Commentary on Genesis, Chapter 48
CHAP. XLVIII.
Ver. 1. AFter theſe things.] Sometime after, though not long (for Jacob was nigh his end, when he ſent for Joſeph to make him ſwear he would bury him with his Fathers) he grew ſo weak, that he concluded he could not live long.
One told Joſeph.] A Meſſenger was ſent from his Father's Houſe, to acquaint Joſeph with his weak Condition. So the next Verſe teaches us to underſtand it.
He took with him, &c.] Immediately he went to receive his Bleſſing, and took with him his two Sons, that he might bleſs them alſo.
Ver. 2. One told Jacob, &c.] Joſeph ſent a Meſſenger before him, to let his Father know, he was coming to viſit him.
Iſrael ſtrengthned himſelf.] This Meſſage revived him; and made him ſtir up all his Spirits to receive him chearfully.
And ſat upon his bed.] Leaning, it's likely, upon his Staff, for the ſupport of his feeble Body. See XLVII. ult.
Ver. 3. Appeared to me at Luz.] He appeared twice to him in this place. Firſt, when he went to Padan-Aram, XXVIII. 13. (upon which he gave this Place the Name of Bethel, verſe 19.) and when he returned from thence, XXXV. 6, 9, &c. and, both times, made him the Promiſe which here follows; and therefore it is likely he hath reſpect to both.
And bleſſed me.] Promiſed to me the Bleſſing which follows.
Ver. 4. For an everlaſting poſſeſſion.] We do not read this in either of the Appearances, in ſo many words: But he ſaid it in effect, when he told him, in the laſt Appearance there, XXXV. 12. The Land which I gave to Abraham, and Iſaac, to thee will I give it, &c. Now he gave it to Abraham and his Seed for ever, XIII. 15.
Ver. 5. And now thy two Sons, &c.] Having aſſured him God would be as good as his Word, in giving the Land of Canaan to his Poſterity; he tells him what ſhare his Children ſhould have in it.
Are mine.] Thy two Sons ſhall be reckoned as if I had begotten them: And accordingly have each of them an Inheritance, equal with the reſt of my Sons; and be diſtinct Tribes.
As Reuben, and Simeon, ſhall they be mine.] He inſtances in them, becauſe they were his eldeſt Sons: Who, he ſays, ſhould have no more than Ephraim and Manaſſeh. And, perhaps, the meaning may be; theſe two ſhall be accounted as the Firſt-born of my Family. For he gives Joſeph the Primogeniture, (who was indeed the Firſt-born of his firſt intended Wife) and beſtows a double Portion upon him; by making his two Sons equal to the reſt of his Children.
Ver. 6. And thy iſſue which thou begetteſt after them, ſhall be thine.] I will make no diſtinct Proviſion for them, as I have done for theſe two: But they ſhall be called after the Name of their Brethren in their Inheritance, i. e. be reckoned among theſe two, Ephraim and Manaſſeh; and not make diſtinct Tribes as they ſhall, but be comprehended in them.
Ver. 7. And as for me, when I came from Padan-Aram, Rachel died by me, &c.] He mentions her death (which doth not ſeem to belong to the foregoing diſcourſe) becauſe it hapned preſently after that laſt Promiſe in Bethel, (XXXV. 18.) and he thought it would be grateful to his Son, to hear him remember his dear Mother. For it is as if he had ſaid; And now, my Son, this puts me in mind of thy Mother, who died immediately after that Promiſe of multiplying my Seed: And yet I ſee it fulfilled in thoſe Children which God hath given thee. Or, we may look upon theſe words, as giving the reaſon why he took Ephraim and Manaſſeh to be his own Children; and the Sence to be as if he had ſaid: Thy Mother indeed, and my beloved Wife, died ſoon after ſhe began to bear Children; when ſhe might have brought me many more: And therefore I adopt theſe her Grand-Children, and look upon them as if they had been born of Rachel. And I do it in Memory and Honour of her; ſupplying by adoption, what was wanting in Generation.
And I buried her there.] He could not carry her to the Cave of Machpelah, where he deſired to be laid himſelf; becauſe ſhe died in Child-bed: Which conſtrain'd him to bury her ſooner, than otherwiſe he might have done. And it is to be ſuppoſed he had not in his Travels, all things neceſſary to preſerve her Body long; by embalming her, as Joſeph did him.
Ver. 8. And Iſrael beheld Joſeph's Sons, &c.] He ſaw two others ſtand by Joſeph; but could not diſcern diſtincly who they were, by reaſon of the dimneſs of his Sight, verſe 10.
Ver. 9. And I will bleſs them.] As he had juſt before promiſed, verſe 5.
Ver. 10. And he brought them near unto him.] And made them kneel down before him; as the twelfth Verſe ſeems to intimate.
And he kiſſed them, &c.] Expreſſed the greateſt Affection to them.
Ver. 12. Brought them out from between his Knees.] It appears by Verſe 2. that Jacob ſat upon his Bed; and his Legs hanging down, they kneeled between his Knees: From whence Joſeph took them. And then ſeems to have placed himſelf in the ſame poſture, bowing himſelf with his Face to the Earth (as the following words tell us) to give his Father Thanks for his Kindneſs to his Children. Or, rather, we may conceive, that while Jacob embraced them in his Arms, and kiſſed them with more than ordinary Affection, Joſeph was afraid that they might lie too long, or preſs too hard upon his Father's Breaſt; and create ſome trouble to a feeble old Man: And therefore he withdrew them from thence, and diſpoſed them to receive his Bleſſing.
Ver. 13. And Joſeph took them both, &c.] Made them kneel down by himſelf, before Jacob: Placing Ephraim towards Jacob's Left Hand, &c.
Ver. 14. Stretched out his right hand, and laid it on Ephraim's head.] Laying Hands on the Head of any Perſon, was always uſed in this Nation, in giving Bleſſings, and deſigning Men to any Office; and in the Conſecration of Publick and Solemn Sacrifices. This is the firſt time we meet with the mention of it; but in aftertimes we often read of it; particularly when Moſes conſtituted Joſhua to be his Succeſſor, God orders him to do it, by laying his Hands on him, Numb. XXVII. 18, 23. Deut. XXXIV. 9. Thus Children were brought to our bleſſed Saviour, that he might lay his Hands on them and bleſs them; and ſo he did, Matth. XIX. 13, 15. And the Right Hand being the ſtronger, and that wherewith we commonly perform every thing; the laying that on Ephraim's Head was giving him the preheminence.
Who was the younger.] It is obſerved by Theodoret upon 1 Sam. XVI. that God was wont from the beginning to preferr the younger before the elder. As Abel before Cain; Sem before Japhet; Iſaac before Iſhmael; Jacob before Eſau; Judah and Joſeph before Reuben; and here Ephraim before Manaſſeh; as afterwards Moſes before Aaron; and David the youngeſt of all, before his elder Brethren. Which was to ſhow that the Divine Benefits were not tied to the Order of Nature; but diſpenſed freely according to God's moſt wiſe Goodneſs.
Guiding his Hands wittingly.] He did not miſtake, by reaſon of his blindneſs; but foreſeeing by the Spirit of Prophecy, how much Ephraim would excel the other, he deſignedly and on purpoſe, thus laid his Hands acroſs: So that the Right Hand lay upon the Head of Ephraim, who was next to his Left, &c.
Ver. 15. He bleſſed Joſeph.] In the Bleſſing he beſtowed on his Children.
All my life long.] The Hebrew word Mehodi ſignifies à die quo ego ſum (as Bochart interprets it, Hierozoic. P. I. Lib. II. c. 14.) ever ſince I had a being.
Ver. 16. The Angel which redeemed me.] Who by God's Order, and as his Miniſter, preſerved me in all the Dangers wherein I have been. Many of the ancient Fathers (as Athanaſius L. IV. contra Arianos, Cyril upon this place; Procopius Gazaeus, &c.) underſtand hereby an increated Angel, viz. The Second Perſon of the bleſſed Trinity. But the Diſcourſe is not concerning the ſending of the Son of God, in our Fleſh to redeem Mankind, but only concerning the Preſervation and Proſperity of one Man; and therefore I do not know whether it be ſafe to call him an Angel, i. e. a Miniſter, or Meſſenger, leſt we detract from his Divinity. For in conferring Bleſſings, he is not a Meſſenger or Miniſter; but a principal Cauſe together with the Father. They are the words of that famous Divine Georg. Calixtus; who follows St. Chryſoſtom; who takes this Angel to be one properly ſo called: And thence proves the heavenly Miniſters take care of Pious People. And ſo doth St. Baſil in no leſs than three places of his Works: Which ſhow it was his ſetled Opinion. But it did not enter into their Thoughts that Jacob here pray'd to an Angel; but only wiſht theſe Children might have the Angelical Protection, by the ſpecial Favour of God to them. For it is juſt ſuch an Expreſſion as that of David, to a contrary purpoſe, Pſalm XXXV. 6. Let the Angel of the Lord perſecute them. Where no Body will ſay he prays to an Angel; though his words are exactly like theſe of Jacob.
And let my Name be named on them.] Here he plainly adopts them to be his Children, as he ſaid before he would, verſe 5. For to be called by one's Name, (which is the ſame with having his Name named on them) is as much as to be one's Children. For thus they that are ſaid to be called by God's Name, became his peculiar People. Therefore Toſtatus well interprets it, Sint duo Capita tribuum inter Filios Jacob: Let them be the Heads of two Tribes among the Sons of Jacob. But none ſo plainly as David Chytraeus, whoſe words are theſe, Vera & ſimpliciſſima ſententia haec eſt; Iſti pueri, à me adoptati, &c. The true and moſt ſimple Sence is, Theſe Youths, Manaſſeh and Ephraim, who are adopted by me, ſhall not hereafter be called the Sons of Joſeph, but my Sons: And be Heirs, and in the diviſion of the Inheritance of the Land of Canaan, receive an equal Portion with my Sons.
Grow into a multitude.] The Hebrew word, as Onkelos interprets it, ſignifies increaſe like Fiſhes (as we alſo in the Margin tranſlate it) which are the moſt fruitful of all Creatures, as Authors commonly obſerve. See Bochart, P. I. Lib. I. cap. 6. Hierozoic.
Ver. 19. His younger Brother ſhall be greater than he.] His Family multiplied faſter, according to the ſignification of his Name: As appears from Numb. I. 33, 35. And the Kingdom was afterward eſtabliſhed in him; and all the ten Tribes called by the Name of Ephraim.
Shall become a multitude of Nations.] In the Hebrew the words are fulneſs of Nations, i. e. of Families. As much as to ſay, his Seed ſhall repleniſh the Country with numerous Families: For that which repleniſhes the Earth, is called the fulneſs of the Earth, Pſalm XXIV. 1. and that which repleniſhes the Sea, the fulneſs of the Sea, Pſalm XCVI. 11. Iſai. XLII. 10. See L. de Dieu.
Ver. 20. And he bleſſed them that day.] He concluded with a ſolemn Benediction upon them both: And when he pronounced it, worſhipped God (as the Apoſtle tells us, Hebr. XI. 21.) leaning upon the top of his Staff. Whereby he was ſupported from falling; of which he would have been in danger, when he bowed, if he had not leaned on it.
In thee ſhall Iſrael bleſs.] When my Poſterity would wiſh all Happineſs to others, they ſhall uſe this form of Speech; God make you like Ephraim and Manaſſeh. Which continues, they ſay, among the Jews to this Day.
Ver. 21. Bring you again into the Land of your Fathers.] Where your Fathers ſojourned: and which God beſtowed upon them in reverſion.
Ver. 22. Which I took out of the Hand of the Amorite, &c.] He doth not mean the City of Shechem; which his Sons took unjuſtly and cruelly (and not from the Amorites, but the Hivites) without his knowledge, and contrary to his will: But that piece of Land, which he bought of Hamor the Father of Shechem, Gen. XXXIII. 19. compared with St. John IV. 5. Which ſeems to be the reaſon why Joſeph was himſelf here buried in his own Ground, given him by his Father, Joſh. XXIV. 32. and not in the Cave of Machpelah. The only difficulty is, how he could ſay, that he took this Land from the Amorite by his Sword, and by his Bow, (which comprehend all warlike Inſtruments) when he bought it for an hundred Pieces of Silver of Hamor the Hivite. It is to be ſuppoſed therefore that he took it, i. e. recovered it from the Amorites, who had ſeized on it, after his removal to another part of Canaan; and would not reſtore it, but conſtrain'd him to drive them out by force. We read nothing indeed in the foregoing Hiſtory, either of their invading his Poſſeſſion, or his expelling them thence: But the Scripture relates many things to have been done, without mentioning the circumſtances of Time and Place; as Bochartus obſerves. And among other Inſtances gives that in XXXVI. 24. where Ana is ſaid to have met with the Emims (ſo he underſtands it) in the Wilderneſs: Of which encounter we find no mention in any other place. See his Hierozoic. P. II. L. IV. cap. 13. And, as I take it, we have a plainer Inſtance in the place a little before mentioned, Hebr. XI. 21. where the Apoſtle ſays, Jacob, when he was a dying, bleſſed both the Sons of Joſeph, and worſhipped, leaning upon the top of his Staff. Of which there is not a word in this Hiſtory, but only of his Bleſſing them, verſe 20.
There are thoſe who, with St. Hierom, underſtand by Sword and Bow, his Money: Which he calls by thoſe warlike Names, to ſignifie this was the only Inſtrument he uſed to acquire any thing. Juſt as the Romans, when they would ſignifie they had got any thing, without any other help, but their own Induſtry alone, ſay they obtained it Proprio Marte; uſing a ſimilitude from Military Expences and Labours. If this do not ſeem harſh, it is not hard to give an account why he calls thoſe Amorites, who before were called Hivites: For Amorites ſeems to have been the general Name of all the ſeven Nations of Canaan, they being the Chief; juſt as all the People of the ſeven united Provinces, are now commonly called Hollanders, who are the moſt Potent of all the reſt.