A. M. 2149. A. C. 1855; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3495. A. C. 1916. GEN. CH. xxviii. 10-xxxvii. great ingenuity and reason, insists that the name and veneration of the sacred stones, called bactyli, so celebrated in all pagan antiquity, were derived. These bactyli were stones of a round form; they were supposed to be animated with a portion of the Deity: they were consulted on occasions of great and pressing emergency, as a kind of divine oracles. Thus, the setting up of a stone by this holy person, in grateful memory of the celestial vision, probably became the occasion of the idolatry in succeeding ages, to these shapeless masses of unknown stone, of which so many astonishing remains are scattered up and down the Asiatic and the European world.-Maurice's Indian Antiquities, vol. 2. p. 355. day's journey, a happening to be benighted, he was forced | thence, he made a d solemn vow to God, "That if he to take up his lodging in the open air, with the spangled would protect and prosper him in his journey, provide sky to be his canopy, and an hard stone his pillow. him with common necessaries in his absence, and grant However, while he slept, he thought he saw a ladder him an happy return to his father's house; to him alone fixed upon the earth, and reaching up unto heaven, with would he direct his religious worship; in that very place angels ascending and descending on it; and from the top where the pillar stood, upon his return, would he make of this ladder he heard God speaking unto him, and pro- his devout acknowledgments, and offer unto him the mising him, even as he had done his forefathers, the tenth of whatever he should gain in the land of Mesopoland of Canaan for his inheritance; a large and numer- tamia." ous posterity; the Messias to descend from his family; a safe return to his native country; and the divine protection and preservation every where to attend him. This, in all probability, was the first vouchsafement of the kind which Jacob ever had; and his dream had made such impression upon him, that as soon as he awaked, he paid an awful reverence to the place, and after a short contemplation of what had passed, broke out into this rapture of wonder and admiration :—“ How venerable is this place, over which are vertically the palace of God, and the gate of heaven, through which the holy angels are continually issuing out, to execute the divine commands!" And when he arose, he erected the stone whereon he slept, and, as the custom of those times was, poured oil upon it, and then in pious commemoration of the heavenly vision, called the place, which before was called Luz, by the name of Bethel, that is, the house of God. But before he went from hours, by causing the sun to go down before its time; and yet we are told, that from Beersheba to Luz, where he lodged the first night, were about 48 English miles, which was no inconsiderable day's journey. If there be any meaning therefore in this fiction of theirs, it must consist in this :-That Jacob was sent away with his father's blessing, and, in virtue of that, was filled with a certain divine power, which supported and carried him on with pleasure, so that the day might thence seem shorter to him; and though his father sent no friend or domestic along with him, yet there is no doubt to be made, but that there was a companion and guardian of a far nobler order assigned him, who led him by the hand, as it were, and kept him in all his ways.-Bibliotheca Biblica, in locum. d Several annotators have observed, that this is the first vow that we read of in Scripture; but this is no reason for our supposing that Jacob was the first who worshipped in this manner, but rather, that in this, he did no more than what his fathers, Abraham and Isaac, had done before him, and as they had instructed him both by example and precept. And as for Abraham, though there be no mention made expressly of a vow, yet very certain it is, that in effect he did the same thing. For when the Lord is said to have made a covenant with him, Abraham, on his part, must be supposed to express his consent and accep tation of it, and not only so, but to vow and promise to perform the conditions, in order to attain the benefit of it. And in like manner, when Isaac is said to have entreated the Lord for his wife, it is highly probable, that he vowed a vow to God, that upon his performance of the promise of multiplying his seed, &c., he would, on his part, as an acknowledgment of it, make some or other suitable return; for the word which we render entreat, in its original, has a much stronger signification, and denotes a soliciting of favours, whether from God or man, by gifts, vows, or promises. So that we may justly conclude, that his son did not do this of his own head, or an immediate revelation commanding him so to do, but that he was before taught and instructed by his father in this solemnity, as a part of both natural and positive religion.-Bibliotheca Biblica. a The place where Jacob took up his lodging, was near Luz, e Jacob's words upon this occasion are, If God will give me which signifies an almond, and might very likely have its name bread to eat, and raiment to put on,' which two articles comprise from the many groves of almond-trees which were thereabouts; all the necessaries of life, and therefore we find them, in the and under some of which it is not unlikely that Jacob might take writings of the philosophers, always put together. For these up his lodging, because the largeness of their leaves, in that are the bounds, says Seneca, (Ep. 4.) which nature has set us, country, would afford no incommodious shelter from the weather. that we should not hunger, nor thirst, nor be cold. For our diet Jacob, upon account of the vision which he had in this place, and dress, says Tully, should contribute to our health and called it Bethel; and the Israelites, when they conquered strength, not to luxury or pleasure (De Offic. b. 1. c. 13.) We Canaan, in remembrance of the same, continued the name. It may observe, however, farther, that by the patriarch's covenantlay to the west of Hai, about eight miles to the north of Jerusa-ing here with God only for food and raiment, does appear the lem, in the confines of the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin. So that upon the revolt of the ten tribes, it belonged to the kingdom of Israel, and was therefore one of the cities where Jeroboam set up his golden calves, whence the prophet Hosea (ch. iv. 15) alluding to the name given to it by Jacob, calls it Bethavan, instead of Bethel, that is the house of vanity or idols,' instead of 'the house of God.'—Patrick's Commentary, and Wells' Geography of the Old Testament, vol. 1. gross mistake of those who pretend that he supplanted his brother for covetous ends; as if his father's estate, and the possession of a rich country for himself and his heirs, were the things which he had only in view.-Le Clerc's Commentary, and Bibliotheca Biblica, in locum. f This is the second mention of tithes or tenths, and the first dedication of them to God; and from this place we may fairly conclude, that Jacob, the grandchild of Abraham, vowing the tenth of all, (as Abraham had given the tenth of the spoil,) was induced to do it by the custom which then prevailed among religious people. How they came to pitch upon this portion, rather than a fifth, a sixth, or any other quantity, is not so easy to be b Hence it seems evident, that Jacob did not leave his father's house, without being first provided for his journey; for it cannot be thought, that if he wanted other necessaries, he would have carried oil along with him, and that in such plenty, as to pour it out, in such a seemingly profuse manner, upon an inanimate sub-resolved; but they seem to speak with much reason, who observe, ject.-Bibliotheca Biblica. c Gen. xxviii. 18. And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had set up for his pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it. And he called the name of that place Bethel.' This passage evinces of how great antiquity is the custom of considering stones in a sacred light, as well as the anointing them with consecrated oil. From this conduct of Jacob, and this Hebrew appellative, the learned Bochart, with that in this number ten, all nations in a manner do end their account, and then begin again with compound numbers, or, as others phrase it, that this is the end of less numbers, and the beginning of the greater, for which reason it was looked on as the most perfect of all other, and accordingly had in great regard: but after all, it seems most likely, that they had some divine precept and direction for it. At this time it is certain that the order of priesthood was not instituted; and therefore the only purposes to A. M. 2149. A. C. 1855; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3495. A. C. 1916. GEN. CH. xxviii. 10–xxxvii. Having thus performed his devotions, he a proceeded in his journey, and, after some weeks, arrived at Haran. As he came near the town, he saw some shepherds with their flocks, not far from a well which was covered with a large stone; and while he was inquiring of them concerning Laban and his family, he was given to understand, that they were all well, and that it would not be long before his daughter & Rachel would be there with her flock. Nor had this discourse long passed before she came; whereupon Jacob, having very obligingly rolled away the stone, and watered her sheep for her, took occasion to let her know who he was; and as he proceeded to salute his cousin, was in a manner ready to weep for joy; while she made what haste she could home, in order to inform her father of what had passed. He immediately came to meet his nephew, and received him with all the kindness, and all the tenderness imaginable, whilst he related to him the occasion of his leaving his father's family, and what adventures he had met with in the way. him, and to let him know, that he neither expected, nor thought it reasonable, to have his labour for nothing, and therefore desired him to name what wages he would have. The lovely shepherdess had already captivated Jacob's heart; and therefore he names her for the reward d of his seven years' service, which her father readily consented to, and he as readily entered upon, because the love which he had to his Rachel made him account the longest time short.e Laban, we must know, had another daughter, named Leah, older than Rachel, but not so beautiful, having some blemish or soreness in her eyes; and when the time of Jacob's servitude was expired, and he demanded his wife, his father-in-law seemed to solemnize the d It was a custom which had prevailed almost in all ages, that in contracting marriages, as the wife brought a portion to the husband, so the husband should be likewise obliged to give her parents money or presents, (which sometimes in Scripture are called the dowry,) in lieu of this portion. But Jacob being destitute of money, offers his uncle seven years' service, which must Jacob had not been long in his uncle's house before needs have been equivalent to a large sum; and being so, it is he applied himself to business; and having now served more to be wondered at, that he did not send over to his parents him for the space of a month in the capacity of a shep-for so long a term. But, from the custom in use among us, there for a supply upon this occasion, rather than bind himself a servant herd, his uncle one day took an occasion to discourse is no judgment to be made what the custom and practice was then.-Bibliotheca Biblica, and Le Clerc's Commentary. which Jacob could appropriate the tithes he gave, were either for the maintenance of burnt-sacrifices, and other pious uses, or perhaps for the relief of the poor. But how, and when, he actually performed his vow, does nowhere appear in Scripture, unless it was upon his return from Padan-Aram, (Gen. xxxv. 7-14.) when he built an altar at El Bethel, and set up a pillar in the place where God had talked with him, and poured a drink-offering and oil thereon.'-Patrick's Commentary. The words in the text are, And came into the land of the people of the east,' Gen. xxix. 1.; which makes some imagine that he travelled eastward. But this is a mistake, because Mesopotamia, and particularly Haran, lay northward from Bethel. Babylon, however, lay eastward from both places; and therefore Mesopotamia being part of the Babylonish dominions, the Babylonians might well be called the people of the east,' and Jacob s only said to have gone into a country of which they were lords and masters.-Bedford's Scripture Chronology, b. 3. c. 4. 6 Rachel, in the Hebrew tongue, signifies a sheep: nor need we wonder at her being called so, since it was a common thing among the ancients to give names, not only to particular persons, but even to considerable families, (as the words Porcius, Ovilius, Caprilius, Equilius, &c., mentioned by Varro, De Re Rustica, 1.2. c. 1. sufficiently shows,) from cattle, both great and small. Much less reason have we to wonder, that we find her keeping her father's sheep, since that employment, in those early days, was accounted very honourable, as from Homer and other ancient writings is sufficiently evident. We need not suppose, however, that the whole drudgery of the work lay upon her; she had those under her who took this off her hands, and her business was only, as the chief shepherdess, to inspect over them.-Patrick's Commentary. e Dr Hales states the age of Jacob when he went to Charran at 77 years, which he collects from Scripture thus: When Jacob had been 14 years in Charran, Joseph was born, Gen. xxx. 25; Joseph was 30 years old when made regent of Egypt, Gen. xli. 46; and in the ninth year of his regency, brought his father and family to settle in Egypt, Gen. xli. 53, 54. xlv. 6; the amount of these sums, 14+30+9=53 years from the time Jacob went to Charran; which being subducted from 130 years, his age when he stood before Pharaoh, Gen. xlvii. 9, leaves 77 years for his age when he went to Charran. And this confirms the account of Abulfaragi and Demetrius. Dr Hales farther agrees with Usher, Lloyd, Clayton, &c., in supposing that Jacob's marriage with Leah took place about a month after his arrival in Charran, at the beginning of the seven years, and his marriage with Rachel the week after, and thinks that Jacob's demand, Gen. xxix. 21, Give me my wife, for my days are fulfilled,' relates to the days of courtship, which by a decorous usage were a month, during which a bride, though betrothed, might put off the consummation of her marriage, a privilege which was afterwards extended by the Mosaic law even to a female captive, who was granted this respite to bewail" her father and mother," Deut. xxxi. 13. And further, considering the advanced age of Jacob when he went to Charran, as stated above, it is not probable that he would have waited patiently seven years before he married; and the selfish policy of Laban would prompt him to secure his attachment and services by a speedy connexion with his family. That he married at the beginning of the first seven years, is further demonstrated by Abalfaragi, who dates the birth of his son Levi, in his eighty-second year, or in the fifth year of his service. On this hypothesis, Dr Hales gives the following table of the birth of Jacob's children by his wives and concubines. The first date is Jacob's age, the second the year before Christ. 1 Reuben,........ Y. B. C. 1915 2 Simeon, 80 1913 3 Levi,.........Leah, 82 1911 5 Dan,........Bilhah, 83 1910 ............ 1909 1908 6 Naphthali,.. e The things which Jacob informed his uncle Laban of at this time, may be supposed to be such as related to the occasion of his journey; as particularly all that had passed between his brother and him as to the right of primogeniture; the purchase which he had made of it, and what ensued; their two different manners of living; the design of his father with respect to them; the management of the mother, to procure him the blessing; the resentment of his brother at his disappointment; the prudent dismission of himself thereupon, both by father and mother; the displeasure they had conceived at his brother's matching himself into strange families; and the strict orders they had therefore given him to take a wife out of his own kindred, and of the house of his mother's father, which was the reason of his coming thither; and, lastly, the wonderful occurrences he had met with on his journey, more especially as to the whole affair of Bethel, and the happy meeting of his daughter at the well, to his great | —Hales' Analysis of Chronology, vol. 2. pp. 132, 135–137, and surprising satisfaction.-Bibliotheca Biblica. 7 Gad,.........Zilpah, 86 9 Issachar,............ 88............ 1905 12 Joseph,.....Rachel, 91 second edition.-ED. A. M. 2149. A. C. 1855; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3495. A. C. 1916. GEN. CH. xxviii. 10-xxxvii. nuptials with great magnificence, but in the evening he put an unfair trick upon him; for instead of the beau- | teous Rachel, he brought the blear-eyed Leah to his bed; which when Jacob perceived next morning, and thereupon made just remonstrances, the father had his answer ready, and in a magisterial tone told him, That it was an unprecedented thing in that country, and would have been deemed an injury to her sister, to marry the younger before the elder; but (continued he, in a milder tone) if you will fulfil the nuptial week with your wife, and consent to serve another seven years for her sister, I am content to take your word for it, and to give Rachel to you as soon as the seven days are ended." Jacob could not but be troubled at such unfair procedure, but he loved Rachel too well not to obtain her at any price; and therefore he consented to these hard conditions, and, at the week's end, was married to Rachel likewise. But though he preferred Rachel much before Leah, yet God put quite another difference between them, by making the latter the mother of four sons, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, and Judah, before her sister had one. d This was so great a trouble to Rachel, that she came one day, in a fit of melancholy, and told her husband, a The modesty of those times made them bring the bride to her husband's bed veiled, and without lights, which gave Laban an opportunity to impose upon Jacob, and made it a thing almost impossible for him to discern the deception until next morning. -Howell's History, and Patrick's Commentary. that unless he gave her children also, she should certainly die with grief. Which speech seeming to lay the blame of her sterility upon him, so provoked him, that he sharply rebuked, and told her, “ That it was not in his power to work miracles; that God, who had shut up her womb, was alone able to open it; but that such uneasy and discontented behaviour was the way to prevent, rather than obtain such a favour." This mortifying answer made her bethink herself of supplying the defect of nature by her grandmother Sarah's expedient, and therefore she desired her husband to take her handmaid Bilhah for a concubinary wife, and by that means to try to make her a mother; which he consenting to, had by her a son, whom Rachel named Dan, and, in a proper space of time, another, whom she called Naphthali. After which Leah, supposing herself to have left off childbearing, and willing to imitate her sister's policy, gave her maid Zilpah to her husband, by whom she had likewise two sons, Gad and Ashur. About this time it so fell out, that Reuben, Jacob's eldest son, going into the fields about the time of wheat harvest, chanced to meet with some mandrakes, which he gathered, and carried to his mother Leah. Rachel no sooner saw them, but desiring to have some of them, received from Leah a forbidding answer; "That having robbed her of her husband's affections, she could not expect to have any part in her son's present." It was Rachel's turn that night to have her husband's company; and therefore, to compromise the matter, she tells her 6 Dr Clarke thinks that the word n raccoth, rendered sister, that in case she would oblige her with some of her tender-eyed' in the common version, means soft, delicate, son's mandrakes, she would wave her pretensions, and lovely; and that the meaning is just the reverse of the signification usually given to it. The design of the inspired writer is to consign the right of his bed to her. Upon Jacob's comcompare both sisters together, that the balance may appear to being home, Leah calls upon him to confirm the bargain, greatly in the favour of Rachel. The chief recommendation of Leah was her soft and beautiful eyes; but Rachel was yephath tour, beautiful in her shape, person, mien, and gait, and yephath moreh, beautiful in her countenance. The words plainly signify a fine shape and fine features, all that can be considered as essential to personal beauty.--Clarke's Commentary on Gen. xxxix. 17.-ED. e Some are of opinion, that by her week' (as it is in the text) we are to understand a week of years, or seven years, and consequently, that to fulfil her week' was as much as to say, that Jacob was to serve other seven years for Rachel, before he was to marry her. Some old English versions render it thus: but the order of the story seems to gainsay it. For though Jacob lived with Laban twenty years, it is plain, that at the end of the fourteenth year, he proposed to part, and return home; and yet we may observe, that Rachel (though she had been a good while barren) had born Joseph before that time, which could not have been, had not she been married before the end of his second seven years' service. Since Laban then (as we read Gen. xxix. 22.) had invited a great deal of company, and the custom in those days was to devote a whole week to the nuptial solemnities, the plain sense of his words to Jacob (according to Selden's short comment on them, De Jure Nat. b. 5. c. 5.) is this," Since marriages are to be celebrated, according to custom, by a seven days' feast, complete this marriage thou hast begun with Leah, and then upon condition of another seven years' service, thou shalt marry Rachel also, and keep her wedding feast seven days." And the reason why Laban was so desirous of this, was, that a week's cohabitation with Leah might be a means, either to knit Jacob's affection to her, or at least to confirm the marriage so, that it should not be in his power to disannul it-Le Clerc's and Patrick's Commentaries, Howell's History and Poole's Annotations. which accordingly he did, and the consequence was, that she conceived again, and had a fifth son, whom she called Issachar ; after him another named Zebulun; and last of all, a daughter, whose name was Dinah, the feminine of Dan. Rachel had hitherto no issue of her own body; but now it pleased God to remember her, and to bless her with a son, whom she called Joseph. And it was not long after his birth, that his father Jacob, having now served out his last seven years, began to entertain thoughts of returning into his own country, and accordingly desired of his uncle to dismiss him and his family. But Laban, who had found by experience no small advanname to the child seems to have been a divided prerogative between the father and the mother. Homer ascribes it to the mother: Him on his mother's knees, when babe he lay, Odyssey, xviii. 6. Pope. e The custom of those countries, where polygamy was allowed, was for the husband to take his wives by turns. The kings Persia (if we believe Herodotus) were not exempt from that rule: which makes it more probable that Rachel sold her turn to her sister for that night, than that she directed her husband which of the four he should lie with.—Universal History, b. 1. c. 7. f Joseph signifies increase; and the reason why Rachel named him so, is said to be, because God had taken away her reproach; for to be barren was formerly reckoned a disgrace, for these three reasons. 1. Because fruitfulness proceeded from the blessing of God, who said, increase and multiply. 2. Because barren people seem to be excluded from the promises of God made to Abraham concerning the vast multiplication of his seed. And, 3. Because the Messias could not proceed from them.— Poole's Annotations. A. M. 2149. A. C. 1855; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3495. A. C. 1916. GEN. CH. xxviii. 10-xxxvii. tage by having such a servant, begged him to stay with | to form a resolution of retiring into his own country with him a little longer; and promised him upon that condition, his family and effects, which God in a vision confirmed to give him whatever wages he should think fit to name. him in: but before he put it in execution, he thought Hereupon Jacob took an occasion of reminding him how it proper to advise with his two principal wives, and much his substance had increased since it was put under to endeavour to gain their consent. To this purpose his care, but that it was now high time for him to make he sent for them into the field, that he might have an some provision for his own family; and that therefore he opportunity of discoursing the matter with more freedom was resolved to return to Canaan, unless he could show and privacy; and then told them that for some time him some way of improving his fortune in Mesopotamia. he had observed that their father's carriage had been Laban could not bear the thoughts of parting; and there- altered, but for what reason he could not devise. He fore he pressed him to stay, and offered him his own appealed to them concerning his fidelity and diligence, terms, which at last were resolved into this agreement, and their father's unworthy requital of him; reminded -That in the whole flock, both of sheep and goats, a them of God's goodness in defeating his contrivances separation should be made between the speckled and the against him, and converting them to his great advanwhite; that the spotted cattle should be given to Laban's tage and increase; acquainted them, that the same God sons to keep, and that Jacob should have the care of who had thus blessed him, had appeared to him, as he the white; and that whatever a spotted or brown sheep did at Bethel, in his passage from Canaan thither, and or goats should, from that time forward, be produced commanded him to return to his native country, which out of the white flock, which he was to keep, should be command he was resolved to obey. They heard him accounted his hire. Laban was very well satisfied with with a willing mind, declared their opinion concerning these conditions. Accordingly the flocks were parted; their father, in the same manner as he had done, and the spotted cattle were delivered to Laban's sons; the professed themselves ready to attend him, when he remainder that were white, were given to Jacob; and, pleased to set out. Jacob, therefore, preparing all that there might be no possibility of intermixing, they things for the journey, mounting his wives and children were sent three days' journey apart. upon camels, and taking the advantage of his father-inlaw's absence (which gave Rachel an opportunity likewise of stealing away his gods), himself went along with the cattle, and all the other substance which he had acquired at Haran: he had now passed the Euphrates, and gained e the mountains of Gilead, as they were afterward called, before Laban had intelligence of his flight, and was able to overtake him. Laban, no doubt, at his first setting out after Jacob, pursued him with a mind whetted with revenge; but God, who appeared to him that night in a dream, was pleased to avert it, by threatening him severely, if he committed any hostility or violence against him: so that the next morning, when he and the relations he had with him came to Whether it was from his own observation of the power of fancy in the time of conception, or (what seems more likely) from some private suggestion of the divine wisdom, that the project proceeded; but so it was, that by Jacob's taking twigs of green wood, peeling off the rinds in slips, and so laying them in the watering places, when the flocks came to drink about coupling time, these speckled twigs struck the eyes of the females, and so made them conceive and bring forth party-coloured young ones. But it was not to all the flock that Jacob did this, only to such as were the ablest and strongest; for those that were weak and languid he left to their natural course, that his artifice might be the less suspected, when it appeared that the number of his father-inlaw's cattle was not too much diminished. His father-in-law, however, envying his prosperity, repented of his bargain, and several times altered the agreement, which God, as many times, turned to Jacob's advantage; till at length, observing in his carriage a coldness and indifference, and overhearing, at a certain time, his sons grudging and complaining, that he had raised himself an estate out of their fortunes, he began 4 The sacred historian makes use of four different words to denote the cattle which should properly belong to Jacob. The first is nakod, which we translate speckled; for the word signifies little points or pricks, which the Greeks call eriyuarα. The second is talu, which signifies such broader and larger spots as we frequently see in cattle. The next is akod, which signifies spotted with divers colours, or rather with rings or circles about the feet or legs. And the last is barud, which signifies whitish spots like hail; which seems to take in all the kinds of variegation. Patrick's Commentary. 6 Several ancient commentators are of opinion, that Jacob laid these streaked rods before the cattle only in spring time, when the sun was ascending, and the cattle lusty and vigorous, but let them alone when the cattle came to couple in September, or the decline of the year. But as there is no certainty in this, our moderns have thought it more reasonable to suppose, that he laid the rods before the young and lusty sheep and goats, but left the old and weak to take their chance, by which means the best lambs and kids came to his share, and the worst to Laban's.— Universal History, b. 1. c. 7. and Patrick's Commentary, c In the complaint which Jacob makes to his wives, there is one particular article against their father, namely, that he had changed his wages ten times,' Gen. xxxi. 7, and yet he lived in contract with him only six years. But to solve this difficulty, we are to observe, that the cattle in Mesopotamia bred twice every year; and therefore, supposing that for the first year Laban stood to his bargain, but seeing his son-in-law thrive exceedingly, altered the form of it the next, and so continued to do every half year, till the sixth year came about, when Jacob thought proper to leave him, the several times wherein he changed his wages will be exactly ten; though there is no necessity for this exact calculation, when it is so common a figure of speech, to put a certain for an uncertain number.- Le Clerc's and Patrick's Commentary. d Though the text does not say what river he passed, yet it is plain it could be no other than the Euphrates, which the Scripture sometimes calls the river Perah, sometimes the Great River, and sometimes emphatically the river; either because that and the Nile were the only two considerable ones the Israelites knew, or because it was one of the four rivers of paradise; or, lastly, because it was the boundary of the promised land.-Universal History, b. 1. c. 7. e The heap of stones which Laban and Jacob raised in memory of their agreement and covenant was called Gilead, that is, an heap of witnesses; and in after ages gave the name to the whole country thereabout, which lies on the east of the sea of Galilee, being part of that ridge of mountains which ran from mount Lebanon southward on the east of the Holy Land, and included the mountainous region, called in the New Testa ment Trachonitis.-Wells' Geography, vol. 1. c. 13. A. M. 2149, A. C. 1855; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3495. A. C. 1916. GEN. CH. xxviii. 10—xxxvii. speak with Jacob, he only expostulated with him, that | having embraced and blessed the whole family, returned he had stolen away, without giving him an opportunity home to Padan-Aram. to take his leave of his children and grandchildren, or to send them home with an equipage suitable to their rank, or with the usual ceremonies of music and dancing. Jacob, on the other hand, was not without his complaints. The cheat which Laban had put upon him, in making him serve so long for a woman he did not love; the changing his salary so many times, and his late strange behaviour towards him and his family; all these, and many more, he answered him, were but ill requitals for his care and diligence, as well as the blessings which God had heaped upon him for his sake. Laban had yet another thing to lay to his charge, namely, the stealing of his gods: but Jacob, who knew nothing of Rachel's theft, desired him to make the most diligent search for them throughout his family; assuring him withal, that the person on whom they were found should immediately be put to death. Hereupon Laban went and searched every place; but as he entered into Rachel's tent (who had hid them under the camel's furniture, and set herself down upon them), she kept her sitting, and alleged in excuse that the condition she was in allowed her sex to be excused from the usual ceremonies. Laban, not suspecting the fallacy which his daughter had put upon him, in point of modesty, desisted from any farther search, and so went and acquainted his son-in-law with his bad success; whereupon Jacob, appealing to his very friends, sharply upbraided him with his unjust suspicion; and then, recounting the long servitude he had held him in, and the many hardships he had made him undergo, both day and night, together with the cruel and unequal terms he had all along put upon him, he concluded with these words, Except the God of my father had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away empty.' Jacob had no sooner parted with his father-in-law, but the remembrance of his brother's ancient grudge against him began to give him fresh uneasiness; but the vision of a great number of angels, sent from heaven to protect him, which he had in his way to Canaan (at a place which he therefore called Mahanaim, that is, two camps, namely, one of the angels, and the other of his own retinue), did dissipate his anxiety for a while. As he approached to his brother's country, however, his fears and uneasiness returned upon him; and therefore he thought it advisable, before he advanced any farther, to send him a submissive message, in order to discover at least how he stood affected to him. Esau, when Jacob was gone to Haran, understanding how strictly his father had charged his brother not to marry a Canaanitish woman, began to be dissatisfied with his own marriages; and therefore went to Ishmael, and having married one of his daughters, settled in mounte Seir, in the land of Edom. Hither it was that Jacob sent some of his chief servants, with instructions to they did eat there upon the heap.' It might be thought to tend Clerc's Commentaries. This charge of Jacob's was so just, that Laban could make no defence for himself; and therefore he thought it best to let fall the debate, and to enter upon a more agreeable subject, which was to make an alliance be-river Jabbok, not far from the banks of the latter, and very near d This place was situated between mount Gilead and the tween them, and to erect a a monument as a standing the confines of Gad, and half tribe of Manasseh, which was on witness of it to all future ages. At the same time, they the cast of Jordan. It became in time a city of great strength, took mutual oaths that neither of them should, at any and for this reason was made choice of by Abner for the seattime, invade the other; and Jacob in particular, that he royal of Ishbosheth the son of Saul, when he made war against would use his wives and children with all becoming rebellion of his son Absalom.-Wells' Geography of the Old David, and for a retiring place by David himself, during the tenderness and affection. Testament, vol. 1. c. 13. When this ceremony was over, and a sacrifice in confirmation of it offered, Jacob feasted the whole company for the rest of the day; and in the morning, Laban b a This monument Jacob seems to have erected after the same manner as he did that at Bethel. It must not be supposed to have been a heap of loose stones; for then it could not have continued long in the same position, nor given a name to the country around it. It was, doubtless, a regular and permanent building; but then, what the form and figure of it was, it is not so easy to determine. Had it been only for a memorial to posterity, and not for some present transaction also, the figure either of a column or pyramid would have been very proper: but we find that the present use of it was, to eat and sacrifice upon; and therefore we may imagine that it was made in the figure of a table, and have some authority to think of a round table, because the name which Jacob calls it by is taken from a verb which signifies to turn round, as the word Gilal is properly the circumference of a circle.-Bibliotheca Biblica. b Gen. xxxi. 46. And Jacob said unto his brethren, Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap, and e The mountains of Seir lay on the east and south of the Arabian gulf. It is certain from Gen. xxxvi. 21, 22, that in Dead sea, and the country extended itself from thence to the Abraham's days the Horites, who were the descendants of Seir, had the possession of this region; and therefore we may suppose, that after the departure of Jacob, Esau, who, according to the prediction concerning him, was to live by his sword,' expelled the old inhabitants, and made himself prince thereof, before his brother returned from Mesopotamia. From Gen. xxxii. 13, xxxiii. 4, xxxvi. 8, 9, and Deut. ii. 12, we may learn that Esau made war with these people with great success, though we have of it no particulars in the writings of Moses.-Calmet's Dictionary, under the word, Seir. f Several commentators have taken notice of Jacob's great wisdom and prudence, in the order and disposition of this his embassy to his brother. He sent his servants, and not his sons, though that would have been doing a great deal more honour; but then it would have been running too great a risk. In the present which he sent, he put a space between drove and drove, that the more time was taken up in their passing by Esau, his passion might still grow cooler and cooler; that the present itself might make so much the greater appearance; and that if the |