Genesis 38

1. 1 And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, who appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. 2. 2 Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and purify yourselves, and change your garments: and let us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went. And they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem. And they journeyed: and a great terror was upon the cities that were round about them, and they did not pursue after the sons of Jacob. 3. 6 So Jacob came to Luz, which is in the land of Canaan (the same is Beth-el), he and all the people that were with him. And he built there an altar, and called the place El-beth-el: because there God was revealed unto him, when he fled from the face of his brother. And Deborah Rebekah’s nurse died, and she was buried below Beth-el under the oak: and the name of it was called Allon-bacut. 4. 9 And God appeared unto Jacob again, when he came from Paddan-aram, and blessed him. 5. 10 And God said unto him, Thy name is Jacob: thy name shall not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name: and he called his name Israel. And God said unto him, I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and

12 kings shall come out of thy loins ; and the land which I gave unto Abraham and Isaac, to thee 13 I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land. And God went up from him in 14 the place where he spake with him. And Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spake with him, a pillar of stone : and he poured out a drink offering thereon, and poured oil 15 thereon. And Jacob called the name of the place where God spake with him, Beth-el. 16 And they journeyed from Beth-el ; and there was still some way to come to Ephrath : and 17 Rachel travailed, and she had hard labour. And it came to pass, when she was in hard labour, 18 that the midwife said unto her, Fear not ; for now thou shalt have another son. And it came to pass, as her soul was in departing (for she died), that she called his name Ben-oni : but his 19 father called him Benjamin. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath (the 20 same is Beth-lehem). And Jacob set up a pillar upon her grave : the same is the Pillar of Rachel’s grave unto this day. 27 And Jacob came unto Isaac his father to Mamre, to Kiriath-arba (the same is Hebron), where 28 Abraham and Isaac sojourned. And the days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years. 29 And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people, old and full of days ; and Esau and Jacob his sons buried him.

1-8. Jacob returns to Bethel. He receives the direction from God. He had now been for some years lingering in Succoth and Shechem. There may have been intercourse between him and his father’s house during this interval. The presence of Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse (v. 8), in his family, is a plain intimation of this. M

1. Of the manner in which the present com- munication was made to him, nothing is said : but the purport of it was that he should remove to Bethel, situated about thirty miles south of Shechem, build there an altar, and perform the vow which he had previously made (Gen. 28 : 20, 22). It was now about thirty years since that vow was made : Jacob had dwelt eight or ten in Canaan since his return from Paddan- aram, and had now attained to one hundred and six years of age ; yet for some reason unex- plained he had hitherto delayed to pay it. Bush.—God reminds Jacob of his vow at Bethel, and sends him thither to perform it. Jacob had said in the day of his distress, If I come again in peace this stone shall be God’s house (ch. 28 : 22). God had performed his part of the bargain, and had given Jacob more than bread to eat, and raiment to put on—he had got an estate, and was become two bands ; but, it should seem, he had forgotten his vow, or, at least, had too long deferred the performance of it. Seven or eight years it was now since he came to Canaan ; he had purchased ground there, and had built an altar in remembrance of God’s last appearance to him when he called him Israel (ch. 33 : 19, 20) ; but Bethel still is forgotten. H.

The mercy of God changed the flight from Shechem into a pilgrimage to Bethel. In itself the Divine command (to go to Bethel) implied a Di- vine assurance in this danger ; for if God calls him to Bethel, He would surely bring him safely thither. But the place to which he was directed to go conveyed even more fully this assurance, for in Bethel he had found a refuge with God at the time of his first trouble. Then, God had promised to protect, to bless, and to bring back him, who, poor and forsaken, had to flee the land ; now, this prediction is richly fulfilled— Jacob has returned unscathed to the Holy Land, the rich proprietor of large flocks. K.

Of the truth that God remembers all his own mercies to his people, every act of his love tow- ard every one of them, here is a confirma- tion. After thirty years, the vision at Bethel was fresh as ever in His memory. A mere dream of the night, sent by Him to comfort one of the least of his servants, is not forgotten. This we can believe ; but it is hard to believe that the Lord remembers the petty movements and workings of our minds, that the mighty God should hold in mind the promises of a worm. But hold them he does. He takes special notice of every word we utter that has a reference to himself, and every purpose we form. He records the vows we make to him, and his mind dwells on them as though he de- lighted in them, and longed to have them ful- filled. “I remember thee,” he says to his church of old, “the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals.” Many years before this, he lets Jacob see that he remembers the kindness of his early years ; “I am the God of Bethel where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me ;” and now he refers to the same transaction again.

2-1. Jacob’s directions to prepare for worship at Bethel. His neglect to carefully instruct his sons had borne bitter fruit. It necessitates the sudden and difficult effort now put forth to in- duce his sons to seek with him to serve God. He cannot rightly worship God unless his children and household are with him in spirit, Jacob’s neglect had led to carelessness by his sons of the Divine service. He could not himself enter heartily on the service until he had discharged his duty as guide and instructor to his family. F Hastings.

Strange gods. The household deities—the teraphim, such as Rachel took with her. At all times among the Israelites there was united together with the worship of the one true God very much idolatry, in which the unbelief, or half-hearted belief of the people sought support. Gerl.—These “strange gods” were idolatrous and superstitious objects of which his sons had, as he knew, just before acquired possession, when they pillaged the town of Shechem—valuable for the materials of which they were composed, but which Jacob feared might in the end prove dangerous. The part of the injunction which directs the people to purify themselves, and to put on clean vestures, is remarkable as the first example of the personal cleanness which was afterward regarded as essential to a becoming appearance before God in worship—a salutary observance, which became a matter of ceremonial law under Moses, but which, like many other observances of the law, had its origin in earlier times. Kit.

4. Earrings were frequently used as amulets, believed to arrest evil, or to act as a charm; they were often covered with allegorical figures or mysterious sentences, according to the deities to which they were consecrated; they formed therefore one of the ordinary instruments of superstitious usages. Kalisch.

5. After the sanguinary conduct of Jacob’s sons, is it not surprising that the neighboring tribes did not join together, and extirpate the whole family? So they certainly would, had not the terror of God fallen upon them. Jacob and the major part of his family were innocent of this great transgression; and on the preservation of their lives the accomplishment of great events depended; therefore God watches over them, and shields them from the hands of their enemies. A. C.

8. “Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died, and she was buried beneath Bethel, under an oak, and the name of it was called Allon-bachuth (the oak of weeping).” Thus Deborah’s long and faithful service in the household of Isaac, and the family-mourning over the old, tried family friend, are deemed worthy of perpetual memorial in the Book of God! But from the circumstance that Deborah died in the house of Jacob, we infer not only that her mistress Rebekah was dead, but that there must have been some intercourse between Isaac and Jacob since his return to Canaan. Most probably Jacob had visited his aged parent, though Scripture does not mention it, because it in no way affects the history of the covenant. A. E.

9-15. God appeared unto Jacob again.** He was now at Bethel, the place from which he may be considered to have set out for Paddan-aram, and where he made his vow that if God would be with him and be his God, he would make that place the house of God. He had now come back again to the same spot; he had fulfilled his vow by consecrating Bethel as the temple of God; this might then well be considered as the accomplishment of his return from Paddan-aram. Accordingly God appears to him here once more, promises him again, and more emphatically, protection, blessing, inheritance, confirms the name of Israel to him, and assures him that his posterity shall be numerous, powerful and blessed. And Jacob, recognizing the fulfilment of all that had been promised him when he fled from Esau, and of all that his vows had pointed to, rears again a stone pillar as he had done forty years before, and again solemnly names the place Bethel. The whole of this history thoroughly fits in to all that has gone before.

11. I am God Almighty.** El-Shaddal. It was by this name that God revealed himself to Abram, when he changed his name to Abraham, and promised him the land of Canaan for an everlasting possession (ch. 17:8). The use of the same name here is singularly appropriate. E. H. B.

16-20. They draw near to a place then known only by its ancient Canaanite name, and now for the first time mentioned in history, “Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.” The village appears spread along its narrow ridge, but they are not to reach it. “There Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath.” A. P. S.—Rachel had passionately said, Give me children, or else I die; and now that she had children (for this was her second), she died. Dying is here called the departing of her soul. The death of the body is but the departure of the soul to the world of spirits. H.

19. Ephrath, which is Bethlehem.** Ephrath, or Ephrata, was the old, and Bethlehem the later name of this town. “Bethlehem” means “house of bread;” but we do not know on what occasion it was imposed. The town was in the allotment of the tribe of Judah, being situated about six miles south of Jerusalem, on the road to Hebron. It was a city in the time of Boaz (Ruth 3:11), whose grandson was Jesse, the father of David, who was born and reared there; in consequence of which the place is very frequently distinguished as “the city of David.” Bush.

20. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave. This monument of Rachel’s is the first that we read of in Scripture. It was certainly standing when Moses wrote, as appears from this verse; and mention is made of it just before Saul was anointed king (1 Sam. 10:2). The monument now shown for it is a modern and Turkish structure. Maundrell.

27. At last Jacob came to his journey’s end, “unto Isaac his father, unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham and Isaac sojourned.” During the years of his stay at Succoth and Shechem Jacob had probably often visited his father, as he was only a few days’ journey distant from him; but now in the latter days of Isaac’s life he went altogether into his neighborhood, taking with him his flocks and herds. Gert.—He came to dwell with him, and to be the comfort of his old age. Bp. Patrick.—Isaac had the comfort of seeing the promise of God, in this instance of earthly prosperity, made good to himself and to Abraham; as a sure pledge that the spiritual promises, that “in their seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed,” would be made good in God’s due time. Bp. Wilson.

28,29. Here the life of Isaac is closed. Joseph must have been, at the time of Jacob’s return, in his thirteenth year, and therefore his father in his hundred and fourth. Isaac was consequently in his hundred and sixty-third year. He survived the return of Jacob to Hebron about seventeen years, and the sale of Joseph his grandson about thirteen. M—His sons Esau and Jacob buried him. As Isaac and Ishmael had buried Abraham. Hence it appears the friendship between Esau and Jacob continued after their interview on Jacob’s return. Bp. Patrick.—Had the death of Isaac been introduced in the proper order of time, it would have fallen in the midst of the history of Joseph; but it occurred about twelve or fifteen years after his being sold into Egypt. Esau and Jacob were 120 years of age at the death of their father, and from their uniting, as Isaac and Ishmael had done on a similar occasion, in performing the funeral obsequies of their father, it is to be inferred that the reconciliation between them was cordial and lasting. Bush.

But from henceforward the two branches of Isaac’s family were entirely separated. The country about Mount Seir became the permanent residence of the Edozites, who were governed first by independent sheiks or princes, afterward were united under one monarchy. Jacob continued to dwell in Canaan, with his powerful family and ample possessions, until dissensions among his sons prepared the way for more important changes, which seemed to break forever the connection between the race of Abraham and the land of Canaan, but ended in establishing them as the sole possessors of the whole territory. Milman.

The dates and incidents in the life of Isaac may be tabulated as follows:

| ISAAC. Age. | ABRAHAM. Age. | JACOB. Age. | Incident. | Record. | | — | — | — | — | — | | Birth | 100 | .. | … | xxi. | | 25 | 125 | .. | Mount Moriah… | xxii. | | 37 | 137 | .. | Death of Sarah… | xxiii. | | 40 | 140 | .. | Marriage of Isaac… | xxv. | | 60 | 160 | .. | Birth of Esau and Jacob | xxv. | | 75 | 175 | 15 | Death of Abraham… | xxv. | | 100 | .. | 40 | Marriage of Esau… | xxvi. | | 123 | .. | 63 | Death of Ishmael… | xxv. | | .. | .. | .. | Abimelech… | xxvi. | | 137 | .. | 77 | Jacob’s departure… | … | | 151 | .. | 91 | Birth of Joseph… | xxx. | | 157 | .. | 97 | Return of Jacob… | xxxi. | | 168 | .. | 108 | Joseph sold… | xxxvii | | 180 | .. | 120 | Death of Isaac… | xxxv. |

A glance at this table reveals how little comparatively is told us of Isaac. He is born somewhere in the neighborhood of Gerar, in the 100th year of his father’s life. His birth rekindles the old feud between Sarah and Hagar, which reaches its height when, at the feast made on the day of the weaning, Ishmael is seen making scornful mirth of the new-born child. At Sarah’s imperious demand, supported by the Divine direction, Hagar and Ishmael are sorrowfully sent forth by Abraham to seek another home. Isaac remains the sole and undisputed heir of the promises.

Looking back upon the life of Isaac, the few frailties and failures it displays are lost in the remembrance of his sublime act of submission and self-surrender on Mount Moriah; his veneration for his father’s character, and constant willingness to walk in his steps; his humility in accepting all from God as coming to him for his father’s sake; his attachment to his mother; his affection for his wife; his fondness—undue it may have been, yet touchingly tender—for the rough but generous Esau; the unexpressed and unostentations, but deep, serene, meditative piety which sustained and cheered him throughout the long, lonely years before his death. His truly was a spirit easy to be entreated, open to forgiveness, shut against malice, incapable of revenge; showing much of the temper inculcated by him of whom on Mount Moriah he was the type; the meekest, most placable, most patient, most peace-loving most home-loving of the patriarchs. W. H.

This chapter closes the ninth of the pieces or documents marked off by the phrase “these are the generations.” Its opening event was the birth of Isaac (25:19), which took place in the hundredth year of Abraham, and therefore seventy-five years before his death recorded in the seventh document. As the seventh purports to be the generations of Terah (11:27) and relates to Abraham, who was his offspring, so the present document, containing the generations of Isaac, refers chiefly to the sons of Isaac, and especially to Jacob, as the heir of promise. M.

35. 21 And Israel journeyed, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder. And it came to

22 pass, while Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his father’s concubine: and Israel heard of it.

23. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve: the sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob’s firstborn, and

24. Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun: the sons of Rachel; Joseph

25 and Benjamin: and the sons of Bilhah, Rachel’s handmaid; Dan and Naphtali: and the

26 sons of Zdpah, Leah’s handmaid; Gad and Asher: these are the sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Paddan-aram.

36:1 Now these are the generations of Esau (the same is Edom). Esau took his wives of the

2 daughters of Canaan; Adah the daughter of Elon the Hittite, and Oholibamah the daugh-

3 ter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon the Hivite; and Basemath Ishmael’s daughter, sister

4 of Nebaioth. And Adah bare to Esau Eliphaz; and Basemath bare Reuel; and Oholi-

5 bamah bare Jeush, and Jalam, and Korah: these are the sons of Esau, which were born

6 unto him in the land of Canaan. And Esau took his wives, and his sons, and his daughters, and all the souls of his house, and his cattle, and all his beasts, and all his possesssions, which he had gathered in the land of Canaan; and went into a land away from his

7 brother Jacob. For their substance was too great for them to dwell together; and the

8 land of their sojournings could not bear them because of their cattle. And Esau dwelt in

9 mount Seir; Esau is Edom. And these are the generations of Esau the father of the

10. Edomites in mount Seir: these are the names of Esau’s sons; Eliphaz the son of Adah

11 the wife of Esau, Reuel the son of Basemath the wife of Esau. And the sons of Eliphaz

12 were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Garam, and Kenaz. And Timna was concubine to Eliphaz Esau’s son; and she bare to Eliphaz Amalek: these are the sons of Adah Esau’s

13 wife. And these are the sons of Reuel; Nahath, and Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah:

14 these were the sons of Basemath Esau’s wife. And these were the sons of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, Esau’s wife: and she bare to Esau Jeush,

15 and Jalam, and Korah. These are the dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Zepho, duke Kenaz, duke Korah, duke

16. Garam, duk. Amalek: these are the dukes that came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom;

17 these are the sons of Adah. And these are the sons of Reuel Esau’s son; duke Nahath, duke Zerah, duke Shammah, duke Mizzah: these are the dukes that came of Reuel in the

18 land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath Esau’s wife. And these are the sons of

Oholibamah Esau’s wife; duke Jeush, duke Jalam, duke Korah: these are the dukes that

19 came of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau’s wife. These are the sons of Esau, and these are their dukes: the same is Edom.

20. These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land; Lotan and Shobal

21 and Zibeon and Anah, and Dishon and Ezer and Dishon: these are the dukes that came

22 of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom. And the children of Lotan

23 were Hori and Hemam; and Lotan’s sister was Timna. And these are the children of

24. Shobal; Alvan and Manahath and Ebal, Shepho and Onam. And these are the children of Zibeon; Aiah and Anah: this is Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as

25 he fed the asses of Zibeon his father. And these are the children of Anah; Dishon and

26. Oholibamah the daughter of Anah. And these are the children of Dishon; Hemdan and

27. Eshban and Ithran and Cheran. These are the children of Ezer; Bilhan and Zaavan

28 and Akan. These are the children of Dishon; Uz and Aran. These are the dukes that

29 came of the Horites; duke Lotan, duke Shobal, duke Zibeon, duke Anah, duke Dishon.

30 duke Ezer, duke Dishan : these are the dukes that came of the Horites, according to their dukes in the land of Seir.

31. And these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any

32 king over the children of Israel. And Bela the son of Beor reigned in Edom ; and the

33 name of his city was Dinhabah. And Bela died, and Jobab the son of Zerah of Bozrah

34 reigned in his stead. And Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned

35 in his stead. And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who smote Mid-an in the

36 field of Moab, reigned in his stead : and the name of his city was Avith. And Hadad

37 died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his stead. And Samlah died, and Shaul of Re-

38 hoboth by the River reigned in his stead. And Shaul died, and Baal-hanan the son of

39. Achbor reigned in his stead. And Baal-hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Pau ; and his wife’s name was Mehetabel, the

40 daughter of Matred, the daughter of Me-zahab. And these are the names of the dukes that came of Esau, according to their families, after their places, by their names ; duke

41. Timnah, duke Alvah, duke Jetheth ; duke Oholibamah, duke Elah, duke Finon ; duke

42. Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar ; duke Magdiel, duke Iram ; these be the dukes of

43. Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession. This is Esau the father of the Edomites.

38 : 1 And it came to pass at that time, that Judah went down from his brethren, and turned

2 in to a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah. And Judah saw there a daughter of

3 a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua ; and he took her, and went in unto her. And

4 she conceived, and bare a son ; and he called his name Er. And she conceived again, and

5 bare a son ; and she called his name Onan. And she yet again bare a son, and called his

6 name Shelah ; and he was at Chezib, when she bare him. And Judah took a wife for Er

7 his firstborn, and her name was Tamar. And Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the

8 sight of the LORD ; and the LORD slew him. And Judah said unto Onan, Go in unto thy brother’s wife, and perform the duty of an husband’s brother unto her, and raise up seed

9 to thy brother. And Onan knew that the seed should not be his ; and it came to pass, when he went in unto his brother’s wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should

10 give seed to his brother. And the thing which he did was evil in the sight of the LORD

11 and he slew him also. Then said Judah to Tamar his daughter in law, Remain a widow in thy father’s house, till Shelah my son be grown up ; for he said, Lest he also die, like

12 his brethren. And Tamar went and dwelt in her father’s house. And in process of time

Shua’s daughter, the wife of Judah, died ; and Judah was comforted, and went up unto

13 his sheepshearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah the Adullamite. And it was told

14. Tamar, saying, Behold, thy father in law goeth up to Timnah to shear his sheep. And she put off from her the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is by the way to Timnah ; for

15 she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she was not given unto him to wife. When Judah

16 saw her, he thought her to be an harlot ; for she had covered her face. And he turned unto her by the way, and said, Go to, I pray thee, let me come in unto thee ; for he knew not that she was his daughter in law. And she said, What wilt thou give me, that thou

17 mayest come in unto me ? And he said, I will send thee a kid of the goats from the

18 flock. And she said, Wilt thou give me a pledge, till thou send it ? And he said, What pledge shall I give thee ? And she said, Thy signet and thy cord, and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave them to her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.

19. And she arose, and went away, and put off her veil from her, and put on the garments of

20 her widowhood. And Judah sent the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend the Adul-

21 lamite, to receive the pledge from the woman’s hand ; but he found her not. Then he asked the men of her place, saying, Where is the harlot that was at Enaim by the way-

22 side ? And they said, There hath been no harlot here. And he returned to Judah, and said, I have not found her ; and also the men of the place said, There hath been no harlot

23 here. And Judah said, Let her take it to her, lest we be put to shame : behold, I sent

24 this kid, and thou hast not found her. And it came to pass about three months after, that it was told Judah, saying, Tamar thy daughter in law hath played the harlot ; and moreover, behold, she is with child by whoredom. And Judah said, Bring her forth, and

25 let her be burnt. When she was brought forth, she sent to her father in law, saying, By the man, whose these are, am I with child ; and she said, Discern, I pray thee, whose are

26 these, the signet, and the cords, and the staff. And Judah acknow’edged them, and said,

She is more righteous than I ; forasmuch as I gave her not to Shelah my son. And he

27 knew her again no more. And it came to pass in the time of her travail, that, behold,

28 twins were in her womb. And it came to pass, when she travailed, that one put out a hand : and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came

29 out first. And it came to pass, as he drew back his hand, that, behold, his brother came out ; and she said, Wherefore hast thou made a breach for thyself ? therefore his name should be heard of, not by Jacob only, but by all that read the sacred story to the end of time. We afterward learn (Gen. 49:4) that he lost the birthright in consequence of it. Judgment never fails in the end to wait upon transgression. By his conduct, however, in reference to his brother Joseph (Gen. 37:20, 22), he seems to have obtained, in behalf of his posterity at least, a mitigation of his punishment. Both.

It is a mercy that the Scripture record of human life is painted to us in such dark colors as it is. The Bible saints were not the heroes of romance, for then they might have been painted spotless. They were the men of real life, and the details of that life sometimes guilty enough. But, then, life was an earnest thing with them. It was transgression, if you will; but then it was sore, buffeting struggle after that—much toiling and wandering in sharp suffering, that none knew but God: it was the penitence of men bent manfully on turning back to God. And so they fought their way back till they struggled out of the thick darkness into the clear light of day and peace. Let us lay this to heart. It is not the having been “far off” that makes peace impossible. It is not sin—no, not the darkest—that shuts out from restoration: “Being justified by faith, we have peace with God.” It is languid indecision, desperate sulemness, anything which keeps a man away from Christ, that prevents peace; but in all this world there is nothing else. F. W. R.

23-26. A complete list of the sons of Jacob, now that Benjamin the youngest was born. This is the first time we have the names of these heads of the twelve tribes together; afterward, we find them very often spoken of and enumerated, even to the end of the Bible (Rev. 7:4; 21:12). H.

Ch. 26: Esau and the Edomites. As in ch. 25, the history gives the genealogies of Abraham’s descendants by other wives in order to dispose of them, and to treat the line of Isaac, so here it gives the genealogies of the descendants of Esau in order to have done with them and to advance in the line of Jacob. In both cases the races enumerated are those which in subsequent times had to do with Israel. Af.—It was, as necessary to register the generations of Esau as those of Jacob, in order to show that the Messiah did not spring from the former, but that he did spring from the later. The genealogical tables, so frequently met with in the sacred writings, are standing proofs of the truth of the prophecies that the Messiah should come from a particular family; which prophecies were clearly fulfilled in the birth of Christ. And they testify that the Messiah thus promised is found in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, who incontestably sprang from the last, the only remaining branch of the family of David. These registers were religiously preserved among the Jews till the destruction of Jerusalem, after which they were all destroyed; insomuch that there is not a Jew in the universe who can trace himself to the family of David; consequently all expectation of a Messiah to come is, even on their own principles, nugatory and absurd; since nothing remains to legitimate his birth. When Christ came all these registers were in existence. When Matthew and Luke wrote all these registers were still in existence; and had they pretended what could not have been supported, an appeal to the registers would have convicted them of a falsehood. But no Jew attempted to do this, notwithstanding the excess of their malice against Christ and his followers; and because they did not do it, we may safely assert no Jew could do it. Thus the foundation standeth sure. A. C.

S. Mount Seir is the mountain ridge extending along the east side of the valley of Arabah, from the Dead Sea to the Elanitic Gulf. The name signifies rough, or rugged. Af.

Esau himself, in the lifetime of his father, migrated with his Canaanitish wives to this country, which afterward became the home of his descendants. This mountainous but fertile region had long been occupied by the Horites, whose territories they at first shared, but afterward, at a period antecedent to the Exodus, took possession of. In proof of their importance as a people even in these earliest times, a list of eight kings is given (vs. 31) who “reigned in the land of Edom before there reigned any king in Israel.” Of their hereditary enmity to the chosen People we find traces not only in their refusal to allow their “brother Israel” (Num. 20:14) to pass through their land during the wanderings in the wilderness, though the request was made under circumstances of the utmost urgency, but from the terms in which we find them denounced by the later prophets. The warlike character of Esau was perpetuated in the latest of his descendants. They were ultimately brought into close alliance with their ancient foes. But, according to Josephus, the children of Israel found reason to die and the children of Esau no less as allies than as open enemies. Even in his own day that historian describes them as “a turbulent and unruly race, rushing to battle as if they were going to a feast.” Lee.

15-19. The first dukes of Edom. The Al-lugh or duke is the head of the tribe among the Edomites, like the Nasi or prince among the Israelites.

20. Horte. The Horites—dwellers in caves (Troglodytes)—were the original inhabitants of Seir, and were driven out by the Edomites (Deut. 2:12); but they appear still to have remained among them in a part of the land. Esau had a Horite, Abolibamah, as his wife; his son Elphaz, a Horite, Timna, as a concubine, which would mark a declension on the part of the Horites. The families of this tribe are mentioned, because the descent of Abolibamah and Timna is given. The Horites derive their names from the caves, many of them hewn out of the rock, and from their underground dwellings. These are still to be seen in great numbers. Geri.

20-30. In the midst of this genealogy of the Edomites, here is inserted the genealogy of the Horites, those Canaanites, or Hittites, that were the natives of mount Seir. This comes in here, not only to give light to the story, but to be a standing reflection upon the Edomites for intermarrying with them, by which, it is probable, they learned their way, and corrupted themselves. Esau having sold his birthright, and lost his blessing and entered into alliance with the Hittites, his posterity and the sons of Seir are here reckoned together. Those that treacherously desert God’s church, are justly numbered with those that were never in it; apostate Edomites stand on the same ground with accursed Horites. H.

31-39. The series of eight kings here enumerated are plainly elective, as not one succeeds his father. The king co-exists with the dukes, who are again enumerated at the close of the list, and are mentioned in the song of Moses (Ex. 15:15). These dukes are no doubt the electors of the common sovereign, who is designed to give unity and strength to the nation. It is natural to suppose that no sovereign was elected till after the death of Esau, and, therefore, if he lived as long as Jacob, after the children of Israel had been seventeen years in Egypt. 31. Before a king reigned over his children of Israel, simply means before there was a monarchy established in Israel. It does not imply that monarchy began in Israel immediately after these kings. M.—In the previous chapter (vs. 11), there had been an emphatic promise from God Almighty (El-Shaddai) to Jacob that “kings should come out of his loins.” The Israelites, no doubt, cherished a constant hope of such a kingdom and such a kingly race. Moses himself (Deut. 28:36) prophesied concerning the king that the Israelites should set over them; and hence it was not unnatural that, when recording the eight kings, who had reigned in the family of Esau up to his own time, he should have noted that as yet no king had risen from the family of his brother Jacob, to whom a kingly progeny had been promised. E. H. B.

39. The last of the eight kings, of whom it is not said that he died, seems to have been the contemporary of Moses, who made application to him for leave to pass through his land. If this be so, it follows that the remainder of Genesis comes immediately from the hand of Moses; a result which is in accordance with other indications that have presented themselves in the previous part of this book. This interesting monument of antiquity, notwithstanding its brevity, we shall find to be arranged with admirable precision. M.

42. Mount Seir is called the land of their possession. While the Israelites dwelt in the house of bondage, and their Canaan was only the land of promise, the Edomites dwelt in their own habitations, and Seir was in their possession. The children of this world have their all in hand, and nothing in hope, while the children of God have their all in hope, and next to nothing in hand. But, all things considered, it is better to have Canaan in promise than mount Seir in possession. H.—A worldly Esau may have his mount Seir, may have his portion at once, without any discipline, any acquaintance with God or himself. But Israel, the beloved of God, must forego rest, must wait, and suffer, and fight, in the way to it. One exercise of faith and patience must succeed to another; and by these they must be trained into a meetness for the Canaan promised to them as their inheritance. And such is the Christian’s calling. He must reckon on trial and conflict; he must learn to endure it, to go forward, and quit himself as a man, taking up his cross and carrying it patiently, yes, cheerfully, as what all his brethren are doing, as what God called him to when he called him to glory, and in assured faith that it shall soon be exchanged for glory. F. Goede.

The notice here taken of Esau is a kind of final leave taken of him and of his posterity, for we hear no more of them but as enemies of the chosen people. He is presented to our view for a moment, as surrounded with a glare of earthly glory, but as there is nothing stable without the pale of the kingdom of God, the curtain speedily drops upon all his splendor and pomp, and it is seen no more. The spirit of inspiration pausing for a moment to show that no word of God, however slight, fails of its effect, immediately passes to its main drift, and directs our view to the more abiding and truly glorious concerns of the line of Jacob. Bush.

Ch. 28: The Bible makes no apology, draws no curtain, makes no excuse; on it goes; taking life as it is, and describing it without flattery or fear. The Bible is true to the very root and reality of things. The book does not ignore facts, but faces them, names them, proposes remedies for them, and searches into the root and core of the whole of them. Evil be to him that evil thinks. These things belong to a greater whole; they must not be detached; the part that would be intolerable is essential to the whole that is beautiful. J. P.

The removal to Egypt was needful in order to separate the sons of Jacob from the people of the land. How readily constant contact with the Canaanites would have involved even the best of them in horrible vices appears from the history of Judah, when, after the selling of Joseph, he had left his father’s house, and, joining himself to the people of the country, both he and his rapidly became conformed to the abominations around. A. E.

The history of Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar. The object of this parenthetical chapter seems to be to show how near the offspring of Jacob were to falling into the habits and loathsome sins of the Canaanitish peoples; and to pave the way for the history of their removal into the land of Egypt, which took place by means of Joseph’s being sold and carried thither. At the same time it defines and accounts for the two main branches in the kingly line of Judah. Af.—It supplies a very important link. In the Teledoth, or family history, of Jacob, the two chief persons were Joseph and Judah; Joseph from his high character, his personal importance, his influence in the future destinies of the race, and his typical foreshadowing of the Messiah; Judah, from his obtaining the virtual right of primogeniture, and from his being the ancestor of David and of the Son of David. E. H. B.

We see in this story how one interest—that for their families, and the preservation of them—overpowered every other feeling, even the sense of shame in a woman. The sanctity of an ancient descent, as it had been brought out of Mesopotamia by Abraham’s posterity, and the establishment of the duties of the brother-in law (the Levirate, from a Latin word, levir, a husband’s brother), are forcibly put forth by this narrative. The law was, that when a widow was left childless, it was the brother’s duty to marry the widow, and the firstborn son of this marriage was to be regarded as the child of the deceased brother. The purport of the laws of the Israelites on the subject (no doubt derived from the patriarchs), was to preserve as much as possible the heirs in a direct line. The father lived in the son—the whole family descended from him was in a certain sense himself. Govt.

21,22. The word rendered havid, in these two verses, and for which we have no other intelligible expression, means connected; namely, to the goddess of licentiousness, to whose temple and worship her gains were devoted. The name, and the custom on which it was founded, only partially reveal the fearful corruption of religion and morals wherever idolatry prevailed. T. J. C.

23. By the man whose these are.** It is obvious that Tamar might before this have exposed Judah, had she been so inclined. In this, however, it does not appear that she was influenced by vindictive feelings toward Judah, or that she had any wish to hold him up to public abhorrence, but simply to vindicate her own conduct: while God, in the mean time, was carrying on his purpose to bring the offender, by this means, to a penitent confession of his fault. Instead of boldly summoning him into her presence, and requiring of him to stand forth as her accuser before the judges, she does not even name him, nor seek an interview, but sends to him the pledged articles, leaving it to his own conscience to rebuke him before God. Bach.

Not till she was in actual peril of a horrible death did she expose the author of her ignominy, and then only to himself. Though highly culpable, in the eye of the divine law, for the course she adopted, she seems to have intended merely to test her own rights, denied her by the timid policy of Judah. In regard to these rights, Judah himself acknowledged that her claim was just, and that he was the offender. Allowance must of course be made, in her case, for the loose sentiments and practices of the age. It has been justly said that her conduct, culpable as it was, was marked by shrewdness, tenderness, and magnanimity.

26. She is more in the right than I. That is, her cause is more just than mine; I am the offender. He admits that in withholding Shelah, her rightful husband (v. 11), he had been guilty of a wrong, and that her claim, which he had denied, was just. T. J. C.

We account for the tenacity with which TAMAR clung to her claims on the family of Judah by her anxiety to have a child from the family of Judah. And the less, by her birth as a heathen, she was entitled to any connection with the chosen race, the more jealously did she insist on the rights which marriage had given her. The same views, but in an infinitely higher and nobler form, appear under similar circumstances in the case of Ruth. However we may feel the deep aberration of Tamar, we cannot ignore that in it a higher faith was concealed. K.—Under the arts of Tamar in regard to Judah there still lay concealed faith in the sanctity of the customs and ordinances of the chosen race of Israel. For this reason, too, Judah bore her testimony, “She is more righteous than I.” At the same time we see with what honesty and candor the Holy Scripture paints mankind; how God chooses his people not for any apparent external virtues, but according to his own free grace; how the whole of the scheme for the recovery of sinful man is a work of free favor; and, in fine, how there was enough of sin in Israel’s family to require a speedy and severe purification, which did not long tarry. C. G. B.

The birth of Pharez forms the central point of this chapter, as, according to the law, he occupied the place of the firstborn of Judah. All that precedes only forms the basis for this account, and is so circumstantially narrated only because it at the same time affords a deep insight into the personal position and the history of Judah. Again the history of Judah and of his house is of such importance, because in his prophetic blessing Jacob assigns to Judah the sceptre of principality among the tribes of Israel; and the primogeniture of Pharez is brought out so prominently because Nahshon, the eminent prince and leader in Israel, during the journey through the wilderness, is a descendant of Pharez (Nu. 2:3). “But”—we continue with Baumgarten—“we may look beyond the natural horizon of Moses; for we do not merely say that Moses has written this account, but also that the Holy Ghost has written it. We therefore perceive in this narrative a glance into ages yet future. We call to mind that king David had sprung from Nahshon (Ruth 4:18-22), and that Jesus of Nazareth, who was made of God both Lord and Christ, was the son of David. We are therefore now tracing the lineage of Jesus Christ, and looking forward to Him who is both the commencement and the end of all things.” The narrative discloses the sins of Judah with the same openness and faithfulness as it details the moral aberrations of other patriarchs and kings, for the purpose of showing that the high position assigned to them in the kingdom of God, and to which they were called and trained, was not due to their own virtue and excellency, but to the sovereign mercy of Him that had called them. K.

I find not many of Jacob’s sons more faulty than Judah; who yet is singled out from all the rest to be the royal progenitor of Christ, and to be honored with the dignity of the birth-right, that God’s election might not be of merit, but of grace; else howsoever he might have sped alone, Tamar had never been joined with him in this line. Bp. H.—It is wonderful that this incestuous transaction should form one step of that chain which led to the birth of our Saviour. It is spoken of by commentators as a thing that deepens his humiliation. In associating himself by relationship with such an atrocity as this, his redemption descends to the lowest depths of human guilt and depravity. It casts a light on the infinite mercy of God; and makes me to feel in this alliance of the transcendental with the terrestrial in its grossest form, that God’s ways are not as man’s ways. T. C.

The four oldest sons of Jacob fell under very foul guilt. Reuben and Judah under the guilt of incest, Simeon and Levi under the guilt of murder; yet they were patriarchs; of Levi came the priests, of Judah the kings and Messiah; thus they became examples of repentance, and monuments of pardoning mercy. H.