Commentary on Genesis, Chapter 30
CHAP. XXX.
Ver. 1. ENvied her Siſter.] Was ſo grieved, that it made her fret, into Impatience and Rage. For it is a frantick Speech which follows.
Give me Children or I die.] I ſhall make my ſelf away, (as we now ſpeak) or die with Grief. See here the great danger of two eager and impatient Deſires: The fulfilling of which, was her death indeed.
Ver. 2. Jacob's Anger was kindled.] He conceived a juſt Indignation againſt her Impatience, which he expreſſes with ſome heat.
Am I in God's ſtead, &c.] Is it in my Power to give, what God thinks fit to deny? Thus he puts her in mind of what the Pſalmiſt ſaid afterward, Children are a gift that cometh of the LORD, as the old Tranſlation hath it, CXXVII. 3.
Ver. 3. Behold my Maid Bilhah, go in unto her.] She followed the ſteps of Sarah, Jacob's Grand-Mother, (XVI. 1.) in adopting the Son of her Maid-Servant: Whom ſhe gave to Jacob out of the ſame Principle, that Sarah gave Hagar to be Abraham's Wife; a vehement Deſire to fulfill the Promiſe, that their Seed ſhould be as the Stars of Heaven; and eſpecially the Promiſe of the Meſſiah; which made them ſo extreamly troubled at Barrenneſs.
She ſhall bear upon my Knees.] Bring me a Child, whom I may ſet upon my Knees, as my own. For ſo it follows.
That I may have Children.] Though not by my own Body, yet by her. For ſhe being Rachel's Servant, the Children that were born of her, were Rachel's Children, not her own.
Ver. 4. And ſhe gave him Bilhah her hand-maid to Wife.] Of ſuch kind of Wives as this and Zilpah, verſe 9. ſee XXV. 6.
Ver. 6. God hath judged me.] Decided the Controverſie between me and my Siſter; and given Sentence on my ſide.
She called his Name Dan.] The Mother's ſometimes gave Names to their Children (as Leah had done to hers, mentioned in the foregoing Chapter) but with the Approbation of the Father, who ſometime controlled them, XXXV. 18.
Ver. 8. With great wreſtlings, &c.] I have ſtrugled exceeding hard (i. e. in inceſſant, vehement Deſires, and perhaps in Prayers to God) to have another Child, before my Siſter; and have prevailed.
Ver. 9. Took Zilpah her Maid, and gave her to Jacob to Wife.] Imitating her Siſter, and perhaps out of the ſame Principle; hoping ſome or other of her Children might be the Father of the Meſſiah: And therefore the more Children ſhe had, the more likely ſome of them might be ſo happy.
Ver. 11. A troop cometh.] The Hebrew Writers generally expound it, Good fortune cometh: as Mr. Selden ſhows in his Syntagm. de Diis Syris, Cap. I. And the LXX tranſlate it foreign, in a lucky hour: And other Greek Verſions foreign, as in St. Chryſoſtom, (Hom. LVI. on this Book) who expounds it foreign, I have obtained my aim. Others have foreign, which is the ſame: Whence the Latin anciently had it, Beata facta, or Foelix ſum, as in St. Auſtin, Q. XCI. in Gen. And this ſeems to ſome to be nearer to the Hebrew than any other Tranſlation; becauſe what other way ſoever we expound the word Gad either for a Troop, or Fortune, we muſt make two words of Bagad, as the Maſorites do, and take foreign to ſignifie as much as foreign, according as we tranſlate it, A Troop cometh, or Good Fortune cometh. But I ſee no neceſſity of this, for taking Gad for a Troop, it may be ſimply tranſlated, With a Troop; a Troop ſhall follow this, i. e. a great many more Children. And it muſt be confeſſed that Jacob in his Bleſſing, XLIX. 19. doth allude to this ſignification of the word, which I doubt not is the trueſt. For Gad, or Gada never denotes Fortune any where, but in the Targum of Onkelos and Jonathan, and among the Rabbins who follow them: And therefore this may be lookt upon as a later not the ancient ſignification of the word.
Ver. 14. In the days of Wheat-harveſt.] Which began at Pentecoſt, when the Firſt-Fruits of it were offered; as Barley-harveſt began at the Paſsover.
Mandrakes.] In the Hebrew the word is Dudaim: Which here ſignifies the Fruit of a Tree or Plant, (whatſoever it be) and in the Book of Canticles VII. 13. it ſignifies the Flowers; and theſe are the only two places where this word is found in the Bible. Which Job Ludolphus gives many reaſons to prove, cannot ſignifie a Mandrake: For the Flowers of that have a bad ſmell, and the Fruit of it a bad taſte. And therefore, after great variety of Opinions, he concludes it to be that which in Syria they call Mauz: Which is an excellent ſort of Fruit, growing upon a Plant, in the top of which there are great Bunches of it, like a Cucumer. From whence he fanſies this Fruit was anciently called Dudaim: From the Hebrew word Dud, which ſignifies, propinquus, cognatus, amicus, a Neighbour, Kinſman, or Friend. Such were theſe Dudaim, which he calls Cognatos ant patrueles ab una ſtirpe profectos, vide Comment. in L. I. Hiſtor. Aethiop. cap. 9. n. 72.
Ver. 15. Taken away my Husband.] It ſeems he had eſtranged himſelf, for ſome time, from Leah's Bed, out of his great Love to Rachel, or becauſe he took little Delight in her. Or, Rachel's envy at her having ſo many Children, when ſhe her ſelf had none; made her contrive ways to keep him from Leah.
Ver. 16. Thou muſt come in to me, &c.] I cannot think of any good Reaſon, either of this Contention among Jacob's Wives for his Company, or their giving him their Maids to be his Wives, or for Moſes his taking ſuch particular notice of all this; but only the earneſt Deſire they had to fulfil the Promiſe made to Abraham, That his Seed ſhould be as the Stars of Heaven for Multitude; and that in one Seed of his (the Meſſiah) all the Nations of the Earth ſhould be bleſſed. It had been below the Dignity of ſuch a Sacred Hiſtory, as this is, to relate ſuch things, if there had not been ſomething of great Conſideration in them. And what can that be, but chiefly the Birth of the bleſſed Seed; which was the Object of the Hopes of all pious People in thoſe Days. For it is evident, both by Rachel and her Siſter, that it was Children they deſired, and not merely the Company of their Husbands: As it here follows, verſe 17.
Ver. 17. God hearkned to Leah.] To her earneſt Prayer, or vehement Deſire: And gave her another Son.
Ver. 18. God hath given me my hire.] I purchaſed my Husband's Company, and God hath repaid me, by the Gift of another Son. Unto which ſhe adds a further Reflection; as if this was the Reward of her Kindneſs to her Husband, in beſtowing her Maid upon him, to be his Wife.
Ver. 19. Conceived again.] The birth of this Son begat a greater Kindneſs between them; and made him leſs a ſtranger to her Bed.
Ver. 20. God hath endowed me with a good Dowry.] By reſtoring her Husband to her, and beſtowing new Fruitfulneſs upon her: For ſhe had ceaſed to bear, XXIX. ult.
Ver. 21. Dinah.] No reaſon is given of her Name: But it ſeems to have the ſame with that of Rachel's Firſt-born by Bilhah, verſe 6. For, as if ſhe had now got the better of Rachel, ſhe calls this Child by a Name, importing Judgment.
Ver. 22. God remembred Rachel.] He would not have Leah inſult over her, nor triumph too much; and therefore bleſſed Rachel with a Son out of her own Womb. For that was to remember her.
Ver. 24. Joſeph.] His Name ſeems to have been taken both from ending her Reproach, which ſhe mentions before, verſe 23. The LORD hath taken away (Aſaph the Hebrew word is) my reproach: And from adding another Son to this.
God ſhall add to me another Son.] This was a great Expreſſion of her Faith; more than we find in all the former Births.
Ver. 25. Send me away.] It is plain, by this, that the ſeven Years Service for Rachel were now finiſhed; juſt when Joſeph was born: And therefore he deſires to be diſmiſſed, having lived with him fourteen Years.
To my own Place, and to my Country.] i. e. To his Father's Houſe in Canaan: Which was his Country, becauſe he was born there.
Ver. 26. For thou knoweſt what ſervice I have done thee.] He appeals to himſelf, whether he had not ſerved him with all Diligence and Fidelity: And therefore deſerved to be diſmiſſed after ſuch long Labours.
Ver. 27. I have learned by experience.] Or, as the Ancients underſtood the word Nichaſhti, I have found by Divination: And Aben Ezra thinks he learnt it by conſulting with his Teraphim. But there needed no ſuch advice with them; the thing was plain in it ſelf, that he had brought Proſperity along with him into his Houſe.
Ver. 29. Thou knoweſt how I have ſerved thee.] With how much Care and Fidelity, as he had admoniſhed him before, verſe 26.
And how thy Cattle was with me.] How they proſpered under my Care.
Ver. 30. Bleſſed thee ſince my coming.] So St. Hierom explains the Hebrew Phraſe, at my Foot: Ever ſince I ſet my Foot within thy Doors; or, ſince I entred into thy Service. Others expound it, Whereſoever I went, or by my leading thy Flock. But Maimonides ſays this Phraſe, Leragli (at my Foot) ſignifies becauſe of me; for my ſake. And ſo he explains the like Phraſe, XXXIII. 14. P. I. More Nevoch. cap. 28.
Ver. 31. Thou ſhalt not give me any thing, &c.] I will take nothing of thee at preſent; but make this following Bargain with thee, for the future.
Ver. 32. All the ſpeckled and ſpotted, &c.] In this place, and in XXXI. 10. there are four diſtinct words uſed to expreſs what ſhould be his.
The firſt of them is Nakod, which we well tranſlate ſpeckled. For the word ſignifies little Points or Pricks, which the Greeks call foreign: As many have obſerved; particularly Bochart in his Hierozoic. P. I. L. II. c. 45.
The ſecond is Talu, which ſignifies broader and larger Spots; which we frequently ſee in Cattle.
The next is Akod, which ſignifies ſpotted with divers Colours: But moſt properly, Spots, or rather Circles, or Rings about the Feet or Legs (which we tranſlate Ring-ſtraked) ſo Symmachus renders it foreign, white-footed: And Onkelos and Jonathan, having Marks on their Feet; rather Liſts round their Legs or Feet; for the word denotes binding or twiſting about any thing.
And then the laſt word Barud ſignifies whitiſh Spots like Hail. For Barud, in Hebrew, is Hail.
This ſhall be my hire.] He doth not mean, that thoſe Cattle which were already ſpeckled and ſpotted, &c. ſhould be given him: For that doth not agree with what went before, thou ſhalt not give me any thing, (i. e. I will take nothing that is now thine) and beſides, it would have been no wonder, if thoſe that were ſpotted already ſhould bring forth others like to themſelves. Therefore the Sence is, That he would ſeparate all the ſpotted Sheep and Goats; and then out of thoſe which were of one Colour, he would have all that ſhould prove hereafter at all marked with any of the fore-mentioned variety. Now this was a thing ſo unlikely to happen, that Laban, in the next Verſe, embraces the motion very greedily: Thinking that white or black Cattle, would bring forth none but ſuch as were like themſelves.
Ver. 33. So ſhall my Righteouſneſs, &c.] This ſeparation being made, it would appear that if he had any ſpotted, they were not taken from Laban's Flock; but given to him by God out of them, as a Reward of his honeſt Diligence.
Ver. 34. I would it might be according to thy word.] He thought this ſo good a Bargain, that he was afraid Jacob would not ſtand to it.
Ver. 35. Into the hands of his Sons.] i. e. Of Laban's Sons, who were now grown up: Though, perhaps, when Jacob firſt came to him, they were ſo little as not to be able to look after the Flocks; which his Daughter therefore fed, XXIX. 9. As for Jacob's Sons, the eldeſt of them was ſcarce ſeven Years old; and therefore could not be fit for ſuch Employment. Laban therefore went and ſeparated the ſpotted Cattle from the reſt; and then, leſt Jacob ſhould get any of them to mix with thoſe of one Colour, he committed them to his own Sons, to be fed apart by themſelves. And, as it follows in the next Verſe, made a diſtance of three days journey, between the one and the other; that none might be in danger to ſtray to the Flock which was fed by Jacob: Unto whoſe Care were committed all that had no Spots at all.
Ver. 36. Set three days journey, &c.] That they might be ſure, not to come near, ſo much as to ſee one another.
Ver. 37. Of the Haſel.] The Hebrew word Luz ſignifies an Almond, as Bochart proves at large, out of a great many Authors. And therefore St. Hierom here rightly tranſlates it, Virgas amygdalinas. And the Hebrew Interpreters, who will have it ſignifie an Haſel-tree, confeſs that herein they depart from the Opinion of thoſe that went before them. So Aben Ezra and Kimchi, who both acknowledge that the ancient Doctors expound it, Almond-rods.
And pilled white ſtrakes in them.] He had three Artifices to compaſs his end. The firſt was this, To peel off the Bark from the Rods, at certain diſtances, till the white appeared between the Bark, which was of a different Colour. And theſe Rods, thus diſcoloured, he laid in the Channels of Water, at that time when the Cattle were wont to couple, (as it follows in the next Verſe) that their Fancies might be painted with ſuch divers Colours, as they ſaw in the Rods. See verſe 40, 41.
Ver. 39. And the Flocks conceived before the Rods, and brought forth, &c.] The Greek Fathers aſcribe this to the miraculous Operation of God, as Bochart obſerves in his Hierozoic. P. I. L. II. cap. 49. But the Latin Fathers, particularly St. Hierom, look upon it as done by the natural Operation of the Imagination. For which he alledges the like thing done in Spain among Horſes and Mares: And brings Quinctilian and Hippocrates to juſtifie the like Conceptions in Women. Which he backs with a great Number of Authorities, out of Galen and other Writers: Who have obſerved indelible Marks, to have been impreſſed upon Children, by the Objects that were preſented to their Mother's Imagination, at the time of her Conception.
And St. Auſtin ſays the Egyptians, by the like Device with this of Jacob's, had ſtill a new Apis, or Pied-Bull, to ſucceed that which died: To whom they gave Divine Honour. But whatſoever Power there might be in natural Imagination to produce ſuch Effects, it muſt be acknowledged that God gave an extraordinary Bleſſing to this Contrivance: As appears by the Viſion which Jacob ſays he had, wherein God (who had directed him to this Invention) promiſed to give it ſucceſs, XXXI. 10, 11, 12. For Beaſts have very rarely ſuch a ſtrong and vehement Imagination, as produces ſuch Effects; unleſs it be moved by ſome unuſual Paſſion. And therefore we muſt confeſs that God excited and ſtirred up their Imagination; which otherways would not have wrought in that manner; at leaſt, not in all the Cattle. For, let any Shepherd now try this Device, and he will not find it do, what it did then by a Divine Operation. Vide G. Voſſius, L. III. de Idolol. cap. 22.
Ver. 40. And Jacob did ſeparate the Lambs, &c.] One Species is put for all: And the meaning is, That thoſe young Cattle (whether Lambs, or Kids of the Goats, &c.) which were thus brought forth ſpotted, he did not ſuffer to remain with the Flock of Laban; leſt he ſhould ſay that he did him wrong by letting them mix together, and ſo bring forth ſpotted Cattle, (and perhaps he might alſo think that they looking upon Laban's one-coloured Cattle, might bring forth young ones like to them.) But, inſtead of this way of inriching himſelf, he had a ſecond Artifice; which was to put the ſpotted Cattle (produced by the former Device) foremoſt: So that Laban's Flock ſhould always look upon them, and thereby be the more apt to conceive the like. And then it follows, in the end of this Verſe.
He put his own Flocks by themſelves, and put them not to Laban's Cattle.] Which looks like a repetition of what was ſaid in the beginning of the Verſe: But the meaning is, That thoſe which brought forth ſpotted, by this ſecond Artifice, he alſo put by themſelves; and ſuffered them not to be mingled with Laban's Cattle: As before he had ſeparated thoſe that were brought forth ſpotted, by looking upon the Rods.
Ver. 41. And it came to paſs, when the ſtronger Cattle did conceive, that Jacob, &c.] This was his third Artifice: Which is thus expounded by the Chaldee and a great number of other Authors, (which may be ſeen in Bochart, P. I. Hierozoic. L. II. cap. 46.) that he laid the Rods before the Cattle only in the Spring-time, when the Sun was aſcending, and the Cattle luſty and vigorous: But let them alone when the Cattle came together in September, or the declenſion of the Year, (for they bred twice a Year in thoſe Countries) at which time they were become more feeble. If he had always laid the Rods before the Cattle, there might have been none but ſpotted, and ſo Laban have been quite impoveriſhed. Therefore he choſe to do it only in their firſt and prime Copulation, which was in the Spring-time: And omitted it in the latter, which was in the Autumn. Our famous Mr. Mede follows this Interpretation, Diſcourſe XLV. p. 355. But there is no certainty in it: For Pliny and Columella preferr theſe begot in Autumn, to thoſe begot in the Spring. And therefore our Tranſlation is moſt proper, which repreſents Jacob, as uſing this Artifice, of laying the Rods before them, only when the ſtronger Cattle came together, and not when the weaker. And ſo the LXX underſtood the words, without reſpect to the former or latter breed: And ſo the Hebrew words import, as Bochartus ſhows in the place before-named, pag. 514.
Ver. 43. And the Man increaſed exceedingly, &c.] Some have made it a queſtion, whether he got all this Riches honeſtly; becauſe Laban did not think of his uſing any Art, but only of bare caſual Productions. But, as what was not directly againſt the Contract, may be thought to be allowed by it; ſo it is certain that Jacob might lawfully take what God beſtowed upon him: Who ſeems to have directed him by an Angel to uſe this Artifice; or, at leaſt, teſtified his Approbation of it: Intending to tranſfer unto Jacob the Wealth of Laban, as he gave the Riches of the Egyptians to the Iſraelites. For the World is his, and the fulneſs thereof: And he may diſpoſe of every thing in it, as he pleaſes.
Maid-Servants, &c.] To look after his Cattle; and after his Camels and Aſſes, which he alſo purchaſed.