Commentary on Genesis, Chapter 31
CHAP. XXXI.
Ver. 1. HE heard the words of Laban's Sons.] Who uttered ſuch diſcontented or threatning Speeches, as made him fear they would fall upon him and do him miſchief. This was the firſt Cauſe of his reſolved flight.
Hath taken away all that was our Father's.] They ſpeak of him, as if he had been a Thief: Which made him ſuſpect they would uſe him accordingly.
All this glory.] All theſe Riches, verſe 16.
Ver. 2. And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban, &c.] This was the ſecond Cauſe of his Reſolution to be gone; That he ſaw by Laban's Looks things were not likely to go well with him, if he ſtay'd any longer.
Ver. 3. And the LORD ſaid unto Jacob, &c.] This was the third Cauſe, the Divine Majeſty appeared to him, and bad him be gone. And as he had his Warrant, ſo he ſeals it with his Promiſe to Protect him in his Return to his own Country.
Ver. 4. Jacob ſent and called Rachel and Leah.] Rachel is firſt mentioned as his Chief Wife: For ſo ſhe was in his deſignment: And ſo the Poſterity of Leah afterward acknowledged, naming her firſt in the Bleſſing of Ruth, IV. 11.
To the Field unto his Flock.] That he might diſcourſe them privately: Fearing alſo, it is likely, that he might be ſeized by Laban and his Sons, if he went to the Houſe.
Ver. 5. The God of my Fathers hath been with me.] Hath appeared to me (verſe 3.) and bid me not fear your Father.
Ver. 6. With all my power.] I have omitted nothing that I could do, to promote his Intereſt.
Ver. 7. Hath deceived me.] Dealt unjuſtly with me, in not ſtanding to his Agreement.
Changed my Wages ten times.] i. e. Very often; as many interpret it from the like Expreſſion in other places, particularly Levit. XXVI. 26. where ten Women are put for a great number of Women. But others think that he really changed his Wages, juſt ten times. For he ſerved him ſix Years, after he made the Agreement with him, mentioned in the foregoing Chapter, verſe 31, &c. And the firſt Year he ſtood to his Bargain: But ſeeing him thrive exceedingly, he altered the form of their Covenants, at the end of that Year. And in like manner, every half Year, when the Ews brought forth young ones (which they did twice a Year) and he ſaw them ſpotted; he broke his Contract, and made a new one, leſs advantageous to Jacob: Sometimes reſtraining it to one ſort of Cattle, ſometimes to another: And not letting him have the whole benefit of his Contract. Which is not at all improbable: For Jacob mentions his ill dealing with him in the very ſame words, verſe 41. And in the next Verſe to this he relates how Laban would ſometimes let him have only the ſpeckled; at another time, none but the ring-ſtraked; and ſo we may ſuppoſe of the reſt. See this explained by St. Hierom in Queſt. Hebr. and by St. Auſtin, Q. XCV. in Gen.
But God ſuffered him not to hurt me.] To defraud me of my Wages, by theſe changes which he made in them.
Ver. 9. Thus hath God taken away, &c.] He prudently conceals his own Artifice, and only relates what hand God had in the buſineſs, (which indeed was the Chief, for without his Bleſſing it could not have proſpered) for fear perhaps that they ſhould any way divulge it, and bring him into danger with Laban. For every Body cannot keep a Secret, (the Hebrews make too ſevere and fooliſh Reflections on Women upon this occaſion) and his whole Eſtate depending on this, he thought it beſt to keep it to himſelf for the preſent.
Ver. 10. It came to paſs, at the time the Cattle conceived, &c.] To confirm them in the Opinion, that the hand of God had transferred all the Riches of their Father unto him; he relates what was repreſented to him in a Dream.
The Rams that leaped, &c.] He beheld them ſuch, as he had agreed to have for his Hire; and therefore likely to produce others ſpotted, and ſtraked, like themſelves. According to the common Obſervation of the Poet:
Sic catulos canibus ſimiles, ſic matribus hoedos.
For in the Hebrew the words ring-ſtraked and ſpeckled, may be referred to the Ews as well as to the Rams. And it is probable he had this Viſion before he made his Agreement with Laban; whereby he was directed to the Artifice, of which he made uſe: Or, elſe God repreſented to him afterward, that he approved it, and would make it ſucceſsful.
Grizled.] This word (Barud) is not uſed before: But I took notice of it in the foregoing Chapter, verſe 32. that it ſignifies as much as great white or grey Spots, like to Hail-ſtones. It is juſt the quite contrary to Nakod, ſpeckled or ſprinkled, with little black Spots, which were upon the Sheep that were white: As theſe were whitiſh or grizled Spots, upon thoſe that were black.
Ver. 11. And the Angel of God ſpake unto me, &c.] In the Name of God, as his Ambaſſador: God being ſuppoſed to be preſent, where his Angels, who are his Retinue, are ſaid to appear; as I have often noted. See XXVIII. 17.
Ver. 12. Lift up now thine Eyes.] He ſaid verſe 10. that he did lift up his Eyes: Therefore the meaning here is, Obſerve now, and mark what thou ſeeſt.
I have ſeen all that Laban doth unto thee.] Taken ſuch notice of it, that I will do thee Right.
Ver. 13. I am the God of Bethel.] It is plain by this, that though the Angel only appeared, verſe 11. yet God himſelf was preſent and remembred him, how he had appeared unto him in Bethel, XXVIII. 11, 12, &c. and how Jacob had anointed the Pillar, and vowed a Vow unto him. So Maimonides expounds it; for Jacob, no doubt, ſaith he, made the Vow to God, and not to the Angel: And therefore the Angel (as he underſtands it) ſpeaks here in the Name of God and not of himſelf, More Nevoch. P. I. cap. 27. See Chapter XXII. 11, 15. But I ſee no reaſon why we ſhould not ſuppoſe the Divine Majeſty himſelf to have appeared alſo, as he did at Bethel: When Jacob ſaw the Angels aſcending and deſcending upon the Ladder, and the LORD himſelf ſtanding at the top, and ſpeaking to him, as he doth here. For upon a ſerious Conſideration of all the Circumſtances, this Viſion, here mentioned, ſeems to me to be diſtinct from what was repreſented by an Angel in a Dream, verſe 11. For he had that it is evident, at the beginning of his laſt ſix Years Service; this, at the concluſion of them: But he puts them both together, becauſe they belong to the ſame matter.
And God now remembers his Vow, to ſhow him that he was well-pleaſed with it; and to excite him to perform it, when he had brought him (as he aſſures him he would) to that place again.
Ver. 14. Rachel and Leah anſwered, &c.] They immediately conſented to go along with him; and not ſo much as to acquaint their Father with it: For they knew he would give them nothing.
Is there any Portion, &c.] We ſhall get nothing by ſtaying with him: The reaſon of which follows.
Ver. 15. Are we not counted as ſtrangers? &c.] He hath not dealt with us, as if we were his Children: But as if we were of ſome other Family; whom he had bought, and ſold again.
Sold us.] Not ſo much giving us in Marriage; as ſelling us for the Price of Jacob's Labour.
Quite devoured our Money.] Kept to himſelf all the Money he got by thy Service; and given us not a Farthing of it.
Ver. 16. For all the riches, &c.] God hath but given us that which was our own: And therefore thou maiſt lawfully keep it, and go away with it.
Ver. 17. Jacob roſe up.] Prepared himſelf for the Journey.
And ſet his Sons.] As was but needful: Reuben his eldeſt, being ſcarce fourteen Years old; and Joſeph his youngeſt, ſcarce ſix.
Ʋpon Camels.] They uſed to ride upon Camels in the Eaſt-Country; eſpecially when they made long Journies. See XXIV. 10.
Ver. 18. He carried away all his Cattle.] But nothing of Laban's; as Joſephus, without any reaſon, fanſies.
Ver. 19. Laban went to ſhear his Sheep.] Which gave Jacob the better opportunity to eſcape, whilſt he was buſie about that; and feaſting, perhaps, his Shearers.
And Rachel had ſtolen.] In all likelihood his Wives returned to the Houſe, to fetch what they had left there, when Jacob ſent to ſpeak with them in the Field, (verſe 4.) and then Rachel took away theſe Images.
The Images that her Father had.] Theſe Images in the Hebrew are called TERAPHIM: Of which we read very often, afterward, in the Holy Scripture. Mercer and Simeon de Muis take it for an exotick word: But others derive it from the Hebrew word Rapha, which ſignifies to cure or heal; as if theſe were lookt upon as Salvatores, Saviours and Deliverers, or Preſervers from Miſchief.
There are other derivations, of which there is no certainty: But moſt agree they were a kind of Penates, as the Romans called them, Houſhold Gods: In which Style Laban ſpeaks of them, when he ſays, verſe 30. Wherefore haſt thou ſtolen my Gods? But it is a great Queſtion among the Hebrew Doctors, Whether, in theſe ancient Times, they worſhipped them as Gods, or only uſed them as Inſtruments of Divination; as Mr. Selden obſerves, de Diis Syris. Syntagm. I. cap. 2. Where he ſhows, that ſeveral of the Hebrew Doctors take them to have been Figures in humane Shape, (1 Sam. XIX. 13.) made by Aſtrologers to be capable (as they fanſied) of the heavenly Influences. And for this reaſon, they think, Rachel ſtole them, that Laban might not enquire by them, which way Jacob and his Family were gone. Hottinger alſo hath many ingenious Arguments to prove, that they were the ſame with the Arabian Taliſmans, in after-times: Which were Images made under ſuch or ſuch Conſtellations, to receive the heavenly Influences: Either to be a Phylactery, or an Oracle. See L. I. Hiſtor. Orient. cap. 8.
But the Conjecture of Lud. de Dieu upon this place, ſeems to me far more probable, that they were the Repreſentations of ſome Angelical Powers, (Teraphim and Seraphim being the very ſame, by the change only of a Letter) who, they imagined, declared the Mind of God, by them. For, in thoſe Countries where the SCHECHINAH, or Preſence of the Divine Majeſty did not appear, as it did in Abraham's Family, they had at leaſt ſome Tradition of it, and of the Angels that were its Attendants: The reſemblance of which they made, in hope they might by that means have a Communication with them, and gain Intelligence from Heaven. Of which, evil Spirits made their Advantage; and abuſed Mankind by the lying Anſwers they gave to their Enquiries. For there is no reaſon to think that God allowed, much leſs appointed the making of theſe Teraphim: Which Gaffarel adventures to ſay, were Piouſly uſed before the Law of Moſes, and God manifeſted his Mind and Will by them. This had been to lead Men into Idolatry, by Image-worſhip: Unto which they were too prone of themſelves.
Expoſitors differ very much about Rachel's Intention in ſtealing them. Some fanſie, ſhe ſtill retained a tang of Superſtition: But I take it to be more likely, that Jacob, who loved her extreamly, and was no leſs beloved by her, had brought her off from the falſe Notions and bad Cuſtoms of her Country. And then ſhe did not carry them away, for fear Laban ſhould enquire by them, which way they were gone: (for ſhe knew they were but vain Idols, which could give no Direction) But, rather deſigned to convince her Father of his Superſtition; by letting him ſee, that his Gods (as he called them) could not preſerve themſelves, much leſs do any ſervice to him. Or, perhaps, ſhe intended to give her ſelf ſome Portion of his Goods, which ſhe thought juſtly belonged to her: And ſo took theſe Teraphim, which were of ſome value (though ſmall Images) becauſe they are generally ſuppoſed to have been made of Silver.
Ver. 20. Jacob ſtole away unawares.] Without the knowledge of Laban. For the word Heart (as it is in the Hebrew) is here put for the Ʋnderſtanding and Will.
Laban the Syrian.] There being no neceſſity of mentioning his Country, (which was well known from the preceeding Story) ſome think he is here called the Syrian, to denote that as cunning as he was, Jacob was too hard for him. For the Syrians, in ancient Authors, are obſerved to have been a very crafty, ſubtil People. But there is no certainty of this; there being a frequent redundance very obvious in this Language. See verſe 25.
Ver. 21. So he fled, &c.] Pack'd up his Baggage (as we now ſpeak) and made all ready for a ſpeedy flight: And (as it follows) roſe up, and made all the haſte he could to get over the River.
And paſſed over the River.] i. e. Euphrates, frequently called in Scripture, the River, in regard of its eminence.
Mount Gilead.] So called afterward, from what Jacob and Laban did there, verſe 48. It joyned to Mount Libanus.
Ver. 22. On the third day.] There was ſuch a diſtance between Jacob's Flock and his (XXXII. 36.) that he could not hear ſooner: Eſpecially when he was taken up with other buſineſs, (verſe 19.) and did not make enquiry.
Ver. 23. Took his Brethren.] Some of his near Kindred.
They overtook him.] The Hebrew word imports, They came cloſe up to him.
Ver. 24. And God came to Laban the Syrian in a Dream, &c.] See concerning this Expreſſion, XX. 3.
Speak not to Jacob either good or bad.] About his return to thee. Unto which God charges him, he ſhould neither allure him by Promiſes, nor affright him by Threats.
Ver. 25. Then Laban overtook Jacob.] This is a different word from that in verſe 23. ſignifying he came near, or approached juſt to him: So that they might conferr one with another.
Now Jacob had pitched his Tent, &c.] For Jacob and Laban had both pitched their Tents in the ſame Mount; not far from one another. This Joſephus thinks they had done, in the Evening; when Laban came up ſo cloſe to him, that if the Night had not parted them, they might then have diſcourſed together: Which they did next Morning, when they came nearer one to another; after God had warned Laban not to ſtop his Journey.
Here Gilead is redundant, as the word Syrian was before in verſe 20, 24.
Ver. 26. As Captives taken with the Sword.] As Prizes in War; which are wont to be carried off with force and violence.
Ver. 28. Thou haſt now done fooliſhly in ſo doing.] He ſeems to pretend, that he would have been very kind to him, if they had parted with mutual Conſent: And would have him think he had loſt by ſtealing away, not only the Muſick and Merriment, (before-mentioned, verſe 27.) but ſuch Gifts as he would have beſtowed upon him.
Ver. 29. The God of your Father ſpake unto me, &c.] There is no ground to think that the SCHECHINAH, or Divine Majeſty appeared to him; for we do not read either here or verſe 24. of his ſeeing any thing, but hearing one ſpeak to him, and that in a Dream: Who told him, I ſuppoſe, that he was the God of Iſaac, and of Abraham. Or, if he ſaw a glorious Appearance, it was in his ſleep only; not when he was awake.
Ver. 30. Stolen my Gods.] See verſe 19.
Ver. 31. Becauſe I was afraid.] This is an Anſwer to the firſt part of Laban's Expoſtulation, verſe 26, 27, &c.
Ver. 32. With whomſoever thou findeſt, &c.] This is an Anſwer to the laſt part of it. From which ſome gather, that Theft was puniſhed with death, in thoſe days. Sacrilege perhaps was.
Ver. 33. Laban went into Jacob's Tent, &c.] This ſhows that Men and Women had every one of them, their diſtinct Tents, apart by themſelves; as was noted before, XXIV. ult.
Ver. 34. Camels furniture.] The Saddle upon which they rode, or laid their Carriage.
Searched all the Tent.] Except that place where ſhe ſat.
Ver. 35. Let it not diſpleaſe, &c.] She begs his Pardon that ſhe did not ſtand up to do him Reverence, as became a Child to her Father: And excuſes it, by an Infirmity which was upon her.
And he ſearched.] He looked all about the place where ſhe ſat.
Ver. 36. Jacob anſwered and ſaid, &c.] He proceeded farther in his Anſwer; and expoſtulates with Laban, as he had done with him: Setting forth the cauſleſsneſs of his Purſuit, the injuſtice of charging him with Theft, and all his unkind uſage of him, from the time he came to him, till his departure; notwithſtanding his faithful Services, which he repreſents moſt admirably.
Ver. 38. Thy Ews and She-Goats have not caſt their young.] I lookt ſo carefully after them, and ſuch was the Bleſſing of God upon my Care, none of them miſcarried. A moſt high Commendation of his Service. Who would not have valued ſuch a Servant, for whoſe ſake God beſtowed ſuch an unwonted Fecundity upon Laban's Flock?
The Rams of thy Flock have I not eaten.] Under Rams are comprehended the Lambs alſo: For if he had eaten any of them, it had been no great Commendation to abſtain from the Rams. But he contented himſelf with Pulſe, or ſuch like mean Diet, to promote his Maſter's Profit.
Ver. 39. That which was torn of Beaſts, &c.] And that alſo which was ſtolen by Theft, was not brought to Laban's Account; but Jacob made them good. Which was not only an unjuſt exaction, but an inhumane: For the moſt careful Shepherd in the World could not have his Eye every where, to prevent ſuch things, eſpecially in the dark; as it follows.
Whether ſtolen by day or by night.] A moſt barbarous uſage of a Nephew, and a Son-in-law, to make him pay for that which wild Beaſts devoured, or Thieves ſtole, againſt his will; when no Body could ſee their approach in the Night. Some queſtion where Jacob got Money to pay for them. But it is to be conſidered, that he did not come quite unprovided, from his Father's Houſe; with which alſo, we may reaſonably think, he ſtill held ſome Correſpondence.
Ver. 40. Thus was I, in the day the drought, &c.] While I ſerved thee, the Heat conſumed me in the Day-time, and the Froſt nipt me by Night. For in thoſe Countries Shepherds were wont to watch their Flocks; eſpecially about the time that Ews were likely to yean: As we read Luke II. 8. See Bochart in his Hierozoic. P. I. L. II. cap. 44.
My Sleep departed from mine Eyes.] Many times he took no reſt; being awakned by wild Beaſts, or by Thieves, or kept awake by his great ſolicitude for his Flock.
Ver. 41. Thus have I been twenty Years in thy Houſe.] This hath been my manner of life, for no leſs than twenty Years, that I have been a Servant in thy Family.
Ver. 42. The fear of Iſaac.] The God whom Iſaac feared; that is, worſhipped: As the Chaldee interprets it.
Thou hadſt ſent we away now empty.] Without Goods, Wives, or Children: For he ſeems to have been ſo barbarous, that if he had been left to himſelf, he would have made them all his Slaves.
God hath ſeen my affliction.] How ill thou haſt treated me; and taken care to relieve me. For ſo the word ſeen ſignifies in many places; particularly XVI. 13.
Ver. 43. Theſe Cattle are my Cattle, &c.] Becauſe they belonged to his Daughters, and their Children, therefore he calls them his. That is, now he is in a good mood, and pretends the ſame Care of every thing that Jacob had, as if it were his own. So it follows.
And what can I do this day unto theſe my Daughters? &c.] How can I do them any harm, when they are ſo very dear to me?
Ver. 44. Let us make a Covenant, &c.] Enter into a ſtrict League, by ſome Monument or other; that ſhall remain as a Teſtimony of our Friendſhip.
Ver. 45. Set it up for a Pillar.] For a Monument of what Laban deſired.
Ver. 46. Jacob ſaid to his Brethren, Gather ſtones, &c.] He prays every one, whom Laban had brought with him, to bring a Stone; and they did ſo, and laid them together on an heap; which was flat at the top like a Table: So that they did eat upon it the next Morning, verſe 54.
Ver. 47. Laban called it Jegar-Sahadutha, &c.] One of them gave it a Syriac Name, ſignifying the heap of Teſtimony: The other an Hebrew, ſignifying the heap of Witneſs. For Gal is an Heap in Hebrew, and Ed, a Witneſs. Theſe two Languages were different: But not ſo much that they did not underſtand one another, as appears by the whole Story.
Ver. 48. This heap is a witneſs between me and thee this day.] It ſhall remain as a Monument, that we agree; not to tranſgreſs theſe Bounds, as it is explained, verſe 52.
Ver. 49. Mizpah.] A Watch-Tower. This ſhows that Laban underſtood Hebrew as well as Syriac: Or, rather, that theſe were two Dialects: Which differed in pronunciation, and in many words, (as thoſe mentioned verſe 47.) but in moſt, had the ſame common to them both.
The LORD watch between me and thee.] Obſerve how we behave our ſelves, when we cannot ſee one another. Here he uſes the Name of Jehovah; which ſhows he was acquainted with the Religion of Jacob, as well as his Language; and worſhipped, it's likely, the LORD of Heaven and of Earth; though not without ſome ſuperſtitious mixtures.
Ver. 50. If thou ſhalt afflict my Daughters, &c.] It ſeems to be a ſhort form of Speech, importing; God who obſerves all things will puniſh thee for it.
If thou take other Wives beſides my Daughters.] Which might have been worſe for them and their Poſterity: And therefore he lays this reſtraint upon him.
No Man is with us, &c.] Though here be no Man beſides our ſelves, to be Witneſs of this Agreement; yet, conſider that God (which is infinitely more) knows it, and will puniſh him that tranſgreſſes it.
In theſe two laſt Verſes, he diſcourſes very Religiouſly; which revived alſo his natural Affection to his Children.
Ver. 52. This heap be witneſs, and this pillar be witneſs, &c.] It ſeems that Laban and his Company ſet up an Heap, made of the Stones which every one brought; and Jacob ſet up one ſingle large Stone (verſe 45.) in the form of a Pillar. And, it's likely, his Pillar lookt towards the Land of Canaan; and their Heap towards Haran.
That I will not paſs over this heap, &c.] As Stones were ſet in the Confines of Fields to be Boundaries, and Land-marks (as we call them) to diſtinguiſh Mens Poſſeſſions, and limit them from incroaching one upon another: So were this Heap, and this Pillar intended to be in the nature of ſuch Boundaries; beyond which neither of them ſhould paſs armed, to offend the other.
Ver. 53. The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor.] Theſe two were Brethren, (for he doth not mean, ſure, their Grand-Father, the Father of Terah, XI. 24.) and before Abraham was called out of Ʋr, they both worſhipped other Gods, Joſh. XXIV. 2. But then Abraham renounced thoſe Gods; and worſhipped only the Creator of Heaven and Earth. As Nahor, I have formerly conjectured, alſo did; when he followed him to Haran. Therefore, I think, we need not make a queſtion by which of Abraham's Gods Laban now ſwears: For I take him to have been bred up in the true Religion, which made Abraham deſire his Son ſhould have a Wife out of this Family; for which reaſon Iſaac alſo ſent Jacob hither.
The God of their Father.] As much as to ſay by the God of our Anceſtors: Who, after God's appearing to Abraham and calling him out of his own Country, became the Worſhippers of the LORD of Heaven and Earth alone. See XI. 31.
Jacob ſware by the fear of his Father Iſaac.] By him whom Iſaac worſhipped, verſe 42. He mentions the fear of Iſaac rather than the God of Abraham; to declare more plainly and undoubtedly, by what God he ſware. For Abraham had been an Idolater; but Iſaac never was.
Ver. 54. Jacob offered ſacrifice.] Peace-Offerings, (as they were afterward called) part of which were eaten by him that offered them, and by his Friends. This further ſhows they were of the ſame Religion, by their partaking of the ſame Sacrifice: Which Jacob no doubt offered to the True God.
Called his Brethren to eat Bread.] Invited them to Feaſt with him upon that Sacrifice: Whereby they confirmed the Covenant lately made between them.
Ver. 55. Laban bleſſed them.] Prayed God to preſerve and proſper them.
Returned to his place.] viz. Haran.