תמונות בעמוד
PDF
ePub

Jacob commanded to leave Laban.

CHAP. XXXI.

He consults with his wives.

A. M. 2265. Laban, and, behold, it was not changed my wages ten times; but A. M. 2265. c toward him as before. God suffered him not to hurt me.

B. C. 1739.

[blocks in formation]

B. C. 1739.

8 If he said thus, m The speckled shall be thy wages; then all the cattle bare speckled and if he said thus, The ring-streaked shall be

4 And Jacob sent and called Rachel and thy hire; then bare all the cattle ring-streaked. Leah to the field unto his flock,

5 And said unto them, I see your father's countenance, that it is not toward me as before; but the God of my father hath been with me.

9 Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me.

10 And it came to pass at the time that the cattle conceived, that I lifted up mine eyes, and saw in a dream, and, behold, the rams

6 And ye know that with all my power I which leaped upon the cattle were ring-streaked,

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

ceived from God, determined him to return to his own held from him all the party-coloured lambs which had country.

Hath he gotten all this glory.] All these riches, this wealth, or property. The original word 1 signifies both to be rich and to be heavy; and perhaps for this simple reason, that riches ever bring with them heavy weight and burden of cares and antieties.

Verse 3. And the Lord said unto Jacob, Returnand I will be with thee.] I will take the same care of thee in thy return, as I took of thee on thy way to this place. The Targum reads, My WORD shall be for thy help, see chap. xv. 1. A promise of this kind was essentially necessary for the encouragement of Jacob, especially at this time; and no doubt it was a powerful means of support to him through the whole journey; and it was particularly so when he heard that bis brother was coming to meet him, with four hundred men in his retinue, chap. xxxii. 6. At that time he went and pleaded the very words of this promise with God, chap. xxxii. 9.

Verse 4. Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah] He had probably been at some considerable distance with the flocks; and for the greater secrecy, he rather sends for them to the field, to consult them on this most momentous affair, than visit them in their tents, where probably some of the family of Laban might overhear their conversation, though Laban himself was at the time three days' journey off. It is possible that Jacob shore his sheep at the same time; and that he sent for his wives and household furniture to erect tents on the spot, that they might partake of the festivities usual on such occasions. Thus they might all depart without being suspected.

a

Verse 7. Changed my wages ten times] There is strange diversity among the ancient versions, and ancient and modern interpreters, on the meaning of these words. The Hebrew is 'n wy asereth monim, which Aquila translates Seka apopovs, ten numbers; Symmachus, dekakis apioup, ten times in number; the Septuagint deka auvov, ten lambs, with which Origen appears to agree. St. Augustine thinks that by ten lambs five years' wages is meant that Laban had with

been brought forth for five years, and because the ewes brought forth lambs twice in the year, bis gravida pecudes, therefore the number ten is used, Jacob having been defrauded of his part of the produce of ten births. It is supposed that the Septuagint use lambs for years. as Virgil does aristas,

En unquam patrios longo post tempore fines,
Pauperis et tuguri congestum cespite culmen,
Post aliquot mea regna videns mirabor aristas?
VIRG. Ec. i., ver. 68.

Thus inadequately translated by DRYDEN :O must the wretched exiles ever mourn; Nor, after length of rolling years, return? Are we condemn'd by Fate's unjust decree, No more our harvests and our homes to see? Or shall we mount again the rural throng, And rule the country, kingdoms once our own? Here aristas, which signifies ears of corn, is put for harvest, harvest for autumn, and autumn for years. After all, it is most natural to suppose that Jacob uses the word ten times for an indefinite number, which we might safely translate frequently; and that it means an indefinite number in other parts of the sacred writings, is evident from Lev. xxvi. 26: TEN women shall bake your bread in one oven. Eccles. vii. 19: Wisdom strengtheneth the wise more than TEN mighty men the city. Num. xiv. 22: Because all these men have tempted me now these TEN times. Job xix. 3: These TEN times have ye reproached me. Zech. viii. 23: In those days-TEN men shall take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew. Rev. ii. 10: Ye shall have tribulation TEN days.

Verse 11. The angel of God spake unto me in a dream] It is strange that we had not heard of this dream before; and yet it seems to have taken place before the cattle brought forth, immediately after the bargain between him and Laban. If we follow the Samaritan the difficulty is at once removed, for it gives us the whole of this dream after verse 36 of the preceding chapter.

[blocks in formation]
[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small]

Verse 12. Grisled] □ beruddim; 1 barad signifies hail, and the meaning must be, they had white spots on them similar to hail. Our word grisléd comes from the old French, greslé, hail, now written gréle; hence greslé, grisled, spotted with white upon a dark ground. Verse 15. Are we not counted of him strangers ?] Rachel and Leah, who well knew the disposition of their father, gave him here his true character. He has treated us as strangers—as slaves whom he had a right to dispose of as he pleased; in consequence, he hath sold us-disposed of us on the mere principle of gaining by the sale.

And hath quite devoured also our money.] Has applied to his own use the profits of the sale, and has allowed us neither portion nor inheritance.

Verse 19. Laban went to shear his sheep] Laban had gone; and this was a favourable time not only to take his images, but to return to Canaan without being perceived. Rachel had stolen the images] D teraphim. What the teraphim were is utterly unknown. In ver. 30 they are termed elohai, gods; and to some it appears very likely that they were a sort of images devoted to superstitious purposes, not considered as gods, but as representatives of certain Divine attributes. Dr. Shuckford supposes them to be a sort of tiles, on which the names or figures of their ancestors were engraven. Theodoret, in his 89th question, calls them idols; and says that Rachel, who was a type of the true Church, stole them from her father that he might be delivered from idolatry. R. S. Jarchi gives nearly

the same reason.

The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel gives a strange turn to the whole passage. "And Rachel stole the images of her father: for they had murdered a man, who was a first-born son; and having cut off his head, they embalmed it with salt and spices, and they wrote divinations upon a plate of gold, and put it under his tongue; and placed it against the wall, and it conversed with them, and Laban worshipped it. And Jacob stole

steal away from Laban.

16 For all the riches which God A. M. 2265. B. C. 1739. hath taken from our father, that is ours, and our children's: now then, what soever God hath said unto thee, do.

17 Then Jacob rose up, and set his sons and his wives upon camels;

18 And he carried away all his cattle, and all his goods which he had gotten, (the cattle of his getting, which he had gotten in Padanaram,) for to go to Isaac his father in the land of Canaan.

[blocks in formation]

the science of Laban the Syrian, that it might not discover his departure."

rapha, to heal or

If the word be derived from restore, then the teraphim may be considered as a sort of talismans, kept for the purpose of averting and curing diseases; and probably were kept by Laban for the same purpose that the Romans kept their lares and penates. It is however possible that D' teraphim is the same as ' seraphim, the ♬ tau and i sin being changed, which is very frequent in the Syrian or Chaldee language; and we know that Laban was an Aramean or Syrian. FIRE has been considered from the earliest ages as a symbol of the Deity; and as the word seraphim comes from saraph, to burn, it has been conjectured that the teraphim of Laban were luminous forms, prepared of burnished brass, &c., which he might imagine a proper medium of communication between God and his worshippers. Mr. Parkhurst has observed that the teraphim were in use among believers and unbelievers. Among the former, see this chapter; See also for he denies that Laban was an idolater. Judg. xvii. 5; xviii. 14, 18, 20; 1 Sam. xix. 13, 16. Among the latter, see 2 Kings xxiii. 24; Ezek. xxi. 21; Zech. x. 2. Compare 1 Sam. xv. 23, and Hos. iii. 4. These are all the places in which the original word is found.

The Persian translator seems to have considered

these teraphim as tables or instruments that served for purposes of judicial astrology, and hence translates the word b) asterlabha, astrolabes. As the astrolabe was an instrument with which they took the altitude of the pole-star, the sun, &c., it might, in the notion of the Persian translator, imply tables, &c., by which the culminating of particular stars might be determined, and the whole serve for purposes of judicial astrology. Now as many who have professed themselves to be believers in Christianity, have nevertheless addicted themselves to judicial astrology, we might suppose such a thing in this case, and still con

[blocks in formation]

22 And it was told Laban on the third day and steal away from me; and didst not tell that Jacob was fled. me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth, and with songs, with tabret, and with harp?

23 And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days' journey; and they overtook him in the mount Gilead.

24 And God came to Laban the Syrian in a dream by night, and said unto him, Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad.

28 And hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and my daughters? thou hast now done foolishly in so doing.

29 It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt: but the God of your father spake unto 25 Then Laban overtook Jacob. Now Ja-mei yesternight, saying, Take thou heed that cob had pitched his tent in the mount: and thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad. Laban with his brethren pitched in the mount of Gilead.

26 And Laban said to Jacob, What hast thou done, that thou hast stolen away un

30 And now, though thou wouldest needs be gone, because thou sore longedst after thy father's house, yet wherefore hast thou stolen my gods?

e Heb. hast stolen me. Ver. 55; Ruth i. 9, 14; 1 Kings xix. -b Ch.20; Acts xx. 37.-1 Sam. xiii. 13; 2 Chron. xvi. 9.h Ver. 53; chap. xxviii. 13. Ver. 24.- Ver. 19; Judg. xviii. 24.

Chap. xlvi. 28; 2 Kings xii. 17; Luke ix. 51, 53.-z Chap. xiii. 8.- Chap. xx. 3; Job xxxiii. 15; Matt. i. 20.xxiv. 50.— Heb. from good to bad. d1 Sam. xxx. 2.

sider Laban as no idolater. If the Persian translator has not hit on the true meaning, he has formed the most likely conjecture.

Verse 21. Passed over the river] The Euphrates, as the Targum properly notices. But how could he pass such a river with his flocks, &c. This difficulty does not seem to have struck critics in general. The rabbins felt it, and assert that God wrought a miracle for Jacob on this occasion, and that he passed over dry shod. As we know not in what other way he could pass, it is prudent to refer it to the power of God, which accompanied him through the whole of his jour

ney. There might, however, have been fords well known to both Jacob and Laban, by which they might readily pass.

The mount Gilead.] What the ancient name of this mountain was, we know not; but it is likely that it had not the name of Gilead till after the transaction mentioned ver. 47. The mountains of Gilead were eastward of the country possessed by the tribes of Reuben and Gad; and extended from Mount Hermon to the mountains of Moab.-Calmet. It is joined to Mount Libanus, and includes the mountainous region called in the New Testament Trachonitis.-Dodd.

Verse 24. And God came to Laban] God's caution to Laban was of high importance to Jacob-Take heed that thou speak not to Jacob either good or bad; or rather, as is the literal meaning of the Hebrew, y mittob ad ra, from good to evil; for had he neither spoken good nor evil to Jacob, they could have had no intercourse at all. The original is, therefore, peculiarly appropriate; for when people meet, the language at first is the language of friendship; the command therefore implies, "Do not begin with Peace be unto thee, and then proceed to injurious language and acts of violence." If this Divine direction were

attended to, how many of those affairs of honour, so termed, which commence with, “I hope you are well" "I am infinitely glad to see you”- I am happy to see you well," &c., and end with small swords and pistol bullets, would be prevented! Where God and true religion act, all is fair, kind, honest, and upright; but where these are not consulted, all is hollow, deceitful, or malicious. Beware of unmeaning compliments, and particularly of saying what thy heart feels not. God hates a hypocrite and a deceiver.

Verse 27. I might have sent thee away with mirth]

besimchah, with rejoicing, making a feast or entertainment on the occasion; and with songs, W) beshirim, odes either in the praise of God, or to commemorate the splendid acts of their ancestors; with tabret, bethoph, the tympanum used in the east to the present day, and there called diff, a thin broad wooden hoop, with parchment extended over one end of it, to which are attached small pieces of brass, tin, &c., which make a jingling noise; it is held in the air with one hand, and beat on with the fingers of the other. It appears to have been precisely the same with that which is called the tambourine, and which is frequently to be met with in our streets. And with harp, bekinnor, a sort of stringed instrument, a lute or harp; probably the same as the Greek Kıvvpa kinura, a harp; the name being evidently borrowed from the Hebrew. These four things seem to include all that was used in those primitive times, as expressive of gladness and satisfaction on the most joyous occasions.

Verse 29. It is in the power of my hand to do you hurt]. Literally, My hand is unto God to do you evil, i. e., I have vowed to God that I will punish thee for thy flight, and the stealing of my teraphim; but the God of YOUR father has prevented me from doing it.

Laban searches for his images.

A. M. 2265.

B. C. 1739.

[blocks in formation]

B. C. 1739.

31 And Jacob answered and said | fore thee; for the custom of women A. M. 2265. to Laban, Because I was afraid is upon me. And he searched, but for I said, Peradventure thou wouldest take found not the images. by force thy daughters from me.

32 With whomsoever thou findest thy gods, 1 let him not live: before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee. For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them.

33 And Laban went into Jacob's tent, and into Leah's tent, and into the two maid-servants' tents; but he found them not. Then went he out of Leah's tent, and entered into Rachel's tent.

34 Now Rachel had taken the images, and put them in the camel's furniture, and sat upon them. And Laban searched all the tent, but found them not. 35 And she said to her father, displease my lord that I cannot

Let it not rise up be

36 And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban: and Jacob answered and said to Laban, What is my trespass? what is my sin, that thou hast so hotly pursued after me? 37 Whereas thou hast searched all my stuff, what hast thou found of all thy household stuff? set it here before my brethren and thy bre thren, that they may judge betwixt us both.

38 This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.

39 That which was torn of beasts I brought not unto thee; I bare the loss of it; of P my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day, or stolen by night.

40 Thus I was; in the day the drought

Exod. xx. 12; Lev. xix. 32.

1 See chap. xliv. 9.- m Heb. felt.It is a singular instance that the plural pronoun, when addressing an individual, should be twice used in this place the God of your father, abichem, for Ta abicha, thy father.

Verse 32. Let him not live] It appears that anciently theft was punished by death; and we know that the patriarchs had the power of life and death in their hands. But previously to the law, the punishment of death was scarcely ever inflicted but for murder. The rabbins consider that this was an imprecation used by Jacob, as if he had said, Let God take away the life of the person who has stolen them! And that this was answered shortly after in the death of Rachel, chap. xxxv.

Verse 35. The custom of women is upon me.] This she knew must be a satisfactory reason to her father; for if the teraphim were used to any religious purpose, and they seem to have been used in this way, as Laban calls them his gods, he therefore could not suspect that a woman in such a situation, whose touch was considered as defiling, would have sat upon articles that were either the objects of his adoration, or used for any sacred purpose. The stratagem succeeded to her wish, and Laban departed without suspicion. It seems very natural to suppose that Rachel did believe that by the use of these teraphim Laban could find out their flight, and the direction they took, and therefore she stole them; and having stolen them she was afraid to acknowledge the theft, and probably might think that they might be of some use to herself. Therefore, for these reasons, she brought them away. Verse 36. And Jacob was wroth, and chode with Laban] The expostulation of Jacob with Laban, and their consequent agreement, are told in this place with great spirit and dignity. Jacob was conscious that though he had made use of cunning to increase his flocks, yet Laban had been on the whole a great gainer

o Exod. xxii. 10, &c.- -P Exod. xxii. 12.

by his services. He had served him at least twenty years, fourteen for Rachel and Leah, and six for the cattle; and some suppose he had served him twenty years besides the above, which is not unlikely see the remarks at the conclusion of this chapter. Forty or even twenty years of a man's life, devoted to incessant labour and constantly exposed to all the inclemencies of the weather, (see ver. 40,) deserve more than an ordinary reward. Laban's constitutional sin was covetousness, and it was an easily besetting sin; for it appears to have governed all his conduct, and to have rendered him regardless of the interests of his children, so long as he could secure his own. That he had frequently falsified his agreement with Jacob, though the particulars are not specified, we have already had reason to conjecture from ver. 7, and with this Jacob charges his father-in-law, in the most positive manner, ver. 41. Perhaps some previous unfair transactions of this kind were the cause why Jacob was led to adopt the expedient of outwitting Laban in the case of the spotled, spangled, ring-streaked, and grisled cattle. This if it did take place, though it cannot justify the measure, is some palliation of it; and almost the whole of Jacob's conduct, as far as relates to Laban, can be better excused than his injuring Laban's breed, by leaving him none but the weak, unhealthy, and degenerated cattle.

Verse 39. That which was torn—of my hand didst thou require it] This more particularly marks the covetous and rigorous disposition of Laban; for the law of God required that what had been torn by beasts the shepherd should not be obliged to make good, Exod. xxii. 10, 13. And it is very likely that this law was in force from the earliest times.

Verse 40. In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night] The being exposed to the heat by day, and frost by night, is made part of the heaviest punishment of Prometheus by Eschylus.

[blocks in formation]

Σταθευτος δ' ήλιου φοιβῇ φλογι, Χροιάς αμειψεις ανθος ασμενῳ δε σου Ἡ ποικιλειμων αυξ αποκρύψει φαος" Πάχνην θ' έφαν ήλιος σκεδα παλιν.

Æschyl. Prom, Vinc., v. 22.

Opposed to the sun's most fervid beam, The hue of beauty changed; till parch'd by heat The night with spangled stole shall hide its light From thee rejoicing, but again the sun Chases the hoar frost from thy harass'd form. J. B. B. C. Verse 41. Twenty years] See the remarks at the end. Verse 42. The fear of Isaac] It is strange that Jacob should say, the GoD of Abraham and the FEAR of Isaac, when both words are meant of the same Being. The reason perhaps was this; Abraham was long since dead, and God was his unalienable portion for Isaac was yet alive in a state of probation, living in the fear of God, not exempt from the danger of falling; therefore God is said to be his fear-not only the object of his religious worship in a general way, but that holy and just God before whom he was still working out his salvation with fear and trembling-fear lest he should fall, and trembling lest he should offend. Verse 46. Made a heap] gal, translated heap, signifies properly a round heap; and this heap was probably made for the double purpose of an altar and a table, and Jacob's stone or pillar was set on it for the purpose of a memorial.

ever.

Verse 47. Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha] x yegar sahadutha, the heap or round heap of witness; but Jacob called it i galed, which signifies the same thing. The first is pure Chaldee, the VOL. I. ( 14 )

They set up a monument.

B. C. 1739.

44 Now therefore, come thou, let A. M. 2265. us make a covenant, I and thou; and let it be for a witness between me and thee. 45 And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar.

46 And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made a heap and they did eat there upon the heap. 47 And Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha but Jacob called it a Galeed.

[ocr errors]

48 And Laban said, 'This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed,

[blocks in formation]

49 And Mizpah; for he said, The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.

50 If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, (no man is with us ;) see, God is witness betwixt me and thee.

Chap. xxviii. 18. That is, the heap of witness; Chald. a That is, the heap of witness; Heb.- b Josh. xxiv. 27, * Judges xi. 29; 1 Sam. vii. 5. That is, a beacon or watch tower.

second pure Hebrew.

hence yegar and

From

18 agar signifies to collect, 18 ogar, a collection or heap made up of gathered stones; and hence also egora, an altar, used frequently by the Chaldee paraphrast. See 1 Kings xii. 33; Judg. vi. 31; 2 Kings xxi. 3; Jer. xvii. 1. See Castel's Lexicon. this example we may infer that the Chaldee language was nearly coeval with the Hebrew. A gloss made by St. Jerome, and which was probably only entered by him in his margin as a note, has crept into the text of the Vulgate. It is found in every copy of this version, and is as follows: Uterque juxta proprietatem linguæ suæ, Each according to the idiom of his own tongue.

Verses 48, 49. I think these two 'verses are badly divided, and should be read thus :

Verse 48. And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day.

Verse 49. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed and Mizpah; for he said, The Lord watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another.

Mizpah] mitspah signifies a watch-tower; and Laban supposes that in consequence of the consecration of the place, and the covenant now solemnly made and ratified, that God would take possession of this heap, and stand on it as on a watch-tower, to prevent either of them from trenching on the conditions of their covenant.

Verse 50. No man is with us] Though all were present at the sacrifice offered, yet it appears that in making the contract Jacob and Laban withdrew, and transacted the business in private, calling on God to witness it.

Jacob had already four wives; but Laban feared that

193

« הקודםהמשך »