mh_parser/vol_split/1 - Genesis/Chapter 49.xml

<div2 id="Gen.l" n="l" next="Gen.li" prev="Gen.xlix" progress="29.82%" title="Chapter XLIX">
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<h2 id="Gen.l-p0.1">G E N E S I S</h2>
<h3 id="Gen.l-p0.2">CHAP. XLIX.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Gen.l-p1">This chapter is a prophecy; the likest to it we
have yet met with was that of Noah, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.9.25-Gen.9.27" parsed="|Gen|9|25|9|27" passage="Ge 9:25-27"><i>ch.</i> ix. 25</scripRef>, &amp;c. Jacob is here
upon his death-bed, making his will. He put it off till now,
because dying men's words are apt to make deep impressions, and to
be remembered long: what he said here, he could not say when he
would, but as the Spirit gave him utterance, who chose this time,
that divine strength might be perfected in his weakness. The twelve
sons of Jacob were, in their day, men of renown, but the twelve
tribes of Israel, which descended and were denominated from them,
were much more renowned; we find their names upon the gates of the
New Jerusalem, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Rev.21.12" parsed="|Rev|21|12|0|0" passage="Re 21:12">Rev. xxi.
12</scripRef>. In the prospect of this their dying father says
something remarkable of each son, or of the tribe that bore his
name. Here is, I. The preface, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.1-Gen.49.2" parsed="|Gen|49|1|49|2" passage="Ge 49:1,2">ver.
1, 2</scripRef>. II. The prediction concerning each tribe,
<scripRef id="Gen.l-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.3-Gen.49.28" parsed="|Gen|49|3|49|28" passage="Ge 49:3-28">ver. 3-28</scripRef>. III. The
charge repeated concerning his burial, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.29-Gen.49.32" parsed="|Gen|49|29|49|32" passage="Ge 49:29-32">ver. 29-32</scripRef>. IV. His death, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.33" parsed="|Gen|49|33|0|0" passage="Ge 49:33">ver. 33</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="Gen.l-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49" parsed="|Gen|49|0|0|0" passage="Ge 49" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Gen.l-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.1-Gen.49.4" parsed="|Gen|49|1|49|4" passage="Ge 49:1-4" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.49.1-Gen.49.4">
<h4 id="Gen.l-p1.9">Jacob's Prophecy Concerning His
Sons. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.l-p1.10">b. c.</span> 1689.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.l-p2">1 And Jacob called unto his sons, and said,
Gather yourselves

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together, that I may tell
you <i>that</i> which shall befal you in the last days.   2
Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken
unto Israel your father.   3 Reuben, thou <i>art</i> my
firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the
excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power:   4
Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel; because thou wentest up to
thy father's bed; then defiledst thou <i>it:</i> he went up to my
couch.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p3">Here is, I. The preface to the prophecy, in
which, 1. The congregation is called together (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.2" parsed="|Gen|49|2|0|0" passage="Ge 49:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): <i>Gather yourselves
together;</i> let them all be sent for from their several
employments, to see their father die, and to hear his dying words.
It was a comfort to Jacob, now that he was dying, to see all his
children about him, and none missing, though he had sometimes
thought himself bereaved. It was of use to them to attend him in
his last moments, that they might learn of him how to die, as well
as how to live: what he said to each he said in the hearing of all
the rest; for we may profit by the reproofs, counsels, and
comforts, that are principally intended for others. His calling
upon them once and again to gather together intimated both a
precept to them to unite in love, (to keep together, not to mingle
with the Egyptians, not to forsake the assembling of themselves
together,) and a prediction that they should not be separated from
each other, as Abraham's sons and Isaac's were, but should be
incorporated, and all make one people. 2. A general idea is given
of the intended discourse (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.1" parsed="|Gen|49|1|0|0" passage="Ge 49:1"><i>v.</i>
1</scripRef>): <i>That I may tell you that which shall befal
you</i> (not your persons, but your posterity) <i>in the latter
days;</i> this prediction would be of use to those that came after
them, for the confirming of their faith and the guiding of their
way, on their return to Canaan, and their settlement there. We
cannot tell our children what shall befal them or their families in
this world; but we can tell them, from the word of God, what will
befal them in the last day of all, according as they conduct
themselves in this world. 3. Attention is demanded (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.2" parsed="|Gen|49|2|0|0" passage="Ge 49:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>): "<i>Hearken to Israel
your father;</i> let Israel, that has prevailed with God, prevail
with you." Note, Children must diligently hearken to what their
godly parents say, particularly when they are dying. <i>Hear, you
children, the instruction of a father,</i> which carries with it
both authority and affection, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.4.1" parsed="|Prov|4|1|0|0" passage="Pr 4:1">Prov. iv.
1</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p4">II. The prophecy concerning Reuben. He
begins with him (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.3-Gen.49.4" parsed="|Gen|49|3|49|4" passage="Ge 49:3,4"><i>v.</i> 3,
4</scripRef>), for he was the firstborn; but by committing
uncleanness with his father's wife, to the great reproach of the
family to which he ought to have been an ornament, he forfeited the
prerogatives of the birthright; and his dying father here solemnly
degrades him, though he does not disown nor disinherit him: he
shall have all the privileges of a son, but not of a firstborn. We
have reason to think Reuben had repented of his sin, and it was
pardoned; yet it was a necessary piece of justice, in detestation
of the villany, and for warning to others, to put this mark of
disgrace upon him. Now according to the method of degrading, 1.
Jacob here puts upon him the ornaments of the birthright (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.3" parsed="|Gen|49|3|0|0" passage="Ge 49:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>), that he and all his
brethren might see what he had forfeited, and, in that, might see
the evil of the sin: as the firstborn, he was his father's joy,
almost his pride, being <i>the beginning of his strength.</i> How
welcome he was to his parents his name bespeaks, <i>Reuben, See a
son.</i> To him belonged the excellency of dignity above his
brethren, and some power over them. Christ Jesus is the firstborn
among many brethren, and to him, of right, belong the most
excellent power and dignity: his church also, through him, is a
church of firstborn. 2. He then strips him of these ornaments
(<scripRef id="Gen.l-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.4" parsed="|Gen|49|4|0|0" passage="Ge 49:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), lifts him up,
that he may cast him down, by that one word, "<i>Thou shalt not
excel;</i> a being thou shalt have as a tribe, but not an
excellency." No judge, prophet, nor prince, is found of that tribe,
nor any person of renown except Dathan and Abiram, who were noted
for their impious rebellion against Moses. That tribe, as not
aiming to excel, meanly chose a settlement on the other side
Jordan. Reuben himself seems to have lost all that influence upon
his brethren to which his birthright entitled him; for <i>when he
spoke unto them they would not hear,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.l-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.42.22" parsed="|Gen|42|22|0|0" passage="Ge 42:22"><i>ch.</i> xlii. 22</scripRef>. Those that have not
understanding and spirit to support the honours and privileges of
their birth will soon lose them, and retain only the name of them.
The character fastened upon Reuben, for which he is laid under this
mark of infamy, is that he was <i>unstable as water.</i> (1.) His
virtue was unstable; he had not the government of himself and his
own appetites: sometimes he would be very regular and orderly, but
at other times he deviated into the wildest courses. Note,
Instability is the ruin of men's excellency. Men do not thrive
because they do not fix. (2.) His honour consequently was unstable;
it departed from him, vanished into smoke, and became as water
spilt upon the ground. Note, Those that throw away their virtue
must not expect to save their reputation. Jacob charges him
particularly with the sin for which he was thus disgraced: <i>Thou
wentest up to thy father's bed.</i> It was forty years ago that he
had been guilty of this sin, yet now it is remembered against him.
Note, As time will not of itself wear off the guilt of any sin from
the conscience, so there are some sins whose stains it will not
wipe off from the good name, especially seventh-commandment sins.
Reuben's sin left an indelible mark of infamy upon his family, a
dishonour that was a wound not to be healed

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without a scar, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p4.5" osisRef="Bible:Prov.6.32-Prov.6.33" parsed="|Prov|6|32|6|33" passage="Pr 6:32,33">Prov. vi. 32,
33</scripRef>. Let us never do evil, and then we need not fear
being told of it.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.l-p4.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.5-Gen.49.7" parsed="|Gen|49|5|49|7" passage="Ge 49:5-7" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.49.5-Gen.49.7">
<p class="passage" id="Gen.l-p5">5 Simeon and Levi <i>are</i> brethren;
instruments of cruelty <i>are in</i> their habitations.   6 O
my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine
honour, be not thou united: for in their anger they slew a man, and
in their selfwill they digged down a wall.   7 Cursed
<i>be</i> their anger, for <i>it was</i> fierce; and their wrath,
for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in
Israel.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p6">These were next in age to Reuben, and they
also had been a grief and shame to Jacob, when they treacherously
and barbarously destroyed the Shechemites, which he here remembers
against them. Children should be afraid of incurring their parents'
just displeasure, lest they fare the worse for it long afterwards,
and, when they would inherit the blessing, be rejected. Observe, 1.
The character of Simeon and Levi: they were brethren in
disposition; but, unlike their father, they were passionate and
revengeful, fierce and uncontrollable; their swords, which should
have been only weapons of defence, were (as the margin reads it,
<scripRef id="Gen.l-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.5" parsed="|Gen|49|5|0|0" passage="Ge 49:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>) <i>weapons of
violence,</i> to do wrong to others, not to save themselves from
wrong. Note, It is no new thing for the temper of children to
differ very much from that of their parents. We need not think this
strange: it was so in Jacob's family. It is not in the power of
parents, no, not by education, to form the dispositions of their
children; Jacob bred his sons to every thing that was mild and
quiet, and yet they proved to be thus furious. 2. A proof of this
is the murder of the Shechemites, which Jacob deeply resented at
the time (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.34.30" parsed="|Gen|34|30|0|0" passage="Ge 34:30"><i>ch.</i> xxxiv.
30</scripRef>) and still continued to resent. They slew a man,
Shechem himself, and many others; and, to effect that, they digged
down a wall, broke the houses, to plunder them, and murder the
inhabitants. Note, The best governors cannot always restrain those
under their charge from committing the worst villanies. And when
two in a family are mischievous they commonly make one another so
much the worse, and it were wisdom to part them. Simeon and Levi,
it is probable, were most active in the wrong done to Joseph, to
which some think Jacob has here some reference; for in their anger
they would have slain <i>that man.</i> Observe what a mischievous
thing self-will is in young people: Simeon and Levi would not be
advised by their aged and experienced father; no, they would be
governed by their own passion rather than by his prudence. Young
people would better consult their own interests if they would less
indulge their own will. 3. Jacob's protestation against this
barbarous act of theirs: <i>O my soul, come not thou into their
secret.</i> Hereby he professes not only his abhorrence of such
practices in general, but his innocence particularly in that
matter. Perhaps he had been suspected as, under-hand, aiding and
abetting; he therefore thus solemnly expresses his detestation of
the fact, that he might not die under that suspicion. Note, Our
soul is our honour; by its powers and faculties we are
distinguished from, and dignified above, the beasts that perish.
Note, further, We ought, from our hearts, to detest and abhor all
society and confederacy with bloody and mischievous men. We must
not be ambitious of coming into their secret, or knowing the depths
of Satan. 4. His abhorrence of those brutish lusts that led them to
this wickedness: <i>Cursed be their anger.</i> He does not curse
their persons, but their lusts. Note, (1.) Anger is the cause and
original of a great deal of sin, and exposes us to the curse of
God, and his judgment, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Matt.5.22" parsed="|Matt|5|22|0|0" passage="Mt 5:22">Matt. v.
22</scripRef>. (2.) We ought always, in the expressions of our
zeal, carefully to distinguish between the sinner and the sin, so
as not to love nor bless the sin for the sake of the person, nor to
hate nor curse the person for the sake of the sin. 5. A token of
displeasure which he foretells their posterity should lie under for
this: <i>I will divide them.</i> The Levites were scattered
throughout all the tribes, and Simeon's lot lay not together, and
was so strait that many of the tribe were forced to disperse
themselves in quest of settlements and subsistence. This curse was
afterwards turned into a blessing to the Levites; but the
Simeonites, for Zimri's sin (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Num.25.14" parsed="|Num|25|14|0|0" passage="Nu 25:14">Num. xxv.
14</scripRef>), had it bound on. Note, Shameful dispersions are the
just punishment of sinful unions and confederacies.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.l-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.8-Gen.49.12" parsed="|Gen|49|8|49|12" passage="Ge 49:8-12" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.49.8-Gen.49.12">
<p class="passage" id="Gen.l-p7">8 Judah, thou <i>art he</i> whom thy brethren
shall praise: thy hand <i>shall be</i> in the neck of thine
enemies; thy father's children shall bow down before thee.   9
Judah <i>is</i> a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art
gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion;
who shall rouse him up?   10 The sceptre shall not depart from
Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and
unto him <i>shall</i> the gathering of the people <i>be.</i>  
11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the
choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the
blood of grapes:   12 His eyes <i>shall be</i> red with wine,
and his teeth white with milk.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p8">Glorious things are here said of Judah. The
mention of the crimes of the three elder

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of
his sons had not so put the dying patriarch out of humour but that
he had a blessing ready for Judah, to whom blessings belonged.
Judah's name signifies <i>praise,</i> in allusion to which he says,
<i>Thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.l-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.8" parsed="|Gen|49|8|0|0" passage="Ge 49:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>. God was praised for him
(<scripRef id="Gen.l-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.29.35" parsed="|Gen|29|35|0|0" passage="Ge 29:35"><i>ch.</i> xxix. 35</scripRef>),
praised by him, and praised in him; and therefore his brethren
shall praise him. Note, Those that are to God for a praise shall be
the praise of their brethren. It is prophesied that, 1. The tribe
of Judah should be victorious and successful in war: <i>Thy hand
shall be in the neck of thy enemies.</i> This was fulfilled in
David, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p8.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.18.40" parsed="|Ps|18|40|0|0" passage="Ps 18:40">Ps. xviii. 40</scripRef>. 2. It
should be superior to the rest of the tribes; not only in itself
more numerous and illustrious, but having a dominion over them:
<i>Thy father's children shall bow down before thee.</i> Judah was
the <i>lawgiver,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.l-p8.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.60.7" parsed="|Ps|60|7|0|0" passage="Ps 60:7">Ps. lx.
7</scripRef>. That tribe led the van through the wilderness, and in
the conquest of Canaan, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p8.5" osisRef="Bible:Judg.1.2" parsed="|Judg|1|2|0|0" passage="Jdg 1:2">Judg. i.
2</scripRef>. The prerogatives of the birthright which Reuben had
forfeited, the excellency of dignity and power, were thus conferred
upon Judah. Observe, "Thy brethren shall bow down before thee, and
yet shall praise thee, reckoning themselves happy in having so wise
and bold a commander." Note, Honour and power are then a blessing
to those that have them when they are not grudged and envied, but
praised and applauded, and cheerfully submitted to. 3. It should be
a strong and courageous tribe, and so qualified for command and
conquest: <i>Judah is a lion's whelp,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.l-p8.6" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.9" parsed="|Gen|49|9|0|0" passage="Ge 49:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>. The lion is the king of beasts,
the terror of the forest when he roars; when he seizes his prey,
none can resist him; when he goes up from the prey, none dare
pursue him to revenge it. By this it is foretold that the tribe of
Judah should become very formidable, and should not only obtain
great victories, but should peaceably and quietly enjoy what was
obtained by those victories—that they should make war, not for the
sake of war, but for the sake of peace. Judah is compared, not to a
lion <i>rampant,</i> always tearing, always raging, always ranging;
but to a lion <i>couchant,</i> enjoying the satisfaction of his
power and success, without creating vexation to others: this is to
be truly great. 4. It should be the royal tribe, and the tribe from
which Messiah the Prince should come: <i>The sceptre shall not
depart from Judah, till Shiloh come,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.l-p8.7" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.10" parsed="|Gen|49|10|0|0" passage="Ge 49:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. Jacob here foresees and
foretells, (1.) That the sceptre should come into the tribe of
Judah, which was fulfilled in David, on whose family the crown was
entailed. (2.) That Shiloh should be of this tribe—his seed, that
promised seed, in whom the earth should be blessed: <i>that
peaceable and prosperous one,</i> or <i>the Saviour,</i> so others
translate it, he shall come of Judah. Thus dying Jacob, at a great
distance, saw Christ's day, and it was his comfort and support on
his death-bed. (3.) That after the coming of the sceptre into the
tribe of Judah it should continue in that tribe, at least a
government of their own, till the coming of the Messiah, in whom,
as the king of the church, and the great high priest, it was fit
that both the priesthood and the royalty should determine. Till the
captivity, all along from David's time, the sceptre was in Judah,
and subsequently the governors of Judea were of that tribe, or of
the Levites that adhered to it (which was equivalent), till Judea
became a province of the Roman empire, just at the time of our
Saviour's birth, and was at that time taxed as one of the
provinces, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p8.8" osisRef="Bible:Luke.2.1" parsed="|Luke|2|1|0|0" passage="Lu 2:1">Luke ii. 1</scripRef>. And at
the time of his death the Jews expressly owned, <i>We have no king
but Cæsar.</i> Hence it is undeniably inferred against the Jews
that our Lord Jesus is he that should come, and that we are to look
for no other; for he came exactly at the time appointed. Many
excellent pens have been admirable well employed in explaining and
illustrating this famous prophecy of Christ. 5. It should be a very
fruitful tribe, especially that it should abound with milk for
babes, and wine to make glad the heart of strong men (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p8.9" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.11-Gen.49.12" parsed="|Gen|49|11|49|12" passage="Ge 49:11,12"><i>v.</i> 11, 12</scripRef>)—vines so common
in the hedge-rows and so strong that they should tie their asses to
them, and so fruitful that they should load their asses from
them—wine as plentiful as water, so that the men of that tribe
should be very healthful and lively, their eyes brisk and
sparkling, their teeth white. Much of what is here said concerning
Judah is to be applied to our Lord Jesus. (1.) He is the ruler of
all his father's children, and the conqueror of all his father's
enemies; and he it is that is the praise of all the saints. (2.) He
is <i>the lion of the tribe of Judah,</i> as he is called with
reference to this prophecy (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p8.10" osisRef="Bible:Rev.5.5" parsed="|Rev|5|5|0|0" passage="Re 5:5">Rev. v.
5</scripRef>), who, having spoiled principalities and powers, went
up a conqueror, and couched so as none can stir him up, when he sat
down on the right hand of the Father. (3.) To him belongs the
sceptre; he is the <i>lawgiver,</i> and <i>to him shall the
gathering of the people be,</i> as the desire of all nations
(<scripRef id="Gen.l-p8.11" osisRef="Bible:Gal.2.7" parsed="|Gal|2|7|0|0" passage="Ga 2:7">Hag. ii. 7</scripRef>), who, being
lifted up from the earth, should draw all men unto him (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p8.12" osisRef="Bible:John.12.32" parsed="|John|12|32|0|0" passage="Joh 12:32">John xii. 32</scripRef>), and in whom the
children of God that are scattered abroad should meet as the centre
of their unity, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p8.13" osisRef="Bible:John.11.52" parsed="|John|11|52|0|0" passage="Joh 11:52">John xi.
52</scripRef>. (4.) In him there is plenty of all that which is
nourishing and refreshing to the soul, and which maintains and
cheers the divine life in it; in him we may have wine and milk, the
riches of Judah's tribe, without money and without price, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p8.14" osisRef="Bible:Isa.55.1" parsed="|Isa|55|1|0|0" passage="Isa 55:1">Isa. lv. 1</scripRef>.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.l-p8.15" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.13-Gen.49.21" parsed="|Gen|49|13|49|21" passage="Ge 49:13-21" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.49.13-Gen.49.21">
<p class="passage" id="Gen.l-p9">13 Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the sea;
and he <i>shall be</i> for a haven of ships; and his border
<i>shall be</i> unto Zidon.   14 Issachar <i>is</i> a strong
ass couching down between two burdens:   15 And he saw that
rest <i>was</i> good, and the land that <i>it was</i> pleasant;

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and bowed his shoulder to bear, and became a
servant unto tribute.   16 Dan shall judge his people, as one
of the tribes of Israel.   17 Dan shall be a serpent by the
way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his
rider shall fall backward.   18 I have waited for thy
salvation, O <span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.l-p9.1">Lord</span>.   19 Gad, a
troop shall overcome him: but he shall overcome at the last.  
20 Out of Asher his bread <i>shall be</i> fat, and he shall yield
royal dainties.   21 Naphtali <i>is</i> a hind let loose: he
giveth goodly words.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p10">Here we have Jacob's prophecy concerning
six of his sons.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p11">I. Concerning Zebulun (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.13" parsed="|Gen|49|13|0|0" passage="Ge 49:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>), that his posterity should have
their lot upon the seacoast, and should be merchants, and mariners,
and traders at sea. This was fulfilled when, two or three hundred
years after, the land of Canaan was divided by lot, and the
<i>border of Zebulun went up towards the sea,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.l-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Josh.19.11" parsed="|Josh|19|11|0|0" passage="Jos 19:11">Josh. xix. 11</scripRef>. Had they chosen their
lot themselves, or Joshua appointed it, we might have supposed it
done with design to make Jacob's words good; but, being done by
lot, it appears that it was divinely disposed, and Jacob divinely
inspired. Note, The lot of God's providence exactly agrees with the
plan of God's counsel, like a true copy with the original. If
prophecy says, <i>Zebulun shall be a haven of ships,</i> Providence
will so plant him. Note, 1. God appoints the bounds of our
habitation. 2. It is our wisdom and duty to accommodate ourselves
to our lot and to improve it. If Zebulun dwell at the haven of the
sea, let him be for a haven of ships.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p12">II. Concerning Issachar, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.14-Gen.49.15" parsed="|Gen|49|14|49|15" passage="Ge 49:14,15"><i>v.</i> 14, 15</scripRef>. 1. That the men of that
tribe should be strong and industrious, fit for labour and inclined
to labour, particularly the toil of husbandry, like the ass, that
patiently carries his burden, and, by using himself to it, makes it
the easier. Issachar submitted to two burdens, tillage and tribute.
It was a tribe that took pains, and, thriving thereby, was called
upon for rents and taxes. 2. That they should be encouraged in
their labour by the goodness of the land that should fall to their
lot. (1.) <i>He saw that rest</i> at home <i>was good.</i> Note,
The labour of the husbandman is really rest, in comparison with
that of soldiers and seamen, whose hurries and perils are such that
those who tarry at home in the most constant service have no reason
to envy them. (2.) <i>He saw that the land was pleasant,</i>
yielding not only pleasant prospects to charm the eye of the
curious, but pleasant fruits to recompense his toils. Many are the
pleasures of a country life, abundantly sufficient to balance the
inconveniences of it, if we can but persuade ourselves to think so,
Issachar, in prospect of advantage, <i>bowed his shoulders to
bear:</i> let us, with an eye of faith, see the heavenly rest to be
good, and that land of promise to be pleasant; and this will make
our present services easy, and encourage us to bow our shoulder to
them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p13">III. Concerning Dan, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p13.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.16-Gen.49.17" parsed="|Gen|49|16|49|17" passage="Ge 49:16,17"><i>v.</i> 16, 17</scripRef>. What is said concerning
Dan has reference either, 1. To that tribe in general, that though
Dan was one of the sons of the concubines yet he should be a tribe
governed by judges of his own as well as other tribes, and should,
by art, and policy, and surprise, gain advantages against his
enemies, like a serpent suddenly biting the heel of the traveller.
Note, In God's spiritual Israel there is no distinction made of
<i>bond or free,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.l-p13.2" osisRef="Bible:Col.3.11" parsed="|Col|3|11|0|0" passage="Col 3:11">Col. iii.
11</scripRef>. Dan shall be incorporated by as good a charter as
any of the other tribes. Note, also, Some, like Dan, may excel in
the subtlety of the serpent, as others, like Judah, in the courage
of the lion; and both may do good service to the cause of God
against the Canaanites. Or it may refer, 2. To Samson, who was of
that tribe, and judged Israel, that is, delivered them out of the
hands of the Philistines, not as the other judges, by fighting them
in the field, but by the vexations and annoyances he gave them
underhand: when he pulled the house down under the Philistines that
were upon the roof of it, he made the horse throw his rider.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p14">Thus was Jacob going on with his discourse;
but now, being almost spent with speaking, and ready to faint and
die away, he relieves himself with those words which come in as a
parenthesis (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.18" parsed="|Gen|49|18|0|0" passage="Ge 49:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>),
<i>I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord!</i> as those that are
fainting are helped by taking a spoonful of a cordial, or smelling
at a bottle of spirits; or, if he must break off here, and his
breath will not serve him to finish what he intended, with these
words he pours out his soul into the bosom of his God, and even
breathes it out. Note, The pious ejaculations of a warm and lively
devotion, though sometimes they may be incoherent, are not
therefore to be censured as impertinent; that may be uttered
affectionately which does not come in methodically. It is no
absurdity, when we are speaking to men, to lift up our hearts to
God. The salvation he waited for was <i>Christ,</i> the promised
seed, whom he had spoken of, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.10" parsed="|Gen|49|10|0|0" passage="Ge 49:10"><i>v.</i>
10</scripRef>. Now that he was going to be gathered to his people,
he breathes after him to whom the gathering of the people shall be.
The salvation he waited for was also <i>heaven,</i> the better
country, which he declared plainly that he sought (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Heb.11.13-Heb.11.14" parsed="|Heb|11|13|11|14" passage="Heb 11:13,14">Heb. xi. 13, 14</scripRef>), and continued
seeking, now that he was in Egypt. Now that he is going to enjoy
the salvation he comforts himself with this, that he had waited for
the salvation. Note, It is the character of a living saint that he
waits for the salvation of the Lord. Christ, as our way to heaven,
is to be waited on;

<pb id="Gen.l-Page_263" n="263"/>

and heaven, as our rest
in Christ, is to be waited for. Again, It is the comfort of a dying
saint thus to have waited for the salvation of the Lord; for then
he shall have what he has been waiting for: long-looked-for will
come.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p15">IV. Concerning Gad, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.19" parsed="|Gen|49|19|0|0" passage="Ge 49:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. He alludes to his name, which
signifies a <i>troop,</i> foresees the character of that tribe,
that it should be a warlike tribe, and so we find (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p15.2" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.12.8" parsed="|1Chr|12|8|0|0" passage="1Ch 12:8">1 Chron. xii. 8</scripRef>); the <i>Gadites were
men of war fit for the battle.</i> He foresees that the situation
of that tribe on the other side Jordan would expose it to the
incursions of its neighbours, the Moabites and Ammonites; and, that
they might not be proud of their strength and valour, he foretells
that the troops of their enemies should, in many skirmishes,
overcome them; yet, that they might not be discouraged by their
defeats, he assures them that they should <i>overcome at the
last,</i> which was fulfilled when, in Saul's time and David's, the
Moabites and Ammonites were wholly subdued: see <scripRef id="Gen.l-p15.3" osisRef="Bible:1Chr.5.18-1Chr.5.22" parsed="|1Chr|5|18|5|22" passage="1Ch 5:18-22">1 Chron. v. 18</scripRef>, &amp;c. Note, The cause of
God and his people, though it may seem for a time to be baffled and
run down, will yet be victorious at last. <i>Vincimur in prælio,
sed non in bello—We are foiled in a battle, but not in a
campaign.</i> Grace in the soul is often foiled in its conflicts,
troops of corruption overcome it, but the cause is God's, and grace
will in the issue come off conqueror, yea, <i>more than
conqueror,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.l-p15.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.8.37" parsed="|Rom|8|37|0|0" passage="Ro 8:37">Rom. viii.
37</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p16">V. Concerning Asher (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.20" parsed="|Gen|49|20|0|0" passage="Ge 49:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>), that it should be a very rich
tribe, replenished not only with bread for necessity, but with
fatness, with <i>dainties, royal dainties</i> (for the king himself
is <i>served of the field,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.l-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.5.9" parsed="|Eccl|5|9|0|0" passage="Ec 5:9">Eccl. v.
9</scripRef>), and these exported out of Asher to other tribes,
perhaps to other lands. Note, The God of nature has provided for us
not only necessaries but dainties, that we might call him a
bountiful benefactor; yet, whereas all places are competently
furnished with necessaries, only some places afford dainties. Corn
is more common than spices. Were the supports of luxury as
universal as the supports of life, the world would be worse than it
is, and that it needs not be.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p17">VI. Concerning Naphtali (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.21" parsed="|Gen|49|21|0|0" passage="Ge 49:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>), a tribe that carries struggles
in its name; it signifies <i>wrestling,</i> and the blessing
entailed upon it signifies prevailing; it is <i>a hind let
loose.</i> Though we find not this prediction so fully answered in
the event as some of the rest, yet, no doubt, it proved true that
those of this tribe were, 1. As the loving hind (for that is her
epithet, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.5.19" parsed="|Prov|5|19|0|0" passage="Pr 5:19">Prov. v. 19</scripRef>),
friendly and obliging to one another and to other tribes; their
converse remarkably kind and endearing. 2. As the loosened hind,
zealous for their liberty. 3. As the swift hind (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.18.33" parsed="|Ps|18|33|0|0" passage="Ps 18:33">Ps. xviii. 33</scripRef>), quick in despatch of
business; and perhaps, 4. As the trembling, timorous in times of
public danger. It is rare that those that are most amiable to their
friends are most formidable to their enemies. 5. That they should
be affable and courteous, their language refined, and they
complaisant, <i>giving goodly words.</i> Note, Among God's Israel
there is to be found a great variety of dispositions, contrary to
each other, yet all contributing to the beauty and strength of the
body, Judah like a lion, Issachar like an ass, Dan like a serpent,
Naphtali like a hind. Let not those of different tempers and gifts
censure one another, nor envy one another, any more than those of
different statures and complexions.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.l-p17.4" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.22-Gen.49.27" parsed="|Gen|49|22|49|27" passage="Ge 49:22-27" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.49.22-Gen.49.27">
<p class="passage" id="Gen.l-p18">22 Joseph <i>is</i> a fruitful bough,
<i>even</i> a fruitful bough by a well; <i>whose</i> branches run
over the wall:   23 The archers have sorely grieved him, and
shot <i>at him,</i> and hated him:   24 But his bow abode in
strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands
of the mighty <i>God</i> of Jacob; (from thence <i>is</i> the
shepherd, the stone of Israel:)   25 <i>Even</i> by the God of
thy father, who shall help thee; and by the Almighty, who shall
bless thee with blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep
that lieth under, blessings of the breasts, and of the womb:  
26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings
of my progenitors unto the utmost bound of the everlasting hills:
they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head
of him that was separate from his brethren.   27 Benjamin
shall ravin <i>as</i> a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the
prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p19">He closes with the blessings of his best
beloved sons, Joseph and Benjamin; with these he will breathe his
last.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p20">I. The blessing of Joseph, which is very
large and full. He is compared (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.22" parsed="|Gen|49|22|0|0" passage="Ge 49:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>) to <i>a fruitful bough,</i> or
young tree; for God had made him fruitful in the land of his
affliction; he owned it, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.41.52" parsed="|Gen|41|52|0|0" passage="Ge 41:52"><i>ch.</i>
xli. 52</scripRef>. His two sons were as branches of a vine, or
other spreading plant, <i>running over the wall.</i> Note, God can
make those fruitful, great comforts to themselves and others, who
have been looked upon as dry and withered. More is recorded in the
history concerning Joseph than concerning any other of Jacob's
sons; and therefore what Jacob says of him is historical as well as
prophetical. Observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p21">1. The providences of God concerning
Joseph, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p21.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.23-Gen.49.24" parsed="|Gen|49|23|49|24" passage="Ge 49:23,24"><i>v.</i> 23,
24</scripRef>. These are mentioned to the glory of God, and for the
encouragement of Jacob's faith and hope, that God had blessings in
store for his seed. Here observe (1.) Joseph's straits and
troubles, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p21.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.23" parsed="|Gen|49|23|0|0" passage="Ge 49:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>.
Though he now lived at ease and in honour,

<pb id="Gen.l-Page_264" n="264"/>

Jacob reminds him of the difficulties he had formerly waded
through. He had had many enemies, here called <i>archers,</i> being
skilful to do mischief, masters of their art of persecution. They
hated him: there persecution begins. They shot their poisonous
darts at him, and thus they sorely grieved him. His brethren, in
his father's house, were very spiteful towards him, mocked him,
stripped him, threatened him, sold him, thought they had been the
death of him. His mistress, in the house of Potiphar, sorely
grieved him, and shot at him, when she impudently assaulted his
chastity (temptations are fiery darts, thorns in the flesh, sorely
grievous to gracious souls); when she prevailed not in this, she
hated him, and shot at him by her false accusations, arrows against
which there is little fence but the hold God has in the consciences
of the worst of men. Doubtless he had enemies in the court of
Pharaoh, that envied his preferment, and sought to undermine him.
(2.) Joseph's strength and support under all these troubles
(<scripRef id="Gen.l-p21.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.24" parsed="|Gen|49|24|0|0" passage="Ge 49:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>): <i>His bow
abode in strength,</i> that is, his faith did not fail, but he kept
his ground, and came off a conqueror. The <i>arms of his hands were
made strong,</i> that is, his other graces did their part, his
wisdom, courage, and patience, which are better than weapons of
war. In short, he maintained both his integrity and his comfort
through all his trials; he bore all his burdens with an invincible
resolution, and did not sink under them, nor do any thing
unbecoming him. (3.) The spring and fountain of this strength; it
was <i>by the hands of the mighty God,</i> who was therefore able
to strengthen him, and <i>the God of Jacob,</i> a God in covenant
with him, and therefore engaged to help him. All our strength for
the resisting of temptations, and the bearing of afflictions, comes
from God: his grace is sufficient, and his strength is perfected in
our weakness. (4.) The state of honour and usefulness to which he
was subsequently advanced: <i>Thence</i> (from this strange method
of providence) he became the <i>shepherd and stone,</i> the feeder
and supporter, <i>of</i> God's <i>Israel,</i> Jacob and his family.
Herein Joseph was a type, [1.] Of Christ; he was shot at and hated,
but borne up under his sufferings (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p21.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.50.7-Isa.50.9" parsed="|Isa|50|7|50|9" passage="Isa 50:7-9">Isa. l. 7-9</scripRef>), and was afterwards advanced
to be <i>the shepherd and stone.</i> [2.] Of the church in general,
and particular believers; hell shoots its arrows against the
saints, but Heaven protects and strengthens them, and will crown
them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p22">2. The promises of God to Joseph. See how
these are connected with the former: <i>Even by the God of thy
father Jacob, who shall help thee,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.l-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.25" parsed="|Gen|49|25|0|0" passage="Ge 49:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>. Note, Our experiences of God's
power and goodness in strengthening us hitherto are our
encouragements still to hope for help from him; he that has helped
us will help: we may build much upon our <i>Eben-ezers.</i> See
what Joseph may expect from <i>the Almighty,</i> even <i>the God of
his father.</i> (1.) He shall help thee in difficulties and dangers
which may yet be before thee, help thy seed in their wars. Joshua
came from him, who commanded in chief in the wars of Canaan. (2.)
He shall bless thee; and he only blesses indeed. Jacob prays for a
blessing upon Joseph, but the God of Jacob commands the blessing.
Observe the blessings conferred on Joseph. [1.] Various and
abundant blessings: <i>Blessings of heaven above</i> (rain in its
season, and fair weather in its season, and the benign influences
of the heavenly bodies); <i>blessings of the deep that lieth
under</i> this earth, which, compared with the upper world, is but
a great deep, with subterraneous mines and springs. Spiritual
blessings are blessings of heaven above, which we ought to desire
and seek for in the first place, and to which we must give the
preference; while temporal blessings, those of this earth, must lie
under in our account and esteem. <i>Blessings of the womb and the
breasts</i> are given when children are safely born and comfortably
nursed. In the word of God, by which we are born again, and
nourished up (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.1.23 Bible:1Pet.2.2" parsed="|1Pet|1|23|0|0;|1Pet|2|2|0|0" passage="1Pe 1:23,2:2">1 Pet. i. 23; ii.
2</scripRef>), there are to the new man blessings both of the womb
and the breasts. [2.] Eminent and transcendent blessings, which
<i>prevail above the blessings of my progenitors,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.l-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.26" parsed="|Gen|49|26|0|0" passage="Ge 49:26"><i>v.</i> 26</scripRef>. His father Isaac had
but one blessing, and, when he had given that to Jacob, he was at a
loss for a blessing to bestow upon Esau; but Jacob had a blessing
for each of his twelve sons, and now, at the latter end, a copious
one for Joseph. The great blessing entailed upon that family was
increase, which did not so immediately and so signally follow the
blessings which Abraham and Isaac gave to their sons as it followed
the blessing which Jacob gave to his; for, soon after his death,
they multiplied exceedingly. [3.] Durable and extensive blessings:
<i>Unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills,</i> including
all the productions of the most fruitful hills, and lasting as long
as they last, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p22.4" osisRef="Bible:Isa.54.10" parsed="|Isa|54|10|0|0" passage="Isa 54:10">Isa. liv.
10</scripRef>. Note, the blessings of the everlasting God include
the riches of the everlasting hills, and much more. Well, of these
blessings it is here said, <i>They shall be,</i> so it is a
promise, or, <i>Let them be,</i> so it is a prayer, <i>on the head
of Joseph,</i> to which let them be as a crown to adorn it and a
helmet to protect it. Joseph <i>was separated from his brethren</i>
(so we read it) for a time; yet, as others read it, <i>he was a
Nazarite among his brethren,</i> better and more excellent than
they. Note, It is no new thing for the best men to meet with the
worst usage, for Nazarites among their brethren to be cast out and
separated from their brethren; but the blessing of God will make it
up to them.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p23">II. The blessing of Benjamin (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.27" parsed="|Gen|49|27|0|0" passage="Ge 49:27"><i>v.</i> 27</scripRef>): He <i>shall raven as a
wolf;</i> it is plain by this that Jacob was guided in what he said
by a spirit of prophecy, and not by natural affection; else he
would have spoken with more tenderness of his beloved son Benjamin,
concerning whom he only foresees and foretells this, that

<pb id="Gen.l-Page_265" n="265"/>

his posterity should be a warlike tribe, strong and
daring, and that they should enrich themselves with the spoils of
their enemies—that they should be active and busy in the world,
and a tribe as much feared by their neighbours as any other: <i>In
the morning, he shall devour the prey,</i> which he seized and
divided over night. Or, in the first times of Israel, they shall be
noted for activity, though many of them left-handed, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Judg.3.15 Bible:Judg.20.16" parsed="|Judg|3|15|0|0;|Judg|20|16|0|0" passage="Jdg 3:15,20:16">Judg. iii. 15; xx. 16</scripRef>. Ehud the
second judge, and Saul the first king, were of this tribe; and so
also in the last times Esther and Mordecai, by whom the enemies of
the Jews were destroyed, were of this tribe. The Benjamites ravened
like wolves when they desperately espoused the cause of the men of
Gibeah, those men of Belial, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Judg.20.14" parsed="|Judg|20|14|0|0" passage="Jdg 20:14">Judg.
xx. 14</scripRef>. Blessed Paul was of this tribe (<scripRef id="Gen.l-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:Rom.11.1 Bible:Phil.3.5" parsed="|Rom|11|1|0|0;|Phil|3|5|0|0" passage="Ro 11:1,Php 3:5">Rom. xi. 1; Phil. iii. 5</scripRef>); and
he did, in the morning of his day, devour the prey as a persecutor,
but, in the evening, divided the spoil as a preacher. Note, God can
serve his own purposes by the different tempers of men; <i>the
deceived and the deceiver are his.</i></p>
</div><scripCom id="Gen.l-p23.5" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.28-Gen.49.33" parsed="|Gen|49|28|49|33" passage="Ge 49:28-33" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:Gen.49.28-Gen.49.33">
<h4 id="Gen.l-p23.6">Death of Jacob. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Gen.l-p23.7">b. c.</span> 1689.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Gen.l-p24">28 All these <i>are</i> the twelve tribes of
Israel: and this <i>is it</i> that their father spake unto them,
and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed
them.   29 And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be
gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that
<i>is</i> in the field of Ephron the Hittite,   30 In the cave
that <i>is</i> in the field of Machpelah, which <i>is</i> before
Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field
of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a buryingplace.   31
There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried
Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.   32 The
purchase of the field and of the cave that <i>is</i> therein
<i>was</i> from the children of Heth.   33 And when Jacob had
made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into
the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his
people.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p25">Here is, I. The summing up of the blessings
of Jacob's sons, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.28" parsed="|Gen|49|28|0|0" passage="Ge 49:28"><i>v.</i>
28</scripRef>. Though Reuben, Simeon, and Levi were put under the
marks of their father's displeasure, yet he is said to <i>bless
them every one according to his blessing;</i> for none of them were
rejected as Esau was. Note, Whatever rebukes of God's word or
providence we are under at any time, yet, as long as we have an
interest in God's covenant, a place and a name among his people,
and good hopes of a share in the heavenly Canaan, we must account
ourselves blessed.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p26">II. The solemn charge Jacob gave them
concerning his burial, which is a repetition of what he had before
given to Joseph. See how he speaks of death, now that he is dying:
<i>I am to be gathered unto my people,</i> <scripRef id="Gen.l-p26.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.29" parsed="|Gen|49|29|0|0" passage="Ge 49:29"><i>v.</i> 29</scripRef>. Note, It is good to represent
death to ourselves under the most desirable images, that the terror
of it may be taken off. Though it separates us from our children
and our people in this world, it gathers us to our fathers and to
our people in the other world. Perhaps Jacob uses this expression
concerning death as a reason why his sons should bury him in
Canaan; for, says he, "<i>I am to be gathered unto my people,</i>
my soul must go to <i>the spirits of just men made perfect:</i> and
therefore bury me with my fathers, Abraham and Isaac, and their
wives," <scripRef id="Gen.l-p26.2" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.31" parsed="|Gen|49|31|0|0" passage="Ge 49:31"><i>v.</i> 31</scripRef>.
Observe, 1. His heart was very much upon it, not so much from a
natural affection to his native soil as from a principle of faith
in the promise of God, that Canaan should be the inheritance of his
seed in due time. Thus he would keep up in his sons a remembrance
of the promised land, and not only would have their acquaintance
with it renewed by a journey thither on that occasion, but their
desire towards it and their expectation of it preserved. 2. He is
very particular in describing the place both by the situation of it
and by the purchase Abraham had made of it for a burying-place,
<scripRef id="Gen.l-p26.3" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.30 Bible:Gen.49.32" parsed="|Gen|49|30|0|0;|Gen|49|32|0|0" passage="Ge 49:30,32"><i>v.</i> 30, 32</scripRef>. He was
afraid lest his sons, after seventeen years' sojourning in Egypt,
had forgotten Canaan, and even the burying-place of their ancestors
there, or lest the Canaanites should dispute his title to it; and
therefore he specifies it thus largely, and the purchase of it,
even when he lies a-dying, not only to prevent mistakes, but to
show how mindful he was of that country. Note, It is, and should
be, a great pleasure to dying saints to fix their thoughts upon the
heavenly Canaan, and the rest they hope for there after death.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Gen.l-p27">III. The death of Jacob, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p27.1" osisRef="Bible:Gen.49.33" parsed="|Gen|49|33|0|0" passage="Ge 49:33"><i>v.</i> 33</scripRef>. When he had finished both his
blessing and his charge (both which are included in the commanding
of his sons), and so had finished his testimony, he addressed
himself to his dying work. 1. He put himself into a posture for
dying; having before seated himself upon the bed-side, to bless his
sons (the spirit of prophecy bringing fresh oil to his expiring
lamp, <scripRef id="Gen.l-p27.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.10.19" parsed="|Dan|10|19|0|0" passage="Da 10:19">Dan. x. 19</scripRef>), when
that work was done, <i>he gathered up his feet into the bed,</i>
that he might lie along, not only as one patiently submitting to
the stroke, but as one cheerfully composing himself to rest, now
that he was weary. <i>I will lay me down, and sleep.</i> 2. He
freely resigned his spirit into the hand of God, the Father of
spirits: <i>He yielded up the ghost.</i> 3. His separated soul went
to the assembly of the souls of the faithful, which, after they are
delivered from the burden of the flesh, are in joy and felicity: he
was <i>gathered to his people.</i> Note, If God's people be our
people, death will gather us to them.</p>
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