Genesis 31
DOYLYChap. XXXII. ver. 2. — Mahanaim.] That is, two hosts, or camps, the angels probably appearing in two companies: or else it may have respect to the host or camp of Jacob, and the other host of the angels. Bp. Kidder.
— the hollow of his thigh.] The upper part of his thigh, or hip-bone where the joint is. Bp. Kidder.
— out of joint.] Though Jacob prevailed, yet he met with difficulty and pain to keep him from vaunting his own strength, and being “exalted above measure,” 2 Cor. xii. 7. Bp. Kidder. This bodily affliction was left to humble him, and at the same time to testify, that it was not a mere man with whom he strove. Bp. Hall.
Genesis 31:3
- — unto the land of Seir,] Which Esau, it seems, had conquered in Jacob’s absence, according to the blessing of his father, “by thy sword shalt thou live.” Bp. Patrick.
Genesis 31:4
- — my lord Esau;] By the Divine direction Jacob was constituted Esau’s lord; nor did he forego that prerogative by calling himself Esau’s servant. Lord and servant were, as they are now, certain modes of civility. Jacob therefore might address Esau in this manner, without derogating from his own spiritual pre-eminence: and confining himself to the bounds of nature, might reverence him as his elder brother. Stackhouse.
Genesis 31:9
- And Jacob said, O God &c.] This should be the practice of Christians, to go immediately to God in all
He saddeth a present to Esau. CHAP. XXXII. He wrestleth with an angel at Peniel. Before CHRIST 1/29. here them all. he.
Genesis 31:10
- — with my staff I passed over &c.] I had nothing but this staff in my hand, when I left my father’s house: as humble and very affecting expression of God’s mercy to him; and a lesson to the rich, to put them in mind that it is God alone, to whom they stand obliged for all their wealth and riches. Bp. Wilson.
Genesis 31:13
- — and took of that which came to his hand] What he could first light upon, without any choice: or, it may be, “that which was in his hand;” what he had it to his power to offer; namely, the cattle, which are afterwards mentioned; though he had no jewels or precious raiment. Bp. Patrick.
Genesis 31:15
- — milch camels] Which had lately foaled. Borders observes out of Aristotle, Pliny, and many other authors, that nothing was more delicious in those countries than camel’s milk. Bp. Patrick.
Genesis 31:22
- — the ford Jabbok.] A small river, which is by all agreed to flow from the adjacent mountains of Gilead; but some represent it as running into the sea of Galilee, others into the river Jordan, below or south of that sea. Dr. Wells.
Genesis 31:24
- And Jacob was left alone:] He stayed alone, in all probability, that he might commend himself and his family to God by earnest prayer. Bp. Patrick.
— and there wrestled a man with him] That is, an angel in the appearance of a man; called also God. Comp. ver. 28, 30, with Hos. xii. 3, 4. A fair representation of Christ, both God and Man, and “the angel of the covenant,” Mal. iii. 1. Bp. Kidder.
Genesis 31:25
- And when he saw that he prevailed not] Jacob, hearing of his brother Esau’s power, and dreading his resentment, addresses himself, for protection in this distress, to the God of his fathers, with all humility and confidence. God hears his prayer, and is pleased to inform him of the happy issue of the adventure by a significative action: the following night he has a struggle with an angel, with whom he is suffered to make his part so good, that from thence he collected God had granted his petition. This information by action, concerning only the individual concerned in it, who little needed to be told the meaning of a mode of instruction, at that time in vulgar use, hath now an obscurity, which the Scripture-relations of the same mode of information to the Prophets are free from, by reason of their being given for the use of the people, to whom they were explained. Bp. Warburton.
It was a common custom among Eastern nations, to convey the knowledge of things by actions, as well as words. To this purpose we find Zedekiah “making him horns of iron,” thereby to portend victory to Ahab, 1 Kings xxii. 11; and Elisha ordering Joash to “strike the ground with arrows,” thence to presignify his triumph over the Syrians, 2 Kings xiii. 18. Nay even Hannibal himself, as Livy tells us, perceiving that his soldiers were not to be encouraged with words, made a publick shew for them, not so much to entertain their sight, as to give them an image and representation of their own condition. In like manner, God made use of this expedient to cure Jacob of his dejection. Stackhouse.
Jacob is called Israel. GENESIS. The kind meeting of Jacob and Esau.
the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob’s thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
b Hos. 12. 4. 26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, ‘I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
c Chap. 33. 27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
- 28 And he said, ‘Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
Genesis 31:28
- — Thy name shall be called &c.] Not only Jacob; or not so much Jacob as Israel: which name abolished the other in his posterity, who were called Israelites, but never by any name derived from Jacob. Bp. Patrick.
— Israel.] That is, a prince with God. Bp. Patrick. The latter part of the verse should be thus translated: “for thou hast been a prevaile with God; and with men thou shalt also powerfully prevail.” This is the true verbal translation of the Hebrew words, and is agreeable to the Chaldee Paraphrase, the Septuagint, and the Vulgate. Shuckford.
— and hast prevailed.] St. Jerome understands the
“wrestling” of Jacob as figurative of spiritual conflicts, which we are to maintain. Dr. Gray.
Genesis 31:30
- — my life is preserved.] He either alludes to an opinion, that if men saw one of the heavenly ministers, they should die presently: or the words may refer to the principal scope of the combat, which was to confirm Jacob against the fear of Esau. Bp. Patrick.
Genesis 31:32
- Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank.] That sinew or tendon, which fastens the hip-bone in its socket: comprehending the flesh of the muscle connected with it. He that ate of this was to be beaten, as the Jewish masters tell us, Bp. Patrick.
The Jews take great care to cut away the sinew of the thigh of such animals as they intend to eat. And in several places of Germany and Italy they will not eat any of the hinder quarter, because great nicety is required in taking away this sinew as it should be done, and few know how to do it exactly. Calmet.
Chap. XXXIII. ver. 10. — as though I had seen the
Genesis 31:40
- — in the day the drought consumed me, &c.] In Europe the days and nights resemble each other, with respect to the qualities of heat and cold; but it is quite otherwise in the East. In the lower Asia, in particular, the day is always hot: on the contrary, in the height of summer the nights are as cold as at Paris in the month
Genesis 31:42
- — the fear of Isaac.] The God whom Isaac feared, that is, worshipped. Bp. Patrick.
Genesis 31:45
- — set it up for a pillar.] Or monument. This monument must not be supposed to have been a heap of loose stones, for then it could not have continued long in the same position, nor have given a name to the country around it. It was doubtless a regular and permanent building; probably in the figure of a table, as they used it the next morning to eat and sacrifice upon. Biblioth. Bibl.
Genesis 31:47
- — Laban called it &c.] The one is a Syriack, the other a Hebrew name; both having the same signification. Bp. Patrick.
The covenant of Jacob and Laban. Jacob’s prayer. Before CHRIST 1729.
Genesis 31:55
- And — Laban rose up, &c.] There is something or other, that restraineth men from doing some evils, to which they have not only a natural proneness, but perhaps withal an actual desire and purpose. When we behold Laban, who had pursued seven days after Jacob in an hostile manner, upon overtaking him, do no more than expostulate with him, and then kiss him, and bless him, and return to his place; and when we behold Esau, who had vowed the death of Jacob, and who went forth to meet him with four hundred men, armed, as it should seem for his destruction, yet run to meet him on his approach, and embrace him, and fall on his neck, and kiss him: it cannot be imagined that such a stop should be made but by the powerful restraint of some superiour and over-ruling hand; nor may we doubt, that every such restraint, by whatsoever second and subordinate means it be furthered, is yet the proper work of God, as proceeding from and guided by His almighty and irresistible providence. It was God, that turned Laban’s revengeful thoughts into a friendly expostulation: it was the same God, that turned Esau’s inveterate malice into a kind brotherly congratulation. He that “hath set bounds to the sea, which, though the waves thereof rage horribly, they cannot pass,” hath in His hands, and at His command,