Commentary on Genesis, Chapter 28
CHAP. XXVIII.
Ver. 1. AND Iſaac called Jacob.] Sent for him to come to him.
And bleſſed him.] Renewed and confirmed the Bleſſing he had already given him: That it might not be thought to be of leſs force, becauſe procured by Artifice and Subtilty, XXVII. 35.
Ver. 2. To Padan-Aram.] See XXV. 20.
Ver. 3. And God Almighty bleſs thee, &c.] This is the ſolemn Bleſſing mentioned verſe 1. wherein he ratifies what he had done: And more fully and diſtinctly ſettles the Land of Promiſe upon him; and makes him the Father of the promiſed Seed.
Ver. 4. Give thee the Bleſſing of Abraham.] The Bleſſing of Abraham was, that he ſhould inherit the Land of Canaan; and that in his Seed all the Nations of the Earth ſhould be bleſſed, Gen. XV. 18. XXII. 18: Both which he now confirms to Jacob.
Ver. 5. And Iſaac ſent away Jacob.] In ſome haſte, as the LXX. tranſlate verſe 2. Ariſe, flee, i. e. depart without any delay. Which looks as if Rebekah had at laſt, ſuggeſted ſomething to him of the Danger he was in.
And he went to Padan-Aram.] Prepared himſelf to go, and ſet forward. Or, elſe it is ſpoken by anticipation; for he did not come thither till after ſeveral Paſſages; which are related in this and in the next Chapter.
Son of Bethuel the Syrian.] See XXV. 20.
Jacob's and Eſau's Mother.] Now Jacob is put firſt; as being lately declared Iſaac's Heir, and Heir of all the Promiſes.
Ver. 9. Then went Eſau unto Iſhmael, &c.] To the Family of Iſhmael; for he himſelf died fourteen Years ago. And therefore Nebaioth (his eldeſt Son, XXV. 13.) is here mentioned, as the preſent Head of the Family: Whoſe Siſter Eſau married. Whereby he ſhowed himſelf not to have any great regard to the Divine Revelation: Otherwiſe he could not but have known, that this Family, being deſcended from a Bond-Woman, was not to inherit the Promiſes made to Abraham and Iſaac.
Ver. 10. Jacob went out from Beer-ſheba, &c.] Quite alone, without any Servants to attend him, and without any Preſents to court a Wife, or gain the Kindneſs of Laban: Neither of which were wanting, when Abraham ſent Eliezer to take a Wife for Iſaac. But as he was ſent away in haſte, (as I noted before, verſe 5.) ſo hereby the Anger of Eſau was mitigated, who at preſent was left the ſole Poſſeſſor of all Iſaac's Riches, and ſaw Jacob depart in a poor Condition. This alſo was an act of Divine Faith, that God would take a ſingular Care of him, and let him want nothing. And as they could not but hope that Laban, being ſo near a Relation, would be glad to ſee him and entertain him: So it is probable he might carry Letters of Credence with him, that he was to be Heir to Iſaac; as Eliezer aſſured them Iſaac was to be to Abraham, XXIV. 36. We are to ſuppoſe likewiſe, that he was not ſent without Money to bear his Charges, (as we ſpeak) and had ſome Proviſion with him: For we read of Oil, verſe 18. which he poured on the top of the Pillar.
Ver. 11. And he lighted upon a certain place, &c.] A convenient place (ſhaded with lovely Trees; ſee verſe 19.) to lodge in: Unto which he did not go by deſign; but hapned (as we ſpeak) upon it, when he did not think of it.
And he took of the Stones of that place.] One Stone, from among many others that were there: As appears from verſe 18. The ſame form of Speech was obſerved before, XIX. 29. XXI. 7.
Ver. 12. And he dreamed.] He had the following Repreſentation made to him in a Dream.
Behold, a Ladder, &c.] It is judiciouſly obſerved by Maimonides in his Preface to his More Nevochim, that there are two ſorts of Prophetick Parables (as he calls them,) in one of which, every word hath ſome peculiar ſignification: In the other, the whole Parable repreſents the thing intended, but every word hath not it's weight; ſome ſerving only for Elegance. Among the firſt ſort he reckons this: In which the Ladder may be thought to repreſent the Divine Providence, which governs all things; and particularly now directed Jacob in his Journey, every ſtep of which was under God's Guidance. It being ſet upon the Earth denoted, he thinks, the ſtedfaſtneſs of Providence, which nothing is able to ſhake. And the top of it reaching to Heaven ſignifies, that it extends it ſelf all the World over; to every thing, great or ſmall, high or low: And the ſeveral ſteps in the Ladder, the Motions and Actions of Divine Providence. The Angels which went up and down, ſignifies that they are the great Miniſters of God's Providence, by whom he manages all things here below: And that they are never idle, but always in motion to ſerve thoſe eſpecially who ſerve God faithfully. Their aſcending repreſents their going to receive the Divine Orders and Commands; and their deſcending, the execution of his Orders. Or, (with a peculiar reſpect to Jacob's preſent Condition) the one ſignified, their ſafe Conduct of him in his Journey to Padan-Aram; and the other, their bringing him ſafe home again.
This is infinitely more ſolid, than the Conceit of almoſt all the ancient Rabbins, that God repreſented in this Ladder, the riſe, and the fall of the four great Monarchies. For where is there any mention in this Dream of four Angels? Or, of ſeventy Steps repreſenting the ſeventy Years Captivity in Babylon? Or, of two and fifty Steps repreſenting the time of the Reign of the four Kings of Perſia and Media, according to their computation? &c. All this is the pure invention of idle Men, who dream upon the Holy Scriptures.
Ver. 13. And behold, the LORD ſtood above it.] Finally, he ſaw the Divine Majeſty, or Glory, (ſo the Targum here expounds it) as the unmovable Mover of all things. From whom all comes as the firſt Cauſe, and to whom all returns, as the laſt End.
I am the LORD God, &c.] This is the firſt time that we read of God's appearing to Jacob: And it was only in a Dream. But it made ſuch a deep impreſſion upon him, that he doubted not of the Truth of what was now expreſly promiſed him by God himſelf; that he ſhould have the bleſſing of Abraham, as his Father had told him, verſe 4.
Ver. 15. Behold, I am with thee.] Or, will be with thee, i. e. My peculiar Providence ſhall be over thee, and take Care of thy ſafety, as Maimonides well expounds it; in his More Nevoch. P. III. cap. 18.
I will not leave thee, &c.] This ſhows the intent of the Dream was to comfort Jacob, in his ſolitary and poor Condition, by an aſſurance that God's watchful Providence ſhould attend him, till he had accompliſhed all his Promiſes to him.
Ver. 16. Surely the LORD is in this place.] By his ſpecial extraordinary Preſence: For here he had manifeſted himſelf to him, and given him ſingular Aſſurances of his Favour; and that the very firſt Night, after he went from home: Which made this place more acceptable to him than his Father's Houſe. For now he was become a Prophet, as Maimonides obſerves, More Nevoch. P. II. cap. 45. where he ſays, That they who Propheſie in a Dream, do not call it a Dream after Prophecy is come to them in a Dream, but ſimply ſay, it was a Prophecy. Thus the Patriarch Jacob, after he awakned out of his Prophetick Dream, (wherein he heard the LORD ſpeak to him, verſe 13, 14.) he doth not call it a Dream, but roundly ſays, Surely the LORD is in this place, &c.
And I knew it not.] I did not expect to meet with ſuch a Divine Appearance and Revelation to me.
Ver. 17. And he was afraid.] Poſſeſſed with a Religious, Awful Apprehenſion of God. Which made him ſay,
How dreadful is this place?] With what Reverence ought I here to behave my ſelf?
This is none other but the Houſe of God.] The Divine Majeſty dwells here: This is not a common Place, but a Sacred; having a Divine Preſence in it.
And this is the Gate of Heaven.] Here God keeps his Court, attended by his Holy Angels: Whom he had ſeen come from Heaven hither, and go up from hence thither. So Mr. Mede explains it, Book II. p. 436. The Preſence of God in one Place more than another, conſiſts in his Train or Retinue. A King is there, where his Court is: And ſo God is there ſpecially preſent, where the Angels keep their Station. Which is the meaning of the Gate of Heaven, i. e. Heaven's Court: For the Gate was wont to be the Judgment-Hall, and the Place where Kings, and Senators uſed to ſit, attended by their Guards and Miniſters.
Ver. 18. Took the Stone and ſet it up for a Pillar.] Upon the top of ſome other Stones, which he heaped up together: That it might remain as a Monument of the Divine Mercy to him; and preſerve the Memory of this Heavenly Viſion: And that by this Token he might know this Place, when God brought him back again, and commemorate his Goodneſs to him here.
This Stone was held in great Veneration by the Jews in future times, and tranſlated to Jeruſalem. After the deſtruction of which by Titus, they were wont (upon that Day when it was taken, which was the only Day they were permitted to come thither) with great Lamentation and rending their Garments, to go and anoint this Stone. Such is the Power of fond Superſtition. See Voſſius, de Idolol. Lib. VI. cap. 38.
Poured Oil on the top of it.] Not in honour of this Stone, (as Bonfrerius himſelf confeſſes) much leſs of any Idol to which it was dedicated: But to conſecrate it as a Monument of God's great Mercy to him, in the before-mentioned Celeſtial Viſion. Oil, it appears by this, was anciently uſed, in conſecrating things, before the Law of Moſes: And not only in this Family, but in others alſo it is probable; from whence the Pagan Cuſtom came of anointing Stones, which by Theophraſtus are called foreign, upon which Superſtitious People were wont when they met with them in the High-ways, to pour Oil and fall down and worſhip. A great many Authors mention them, which are collected by Elmenhorſtius in his Obſervations upon Arnobius, p. 37. They that would be ſatisfied how wretchedly ſome of the Romiſh Writers plead for the worſhip of Images from this very place, may read Dr. Jackson's Treatiſe of the Original of Ʋnbelief, Chap. XXXV. where he excellently explains this action of Jacob, n. 5, 6, 7.
Ver. 19. And he called the Name of that place Bethel.] From this word Bethel, came the word foreign (as Scaliger in his Animadv. upon Euſeb. p. 198. and others think) among the Heathen: Whereby they denoted rude Stones, which they worſhipped either as Symbols of Divinity, or as true Gods, animated by ſome heavenly Power. Of which worſhip ſee Photius in his Bibliotheca, CCXLII. But eſpecially Bochartus, L. II. Canaan, cap. 1. where he ſhows the Phoenicians (at leaſt as the Jews think) firſt worſhipped this very Stone which Jacob anointed: And afterward conſecrated others, which they called Baetylia, and Baetyli, in memory of this Stone anointed at Bethel. See p. 785, 786. Certain it is, this Idolatrous Practice came very early into the World: Which made Moſes forbid the erecting of ſuch Pillars, they being in his time converted to a prophane uſe, Lev. XXVI. 1. Deut. XII. 3. XVI. 22.
But the Name of that City.] Which was near to the place, where this Pillar was ſet up.
Was Luz at the firſt.] So called, perhaps, from the many Almond-trees which grew there, (for Luz ſignifies an Almond, ſee XXX. 37.) among which it is probable Jacob took up his lodging, becauſe they were a kind of Covering to him. Both this Luz in the Tribe of Benjamin, and the other among the Hittites in the Tribe of Ephraim, Judg. I. 26. Bochart doubts not had there Name from this Original, L. I. Canaan, cap. 35.
Ver. 20. Jacob vowed a Vow.] This is the firſt Vow, that we read of in Scripture: Which all Men allow is a part of Religion, and ſo was acknowledged by the Law of Moſes, Deut. XXIII. 21. Pſalm L. 12. Pſalm LXV. 2, &c.
Perhaps Jacob was the firſt, that in this manner expreſſed his devout Affection towards God.
If God will be with me, &c.] Perform his Promiſe to me, verſe 15.
Give me Bread to eat, &c.] Support and maintain me; which is the explication of the Promiſe.
Ver. 21. Then ſhall the LORD be my God.] I will moſt Religiouſly worſhip and ſerve him. Which doth not imply, that he would not worſhip him, if he did not bring him home in Peace: But that, if he did, he would perform ſome ſpecial Service to him, and worſhip him with extraordinary Devotion: Conſecrating (as it follows) this Place to his Honour; offering him Sacrifice, and giving him the Tenths of all he had, to maintain his worſhip.
Ver. 22. And this Stone, which I have ſet for a Pillar.] All Pillars were not unlawful, but ſuch only as were for Idolatrous uſes: As Maimonides reſolves, L. de Idol. cap. VI. §. 8. And therefore the Jews ſo expound thoſe words, before-mentioned, Thou ſhalt not ſet thee up any Statue or Pillar, which the LORD thy God hateth, Deut. XVI. 22. concerning Pillars ſet up for worſhip, not of thoſe for memorial.
Shall be God's Houſe.] Here will I ſet apart a Place for God's Solemn Worſhip and Service: Build an Altar, and offer Sacrifice, &c. See XXXV. 3.
Give the tenth unto thee.] foreign, ſaith Joſephus, the Tithe of all his In-come; for the maintenance of Burnt-Sacrifices, and ſuch like pious Uſes; and, perhaps, for the relief of the Poor. As for the Prieſts we do not yet read of any Tithe given to them: Though Mr. Selden (in his Hiſtory of Tithes, p. 4, &c. and Review, p. 451.) thinks they were paid to Iſaac, who was then Prieſt of the Family. And ſo Biſhop Montacute in his Book againſt him, p. 199. who obſerves that we read only of Abraham and Jacob paying Tithe, not of Iſaac; Becauſe Iſaac was a more ſpecial Type of Chriſt than either of theſe. And Abraham and Jacob were Types of thoſe two People who were to have part in the true Iſaac; for Abraham was Father of all the Faithful; and Jacob was the Type of the Synagogue; as St. Ambroſe handles theſe Matters in the Life of Abraham. Yet the ſame Biſhop confeſſes, That many doubt whether Jacob paid the Tenth of all to Iſaac, or immediately to God: Becauſe Jacob alſo was a Prieſt himſelf. See p. 205, &c.
This, I think, we may certainly conclude from this place, That Jacob, the Grand-Child of Abraham, vowing the Tenth of all, as Abraham had given the Tenth of the Spoil, he was induced to it, by the Cuſtom, which was then among Religious People. How they came to pitch upon this Portion, rather than a Fifth, Sixth, or any other, is not ſo eaſie to be reſolved. But they ſeem to ſpeak with much Reaſon, who obſerve that in this Number Ten, all Nations in a manner end their Account (Ariſtotle in his Problems, §. XV. L. 3.) and then begin again with compound Numbers. Or, as others phraſe it, This is the end of leſs Numbers, and the beginning of greater. So that it was lookt upon as the moſt perfect of all other; and accordingly had in great regard. But, after all, it ſeems moſt likely to me, that they had ſome Divine Direction for it, as they had for Sacrificing. And it may be further noted, That what they gave to their Kings was the Tenth Part, as well as what they gave to God. And nothing more common among the Gentiles than Tenths paid to their Kings; and that very anciently, for it appears from 1 Sam. VIII. 14, 15, 17. that it was part of the Jus Regium among the Eaſtern People. Ariſtotle himſelf mentions it under the Name of foreign, an ancient Law in Babylon: And it was alſo uſed in Athens, which was a Commonwealth, as Dr. Spencer ſhows in his Learned Work, de Leg. Hebr. Ritual. L. III. cap. X. §. 1. And Biſhop Mountague ſhows they were paid among the Romans, p. 248, &c.