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<TITLE>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible [Genesis, Chapter XXIX].</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="MHC01030.HTM">Next</A>]<BR>
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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="Page174"> </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. XXIX.</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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This chapter gives us an account of God's providences concerning
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Jacob, pursuant to the promises made to him in the foregoing
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chapter.
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I. How he was brought in safety to his journey's end,
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and directed to his relations there, who bade him welcome,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:1-14">ver. 1-14</A>.
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II. How he was comfortably disposed of in marriage,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:15-30">ver. 15-30</A>.
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III. How his family was built up in the birth of
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four sons,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:31-35">ver. 31-35</A>.
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The affairs of princes and mighty nations
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that were then in being are not recorded in the book of God, but
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are left to be buried in oblivion; while these small domestic concerns
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of holy Jacob are particularly recorded with their minute
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circumstances, that they may be in everlasting remembrance.
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For "the memory of the just is blessed."</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Ge29_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_8"> </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>Jacob's Arrival at Padan-aram.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1760.</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>1 Then Jacob went on his journey,
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and came into the land of the people of the
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east.
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2 And he looked,
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and behold a well in the field, and, lo,
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there <I>were</I> three flocks of sheep lying
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by it; for out of that well they watered
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the flocks: and a great stone
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<I>was</I> upon the well's mouth.
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3 And
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thither were all the flocks gathered:
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and they rolled the stone from the
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well's mouth, and watered the sheep,
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and put the stone again upon the well's
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mouth in his place.
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4 And Jacob
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said unto them, My brethren, whence
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<I>be</I> ye? And they said, Of Haran <I>are</I>
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we.
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5 And he said unto them, Know
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ye Laban the son of Nahor? And
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they said, We know <I>him.</I>
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6 And he
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said unto them, <I>Is</I> he well? And they
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said, <I>He is</I> well: and, behold, Rachel
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his daughter cometh with the sheep.
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7 And he said, Lo, <I>it is</I> yet high day,
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neither <I>is it</I> time that the cattle should
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be gathered together: water ye
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the sheep, and go <I>and</I> feed <I>them.</I>
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8 And they said, We cannot, until all the
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flocks be gathered together, and <I>till</I>
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they roll the stone from the well's
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mouth; then we water the sheep.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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All the stages Israel's march to Canaan
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are distinctly noticed, but no particular
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journal is kept of Jacob's expedition further
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than Beth-el; no, he had no more such happy
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nights as he had at Beth-el, no more such
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visions of the Almighty. That was intended
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for a feast; he must not expect it to be his
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daily bread. But,
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1. We are here told how
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cheerfully he proceeded in his journey after
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the sweet communion he had with God at Beth-el:
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<I>Then Jacob lifted up his feet;</I> so
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the margin reads it,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:1"><I>v.</I> 1</A>.
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Then he went on
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with cheerfulness and alacrity, not burdened
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with his cares, nor cramped with his fears,
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being assured of God's gracious presence
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with him. Note, After the visions we have
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had of God, and the vows we have made to
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him in solemn ordinances, we should run
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the way of his commandments with enlarged
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hearts,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+12:1">Heb. xii. 1</A>.
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2. How happily he arrived
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at his journey's end. Providence
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brought him to the very field where his
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uncle's flocks were to be watered, and there
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he met with Rachel, who was to be his wife.
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Observe,
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(1.) The divine Providence is to be
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acknowledged in all the little circumstances
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which concur to make a journey, or other
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undertaking, comfortable and successful. If,
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when we are at a loss, we meet seasonably
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with those that can direct us--if we meet
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with a disaster, and those are at hand that
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will help us--we must not say that it was by
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chance, nor that fortune therein favoured us,
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but that it was by Providence, and that God
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therein favoured us. Our ways are ways of
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<A NAME="Page175"> </A>
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pleasantness, if we continually acknowledge
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God in them.
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(2.) Those that have flocks
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must look well to them, and be diligent to
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know their state,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+27:23">Prov. xxvii. 23</A>.
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What is
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here said of the constant care of the shepherds
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concerning their sheep
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:2,3,7,8"><I>v.</I> 2, 3, 7, 8</A>)
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may
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serve to illustrate the tender concern which
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our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the
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sheep, has for his flock, the church; for he
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is the good Shepherd, that knows his sheep,
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and is known of them,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Joh+10:14">John x. 14</A>.
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The stone at the well's mouth, which is so often
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mentioned here, was either to secure their
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property in it (for water was scarce, it was
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not there <I>usus communis aquarum--for every
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one's use</I>), or it was to save the well from
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receiving damage from the heat of the sun,
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or from any spiteful hand, or to prevent the
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lambs of the flock from being drowned in it.
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(3.) Separate interests should not take us
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from joint and mutual help; when all the
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shepherds came together with their flocks,
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then, like loving neighbours, at watering-time,
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they watered their flocks together.
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(4.) It becomes us to speak civilly and respectfully
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to strangers. Though Jacob was no courtier,
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but a plain man, dwelling in tents, and a
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stranger to compliment, yet he addresses
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himself very obligingly to the people he met
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with, and calls them his <I>brethren,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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The law of kindness in the tongue has a commanding
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power,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+31:26">Prov. xxxi. 26</A>.
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Some think
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he calls them brethren because they were of
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the same trade, shepherds like him. Though
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he was now upon his preferment, he was not
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ashamed of his occupation.
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(5.) Those that
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show respect have usually respect shown to
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them. As Jacob was civil to these strangers,
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so he found them civil to him. When he
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undertook to teach them how to despatch
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their business
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
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they did not bid him
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meddle with his own concerns and let them
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alone; but, though he was a stranger, they
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gave him the reason of their delay,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:8"><I>v.</I> 8</A>.
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Those that are neighbourly and friendly shall
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have neighbourly and friendly usage.</P>
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<A NAME="Ge29_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Rachel's Humility and Industry.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1760.</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>9 And while he yet spake with them,
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Rachel came with her father's sheep:
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for she kept them.
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10 And it came
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to pass, when Jacob saw Rachel the
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daughter of Laban his mother's brother,
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and the sheep of Laban his mother's
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brother, that Jacob went near,
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and rolled the stone from the well's
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mouth, and watered the flock of Laban
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his mother's brother.
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11 And
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Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his
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voice, and wept.
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12 And Jacob told
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Rachel that he <I>was</I> her father's brother,
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and that he <I>was</I> Rebekah's son:
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and she ran and told her father.
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13 And it came to pass, when Laban
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heard the tidings of Jacob his sister's
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son, that he ran to meet him, and
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embraced him, and kissed him, and
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brought him to his house. And he
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told Laban all these things.
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14 And
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Laban said to him, Surely thou <I>art</I>
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my bone and my flesh. And he abode
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with him the space of a month.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here we see,
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1. Rachel's humility and industry:
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<I>She kept her father's sheep</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
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that is, she took the care of them, having
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servants under her that were employed about
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them. Rachel's name signifies <I>a sheep.</I> Note,
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Honest useful labour is that which nobody
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needs be ashamed of, nor ought it to be a
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hindrance to any one's preferment.
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2. Jacob's
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tenderness and affection. When he understood
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that this was his kinswoman (probably
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he had heard of her name before), knowing
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what his errand was into that country, we
|
|
may suppose it struck his mind immediately
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that his must be his wife. Being already
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smitten with her ingenuous comely face
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(though it was probably sun-burnt, and she
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was in the homely dress of a shepherdess), he
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is wonderfully officious, and anxious to serve
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her
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>),
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and addresses himself to her with
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tears of joy and kisses of love,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>.
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She runs
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with all haste to tell her father; for she will
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by no means entertain her kinsman's address
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without her father's knowledge and approbation,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
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These mutual respects, at
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their first interview, were good presages of
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their being a happy couple.
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3. Providence
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made that which seemed contingent and fortuitous
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to give speedy satisfaction to Jacob's
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mind, as soon as ever he came to the place
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which he was bound for. Abraham's servant,
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when he came upon a similar errand, met
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with similar encouragement. Thus God guides
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his people with his eye,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+32:8">Ps. xxxii. 8</A>.
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It is a
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groundless conceit which some of the Jewish
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writers have, that Jacob, when he kissed
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Rachel, wept because he had been set upon
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in his journey by Eliphaz the eldest son of
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Esau, at the command of his father, and
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robbed of all his money and jewels, which
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his mother had given him when she sent him
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away. It was plain that it was his passion
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for Rachel, and the surprise of this happy
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meeting, that drew these tears from his eyes.
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4. Laban, though none of the best-humoured
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men, bade him welcome, was satisfied in the
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account he gave of himself, and of the reason
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of his coming in such poor circumstances.
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While we avoid the extreme, on the one
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hand, of being foolishly credulous, we must
|
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take heed of falling into the other extreme,
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of being uncharitably jealous and suspicious.
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Laban owned him for his kinsman: <I>Thou art
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my bone and my flesh,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:14">v. 14</A>.
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Note, Those
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are hard-hearted indeed that are unkind
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to their relations, and that <I>hide themselves
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from their own flesh,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+58:7">Isa. lviii. 7</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="Ge29_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_28"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_29"> </A>
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<A NAME="Ge29_30"> </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 Marriage.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1753.</TD></TR>
|
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
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|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>15 And Laban said unto Jacob,
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<A NAME="Page176"> </A>
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Because thou <I>art</I> my brother, shouldest
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thou therefore serve me for nought?
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tell me, what <I>shall</I> thy wages <I>be?</I>
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16 And Laban had two daughters: the
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name of the elder <I>was</I> Leah, and the
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name of the younger <I>was</I> Rachel.
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17 Leah <I>was</I> tender eyed; but Rachel
|
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was beautiful and well favoured.
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18 And Jacob loved Rachel; and said, I
|
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will serve thee seven years for Rachel
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thy younger daughter.
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19 And
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|
Laban said, <I>It is</I> better that I give her
|
|
to thee, than that I should give her
|
|
to another man: abide with me.
|
|
20 And Jacob served seven years for
|
|
Rachel; and they seemed unto him
|
|
<I>but</I> a few days, for the love he had to
|
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her.
|
|
21 And Jacob said unto Laban,
|
|
Give <I>me</I> my wife, for my days are
|
|
fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.
|
|
22 And Laban gathered together all
|
|
the men of the place, and made a
|
|
feast.
|
|
23 And it came to pass in the
|
|
evening, that he took Leah his daughter,
|
|
and brought her to him; and he
|
|
went in unto her.
|
|
24 And Laban
|
|
gave unto his daughter Leah Zilpah
|
|
his maid <I>for</I> a handmaid.
|
|
25 And
|
|
it came to pass, that in the morning,
|
|
behold, it <I>was</I> Leah: and he said to
|
|
Laban, What <I>is</I> this thou hast done
|
|
unto me? did not I serve with thee
|
|
for Rachel? wherefore then hast thou
|
|
beguiled me?
|
|
26 And Laban said,
|
|
It must not be so done in our country,
|
|
to give the younger before the
|
|
firstborn.
|
|
27 Fulfil her week, and we
|
|
will give thee this also for the service
|
|
which thou shalt serve with me yet
|
|
seven other years.
|
|
28 And Jacob did
|
|
so, and fulfilled her week: and he
|
|
gave him Rachel his daughter to wife
|
|
also.
|
|
29 And Laban gave to Rachel
|
|
his daughter Bilhah his handmaid to
|
|
be her maid.
|
|
30 And he went in
|
|
also unto Rachel, and he loved also
|
|
Rachel more than Leah, and served
|
|
with him yet seven other years.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
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<P>
|
|
|
|
Here is,
|
|
|
|
I. The fair contract made between
|
|
Laban and Jacob, during the month that
|
|
Jacob spent there as a guest,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:14"><I>v.</I> 14</A>.
|
|
It seems
|
|
he was not idle, nor did he spend his time in
|
|
sport and pastime; but like a man of business,
|
|
though he had no stock of his own, he
|
|
applied himself to serve his uncle, as he
|
|
had begun
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>)
|
|
when he <I>watered his flock.</I>
|
|
Note, Wherever we are, it is good to be
|
|
employing ourselves in some useful business,
|
|
which will turn to a good account to ourselves
|
|
or others. Laban, it seems, was so
|
|
taken with Jacob's ingenuity and industry
|
|
about his flocks that he was desirous he
|
|
should continue with him, and very fairly
|
|
reasons thus: "<I>Because thou art my brother,
|
|
shouldst thou therefore serve me for nought?</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>.
|
|
No, what reason for that?" If Jacob
|
|
be so respectful to his uncle as to give him
|
|
his service without demanding any consideration
|
|
for it, yet Laban will not be so unjust
|
|
to his nephew as to take advantage either of
|
|
his necessity or of his good-nature. Note,
|
|
Inferior relations must not be imposed upon;
|
|
if it be their duty to serve us, it is our duty
|
|
to reward them. Now Jacob had a fair
|
|
opportunity to make known to Laban the
|
|
affection he had for his daughter Rachel;
|
|
and, having no worldly goods in his hand
|
|
with which to endow her, he promises him
|
|
seven years' service, upon condition that, at
|
|
the end of the seven years, he would bestow
|
|
her upon him for his wife. It appears by
|
|
computation that Jacob was now seventy-seven
|
|
years old when he bound himself
|
|
apprentice for a wife, <I>and for a wife he kept
|
|
sheep,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+12:12">Hos. xii. 12</A>.
|
|
His posterity are there
|
|
reminded of it long afterwards, as an instance
|
|
of the meanness of their origin: probably
|
|
Rachel was young, and scarcely marriageable,
|
|
when Jacob first came, which made him
|
|
the more willing to stay for her till his seven
|
|
years' service had expired.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. Jacob's honest performance of his part
|
|
of the bargain,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
|
|
He served seven years
|
|
for Rachel. If Rachel still continued to keep
|
|
her father's sheep (as she did,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>),
|
|
his innocent
|
|
and religious conversation with her,
|
|
while they kept the flocks, could not but
|
|
increase their mutual acquaintance and affection
|
|
(Solomon's song of love is a pastoral); if
|
|
she now left it off, his easing her of that care
|
|
was very obliging. Jacob honestly served
|
|
out his seven years, and did not forfeit his
|
|
indentures, though he was old; nay, he
|
|
served them cheerfully: <I>They seemed to him
|
|
but a few days, for the love he had to her,</I> as
|
|
if it were more his desire to earn her than to
|
|
have her. Note, Love makes long and hard
|
|
services short and easy; hence we read of
|
|
<I>the labour of love,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Heb+6:10">Heb. vi. 10</A>.
|
|
If we know
|
|
how to value the happiness of heaven, the
|
|
sufferings of this present time will be as
|
|
nothing to us in comparison of it. An age
|
|
of work will be but as a few days to those
|
|
that love God and long for Christ's appearing.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. The base cheat which Laban put upon
|
|
him when he was out of his time: he put
|
|
Leah into his arms instead of Rachel,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:23"><I>v.</I> 23</A>.
|
|
This was Laban's sin; he wronged both
|
|
Jacob and Rachel, whose affections, doubtless,
|
|
were engaged to each other, and, if (as some
|
|
say) Leah was herein no better than an adulteress,
|
|
it was no small wrong to her too.
|
|
But it was Jacob's affliction, a damp to the
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page177"> </A>
|
|
|
|
mirth of the marriage-feast, when in the
|
|
morning behold it was Leah,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
It is
|
|
easy to observe here how Jacob was paid in
|
|
his own coin. He had cheated his own
|
|
father when he pretended to be Esau, and
|
|
now his father-in-law cheated him. Herein,
|
|
how unrighteous soever Laban was, the Lord
|
|
was righteous; as
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jdg+1:7">Judges i. 7</A>.
|
|
Even the
|
|
righteous, if they take a false step, are sometimes
|
|
thus recompensed on the earth. Many
|
|
that are not, like Jacob, disappointed in the
|
|
person, soon find themselves, as much to
|
|
their grief, disappointed in the character.
|
|
The choice of that relation therefore, on both
|
|
sides, ought to be made with good advice and
|
|
consideration, that, if there should be a disappointment,
|
|
it may not be aggravated by a
|
|
consciousness of mismanagement.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The excuse and atonement Laban made
|
|
for the cheat.
|
|
|
|
1. The excuse was frivolous:
|
|
<I>It must not be so done in our country,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>.
|
|
We have reason to think there was no such
|
|
custom of his country as he pretends; only
|
|
he banters Jacob with it, and laughs at
|
|
his mistake. Note, Those that can do wickedly
|
|
and then think to turn it off with a jest,
|
|
though they may deceive themselves and
|
|
others, will find at last that God is not
|
|
mocked. But if there had been such a custom,
|
|
and he had resolved to observe it, he
|
|
should have told Jacob so when he undertook
|
|
to serve him for his younger daughter. Note,
|
|
As saith the proverb of the ancients, <I>Wickedness
|
|
proceeds from the wicked,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+24:13">1 Sam. xxiv. 13</A>.
|
|
Those that deal with treacherous men must
|
|
expect to be dealt treacherously with.
|
|
|
|
2. His
|
|
compounding the matter did but make bad
|
|
worse: <I>We will give thee this also,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>.
|
|
Hereby he drew Jacob into the sin, and
|
|
snare, and disquiet, of multiplying wives,
|
|
which remains a blot in his escutcheon, and
|
|
will be so to the end of the world. Honest
|
|
Jacob did not design it, but to have kept as
|
|
true to Rachel as his father had done to Rebekah.
|
|
He that had lived without a wife to the
|
|
eighty-fourth year of his age could then have
|
|
been very well content with one; but Laban, to
|
|
dispose of his two daughters without portions,
|
|
and to get seven years' service more out of
|
|
Jacob, thus imposes upon him, and draws
|
|
him into such a strait by his fraud, that
|
|
(the matter not being yet settled, as it was
|
|
afterwards by the divine law,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Le+18:18">Lev. xviii. 18</A>,
|
|
and more fully since by our Saviour,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+19:5">Matt. xix. 5</A>)
|
|
he had some colourable reasons for
|
|
marrying them both. He could not refuse
|
|
Rachel, for he had espoused her; still less
|
|
could he refuse Leah, for he had married her;
|
|
and therefore Jacob must <I>be content, and take
|
|
two talents,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+5:23">2 Kings v. 23</A>.
|
|
Note, One sin
|
|
is commonly the inlet of another. Those that
|
|
go in by one door of wickedness seldom find
|
|
their way out but by another. The polygamy
|
|
of the patriarchs was, in some measure, excusable
|
|
in them, because, though there was a
|
|
reason against it as ancient as Adam's marriage
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mal+2:15">Mal. ii. 15</A>),
|
|
yet there was no express
|
|
command against it; it was in them a sin of
|
|
ignorance. It was not the product of any
|
|
sinful lust, but for the building up of the
|
|
church, which was the good that Providence
|
|
brought out of it; but it will by no means
|
|
justify the like practice now, when God's will
|
|
is plainly made known, that one man and
|
|
one woman only must be joined together,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+7:2">1 Cor. vii. 2</A>.
|
|
The having of many wives
|
|
suits well enough with the carnal sensual
|
|
spirit of the Mahomedan imposture, which
|
|
allows it; but we have not so learned Christ.
|
|
Dr. Lightfoot makes Leah and Rachel to be
|
|
figures of the two churches, the Jews under
|
|
the law and the Gentiles under the gospel:
|
|
the younger the more beautiful, and more in the
|
|
thoughts of Christ when he came in the
|
|
form of a servant; but he other, like Leah,
|
|
first embraced: yet in this the allegory does
|
|
not hold, that the Gentiles, the younger, were
|
|
more fruitful,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ga+4:27">Gal. iv. 27</A>.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Ge29_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge29_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge29_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge29_34"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="Ge29_35"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec4"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Increase of Jacob's Family.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 1749.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>31 And when the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> saw that
|
|
Leah <I>was</I> hated, he opened her womb:
|
|
but Rachel <I>was</I> barren.
|
|
32 And Leah
|
|
conceived, and bare a son, and she
|
|
called his name Reuben: for she said,
|
|
Surely the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath looked upon
|
|
my affliction; now therefore my husband
|
|
will love me.
|
|
33 And she conceived
|
|
again, and bare a son; and said,
|
|
Because the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath heard that I
|
|
<I>was</I> hated, he hath therefore given
|
|
me this <I>son</I> also: and she called his
|
|
name Simeon.
|
|
34 And she conceived
|
|
again, and bare a son; and said, Now
|
|
this time will my husband be joined
|
|
unto me, because I have born him
|
|
three sons: therefore was his name
|
|
called Levi.
|
|
35 And she conceived
|
|
again, and bare a son: and she said,
|
|
Now will I praise the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>: therefore
|
|
she called his name Judah; and
|
|
left bearing.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the birth of four of Jacob's
|
|
sons, all by Leah. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. That Leah,
|
|
who was less beloved, was blessed with children,
|
|
when Rachel was denied that blessing,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
|
|
See how Providence, in dispensing
|
|
its gifts, observes a proportion, to keep the
|
|
balance even, setting crosses and comforts
|
|
one over-against another, that none may be
|
|
either too much elevated or too much depressed.
|
|
Rachel wants children, but she is
|
|
blessed with her husband's love; Leah wants
|
|
that, but she is fruitful. Thus it was between
|
|
Elkana's two wives
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+1:5">1 Sam. i. 5</A>);
|
|
for the
|
|
Lord is wise and righteous. <I>When the Lord
|
|
saw that Leah was hated,</I> that is, loved less
|
|
than Rachel, in which sense it is required
|
|
that we hate father and mother, in comparison
|
|
with Christ
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+14:26">Luke xiv. 26</A>),
|
|
then the
|
|
Lord granted her a child, which was a rebuke
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Page178"> </A>
|
|
|
|
to Jacob, for making so great a difference
|
|
between those that he was equally related to,--a
|
|
check to Rachel, who perhaps insulted over
|
|
her sister upon that account,--and a comfort
|
|
to Leah, that she might not be overwhelmed
|
|
with the contempt put upon her: thus <I>God
|
|
giveth abundant honour to that which lacked,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+12:24">1 Cor. xii. 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. The names she gave her
|
|
children were expressive of her respectful
|
|
regards both to God and to her husband.
|
|
|
|
(1.) She appears very ambitious of her husband's
|
|
love: she reckoned the want of it her affliction
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>);
|
|
not upbraiding him with it as his
|
|
fault, nor reproaching him for it, and so
|
|
making herself uneasy to him, but laying it
|
|
to heart as her grief, which yet she had reason
|
|
to bear with the more patience because she
|
|
herself was consenting to the fraud by which
|
|
she became his wife; and we may well bear that
|
|
trouble with patience which we bring upon
|
|
ourselves by our own sin and folly. She
|
|
promised herself that the children she bore
|
|
him would gain her the interest she desired
|
|
in his affections. She called her first-born
|
|
<I>Reuben</I> (<I>see a son</I>), with this pleasant thought,
|
|
<I>Now will my husband love me;</I> and her third
|
|
son <I>Levi</I> (<I>joined</I>), with this expectation, <I>Now
|
|
will my husband by joined unto me,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>.
|
|
Mutual affection is both the duty and comfort
|
|
of that relation; and yoke-fellows should
|
|
study to recommend themselves to each other,
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Co+7:33,34">1 Cor. vii. 33, 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
(2.) She thankfully
|
|
acknowledges the kind providence of God in
|
|
it: <I>The Lord hath looked upon my affliction,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:32"><I>v.</I> 32</A>.
|
|
"<I>The Lord hath heard,</I> that is, taken
|
|
notice of it, <I>that I was hated</I> (for our afflictions,
|
|
as they are before God's eyes, so they
|
|
have a cry in his ears), <I>he has therefore given
|
|
me this son.</I>" Note, Whatever we have that
|
|
contributes either to our support and comfort
|
|
under our afflictions or to our deliverance from
|
|
them, God must be owned in it, especially his
|
|
pity and tender mercy. Her fourth she called
|
|
<I>Judah</I> (<I>praise</I>), saying, <I>Now will I praise the
|
|
Lord,</I>
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ge+29:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>.
|
|
And this was he of whom, as
|
|
concerning the flesh, Christ came. Note,
|
|
|
|
[1.] Whatever is the matter of our rejoicing
|
|
ought to be the matter of our thanksgiving.
|
|
Fresh favours should quicken us to praise
|
|
God for former favours. <I>Now will I praise
|
|
the Lord</I> more and better than I have done.
|
|
|
|
[2.] All our praises must centre in Christ,
|
|
both as the matter of them and as the Mediator
|
|
of them. He descended from him whose
|
|
name was praise, for he is our praise. Is
|
|
Christ formed in my heart? <I>Now will I praise
|
|
the Lord.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
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