Commentary on the Pentateuch, Commentary 1 · Chapter 38
CHAP. XXXVIII. Verſ. 1. And it came to paſſe at that time]
BEfore the rape of Dinah, the ſale of Ioſeph, and ſoon after their return from Meſopotamia. [Iudah went down from his brethren] A green youth of 13. or 14. years of age, left his company, where he might have had better counſel. There is a ſpecial tye to perſeverance, in the Communion of Saints. They that forſake the aſſembling of themſelves together, are in a fair way for Apoſtacy, Heb. 10.25. [To a certain Adullamite] There is a double danger of evil company: 1. Infection of ſin, at leaſt, defection from grace. 2. Infliction of puniſhment, Rev. 18.4.
Verſ. 2. And Iudah ſaw there, &c.] He ſaw, took, went in, all in haſte: Patre inconſulto, forte etiam invito; His father neither willing nor witting. Hence, for a puniſhment, was ſo little mercy ſhewed to his ſons. Theſe haſty headlong matches, ſeldom ſucceed well. It is not amiſs to marry, but good to be wary. Young men are blamed of folly, for following the ſight of their eyes, and luſt of their hearts, Eccleſ. 11. Sed, Leo caſſibus irretitus dicet, Si praeſciviſſem.
Verſ. 3. Bruſon. lib. 4. cap. 9.And ſhe conceived, &c.] St. Hierome tells us of a certain drunken nurſe, that was got with child by her nurſling, a boy of ten years old. This he relateth as monſtrous, and takes God to witneſs, that he knew it to be ſo.
Verſ. 6. And Iudah took a wife for Er] When he was but 14. Muſculus.years of age (as appears by the Chronicle) ſeven years after the ſelling of Ioſeph. And here it is well obſerved, that though Iudah took a wife without his fathers conſent, yet he will not have Er to do ſo.
Verſ. 7. Wicked in the ſight of the Lord] A Sodomite, In Heb. vi et…y eſſe a…luſio ſeu inver, o neminis, foreign erat foreign: q. d. Er erat vigil perverſu….ſay the Hebrews; but this is hard to ſay. As an evil doer, he was ſoon cut off, Pſal. 37.9. God would not have ſuch to be his Son Chriſts progenitor. Too wicked he was to live: you may know him to be the ſon of a Canaaniteſs. Partus ſequitur ventrem.
Verſ. 8. And Iudah ſaid unto Ona…] At fourteen years of age likewiſe. For from the birth of Iudah, to their going down to Egypt, were but 43. years. And yet before that, Perez had Hezron, and Hamul, being married about the fourteenth year of his age; which was, doubtleſs, too ſoon. Childhood is counted and called the flower of age, 1 Cor. 7.36. And ſo long the Apoſtle would have marriage forborn. Whileſt the flower of the plant ſprouteth, the ſeed is green, unfit to be ſown. Either it comes not up, or ſoon withereth. Over early marriages, is one cauſe of our overſhort lives. Venery is deaths beſt harbinger, ſaith One.
Verſ. 9. When …e went in unto his brothers wife] God, for the reſpect he bears to his own Inſtitution of marriage, is pleaſed to bear with, cover, and not impute many frailties, follies, vanities, wickedneſſes that are found betwixt man and wife. Howbeit, Intemperans, in conjugio, foreign ſuae adulter eſt. Aug. In uxorem alienam …mnis am… turpis eſt, in ſuam vero … imius. Hieron. Seneca.there is required of ſuch an holy care and conſcience, to preſerve between themſelves, by a conjugal chaſtity, the marriage▪bed undefiled; taking heed of an intemperate, or intempeſtive uſe of it: which by Divines, both Ancient and Modern, is deemed no better then plain adultery before God. Qui cum uxore ſua, quaſi cum aliena concumbit, adulter eſt, ſaith that Heathen; Onans ſin here was ſelf pol…ution, aggravated much, by his envy that moved him to it, expreſſed in theſe words, leſt he ſhould give ſeed to has decea ſed brother. And the more ſinful was this ſin of his, Hebraei inquiunt perinde ut homicidam, reum eſſe qui temere ſemen proſurdit. Mercer. in loc.in ſpilling his ſeed; becauſe it ſhould have ſerved for the propagation of the Meſſiah; Therefore the Lord ſlew him: As alſo; becauſe he was not warned by his brothers puniſhment.
Verſ. 10. Wherefore he ſlew him] God oft puniſheth the abuſe of the marriage-bed, either with untimely death, (It was well ſaid of One, that Venus provideth not for thoſe that are already born, Cuffes Differ. of Ages. 106.but for thoſe that ſhall be born:) or elſe with no children, miſſhapen children, ideots, or prodigiouſly-wicked children, &c. Cavete. Let this conſideration be as the Angel ſtanding with a drawn ſword over Balaam's ſhoulders.
Verſ. 11. Leſt peradventure he die alſo, &c.] Judah lays the fault all on her, whereas it was in his ſons. Sarah, on the other ſide, blamed her ſelf onelyonly for barrenneſs, Gen. 16.2. Judge not, that ye be not judged: but if we judge our ſelves, we ſhall not be judged. In judging of the cauſe of our croſſes, we are oft as far out as ſhe was, that laid the death of her childe to the preſence of the good Prophet.
Verſ. 12. The daughter of Shuah, &c.] This was juſt, in God, upon Judah, for his fraudulent dealing with Tamar; whom he neither married to his ſon Shelah, nor ſuffered to be married to another. Sin is oft puniſhed in kinde.
Verſ. 13. To ſhear his ſheep] And ſo to put by his ſorrow, as Jonathan did his anger, by going into the field to ſhoot. At ſheepſhearings they had feaſts, 1 Sam. 25.8, 11.
Verſ. 14. Covered her with a vail] As they that do evil, ſhun the light. She was going about a deed of darkneſs. [For ſhe ſaw that She was grown] She ran into this foul ſin, partly for revenge, and partly for iſſue. But this excuſeth her not: for the revenge ſhe took, was private; and ſhe ſhould have ſought a godly ſeed, by lawful Wedlock, and not by abominable Inceſt. Diſcontent is the mother of much miſchief; as it was in Judas, Haman, &c.
Verſ. 15. He thought her to be a harlot] Becauſe ſhe ſate in an open place: firſt, In bivio, ſaith Junius, where there is liberty of looking every way; the guiſe and garb of harlots, Prov. 7.12. and 9.14. Ezek. 16.24, 25. Next, ſhe ſate covered: Whores were not altogether ſo ſhameleſs then, as now: they ſhun not to be ſeen, with bold and bare faces, breſts, and wriſts. Such a ſight may ſoon enflame a Judah; Hoſ. 2.2. Let her take away her fornication from her face, and her adultery from between her breſts, laid out, and painted, or patched.nay, occaſion a Job to break his covenant, Job 31.1. The Ivie-buſh ſheweth, there is wine within: which, though no evil follow upon it; yet the party ſhall be damned, ſaith Hierome, becauſe ſhe offered poiſon to others, though none would drink it. See Iſai. 3.16. [Becauſe ſhe had covered her face] Some read, Becauſe ſhe had coloured, or painted her face. But, that he knew her not by her voice, one would wonder. Surely, he was ſo ſet upon the ſatisfying of his luſt, that he minded nothing elſe. Luſt is blinde; and if the blinde lead the blinde, &c.
Verſ. 16. Let me come in unto thee] This is recorded, 1. To cut the comb of thoſe …d Jews, that glory ſo much of their pedigree, and name of Ju…ah. How could they ſay, We be not born of fornication? Joh. 8.41. 2. To minde us, that there is no Church to be found on earth, without blot and blemiſh. 3. That we may conſider and admire the utter abaſement of our Lord Chriſt, who would be born, not onelyonly of holy, but of impure parentage. And this, to ſhew, 1. That he borrowed no grace or glory from his progenitors: and as he needed not to be ennobled, ſo neither was he diſparaged by them. 2. That by his purity and paſſion, all our ſins are expiated and done away; like as the ſun cleareth whatſoever filth is found in the air, or on the earth. Three women onelyonly are mentioned in his Genealogie; Rahab the harlot, Matth. 1.Bathſheba the adultereſs, and this inceſtuous Tamar; to ſhew his readineſs to receive the moſt notorious offenders, that come unto him with bleeding and believing hearts, 1 Tim. 1.15.
Verſ. 17. 1 Tim. 6.9.Wilt thou give me] The love of money breeds noiſome luſts. Harlots are ſordida poſcinummia, as Plautus hath it.
Verſ. 18. And he gave it her, and came in unto her] He gave her whatſoever ſhe deſired; as the manner of ſuch men is: and although he committed inceſt ignorantly, yet not through ignorance, but through heat of luſt; which is bruitiſh and boiſtrous, burning, as an oven: whence the Greeks have named it: foreign, ardere. Plato appetitum aſſimilat equo, qui fit, foreign.and Plato compares it to a head-ſtrong horſe.
Verſ. 20. By the hand of his friend] His broker. Fie upon ſuch Adullamites. Such cole-carriers as this, (ſaith One) be good to ſcowre an hot oven withal. Such another was Jonadab to Amnon. How much better that Heathen, that anſwered, Amicus tibi ſum, ſed uſque ad aras.
Verſ. 21. Where is the harlot?] The holy whore, as the Hebrew word importeth; ſuch as committed that filthineſs, under a pretence of holineſs. Such, among the Heathens, were the lewd worſhippers of Priapus; (this is thought to be Baal-peor;) and Venus at Cyprus; where the maids, in honour of their goddeſs, proſtituted their chaſtity to all that would, once a yeer. So in their Lupercals and Bacchanals at Rome, in quibus diſcurrebatur ad publicos concubitus, for like reaſon. Of ſuch unclean perſons, even by Gods houſe, we read, 2 Kings 23.8. and of ſuch as ſacrificed with harlots, Hoſ. 4.14. who brought their hire for a vow; called therefore, the price of a ſalt bitch, Deut. 23.17, 18. Vah propûdium! [There was no harlot in this place] Few places can ſay ſo. Sanè hercle bomo voluptati obſequens Fuit dum vixit. Terent. Heyl. Geog. pag. 96.Every houſe in Egypt had a dead corpſe in it; … too many houſes here have ſuch, as, living in pleaſure, are dead while they live, 1 Tim. 5.6. Of this ſort was that Arlet, a Skinners daughter in Normandy, whoſe nimblenefs in her dance, made Duke Robert enamoured, &c. On her, he begat our William the Conqueror. In ſpite to whom, and diſgrace to his mother the Engliſh called all whores Harlets. But who can read, without deteſtation, that in Rome a Jeweſs may not be admitted into the ſtews, Eſpencae. de Continentia, lib. 3. cap. 4.unleſs ſhe will be firſt baptized? as Eſpencaeus, an honeſt Papiſt, complaineth.
Verſ. 23. Leſt we be ſhamed] His care was more to ſhun ſhame, then ſin. How much better that Heathen! S…tis nobis perſuaſum eſſe debet, Nihil tamen avarè, nibil injuſtè, nibil libidinoſè, nibil incontinenter eſſe faciendum. Tull. Offic. Siſcirem homines ignoraturos, & Deos ignoſcitures, tamen propter peccati turpitudinem peccare …on vellem. Sen. foreign. Auſon.&c. This we ſhould be fully perſwaded of, ſaith he, that although we could conceal the matter from all, both gods and men, yet we ſhould do nothing covetouſly, nothing unjuſtly, nothing againſt chaſtity, or common honeſty. Though I were ſure, (ſaith another Philoſopher) that all men would be ignorant of what evil I do, and that all the gods would forgive it me; yet, for the filthineſs that is …n ſin, I would not commit it. Plato condemneth the Poets, for ſaying, that it were no matter though mon did commit ſin, ſo they could hide it. Si non caſtè, ſultem cautè. How much better the Chriſtian Poet? Turpe quid acturus, te, ſine teſte…, time. Wherefore haſt thou deſpiſed the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his ſight, though none elſe ſaw thee? ſaith God to David, 2 Sam. 12.9. And David, in his ſorrowful confeſſion, ſaith as much to God, upon the matter, Pſal. 51.4. Against thee, thee onelyonly, have I ſinned; viz. in reſpect of the ſecrecy of my ſin; therefore it is added, And done this evil in thy ſight. [Behold, I ſent this kid, &c.] He comforts himſelf, Quaſi dieat, Ego ſteti promiſſis, hoc mihi ſufficit.in the loſs of his pledge, that yet he had been as good as his word: but not a word we hear of ſorrow for his ſin; which, if he can but keep ſecret, he reſts ſecure. This is a piece of natural atheiſm; and it is general.
Verſ. 24. Bring her forth, and let her be burnt] He was willing to be rid of her, Dio. lib. 57. Verba Judae de vivicomburio Thamarae, non ſunt Judicis, ſed Accuſatoris. Alſted.for fear of loſing his ſon Shelah; and therefore paſſeth a precipitate and ſavage ſentence, to burn a great-bellied woman; which the very Heathens condemned, as a cruelty, in Claudius. Howbeit, there are, that take theſe to be his words, not as a Judge in the cauſe, but as an accuſer. Bring her forth, ſc. into the gates, before the Judges; and let her be burnt, if found guilty, according to the cuſtom of the country. We read not of any that were, by Gods Law, to be burnt with fire, but the high-prieſts daughter onelyonly, for adultery, Levit. 29.1. Hence the Hebrews ſay, that this Tamar was Melchizedek the high-prieſts daughter. But it is more likely, ſhe was a Canaanitiſh proſelyte. Let us beware of that ſin, for which ſo peculiar a plague was appointed, and by very Heathens executed. See Jer. 29.22, 23.
Verſ. 25. By the man whoſe theſe are, &c.] Ut taceant hemines jumenta loquc…tur. Juven.So his ſecret ſin comes to light. All will out at length, though never ſo ſtudiouſly concealed, Matth. 10.26. Eccleſ. 10.20. That which hath wings ſhall tell the matter. It was a quill, a piece of a wing, that diſcovered the powder plot. [Diſcern, I pray thee, whoſe are theſe] So, when we come to God, though he ſeem never ſo angry, and ill ſet againſt us; can we but preſent unto him our ſelves his own; our prayer, Mediatour, arguments, all his; and then ſay, as ſhe here to Judah, Whoſe are theſe? he cannot deny himſelf.
Verſ. 26. She hath been more righteous then I] A free confeſſion, joyned with confuſion of his ſin; for he knew her no more. This was, to confeſs and forſake ſin, as Solomon hath it. Prov. 28.13.Not like that of Saul; I have ſinned, yet honour me before the people; or that of thoſe in the wilderneſs; We have ſinned; we will go up: they might as well have ſaid, We have ſinned, we will ſin, Deut. 1.41. The worſer ſort of Papiſts will ſay, When we have ſinned, Sands his Relation of Weſt. Relig. ſect. 8.we muſt confeſs; and when we have confeſſed, we muſt ſin again, that we may alſo confeſs again, and make work for new Indulgences and Jubilees; making account of confeſſing, as drunkards do of vomiting. But true confeſſion goes along with hatred, care, apologie.
Verſ. 27. Behold, twins were in her womb] Betokening two peoples pertaining to Chriſt. The Jews firſt put forth their hand, as it were, willing to be juſtified by their works, and to regenerate themſelves. For this, they were bound with a Scarlet thred, condemned by the Law: wherefore, pulling back their hand, they fell from God. Then came forth Perez, the breach-maker, that is, the violent and valiant Gentiles; who took the firſt-birth-right and kingdom by force: who when they are fully born, then ſhall the Jews come forth again, Rom. 11.11, 25, 26. And that this is not far off, hear what a worthy Divine (yet living) ſaith: Mr. Caſe, his Gods, wait: to be grac. pag. 58.Dan. 1….11, we have a prophecie of the final reſtauration of the Jews; and the time is expreſſed, which is One thouſand two hundred ninety yeers, after the ceaſing of the daily ſacrifice, and the ſetting up of the abomination of deſolation, which is conceived to be in Julian's time; who did aſſay to re-build the Temple of the Jews, which was an abomination to God; who therefore deſtroyed it by fire out of the earth, tearing up the very foundation thereof, to the nethermoſt ſtone. This was Anno Dom. 360; to which if you adde 1290 years, it will pitch this calculation upon the year, 1650. Before this Babylon muſt down, &c.