The History of the Old Testament Methodized, Chapter 3 · Section 28
SECT. XXVIII.
JAcob having now ſerved Laban 20 years; during the laſt ſix years, the Sons of Laban envied him exceedingly, and murmur'd and repin'd, ſaying, That of what was their Fathers he had gotten all his Glory, that is, all his Wealth, which procures men honour and eſteem, and which worldly men count their Glory; And they were ready to ſlander him, as having unjuſtly gotten what was graciouſly beſtowed on him by the Providence of God. Jacob alſo obſerv'd that Laban's Countenance was not towards him as formerly it us'd to be, but in his very looks he ſhewed the diſpleaſure of his heart. The Lord hereupon warns Jacob to return to his own Country, and promiſes to be with him. Jacob upon this ſends for his Wives Rachel and Leah into the Field to him, and acquaints them with Gods appearing to him, and with his purpoſe of departure. He tells them, That they could not but know how he had ſerved their Father with all his power, and yet their Father had dealt moſt injuriouſly with him, and had changed his Wages and the Conditions made between them many times, (i)Ten times may be here put for many times, as it is elſewhere, Job. 19.3. Numb. 14.22. Levit. 26.26. Zach. 8.23.though the Providence of God did not ſuffer him to hurt him thereby. At firſt (ſays he) your Father agreed that I ſhould have all the ſpeckled, ſpotted, or brown Cattel, for my wages, but when he ſaw that moſt of the Cattel bare ſuch, then he would reſtrain me only to the ringſtreaked, ſuch as had a round ſtreak like a ring of a different colour about their legs. And when that hard Condition was impos'd upon me, then it pleaſed God that moſt of the Cattel brought forth ringſtreaked. And that it may appear to you that this is ſo come to paſs by the immediate hand and bleſſing of God, and that is is He alone that hath given me this great increaſe, and hath taken from your Father, and given to me; I ſhall acquaint you with a Viſion I had in a Dream ſeveral years ago, I ſaw the Rams and He-goats, that at the ramming-time leap'd on the Cattel to be all ringſtreaked, and the Angel of the Covenant (the Lord Chriſt) call'd me to him, and bad me take notice of it, telling me, He had obſerv'd how unjuſtly Laban had dealt with me, and therefore he would by his own Hand do me right, and to Him alone I owe theſe Riches I have gotten. And now this good God hath appeared to me again, Stiling himſelf the God of Bethel, and thereby putting me in mind of my Promiſe and Vow there made unto him, and intimating his acceptance and approving thereof, [ſee Ch. 28. v. 18.] I ſay, This God hath appeared to me again, and commanded me forthwith to ariſe and return into the Land of my Nativity. Then Rachel and Leah anſwered, What Portion or Inheritance can we expect from our Father, ſeeing he doth grudge us the Wages he agreed to give thee, and hath ſo often chang'd and alter'd the Conditions? He hath dealt with us as Strangers rather than Children. He hath not diſpos'd of us like Daughters, giving us fitting Dowries, but hath ſold us to thee for 14 years ſervice, and the money and profit which he hath gotten by the ſale of us he hath quite devoured, that is, converted to his own uſe, whereas of right he ſhould have given it to us in portions. He hath very little reaſon therefore to complain of the Riches God hath taken from him and given to thee for thy laſt ſix years ſervice. Therefore do as God hath commanded thee, we are very ready to comply with thee therein. Then Jacoh ſetting his Wives and Children on Camels, went away privately (k)V. 20. Furatus eſt Cor Labanis, i. e. fefellit clandeſtina fuga, videtur hic quaedam eſſe Hypallage: furare aliquem eſt furari ſe ab aliquo.with all his Family, Cattel, and Subſtance which he had there gotten, intending to go to his Father Iſaac in the Land of Canaan. His Wife Rachel out of ſome kind of Superſtition (in which ſhe had been bred in her Fathers houſe) took along with her (without her Husbands knowledge) her Fathers Teraphim (l)Deos penates. This is the firſt place where the Scripture makes mention of Idols, though they were in uſe before. See alſo Judg. 17.5. Ezek. 21.21.or Idols, or Houſhold-gods, viz. ſome Images in the ſhape of Men or Angels, of which they uſed to inquire concerning things to come, and received from them the Devils anſwer, ſee Zach. 10.2. Jacob having thus privately ſtolen away, and paſſing over Euphrates, he had gone three days journey ere his departure was known to Laban, who was then ſhearing his Sheep; but hearing of it, he gathered together ſome of his Friends and Kindred, and purſued after him, and after ſeven days journey overtook him in the Mount Gilead, *A tract of Mountains eaſtward of Jordan, running thorow the Kingdoms of Sibon and Ogg, and having in ſeveral Parts ſeveral names, as Gilead, Seir, Hermon, and Libanus; here called Gilead by anticipation.which took its Name from the event of this their meeting there. Before Laban quite overtook Jacob, God warned him in a Dream that he ſhould not hurt him, nor ſeek to divert him from his intended journey, neither by flattering Speeches nor Threatnings. However Laban being come up to Him, expoſtulates highly with him, that he had ſtolen away ſo privately from him, and carried away his Daughters, as if they had been Captives taken in War, and ſo carried away by force againſt their Wills, (whereas they went away very willingly, as may be ſeen, verſ. 14.15, 16.) He tells him, If he had acquainted him with his purpoſe of departing, he ſhould never have gone away in ſuch a pittiful manner. He would have ſent him away with Mirth and Songs, with Tabret and Harp. Thus diſſemblingly he ſpeaks, though he had no ſuch mind or willingneſs to part with him, had not God overpowred him. Further Laban tells him, That in ſtealing away ſo ſecretly, he had not given him opportunity ſo much as to kiſs his Sons and Daughters at their departure, nor bid them farewel, which was very ill done of him. And he had power now in his hands to have hurt him, and to make him feel his reſentment of theſe his ill carriages, but God had the night before warn'd him to the contrary. However he asks him, Why to all the reſt of his unhandſome dealings, he would add*Poſſibly Laban's Idolatry might not go ſo far as to worſhip the Pagans falſe Gods, but to worſhip the true God by certain Repreſentations and Remembrances. See Exod. 32.4, 5. 2 Kings 10.28, 29. that alſo of ſtealing away his Gods. (m)Summa caecitas! Deos vocat quos furtim auferre poſſe agnovit.Jacob anſwers, That He had indeed ſtolen away from him privately, and he did it becauſe he was afraid if He had been acquainted with his intention, he would have taken his Daughters from him by force, and ſo done what lay in him to hinder his departure. But as for ſtealing away his Gods, knowing his own innocency, and deteſting Theft, and much more Idolatry, and preſuming that none of his Family would be guilty of ſo vile an act, he (more raſhly than wiſely) ſays, With whomſoever thou findeſt them let him not live; not imagining in the leaſt that his beloved Rachel had ſtolen them. Further ſays Jacob, Here before our Brethren, I give my full conſent that thou ſhouldſt ſearch us all; If thou canſt find any thing that is thine, take it with all my heart. Laban hereupon ſearched their Tents, one after another, and at laſt came to Rachels Tent, who perceiving her Father intended to ſearch there for his Images, ſhe put them in the Camels Saddle-furniture, and ſat upon them, and excuſing her ſelf for not riſing to him, and paying him the duty and reſpect ſhe owed him, becauſe the Cuſtom (n)Non tam menſes ſimulat ac ventriculi dolores.of women was upon her, [Levit. 15.19.] he did not diſturbe Her, but ſearching in other places found none. Then Jacob's anger was kindled, and he could not but expreſs his great reſentment of Laban's injurious dealing with him; and accordingly ask'd him, What Treſpaſſes he had been guilty of, that he had ſo hotly purſued after him? Thou haſt (ſays he) ſearched all my ſtuff, and what haſt thou found of thine? I have ſerved thee 20 years, and that with great diligence and faithfulneſs. I have carefully kept thy Cattel, thy Ews and She-goats have rarely caſt their young; Thy Rams I have preſerved. That which was torn of wild Beaſts, I brought it not in account to thee, but made it good my ſelf, though ſtrict juſtice would not oblige me to it. [See Exod. 22.10, 11, 13.] How painful my Service hath been is not unknown to thee. In the day the drought conſumed me, and in the night the fr…ſt; and my ſleep departed from mine eyes. And in this manner have I ſerved thee 14 years for thy two Daughters, and ſix years for ſuch a portion of thy Flock as by Providence ſhould fall to my ſhare, according to the Conditions agreed on between us; and yet theſe terms haſt thou very injuriouſly changed ſeveral times; And truly except God, even the God of Abraham, and the God whom my Father Iſaac ſerves with ſo much fear and reverence, (as the only God, who is to be feared and worſhipped) had been with me, and had extraordinarily bleſſed me, thou hadſt ſent me away empty. But the Lord hath taken notice of thy hard dealing with me, notwithſtanding all my faithfulneſs and diligence, and painful labour in thy Service, and accordingly did yeſternight rebuke thee for thy evil intendment towards me, Laban being ſomething melted with theſe words, ſaid, Well, theſe Women thy Wives are my Daughters, and their Children they have born unto thee, I account them as my Children, (my ſelf being their remote Parent) and thy Cattel thou hadſt all from me; (He takes no notice of what Jacob had deſerved of him, or of what God had ſo wonderfully given him,) and all that thou haſt is mine. (o)Thus He boaſts.But yet notwithſtanding it were a fooliſh thing for me to go about to hurt thee, or thy Wives or Children; for in ſo doing I ſhould but hurt my ſelf. (p)But he was not of this mind, when he firſt went out to purſue Jacob, and therefore Jacob may thank▪ God for all, who had thus bridled, if not altered him.Therefore let us make a Covenant one with another, and raiſe an heap of ſtones on this Mountain, to be a Monument thereof, that I ſhall not paſs over this place to hurt thee, nor thou to hurt me. If either of us do ſo, he ſhall forfeit his fidelity, and be liable to divine Vengeance for his perjury. Jacob readily agreed hereto, and immediately ſpake to his own Company, and to Laban's alſo to joyn in gathering an heap of ſtones, which might ſerve as a Memorial hereof. And this heap of ſtones Jacob in the Hebrew *Ne que annis viginti mutavit, vel religionem Jacob, vel dialectum.Tongue called Galeed (q)By a litt…e change afterwards was framed the word Gilead.and Laban in the Syrian Tongue call'd it Jegar-Sahadutha, both ſignifying an heap of Witneſſes, that is, an heap to be a witneſs and to be a memorial of this Covenant here made. And Jacob alſo called it Mizpah, (r)q. d. Deus intutatur.that is, a Watch-Tower, whereupon Laban ſaid, The Lord watch between me and thee, that we may keep this Covenant inviolable, and that when we are abſent one from another, neither of us may deſign any hurt to each other. And Laban further ſaid, If thou ſhalt afflict my Daughters, or take other Wives beſides my Daughters, then God who knoweth and rewardeth Wickedneſs (eſpecially Treachery) puniſh thee as thou deſerveſt. Thus He who had been a very unkind Father whilſt his Daughters were with him, now pretends great tenderneſs of affection to them, and conditions with Jacob againſt that whereunto his own covetouſneſs had forced him before. Then they ſware the Covenant agreed on between them, Laban ſware by the God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, and the God of Terah ther Father. Thus he intermixeth the God of Abraham (the only true God) with the Idols which Terah, Nahor, and Abraham himſelf before God called Him had ſerved in Chaldea, Joſ. 24.2. But Jacob ſware only by the fear of his Father Iſaac, that is, the only true God, whom his Father Iſaac feared and worſhipped. Then Jacob killed Beaſts, and provided a Feaſt (ſuch being uſual at the making of Covenants, ſee Gen. 26.30.) and invited Laban and his Company to eat with him, who tarried all night upon the Place. Early in the morning Laban (s)Thus God over-rules the hearts of wicked men, ſo ch. 33.4. So he turned Balaam's Curſe into a Bleſſing, Numb. 23.11. Deut. 23.5. ſo the minds of the Barbarians towards Paul, Acts 28.4.took an affectionate farewel of Jacob, kiſſing his Sons and Daughters, and bleſſed them, wiſhing to them all happineſs and proſperity, and ſo departed to his own place.
Gen. 31. whole Chapter.