alfo tranflate it fi> i. e. obey, as the LXX and Vulgar well tranflate
it *.
A COMMENTARY,
Chapter it , a°d as it fignifies in Pfalm \\.nlt. ktfs the Sow ,> XLl. 3- e, tubmit to him, and obey him.
t/~V\J ©«& in the Throne will I be greater than thon, "]• Thou (halt have no Superiour, but only my felf.
Verfe 41* Ver. 41. See, I have fetthee over all 'the Land of E- gypt~\ He had advifed Pharaoh only to feta Man to be the chief Infpeftor of the Stores of Corn, verfe 33. j£fdr which Pharaoh thought none fo fit as Jofeph hblUelf, 2^/239.) but he now conftitutes him Chief Governor, under him, in all Affairs of the whok Country.
Verfe 42. Ver. 42. Took, off his Ring, Sec.] This is well ex plained by Vojjius^ Lib. I. de Orig. & Progr. Jdolol. cap< 9. in thefe words, T£/# ut Symbolum dignitath^ tHK^ ad liter as & diplomats pnblico nowine fignandas : Both in Token of the Dignity to which he was pre ferred 3 and that he might feal Letters and Patents in the King's Name.
Fefture of fine LinnenJ] So the Hebrewword Schefch fignifies, rather than 5/74, Cas it is tranllated in the Margin} though not the Common Linen, but that which the Ancients called Byflits : Which Pollux faith was A/5/8 7ia^@L, a fort of Linen, very pure, and ibft ^ and very dear 5 becaufe it did not grow every where. Linum tenmffimHm& pretio/ijfimum, as Brau- nius (hows, Lib. I. de Veftib. Sacerdot. Hebr. cap. 6. In Garments made of this, great Men only, not the Vulgar People, were Cloathed.- Kings themfelves, k appears by Solomon, being arrayed in fuch Ve- fttires.
Put a gold Chain about his Neck^] Another Token of the higheft Dignity.
Verfe 43. Ver. 43. Made him ride in the fecond Chariot which fo had.] In the belt of the King's Coaches (as we
now
Kpm GENESIS.
fpeak) except one, which Pharaoh referred for Chapter himfelf: And attended, no doubt, with a fuitable XLI. Equipage, of Foot-men, and Horfe-men, perhaps, L/'VSJ for a Guard to his Perfon. '
Cried before him^ Bow the KneeJ] They that went before his Chariot, to make way for him, required all to do him fuch Reverence, as they did to the King himfelf, when he appeared: Which was by bowing their Knees or their Body. .The word they ufed to this purppfe, as they went along, was Abrech: Which we tranflate bow the Knte^ deriving it from the He- brew word Barach, which hath that Signification, Though others will have it to fignifie the Father of the King : For Rack in the Syrian Language fignifies a King, if we may believe R. Solomon. Others tran flate it, a tender Father 5 v/z. Of the Country which he had preferved. .("See Voffiw, L.I. deldoloL c. 19.) And Hottinger will have it as much as God fave the Rjng$ or, a, Blejfing light on you. See Smtgma Ori ent, p. 131. But unlefs we underftood the old Egyp tian Language, I think we had as good reft in the Hebrew Derivation, as in any other $ according to our own Tranflation,
And he made him Ruler over all the Land ofEgypt.'] After this manner he conftituted him Supreme Gover nor of the whole Country, under himfelf .• Accord ing to his Resolution, verfe 41.
Ver.44. /*» Pharaoh.^ This is my Will and Verfe 44. Pleafure j who am King of Egypt.
Without thee ffjal/ no Man lift up his hand or foot^ Sec/] A Proverbial Speech. Let no Man prefume to do thefmalleft thing, in Publick Affairs, without thy Order.
Z z z Ver.
jftc" A* ,/16' .^V-'-^qf " 1'rjf*~ W^ ^ T T^* J "W >V»
qgm *¥ € OM MENJART
Chapter Ver. 45. And Pharaoh called Jofeptis Nave.*] He LXI. gave him a new Name $ partly, becaafe he was a Fo^ L^VNJ reigner^ and, partly* to honour him, -.and yet tode- Verfe 45 'note him to be his Subjeft, thougfo Ruler of every Body elfe. We find Nebuchadnezzar-did the fame in > Babylon, Dan. I. 7. And it is ftill the Cuftom in the Eaftern Countries; Where the Mogul never advances any Man, but he gives him a new Name $ and that fignificant of fomething belonging to him. As not long ago, he called his Brother-in-law Afaph Chan^ the gathering^ or the rich Lord •••: And his Phyfieian * Macrod:Chan^ the Lord of my Health, Sec. as Peter de laValle relates in his -Travels, ^465. where he ob- - ferves the fame of his Wives, p. 470. .
Zaph-natk Paaneah*] Which St; f^rer^^interprets^ •-. the Saviour *of the World. But the whole Stream of Interpreters carry it for another Signification, which is the Interpreter of Secret s^ or the Rcvealer of future things. See Sixt. Awama, and Atlxan. Kirker his Pro- - &rom*t\ca$. 5. ^md our Country man jGrtgorji,fhap. , i£. of his Obfervations. Who, with Mr. Calvin^ . thinks it is ridiculous to attempt to make this Senfe out , of the Hebrew Language: And yet there are thbfe who » think they have done it with fuceefs. Tzapkan being \ to hide or cover 3 whence Tzaphnath, that which is bidden^ or ficret • : And P#nah fignifying, to look into ? or contemplate. So that Campeg.Vitrjgna thinks Jo- fepbt# and PA/fo^nottohave ill interpreted this word, . 3O^«f QK£J.TH$ and xptciSfw ivpvrw;. (Obferv. Sacr. Lib. I. cap. 5.) an Interpreter of Dreams, and a Finder out oft things hidden. Bat as jfrfov&/We.r obfervesupon Dan^l.j. that the Egyptian and Perftan Kings gives Names, far Honour and Glory , fin token of their Supreme Great- nefs and Authority) fo it was moft for their Gloiy^
tot
-up** GENE S 1 " S.
to give them out of their own Language. And there-Chapter fore if this be the meaning of Zaph-tttth P.aaneah, the XLI. Egyptian Tongue and the Hebrew had a great Affinity U^WJ one to the other.
And be gave htm to Wife.] Either the King then difpofed of the great Noble-Mens Daughters, when their Parents were dead, (as our Kings lately did of their Wards*) or Afcnath was of Pharaoh's Kindred, and fo he provided her a Husband, and gave her a Portion. Or, the meaning (imply is 5 he made this match for him.
The Daughter of PotipherahJ] This is a different Name from his, who was Captain of the Guard 5 and was of a different Quality. And therefore there is no ceafon from fome likenefs in their Names, to think that Jofeph married the Daughter of him who had been his Matter : For he would have abhorr'd to match with one, that was bom of fo lewd a Woman as his Miftrefs} as Voffius well obferves in the place fore-named.
Prhfl of On^ Or, Prince of 0*, (as the Margin hath It) for the word Cohen fignifies both Prieft and Prince, (fee i Sam. VIII. */f.) Priefts being anciently the Prime Men of the Kingdom $ for Kings themfelves were Priefts.
On was a famous City in Egjft, called afterwards Heliopolif : Which gave Name to one of the N<fy*ei, i.t. Provinces of Egypt, whereof this P&ti-pbcrM was Governor, or Lieutenant. Concerning which Pro vince, and Afenatk, and Poti-pheraA, fee Mr. Selden, £. III. de Synedrils^ p. 406.
And Jofeph went out over all the Ltind of Egypt!] Cee what places were fitted for Stor ej.
Z z z 2
$40 A COMMENTARY*
Chapter Ver. 46. Jofeph was thirty Tears old*"] So -he had* LXI. been out of his own Country thirteen Years ,• for he* VVVNJ was but fe-venteen Years old ptXXVII. 2.) when he Verfe 46.was foij ;nto Eg-^j. In which time, we may well think, he had learnt the Language of that Country, and gained much Experience 5 but never fent to hii Father : In which there is vifibly a fpecial Providence of God:, for his Father might have ufed means for his Deliverance, and then he had never come to this Greamefs.
When he flood before Pharaoh?] When Pharaoh mads him his Prime Minifter. For the great Connfellors and Minifters alone, were admitted into the King's , Prefence, (in the Eaftern Countries, and, its like, the fame State, was kept herej and are faid to ftand be* fore the King, Dan. 1,2-9, and-, to ^ the Kings .Puce, Eft her I. 14,
And. went throughout all the Land of Egypt ^] He feems to have only taken a general view of the Coun try before, verfe 45. but now a more particular ; ,to give Orders for the Building of Store-Houfes, againft* the plenteous Years came.
Verfe 47* Ver. 47. Brought forth by handfuls.'] Such large Ears, that a few of them would make a Sheaf: Which our Tranflation feems here to mean by handfuls : For Sheaves are bound up with Mens Hands. And fo it may be interpreted, it brought forth Sheaves, or Heaps : Qr, . more literally, handfnls upon one Stalky ?• e. vaft abundance. Some conceive the Corn was laid up in Sheaves, heaped up very high, 5 and not thrafh^d out : For fo it would keep the lon ger.
48. Ver. 48. And he gathered up all the Food.'] The fifth Part,, as he had propofed, verfe 34,.^. e, he bought it^
which
upon G E N E S I SV 541
which he might do at a fmall Price, >when there was Chapter unufual Plenty. XLL
And laid up the Food m the Cities.'] It is very pro- L/*WJ table he laid it up, as it was gathered, unthralh'd : That there might be Food for the Cattle alfo. So the Vulgar, In .vtanifulos redttftfi fegetes congregate funt in horrea. And what was laid up in the firft Year of Plenty $ ie is reafonable to think was dif- penfed in the firft Year of Famine, &c.
Round every City-"] This was very wifely ordered , for it was lefs charge to Pharaoh tor the prefent, and more eafie to the Country, when they wanted Pro*- vifion.
Ver. 49. Gathered Com a&> the Sand of the Sea."] The Verfe 49* following words explain this Hyperbolical Expreffir on. And the reafon of his heaping up fo much was, that there might be fufficient to fupply the Neceffities of other Countries, as well as of Egypt.
Ver. 51. God hath made me forget all my toil"] The Verfe J |v great Affliftion, and hard Labour he, endured in,Pri- fon.
And all 'my Father s Houfe^] The Unkind nefs of his Brethren, who were the caufe of all his Trouble. By impofing this Name on his. Firft-born, headmo- niflied himfelf in themidft of his Profperity, of his former Adverfity .-Which he now thought of with \ Pleafure.
Ver. J2. In the Land ofmyAffiiftion.'] In the Coun- Vcrfc 52. try where I have fuffered much Affliaion.
Ver. 53. And thefeven Tears ofPlenteoufnefs, were Verfe 53, ended."] It was befide the Intention of Mofet to re late any of the Affairs of that Country, but what be longing to this Matter : And therefore he pafles over all other Tranfaftions of thefe feven Years ^ as he
doth
A COMMENTARY
Chapter doth all the things that hapned in Jacob's FamHy, ever
XLI. fince Jofeph came from it.
V/VNJ Ver. 54. The Dearth wot in 4$ Lands ?\ In all the \Verfe 54. Countries thereabouts, Canaan, Syrjaf&c. 'It feeros there was a general want of Rain.
But in all the Land of Egypt there&as Bread.'] They did not feel the Famine prefemly, becaufe they had much to fpare from the former Years of plenty. Verfe f£. Ver. ^ And when all the Land of Egypt wasfamijh- \d.~\ When they had eaten up all their own Stores ; Which, we may fuppofe, failed in two Years time.
The People cried to Pharaoh, Sec/] Madeearneft Peti tions to the King,' for relief of their Neceffities. ^ Vetfe 56. Ver. 56. And the Famine TOM over all the face of the Earth J] Grew (till greater in all the Neighbouring Countries.
And the Famine waxed fere in the Land of EgyptS] For the E^pf«f#j themfelves, having fpefit all their own Stores, were forely p'mch'd.
'Verfe f 7. Ver. 5 7. And all Countries cante to buy Corn^ &C.]j H. e. The Neighbouring Countries, as was faid before, verfe 54. For,if the moft diftant had come, the Store- Houfes had been foon emptied.
Becaufe the Famine was fore In all Lands."] It in- creafed more and more, in thofe Countries before- named : Which were grievoully afflifted by it.
G H A
upon G E N E S I S. 543
Chapter - _ j -- XLII.
CHAP. XLII.
Ver. i • A ND when Jacob faw that there was no Corn in Verfe I *
JL\ Egypt >&c.~] He faw, perhaps, fome pafs by laden with Corn, which they had bought there. Or, one Senfe (as is freqiuept in Scripture) is put for another .- Seeing for Hearing } as it is expreffed, verfe 2.
Why do:ye lookout upon another?'] As idle People ufe to do, while none of them will ftir to (eek Relief. - Or, rather, as Men that know not what courfe to * take, expefting who would begin to axivife for their Prefervationj
Ver,2. That vot ntay live^ andnot die."] He exciteSVerfe 2. them to make no further delay, by the great Neceflity wherein they were^ no lefs than danger of p^riftv-* iiig.
Ver. 4.. Left MI f chief befal him.'] He being, as yet, Verfe 4 but young, and not ufed to travel, Jacob was afraid the Journey might be hazardous to him. Befides, he * could notbutdefire to have fome of their Company -3 though this was not his principal Reafon.
Ver»5. Came to bay Corn twong thofe^t^at earner] Peo- Verfe $. pie came from all Parts thereabout, upon the fame btifinefs: And Jacob's Sons among others 5 whom, * perhaps, they met withal upon the Road.
Ver. 6. And Jofepk was the Governor fccJ] The He- Verfe 6 brew word Sehallit -'(ighifies fometimes, one that hath abfolute Power : And feems to be ufed here to fet forth the high Authority which Jefep h exercifed un- •«-• der Phataeh. ".-.
Ht *
544
Chapter He it was that fold to fill the People of the L XLII. Appointed at what Pvates Corn ihould- be Told, hi
U/*WJ every Part of the Country, For it is not to be fup- poled that he iirFJsfion, -could treat with every Man that came to buy : But he, by his Deputies, who ob- ferved his Orders,
And Jofepfts Brethren cawe.~] It fhould feem by this, that ail Foreigners, were ordered to tome to him 5 in the Royal City, where he refided : Or, at lead, their Names were brought to him, chat he might {peak with fuch as he thought fit: And thereby get the better Intelligence of the State of their feveral Countries , and be fare to fee his Brethren, who, he ,knew, would be conftrained to come thither.
••They bowed themfdvzs before him, &c^ Unwitting ly fulfilled his Dream. This feems to have been done after the manner of their own and other Raftem Countries^ .not of Egypt, where they only bowed the-Knee, XL1.4O.
Verfe 7. Ver. 7. Spake roughly to ttxmJ] Gave them hard words, as we fpeak. Or, fpake in harfh Tone to them, and with a ftern Countenance.
Verfe 8. Ver.8. And they l^iew noi~him?\ They had not feen him in twenty Years: In which time a Youth alters far more than grown Men do 5 To that, though he knew them, they might not know him. Who ap- .peared alfo in fuch Pomp and State, that it made .them not think of him: And he fpake alfo to them by an Interpreter, verfe 23. Which reprefented him as a Stranger to them.
Verfe 9. Ver. 9. Te are Spies.'] He did not think they were TuchPerfons, but faid this to provoke them, to give an account of themfelves, and of his Father. Nor 3s there any reafon to look upon this as a Lye. For
they
upon GENESIS,
they are not words of Affirmation, but of Probation Chapter or Trial: Such as Judges ufe, when they examine XLIL fufpefted Perfons, or inquire into a Crime, of which L/"V"SJ Men are accufed. And therefore have the force of an Interrogation ^ Are ye not Spies .<? Or, I tnuft take you for Spies, till you prove the contrary,
To fee the nakednefs of the Land are ye covte^] The weak Places of the Country , which are leaft defen- fible. Or, as others will have it, the Secrets of the Land : For it is the fame word that is ufed to exprefs the Privy Parts*
Ver. n. We are all one Mans SonsJ] There needed Verfc r t * no-more than this to take off his Sufpicion. For no Man would have fent feis Sons, but rather his Ser vants, if they had come upon an ill Defign : Or, at leaft, not all his Sons } or, not all of them together in a Company: But difperfed them rather about the Country. Nor was it probable, that one Man could have a Defign upon Egypt $ but all the great Men of Canaan tnuft have joyned in it : And then they £p3 would have fent Men of different Families, not all of one alone.
We are true Men."] This was a good Argument, that they faid true, when they told him (vtrfe io.J they had no other bufinefs in Egypt but to buy Corn.
Ver. 12. And he faid unto them, Nay, &C."] UnlefsVerfe you have better Arguments than this, I muft take you for Spies. He flights their Argument, as great Men fometimes do, when they know not prefently how to anfwer it. He had a mind alfo to have them give a further account of their Family, that he might be informed what was become of his Brother Benjamin.
A a a a Ver*
* c O'M MENTART
Chapter Ver. 13. Thy Servants are twelve Brethren, &c.]
LXlL They inforce their former Argument, by relating
U^V^vj their Condition more fully and diftinftly. But
*3' -ftill it amounts to no more than this 5 That it was
not likely a Parent would venture all his Children,
in fuch a DeSgn, as they were fufpeftcd to come a-
bout.
The youngcftis this day with our Father^] This was the thing he defined to know.
And one is not. ~] Is dead. So they thought, be- caufe they had heard nothing of him in twenty Years fpace.
Verfe 14. Ver* H* ^* * *&** Ifp*k* **"*<> you, &c.J This confirms what I faid, and gives me juft ground for fufpicion, that you are Spies : Becaufe you pretend to have another Brother, which is not likely 5 for why (hould not your Father fend all, as well as fa many? This was but Cavil $ but ferved to compafs his end : Which was to fee his Brother. 15. Ver. iy. Hereby jhatt ye be proved'] By this very thing fhall you be tried 3 whether you be honeft Men., or no.
Bf.the Life of Pharaoh, Sccf] As fure as Pharaoh lives $ or, itafalvw/it^ fo let Pharaoh be fafe and in health, as I will keep you here, till I fee your youn* ger Brother. Others expound "it, If Pharaoh have any Authority here^ \. e. be Ring of this Country, you fhall not ftir from hence, &c. But moft Authors take this for an Oath / The Original of which is well explained by Mr. Selden in his Titles of Honour^ fi'45> where he obferves, that the Name of Gods be- ihg given to Kings very early, S? c?p£T% •&$&()?&&, ("as Ariftotle fpeaks, L. VI. Ethic, cap. i.) from the excellence of their Heroick Vertue, which made
them
upon G E N E S I S,
them anciently great Benefaftors to Mankind : Thence Chapter arofethe Cuftom of Swearing by them } which Abm XLIL Ezra faith continued in his time (about 1170.) when U^VXJ Egypt was governed by Caliphs. If any Man fwore by the King's Head, and was found to have fworn falfly, he was punifhed capitally. And then Schach Jfmael^ the firft Sophz, got the Per/ian Empire, no Oath was held fo Sacred (as Leunclavfw reports) as to Swear by his Head, /. e. in effeft, by his Life.
But St. Bafil will not have this to be an Oath : But a folemn Afleveration to perfwade Belief. For faith he, Tom. I. Horn, in Pfal. XV. p. 155-.) yE<jz riv^ Ao- yoi ^juutTse. fjilv opwv fyovlt^ B^ Spnoi 3 oi/7^,8cc. There are certain Speeches which have thefafhion of Oaths, and yet are not Oaths : But SsgpiTreia TT^ r«$ a*&- ov1a,<;, ferve only to perfwade the Auditors. Such he takes this to be $ and that of St. Paul, Nw r v/M7t£&v *&ti%YinVi by our rejoycing, i Corinth. XV. 31. where he faith the Apoftle was not unmindful of the Evange lical Commandment, nottofaear: But by a Speech, in form of an Oath, he would have them believe that his glorying in them ("or rather in Chrift) was dearer to him than any thing elfe. And the truth is, Judabfeems to have taken thefe words ofjofeph, on ly for a folemn Proteftation, XLIII. 3. wherein he expofed the Life of Pharaoh (which was moft dear to himj unco Execration, if he was not as good as his word. So G. Calixtus under (lands it.
Ver. 1 6. Send one of you, and let him fetch ^//rVerfe 16 Brother^ At firft he propofed, that only one of them (hould return home, to bring their Brother to him 5 and all the reft remain, in the mean time, Pri- foners in Egypt.
A a a a 2 Ver.
$48 A COMMENTART
Chapter Ver. 17. Andhe put them all together into Ward, &C-3
LXII. That they might confult one with another, which of
W*W3 them (hould go to ktcfa Benjamin $ about which, it
Verfe 17-feems, they could not agree:. Every one fearing to
be the Meffenger of fuch fad Tidings to, their Father 5
who might fufpeftthey were all loft*
Verfe 18. Ver. 18. Jofeph faid, unto* them ike third day, Sec."] \ I have no mind to deftroy you: For I know there is a Godv who will puaifli all Injuftice and -Cruelty* Therefore I make this new Propofiticn to you. Verfe- 1-9,.. Ver, 19. Let one af your Brethren , Sec,] This (hall r be the proof of your Honefty. Inftead of fending one of you to your Father^ you fhall all go but one ^ t who (hall remain bound in Prifon till you bring your younger Brother.- And in the mean time carry Pro<- vifion for your Families.
20.,. Vet. 2Q. But bring your yoitttgeJtBrot:her,&.c.~] Fail not to let me fee your youngeft Brother : And ib (hall you juftifie.your felves to be no Spies ^ and fuffer no thing.
And. they djdfir\ They confented to this, Pro- * ppfal.-
2 1 . Ver. 21., And they fad one to another^ They - that had the chief Hand, in the Confpiracy againft jb/ep£, began upon this occafion to make the following Re- fleftions on it. ,
We are verily guilty y&c.] See the Power of Con- fcience, which flies in their. Face; and reproaches them for a Fa& committed above Twenty Years ago.
In that wefawthe.anguifo of his Soul, Scc.^ We would have no pity, when he befought us with Tears$ and .now*, nothing , that we can fay, will move this Man. They obferve their Guilt in their Punilhment. For, ..as- they had thrown Jofeph into a Pit, fo they
had
upon GENESIS. 54P
had been thrown into a Prifon themfelves : And as Chapter nothing he could fay, would incline them to fpare XLII. him, fo now they found Jofeph inexorable to them. ^^VNJ
This Anguifh of his Soul, and his Entreaties are not mentioned before, (C&ap.XXXVII.) but could not but be fuppofed, if they had not been mentioned here.
Ver. ^'2. And Reuben anfwered them, Sec.] YouVerfe ^^. ftiould have hearkned unto me, and then you had not come into this Diftrefs.
Behold alfo, his Blood is reqtt/red.'] You killed him, and now you muft pay for it with the lofs of your Lives. For he thought him to be dead.
Ver. 2^. Spake to them by an Interpreter.] This (hows Verfe 23 the Egyptian Tongue and the Hebrew were different , though in fome words they might agree.
Ver. 24. And he turned hi mfelf about from them7\Vttk 24 And went into fome other Room.
And wept."] Natural Affeftion was too ftrong for the Perfon he put on : And would not fuffer him to counterfeit any longer.
Returned to them^ and communed with them."} When he had vented his Paffion, a°d compofed himfelf to his former Temper, he repeated to them what he had told them before: But added withal, That if they brought Benjamin with them, they naight Traffick in the Land, Verfe 34.
And took, from them Simeon.'] Who, the Hebrews fay, was the Perfon that put Jofeph into the Pit .• And therefore was now ferved in his kind. This, I think, , may be fairly conje£lured, That. Reuben being refol- ved to fave him, and Judah alfo inclined to favour him 5 if 5W0;* had joyned with them, their Autho rity might have prevailed to deliver him.
^ CO M MENTOR T,
Chapter And bonnd him before their eyes."] Caufed him to XLIL be bound in their prefence$ to ftrike the greater LXVNJ Terror into them.
Vcrfe 25, ^er. 25. To give t hem Provifion for the way."] That they might carry what they bought intire, for the ufe of their Family.
And thw he did unto themT] Thus the Perfon, to whom Jofeph gave that Command, did unto them. Verfe 26. Ver. 26. And they laded their Affes with Corn, &C.] It is not faid how many AiTes they laded; but one would guefs by what follows, only each Man one. For they went only to fetch a prefent Supply: Not thinking of providing againft a long Famine. Verfe 27. Ver. 27* ^nd as one of them opened his Sack, &C-3
Wherein was their Provifion for the way, verfe 25. Verfe 28. Ver. x8. He faid unto his Brethren, Sec.] Who all prefcntly opened their Sacks, and found their Money there. For fo the Story is told by Judah at their re turn to Egypt, XLIII. n. And both by that place and this, it appears this hapned to them when they came unto their Inn, to reft themfelves, in their firft day's Journey.
And their 'Heart failed thew,&c.'] Their Guilt made them afraid 5 otherwife they would have rejoyced. But all things terrific an evil Confcience : Which made them think fome Defign was laid to undo them all.
What is this that God hath done unto us ?~] Now God was in all their Thoughts, as the Chief Governour of all things $ whofoever was the Inftrument. Verfe 30. Ver. 30. The Man who is the Lord of the Land."] By this it appears Jofeph was little lefs than a King, i.e. in his Authority and Sway, which he bare in that Country. -7^
upon G E N E S I S; 55 *
/*r Spies, ,"] In the He/>ren> it is, He £<me #f , Chapter h e. treated us as Spies } by delivering us to be put XLII. in Prifon. v^VNJ
Ver. 34. And ye flail traffic^ In tie Land.] Buy Verfe }4« Corn, or any thing elfe the Country affords } with out any letter impediment.
Ver. 35. When both they and their Fathers J aw the Verfe 35% bundles of Money, 8cc.] They had feen the fame be fore: Therefore this is fet down to exprefs the Fear which Jacob himfelf was in, at the fight of the Mo ney 5 though we may well fuppofe their Fear was in- creafed, when they perceived him to have the fame Apprehenfions which they had, of fome defign that might be laid again ft their Lives, when they returned to Egypt, though they brought their younger Brother with them.
Ver. 36. Simeon is not."] He lookt upon him as Verfe 36* dead $ being in the power of fo rough a Man, as they defcribed the Lord of the Land to be : Efpecially if he did not fend Benjamin thither, as, for the pre- fent he was refolved not to do.
All thefe things are against me7\ Or, itfon me^ as the Hebrew words carry it. Thofe are heavy Burdens, which lie qpon me, not upon you : Who can be content to have Benjamin go, after I have loft two erf my Sons already.
Ver. 37. Slay my two Sons if I bring him not ^ Verfe 27* thee."] Nothing could be more fooliQily faid 5 for what Good would it do Jacob fnay, what an in- creafe of his Affliction would it have been) to lofe two Grand-children, after he had loft another Son? But it was fpoken out of a paflionate Defire to redeem Simeon, and to make more Provision for their Family: Being confident that Jofeph (who
A COMMENTARY
J J
Chapter profefled tofear God, verfe 18.) would be as.goodas XLIII. his word.
tVy^SJ Ver. 38. Be is left alone.] The only Child of his Verfe 38, Mother.
Bring down my grey Hairs mthforrow to the Grave?] You will make me, who am worn away already, die with Grief.
C H A P. XLIIL
Verfe i. ^er« *• A ND the Famine was forest?] Still in- JLJL creafed to a greater Scarcity,
Verfe 2. Ver. 2. When they had eaten up the Corn^ that they brought out of Egypt.*] So that they had nothing to live upon, but only the poor Crop, that their own Country produced: Which could not long fuftain them.
Buyw * little Food.'} He hoped, it is likely, the next Year would be better } and fo only defired a fupply of their prefent Neceffity.
Verfe 3. Ver. 3. And Judahfpake unto him^ &c.^ Reuben had fpoken to him in vain, ("XLII. 37, 38.^ and Le- vi, perhaps, had not yet recovered his Intereft in him, fince the barbarous Aftion ztShechem : And therefore Judab took upon him to perfwade his Father 5 being next in Birth, and of no fmall Authority among his Brethren.
Te jhatt not fee my Face."] But be taken for Spies 5 and (b lofe their Lives.
"¥erfe $• Ven '5- ^/e w^ not&° ^own^ Becaufe it would not only have been to no purpofe : But alfo indangered
.their iives.
Ver.
upon GENESIS. 553
Ver. 6. Wherefore dealt ye fo ill with me, 8cc.] It was Chapter unkindly done of you, to tell him of another Bro- XLIII. then For what need was there to fay any thing of u^v^SJ one who was not with you ? Verfe 6.
Ver. 7. The Man askt usftraitly, 5cc.] They having Verfe 7. told him, they were all one Man* Sons, XLII. 1 1. he might well ask them, what Mans ?And whether there were any more of them > And whether their Father and Brother were yet living?
And we told him according to the tenor of thefe words."] Anfwered every queftion, as Truth required.
Ver. 8. Send the Lad with me.~\ Trnft him with me. Verfe 8. He calls him Lad, becaufe he was the youngeft of them all ^ and one of whom his Father was as tender, as if he had been a little Child : Though indeed he had Children of his own, XL VI. 21.
That we may live, Sccf) Thefe were very moving Ar guments $ the Prefervation of a whole Family $ Benja min and all .- who, if he went, might return in fafety 5 but if he ftaid at home, muft perifh with all the reft.
Ver. 9. Iwillbe fnrety for him^] Be bound in what Verfe 9. Penalty thou pleafeft, to bring him back.
Ofmyhandjfhalt thon require him."] Punifh me (who will be anfwerable for him) if he mifcarry.
Bear the blame for ever."] Lye under thy Difpleafure, aslong'as I live. All this fignifies only, that he would do his utmoft to fecure him ; And rather fuffer the heavieft thing himfelf, than lofe Benjamin.
Ver.io,F<?r except we had lingred, 8tc.]If thon had ft Verfe i o. not hindredusby thefe Scruples about Benjamin, we had been there and at home again, by this time.
Ver. ii. Take ofthebeft Fruit s.~] The Hebrew word Verfe n. Mizzimrath fignifies, of the mofl^raifed } or, as Bochart more literally interprets it, qua in hac terra feint maxitn\
B b b b «fc-
554 * COMMENTARY
Chapter decatttata^ (P. II Hierozoic. Lib. V. cap. y.^thofe Fruits XLIH. which are w oft celebrated in the Landoj Canaan/Which was as famous for the things following, as Egypt was for Corn. And it feems at this time did not want them $ which might make them more acceptable in E- gypt, where they grew at no time. For Egypt being a low and plain Country, znd.Canaa* an hilly 3 it made, their Produds very different.
Rather Re/in, as we obferved on XXXVII,
Honey?] For which this Country was famous $ e- fpecially in fome parts of it, about Tekpah, as Bochart alfo obferves. And therefore was a fit Prefent fora King, as we fee in the Story of David, 2 Sam. XVIL 29. And wascarried from hence, to the Marts of Tyre, E*4. XXVII. 17.
Species.'] The word Necotb fignifies Storax, as was alfo obferved before, XXX VI I. 25.
MyrrheJ] Which Bochart tranflates Mafticht.
Nuts.] He alfo proves by many Arguments, that the word Botnim fignifies thofe Nuts we cMPiJlacbfo's. Which may well be numbrtd among the beft Fruits of the Land : Being very friendly to the Stomach and Liver $ powerful againft Poifon $ and highly efteem- ed by the Ancients, as a delicious Food. And fo Maimonides and Kimchi expound the word.
Almonds^ They are fitly joyn'd with Piftacbio\ as he obferves ^ being fruflus congeneres : And therefore Diofcorides treats of them together .• And Theophajlus defcribes tfaPiftachio ast/uLomreSs apififcttdois, like un to Almonds. Vide Canaan, Lib. I cap.
Verfe 12. Ver. n. Take double Money!] O:he Money bf fides their firft. Which, if it fignifie as much more is rhe firft 3 the reafon was becaufe he thought. Corn might mow be grown dearer. Ver.
upon GENESIS.
Vcr. 14. Iflbe bereaved, 1 am bereaved."] I fubmit Chapter unto it, and will bear it as patiently as I am able. Or, XLHI. as fome paraphrafe it 3 as I have been bereaved of Jo- WVNJ fefh and Simeon^ fo now I am of Benjamin : No new Verfe 14. thing happens to me 5 but I have been ufed to fuch Af- fliftions .• Which I may therefore bear more equally.
Ver. 15. Stood beforejofej>h.~] Prefented themfelves Verfe if. to him in his Office, (as we fpeak) or, in the Place, where he gave Audience to tbofe who came to Peti tion him, or to buy Corn of him. For it is plain, by the next Ferfe, that he was not at his own Houfe.
Ver. 1 6. Bring thefe Men home.'} Conduft them Verfe 16. to my Houfe.
And flay7\ The Hebrew Phrafe fignifies a great Jlaughter^ of feveral forts of Creatures perhaps $ that here might be a plentiful Provifion.
Ver. 1 8. And the Men were afraid, &c/] Every thing Verfe 1 8. (as was obferved before, XLII. 28. } terrifies a guilty Confcience.
And fall nfon us."] L e. Kill us.
And take us for Bond-men^ &c/] Rather, 0r, take us for Bond men and our Affes.
Ver. 19. They came mar to the Steward^ &c.] They Verfs 19. defired tofpeak with him, before they entred into the Houfe.- That they might fet themfelves right in his Opinion.
Ver. 20. We cameatthefirfttimetobuyfood^] And Verfe 20« we paid for it what was demanded.
Ver. 2 1 When we came to the /««,&c.]There we found Verfe 2 1. that very Money,to afarthing.in our Sack's mouth,@V.
Ver. n.We cannot tell who put our Money, &c] We Verfe 22* are ignorant how it came there $ but fuppofe it was by fome mi (take : And therefore have brought it again, with new Money for another Purchafe.
B b b b 2 Ver,
556 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 23. Peace be toyou.~] Trouble not your felves XLIU. about that Matter.
^ ^s^** Tour God., and the God of your Fathers, See.*] This
Verfe 23. Steward had learnt of Jofeph the knowledge of the True God : To whofe Kindnefs he bids them afcribe this Event.
And he brought Simeon out unto them."} Unbound 5 as free as themfelves.
Verfe 24. Ver. 24. Gave them Water."} Ordered Water to be " brought, as the Cuftom was, to wafti their Feet. See XVIII. 4.
Verfe 26. Ver. 26. Bowed themfihes to the ground^ &C.1] Here 'again was Jofeph9* Dream fulfilled. See XLH. 6.
Yerfe 28. Ver. 28. Thyfervant our Father, &c.] Here they made a Reverence to him, in the' Name of their Fa ther : Whereby that part of the Dream (XXXVII. 9, 10.) which concern'd him, was alfo fulfilled. And they fpeak likewife of him in an humble ftyle 3 figni- fying his inferiority to Jofeph.
Verfe 29. Ver. 29. Saw his Brother Benjamin."] He had feen * him before, verfe 16. but did not think fit to take no tice of him at the firft : Or, perhaps, was then full of Bufinefs, when they prefented themfelves at their firft appearance 5 and had not leifure to fpeak with them cill Dinner time.
God be gracious unto theey my Son."} He bleffed him, as Superiors were wont to do thofe below them .• Whom they called their &»/, with refpeft to them felves, as Fathers of the Country.
v r Ver. 30. His bowels did yern^] He felt a great com-
•re 3°* motion within himfelf 5 which he was not able to keep from breaking out ." And therefore he made hafte out of the Room where they were 5 as if fome other bufinefs called him a way, i Ver.
ufon GENESIS 557
Ver. 31. Set on bread."] Set the Dinner upon the Chapter Table. XLill.
Ver. 3 2 ..And theyfet on for him by himfi //,&C.3There feems to have been fAreeTables.One, where he fat alone in State $ another where his Brethren fat 5 and a third where the great Men of Egypt were entertained.
.F<?r the Egyptians might not eat Bread with the He brews, 8cc.] Becaufe the Hebrews (faith Jonathan} did eat thofe B«ilh which the Egyptians worftiipped. And to the fame<purpofe writes Onkelos. In which regard the Egyptians were as fcrupplous to eat with a Grecian in after times, as now with an Hebrew. So Bochart ob- ferves out of Ath#neusL. VII. Deipnof. where Anaxan- dridcs.b Comedianjeers fatEgyptians for worfcipping an Eel, as a great God, whom we, faith he, think to be moft excellent Meat. And out of Herodotus, who in his Euterpe, tup. 41. faith, no Egyptian Man or Woman would kifs the Mouth of a Greeks nor make ufe of a Knife, a Spit, or a Pot belonging to them , nor take a bit of Beef cut with a Greeks Knife. See Bocharfs Hie- rozoic.P. I. Lib. II. cap. 5*3^ And Dr. Spencer, de Rit. Hebr.p.\i$. But though it appear by fuch Paflages, that in the time of Herodotus, and other fore- named Writers,feveral Animals were held fo Sacred among the Egyptians jhzt they would not eat them jet it may well be queftioned whether it were foin the days ofjofeph. For there is not the lead fign of it in this ftory $ much lefs of their wor(hipping fuch Creatures : The wor- (hip of the famous Ox, called Apis, being a much later Invention, as many learned Men have demonftrated .* And fomeof themhavinggiven probable Reafons that Jofeph himfelf was the Perfon at firft reprefented by that Figure under the Name of Ab, i. e. Father of his Country. See G*r. Voflitts, L. L de Idol. cap. 29.
There-
*A COMMENTARY.
Chapter Therefore it is mod likely that this Abhorrence5is to XLIII. be refolved only into the very different Manners of the
U/V%J Hebrews from the Eg#>/Mtf/.-Particularly at ttair Meals, in the way of dreiling their Meat, or in their eating. For we know fome of the Jews themfelves afterwards fcrupled to eat with thofe who had unwaftien Hands 5 and feveralNations have avoided fuch familiarity with others,mere]y on the account of their different cuftoms. Of which the Egyptians were exceeding tenacious, as Herodotus \\imkli informs ^particularly in their eat ing. For he concludes his Difcourfe about their Feafts with this Observation, (in his Book before-mention'd,
£*/?, 28.) rfct7£/OJ<n §%y*tofMVQtV$pUOl<*, aMoi> 89^& £?b-
fc7fc'ett£).llfing their own Country Cuftoms,they receive no other. And in the Ninety firft Chapter of the fame Booths faith,that as they would ufe no Greet^ cuftoms, fo(tofpeakall in a word) JAM^ a faw jwfajua ^.Nei ther would they ufe the Cuftows of any other Men in the World whatfoever.Nay, one part of Egypt differed ex- treamly from another.-For in the Theban Province they abftained from Sheep,and facrificed Goats 5 but, in the Mendefian^ quite contrary, they abftained from Goats, and facrificed Sheep.- As he tells us in his Euterpe^ cap. 42. And the wifeft of them were fo nicely Superfti- tious, that fome of them thought it unlawful to eat of the Head of any living Creature 5 others of the Shoulder-blade 5 others of the Feet 5 others of fome like part. So SextusEtnpiricus tells US, L. III. Pyrrh. HypoL £.24. hfyrjflh* 3 T$ <n*?£v tjj VO{JU£O/M®V, ol JMV *ui$ct/\!w %oix tpay£v dvk^jv tt) vo{M<Z<nw, &c. Upon which fcore I do not know but tiich a kind of People might be fo whimfical, as to refufe to eat with one another. Verfe §j. Ver. 33. They fat before him^ For that was the Cu- ftom before the way of lying upon Beds was inven ted, See XXV1L 19. XXXVII. 25. And
upon GENESIS
And the Men marvelled one at another^ That they Chapter (hould be fo exa&ly d'upofed, according to the order XLIIL of their Birth 5 and fo kindly treated by one that had v-oir*^- lately ufed them very roughly,
Ver. 54. And hetookandfint mejfes, Sec] Ordered Verfe 34. thofe that waited to take and carry MeiTes from his own Table, unto theirs. For fuch was the ancient Cu ftom, for great Men to honour iuch as were in their Favour, by fending Dithes to them, which were firft ferved up to themfelves .• From whence they were cal led MISSA, Mejfis, things fent.The ancient way of eat ing alfo is to be obferved, which was not like ours .• As appears by Plutarch in his Sympof. L. II. ^ult. where he difputes, which was the better Cuftom, to eat-out.of one common Difh ^ or every one to have a Di(h toliimfelf .• As the manner was in old time» When all the Meat being-let on the Table, the Matter of the Feaft diftributed to every one their Portion.
Benjamin sMefs was five times as much , &c.^j He had five Difhes to their one : Which was intended as a pe culiar refpeft to him. Or, as others underftand it, there was five times as much Meat in his Mefs, as in one of theirs. Which might well be part of the caufe of their wonder, verfe^.
And they drank^} After they had dined; plenty of Wine was brought in, for every one to drink as much as they pleafed.For fuch is the Cuftom of the Abyfllnts at this Day =, not to drink or talk at Dinner ^ but after the Meat is taken away .-• As Ludolphus aflures us from Telezius. Who takes it to have been the ancient Cuftom among other Nations ^ particularly the Ra mans : For which he alkdges thofe Verfes of Virgil^ fEneid. L
Poft-
A COMMENT ART.
Chapter
XLIV. Poftquam primaqities cpuUs^ wenfaque remote
Crateras magnas jlatuunt, & vino, coronant.
I mention Wine here in Egypt :For though Herodotus faith in his days they had noFi'»e.f,but ufed drink made of barley, i.e. fuch as ours, (L//>.II.rrf/>.77.)yetin the time of Jofeph it feems to have been otherwise. For it it is not likely thechief Butler would have dreamt of a F/Veand Grapes, zn&prelfing them into Ptar/wA'sCup, (XL. 9, 10, ii.J if h£ had never feen them \nEgypt, And were merry with him7\ So we well tranllate the laft words of this Chapter $ which fignifies their drink ing plentifully ^ more liberally than at home: Not till they were drunk (as R. Soloman faith fome ufed to a- bufe this place, to countenance that Vice) but till they were very cheerful. For they could not be fo fenflefs, as before fo great a Man, in a ft range place, where they were alfo full of fear, to make th^mfelves drunk.
CHAP. XLIV.
X
Verfe i. Ver. i.T""V// the Mens Sacks with Food^ as much as
they can carry."] This feems to be an or der, to load them more liberally than at their firft coming, XLII. 2f.
Verfe 2. Ver. ^. And put my G//>,&c.]The Hebrew word Ga- blah fignifies anembofled Cup, (as we now fpeakj or a Bowl^or Goblet with a great Belly : which Sr. Hierom tranflates 5^^«j-.This he ordered hisSteward to put in Benjamins Sack, that he might make a trial of his Bre- threns Concern for him3and Affeftion both to him and
to
upon GENESIS.
to their Father : And whether they would difcover Chapter any Envy to Benjamin^ becaufe of his extraordinary XLIV". Kindnefs to him. WVNJ
Ver. 3. The Men were fent away.~] Had a Pafs, we Verfe 3. may fuppofe, from Jofeph } to carry fo much Corn out of the Country, as their Afles were loaded withal.
Ver. 4. Wherefore have ye rewarded evil for good ?~\ Verfe 4. Being entertained fo kindly at my Matter's Table 3 why have ye dole his Cup >
Ver. 5. Is not tins it, wherein my Lord drmi^th .<?] Verfe 5. Did you not think, this would be prefently enquired after >
And whereby indeed he divineth .^The Hebrew word Nachaft^ which we tranflate D/t//#e,itis very likely was anciently of an indifferent fignification. And therefore Grotius thinks that Jofeph meant by thisSpeech,thathe ufed this Cup in his Drml^Qfferings $ when he facri- ficed, to prepare himfelf to receive Divine Prefages. But, I think, we had better fay, there was a kind of Di vination by Cups (though we know not what it was) as|weare certain there was by many other things among theGn?<?4f, (who borrowed much of their Religion from the Egyptians) than give this? or other fuch like Interpretation of thefe words .- Particularly, their ob- ferving the fparkling of the Wine in their Libations. For it feems plain to me,that Jofeph fpeaksof the Gup he ufed at his own Table/And it is not probable that he ufed the fame in Sacrifices to God. Such Veflelsas were ufed in Divine Service, were not ufed in their own:Being held Sacred, and therefore feparated from common ufe $ and kept fo fafe, no doubt, that it was not eafie to fteal them. He fpeaks therefore of fome Divination that was ufed at their Meals .• Which doth not fignifie that Jofeph praftifed i^nor doth hisSteward
C c c c fay
56s A COMMENTARY
Chapter fay he did $ but only asks fuch aQpeftion, asmight XLIV. make them think he did. For, being a known Trnerpre-
^ v~^ ter of Dreams 5 People, perhaps, thought he was skil led alfoin the Arts of Divination. But the words are ftill capable of a more fimple Interpretation. For Na- /^fometimes fignifies no more than to make an Expe riment : As in the words of Laban, XXX. 27. And fo the meaning may be, (as Men Ezra expounds this Paf- fage) might you net have confidered, that*^ Mafier made a trial, ("fo we interpret in the Margin) by lay ing this in your way, whether you were honeft Men, or Filchers, as you are now proved to be ? Or, as o- thers will have it, This is the Cvp wherein he drinks himfelf^ and finds out what is in other Men, when they drink liberally with him at his Table $ as you lately did. But the former is more likely to be the meaning. TCe have done evil, info doing7\ You have rendred your felves very criminal by this Faft. Or, you have done very foolifhlyin ftealinga thing of this Nature .• Which, oeing in continual ufe, would be foon miffed.
Verfe 7. Ver. j.GodforbidthatHy Servants, &c.~\ They dif- claim the Charge, with thegreateft Vehemence.
Verfe 8. Ver. 8. Behold, the Money, Sec.] And bring a very good Proof of their Honefty.
Verfe c^ Ver. 9. Both let him die^ and we alfo-, 8cc.] Sometimes Innocence makes Men too Confident 5 and lets cauti ous than, in Prudence, they ought to be. For their Money having been put into their Sacks, they knew not how, it was reafonable to have fufpe&ed this al fo might prove true.
Verfe I O. Ver. I o. Now alfo, let it be according to your word,&c.~] I defire not fo much .• But only that he with whom the Cup is found., be my Bond-man $ as you pro pound.
upon GENESIS, 563
My bond-man."] He fpeaks in the Name and Place Chapter of his Matter $ by whom he was fent after them, and XLIV. for whom he afted. WV\J
Ver. 1 1. Then they ffeedily took^ down^ Scc.^ They Verfe 1 1* were defirous to have their Innocence cleared, with out delay.
Ver. 13. Rent their Clothes,'] As the manner was, Verfe 13 when any fad thing befel them, XXXVII- 29, 34.
Ver. 14. Judah and his Brethren came, &c.] He is Verfe 14* mentioned by Name, though not the eldeft Son $ be- caufe he was chiefly concerned for Benjamin^ (XLILI. 9.) and, as the Jews fanfie, flood to him in this di- ftrefs, when the reft would have delivered him up as a Bond-man : Refolving either to fet him free, or to be a Bond- man with him.
For he was yet there.] Not gone from home, fince he gave order to his Steward to purfue them.
They fell before him on the ground."] The Dream of Jofeph was again fulfilled. See XLII. 6.
Ver. 1 5. Wot not thatfuch a Man as lean certainly Verfe 15. divine .<?] Could not I who foretold this grievous Famine, difcover fuch a Theft as this, which you have committed ">
Ver. 1 6. And Judah faid^] He (landing bound, as I Verfe 16, faid (verfe 14.) for Benjamin to his Father, took upon him to plead his Caufe : Which Benjamin, being young, could not do fo well himfelf. And indeed Jtidah feems to have been a Man of the beft Senfe, Courage, and Eloquence among them.
What ft all we fay to my Lord ? What fiallwe ffeak^ ? or kow.)&.c.] A mod pathctical beginning : And very apt to move Companion.
God hath found out the iniquity of thy Servants $££."] Ha ving made tome paufe,after thofe words, [^tlowfiallwe
Ccc c 2 cle*r
564 A COMMENTARY
Chapter char oar fdves f] he proceeds to an ingenuous ac- XUV. knowledgment, that he and his Brethren had been
W'A/-**X guilty of many Sins $ for which God had now brought theai hither to differ the Punifhment of them. Yet, he neither confeffes this particular Guilt, nor denies it, nor excufes it: But acknowledging God's Juftice, cafts himfelf and his Brethren upon Jefeph's Mercy.
Verfc 1 8. Ver. iS.Then *Jitdah came near to />/#/.] The Equi ty which appeared in Jofeph (exprefied in the words foregoing) emboldned Judah to approach nearer to him. For hefeems to have fpoken the former words, as foon as he entred the Room/When he and his Bre thren caft themfelves down on the Ground, wrfe 14. Speak, a word in nty Lord's Ears.'] Have a favouiable Audience for a few words more.For he doth not mean to fpeak to him privately .• And by a ffWhe means all the following Speech, which he makes as (hort as it was poffible.
And let not thy Anger burn againft thy Servant."] And be pleafed to hear me out, with Patience.
For thoH art even as Pharaoh^] I know before whom I fpeak : And therefore will not impertinently trouble thee ; But barely lay the ftate of our Cafe before thec.
Verfe 20. VTer. 20. A little one~] So Benjamin was^ in compa- rifon with themfelves*
He alone isleftcfbif Mother^ &C.3 We do rot read, that they had faid this (o Jofeph before ^ but only that the youngeft was with their Father>XLU. 13, 32. But no doubt, Jndah remembers him now of nothing, but what had been then delivered x but related more briefly than it is here.
27. Ver. 27. My Wife bear me two Sons.] He called Ra chel his Wife $ as if he had no other .• Becaufe (he was the only Perfon he defigned to marry j and was by confequencehis principal Wife, Yen
upon GENESIS. 765
Ver. 30. His life is bound i/p in the Lacfs lift.'] It to Chapter depends upon the Life of his Son ^ that if lie think XLV. he be dead, he will die with Grief alfo. \TY^f
Ver. 33. Let thy Servant abide inftead of the ZW,&CC,] ^erie 3° It will be the fame to thce, (nay, 1 may be able to do Verle 33- thee more Service) and the greateft aft of Pity to our aged Father.
Ver. 34, For low foall I go ?;/? to my Father ', &C.*] I Verfe 3.4. muft abide here too, if thou wilt notdifmifs him .- For I am not able to fee my Father die.
There is nothing could be faid more moving, than what is delivered in this Speech of jf//^/^which flow ed, any one may fee, from fuch Natural Pailions, as no Art can imitate; Which makes me wifh that they who think thefe Hiftorical Books of Scripture were written vvkh no other Spirit, but that with which honeft Men now write the Hiftory of theirCountry,or the Liv.es of any famous Perfons^would ferioufly read andconfider thisSpeech ofjudah's to jfy/e/^together with the fore going Dialogue between ^r^ and his Sons,(froftthe igthyerfe of the \LHChaptcr,to thei $thof theXLlII.) and, lhope.it may make them change their Opinion „• And be of the Mind of Dr. Jackson, B. 1. on tbeCreed^ cap. 4. c That feeing fuch Paflages are related by Men, c who affeft no Art5and who lived long after the Par- c ties that firft uttered them ^ wq cannot conceive how ' all Particulars could be fo nattirally and fully record- c ed^unlds they had been fuggefted by his Spirit, who c gives Mouth and Speech to Men. Who being alike^ c prefent to all Succe(Iions,isable to communicate the c fecretThoughtsofFore-fathersto theirChildren^and. c put the very Words ofthe deceafed (never regiftred c before) into the Mourhs or Pens of their Succeflbrs, c for many Generations after : And that as exactly and
•566 A COMMENTARY.
Chapter c diftindly %s if they had been caught in Charafters of XLV. c Steel or Brafs, as they iflbed out of ther Mouth. For
t/"V"\J c it is plain, every Circuraftance is here related, with c fuch natural Specifications fas he fpeaks) as ifAiofes c had heard them talk 5 and therefore could not have c been thus reprefented to us, unlefsthey had been
* written by his Direction, who knows all things, as
* well fore-paft, as prefent, or to come.
Philo juftly admired this Speech, which he hath ex- preffed in an Eloquent Paraphrafe : And Jofephus hath endeavoured to out-do him.
CHAP. XLV.
Verfe i. Ver.i.S^
V_vdown his Cheeks } or, were ready to burft out with fuch Violence that he could not hinder them. Caufe every Man to go out from me7\ He would not have the Egyptians, to be Witneffes of his Brethrens Guilt,- nor did it become his Dignity to be feen by them in fuch a Paffion : And therefore he command- ed thofe that attended him, to leave him alone with his Brethren.
Verfe 2. Ver. x. He wept aloud.'} Which weexprefs very pro perly in our Language, he cried. For Tears having been long fuppreffed,are wont, when they breakout, to be accompanied with fome Noife.
And the E^gyptians^ and the hotffe of Pharaoh keard.~] They whom he fent forth, being in the next Room, heard him cry : And reported, what a Paffion he was in, to the whole Court.
Ver.
upon GK N E SIS 767
Ver. 3. law fifeph'] This word made them dart, Chapter as appears by the next Verfe. XLV.
Doth wy Father yel l/ve .<?] May I believe what you^~v~*** havetold me?XLIII. 28. He faith not this, becaufeVerIe 3- he doubted of it : But to exprefs his Joy at that good News.
And they could not anfwerhim.~] Being aftonifh'd, as it follows, at his Prefence. For they could not but refleft upon their cruel ufage of him 5 and now faw him in full Power topunilh them.
Ver. 4. Come near to me, I pray youT] This, I think, Verfe 4* fignifies, that they had ftarted back, as Men affrighted .• And therefore he invites them kindly to approach him.
lam Jofephyottr Brother."] This word Brother^ ad ded to what he faid before, verfe 3. was a Comfort to them. For it (bowed that his Greatnefs did not make him forget his Relation.
Whom you fold inloEgypt^] Nor their Unkindnefs alienated his AflTeftion from them.
Ver. 5. Now therefore be not grieved^ 8cc.]] Do not Verfe §, affiift your felves too much for your Sin .• Becaufe God hath turned it into Good.
Godfent me before you, &c.j| When you thought on ly to be rid of me, God intended another thing.- Which is now come to pafs. For he hath made me an Inltrument of preferving all your Lives. A mott happy Event of a moft wicked Deed.
Ver. 6. Neither earing, nor harveft."] Or, no Plough- Verfe 6. ing, Sowing, or Harveft. For to what purpofe fhould they fow, when they knew (if they believed JofcpH) that nothing would come of it.
Ver. 7. And Godfent me before you, Sccf] Fie repeats Verfe what he had hid.verfe 5 concerning the Hand of God in this bufinefs-'That by fixing their Thoughts upon his
Pro*
$68 A COMMENTARY.
Chapter Providence, they might be the lefs opprefied with the XLV. weight of their own Guilt.
t/"V~VJ To fave your lives by a great deliverance^] In a won derful manner.
Verfe 8. Ver. 8. It was not you but God^ Sec.] He mentions this a third time, that they might fee he did not think fo much on their Unkindnefs, as on God's great Goodnefs: And therefore be confident, he would not remember what they had done to him 3 but what God had done for them all.
Hath made a Father untoPharaoh~\G\vzr\ me the Au thority of a Father with him .• So that he Honours me, and doth nothing without my Advice and CounfeL And there was very good Reafon for it, his Wifdom being fo great and experienced,^* non ab hominefed n Deo refponfa dari viderentur^ (asTrdg///, an ancient Hi- ftorian among the Heathen^ obferves) that his Anfwers feemed not to be given by a Man, but by God. Which made him Regi Percharum^ very dear to the King, as the fame Author relates : Who tells alfo the Story of his being fold by his Brethren, who envied his ex cellent Wit. See Juftin, Lib. XXXVI. cap. 2. LordofalthtsHoufe.JThe principal Perfon in hisCourt. And Ruler throughout alt the Land of 'Egypt \] Chief Governor of the whole Country .• In which were fe- veral Provinces, which had diftind: Governors 5 who were all under the Government ofjojepb. Verfe 10. Ver. 10. Thou foalt dwell in the LandofGofhen'jThis was that part of the lower Egypt 9 which lay next to Arabia, and Palejline 5 abounding with fair Paftures : Being watred by many Streams from the Nile. Certain it is, it lay next to Canaan $ for Jaeob went dire&ly thither, when he came into Egypt ^ and ftaid there till Jofeph came to him, XLVI. 28.
And
upon GENESIS-
And thonftdt be near unto me7\ Therefore the Royal Chapter City (where Jofeph refided, 'that he might be always XLV. near to Pharaoh) was at this time in the lower Egypf^ L/"V*VJ at Zoan, Pfalw LXXVIII. 43. which other Authors call •IfanK. Which was fituated, not far from that Mouth <bf Nile which Plutarch calls TKWTIKOV ZQU&,. For that part of Egypt is called the higher, where tf/le runs only in one Stream: That the lower, where it divides into many $ and from its triangular Form is called by the Greek/ AeATK. In the Eaftern Part of which, or very near it, toward the Red Sea, was this Country, called the Land •of G often. Y *
This argues the great Authority of Jofeph, that he makes fuch Promifes as thefe, before he had askt the Confent of Pharaoh.
Ver. n. And behold^ your Eyes fee, &c.] You cannot Verfe 12. but be convinced, by the Lineaments you fee in my Face, and by the Language which I fpeak, agd by all the things which I have related concerning the ftate of our Family 5 that indeed it is your Brother Jofeph, who fpeaks to you. Or, more (imply 3 you have it not by Hear-fay, which might deceive you 5 but are Eye-wit- neffes that I am alive, and fay thefe things to you.
Ver. 13. Teff my Father of aU my gloryJ\ Of the great Verfe 13* Honour which is done me in Egypt.
Ver. 1 5. His Brethren talked with Mm7\ After their Verfe 15. fright was over, and he had fo affe&ionately embraced them 5 they converfed freely and familiarly with him; Acknowledging, it's likely, their Crime $ and acquaint ing him with what had paffed in their Family fince they committedit.
Ver. 1 6. And the fame thereof, Sec.*] All the Court Verfe 1 6. rang (as we fpeak) with the News ofjofeph's Brethren being come 5 and that they were to fetch their Father
D d d d and
A COMMENTARY
Chapter and fettle in Egypt. For Jofeph (it appears by the next XLV. Verfe) went and acquainted Pharaoh with his Define. W"V%vj And It pleafed Pharaoh wel/, and his Servants^ No wonder that Pharaoh, who had raifed Jofeph fo high, was pleafed to be kind to his Father and Family : And the Court follows the Pleafure of the King. Verfe 1 7. Ver.i 7. Pharaoh faid unto Jofeph fac,~] This, no doubt was the Anfwer Pharaoh made to 'fofepfcs Petition : Wherein he grants him not only what he askt , but all conducing to it.
Verfe 18. Ver. 18. / mil give you the good of the Land, Sec."} Thericheft Part of the Country, which produces the nobleft Fruits. Verfe 19. Ver. 19. Nowthou art comManded.] Now that thou
haft my Warrant for it, go about it prefently. Verfe 20. Ver. 20. Reg ard not your fluff.'] If there be not Wag gons enough, to bring all your Stuff, do not matter it $ you (hall have better here. But the Vulgar feems to take it in a quite contrary Senfe $ as if he had faid, Leave nothing behind you 5 but bring all y6u have with you, if you think good : Though whatfoever the Land of Egypt affords, is all yours.
All the good of the Land of Egypt, 8tc.] You (hall not want when you come hither, if it be to be had in Egypt. Verfe 2 1 . Ver. 2 1 . Gave them Waggons. ~\ And Horfes, no doubt,
to draw them ; with which Egypt abounded. Verfe X2. Ver. 22. To each Man changes 0f Rat/aeM."] Two^e/?/, or Robes, as St. Hkrom tranflates it: Otherwife there would not have been a change. Thefe were part of the ancient Riches, as much as Money.
Verfe 23. Ver. 23. After this manner^ The Hebrew word Ce- zoth fignifies, according to that which he had given to Benjamin^ i.e. Money, and fever al changes of Raiment .•
Be-
upon GENESIS-
Befides what follows, ten Affes laden with the good things Chapter of Egypt, &c. XLV.
Bread and Meat.*] i. e. All manner of Provifion. L/"V"*vJ
Ver. 24. See that ye fall not out^&c~\ About what you Verfe 24. have formerly done to me $ or, any thing elfe, that I havefaid to you. But when you refleft upon your fel ling me, adore the Providence of God ; which by that means brought about your Happinefsand mine.
Ver. z6. Hit Heart fainted^ At the mention of Jo- Verfe i& feplfs Name, he fell into a Swoon: Being fully per- fwaded he was dead, and giving no Credit to what they faid of his being alive.
Ver. 2 7. And they told him all the words of Jofeph.'] Verfe 27. When he was come to himfelf, they related all that had pafTed between them and Jofeph: How great a Man he was, and how defirous to fee him, &c. verfe 13.
And when he [aw the Waggons^] Had not only heard their Relation, but faw alfo thofe Carriages (which, no doubt, were fplendid, and fuitable to Jofeph's Quality) that were come to bring him intoEg^f, he lookt upon them as a fufficient Confirmation of the good News.
The Spirit of Jacob revived^] Which Bochart tran- flates Priftino vigon reftitutu* eft, he was reftored to his former Vigor. Not only recovered perfectly from his fainting Fit 5 but raifed to a greater Livelinefs than he had felt fince the lofs of Jofeph.
Ver. 28. It if enough, 8cc.] I with for no more, but Verfe 28 to live to fee him 5 and then I (hall be content to die.
D d d d x CHAP.
A COMMENTARY
Chapter XLVI.
C H A P. XLVL
Verfe i. Ver, i.f^Ame to BeerffjebaJ] Which was in his way
\^_j from Hebron ("where he now lived,
XXXV. 27.) into Egypt: Lying in the moft Southerly
Parts of Canaan 5 near that Wildernefs through which
the Ifraelites went, when they came from Egypt.
And offered facrifice.~] Recommended himfelf and his Family, unto God's Protection in his Journey to Egypt 9 and unto his Prefervation, when he came there. And he the rather called upon God in this place, becaufe both his Father and Grand-Father had found Favour with him here, XXI. 33. XX VI, 23,
Unto the God of hh Father Ifaac."] Who was his immediate Anceftor, and had conferred the Bleffing of Abraham upon him : And therefore he mentions him ra- ther than Abraham.
Verfe 2,, Ver. 2. In the ftjtbns of the Night.'} See upon XX. 3. Jacob) Jacol~] He redoubles his Name to awaken his Attention 5 and he calls him J$cob rather than Ifrael, (as he^is called in the begirinirig of the.VerfeJ to re member him what he was originally, and that by his Favour he was made Ifrael.
Ver. 3. Fear not to go down into EgyptT] He was afraid, perhaps, that • if jfy/cpMhouId die, his Family might be made Slaves* For which he had fome reafon, from what was faid to Abraham^ in a like Vifion, XV. 13.
I v>iU make of thee a great Nation.'] He renews the Promife, which at the fame time was made to Abraham, That his Seed (hould be as numerous as the Stars of Heaven, XV. f .
upon GENESIS. $73
Ver. 4. I will go down with thee, &c,] Take care of Chapter thee in thy Journey, that no Evil (hall befalthee^ and XLVI. preferve thee and thy Family there. v^^^
And bring thee up again!] i. e, His Pofterity, who Verle 4' {hould multiply there : For the Scripture fpeaks of Pa rents and Children, as one Perfon.
Put his Hands upon thine Eyes.'] Be with thee when thou leaveft this World 5 and take care of thy Funeral, when thou art dead. For this was the firft thing that was done, when one expired, to clofe his Eyes: Which was performed both among Greekj and Romans (as ma ny Authors inform us) by the neareft Relations, or deareft Friends. See Mr. Selden, L. II. deSynedr. cap. 7. n. l^. and Menochiu*, de Repub. Hebr. L. VIII. cap. 4, $£. II.
In (hort, by thefe words God affbres him, that Jo- feph {hould not die, while he lived, fas Mr. Selden > obferves out of Baal-haturim^ in his Additions to the fore-named Chapter, p. 737.) and that he (hould diein Peace, having his Children about him.
Ver.7. His Daughters."] He had but one Daughter, and Verfe 7. , therefore the Plural Number is ufed for the Singula^ (as verfe 23. Sons is put for Son) or, elfe he includes his Grand- Daughter, who, in Scripture-Language, is called the Daughter of her Grand-Fathers But the firft feems the trueft Account, if what is faid verfe 15, beconfider- ed. Where the whole Number of his Defendants from Leah being fummed up, Dinah (under the Name of Daughters) muft be taken in, to make up three and thirty 5 reckoning Jacob himfelfalfo, for one of them.
Ver. 9. Hjtnoch?] From whom came the Family of Verfe 9. the Hd#0£A/Yejy as we read Numb. XXVI. 5. .
PhaUti."] From whom, in like manner, fprung the Fa mily of the fbdiititesi as Mofes there not^s : And fays
the
$74 ^ co M'ME N TART
Chapter the fame of the reft of Reubens Sons, that they were XLVI. the Fathers of Families, when they came into Egypt. VV"V"NJ Ver. 10. fywmel^ This Son of Simeon is called Ne- Verfe \Q.mHd in A^>.XXVI. 12. and i Chron. IV. 24.
Oh'aJ."] He is named among the Sons of Simeon, when Afo/e-r was fent to bring them out of Egypt, ExoJ. VI. 1.5. But either he had no Pofterity, or tfiey were extinft : For Qiortly after there is no mention of him, in Numb. XXVI. 12. Nor is he to be found among his Sons in i Chron. IV. 14.
Jachin.] Is called Jarib in i Chron. IV. 24. and is thought by fome to have been the Grand-Father of Zitttri, whom Phineas flew in his Fornication with the Midianitifl) Woman.
Verfe 12. Ver. 12. Er and On an died in the Land of Canaan."] And therefore are not to be numbred among them, that went down into Egypt: But inftead of them the two Sons of Pharez are fet down, though, perhaps, not now born } to fupply the place of Er and Onan.
The Sons of Pharez, were Hezron and Hamul^\ When 'Jacob went down into Egypt, Pharez was fo young, that one can fcarce think he had two Sons at that time.- But they were born foon after, before Jacob died. And St. Auftin feems to have truly judged, that Jacob's de- fcent into Egypt, comprehends all the feuenteen Years, which he lived after it. Or, we may conceive it poffi- ble, that their Mother was with Child of them, when Jacob went down into Egypt. For then Pharezis thought to have been fourteen Years old 5 at which Age it is fb far from being incredible that he might have two Sons, that in thefe latter Ages, fome have begotten a Child when they were younger. Jul.Scaliger, a Man of unqueftionable Credit, allures us, that in his me mory, there was a Boy, not quite twelve Years old, who
had
upon G E N E SI S. $75
had a Daughter by a Coufin of his, who was not quite Chapter ten. Rem not am narro, &. CHJUS me wort a adhuc recens e$t XL VI. in Aquitania. This was a known thing, the Memory of vyVNJ which was then frefti in Aqtiitain.
Ver. 15. And the Sons of Jjfachar, Tola.~] Some haveVerfe 13. wondred that he fhould give his eldeft Son a name that fignifies a Worm. Perhaps it was (as Bochart conje- ftures) becaufe he was a poor (hriveled Child when he was born, not likely to live. And yet it pleafed God, that he became a great Man, from whom fprang a nu merous Off-fpring, Numb. XXVI. 23. and fo fruitful, that in the days of David there were numbred above two and twenty thoufand of them, I Chron. VII. 2. who were Men of Might and Valour.
Ver. 15. Which Jhe bare unto Jacob in Padan-AraM."]Vetk 15. She bare the Fathers of them there : But the Children were born in Canaan.
AH the Souls of his Sons and Daughters ^ Scc.^ See verfe 7.
Ver. 19. Rachel, Jacob's Wife^ She was his only Verfe 19. choke, as was noted before on XL1V. 27.
Ver. 71. The Sons of Benjamin, &c.] He being now Verfe 21. but abodt twenty four Years old, we cannot well think he had all thefe Sons when he went down into Egypt : But fome of them were born afterward, before Jacob died 5 as was faid before, verfe 12. Yet they are all here mentioned, becaufe they were moft of them now born, and all became the Heads of Families in their Tribe. It is poffible he might begin fo early to beget Children, as to have all thefe before they went into Egypt. SeePer/eii.
Ver. 26. Came out of his Loins.'} In the Hebrew , out 0/Verfe 160 bis Thigh. A modeft Expreffion : The Parts ferving for the Propagation of Mankind, being placed between the Thighs. Alt
576 A COMMENT4RT
Chapter AS the Souls were threefcore and fix.~] i. e. Leaving out XLVL Jofeph and his two Sons (who did not come with Ja-
LXVNJ cob into Egypt, but were there alreadyj and Jacob himfelf, f who could not be faid to come out of his own LoinsJ they made juft this Number.
Verfe 27. Ver. 27. AH the Souls , which came Into Egypt , were threescore and ten.~\ There is a remarkable difference be tween this Verfe and the foregoing. There (verfe 26.) they only are numbred who came with Jacob into £- gypt: Which were no more than threefcore and fix. But here are numbred all that came into Egypt, (viz. firft and laft) which plainly comprehend Jacob, Jofeph and his two Sons : And make up threefcore and ten.
Werfe 28. ; Ver. 28. And hefent Jttdah before hint.'} Who feems by the whole Story, to have been the moft eminent a- mong Jacob's Children, when Jofeph was gone 3 as was noted before, XLIV. 14.
To dheft his way, 8cc.] To give Jofeph notice of his coming 5 and to receive Directions from him, in what part of Gofoen he ftiould expeft him.
>v*« And they came into the Land ofGoftenJ] Into that part of it which Jofeph had appointed.
'Verfe .29. Ver. 29. Prefented hivtfelf to him~\ With fuch Re verence, ^s a Son owes to his Father : Who embraced him moft tenderly. For fome refer the next words to Jacob, he fell on. his Week? &C.1] Which expreffes the higheft Affeftion.
And wept on his Neck.a good while.'] We read before how Jofeph fell upon Benjamins Neck, and wept^ which was anfwered by the like Endearments on Benjamins part, XLV. 14. But the Affeftion wherewith Jacob em braced Jofeph, fas y[aimonldes underftands itj or (as R. Solomon Jarchi) Jofeph embraced his Father, far fur- pa(Ted that. For they continued longer infolded in one
another's
upon GENESIS. $77
another's Arms 3 where Tears of Joy flowed fo faft, Chapter that for a good while they could not fpeak. XL VI.
Ver. 30. And Ifraelfaid unto Jofepb.'] Some make this WVVJ an Argument, that it was Jofeph, who, lighting out of Verfe 30. his Chariot, threw himfelf into his Father's Arms and wept, &c. Which made Mofes now more diftin&Iy mention who faid the following words.
Now let me die, fkc.^ Thefe words fignified that he now enjoyed the utmoft Happinefs he could defire on Earth ^ which therefore he was willing to leave, becaufe nothing could be added to it. Thefe were the firft Thoughts which his Paffion fuggefted to him * though to live with Jofeph, and to enjoy his Converfation, was far more than barely to fee his face.
Ver* 3 2. The Men are Shepherds, 8co] He feemstoVerfe 32. have been afraid, left Pharaoh fliould have preferred his Brethren, and made them Courtiers/ or Commanders in the Army, &c. which might have procured them the Envy of the Egyptians: And, befides, have feparated them one from another. Whereas by profeffing them- felves Shepherds, and Traders in Cattle, they kept all together in a Body, feparate from the Egyptians. Which two Reafons were fuggefted by Jofephut.
Ver. 33. What is your Occupation .<?] Your way of li- Verfe 33; ving : For Men did not live idly in thofe days.
Ver. 34. Tefliallfay.Thy Servants Trade hath been, &c.] Verfe 34. He dire&s them to juftifie, what he told them he would inform Pharaoh.
That ye may dwell in the Land of Go/hen."] A -rich Country^ abounding with Pafturage, and alfo next ad- joyning to Canaan (as was noted before, XLV. lo.J unto which, when the time came, they might the more eafily return.
E e € e
$78 d eOMMENTART
Chapter For every Shepherd.'] Not univerfally, without limi- XLVI. tation, but every Foreign Shepherd. For a conliderable tXV"VJpart of the Egyptian People were Shepherds, as Dlodorus Siculvs tells us, f L. I. § i. p. 47. Ed/f. &epj&. J where he faith the Country being divided into three Parts, the Priefts had one, their King a fecond, and the Soldiers d third: And there were three other Ranks of Men un der thefe, viz. Shepherds, Husbandmen, and Artificers. The Husbandmen, he faith, ferv'd their King, and Priefts, and Military Men in tilling their Ground, for fmall Wages, and fpent all their time in it. And the like, ac count, he faith, is given of their Shepherds, who, from their Fore-fathers, followed that way of living. Which makes it plain they could not abominate thofe who were fo ferviceable to them 5 though they might contemn them as mean People^ who never rofe to any higher Employment. But we need not go to him for the proof of this : It being apparent from this very Book, that the Egyptians had Sheep, and Oxen, as well as Horfes and Afles, which they fold to Jofeph for Corn in the time of Famine, (XLVII. 17.) and that Pharaoh fpake to Jo* feph to make fuch of his Brethren as were Men of Skill, Rulers over his Flocks, f XLVII; 6.) which is a demon- ftration they bred Cattle as well as other Nations. And therefore if we will underftand this to be true of all Shepherds, without exception, then by Egyptians (to whom Shepherds are faid to be an abomination^) we rauft not underftand all the People of the Country of Egypt, (Shepherds being a part of themj but only the Courtiers and great Men, as in XL V. 2. the Egyptian* are faid to hear Jofeph weep, i.-e.- thofe that belonged to the Court.- Who, it is likely, defpifed Shepherds, (as Rupertus Tuitienfis long ago expounded this PaflageJ but that is far (hort of abominating them, which the He^
brew
Hpon G E N E S I S,
brew word imports. But after all this, I do not fee how Chapter they could be contemptible, if it be true which the XLVL fame Diodoru* faith, p. 58. That when they buried a Corps, and made the Funeral Encomium, they never mentioned the Parentage of ^ the deceafed, 'TwoAa^a- vovfas 3.7zw>1cL$ QJUUOMS ivytv&$ */) r«£ i&T Afy^7oi>, making account that all the People of Egypt were alike well-born.
We mud confine therefore this Aflertion to Foreign Shepherds 5 and it is not eafie to give the reafon why they were an abomination to the Egyptians^ who were Shepherds themfelves. Onkelos and Jonathan^ with a £reat many others, think that they would not converfe ("for that is meant by abomination) with the Hebrew Shepherds, becaufe they had no greater regard to thofe Creatures which the Egyptians worlhipped, than to breed them up to be eaten. But there is no good proof that they worihipped Sheep or Oxen in thofe Days $ and, on the contrary, it appears both out of Herodo- tttfi and Diodorus Sicnlus^ that they facrificed fuch Creatures, in their days., and alfo eat of the Sacrifices, when they had done. See Herodot. in Ettterpe, £.40,41 , And therefore the reafon given by others for this Ab horrence is not folid 5 that the Egyptians did eat no Flefh, and upon that fcore could not endure thofe that did. This is the Account which Aben Ezra gives of this Matter } who fanfies they were like the Indians^ in his time, who abominated Shepherds, becaufe they drunk Milk ^ contrary to their manners, who tafted nothing that came from any living Creature. But, as it cannot be proved that this Superftition was fo old as Jacob's time } fo the contrary is evident from this very Book, XLIII. 16. where Jofeph bids his Steward go home and flay and Make ready a Dinner for his Bre thren .* Whom he did not intend to entertain after the
E e e e 2 Hebrew ,
$80 A COMMENTART
Chapter Hebrew but after the Egyptian fadiion 5 that he migh t no£ XLVF. be known by them. And fo Herodotus informs us, that in: his days, though they abftain'd from fomc Animals^ yet they eat of others, both Fi(h and Birds, Euterpe, c.j&. And Diodorus giving an account after what manner their Kings lived, faith they ufed a fimple Diet, eating Veal and Geefe, &C. L. I. § 2. p. 45, Edit.Steph,
$of. Scaliger therefore thinks this fort of Men> were abominable, becaufe they had often raifed Rebellion in Egypt* ar)d made a King of their own , who erefted that which is called the Pajtoral Kingdom. This is em braced by many great Men, who have only the Au thority of Manethofor it 5" who fays- ttrefe were Ph&* nlcim Shepherds (as Jofephus tells us, L. I. contra Appi- an.*) who reigned in Egypt^ and burnt their Cities, threw down their Temples $ in (hort, omitted no fort of Cruelties. Upon this account the famous Bo~ chartus (^Db.lV.Canaan^cap.^ thinks it poffible the Egyptians hated Shepherds, who had done fo much Mifchief: And, I may add, the Hebrew Shepherds Jo- feph might think would be more abominated,, becaufe they came out of that very Country, from whence thofe Phoenician Rovers made their In vafion. But as it. doth not appear that they who did the fore-named Mifchief were all Foreigners 5 fo the time which is af- figned for this Paftoral Kingdom, doth not agree with the Scripture Story. For it is faid to have been in. the One thoufand one hundred and twelfth Year before the Ifraelites going out of Egypt 5 in the XFth Dynafty, as . they call it; That is, about Two and forty Years after the Flood, when Mi^ralm the Father of the Egyptians was fcarce born, or was very young,
Our great Primate "Djffer endeavours to avoid this ab- •fiirdity, by placing this Invafion (which he thinks was
out
upon GENES I S. 581
out of Arabia) three hundred Years after the Flood .-Chapter When they -took Memphis: Over-run all the lower XLVL Egypt $ and their firft King, there reigned nineteen years. But I have this to except 5 that Abraham cominga good while after this into Egypt 9 was well entertained there ^ though he was as much a Shepherd as his Grand-child Jacob. See Gen. XII.
From whence I conclude, That if this Story of Ma* netho be true, it hapned after the time of Abraham ; and' fo-was»fre(h in their memory. Such a third Rebellion of the Shepherds the fame Manetho mentions, within lefs than two hundred Years before the Children of IfraeFs departure out of Egypt. But this feems to be a Story framed, from that departure of the Ifraelites themfelves (who were Shepherds) out of Egy.pt under the Con duit of Mofes. And fo Jofephus, and feveral of the an cient Chriftians (Tatianus^ Juftjn Martyr, and Clem. A- kxand.) underftood it. SeeZJ/Ter. ad An. M. 2179.
All this confidered Gaulmin (in his Notes upon the Book called the Life of Mofes, p. 267, Sec) hath more probably conjeftuKed, that this averfation to Shepherds arofe from their being generally addifted, in thofe parts, to Robbery : Which way of Life made them a- bominable. This he juftifies out of Hdiodoms, L. I. and Achilles Tatius, L. III. who defcribe the Seat of thefe BfcfcoAoj and Tlotfuvst (whom the Egyptians called Hyfch) and the manner of their Life. To which Opinion I find BochartM* himfelf inclined before he died, and confirms it fin his Hierozoic. L. \L c. 44. P.I.J by many Proofs, that Shepherds anciently were fur ax hom'mum genus , a thievifh fort of People , which made them odious. A- gainft which I fee no exception but this ^ that Aulus Gel/ins tells us (Lib. XI. cap. 18.) out of an ancient Lawyer, That, the .old Egyptians .held all manner of
Thefts
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Thefts to be lawful, and did not punifh them, And XL VI. Djodoru* Slculm mentions this. Law among them, That they who would live by Robbery, were to enter their Names, and bring what they ftole, immediately to the Prieft, who mulft the Man that was robb'd a fourth part} and gave it to the Thief. By which means all Thefts were difcovered, and Men were made more careful, to look well after their Goods. But one cannot believe this Law was of fuch Antiquity, as the Times of Jofeph : Or, if it was, thofe Out-Laws (as I may call them) who robb'd upon the Borders, were not con- cern'd in it : Nor had their Neighbours, who were no lefs addifted to Theft, the benefit.of it* Particularly thofe in Paleftine^ from whence Jacob came $ one would guefs by what we read i Chron. VII. 21, 22. were then much addifted to Robbery. For, before this Genera tion ended, we are told there the Men ofGath flew fe- veralofthe Sons of Ephraim^ (who himfelf was then alive) far they came down to take their Cattle^ faith that holy Writer; that is, to get what Plunder they could in Gofien; Where the Ephramites defending their Gat- tie, were fome of them killed by the PhHiftines^ to the great grief of their Father. The Ethiopians alfo are noted by Strabo (Lib. XVII. p. 787 .} to live for the moft part, No^ut&xo* % ^o/w?, after a very poor, (hark ing, roving manner, by feeding Cattle, wher* they could find Food for them. And immediately adds, Toft c? Afyrifffas S-Tmvlx mvauMtt ff'jjugiSvia, that all things were quite contrary among the Egyptians^ who were a more civilized People, inhabiting certain and known Places, &c. Which (hows that their Manners were ve ry different^ which eafily bred hatred. Which appears by what Plutarch faith, (in his Book de Jjid. & 0/r.} that the Egyptians avoided the Converfation of blacl^
People :
upon GENE SIS, $83
People: Which was the Complexion of the Ethiopians. Chapter And for fome fuch reafon, he faith, in the fame Book, XLVIL they avoided all Mariners (of others Nations, that is) L/"WJ- as here Mofes fays they did Shepherds, upon fome or other of the accounts before-mentioned.
It looks like a piece of great Generofity in Jofeph^ not to conceal from Pharaoh the quality of his Family .• Though fuch kind of Men were under a very ill Cha~ rafter. He hoped they would diftinguifh themfelves from fuch vile Shepherds, a.s had made the Name odi ous: And if they did not gain the Love of the Egyp tians, they would be the more fecured in the Love of God, by not learning their evil Manners and Superfti- tions^ from which they would be preferved, by having no Converfation with them.
CHAR XLVIL
Ver. i . ~TOfeph came and told Pharaoh, &c.] He had his Verfe i *•
J Warrant fome time ago, to fend for his Fa ther and his Family, XLV. i7,&c. But it was good Manners to acquaint him they were come,- and to know his pleafure, how he fhould difpofeofthem.
Behold^ they are in the Land of Gofoenl} They frop there (which was the entrance of Egypt) till they know thy pleafure.
Ver. 2 . And he tookfome of his Brethren, Sec,] The He* Verfe 2 , Irew word Mifyfe (which we tranflate/^e) fignifiesin common Language, de extr emit ate ^ from the fag-end, as we fpeak, of his Brethren. Which hath made fome ima gine, heprefented the meaneft of his Brethren to Ph'd- r*0£-.j.that he might neither be afraid of them; nor
think.
584 ^ COMMENTARY
Chapter think of advancing them to Employments in the Court XLVIL or Gamp. But this is a mere Fancy 5 the word here denoting only, that he took from among all his Bre thren five of them/ As Bochart obferves, who tran- flates it ex omnibus fratribvs fats $ taking it to be like that Phrafe, XIX. 4. -where we tranflate it, from att Quarters, P. I. Hkrozotc. Lib. II. cap. 34.
Ver. 3. Both we and our Fathers?] It is not an Em ployment we have lately taken up, but were bred to it by our Anceftors : Who followed the fame Profeffion, For this was the moft ancient way of living, as Colu- #/€&* obferves in his Preface:, In rufticatione antjquif- fima eft ratio pafcendi, eadewque qu<eftttofijpma. In Coun try bufinefs, the moft ancient, as well as moft gainful, is the way of feeding Cattle. From whence he thinks came the name of PECUNIA for Money, and PECV- LIVM, for Riches, a pecoribitf, from Cattle ; becaufe the Ancients had no other Pofleffions. Et adhuc apud » quafdam gentes nnum hoc reperitur dwitiarum genv*. And to this day, faith he, there is no other Riches to be found among fome Nations. Which isftill true of the Abyjfines, efpecially of the Bek}enfes, zsLudolphw allures us, L. I. H&. JEthiop. cap. 10. § 8. and Com ment, in Hiflor. L. IV. cap. 4. n. 13.
\Verfe 4« Ver. 4. Tofojonrn in the Land are we come.~\ We do not defire to fettle,, but only to fojourn here, during the Famine.
For the Famine if fore in tie Land ofCanaan.~] It was an high Country, in comparifon with Egypt $ and the Grafs fooner burnt up there, than in Gofoen : which be ing a very low Country, they found fome Pafture in it for their Flocks, and therefore befeech him to fuffer them to dwell there. For, as St. Auftin obferves, from thofe that knew the Country 5 there was more Grafs in
the
upon GE N E S I & 585
the Marfoes and Fenny parts of Egypt, when the Nile Chapter did not overflow enough to make plenty of Corn. XLVII. guejl. CLX. In Gen. t/V\J
Ver. 6. The Land of Egy ft is before thee."] It is all in Verfe 6. thy Power * difpofe of them as thou pleafeft.
Any Man of atfivity.~\ Vigorous and induftrious $ and that under (lands htebufinefs.
Makf them rulers over my Cattle.'] Such as Doeg was to Saul^ i ifc/w.XXI. 7. And thofe great Officers mention ed i Chron. XX VII. 19, 30, 31. were t6 King David. For the Eafter* Kings raifed part of their Revenue from Cattle $ and fo did the Egyptian (it appears by this place J who had fome prime Officer*, to overfee the lower fort of Shepherds. This (hows that all Shepherds were not an abomination to the Egyptians , but only thofe of other neighbouring Nations ("the Arabians -, Phenici- ans^ and ^Ethiopians*) who were either an ill fort of People 5 or, forbidden by the Laws of Egyft (which abounded with Cattle) to Traffick with them there.
Ver. 7. Jacob blejfid Pharaoh.'] Gave him Thanks Verfe 7, for his Favour * and prayed for his Health and Safety .• For that's the Bleffing of an Inferior to a Superior. Thus Naaman prays El/fba, Tak$ a Blejfing of thy Servant \ i. c. an acknowledgment of my Obligations to thce.
Ver. o. Pilgrimage.'] So good Men are wont to call- Verfe 9. their Lite 3 tho'they never ftirfrom their Native Soil .• Looking upon it as a Psffrge, not a Settlement. But Ja- ^hadreafon to cal| his life fo more literally : Having been tofled from place to place, ever fince he went from his Father's Houfe into Mefopotamia, and returned from thence into Canaan. Where he dwelt a while at Sue* coth 5 and then at Shechem $ and after that removed to Bethel ; and fo to Hebron unto his Father Ifaac 5 from whence he was now come into Egypt.
Ffff Fern
586 A C OMMENTARr
Chapter Few and evil, have been t'hd Days., &c.^ They had been XLV1I. few* in comparifon with his Fore-fathers 5 and cvilr
w-v^w becaufe full of Labour and Care , Grief and Sorrow upon many occafions.
Verfe 10. Ver. 10. J4P$> tleffed Pharaoh.'] At meeting and at parting, fuch Salutations were ufual. See Verfe 7.
Verfe li. Ver. n. In the Land of Rawefes.~] .In that part of: Gofien^ which in the days of Mofes was called Rawe- fes 5 from the Name of the City which the Hebrews - built there for Pharaoh. Unlefs, perhaps, the City was called fo frorn the Country of Ramefes^ wherein it flood.
Verfe 1 2 . Ver. 1 2 . And Jofeph nottrified bh Father f^cT] Though there was fome Pafture in this Country for their Cattle, yet not Food enough for themfelves ^ which .JofepK- therefore took care to fupply them withal.
According to their 'Fawilics.'] According s$ their Children were more, or fewer, fo he proportioned their allowance.
Verfe 13. Ver. 13. There was vo Bread In att the Land^] This was the third Year ofthe Famihe (XLV.^.3 inwhith all the Corn, which fen had ftored u'p in their "fe- veral Families, was wholly fpent.
Verfe 14. Ver. iq.AndJofeph gathered tip all tht Money ^ &cQ 'As iong. as the Egyptians had any Money left, rhey bought Corn of Jojeph : Which fupporteil them all tt&.i.hird , and, it is probable, the fourth and fifth Year, of the Famine.
And Jofeph brought the Money into Pharaoh's Honfe.~] .Into the Treafury $ which he filled, and not his own Coffers, as Philo obfefves.
Verfe 15. Ver. iy. And when Monty failed?] This we may pro bably conceive, was in the fixth Year ,of the Famin^ : When they vtere forced to fell their Cattle for Food.
Ver.
•lijxaTG'E.N-E SI S. 587
Ver. 1 8. They came the fecondTear^ i. e. The next Chapter Year after the fale of their Cattle 3 which was the laft XLVIL of the Famine, as appears from the next Verfe. i/VNJ
Ver. 19. Wherefore jbouldwe d*e\ we and our Land ?*] V.erfe 1 8. The Land is faid to die, (as Bochart obferves, in the be- Verfe 19. ginning of his HieroZokon.} cvminculta jacet & defa- Ufa, when it lies until'd and defolate .• As he {hows by example out of fome Poets.
We, and our Land will be Servants unto Pharaoh.'] We, that were free, will become the King's Bond men : And our Land, which was our own, we will hold of him.
And give us Seed, jScc.] This (hows it was now the laft Year of {he Famine : They defiring Corn not mere ly for Food, butalfo to fow 5 in hopes to have a Crop the next Year. For Jofefh had told them, there (hould be but feven Years of Famine : And it is likely Nilus had now begun to overflow the Country, as -former ly 3 which confirmed his word. rno1
Ver. 20. And Jofefh bought all the Lapd of Egypt for Verfe 20. Pharaoh] So the whole Country became the King's Demeafne} in which no Man had ar^y Propriety but himfelf.
Ver. 21. As for the People^ he removed the w to Cities.~\ Verfe 21. Remote from thofe wherein they had formerly dwelt. Under the word Cities, is comprehended all the Vil lages about them.
From one end of the borders of Egypt ^ Stc.^ Tranfplanted them into far diftant Parts of theCountry- from whence he brought others, in like manner, » into their places .- That they might in time, forget the Dominion they for merly had in the I^ands they had fold 3 and that there might be no Combination afterwards to regain them-- . The old owners being feparated far one from another.
Fff f 2 Ver.
5S8 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 22. Only the Land of the Priefts bought he not.'] XLVII, This is commonly noted, as a great piece of Religion«in *-• "v^^^ Jofcph, that he took not away the Land of thofe wha Verfe 22 -were God's Minifters .• Tho' engaged, it's thought, in Superfiitious, if not Idolatrous Services, (for that the word Cohanim here fignifies Pr/e/?/, not Princes^ as fome- times it doth, the ancient Verfions generally agree.) But it is plain they were in nonecefTity to fell their Lands, having their Diet continually from the King : Which is given as the reafon (in the following part of this Verfe} why he did not buy them. This therefore is rather to beobferved, that the Priefts had anciently fome Pub- lick Lands allotted to them for the fupport oi their Dignity. For both Herodotus and D?<fcfan»*telJ$ us, they had a Publick Maintenance^ Fojfius obferves, Lib. f. de Idolol. ctp. 19. The Priefthood being confined to cer tain Families, (as it was in Ifrtel to that of Aaron) and held in fuch Veneration, that they were all not only «T5A«^, free from paying Tributes, and W^^'onrK fj&* TO r B^cnAea, next to the King in Honour and in Power $ but received a third of the Royal Revenues : Out of which they maintained the Publick Sacrifice^ and their Servants, and w$ i&ts JcFfa^Xyfy*** provided for their own Necefikies. Thus Diodorns Sicnlus^ L. Las I find him alledged by Jac. Cafettus in his Htft. &tcra & Exot. ad A M. 2294. C&nftantinefaz Great, in part, imitated this Confutation, in that Law of his, which made even all the Profeffors of Learning free from all Publick Charges of any fort, befides the Salary he allowed them $ that they might the more chearfully follow their feveral Studies
Vctfe 22. Ver. ^. Behold^ I fatvs bought you this day, and your * Land, &c.^ The Bargain could not be denied 3 but he not be fo rigid as totye them ftriftiy to it. For
ia
upon GENESIS. in the next Verfe ^ required only a fifth part of the in- Chapter creafe of their Gt9und for the King} and tells them, XLVII. the reft fnould be 'their own. An ad of great Humani- ^^V^^ ty and Equity: Wherein he (how'd himfelf, both a good Man, and a wife States-man $ ia taking away all mitter of complaint from the People. For a tent-6 part of tke increafe was due, in all likelihood, to the King before, (XXVIII. 22.) which he now only doubles: When he might have taken all 5 or, given them but one or two parts, and kept all the reft for the King.
Ver. 25.7*200 haftfaved otir lives, &c] We owe our.Verfe 25. very Lives to thee$ and therefore let us but have thy Favour, and we (hall willingly be Pharaoh's Servants. This is an high Expreffion of their Thankfulnefs, for fuch good Terms as he offered them $ which they readily accepted .• With Profeffions of their Obligati on- to be Ph*raoh\ Bond-men.
Ver. 26. Jofeph made it a Law."] By his Advice this Verfe 26. Law was enafted 5 whereby the Power of the Egyptian. Kings was mightily increafed 5. for we read not of the like Conftitution m any other Nation. Thucydides indeed relates that the People of Attica paid to P//?- Jlratus-ihe twentieth part of their Corn, $ and Appianns Akxandr. fays, the old Romans paid the. tenth of their Corn, andthe^fjfrA of their Fruit.* But it was the pe culiar Prerogative of tite Egyptian Kings, to have the ffth of all the increafe of the Field .- Which Jpfeph procured them.by this admirable Management.
Ver. 27. And IfraU . dwelt in the La^ &c.] See Verfe 27- Verfe n.
And they had poffeQlons therein.'] They couldhave no Land of their own, ffor aH the Country, was be come Pharaoh's) but the meaning is, they farmed (as we fpeak) Land of the King ^ to -whom, they became Tenants., And
A COMMENTARY.
Chapter And grew and multiplied exceedingly."] And confe- XLVII. quently inlarged their habitation beyond the Territo- t/VNJry ofRawefes, where they were firft placed, into o_ ther Parts ofGoJhen. Which we muft not fanfie to have been a Country now empty of People .• For though perhaps, about Rantefes there might be fome vacant Ground, fufficient for Jacob's Family, when they came firft to plant there .• Yet when they increafed very much, no doubt, they lived among .the Egyptians where they could find admiffion. This plainly appears at their going from thence, Exact. XII. 22, 23. where God commands them to fprinkle their Door-Pofts with the Blood of the Pafchal Lamb, to fecure them from the Deftruftion, which was coming upon their Neigh bours, who wanted this Mark of Safety.
Verfe 29. Ver. 2 9. Tjf / have now found grace m thy fight.'} This is a Phrafe ufeda little before, ver. 25-. in a little different Sence. For there it fignifies the Favour (hown to«ano- ther .• But here is as much, as iftbou lovefl t»e.
Put thy Hand under my Thigh."} i. e. Swear to me as it is explain'd in verfe 31. See XXIV. 2.
Deal fyndty and truly with me^\ Show me true Kind- nefs, in promifing arid performing what I defire. See XXIVV27, 49-
Verfe 30. Ver. 30. I will lie with my Fathers^ &c.] So all Men naturally defire to do : But he had a peculiar reafon for it. Which was his belief that the Country where their Bodies lay, was his in Reverfion 5 and that God, in due time, would put his Children into pofleffion of it. For which time they could not but the more earneftly long, becaufe the Bodies of their Anceftors were there buried. See L. 5. which explains the reafon why Jacob exafts an Oath of Jofeph 5 not becaufe he doubted he might not otherwife fulfil his Defire 3 but that
Pharaoh
upon GENES IS:
Pharaoh might be willing to let him carry his Body Chapter thither, when he found he lay under fo facred an XLVIJ. Obligation to do it.
Ver. 31 . And Ifr ad bowed hi tufelf upon the Bed's head.'] Verfe Raifed up hisHead from his Pillow, and bowed .- Either to Jofeph, in Thankfulnefs for his Promife } or, to God, • for the Affurance he had receiv^ that he [hould be bu ried with his Pious Fore- fathers : Or, elfe this lowing was the ufual Ceremony, wherewith an Oath was at tended. The Chaldee Paraphraft thinks the Divine Glo ry now appeared 3 which Jacob devoutly worlhipped. But, if the Author to the Hebrews had not underftood ' his bowing to be an aft of Worfhip, the Interpretation of fome modern Writers might, perhaps, have been thought reafonable •• Who tranllate theie words thus,, He laid hiMfelfdowvuponhis Pillow: As weak Men are wont to do $ after they have fat up a while, to difpatch feme bufinefs. For the Hebrew word Schacah^ which fignifies to bow the Body } fignifies alio to fall down upon the Earth: And therefore might here be tranflajted lie down. But the Apoftle, as I faid, hath over- ruled all fuch Conceits, if we fappofe him to tranflate this Paf- fage, Heb. XI. 2 1 . Which to me indeed doth not feetu evident. For the Apoftle is there fpeaking of another thing $ not of what Jacob did now, when Jofeph fware to him ; but of what he did after thefetthings, (KLV1II. i;) when he blefied Jofeph's Sons. Then the Apoftle ftys, he worshipped uponthetopofbis Staff] Which is not the Tranflation of Mofes his words in this place.- But words of his own, whereby he explains the following Story 5 and (hows how ftronghis Faith was, when his Body was fo weak that he was no able to bowhimfelf and worfhip, without the help of his Staff. This clear ly removes all the difficulty, which Interpreters ;have
made.
A COMMENTARY.
Chapte r made about reconciling the words of Mofes here in XL VI II. this Verfi^ to the Apoftle's words in that. L/'VY/ But however this be, Jacob's bowing here, I doubt not,fignifies worihipping $ as the Vulgar Latin takes it .• Where the word God is added, (which is not in the Hebrew) and thefe words thus tranflated, Ifiael worfiip- pecl GW, turning hitnfelftotke Bed's head.
CHAR XLVIIt
Vcrfe i, Ver.i. \Fterthefethings.'] Sometime after, though
£\ not long (for Jacob was nigh his end,
when he fcntforjofepk to make him fwear he would
bury him with his Fathers J he grew fo weak, that he
concluded he could not live long,
One toldjofeph.] A Meflenger was fent from his Fa ther's Houfe, to acquaint Jofeph with his weak Condi tion. So the next Verfe teaches us to underftand it.
He took, with him, 8cc.] Immediately he went to re ceive his Bleffing, and took with him his two Sons, that he might blefs them alfo.
Vcrfe 2. Ver. 2. One told Jacob, &c.] Jofeph fent a Meflenger before him, to let his Father know, he was coming to vifit him.
Ifrael flrengthned hitxfelf^] This MefTage revived him $ and made him ftir up all his Spirits to receive him chearfully.
And fat upon hit led.'] Leaning, it's likely, upon his Staff, for the fupportof his feeble Body. SeeXLVII.
v r ***
Verfc j. Ver. $. Appeared to we at Luz.'j He appeared twice
to him in this place. Firft, when he went to Padan-
upon GENESIS,
Aram, XXVIII. 13. (upon which he gave this Place the Chapter Name of Bethel, verfe 19.) and when he returned from XLVJlI thence, XXXV. 6.9, 8cc. and, both times, made him v-x*v^>^ the Promife which here follows 5 and therefore it is likely he hath refpeft to both.
And blejfed me7\ Promifed to me the Bleffing which follows.
Ver. 4. For an everlaftingfojjeljion.'] We do not read Verfe 4. this in either of the Appearances, in fo many words : But hefaid it ineffeft, when he told him, in the laft Ap pearance there, XXXV. 12. The Land which' I gave to Abraham, and Ifaac, to thee will I give it^ &C. Now he gave it to Abraham and his Seed for ever, XIII. 1 5.
Ver. 5. And now thy two Sons , &c.] Having aflured Verfe 5-. him God would be as good as his Word, in giving the Land of Canaan to his Pofterity $ he tells him what (hare his Children (hould have in it.
Are r,iine.~\ Thy two Sons (hall be reckoned as if I had begotten them : And accordingly have each of them an Inheritance, equal with the reft of my Sons, and be diftinft Tribes.
At Reuben and Simeon^fhall they be mine."] He inftances in them, becaufe they were his eldeftSons : Who, he fays, (hould have no more than Ephraitn and Manajjeh. And, perhaps, the meaning may be $ thefe two (hall be accounted as the Firft-born of my Family. For he gives Jofeph the Primogeniture, (who was indeed the Firft-born of his firft intended WifeJ andbeftowsa double Portion upon him 5 by making his two Sons equal to the reft of his Children.
Ver. 6. And thyiffne which thou begettejl after them^ foallbe thine."] I will make no diftinft Provifion for them, as I have done for thefe two : But they foaU be called after the Name of their Brethren in their Inheri-
G g g g tance,
A COMMENTARY
Chapter tanct, \. e. be reckoned among thefe two,
XLVI1I. Manajjeh^ and not make diftindt Tribes as they (hall,
^- v^ bot be comprehended in them.
Verie 7. Ver, 7. And as for me,whenlca»ie from Padan-Aram, Rachel died by me> Sec,*] He mentions her death (which dcth not feem to belong to the foregoing difcourfe) becaufe it hapned prefently after that laft Promife in Bethel, (XXXV. 1 8.) and he thought it would be grate ful to his Son, to hear him remember his dear Mother. For it is as if he had faid , And now, my Son, this puts me in wind of thy Mother, who died immediately after that fromife of multiplying my Seed :. And yet I fee it fulfilled in thofe Children which God hath given thee. Or, we may look upon thefe words, as giving the reafon why he took Ephraim and Manajjeh to be his own Children 5 and the Sence to be, as if he had faid .- Thy Mother indeed, and, my Moved Wife, diedfoon after Jke began to bear Children ^ when Jf}€ might have brought me many more : And there fore I adopt thefe her Grand- Children, and look upon them as if they had been born of Rachel. And I do it in Memory and Honour of her $ foppfyivg by adoption, ivfeat &tfs wanting in Generation.
And 1 buried her there."] He could not carry her to the Cave of Machpelah, where he. de-fired to be laid himfelf 5 becaufe fhe died in Child-bed .- Which conftrain'd him to bury herfooner, than otherwife he might have done. And it is to be fuppofed he had net in his Travels, all things neceflary to preferve her Body long 5 by em- bilmingher, as Jofeph did him.
Verfe 8. Ver. 8. And Ifrael beheld Jofeph' s. Sons, &c] He faw two others ftand by Jofeph 5 but could not difcern di- fiinftly who they were, by reafon of the dimnefs of his Sighr, verfe 10.-
Ver,
upon Gt N E S I §. v
Ver. 9. And I mil blefs them.'] As he jiad jiift be- Chapter fore promifed, verfe 5. XL VIII.
Ver. 10. And he brought them near unto him?} And WVSJ made them kneel down before him : as the twelfth Verfe 9, •Verfe feems to intimate. Verfe 10.
And he kiffed them, 8cc.] ExprefTed the greateft Affe- ftion to them.
Ver. 11. Brought them out from between his Knees."] It Verfe 12. appears by Verfe 2. that Jacob fat upon his Bed $ and his Legs hanged down, they kneeled between his Knees / From whence Jofeph took them. And then feems to have placed himfelf in the fame pofture, bowing himfelf with his Face to the Earth (as the following words tell us) to give his Father Thanks for his Kindnefs to his Children. Or, rather, we may conceive, that while Ja cob embraced them in his Arms, and kifled them with more than ordinary Affeftion, Jofeph was afraid that they might lie too long, or prefs too hard upon his Fa ther's Breaft 5 and create fome trouble to a ^feeble old Man: And therefore he withdrew them from thence, and difpofed them to receive his Bleiiing.
Ver. 1 3. And Jofeph took them both. Sec.] Made them Verfe i g. kneel down by himfelf, before Jacob: Placing Ephraim towards Jacob's LeftHattd, &c. .
Ver. 14. Stretched out his right hand, and laid it on E- Verfe 14. phraims head.] Laying Hands on the Head of any Per- fon, was always ufed in this Nation, in giving Bleflings, and defigning Men to any Office 5 ^nd in the Confecr^- tionof Publick and Solemn Sacrifices. This is the firft time we meet with the mention of it 5 but in after- time we often read of it 5 particularly when Mofes con- ftituted 70/2w* to be his Succeflbr, God orders him to do it, by laying his Hands on him, Numb. XXVII. 18, 23. Deut. XXXIV. 9. Thus Children were brought to
G g g g 2 our
A COMMENTARY.
Chapter •ur bleffed Saviour, that he might lay his Hands on them XLVill. and blefs them $ and fo he did, Matth. XIX. 13, 15. U^V^vj And the Right Hand being the ftronger, and that where with we commonly perform every thing ^ the laying that on Epbraim9s Head was giving him the prehemi- nence.
Who was the younger^] It is obferved by Theodoret upr on i Saw. XVI. that God was wont from the beginning to prefer the younger before the elder. As Abel be fore Cain $«&;» defore Japhet ••> Ifazc before Ifbmael^ Ja cob before Efait 5 Judah and Jpfeph before Reuben 5 and here Ephraim be fore ManaJJeh^ as afterwards Mofes ber fore Aaron ^ and David, the youngeft of all; before his elder Brethren. Which was to (how that the Divine Benefits were not tied to the Order of Nature ,• but difpenfed freely according to. God's mod wife Good- nefs.
Guidinghis Hands wittingly.'] He did not miftake, by reafon of his blindnefs ^ but forefeeing by the Spirit of Prophecy, how much Epkraim would excel the other, he defignedly and on purpofe, thus laid his Hands a- crofs: So that the Right Hand lay upon the Head of Ephraim, who was next to his Left, &c.
Verfe 1 5. Ver. 15. He Meffe'd Jofeph^} In the Blefling he beftbw- ed on his Children.
All wy life long^} The Hebreto word Mehodi fignifies a. die quo ego fuw (as Bochart interprets it, Hiero&oic. P. I. Lib* II. c. I4«J ever face I had a being. ¥erfe \6. ^er* I^'' The Angel which redeemed .we.'] Who by 'God's Order, and as his Minifter, preferved me in all the Dangers wherein I have been. Many of the an- eient Ftahers (as Athanafius L. IV. contra Arianos^ Cyril upon this place 3 Procopws Gaz<eys^ &c.J underftand kereby an increated Angel>zw, The Second Perfon of
the
Hf0n G E N E S I S
the blefled Trinity. c But the Difcourfeit not con- Chapter
* cerning the fending of the Soaof God, in our Flelh XLVIIl. *" to redeem Mankind, but only concerning the Prefer-
* vation and Profperity of one Man ^ and therefore I c do not know whether if be ftfe to call him an Angel, c 7. e. a Minifter, or Meffenger, left we detraft fro mhis 4 Divinity. For in conferring Bleffings^ he is not a Mef- ' fenger or Minifter $ but a principal Caufe together 6 with the Father. They are the words of that famous Divine Georg. Calixtus \ who follows St. Chryfoftom, who takes this Angel to be one properly fo called : And < thence proves the heavenly Minifters take careof Pious People. And fo.doth St. Baftl in no Ids. than three places of his Wbrks .• Which (brow it was his fetled Opi nion. But it did not enter into their Thoughts that Jacob here pray'd to an Angel ^ but only wiiht thefe Children might have the Angelical Protection, by the fpecial Favour of God to them. For it is jaft fuch an Expreffion as that of David, to a contrary purpofe, Pfalm XXXV. 6. Let the Angel of the Lord perfecnte them. Where no Body will fay he prays to an Angel 5 though his words are exaftly like thefe ofjacobl
And let my Name be named on them "] Here he plainly • adopts them to.be his Children, as he faid before he would, verfe 5. For to be called by one's Name, (which' is the fame with having hisNawe named ! on them) is as much as to be one's Children;. For thus they that are faid to be called by God's Name, became his peculiar People. Therefore Toftatus well interprets it, Stntducr Capita tribuum inter Filtos Jacob: Let them be the Heads of two Tribes among the Sons of Jacob. But none fo plainly as DavidChytr<eus, whofe words are thefe^r* &' Jimplicijjimafententia h#c eft ^ Jfki pueri, a me adopt at i% &C. The true and mofl fiwple Sence is, Thefe Touths, Mauaffeth'
-A COMMENTS Rt.
Chapter <wd Ephraifb, who are adopted by me, foall not hereafter be XLVIII. catted the Sons of Jofefh, but my Sons : And be Heirs^ and t/^V^SJ in the division of the Inheritance of the Land of Canaan^ receive an equal Portion with my Sons.
Grow into a multitude.'] The Hebrew word, as Onfylos interprets it, fignifies increafe like Fifies (as we alfo in the Margin tranflate itj which are themoft fruitful of all Creatures, as Authors commonly obferve. See Bochart. P. I. Lib. I. cap. 6. Hiero&oic.
Verfe 19. Ver* 19. His younger Brother foall be greater than t>e\] His Family multiplied farter, according to the fignifica- tionof hisName: As appears from Numb. I. 33, 35-. And theJKingdom was afterward eftablifted in him, -and all the ten Tribes called by the Name of Efhraim.
Shall become a multitude of Nations'^ In the He brew the words are/#/#e/x of Nations^ i. e. of Families. As much as to fay, his Seed (hall replenifh the Country with nu merous Families : For that which replenifhes the Earth, is called t\\zfitlnefs of the Earth, Pfalm XXIV. i. and that which replenifties the Sea, thefnlnefs of the Sea> Pfalte XCVI. 1 1. Ifai. XLIL ic. See L.de Dieu.
Verfe 20. Ver. 20. And he btejfcd them that day.'} He concluded with a folemn Benedi&ion upon them both.- And when he pronounced it, worCbipped God (as the Apoftle tells us, Hebr.Xl. 11.) leaning upon the top of his Staff. Whereby he was fupported from falling 5 of which he would have been in danger, when he bowed, if he had not leaned on it.
In thee/hall Ifraelblefs."] When my Pofterity would wi(h all Happincfs to others, they (hall ufc this form of Speech 5 God mafy yon like Ephraim and Manaf- feh. Which continues, they fay, among the Jews to this Day.
Ver.
upon GENESIS, $99'
Ver. 21. Bring you again into the Land of your Fathers**] Chapter W here your Fathers fojourned .- and which God be-XLVIIL ftowed upon them in reverfion. ^~*r/~**'
Ver. 22. Which I took out of the Hand of the Amo- Verie ai- r/Ye, Sec/] He doth not mean the City of Shecketx • Verle- 22. which his Sons took unjuftly and cruelly (and not from the J^0r/Ve/,butthe Hivites) without his knowledge,and contrary to his will.- But that piece of Land, which he bought ofHamor the Father of Shechew, Gen. XXXIII. 19. compared with St. John IV. j. Which feems to be the reafon why Jofeph was himfelf here buried in his own Ground, given by his Father, Jofi. XXIV. 32. and not in the Cave of Machpelah. The only difficulty is, how he could fay, that he took this Land from the Aworite by his Sword^and by his Bow^ ("which comprehend all warlike Inftruments) when he bought it for an hundred Pieces of Silver of Hamor the Hivite. It is to be fuppofed therefore that he took, ft, '• e. recovered it from VSsAnwrittSi who hadfeized on it, after his remo val to another part of Canaan, and would not reftoreit, but conftrain'd'him to drive them out by force. We read nothing indeed in the foregoing Hiftory, either of their invading his PoiTelfion, or his expelling them thence .• But the Scripture relates many things to have been done, without mentioning the circumftances of Time and Place 5 as Bochartus obferves. And among otherlnftances gives that in XXXVI. 24. where Ana is faid to have met with \hzEmims (fo he underftands it) in the Wildernefs : Of which encounter we find no mention in any other place. See his Hierozo/c. P. II. L. IV. cap. 13, And, as I take it, we have a plainer In- ftance in the place a little before mentioned, Hebr.Jil* 21. where the Apoftle fays, Jacob^ when he was a dy ing, blefled both the Sons of Jofepb and worfifpped,
leaning
# COMMENTARY
Chapter leaning upon the top of his StaffJ] Of which there is not XLIX. a word in this Hiftory, but only of his blefling them, verfe 20. "There arethofe who, with St. H7'er0«*,underftandby
> Sword and Bov>> his Money .- Which he calls by thofe warlike Names, to fignifie this was the only Inftrument he ufed to acquire any thing. Juftas the Romans, when they would fignifie they had got any thing, without a- ny other help, but their own Induftry alone, fay they
< obtained in Proprio Marte } ufing a fimilitude from Mili tary Expences and Labours. If this do not feem harlh, it is not hard to give an account why he calls thofe Amo- rites, who before were called Hivites : For Amorites feems to have been the general Name of all the feven
'Nations of Canaan, they being the Chief ^ juft as all the People of the feven united Provinces, are now com monly called Hollanders, who are the moft Potent of allthe reft.
i^f J
CHAP. XLIX.
Acob called unto his Sons^] When he had done fpeaking with Jofeph^ perceiving his end ap roaching, he fent one to call the reft of his Sons to come to him.
Gather your felves together^} Come all in a Body to me. Let me fee you all together before I die.
Whatfiall be in the laft Days.'] The Condition of your Pofterity in future Times. Jacob is the firft, that we read of, who particularly declared the future ftate of everyone of his Sons, when he left the World. But it hath been an ancient Opinion, That the Souls of all
excellent
upon G E N E S I S. 60 1
eel lent Men, the nearer they approached to their de- Chapter parture from hence, the more Divine they grew ^ and XLIXe had a clearer profpeft of things to come. Whence WVNJ Xenopbon, L. VIII. makes his Cyrus fay, when he was near his end, That the Souls of Men, at the point of death, become Prophetic!^ Which never wasuniverfal- ly true 5 for Prophecy is not a natural thing 5 nor were all excellent Men partakers of it ^ and God com municated it in what meafures he pleafed, to thofe who had any thing of it 5 and to Jacob more than had been beftowed upon his great Anceftors. For thefe laft words of his, may be called Prophecies rather than Benediffions : Some of them containing no Bleffing in them , but all of them Predictions.
Ver. ^. Gather your felves together. ~] This is repeated, Verfe &. tohaftenthem$ as the two next words, hear and hear- ken^ are ufed to excite their Attention. It was the man ner of good Men among the Hebrews, to call all their Children before them, and give them good Counfel, together with their Bleffing, when they drew near to their end: The words then fpoken, being likely to ftick faft in their Mind.
Ver. 3. Reuben >&c.~] It is commonly obferved, that Verfe §. the Style wherein he fpeaks to his Sons, is much more lofty than that hitherto ufed in this Book. .Which hath made fome fanfie that Jacob did not deliver thefe ve ry words ^ but Mofes put the Senfe of what he faid into fuch Poetical Expreffions. But it feems more reafonable to me, to think that the Spirit of Prophe cy now coming upon him, raifed his Style as well as his Underftanding : As it did Mofes 's alfo ; who de livered his Benediftions (in Deut. XXXIII.) in a ftraia more fublime, than his other Writings.
Hhhh Tkon
A COMMENTARY
Chapter Thou art my jirft-born.~] So we read XXIX. 32. To XLIX. whom the Jews commonly obferve belonged three Pre- rogatives, a double Portion of the Father's Eftate, the Priefthood, and the Kingdom, fas they fpeak) /. e. chief Authority among his Brethren. The firft of thefe, faith the Chaldee Paraphraft was given to Jofeph, the fecond to Lev?, the third to Judith, becaufe Reuben had for feited all the Rights of his Primogeniture, by his Inceft with his Father's Wife. But Mr. Selden himfelf (who gives a full account of the Jews Opinion in this mat ter) acknowledges the Priefthood was -not confined to the Firft-born before the Law, as appears by Abel's offering Sacrifice as well as Cain, and Mofes being a Prieft as well as Aaron (Pfalm XCIX. 6.) unlefs we underftand thereby the Office of Chief Prieft. And fo Jonathan here reports the ancient Opinion of the Jews, that Reuben loft the High-Priefthood. L. I. de Synedr. cap. 1 6. p. 645, &c.
My ntight^ Whom I begot, when I was in my full Vigour.
The beginning (or the fr ft- fruits ) of my ftrength.~] The fame thing, in more words. Or, it may be in terpreted, the prime fupport of nty Family. The Firft- born is called, the beginning of ftrength in Deut. XXL 17. Pfalm CV. 36.
The Excellency of Dignity^] Who had ft the Prehe- minenCe among thy Brethren, (being the Firft-born) if thou hadft hot fall'n from it by thy Folly 5 as it fol lows afterwards.
And the Excellency of Power ^ Who waft born to the higheft Authority among them. The Hebrews refer Dignity to the Priefthood, and Power to the Kingdom, Bat there being no folid ground to think the Prieft- iood, as I faid before., was confined to the eldeft Bro ther 5.
upon GEN E S I £ 603
* I take Dignity to fignifie the double Portion of Chapter the Eftate } and Pomr^ Authority among them, while XLIX. they remained in one Family. WVN
Ver. 4. Vnftable a* Water ^ The Hebrew word Pa- Verfe 4 c7j*z, fignifying hafte, and in the Chaldee having the fig- nification of leaping s> the Interpretation of St. Hierom feemsmoft reasonable $ which is, poured out like Water out of a VefTel upon the Ground. And then it denotes Reubens falling from his Dignity, and lofing his Prer heminence^ as Water fuddenly difappears, when it is poured out on the Earth, and fuckt up into it. Many refer it, particularly Ca. Vitringa in his late Sacred Ob- fervations^ (Lib. I. cap. 12.) unto his unbounded Luft •.• But that is taken notice of in the latter part of this Verfe^ and given as a reafon of his being degraded. O- thers therefore tranflate the Hebrew word Pachaz by the Latin word, Levh; a light or vain Perfon ("as we fpeak at this day) and then the meaning ftill is, Water is not more prone toflow^ when it is poured outr than thou waft to lofe thy Dignity. So Georg. Calixtu*.
Thou ftalt not excel."] There is nothing Great faid to be done by this Tribe in Scripture. And they were not fo numerous (to which the Vulgar Latin refers thisj by more than a third part, as the Tribe of Ju- dah fto whom God gave part of Reubens PrerOga- tivej) when Mofes by God's Command took the Sum of all the Congregation, Numb. I. 21, 27.
Becaufe thou rventeft up to thy Father s Bed.'] Commit- tedft Inceft with my Wife, XXXV. 22.
Then dcfiledft thou it : He went up to my Couch.] Or, rather, When thou defiledft my Conch, it vanlfted, i.e. his Excellency departed. For the word Hatah, which is here trantlated to go up, fignifies often in Scripture, to or perifo. As in Pfalm CII. 25*. Ifa. V. 24. which H h h h 2 makes
&>4 A COMMENT ART
Chapter makes the eafieftSenfeof this place, in thismanner^ XUX. c quo polln'jfti thorum menm^ afcendik ut vapor -ant L/"V"SJ c excellentia & dignitas tua^ i. e« dilapfaefl^ extinffa ejl^ c evanuit. From the time that thoudefiledfimy Couch, 4 thy Excellency and Dignity went up like a Vapour or r c Smoak, Le. it flidaway,Jt v/as extinftr it vanifhed. They are rhe words of the fore- named Calfatw. Who > well obferves that this is explained in i Chron. V. i.- ¥erfe S» Ver.-5-. Simeon and Levi are .Brethren^] So were all the reft 5 but the meaning is, they are alike in their Dif- pofitions,, and linfct together in the fame wicked De- (igns^ for fo. the word Brother fometimes fignifies, a Companion or Affoclale^ that agrees in the fame Inclinati ons or Undertakings with others. As Pr^.XVIII. 9.
Injtruments of Cruelty are in their Habitations. ~] The wordMecheroth (which we tranflate Habitations} is no where elfe found :> nor is there any root in the Hebrew Language, from whence it may derive that Signification. Therefore Lnd.dttDkU) from the JUibiapick Language, tranflates it Own/ek: For fo the word fignifies in that Tongue.^ ;and in an ilLSenfe, Confpirations, Machina tions, or mifchi^vouSrPe vices; This Job Ludolphu* ap proves pfr and tranflates this Sentence after this manner, Gonplmeorum nibil funbni/i vis & arwa : Their Coun- fels amjnothing, but Force and Arms. Vid. Comment, in Hiffor*r.JEthiop. Lib. I. cap. 15. n. 106. Aben Ezra is not much different, who tranflates it, their Compacts : As G. Vorftiw notes upon Pirfy Ellefer, cap. 38. where there are other various Interpretations : With which I fhall not trouble the Header, becaufe I , have given that which I think moft naturaL;.
¥*rfe 6. Vet.6.., 0 my Soul, come not thou, &C."] He utterly di{- Glaims all knowledge of their wicked Fadt before-hand : ory approbation of it afterward. For by Soul is meant'
upon GENESIS. <5o$
Hirafelf 5 and fo the word Honour or Glory feems to Chapter mean, in the following words $ which are but a Re- XLIX. petition of this. Or, elfe it fignifies the Tongue^ as in L/"V-sv- many places of Scripture, (particularly Pfalm XXX. I2.J and the meaning is, He never in Thought, much lefs in Word afiented to .what they did. They gloried in the llaughter they made $ but God forbid that I fhould fo much as approve it.
Secret fignifying the fame with Affemlly is, in reafon, to be interpreted a Secret place^ or Clofet ^ where Cabals (as we now fpeakj are wont to be held.
Slew a Man."] i.e. Shechem^ a great Man: Or, the Singular Number is put for the Plural.
In their felf-wiU^] The Hebrew word Ratfon may well be tranflated Humour. When they were in a Fit of Rage*
They digged down a Wall7\ Broke into ffamors Houfe, where Shechem was. In the Margin we tranflate it hough ed Oxen: And indeed the Hebrew word Schor fignifies an Ox, notzWattj which they call Shur. Yet the Vul gar •, the Syriack-t Arabick^ ChaldeeyaT}d a great number of the Hebrew Authors interpret it a Wall. And though the LXX. tranflate it &£j£pt07nm* TKU%JV, they ham- firing d an Ox$ yet the Author of the Greek, Scholhn. < (as Bochart acknowledges^ tranflates it dkiffifymv r£- %@»> they underwind a. WaU. The truth is, we read of neither in the Story, but only of their taking their Sheep and their Oxen, XXXI W 28. which fignifies not their houghing them 5 but their driving them away. Perhaps, they both broke down a Wall to come at their Flocks 5 and alfo houghed thofe which 'they were afraid would \ otherwife have efcaped their hands and got away. '
Ver.y. Curfed be their Anger."] Their Fury was moft ex- Verfe j ecrables and deteftabk : And brought a Gurfe upon them, , For r
666 ^ COMMENT AR t
Chapter For it was fierce^] Outragious 5 or, as the Vulgar XLIX. fcranflates it, pertinaciovy. Not a fudden, impetuous Paffion, that was foon over: But a fetled, inflexible Rage. So he condemns them upon a double account* JRrr/Z, ' that they had fuch an implacable defire of Re venge $ and then^ that their Revenge was too cruel.
I will divide them in Jacob, See/] This is the Punifti- ment, which by a Prophetick Spirit he foretells God would inflid: upon them : That they who were alTo- ciated in Wickednefs, fhould be disjoyned one from another $ when his Children came to inherit the Land of Canaan. And fo it fell out $ for Simeons Pofterity had not a feparate Inheritance by themfelves, but only a Portion in the mid ft of rhe Tribe ofjudah, as we read Jofli. XIX. 1,9, and accordingly we find them affifting one another, to enlarge their Border, Judg. I. 3, 17. and their Portion being too ftrait for them, we read how in after- times they acquired Pofleliions, where they could, far from the reft of their Brethren.- Five hundred of this Tribe, under feveral Captains, going to Mount Seir^ and there fetling themfelves, I Chron< IV. 39, 41. It is a conftant Tradition alfo among the Hebrews (as P.Fagiv* obferves) that a great many of this Tribe wanting a livelihood applied themfelves to the teach ing of Children ^ and were employed as School-Ma ilers in all the other Tribes of Ifrael: Where few fol lowed this Employment but Simeonites. If this be true, it is a further Proof of their fcattered Condition.
As for the Tribe of Levi^ it is manifeft they had no Inheritance allotted to them, among their Brethren, but were difperfed among all the Tribes: Having certain Cities affigned to them, with a little Land about them. This indeed did not prove a Curfe to them } they ha ving the Tenth of all the Increafe of the Land, through*
out
upon G E N E SIS.- 6d> *
out the whole Country. For this Curfe fee'ras to haveChapter been taken off, upon that eminent Service they did in XLIX. falling upoxi the WorChippers of the Golden Calf 5 and U'^V'S thereby correlating themfelves unto the LORD, ExW.XXXIJ.2<5,S9, Upon which account M0/e.r bleffes this Tribe, a little before he died, Deri. XXXIII. 9. whereas he gives no Bleffing at all to the Tribe of £/- meon\ but leaves them under this Curfe : A great ring leader of the Idolatry with Baal-Peor, being a Prince of this Tribe 5 whom Phineas, of the Tribe of Levt9 flew in his Zeal for the Lord Numb, XXV. 1 i, 14.
Ver. 8. Judah, thon art he whom thy Brethren JhaltV&k 8 praife.'] Or, thou art Judah 5 and well maift thou be fo called, for thy. Brethren (hall praifethee. The Name of Judah fignifies Praife, unco which his Father alludes. It was given him by his Mother, in Thankfulnefs to God for him, XXIX. 35. and now his Father gives another reafon of his Name 5 becaufe all his Brethren fhould applaud his worthy Afts, and praife God for them. Which is not fpoken ofjudafrs Perfon 5 but of his Family, or Tribe: Who in future times were very famous
Thy Hand fi all be m the Nee 1^ of thy Enemies."] To overthrow them, and bring them under: Which was eminently fulfilled in David^ as he himfelf acknow ledges, Tfdm XVIII, 40. And fo were the foregoing words } when all the Daughters of Ifrael came forth of their Cities finging his Praifes in fuch an high ftrain, as offended Saul, i Sam. XVIII. 6, 7.
Thy Father s Children foall bow down to thee."] Ac knowledge thee their Superior.
Ver, 9. Judah is a Lions Whelp,, 8tc.] He fets forthin Verfe this Verfe^ the Warlike Temper of this Tribe, and their undaunted Courage, and Terriblenefs to their Enemies.
And
A COMMENT4KT
Chapter And he feems to exprefs the beginning, increafe, XLIX. full growth of their Power $ by z young Lion, a L/~V"NJ and zlJonsfs ••> which is the fierceft of all other.
A Lions Whd$7\ This Tribe gave early proof of their .Valour 5 being the firft that went to fight againft the CanaaniteS) after the Death of JofhiM, $udg. I. i, z. And David) who was of this Tribe, when he was but a Youth, killed a Lion, and a Bear, and the great Giant Goliah.
From the prey, my Son, thou art gone up^\ He fpeaks as if he faw .them returning in Triumph 5 with the Spoils of their Enemies: Alluding unto Lions, who having^gotten their Prey in the Plain, return iatiated to the Mountains. As Bochartus obferves, P. I. JLIIL .cap..i. Hiewzoic.
Heftoopeth down, he coucheth at a Lion^] The Hebrew word An fignifies a grown //V«,come to his full ftrength. ^By wbokftoopwg down (bending his Knees the Hebrew word fignifiesj and couching to take his reft, (which all four-footed Beafts do, but the Lion is obferved, to deep whole days in his Den, or in Thickets, that he may be freftier for his Prey in the Night) Jacol fets forth the Eafe and Quiet that Jndah (hould enjoy af ter their Vi&ories, without any fear of Difturbance.
And as an old Uon7\ I think Bochart hath plainly de- monftrated that Labi, fignifies a Lionefs: Which is ra ther fiercer than a Lion 5 as he obferves out of Herodo- tw^ and other Authors, P. I. Hierozoic. Lib. III. c. i.
Who {hall rottfe him up ?~] Having overcome his Ene mies, he fliall live in fecure Peace 3 free from their In- curfions : None daring to invade him } no more than to ftir up a fleepy Lion.
Verfe TO. Ver. 10. The Scepter /hall not depart from Judah^&C.~\ That the firft word Schebet is rightly tranflated Sceptefi
we
upon GENES I S, 60?
we have the unanimous Teftimony of the three Targums Chapter of the ancient Book Rabboth, with a great many of the XLIX, modern Rabbins, (Tuch as Chaskuni, Beckai, Abarbi- nel, Sec.) who all think the word fignifiesa Scepter^ and not a Tribe, as fomefew would have it .- Whom fome Chriftians follow 5 particularly Jac. Altmgiushath lately afferted it in Schilo; but, in my judgment, againft the cleareft evidence for the other fignification. For, as Schebet doth not originally fignifie a Tribe^ but a Rod or Wand (hooting from the Root of a Tree, (from whence it was tranllated to fignifie a Tribe, who fpring out of a common Stock? /. e. the Father of the Family) fo the Ferfe foregoing being a plain Predi&ion of Ju- dah's Dominion, not only over external Enemies, but over his Brethren, what can we fo reafonably think to be the Defign of this Verfe, as to foretel the Continu ance and Duration of that great Power and Authority promifed in the foregoing? ft is obfervable alfo, that the very famePhrafe is ufed in this Sence, and cannot have another, Zachar. X. n. The Scepter of Egypt flail de part away: Where there are two of the words here ufed 5 fignifying the Dominion, which the Egyptians then exercifed over the poo* Jen?.f, fhould quite ceafe. And if Mofes had meant a Tribe in this place, he would not have faid theTribeJhall not depart from Judah^ but the Tribeofjudahfiallnot ceafe : For the former looks like a tautology.
The meaning of this word then being fetled, it isma- nifeft Jacob here give$ Judahthz higheft Superiority over his Brethren 3 and informs them^ that from the time his Authority fhould be efl;ablt(heci, there ftiould continue a Form of Government in this7V;te, till the coming of the Mejfiah. The word Scepter is more ufed in ancient Times (as Mr. Sdden obferves in his Titles ef Honour)
I i i i to
tfio A COMMENTARY
Chapter to fignifie Kingly Power, than either Crown or Diadem* XLIX. which have been ufed more in latter times. And there fore the LXX tranflate it *Af v^v, of whofe Authority the Rod, Stajfc-or Scepter was the Enfign. And accord ingly in the Prophecy of Amos I; 5. Be that holdcth the Scepter^ is ufed abfolutely for a King. Now this Regal Power began in the Tribe of Judah, when David was King over all Ifrael, i Chron. XXV1H. 4. and his Pofte- rity held it, till the Captivity of Babylon.
But then the next word in this Verfe, Mechokek£wh\di we tranflate Larv-giver) fignifies a diminution of this Dignity, before the finifhing of this Prophecy. For Mechoi$rsi were not of equal Power with Kings 3 and therefore we tranflate the word elfe where Governors* Judg.V.y, 14 who were not indued with an abfolute Power, but depended on the Power of another. And thus R. Solomon Jarchi expreflyfays (in his Commentaries on the Sanhedrim) that as Schebet fignifies the higheft Authority, fo Mechokek fignifies a leffer Magiftrate or Ruler $ who was fet over the People by the Authority and Licence of the Kings of Per/ia. For this kind of Power, was fettled among them, at their return from Ba bylon, when Ztrobabel was made their Governor. And afterjthey were invaded by the SeleHctd& this Autho rity was recovered and maintained by the Maccabees $ till they Were deprived of it by Herod and the Romany At which time Chrift came $ when it is evident they were become Subjefts to the Romans ^ by the very en rolling that was made of them at theJBirth of our Sa viour / Which was a publicb Teftimony ofAuguffus his Sovereignty over them. So that the-meaning of this Prophecy is 3 There flail be either Kings , or Governors among the Jews till Chrijt come. So J. Chriftoph. Wagen* fsil (who hath difcufled this place, with great exaft-
nefs)
upon GENESIS. 61 1
nefs) gives the Sence of thefe words $ and it is literally Chapter true ^ Till the Captivity they had Kings; after their re- XL1X. turn they had Governors, under the Per/tans^ Greek* and Rowans. See his Confut. Carm- Memorial™ Libri Nitzachon. R. Lipmanni, fag. 293, &C.
To ftrengthen which Interpretation he makes this ju dicious Remark, in another place of the fame Book. pag. 373. That the whole time, from the beginning to the end of JxdaKs Authority, was well nigh equally divided between Kings ^ and Governors. For, accord ing to Jofepkus, L. XI. Antiq. cap. 4. they lived under Kings, from David's time to the Captivity, Five hundred thirty two Years 5 and under the Mechokfrim or Gover- nor*) after the Captivity, much about the fame number of Years. For there being Five hundred eighty and eight Years from the Captivity to our Saviour's Birth ^ iffrventy Years be dedufted (which was the time their Captivity laftedj and ten be added, fin which after theJJirth of Chrift, fferodznd his Son Archelaus reigned in Jud<ea, and it was not yet reduced into the Form of a Province) there were ju ft Five hundred twenty and eight Years } that is, the fpace in which they were un der Kingly Authority, and under fubordinate Gover nors, was in a manner, of the fame length. Which makes it the more wonderful, that Jacob (hould fo ma ny Ages before exa&ly divide the whole Power he forefaw would be in Judah, between them that weild- ed a Scepter 3 and thofe who were only fubordinate Governors.
That the Letter Van before the word we tranflate Law-giver, hath the force of a Disjun&ive^ and is not a mere Copulative, all allow .• And there are many Exam ples of it in other places, particularly, in the Tenth Commandment, .Exod. XX. 14. Thegreateft Objection
I iii. a that
<5i2 A COMMENTdRT
Chapter that I can find againft this Interpretation is, That though?
XLIX. Zerohabel, the fir ft Governour fitter the Captivity,; was c€ the Tribe of Judah; yet the MaMdbees, who were 'their Governors moft of the time after the Captivity, were of the Tribe of Lea*. But it is to be confrdered, that the Prophecy doth not fay thefe Rulers or Q^m^r/^ftiotild be of the Tribe of Jadah ; but only in that Tribe, which had a Government of their own, till the coming ofChrift. Befides, by Jttdahis not to be underftood merely the Peopleofthat Tribe } but all thofe that were called ^ew, confiding alto of the Tribes of Ben jamin and Levt $ who were incorporated with them : And were all called Judak^in oppofition to the Kingdom of Ifrael. For Benjamin it is evident, was fo near to Judah^ that they were reputed 'the very fame. Whence it is that Mordecai^ who was of the Tribe of Benjamin, is called IJch Jehudi^ a Jew^'m Efther II. 5. becaufe that Tribe was comprehended- under Jndah, fromthe time that the reft rent themfelves from the Houfe of David. When Jeroboam alfo fet up the meaneft of the People forPriefts $• who were not of the Tribe of Levi, \King. XII. 33. This made the Levites fly to Judah and be come one with them. And therefore the Maccabees were, in effedt, Jews, who held the chief Authority; a-, mong them, till Anttgonus was driven out and killed by Herod : Who was an Edomite^ fet over them by the Romans.
From between his Fett~] The common Interpretation every Body knows, which is, of 'his Seed^ or Pofterity : But Ludolfhus inftead of Ragtag Feet, would have us read Daglau, Banners, according to the Samaritan Copy. Which is well confuted by the fore-named Wagenfeil, p. 269. of the fore-named Book : Where he trantlates thefe words thus. Even to the Ujl end of that State. For fo the
People
Hfon-G E; N E S I S. 413
People at the Feet fignifies (Exod. XI, 8. 2 Kings III. Chapter 9.) thofe that bring up the K$ar, as ,We now'fpeak, And 10 feme ancient Interpreters in the Talmud, he (hows, expound it here, of the laji^ofte^ofjHclah^nd the times when their .Commonwealth was coming to a^ondufion. .
VntilShilohcoMz^ Let the original : of this word Shjloh be what it will, ("which fometrapflate to be fentj others his So*, or Child, or ha Seed, others £>uie,t, Pe^ce- able, Pacific^ Profpervtis,zi\A coniequencly Ren<)wtied.^A%* gufl\ to whom G//^or Offerings (hall be made, as ...R. Solomon takes it 5 others, rvhofe 'is, viz. the Kingdom) the Meffiahor Chrift is certainly hereby meant .• As alt the three Targttws agree ; and the Talmud in the Title Sanhedrim, cap. XL and Baal-Halturitn^ Bsrejchit-RMa^ and many other ancient and modern Jews. I will men tion only the words of R* Bechai ^ who confefies^ It is right to under/land- this frerfe of the Mejjiah^ the I aft Re~ deewer. " Which is meant when it faith, //'// ..-Shjlo cowe
4 /^.His Son, proceeding from his Seed% lAud. the rea- ' fon'why the word l>en-0 i^ not u(ed in this Prophecy, c but Sh'do, is, becaufe he would emphatically exprefs a * Son, who fhould be brought forth of his Mother's c Womb, after the manner:p£ att ihofe, that are born of
5 a Woman.; Of this Interpretation .they are fo con vinced, that to evade the Argument we urge from hence, to prove the Mejfiah is come, they have invented a great many Tales of the Power they have ftill in fame re mote Parts of the World. There is a. Book, written on pnrpofe, called, The Voice of glad Tidings^ wherein they labour to prove, they have a. Kingdom ftill remaining. Which if it (hould be granted, fignifies nothing ; for this Prophecy is concerning their Government in their ©wn Country, the Land of Ctwian : M they themselves
very
6*4 A COMMENTARY
Chapter very well know $ which makes them fo dcfirous to re- XLIX. *urn thither again, that the Hand ofjndab may be up- on *he Neck of his Enemies, and he may go up from the prey like A Lion, and tie his Afs to the Vint^ and wa/h his Garments in Wine^ &c. as the words are in the reft of this Prophecy. And whatfoever fome of them are plea- fed to fay concerning their Power, no Body knows where 5 they arefornetimes in a contrary humour .• For in the Gentar a Sanhedrim they fay, Cap. XI. $ 32. There /hall not be the leaft Magiftrate in Ifrael^ when theMejfiah comes.
Unto him Jhall the gathering of the People he."] So this Claufeis expounded by Abartinel himfelf, vvhofe words are 5 The People of the Nations jhall be gathered to worfoip him, i. e. the Mejfiah. See L* Empereur in Jacchiad. p. 164. and Codex frliddoth,p. 106, 107. Wagenfeil indeed thinks the moftliterallnterpretationto be this, To him /hall be the Obedience of the People : Which is the Inter pretation of Onkelos and the Hierufalem ParaphrafK Kitnchi alfo (Lib. Radio?) fo expounds it, The People fhall obey him } taking upon them to obferve what hefiall command them. And in Prov. XXX. 17. which is the only place befides this, where this word Jikfah is found, it feems to fignifie Obedience.
See Confut* Carm. R. Lipmanni^. 295* where Wagen feil after the examination of every particular word in this Ferfe, thus fumms up the Sence of it in this Pa- raphrafe.
That Royal Power and Authority which /hall be eftabli/hed in the Pofterity of Jtidah^foatt not be tah^n from them $or> at leaft) they fiaU not be deftitute of Rulers and
Governors,
no not when they are in their declining Condition : Until the coming of the Mejjiah. But when he is come, there (hall be no difference between the Jews and other Nations :
Who
upon GE N -E S I S. 615
Who {hall all be obedient unto the Meffiah. And after that Chapter the Pofterity 0/Judah fiaUhave neither King, nor Ruler XLIX. of their own : Bnt the whole Commonwealth of Judah/haH quite lofe all Form ^and never recover again.
The Truth of this Expofition appears exa&ly from their Hiftory : Of which it will be ufeful here to give an account. For from David to the Captivity of Baby lon they held the Scepter •, for five whole Ages and more, as I obferved above. After which, when feventy Years were finifhed in that Captivity., they lived by their own Laws in their own Country/ But had noabfolute Au thority of their own, independent upon others 5 ~nor ever enjoyed a full Liberty. For they were at firft un der the Per/tan -Monarchs : Afterwards, upon the Con- queft made by Alexander, under the Greeks: And then under the Kipgs of Afta Minor and Egypt $ til! the Romaa Yoke was impofed upon them. Yet all this time, while they were under the Empire of others, they enjoyed Governors or Rulers of their own .• Who adminiftred their Affairs, under thofe Monarchs. The firft was Ze- robabel, called thzCaptainpt Prince ofjudah, Haggai^l.t, After hirti Ezra and Nehemiah. .. And before them it is likely there were fome others, as Jof.Scaliger gathers from Nehem. V. 15. After the death of tfebemiah the Government came into the Hands of the High Priefts, as appears from Jofephusj L. XT. cap. 8. where he (hows , how Jaddus the High-PHeft met Alexanders his Expe<> dition againftFer/^ : Which Power was confirmed in that Order, by the Maccabees, as we corpmonlycall thenio It begainin Mattathias 5 and was continued in his Sons. The third of which, &0w», raited it tofucha Splendor, that he looked like a Prince, as the Reader may fee it described in i Maccab. XI V. ^ From whence his Grand- Child Ariftobuluj feems to have taken occafion to affeft
the c
6i6 d COMMENTAKY
Chapter the Name bf King : Though he had but the Shadow of XLIX. that Power. Yet hisPofterity kept that Name, to the time of Herod : Who ftript them of all their Power, and deftroyed their Family. After his death the King dom was divided by Auguflus into Tetrarchies : Arche- latts. being made Tetrarch of Jud#a } and the reft of the Country divided between Philip and Anttyas. But A- chelans misbehaving himfelf, he was deprived of his Go vernment, and banvlbed to Vunne in trance : And then Jud<ea was reduced into the Form of a Province, and ruled by Rowan Governors. After which there was no 'King., nor Ethnarch of Judda : So that after this time we may fafely conclude, the Jews loft even their Me- chokk/vtor Governors , as they had long ago loft the Scepter^: And had no Power remaining among them, of adminiftring the Affairs of their Commonwealth.
Now at this time our bleffed Lord and Saviour, Je- fus Chrift, the true 6&70/J came : Who was the Founder of a new and heavenly Kingdom. And nothing more was left to be done for the fulfilling of this Prophecy, but after his Crucifying, to deftroy Jernfalem and the TeMpk, and therewith the whole Form of their Go vernment, both Civil and Sacred.Then all Power was in- tirely taken from Judah, when Chrift had erefted his Throne in the Heavens, and brought many People, in feveral Parts of the Earth, unto his Obedience, and made them Members of his Celeftial Kingdom. Till which time this Prophecy was notcompleatly fulfilled : Which may be the reafon poffibly,that it is notalledged by,Chriftand his Apoftles ^ becaufe the Jews might have faid, We have ftill a Government among us .• Which could not be pretended after the deftruftion by Ti- 4us. Which is now above, Sixteen hundred Year5 ago. And there is not the leaft fign of their reftitution.
Which
GE N E S I a 61.7
Which fo perplexed R. Samml Maroccanus, that it Chapte* made him write thus to a Friend of his, above Six XLIX. hundred Years fince. tuX-v^
I would fain learn from thee^ out of the Teflimonies of the Law, and the Prophet /:, and other Scriptures ^ why the ]zwsare thus f mitten in this Captivity wherein we are : Which rimy be properly, called, ttx P E R P ET V A L ANG& R OF GO D,becatife it hath no end. Eft it is now above aThoufand Tears 5 Jfn-ce we teere carried cap tive by T I T U S 5 and yet our Fathers who worflripped Idols •, kitt'd the Prophets^ and caft_ the Law Ibehind their Back^ were only funifted with a, Seventy Tears Captivity ^ audthen brought home again: .But now 1 here is no end. of our Calamities^ nor do the Prophets pH*ot&ife any.
If this Argument was hard to be anfwered then in his days, it is much harder now in ours .• Who ftili fee them purfued by God's Vengeance ^ which can be for nothing elfe but rejecting, and crucify ing the Mff- fiah, the Saviour of the World.
Ver. II. Binding hit Foal unto the Vine , Sec."] ThisVerfe «. verfe fets forth the great Fertilty of Judah's Country (abounding with Vineyards and Paftures) by two Hy perbolical Expreffions. Firft, That Vines (hould be as common there, as Thorn-Hedges in other places 5 fo that they might tie Afles, with their Colts to them: Or, as Tome will have it, lade anAfs with the Fruit of one Vine. Secondly, That Wine fhould be as common as Water^ fo that they (hould have enough, .not on ly to drink, but to wa(h their Clothes in it. Which doth not imply, that they made it Cerve for that u'fe 3 but only denotes its plenty .• Which was fo very great, that in treading the Qrapes, ,and^ preffing out the Juke/ their Garments were all fprinkled with Wine 5 which one might wring out of them*
Kkkk Choice
<5i8 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Choice Pine.'] The Vine of Sorely (which we here XLIX. tranlkte choice, and in Jererv. II. n. wife Vine) was the
w~ v-**> moft excellent in all that Country. For Sorek was a place, not above half a Mile from the Valley of Efchol $ from whence the Spies brought the large Bunches, as a Sample of the Fruitfilnefs of the Country. See Bo- cfrart, P. I. Hierozoic. Lib. HI. cap.- 13.
Verfe 12. Ver. 12. His Eyes Jhal/ be red with Wine, &c.] This Verfe fets forth the Healthfulnefs and Vigour of the In habitants of that fertile Country. But Dr. Caftell thinks this not to be a good Tranflation 5 becaufe it can be laid of none but a Drunkard, that his Eyes are red with Wine. And therefore it ought to be tranflated his Eyes (or his Countenance^ for fo Eyes fometrmes fignifies).fhall be brighter and more jlrining than Wine. So the word we render red fignifies in the Arabick, Tongue, as he (hows in his Oratioin SchoLTheolbg. p. 51. and in \mLexicon. Yetthefame word in the Proverbs^ XXIII. ^g^ cannot have any other fignificatron than red ^ and the red Co lour of the Ey^s, anfwers well here to the wbiten&fs of the Teeth, whfch follows ^ and there is no more rea- fon to think he means, they ftiot^d make their Eyes r-ed with drinking Wine, than that they ftipuld wafi- their Clothes in it .• But it may only exprefs the great abundance of Wine 3 to ferve not only their neceffi- ty, feutexcefe.
Md hk Teeth vskfa ivith M//^.] Milk doth not make the Teeth white 5, ''but gives fuch an excellent Nxmrifh- ment, that they who live upon it are healthy and ftroug : And their Teeth not fo apt to rot, as theirs who feed Mpon greater Dainties. So the meaning b^ the rich Pa- ftures in that Country, fhould feed great Flocks, and confequently they ftionld have abundance of Milk, fa good and nonrifhtng, that the Teeth of the Country-
upon GENESIS. 619
men who lived upon it, (hould be as white as the Chapter
Milk they drank. Or, if the foregoing words be XLIX.
tranflated, His Eyes fliatt te brighter than Wine } thefe
are to be tranflated, His Teeth whiter than Milk;
Out of thefe three Verfes foregoing, Bochartus thinks
the whole Story of Silenus was forged by the Poets.
See his Canaan , Lib. I. cap. 18. p. 482.
Ver. 13. Zebulun Jball dwell at the Haven oftheSea.~]Vtfk
Near the Lake of Tiberias 3 called in Scripture the *Sea of Galilee.
He fhallbe an Haven for Ships .1 The Lot that fell to
him extended from thence to the Mediterranean :
Where there were Ports for Ships.
His border foatt be unto Zidon.} He doth not mean the City of Zidon, for the Tribe oiZebulnn did not
extend themfelvcs beyond Mount Cartel, which is forty Miles at leaft from thence „• But the Country of Zidon^ i. e. Phoenicia, (as Bochart obferves in his Phaleg. L. IV. cap. 340 which the Zebulonites touched. For as the Phoenicians were called Syrians from Sur, i. e. Tyre : fo they were called Sidonians from Sidon, as Hefychius tells us- Who interprets Zt&woi, by *omiw?. Whence the LXX have Phoenicians for Sidonians^ Deut. III. 9^ and Ph&nicefotSidon, J/i.XXIII. 2.
It is very much to be admired, That Jacob (hould foretelfo many Years before hand, the Situation of his Pofterky in the Land of Canaan $ when their feveral Portions fell to them by Lot, and not by their own choice, $ojh. XIX. io5 1 1 . This could not have been, but by the Spirit of Prophecy. And it is remarkable alfo, that he mentions Zebulon before Iffachar, who was his elder Brother, (XXX. 1 1.) for no other reafon, that I can difcern, but becaufe Zebulons Lot was to come up before Jffachars, in the Divifion of the Land : His be-
K k k k 2 ing
A COMMENTARY.
Chapter ing the^W, and Iffachars the fart hjofh •'XIX. ioy 17. XLIX. By this they were taught that their Habitation in the
t«^VNJ Land of Canaan^ was the Gift of God 5 and did not come by chance: Their Fore-father having fo long be fore, predidfced the very Portion they fliould inherit.
Verfe 14. Ver. 14, JffavharhaftrongAfs^ As he compared J^ dah to a Lion^ becaufe of his Valour, fo he compares Iffkchar toan J/}, and zflrong Afs^ becaufe he fore- faw they would be- very patient and unwearied in ruftical Labours .• In which AfTes were principally employed in thofe Countries.
Couching down betmentwo* bwdtns*} There are vari ous Opinions about- the Signification of that word, which we tranflate Burdens. But none feem to me fo apt as that, to exprefs-the great ftrength of an Afs: Which lies down> with its Load hanging down on both fides. W-hetice a^ (he Afs is- called Athon fas Bochart obfervesj from the word Ethan ^ which fig* mfies Strength ': Becaufe no Beaft of that, bignefe can carry fuchhe^vy BurdenSr
Verfe 15. Ver. iy. And he., fa® that w(t was good.'}' Of, as fome will have it, their- refting. place 5 the Country that Tell to their (hare in the Land of Gantani no^part of which was more fruitful, than fome parts of Ijfit- char's Portion. Which way foeve* we;take it; he<:fe^ms to foretel they would chufe toi foliov/ Husbandry ra-^ therthan Merchandize fas ZMon did) :and Itfve Quiet and Peacey as Husbandmen do / Efpecially wh«n they live in a rich Soil; 'as this; Tribe did. For fo^ follows*
And ^ the Land thai H WAS fleafaat^* The famous Val ley' of Jewed was in this Tribe .• Whofe Border ex tended as far as Jordan 5 where there was a very pkafaht Country , Jt^toXlX, 18,, 22.
Bowed
po* GE N;E. si s.
is Should^ to b?ar^\ Taking any Pains to till Chapter Afe Land 3 and ta carry in. the Corn, with other XLIX. Fruits of the Earth. WVNJ
And became a Servant unto Tribute."] Submitting to the heavieft: Taxes^ratter than lofe their Repofe. For the Prefervation 'of which they were content to give any Money ^ that they niight redeem their Services in the Wars, or.otherways, by large Contributions.
Vet.: i6t Ban /halt judge fas- People ^Stt^ In the wdrd Verfe 16 Judge he alludes to tfibWanw of Dan : Which lignifies Jttdging) i.e. RulingJatid Governing, A great many fol low Onkel'of, who ^expounds it. thus ^ A Maufhall artfe out of the Tribe of Dan^ iriwhofe days the People flxtll be delivered, &c. ; And ; accordingly we read thzt.SaMpfon^ who was of this Tribe judged Jfrael twenty Years. So she- meankig.is, thfe Tribe of Dan (bail have the Honour t^jproduce a^Mfe, as welLas; other Tribes. But there is this Exception to Ais Interpretation ^ that all the Tribes -did nbt ^prodtice fudges : And zillfracl (whom ih& Judges governed) cannot be faid td be Davs Peo ple. But .by > his ^People (whom he is faid here to judge^) are properly meant thbfe of his Tribe. And therefore jf^r^'s meaning', isr?4lHt> though he. were therSon of a Concubine, yet his- Pdfterity. (hould be governed by a.; Hud X)f their/ owft, Tribe 5, as. the other/Tribes of Jfiaet were. Sb rby 'this he. took away all diftin6tion the Softs of hiS'Goncubineis f of whorn Da& ajaxLithofei. Which -^ier, ^had ;by Leah and .; w |x>O ^-fj^
{W The next
words ftiow* /what kind oS \ Serpsnt he ffhould be like, AV Adder w tAef-rthv fI8fcfftSwhri^j WQT&,Schepbiphon^ fome take for a Bafilisk^ ^ 'others for aiii-^ppiori ^Viper 5 others %Sft<iJtew>Adde 8tc, vThe Wf!ranflates it
A COMMENT ART
Chapter &/*/?*/, 'which is a kind of Viper: And Bochartys (in XLIX. his Hierozoicoa, P. II X. IIL c. 12.) hath -confirmed this Tranflation 5 by (bowing how well it agrees to the Cha- rafters which Authors give of it.- That it lies in Sand, and in the Ruts, which Cart-wheels 'make in the High way 5 and fo is ready to bite Travellers, or their Horfes. Which is the harder to be avoided., becaufe it is of a Sandy Colour 3 fo that of -TTO^O/ qrynSmz -wriim, naany tread upon it unawares .- And Niotxder fays, the Poifonof thefe Serpents is chiefly felt in the Thighs and Hams of thofe they bite. Which perfe&ly agrees with what Jacob faith in the following words.
That biteth the Horfe-heelt, fo that this Rider fi all fall backpardJ] The Horfe not being able to ftand, when the Venom works in his Legs, the Rider muft needs fell with him. All this fomemaketo be a defcription of Sampfon, who led no Armies again ft his Enemies, but overthrew them by Subtilty and Craft. But it rather belongs to all the Danites (as what was faid before to all the Zdwlvnites and Iffacbtrkms) who Jacob fore* faw would, oftHprtius, quam aperto Marte remgerere* Manage their Wars, rather by Cunning and Graft, than by open Hoftility, as Bochart fpeaks. An Example of which we liave in $ndg. XVIII. 27.
Verfe 18. Ver. 18. I have waited for thy Salvation , O LORD. I They that refer the foregoing words to Samtfon^ make an eafie Interpretation of this farfe. Which is, That Jacob forefeeing his great Atchivements for the Deli verance of his Children, prays that God would upon all Qccafions, vouchfafe to fend foch Deliverers unto them, from their Oppreflbrs. And the Chddee Paraphrafts make him look beyond fuch Deliverers unto Chrift, the great Saviour of the World. For thefe are the words of OnkeJof (In the Contfatenfian Edition^ for they are
not
upon GENESIS.
not to be found in Buxtorfsor Bowbergs) I do not wait Chapter pr the Salvation 0/Gideon, the Son of Joafb, which h XLIX. temporal Salvation, or of Sampfon the Son 0/Manoah, <s\r*** which is alfo a tranfitory Salvation 5 but I expeft the jRe- demotion of Chrift, the Son 0/David, 8tc. Jonathan and the Hiernfalem Targum fay the fame. And if we take afl this- Prophecy to belong to the whole Tribe, (as I be lieve it doth) that doth not exclude fuch a Senfe. But jtadfcb forefeeing the DiftrefTes wherein they would be, f ]f0jft. XIX. 47. Jttdg. 1-340 prays God to help them, and deliver them, and teach them to look up to him in all their Straits and Neceffities / And efpecially to wait for the Mejfiah* Yet after all, I think, thewords^ may have another meaning, which is this. Jacob per* ceiving his approaching death, and hisSpirits beginning, to fail him, in the middle of his Speech to his Sons, breaks out into this Exclamation, (which belongs to none of them) feying, I wait, O L 0 R D, fir a hap- $y Deliverance out of this Worlet^ into a better Place.
And thenhaving refted himfelf a while, to recover his Strength, he proceeded to blefs the reft of his Sons.
Ver. 19. 6ad, a Troty /ball overcome hitn^] Or, invade Verfe him. There is an Allufion in every Word to the Name of Gad : Whofe Inheritance being in a Frontier Country beyond Jordan^ was very much expofed to the Incurfions of the Ammonites^ an&Moabites, and the reft of thofe en* vious Neighbours, that dwelt in or near Arabia. And fome think the word Troop hath a great Propriety in it 5 fignifying not a juft Army, but a. Party, as wefpeak, a Band of Men, that, came oft-times, to rob and fpoil. But it appears by the Prophet JeremiaK, XLIX. r. that' the Ammonites fotnetime pofleffed themfelves of the Country of Gad, or, at leaft, of fom^ pare of it, and
ex-
624 A COMMEHTA^r
Chapter exercifed great Cruelties there, Amos<\. 13. ; Long -be* XLIX. fore which the Book of Judges informs us, how they w^V"**/ were oppreffed by this People for tfghteen Years toge ther, X. 8. and came with a great Army and encamped • inGilead (verfe i 7.) which was inr-the- Tribe of Gad.
But he JhaU overcome at tfolafi^ , This ^as' eminently fulfilled, wtieniJfep/tfA/f the Gihadite^ fought' w,ith the Children of Ammon^ m&fubdued them kejvre the Children oflfrael.Judg. XL 5 ?. :and'whe» thisr^rjbe (together with their Brethren of #€//£#* ja.Bd Mawffeti). .made War with the Hagarites^ and ppfiefled themfelvesof their Country v . Which they kept til! the Captivity Itfzattfethe Warwas pf God^ '1 Chron. V. 22. <Verfe 20. ,Ver.2-o/ Ont^f Mer.'] i. e,- Of his Country.
His Bread fozll be 'fat."] StKvll be -excel Jen t Pro vifionv of. all forts, for the Suftenanee of~Humane Life. For Bread comprehends not only Corn, but Wine and Oil, and all fortsof Victuals, XXI. 14,
And he Jhall yield royal daintiest] His Country (hall afford not only all things neceflary $ but the choiceft Fruits, , fit to be ferved up to the Table of Kings. For part of it lay about Carmd, ($oft). XIX. 16.) where diere-was a moft delicious Valleyo
21. Ver.si. Naphtaliisa.Hindletlwfe.'] As'hehadcom- pared Judah to a JJlon^ and Ijffachar to an Afs^ and Dan to a Serpent 5 fo he compares this Son to a Hind, which is not confined within Pales or Walls.- -But runs, at large, whether it pleafeth. Whereby is fignified that this Tribe would be great Lovers of Liberty.
Heglveth goodly (or ^leafing) words^\ Which denotes their Addrefs (as we now fpeatr) charming Language, and Affability, to win the Favour*of others : And, there by .preferye their Peace and Liberty. Mercer makes ; rfe to fignifie their fpeed and fwiftnefs in difpatch
upon GENESIS, 62$
of Bufinefs } and their fmoothnefs in the management of Chapter it / which might render them acceptable to all Men. XL1X. There are no Inftances indeed in Scripture to make out ^^^^^ this Character .- For Barak^ who was of this Tribe, was very flow in undertaking the Deliverance of Ifrael. Nor do we read they were more zealous Aflfertors of Liberty than others. But yet this will not warrant us to alter the punftation of the words (as Bochart doth P. I. Htcrozoic. L. III. cap. 18.) to make a quite different fence, which is this : Naphtali is a well-fpreadTree^ which puts out beautiful branches. For we do not find that they were either more beautiful, or numerous than other Tribes .- But we find, quite contrary, that Simeon^ Judah^ Iffachar, Zebulon, and Dan, were all more nu merous than they when Mofes took an account of them, N#/#6.I. 23,27,29,31,39. Befides,this Interpretati on makes thisaer/e,in a manner, the very fame with the next, concerning Jofeph. Therefore though the LXX. agree toBochart's Verfion, we had better ftick to our own } which makes a Sence clear and proper enough.
Ver. 21. Jofephif a fruitful Bough. ~\ Or, young Plant, yerfe 22. It is an Allufion to his Name 5 which imports growth arid increafe : And may well be underftood of the great Dignity to which he was rifen in Egypt. Unto which he was advanced in a Ihort time, after Pharaoh took no tice of him .• Like a Bough or young plant, which (hoots up apace 5 and thence compared in the next words to
A fruitful Bough by a. Well.] Or, Spring of Water: which in thofe dry Countries, made the Plants which were fet near them, to grow the fafter, and to a greater heighth, (Pfal.l.%.) and therefore figmfies his extra ordinary advancement.
Whofe Branches run over the Wall."] Cover the Wall that furrounds the Spring $ or, the Wall againft which
LI 11 the
6*6 A COMMENTARY.
Chapter the Tree is planted* Which feems to denote the two XLIX. TnbesofEphratwandManajfleh 5 which fprang from L/^VNj him, and were very flourifhing : As appears from Joft. XVII. 14,17. wherethey tell him, they were a great 'People, whom the LORD had blejfid hitherto. And JO/IM* there acknowledges as much, {faying, Thou art a great People^ and haft great Power : And therefore afligns them a larger Portion of Land, than they had at firft. The Hebrew word Banoth^ which we tranflate Boughs literally fignifying Daughters 5 fome think that as he fpeaksof theSWrof Jofeph in the foregoing part of thefarfe^ fo in this he fpeaks of his Daughters that they fhould go to the Wall, L e. faith Dr. Lightfoot, even to the Enemy : To repair the Hoftile Tribe of Benja min 5 which otherwifehad decayed for want of Wives* For fo the word Schur fignifies5 and is tranflated by us an Enemy : PfalmXClL n. And D. Chytrsus under- ftands hereby Daughters, the Of/ex of the Tribe of E- yhraim which (hould be well governed, though forne (hould fetthemfelvesagainft it.
Verfe 23. Ver. 23. The Archers^ In the Hebrew the words Baale chitfim fignifie Mafters in the Art of Shooting $ and therefore denotes thole here fpoken of; to be skilful in doing Mifchief: Such were his Brethren, who were full not only of Envy, but Hatred to him, XXXVIII. 4. 5, ii. Some refer it alfo to Potiphar's Wife 5 who wickedly flandered him. And others to the whole Tribe of Ephraim 5 who were incompafled with Ene- mies (who in general are meant by Archers*) when the Kingdom was fettled in them, over the ten Tribes.
Have forely grieved him.'] fiy their unkind, or rather churlith Behaviour towards him 3 for they could not ffeak peaceably ta hiw, (XXXIII. 4.) and, its like ly, they reviled him, ^and threw out bitter words a-
gainft
upon GENESIS. 627
gainft him : which were properly compared to Ar- Chapter rows, Pfaln* LXIV. 3. XLIX.
And {hot at him.'] Defigned to deftroy him 5 and v>*V-s-* did aftually throw him into fore Afflictions, XXXVIII.
22, 24. 28.
And hated him7\ Which arofe from their hatred to him.
Ver. 24. But his Bow abode in flrength."] He armed Verfe 24. himfelf with invincible Patience $ having nothing elfe tooppofe unto their malicious Contrivances. Itfeems to be a Metaphor from thofe Soldiers, who have Bows fo well made, that though often, never fo often bent, they neither break, nor grow weak. Such was the Temper of Jofepb's Mind.
And the Arms of his Hands were madejlrong.'} /. e. He was ftrengthned and fupported : Being like to a ftre- nuous Archer, the Mufcles and Sinews of whofe Arms are fo firm and compaft, that though his Hands draw his Bow continually, he is not weary.
By the Hands of the mighty God of Jacob.~\ Which Fortitude he had not from himfelf, but from the Al mighty 5 who had fupported J&cob in all his Adverfi- ties; and made all that Jofeph did (when he was fold andimprifoned) to profper in his Hands, XXXIX. 3. 22, X3« The Hebrew word Abir, which fignifies Potent or Powerful, and we tranflate mighty One^ is as much as the LO RD of Jacob. For from Powgr it comes to fignifie Poteflas^ Authority and Dominion alfo, as Bo- chart obferves.
From thence."] From the Divine Providence over him, before- mentioned.
Zr the Shepherd."] Jofeph became the Feeder and Nou- rilher of his Father, and of his Family, and of their Flocks and Herds / Preferving them all from being fa- milhed. L 1 1 1 2 And
A COMMENTARY.
, Chapter A*d the Stone of Jfrael^] Who upheld them all, and XLIX. kept them from being ruin'd. Or, Shepherd may figni- fie his being made Governor of all the Land of Egypt ^ andthe'Stone of Ifrael, the Support of his Family. For Shepherd is a Name of Dignity and Authority .• And Stone fignifies the Foundation (as Abarbinel here ex pounds it) upon which the whole Building regies .• As Jacob and all his Children did upon Jofeph for their Suftenance.
Some I find (particularly D. Chytr&us} refer the words from thence unto Jofeph : And then by the Shep herd and Stone of Ifrael underftaftd thofe excellent Men who by their Wifdom and valour fupported the Com mon- wealth of Ifrael. Such as Jojhua, the Captain of the Lord's Hoft, and Abdon, one of the Judges, who were of the Tribe of Ephraim: And Gideon, Jatr^ and Jeph- thaht who were of the Tribe of Manaffeh. But the fol lowing words incline rather to the former Sence. Verfe 25. Ver. 25-. Even by the God of thy Father. ~\Qr^from\\\m that bleffed me, and advanced thee, to be the Support of my Family. For it refers to all that went before.
Who foall help thee."] Having faid what God had al ready done for him $ he now foretels what he would do hereafter .• which relates to all his Pofterity 5 whom God would Prote& and Defend.
And by the Almighty^] Or, from him who is all-fufji- dent ; by whicb Name he revealed himfelf unto Abra ham, when he entred into Covenant with him and with his Seed, XVII. i.
And blefs thee wtih the blejfings ofhe&vtn above , bleffings of the deep that Ihth under7\ The meaning feems to be, that his Pofterity (hould be planted in a very fertile Soil .• watred from above with the Dew of Heaven and with Showers of Rain 5 and watered beneath Vith
Springs
upon GENES I S. 619
Springs and Rivers. As G. Voflius well interprets if, Chapter /,. l.de Idolol. cap. 77. XLIX.
Blejfings of the Breafts, and of the Womb.~\ A promife L/"V"\J' of a numerous and thriving Progeny. Or, of a vaft increafeof Cattle, fowell fed, that they fhould bring up their Young profperoufly, as well as bring them forth abundantly.
Ver. ^6. The bleffings of thy Father.} Either the Blef- Verfe 26, : fings beftowed by God upon Jacob 5 or, the Bleflings Jacob conferred on his Son Jofeph. Have prevailed.] Are greater.
Above the blejflngs of my Progenitors^] Than the Blef- fings, God beftowed upon Abraham and Ifaac : who had not fo many Sons, as God had bleffed him withal : Upon every one of whom alfo he conferred a fhare in the Inheritance of the Land of Canaan 5 whereas Ijhmad was excluded by Abraham, and Efaubj Ifaac. Or, the meaning may be, I have done more for thee, than they for me, i.e. thou (halt be happier than I. For Jacob led an unfettled Life , but Jofeph flourifhed in great Splendour in Egypt, to the end of his days.
Unto the utmoft bounds of the everlafting Hills.'] As, long as the World (hall laft. For perpetuity is exprefled in - Scripture by the durablenefs of Mountains, Ifai. LIVT. 10. , And here he feems to allude to the noble Mountains which fell to be the Portion of Jofeph's Children, viz. Bafoan and Mount Ephraim. But there are thofe who think, he hath not refpeft to the durablenefs of thefe - Mountains $ but to their fruitfulnefs ,• translating the Hebrew word Tavath not Bounds, but Defires, as the Pu!- gar Latin doth. And then theSenceis, 'Unto dl that Is moft defireable, in thofe ancient Hills $ which abounded with the moft excellent Fruit. And this Transition is grounded on Mofes his Bleffing^ which feems to be an
In-
630 *A COMMENTARY
Chapter Interpretation of Jacob's, Deut. XXXIII. 15. where he XLIX. bleffeshim^ for the chief things of the ancient Moun-
W*V~**-> tains^ and for the precious things ofthelaftingHills.
Of him that was feparate from his Brethren J] The word Naztr, which we tranflate feparate 5 fignifies one that is feparated from others,- vel Voto, vel Dignitate., fas Bo- chart obferves, P. II. Hierozotc. L. V. cap. 6.) either by a Vow, or by his Dignity^ And in the latter fence Jofeph is called- Nazir, becaufe of his eminent Dignity $ where by he was advanced above all his Brethren! : Being the Vke-Eloy of Egypt.
Verfe 2 7. ^er. 2 7* Benjamin fiall raven as a Wolf.'] This fets forth 'the warlike Temper of this Tribe .• A Wolf being both a ftrong and undaunted, and alfo a very rapacious Crea ture .• And thence in after times dedicated to Mars. From whence Wolves are called Martii and Martiales in Virgil and in Horace : And warlike Men are called by the Greeks AVKC$&V^ of a Wolf-like Temper. And the Hiftory juftifies this Character : The Tribe of Benfctnin alone maintaining a War with all the other Tribes 5 in which they overcame them in two Battles, though they had fixteen to one againftthem. And they killed then more Men of Ifrael, then they had in their whole Ar my. See Bochart, P. I. Hierozoic. L. Ml. cap. 10.
In the morning he fiall devour the prey, and at night he Jhall divide the fpoilJ] This doth not figniffe (as the fore-named Author obferves, in the fame place) the whole Day^ but the whole Night : One part of which js the Evening, and the other the Morning. And there fore the Particle and fignifies here as much as after : And this is the fence. The Tribe 0/BenjaminyZ7rf# be like a ra- vening Wolf ^ who foall have his prey to eat till morning light 5 after he hath divided it in the evening. For the divifion of the Prey, goes before the eating of it. This
Paflage
upon GENESIS,
Paffage is like that Jojh. VII. They flurnt them with Chapter fire, and ftoned them with ft on$s, i- e. burnt them, after XLIX. they had ftoned them ^ as we there rightly tranflate it. t/VNJ And this apply ed to Benjamin^ fignifies fuch fuccefs in their Wars, that they (hould come home loaded with the Spoils of their Enemies.
I omit the fancy of the Talmudifts^ who imagine Benjamin is compared to a Wolf*, becaufe the Altar of Burnt-offering, where the Morning and Evening Sa crifices were daily confumed, ftood in this Tribe. They that would know what they fay of this, may look into Codex Middoth^ cap. 3. § I. and L'Empe- reurs Annotations there.
Ver. 28. All thefe are the twelve Tribes oflfrael."] From Verfe 28. thefe fprang the Twelve Tribes of Ifrad : Or, thefe are the Bleffings of the Twelve Tribes: For thefe words plainly (how, that what he had faid, was not to be ful filled in their Perfons, but' in their Pofterity.
And blejjed them 3 every one according to his bleffingy 8cc-3 He did not give them a new Bleffing after all this.- But the meaning is, he blefled them ("in the man ner fore-goingj every one according to the Bleffing defigned by God for them. There feems indeed to be noBenediftion beOowed on the three firft Tribes 3 but that it is to be underftood only comparatively : For he provided for them all a Portion in the Land of Cannaan.
Ver. 29. / am to be gathered to myPeo$h7\ Muft Verfe 29, die flaortly.
Bury mewith my Fathers, Sec.] The reafon of this In junction is well explained by Mercery to whom. I re fer the Reader.
Ver. 30, In the Cave that is, Sec.} He defcribes the Verfe jo, place fo particularly, in this and the two next Verfe f $
becaufe
A C OMMENT ARr
Chapter becaufe he would not have them miftake it5 whsn they
XLIX. went to bury him : And that he might fhowliis Title
\& V^ to it, if the Inhabitants of Canaan (from which he had
been abfent fome Years) (hould difpute the laying his
.Body there.
<Verfe 33, Ver. 33. When Jacob had made an end of command ing his Son*r\ Concerning his Burial 5 which he brief- -ly ad<led to his Prophecy.
- He gathered tip his Feet into the Bed."] The Hebrews think that out of Reverence to God he fat up when he pronounced a Bleffing on his Sons .• His Feet hanging down upon the Ground. And indeed it is very pro bable he endeavoured to put himfelf into a Pofture of Authority at leaft : And therefore fat on his Bed-fide while he fpake. And now the Prophetick Spirit, which had raifed his Natural Spirits above their ordinary pitch, departing from him, they prefently funk fo much the lower $ and in a (hort time he expired.
Yielded up the Ghoft.~] The Hebrews will have it to exprefs an eafie death.
And was gathered to his People.9] To his Anceftors. From whence there are fome (particularly Theodorei) who infer the belief they had, in thofe days, of ano ther Life : In fociety with thofe who \vere departed out of this Life. For Brutes are never faid tobega- .thered to thofe of their Kind, that died before them.
CH A P.
Hpon GENESIS,
Chapter
• JLr
U^TVJ
CHAR L.
Ver. i.TO/epA fell on his Father s face. ~] He was traaf- Verfe i
J ported by his Affeftion, to the tendereftEx- preffions of it : Though he was a Man in great Dig nity and Authority.
And kijfid him^} It is likely he firft clofed his Eyes, as God promifed he (hould do, XLVI. 4. (and as- the Cuftom wasj and then parted from his Body with a Kifs. Of which'we find many Examples both among Heathen and Chriftian People : But they will not war rant us to fay that it was done by every Body 5 for all that 1 have obferved were fuch near Relations as Jo- feph was to Jacob. Thug Ovid reprefents tfiobe as kif- fing her (lain Sons 5 and Meleagers Sifters kiffing him when he lay dead : And Corippu* reprefents Jnflin the younger falling upon Ju$linian, and weeping, and kif fing him, juft as Jofeph did here :
friu* ingredient corpus venerabile vidit\ Jncubuit lachrymanS) atque ofcula frigida carpfit Divini patrfc.
Yet Dionyf. Areopag. cap. 7. Ecclef. Hierarch. defcribing the Funeral of Chriftians, faith, the Bifliop prayed o- ver the Corps when it was brought into the Church, and after Prayer, 'Ai/7o$ dcmi^ * X*W/W/*AQV, 6cc. both he hiwfelf kljjed the dead petfon, and after him all that were prefent did the fame : So it feems to have been their taking a folemn leave of the Dead, till they met in another World.
M m m m Ver»
* COMMENTARY.
Chapter Ver. 2. H& Servants the Pbyjiciani.~] Great Men an-
L. clently, among other Servants that waited on them, had
W"WJ a Phyfician. And Jofeph^ being Vice-Roy of Egypt,
Verfe 2. may wej[ be fuppofed to have kept more than one in
his Retinue.
To embalm bis Father^] Of which there was now the greater necefiity $ becaufe his Body was to be carried a great way to its Sepulchre. And both Herodotus and Diodorus Sicnlu* tell us, there were thofe in Egypt who profeffed the Art of Preferving Bodies from Corrupti on. Which, it is likely, was part of their Phyficians Em ployment : For the word Rofheim f which we tranflate Phyficians} conftantly fignifies in Scripture, fnch as cure or heal fick Bodies. But the LXX. here aptly enough tranllate it <£*lafiafoky (thofe that prepared and fitted Bodies for their Interment, by embalming them, as w^ tranflate itj) becaufe this now was their proper bufinefs, Whence it is that Pliny faith, Z,/£.XI. cap. 37. Mos es fEgyptitt cadaver a ajfirvare ntedicata, it is the Cuftom of the Egyptians to preferve dead Bodies ordered by the Phyficians Art. In which Art they excelled all other People .• Bodies of their Embalming remaining to this Day $ and are often brought into thefe Countries, un der the name of Mummy: Concerning which a late German Phyfician (Joach. Struppiw) hath written a peculiar Treatife.
And the Phyficians embalmed IJrael.'] The fore- named Authors (Herodotus and Diodorus Sicnlui) tell us the manner how it was performed \ and at what Rates : There being three feveral Prices, according to the Coft that Men would beftow upon their Friends. Upon the firft Rank of Funerals they fpent a.Talent of Silver : The fecond coft about Twenty pound : About the third i ;madc final 1 Expence, as b/^r/Af exprefly tells us,
Jw« I*
upon. GENESIS-
L. I. § 2. p. 5 7. E*te. S?;/. £f <?/?/?. And Herodotus in three Chapter diftinft Chapters, (hows how they ordered the Bodies L. of the better, middle, and meaner, fo as to preferve them 5 and yet with a greater or lefler Expence. ViA< Euterpe, cap. 86, 87, 88. If things were thus in Jofeph's Days, it is not to be thought that he would fpare any coft, but had his Father's Body embalmed in the no- bled manner.
Ver. 3. And forty days were fulfilled for fa#t.~] That is, Verfe for his Embalming : Which could not be finiftied in a little time : For Diodortft tells us of feveral Officers who were employed about it, one after another : And fays expredy, they fpent more than thirty Days in it. Which differs fomething from what is here related : But it is likely, in future times (when Dwdorus lived) they , might have attained to a greater Perfection in this Art; and made their Spices penetrate the whole Body in lefs than forty Days, but more than thirty. And Herodotus doth not really differ from this, when he faith, in the place before-named, Tothzc Trcrfoaifas, when they had done thefe things, (ftuft the Body with Myrrt, Cajfia, and other Spices, except Frankincenff) m&ty<Cu<n vfof$% xgj^auflts £/&t£$? !S£b/Am0v7a, they pickled it in Nitre, where it lay tasking fevexty Days. That is, thirty Days more 5 till the forty were mzdeupfeventy : Longer than which neither the Bodies of the better, nor the meaner fort were to be faked. But after that they were wrapped in fine Linnen and Gums 5 to make it ftick like glue : And fo they delivered the Body to the Kindred of the deceafed intire (as Diodoru* writes, p. 58.) in all its Fea tures, the very Hairs of the Eye-lids being preferved.
There have been fome fo morofe, as to cenfure Jofeph for following the perverfe Cuftoms, as they call them,of the Egyptians : Who fpent too much upon dead Bodies-.,
M m m m ^ feut
A COMMENTARY
Chapter But they fhould have considered how much more L. perverfe it is, not to follow the decent Cuftoms of the Country where we live: And that dead Bodies, efpe- cially of the Faithful, are not to be neglefred, but trea ted (as St. Anjtin fpeaks, L. l.deGv.Del, cap. 13 J as the Organs of the Holy Ghoft: Which the Ancients, he thinks, did well to carry to their Funerals, officiosb PreMe.
And the Egyptians mourned for him f evenly dayi7\ L e. All that time they were preparing his Body, in the man ner before related, for its Funeral : Which Herodotus fays, was juft feventy Days. He alfo and Dhdorw* de- fcribe their manner of Mourning $ and fay that they daubed their Heads with Mud (as the Jews fprinkled Athes on their Heads) and went about lamenting till the Corps was buried : Abftaining from Bathing, and from Wine, and from all delicate Food, or fine Clothes. Which latter part of their Mourning, it's likely, might be in ufe in Jofeph's time 3 though not the former, of befmearing their Heads and Faces with Mud. But it is Sufficient to fay that they appeared in the Habit of Mourners, (all the time the Body was Embalming^ which was very various in different times and places: And continued in fome Countries a great many Days longer than in others. This time of feventy Days may feem to fome too long : but Jacobus Capellus propofes this to their Consideration (Hijl. Exot, & bacra. ad- A. M. 1310.) thatjfo/epA being next to their King, theE- gyptians honoured his Father with a Royal Funeral,and a Mourning at feventy days 5 which he thinks is around Number for Seventy two .• For Diodoms fays fo many were the Days of Mourning for their King. c It feem- c ing reafonable to them, that as they gave the Fifth 6 part of thtlncreafe of their Land, to their King when
* he
upon GENESIS. 637
6 he was alive ^ fo they (hould beftow the fifth part of Chapter
c the Year upon him, in Mourning for him when he L-
6 was dead .• which was juft Seventy two, not reckon- L^WJ
c ing the five odd Days, which did not come into their
* account. As to thole who objeft, that this was im-
c moderate Mourning, having more of Ambition than
« Piety in it ^ his Anfwer is, That (granting it to be
' true) Jofeph did not bring in this Cuftom -., and had
c peculiar reafon to follow what he found in ufe there:
c That they might be the more condemned who vex-
c ed the innocent Pofterity y on whofe Parent they
c had beftowed Royal Honours. Befides, there is
4 fomething due to Lings and great Men, to diftin-
c guifti them from the Dregs of the People.
Ver. 4, And when the Days of Mourning were paft.~] Verfe 4 That is, the feventy Days before-named.
Jofephfyake unto the Hoafe of 'Pharaoh."] To the great Officers of the Court, unto whom, it is moft probable, he fpake by a Meflenger : Strift Mourners (fuch as Jo- fep h was) ufingto keep clofe in their Chambers, and not to appear in Publick, or make Vifits. At leaft it was againft the Cuftom to appear in the Court f if the fame ufage was there in thefe Days, which was in the Perfian Court in Mordecai's time 5 and fuch rational Cuftoms one cannot but think were very ancientj in the Habit of a Mourner, Efth. IV. i, 2. For which reafon he did not go himfelf to make the following Requeft to Pharaoh : They who were in the (late of Mourning being lookt upon as defiled.
Ver. 5. My Father made me fwear, &c,] See XLVII. Verfe 5 29, 30. where Jacob engaged him by an Oath to carry his Body into Canaan^ to be buried there: That he might keep up fome Claim to that Country, by Ver- t»e of the Sepulchre, which his Grand-father had
there.
* COMMENTARY
Chapter there purchafed 3 and where his Father Ifaac lay bu- L. ried.
L/"VSJ Which I have digged for nte7\ In the Cave that A* brahant had bought, Gen. XXIII. ("which was a large place) Jacob^ itfeems, had taken care to have a Grave digged for himfelf. From which and fuch like Ex amples St. Auftin argues (in the place quoted above, on verfe 3.) the Bodies of the dead, efpecially of good Men, are to be treated with fuch a Regard, as they themfelves thought was due to them.
Verfe 6. Ver. 6. According as he made thee faear.~\ The Re- figion of an Oath, it appears from hence, wasinthofe Days fo Sacred, that the King who had not fworn himfelf, would not have another Man violate it, for his fake .• Who might have pretended he could not fpare Jofeph fo long from his bufinefs, being his Chief Minifter in the Land of Egypt. Such Heathen Kings as thefe will rife up in Judgment againft thofe Chriftian Princes, who make a Jeft of their Oaths.
Verfe 7. Ver. 7. All the Servants of Pharaoh.'] This feems to be explained by the next words, the Elders of his Houfe; the Principal Officers of Court. For the word all muft be underftood with fome limitation, as ufually in Scripture : Some being left behind, no doubt, to wait upon the King. Thus in Mattk.lll 5. alljnd<ea is faid to have gone out to Johns Baptifm, /. e. a great many.
The Elders of hi* Houfe, &c.] I have obferved before on XXIV. 2. that Elder is a Name of Dignity : As the Hhrufahm Targum there expounds it inftead of his Ser vant the Elder of his Honfe, having thefe words, JFfe Principal Servanty who wa* fet over all the reft, ay their Governor. And it appears by this place that this was ufed not only by the Hebrew*, but by the ftgfptians.
long
upen GENESIS.
Song before Mofes his time, as a Title of Honour, and Chapter
Dignity : As it hath fince been by all Nations whatfo-
ever. See Mr. Selden^ L. I. de Synedr.cap. 14. L/V%J
AH the Elders of the Land of Egypt 7\ The Principal Perfons in Authority and Dignity, throughout the whole Country, as well as thofeof the Court : Such as %vvere Governors of Provinces, and Cities, and Coun- fellors, &c. Which Honour they did to Jacob^ in all likelihood, by Pharaoh's Command : For how well fo- ever they might ftand affefted to Jofeph, they could not of their own accord defert their Charge.
Ver.8. All the Eoufe ofjofeph, &c.] Their whole Verfe 8. Family 5 except fuch as were neceflary to look after their little Ones and their Flocks, &c. This verfe alfo Ihaws, the word all muft have a limited Sence.
Ver. 9. And there went up with him both Chariots and Verfe 9* Harfemen^ Asa guard to him $ which, it is likely, al ways attended him, as Vice- Roy of the Kingdom : But now might be neceffary for his Safety, as he pafled through the Defarts^ or, in cafe he (hould meet with any oppofition, when he came to challenge his Bury ing Place. Though it was probable that Matter was fettled before-hand with the Canaanites^ who were in no Condition to oppofe the Kingdom of Egypt: Which was grown very Rich, and they very Poor by the late Famine.
And it was a very great company^} That he might ap pear in greater State, at fuch a Solemnity.
Ver. 10. And they came to the threfhtng floor of AtaJ^ Verfe 1 Some take At ad for a Place, and tranflate the word be fore it in the fame Sence, as if he had faid they came to Goren-Atad. But Forfteru* in his Lexicon thinks At ad was the proper Name of a Man, who was eminent in that Country for his Threfhing- floor. Though there
are
A COMMENTARY
Chapter are thofe who take it for a Brawlle, with which that L. Floor was fenced in : For fo the word fignifies, Judg. IX. 14. And the Africans called a Bramble Atadtm (as Bochart obferves, L. II. Canaan, cap. 15-.) which is the Plural Number of Atad. But the Talvtudifls are fo fan ciful, that, not fatisfied with fuch reafons, they fay Jacob's Coffin was here furrounded with Garlands (Crowns they call themj juft like a Threfhing-floor, which is hedged about with Thorns. For the Tra dition, they fay is, that the Sons of Efau, Ifoviael, and Keturah all met here 5 and feeing Jofep/Ss Crown hanging over the Coffin, they all pull'd off theirs, and hanged them up in the fame manner. So the Ex cerpt. Geward in Sota, cap. I. §. 45*
Beyond Jordan?] Some tranflate it, On this fide Jor dan. Both are true, with refpeft to feveral Places : For it was on this fide Jordan with refpeft to thofe in Ca naan : But beyond Jordan with refpedt to thofe who came unto Canaan, through the Defarts^ asjofeph did now, and the Ifraetites afterward. Why Jofeph pafled this way, which was very much about 3 and not the direft Road, which was a great deal fhorter, is hard to tell. Perhaps it was a better way for Chariots : For it is not probable they feared any oppofition from the Philiftines, or Edomitts 5 with whom the Matter might have been concerted (as we now fpeak) before hand, if they had apprehended their paflage would meet with any hindrance from them.
There they mourned, &c.] Wherein this great and fore Lamentation confined, we are not able to give a certain account : But, in after times, they fat with their Faces covered 5 having Afhes fprinkled on their Heads 3 crying out with a mournful Voice , fometimes wring ing, fometimes clapping their Hands together 5 fmiting
their
upon G E>N E S I S.
their Breads, or their Thighs 5 .with many other Ex- Chapter preffions of Grief and Sorrow. But why they made L. this Lamentation at the Floor of Atad, rather than at the Grave, is harder to refolve. Perhaps it was a more convenient place to ftay in feven Days, than that where he was to be buried : And the Mourning being made in the Country where the Body was laid, was the fame as if it had been made at the Grave. Or, it was the Falhion, perhaps, at the very entrance of the Country, where they carried a Corps to be bu ried, to fall into a Lamentation : And they made the fame again, when they came to the Place where it was interred .• Though* there is nothing of that here men tioned.
Seven Days.*] That that was the time of Publick Mourning among Jews in fucceeding Ages, it appears from many Inftances : Particularly \ Sam. XXXI. 13. Eccluf. XXII. 13. Judith XVI. 29. And juft fo long their Joy lafted at folemn Weddings 5 as we read in XXIX. of this Book, verfe 27.
Ver. 1 1 . This is a grievous mourning to the Egypt i- Verfe 1 1 . ans.~] By this it appears this was a folemn Publick Mourning, in which the Egyptians themfelves joyned, though not related to him. And therefore, it's like ly, confided in fuch Wailings, and outward Expreffi- ons of Sorrow, as were made even by thofe who had no inward Grief. For in following times there were a fort of Men called ownSD, Lawenters, (from the Hebrew word Saphad ufed in the foregoing Verfe) who had a Publick Office, as our Bearers have, to at tend upon Funerals and make doleful Lamentations. See Buxtorf. Lex Talmud./. 1724.
dbel-MitzraiM.~] This (hows the Lamentation was exceeding great, that it chang'd the very Name of
N n n n the
A COMMENT ART
Chapter the Place where it was made: Or, at leaft, gave a
L. Name to it.
U/'VNJ Ver. 1 4. And Jofeph returned into Egypt , Sec.] They
Verfe 14. had a profperous Journey: And there is no ground
for what fome Jews bid us here note; that not one
Man was loft, though they had a Battle with the Edo-
ntites in their way to Canaan.
Verfe 15. Ver. 15 Jofeph will peradventure hate #y>Scc/] Their Guilt was fo great, that it continued to make them fufpicious.
Verfe 16. Ver. 16. And they fent Mejjengers unto Jofeph. J The fame Guilt made them fearful to go themfelves: But they firft tried how he would anf wer a Meffenger they, lent to him (for it doth not appear there was more than one,) in all their Names ^ with a Letter, per haps, confirming what he delivered by word of Mouth. Some think this Meffage was fent before they went to bury their Father:, while the time of Mourning lafted : When JofepKs Heart, they thought, was tender, and his Father frefh in memory. But this is not a fufficient reafon, to make us think, it was not done in order of time, as it is here placed in the Story. Thy Faiher commanded before he died."] This was a feigned Story „• For we do not find that Jofeph had ac quainted his Father with their ufageofhim. Or, if he did, it would have been more proper to have left this Charge with Jofepb^ than with them 5 or, rather, he knew him fo well, that he needed not to com mand him to take no Revenge.
I7» ^er> 17* F°rS^e *he trefpafs.*] So we well tranflate the Hebrew Phrafe, Take way the Trefpafs : Which is ufed elfewhere in this Book, XVIII. 24, 26. and in Hofea^ XIV. 2. And by forgive is meant, Remitte p$- nam qiiam ab lilts pojfis jure exigere propter peccatum m
1e
upon GENES! S. £43
te commiffum: As Bochart well explains this PafTage, Chapter P. I. Hierozoic. Lib. IF. cap. 41. Rem'it the Puniflment^ L. which thou maijljuflly exaff of them, for the Offence they WVNJ committed againft thee.
Of the Servants of the God of thy Father.] They urge befides the Command of their Father, and the Rela tion they had to him as his Brethren $ that they were of the fame Religion with him.- Which makes the greateft conjunftion of Minds and Affeftions, if it be rightly underftood and praftifed. For how can the Worrfiippers of the fame God, hate one another? There are thofe who think they call themfelves the Servants of God, not merely upon the account of their worftiip- ping the True God $ but becaufe they were Teachers alfo of the True Religion : For this made them, above other Israelites, to be the Servants of God. So Jac. Alting. L. III. Schilo, cap. 14.
And Jofeph wept when they fpake unto him^\ By their Meffenger. Which (hows he was fo far from being An gry at them 5 that he pitied them, and had a tender Affeftion to them.
Ver. 1 8. And his Brethren alfo went, &c] The Mef- Verfe 18, fenger acquainting them, how he flood affefted to them, and, it's likely, carrying back a kind Meflage from him, and an Invitation to come to him ^ they went to his Houfe, and humbled themfelves at his Feet. In which Jofeph's Dream was ftill further fulfilled.
We are thy Servants^] They had not yet overcome their Fear (fo clofe did their Guilt ftick to their Con- fciences) and therefore call themfelves his Servants $ not his Brethren. They had fold him to be a Servant 5 and now they offer themfelves to be fo to him.
N A n n * Ver,
^44 A COMMENTARY
Chapter Ver. 1 9. For am I in the place of God .<?] His Father L. Jacob had faid the fame to Rachel, XXX. 2. to per-
Iw^VNJ fuade her to fubmit to Divine Providence: Which
Verfe i9-feems to be the fcope of the words here. bhaK I pre-
futne to oppofe my f elf to what is come to pafs : As if I
were God, and not He, who hath ordered things fo much
for our Good ? This appears to be the Senfe by what
follows: And may^ be thus exprefled ^ Shall Ipunifo
you for that (for that may be meant by being in the
place of God, to whom Vengeance belongs) which God
hath turned fo much to all our Advantage? Though the
words may be fimply rendred, I am in the place of God^
without an Interrogation. As much as to fay, I have
nourifoed and fujlaincd you all this while, and can you
thinly I will now do you hurt ?•
Verfe 20. Ver. zo. But at for you, ye thought evilagainft /^e,&c.J It is true indeed, ye thought todeftroy me: But God defigned by that very evil Contrivance of yours, to bring about the greateft Good both to you and me.
To Iring to pafs, as it is this Day, Scc.^ To accom- plifti what you now fee, the Prefervation of our whole Family : Which he underftands by much Peaple^ in the next words, who by this means werefaved from pe- rifliing. Herein appears the wonderful Wifdom of God's Over-ruling Providence: Which, contrary to the Nature of Sin, and the Will of Sinners, turns the Evil they do into Good : And dire&s it to the mo ft excellent Ends.
Verfe zi. Ver. 21. Now therefore fear yon nol7\ He again in- courages their Hope 5 by repeating what he had faid, verfe 19.
I will nourift you, &c.] I will ftill take care of you all, as I have done hitherto.
npon G E N E S I S.
*, And he comforted them, Sec.] With fuch Difcourfe asChapter this, he raifed up their drooping Spirits : For he fpake L. moft kindly to them. c/*WJ
Ver. 22. And Jofephdxelt in Egypt, &Q^} He conti- yerfe 22* nued mEgypt^ and fo did his Brethren, to their dying Day. And, no doubt, made his Word good to them: Being one of the greateft Examples of Heroick Ver- cue: To which none can arrive, unlefs they be meek and placable as he was. For Nihil eft magnum, quod non idem/it placidumi) as Seneca truly faid.
Jofeph lived an hundred and ten Tears.'] Not fo long as his Fore- fathers $ for he was the Son of his Father's old Age, and lived a great part of his time full of Thought and Care : Having the Weight of a great Kingdom's Affairs lying on him. For eighty of thefe Years he fpent in Egypt, f being but thirty Years old when he firft ftood before Pharaoh*) in great Profperi- ty indeed 5 but in no lefs Solicitude to difchargc fa great a Truft as was committed to him.
Ver. 23. Ephrainis Children of the third Generation.^ Verfe 25. i. e. His great Grand-Children. In which Jacob's Predi- ftion began to be fulfilled, XLVIII.i9,20.XLIX.i5.We find indeed that after Jofepfrs death (I fuppofe) E^hralm had fome of his Children (lain, i Chron. WI.2 i>&c. But God fo blefled thofe who remained, that when Mofes took an account of them after their coming out of £- gypt 5 they were increafed to above eight thoafand, more than {he Children of ManaJJeh,/NHmb. I. 33, 35,
Brought up upon Jofeptis Knees."] He lived to em brace and dandle them fas we now fpeak) in which old Men and Women much delight. Machir had on ly Gilead by his firft Wife 5 but he had more Chil dren by a fecond, as we read i Chron. VII. 16. All which were born before Jofeph died 3 and, perhaps,
by,
X COMMENTARY
Chapter by Children he means the Children of his Grand-Chil- L. dren.
WV\J Jofeph's great Authority, and his Children's great Increafe, over-awed his Brethren fo that they never durft difpute their Father's Will : In which he gave a double Portion unto them. Which one would guefs by their Temper, was as difpleafing to them, as their Father's Kindnefs to Jofeph anciently had been: But they durft not oppofe it$ nor do we find they quar relled at it.
'Verfe -24. Ver. 24. God will fitrely vifit jou^ He explains his meaning by what follows ^ and bring yon out of this Land, Sec. For the word vi/it is ufed indifferent ly either for beftowing good things, or infiifting evil. Thus he died in the fame Faith with his An- ceftors : That God would make good his Promifes to them.
Verfe 25. Ver. 2 5. And Jofeph to^ an Oath^ As his Father had done of him, XLVII. 30, 31.
Of the Children of IfraelJ] Not only of his Brethren mentioned before, verfe 24. but of all their Fami ly, who were to fucceed them ^ and might live (when his Brethren were dead) to carry his Body out of Egypt ^ which hedefired, for the fame realbn his Father had done.
Carry up my Bones front hence.~\ He did not defire to be carried immediately after his Death, as his Father was when his Embalming was finiftied 5 but that they . (hould carry him when they themfelves returned to Canaan : By which time he knew his Flelh would be quite dried up, and nothing left but Bones. The rea- fon why he did not defire to be carried away prefent- ly, was, that his Body remaining with them, they might look upon it as a Pledge and Security of the
Promife
upon GENE SIS. 647
PromifeGod had made, of giving them the Poffefli- Chapter on of that Land 5 wherein he defired to be buried, or not buried at all. But he had repeated it twice, L/*V-N that God would furdy vifit them, verfe 24, 25.) and was fo confident of it, that he defired to be kept un- buried, till the time of that Vifitation, Perhaps alfo he confidered that they could not be of fuch Authori ty, as.hehad been $ to prevail to have his Body carried to Canaan, as his Father's was: And therefore defired them not to think of laying him there 5 till that time came, when theyvfhould make a folemn and univerfaj departure thither.
We read nothing what became of the, reft of his Brethren, but Jofephw faith they were all carried in to the Land of Canaan to be buried : For they had the fame defire, in all likelihood, and gave the fame charge concerning their Bodies,- to keep Pofterity in hope, that God would certainly bring them thither. Which the words of St. Stephen alfo may feem to import : when he faith Afls VII. 15, 16. Jacob died, and our Fathers, and wire carried over into Sichem, 8cc. though we read of none of their Fathers befide Jofeph, yet it feems the Tradition was, that they were all carried thither, after his Example. And fo St. Hierom faith, That he faw at Sichcm the Sepulchres of the. XII, Pa triarchs. Epitaph. Paul*, cap. 6>
Vzr*i6.SojoJcphdjed7\ After he had taken the Verfe ,2 fore-named Oath of them, and a flared them again of the Truth of God's Promife: Which were the laft things he did.
Some, perhaps, may think it ftrange that fo wife and great a Man as Jofeph, whofe dying words, one cannot but think, would have left a deep Impreffion upon his Brethren, fhould not give them abundance of good
Counftl :-..:
A COMMENT A KT Chapter Gannfel at his departure from this World : And Jay fome other Charge upon them, befides this of carry- t/V\J-iag up his Bones to the Land of Canaan. But Mofes did not intend to write all that excellent Men faid and did : And we may very well think, when he decla red his ftedfaft Faith in the Promife made to Abraham (which the Apoftle takes notice of, Hebr. XI.22.J andaffured them God would perform it 5 he enlarged himfelf on that Subjeft, in more words than are here related.
•feeing an hundred and ten Tears old^\ This was faid before, verfe 21. but here repeated to fignifie he did not live a Year beyond it 5 and fo died juft fifty four Years after his Father $ and an hundred forty four Years before their departure out of Egypt.
And they embalmed him."} His Brethren took the fame care of his Body, that he had done of his Father's, v 2. See there. For that Jofeph died before any of his Bre thren, the Jews gather from Exod. 1. 6. where it's faid, Jofeph Jied^ and all his Brethren. He firft, and they fol lowed him. But not content with this, fome of them adventure to tell us how many Years every one of them lived 5 nay, the very Month and Day of their Birth, as may be feen in R. Bechai. Reuben, for in- ftance, they fay was born the XIV. Day of Ctfleu, and died when he was CXXV. Years old, &c.
And he was- put in a Coffin in Egypt."] To be pre- ferved in that Cheft or Ark, (as the Hebrew word is commonly tranflated) till they themfelves went from thence. Herodotus in the Book above-named (Euterpe tap. 86, 90. } fpeaks of the Qma^ Chefts wherein dead Bodies were inclofecj, after their Embalming : Which they laid G^ oi/eJijuutn $vii&ty-> in the Houfe or Cell, where thefe Chefts were repofited, reared againft the Wall of
it.
upon GENESIS.
lit. Whether Jofeph's Coffin was put into fuch a eom- Chapter frion Repofitory, or, rather, preferved in a place by it L. felf, we cannot determine. But the Chaldee hath an odd conceit (as G. Schikjtard obferves inhisjf*/ Regiuw^ p. '159.) that it was kept in the River Nile. Which arofe, perhaps, from a miftake of the Relation which that Author had met withal, of the Place where they laid their Bodies.- Which were let down very deep H^e///, or Vaults fomz call them (Tome of which were not far from the River Nile) and fo put into a Cave, which was at the bottom of thofe Wdls. For fo F. T^a^Jleb and others, who have gone to fearch for Mnmmhs^ defcribe the Places jwhere they lye .• And tell us they found fome of the Coffins made of Wood (not putre fied to this PayJ and others of Clothes parted toge ther, forty times double 5 which were as ftrong as Wood, and not at all rotten.
The Reader cannot but obferve, That from the time of Jofepfcs advancement to the Government, till the tjmeofhis Death, /. e. for eighty Years, there is no rtiention of the Death of any King in Egypt. For it was not Iftafes his Intention to write the Hiftory of that Kingdom, or to give us the Series of their Kings .- But only to acquaint us with the Series of the Patri archs, and give fome account of them, from the Crea tion to his own time. All other things mutt be learnt out of other Authors. And, according to Eufebius, whom Jac. Capeltus follows, the firft King of the XVIIIth Djnafty ("when the Egyptian Hiftory he makes account ceafed to be fabulous^ was AMOS : Whofe Dream Jo- feph interpreted, as was by him preferred. After he had reigned XXV Years he left the Kingdom to Che- bros 5 who reigned XIII Years. Next to whom was (as much as to fay, a Servant ofNoph, i. e. O o o o Mew-
A COMMENTS Rr, Sec.
Chapter Memphis} who reigned XXI Years : And then left the Kingdom to Mephres, who held it XII Years. To whom JofephuS) out ofManetho, fubftitutes Amerfis, and fays he reigned XII Years. And then fucceeded Me- fhramntho/iS) who reigned XXVI Years .• In the begin ning of whofe time Jofeph died.
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5eafons>
Health, Difeafe?. Of their Animals, Vegetables, Minerals, Jewels* .Ot their Houfmg, Cloathing, Miiimfaftures, Trades, Commodities. And of the Coins, Weights and Meafures uied in the principal places of Trade in thofe Parts. By John fryer, M. D. Cantabridg, and Fellow of the Royal Society. Folio. i<5p3. 3°
The Lite of Henry Chkhele> Afchbifhop of Canterbury ^ ' in which there is par ticular Relation of many Remarkable Paffages in the Reigns of Henry V. and VI. Kings of England : Written in Latin by Dr. Arthur Ducl^ L. L.D. Chan cellor of the Diocefi of London, and > Advocate of the Ceurt of -Honour -, Now madefy///?;, and a. Table of Contents annexed. 8^5, 1699.
Short Memorials of Thomas Lord Fairfax, Written by himfelf. Publifhed l5co.
.The Lire of John Whitgift Archbifoop of Canterbury, in the times of queen £- litybeth and King James I. Written by Sir Geo. Paul, Comptroler of his Grace's Houfliold. To which is annexed a Treatife Entituled, Confpiracy for pretend ed Reformation. Written in the Year 1591. By Richard Cofm. L. L. D. Dean - of the Arches, and Official Principal to Bifliop Whitgift. Qvo. 1699.
The Work* of Jofephus, theLeained Jew, Containing, i. The Life of Jofephus, by himfelf. 2. The Jewifl) Antiquities, in Twenty Books. 3. The Wars .-.•wUh the Romans, in feven Books. 4. His Book againft Apion, in de fence of the Antiquities of the Jews, in two Parts. 5. The Martyrdom of theMaccabes: As alfo, 6. Philo* Embaffy from the Jews of Alexandria to Cains Caligula. Compared with the Original Greek, and ilhiftrated'with a new Mapof the Holy Land, and divers other Sculptures. Folio. 1701.
The Third Part of Mr. Rufh worth's Hiftorical Collections; Containing the Principal Matters which happened from the meeting of the Parliament tfovemb. 3. 1640. to the end of the Year 1644. Wherein is a particular ac count of the Rife and Progrefs of the Civil War to that Period, With Alpha- beticalTables. In Two Vol. Fol.
The Fourth and kft Part of Mr. Ruflrt&ttfi Hiftorical CoIIeftions, Contain ing the principal -Matters which happen'd from the beginning of the Year 1 64 5. f where the third Part ended) to the Death of King Charles the Firfr, Jan* 30 1648. In two Vol. Fol. 1701.
The Trial of Thomas Earl of Stafford, upon an Impeachment of High .Treafon by the Commons in Parliament, in the Names of themfelves and all the Commons of England, 1641. (hewing the Form of Parliamentary Proceed ings in at* Impeachment of Treafon. Publifhed by John Rufiworth Efq; The Second Edition. Folio. 1700.
The Memoires of the Reign of King Charles I. With a Continuation to the Reftauratien of King Charles II. By Sir Phillip Warwick* Knight. -8t>0. 1701.
An Expofition of the 39 Articles of the Church of England, ByDr'ltofri?* Bi/hop of Sarum.foL 2d Edition. 1 702.
A Treatife concerning theCaufes of -the prefent Corruption of Chriftians, and the Remedies thereof. 2d Edition. 1702.
Directions for leading a Devout Life. Written by a Lady tawro. 1702.
Elifia Coles Englifh- Latin, and Latin-Engtifi D^ionary. The Fifth Edi tion Enlarged. 1703.
Wilhelmi Schk^ard' Horologmm Ebr&um Edith ultim*. Prioritus omnibus dc- twatiorfo pleniort Linear urn Grxcx Latin* me -non Anglican* cttm Habrmc*,
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