40. By thy fword, &c. Thou fhalt de-. fend thy Country by thy Sword, and not Jacob fhall, Deut.33. enjoy the peace which 27,28. His yoke: This to be fulfilled when Chaldee intimates. 41. At hand: So he thought. See the Note on v. 2. 41. And Efau hated Jacob, beeaufe of the bleffing wherewith his father bleffed him and Efau faid in his heart, The days of mourning for my father are at hand, then will I flay my brother Jacob. 43. Now therefore, my fon, obey my voice: and arife, flee thou to Laban my brother, to Haran. 44. And tarry with him a few days, untill thy brother's fury turn away; 45. Untill thy brother's anger turn away from thee, and he forget that which thou haft done to him: then I will fend, and fetch thee from thence why should I be deprived alfo of you both in one day? 44. Few days: This proved to be Twenty years. 45. Both: They might kill one another. However, the Murtherer ought to die, c. 9.6. 46. And 46. Daughters of Heth: See ch. 26.34, 35. She takes this occafion to fend Jacob 46. And Rebekah faid to Ifaac, I am weary of my life, because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the daughters of Heth, fuch as thefe which are of the daughters of the land, what good Shall my life do me? away. CHA P. XXVIII. The ARGUMENT. Ifaac bleffeth Jacob, and warns him against marrying a my daughter of the Canaanites. He fends him to PadanAram. Efau marries Mahalath the daughter of Ifhmael. Jacob's vifion of a ladder. The promife made to Abraham is renewed to him. The ftone of Beth-el. -The vow of Jacob. 1. AND Iaac called Facob, and bleffed him, and charged him, and faid unto him, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan. 1. BLeffed him : i.c. He renewed his Bleffing, and his Title to it: This thereby confirmed was needfull, Jacob and being fhortly to See the Note on ch having ufed Craft in procuring it, 2. Go: Jacob is fent, and not a Servant for him, as Abraham appointed for Ifaac, (ch.24.) He went alfo meanly provided, (ch. 32. 10.) and was a Servant Twenty years, (ch. 31.42.) and this journey of his is called a flight, (Ho 12.12.) fuch afflictions befell him after he had with guile procured his Father's bleffing. Padan-Aram: Padan-Aram: See ch. 25. 20. 3. And 3. And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitfull, and mul tiply thee, that thou mayst be a multitude of people: 3. A multitude of people: This Bleffing is added to that, ch. 27. 28, 29. and was eminently fulfilled in the numerous Off-fpring of Jacob and his Sons, who were the Heads of the Tribes of Ifrael. 4. Bleffing of A braham: That Blef fing (not onely Temwhich was promised poral, but Spiritual) to Abraham (ch. 12. 4. And give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy feed with thee, that thou mayst inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham. 2, 3. ch. 17. 19. ch. 22. 17, 18.) and was by God himself transferred to Ifaac, (ch.25.11. and ch. 26. 3.) and is here by Ifaac affured unto Jacob and his feed. Gave: i. e. Granted. The Vulgar renders it, Promised. See the Note on ch. 13. 17. 5. And Ifaac fent away Jacob, and he went to PadanAram, unto Laban, fon of Bethuel the Syrian, the brother of Rebekah, Jacob's and Efau's mother. 26. When Efau faw that Ifaac had bleffed Jacob, and fent him away to Padan-Aram, to take him a wife from thence: and that as he bleffed him, he gave him a charge, saying, Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Canaan; 7. And that Jacob obeyed his father, and his mother, and was gone to Padan-Aram: 8. And Efau. Seeing that the daughters of Canaan pleafed not Ifaac his father: 2 9. Then went Efau unto Ifhmael, and took unto the wives which be bad, Mahalath, the daughter of Ishmael Abraham's fon, the fifter of Nebaiath, to be bis wife. 9. Then went Efau, &c. The Motives that induced him are laid before us in the foregoing words,v,12. That Ifaac fent Jacob to take a Wife of his kindred, and had warned him against the Daughters of Canaan, as those with whom he was not pleafed; and that Jacob had in this obeyed Ifaac, 6,7,8;) Ishmael i. e, The Family or Houfe of I mael. For Ishmael was now dead, (Compare ch. 25. 17. with ch. 27. 2.) And he had been dead about Fourteen years. Compare ch. 16. 24, 25. with ch. 21.5. Mahalath : She had another Name alfo, viz. Bafhemath, ( ch. 36. 3.) a thing not unufual, nor to be wondred at. Her Husband was called by two Names alfo, Efan and Edom, (ch.36.1.) 10. And Jacob went out from Beer-fheba, and went. toward Haran. 11. And be lighted upon a cer tain place, and tarried there all night, because the fun was fet: and he took of the ftones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to fleep. 12. And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder fet upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold, the angels of God afcending and defcending on it. 11. Tarried there: viz. Abroad. He was Gueft to any of the not willing to be a Canaanites, fays Jofephus. 12. A Ladder: This representation was to inftruct Facob in the belief of God's fpecial care and providence ; and is fitly done by a Ladder reaching from Earth to Heaven, and the afcending and defcending of Angels thofe miniftring Spirits. Compare Pfal. 113.5, 6. with v. 13. and 15. of this Chapter, Pfal. 91. 11. H. 1. 14. See alfo Gen.32. 1, 2. This is alfo fairly applicable to the times of the Golpel, and God's fpecial providence over his Church, and his divine Communications to it upon the account of the Mediation of Chrift; who was himself miniftred unto by Angels, and is the way by which the Divine Bleffings defcend upon the Church. Compare Job. 1.51. 14.6. Mar. 1.13. Luk. 22. 43. Joh. 20. 12. Act. 1. 10, 11. 13. And behold the LORD food above it, and faid, I am the LORD God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Ifaac: the land whereon thou lieft, to thee will Igive it, and to thy feed. 13. Lord: Jeho vah, whofe Minifters the Angels are, (Pfal. 91. 11.) and who is able to fave the af ficted. Instead of Lord, the Chaldee hath the glory of the Lord, vid. ch.17. 22. 14. And 14. And thy feed fhall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the weft, and to the east, and to the north, and to the fouth: and in thee, and in thy feed, fhall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15. And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goeft, and will bring 15. Untill : i. e. Unless, as the Vulgar renders it. thee again into this land: for I will not leave thee, untill I have done that which I have spoken to thee of. 16. And Jacob awaked out of his sleep; and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place, and I knew it not. 17. And he was afraid, and faid, How dreadfull is this place? this is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of hea ven. 18. And Jacob rofe up early in the morning, and took the ftone that be bad put for his pillows, and fet it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. to do. Compare 19. And he called the name of that place Beth-el: but the name of that city was called Luz at the firft. 20. And Jacob vowed a vow, faying, If God will be with me; and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, 21. So that I come again to my father's boufe in peace: then fhall the LORD be my God. 17. Dreadfull: The appearance was fo glorious,that it ftruck a dread upon him. Compare Matt.17.6. Luk.2.9. 18. Poured Oil: By this means feparating it to a Religious ufe, or making on it fuch an oblation as he was able ch. 35. 14. 19. Bethel: In the Tribe of Benjamin, Fo. 18.22. 20. A vow i. e. folemn promife made unto God. A 21. Then shall: He makes his Vow after the affurance gi |