lustranti viderentur unius coloris et rufæ, furtim ablatæ iudicarentur. apparuit, et ex agnis, quicunque nigri fuerunt, in manum filiorum suorum. 33 Et respondebit pro me iustitia mea die 36. ] Sam., LXX., Saad.-Legem crastino, i.e., quam sincerum me erga te secutus, quam sibi in additamentis e locis gesserim, ipse tibi persuadebis, quando parallelis repetendis scripsit, Samaritanus. veneris ad mercedem meam, quæ coram te post hunc versum inserit probante Geddesio est, i.e., pecudes discolores, quæ mihi mer- ea, quæ infra de somnio Iacobi xxxi. 11—13, cedi erunt, perlustraturus. nobis offeruntur. In quibus paulum recedit 35 fasciis circumligati. Onk., Ion., ab Hebræis, quod pro habet post Arabb. et Persa, pedibus signatos intellexerunt in addit ", pro exhibet " (vid. Rosenmuelleri diss. de Pent. pers. denique pro i scripsit T. p. 25); Symm. λevкómodas, Gr. Ven. TеTе- Non dubito, quin hoc additamentum maius δημένους. aquamquam hæc hic a Sam. insertum sit, ut Iacobus ob artiverba (præter Hieronymum, qui transfert: ficium, quo in facultatibus augendis deinde cunctum gregem album) plerique interpretes usus est, non male sed bene audiret, quum exponunt: in quo albi aliquid est, i. e., pecus ei divinitus adiuto contigerit, ut ditesceret. maculosum et discolor, quia hac significa- Nam si ille lacunam narrationis tantum hac tione singula discoloris pecoris genera com- interpolatione tollere voluisset, procul dubio prehenduntur: male tamen ea coniunxerunt longe aptius inseruisset ea, quæ xxxi. 7, 8, cum seqq., quibuscum non cohærent nisi de mercedis sæpius a Labane mutatæ hac ratione separavit omne pecus varii ratione narrantur (quam respexit Ilgen coloris ab omni pecore unius coloris. Itaque Urk., p. 181 s.). Ceterum optime docuit per synecdochen positum est pro uni- Gesenius in diss. de Pent. Sam. p. 46, ss. colores. Attamen non plane displicet quanta sit cautio adhibenda, ne temere adHieronymi sententia, contra quem Clericus stipuleris istis interpolationibus, quæ in Penet Rosenmueller disputarunt, transferentis tateucho ab illo haud raro facta sunt. illius cunctum autem gregem unicolorem, id 38. Iacobum variis laciniis, quas in est, albi aut nigri velleris. Nam is haud aquariis posuerat contra pecudes coeuntes, dubie intelligit, Labanem separasse discolores imaginationes ovium unicolorum in fœtu pecudes ab unicoloribus, albis et rufis. formando tantopere excitasse, ut discolorem Quod quidem ut ex contextu sic ex lingua foetum procrearent, variis exemplis et testiferri potest. Verba enim ia ob moniis affirmant cum veteres tum recentiores. seqq. 2, cum quibus eadem Vid. Wineri Realw., p. 308. Rosenmuelleri constructione copulata sunt, reddi debent: Scholl. et Morgenl. P. I., p. 150. omnia quæ alba erant in iis i. e., in pecoribus, 40 De hoc versu, quum de legitima eius quæ modo commemoraverat auctor, et omnia interpretatione desperaverint, multa coniequæ rufa sunt in ovibus: igitur Laban sepa- cerunt interpretes. Nam præterquam quod ravit discoloria ab unicoloribus, ab albis et multi variam lectionem secuti sunt, ut suam rufis. et tradidit filiis suis. opinionem in textum inferrent, alii vel Quum scriptor v. 36, dicat, Iacobum re- inepta paraphrasi vel inconcinna verborum liquum gregem pascendum accepisse, sponte structura usi sunt ad mentem loci constiapparet, Labanem alteram partem pecudum tuendam. In iis præter LXX. numerandus (discolores) filiis, alteram (unicolores) Iacobo est Hieronymus, qui sic transfert: divisitque dedisse. Ex contextu autem (cfr. vv. 34— gregem Iacob, et posuit virgas in canalibus 36, cum 37, ss.) satis elucet, filios Labanis ante oculos arietum, erant autem alba et nigra accepisse discolores pecudes patris sui se- quæque Laban, cetera vero Iacob, separatis orsum custodiendas, ne hæ commiscerentur inter se gregibus. Plerique autem etsi me cum discoloribus Iacobi in posterum ipsi quidem indice recte statuunt, novum hic pariendis ab unicoloribus. Itaque Iacob Iacobi artificium, quo is in opibus augendis necessario pavit greges unicolores. Quæ usus sit, describi: a vero tamen aberrasse cum ita sint, haud scio annon peccaverint mihi videntur, quod verba interpretes in eo, quod verbum quod construunt vel cum proxime antecedd. py scriptor consulto posuisse videtur indefinite, hoc modo: et convertit faciem gregis ad ut ex contextu intelligatur, quæ pecora nodosum et ad omne fuscum in grege Labanis, Laban tradiderit, explicant: et tradidit hæc vel referunt ad 72 hac sententia: omnia, nodosa, varia, ea, in quibus albi quid ovium, quæ erant in grege Labanis, faciem 48 convertit ad varia et fusca sibi nata, sive : ληνοῖς, τοῦ ἐγκισσῆσαι αὐτὰ κατὰ τὰς ῥάβδους. arcte cohærere cum v. 39, ita, ut Iacob non omnes omnino agnos sed discolores tantum, qui parti erant, separarit; vult enim auctor, novam Iacobi astutiam commemoraturus, seqq. describere, quomodo et cur illi separati sint a reliquis pecudibus. Deinde vocc. ut illa significent: oculos gregis, quem pasce- Au. Ver. And it came to pass, whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive, that Jacob laid the rods 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 them not in: so the feebler were Laban's, and the stronger Jacob's. Ged. 41 Now this was Jacob's method. Whensoever the stronger part of the flock were coupling, Jacob put rods, by the gutters, before their eyes, that they might couple at the rods: but for the feebler of the flock he put no rods. 42 So the feebler of the young were Laban's, and the stronger were Jacob's. Bp. Patrick.-Ver. 41. This was his third artifice: which is thus expounded by the de Iacobi Chaldee and a great number of other authors, grege sed ut potius de unicoloribus pecu- (which may be seen in Bochart, par. i. dibus Labanis explicarentur hac ratione: Hierozoic. lib. ii. cap. 46), that he laid the convertit oculos gregis ad discoloria, nimirum rods before the cattle only in the springunicoloria in grege Labanis (repete ex ante- time, when the sun was ascending, and the cedd. convertit ad discoloria, quæ parta cattle lusty and vigorous; but let them erant Iacobo). Tum idem vice versa addidit alone when the cattle came together in explicationis causa in altera parte verba: September, or the declension of the year by one sh, ut antecedens i accura- (for they bred twice a-year in those countius definiretur hoc modo: sed greges suos tries), at which time they were become more seorsim posuit, i.e., eos (discolores) non posuit feeble. If he had always laid the rods contra gregem Labanis (contra unicolores). before the cattle, there might have been Itaque liquido apparet, Iacobum duplici none but spotted, and so Laban have been artificio imaginationem pecudum, ut uni- quite impoverished. Therefore he chose to colores discolores parerent, incitasse, et do it only in their first and prime copulation, virgis variis, in aquariis contra pecudes which was in the spring time; and omitted coeuntes positis, et eo, quod unicolores it in the later, which was in the autumn. Labanis pecudes ita collocavit, ut ante se Our famous Mr. Mede follows this interpreviderent pascere discolores Iacobi easque tation (Discourse xlv. p. 355.) But there is tamen oculis ab unicoloribus aversas, ne no certainty in it: for Pliny and Columella discolores unicolorium adspectu et imagina- prefer those begot in autumn to those begot tione conciperent unicolores. Ver. 41, 42. 41 in the spring. And therefore our translation together, and not when the weaker. And וְשָׁם יַעֲקֹב אֶת־הַמַּקְלוֹת לְעֵינֵי הַצְאן so the LXX. understood the words, with- 41 ἐγένετο δὲ ἐν τῷ καιρῷ ᾧ ἐνεκίσσων τα 41, 42. Sequitur tertium artificium, quo πρόβατα ἐν γαστρὶ λαμβάνοντα, ἔθηκεν Ιακώβ Jacobus est usus. ninepen_am_ Fiebat τὰς ῥάβδους ἐναντίον τῶν προβάτων ἐν τοῖς autem in omni ardore ovium vegetarum. CHAP. XXXI. 1. nhe a vincire, ligare, proprie ligatas denotat, sed quia quidpiam vinciendo firmius Heb., Au. Ver.-And he heard the words of Laban's sons, saying, Jacob hath taken away all that was our father's; and of that which was our father's hath he gotten all this glory. Glory. ac validius fit, hinc vinctæ pecudes sunt robustiores et vegetiores. Arabibus quoque ligandi verba fere et firmandi notionem sibi junctam habent. Vegetioribus ovibus vero intelliguntur hic eæ, quæ coibant in prima admissura, i. e., in mense Martio. Ita Onkelos et Syrus: primitivæ ; Arabs uterque : vernæ ; Aquila: πρώϊμα. Symmachus: πрwτóуova, Hieron.: quæ primi deceived me, and changed my wages ten temporis. LXX. cur reddiderint: Tà pó-times; Ged., &c.-Wealth. Ver. 7. Heb., Au. Ver.-7 And your father hath Rosen., Schum.-Ten times, i.e., very often. βατα ἐν γαστρὶ λαμβάνοντα, difficile dictu. nippa. Ut poneret Jacobus virgas ob oculos ovium in canalibus ad calefaciendum eas in virgis, i.e., ad adspectum virgarum; i.e., very often; as many interpret it from Bp. Patrick.-Changed my wages ten times, quod admissura illa prima verni temporis sit the like expression in other places, parmelior, et inde geniti fœtus robustiores. Vid. Plinius Hist. Nat. 1. viii. cap. 47, ticularly Levit. xxvi. 26, where ten women § 72, qui contendit, fœtus, qui postea con- others think that he really changed his wages are put for a great number of women. ciperentur, esse invalidos. Varronis tamen (de re rust. ii. 2) sententia est, matres after he made the agreement with him, just ten times. For he served him six years, hujuscemodi fœtibus debilitari, non ipsos. mentioned in the foregoing chapter, ver. sed cum debiles , וּבְהַעֲסִיף הַצאן לֹא יָשִׂים 42 erant oves, year, But est Infin. Piel cum Nun epenthetico, 31, &c. And the first year he stood to his pro ad concipere eam, pecudem. Sed bargain: but seeing him thrive exceedingly, in nonnullis Codd. legitur, quod he altered the form of their covenants, at Kimchi vult factum ex pro ad the end of that year. And in like manner, incalescendum eas, sc. oves (quomodo pluhalf every ralia præcedunt), Zere pro Camez posito, forth young ones (which they did twice when the ewes brought ut in Ps. lxviii. 28, pro dominans eis. Hoc modo erit hic paragogicum. his contract, and made a new one, less a-year) and he saw them spotted, he broke non ponebat, sc. virgas in advantageous to Jacob, sometimes restraincanalibus. obtegere, in secundaria sig- another; and not letting him have the whole ing it to one sort of cattle, sometimes to nificatione usurpatur pro deficere, languere; benefit of his contract. Which is not at all vid. Ps. lxi. 3, Thren. ii. 11, 12. Pro improbable: for Jacob mentions his illOnkelos posuit in serotinatione dealing with him in the very same words ovium, i.e., dum coirent pro serotino partu, (ver. 41). And in the next verse to this he quod fiebat secundâ admissurâ. Ita et reliqui interpretes, præter LXX. qui verbis Hebr. inconvenienter verterunt: víka 8' ἂν ἔτεκε τὰ πρόβατα, cum oves peperissent. In autumno vero, quo secunda fiebat admissura, oves minus alacres, hinc fœtus editi imbecilliores, qui hoc Vs. D'DDY vo cantur. relates how Laban would sometimes let him Ver. 9. καὶ ἐγένετο αὐτῷ κτήνη πολλὰ, καὶ βόες. Heb., Au. Ver.-43 And the man increased exceedingly, and had much cattle, &c. Ged. Thus, the man grew exceedingly rich; for he had a numerous flock, and herds. [So the LXX.] καὶ ἀφείλετο ὁ θεὸς πάντα τὰ κτήνη τοῦ Tarрòs vμŵv, kai ëdwké μοι αὐτά. Au. Ver., Rosen.-9 Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father, and given them to me. Cattle. Ged. Substance. H 11 καὶ εἶπέ μοι ὁ ἄγγελος τοῦ θεοῦ καθ' ὕπνον· Ἰακώβ. ἐγὼ δὲ εἶπα· τί ἐστι; Au. Ver.-11 And the angel of God spake unto me in a dream, saying, Jacob: And I said, Here am I. 12 And he said, Lift up now thine eyes, and see, all the rams which leap upon the cattle are ring-straked, speckled, and grisled : for I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee. 13 I am the God of Beth-el, where thou anointedst the pillar, and where thou vowedst a vow unto me: now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto the land of thy kindred. Booth. And the Angel GoD spoke to me in the dream, &c. Angel God.] This is manifest from what he says, v. 13, I am the God of Bethel, &c. Angelus Dei. Nempe filius Dei, quippe Deus ipse, ut patet ex v. 13.-Poli. Syn. standing at the top, and speaking to him, as he doth here. For upon a serious consideration of all the circumstances, this vision, here mentioned, seems to me to be distinct from what was represented, by an angel in a dream (ver. 11). For he had that, it is evident, at the beginning of his last six years' service: this, at the conclusion of them: but he puts them both together, because they belong to the same matter. And God now remembers his vow, to show him that he was well pleased with it; and to excite him to perform it, when he had brought him (as he assures him he would) to that place again. Bp. Patrick.-11 The angel of God spake Syr., Arab. unto me, &c.]-In the name of God, as his Ver. 19. וַתִּגְנָב רָחֵל אֶת־הַתְּרָפִים אֲשֶׁר לְאָבִיהָ: ambassador : God being supposed to be present, where his angels, who are his retinue, are said to appear; as I have often noted. (See xxviii. 17.) 12 Lift up now thine eyes.]—He said (ver. 10), that he did lift up his eyes: therefore the meaning here is, Observe now, and mark what thou seest. I have seen all that Laban doeth unto thee, &c.]-Taken such notice of it that I will do thee right. ἔκλεψε δὲ Ραχὴλ τὰ εἴδωλα τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτῆς. Au. Ver.-19 And Laban went to shear his sheep and Rachel had stolen the images [Heb., teraphim] that were her father's. Bp. Patrick.-The images that were her father's.]-These images in the Hebrew are called teraphim: of which we read very often afterward, in the Holy Scripture. Mercer and Simeon de Muis. take it for an exotic word; but others derive it from the Hebrew word rapha, which signifies, to cure or heal; as if these were looked upon as salvatores, saviours and deliverers, or preservers from mischief. 13 I am the God of Bethel.]—It is plain by this, that though the angel only appeared (ver. 11), yet God himself was present and remembered him, how he had appeared unto him in Bethel (xxviii. 11, 12, &c.), and how "Jacob had anointed the pillar, and vowed a vow unto him." So Maimonides expounds it; for Jacob, no doubt, There are other derivations, of which saith he, made the vow to God, and not to there is no certainty; but most agree they the angel and therefore the angel (as he were a kind of penates, as the Romans understands it) speaks here in the name of called them, household gods; in which God and not of himself. (More Nevoch. style Laban speaks of them, when he says par. 1, cap. 27.) See ch. xxii. 11, 15. (ver. 30), "Wherefore hast thou stolen my But I see no reason why we should not gods?" But it is a great question among suppose the Divine Majesty himself to have the Hebrew doctors, whether, in these appeared also, as he did at Bethel: when ancient times, they worshipped them as gods, Jacob saw the angels ascending and descend- or only used them as instruments of divinaing upon the ladder, and the Lord himself tion; as Mr. Selden observes (de Diis Syriis supposed to have been made of silver. Syntagm. i. cap. 2), where he shows, that called them) could not preserve themselves, several of the Hebrew doctors take them to much less do any service to him. Or, have been figures in human shape (1 Sam. perhaps, she intended to give herself some xix. 13), made by astrologers to be capable portion of his goods, which she thought (as they fancied) of the heavenly influences. justly belonged to her: and so took these And for this reason, they think, Rachel stole teraphim, which were of some value (though them that Laban might not inquire by small images) because they are generally them, which way Jacob and his family were gone. Hottinger also hath many ingenious Gesen. A kind of domestic idols or arguments to prove, that they were the penates, similar to the sacred images of the same with the Arabian talismans in after- Roman or Greek Church, (Gen. xxxi. 19, times which were images made under such 34, 1 Sam. xix. 13, 16), which were also and such constellations, to receive the used by the superstitious, for domestic heavenly influences; either to be a phy- oracles. (Ezek. xxi. 26, Zech. x. 2.) From lactery, or an oracle. (See lib. i. Histor. 1 Sam. xix. 13, 16, it appears clear that Orient. cap. 8.) their size and figure were those of the human form. appears תְּרָפִים The plural But the conjecture of Lud. de Dieu upon this place seems to me far more probable, also to be here the pluralis excellentiæ, and that they were the representations of some to refer to a single image; but in Gen. angelical powers (teraphim and seraphim xxxi. 34, it is construed with the plural. being the very same, by the change only of The remaining passages are, Judg. xvii. 5, a letter), who, they imagined, declared the xviii. 14, &c., 2 Kings xxiii. 24, Hos. iii. mind of God by them. For, in those 4. To their use as oracles the derivation countries where the Shechinah, or presence from 4, percontari, inquirere is apof the Divine Majesty, did not appear, as it did in Abraham's family, they had at least some tradition of it, and of the angels that were its attendants: the resemblance of which they made, in hope they might by that means have a communication with them, and gain intelligence from heaven. Of which evil spirits made their advantage; and abused mankind by the lying answers they gave to their inquiries. For there is no reason to think that God allowed, much less appointed, the making of these teraphim; Rabbins concerning their figure, and the plicable (Castell.) See the accounts of the ceremonies relating to them in Buxtorf's "Lex. Chald.," s. v. Prof. Lee.-Teraphim; apparently figures of the human form, 1 Sam. xix. 13, 16; consulted with regard to futurity, Ezek. objects of worship, Gen. xxxi. 19, 30; xxi. 26; Zech. x. 2. The etymology of the word is doubtful. Possibly the meaning might originally be Relics. Comp. Æth. reliquus, residuus fuit, superfuit. which Gaffarel adventures to say, were TC Ver. 20. וַיִּגְלָב יַעֲקֹב אֶת־לֵב לָבָן הָאֲרַמִּי עַל־ This had been to lead men into idolatry, by IT image worship: unto which they were too prone of themselves. Expositors differ very much about Rachel's intention in stealing them. Some fancy, she still retained a tang of superstition: but I take it to be more likely, that Jacob, who loved her extremely, and was no less beloved by her, had brought her off from the false notions and bad customs of her country. And then she did not carry them away, for fear Laban should inquire by them which way they were gone (for she knew they were but vain idols, which could give no direction): but rather designed to convince her father of his superstition; by letting him see, that his gods (as he ἔκρυψε δὲ Ἰακώβ Λάβαν τὸν Σύρον, τοῦ μὴ ἀναγγεῖλαι αὐτῷ, ὅτι ἀποδιδράσκει. Au. Ver. 20 And Jacob stole away unawares to Laban [Heb., the heart of Laban] the Syrian, in that he told him not. that he fled. Ged. Thus Jacob eluded Laban the Syrian by keeping from him the intelligence of his flight. Gesen.-And Jacob deceived Laban the Syrian, &c. Bp. Patrick.-Laban the Syrian.]—There being no necessity of mentioning his country (which was well known from the preceding |