as he doth XV. 21. or in general all the Nations which the Israelites afterward destroyed It seems to me the first of these is meant and that by Land he means only that part of the Country where Sichem lay which was then possessed by this particular People For in the next place that Abram went to it is said The Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the Land XIV 7. i. e. in that part of the Country Where we do not read what Entertainment Abram met withal but I take it as an Argument of Abram's great Faith that he would adventure among such a rough and fierce People Who had no kindness for the Posterity of Shem upon an old Score and if the ancient Tradition in Epiphanius be true upon a fresh Account For he saith Haeres LXVI n. 84. that this Country called Canaan did really belong to the Children of Shem by Virtue of the Division made among the Sons of Noah But the Children of Canaan had dispossessed them So that these words the Canaanite was then in the Land signifies they had already invaded this Country before Abram came thither To whom God promising to give it he only restored the Posterity of Shem from whom Abram descended unto that which the Children of Ham had wrongfully seized By all which it is easie to see how frivolous their Reasonings are who from this place conclude Moses did not write this Book Because these words seem to signifie the Writer of them lived after the Canaanites were thrown out of this Land Which was after Moses his death If these Men had not a greater inclination to Cavil than to find out the Truth they would rather have said the meaning is The Canaanite was possessed of this part of the Country in Abraham's time though thrown out of it by Jacob's Sons Gen. XXXIV before the Times of Moses Which is another way of explaining these words Against which I see no Objection but this That their Prince is called an Hivite XXXIV 2. To which there is an Answer verse 30. which shows the People were partly Canaanites Ver. 7. And the LORD appeared unto Abram As he had done before Verse 1. but now it is likely in a more glorious manner to establish him in Faith and Obedience And said unto him c. There was a Voice came from the Schechinah or Divine Glory which now appeared to him and told him this was the Country he intended to bestow upon his Posterity It is very remarkable that he no sooner entred Canaan but God renewed his Promise to him made before he came out of his own Country And it is further observable as we shall see in the following Story that Abram's Obedience was constantly rewarded in kind according to the quality of the Service he performed Though in quantity the Reward far exceeded the Service Thus having left his own Country and Father's House which was the first trial of his Obedience God promises to give him the whole Land of Canaan and to make his Posterity a mighty Nation See XVII 6. XXII 16. And there he built an Altar c. This was so Glorious an Appearance that it moved him to offer up a solemn Sacrifice to God for which he built an Altar here in Sichem And it being the first that he built in this Country it made this become the first place that was established for Publick Worship after the Israelites conquered the Land of Canaan For here was the Sanctuary of God in Joshua's time near this very Grove where Abram first pitched his Tent and built an Altar Josh XXIV 1 25 26. It continued famous also in after-times as appears from Judg. IX 6. Ver. 8. And he removed from thence unto a Mountain c. Though the LORD here appeared to him yet he did not think fit to trust himself among the Canaanites who were the chief of the wicked Nations that possessed this Land or he thought fit to see the rest of the Country which God promised to give him And therefore came hither which was about twenty Miles further Southward And there he built an Altar Upon the Mountain where they anciently chose to sacrifice rather than in other places And it is likely God again appeared to him here to incourage and strengthen him against all his Fears Which made him build a new Altar and offer Sacrifices of Thanksgiving to God to implore his continued Favour And it is observable That the Promise which God made in the former place verse 7. he renewed again in this and more at large after he came out of Egypt XIII 3 4 14 15 16. On the East of Bethel So it was called in after-times Ver. 9. And Abram journeyed c. He did not think fit to fix yet in the fore-named place But made a further progress into the Southern parts of the Country Yet after he had been in Egypt the Story of which follows he returned to this place Ver. 10. A Famine in the Land Of Canaan He went down Egypt lay low in comparison with Canaan To sojourn Not to dwell there For he doubted not of God's Promise to him of possessing the Land which he had left Ver. 11. Thou art a fair Woman c. She was now threescore Years old But having comely Features and being of a fair Complexion in comparison with the Egyptians who were sallow she seemed to be younger than she was Ver. 12. They will kill me Knowing them to be a libidinous People he was afraid they might be tempted to make him away that they might have his Wife Ver. 13. Say thou art my Sister He himself upon another occasion explains in what sence she was so XX. 12. Therefore he teaches her not to tell a Lye but to conceal the Truth Ver. 15. Pharaoh The Egyptian Kingdom began about three hundred Years before this in the days of Ragau XI 18. if the Arabian Writers say true and now was grown to be very Powerful by the means of some King of this Name which it appears by this place was very ancient and continued to be the Name of all the Kings of Egypt till the Captivity of Babylon and we know not how much longer Just as Ptolomy was their Name after the times of Alexander And Caesar and Augustus were the Names of all the Emperors of Rome and Candace of all the Queens of Aethiopia and the like may be observed in several other Countries Ludolphus takes Pharaoh to be a compound word signifying as much as Father of the Country For that 's the meaning of Phar-ot in the Aethiopick Language as Pharmut is Mother of the Country The Princes also c. The Courtiers who studied to gratifie their Prince's Pleasure Was taken into Pharaoh's House Into the House of the Women it is probable for the Egyptian Kings were now as I said very great like those of Persia in after-times intending to make her one of his Concubines Ver. 16. And he had Sheep and Oxen c. By the
better Plants And thou shalt eat the Herb of the Field Be content with such things as the common Field produces instead of the delicious Fruits of Paradise Here the Rabbins cry out Mensura pro mensura behold the Justice of God who served Man in his kind He was not satisfied with the choice Fruits of the Garden in which God put him and therefore he took them from him and sent him to eat the ordinary Food of Beasts and that not without hard Labour Maimon More Nevoch P. I. cap. 2. Ver. 19. In the sweat of thy Face c. Some conclude from hence that the Earth brought forth before the Fall without any Pains to cultivate it And indeed there needed none all things being produced at the first by the Divine Power in full Perfection But what Labour would have been necessary in time if Man had continued Innocent we do not know Only these words signifie that less Toil would have served than Men must now take for their sustenance Some of the Jews reckon up Nine Punishments besides Death which God inflicted upon Adam and as many upon Eve See Pirke Elieser Cap. XIV and Vorstius upon him Till thou return to the Ground i. e. Till thou diest and mould rest into Dust For out of it thou wast taken From whence thou wast taken as it is explained verse 23. which shows the Particle ki is not always to be translated for but sometime whence or whom as IV. 25. God hath given me another Seed instead of Abel 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whom Cain slew The rest of this Verse needs no Explication Ver. 20. Called her Name Eve Some think she was called Isscha before and now he changed her Name into Eve In belief that God would make her the Mother of all Mankind and of the promised Seed particularly by whom as D. Chytraeus adds he hoped to be raised from the Dead to immortal Life Mother of all living Of all Men that should live hereafter or of him that should give Life to Mankind So Havah may be interpreted viva or vivificatrix Because she was the Mother of all Mankind or because Mankind now sentenced to death were by her Seed to be made alive Ver. 21. Vnto Adam and his Wife did the LORD God make coats of skins c. The first Cloaths of Mankind were of the Leaves of Trees which they made themselves being ready at hand woven by Divine Art The next were of the Skins of Beasts which were much warmer and better able to defend them from the injury of Cold and Weather And these were made by God's Direction Who having made a most gracious Covenant with our first Parents verse 15. it seems not unreasonable to suppose that he also signified to them they should for the confirmation of it offer to him Sacrifices By the Blood of which Covenants were ratified in after-times from this Example For it is not likely that the Beasts of whose Skins these Coats were made died of themselves or that they were killed merely for this use or for their Food And therefore what is so probable as that by God's Order they were slain for a Sacrifice to him the better to represent to them their Guilt and that the promised Seed should vanquish the Devil and redeem them by shedding his Blood and that of the Skins of those Beasts God directed Coats to be made to cloath them But whether by dressing them and making Leather of them or only by drying them and letting the Hair still continue on them we cannot tell Certain it is that this was a very ancient sort of Cloathing as we learn not only from Profane Authors but from the Sacred Particularly Heb. XI 37. The Jewish Doctors have carried this Matter so far as to say That Adam being a Priest these were his Priestly Garments The Skin indeed of the Burnt-Offering under the Law is given to the Priest Lev. VII 8. but not to make him Cloaths And Eve if this were true must have been a Priest also for she had a Coat made of Skins no less than Adam Who they fansie left this Coat to his Posterity so that Noah Abraham and all the rest of the Patriarchs as Abel they say did sacrificed in the very same Coat till Aaron was made High-Priest and had special Garments appointed him by God Among which one being called by this very Name of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Exod. XXVIII it gave ground to this idle Conceit Ver. 22. Behold the Man is become c. Man in this place includes Woman And these words are generally thought to be spoken Sarcastically to reprove their great Folly in thinking to increase their Knowledge whether God would or no. Like one of us These words plainly insinuate a Plurality of Persons in the Godhead and all other Explications of them seem to us forced and unnatural That of Mr. Calvin's being as disagreeable to the Hebrew Phrase as that of Socinus to the Excellency of the Divine Nature This I think is well proved by Theodorick Hackspan Disput IV. De Locut Sacris n. 15 c. And now lest he put forth his Hand c. This seems an abrupt kind of Speech something being kept back As let us turn him out or some such-like words lest he take also of the Tree of Life and live for ever Which many of the ancient Fathers look upon as a merciful Dispensation that Man might not be perpetuated in a State of Sin So Irenaeus L. III. cap. 37. and Greg. Nazianz. Orat. XXXVIII p. 619. God thus ordered 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 c. That Sin might not be Immortal and the Punishment might be a Kindness Which he repeats Orat. XLII p. 681. So Epiphanius also Haeres XXXVII n. 1. When Man had spoiled himself God unmade him that he might make him better And Methodius in him Haeres XLIV n. 24 25 c. and 29. where he proceeds so far as to say That Death was not sent upon Man 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 out of any evil Design to him but as a Mercy Ver. 23. Therefore God sent him forth c. Or cast him out and that with reproach and disgrace as Aben Ezra observes the Hebrew word in this form to signifie And so cast him out that he should not return again To till the Ground from whence he was taken This confirms what I said upon the Second Chapter ver 8. That Adam was made in another place and thence brought into Paradise From whence being now expelled he was sent back to the place where he was first formed there to labour in all the Toils of Husbandry Though it must be confessed these words may signifie no more than those Verse 19. of this Chapter That he had his Original from the Earth By the tilling of which he was put in mind of his return thither Ver. 24. So he drove out the Man With his Wife or as Aben Ezra translates it After he had driven him out he placed c. This
his Son Lamech the Name of one of Cain's Grand-Children IV. 18. Ver. 12. Begat Mahalaleel This Name imports as much as a Praiser of God Which Cainan imposed upon this Son of his as Jacobus Capellus fansies because he was born after he had lived ten Weeks of Years i. e. when he was Seventy Years old in the beginning of the Sabbatick Year Which was the Eighth Jubilee from the Creation For as there were Sacrifices and a distinction of clean Beasts and unclean so he conceives there might be a distribution of Years by Sevens or Weeks as they spake in after-times from the very beginning of the World But there is no certainty of this Nor of what the fore-named Arabian Writers say of this Mahalaleel that he made his Children swear by the Blood of Abel so Patricides not to come down from the Mountainous Country where they dwelt to converse with the Children of Cain He is mentioned also by the Mahometans as Hottinger observes in his Histor Orient p. 20. Ver. 15. Begat Jared The same Arabian Writers make him also a strictly Pious Man and an excellent Governor But say That in his Days some of Seth's Posterity about an hundred in number notwithstanding all his Persuasions to the contrary would go down and converse with the Children of Cain by whom they were corrupted And thence they fansie he was called Jared which signifies descending either because they went down from the Holy Mountain as they call it where Seth's Posterity dwelt or Piety in his time began very much to decline See Hottinger's Smegma Orient L. I. cap. 8. p. 235 c. Ver. 18. Begat Enoch Whom the Arabians call Edris and represent him as a very learned Man as well as a Prophet And especially skilled in Astronomy See Hottinger Histor Orient L. I. c. 3. and Smegma Orient p. 240. The Greeks anciently had the same Notion of him as appears by a Discourse of Eupolemus which Eusebius quotes out of Alexand. Polyhistor L. IX Praepar Evang. c. 17. where he says Enoch was the first who taught the knowledge of the Stars and that he himself was taught 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the Angels of God and was the same Person whom the Greeks call Atlas Certain it is his Story was not altogether unknown to the ancient Greeks as appears in what they say of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is the same with Enoch whose Name in Hebrew is Chanoch For Stephanus in his Book De Vrbibus says that this Annacus lived above Three hundred Years and the Oracle told the People that when he died they should all perish as they did in the Flood of Deucalion In which he confounds the History of Enoch and Methuselah as Bochart well observe L. II. Phaleg c. 13. Ver. 21. Begat Methuselah Enoch being a Prophet as we learn from St. Jude and foreseeing the destruction that was coming upon the Earth by a Deluge immediately after the death of this Son of his gave him this Name of Methusela which imports as much For the first part of it Methu evidently carries in it the Name of Death being as much as he dies And sela signifies the sending forth of Water in Job V. 10. And therefore Methusela is as much as when he is dead shall ensue an emission or inundation of Waters to the destruction of the whole Earth Which ingenious Conjecture of Bochartus in his Phaleg L. II. c. 13. is far more probable than any other Account of his Name Ver. 22. Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah Of all the rest Moses only says they lived after they begat those Sons here mentioned but of this Man that he walked with God i. e. Was not only sincerely Obedient to God as we suppose his Fore-fathers to have been but of an extraordinary Sanctity beyond the rate of other Holy Men and held on also in a long course of such singular Piety notwithstanding the wickedness of the Age wherein he lived And the very same Character being given of Noah VI. 9. it may incline us to believe That as Noah was a Preacher of Righteousness so Enoch being a Prophet was not only Exemplary in his Life but also severely reproved the Wickedness of that Age by his Word Ver. 24. And Enoch walked with God Persevered in that Course before-mentioned to the end of his Days And was not He doth not say that he died as he doth of the rest in this Chapter both before and after but that he was not any longer among Men in this World For God took him Translated him to another place Which plainly signifies the different manner of his leaving this World in so much that the Apostle faith he did not see death Heb. XI 5. Which confutes the Conceit of Aben Ezra and R. Solomon and others who would have this word took to signifie that he was snatcht away by an untimely death Contrary to the Opinion of their other better Authors particularly Menachem who in his Commentary on this place saith that God took from Enoch his Bodily Cloaths and gave him Spiritual Raiment But whither he was translated we are not told The Author of the Book of Ecclesiasticus Chap. XLIV according to the vulgar Translation saith into Paradise And upon this Supposition the Aethiopick Interpreter hath added these words to the Text God translated him into Paradise as Ludolphus observes L. III. Commentar in Aethiop Hist Cap. V. n. 40. And accordingly we find in the Calendar of that Church a Festival upon July XXV called The Ascension of Enoch into Heaven for they were not so foolish as to understand by Paradise a place upon Earth but a Heavenly Mansion unto which he was advanced 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Eusebius speaks L. VII Praepar Evang. cap. 8. because of his consummate Vertue And it is no unreasonable Conjecture That God was graciously pleased to take him unto himself at this time to support and comfort Mankind in their State of Mortality Adam the Father of them all being dead not above fifty-seven Years before with the hope of a better Life in the other World For which reason it is not improbable that he was translated in some such visible manner as Elijah afterward was by a glorious Appearance of the SCHECHINAH from whence some heavenly Ministers were sent to carry him up above Ver. 25. Begat Lamech The same Name with one of Cain's Posterity IV. 18. But as he was of another Race so he was the Grand-Child and the Father of the best Men in those Days viz. Enoch and Noah Ver. 27. All the Days of Methuselah c. What was wanting in the Days of his Father God in some sort made up in his Age Which was extended to the longest term of all other Men. He died in the very Year of the Deluge according to the import of his Name See Verse 21. Ver. 29. He called his Name Noah Which signifies Rest or Refreshment which proceeds from
by chance Their Fore-father having so long before predicted the very Portion they should inherit Ver. 14. Issachar is a strong Ass As he compared Judah to a Lion because of his Valour so he compares Issachar to an Ass and a strong Ass because he foresaw they would be very patient and unwearied in rustical Labours In which Asses were principally employed in those Countries Couching down between two burdens There are various Opinions about the signification of that word which we translate Burdens But none seem to me so apt as that to express the great strength of an Ass Which lies down with its Load hanging down on both sides Whence a she Ass is called Athon as Bochart observes from the word Ethan which signifies strength Because no Beast of that bigness can carry such heavy Burdens Ver. 15. And he saw that rest was good Or as some will have it their resting place the Country that fell to their share in the Land of Canaan no part of which was more fruitful than some parts of Issachar's Portion Which way soever we take it he seems to foretell they would chuse to follow Husbandry rather than Merchandice as Zebulon did and love Quiet and Peace as Husbandmen do Especially when they live in a rich Soil as this Tribe did For so it follows And the Land that it was pleasant The famous Valley of Jezreel was in this Tribe Whose Border extended as far as Jordan where there was a very pleasant Country Josh XIX 18 22. Bowed his Shoulder to bear Taking any Pains to till the Land and to carry in the Corn with other Fruits of the Earth And became a Servant unto Tribute Submitting to the heaviest Taxes rather than lose their Repose For the preservation of which they were content to give any Money that they might redeem their Services in the Wars or otherways by large Contributions Ver. 16. Dan shall judge his People c. In the word Judge he alludes to the Name of Dan Which signifies Judging i. e. Ruling and Governing A great many follow Onkelos who expounds it thus A Man shall arise out of the Tribe of Dan in whose Days the People shall be delivered c. And accordingly we read that Sampson who was of this Tribe judged Israel twenty Years So the meaning is the Tribe of Dan shall have the Honour to produce a Judge as well as other Tribes But there is this exception to this Interpretation that all the Tribes did not produce Judges And all Israel whom the Judges governed cannot be said to be Dan's People But by his People whom he is said here to judge are properly meant those of his Tribe And therefore Jacob's meaning is that though he were the Son of a Concubine yet his Posterity should be governed by a Head of their own Tribe as the other Tribes of Israel were So by this he took away all distinction between the Sons of his Concubines of whom Dan was the first and those which he had by Leah and Rachel Ver. 17. Dan shall be a Serpent by the way The next words show what kind of Serpent he should be like an Adder in the Path. The Hebrew word Schephiphon some take for a Basilisk others for an Asp or a Viper others a Snake or Adder c. The Vulgar translates it Cerastes which is a kind of Viper And Bochartus in his Hierozoicon P. II. L. III. c. 12. hath confirmed this Translation by showing how well it agrees to the Characters which Authors give of it That it lies in Sand and in the Ruts which Cart-Wheels make in the High-way and so is ready to bite Travellers or their Horses Which is the harder to be avoided because it is of a Sandy Colour so that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 many tread upon it unawares And Nicander says the Poison of these Serpents is chiefly felt in the Thighs and Hams of those they bite Which perfectly agrees with what Jacob saith in the following words That biteth the Horse-heels so that his rider shall fall backward The Horse not being able to stand when the Venom works in his Legs the Rider must needs fall with him All this some make to be a description of Sampson who led no Armies against his Enemies but overthrew them by Subtilty and Craft But it rather belongs to all the Danites as what was said before to all the Zebulonites and Issacharians who Jacob foresaw would astu potius quam aperto Marte rem gerere manage their Wars rather by Cunning and Craft than by open Hostility as Bochart speaks An Example of which we have in Judg. XVIII 27. Ver. 18. I have waited for thy Salvation O LORD They that referr the foregoing words to Sampson make an easie Interpretation of this Verse Which is That Jacob foreseeing his great Atchievements for the Deliverance of his Children prays that God would upon all Occasions vouchsafe to send such Deliverers unto them from their Oppressors And the Chaldee Paraphrasts make him look beyond such Deliverers unto Christ the great Saviour of the World For these are the words of Onkelos in the Complutensian Edition for they are not to be found in Buxtorf's or Bomberg's I do not wait for the Salvation of Gideon the Son of Joash which is temporal Salvation or of Sampson the Son of Manoah which is also a transitory Salvation but I expect the Redemption of Christ the Son of David c. Jonathan and the Hierusalem Targum say the same And if we take all this Porphecy to belong to the whole Tribe as I believe it doth that doth not exclude such a Sence But Jacob foreseeing the Distresses wherein they would be Josh XIX 47. Judg. I. 34. prays God to help them and deliver them and teach them to look up to him in all their Straits and Necessities And especially to wait for the Messiah Yet after all I think the words may have another meaning which is this Jacob perceiving his approaching death and his Spirits beginning to fail him in the middle of his Speech to his Sons breaks out into this Exclamation which belongs to none of them saying I wait O LORD for a happy Deliverance out of this World into a better Place And then having rested himself a while to recover his Strength he proceeded to bless the rest of his Sons Ver. 19. Gad a Troop shall overcome him Or invade him There is an Allusion in every Word to the Name of Gad Whose Inheritance being in a Frontier Country beyond Jordan was very much exposed to the Incursions of the Ammonites and Moabites and the rest of those envious Neighbours that dwelt in or near Arabia And some think the word Troop hath a great Propriety in it signifying not a just Army but a Party as we speak a Band of Men that came oft-times to rob and spoil But it appears by the Prophet Jeremiah XLIX 1. that the Ammonites sometime possessed themselves of the Country of Gad or at least of some part