Esau did Isaac by marrying the Daughters of Heth. Whose name was Shuah Her Father's Name was Shuah verse 12. He took her To be his Wife verse 12. Ver. 5. And he was at Chezib when she bare him Some think this Town the same with Achzib belonging to Judah Josh XV. 44. But why Moses mentions his absence when this Child was born and why he sets down the Place where he then was we cannot give an account Though there was no doubt some special Reason for it Perhaps it is to show why she gave the Name to this and to her former Son whereas he himself named the first verse 3. because he was not at home when they were born Ver. 6. Whose name was Tamar She seems also to have been a Woman of Canaan but not an Idolater Ver. 7. Was wicked in the sight of the LORD i. e. Exceeding impious and that notoriously See Gen. X. 9. What particular Sins he was guilty of is but conjectured Some fansie they were of the same nature with his next Brother's See Bonfrere or Menochius out of him And the LORD slew him Cut him off suddenly by some unusual stroke Ver. 8. Go in unto thy Brother's Wife c. This say the Hebrew Doctors was an ancient Custom in force before the Law of Moses Which only enacted what had been formerly practised Maimon P. III. cap. 49. More Nevoch that when a Man died without Issue his next Brother should marry his Wife Deut. XXV 5. Which Custom afterward extended to the next Cousin if no Brother remained And raise up Seed unto thy Brother Preserve thy Brother's Name and Family by begetting a Child which may be accounted his and inherit his Estate For so the Law was that the First-born of such a match was not to be lookt upon as the Child of him that begat him but as his Brother's who was the Mother's first Husband All the following Children were to be his own Ver. 9. Onan knew that the Seed should not be his i. e. The First-born should be reputed his Brother's Child Lest he should give Seed to his Brother Or lest a Child should be born in the name of his Brother as the Vulgar Latin interprets it very exactly according to the Opinion of the Hebrews as Mr. Selden observes L. VII de Jure N. G. cap. 3. Ver. 10. The thing which he did displeased the LORD This made his Sin the more heinous that he acted against the Divine Promise made to Abraham concerning the multiplying of his Seed Especially against the Belief of the Promise of the Messiah that Seed for which all good Men longed Ver. 11. Remain a widow in thy Father's house c. It seems the Contract of Marriage at first was so understood in those Days that if the Husband died without Issue the Woman must marry his next Brother and as long as any of his Brethren remained they were bound to marry his Wife and preserve their Brother's Memory Or else solemnly renounce her to their great infamy and disgrace This was so well known that there is nothing in the Law that enjoyns any new solemn Contract in such a Case Because the first Husband being dead she and the next Brother were Man and Wife without any further Agreement by Virtue of the Original Law Until he renounced her Yet by the Constitutions afterwards made by their Elders it was ordained that he should espouse and endow her solemnly before Witnesses As Mr. Selden shows in his Vxor Hebr. Lib. I. cap. 12. and Lib. II. cap. 2. and 10. But Judah thought Selah was too young to perform this Contract and therefore desired her to stay till he was grown up And to abide in her own Father's House rather than in his that Selah might not think of Marriage too soon For he said Lest peradventure he die also This some make an Argument that he never intended to give her his Son But it is more agreeable to verse 24 and 26. to think that according to the Custom of those Days he could not refuse it And therefore he thought it was their youthful Folly which made his two other Sons perish Which made him resolve to keep this till he had more Discretion and was better instructed in his Duty Or if we imagine their Sin was known to none but Tamar the meaning may be that he thought their marrying too young was the cause of their death And therefore he determined to keep this only remaining Son till he was of a riper Age. Ver. 12. In process of time In the Hebrew the words are The Days were multiplied i. e. after some Years To Timnath A Town not far from Adullam it is probable for it was also within the Lot of the Tribe of Judah Josh XV. 57. He went up to Timnath Some have made a difficulty about this Phrase For Sampson is said to have gone down to Timnath Judg. XIV 5. But they should have considered as Bochart observes P. I. Hierozoic L. III. cap. 4. that these were two different Places one called Timnah the other Timnathah This in the Tribe of Judah the other in the Tribe of Dan. To this they went up because it was in a mountainous Country To the other they went down because it was in a Valley To his Sheep-shearers It was the Custom at such times to make a Feast as we do now and to invite their Kindred and Friends to it as he doth his Friend Hirah which appears sufficiently from the Story of Absalom 2 Sam. XIII 23. For in those Countries where they had vast Flocks Sheep-shearing was a kind of Harvest Which made that time to be observed with such Joy as there used to be in Harvest Whence David's Servants said to Nabal that they were come to him on a good Day for he was shearing Sheep 1 Sam. XXV 8. Accordingly Judah having finished the time of mourning for his Wife went to recreate himself with his Friends at this Festival Season Ver. 14. She put off her Widows Garments In which it seems such Persons continued till they were married to the next Brother But she at this time laid them aside that he might not have the least suspicion she was the Person whom he courted Covered her with a Veil As all Women did in the Eastern Countries when they went abroad And there are Examples of it also in the Western Parts of the World as Mr. Selden at large shows in his Vxor Hebraica L. III. cap. 17. Where he produces several Passages out of the Alcoran requiring this Wrapt her self Muffled her Face with it as we speak that she might not be known And sat in an open place Where two Ways met as the Hebrew words seem to import Unless we take it for a proper Name as it is in the Margin of our Bibles Either way it signifies in a Publick Place where every Body might see her It is commonly noted That there was so much Modesty left in those ancient Days that Harlots both
and all his Brethren He first and they followed him But not content with this some of them adventure to tell us how many Years every one of them lived nay the very Month and Day of their Birth as may be seen in R. Bechai Reuben for instance they say was born the XIV Day of Cisleu and died when he was CXXV Years old c. And he was put in a Coffin in Egypt To be preserved in that Chest or Ark as the Hebrew word is commonly translated till they themselves went from thence Herodotus in the Book above-named Euterpe cap. 86 90. speaks of the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Chests wherein dead Bodies were inclosed after their Embalming Which they laid 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the House or Cell where these Chests were reposited reared against the Wall of it Whether Joseph's Coffin was put into such a common Repository or rather preserved in a place by it self we cannot determine But the Chaldee hath an odd Conceit as G. Schikkard observes in his Jus Regium p. 159. that it was kept in the River Nile Which arose perhaps from a mistake of the relation which that Author had met withal of the Place where they laid their Bodies Which were let down very deep Wells or Vaults some call them some of which were not far from the River Nile and so put into a Cave which was at the bottom of those Wells For so F. Vansleb and others who have gone to search for Mummies describe the Places where they lie And tell us they found some of the Coffins made of Wood not putrefied to this Day and others of Clothes pasted together forty times double which were as strong as Wood and not at all rotten The Reader cannot but observe That from the time of Joseph's advancement to the Government till the time of his death i. e. for LXXX Years there is no mention of the death of any King in Egypt For it was not Moses his Intention to write the History of that Kingdom or to give us the Series of their Kings But only to acquaint us with the Series of the Patriarchs and give some account of them from the Creation to his own time All other things must be learnt out of other Authors And according to Eusebius whom Jac. Capellus follows the first King of the XVIIIth Dynasty when the Egyptian History he makes account ceased to be fabulous was Amos Whose Dream Joseph interpreted and was by him preferred After he had reigned XXV Years he left the Kingdom to Chebros who reigned XIII Years Next to whom was Amenophis as much as to say a Servant of Noph i. e. Memphis who reigned XXI Years And then left the Kingdom to Mephres who held it XII Years To whom Josephus out of Manetho substitutes Amersis and says he reigned XXII Years And then succeeded Mephramuthosis who reigned XXVI Years In the beginning of whose time Joseph died The END of the Book of GENESIS Books Written by SYMON PATRICK D. D. now Lord Bishop of ELY and printed for Richard Chiswell THe Parable of the Pilgrim Written to a Friend The Sixth Edition 4 to 1681. Mensa Mystica Or a Discourse concerning the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper In which the Ends of its Institution are so manifested our Addresses to it so directed our Behaviour there and afterward so composed that we may not lose the Profits which are to be received by it With Prayers and Thansgivings inserted To which is annexed Aqua Genitalis A Discourse concerning Baptism In which is inserted a Discourse to persuade to a Confirmation of the Baptismal Vow 8 vo Jewish Hypocrisie A Caveat to the present Generation Wherein is shewn both the false and the true way to a Nations or Persons compleat Happiness from the Sickness and Recovery of the Jewish State To which is added a Discourse upon Micah 6.8 belonging to the same Matter 8 vo Divine Arithmetick A Sermon at the Funeral of Mr. Samuel Jacomb Minister of St. Mary Woolnoth-Church in Lombard-street London With an Account of his Life 8 vo An Exposition of the Ten Commandements 8 vo Heart's Ease Or a Remedy against all Troubles With a Consolatory Discourse particularly directed to those who have lost their Friends and Relations To which is added Two Papers printed in the time of the late Plague The Sixth Edition corrected 12 mo 1695. The Pillar and Ground of Truth A Treatise shewing that the Roman Church falsly claims to be That Church and the Pillar of That Truth menâ—ioned by St. Paul in 1 Tim. 3.15 4 to An Examination of Bellarmin's Second Note of the Church viz. ANTIQVITY 4 to An Examination of the Texts which Papists cite out of the Bible to prove the Supremacy of St. Peter and of the Pope over the whole Church In Two Parts 4 to A Private Prayer to be used in Difficult Times A Thanksgiving for our late Wonderful Deliverance A Prayer for Charity Peace and Unity chiefly to be used in Lent A Sermon preached upon St. Peter's Day printed with Enlargements 4 to A Sermon preached in St. James's Chappel before the Prince of Orange Jan. 20. 1688. on Isaiah 11.6 A Second Part of the Sermon before the Prince of Orange on the same Text. Preached in Covent-Garden A Sermon preached before the Queen in March 1688 9. on Coloss 3.15 A Sermon against Murmuring preached at Covent-Garden in Lent 1688 9. On 1 Cor. 10.10 A Sermon against Censuring paeached at Covent-Garden in Advent 1688. On 1 Cor. 4.10 A Fast-Sermon before the King and Q April 16. 1690. on Prov. 14.34 A Thanksgiving-Sermon before the Lords Nov. 26. 1691. for Reducing of Ireland and the King 's safe Return On Deut. 4.9 A Fast-Sermon before the Qeeen April 8. 1692. on Numb 10.9 A Commentary on the First Book of Moses called Genesis 4 to 1695. JAcobi Vsserii Historia Dogmatica Controvers inter Orthodoxos Pontificios de Scripturis Sacris Vernaculis 4to Tho. Pope-Blunt Censura Celebriorum Authorum sive tractatus in quo varia virorum Doctorum de Clariss cujusque saeculi Scriptoribus Judicia Traduntur Fol. Gul. Camdeni Illustrium Virorum ad Gul. Camdenum Epistolae 4to Anglia Sacra sive Collectio Historiarum Antiquitus Scriptarum de Archiepiscopis Episcopis Angliae à Prima Fidei Christianae susceptione ad Annum 1540. in Duobus voluminibus per Henricum Whartonum Fol. Dr. Peter Alix his Remarks on the Ecclesiastical Histories of the Ancient Churches of Piedmont and the Albigenses In Two Parts 4 to The Letters of Father Paul Author of the History of the Council of Trent 8 vo The Character of Q. Elizabeth and her Principal Ministers of State With an Account of Her Policies and Method of Government By Edm. Bohun Esq 8 vo Rushworth's Historical Collections The Third Part. In Two Volumes never before printed From the beginning of the Long Parliament 1640 to the end of the Year 1644. Wherein is a particular Account of the Rise and Progress of the Civil War to that Period Fol. 1692. A Discourse of the Pastoral Care By GILBERT Lord Bishop of Sarum His Four Discourses delivered to the Clergy of the Diocess of Sarum Concerning I. The Truth of the Christian Religion II. The Divinity and the Death of Christ III. The Infallibility and Authority of the Church IV. The Obligations to continue in the Communion of the Church 8 vo His Lent-Sermon before the Queen March 11. 1693 4. on 1 Cor. 1.16 A Sermon preached before the Queen at White-Hall Decemb. 10. 1693. on 1 John 5.4 By Sam. Freeman D. D. Dean of Peterborough His Sermon before the Lord-Mayor in Easter-Week 1694. on Mat. 25.46 An Impartial History of the Late Wars of Ireland from the beginning to the end In Two Parts Illustrated with Copper Sculptures describing the most Important Places of Action Written by George Storey an Eye-witness of the most Remarkable Passages 4 to A Discourse of the Government of the Thoughts By George Tully Sub-Dean of York 8 vo Memoirs of the most Reverend Thomas Cranmer Archbishop of Canterbury Wherein the History of the Church and the Reformation of it during the Primacy of the said Archbishop are greatly illustrated and many singular Matters relating thereunto now first published In Three Books Collected chiefly from Records Registers Authentick Letters and other Original Manuscripts By John Strype M. A. Fol. Origo Legum Or A Treatise of the Origin of Laws and their Obliging Power As also of their great Variety and why some Laws are immutable and some not but may suffer change or cease to be or be suspended or abrogated In Seven Books By George Dawson Fol. A Brief Discourse concerning the Lawfulness of Worshipping God by the Common-Prayer in Answer to a Book Intituled A Brief Discourse of the Vnlawfulness of Common-Prayer-Worship By John Williams D. D. 4 to A True Representation of the Absurd and Mischievous Principles of the Sect commonly known by the Name of the Muggletonians 4 to A Sermon concerning the Coelestial Body of a Christian after the Resurrection preached before the King and Queen at White-Hall April 8. 1694. being Easter-Day By Thomas Lord Bishop of Lincoln Dr. John Conaut's Sermons 8 vo Published by Dr. Williams The History of the Troubles and Trial of the most Reverend Father in God and Blessed Martyr William Laud Lord Arch-Bishop of Canterbury Wrote by himself during his imprisonment in the Tower To which is prefixed the Diary of his own Life faithfully and entirely published from the Original Copy And subjoyned a Supplement to the preceding History The Arch-Bishop's Last Will His Large Answer to the Lord SAY's Speech concerning the Liturgies His Annual Accounts of his Province delivered to the King And some other Things relating to the History Published by the Order of Arch-Bishop Sandcroft given before his Death to Henry Wharton his Chaplain Fol.
of the Eastern Countries From whom it is evident by this History all Learning Arts and Sciences originally came I could add a great deal more to this purpose but the Reader I hope will find enough to satisfie him in the Commentary it self And therefore I shall only make this one Request to him That he would take his Bible and read every Verse intirely along with this Commentary For I have not set down every Word of the Text for fear of swelling this Work unto too great a Bulk April 10. 1694. An Advertisement THat the Reader may more readily find any particular Place in which he would be satisfied the Page where each Chapter begins which should have been set down on the head of every Page is here noted CHAP. I. Page 1 CHAP. II. Page 32 CHAP. III. Page 58 CHAP. IV. Page 85 CHAP. V. Page 111 CHAP. VI. Page 123 CHAP. VII Page 136 CHAP. VIII Page 144 CHAP. IX Page 154 CHAP. X. Page 168 CHAP. XI Page 218 CHAP. XII Page 237 CHAP. XIII Page 247 CHAP. XIV Page 254 CHAP. XV. Page 267 CHAP. XVI Page 280 CHAP. XVII Page 286 CHAP. XVIII Page 297 CHAP. XIX Page 309 CHAP. XX. Page 323 CHAP. XXI Page 330 CHAP. XXII Page 339 CHAP. XXIII Page 353 CHAP. XXIV Page 361 CHAP. XXV Page 373 CHAP. XXVI Page 391 CHAP. XXVII Page 400 CHAP. XXVIII Page 408 CHAP. XXIX Page 418 CHAP. XXX Page 423 CHAP. XXXI Page 434 CHAP. XXXII Page 450 CHAP. XXXIII Page 459 CHAP. XXXIV Page 465 CHAP. XXXV Page 472 CHAP. XXXVI Page 483 CHAP. XXXVII Page 491 CHAP. XXXVIII Page 502 CHAP. XXXIX Page 514 CHAP. XL. Page 519 CHAP. XLI Page 526 CHAP. XLII Page 543 CHAP. XLIII Page 552 CHAP. XLIV Page 560 CHAP. XLV Page 566 CHAP. XLVI Page 572 CHAP. XLVII Page 583 CHAP. XLVIII Page 592 CHAP. XLIX Page 600 CHAP. L. Page 633 ERRATA Page 17. Line 16. read propagate them Page 18. Line 6. r. habent utique Page 45. Line 2. r. Physcus Page 56. Line 19. del therefore before she Page 80. ult r. seem to be forced Page 81. Line 15. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 82. Line 22. r. Pherecydes Page 110. Line 8. r. Erpenius Page 114. Line 8. r. Gassendus and Peireskius Page 126. Line 14. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 128. Line 21. r. V. 32. Page 141. Line 12. r. all the high Hills Page 146. Line 8. r. Cilicia Page 160. Line 31. r. never let them thicken Page 165. Line 10. r. Nethinim Page 180. Line 28. r. Lake Tritonides Page 184. penul r. that very learned Page 185. Line 24. r. or Rhegma Page 192. Line 8. r. East-side of Tigris Page 199. Line 24. r. Kadmonites Page 202. Line 5. r. But we read Page 206. Line 6. r. was Aramaei Page 215. Line 20. r. we should read Page 218. Line 14. r. their Mouth formed Page 219. Line 4. r. Gedaliah Page 221. Line 10. r. World The ripeness Page 241. Line 27. r. Sichem and the plain Page 278. Line 20. r. Peleufiacum brachium Page 305. Line 20. r. to cry first to show Page 351. Line 23. r. possess the Gate Page 369. Line 1. r. consents Page 386. Line 10. r. Euphrates Page 403. pen. r. observe Page 419. Line 22. r. about it Page 424. pen. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 453. Line 28. r. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Page 456. Line 18. r. hollow Page 464. Line 22. r. Kesita Page 473. Line 17. r. houshold Page 497. Line 12. r. their Camels Page 606. Line 17. r. too strait for them Page 609. Line 31. r. there should continue Page 630. Line 31. r. Tribe of Benjamin Page 639. Line 20. r. in case he should meet A COMMENTARY UPON THE First Book of MOSES CALLED GENESIS THat MOSES wrote this and the Four following Books hath been so constantly believed both by Jews Christians and Heathens that none I think denied it till Aben Ezra a Jewish Doctor who lived not much above five hundred Years ago raised some Doubts about it in his Notes upon the First of Deuteronomy out of XII Passages in these Books themselves Which he pretended could not be his but the Words of a later Author But when I meet with those places I shall make it appear that all such exceptions are very frivolous and ought not to shake our belief of this Truth That these Five Books were penned by MOSES and no Body else The first is called GENESIS because it contains the History of the Creation of the World with which it begins and the Genealogy of the Patriarchs down to the death of Joseph where it ends It comprehends an History of Two thousand three hundred and sixty nine Years or thereabouts The truth of all which it was not difficult for Moses to know because it came down to his time through but a very few Hands For from Adam to Noah there was one Man Methuselah who lived so long as to see them both And so it was from Noah to Abraham Shem conversed with both As Isaac did with Abraham and Joseph From whom these things might easily be conveyed to Moses by Amram who lived long enough with Joseph In short Moses might have been confuted if he had written any thing but the Truth by learned Men of other Nations who sprang from the same Root and had the like means of being acquainted with the great things here reported by tradition from their Fore-fathers Who lived so long in the beginning of the World that they more certainly transmitted things to their Posterity Besides it is not reasonable to think they had not the use of Writing as we have whereby they conveyed the knowledge of Times foregoing to those that came after Verse 1. In the beginning The World is not eternal but had a beginning as all Philosophers acknowledged before Aristotle So he himself informs us L. 1. de Coelo cap. 2. speaking of the ancient Opinions concerning the Original of the World 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they all say it had a beginning But some thought it might have no End others judged it to be Corruptible God created He who is Eternal gave a Being to this great Fabrick of Heaven and Earth out of Nothing It is observed by Eusebius in the beginning of his Book De Praepar Evang. p. 21 25. Edit Paris That neither the ancient Historians nor the Philosophers do so much as mention GOD 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no not so far as to name him when they write of the beginning of the World But this Divine Law-giver designing to hang the whole Frame of his Polity upon Piety towards GOD and to make the Creator of all the Founder of his Laws begins with him Not after the manner of the Egyptians and Phoenicians who bestowed this adorable Name upon a great Multitude But puts in the Front of his Work the Name of the sole Cause of all things the Maker of whatsoever is seen or unseen As if he had told the
than Shem's being first named among Noah's three Sons proves him to have been the first-born IX 18. For there are good Reasons to prove that Abraham was born sixty Years after Haran who was the eldest Son having two Daughters married to his two Brothers Nahor and Abraham Who seems to be the youngest though named first both here and in the next Verse because of his preheminence See Verse 32. Ver. 28. Haran died before his Father c. In his own Country as it here follows out of which he did not go as the rest of this Family did In Vr of the Chaldees That part of Mesopotamia which was next to Assyria is called the Land of the Chaldees For Vr as Abarbinel observes was in Mesopotamia Lying in the way from Tigris to Nisibis And therefore St. Stephen makes Mesopotamia and the Land of the Chaldees the very same Act. VII 2 4. Eupolemus indeed as Bochart notes places this Vr from whence Abraham came Verse 31. in Babylon But Ammianus speaks of an Vr in Mesopotamia situated as before-mentioned which we have reason to think was the place from whence Abraham came because from thence to Canaan the way lay straight through Charran or Haran but it did not do so if he came from Babylon And no good account can be given why he should go about through Mesopotamia and Charran when there was a shorter way through Arabia if he came from Babylon Ver. 29. The Father of Iscah i. e. Of Sarai whom Abraham married she being his eldest Brother's Daughter Sister to Lot For Haran had three Children Lot verse 27 and Milchah whom Nahor married and Sarah whom Abraham married That is Haran dying the two remaining Brethren married his two Daughters For if we should understand any Body else by Iscah but Sarah there is no account whence she descended Which Moses sure would not have omitted because it very much concerned his Nation to know from whom they came both by the Father's and the Mother's side It is no wonder she should have two Names one perhaps before they came out of Chaldaea and another after Ver. 31. Went forth from Vr of the Chaldees See what was said Verse 26. unto which I have nothing to add but this That this Country was so famous for Superstition that the Chaldaeans in Daniel's time were reckoned as a distinct sort of Diviners from Magicians Astrologers and South-sayers or Sorcerers Dan. II. 2 10. IV. 7. V. 11. And it 's likely from some such sort of Men Terah and his Family learnt the worship of Idols Josh XXIV 2. But though he had been an Idolater yet it may be probably concluded from his leaving Vr of the Chaldees with an intention to go to Canaan as it is here said that now he was become a worshipper of the True God For what should move him to it but Obedience to the Divine Direction which Abraham received as we read in the next Chapter to which he would not have agreed if he had not believed in God As Lot it 's plain did whom he took along with him That word is much to be remarked which makes him the principal Agent in their removal Abraham himself being governed by his Motion For Moses says He took Abraham and Lot the Son of Haran c. And though Nahor did not now go along with his Father to Haran being left behind perhaps to look after some concerns yet afterwards he followed him with all his Family As appears from Chapter XXVII 43. and the following Chapter And he also forsook Idolatry for Rebekkah his Grand-Child was married to Isaac and his great Grand-Children Rachel and Leah nay their Father Laban seem to have been worshippers of the True God though with a mixture of some Superstition for he makes mention of Jehovah upon several occasions Gen. XXIV 31 50 51. And they came unto Haran It is possible that Terah going from Vr to Canaan and staying in this place called the City 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Charrae after the Name of his Son Haran or Charan who died a little before verse 28. For both the Greek and Roman Writers call a City famous for the death of Crassus by the Name of Charrae Situate on a River of the same Name It 's likely from Abraham's Brother were derived both the Name of the River and of the City which the Arabians to this day call Charan or Charran And dwelt there It 's plain he intended to go to Canaan and not to settle here But being arrested with the Sickness of which he died could go no further Ver. 32. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five Years Moses doth not summ up the Years of any Man's Life mentioned in this Chapter as he doth in Chapter V. but only of Terah's Which he doth on purpose that we may know when this new Period of time began of Abraham's leaving his own Country and thereby becoming the Father of the Faithful which we are not to count from the time when Terah began to have Children Ver. 26. but from the time of his Death immediately after which Abraham went on towards Canaan See Vsser Chronol C. III. and C. VII From this also we learn when Abraham was born For if seventy five Years which was Abraham's Age when his Father died and he went from Haran XII 4. be subducted from two hundred and five it is manifest that he was born when his Father was an hundred and thirty Years old That is threescore Years after his Brother Haran as I said on Verse 26. CHAP. XII MAny ancient Authors speak of Abraham as Josephus observes and out of him Eusebius Who names others also L. IX Praepar Evang. c. 16 17 c. All that I shall note is That one great Design of Moses being to lead the Jews to understand the Genealogy of this noble Ancestor of theirs he hastens to it Relating other Matters briefly but spending many Pages about him For he comprises for instance the History of the World from the Creation to the Flood containing One thousand six hundred fifty six Years in the compass of six Chapters But bestows on the History of Abraham nineteen Chapters though it contain no longer space of time than an Hundred and seventy five Years Ver. 1. Now the LORD had said unto Abram While he lived in Vr of the Chaldees from whence it is certain he called him while his Father was alive XI 31. We are not told how he spake to him for here is no mention as Maimonides observes P. II. c. 41. of his speaking in a Dream or a Vision or by the Hand of an Angel But only simply and absolutely that the LORD said to him By a Voice when he was awake I suppose from the Schechinah or Divine Glory For St. Stephen saith expresly the God of Glory appeared to him before he dwelt in Charran Acts VII 2. Get thee out of thy own Country c. Which began a good while ago to be
the Night not in a Dream and said Jacob Jacob XLVI 2. See More Nevoch P. II. c. 41. God was not a Stranger to other Nations when he was peculiarly kind to Abraham But spake to them in Dreams and sometimes in Visions as appears in Eliphaz and Elihu Job IV. 13. XXXIII 14 15 c. Thou art but a dead Man viz. If thou dost not restore Abraham his Wife verse 7. She is a Man's Wife Or married to a Husband as we translate it in the Margin so compleatly that he hath enjoyed her as his Wife For from this place the Jewish Doctors prove that the Marriage Contract was not perfected in these Days till the Parties had lain together After which if any other Person lay with the Woman he was to be put to death as an Adulterer but not if he lay with her after the Contract before it was consummated by actual Enjoyment See Mr. Selden de Jure N. G. L. V. c. 4. p. 551. Ver. 4. But Abimelech had not come near her To use her as his Wife Wilt thou slay also a righteous Nation He was afraid as became a good Man and a good King lest his People should suffer upon his account who in this Particular had no Guilt upon them Ver. 5. Said he not unto me c. The Fault is in them not in me For I had both their words for it that he was her Brother and he said nothing of her being his Wife In the integrity of my heart Not with any Intention to defile her but to make her my Wife And innocence of my hands I did not take her by Violence from Abraham but he and she consented to it Ver. 6. And God said unto him in a dream The same Expression is still retained which we had verse 3. to show that this was a lower Degree of Divine Manifestation than was in Abraham's Family I know thou didst this in the integrity c. i. e. That thou didst not design any Evil. For I also c. Or rather And I also withheld thee I dealt well with thee because of thy Integrity Some think he was withheld by a Disease in the Secret Parts verse 17. From sinning against me From committing Adultery Ver. 7. He is a Prophet This is the first time we meet with the word Nabi a Prophet And Abraham is the first that is honoured with this Name Which signifies one familiar with God who might come to him to consult him upon all occasions and be authorized to declare God's Mind and Will to others and also prevail with him by his Prayers for a Blessing upon them So it here follows He shall pray for thee Obtain Life and Health to thee The greater any Prophet was the more powerful he was in Prayer As appears by the Stories of Moses Elias and Samuel See Psalm XCIX 6. It appears by this whole History of Abimelech that he was a Man of great Vertue in those Days And not an Idolater but a worshipper of the True God as Melchizedeck the High-Priest of that Country was Yet not so well acquainted with Divine Revelations as Abraham was Ver. 8. Abimelech rose up early in the Morning This is a further Token of his Goodness that he delayed not to obey the Divine Command Called all his Servants His Privy Council as we speak who were all of the same Mind with him That this was a Divine Admonition which it was not safe to disobey From whence we may probably gather his Court was not so corrupted as Abraham suspected Ver. 9. What hast thou done unto us Into what Danger hast thou brought us Thou hast brought on me and my Kingdom a great Sin Run me into the hazard of committing a great Sin or suffering an heavy Punishment for so Sin is sometimes taken in not telling me the Truth Thou hast done deeds unto me that ought not to be done This is not fair dealing such as I might have expected from thee Ver. 10. What sawest thou c. What didst thou observe in my Country that made thee think we would meddle with thy Wife What Tokens of Injustice or Impurity didst thou see among us Ver. 11. Because I thought surely c. The word Rak which we translate surely signifies only And may be thus well translated here this only I saw wanting in your Country the fear of God i. e. A Sence of Religion which restrains Men from all manner of Wickedness It seems the People were not so good as their King Ver. 12. And yet indeed she is my Sister Do not condemn me of telling a Lye for she is truly my Sister Such was the Language of those Days to call their Wives Sisters and their Nephews Brothers As he calls Lot XIII 8. who was his Nephew and the Brother of Sarah as was observed upon XI 29. She is the Daughter of my Father i. e. His Father's Grand-Daughter who are frequently in Scripture called the Children of their Grand-Fathers For she was Daughter to Haran elder Brother of Abraham But not the Daughter of my Mother It seems Terah had two Wives by one of which he had Haran the Father of Lot and Sarah and by the other he had Abraham So Sarah was Daughter to one who was his Brother by his Father's side but not by his Mother And with such a Niece they thought it not unlawful then to marry No regard being had to consanguinity if we may believe R. Solomon Jarchi by the Father's side before the Law of Moses but only by the Mother's The more received Opinion indeed of the Hebrew Doctors is as Mr. Selden observes L. V. de Jure N. G. cap. 2. that Sarah was indeed the Daughter of Terah by his second Wife and so Abraham's half Sister And Said Batricides Patriarch of Alexandria above seven hundred Years ago in his Arabick History tells us the Name of Terah's first Wife was Jona and the Name of his second Tevitha by whom he had Sarah But there is no other Authority for this Ver. 13. When God caused me to wander The Hebrew word which we translate wander being in the Plural Number the LXX render the word Elohim God the Angels Who by the Command of God led him from his Father's House through divers Countries But the Chaldee translates it when because of the Idols of Chaldaea I was called away from my own Country c. For so the Gods that is the Idol Gods might be said to cause him to wander Because it was by reason of them that God would not have him stay any longer in his own Country But there is no need of these Devices Nothing being more usual in the Hebrew Language than for the Plural Number to be put instead of the Singular especially when they speak of God as Bochart observes in many places Gen. XXXV 7. Exod. XXXII 4. Psalm CXLIX 2. Eccles XII 1. See Hierozoic P. I. L. II. c. 34. Nay Hackspan hath rightly observed that there are Nouns of the Plural
Hebrews look upon this as Mr. Selden observes in the place before-named on verse 55. as an Example of the solemn Benediction which was wont to be given even before the Law of Moses when the Spouse was carried to her Husband Thou art our Sister Near Cousin or Kinswoman For all that were near of Kin called one another Brothers and Sisters Ver. 61. Her Damsels Who waited upon her and were given as part of her Portion Ver. 62. Well of Lahai-roi Mentioned XVI 14. By which it appears that Abraham after the death of Sarah returned to live at Beer-sheba or thereabouts for that was nigh this Well And it is probable Abraham and Isaac were not parted Ver. 63. To meditate c. The cool of the Evening and Solitude are great Friends to Meditation Ver. 64. She lighted off the Camel As they always did who met any Person whom they honoured Ver. 65. Took a Veil Not only out of Modesty but in Token of her Subjection to him Many will have this to have been a peculiar Ornament belonging to a Bride called by the Romans Flameum by the Greeks 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Mr. Selden observes L. V. de Jure N. G. cap. 5. Whence those words of Tertullian de Veland Virgin c. II. Etiam apud Ethnicos velatae i. e. sponsae ad virum ducuntur Even among Heathens Brides are brought to their Husbands with a Veil over their Faces Ver. 66. And the Servant told Isaac all things that he had done How she had consented to be his Wife Ver. 67. Brought her into his Mother Sarah's Tent. That Apartment wherein his Mother dwelt Which was distinct from that of the Husband 's And Isaac was comforted after the death of his Mother The Love he had to his Wife helpt to alleviate the Sorrow he had conceived at his Mother's death Which was so great that now it had continued three Years Such was the pious Affection Children had for their Parents in ancient Days Isaac was forty Years old when he married Rebekah XXV 20. and if we can believe the Jews in Seder Olam she was but fourteen CHAP. XXV Ver. 1. THEN again Abraham took a Wife Sarah being dead and Agar long ago sent away and his Son Isaac lately married he wanted a Companion in his old Age. For having given up Sarah's Tent unto Rebekah XXIV ult it is probable he gave up his own to Isaac and so dwelt in a Tent by himself where he found it necessary to have a Wife to look after his Family And her Name was Keturah We are not told what Family she was of But it is not unlikely she had been born and bred in his own House as Elieser his Steward was and perhaps was Chief among the Women as he among the Men-Servants Many of the Jews will have her to be Hagar whom Sarah who was the cause of her expulsion being dead he now received again So the Hierusalem Paraphrase and Jonathan also But Aben Ezra confutes this Opinion with good reason for no account can be given of Abraham's having more Concubines than one verse 6. unless we make Keturah distinct from Hagar Nor can any Body tell why he should call Hagar by the Name of Keturah here when he calls her by her own Name verse 12. Ver. 2. And she bare him He was now an hundred and forty Years old But so vigorous as to beget many Children Which need not seem strange considering the Age to which they then lived for he lived thirty and five Years after this Marriage verse 7. and that now in our time Men have had Children after they have been seventy nay eighty Years of Age. To the Truth also of this History we have the Testimony of Pagan Writers For Alexander Polyhistor mentioned by Josephus and by Eusebius L. IX Praepar Evang. cap. 20. tells us that Cleodemus called by some Malchas writing the History of the Jews reports just as Moses doth 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 That Abraham had a good many Children by Keturah Three of which he mentions by Name Zimran This Son of his with all the rest of his Brethren were sent by Abraham into the East Country as we read verse 6. and therefore we must seek for them in those Parts viz. in Arabia and the Countries thereabout where some footsteps of them have remained for many Ages particularly of Zimran from whom we may well think the Zamareni were descended a People mentioned by Pliny with their Towns in Arabia Foelix L. VI. cap. 28. And Jokshan Concerning whom I can find nothing but only this That Theophanes a Chronographer in the beginning of the IX Century after he hath treated of the Ishmaelites and Madianites the latter of which came from one of Keturah's Children and the Parts of Arabia where Mahomet was born immediately adds that there were other People 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 more in the Bowels of Arabia descended from Jectan called Amanitae that is Homeritae Perhaps it should be written Jokshan not Jectan For Philostorgius expresly says of the Homerites 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That they are one of the Nations descended from Keturah and Abraham L. III. Hist Eccles § 4. where he relates a famous Embassie which Constantius sent to them to win them to Christianity and the good success of it And there is this strong proof of their descent from some of Abraham's Family that they retained the Rite of Circumcision even when they were Idolaters For he says expresly That it was a circumcised Nation 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and circumcised also on the eighth Day Which was not the Custom of all the Arabians if we may believe Josephus L. I. Antiq. c. 23. and Eustathius in Hexaemeron c. who say the Arabians staid till they were thirteen Years old before they were circumcised Medan From whom the Country called Madiania in the Southern part of Arabia Foelix it 's likely had its Name Midian From whom Midianitis in Arabia Petraea had its Denomination And Ishbak I can find no footsteps of his Posterity unless it be in Bacascami which Pliny says was one of the Towns of the Zamareni who descended from his eldest Brother Zimran There were a People also hard by called Bachilitae as he tells us L. VI. Nat. Hist cap. 28. And Shuah Perhaps he had no Children or so few that they were mixt with some of their other Brethren and left no Name behind them Yet Pliny in the next Chapter mentions a Town called Suasa in that part of Arabia which is next to Egypt L. VI. cap. 29. Ver. 3. And Jokshan begat Sheba I observed before upon X. 7. that there are four of this Name or near it all comprehended by the Greek and Roman Writers under the Name of Sabaeans One of them the Son of Raamah had a Brother called Dedan as this Sheba here hath But they were the Fathers of a distinct People as is evident from the Scripture-Story and from other Authors For besides the
Head but all over his Body Like an hairy Garment As rough as Hair-Cloth Just as the Poets describe Satyrs He was hirsutus not only hairy all over but those Hairs as stiff as Bristles arguing great strength of Body And a rough fierce Temper They called his Name Esau Which signifying made in Hebrew this is commonly taken for the reason of his Name that he was as full of Hairs when he was born as others are at Man's estate But I think it may as well denote his active Genius which they thought this presaged Ver. 26. Jacob. He certainly had his Name from his taking his Brother by the Heel at his birth As if he would supplant him as he afterwards did Was threescore Years old God exercised Isaac's Faith and Patience just as he had done Abraham's for the space of twenty Years before he gave him a Child For he was forty Years old when he married verse 20. and now sixty Ver. 27. A cunning Hunter Had great skill in Hunting in which his active genius delighted A Man of the Field That took pleasure to be abroad pursuing wild Beasts in Woods and Mountains Where afterwards he had his habitation A plain Man dwelling in Tents He loved not violent Exercise but kept at home or lookt after the Flocks of Sheep and the breed of Cattle Ver. 28. And Isaac loved Esau c. Not only because he was his First-born and because his love of Hunting argued him to be a Man of great Activity and Valour who was likely to prove a great Person But because he also took care frequently to entertain his Father with Venison which was of divers sorts and afforded him such variety at his Table as gave his Father frequent occasion to commend him But Rebekah loved Jacob. Being a Man of a more meek and quiet Temper suitable to her own Disposition and more at home also with her than Esau was and designed by God to inherit the Promise verse 23. It is likely Esau made great court as we speak to his Father and Jacob to his Mother Whereby they won their Affection Ver. 29. He was faint With too violent and long pursuit of his Sports Ver. 30 Feed me I pray thee with that same red c. It was made of Lentiles as we learn from the last Verse of this Chapter And St. Austin upon Psalm XLVI saith they were Egyptian Lentiles which were in great esteem and much commended by Athenaeus and A. Gellius And gave the Pottage it is probable a red tincture Some think Esau did not know what it was and therefore calls it only by its colour asking for that red that same red as it is in the Hebrew Therefore was his Name called Edom. This repeated eager desire of he knew not what for which he sold his Birth-right gave him the Name of Edom Which signifies red Whence the City which he built and the whole Country his Posterity inhabited was called by the same Name and by the Greeks Idumaea bordering toward the South upon Judaea Arabia and Egypt Ver. 31. Sell me this day thy Birth-right The eldest Son had several Privileges belonging to him above the rest The chief of which was to have a double Portion of his Father's Estate As for the right of Priesthood there are many reasons to prove it did not belong thereunto But whatsoever they were Jacob cunningly made an Advantage of Esau's Necessity to purchase them all for a small matter In which some think he did not amiss About which I shall not dispute Ver. 32. What profit shall this Birth-right do to me He speaks very slightly if not contemptuously of it Preferring the present satisfaction of his Appetite before his future Dignity and Greatness For some are of Opinion he pretended to be fainter than really he was out of a vehement longing for the Pottage which perhaps was a rarety Ver. 33. Swear to me this day That I shall peaceably enjoy the Prerogative of the Birth-right Esau seems to have been very violent in all things and to have pursued this as eagerly as he did his Sports Jacob on the contrary very sedate and crafty to make the best use of the Opportunities he met with to promote his Ends. Ver. 34. Rose up and went his way Well satisfied and without any trouble for what he had done Which the Apostle censures as a piece of Prophaneness Parents being wont to give a special Blessing to their First-born Despised his Birth-right He thought perhaps he could recover that by Force which he had lost by his Brother's Craft CHAP. XXVI Ver. 1. AND there was a famine in the Land c. Such a scarcity of Provisions as were in Abraham's days XII 10. when he was newly come into Canaan hapned again in the days of Isaac And Isaac went It is not said from whence he went But it is probable after the death of Abraham he went and dwelt where his Father had often done at Mamre near Hebron For he was not now at Beersheba or the Well Lahai-roi which was the last place of his habitation that we read of XXV 11. for that was in this very Country of Gerar to which he now went Vnto Abimelech The Son it is most likely of him to whom Abraham went For he is not to be thought the same it being an hundred Years since that time And all the Kings of that Country were for many Ages called by the Name of Abimelech as appears from the Story of David Who fled to one of that Name called Achish in 1 Sam. XXI 10. but Abimelech in the Title of the XXXIV Psalm See Gen. XX. 2. Ver. 2. And or for the LORD appeared to him He intended to have gone into Egypt as Abraham his Father had done in the like Case XII 10. But God forbad him appearing to him either in a Vision or a Dream or as the Glory of the LORD appeared afterward to Moses and the Congregation of Israel upon several occasions and directed him to stay in this Country which was in the way to Egypt Where he promises to provide for him Though Egypt was a most plentiful Country yet the King of it at this time was not so good a Man perhaps as him that reigned in the Days of Abraham Ver. 3. Sojourn in this Land c. He not only promises to take care of him at present during the Famine But renews the Promises made to Abraham his Father at sundry times and in divers places XII 3. XV. 5. XVII 2 8. and at last confirmed by an Oath XXII 16 17. I will be with thee and bless thee These and such like words Maimonides shows express a special Providence over those to whom they are spoken and over all belonging to them More Nevoch Par. III. cap. 18. Vnto thy Seed will I give all these Countries Which he repeats again in the next Verse having mentioned the vast multiplication of his Seed Ver. 4. In thy Seed shall all the Nations of the Earth be
was desirous to live with his Wives who were her Country-Women And that her death is here mentioned though we read nothing of Rebekah's to give an account how this Oak came by the Name of Allon-Bacuth in after-times Vnder an Oak There were many about Bethel Near to which there was a Wood or Forest out of which the Bears came who devoured the Children that cursed Elisha 2 Kings II. 23. And under an Oak also the old Prophet Found the Man of God sitting as he went from Bethel 1 Kings XIII 14. Ver. 9. And God appeared unto Jacob again c. The SCHECHINAH or Divine Majesty who bad him go to Bethel verse 1. appeared to him when he came there in a most glorious manner As he had done when he lodged there in his Journey to Padan-Aram XXVIII 13. Ver. 10. Israel shall be thy Name This is a far more honourable Name than that of Jacob And therefore by it thou shalt be commonly called For the Name of Jacob was given him from the supplanting of his Brother and getting the advantage of him But this of Israel from his prevalence over the Angel of God And he called his Name Israel He solemnly confirmed that Name which was given him before by his Angel XXXII 28. This seems to me to prove That it was no more than an Angel who wrestled with Jacob and told him his Name should be changed For if it had been God himself Jacob was as much satisfied then as he could be now that Israel should be his Name But I take it God reserved the declaration of it from his own Mouth till this time When he ratified what he had before spoken by his Angel And thus I find since I noted this St. Hierom understood this Passage Whose words are these Dudum nequaquam ei nomen ab Angelo imponitur c. This Name was not heretofore imposed on him by the Angel who only foretold that God would impose it on him That therefore which was there promised should be we are here taught was fulfilled Ver. 11. I am God Almighty c. Here God renews his Promise to him as he had often done to Abraham He had first blessed him by Isaac XXVIII 3. when he sent him from home Then he himself blessed him when he appeared to him the first Night of his Journey verse 13. of that Chapter And now again when he was come back to the very same place where he blessed him before And he speaks to him by the Name of El-Shaddai i. e. God All-sufficient The very same whereby his Father had blessed him XXVIII 3. and whereby God blessed Abraham XVII 1. Ver. 13. And God went up from him It is evident by this that a visible Majesty or Glory appeared to him at this time From whence the foregoing words were spoken to him Which being done it went up towards Heaven In the Hebrew the words are went up from upon him or over him and the very same is said of Abraham XVII 22. as if the SCHECHINAH appeared over his Head in great Lustre whilst he perhaps lay prostrate upon the Ground Ver. 14. Set up a Pillar in that place To be a Monument of the Divine Goodness Who there appeared to him and made him such gracious Promises as those before-mentioned verse 11 12. And to serve for an Altar whereon to offer Sacrifice For so the word Matzebah signifies Hosea III. 4. And therefore Isaiah seems to make an Altar and a Pillar the same thing XIX 19. Poured a drink-offering thereon To consecrate it unto the Solemn Service of God For which end he poured Oil upon it as he had done upon the Stone XXVIII 18. which in all likelihood was a principal part of this Pillar And having done all this we are to suppose he not only offered Sacrifice but paid the Tenth of all that God had given him according to his Vow XXVIII ult Ver. 15. Called the Name of the place Or rather of that place that famous Place which God had made so remarkable by his Goodness to him For the Hebrews not without Reason make the He before Makom to add an Emphasis to that word Bethel i. e. The House of God So he said he would make this Place XXVIII 22. and now he is as good as his Word by renewing the Name he had given it thirty Years before when he first went into Mesopotamia Ver. 16. And there was but a little way to come to Ephrath When they were come within a little of Ephrath The Hebrew word for a little is Chibrath Whose precise signification is uncertain Benjamin Tudelensis saith this Place was within half a Mile and a little more of Ephrath See his Itinerar p. 47. and Const L' Empereur on the Place p. 176. Ver. 17. Fear not Thou shalt have this Son also The Midwife seems to comfort Rachel with her own Prediction XXX 24. Ver. 18. She called his Name Ben-oni Rachel seems to give her former Hopes of a second Son for lost at least she expected no Comfort from him Being ready to expire And therefore she called him a Son of Sorrow His birth being her death But his Father called him Benjamin To comfort Rachel in her Sorrow and to avert the sinister Omen Jacob immediately changed his Name into Benjamin signifying The Son of his Right-hand or of his Strength as it is commonly interpreted Though others will have it The Son of Years i. e. of his old Age or putting both together the support and stay of his old Age. Names are oft-times strangely adapted to things and the Presages of Parents have anciently been observed to be fulfilled Heu nunquam vana parentum Auguria Which is in no Instance more verified than in this Child of Jacob's Who did not bear either of these Names for nought There being two very different Fates of his Posterity as Dr. Jackson observes in a Discourse of his upon St. Matth. II. 17 18. answerable to the contrary importance of the Names given him by his Father and his Mother No Tribe in Israel more Valorous yet none so subject to sorrowful Disasters as this Tribe of Benjamin It was almost extirpated in the time of the Judges XX. 35 c. and yet before the conclusion of that Age Benjamin became the Head of his Brethren The first King of Israel being chosen out of that late desolate Tribe And though that King proved at last but a Ben-oni yet this Tribe stuck close to Judah when all the rest revolted to his Brother Joseph Ver. 20. Jacob set a Pillar upon her Grave After that Law was made Deut. XVI 22. against erecting Pillars the Jews did not think all Pillars unlawful but only those for Superstitious uses Not those which were in Memory of some thing as Maimonides his words are L. de Idolol cap. 6. Ver. 21. And Israel journeyed This is the first time that Moses calls him Israel after this Name was given him by God Which he repeats twice in the next Verse