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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Genesis, Chapter XXX].</TITLE>
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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1></center>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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[<A HREF="MHC01029.HTM">Previous</A>]
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<TD ALIGN="RIGHT" VALIGN="TOP">
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1706)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<A NAME="Page178"> </A>
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>G E N E S I S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXX.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have an account of the increase,
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I. Of Jacob's
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family. Eight children more we find registered in this chapter;
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Dan and Naphtali by Bilhah, Rachel's maid,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:1-8">ver. 1-8</A>.
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Gad and Asher by Zilpah, Leah's maid,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:9-13">ver. 9-13</A>.
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Issachar, Zebulun,
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and Dinah, by Leah,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:14-21">ver. 14-21</A>.
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And, last of all, Joseph,
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by Rachel,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:22-24">ver. 22-24</A>.
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II. Of Jacob's estate. He makes a new
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bargain with Laban,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:25-34">ver. 25-34</A>.
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And in the six years' further
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service he did to Laban God wonderfully blessed him, so that
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his stock of cattle became very considerable,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:35-43">ver. 35-43</A>.
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Herein was fulfilled the blessing with which Isaac dismissed him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+28:3"><I>ch.</I> xxviii. 3</A>),
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"God make thee fruitful, and multiply thee." Even
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these small matters concerning Jacob's house and field, though
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they seem inconsiderable, are improvable for our learning. For
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the scriptures were written, not for princes and statesmen, to
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instruct them in politics; but for all people, even the meanest,
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to direct them in their families and callings: yet some things
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are here recorded concerning Jacob, not for imitation, but for
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admonition.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ge30_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge30_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge30_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge30_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge30_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge30_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge30_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge30_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge30_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge30_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge30_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge30_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge30_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Increase of Jacob's Family.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1745.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>
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1 And when Rachel saw that she
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bare Jacob no children, Rachel
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envied her sister; and said unto Jacob,
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Give me children, or else I die.
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2 And Jacob's anger was kindled
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against Rachel: and he said, <I>Am</I> I in
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God's stead, who hath withheld from
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thee the fruit of the womb?
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3 And
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she said, Behold my maid Bilhah, go
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in unto her; and she shall bear upon
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my knees, that I may also have children
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by her.
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4 And she gave him
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Bilhah her handmaid to wife: and Jacob
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went in unto her.
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5 And Bilhah
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conceived, and bare Jacob a son.
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6 And Rachel said, God hath judged
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me, and hath also heard my voice,
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and hath given me a son: therefore
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called she his name Dan.
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7 And Bilhah
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Rachel's maid conceived again, and
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bare Jacob a second son.
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8 And Rachel
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said, With great wrestlings have I
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wrestled with my sister, and I have
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prevailed: and she called his name
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Naphtali.
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9 When Leah saw that she
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had left bearing, she took Zilpah her
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maid, and gave her Jacob to wife.
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10 And Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a
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son.
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11 And Leah said, A troop cometh:
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and she called his name Gad.
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12 And
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Zilpah Leah's maid bare Jacob a second
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son.
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13 And Leah said, Happy
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am I, for the daughters will call me
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blessed: and she called his name Asher.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here the bad consequences of that
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strange marriage which Jacob made with the
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two sisters. Here is,</P>
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<P>
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I. An unhappy disagreement between him
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and Rachel
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:1,2"><I>v.</I> 1, 2</A>),
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occasioned, not so much
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by her own barrenness as by her sister's fruitfulness.
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Rebekah, the only wife of Isaac,
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was long childless, and yet we find no uneasiness
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between her and Isaac; but here,
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because Leah bears children, Rachel cannot
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live peaceably with Jacob.</P>
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<P>
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1. Rachel frets. She <I>envied her sister,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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Envy is grieving at the good of another, than
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which no sin is more offensive to God, nor
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more injurious to our neighbour and ourselves.
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She considered not that it was God
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that made the difference, and that though, in
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this single instance her sister was preferred
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before her, yet in other things she had the
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advantage. Let us carefully watch against
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all the risings and workings of this passion
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in our minds. Let not our eye be evil
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<A NAME="Page179"> </A>
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towards any of our fellow-servants because our
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master's is good. But this was not all; she
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said to Jacob, <I>Give me children, or else I die.</I>
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Note, We are very apt to err in our desires
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of temporal mercies, as Rachel here.
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(1.) One child would not content her; but, because
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Leah has more than one, she must have
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more too: <I>Give me children.</I>
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(2.) Her heart
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is inordinately set upon it, and, if she have
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not what she would have, she will throw
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away her life, and all the comforts of it.
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"Give them to me, or <I>else I die,</I>" that is, "I
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shall fret myself to death; the want of this
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satisfaction will shorten my days." Some
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think she threatens Jacob to lay violent hands
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upon herself, if she could not obtain this
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mercy.
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(3.) She did not apply to God by
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prayer, but to Jacob only, forgetting that
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<I>children are a heritage of the Lord,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+127:3">Ps. cxxvii. 3</A>.
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We wrong both God and ourselves
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when our eye is more to men, the instruments
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of our crosses and comforts, than to
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God the author. Observe a difference between
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Rachel's asking for this mercy and
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Hannah's,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+1:10,11">1 Sam. i. 10</A>,
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&c. Rachel envied;
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Hannah wept. Rachel must have children,
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and she died of the second; Hannah prayed
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for one child, and she had four more. Rachel
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is importunate and peremptory; Hannah
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is submissive and devout. <I>If thou wilt
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give me a child, I will give him to the Lord.</I>
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Let Hannah be imitated, and not Rachel;
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and let our desires be always under the direction
|
|
and control of reason and religion.</P>
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<P>
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2. Jacob chides, and most justly. He loved
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Rachel, and therefore reproved her for what
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she said amiss,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>.
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Note, Faithful reproofs
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and products and instances of true affection,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+141:5,Pr+27:5,6">Ps. cxli. 5; Prov. xxvii. 5, 6</A>.
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Job reproved
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|
his wife when she spoke the language of the
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foolish women,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+2:10">Job ii. 10</A>.
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See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+7:16">1 Cor. vii. 16</A>.
|
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He was angry, not at the person, but at the
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sin; he expressed himself so as to show his
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displeasure. Note, sometimes it is requisite
|
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that a reproof should be given warm, like a
|
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medical potion; not too hot, lest it scald the
|
|
patient; yet not cold, lest it prove ineffectual.
|
|
It was a very grave and pious reply which
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Jacob gave to Rachel's peevish demand: <I>Am
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I in God's stead?</I> The Chaldee paraphrases
|
|
it well, <I>Dost thou ask sons of me? Oughtest
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thou not to ask them from before the Lord?</I>
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The Arabic reads it, "<I>Am I above God?</I> can
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I give thee that which God denies thee?"
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This was said like a plain man. Observe,
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(1.) He acknowledges the hand of God in the
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affliction which he was a sharer with her in:
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He <I>hath withheld the fruit of the womb.</I> Note,
|
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Whatever we want, it is God that withholds
|
|
it, a sovereign Lord, most wise, holy, and
|
|
just, that may do what he will with his own,
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and is debtor to no man, that never did, nor
|
|
ever can do, any wrong to any of his creatures.
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|
The keys of the clouds, of the heart,
|
|
of the grave, and of the womb, are four keys
|
|
which God had in his hand, and which (the
|
|
rabbin say) he entrusts neither with angels
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|
nor seraphim. See
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+3:7,Job+11:10,12:14">Rev. iii. 7. Job xi. 10; xii. 14</A>.
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(2.) He acknowledges his own inability
|
|
to alter what God had appointed:
|
|
"<I>Am I in God's stead?</I> What! dost thou
|
|
make a god of me?" <I>Deos qui rogat ille
|
|
facit--He to whom we offer supplications is to
|
|
us a god.</I> Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] There is no creature
|
|
that is, or can be, to us, in God's stead. God
|
|
may be to us instead of any creature, as the
|
|
sun instead of the moon and stars; but the
|
|
moon and all the stars will not be to us instead
|
|
of the sun. No creature's wisdom,
|
|
power, and love, will be to us instead of God's.
|
|
|
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[2.] It is therefore our sin and folly to place
|
|
any creature in God's stead, and to place
|
|
that confidence in any creature which is to be
|
|
placed in God only.</P>
|
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|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. An unhappy agreement between him
|
|
and the two handmaids.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
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1. At the persuasion of Rachel, he took
|
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Bilhah her handmaid to wife, that, according
|
|
to the usage of those times, his children by
|
|
her might be adopted and owned as her mistress's
|
|
children,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:3-8"><I>v.</I> 3</A>,
|
|
&c. She would rather
|
|
have children by reputation than none at all,
|
|
children that she might fancy to be her own,
|
|
and call her own, though they were not so.
|
|
One would think her own sister's children
|
|
were nearer akin to her than her maid's, and
|
|
she might with more satisfaction have made
|
|
them her own if she had so pleased; but (so
|
|
natural is it for us all to be fond of power)
|
|
children that she had a right to rule were
|
|
more desirable to her than children that she
|
|
had more reason to love; and, as an early
|
|
instance of her dominion over the children
|
|
born in her apartment, she takes a pleasure
|
|
in giving them names that carry in them nothing
|
|
but marks of emulation with her sister,
|
|
as if she had overcome her,
|
|
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(1.) At law. She
|
|
calls the first son of her handmaid <I>Dan</I> (<I>judgement</I>),
|
|
saying, "<I>God hath judged me</I>"
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
|
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that is, "given sentence in my favour."
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|
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(2.) In battle. She calls the next <I>Naphtali</I> (<I>wrestlings</I>),
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saying, <I>I have wrestled with my sister,
|
|
and have prevailed</I>
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|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>);
|
|
as if all Jacob's
|
|
sons must be born men of contention. See
|
|
what roots of bitterness envy and strife are,
|
|
and what mischief they make among relations.</P>
|
|
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<P>
|
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|
2. At the persuasion of Leah, he took
|
|
Zilpah her handmaid to wife also,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
|
|
Rachel had done that absurd and preposterous
|
|
thing of giving her maid to her husband, in
|
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emulation with Leah; and now Leah (because
|
|
she missed one year in bearing children) does
|
|
the same, to be even with her, or rather to
|
|
keep before her. See the power of jealousy
|
|
and rivalship, and admire the wisdom of the
|
|
divine appointment, which unites one man
|
|
and one woman only; for <I>God hath called us
|
|
to peace</I> and purity,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+7:15">1 Cor. vii. 15</A>.
|
|
Two sons
|
|
Zilpah bore to Jacob, whom Leah looked
|
|
upon herself as entitled to, in token of which
|
|
she called one <I>Gad</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
|
|
promising herself
|
|
a little <I>troop</I> of children; and children are
|
|
the militia of a family, they fill the quiver,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+127:4,5">Ps. cxxvii. 4, 5</A>.
|
|
The other she called <I>Asher</I>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page180"> </A>
|
|
|
|
(<I>happy</I>), thinking herself happy in him, and
|
|
promising herself that her neighbours would
|
|
think so too: <I>The daughters will call me
|
|
blessed,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
|
|
Note, It is an instance of the
|
|
vanity of the world, and the foolishness bound
|
|
up in our hearts, that most people value
|
|
themselves and govern themselves more by
|
|
reputation than either by reason or religion;
|
|
they think themselves blessed if the daughters
|
|
do but call them so. There was much amiss
|
|
in the contest and competition between these
|
|
two sisters, yet God brought good out of this
|
|
evil; for, the time being now at hand when
|
|
the seed of Abraham must begin to increase
|
|
and multiply, thus Jacob's family was replenished
|
|
with twelve sons, heads of the
|
|
thousands of Israel, from whom the celebrated
|
|
twelve tribes descended and were named.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_14"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_15"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_16"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_17"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_18"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_19"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_20"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_21"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_22"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_23"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_24"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>14 And Reuben went in the days
|
|
of wheat harvest, and found mandrakes
|
|
in the field, and brought them unto
|
|
his mother Leah. Then Rachel said
|
|
to Leah, Give me, I pray thee, of thy
|
|
son's mandrakes.
|
|
15 And she said
|
|
unto her, <I>Is it</I> a small matter that thou
|
|
hast taken my husband? and wouldest
|
|
thou take away my son's mandrakes
|
|
also? And Rachel said, Therefore he
|
|
shall lie with thee to night for thy
|
|
son's mandrakes.
|
|
16 And Jacob came
|
|
out of the field in the evening, and
|
|
Leah went out to meet him, and said,
|
|
Thou must come in unto me; for
|
|
surely I have hired thee with my son's
|
|
mandrakes. And he lay with her that
|
|
night.
|
|
17 And God hearkened unto
|
|
Leah, and she conceived, and bare
|
|
Jacob the fifth son.
|
|
18 And Leah said,
|
|
God hath given me my hire, because
|
|
I have given my maiden to my husband:
|
|
and she called his name Issachar.
|
|
19 And Leah conceived again,
|
|
and bare Jacob the sixth son.
|
|
20 And
|
|
Leah said, God hath endued me <I>with</I>
|
|
a good dowry; now will my husband
|
|
dwell with me, because I have borne
|
|
him six sons: and she called his name
|
|
Zebulun.
|
|
21 And afterwards she bare
|
|
a daughter, and called her name Dinah.
|
|
22 And God remembered Rachel, and
|
|
God hearkened to her, and opened
|
|
her womb.
|
|
23 And she conceived, and
|
|
bare a son; and said, God hath taken
|
|
away my reproach:
|
|
24 And she called
|
|
his name Joseph; and said, The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
|
|
shall add to me another son.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is, I. Leah fruitful again, after she
|
|
had, for some time, left off bearing. Jacob,
|
|
it should seem, associated more with Rachel
|
|
than with Leah. The law of Moses supposes
|
|
it a common case that, if a man had two wives,
|
|
one would be beloved and the other hated,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+21:15">Deut. xxi. 15</A>.
|
|
But at length Rachel's strong
|
|
passions betrayed her into a bargain with
|
|
Leah that Jacob should return to her apartment.
|
|
Reuben, a little lad, five or six years
|
|
old, playing in the field, found <I>mandrakes,
|
|
dudaim.</I> It is uncertain what they were, the
|
|
critics are not agreed about them; we are
|
|
sure they were some rarities, either fruits or
|
|
flowers that were very pleasant to the smell,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=So+7:13">Cant. vii. 13</A>.
|
|
Note, The God of nature has
|
|
provided, not only for our necessities, but for
|
|
our delights; there are products of the earth
|
|
in the exposed fields, as well as in the planted
|
|
protected gardens, that are very valuable and
|
|
useful. How plentifully is nature's house
|
|
furnished and her table spread! Her precious
|
|
fruits offer themselves to be gathered by the
|
|
hands of little children. It is a laudable
|
|
custom of the devout Jews, when they find
|
|
pleasure, suppose in eating an apple, to lift
|
|
up their hearts, and say, "Blessed be he that
|
|
made this fruit pleasant!" Or, in smelling
|
|
a flower, "Blessed be he that made this flower
|
|
sweet." Some think these mandrakes were
|
|
jessamine flowers. Whatever they were,
|
|
Rachel could not see them in Leah's hands,
|
|
where the child had placed them, but she
|
|
must covet them. She cannot bear the want
|
|
of these pretty flowers, but will purchase them
|
|
at any rate. Note, There may be great sin
|
|
and folly in the inordinate desire of a small
|
|
thing. Leah takes this advantage (as Jacob
|
|
had of Esau's coveting his red pottage) to
|
|
obtain that which was justly due to her, but
|
|
to which Rachel would not otherwise have consented.
|
|
Note, Strong passions often thwart
|
|
one another, and those cannot but be continually
|
|
uneasy that are hurried on by them.
|
|
Leah is overjoyed that she shall have her
|
|
husband's company again, that her family
|
|
might yet further be built up, which is the
|
|
blessing she desires and devoutly prays
|
|
for, as is intimated,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>,
|
|
where it is said,
|
|
<I>God hearkened unto Leah.</I> The learned bishop
|
|
Patrick very well suggests here that the true
|
|
reason of this contest between Jacob's wives
|
|
for his company, and their giving him their
|
|
maids to be his wives, was the earnest desire
|
|
they had to fulfil the promise made to Abraham
|
|
(and now lately renewed to Jacob), that
|
|
his seed should be as the stars of heaven for
|
|
multitude, and that in one seed of his, the
|
|
Messiah, all the nations of the earth should
|
|
be blessed. And he thinks it would have
|
|
been below the dignity of this sacred history
|
|
to take such particular notice of these things
|
|
if there had not been some such great consideration
|
|
in them. Leah was now blessed
|
|
with two sons; the first she called <I>Issachar</I>
|
|
(<I>a hire</I>), reckoning herself well repaid for her
|
|
mandrakes, nay (which is a strange construction
|
|
of the providence) rewarded for
|
|
giving her maid to her husband. Note, We
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page181"> </A>
|
|
|
|
abuse God's mercy when we reckon that his
|
|
favours countenance and patronize our follies.
|
|
The other she called <I>Zebulun</I> (<I>dwelling</I>), owning
|
|
God's bounty to her: <I>God has endowed me
|
|
with a good dowry,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
Jacob had not endowed
|
|
her when he married her, nor had he
|
|
wherewithal in possession; but she reckons
|
|
a family of children not a bill of charges, but
|
|
a good dowry,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+113:9">Ps. cxiii. 9</A>.
|
|
She promises
|
|
herself more of her husband's company now
|
|
that she had borne him six sons, and that, in
|
|
love to his children at least, he would often
|
|
visit her lodgings. Mention is made
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>)
|
|
of the birth of a daughter, <I>Dinah,</I> because of
|
|
the following story concerning her,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+34:1-31"><I>ch.</I> xxxiv</A>.
|
|
Perhaps Jacob had other daughters, though
|
|
their names are not registered.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Rachel fruitful at last
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>):
|
|
<I>God remembered
|
|
Rachel,</I> whom he seemed to have
|
|
forgotten, and <I>hearkened to her</I> whose prayers
|
|
had been long denied; and then she bore a
|
|
son. Note, As God justly denies the mercy
|
|
we have been inordinately desirous of, so
|
|
sometimes he graciously grants, at length,
|
|
that which we have long waited for. He
|
|
corrects our folly, and yet considers our
|
|
frame, and does not contend for ever. Rachel
|
|
called her son <I>Joseph,</I> which in Hebrew is
|
|
akin to two words of a contrary signification,
|
|
<I>Asaph</I> (<I>abstulit</I>), <I>He has taken away my reproach,</I>
|
|
as if the greatest mercy she had in
|
|
this son was that she had saved her credit;
|
|
and <I>Jasaph</I> (<I>addidit</I>), <I>The Lord shall add to
|
|
me another son,</I> which may be looked upon
|
|
either as the language of her inordinate desire
|
|
(she scarcely knows how to be thankful
|
|
for one unless she may be sure of another),
|
|
or of her faith--she takes this mercy as an
|
|
earnest of further mercy. "Has God given
|
|
me his grace? I may call it Joseph, and say,
|
|
He shall add more grace! Has he given me
|
|
his joy? I may call it Joseph, and say, He
|
|
will give me more joy. Has he begun, and
|
|
shall he not make an end?"</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_25"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_26"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_28"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_35"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge30_36"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Jacob's Bargain with Laban.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1745.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>25 And it came to pass, when Rachel
|
|
had borne Joseph, that Jacob said
|
|
unto Laban, Send me away, that I
|
|
may go unto mine own place, and to
|
|
my country.
|
|
26 Give <I>me</I> my wives
|
|
and my children, for whom I have
|
|
served thee, and let me go: for thou
|
|
knowest my service which I have done
|
|
thee.
|
|
27 And Laban said unto him,
|
|
I pray thee, if I have found favour in
|
|
thine eyes, <I>tarry: for</I> I have learned
|
|
by experience that the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath
|
|
blessed me for thy sake.
|
|
28 And he
|
|
said, Appoint me thy wages, and I will
|
|
give <I>it.</I>
|
|
29 And he said unto him,
|
|
Thou knowest how I have served thee,
|
|
and how thy cattle was with me.
|
|
30 For <I>it was</I> little which thou hadst before
|
|
I <I>came,</I> and it is <I>now</I> increased
|
|
unto a multitude; and the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath
|
|
blessed thee since my coming: and
|
|
now when shall I provide for mine
|
|
own house also?
|
|
31 And he said,
|
|
What shall I give thee? And Jacob
|
|
said, Thou shalt not give me anything:
|
|
if thou wilt do this thing for me, I
|
|
will again feed <I>and</I> keep thy flock:
|
|
32 I will pass through all thy flock to day,
|
|
removing from thence all the speckled
|
|
and spotted cattle, and all the brown
|
|
cattle among the sheep, and the spotted
|
|
and speckled among the goats: and
|
|
<I>of such</I> shall be my hire.
|
|
33 So shall
|
|
my righteousness answer for me in
|
|
time to come, when it shall come for
|
|
my hire before thy face: every one
|
|
that <I>is</I> not speckled and spotted among
|
|
the goats, and brown among the sheep,
|
|
that shall be counted stolen with me.
|
|
34 And Laban said, Behold, I would it
|
|
might be according to thy word.
|
|
35 And he removed that day the he goats
|
|
that were ringstraked and spotted, and
|
|
all the she goats that were speckled and
|
|
spotted, <I>and</I> every one that had <I>some</I>
|
|
white in it, and all the brown among
|
|
the sheep, and gave <I>them</I> into the hand
|
|
of his sons.
|
|
36 And he set three days'
|
|
journey betwixt himself and Jacob: and
|
|
Jacob fed the rest of Laban's flocks.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. Jacob's thoughts of home. He faithfully
|
|
served his time out with Laban, even
|
|
his second apprenticeship, though he was an
|
|
old man, had a large family to provide for,
|
|
and it was high time for him to set up for
|
|
himself. Though Laban's service was hard,
|
|
and he had cheated him in the first bargain
|
|
he had made, yet Jacob honestly performs
|
|
his engagements. Note, A good man, though
|
|
he swear to his own hurt, will not change.
|
|
And though others have deceived us this
|
|
will not justify us in deceiving them. Our
|
|
rule is to do as we <I>would be</I> done by, not as
|
|
we <I>are</I> done by. Jacob's term having expired,
|
|
he begs leave to be gone,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. He retained his affection for the land
|
|
of Canaan, not only because it was the land
|
|
of his nativity, and his father and mother were
|
|
there, whom he longed to see, but because it
|
|
was the land of promise; and, in token of his
|
|
dependence upon the promise of it, though he
|
|
sojourn in Haran he can by no means think
|
|
of settling there. Thus should we be affected
|
|
towards our heavenly country, looking upon
|
|
ourselves as strangers here, viewing the
|
|
heavenly country as our home, and longing
|
|
to be there, as soon as the days of our service
|
|
upon earth are numbered and finished.
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page182"> </A>
|
|
|
|
We must not think of taking root here, for
|
|
this is not our place and country,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+13:14">Heb. xiii. 14</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. He was desirous to go to Canaan,
|
|
though he had a great family to take with
|
|
him, and no provision yet made for them.
|
|
He had got wives and children with Laban,
|
|
but nothing else; yet he does not solicit
|
|
Laban to give him either a portion with his
|
|
wives or the maintenance of some of his
|
|
children. No, all his request is, <I>Give me my
|
|
wives and my children, and send me away,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:25,26"><I>v.</I> 25, 26</A>.
|
|
Note, Those that trust in God, in
|
|
his providence and promise, though they
|
|
have great families and small incomes, can
|
|
cheerfully hope that he who sends mouths
|
|
will send meat. He who feeds the brood of
|
|
the ravens will not starve the seed of the
|
|
righteous.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Laban's desire of his stay,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
In love to himself, not to Jacob or to his wives
|
|
or children, Laban endeavours to persuade
|
|
him to continue his chief shepherd, entreating
|
|
him, by the regard he bore him, not to
|
|
leave him: <I>If I have found favour in thy eyes,
|
|
tarry.</I> Note, Churlish selfish men know
|
|
how to give good words when it is to serve
|
|
their own ends. Laban found that his stock
|
|
had wonderfully increased with Jacob's good
|
|
management, and he owns it, with very good
|
|
expressions of respect both to God and Jacob:
|
|
<I>I have learned by experience that the Lord has
|
|
blessed me for thy sake.</I> Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. Laban's
|
|
learning: <I>I have learned by experience.</I> Note,
|
|
There is many a profitable good lesson to be
|
|
learned by experience. We are very unapt
|
|
scholars if we have not learned by experience
|
|
the evil of sin, the treachery of our own
|
|
hearts, the vanity of the world, the goodness
|
|
of God, the gains of godliness, and the like.
|
|
|
|
2. Laban's lesson. He owns,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That his
|
|
prosperity was owing to God's blessing: <I>The
|
|
Lord has blessed me.</I> Note, worldly men,
|
|
who choose their portion in this life, are often
|
|
blessed with an abundance of this world's
|
|
goods. Common blessings are given plentifully
|
|
to many that have no title to covenant-blessings.
|
|
|
|
(3.) That Jacob's piety had
|
|
brought that blessing upon him: <I>The Lord
|
|
has blessed me,</I> not for my own sake (let not
|
|
such a man as Laban, that lives without God
|
|
in the world, <I>think that he shall receive any
|
|
thing of the Lord,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jam+1:7">Jam. i. 7</A>),
|
|
but <I>for thy
|
|
sake.</I> Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Good men are blessings to
|
|
the places where they live, even where they
|
|
live meanly and obscurely, as Jacob in the
|
|
field, and Joseph in the prison,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+39:23"><I>ch.</I> xxxix. 23</A>.
|
|
|
|
[2.] God often blesses bad men with outward
|
|
mercies for the sake of their godly relations,
|
|
though it is seldom that they have either the
|
|
wit to see it or the grace to own it, as Laban
|
|
did here.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The new bargain they came upon.
|
|
Laban's craft and covetousness took advantage
|
|
of Jacob's plainness, honesty, and good-nature;
|
|
and, perceiving that Jacob began to
|
|
be won upon by his fair speeches, instead of
|
|
making him a generous offer and bidding
|
|
high, as he ought to have done, all things
|
|
considered, he puts it upon him to make
|
|
his demands
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>):
|
|
<I>Appoint me thy wages,</I>
|
|
knowing he would be very modest in them,
|
|
and would ask less than he could for shame
|
|
offer. Jacob accordingly makes a proposal
|
|
to him, in which,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
1. He shows what reason he had to insist
|
|
upon so much, considering,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That Laban
|
|
was bound in gratitude to do well for him,
|
|
because he had served him not only faithfully,
|
|
but very successfully,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>.
|
|
Yet here
|
|
observe how he speaks, like himself, very
|
|
modestly. Laban had said, <I>The Lord has
|
|
blessed me for thy sake;</I> Jacob will not say
|
|
so, but, <I>The Lord has blessed thee since my
|
|
coming.</I> Note, Humble saints take more
|
|
pleasure in doing good than in hearing of it
|
|
again.
|
|
|
|
(2.) That he himself was bound in
|
|
duty to take care of his own family: <I>Now,
|
|
when shall I provide for my own house also?</I>
|
|
Note, Faith and charity, though they are
|
|
excellent things, must not take us off from
|
|
making necessary provisions for our own
|
|
support, and the support of our families.
|
|
We must, like Jacob, <I>trust in the Lord and
|
|
do good,</I> and yet we must, like him, provide
|
|
for our own houses also; he that does not the
|
|
latter <I>is worse than an infidel,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ti+5:8">1 Tim. v. 8</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. He is willing to refer himself to the
|
|
providence of God, which, he knew, extends
|
|
itself to the smallest things, even the colour
|
|
of the cattle; and he will be content to have
|
|
for his wages the sheep and goats of such
|
|
and such a colour, speckled, spotted, and
|
|
brown, which should hereafter be brought
|
|
forth,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:32,33"><I>v.</I> 32, 33</A>.
|
|
This, he thinks, will be a
|
|
most effectual way both to prevent Laban's
|
|
cheating him and to secure himself from
|
|
being suspected of cheating Laban. Some
|
|
think he chose this colour because in Canaan
|
|
it was generally most desired and delighted
|
|
in; their shepherds in Canaan are called
|
|
<I>Nekohim</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Am+1:1">Amos i. 1</A>),
|
|
the word here used for
|
|
<I>speckled;</I> and Laban was willing to consent
|
|
to this bargain because he thought if the few
|
|
he has that were now speckled and spotted
|
|
were separated from the rest, which by agreement
|
|
was to be done immediately, the body
|
|
of the flock which Jacob was to tend, being
|
|
of one colour, either all black or all white,
|
|
would produce few or none of mixed colours,
|
|
and so he should have Jacob's service for
|
|
nothing, or next to nothing. According to
|
|
this bargain, those few that were party-coloured
|
|
were separated, and put into the
|
|
hands of Laban's sons, and sent three days'
|
|
journey off; so great was Laban's jealously
|
|
lest any of them should mix with the rest of
|
|
the flock, to the advantage of Jacob. And
|
|
now a fine bargain Jacob has made for
|
|
himself! Is this his providing for his own
|
|
house, to put it upon such an uncertainty?
|
|
If these cattle bring forth, as usually cattle
|
|
do, young ones of the same colour with themselves,
|
|
he must still serve for nothing, and
|
|
be a drudge and a beggar all the days of his
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page183"> </A>
|
|
|
|
life; but he knows whom he has trusted, and
|
|
the event showed,
|
|
|
|
(1.) That he took the best
|
|
way that could be taken with Laban, who
|
|
otherwise would certainly have been too hard
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for him. And,
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|
|
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(2.) That it was not in vain
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|
to rely upon the divine providence, which
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|
owns and blesses honest humble diligence.
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|
Those that find men whom they deal with
|
|
unjust and unkind shall not find God so,
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|
but, some way or other, he will recompense
|
|
the injured, and be a good pay-master to
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|
those that commit their cause to him.</P>
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|
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<A NAME="Ge30_37"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge30_38"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge30_39"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge30_40"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge30_41"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge30_42"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge30_43"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Jacob's Ingenious Policy.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1745.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>37 And Jacob took him rods of
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|
green poplar, and of the hazel and
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|
chesnut tree; and pilled white strakes
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|
in them, and made the white appear
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|
which <I>was</I> in the rods.
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|
38 And he
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|
set the rods which he had pilled before
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|
the flocks in the gutters in the
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|
watering troughs when the flocks came
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|
to drink, that they should conceive
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|
when they came to drink.
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|
39 And
|
|
the flocks conceived before the rods,
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|
and brought forth cattle ringstraked,
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|
speckled, and spotted.
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|
40 And Jacob
|
|
did separate the lambs, and set
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|
the faces of the
|
|
flocks toward the ringstraked,
|
|
and all the brown in the flock
|
|
of Laban; and he put his own flocks
|
|
by themselves, and put them not unto
|
|
Laban's cattle.
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|
41 And it came to
|
|
pass, whensoever the stronger cattle
|
|
did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods
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|
before the eyes of the cattle in the gutters,
|
|
that they might conceive among
|
|
the rods.
|
|
42 But when the cattle
|
|
were feeble, he put <I>them</I> not in: so the
|
|
feebler were Laban's, and the stronger
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|
Jacob's.
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|
43 And the man increased
|
|
exceedingly, and had much cattle, and
|
|
maidservants, and menservants, and
|
|
camels, and asses.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
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<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is Jacob's honest policy to make his
|
|
bargain more advantageous to himself than
|
|
it was likely to be. If he had not taken
|
|
some course to help himself, it would have
|
|
been a bad bargain indeed, which he knew
|
|
Laban would never consider, or rather would
|
|
be well pleased to see him a loser by, so little
|
|
did Laban consult any one's interest but his
|
|
own. Now Jacob's contrivances were,
|
|
|
|
1. To set peeled sticks before the cattle where
|
|
they were watered, that, looking much at
|
|
those unusual party-coloured sticks, by the
|
|
power of imagination they might bring forth
|
|
young ones in like manner party-coloured,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:37-39"><I>v.</I> 37-39</A>.
|
|
Probably this custom was commonly
|
|
used by the shepherds of Canaan,
|
|
who coveted to have their cattle of this
|
|
motley colour. Note, It becomes a man to
|
|
be master of his trade, whatever it is, and to
|
|
be not only industrious, but ingenious in it,
|
|
and to be versed in all its lawful arts and
|
|
mysteries; for what is a man but his trade?
|
|
There is a discretion which God teaches the
|
|
husbandman (as plain a trade as that is), and
|
|
which he ought to learn,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+28:26">Isa. xxviii. 26</A>.
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|
|
|
2. When he began to have a stock of ringstraked
|
|
and brown, he contrived to set them
|
|
first, and to put the faces of the rest towards
|
|
them, with the same design as in the former
|
|
contrivance; but would not let his own, that
|
|
were of one colour,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:40"><I>v.</I> 40</A>.
|
|
Strong impressions,
|
|
it seems, are made by the eye, with
|
|
which therefore we have need to make a
|
|
covenant.
|
|
|
|
3. When he found that his project
|
|
succeeded, through the special blessing
|
|
of God upon it, he contrived, by using it
|
|
only with the stronger cattle, to secure to
|
|
himself those that were most valuable, leaving
|
|
the feebler to Laban,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:41,42"><I>v.</I> 41, 42</A>.
|
|
Thus <I>Jacob
|
|
increased exceedingly</I>
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+30:43"><I>v.</I> 43</A>),
|
|
and grew very
|
|
rich in a little time. This success of his
|
|
policy, it is true, was not sufficient to justify
|
|
it, if there had been any thing fraudulent or
|
|
unjust in it, which we are sure there was
|
|
not, for he did it by divine direction
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+31:12"><I>ch.</I> xxxi. 12</A>);
|
|
nor was there any thing in the
|
|
thing itself but the honest improvement of
|
|
a fair bargain, which the divine providence
|
|
wonderfully prospered, both in justice to
|
|
Jacob whom Laban had wronged and dealt
|
|
hardly with and in pursuance of the particular
|
|
promises made to him of the tokens
|
|
of the divine favour, Note, Those who,
|
|
while their beginning is small, are humble
|
|
and honest, contented and industrious, are
|
|
in a likely way to see their latter end greatly
|
|
increasing. He that is faithful in a little
|
|
shall be entrusted with more. He that is
|
|
faithful in that which is another man's shall
|
|
be entrusted with something of his own.
|
|
Jacob, who had been a just servant, became
|
|
a rich master.</P>
|
|
|
|
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