Fke Dishonour 0
Fke Dishonour 0/ Dinah. GENESIS XXXIV, XXXV. Jacob Meproveih Simeon and Levi.
The sons of Jacob answered—The honour of their family consist€d In having the sign of the covenant. Circumcision was the external rite by which persons were ailmitted members of the ancient Church. But Uiat outward rite could not make the Shechemites true Israelites; and yet It does not appear that Jacob's sons required any thing more. Nothing is said of their teaching the people to Worship the true Godj but only of their insisting on their being circumcised ; and it is evident that they did not seek to convert Shechem, but only made a show of religion—a cloak to cover their diabolical design. Hypocrisy and deceit, in all cases vicious, are inflnitetj' more so when accompanied with a show of religion ; and here the sons of Jacob, under the pretence of conscientious scruples, conceal a scheme of treachery as cruel and diabolical as was, perhaps, ever perpetrated. 30. Hamor and Shechem . . . came unto the gate of their city—That was the place where every public communication was made; and in the ready obsequious submission of the people to this measure we see an evidence either of the extraordinary af Tection for the governing family, or of the abjectdespotism of the East, wherethewillof achief isanabtentlon, passing round the Dead Sea, to visit his brother lu Seir, and thus, without crossing the Jordan, go to Beerslieba to Isaac; but he clianged his plan, and whether the intention was carried out then or at a future period has not been recorded. 17. Jacob journeyed to Siiccoth
/. e., booths, that being the first station at whicli Jacob lialted on his arrival in Canaan. His posterity, when dwelling in houses of stone, built a city there and called it Succoth, to commemorate the fact that their ancestor, " a Syrian ready to perish," was glad to dwell in booths. 19. Slialem i. e., peace ; and the meaning may be that Jacob came into Canaan, arriving safe and sound at the city Shechem—a tribute to Him wlio had promised such a return (cf. ch. 28. 15). But most writers take Shalem as a proper name—a city of Shechem, and the site is marked by one of the little villages about two miles to the north-east. A little further in the valley below Shechem " he bought a parcel of a field, where he spread his tent," thus Ijeing the first of the patriarchs who became a proprietor of land in Canaan. 19. an hunclred pieces of money—pieces, lit., " lambs;" probably a coin with the figure of a lamb on it. 30. and he erected . . . on altar—A beautiful proof of his personal piety, a most suitable conclusion to his journey, and a lasting memorial of a distinguished favour in the name "God, the God of Israel." Wherever we pitch a tent God shall have an altar.
solute command. 30. Jacob said . . . Ye have tronbled me—This atrocious outrage perpetrated on the defenceless citizens and their families made the cup of Jacob's affliction overflow. We may wonder that, in speaking of it to his sons, he did not represent it as a heinous sin—an atrocious violation of the laws of God and man, but dwelt solely on the present consequences. It was probably because that was the only view likely to rouse the coldblooded apathy, the hardened consciences of those ruffian sons. Nothing but the restraining power of God saved him and his family from the united vengeance of the people (cf. ch. 35. 5). All his sons had not been engaged in the massacre. Joseph was a boy, Benjamin not yet born, and the other eight not concerned In It. Simeon and Levi alone, with their retainers, had been the guilty actors In the bloody tragedy. But the Canaanltes would not be discriminating In their vengeance; and if
CHAPTEE XXXIV.
Ver. 1-31. The Dishonour of Dinah. 1-4. Though freed from foreign troubles, Jacob met with a great domestic calamity in the fall of his only daughter. According to Josephus, she had been attending a festival ; but it
Is highly probable that she had been often and freely mixing in the society of the place, and that being a simple. Inexperienced, and vain young woman, had been flattered by the attentions of the ruler's son. There must have been time and opportunities of acquaintance to produce the strong attachment that Shechem had for her.
all the Shechemites were put to death for the of Tence of their clilef s son, what wonder If the natives should extend their hatred to all the family of Jacob; and who probably, equalled, in number, the Inhabitants of that village.
5. Jacob Held Uls pence—Jacob, as a father and a good man, must liave been deeply distressed. But he could do little. In the ease of a family by difierent wives, it is not the father, but the full brotliers, on whom the protection of tlie daugliters devolves—they are the guardians of a sis-
CHAPTER XXXV.
ter s welfare and the avengers of her wrongs. It was for this reason that Simeon and Levi, the two brothers of Dinah by Leah, appear tlie chief actors in this episode; and tliough the two fathers would have probably brought about an ainical>le arrangement of the affair, the hasty arrival of these enraged brothers introduced a new element into the negotiations. 6. Ilamor i.e., ass; and it
Ver. 1-15. Removal, to Bbthei.. 1. God said unto Jacob, Arise, <fec.—This command was given as seasonably in point of time, as tenderly in respect of language. The disgraceful and perilous events that had recently taken place in the patriarch's family must have produced in him a strong desire to remove without delay from the vicinity of Shechem. Borne down by an overwhelming sense of the criminality of his two sons—of the offence they had given to God, and the dishonour they had brought on the true faith ; distracted, too, with anxiety, about the probable consequences which their outrage might bring upon himself and family, should the Canaanis a striking proof of the very difl'erent ideas wlilcli, in tlie East, are associated with that animal, which there appears sprightly, well proportioned, and of groat activity. This chief is called Emmor (Acts 7. 1(>). 7. tlie men were grieved, and . . . very wroth—Good mev ^u sucli a case could not but grieve; but it would have beeh well if their anger had been less, or that they had known tlie precept " let not the sun go down upon your wrath." No Injury can justify revenge (Deuteronomy 32. 35 ; Romans 12.9); hut Jacob's sons planned a scheme of revenge In the most deceitful manner. 8. Ilamor commnncd with them The prince and his son seem at first slglit to liavo acted honestly, and our feelings are enlisted on their side. They betray no jealousy of the powerful shephenls; on the contrary, show every desire to establish friendly Intercourse. But their conduct was unjustifiable In neither expressing regret nor restoring Dinah to her family; and this great error was the true cause of the negotiations ending In ho unhappy a manner. II. Shechem said unto lier father ite people combine to extirpate such a band of robbers and murderers ; he must have felt this call as affording a great relief to his afflicted feelings. At the same time it conveyed a tender rebuke, go up to Bethel—Bethel was about thirty miles south of Shechem; and was an ascent from a low to a highland country. There, he would not only be released from the painful associations of the latter place, but be established on a spot that would revive the most delightful and sublime recollections. The pleasure of revisiting it, however, was not altogether unalloyed, make tliere an altar nuto (>od, that appeared—It too frequently happens that early impressions are effaced through lapse of time—that promises made In seasons of distress, are forgotten ; or, If remembered on the return of health and prosperity, there Is not the same alacrity and sense of ol)ligation felt to fulfil tliem. Jacob was lying under that charge. He had fallen Into spiritual Indolence.
, . . and brethren—The consideration of the iHoiiosnl for marriage belonged to Jacob, and he cirtatnly sliowed great weakness In yielding so much to the fiery ImpetuOHlty of Ills sons. The sequel shows the unhappy conse-
of that concession. 13. Auk me never 80 mnch dowry and gift—Tho gift refers to the presents made at
It was now eight or ton years since his return to Canaan. He had eirected a comfortable settlement; and had neknowledged the Divine mercies, by which that return and betrothal, both to the bride elect and lier relations (cf. oh. U. 53) the dowry to a suitable settlement upon her. 13. 3b
Sis Removal to BetAd. GENESIS XXXVI. Death of Isaac.
event seems to have taken place before the solemnitic* were commenced. Deborah—a bee—supposing her to have been fifty years on coming to Canaan, she had attained the great age of 180. When she was removed from Isaac's y household to Jacob's, is unknown. But it jsrobably was on his return from Mesopotamia; and she would have been of invaluable service to liis young family. Old nurses, like her, were not only honoured, but loved as mothers ; and, accordingly, her death was the occasion of so great lamentation. She was buried under the oak hence called "the terebinth of tears" (cf. 1 Kings 13.11). God was pleased to make a new appearance to him after the solemn rites of devotion were over. By this manifestation of his presence, God testified his acceptance of Jacob's "sacrifice, renewed the promise of the blessings guaranteed to Abraham and Isaac ; and the patriarch observed the ceremony wii which he had formerly consecrated the place ; comprising a sacramental cup, along with the oil that he poured on the pillar; and reimposing the memorable name. The whole scene was in accordance with the character of the patriarchal dispensation, in which the great truths of religion were exhibited to the senses, and "the world's grey fathers" taught in a manner suited to the weakness of an infantine condition. 13. God went up from him—The presence of God was indicated in some visible form, and his acceptance of the seitiement had been signally distinguished (of. ch. 33. 19). But for some uuredorded reason, his early vow at Bethel, In a great crisis of his life, remained unperformed. The Lord appeared now to remind him of his neglected duty, in terms, however, so mild, as awakened less the memory of his fault, than of the kindness of his heavenly Guardian ; and liow much Jacob felt the touching nature of the appeal to that memorable scene at Bethel, appears in the immediate preparations he made to arise and go up thither (Psalm 66. 13). ». Then Jacob gala unto Ills houseliold . . . Put away tlie strange gods tliat are among you Hebrew, gods of the stranger—of foreign nations. Jacob had brought, in his service, a number of Mesopotamian retainers, who were addicted to superstitious practices; and there is some reason to fear that the same high testimony as to the religious superintendence of his household could not have been borne of him as was done of Abraham (ch. 18. 19). He might have been too negligent hitherto in winking at these evils in his servants; or, perhaps. It was not till his arrival in Canaan, that le had learnt, for the fli'st time, that one nearer and deai«r to him was secretly infected with the same corruption ii;>i. 31. 31). Be that as it may, he resolved on an inimediale and thorough reformation of his household; and in commanding them to put away the strange gods, he added, " be clean, and change j-our garments ;" as if some defilement, from contact with idolatry, should still remain about them. In the law of Moses, many ceremonial purilications were ordained, and obsei ved by persons who had contracted certain defilements, and without the observance of which, they were reckoned unclean and unfit sacrifice shown by the miraculous descent of fire from heaven, consuming it on the altar.
l()-27. Birth of Benjamin—Death of Rachel, Ac. 16. they journeyed from Beth-el—There can be nodoubt that much enjoyment was experienced at Bethel , and that in the religious observances solemnized, as well as in the vivid recollections of the glorious vision seen there, the affections of the patriarch were powerfully animated, and that he left the place a better and more devoted servaiit of God. When the solemnities were over, Jacob, with his family, pursued a route directly southward, and they reached Ephrath, when they were plunged.into mourning by the death of Rachel, who sank in child-birth, leaviug a posthumous son. A very afl Tecting deth, considerini,; how ardently the mind of Rachel had been set on oflspring (cf. ch. 30. 1). 18. She called his name Ben-oni— The dying mother gave this name to her child, significant of her circumstances; but Jacob changed it into Beniamin. This is thought by some to have been oi'iginally Benjamim, "a son of days" i.e., of old age. But with to join in the social worship of God. These bodily pui illcations were purely figurative ; and as sacrifices were offered before the law, so also were external purifications, as appears from the words of Jacob; hence it would seem that types and sj'mbols were used from the fall of man, representing and teaching the two great doctrines of revealed truth viz., the atonement of Christ, and the sanctification of our nature. 4. tliey gave unto Jacob all tlie strange gods . . . and earrings—Strange gods—the Beraphim (cf. ch. 31. 30), as well, perhaps, as other idols got amongst the Shechefclte spoil—earrings of various forms, sizes, and materials, which are universally worn in the East, and, then as now, connected with incantation and idolatry (c£ Hosea 2. 13). The decided tone which Jacob now assumed, was the probable cause of the alacrity with which those favourite objects of superstition were surrendered. Jacob hid them under the oak—or terebinth—a towering tree, which, like all others of the kind, were striking objects in the scenery of Palestine ; and beneath which, at Shechem, the patriarch had pitched his its present ending it means "son of the right hand"—?', e., particularly dear and precious. 19. Ephrath, whicli is Bcth-lehem—The one the old, the other the later name, signifying " house of bread." 20. and Jacob seta pillar on her grave . . . unto this day—The spot still marked out as the grave of Rachel exactly agrees with tlie Scriptural record, being about a mile from Bethlehem. Anciently it was surmounted by a pyramid of stones, but the present tomb is a Mohammedan erection. 32-;J«. Sons of Jacob . . . boi-n to him in Padnn-aram—It is a common practice of the sacred historian to say of a company or body of men that which, though true of the majority, may not be applicable to every individual. See Matthew 19.28; John 20.21; Hebrews 11.13. Here is an example, for Benjamin was born in Canaan.
tent. He hid the Images and amulets, delivered to him by his Mesopotamian dependents, at the root of this tree. The oak being deemed a consecrated tree, to bury them at
Its root was to deposit them in a place where no bold hand would venture to disturb the ground; and hence it was called from this circumstance—"the plain of Meonenim" —i.e., the oak of enchantments (Judges 9.37); and from the great stone which Joshua set up—" the oak of the pillar" (Judges 9.6). 5. the terror of God was upon the cities—There was every reason to apprehend that a storm of indignation would burst from all quarters upon .Jacob's family, and that the Canaanite tribes would have formed one united plan of revenge. But a supernatural panic seized them; and thus, for the sake of the "heir of the promise," the protecting shield of Providence was specially held over his family. G. So Jacob came to Luz . . . that is, Bethel—It is probable that this place was unoccupied ground when Jacob first went to it; and that after that period [Calvin], the Canaanitcs built a town, to which they gave the name of Luz, from the profusion of ilmond tiees that grew around. The name of Bethel, which would, of course, be confined to Jacob and his family, did not supersede the original one, till long after.
28,29. Death OF Isaac. 29. Isaac gave up the gho>t —The death of this venerable patriarch is here rec<n-df d by anticipation, for it did not take place till fifteen years after Joseph's disappearance. Feeble and blind tho Vgli he was, he lived to a very advanced age; and it is a phwing evidence of the permanent reconciliation belwe< ii Esau and Jacob that they met at Mamre to perform the funeral rites of their common father.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
"Ver. 1-43. Posterity of Esau. 1. these are the p;et»- erations—history of the leading men and events (cf. cli.
2.4). Esau who is Edom—A name applied to him in
It Is now Identified with the modern Beltin, and lies on the western slope of the mountain on which Abraham built his altar (Genesis 12.8). 7. El-Beth-el-i. >>., the God reference to the peculiar colour of his skin at birth, rendered more significant by his inordinate craving for t!i« red pottage, and also by the fierce sanguinary character of Ijctliel. 8. Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died—This