of Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives: and Joseph brought unto his father their bevil report.

3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age: and he made him a coat of many *colours.d

4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it his brethren; and they hated him yet the more. 6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed:

7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.

8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? and they hated him yet the more for his dreams, and for his words.

9 And he dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and said, Behold I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun, and the moon, and the eleven stars, made obeisance to me.

10 And he told it to his father, and to his brethren: and his father rebuked him, and said unto him, What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down 'ourselves to thee to the earth?

11 And his brethren envied him; but his father 'observed the saying.

11. 18.

b 1 8am. 2. 22-24. 1 Cor. 1. 11. 5.1. c c. 44. 20. or, pieces. d Judg. 5. 30. 2 Sam. 13. 18. Ez. 16. 16. e c. 49. 23. Ps. 38. 19. 69. 4. Tit. 3. 3. fc. 42. 6-9. 43. 26. 44. 14. g Ps. 118. 22. Luke 19, 14, 27. h c. 44. 14. 46. 29. 50. 18. i c. 27, 29. k Acts 7. 9. Dan. 7. 28. Luke 2. 19, 51. m 1 Sam. 17. 19.

he was the son of the ancient, so some; that is, when he was a child, he was as grave and discreet as if he had been an old man: a child, but not childish. Jacob proclaimed his affection to him by dressing him finer than the rest of his children; he made him a coat of divers colours, which, probably, was significant of further honours intended him. Note, Though those children are happy, that have that in them which justly recommends them to their parents' particular love; yet it is the prudence of parents not to make a difference between one child and another, unless there be a great and manifest cause given for it by the children's dutifulness or undutifulness; paternal government must be impartial, and managed with a steady hand. 4. Joseph hated by his brethren, (1.) Because his father loved him; when parents make a difference, children soon take notice of it, and it often occasions feuds and quarrels in families. (2.) Because he brought to his father their evil report. Jacob's sons did that, when they were from under his eye, which they durst not have done, if they had been at home with him; but Joseph gave his father an account of their bad carriage, that he might reprove and restrain them; not as a malicious talebearer, to sow discord, but as a faithful brother, who, when he durst not admonish them himself, represented their faults to one that had authority to admonish them. Note, [1.] It is common for friendly monitors to be looked upon as enemies. They that hate to be reformed, hate those that would reform them, Prov. 9. 8. [2.] It is common for those that are beloved of God, to be hated by the world; whom heaven blesses, hell curses; those whom God speaks comfortably to, wicked men will not speak peaceably to. It is said here of Joseph, the lad was with the sons of Bilhah; some read it, and he was servant to them, they made him their drudge.

V. 5-11. Here,

1. Joseph relates the prophetical dreams he had, v. 6, 7, 9, 10. Though he was now very young, (about seventeen years old,) yet he was pious and devout, and well inclined, and this fitted him for God's gracious discoveries of himself to him. Joseph had a great deal of trouble before him, and therefore God gave him betimes this prospect of his advancement, to support and comfort him under the long and grievous troubles with which he was to be exercised. Thus Christ had a joy set before him, and so have Christians. Note, God has ways of preparing his people beforehand for the trials which they cannot foresee, but which he has an eye to, in the comforts he furnishes them with. His dreams were, (1.) That his brethren's sheaves all bowed to his, intimating upon what occasion they should be brought to do obeisance to him, namely, in seeking to him for corn; their empty sheaves should bow to his full one. (2.) That the sun, and moon, and the eleven stars, did obeisance to him, v. 9. Joseph was more of a prophet than a politician, else he would have kept this to himself, when he could not but know that his brethren did already hate him, and that this would but the more exasperate them. But if he told it in his simplicity, yet God directed it for the mortification of his brethren. Observe, Joseph dreamed of his preferment, but he did not dream of his imprisonment. Thus many young

12 And his brethren went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.

13 And Israel said unto Joseph, Do not thy brethren feed the flock in Shechem? come, and 1 will send thee unto them. And he said to him, Here am I.

14 And he said to him, Go, I pray thee, see i whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again. So he sent him out of the vale of "Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

15 And a certain man found him, and, behold, he was wandering in the field: and the man asked him, saying, What seekest thou?

16 And he said, I seek my brethren: tell me, I pray thee, where they feed their flocks.

17 And the man said, They are departed hence; for I heard them say, Let us go to Dothan. And Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan.

18 And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired ragainst him to slay him.

19 And they said one to another, Behold, this #dreamer cometh.

20 Come now, therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit: and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him: and we shall see what will become of his dreams.

21 And Reuben heard it, and he delivered him out of their hands; and said, Let us not kill him. 22 And Reuben said unto them, Shed no blood, 'but cast him into this pit that is in the wilderness,

Luke 20. 13. † see the peace of thy brethren, &c.
2 Kings 6. 19. p Cant. 1. 7. 92 Kings 6. 13.
Matt. 21. 38. 27. 1. John 11. 53. Acts 23. 12.
11, 16. 27. 4. c. 42. 22.

n c. 35.27. o Judg. 4. 22. r Ps. 31. 13. 37. 12, 32. 94. 21. master of dreams. & Prov. 1.

people, when they are setting out in the world, think of nothing but prosperity and pleasure, and never dream of trouble. 2. His brethren take it very ill, and are more and more enraged against him, (v. 8,) Šhalt thou indeed reign over us? See here, (1.) How truly they interpreted his dream, that he should reign over them. They became the expositors of his dream, who were enemies to the accomplishment of it, as in Gideon's story, (Judg. 7. 13, 14;) they perceived that he spake of them, Matt. 21. 45. The event exactly answered to this interpretation, ch. 42. 6, &c. (2.) How scornfully they resented it; "Shalt thou, that art but one, reign over us, that are many? Thou, that art the youngest, over us that are elder?" Note, The reign and dominion of Jesus Christ, our Joseph, have been, and are striven against, by a carnal and unbelieving world, who cannot endure to think that this man should reign over them. The dominion also of the upright, in the morning of the resurrection, is thought of with the utmost disdain.

3. His father gives him a gentle rebuke for it, yet observes the saying, v. 10, 11. Probably, he checked him for it, to lessen the offence which his brethren would be apt to take at it, yet he took notice of it more than he seemed to do: he insinuated that it was but an idle dream, because his mother was brought in, who had been dead some time since; whereas the sun, moon, and eleven stars, signify no more than the whole family that should have a dependence upon him, and be glad to be beholden to him. Note, The faith of God's people in God's promises is often sorely shaken by their misunderstanding of the promises, and then suggesting the improbabilities that attend the performance. But God is doing his own work, and will do it, whether we understand him aright or no. Jacob, like Mary, (Luke 2. 51,) kept these sayings in his heart, and, no doubt, remembered them long afterward, when the event answered to the prediction.

V. 12-22. Here is,

I. The kind visit which Joseph, in obedience to his father's command, made to his brethren, who were feeding the flocks at Shechem, many miles off. Some suggest that they went thither on purpose, expecting that Joseph would be sent to see them, and that then they should have an opportunity to do him a mischief. However, Joseph and his father had both of them more of the innocence of the dove than of the wisdom of the serpent; else he had never come thus into the hands of those that hated him: but God designed it all for good. See in Joseph an instance, 1. Of dutifulness to his father; though he was his father's darling, yet he was made, and was willing to be, his father's servant. How readily does he wait his father's order! Here am I, v. 13. Note, Those children that are best beloved by their parents, should be most obedient to their parents; and then their love is well bestowed, and well returned. 2. Of kindness to his brethren; though he knew they hated him, and envied him, yet he made no objections against his father's commands, either from the distance of the place, or the danger of the journey, but cheerfully embraced the opportunity of showing his respect to his brethren. Note, It is a very good lesson, though it is hardly learnt, and rarely practised, to love those that hate us: if

our relations do not their duty to us, yet we must not be wanting in our duty to them. This is thank-worthy, Joseph was sent by his father to Shechem, to see whether his brethren were well there, and whether the country had not risen upon them, and destroyed them, in revenge of their barbarous murder of the Shechemites, some years before. But Joseph, not finding them there, went to Dothan, which showed that he undertook this journey, not only in obedience to his father, (for then he might have returned, when he missed them at Shechem, having done what his father bid him,) but out of love to his brethren; and therefore he sought diligently, till he found them. Thus let brotherly love continue, and let us give proofs of it.

II. The bloody and malicious plot of his brethren against him, who rendered good for evil, and, for his love, were his adversaries. Observe, 1. How deliberate they were in the contrivance of this mischief; when they saw him afar off, they conspired against him, v. 18. It was not in a heat, or upon a sudden provocation, that they thought to slay him, but from malice prepense, and in cold blood. Note, Whosoever hateth his brother, is a murderer; for he will be one, if he have an opportunity, 1 John 3. 15. Malice is a most mischievous thing, and is in danger of making bloody work where it is harboured and indulged. The more there is of a project and contrivance in a sin, the worse it is; it is bad to do evil, but worse to devise it. 2. How cruel they were in their design; nothing less than his blood would satisfy them, Come, and let us slay him, v. 20. Note, The old enmity hunts for the precious life. They are the blood-thirsty, that hate the upright, (Prov. 29. 10,) and it is the blood of the saints that the harlot is drunk with. 3. How scornfully they reproached him for his dreams; (v. 19,) This dreamer cometh, and (v. 20,) We shall see what will become of his dreams. This shows what it was that fretted and enraged them: they could not endure to think of doing obeisance to him, that was it which they were plotting to prevent by the murder of him. Note, Men that fret and rage at God's counsels, are impiously aiming to defeat them; but they imagine a vain thing, Ps. 2.1-3. God's counsels will stand. 4. How they agreed to keep one another's counsel, and to cover the murder with a lie; We will say some evil beast hath devoured him; whereas they were worse than the most evil beasts, being now engaged in consultation to devour him; for evil beasts prey not on those of their own kind, but these were tearing a piece of themselves. III. Reuben's project to deliver him, v. 21, 22. Note, God can raise up friends for his people, even among their enemies; for he has all hearts in his hands. Reuben, of all the brothers, had most reason to be jealous of Joseph, for he was the firstborn, and so, entitled to those distinguishing favours which Jacob was conferring on Joseph; yet he proves his best friend. Reuben's temper seems to have been soft and effeminate, which had betrayed him to the sin of uncleanness; while the temper of the two next brothers, Simeon and Levi, was fierce, which betrayed them to the sin of murder, a sin which Reuben startled at the thought of. Note, Our natural constitution should be guarded against those sins to which it is most inclinable, and improved (as Reuben's here) against those sins to which it is most averse. Reuben made a proposal which they thought would effectually answer their intention of destroying Joseph, and yet which he designed should answer his intention of rescuing Joseph out of their hands, and restoring him to his father, probably hoping thereby to recover his father's favour, which he had lately lost; but God overruled all to serve his own purpose of making Joseph an instrument to save much people alive. Joseph was here a type of Christ; though he was the beloved Son of his Father, and hated by a wicked world, yet the Father sent him out of his bosom to visit us in great humility and love; he came from Heaven to earth, to seek and save us, yet then malicious plots were laid against him; he came to his own, and his own not only received him not, but consulted, This is the heir, come let us kill him; Crucify him, crucify him. This he submitted to, in pursuance of his design to redeem and save us. V. 23-30. We have here the execution of their plot against Joseph,

I. They strip him: each striving to seize the envied coat of many colours, v. 23. Thus, in imagination, they degraded him

27 Come, and let us sell him to the Ishmaelites, and let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother, and our flesh: And his brethren were

content.

from the birth-right, which perhaps this was the badge of, grieving him, affronting their father, and making themselves sport, while they insulted over him, "Now, Joseph, where is the fine coat?" Thus our Lord Jesus was stript of his seamless coat, and thus his suffering saints have first been industriously divested of their privileges and honours, and then made the offscouring of all things.

II. They went about to starve him; throwing him into a dry pit, to perish there with hunger and cold, so cruel were their tender mercies, v. 24. Note, Where envy reigns, pity is banished, and humanity itself is forgotten, Prov. 27. 4. So full of deadly poison is malice, that the more barbarous any thing is, the more grateful it is. Now Joseph begged for his life, in the anguish of his soul, (ch. 42. 21,) entreated by all imaginable endearments, that they would be content with his coat, and spare his life; he pleads innocence, relation, affection, submission; he weeps, and makes supplication, but all in vain: Reuben only relents and intercedes for him, ch. 42. 22. But he cannot prevail to save Joseph from the horrible pit, in which they resolve he shall die by degrees, and be buried alive. Is this he to whom his brethren must do obeisance? Note, God's providences often seem to contradict his purposes, even then when they are serving them, and working at a distance toward the accomplishment of them.

III. They slighted him when he was in distress, and were not grieved for the affliction of Joseph; for when he was pining away in the pit, bemoaning his own misery, and with a languishing cry calling to them for pity, they sat down to eat bread, v. 25. 1. They felt no remorse of conscience for the sin; if they had, it would have spoiled their appetite for their meat, and the relish of it. Note, A great force put upon conscience, commonly stupifies it, and, for the time, deprives it both of sense and speech. Daring sinners are secure ones: but the consciences of Joseph's brethren, though asleep now, were roused long afterward, ch. 42. 21. 2. They were now pleased to think how they were freed from the fear of their brother's dominion over them, and that on the contrary, they had turned the wheel upon him. They made merry over him, as the persecutors over the two witnesses that had tormented them, Rev. 11.10. Note, Those that oppose God's counsels, may possibly prevail so far as to think they have gained their point, and yet be deceived.

IV. They sold him; a caravan of merchants very opportunely passed by; (Providence so ordering it ;) and Judah made the motion, that they should sell Joseph to them, to be carried far enough off into Egypt, where in all probability, he would be lost and never heard of more. 1. Judah moved it in compassion to Joseph, (v. 26,) "What profit is it, if we slay our brother? It will be less guilt and more gain to sell him." Note, When we are tempted to sin, we should consider the unprofitableness of it. It is what there is nothing to be got by. 2. They acquiesced in it, because they thought that if he were sold for a slave, he would never be a lord, if sold into Egypt would never be their lord; yet all this was working towards it. Note, The wrath of man shall praise God, and the remainder of wrath he will restrain, Ps. 76. 10. Joseph's brethren were wonderfully restrained from murdering him, and their selling him as wonderfully turned to God's praise: as Joseph was sold by the contrivance of Judah, for twenty pieces of silver, so was our Lord Jesus for thirty, and by one of the same name too, Judas.

Reuben (it seems) was gone away from his brethren, when they sold Joseph, intending to come round some other way to the pit, and to help Joseph out of it, and return him safe to his father; this was a kind project, but if it had taken effect, what had become of God's purpose concerning his preferment in Egypt? Note, There are many devices in man's heart, many devices of the enemies of God's people to destroy them, and of their friends to help them, which perhaps are both disappointed, as these here; but the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand. Reuben thought himself undone, because the child was sold; I, whither shall I go? v. 30. He being the eldest; his father would expect from him an account of him; but it proved that they had all been undone, if he had not been sold.

V. 31-36. Joseph would soon be missed, great inquiry

or no.

33 And he knew it, and said, It is my son's coat; an evil beast "hath devoured him: Joseph is without doubt rent in pieces.

34 And Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins, and mourned for his son many days. 35 And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted: and he said, For I will go down into the grave unto my son mourning. Thus his father wept for him. 36 And the Midianites sold him into Egypt, unto Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, and captain of the guard.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

This chapter gives us an account of Judah and his family, and such an account it is, that one would wonder that, of all Jacob's sons, our Lord should spring out of Judah, Heb. 7. 14. If we were to form a character of him by this story here, we should not say, Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise, ch. 49. 8. But God will show that his choice is of grace, and not of merit, and that Christ came into the world to save sinners, even the chief, and is not ashamed, upon their repentance, to be allied to them. Also, that the worth and worthiness of Jesus Christ are personal, of himself, and not derived from his ancestors; humfrom some that were infamous. How little reason had the Jews, who were so called from this Judah, to boast as they did, that they were not born of fornica

bling himself to be made in the likeness of sinful flesh, he was pleased to descend

tion! John 8. 41. We have in this chapter, I. Judah's marriage and issue, and

the untimely death of his two eldest sons, v. 1-11. II. Judah's incest with his daughter-in-law Tamar, without his knowing it, v. 12-23. II. His confusion, when it was discovered, v. 24-26. IV. The birth of his twin sons, in whom his family was built up, v. 27-30.

h c. 44. 28. i 2 Kings 19. 1. Esth. 4. 1. Is. 32. 11. Jon. 3. 5. k 2 Sam. 12. 17. chief of the slaughter-men or executioners, or, chief marshal.

would be made for him, and therefore his brethren have a further design, to make the world believe that Joseph was torn in pieces by a wild beast; and this they did,

I. To clear themselves, that they might not be suspected to have done him any mischief. Note, We have all learned of Adam to cover our transgressions, Job 31. 33. When the Devil has taught men to commit one sin, he then teaches them to conceal it with another; theft and murder, with lying and perjury; but he that covers his sin, shall not prosper long. Joseph's brethren kept their own and one another's counsel for some time, but their villany came to light at last, and it is here published to the world, and the remembrance of it transmitted to every age.

II. To grieve their good father; it seems designed by them on purpose to be avenged upon him for his distinguishing love of Joseph: it was contrived on purpose to create the utmost vexation to him; they sent him Joseph's coat of many colours, with one colour more than it had had, a bloody colour, v. 32. They pretend they had found it in the fields, and Jacob himself must be scornfully asked, Is this thy son's coat? Now the badge of his honour is the discovery of his fate; and it is rashly inferred from the bloody coat, that Joseph, without doubt, is rent in pieces. Love is always apt to fear the worst concerning the person loved; there is a love that casteth out fear, but that is a perfect love. Now let those that know the heart of a parent, suppose the agonies of poor Jacob, and put their souls into his soul's stead. How strongly does he represent to himself the direful idea of Joseph's misery! Sleeping or waking, he imagines he sees the wild beasts setting upon Joseph; thinks he hears his piteous shrieks, when the lion roared against him; makes himself tremble and grow chill, many a time, when he fancies how the beasts sucked his blood, tore him limb from limb, and left no remains of him, but the coat of many colours, to carry the tidings. And, no doubt, it added no little to the grief, that he had exposed him, by sending him, and sending him all alone, on this dangerous journey, which proved so fatal to him. This cuts him to the heart, and he is ready to look upon himself as an accessory to the death

of his son.

Now, 1. Endeavours were used to comfort him; his sons basely pretended to do it, (v. 35,) but miserable hypocritical comforters were they all. Had they really desired to comfort him, they might easily have done it, by telling him the truth, "Joseph is alive, he is indeed sold into Egypt, but it will be an easy thing to send thither and ransom him." This would have loosed his sackcloth, and girded him with gladness presently. I wonder their countenances did not betray their guilt, and with what face they could pretend to condole with Jacob on the death of Joseph, when they knew he was alive. Note, The heart is strangely hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

But, 2. It was all in vain; Jacob refused to be comforted, v. 35. He was an obstinate mourner, resolved to go down to the grave mourning: it was not a sudden transport of passion, like that of David, Would God I had died for thee, my son, my son! But, like Job, he hardened himself in sorrow. Note, (1.) Great affection to any creature does but prepare for so much the greater affliction, when it is either removed from us, or imbittered to us; inordinate love commonly ends in immoderate grief; as much as the sway of the pendulum throws one way, so much it will throw the other way. (2.) Those consult neither the comfort of their souls, nor the credit of their religion, that are determined to sorrow, upon any occasion whatsoever;

went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. 2 And Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite, whose name was Shuah; and he took her, and went in unto her.

3 And she conceived, and bare a son; and he called his name Er.

4 And she conceived again, and bare a son; and she called his name Onan.

5 And she yet again conceived, and bare a son; and called his name Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bare him.

6 And Judah took a wife for Er his first-born, whose name was Tamar.

7 And Er, Judah's first-born, was wicked in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD slew him.

8 And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother's wife, and marry her, and raise up seed to thy brother.

9 And Onan knew that the seed should not be his and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest that he should give seed to his brother.

10 And the thing which he did displeased the LORD: wherefore he slew him also.

11 Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter-inlaw, Remain a widow at thy father's house, till

a 1 Chr. 2. 3. b Deut. 25. 5. Matt. 22. 24. • was evil in the eyes of the Lord.

we must never say, "We will go to our grave mourning," because we know not what joyful days Providence may yet reserve for us, and it is our wisdom and duty to accommodate ourselves to Providence. (3.) We often perplex ourselves with imaginary troubles; we fancy things worse than they are, and then afflict ourselves more than we need: sometimes there needs no more to comfort us, than to undeceive us: it is good to hope the best.

Lastly, The Ishmaelites and Midianites having bought Joseph, only to make their markets of him, here we have him sold again, (with gain enough to the merchants, no doubt,) to Potiphar, v. 36. Jacob was lamenting the loss of his life; had he known all, he would have lamented, though not so passionately, the loss of his liberty. Shall Jacob's free-born son exchange the best robe of his family for the livery of an Egyptian lord, and all the marks of servitude? How soon was the land of Egypt made a house of bondage to the seed of Jacob! Note, It is the wisdom of parents not to bring up their children too delicately, because they know not what hardships and mortifications Providence may reduce them to before they die. Jacob little thought that ever his beloved Joseph should be thus bought and sold for a servant.

NOTES TO CHAPTER XXXVIII.

V. 1-11. Here is,

I. Judah's foolish friendship with a Canaanite-man; he went down from his brethren, and withdrew for a time from their society, and his father's family, and got to be intimately acquainted with one Hirah, an Adullamite, v. 1. It is computed that he was not much above fifteen or sixteen years of age, an easy prey to the tempter. Note, When young people that have been well educated, begin to change their company, they will soon change their manners, and lose their good education. They that go down from their brethren, that despise and forsake the society of the seed of Israel, and pick up Canaanites for their companions, are going down the hill apace. It is of great consequence to young people to choose proper associates; for these they will imitate, study to recommend themselves to, and by their opinion of them, value themselves: an error in this choice is often fatal.

II. His foolish marriage with a Canaanite-woman; a match made, not by his father, who, it should seem was not consulted, but by his new friend Hirah, v. 2. Many have been drawn into marriages, scandalous and pernicious to themselves and their families, by keeping bad company, and growing familiar with bad people: one wicked league entangles men in another. Let young people be admonished by this, to take their good parents for their best friends, and to be advised by them, and not by flatterers, who wheedle them to make a prey of them.

III. His children by this Canaanite, and his disposal of them. Three sons he had by her, Er, Onan, and Shelah. It is probable that she embraced the worship of the God of Israel, at least in profession, but, for aught that appears, there was little of the fear of God in the family. Judah married too young, and very rashly; he also married his sons too young, when they had neither wit nor grace to govern themselves, and the consequences were very bad.

1. His first-born, Er, was notoriously wicked, he was so in the sight of the Lord, that is, in defiance of God and his law; or, if perhaps he was not wicked in the sight of the world, he was so in the sight of God, to whom all men's wickedness is open; and what came of it? Why God cut him off presently,

Shelah my son be grown: for he said, Lest peradventure he die also, as his brethren did. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father's house.

12 And in process of time the daughter of Shuah, Judah's wife, died; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto his sheep-shearers to Timnath, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite.

13 And it was told Tamar, saying, Behold, thy father-in-law goeth up to Timnath to shear his sheep.

14 And she put her widow's garments off from her, and covered her with a veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in an open place, which is by the way to Timnath: for she saw that Shelah was grown, and she was not given unto him to wife. 15 When Judah saw her, he thought her to be an harlot; because she had covered her face.

16 And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee; (for he knew not that she was his daughter-in-law.) And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou mayest come in unto me?

17 And he said, I will send thee a kid from the flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it?

• the days were multiplied.

e Josh. 15. 10. Judg. 14. 1.

the door of eyes, or, 23am. 14. 2, 5:

of Enajin. d Prov. 1. 12. a kid of the goats. * ver. 25. (v. 7,) The Lord slew him. Note, Sometimes God makes quick work with sinners, and takes them away in his wrath, when they are but just setting out in a wicked course of life. 2. The next son, Onan, was according to the ancient usage, married to the widow, to preserve the name of his deceased brother that died childless. Though God had taken away his life for his wickedness, yet they were solicitous to preserve his memory; and their disappointment therein, through Onan's sin, was a further punishment of his wickedness. The custom of marrying the brother's widow was afterward made one of the laws of Moses, Deut. 25. 5. Onan, though he consented to marry the widow, yet, to the great abuse of his own body, of the wife that he had married, and of the memory of his brother that was gone, he refused to raise up seed unto his brother, as he was in duty bound. This was so much the worse, because the Messiah was to descend from Judah, and had he not been guilty of this wickedness, he might have had the honour of being one of his ancestors. Note, Those sins that dishonour the body and defile it, are very displeasing to God, and evidences of vile affections.

3. Shelah, the third son, was reserved for the widow, (v. 11,) yet with a design that he should not marry so young as his brothers had done, lest he die also. Some think that Judah

never intended to marry Shelah to Tamar, but unjustly suspected her to have been the death of her two former husbands, (whereas it was their own wickedness that slew them,) and then sent her to her father's house, with a charge to remain a widow. If so, it was an inexcusable piece of prevarication that he was guilty of; however, Tamar acquiesced for the present, and waited the issue.

V. 12-23. It is a very ill-favoured story that is here told concerning Judah; one would not have suspected such folly in Israel. Judah had buried his wife; and widowers have need to stand upon their guard with the utmost caution and resolution against all fleshly lusts. He was unjust to his daughter-in-law, either through negligence or design, in not giving her his surviving son, and this exposed her to temptation.

I. Tamar wickedly prostituted herself as a harlot to Judah, that if the son might not, the father might, raise up seed to the deceased. Some excuse this, by suggesting that though she was a Canaanite, yet she had embraced the true religion, and believed the promise made to Abraham and his seed, particularly that of the Messiah, who was to descend from the loins of Judah, and that she was therefore thus earnestly desirous to have a child by one of that family, that she might have the honour, or, at least, stand fair for the honour, of being the mother of the Messiah. And if this was indeed her desire, it had its success; she is one of the four women particularly named in the genealogy of Christ, Matt. 1. 3. Her sinful practice was pardoned, and her good intention was accepted; which magnifies the grace of God, but will by no means be admitted to justify or encourage the like. Bishop Patrick thinks it probable that she hoped Shelah, who was by right her husband, might have come along with his father, and that he might have been allured to her embraces. There was a great deal of plot and contrivance in Tamar's sin. 1. She took an opportunity for it, when Judah had a time of mirth and feasting with his sheepshearers. Note, Times of jollity often prove times of temptation, particularly to the sin of uncleanness; when men are fed to the full, the reins are apt to be let loose. 2. She exposed herself as a harlot in an open place, v. 14. Those that are, and would be chaste, must be keepers at home, Tit. 2. 5. It should seem, it was the custom of harlots, in those times, to cover their faces, that though they were not ashamed, yet they might seem to be so. The sin of uncleanness, did not then go so barefaced as it does now..

VOL. I.-18

18 And he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet, and thy bracelets, and thy staff that is in thine hand: And he gave it her, and came in unto her; and she conceived by him. 19 And she arose, and went away, and laid by her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.

20 And Judah sent the kid by the hand of his friend the Adullamite, to receive his pledge from the woman's hand: but he found her not.

21 Then he asked the men of that place, saying, Where is the harlot, that was openly by the wayside? And they said, There was no harlot in this place.

22 And he returned to Judah, and said, I cannot find her; and also the men of the place said, that there was no harlot in this place.

23 And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be shamed:s behold, I sent this kid, and thou hast not found her.

24 And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter-in-law hath played the harlot and also, behold, she is with child by whoredom: And Judah said, Bring her forth, and let her be burnt'.

or, in

I become a contempt. g Prov. 6. 33. Rom. 6. 21. Eph. 5. 12: i Lev. 21. 9. Deut. 22. 21. 2 Sam. 12. 5.

Judg. 19. 2. Hos. 3. 3. II. Judah was taken in the snare, and though it was ignorantly that he was guilty of incest with his daughter-in-law, (not knowing who she was,) yet he was wilfully guilty of fornication; whoever she was, he knew she was not his wife, and therefore not to be touched: nor was his sin capable, in the least, of such a cha ritable excuse as some make for Tamar, that though the action was bad, the intention possibly might be good. Observe, 1. Judah's sin began in the eye; (v. 15,) he saw her. Note, Those have eyes and hearts full of adultery, (as it is 2 Pet. 2. 14,) that catch at every bait that presents itself to them, and are as tinder to every spark. We have need to make a covenant with our eyes, and to turn them from beholding vanity, lest the eye infect the heart. 2. It added to the scandal, that the hire of a harlot (than which nothing is more infamous) was demanded, offered, and accepted; a kid from the flock, a goodly price, at which her chastity and honour were valued! Nay, had the consideration been thousands of rams, and ten thousand rivers of oil, it had not been a valuable consideration. The favour of God, the purity of the soul, the peace of conscience, and the hope of heaven, are too precious to be exposed to sale at any such rates; the topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal them: what are those profited, that lose their souls to gain the world? 3. It turned to the reproach of Judah, that he left his jewels in pawn for a kid. Note, Fleshly lusts are not only brutish, but sottish, and ruining to men's secular interests. It is plain, that whoredom, as well as wine, and new wine, takes away the heart first, else it would never take away the signet and the bracelets.

III. He lost his jewels by the bargain; he sent the kid, according to his promise, to redeem his pawn, but the supposed harlot could not be found. He sent it by his friend, (who was indeed his back friend, because he was aiding and abetting in his evil deeds,) the Adullamite, who came back without the pledge. It is a good account (if it be but true) of any place, which they here gave, that there is no harlot in this place; for such sinners are the scandals and plagues of any place. Judah sits down content, to lose his signet and his bracelets, and forbids his friend to make any further inquiry after them, giving this reason, lest we be shamed, v. 23. Either, 1. Lest his sin should come to be known publicly, and be talked of. Fornication and all uncleanness have ever been looked upon as scandalous things, and the reproach and shame of those that are convicted of them. Nothing will make those blush, that are not ashamed of these. Or, 2. Lest he should be laughed at as a fool, for trusting a strumpet with his signet and his bracelets. He expresses no concern about the sin, to get that pardoned, only about the shame, to prevent that. Note, There are many who are more solicitous to preserve their reputation with men, than to secure the favour of God and a good conscience; lest we be shamed, goes further with them, than lest we be damned. V. 24-30. Here is,

I. Judah's rigour against Tamar, when he heard she was an adulteress; she was, in the eye of the law, Shelah's wife, and therefore, her being with child by another, was looked upon as an injury and reproach to Judah's family; Bring her forth therefore, says Judah, the master of the family, and let her be burnt; not burnt to death, but burnt in the cheek or forehead, stigmatized for a harlot. This seems probable, v. 24. Note, It is a common thing for men to be severe against those very sins in others, which yet they allow themselves in; and so in judging others, they condemn themselves, Rom. 2. 1.-14. 22. If he designed that she should be burnt to death, perhaps under pretence of zeal against the sin, he was contriving how to get rid of his daughter-in-law, being loath to marry Shelah to her. Note, It is a common thing, but a very bad thing, to cover malice against men's persons with a show of zeal against their vices.

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