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A. M. 2265. 51 And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee;

52 This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm.

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53 The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge be‹ Chap. xvi. 5.——— Chap. xxi. 23.— Ver. 42. Or, killed he might take others, whose children would naturally come in for a share of the inheritance to the prejudice of his daughters and grandchildren. Though the Koran allows a man to have four wives if he can maintain them, yet we learn that in many cases where a man takes a wife, the parents or relatives of the woman stipulate that the man is not to take another during the lifetime of that one whom he now espouses; and notwithstanding the permission of the Koran, he is obliged to fulfil this agreement.

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Verse 51. And Laban said to Jacob-behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee] But this pillar, not cast but set up, was certainly set up by Jacob; for in ver. 45 we read, And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a pillar: it is therefore for the honour of one Hebrew and one Samaritan MS. that they have preserved the true reading in ver. 51, yaritha, THOU hast set up.-Kennicott. Instead of either of the above readings the Samaritan text has M yarata, The pillar which thou SEEST betwixt me and thee. Verse 53. The God of their father] As Laban certainly speaks of the true God here, with what propriety can he say that this God was the God of Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor? It is certain that Terah was an idolater; of this we have the most positive proof, Josh. xxiv. 2. Because the clause is not in the Septuagint, and is besides wanting in some MSS., Dr. Kennicott considers it an interpolation. But there is no need of having recourse to this expedient if we adopt the reading Nabichem, YOUR father, for O abihem, THEIR father, which is supported by

several of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., and is precisely the same form made use of by Laban, ver. 29, when addressing Jacob, and appears to me to be used here in the same way; for he there most manifestly uses the plural pronoun, when speaking only to Jacob himself. It is therefore to be considered as a form of speech peculiar to Laban; at least we have two instances of his use of it in this chapter.

Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.]

on ver. 42.

See

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in a friendly manner.

B. C. 1739.

twixt us. And Jacob sware by A. M. 2265. the fear of his father Isaac.

54 Then Jacob hoffered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount.

55 And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and re turned unto his place.

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beasts.—i Chap. xxviii. 1.- Chap. xviii. 33; xxx. 25. them-prayed heartily for their prosperity, though we find from ver. 29 that he came having bound himself by a vow to God to do them some injury. Thus God turned his intended curse into a blessing.

THE most important topics in this chapter have already been considered in the notes, and to those the reader is referred. Jacob's character we have already seen, and hitherto have met in it little to admire; but we shall soon find a blessed change both in his mind and in his conduct. Laban's character appears in almost every instance to disadvantage; he does not seem to be what we commonly term a wicked man, but he was certainly both weak and covetous; and covetousness extinguished in him, as it does in all its votaries, the principles of righteousness and benevolence, and the very charities of human life. Provided he could get an increase of property, he regarded not who was wronged or who suffered. In this case he hid himself even from his own bowels, and cared not that his own children should lack even the necessaries of life, provided he could increase his own store! How watchful should we be against this destructive, unnatural, and degrading vice! It is impossible for a man who loves money to love either God or man; and consequently he must be in the broad way that leads to destruction.

For the difficulties in the chronology of Jacob's sojourning in Padan-aram, I beg leave to refer to the following remarks.

Remarks upon Gen. xxxi. 38, &c., relative to the

time spent by Jacob in the service of his father-inlaw Laban, in Mesopotamia; from Dr. Kennicott. "If every reading which introduces but a single difficulty demands our attention, much greater must that demand be when several difficulties are caused by any one mistake, or any one mistranslation. Of this nature is the passage before us, which therefore shall be here considered more fully, especially as I have not already submitted to the learned any remarks upon this subject. Jacob's age, at the time of his going to Laban, has (till very lately) been fixed, perhaps universally, at seventy-seven years. But I think it has been shown by the learned Mr. Skinner, in an excellent dissertation, (4to. 1765,) that the number seventyseven cannot here be right.

"Jacob was one hundred and thirty when he went down (with sixty-six persons) into, Egypt. Joseph ( 14* )

Reasons to prove that Jacob

14.

CHAP. XXXI.

was with Laban forty years.

his resentment; and had the death of Esau happened,
Jacob would then have been secure. But let us also
remember that Isaac was still alive, and that Esau had
determined to kill Jacob whenever their father should
die. It would therefore be no wonder if Jacob should
have desired to continue longer in Haran. And to
carry this point more effectually, he might offer to take
care of Laban's cattle, and to live in his neighbourhood,
upon such terms of advantage to Laban as could not
easily be withstood. Lastly, when the good effects
to Laban from this connection had been experienced,
without profit, nay with some losses, to Jacob, for
twenty years, Jacob might naturally grow tired of thus
assisting Laban without providing for his own growing
family. Accordingly we find that Jacob covenants
with Laban for six years of more close attendance and
service in Laban's own house, for which the wages
were expressly settled. Agreeable. to the preceding
possibilities seems to have been the fact, Jacob living
in Haran forty years, and in this manner :-
14 years in Laban's house, a covenant servant for his
wives.

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-

40

in Laban's neighbourhood, as a friend.

in Laban's house, a covenant servant for cattle.

had then been governor ten years; and when made governor was thirty; therefore Jacob could not be more than ninety at the birth of Joseph. Now, upon supposition that Jacob was seventy-seven at going to Laban, and that he had no son till he was eighty-five, and that he, with eleven sons, left Laban at ninetyseven, there will follow these amongst other strange consequences which are enumerated by Mr. Skinner, page 11, &c. 1. Though Isaac and Esau married at forty, Jacob goes at seventy-seven to look for a wife, and agrees to marry her seven years after. 2. Issachar is born after the affair of the mandrakes, which Reuben finds and brings home when he (Reuben) was about four years old; that is, if Issachar was born before Joseph, agreeably to Gen. xxx. 18, 25. 3. Judah begets Er at thirteen; for in the first of the following tables Judah is born in Jacob's year eightyeight, and Er in one hundred, and two. 4. Er marries at nine, and is destroyed for profligacy. Er, born one hundred and two, marries in one hundred and eleven. See also Gen: xxxviii. 7. 5. Onan marries at eight; for Onan, born in one hundred and three, marries in one hundred and eleven. 6. Shelah, being grown at 20 ten, ought to be married; for Shelah, born in one hundred and four, is marriageable, but not married to Tamar in one hundred and fourteen. See Gen. xxxviii. 7. Pharez kept. from marrying while young, yet "Now the twenty concurrent years of neighbourly has a son at thirteen; for Pharez, born in one hundred assistance, and the disjointed twenty of covenant serand fifteen, had two sons at going to Egypt in one vice, seem both of them distinguished in the history hundred and thirty. 8. Esau goes to Ishmael and itself. For upon Laban's pursuit of Jacob he menmarries his daughter, after Jacob went to Laban at tions twenty years twice; which two sets of twenty, Seventy-seven; though. Ishmael died when Jacob was if really different, make forty. Each mention of the sixty-three. 9. If Jacob had no son till he was eighty-twenty years is introduced with the word zeh, which five, and if Joseph was born when his father was word, when repeated, is used by way of distinction; ninety, then the eleven sons and Dinah were born in as when we say, this and that, the one or the other. five years. Lastly, if Jacob had no son till eighty-five, Thus, Exod. xiv. 20: So that the one came not near and he went to Egypt at one hundred and thirty, with the other., Eccles. vi. 5: This hath more rest than the sixty-six persons, only forty-five years are allowed for other. And with the two words at a great distance, his family; whereas the larger sum of sixty-five years Job xxi. 23: One dieth; ver. 25; and another dieth, seems necessary for the births of so many children and &c. So here, in Gen. xxxi. 38, Jacob says to Lagrandchildren. On this subject Le Clerc has pro-ban, yw y ni zeh esrim shanah anoçhi nounced, Hisce in rebus occurrunt nodi, quos nemo immach, during the ONE set of twenty years I was with hactenus solvit; neque porro, ut opinor, solvet. There thee, &c.; meaning the time in which he lived, not in are difficulties here which have never been explained, Laban's house, but in his neighbourhood; not as a and in my opinion never can be explained. But upon servant, but a friend; after he had served in Laban's. the single principle of Mr. Skinner, that Jacob went to house fourteen years for his daughters, and before he Laban at fifty-seven, (instead of seventy-seven,) these served six years for his cattle. But then, as to the difficulties are solved. And it only remains to wish other twenty, he tells Laban, at verse 41, varying the that some authority may be found to support this con- phrase very remarkably, say wonwy ibni jecture, thus strongly founded on the exigentia loci. zeh li esrim shanah bebeithecha abadticha, during the The common opinion is formed by reckoning back other twenty years (li) FOR MYSELF (for my own from the age of Joseph, when governor of Egypt, to benefit) IN THY HOUSE; I served thee fourteen years, the time of his birth, and from the twenty years which and six years, &c. And during this last period, though Jacob was with Laban. This number, Mr. Skinner only six years, he charges Laban with changing his thinks, was originally forty; and I think that the He- wages ten times. So that Jacob. insists upon having brew text as it now stands confirms the conjecture, and well earned his wages through the twenty years when furnishes the very authority which is so much wanted. he served for hire; but he makes a far greater merit "After Jacob had served Laban fourteen years for of having, for another twenty years, assisted him withhis two wives, where was Jacob to reside? Esau was out wages, and even with some losses; and therefore, still living; and Jacob might well be afraid of return- with particular propriety, he reminds Laban of that set ing to him, till more years of absence had disarmed of twenty years in the first place. 195

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Reasons to prove that Jacob

GENESIS.

was with Laban forty years.

The following Tables, taken chiefly from Mr. Skinner, will greatly elucidate the true chronology of Jacob, TABLE I.-On Jacob's being at Haran only twenty years.

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"Our translation now is, xxxi. 38: THIS TWENTY YEARS HAVE I BEEN WITH THEE; thy ewes and thy shegoats 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 my hand didst thou require it, whether stolen by day or stolen by night. 40. Thus I was; in the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night; and my sleep.departed from mine eyes. 41. THUS HAVE I BEEN TWENTY YEARS IN THY HOUSE: I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle; and thou hast changed my wages ten times.

"The alteration here recommended is this, chap. xxxi. 38: DURING THE ONE TWENTY YEARS I WAS WITH

THEE; thy ewes and thy she-goats have not cast their young, and the rams, &c., &c. 41. DURING THE OTHER TWENTY YEARS FOR MYSELF, IN THY HOUSE, I served, &c. The same distinction is expressed in chap. xxx. 29: Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how thy cattle was with me; i. e., how I behaved during the time I was with thee as thy servant, and how thy cattle fared during the time they were with me as thy friend.

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"It must not be omitted that Archbishop Usher and Bishop Lloyd ascribe sons to Jacob very soon after his coming to Laban; nay, assert that he was married almost as soon as he came to Haran, instead of waiting seven years, as he most evidently did. And Mr. Jackson allows that some of the sons of Benjamin, who are expressly numbered as going into Egypt with Jacob, might be born in Egypt! From such distresses, and such contradictions, does the distinction of two sets of twenty years happily deliver us."

Hoc temporis intervallo nemo concipere poterit tot res contingere potuisse. SPINOSA.

In such a short space of time, it is impossible that so many transactions could have taken place.

I shall leave this subject with chronologers and critics, and shall not attempt to decide on either opinion. That of Dr. Kennicott I think the most likely, and to it I have adapted the chronology in those cases to which it relates; but there are difficulties in both cases. See the note on chap. xxxviii. 1.

CHAPTER XXXII.

but

Jacob, proceeding on his journey, is met by the angels of God, 1, 2. Sends messengers before him to his brother Esau, requesting to be favourably received, 3-5. The messengers return without an answer, with the intelligence that Esau, with four hundred men, was coming to meet Jacob, 6. He is greatly alarmed, and adopts prudent means for the safety of himself and family, 7, 8. His affecting prayer to God, 9-12. Prepares a present of five droves of different cattle for his brother, 13-15. Sends them forward before him, at a certain distance from each other, and instructs the drivers what to say when met by Esau, 15-20. Sends his wives, servants, children and baggage, over the brook Jabbok, by night, 21–23. Himself stays behind, and wrestles with an angel until the break of day, 24. He prevails and gets a new name, 25-29. Calls the name of the place Peniel, 30. Is lame in his thigh in consequence of his wrestling with the angel, 31, 32.

B. C. 1739.

B. C. 1739.

A. M. 2265. AND ND Jacob went on his way, 2 And when Jacob, saw them, he A. M. 2265. and the angels of God said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim.

met him.

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a Psa. xci. 11; Heb. i. 14. b Josh. v. 14; Psa. ciii. 21; cxlviii. 2; Luke ii. 13. That is, two hosts or camps.

NOTES ON CHAP. XXXII.

Verse 1. The angels of God met him.] Our word angel comes from the Greek ayyeλos, angelos, which literally signifies a messenger; or, as translated in some of our old Bibles, a tidings-bringer. The Hebrew word malach, from laach, to send, minister to,

employ, is nearly of the same import; and hence we may see the propriety of St. Augustine's remark: Nomen non naturæ sed officii, "It is a name, not of nature, but of office;" and hence it is applied indif ferently to a human agent or messenger, 2 Sam. ii, 5; to a prophet, Hag. i. 13; to a priest, Mal.

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B. C. 1739.

a unto the land of Seir, the country of women-servants: and I have sent to tell my Edom.

4 And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus: I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now :

lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.

6 And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him..

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d Chap. xxxiii. 14, 16.- -e Chapter xxxvi. 6, 7, 8; Deut. ii. 5. Prov. xv. 1.Josh. xxiv. 4.

Heb. field.

Chapter xxx. 43.
Chap. xxxiii. Į

Chapter xxxiii. 8, 15.

ii. 7; to celestial spirits, Psa. ciii. 19, 20, 22; among Jews and Christians, and perhaps most among civ. 4.

the latter. Angels with feigned names, titles, and influences, have been and still are invoked and worshipped by a certain class of men; because they have found that God has been pleased to employ them to minister to mankind; and hence they have made supplications to them to extend their protection, to shield, defend, instruct, &c. This is perfectly absurd. 1. They are God's instruments, not self-determining agents. 2. They can only do what they are appointed to perform, for there is no evidence that they have any discretionary power. 3. God helps man by ten thousand means and instruments; some intellectual, as angels; some rational, as men; some irrational, as brutes; and some merely material, as the sun, wind, rain, food, raiment, and the various productions of the earth. He therefore helps by whom he will help, and to him alone belongs all the glory; for should he be determined to de

"We often," says Mr. Parkhurst, "read of the malach Yehovah, or malakey Elohim, the angel of Jehovah, or the angels of God, that is, his agent, personator, mean of visibility or action, what was employed by God to render himself visible and approachable by flesh and blood." This angel was evidently a human form, surrounded or accompanied by light or glory, with or in which Jehovah was present; see Gen. xix. 1, 12, 16; Judg. xiii. 6, 21; Exod. iii. 2, 6. "By this vision," says Mr. Ainsworth, "God confirmed Jacob's faith in him who commanded his angels to keep his people in all their ways, Psa. xci. 11. Angels are here called God's host, camp, dr army, as in wars; for angels are God's soldiers, Luke ii. 13; horses and chariots of fire, 2 Kings ii. 11; fighting for God's people against their enemies, Dan. x. 20; of them there are thousand thousands, and ten thou-stroy, all these instruments collectively could not save. sand times ten thousand, Dan. vii. 10; and they are all sent forth to minister for them that shall be heirs of salvation, Heb. i. 14; and they pitch a camp about them that fear God, Psa. xxxiv. 7." One of the oldest of the Greek poets had a tolerably correct notion of the angelic ministry :

Αυταρ επεικεν τούτο γενος κατα γαια καλυψεν
Το μεν Δαιμονες εισι, Διος μεγαλου δια βουλας,
Εσθλοι, επιχθόνιοι, φυλακες θνητών ανθρώπων: κ. τ. λ.
HESIOD. Op. & Dies, l. i., ver. 120.
When in the grave this race of men was laid,
Soon was a world of holy demons made,
Aerial spirits, by great Jove design'd
To be on earth the guardians of mankind.
Invisible to mortal eyes they go,

And mark our actions good or bad below;
The immortal spies with watchful care preside,
And thrice ten thousand round their charges glide :
They can reward with glory or with gold,
A power they by Divine permission hold. COOKE.
Verse 2. Mahanaim.] The two hosts, if read by
the points, the angels forming one, and Jacob and his
company forming another; or simply hosts or camps
in the plural. There was a city built afterwards here,
and inhabited by the priests of God, Josh. xxi. 38.
For what purpose the angels of God met Jacob, does
not appear from the text; probably it was intended to
show him that he and his company were under the care
of an especial providence, and consequently to confirm
his trust and confidence in God.

The doctrine of the ministration of angels has been much abused, not only among the heathens, but also

Instead therefore of worshipping them, we should take their own advice: See thou do it not-Worship God.

Verse 3. Jacob.sent messengers] `ɔ malachim, the same word which is before translated angels. It is very likely that these messengers had been sent some time before he had this vision at Mahanaim, for they appear to have returned while Jacob encamped at the brook Jabbok, where he had the vision of angels; see verses 6 and 23.

The land of Seir, the country of Edom.] This land, which was, according to Dr. Wells, situated on the south of the Dead Sea, extending from thence to the Arabian Gulf, 1 Kings ix, 26, was formerly possessed by the Horites, Gen. xiv, 6; but Esau with his children drove them out, destroyed them, and dwelt in their stead, Deut. ii. 22; and thither Esau went from the face of his brother Jacob, chap. xxxvi. 6, 7. · Thus we find he verified the prediction, By thy sword shalt thou live, chap, xxvii, 40,

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Verse 4. Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau] for the time was not yet come in which it could be Jacob acknowledges the superiority of his brother, said, The elder shall serve the younger.

with him.] Jacob, conscious that he had injured his Verse 6. Esau-cometh—and four hundred men brother, was now apprehensive that he was coming with hostile intentions, and that he had every evil to fear from his displeasure. Conscience is a terrible It was a fine saying of a heathen,—

accuser.

Hic murus aheneus esto,
Nil conscire sibi, nulla pallescere culpa.

HOR. Ep,, . i,, E. i., v. 60,

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