Genesis 33:19

And he bought a parcel of a field,.... Not the whole, but a part of it; this he did, though he was heir of the whole country, because, as yet, the time was not come for him or his to take possession

And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for an hundred pieces of money.

He bought a parcel of a field for his present possession and use; for the right which he had to it was only in reversion after the time that God had allotted for it. The children of Hamor, i.e. subjects, called his children to note the duty which they owed to him, and the care and affection that he owed to them. Compare . An hundred pieces of money. The word is used only here, and , and it may signify either lambs, given in way of exchange for it, or pieces of money, which seems more probable, both by comparing , and because money was come into use in that place and time, ,13 23:16 47:16, which were called lambs possibly from the fignre of a lamb stamped upon it, as the Athenian money was called an ox for the like reason, and as we call a piece of gold a Jacobus, because the picture of that king is upon it.

Genesis 33:19 And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem’ s father, for an hundred pieces of money.Ver. 19. For an hundred pieces of money.] Heb., Lambs, - as we call angels, Jacobuses, - because stamped with the image of a lamb. So Joshua 24:32, marg.; Job 42:11. Sic pecunia, a pecude.

(19) He bought . . . —Abraham had been obliged to buy land for a burial-place, and we find even then that the field he wanted had an owner who could give him a title to its possession. Jacob a century later finds it necessary to buy even the ground on which to pitch his tent, though his cattle might still roam freely about for pasture. This, however, would certainly not have been required except in the immediate neighbourhood of a town. As he had now recovered from his sprain, he returns to his habits as a nomad, and dwells in a tent. In this, the first parcel of ground possessed by Jacob, the embalmed body of Joseph was buried (Joshua 24:32; see also John 4:5); and it is remarkable that the possession of it was secure, even when the owners were far away in Egypt. An hundred pieces of money.—Heb., a hundred hesitas. It is plain that the kesita was an ingot of metal of some considerable value, from what is said in the Book of Job (Genesis 42:11), that each of his friends gave the patriarch “one kesita and a nose-ring of gold.” The etymology of the word is uncertain, and apparently all knowledge of its meaning had at an early period passed away, inasmuch as Onkelos and some of the versions translate it lambs, for which rendering there is no support.

Verse 19. For a hundred pieces of money.] The original, במאה קשיטה bemeah kesitah, has been a matter of long and learned discussion among critics. As kesitah signifies a lamb, it may imply that Jacob gave the Hamorites one hundred lambs for the field; but if it be the same transaction that St. Stephen refers to in Acts 7:16, it was money, τιμηςαργυριον, a sum or price of silver, which was given on the occasion. It has been conjectured that the money had the figure of a lamb stamped on it, because it was on an average the value of a lamb; and hence it might be called a kesitah or lamb from the impression it bore. It is certain that in many countries the coin has had its name from the image it bore; so among our ancestors a coin was called an angel because it bore the image of an angel; hence also a Jacobus, a Carolus, a Lewis, (Louis d' Or,) a Joe, because certain coins in England, Spain, France, and Portugal, bore on one side the image of the kings of those countries, James, Charles, Lewis, Joseph, or Johannes. The Athenians had a coin called bouv, an ox, because it was stamped with the figure of an ox. Hence the saying in AEschylus: Ταδ' αλλασιγω, βουςεπιγλωττηςμεγαςΒεβηκεν AGAM. v. 36. "I must be silent concerning other matters, a great ox has come upon my tongue;" to signify a person who had received a bribe for secrecy, i.e., a sum of money, on each piece of which an ox was stamped, and hence called βουσ, an ox. The word opes, riches, is a corruption of the word oves, sheep, because these animals in ancient times constituted the principal riches of their owners; but when other cattle were added, the word pecunia, (from pecus, cattle,) which we translate money, and from which we still have our English term pecuniary, appears to have been substituted for oves, because pecus, pecoris, and pecus, pecudis, were used to signify all kinds of cattle large and small. Among our British and Saxon ancestors we find coins stamped with the figure of an ox, horse, hog, goat, c., and this custom arose in all probability, both among them and other nations, from this circumstance, that in primitive times the coin was the ordinary value of the animal whose image it bore. It is, all circumstances weighed, most likely that a piece of money is here intended, and possibly marked with the image of a lamb but as the original word קשיטה kesitah occurs only here, and in Joshua 24:32, and Job 42:11, this is not sufficiently evident, the word itself being of very doubtful signification. Mr. Parkhurst is of opinion that the kesitah bore the image of a lamb; and that these lamb coins of the ancient Hebrews typified the Lamb of God, who in the Divine purpose was considered as slain from the foundation of the world, and who purchased us unto God with his own blood.

19. the parcel of ground] or “the portion of the field.” Lat. partem agri. For “parcel,” Fr. “parcelle,” from Lat. particula, see Joshua 24:32; Rth 4:3. Cf. “Many a thousand, Which now mistrust no parcel of my fear” (Shakespeare, 3 Hen. VI, Genesis 33:6). his tent] Jacob has resumed dwelling in tents, see Genesis 33:17. the children of Hamor, Shechem’s father] This apparently means the people of the tribe of Hamor; and Hamor was the founder, or chieftain, of the city of Shechem. The confusion between the “sons of Hamor, Shechem’s father,” and “Shechem the son of Hamor,” in Genesis 34:2, caused LXX in this verse to omit “sons of.” LXX, by rendering Συχέμ for the name of the man, and Σίκιμα (cf. Genesis 12:6) for the name of the city, draws a distinction which it is not always possible to observe in English. pieces of money] Heb. kesitah. Apparently a ḳ ?esitah was a piece of metal used for money; elsewhere it is mentioned only in Joshua 24:32; Job 42:11. Whether it denotes a small coin, or an ingot, cannot be determined. The versions, LXX, Lat. and Targ. Onkelos, render “lambs1[53] [53] LXX (ἑκατὸνἀμνῶν = “a hundred lambs”) “vel agnos ipsos intellegere potuerunt, vel nummos agnorum imagine signatos.” Schleusner, Lex. Vet. Test., s.v. ἀμνός.”: Targ. Jon. and Jerus., “pearls.” The purchase of this plot of ground was historically important. It was the burial-place of the bones of Joseph (cf. Joshua 24:32; Acts 7:16). The possession of such small pieces of territory (cf. the purchase of Machpelah ch. 23) constituted no claim for the possession of the country: the patriarchs were “strangers and sojourners,” Genesis 23:4.

19. Bought a parcel of a field — Rather, the portion of the field.