νεώτερος, καὶ τὴν ἀριστερὰν ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν Μανασσῆ, ἐναλλάξας τὰς χεῖρας.

blessing for which he longed. He bowed βαλεν ἐπὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν Ἐφραὶμ, οὗτος δε ἦν ὁ himself, testifying thereby his reverence to his father, his thankfulness for the favour which he had now showed to him and his, and his humble and earnest request for his blessing upon them.

Ged., Booth.-And Joseph brought them out from between his father's knees, and they bowed themselves [so Sam., LXX., Syr., one MS., Michaelis, Vater, Schott.] with their faces to the ground.

Rosen.-Adoravitque ad faciem suam, sc. procidens, pronus ad terram, patri gratias agens et honorem deferens, quod filios suos adoptasset. In textu Sam. est Pluralis, n, adorarunt, sc. Ephraim et Manasse, probante J. D. Michaele. Quum enim jam solemnis benedictio a Jacobo deberet peragi; genua flectentes denuo accedunt Josephi filii. Ita et LXX. quos sequitur Syrus. Tum erit: uterque in faciem suam.

Schum.-And he bowed himself to the ground before the face of his father. De vocc. E in diversas partes abierunt interpretes. Qui alteram lectionem probarunt, transferunt vel et prostraverunt se uterque (filiorum Iosephi) in faciem suam (vid. Michaelis, 1. 1, et Schulz, ad h. 1.), vel: quo facto coram facie eius ad terram sese inclinarunt (vid. Ilgen, Vater, Schott, ad h. 1.). Contra qui vulgarem lectionem defendunt, eam reddiderunt vel et facie sua ad terram demissa sese inclinavit (vid. Clericus), vel: adoravitque ad faciem suam (procidens), pronus ad terram (sic Vulg., Mercer, Rosenmueller). Sed equidem non solum proclivis sum ad textus lectionem tuendam, quia Iosephus filiorum loco rite agit isque filios adducit, amovet; sed etiam ad Iacobi faciem referendum censeo, quia, si Josephum spectaret, dicendum fuisset E, ut Gen. xix. 1: xlii. 6, igitur sine, quod personæ præponitur, ad quam quis se inclinat. Vid. Gen. xxiii. 7; xxxvii. 7, 9: 1 Sam. xxv. 23. Quamobrem præstat hanc loci mentem fundere: tum Ioseph illos a genibus eius (Iacobi) amovit, eum (patrem) rite veneratus, sive, debita observantia in eum declarata.

Ver. 14.

Au. Ver.-14 And Israel stretched out his right hand, and laid it upon Ephraim's head, who was the younger, and his left hand upon Manasseh's head, guiding his hands wittingly; for Manasseh was the firstborn. Who was the younger.

Ged., Booth. Although he was the

καὶ εὐλόγησεν αὐτοὺς.

Au. Ver.-15 And he blessed Joseph. Ged., Booth. And he blessed the sons of [LXX., Vulg.] Joseph.

Schumann considers the reading of the LXX. to be a mere conjecture; but he takes Joseph as a patronymic-the sons of Joseph. Mirum est, Iacobum non his, quibus manus imposuit, sed Iosepho bene precatum esse. Quod quum vidissent, LXX. quos temere sequitur Ilgen (Tempelarchiv, p. 310), ex coniectura pro Iosepho habent auroùs, Vulg., filiis Iosephi. Verum ex cap. xlix. clarum est, Iacobum per filios posteris fausta precari. Itaque non male reddas i nomen patronymicum: (benedixit) Iosephitis. Scriptorem vero consulto sic loquutum esse, tibi demonstret v. 20 et 22.-Schum.

Ver. 16.

Au. Ver.-16 The Angel which redeemed ἐκτείνας δὲ Ἰσραὴλ τὴν χεῖρα τὴν δεξιὰν ἐπέ- ne from all evil, bless the lads.

For 7, the Angel, the Sam. reads, Gen. ix. 23, and is here put for a part of the King, which Rosenmüller and others land which is choice and good, as the consider to be a gloss.

Ver. 19.

Au. Ver. And his father—

Ged., Booth.-But his father

Ver. 22.

shoulder is among the parts of the body. See 1 Sam. ix. 24. And he useth this word, that by allusion he might signify what place he speaks of, even Shechem, as may further appear by comparing Josh. xxiv. 32; John iv. 5. Yea, some would have Shechem here to be the proper name of the place, which might be if the word one were not added

Au. Ver.-22 Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.

One portion.

This place is understood, either, 1. Of

ἐγὼ δὲ δίδωμί σοι Σίκιμα ἐξαίρετον ὑπὲρ Amorites or Canaanites by his posterity, τοὺς ἀδελφούς σου, ἣν ἔλαβον ἐκ χειρὸς which he here ascribes to himself, and Αμοῤῥαίων ἐν μαχαίρᾳ μου καὶ τόξῳ. speaks of it in the past time, as of a thing already done, as the manner of the prophets is. But Jacob would not attribute that to his sword, which his posterity deny to be done by their sword, Psal. xliv. 3. And it is manifest that Jacob here speaks of that which was his by a special title, and which in a peculiar manner he gave to Joseph. Or, 2. Of the city and territory of Shechem, Prof. Lee.-, &c., &c., (a) A whose inhabitants were rooted out by Simeon shoulder. (d) Probably A load, i.e., as and Levi, and whose land being void was much as can be carried; thence a portion, possessed by Jacob. And this is said to be Gen. xlviii. 22. got by Jacob's sword and bow, because it Which I took out of the hand of the was got with the sword and bow of his sons Amorite, &c.

So Gesenius, Schumann, Lee, and most commentators. The LXX. and some few others take the word as a

proper name.

Simeon and Levi, and a great number of Ged.—Which I retook from the Amorites. his family, who doubtless were associated From chap. xxxiii. 19, we learn that with them in this expedition. But it is not Jacob bought a piece of land from Hamor likely that he would take to himself that at Sichem to which he no doubt here which he declares his utter abhorrence of, alludes. It should therefore seem that this Gen. xxxiv. 30; xlix. 5, 6, or that he spot had afterwards fallen into the hands of should call that his sword and his bow here the Amorites, after the destruction of the which he calls instruments of cruelty in Sichemites, and had been retaken from them Simeon's and Levi's hands, Gen. xlix. 5. by Jacob by the force of arms. Though this Or, 3. Which seems the truest, of that land transaction is nowhere else mentioned.-Ged. in the territory of Shechem, which Jacob Pool.-i. e., I do now give to thee the bought of Hamor, Gen. xxxiii. 19, which right, and I do prophetically give, and God is said to be got by his sword and bow, either, will really and actually give unto thy son 1. Properly, because he did by force of arms Ephraim, or his posterity, who shall possess expel those Amorites, who upon his retirethis part over and above that portion which ment from those parts, after the slaughter shall fall to him by lot. This was all the of the Shechemites, had invaded his lands, land which Jacob had in Canaan, which he though this story be not elsewhere recorded; here gives to Joseph, partly, in testimony as many things are mentioned by the by in of his great affection and obligation to him; some one place of Scripture, without any parpartly, as a sign that he did confirm the ticular account of the circumstances of them, right of the firstborn upon him; and partly, either there or elsewhere, as Gen. xxxvi. for the confirmation of the faith of Joseph 24; Deut. ii. 9—11; Josh. xxiv. 11. And and his brethren, and to oblige them to set though Jacob was a man of peace, yet his up their rest nowhere but in Canaan. One sons were warriors; and they by his perportion: the Hebrew word is Shechem, mission might drive out, by their arms, those which word indeed signifies a shoulder, as straggling Canaanites which had taken pos

session of his purchase, Jacob being the [ling them thence: but the Scripture relates more willing to recover his right herein, many things to have been done, without because it was an earnest of his future pos- mentioning the circumstances of time and session of the whole land. And the neigh- place: as Bochartus observes. And among bouring Canaanites would not concern other instances gives that in xxxvi. 24,

themselves in the defence of the invaders, where Ana is said to have met with the both because they were convinced of the Emims (so he understands it) in the wilderright of Jacob's cause, and because they ness: of which encounter we find no mention were overruled by Divine Providence, in in any other place (see his Hierozoic., par. which Jacob trusted, and of which he had ii. lib. iv. cap. 13). And as I take it, we ample experience. Or, 2. Metaphorically, have a plainer instance in the place a little i. e., by his money, which he calls his sword before mentioned (Heb. xi. 21), where the and his bow, not only because money is apostle says, "Jacob, when he was a dying, answerable to the sword and the bow, and blessed both the sons of Joseph, and worall other things, Eccl. x. 19, and is a shipped, leaning upon the top of his staff." defence, Eccl. vii. 12, and therefore may Of which there is not a word in this history, well be so called, even as prayers and tears but only of his blessing them (ver. 20). are called the arms of the Church, because they serve for the same purpose that arms do against their enemies; but also and principally by way of opposition to the sword and bow of his cruel sons. So the sense may be this, I have given to thee one portion, or one Shechem, not the city of Shechem, which Simeon and Levi took from the hand of the Amorite with their sword and their bow, but a part of the territory of Shechem which I took or received from the hand of the Amorite by my sword and my bow, i. e., by my money, whereby I purchased it.

There are those who, with St. Jerome, understand by sword and bow, his money: which he calls by those warlike names, to signify this was the only instrument he used to acquire anything. Just as the Romans, when they would signify they had got anything without any other help but their own industry alone, say they obtained it proprio marte; using a similitude from military expenses and labours. If this do not seem harsh, it is not hard to give an account why he calls those Amorites who before were called Hivites: for Amorites seems to have been the general name of all the seven nations of Canaan, they being the chief; just as all the people of the seven United Provinces are now commonly called Hollanders, who are the most potent of all the rest.

Quam cepi e manu אֲשֶׁר לָקַחְתִּי וגו'-.Rosen

Bp. Patrick.-22 Which I took out of the hand of the Amorite, &c.] He doth not mean the city of Shechem; which his sons took unjustly and cruelly (and not from the Amorites, but the Hivites), without his knowledge, and contrary to his will: but that piece of land which he bought of Hamor Amorai, Amoræorum, gladio meo et arcu the father of Shechem (Gen. xxxiii. 19, meo. Non intelligit tantum agrum, quem compared with St. John iv. 5). Which prope Sichem emerat (xxxiii. 18), nam seems to be the reason why Joseph was emere non est armis acquirere; sed totum himself here buried in his own ground, agrum Sichemitarum, quem Simeon et Levi given him by his father (Josh. xxiv. 32), armis suis acquisiverunt. Quod factum and not in the cave of Machpelah. The quamvis Jacobus summopere improbaret, only difficulty is, how he could say, that he nil tamen obstat, quo minus tractus ille, took this land from the Amorite by his sword, quum vacuus relictus esset, nullis vicinorum and by his bow (which comprehend all eum occupantibus, Jacobo cesserit. Dicit warlike instruments), when he bought it for autem se illum sibi suis armis acquisivisse, a hundred pieces of silver of Hamor the quamvis filii illo vi injusta potiti fuerint, Hivite. It is to be supposed therefore that quum pater et posteri quasi homo unus he took it, i. e., recovered it from the habeantur; vid. e. c. ad xlvi. 4. Minime Amorites, who had seized on it, after his opus est, cum nonnullis Hebræorum R removal to another part of Canaan; and pro futuro capere, q. d.: quam accipiam, would not restore it, but constrained him to i. e., quam mei posteri suis armis, cum drive them out by force. We read nothing Cananæam occupabunt, Amoræis eripient. indeed in the foregoing history, either of Ad quam sententiam ideo delapsi videntur, their invading his possession, or his expel- quia si hæc Jacobi verba referuntur ad ea,

quæ c. xxxiv. narrantur, non apparet, quo- | ticum eripuisse dici possit. Quas difficultates modo Jacobus Amoræis tractum Sichemiti- ut removerent, plerique duplicem viam incum eripuisse dicere possit, quum Sichemus ierunt. Altera est eorum, qui opinantur, xxxiv. 2, Chivæus dicatur. Verum simpli- | ut lacunam historicam expleant, Amoræos cissimum est, Amoræos pro Cananæis agrum Semiticum, quem Iacobus post cædem generatim dici existimare, ut Amos ii. 9, Sichemorum Hebronem migrans deseruisset, (ubi cf. not.), quod illi Cananæorum, quibus et Chivæi accensebantur, potentissimi essent, quippe quorum dominatio et ultra et citra Jordanem longe lateque patebat.

occupasse, sed Iacobum postea illuc reversum vi et armis Amoræos expulisse et agrum suum gladio et arcu recepisse (vidd. Bonfrer., Calov. ad h. 1., W. A. Bachiene, Schum.-Vocem LXX. ut nomen Histor. und Geograph. Beschreib. von Paläsproprium reddiderunt. Sed cum adiectum tina, übersetzt mit Anmerk. von Gottfr. Maas., sit, illa necessario denotat latus, tractum, p. ii. t. iii. p. 351. Lipsiæ, 1773. Kuincel., partem, quam Iosephus præ ceteris fratribus 1. 1). Altera est potissimum Merceri et acceperit. (Cfr. Hoffinanni commentar. in Rosenmuelleri, qui contendunt, totum agrum Deut. xxxiii. p. iii. p. 37.) Qualis autem Sichemitarum, quem nulli vicini occupare hæc fuerit, antiquitus dissenserunt inter se ausi essent, Iacobo cessisse, Iacobum autem interpretes. Alii enim cum LXX. de urbe dici illum sibi suis armis acquisivisse, quamSichem explicant collato cap. xxxiv. alii cum vis filii illo vi iniusta potiti fuerint, quum Iohanne ev. iv. 5 (ëpxetai ovv els ñódi τŷs pater et posteri quasi homo unus habeantur. Σαμαρείας λεγομένην Συχὰρ, πλησίον τοῦ Deinde Rosenmueller. simplicissimum iuχωρίου ὅ ἔδωκεν Ἰακὼβ Ἰωσὴφ τῷ υἱῷ αὑτοῦ. dicat existimare, Amoræos pro Cananæis Cfr. ad h. 1. Kuinolii et Lueckii commentar.) generatim dictos esse ut Amos ii. 9, quod de agro, prædio, quod Iacobus prope Si-illi Cananæorum, quibus et Chivæi accensi chemum emerat, collato xxxiii. 18, s. Utri- sint, potentissimi fuissent, quippe quorum que tamen offenderunt in seqq. 7, dominatio et ultra et citra Iordanem paquam manibus Amoritarum gladio meo et tuisset. Sed quomodo Iacob v. 21, ut arcu meo eripui. Nam quum Genesis liber vates moribundus futura tanquam præsentia nullam huius facti Iacobi mentionem inie- sive futura exacta canit: ita eum et v. 22, cerit, contra Iacobus agrum xxxiii. 19, verbum veluti futurum exactum propretio emisse non gladio et arcu acquisivisse, nuntiasse putaverim hac mente: quam olim dicatur: non satis apparet, quid sibi scriptor per posteros meos, Israëlitas, Amoræis bello voluerit, quamquam interpretes, ne quod eripuero. Cfr. Ios. xvi.; Iud. i. 35; Rosenstatuebant nimiopere vacillaret, variam ex- muelleri Alterthumsk. vol. ii. p. i. p. 256, s. plicandi rationem tentârunt. At risum Quapropter verisimillimum est, scriptorem magis movent quam locum illustrant meta- hic spectasse id, quod Ioseph 1. 25, optat et phoricæ interpretationes, quas Hieronymus, Ex. xiii. 19; Ios. xxiv. 32, evenit. Quodsi Chald., Aben-Esra aliique excogitarunt v. c. verum est, Iacob moribundus pollicetur gladium et arcu significare pecuniam multo Iosepho, quod deus Iacobo pollicitus est labore et sudore acquisitam aut arma piorum, xlvi. 3, 4. Ceterum de verbis: gladio et orationem et obsecrationem. Alii contra arcu meo, cfr. Ios. xxiv. 12, quo locus omnium codd. auctoritatem pro in voce tamen negative tantum, ut ita dicam, nostro scribi volunt, ut ab inusitato convenit.

Alii, tam inani coniectura critica merito explosa, respiciunt Simeonis et Levi crudeliter factum, ex quo Sichem ob stuprum Dinæ illatum arcu et gladio occupassent.

ἐκάλεσε δὲ Ἰακὼβ τοὺς υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ, καὶ

At vix tibi persuadeas, Iacobum illud factum, εἶπεν αὐτοῖς. συνάχθητε, ἵνα ἀναγγείλω ὑμῖν, quod tantopere improbaverit et paulo post τί ἀπαντήσει ὑμῖν ἐπ ̓ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν. c. xlix. 5—7, iterum improbat, sibi ipsi Au. Ver.-And Jacob called unto his tribuisse. Neque sic apparet, quum Sche- sons, and said, Gather yourselves together, chemus xxxiv. 2, Chivæus appelletur, quo- that I may tell you that which shall befall modo Iacobus Amorais tractum Sichemi- you in the last days.

Ged. In future days.

In the last days. So Onkelos and others, fined to the firstborn before the law, as who understand it of the times of the appears by Abel's offering sacrifice as well Messiah. as Cain, and Moses being a priest as well as Aaron (Psal. xcix. 6), unless we understand thereby the office of chief priest. And so Jonathan here reports the ancient opinion of the Jews, that Reuben lost the highpriesthood (lib. i. de Synedr., cap. 16, p. 643, &c.).

Rosen., Schum.-Hereafter. For the prophecy related more particularly to the settlement of the Israelites in the land of Canaan. Therefore translate in posterum as the words are used Num. xxiv. 14; Deut. iv. 30; Jer. xlviii. 47; Dan. ii. 28. Iacobum

My might.] Whom I begot when I was

de tribuum sorte in Cananæa obtinenda in my full vigour. prophetæ personam agere, ab initio non The beginning (or the first-fruits) of my minus indicat scriptor quam sub finem strength.] The same thing, in more words. v. 28. Quodsi animo perpendis, vocc. Or, it may be interpreted, the prime support non reddes cum Hieronymo: The firstborn is called the novissimis temporibus, vel cum Onkel. beginning of strength, in Deut. xxi. 17; Psalm cv. 36.

in fine dierum, ut possis cum multis veterum interpretum messianam ætatem intelligere, sed: in posterum; id quod illa verba denotant Num. xxiv. 14; Deut. iv. 30; Ier. xlviii. 47; Dan. ii. 28, pet Coran. Sur. ii. 4.-Schum.

Ver. 3.

of my family.

The excellency of dignity.] Who hadst the pre-eminence among thy brethren (being the firstborn), if thou hadst not fallen from it by thy folly; as it follows afterwards.

The excellency of power.] Who wast born to the highest authority among them. The Hebrews refer dignity to the priesthood, and "power to the kingdom. But there being no

solid ground to think the priesthood, as I יֶתֶר שְׂאֵת וְיֶתֶר עָז :

I

Ρουβὴν πρωτότοκός μου, σὺ ἰσχύς μου, καὶ said before, was confined to the eldest ἀρχὴ τέκνων μου, σκληρὸς φέρεσθαι, καὶ brother, I take dignity to signify the double σκληρὸς αὐθάδης. portion of the estate; and power, authority among them, while they remained in one family.

Au. Ver.-3 Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power.

Ged.-Reuben! my firstborn wert thou; the fruit of my vigour, the prime of my might; superior in dignity, superior in strength.

Booth.

Reuben! my firstborn wast thou;

Pool. The beginning of my strength; the first instance or evidence of my might or strength, or of that masculine vigour whereby God enabled me to beget a child. Compare Deut. xxi. 17; Psal. cv. 36. Or the first of my children, which are the strength, the stays, and supports of a father, and of his family; thence called his arrows, as Psal. cxxvii. 4, and by other authors, the pillars of the house. The excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. As firstborn thou hadst the right of precedency before all thy brethren in point of dignity and power of privilege; the double portion, the priesthood, the dominion over thy brethren were thine.

The beginning of my vigour and strength; Superior in excellence-superior in power! Bp. Patrick.-Thou art my firstborn.] So we read xxix. 32. To whom the Jews commonly observe belonged three prerogatives a double portion of the father's estate, the priesthood, and the kingdom (as they speak), i.e., the chief authority among his brethren. The first of these, says the Chaldee para- Bp. Horsley.-"'UN M'ONT "First-fruit of phrast, was given to Joseph, the second my manly vigour." That this expression to Levi, the third to Judah, because Reuben signifies an eldest son is certain. It occurs had forfeited all the rights of his primoge-in this sense in Deut. xxi. 17; Ps. lxxviii. niture, by his incest with his father's wife. 51; and cv. 36. In the two last places it But Mr. Selden himself (who gives a full is rendered by the LXX., άжаруη movov, account of the Jews' opinion in this matter) or Tovшv. That particularly signifies the acknowledges the priesthood was not con- generative vigour of the male in procreation,