Chapters: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20 · 21 · 22 · 23 · 24 · 25 · 26 · 27 · 28 · 29 · 30 · 31 · 32 · 33 · 34 · 35 · 36 · 37 · 38 · 39 · 40 · 41 · 42 · 43 · 44 · 45 · 46 · 47 · 48 · 49 · 50

Chapter 1

God createth Heaven and Earth, and all things therein, in six days.

1:1  In the beginning God created heaven and earth.

Beginning. As St. Matthew begins his Gospel with the same title as this work, the Book of the Generation, or Genesis, so St. John adopts the first words of Moses, in the beginning; but he considers a much higher order of things, even the consubstantial Son of God, the same with God from all eternity, forming the universe, in the beginning of time, in conjunction with the other two Divine Persons, by the word of his power; for all things were made by Him, the Undivided Deity. (Haydock) --- Elohim, the Judges or Gods, denoting plurality, is joined with a verb singular, he created, whence many, after Peter Lombard, have inferred, that in this first verse of Genesis the adorable mystery of the Blessed Trinity is insinuated, as they also gather from various other passages of the Old Testament, though it was not clearly revealed till our Saviour came himself to be the finisher of our faith. (Calmet) --- The Jews being a carnal people and prone to idolatry, might have been in danger of misapplying this great mystery, and therefore an explicit belief of it was not required of them in general. See Collet. &c. (Haydock) --- The word bara, created, is here determined by tradition and by reason to mean a production out of nothing, though it be used also to signify the forming of a thing out of pre-existing matter. (ver. 21, 27.) (Calmet) --- The first cause of all things must be God, who, in a moment, spoke, and heaven and earth were made, heaven with all the Angels; and the whole mass of the elements, in a state of confusion, and blended together, out of which the beautiful order, which was afterwards so admirable, arose in the space of six days: thus God was pleased to manifest his free choice in opposition to those Pagans who attributed all to blind chance or fate. Heaven is here placed first, and is not declared empty and dark like the earth; that we may learn to raise our minds and hearts above this land of trial, to that our true country, where we may enjoy God for ever. (Haydock)

1:2  And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep: and the Spirit of God moved over the waters.

Spirit of God, giving life, vigour, and motion to things, and preparing the waters for the sacred office of baptism, in which, by the institution of Jesus Christ, we must be born again; and, like spiritual fishes, swim amid the tempestuous billows of this world. (v. Tert.[See Tertullian?], &c.) (Worthington) (Haydock)---This Spirit is what the Pagan philosophers styled the Soul of the World. (Calmet) --- If we compare their writings with the books of Moses and the prophets, we shall find that they agree in many points. See Grotius. (Haydock) Ver. 3. Light. The sun was made on the fourth day, and placed in the firmament to distinguish the seasons, &c.; but the particles of fire were created on the first day, and by their, or the earth's motion, served to discriminate day from the preceding night, or darkness, which was upon the face of the deep. (Haydock) --- Perhaps this body of light might resemble the bright cloud which accompanied the Israelites, Exodus xiv. 19, or the three first days might have a kind of imperfect sun, or be like one of our cloudy days. Nothing can be defined with certainty respecting the nature of this primeval light. (Calmet)

1:3  And God said: Be light made. And light was made.

1:4  And God saw the light that it was good: and he divided the light from the darkness.

Good; beautiful and convenient: --- he divided light by giving it qualities incompatible with darkness, which is not any thing substantial, and therefore Moses does not say it was created. (Calmet) --- While our hemisphere enjoys the day, the other half of the world is involved in darkness. St. Augustine supposes the fall and punishment of the apostate angels are here insinuated. (L. imp. de Gen. ) (Haydock)

1:5  And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night: and there was evening and morning one day.

1:6  And God said: Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters: and let it divide the waters from the waters.

A firmament. By this name is here understood the whole space between the earth and the highest stars. The lower part of which divideth the waters that are upon the earth, from those that are above in the clouds. (Challoner) --- The Hebrew Rokia is translated stereoma, solidity by the Septuagint., and expansion by most of the moderns. The heavens are often represented as a tent spread out, Psalm. ciii. 3. (Calmet)

1:7  And God made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under the firmament, from those that were above the firmament. And it was so.

Above the firmament and stars, according to some of the Fathers; or these waters were vapours and clouds arising from the earth, and really divided from the lower waters contained in the sea. (Calmet)

1:8  And God called the firmament, Heaven: and the evening and morning were the second day.

1:9  God also said: Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered together into one place: and let the dry land appear. And it was so done.

1:10  And God called the dry land, Earth: and the gathering together of the waters he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.

1:11  And he said: Let the earth bring forth the green herb, and such as may seed, and the fruit-tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may have seed in itself upon the earth. And it was so done.

Seed in itself, either in the fruit or leaves, or slips. (Menochius) --- At the creation, trees were covered with fruit in Armenia, while in the more northern regions they would not even have leaves: Calmet hence justly observes, that the question concerning the season of the year when the world began, must be understood only with reference to that climate in which Adam dwelt. Scaliger asserts, that the first day corresponds with our 26th of October, while others, particularly the Greeks, fix it upon the 25th of March, on which day Christ was conceived; and, as some Greeks say, was born and nailed to the cross. The great part of respectable authors declare for the vernal equinox, when the year is in all its youth and beauty. (Haydock) See Tirinus and Salien's Annals, B.C. 4053.

1:12  And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yieldeth seed according to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit, having seed each one according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

1:13  And the evening and the morning were the third day.

1:14  And God said: Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons and for days and years:

For signs. Not to countenance the delusive observations of astrologers, but to give notice of rain, of the proper seasons for sowing, &c. (Menochius) --- If the sun was made on the first day, as some assert, there is nothing new created on this fourth day. By specifying the use and creation of these heavenly bodies, Moses shows the folly of the Gentiles, who adored them as gods, and the impiety of those who pretend that human affairs are under the fatal influence of the planets. See St. Augustine, Confessions iv. 3. The Hebrew term mohadim, which is here rendered seasons, may signify either months, or the times for assembling to worship God; (Calmet) a practice, no doubt, established from the beginning every week, and probably also the first day of the new moon, a day which the Jews afterwards religiously observed. Plato calls the sun and planets the organs of time, of which, independently of their stated revolutions, man could have formed no conception. The day is completed in twenty-four hours, during which space the earth moves round its axis, and exposes successively different parts of its surface to the sun. It goes at a rate of fifty-eight thousand miles an hour, and completes its orbit in the course of a year. (Haydock)

1:15  To shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the earth. And it was so done.

1:16  And God made two great lights: a greater light to rule the day, and a lesser light to rule the night: and the stars.

Two great lights. God created on the first day light, which being moved from east to west, by its rising and setting made morning and evening. But on the fourth day he ordered and distributed this light, and made the sun, moon, and stars. The moon, though much less than the stars, is here called a great light, from its giving a far greater light to earth than any of them. (Challoner) --- To rule and adorn, for nothing appears so glorious as the sun and moon. (Menochius) --- Many have represented the stars, as well as the sun and moon, to be animated. Ecclesiastes xvi[i. 6?], speaking of the sun says, the spirit goeth forward surveying all places: and in Esdras[2 Esdras?] ix. 6, the Levites address God, Thou hast made heaven and all the host thereof; and thou givest life to all these things, and the host of heaven adoreth thee. St. Augustine Ench. and others, consider this question as not pertaining to faith. See Spencer in Origen, contra Cels. v. (Calmet) --- Whether the stars be the suns of other worlds, and whether the moon, &c. be inhabited, philosophers dispute, without being able to come to any certain conclusion: for God has delivered the world to their consideration for dispute, so that man cannot find out the work which God hath made from the beginning to the end, Ecclesiastes iii. 11. If we must frequently confess our ignorance concerning the things which surround us, how shall we pretend to dive into the designs of God, or subject the mysteries of faith to our feeble reason? If we think the Scriptures really contradict the systems of philosophers, ought we to pay greater deference to the latter, than to the unerring word of God? But we must remember, that the sacred writings were given to instruct us in the way to heaven, and not to unfold to us the systems of natural history; and hence God generally addresses us in a manner best suited to our conceptions, and speaks of nature as it appears to the generality of mankind. At the same time, we may confidently assert, that the Scriptures never assert what is false. If we judge, with the vulgar, that the sun, moon, and stars are no larger than they appear to our naked eye, we shall still have sufficient reason to admire the works of God; but, if we are enabled to discover that the sun's diameter, for example, is 763 thousand miles, and its distance from our earth about 95 million miles, and the fixed stars (as they are called, though probably all in motion) much more remote, what astonishment must fill our breast! Our understanding is bewildered in the unfathomable abyss, in the unbounded expanse, even of the visible creation. --- Sirius, the nearest to us of all the fixed stars, is supposed to be 400,000 times the distance from the sun that our earth is, or 38 millions of millions of miles. Light, passing at the rate of twelve millions of miles every minute, would be nearly 3,000 years in coming to us from the remotest star in our stratum, beyond which are others immensely distant, which it would require about 40,000 years to reach, even with the same velocity. Who shall not then admire thy works and fear thee, O King of ages! (Walker.) --- Geog. justly remarks, "we are lost in wonder when we attempt to comprehend either the vastness or minuteness of creation. Philosophers think it possible for the universe to be reduced to the smallest size, to an atom, merely by filling up the pores;" and the reason they allege is, "because we know not the real structure of bodies." Shall any one then pretend to wisdom, and still call in question the mysteries of faith, transubstantiation, &c., when the most learned confess they cannot fully comprehend the nature even of a grain of sand? While on the one hand some assert, that all the world may be reduced to this compass; others say, a grain of sand may be divided in infinitum! (Haydock)

1:17  And he set them in the firmament of heaven, to shine upon the earth.

1:18  And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and the darkness. And God saw that it was good.

1:19  And the evening and morning were the fourth day.

1:20  God also said: Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the firmament of heaven.

Creeping: destitute of feet like fishes, which move on their bellies. (Menochius) --- Fowl. Some assert that birds were formed of the earth, but they seem to have the same origin as fishes, namely, water; and still they must not be eaten on days of abstinence, which some of the ancients thought lawful, Socrates v. 20. To conciliate the two opinions, perhaps we might say, that the birds were formed of mud, (Calmet) or that some of the nature of fish, like barnacles, might be made of water and others of earth. (Chap. 11. 19.[ii. 19.?]) --- Under: Hebrew: on the face of the firmament, or in the open air. (Haydock)

1:21  And God created the great whales, and every living and moving creature, which the waters brought forth, according to their kinds, and every winged fowl according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

1:22  And he blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the waters of the sea: and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.

Blessed them, or enabled them to produce others. --- Multiply: the immense numbers and variety of fishes and fowls is truly astonishing.

1:23  And the evening and morning were the fifth day.

1:24  And God said: Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind, cattle, and creeping things, and beasts of the earth, according to their kinds. And it was so done.

1:25  And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, and cattle, and every thing that creepeth on the earth, after its kind. And God saw that it was good.

1:26  And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness: and let him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that moveth upon the earth.

Let us make man to our image. This image of God in man, is not in the body, but in the soul; which is a spiritual substance, endued with understanding and free-will. God speaketh here in the plural number, to insinuate the plurality of persons in the Deity. (Challoner) --- Some of the ancient Jews maintained that God here addressed his council, the Angels; but is it probable that he should communicate to them the title of Creator, and a perfect similitude with himself? (Calmet) --- Man is possessed of many prerogatives above all other creatures of this visible world: his soul gives him a sort of equality with the Angels; and though his body be taken from the earth, like the brutes, yet even here the beautiful construction, the head erect and looking towards heaven, &c. makes St. Augustine observe, an air of majesty in the human body, which raises man above all terrestrial animals, and brings him in some measure near to the Divinity. As Jesus assumed our human nature, we may assert, that we bear a resemblance to God both in soul and body. Tertullian (de Resur. 5.) says, "Thus that slime, putting on already the image of Christ, who would come in the flesh, was not only the work of God, but also a pledge." (Haydock) See St. Bernard on Psalm xcix. (Worthington)

1:27  And God created man to his own image: to the image of God he created him: male and female he created them.

Male and female. Eve was taken from Adam's side on this same day, though it be related in the following chapter. Adam was not an hermaphrodite as some have foolishly asserted. (Calmet) --- Adam means the likeness, or red earth, that in one word we may behold our nobility and meanness. (Haydock)

1:28  And God blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth.

Increase and multiply. This is not a precept, as some protestant controvertists would have it, but a blessing, rendering them fruitful: for God had said the same words to the fishes and birds, (ver. 22.) who were incapable of receiving a precept. (Challoner) --- Blessed them, not only with fecundity as he had done to other creatures, but also with dominion over them, and much more with innocence and abundance of both natural and supernatural gifts. --- Increase. The Hebrews understand this literally as a precept binding every man at twenty years of age (Calmet); and some of the Reformers argued hence, that Priests, &c. were bound to marry: very prudently they have not determined how soon! But the Fathers in general agree that if this were a precept with respect to Adam, for the purpose of filling the earth, it is no longer so, that end being sufficiently accomplished. Does not St. Paul wish all men to be like himself, unmarried? (1 Corinthians vii. 1, 7, 8.) (Haydock)

1:29  And God said: Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed upon the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own kind, to be your meat:

Every herb, &c. As God does not here express leave to eat flesh-meat, which he did after the deluge, it is supposed that the more religious part of mankind, at least, abstained from it, and from wine, till after that event, when they became more necessary to support decayed nature. (Haydock) (Menochius) --- In the golden age, spontaneous fruits were the food of happy mortals. (Calmet)

1:30  And to all beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they may have to feed upon. And it was so done.

1:31  And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good. And the evening and morning were the sixth day.

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World 1, Year before Christ 4004. 2: Acts xiv. 14. and xvii. 24.; Psalm xxxii. 6. and cxxxv. 5.; Ecclesiasticus xviii. 1. 3: Hebrews xi. 3. 7: Psalm cxxxv. 5. and cxlviii. 4.; Jeremias x. 12. and li. 15. 10: Job xxxviii. 4.; Psalm xxxii. 7. and lxxxviii. 12. and cxxxix.[cxxxiv.? or cxxxv.?] 6. 14: Psalm cxxxv. 7. 26: Genesis v. 1. and ix. 6.; 1 Corinthians xi. 7.; Colossians iii. 10. 27: Wisdom ii. 23.; Ecclesiasticus xvii. 1. ** Matthew xix. 4. 28: Genesis viii. 17. and ix. 1. 29: Genesis ix. 3. 31: Ecclesiasticus xxxix. 21.; Mark vii. 37.

Chapter 2

God resteth on the seventh day, and blesseth it. The earthly paradise, in which God placeth man. He commandeth him not to eat of the tree of knowledge. And formeth a woman of his rib.

2:1  So the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the furniture of them.

Furniture, ornaments or militia, whether we understand the Angels, or the stars, which observe a regular order and obey God. (Menochius)

2:2  And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made: and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.

He rested, &c. That is, he ceased to make any new kinds of things. Though, as our Lord tells us, John v. 17. He still worketh, viz. by conserving and governing all things, and creating souls. (Challoner) --- Seventh day. This day was commanded, Exodus xx. 8, to be kept holy by the Jews, as it had probably been from the beginning. Philo says, it is the festival of the universe, and Josephus asserts, there is no town which does not acknowledge the religion of the sabbath. But this point is controverted, and whether the ancient patriarchs observed the seventh day, or some other, it is certain they would not fail, for any long time, to shew their respect for God's worship, and would hardly suffer a whole week to elapse without meeting to sound forth his praise. The setting aside of stated days for this purpose, is agreeable to reason, and to the practice of all civilized nations. As the Hebrews kept Saturday holy, in honour of God's rest, so we keep the first day of the week, by apostolic tradition, to thank God for the creation of the world on that day, and much more for the blessings which we derive from the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the sending down of the Holy Ghost, which have given it a title above all other days. (Haydock) --- On the seventh day, at the beginning of this verse, must be taken exclusively, as God finished his work on the 6th, whence the same Septuagint and Syriac have here on the 6th day. (Haydock) --- But the Hebrew and all the other versions agree with the Vulgate. (Calmet) --- The similarity of ver. 6 and ver. 7 in Hebrew may have given rise to this variation. (Haydock)

2:3  And he blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

2:4  These are the generations of the heaven and the earth, when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the heaven and the earth:

Day. Not that all things were made in one day: but God formed in succession; first, heaven and earth, then the ornaments of both. Every plant, &c. which on the first day did not spring up, (as water covered the surface of the earth,) on the 3d, by the command of God, without having any man to plant, or rain to water them, pushed forth luxuriantly, and manifested the power of the Creator. (Haydock) --- Thus Christ founded his Church by his own power, and still gives her increase; but requires of his ministers to co-operate with him, as a gardener must now take care of the plants which originally grew without man's aid. (Du Hamel) --- By observing that all natural means were here wanting for the production of plants, God asserts his sole right to the work, and confounds the Egyptian system, which attributed plants, &c. to the general warmth of the earth alone. (Calmet)

2:5  And every plant of the field before it sprung up in the earth, and every herb of the ground before it grew: for the Lord God had not rained upon the earth; and there was not a man to till the earth.

2:6  But a spring rose out the earth, watering all the surface of the earth.

2:7  And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Breath of life or a soul, created out of nothing, and infused into the body to give it life. (Haydock)

2:8  And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning: wherein he placed man whom he had formed.

Of pleasure, Hebrew Eden, which may be either the name of a country, as chap. iv. 16, or it may signify pleasure, in which sense Symmachus and St. Jerome have taken it. --- From the beginning, or on the 3d day, when all plants were created, Hebrew mikedem, may also mean towards the east, as the Septuagint have understood it, though the other ancient interpreters agree with St. Jerome. Paradise lay probably to the east of Palestine, or of that country where Moses wrote. The precise situation cannot be ascertained. Calmet places it in Armenia, others near Babylon, &c. Some assert that this beautiful garden is still in being, the residence of Henoch and Elias. But God will not permit the curiosity of man to be gratified by the discovery of it, chap. iii. 24. How great might be its extent we do not know. If the sources of the Ganges, Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates, be not now changed, and if these be the rivers which sprung from the fountains of Paradise, (both which are points undecided) the garden must have comprised a great part of the world, (Haydock), as the Ganges rises in Judea [India?], and the Nile about the middle of Africa. (Tirinus)

2:9  And the Lord God brought forth of the ground all manner of trees, fair to behold, and pleasant to eat of: the tree of life also in the midst of paradise: and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

The tree of life. So called, because it had that quality, that by eating of the fruit of it, man would have been preserved in a constant state of health, vigour, and strength, and would not have died at all. The tree of knowledge. To which the deceitful serpent falsely attributed the power of imparting a superior kind of knowledge beyond that which God was pleased to give. (Challoner) --- Of what species these two wonderful trees were, the learned are not agreed. The tree of knowledge, could not communicate any wisdom to man; but, by eating of its forbidden fruit, Adam dearly purchased the knowledge of evil, to which he was before a stranger. Some say it was the fig-tree, others an apple-tree, Canticle of Canticles viii. 5. But it probably agreed with no species of trees with which we are acquainted, nor was there perhaps any of the same kind in paradise. (Tirinus)

2:10  And a river went out of the place of pleasure to water paradise, which from thence is divided into four heads.

A river, &c. Moses gives many characteristics of Paradise, inviting us, as it were, to search for it; and still we cannot certainly discover where it is, or whether it exist at all at present, in a state of cultivation. We must therefore endeavour to find the mystic Paradise, Heaven and the true Church; the road to which, though more obvious, is too frequently mistaken. See St. Augustine, City of God xiii. 21.; Proverbs iii. 18. (Haydock)

2:11  The name of the one is Phison: that is, it which compasseth all the land of Hevilath, where gold groweth.

2:12  And the gold of that land is very good: there is found bdellium, and the onyx stone.

2:13  And the name of the second river is Gehon: the same is it that compasseth all the land of Ethiopia.

2:14  And the name of the third river is Tigris: the same passeth along by the Assyrians. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

2:15  And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of pleasure, to dress it, and to keep it.

To dress it. Behold God would not endure idleness even in Paradise. (Haydock)

2:16  And he commanded him, saying: Of every tree of paradise thou shalt eat.

2:17  But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat. For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the death.

The death of the soul, and become obnoxious to that of the body; thou shalt become a mortal and lose all the privileges of innocence. Though Adam lived 930 years after this, he was dying daily; he carried along with him the seeds of death, as we do, from our very conception. He had leave to eat of any fruit in this delicious garden, one only excepted, and this one prohibition makes him more eager to taste of that tree than of all the rest. So we struggle constantly to attain what is forbidden, and covet what is denied, cupimusque negata. God laid this easy command upon Adam, to give him an opportunity of shewing his ready obedience, and to assert his own absolute dominion over him. Eve was already formed, and was apprised of this positive command, (Chap. iii. 3.) and therefore, transgressing, is justly punished with her husband. True obedience does not inquire why a thing is commanded, but submits without demur. Would a parent be satisfied with his child, if he should refuse to obey, because he could not discern the propriety of the restraint? If he should forbid him to touch some delicious fruits which he had reserved for strangers, and the child were to eat them, excusing himself very impertinently and blasphemously, with those much abused words of our Saviour, It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles a man, &c. would not even a Protestant parent be enraged and seize the rod, though he could not but see that he was thus condemning his own conduct, in disregarding, on the very same plea, the fasts and days of abstinence, prescribed by the Church and by God's authority? All meats are good, as that fruit most certainly was which Adam was forbidden to eat; though some have foolishly surmised that it was poisonous; but, the crime of disobedience draws on punishment. (Haydock) --- Even when the sin is remitted, as it was to Adam, the penalty is not of course released, as some have pretended. This also clearly appears in baptized infants, who suffer the penalties due to original sin, as much as those who have not been admitted to the laver of regeneration. (St. Augustine; Worthington; Tirinus, &c.) --- If on this occasion, Eve had alone transgressed, as she was not the head, her sin would have hurt only herself. But with Adam, the representative of all his posterity, God made a sort of compact, (Osee vi. 7.) giving him to understand, that if he continued faithful, his children should be born in the state of innocence like himself, happy and immortal, to be translated in due time to a happier Paradise, &c. but if he should refuse to obey, his sin should be communicated to all his race, who should be, by nature, children of wrath. --- (St. Augustine, City of God xvi. 27; Ven. Bede in Luc. 11; &c.) --- (Haydock) (Calmet)

2:18  And the Lord God said: It is not good for man to be alone: let us make him a help like unto himself.

2:19  And the Lord God having formed out of the ground all the beasts of the earth, and all the fowls of the air, brought them to Adam to see what he would call them: for whatsoever Adam called any living creature, the same is its name.

2:20  And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the fowls of the air, and all the cattle of the field: but for Adam there was not found a helper like himself.

Names, probably in the Hebrew language, in which the names of things, frequently designate their nature and quality. See Bochart. --- (Calmet)

2:21  Then the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam: and when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and filled up flesh for it.

A deep sleep. Septuagint, "an ecstacy," or mysterious sleep, in which Adam was apprised of the meaning of what was done, and how the Church would be taken from the side of Christ, expiring on the cross. (Menochius)

2:22  And the Lord God built the rib which he took from Adam into a woman: and brought her to Adam.

2:23  And Adam said: This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man.

Of my flesh. God did not, therefore, take a rib without flesh, nor perhaps did he replace flesh without a rib in Adam's side, though St. Augustine thinks he did. These words of Adam are attributed to God, Matthew xix., because they were inspired by him. --- Woman. As this word is derived from man, so in Hebrew Isha (or Asse ) comes from Iish or Aiss; Latin vira woman, and virago comes from vir. (Haydock) --- But we do not find this allusion so sensible in any of the Oriental languages, as in the Hebrew, whence another proof arises of this being the original language. (Calmet)

2:24  Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they shall be two in one flesh.

One flesh, connected by the closest ties of union, producing children, the blood of both. St. Paul, Ephesians v. 23, discloses to us the mystery of Christ's union with his church for ever, prefigured by this indissoluble marriage of our first parents. (Calmet)

2:25  And they were both naked: to wit, Adam and his wife: and were not ashamed.

Not ashamed, because they had not perverted the work of God. Inordinate concupiscence is the effect of sin. (Haydock)

Cross-references: 2: Exodus xx. 11. and xxxi. 17.; Deuteronomy v. 14.; Hebrews iv. 4. 7: 1 Corinthians xv. 45. 11: Ecclesiasticus xxiv. 35. 19: Psalm cxlvii.[cxlvi.?] 4. 23: 1 Corinthians xi. 9.; Ephesians v. 31. 24: Matthew xix. 5.; Mark x. 7. ** 1 Corinthians vi. 16.

Chapter 3

The serpent's craft. The fall of our first parents. Their punishment. The promise of a Redeemer.

3:1  Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the earth which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman: Why hath God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?

Why hath God? Hebrew, "Indeed hath God, &c." as if the serpent had overheard Eve arguing with herself, about God's prohibition, with a sort of displeasure and presumption. St. Augustine thinks, she had given some entrance to these passions, and the love of her own power, and hence gave credit to the words of the serpent, de Gen. ad lit. xi. 30. She might not know or reflect that the serpent could not reason thus, naturally; and she had as yet, no idea or dread of the devil. (Lombard, 2 Dist. 21.) This old serpent entered into the most subtle of creatures, and either by very expressive signs, or by the motion of the serpent's tongue, held this delusive dialogue with Eve. Moses relates what happened exteriorily; but from many expressions, and from the curse, ver. 15, he sufficiently indicates, that an evil spirit was the latent actor. (Haydock) --- Of every tree. Satan perverts the word of God, giving it an ambiguous turn: in doing which, he has set heretics a pattern, which they follow. (Menochius)

3:2  And the woman answered him, saying: Of the fruit of the trees that are in paradise we do eat:

3:3  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise, God hath commanded us that we should not eat: and that we should not touch it, lest perhaps we die.

Not touch it. She exaggerates, through dislike of restraint, St. Ambrose. Or through reverence, she thought it unlawful to touch what she must not eat, lest perhaps, as if there could be any doubt. "God asserts, the woman doubts, Satan denies." (St. Bernard) Thus placed, like Eve, between God and the devil, to whom shall we yield our assent? (Haydock) --- Perhaps we die, Hebrew, "lest ye die."

3:4  And the serpent said to the woman: No, you shall not die the death.

) God created man incorruptible, ( inexterminabilem, immortal). But by the envy of the devil, death came into the world, Wisdom ii. 23. (Haydock)

3:5  For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened: and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

God. The old serpent's aim is, to make us think God envies our happiness. (Haydock) --- Or he would have Eve to suppose, she had not rightly understood her maker, who would surely never deprive her of a fruit which would give her such an increase of knowledge, as to make her conclude she was before comparatively blind. (Menochius) --- As gods, Hebrew Elohim, which means also princes, angels, or judges. It appears, that our first parents had flattered themselves with the hopes of attaining a divine knowledge of all things. (Calmet)

3:6  And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the eyes, and delightful to behold: and she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave to her husband, who did eat.

Woman saw, or gazed on with desire and fond dalliance. (Menochius) --- Consulting only her senses, which represented the fruit to her as very desirable, and caused her to give credit to the devil's insinuations, rather than to the express word of God. Do not unbelievers the like, when they refuse to admit the real presence and transubstantiation, though they cannot be ignorant, that this way of proceeding always leads to ruin. --- Her husband, who, instead of reproving her for her rashness, did eat, through excessive fondness, not being able to plead ignorance, or that he was deceived. "Earth trembled from her entrails, sky loured, and muttering thunder, some sad drops wept at completing of the mortal sin." --- (Original [Origen?], &c.; [Milton,] Paradise Lost, ix. 1000.) (Haydock) --- (Genesis ii. 14.) In what light soever we consider the fault of this unhappy pair, it is truly enormous: the precept was so easy and just, the attempt to be like God in knowledge so extravagant, that nothing but pride could have suggested such woeful disobedience. By the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners, Romans v. 19. This ruin of himself, and of all his posterity, Adam could not hide from his own eyes, chap. ii. 17. (Calmet)

3:7  And the eyes of them both were opened: and when they perceived themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig-leaves, and made themselves aprons.

And the eyes, &c. Not that they were blind before, (for the woman saw that the tree was fair to the eyes, ver. 6.) nor yet that their eyes were opened to any more perfect knowledge of good; but only to the unhappy experience of having lost the good of original grace and innocence, and incurred the dreadful evil of sin. From whence followed a shame of their being naked; which they minded not before; because being now stript of original grace, they quickly began to be subject to the shameful rebellions of the flesh. (Challoner) --- Behold the noble acquisition of experimental knowledge! This is supposed to have taken place about a week after they had enjoyed the sweets of innocence and of Paradise, that they might afterwards be moved to repentance, when they contrasted their subsequent misery with those few golden days. They saw that they had received a dreadful wound, even in their natural perfections, and that their soul was despoiled of grace, which, of themselves, they could never regain. O! what confusion must now have seized upon them! "Confounded long they say, as stricken mute." (Milton) --- (Haydock) Aprons, or they interwove tender branches covered with leaves round their middle; a practice, which even the wild Indians and Americans observed, when they were discovered by Columbus. They will rise up in condemnation of those pretended civilized nations, who, like the Greeks, could wrestle or bathe quite naked, without any sense of shame. (Haydock) --- Adam's fig-tree, in Egypt, has leaves above a yard long, and two feet broad. (Calmet)

3:8  And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise.

Afternoon air. God's presence has often been indicated by an unusual wind. (3 Kings xix. 12; Acts ii. 2.) The sovereign judge will not suffer the day to pass over, without bringing our first parents to a sense of their fault. They hid themselves, loving darkness now, because their works were evil.

3:9  And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him: Where art thou?

Where. In what state have thy sins placed thee, that thou shouldst flee from thy God? (St. Ambrose, C. 14) Some think it was the Son of God who appeared on this occasion, St. Augustine; &c. or an Angel. (Calmet)

3:10  And he said: I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.

Afraid. The just man is first to accuse himself: But Adam seeks for excuses in his sin: he throws the blame on his wife, and ultimately on God. (Menochius) --- Thou gavest me. Heretics have since treated the Sovereign Good with the like insolence; saying plainly, that God is the author of sin, and that the crime of Judas is no less his work than the conversion of St. Paul. See Calvin's works, and many of the first reformers, Luther, &c. cited. (Exodus viii. 15.) (Haydock)

3:11  And he said to him: And who hath told thee that thou wast naked, but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat?

3:12  And Adam said: The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion, gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

3:13  And the Lord God said to the woman: Why hast thou done this? And she answered: The serpent deceived me, and I did eat.

The serpent, which thou hast made so cunning, and placed with us, deceived me. God deigns not to answer their frivolous excuses. (Menochius)

3:14  And the Lord God said to the serpent: Because thou hast done this thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth: upon thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.

Cursed. This curse falls upon the natural serpent, as the instrument of the devil; who is also cursed at the same time by the Holy Ghost. What was natural to the serpent and to man in a state of innocence, (as to creep, &c. to submit to the dominion of the husband, &c.) becomes a punishment after the fall. (St. Chrysostom) --- There was no enmity, before, between man and any of God's creatures; nor were they noxious to him. (Tirinus) --- The devil seems now to crawl, because he no longer aspires after God and heavenly things, but aims at wickedness and mean deceit. (Menochius)

3:15  I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.

She shall crush. Ipsa, the woman: so divers of the fathers read this place, conformably to the Latin: others read it ipsum, viz. the seed. The sense is the same: for it is by her seed, Jesus Christ, that the woman crushes the serpent's head. (Challoner) --- The Hebrew text, as Bellarmine observes, is ambiguous: He mentions one copy which had ipsa instead of ipsum; and so it is even printed in the Hebrew interlineary edition, 1572, by Plantin, under the inspection of Boderianus. Whether the Jewish editions ought to have more weight with Christians, or whether all the other manuscripts conspire against this reading, let others inquire. The fathers who have cited the old Italic version, taken from the Septuagint agree with the Vulgate, which is followed by almost all the Latins; and hence we may argue with probability, that the Septuagint and the Hebrew formerly acknowledged ipsa, which now moves the indignation of Protestants so much, as if we intended by it to give any divine honour to the blessed Virgin Mary. We believe, however, with St. Epiphanius, that "it is no less criminal to vilify the holy Virgin, than to glorify her above measure." We know that all the power of the mother of God is derived from the merits of her Son. We are no otherwise concerned about the retaining of ipsa, she, in this place, than in as much as we have yet no certain reason to suspect its being genuine. As some words have been corrected in the Vulgate since the Council of Trent by Pope Sixtus V. and others, by Pope Clement VIII. so, if, upon stricter search, it be found that it, and not she, is the true reading, we shall not hesitate to admit the correction: but we must wait in the mean time respectfully, till our superiors determine. (Haydock) Kemnitzius certainly advanced a step too far, when he said that all the ancient fathers read ipsum. Victor, Avitus, St. Augustine, St. Gregory, &c. mentioned in the Douay Bible, will convict him of falsehood. Christ crushed the serpent's head by his death, suffering himself to be wounded in the heel. His blessed mother crushed him likewise, by her co-operation in the mystery of the Incarnation; and by rejecting, with horror, the very first suggestions of the enemy, to commit even the smallest sin. (St. Bernard, ser. 2, on Missus est. ) "We crush," says St. Gregory, Mor. 1. 38, "the serpent's head, when we extirpate from our heart the beginnings of temptation, and then he lays snares for our heel, because he opposes the end of a good action with greater craft and power." The serpent may hiss and threaten; he cannot hurt, if we resist him. (Haydock)

3:16  To the woman also he said: I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy conceptions: in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt be under thy husband's power, and he shall have dominion over thee.

And thy conceptions. Septuagint, "thy groaning." The multifarious sorrows of childbearing, must remind all mothers (the blessed Virgin Mary alone excepted) of what they have incurred by original sin. If that had not taken place, they would have conceived without concupiscence, and brought forth without sorrow. (St. Augustine, City of God xiv. 26.)--- Conceptions are multiplied on account of the many untimely deaths, in our fallen state. Power, which will sometimes be exercised with rigor. (Haydock) --- Moses here shews the original and natural subjection of wives to their husbands, in opposition to the Egyptians, who, to honour Isis, gave women the superiority by the marriage contract. (Diodorus i. 2.) (Calmet)

3:17  And to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee, that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work: with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life.

Thy work, sin; thy perdition is from thyself: this is all that man can challenge for his own. (Haydock)

3:18  Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou eat the herbs of the earth.

Thorns, &c. These were created at first, but they would have easily been kept under: now they grow with surprising luxuriancy, and the necessaries of life can be procured only with much labour. All men here are commanded to work, each in his proper department. The Jews were careful to teach their children some trade or useful occupation. St. Paul made tents, and proclaims, If any man will not work, neither let him eat, 2 Thessalonians iii. 10. (Calmet)

3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to the earth out of which thou wast taken: for dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.

Dust, as to the visible part; and thy soul created out of nothing. This might serve to correct that pride, by which Adam had fallen; and the same humbling truths are repeated to us by the Church every Ash-Wednesday, to guard us against the same contagion, the worm of pride, to which we are all so liable. Thus Adam was again assured that he should die the death, with which God had threatened him, and which the devil had told Eve would not be inflicted. (

3:20  And Adam called the name of his wife Eve: because she was the mother of all the living.

The living. Hebrew chai, one who brings forth alive, (Symmachus,) or one who imparts life, in which she was a figure of the blessed Virgin Mary. (Calmet) --- Adam gives his wife this new name, in gratitude for not being cut off by death on the very day of his transgression, as he had every reason to expect and fear he would have been, chap. ii. 17. (Haydock) --- The printed Hebrew reads here, and in many other place, Eva, he, instead of Eja, she; thus, He was the mother, ver. 12, he gave, &c. an inaccuracy unknown to the Samaritan and the best manuscripts copies. (Kennicott.) Ver 21. Of skins, which Adam took from the beasts which he offered in sacrifice to his merciful Judge, testifying thereby that he had forfeited his life, and uniting himself to that sacrifice of the woman's promised seed, by which alone he believed the sin of the world was to be expiated. (Haydock)

3:21  And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins, and clothed them.

3:22  And he said: Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and evil: now therefore lest perhaps he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.

Behold Adam, &c. This was spoken by way of reproaching him with his pride, in affecting a knowledge that might make him like to God. (Challoner) --- "These are the words of God, not insulting over man, but deterring others from an imitation of his pride." (St. Augustine, de Gen. xi. 39.) --- For ever. The sentence is left imperfect: (Calmet) but by driving man from Paradise, God sufficiently shewed how he would prevent him from eating of the tree of life, (Haydock) which Adam had not yet found. As he was now condemned to be miserable on earth, God, in mercy, prevented him from tasting of that fruit, which would have rendered his misery perpetual. (Menochius) --- He would suffer him to die, that, by death, he might come, after a life of 930 years, spent in sorrow and repentance, to the enjoyment of himself. (Haydock) --- Lest perhaps. God does not exercise his absolute power, or destroy free-will, but makes use of ordinary means and precautions, to effect his designs. (St. Augustine) (Worthington)

3:23  And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to till the earth from which he was taken.

3:24  And he cast out Adam: and placed before the paradise of pleasure Cherubims, and a flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

Cherubims. Angels of the highest order, and of a very complex figure, unlike any one living creature. Theodoret supposes that God forced Adam to retire from that once charming abode, by the apparition of hideous spectres. The devils were also hindered from coming hither, lest they should pluck the fruit of the tree of life, and by promising immortality, should attract men to their service. The flaming sword, might be a fire rising out of the earth, of which Grotius thinks the pits, near Babylon, are still vestiges. These dreadful indications of the divine wrath would probably disappear, when Paradise had lost its superior beauty, and became confounded with the surrounding countries --- Thus we have seen how rapidly Moses describes the creation of all things, the fall of man, and the promised redemption. But in these few lines, we discover a solution of the many difficulties which have perplexed the learned, respecting these most important subjects. We know that the world is not the effect of chance, but created and governed by divine Providence. We are no longer at a loss to explain the surprising contrast of good and evil, observable in the same man. When we have attentively considered the Old Adam and the New[New Adam, Jesus Christ], we find a clue to lead us through all the labyrinths of our Holy Religion. We could wish, perhaps, for a greater detail in Moses, but he left the rest to be supplied by tradition. He has thrown light enough upon the subjects, to guide the well-disposed, and has left sufficient darkness to humble and to confound the self-conceited and wicked, who love darkness rather than the light. (Calmet) --- Concerning the transactions of these early times, parents would no doubt be careful to instruct their children, by word of mouth, before any of the Scriptures were written; and Moses might derive much information from the same source, as a very few persons formed the chain of tradition, when they lived so many hundred years. Adam would converse with Mathusalem, who knew Sem, as the latter lived in the days of Abram. Isaac, Joseph, and Amram, the father of Moses, were contemporaries: so that seven persons might keep up the memory of things which had happened 2500 years before. But to entitle these accounts to absolute authority, the inspiration of God intervenes; and thus we are convinced, that no word of sacred writers can be questioned. (Haydock)

Cross-references: 4: 2 Corinthians xi. 3. 6: Ecclesiasticus xxv. 33.; 1 Timothy ii. 14. 14: Isaias lxv. 25.; Micheas vii. 17.; Isaias xlix. 23.; Psalm lxxii. 9. 15: Apocalypse xii.; Genesis xlix. 17.; 1 Corinthians xiv. 34. 19: Genesis xviii. 27. 20: Psalms cii. 14. and xxii.[xxi.?] 16.; Ecclesiastes vii. 12.[xii. 7.?]

Chapter 4

The history of Cain and Abel.

4:1  And Adam knew Eve his wife; who conceived and brought forth Cain, saying: I have gotten a man through God.

Through God. Hebrew may signify also "even God," as if she thought this was the promised seed, who, as Onkelos paraphrases it, would serve the Lord. (Calmet) --- So little could she foresee the future conduct of Cain, whose name may be derived either from kone, possession and acquisition, or from kun, lamentation. The latter interpretation would have been better verified by the event, and the name of Abel, vanity, or sorrow, for which his parents allege no reason, might also have been reversed, on account of his justice, for which he is canonized by Christ himself, and declared the Just. Pious and significant names were imposed by either parent. Cain was the second man. He was not conceived till after the fall, and was therefore the first born in original sin. (Haydock)

4:2  And again she brought forth his brother Abel. And Abel was a shepherd, and Cain a husbandman.

4:3  And it came to pass after many days, that Cain offered, of the fruits of the earth, gifts to the Lord.

4:4  Abel also offered of the firstlings of his flock, and of their fat: and the Lord had respect to Abel, and to his offerings.

Had respect. That is, shewed his acceptance of his sacrifice (as coming from a heart full of devotion): and that we may suppose, by some visible token, such as sending fire from heaven upon his offerings. (Challoner) --- The offerings of Cain are mentioned without any approbation: those of Abel are the firstlings and fat, or the very best; by which he testified, that he acknowledged God for his first beginning. Sacrifice is due to God alone, and to Him it has always been offered in the Church. We have the happiness to offer that truly eucharistic sacrifice to God, of which those of ancient times were only figures. What sacrifice can our erring brethren shew? (Worthington; Calmet)

4:5  But to Cain and his offerings he had no respect: and Cain was exceedingly angry, and his countenance fell.

4:6  And the Lord said to him: Why art thou angry? and why is thy countenance fallen?

4:7  If thou do well, shalt thou not receive? but if ill, shall not sin forthwith be present at the door? but the lust thereof shall be under thee, and thou shalt have dominion over it.

Over it. This is a clear proof of free-will. To destroy its force, Protestants translate over him, as if Cain should still retain his privilege of the first-born, notwithstanding all his wickedness, and should rule over Abel, who would willingly submit, "unto thee his desire," &c. But God had made no mention of Abel. The whole discourse is about doing well or ill; and Cain is encouraged to avoid the stings of conscience, by altering his conduct, as it was in his power, how strongly soever his passions might solicit him to evil. (Haydock) --- The Hebrew is understood by Onkelos, and the Targum of Jerusalem, in the sense of the Vulgate. The latter reads, "If thou correct thy proceedings in this life, thou wilt receive pardon in the next world. But if thou do not penance for thy sin, it shall remain till the day of the great judgment, and it shall stay, lying at the door of thy heart. But I have given thee power to govern thy concupiscence: thou shalt sway it, either to embrace good or evil." Calmet shews that the Hebrew perfectly admits of this sense. St. Augustine will not allow of the turn which the Manichees gave it. "Thou shalt have dominion over ( illius. ) What? thy brother! ( absit ) by no means: over what then, but sin? (City of God xv. 7.) Protestants formerly abandoned the translation of 1579, (which they have again resumed) and translated better, "unto thee shall be the desire thereof, and thou shalt rule over it," which R. Abenezra explains also of sin. To which of these editions, all given by royal authority, will Protestants adhere? Luther wrote a book against free-will, and Calvin would not admit the very name. But we, with all antiquity, must cry out with St. Jerome, contra Jov. 2: "God made us with free-will, neither are we drawn by necessity to virtue or vice; else where there is necessity, there is neither damnation nor reward." (Worthington; Haydock)

4:8  And Cain said to Abel his brother: Let us go forth abroad. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and slew him.

Let us go forth abroad. These words are now wanting in the Hebrew; being omitted, according to Kennicott, since the days of Aquila 130; they are found in the Samaritan copy and version, in the Septuagint, &c. (Haydock) --- The Masorets place a mark, as if something were defective here, and in 27 other verses, or in 25 at least. (Haydock) --- Abel's violent death was a figure of that of Jesus Christ, inflicted for the like cause. See Hebrews xii. 2. (Calmet) --- In consequence of these crimes, Cain separated from the Church, and the Jews became no longer God's people: both Cain and the Jews became vagabonds. (Haydock) --- The Targum of Jerusalem observes, that Cain talked against God's providence and the future world, which Abel hearing with marked indignation, Cain took occasion to kill him. (Worthington)

4:9  And the Lord said to Cain: Where is thy brother Abel? And he answered: I know not: am I my brother's keeper?

4:10  And he said to him: What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the earth.

4:11  Now therefore cursed shalt thou be upon the earth, which hath opened her mouth and received the blood of thy brother at thy hand.

4:12  When thou shalt till it, it shall not yield to thee its fruit: a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be upon the earth.

4:13  And Cain said to the Lord: My iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon.

My iniquity, &c. Like Judas, Cain despairs. The Rabbins make him complain of the rigour of God's judgment, "My sin (or punishment) is too great to be borne." I must then be driven from the land of my nativity, from the society of my brethren and parents, from thy presence, for ever. Why do I then live? Let the first man I meet, kill me. (Liranus)

4:14  Behold thou dost cast me out this day from the face of the earth, and from thy face I shall be hid, and I shall be a vagabond and a fugitive on the earth: every one therefore that findeth me, shall kill me.

Every one that findeth me, shall kill me. His guilty conscience made him fear his own brothers, and nephews; of whom, by this time, there might be a good number upon the earth: which had now endured near 130 years; as may be gathered from Genesis v. 3, compared with chap. iv. 25, though in the compendious account given in the Scripture, only Cain and Abel are mentioned. (Challoner) --- Cain is little concerned about any thing but the loss of life. (Menochius)

4:15  And the Lord said to him: No, it shall not be so: but whosoever shall kill Cain, shall be punished seven-fold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, that whosoever found him should not kill him.

Set a mark, &c. The more common opinion of the interpreters of holy writ, supposes this mark to have been a trembling of the body; or a horror and consternation in his countenance. (Challoner) --- God gave this first murderer a reprieve, allowing him time for repentance; but he neglected it, and died a reprobate; having been, during life, the head of an apostate church, and of the city of the devil, which has ever since opposed the city of God, and the society of the faithful. Though all his posterity were drowned in the deluge, some were soon found, even in the family of Noe, who stood up for the wretched pre-eminence in wickedness and rebellion, against the truth. See St. Augustine; Worthington; &c. (Haydock)

4:16  And Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and dwelt as a fugitive on the earth at the east side of Eden.

A fugitive, according to his sentence. Hebrew nod, which the Septuagint have taken for a proper name. "In the land of Naid, over against Eden," (Haydock) or in the fields of Nyse, in Hyrcania, to the east of Eden and Armenia. (Calmet)

4:17  And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and brought forth Henoch: and he built a city, and called the name thereof by the name of his son Henoch.

His wife. She was a daughter of Adam, and Cain's own sister; God dispensing with such marriages in the beginning of the world, as mankind could not otherwise be propagated. --- He built a city, viz. In process of time, when his race was multiplied, so as to be numerous enough to people it. For in the many hundred years he lived, his race might be multiplied even to millions. (Challoner) --- The Hanuchta, which Ptolemy places in Susiana, (Calmet) may perhaps have been built after the flood, in the same place. Josephus says, Cain was the first who fortified a city; designing it for a retreat, where he might keep the fruits of his robberies, Antiquities 1. 3. Peirere founds his ill-concerted system of Preadamites, or of men existing before Adam, on the history of Cain exercising husbandry, building a city, &c.; as if there were any difficulty in supposing, that the arts would have made some progress in the lapse of above a century. (Haydock)

4:18  And Henoch begot Irad, and Irad begot Maviael, and Maviael begot Mathusael, and Mathusael begot Lamech,

4:19  Who took two wives: the name of the one was Ada, and the name of the other Sella.

Two wives. Lamech first transgressed the law of having only one wife at a time. (Chap. ii. 24.) None before the deluge is mentioned as having followed his example, even among the abandoned sons of men. Abraham, the father of the faithful, and some others, after that event, when the age of man was shortened, and the number of the true servants of God very small, were dispensed with by God, who tolerated the custom of having many wives at the same time among the Jews, till our Saviour brought things back to the ancient standard. (Matthew xix. 4.) And why do we excuse the patriarchs, while we condemn Lamech? Because the one being associated with the wicked, gives us reason to judge unfavourably of him, while Abraham is constantly mentioned in Scripture with terms of approbation and praise, and therefore we have no right to pass sentence of condemnation upon him, as some Protestants have done, after the Manichees. Hence the fathers defend the one, and reject the other with abhorrence. (Haydock) --- Tertullian (Monog. c. 5.) and St. Jerome, contra Jovin. 1, says, "Lamech, first of all, a bloody murderer, divided one flesh between two wives." It was never lawful, says Pope Innocent III. contra Gaudemus, for any one to have many wives at once, unless leave was given by divine revelation;" and St. Augustine joins with him in defending the patriarchs, by this reason, "When it was the custom, it was not a sin."

4:20  And Ada brought forth Jabel: who was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of herdsmen.

4:21  And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of them that play upon the harp and the organs.

4:22  Sella also brought forth Tubalcain, who was a hammerer and artificer in every work of brass and iron. And the sister of Tubalcain was Noema.

Noema, who is supposed to have invented the art of spinning. (Calmet) --- All these worthy people were distinguished for their proficiency in the arts, while they neglected the study of religion and virtue. (Haydock) --- The inventors of arts among the Greeks lived mostly after the siege of Troy. (Calmet)

4:23  And Lamech said to his wives Ada and Sella: Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech: for I have slain a man to the wounding of myself, and a stripling to my own bruising.

Said. This is the most ancient piece of poetry with which we are acquainted. (Fleury) --- Lamech may be considered as the father of poets. (Haydock) --- I have slain a man, &c. It is the tradition of the Hebrews, that Lamech in hunting slew Cain, mistaking him for a wild beast: and that having discovered what he had done, he beat so unmercifully the youth, by whom he was led into that mistake, that he died of the blows. (Challoner) --- St. Jerome, 9. 1. ad Dam. acknowledges the difficulty of this passage, on which Origen wrote two whole books. (Worthington)

4:24  Seven-fold vengeance shall be taken for Cain: but for Lamech seventy times seven-fold.

Seventy times. A similar expression occurs, Matthew xviii. 22, to denote a great but indefinite number. God had promised to revenge the murder of Cain seven fold, though he had sinned voluntarily; so Lamech hopes that, as he had acted by mistake, and blinded by passion, in striking the stripling, the son of Tubalcain, he would deserve to be protected still more from falling a prey to the fury of any other. But many reject this tradition as fabulous, unknown to Philo, Josephus, &c. Moses no where mentions the death of Cain. Some, therefore, understand this passage with an interrogation; as if, to convince his wives that his sin was not so enormous as was supposed, he should say, Do not think of leaving me. What! have I killed a young man, as Cain did Abel, and still he is suffered to live unmolested; or have I beaten any one so that I should be punished? Onkelos, in effect, puts a negation to the same purport, "I have not killed, &c.:" (Calmet) others understand this passage, as if Lamech considered his crimes as much more grievous than even those of Cain. (Tirinus)

4:25  Adam also knew his wife again: and she brought forth a son, and called his name Seth, saying: God hath given me another seed for Abel, whom Cain slew.

4:26  But to Seth also was born a son, whom he called Enos: this man began to call upon the name of the Lord.

Began to call upon, &c. Not that Adam and Seth had not called upon God before the birth of Enos, but that Enos used more solemnity in the worship and invocation of God. (Challoner) --- He directed all his thoughts towards heaven, being reminded by his own name, which signifies one afflicted, that he could look for no solid happiness on earth. Seth had brought him up, from his infancy, in these pious sentiments, and his children were so docile to his instructions, that they began to be known in the world for their extraordinary piety, and were even styled the Sons of God, chap. vi. 2. (Haydock) --- Religion was not a human invention, but many ceremonies have been adopted, at different times, to make an impression on the minds of the people. Before Enos, the heads of families had officiated in their own houses; now, perhaps, they met together in places consecrated to the divine service, and sounded forth the praises of the Most High. Enos was probably most conspicuous for his zeal on these occasions: at least, a new degree of fervour manifested itself in his days. On the other hand, "the name of the Lord began to be profaned" about this time, as the Rabbin understand this passage, by the introduction of idolatry; which is a common effect of a dissolute life, which many began now to lead, Wisdom xiv. 12. (Calmet) --- The beginning of fornication is the devising of idols. We have, nevertheless, no certain proof of idols being introduced till many years after the deluge. (Haydock)

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World 2, Year before Christ 4002. 4: Hebrews xi. 4. 8: Year of the World 128, Year before Christ 3876. ** Wisdom x. 3.; Matthew xxiii. 35.; 1 John iii. 12.; Jude i. 11. 24: Matthew xviii. 22. 25: Year of the World 130, Year before Christ 3874.

Chapter 5

The genealogy, age, and death of the Patriarchs, from Adam to Noe. The translation of Henoch.

5:1  This is the book of the generation of Adam. In the day that God created man, he made him to the likeness of God.

5:2  He created them male and female; and blessed them: and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

Adam: the common name of mankind, made to the likeness of God. (Haydock)

5:3  And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot a son to his own image and likeness, and called his name Seth.

5:4  And the days of Adam, after he begot Seth, were eight hundred years: and he begot sons and daughters.

5:5  And all the time that Adam lived, came to nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.

He died. Ecclesiasticus xiv. 12, says very justly, the covenant of this world is, he shall surely die. God prolonged the lives of the patriarchs to a more advanced age, that the world might be sooner filled. Their constitution was then more excellent, the fruits of the earth more nourishing, &c. But the sole satisfactory reason for their living almost a thousand years, while we can hardly arrive at 70, is, because so it pleased God, in whose hands are all our lots. There is a great difference in the number of years assigned by the Hebrew and Vulgate, from that which the Samaritan copy mentions; and the Septuagint differs from both. Whether the difference be real, or only apparent, we shall not pretend to determine. The Church has not decided which system of chronology is the most accurate. In the Martyrology, she adopts that of the Septuagint and places the birth of Christ in [the year of the world] 5199, after Eusebius and Ven. Bede, though Riccioli calculates the Septuagint at 5634 years. (Haydock) --- Adam died penitent, as we are assured by the Holy Ghost, Wisdom x. 2.; and tradition affirms the same of Eve, insomuch, that the heresy of the Encratites, who condemned our first parents to hell, was exploded with horror. (St. Epiphanius; St. Augustine, in haeres.; Tirinus)

5:6  Seth also lived a hundred and five years, and begot Enos.

5:7  And Seth lived after he begot Enos, eight hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.

5:8  And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.

5:9  And Enos lived ninety years, and begot Cainan.

5:10  After whose birth he lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and begot sons and daughters.

5:11  And the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years, and he died.

5:12  And Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Malaleel.

5:13  And Cainan lived after he begot Malaleel, eight hundred forty years, and begot sons and daughters.

5:14  And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.

5:15  And Malaleel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared.

5:16  And Malaleel lived after he begot Jared, eight hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.

5:17  And all the days of Malaleel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.

5:18  And Jared lived a hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Henoch.

5:19  And Jared lived after he begot Henoch, eight hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

5:20  And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died.

5:21  And Henoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Mathusala.

5:22  And Henoch walked with God: and lived after he begot Mathusala, three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

5:23  And all the days of Henoch were three hundred and sixty-five years.

5:24  And he walked with God, and was seen no more: because God took him.

Walked with God. Septuagint, "was pleasing to God," by continual recollection and watchfulness over himself. Thus he became perfect. --- Was seen no more; or, as St. Paul reads, after the Septuagint, he was not found. (Hebrews xi. 5.) --- God took him alive to some place unknown, which is commonly supposed to be Paradise, conformably to Ecclesiasticus xliv. 16, though in Greek we do not read Paradise. Henoch pleased God, and was translated [into Paradise], that he may give repentance to the nations. To him, that of Wisdom iv. 10, may be applied: He...was beloved, and living among sinners, he was translated. He will come again, when the charity of many of his children (for we all spring from him) shall have grown cold; and shall at last suffer death for opposing Antichrist. (Apocalypse xi.) (Haydock) --- "Though it be not an article of faith, whether Henoch be now in that Paradise, from which Adam and Eve were driven, or in some other delightful place; yet the holy Scriptures affirm, that God translated him alive, that he might not experience death," St. Chrysostom, hom. 21, with whom the other fathers agree, cited in the Douay Bible; so that it is a matter of surprise, how any Protestant can call it in question. He is the other witness, who will come with Elias, before the great day of the Lord, to perform the same office to the nations, as the latter will to the Jews. (Malachias iv.) God preserves these two alive, perhaps to give us a striking proof how he could have treated Adam and his posterity, if they had not sinned; and also to confirm our hopes of immortality, when we shall have paid the debt of nature. (Worthington)

5:25  And Mathusala lived a hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech.

5:26  And Mathusala lived after he begot Lamech, seven hundred and eighty-two years, and begot sons and daughters.

5:27  And all the days of Mathusala were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died.

5:28  And Lamech lived a hundred and eighty-two years, and begot a son.

5:29  And he called his name Noe, saying: This same shall comfort us from the works and labours of our hands on the earth, which the Lord hath cursed.

Noe means consolation, or repose. After he had beheld the most dreadful catastrophe or disturbance that ever happened in the world, he settled mankind once more in the friendship of God, and merited a blessing both for himself and for the whole earth. He gave, likewise, comfort to all, by useful inventions in agriculture, and in the art of making wine. He saw an end of the distractions caused by the wicked sons of Cain, and became the restorer of a new world: in a word, he was the progenitor of the Messias [Jesus Christ], who is the King of Peace, and our only solid comfort. (Menochius) (Haydock)

5:30  And Lamech lived after he begot Noe, five hundred and ninety-five years, and begot sons and daughters.

5:31  And all the days of Lamech came to seven hundred and seventy-seven years, and he died. And Noe, when he was five hundred years old, begot Sem, Cham, and Japheth.

Old. It is wonderful if Noe had no children before this time; but he might have had many, whom the Scripture does not mention, either because they were dead before the deluge, or taking evil courses with the daughters of men, deserved to perish with them. Noe kept the three, who were born after God had foretold the deluge, with the greatest care, under his own eyes. St. Augustine (City of God xv. 20.) thinks, however, that many of the Patriarchs had no children till they were pretty far advanced in years. As Sem was born when Noe was 502, and Cham was the youngest, Japheth must have been the first-born. Compare chap. x. 21, with chap. ix. 24. There is no reason to suppose they were all born the same year. (Calmet)

Cross-references: 1: Wisdom ii. 3.[23.?]; Ecclesiasticus xvii. 1.; Genesis ix. 6. 3: 1 Paralipomenon i. 1. 6: Year of the World 235, Year before Christ 3769. 24: Year of the World 987, Year before Christ 3017. 29: Year of the World 1056, Year before Christ 2948.

Chapter 6

Man's sin is the cause of the deluge. Noe is commanded to build the ark.

6:1  And after that men began to be multiplied upon the earth, and daughters were born to them,

Daughters. These had borne equal proportion with the males from the beginning; but here they are particularized, because they were the chief instruments in corrupting the descendants of Seth. (Haydock) --- Even the sons of these libidinous people were so effeminate, as to deserve to be called women. (Menochius)

6:2  The sons of God seeing the daughters of men, that they were fair, took to themselves wives of all which they chose.

The sons of God. The descendants of Seth and Enos are here called Sons of God, from their religion and piety: whereas the ungodly race of Cain, who by their carnal affections lay grovelling upon the earth, are called the children of men. The unhappy consequence of the former marrying with the latter, ought to be a warning to Christians to be very circumspect in their marriages; and not to suffer themselves to be determined in choice by their carnal passion, to the prejudice of virtue or religion. (Challoner) --- See St. Chrysostom, hom. 22, &c. Some copies of the Septuagint having the angels of God, induced some of the ancients to suppose, that these spiritual beings (to whom, by another mistake, they attributed a sort of aerial bodies) had commerce with women, as the pagans derived their heroes from a mortal and a god. But this notion, which is borrowed from the book of Henoch, is quite exploded. (Calmet) --- The distinction of the true Church from the synagogue of satan, here established, has been ever since retained, as heretics are still distinguished from Catholics. (Worthington) (St. Augustine)

6:3  And God said: My spirit shall not remain in man for ever, because he is flesh, and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

His days shall be, &c. The meaning is, that man's days, which before the flood were usually 900 years, should now be reduced to 120 years. Or rather, that God would allow men this term of 120 years, for their repentance and conversion, before he would send the deluge. (Challoner) --- He spoke therefore to Noe in his 480th year. (St. Augustine) Those who suppose, that he foretold this event 20 years later, think with St. Jerome, that God retrenched 20 years from the time first assigned for penance. The Spirit of the sovereign Judge was fired with contending; or, as others translate it, with remaining quiet as in a scabbard, and bearing with the repeated crimes of men. He resolved to punish them severely in this world, that he might shew mercy to some of them hereafter. (St. Jerome, 9. Heb.) (Calmet) --- If we suppose, that God here threatens to reduce the space of man's life to 120 years, we must say, at least, that he did it by degrees: for many lived several hundred years, even after the deluge. In the days of Moses, indeed, few exceeded that term. But we think the other interpretation is more literal, and that God bore with mankind the full time which he promised. (Worthington)

6:4  Now giants were upon the earth in those days. For after the sons of God went in to the daughters of men, and they brought forth children, these are the mighty men of old, men of renown.

Giants. It is likely the generality of men before the flood were of a gigantic stature, in comparison with what men now are. But these here spoken of, are called giants, as being not only tall in stature, but violent and savage in their dispositions, and mere monsters of cruelty and lust. (Challoner) --- Yet we need not imagine, that they were such as the poets describe, tearing up mountains, and hurling them against heaven. Being offspring of men, who had lived hitherto with great temperance, but now gave full scope to their passions, and the love of the fair daughters whom they chose, we need not wonder that they should be amazingly strong and violent. Nephilim, rushing on, as Ag.[Aquila?] translates. That there have been giants of an unusual size, all historians testify. Og, Goliah, &c. are mentioned in Scripture, and the sons of Enac are represented as much above the common size, as the Hebrews were greater than grasshoppers, Numbers xiii. 34. If we should suppose they were four or five times our size, would that be more wonderful than that they should live nine or ten times as long as we do? See St. Augustine, City of God xv. 9, 23; Calmet's Dissert. &c. Delrio affirms, that in 1572 he saw at Rouen, a native of Piedmont, above nine feet high. (Haydock) --- Of old. The corruption of morals had commenced many ages ago, and some of the sons of Seth had given way to their lusts; so that we are not to suppose, that these giants were all born within a hundred years of the flood, as some might suppose from their being mentioned here, after specifying the age of Noe, chap. v. 31. (Haydock)

6:5  And God seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the earth, and that all the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all times,

At all times. Hebrew: only evil continually. They had no relish for any thing else: as we may say of a glutton, he thinks of nothing but his belly. Yet some good thoughts would occur occasionally, and we may grant that they did some things which were not sinful. (Menochius) --- If we follow corrupt nature, and live among sinners, we find a law within us warring against the spirit; and a very powerful grace is necessary to rescue us from such a dangerous situation. (Calmet) --- Though the expressions in this place seem general, they must be understood with some limitations. (Worthington)

6:6  It repented him that he had made man on the earth. And being touched inwardly with sorrow of heart,

It repented him, &c. God, who is unchangeable, is not capable of repentance, grief, or any other passion. But these expressions are used to declare the enormity of the sins of men, which was so provoking as to determine their Creator to destroy these his creatures, whom before he had so much favoured. (Challoner) --- God acted outwardly as a man would do who repented. (Haydock)

6:7  He said: I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of the earth, from man even to beasts, from the creeping thing even to the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them.

6:8  But Noe found grace before the Lord.

Grace. Notwithstanding the general denunciation against all flesh, we see here that God will not confound the just with the guilty, in the same punishment. Noe pleased God, by observing the most perfect justice, in the midst of a corrupt generation. (St. Chrysostom; &c.) (Worthington)

6:9  These are the generations of Noe: Noe was a just and perfect man in his generations, he walked with God.

6:10  And he begot three sons, Sem, Cham, and Japheth.

6:11  And the earth was corrupted before God, and was filled with iniquity.

6:12  And when God had seen that the earth was corrupted (for all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth),

Its way, being abandoned to the most shameful and unnatural sins. (Liranus)

6:13  He said to Noe: The end of all flesh is come before me, the earth is filled with iniquity through them, and I will destroy them with the earth.

All flesh. I will destroy all these carnal and wicked people, and, because all other creatures were made only for man's use, and will be useless, I will involve them in the common ruin, reserving only what will be necessary for the support of the few, who shall be preserved, and for the repeopling of the earth. (Haydock)

6:14  Make thee an ark of timber planks: thou shalt make little rooms in the ark, and thou shalt pitch it within and without.

Timber planks. Hebrew, "gopher wood," which is no where else mentioned in Scripture. It was probably a sort of wood full of rosin, and being besmeared with something like our pitch, was capable of resisting the fury of the ensuing tremendous storm, for a length of time. (Calmet; Haydock) --- Rooms to separate the birds, various animals, provisions, &c. --- Pitch, literally: "besmear it with bitumen," which has a very strong smell, able to counteract the disagreeable odours arising from beasts confined. (Menochius) --- It might be mixed with some other ingredients, naphtha, pitch, &c. (Calmet)

6:15  And thus shalt thou make it. The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits: the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.

Three hundred cubits, &c. The ark, according to the dimensions here set down, contained four hundred and fifty thousand square cubits; which were more than enough to contain all the kinds of living creatures, with all necessary provisions: even supposing the cubits here spoken of to have been only a foot and a half each, which was the least kind of cubits. (Challoner) --- It is therefore unnecessary for us to have recourse, with Cappel, to the sacred cubit, which was twice as large as the common one, but which seems not to have been in use among the Jews before the Babylonian captivity. Still less need we adopt the geometrical cubit, which contains six ordinary ones, as we might be authorised to do by the great names of Origen and St. Augustine, City of God xv. 27. q. in Gen. i. 4. These dimensions would make the ark as large as a city. Moses always speaks of the same sort of cubit, used probably in Egypt. Apelles and other heretics, with some modern infidels, have attempted to shew, that this account of Moses is fabulous. But they have been amply refuted by able calculators, John Buteo, Pelletier, &c. This amazing structure, for which God himself gave the plan, was divided with three stories, besides the lower part of the vessel, which might serve to keep fresh water. The different species of animals are not so numerous, as some imagine. Fishes, and such creatures as can live in water, would not need to come into the ark. Animals deprived of exercise, and allowed barely what may support nature, will live upon a very little. Even an ox, according to Columella, will live on 30 pounds of hay, or on a cubic foot, a whole day, so that 400 of these large creatures might be supported on 146,000 cubic feet. The middle story, for provisions, would alone contain 150,000 cubits. Noe's family, and the birds, would probably occupy the room above, in which was a window all around, of the height of a cubit, without glass or crystal, which were not yet invented, but defended with lattice work of wood, like our dairy rooms. (Haydock)

6:16  Thou shalt make a window in the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish the top of it: and the door of the ark thou shalt set in the side: with lower, middle chambers, and third stories shalt thou make it.

In a cubit. This is understood by some, of the height of the window; by others, of the roof, which would be almost flat, like the top of a coach. Menoch supposes, that the whole ark was to be measured with the cubit in every part, from the bottom to the top; and the words of it, properly refer to the ark. --- Side, or at the end, about the middle way, that the animals might be conveyed easily to their stalls. The door would open into the story allotted to the beasts, and all things might enter it by a sort of bridge, or by sloping planks. (Calmet) --- Ordure might be thrown down into the lowest part of the ark, separated from the reservoir of fresh water, or might be brought up with ropes and buckets to the window at the top, which would easily open. (Tirinus)

6:17  Behold I will bring the waters of a great flood upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life under heaven. All things that are in the earth shall be consumed.

6:18  And I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt enter into the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and the wives of thy sons with thee.

My covenant, that thou shalt be saved, amid the general ruin. This is the second covenant of God with man: the first was with Adam, the third with Abraham, when circumcision was instituted, and the last with Moses, Exodus xix. All others were only ratifications of these; and even these were only figures of that which our Saviour entered into with men, when he undertook to make satisfaction for them to his Father. (Calmet)

6:19  And of every living creature of all flesh, thou shalt bring two of a sort into the ark, that they may live with thee: of the male sex, and the female.

Two, intended for the propagation of their kind. God afterwards specifies what more Noe should preserve for food, chap. vii. 2. (Calmet). --- Wild beasts forgot their savage nature, and became subject to the just Noe; and all came readily at his beck, in the same manner as domestic animals come when we offer them food. Yet, in all this we must acknowledge the work of God, and a sort of miracle. (Haydock)

6:20  Of fowls according to their kind, and of beasts in their kind, and of every thing that creepeth on the earth according to its kind: two of every sort shall go in with thee, that they may live.

6:21  Thou shalt take unto thee of all food that may be eaten, and thou shalt lay it up with thee: and it shall be food for thee and them.

6:22  And Noe did all things which God commanded him.

Cross-references: 3: Year of the World 1536, Year before Christ 2468. 4: Baruch iii. 26.; Amos ii. 9.; Wisdom xiv. 6.; Ecclesiasticus xvi. 8. 5: Genesis viii. 21.; Matthew xv. 19. 9: Ecclesiasticus xliv. 17. 13: 1 Peter iii. 20.; 2 Peter ii. 5.

Chapter 7

Noe with his family go into the ark. The deluge overflows the earth.

7:1  And the Lord said to him: Go in, thou and all thy house, into the ark: for thee I have seen just before me in this generation.

7:2  Of all clean beasts take seven and seven, the male and the female.

Of all clean. The distinction of clean and unclean beasts, appears to have been made before the law of Moses, which was not promulgated till the year of the world 2514. (Challoner). --- Clean: not according to the law of Moses, which was not yet given, but such as tradition had described --- fit for sacrifice; (Menochius) though they might be of the same species as were deemed clean in the law, which ratified the ancient institution. --- And seven: (Hebrew) simply seven, three couple and an odd male, for sacrifice after the deluge: one couple was to breed, the other two perhaps for food. (Haydock) --- Some imagine, that there were fourteen unclean and four clean animals, of every species, in the ark, because the Samaritan, Septuagint, and Vulgate read, "seven and seven." (Origen, &c.) --- But our Saviour, sending the Disciples to preach two and two, did not appoint a company of four to go together, but only of two, as is generally allowed, Mark vi. 7. (Calmet)

7:3  But of the beasts that are unclean two and two, the male and the female. Of the fowls also of the air seven and seven, the male and the female: that seed may be saved upon the face of the whole earth.

7:4  For yet a while, and after seven days, I will rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights: and I will destroy every substance that I have made, from the face of the earth.

7:5  And Noe did all things which the Lord had commanded him.

7:6  And he was six hundred years old, when the waters of the flood overflowed the earth.

7:7  And Noe went in and his sons, his wife and the wives of his sons with him into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

7:8  And of beasts clean and unclean, and of fowls, and of every thing that moveth upon the earth,

7:9  Two and two went in to Noe into the ark, male and female, as the Lord had commanded Noe.

7:10  And after seven days were passed, the waters of the flood overflowed the earth.

7:11  In the six hundredth year of the life of Noe, in the second month, in the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the flood-gates of heaven were opened:

Seventeenth day. On the tenth, God had given the last warning to the wretched and obstinate sinners, to whom Noe had been preaching, both by word and by building the ark, for 120 years; all in vain. This second month is, by some, supposed to be the month of May; by others, that of November. Usher makes Noe enter the ark on the 18th December [in the year of the world] 1656. The waters decreased May 17, mountains appear July 31, he sends out the raven September 8, and leaves the ark December 29, after having remained in it a year and ten days, according to the antediluvian computation, or a full year of 365 days. The systems of those pretended philosophers, who would represent this flood as only partial, affecting the countries which were then inhabited, are all refuted by the plain narration of Moses. What part of the world could have been secure, when the waters prevailed fifteen cubits above the highest mountains? To give a natural cause only for this miraculous effect, would be nugatory: but as waters covered the earth at first, so they surely might again, by the power of God. (Haydock) --- Fountains and flood-gates. These are the two natural causes which Moses assigns for the deluge, the waters below, and those above in the sky or firmament. Heaven is said to be shut when it does not rain, (Luke iv. 25.) so it is here opened, and flood-gates, or torrents of rain, pour down incessantly. But God attributes not the deluge to these causes alone; he sufficiently intimates that it would be miraculous, (ver. 4, I will rain, ) and still more emphatically, chap. vi. 17, Behold I. Hebrew, "I, even I myself, do bring on a flood of waters." The idea which Moses give of the flood, corresponds with that which he before gave of chaos, when earth and water were undistinguished in one confused mass, chap. i. 6. The Hebrews look upon it as a continual miracle, that the earth is not always deluged, being founded, as they represent it, on the waters, Jeremias v. 22. Calmet and others have proved, both from Scripture and from philosophical arguments, the universality of the deluge, against Isaac Vossius, &c. (Haydock)

7:12  And the rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

7:13  In the self-same day Noe, and Sem, and Cham, and Japheth, his sons: his wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark.

7:14  They and every beast according to its kind, and all the cattle in their kind, and every thing that moveth upon the earth, according to its kind, and every fowl according to its kind, all birds, and all that fly,

7:15  Went in to Noe into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein was the breath of life.

7:16  And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in on the outside.

The Lord shut him in, by an angel besmearing the door with pitch, to prevent the waters from penetrating, while Noe did the like in the inside. (Calmet) --- Thus God supplies our wants when we are not able to provide for ourselves, and though he could do all by himself, yet he requires us to co-operate with him, and often makes use of secondary causes. (Worthington)

7:17  And the flood was forty days upon the earth: and the waters increased, and lifted up the ark on high from the earth.

7:18  For they overflowed exceedingly: and filled all on the face of the earth: and the ark was carried upon the waters.

7:19  And the waters prevailed beyond measure upon the earth: and all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.

7:20  The water was fifteen cubits higher than the mountains which it covered.

7:21  And all flesh was destroyed that moved upon the earth, both of fowl and of cattle, and of beasts, and of all creeping things that creep upon the earth: and all men.

7:22  And all things wherein there is the breath of life on the earth, died.

7:23  And he destroyed all the substance that was upon the earth, from man even to beast, and the creeping things and fowls of the air: and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noe only remained, and they that were with him in the ark.

7:24  And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.

Days: counting from the end of the forty days, when the deluge was at its height. (Calmet) --- In all the histories of past ages, there is nothing so terrible as this event. What became of all those myriads of human beings who perished on this occasion? We know not. Some have charitably supposed, that, although the far greater part perished everlastingly, a few who had been incredulous while Noe preached, opened their eyes at last, when it was too late to save their bodies, and by sincere repentance rescued their souls from the flames, and were consigned to do penance, for a time, in the other world. These heard the preaching of Jesus Christ, or believed in his redemption, while they were yet living, and so deserved to partake of his mercies, and joyfully beheld his sacred person when he came to visit them in their prison of purgatory. 1 Peter iii. 19, He came and preached to those spirits that were in prison: which had been sometime incredulous, when they waited for the patience of God in the days of Noe, when the ark was a building: wherein a few, that is eight souls, were saved from drowning by water. Whereunto baptism, being of the like form, now saves you also, &c. See F. S. Bellarmine, &c. In these last words of St. Peter, we may also notice, that the ark was a figure of baptism, which is so necessary, that without its reception, or desire of it at least, no man can be saved. It is also a figure of the cross, and of the one true Church, as the Fathers remark, with St. Augustine, City of God xv. i; Menochius &c.; St. Gregory, hom. 12 in Ezech. &c. --- This is so striking that it deserves to be seriously considered. It was only one, though God could have ordered many smaller vessels to be made ready, perhaps with less inconvenience to Noe, that we might reflect, out of the Church the obstinate will surely perish. St. Jerome, ep. ad Dam.: In this ark all that were truly holy, and some imperfect, like Cham, were contained, clean beasts and unclean dwelt together, that we need not wonder if some Catholics be a disgrace to their name. The ark had different partitions, to remind us of the various orders of Clergy and Laity in the Church, with one chief governor, the Pope, like Noe in the ark. It was strong, visible, &c., and pitched all over with the durable cement, bitumen, and riding triumphant amid the storms, the envy of all who were out of it, till at last it settled upon a rock. So the Church is built on a rock, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail: she is not less obvious to the sincere seeker, than a city built on the top of the highest mountain, &c. We might here take a retrospective view of the chief occurrences and personages of the former world; we should observe the same order of the things from the beginning, --- the conflict of virtue and vice, the preservation of the true faith and worship of God among a few chosen souls, who preferred to be persecuted by worldlings, rather than to offend God. They contended earnestly for the faith once delivered to the Saints, to Adam and Eve, once innocent, and afterwards penitent. We behold original sin, and the promised remedy for mankind; while the rebel angels are abandoned, without redress. There was kept up a communion of saints: sacrifice to the one God was performed generally by the heads of families, who were priests in the law of nature. Even Cain, though a bad man, through hypocrisy, chose to offer sacrifice before he had quite broken off from the society of the faithful, and resolved to become the father of all excommunicated persons, and of all seceders. (Chap. iv. 16.) He was admonished by God that he had free will, and might merit a reward by a different conduct. His sentence, as well as that pronounced upon Adam, and upon all mankind, before the flood, reminds us of the particular and general judgment; as the translation of Henoch sets before us the happy state of the blessed, and the immortality, of which it was an earnest. See Douay Bible, where the chief mysteries of faith are pointed out as the creed of the Antediluvians. Even the Blessed Trinity was insinuated, or shewn to them, at a distance, in various texts: the unity and indissolubility of marriage were clearly expressed; the true Church continued in Noe, while the chain of schismatics and heretics was broken, and Cain's progeny destroyed. In this period of time, we may discover what the ancients so often describe respecting the four ages: --- the golden age is most perfectly found in Paradise; but only for a few days, or perhaps only a few hours, during which our first parents preserved their innocence. The silver age may have lasted rather longer, till the murder of Abel, or 128 years, when Cain began to disturb the peace of the world. From that time, till the giants make their appearance, we may reckon the age of brass. But that of iron had continued for many years before the flood. The like deterioration of morals we may discover after the deluge, and again after the renovation of the world, by the preaching of the gospel. For some time after these two great events, things bore a pleasing aspect; Noe was busy in offering sacrifice to God, Christians were all one heart and one soul, enjoying all things in common, and God gave a blessing to the earth, and confirmed his covenant with men. Then Cham, Nemrod, and Babel appear, heresies in the new law break forth, and disturb the lovely harmony of mankind: but still a sufficient number preserve their integrity, till about the days of Abraham and Arius, in their respective periods, and may be said to have lived in the silver age, when compared with the brazen insolence of the great majority of those who came after. The iron age of these two periods, may be dated from the persecution of Epiphanes against the Jews, when so many apostatized from the faith, and from that much more terrible persecution which will be raised against Christians by Antichrist, the man of sin, (of which the former was a type) when the charity of many shall grow cold, and Christ will hardly find faith upon the earth. To that age may justly be applied, those strong expressions of disapprobation which God made use of before the flood, chap. vi. 3, 6, 12. He will punish the crimes of that age with a deluge of fire, and say, The end of all flesh is come before me, &c., ver. 13. Time shall be no longer, Apocalypse x. 6. (Haydock)

Cross-references: 1: Hebrews xi. 7.; 2 Peter ii. 5. 7: Matthew xxiv. 37.; Luke xvii. 26.; 1 Peter iii. 20. 11: Year of the World 1656, Year before Christ 2348. 21: Wisdom x. 4.; Ecclesiasticus xxxix. 28.; 1 Peter iii. 20.

Chapter 8

The deluge ceaseth. Noe goeth out of the ark, and offereth a sacrifice. God's covenant to him.

8:1  And God remembered Noe, and all the living creatures, and all the cattle which were with him in the ark, and brought a wind upon the earth, and the waters were abated:

Remembered; not as if God had ever forgotten Noe, but he now shews his remembrance of him by the effects. (Menochius) --- A wind, literally a spirit, which St. Ambrose and Theodoret understood of the Holy Ghost, that as he moved over the waters at first, (Chap. i. 2.) to give them fecundity, and to exercise his power in establishing order, so he may shew the same care and providence for this new world, emerging, like the former, from the waters. (Haydock) --- Most interpreters, however, understand this of a violent wind; (Proverbs xxv. 23; Exodus xiv. 21.) a strong blast, such as was sent to divide the Red sea. (Menochius)

8:2  The fountains also of the deep, and the flood-gates of heaven, were shut up, and the rain from heaven was restrained.

8:3  And the waters returned from off the earth going and coming: and they began to be abated after a hundred and fifty days.

And the waters returned, &c. St. Jerome on this passage remarks, "that all waters and torrents repair to the womb of the abyss, through the hidden veins of the earth," and by the abyss understands the sea: according to that of Ecclesiastes i. 7, all the rivers run into the sea. But as the sea itself, on this occasion, exceeded its limits, (otherwise its waters would not have been higher than the land) the sense perhaps confined to this, that the waters by degrees were diminished; as we may say of the inundations of land, that the waters are gone off, not by the regular course of ditches, but from the effects of the sun and winds which dry them up. (Estius)

8:4  And the ark rested in the seventh month, the seven and twentieth day of the month, upon the mountains of Armenia.

And the ark rested on the mountains of Armenia. The Hebrew word is Ararat, which also occurs in the 37th chap. of Isaias, and the 51st of Jeremias; for in these places our interpreter retained the Hebrew word, but in the 4th book of Kings, xix. 37, where the same history is related, it is translated by the land of the Armenians. (Estius) --- Seventh month, of the year, not of the deluge, as appears from ver. 13, &c. (Menochius). --- Seven and twentieth. So also the Septuagint, but the Hebrew, &c. have the 17th. It is not easy to decide which is right. On the seventeenth the waters only began to decrease, and some hence argue for the Vulgate, as they say it is not probable the ark would stop that very day. (Calmet) --- This, however, might be the only mean by which Noe could discern that the waters were abating. (Haydock) --- The ark being about fourteen cubits sunk in the water, might soon touch the summit of the highest mountains, such as Mount Taurus, of which the Ararat, here mentioned in the Hebrew, a mountain of Armenia, forms a part, according to St. Jerome. The Armenians still boast that they have the remains of the ark. Berosus, the Pagan historian, says bitumen was taken from it as a preservative. (Josephus, Antiquities i. 3; Eusebius, praep. ix. 4.) The Chaldee has Cordu for Ararat, whence some have supposed, that the ark rested on the Cordyean or Gordiean mountains. The Armenians call the mountain near Erivan, Mesesonsar, or the mountain of the ark. (Calmet)

8:5  And the waters were going and decreasing until the tenth month: for in the tenth month, the first day of the month, the tops of the mountains appeared.

8:6  And after that forty days were passed, Noe opening the window of the ark, which he had made, sent forth a raven:

8:7  Which went forth and did not return, till the waters were dried up upon the earth.

Did not return. The negotiation Not, is not to be found in any Hebrew copy now extant; though it is still retained by the Septuagint, and several Latin manuscripts, according to the testimony of Liranus. If we adhere, therefore, to the Hebrew text, we must translate it with St. Jerome, thus; It went forth, going and returning, ( Egredicbatur exiens et revertens ) sometimes repairing to the mountains, where it found carcasses to feed on, and at other times returning not unto the ark, but to rest upon the top of it. (Estius) (Challoner) --- Or receded farther from it; as the Hebrew may be explained, agreeably to the Vulgate, Septuagint, Syriac, &c. which admit the negation. (Calmet) --- Till, as long as the waters covered the earth, not that it returned to the ark afterwards. (Menochius)

8:8  He sent forth also a dove after him, to see if the waters had now ceased upon the face of the earth.

8:9  But she not finding where her foot might rest, returned to him into the ark: for the waters were upon the whole earth: and he put forth his hand, and caught her, and brought her into the ark.

Whole earth, excepting the mountains; so that the dove presently returned. (Haydock)

8:10  And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the dove out of the ark.

8:11  And she came to him in the evening carrying a bough of an olive tree, with green leaves, in her mouth. Noe therefore understood that the waters were ceased upon the earth.

Green leaves. The olive tree preserves its verdure and grows even at the bottom of the Red sea, and other seas in the East. (Pliny, Natural History xii. 25.) --- Many other trees and seeds will live for a long time under the waters. (Calmet) --- This tender branch of the olive seems to agree better with the spring than autumn; whence Tirinus infers, that the deluge began and ended in spring.

8:12  And he stayed yet other seven days: and he sent forth the dove, which returned not any more unto him.

8:13  Therefore in the six hundredth and first year, the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were lessened upon the earth, and Noe opening the covering of the ark, looked, and saw that the face of the earth was dried.

Year of Noe's age, who, we may suppose, was born on the first day of the year. So that his 601st year corresponds with the 1657th of the world, B.C. 2343, on which day the deluge ended. Still Noe waited for God's order to leave the ark till the 27th of the ensuing month, when the earth was more perfectly dried. (Haydock) --- Covering. Some think that the window was at the top, like a sky-light. (Calmet)

8:14  In the second month, the seven and twentieth day of the month, the earth was dried.

8:15  And God spoke to Noe, saying:

8:16  Go out of the ark, thou and thy wife, thy sons and the wives of thy sons with thee.

8:17  All livings things that are with thee of all flesh, as well in fowls as in beasts, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, bring out with thee, and go ye upon the earth: increase and multiply upon it.

Increase. Hebrew, "let them increase." This is spoken of the brute creation, the blessing is given to men. (Chap. ix.) --- Neither Noe's family, nor any of the animals, had any young in the ark. (Calmet)

8:18  So Noe went out, he and his sons: his wife, and the wives of his sons with him.

8:19  And all living things, and cattle, and creeping things that creep upon the earth, according to their kinds went out of the ark.

8:20  And Noe built an altar unto the Lord: and taking of all cattle and fowls that were clean, offered holocausts upon the altar.

Holocausts, or whole burnt offerings. In which the whole victim was consumed by fire upon God's altar, and no part was reserved for the use of priest or people. (Challoner) --- This is the first time we read of an altar, though Abel had surely made use of one. (Menochius) --- Noe delays not to shew his gratitude to God, St. Ambrose. (Worthington)

8:21  And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and said: I will no more curse the earth for the sake of man: for the imagination and thought of man's heart are prone to evil from his youth: therefore I will no more destroy every living soul as I have done.

Smelled, &c. A figurative expression, denoting that God was pleased with the sacrifices which his servant offered, (Challoner) and in this sense it is expressed in the Chaldee, "God received his offering gratefully." God requires sacrifices of us, to testify his dominion, and not for any advantage he derives from them; but rather to bless us, if we perform our duty with fervour. --- For the sake of, or on account of men's sins. They are so prone to evil, that, if I were to punish them as often as they deserve, new deluges might be sent every day. I take pity on their weakness. I will punish the most criminal, but not as I have done, by cursing the earth. These words of God, are by some addressed to Noe, by others to God the Son. Hebrew, "he said to his heart;" Onkelos, "he said in his word;" Septuagint, "he said with reflection." (Calmet) --- Noe was beloved by God, and therefore may be called his heart. To speak to the heart, often means to comfort. (Haydock)

8:22  All the days of the earth, seed-time and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, night and day, shall not cease.

Seed-time, according to the Targum of Jonathan, is the equinox of September; harvest, that of March; winter and summer denote the solstice of December and of June. But the Hebrews probably divided the year into summer and winter; or perhaps they might also admit the season of spring, with the Egyptians and the ancient Greeks, who represented the seasons by the three hours, daughters of Jupiter. (Calmet)

Cross-references: 17: Genesis i. 28. and ix. 1. 21: Genesis vi. 5.; Matthew xv. 19.

Chapter 9

God blesseth Noe: forbiddeth blood: and promiseth never more to destroy the world by water. The blessing of Sem and Japheth.

9:1  And God blessed Noe and his sons. And he said to them: Increase, and multiply, and fill the earth.

Blessed, with fecundity. Barrenness was deemed a curse. (Calmet)

9:2  And let the fear and dread of you be upon all the beasts of the earth, and upon all the fowls of the air, and all that move upon the earth: all the fishes of the sea are delivered into your hand.

Fear, &c. God confirms the dominion of man over all animals, though he must exercise it now by compulsion; they will not obey always without reluctance, as they would have done in the state of innocence. (Haydock)

9:3  And every thing that moveth, and liveth shall be meat for you: even as the green herbs have I delivered them all to you:

Meat. The more religious, at least, had hitherto abstained from flesh, being content with herbs, &c.: which had been expressly granted. Now, the salt waters of the deluge had vitiated the earth, its plants were no longer so nutritive. (Menochius) --- God gives leave to eat flesh meat, but with some restriction, that we may still learn to obey. (Worthington)

9:4  Saving that flesh with blood you shall not eat.

With blood. This was a matter of indifference in itself, like the forbidden fruit. But God gave the prohibition, to keep people at a greater distance from imbruing their hands in the blood of others, which nevertheless we know some have drunk! He would also assert his dominion over all things; the blood or life of animals being reserved to be offered in sacrifice to him, instead of the life of man, Leviticus xvii. 11. Blood of brutes is gross and unwholesome. (Menochius) --- The apostles required this law to be observed by the first Christians, that the Jews might not be disgusted: but, after a competent time had been allowed them, the Church thought proper to alter this discipline. (St. Augustine, contra Faust. xxxii. 13.)

9:5  For I will require the blood of your lives at the hand of every beast, and at the hand of man, at the hand of every man, and of his brother, will I require the life of man.

At the hand; a Hebrew idiom. God orders an ox to be stoned, which had slain a man, Exodus xxi. 28. --- Man, (hominis) every man, (viri) brother. By these three terms, God inculcates a horror of bloodshed; because we are all of the same nature, ought to act like generous men, and to consider every individual as a brother, since we spring from the same stock. (Menochius)

9:6  Whosoever shall shed man's blood, his blood shall be shed: for man was made to the image of God.

Shed. God had not subjected Cain to this law of retaliation, as he was the first murderer, and the earth was unpeopled. (Haydock) --- Here he declares, that it is just to inflict such a punishment on the offender. (Menochius) --- Judges are hence authorized to punish murderers with death. (Calmet) --- The general law, thou shalt not kill, admits of exceptions, and forbids killing by private authority, or out of revenge. (Haydock) --- The blood of your lives, may signify the blood on which your life depends; or, according to the Rabbin, it is a prohibition of suicide, which one would think is so contrary to the first law of nature, self-preservation, as to require no prohibition; and yet, to the scandal of philosophers, some have written in its defence! (Haydock)

9:7  But increase you and multiply, and go upon the earth and fill it.

9:8  Thus also said God to Noe, and to his sons with him:

9:9  Behold I will establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you:

9:10  And with every living soul that is with you, as well in all birds, as in cattle and beasts of the earth, that are come forth out of the ark, and in all the beasts of the earth.

Soul...in birds, &c. The covenant of God is made with animals, only in as much as they are subservient to man. (Du Hamel) --- The Egyptians adored most of them; and many oriental nations, and even philosophers, pretended they had intelligent souls, and could speak a rational language, which some of them would have the people believe they could understand. (Calmet) --- This was the case of those great impostors Apollonius of Tyena, Mahomet, &c. (Haydock) --- Moses shews sufficiently that beasts were neither divinities nor rational. (Calmet)

9:11  I will establish my covenant with you, and all flesh shall be no more destroyed with the waters of a flood, neither shall there be from henceforth a flood to waste the earth.

9:12  And God said: This is the sign of the covenant which I will give between me and you, and to every living soul that is with you, for perpetual generations.

9:13  I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be the sign of a covenant between me and between the earth.

My rain bow. This had been from the beginning; but it was not before appointed for a sign that the earth should no more be destroyed by water. It is styled God's bow, on account of its beauty and grandeur. (Menochius) (Ecclesiasticus xliii. 12.) --- "As the rain-bow, which makes its appearance in the clouds, borrows all its effulgence from the sun, so those only who acknowledge the glory of Christ in God's clouds, and do not seek their own glory, will escape destruction in the deluge," St. Augustine, contra Faust. ii. 21.

9:14  And when I shall cover the sky with clouds, my bow shall appear in the clouds:

9:15  And I will remember my covenant with you, and with every living soul that beareth flesh: and there shall no more be waters of a flood to destroy all flesh.

9:16  And the bow shall be in the clouds, and I shall see it, and shall remember the everlasting covenant, that was made between God and every living soul of all flesh which is upon the earth.

Remember; or I shall cause men to reflect, when they see the rain-bow, of the horrors of the deluge, and of my gracious promises and covenant.

9:17  And God said to Noe: This shall be the sign of the covenant, which I have established, between me and all flesh upon the earth.

9:18  And the sons of Noe, who came out of the ark, were Sem, Cham, and Japheth: and Cham is the father of Chanaan.

Chanaan, who, it seems, is here mentioned to his shame, having first discovered and told his father that Noe was drunk. He was probably but young at the time, being born after the deluge.

9:19  These three are the sons of Noe: and from these was all mankind spread over the whole earth.

9:20  And Noe a husbandman began to till the ground, and planted a vineyard.

A husbandman. Hebrew, literally "a man of the earth." (Haydock) --- To till, perhaps with a plough, which he is said to have invented. (Menochius)

9:21  And drinking of the wine was made drunk, and was uncovered in his tent.

Drunk. Noe by the judgment of the fathers was not guilty of sin, in being overcome by wine; because he knew not the strength of it. (Challoner) --- Wine, Though vines had grown from the beginning, the art of making wine seems not to have been discovered; and hence Noe's fault is much extenuated, and was at most only a venial sin. (Menochius) --- His nakedness prefigured the desolate condition of Christ upon the cross, which was a scandal to the Jews, and foolishness to the Gentiles. But by this folly we are made wise; we are redeemed, and enjoy the name of Christians. Sem and Japheth represent the multitude of believers, Cham and Chanaan the audacity and impudence of all unbelievers. (St. Augustine, contra Faust. xii. 24; City of God xvi. 2; St. Cyprian, ep. 63.[62.?] ad Caecil.) (Worthington) --- Like the Manichees, modern heretics are very free in condemning many innocent actions of the Patriarchs. (Haydock)

9:22  Which when Cham the father of Chanaan had seen, to wit, that his father's nakedness was uncovered, he told it to his two brethren without.

9:23  But Sem and Japheth put a cloak upon their shoulders, and going backward, covered the nakedness of their father: and their faces were turned away, and they saw not their father's nakedness.

Neither ought we to be so quick-sighted in discovering the faults of any: which we often represent as real, when they are only apparent. (Haydock)

9:24  And Noe awaking from the wine, when he had learned what his younger son had done to him,

9:25  He said: Cursed be Chanaan, a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.

Cursed be Chanaan. The curses, as well as the blessings, of the patriarchs were prophetical: and this in particular is here recorded by Moses, for the children of Israel, who were to possess the land of Chanaan. But why should Chanaan be cursed for his father's fault? The Hebrews answer, that he being then a boy was the first that saw his grandfather's nakedness, and told his father Cham of it; and joined with him in laughing at it: which drew upon him, rather than upon the rest of the children of Cham, this prophetical curse. (Challoner) --- Theodoret, q. 57. The children of Sem executed this sentence, in exterminating many of the Chanaanites under Josue. (Worthington) --- They perished for their own wickedness, which God foresaw, and revealed to Noe. Cham was severely punished by this denunciation of his children's misery. See Milton, xi. 754. xii. 27; Deuteronomy ix. 4. (Haydock)

9:26  And he said: Blessed be the Lord God of Sem, be Chanaan his servant.

9:27  May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Sem, and Chanaan be his servant.

Enlarge Japheth. His name signifies latitude or enlargement. (Worthington) --- May he, God, according to some; but more probably Japheth, of whom the rest of the sentence speaks. (Haydock) --- This was verified by the extensive dominion of the children of Japheth, both in the islands and on the continent; more particularly, when the Romans subdued the Jews, and posterity of Sem. (Menochius) --- Referring all this to the Church, the Gentiles entered in, upon the refusal of the Jews, though preachers of that nation were the instruments of their conversion. Chanaan, in the mean time, cherished his slavery, and seeks not to obtain the liberty and glory of the sons of God, in which he is a figure of heretics, (Haydock) who serve to make Christians more upon their guard, and by persecuting them, exercise their patience and increase their crown. (Worthington)

9:28  And Noe lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years:

9:29  And all his days were in the whole nine hundred and fifty years: and he died.

He died, having witnessed the attempt of his children to build the tower of Babel, (we may suppose with disapprobation) and having been concerned in the dispersion of nations. Some imagine he travelled eastward, and founded the empire of China, which is denied by others. (Haydock) --- The fathers conclude that he had no children after the deluge, as the Scripture mentions the world was divided among his three sons and their offspring. Perhaps the fabulous account of Saturn is a perversion of Noe's history, as the three great pagan deities, Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto, to whom Saturn gave the empire of heaven, seas and hell, may have been intended for the three sons of Noe. The Egyptians have attributed to their Osiris the erecting of altars, cultivating vines, teaching agriculture, &c. for which we have seen Noe was so famous. (Calmet) --- This great and virtuous patriarch had only been dead two years, when the faithful Abraham was born, as it were to succeed him in maintaining the cause of God. (Haydock) --- The Rabbins assert, that God gave some general laws to Noe, which were necessarily to be observed by all who would obtain salvation: 1. To obey the laws; 2. Not to curse God; 3. Nor admit of any false god, nor of any superstition; 4. Not to marry one's mother, mother-in-law, sister by the same mother, or another person's wife, nor to commit sins against nature; 5. Not to shed blood, that of beasts must be buried; 6. Not to steal, or break one's word; 7. Not to eat the limb of a living creature. Maimonides thinks this last was given to Noe, the rest to Adam. (Calmet)

Cross-references: 1: Genesis i. 22. and viii. 17. 3: Genesis i. 29. 4: Leviticus xvii. 14.; Acts xv. 29. 6: Matthew xxvi. 52. ** Apocalypse xiii. 19.[10.?] 7: Genesis i. 28. and viii. 17. 11: Isaias liv. 9. 14: Ecclesiasticus xliii. 12.

Chapter 10

The genealogy of the children of Noe, by whom the world was peopled after the flood.

10:1  These are the generations of the sons of Noe: Sem, Cham, and Japheth: and unto them sons were born after the flood.

10:2  The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and Thubal, and Mosoch, and Thiras.

Japheth. From his being placed first, some conclude that he was the eldest; and perhaps the famed Japetus of the Greeks is the same person. (Du Hamel) --- Sem comes last, though elder than Cham, that the history of the true Church may be more connected. Though it would be a work of great labour to discover what nations sprung from the people here mentioned, yet some are sufficiently obvious; and the learned Bochart has given very plausible applications of the different names to the respective nations, in his Phaleg. or sacred Geography. Gomer is supposed to be the father of the Cimbri in Germany, from whom the French and English also probably sprung. (Haydock) --- Magog, father of the Scythians, &c. (Ezechiel 36.[Ezechiel xxxviii.?]) Madai of the Medes, Javan of the Ionians in Greece, Thubal of the Iberians and Spaniards, Mosoch of the Muscovites, Thiras of the Thracians.

10:3  And the sons of Gomer: Ascenez and Riphath and Thogorma.

Ascenez father of the Germans, Thogorma father of the Turks. (Menochius)

10:4  And the sons of Javan: Elisa and Tharsis, Cetthim, and Dodanim.

10:5  By these were divided the islands of the Gentiles in their lands, every one according to his tongue and their families in their nations.

The islands. So the Hebrews called all the remote countries, to which they went by ships from Judea, as Greece, Italy, Spain, &c., (Challoner) whether they were surrounded with water or not. (Jeremias xxv. 22.) (Menochius)

10:6  And the sons of Cham: Chus, and Mesraim, and Phuth, and Chanaan.

10:7  And the sons of Chus: Saba and Hevila, and Sabatha, and Regma, and Sabatacha. The sons of Regma: Saba, and Dadan.

10:8  Now Chus begot Nemrod: he began to be mighty on the earth.

10:9  And he was a stout hunter before the Lord. Hence came a proverb: Even as Nemrod the stout hunter before the Lord.

A stout hunter. Not of beasts, but of men; whom by violence and tyranny he brought under his dominion. And such he was, not only in the opinion of men, but before the Lord; that is, in his sight who cannot be deceived. (Challoner) --- The Septuagint call him a giant; that is, a violent man. According to Josephus, he stirred up men to rebel against the Lord, maintaining that all their happiness must come from themselves, &c., Antiquities i. 4. Thus he broached the first heresy after the deluge. (Worthington) --- He seems to have been the same as Bel, father of Ninus, and the author of idolatry. (Menochius)

10:10  And the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon, and Arach, and Achad, and Chalanne in the land of Sennaar.

10:11  Out of that land came forth Assur, and built Ninive, and the streets of the city, and Chale.

That land, of Sennaar, near the city of Babylon. Assur, or Ninus, who founded the Assyrian empire. (Menochius) --- But many understand this of Nemrod, who, in his progress from Babylonia to conquer the world, and oppress the rest of his brethren, came forth into Assyria, as if it were written Assurah; the He signifying motion towards, being often omitted in names of places. See 2 Kings vi. 10. (Bochart.) There he built Ninive, on the Tigris. But the exact situation of this vast city is not even known. (Calmet) --- And the streets, &c., which were amazingly extensive, Jonas iii. 3. It may also signify the city Rohoboth. (Pagnin.) --- Chale perhaps of Halah, 4 Kings xvii. 6, on the banks, or near the source of the river Chaboras.

10:12  Resen also between Ninive and Chale: this is the great city.

Resen, perhaps Larissa, here written without the La; as 1 Paralipomenon v. 26. Hala has the preposition, and is written Lahela. (Bochart.) --- This, &c. It is doubtful which of these three cities is meant: but as we know that Ninive was remarkable for size and magnificence, we may suppose that it is designated. (Calmet) (Menochius)

10:13  And Mesraim begot Ludim, and Anamim, and Laabim, Nephthuim.

10:14  And Phetrusim, and Chasluim; of whom came forth the Philistines, and the Caphtorim.

10:15  And Chanaan begot Sidon his first-born, the Hethite,

10:16  And the Jebusite, and the Amorrhite, and the Gergesite.

10:17  The Hevite and Aracite: the Sinite

10:18  And the Aradian, the Samarite, and the Hamathite: and afterwards the families of the Chanaanites were spread abroad.

10:19  And the limits of Chanaan were from Sidon as one comes to Gerara even to Gaza, until thou enter Sodom and Gomorrha, and Adama, and Seboim even to Lesa.

To Lesa, or Laisa, to the north, on the Jordan, as Sodom was on the southern extremity of that river. Sidon and Gaza were on the Mediterranean sea, north and south; so that these four cities are like four points, determining the extent of the promised land, which, as it was important for the Israelites to know, Moses descends to these particulars in speaking of the Chanaanites.

10:20  These are the children of Cham in their kindreds and tongues, and generations, and lands, and nations.

10:21  Of Sem also the father of all the children of Heber, the elder brother of Japheth, sons were born.

Of Heber. That is, of the nations beyond the Euphrates. Hebrews, &c. (Calmet) --- The elder brother, fratre Japheth majore, may be rendered as well "Japheth being his elder brother," which, as we have already observed, was probably the case. By mentioning him alone, we may gather that Sem was elder than Cham, who is called the less or younger son. (Haydock) --- The Hebrew may be translated either way. But the Chaldean, Liranus, and many excellent interpreters, make Japheth the eldest. (Calmet)

10:22  The sons of Sem: Elam and Assur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.

10:23  The sons of Aram: Us, and Hull, and Gether; and Mes.

10:24  But Arphaxad begot Sale, of whom was born Heber.

Begot Sale; either his son, or his grandson, by Cainan. See Luke iii. 36, where we shall examine this question; also chap. xi. 12. The copies of the Septuagint still extant, all assert that Cainan was the son of Arphaxad, in all the places where they are mentioned, both in Genesis and Chronicles; and though some endeavour to prove that this is an interpolation, inserted by a later hand, it is certain it was found in the Septuagint in the days of St. Luke, who confirms it by his authority, as all the copies both Greek and Latin, except a very faulty one which belonged to Beza, and is now at Cambridge, testify. Beza was so bold as to expunge the name. But before we allow of this freedom, we must be informed how St. Luke could adopt such an error, being, as he was, under the guidance of the Holy Ghost! See Salien, &c. (Haydock) --- Mariana asserts, that the Hebrew copies have been vitiated.

10:25  And to Heber were born two sons: the name of the one was Phaleg, because in his days was the earth divided: and his brother's name Jectan.

10:26  Which Jectan begot Elmodad, and Saleph, and Asarmoth, Jare,

10:27  And Aduram, and Uzal, and Decla,

10:28  And Ebal, and Abimael, Saba,

10:29  And Ophir, and Hevila, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Jectan.

Sons of Jectan; though not perhaps all born before the dispersion of nations, which may be said of some others, whom Moses here mentions, that he may not have to interrupt his narration. (Calmet)

10:30  And their dwelling was from Messa as we go on as far as Sephar, a mountain in the east.

10:31  These are the children of Sem according to their kindreds and tongues, and countries in their nations.

10:32  These are the families of Noe, according to their people and nations. By these were the nations divided on the earth after the flood.

Cross-references: 1: 1 Paralipomenon iii.[i.?] 5. 22: 1 Paralipomenon i. 17.

Chapter 11

The tower of Babel. The confusion of tongues. The genealogy of Sem down to Abram.

11:1  And the earth was of one tongue, and of the same speech.

Speech. Probably Hebrew; in which language we have the most ancient book in the world, the work of Moses. This language has been preserved ever since, though with some alterations. Most of the oriental languages are but like dialects from it, as French, Italian, &c. are from Latin. The arguments which are brought to prove that other languages are more ancient, because the names of men, &c. have a proper significance in them as well as in Hebrew, do not invalidate the right of the latter. The most respectable authors have, therefore, always declared for it. (Haydock)

11:2  And when they removed from the east, they found a plain in the land of Sennaar, and dwelt in it.

The East: Armenia, which lies to the eastward of Babylonia, whither they directed their course in quest of provisions for themselves and cattle, being now grown pretty numerous. (Menochius)

11:3  And each one said to his neighbour: Come, let us make brick, and bake them with fire. And they had brick instead of stones, and slime instead of mortar:

Each one: not that every individual joined in this undertaking, considered, at least, as a rash and presumptuous attempt to save themselves from a second deluge. Some might innocently give in to it, meaning only to leave a monument to their common origin and friendship, before they separated into distant countries. Slime: literally bitumen. (Haydock) --- The Hebrew, chomer, means also slime, or mortar. Stone is very scarce in that country, but the earth is fat, and very proper to make brick; it also abounds in naphtha, bitumen, &c.: hence the ancients notice the brick walls of Babylon. (Calmet)

11:4  And they said: Come, let us make a city and a tower, the top whereof may reach to heaven; and let us make our name famous before we be scattered abroad into all lands.

Famous before; Hebrew lest, &c.; as if they intended to prevent that event. (Haydock) --- Their motive appears to have been pride, which raised the indignation of God. Nemrod, the chief instigator, might have designed the tower for a retreat, whence he might sally out and maintain his tyranny. (Menochius)

11:5  And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of Adam were building.

11:6  And he said: Behold, it is one people, and all have one tongue: and they have begun to do this, neither will they leave off from their designs, till they accomplish them in deed.

In deed. This seems to be spoken ironically; though the effects of weak mortals, the sons of Adam, when pursued with vigour and unanimity, will produce great effects. These builders had conceived an idea of raising the tower as high as possible, hyperbolically, to touch heaven. (Haydock)

11:7  Come ye, therefore, let us go down, and there confound their tongue, that they may not understand one another's speech.

Come ye, &c. As men seemed bent on taking heaven by storm, like the ancient giants, God turns their expressions, as it were, against themselves, and shews them an example of humility, let us go down. He acts the part of a judge, and therefore will examine all with the utmost diligence, as he denotes by these expressions; being really incapable of moving from place to place, on account of his immensity. (Haydock) --- He seems nearer to men, by the effects or punishments which he inflicted. The address which he here makes is directed, not to the angels, but to the other co-equal powers of the Blessed Trinity. (Menochius)

11:8  And so the Lord scattered them from that place into all lands, and they ceased to build the city.

11:9  And therefore the name thereof was called Babel, because there the language of the whole earth was confounded: and from thence the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of all countries.

Babel, that is, confusion. This is one of the greatest miracles recorded in the Old Testament; men forgot, in a moment, the language which they had hitherto spoken, and found themselves enabled to speak another, known only to a few of the same family (Calmet); for we must not suppose, that there were as many new languages as there were men at Babel. (Menochius) --- The precise number of languages which were then heard, cannot be determined. The learned commonly acknowledge the Hebrew, Greek, Latin, Teutonic, Sclavonian, Tartarian, and Chinese languages, to be original. The rest are only dialects from these. English is chiefly taken from the Teutonic, (Calmet) with many words borrowed from the Greek and other languages. (Haydock)

11:10  These are the generations of Sem: Sem was a hundred years old when he begot Arphaxad, two years after the flood.

11:11  And Sem lived after he begot Arphaxad, five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

11:12  And Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Sale.

Sale, or Cainan. See Chap. x. 24; Chronicles[1 Chronicles?] i. 18, in the Septuagint. The variation in the years of the Patriarchs, between this ancient version and the Hebrew, is here again very considerable, and perhaps unaccountable. (Haydock)

11:13  And Arphaxad lived after he begot Sale, three hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.

11:14  Sale also lived thirty years, and begot Heber.

11:15  And Sale lived after he begot Heber, four hundred and three years: and begot sons and daughters.

11:16  And Heber lived thirty-four years, and begot Phaleg.

11:17  And Heber lived after he begot Phaleg, four hundred and thirty years: and begot sons and daughters.

11:18  Phaleg also lived thirty years, and begot Reu.

11:19  And Phaleg lived after he begot Reu, two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters.

11:20  And Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Sarug.

Sarug: in whose days St. Epiphanius places the origin of idolatry; but Eusebius (Praep. i. v. & 9.) thinks it began in Egypt, among the posterity of Cham. (Calmet)

11:21  And Reu lived after he begot Sarug, two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.

11:22  And Sarug lived thirty years, and begot Nachor.

11:23  And Sarug lived after he begot Nachor, two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

11:24  And Nachor lived nine and twenty years, and begot Thare.

11:25  And Nachor lived after he begot Thare, a hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters.

11:26  And Thare lived seventy years, and begot Abram, and Nachor, and Aran.

11:27  And these are the generations of Thare: Thare begot Abram, Nachor, and Aran. And Aran begot Lot.

Abram, the youngest of the three, being born only in the 130th year of Thare, ver. 32, and chap. xii. 4. He is placed first, on account of his superior dignity in the church of God, in like manner as Sem, Moses, &c. In his youth, he is supposed to have followed the idolatrous worship of his fathers. (St. Augustine, City of God x. chap. ult.[last chap.]; Genebrard, A.M. 1949[the year of the world 1949].) (Calmet) --- But being soon enlightened by God, he becomes a glorious witness of the truth, and, according to many, is preserved miraculously, when thrown into the fire by the Chaldees, ver. 31. (Haydock)

11:28  And Aran died before Thare his father, in the land of his nativity in Ur of the Chaldees.

11:29  And Abram and Nachor married wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai: and the name of Nachor's wife, Melcha, the daughter of Aran, father of Melcha and father of Jescha.

Jescha, whom many confound with Sarai, as if both Nacher and Abram had married the daughters of their brother Aran. But why then does Moses mention Sarai before, and then call her Jescha in the same verse? It seems as if he intended to designate two different women. (Haydock) --- In effect, Abram himself says, Sarai was truly his sister, born of the same father, chap. xii. 13. See chap. xx. 12, where we shall give the reasons that seem to prove that she was the daughter of Thare, and not Aran. (Calmet) --- Jescha does not accompany her grandfather, preferring, perhaps, to stay with Nachor, or to marry in her own country; if she were not already dead when Thare departed from Ur, a city of the Chaldees. (Haydock) --- This city is probably Ura, in Mesopotamia, not far from Nisibis, which the Scripture often mentions as a part of Chaldea. (Acts vii. 2, &c.) (Calmet) --- It is not, however, certain that the rest of Thare's family remained behind; if they did, they removed soon after into the country about Haran, or Charrae, on the Chaboras. (Chap. xxix. 4; Josephus, Antiquities 1. 6.) (Haydock)

11:30  And Sarai was barren, and had no children.

11:31  And Thare took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Aran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, the wife of Abram his son, and brought them out of Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Chanaan: and they came as far as Haran, and dwelt there.

11:32  And the days of Thare were two hundred and five years, and he died in Haran.

Cross-references: 1: Wisdom x. 5. 8: Year of the World about 1800, and Year before Christ 2204. 10: 1 Paralipomenon i. 17. 19: 1 Paralipomenon i. 19. 25: 1 Paralipomenon i. 26. 26: Josue xxiv. 2.; Nehemias ix. 7. 31: Judith v. 6.; Acts vii. 2.

Chapter 12

The call of Abram, and the promise made to him. He sojourneth in Chanaan, and then, by occasion of a famine, goeth down to Egypt.

12:1  And the Lord said to Abram: Go forth out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and out of thy father's house, and come into the land which I shall shew thee.

Said: not after his father's death, but before he left Ur; (Menochius) unless, perhaps, Abram received a second admonition at Haran, which, from his dwelling there with his father, &c., is styled his country. He leaves his kindred, Nachor and his other relations, except Sarai and Lot, who go with him into Chanaan; and even his own house, or many of his domestics and effects, and full of faith, goes in quest of an unknown habitation, Hebrews xi. 8. (Haydock) --- St. Stephen clearly distinguishes these two calls of Abram. From the second, the 430 years of sojournment, mentioned Galatians iii; Exodus xii, must be dated. (Calmet) --- This is the third grand epoch of the world, about [the year of the world] 2083, when God chooses one family to maintain the one faith, which he had all along supported. See Worthington &c.

12:2  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed.

12:3  I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee, and in thee shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

In thee, &c., or in the Messias, who will be one of thy descendants, and the source of all the blessings to be conferred on any of the human race, Galatians iii. 16. Many of the foregoing promises regarded a future world, and Abram was by no means incredulous, when he found himself afflicted here below, as if God had forgot his promises. (Calmet) --- He was truly blessed, in knowing how to live poor in spirit, even amid riches and honours; faithful in all tribulations and trials; following God in all things, ver. 1.

12:4  So Abram went out as the Lord had commanded him, and Lot went with him: Abram was seventy-five years old when he went forth from Haran.

12:5  And he took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all the substance which they had gathered, and the souls which they had gotten in Haran: and they went out to go into the land of Chanaan. And when they were come into it,

Gotten, ( fecerant ): made or acquired, either by birth or purchase, &c. (Menochius)

12:6  Abram passed through the country unto the place of Sichem, as far as the noble vale: now the Chanaanite was at that time in the land.

Sichem. At the foot of Mount Garizim, where Abram offered his first sacrifice in the land, Deuteronomy xi. 30. (Kennicott) --- Noble; on account of the many tall and shady oaks, whence the Septuagint have the high oak. Hebrew Elon more, the plain of Moreh, or of ostension, because God shewed Abram from this place, situated about the middle of the promised land, what countries he would give to him in his posterity, after having exterminated the Chanaanites, who then occupied the land as their own. The mentioning of these idolatrous nations here, gives us reason to admire the faith and constancy of Abram, who neither doubted of the fulfilling of this promise, nor hesitated to adore the true God publicly, ver. 7. Hence there is no reason for accounting this an interpolation. (Haydock)

12:7  And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him: To thy seed will I give this land. And he built there an altar to the Lord, who had appeared to him.

12:8  And passing on from thence to a mountain, that was on the east side of Bethel, he there pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: he built there also an altar to the Lord, and called upon his name.

Bethel, as it was called in the days of Moses, being the ancient Luza, chap. 28. On the west, Hebrew, towards the sea or Mediterranean, which lay west of Palestine. Bethel signifies the house of God, being honoured with two altars. (Haydock)

12:9  And Abram went forward, going and proceeding on to the south.

Proceeding to the south, Hebrew: means also the desert, as the Septuagint generally translate negeb: other interpreters agree with the Vulgate. (Calmet)

12:10  And there came a famine in the country: and Abram went down into Egypt, to sojourn there: for the famine was very grievous in the land.

Down into Egypt, which lies lower than Judea: here the famine did not rage. God would not allow him to go back to his friends. (Menochius)

12:11  And when he was near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his wife: I know that thou art a beautiful woman:

Beautiful: having yet had no children, though she must have been 65 years old. Abram acts with prudence, and does not tempt God: if he had made known that the woman was his wife, he would have exposed his life to imminent danger, amid a cruel and lascivious people; and being convinced of the chastity of Sarai, he did not, in the least, apprehend that she would consent to any violation of her conjugal engagements. He did not, therefore, expose her virtue as the Manichees pretended. (St. Augustine, contra Faust. xxii. 33; City of God xvi. 19.) (Haydock; Calmet) --- The event proved the justice of Abram's suspicions, and God's interference shewed that he was not displeased with his concealing part of the truth. Who can be so simple as to suppose, that we are bound to explain all our concerns to a foe? Do not we every day act with the like caution as Abram did, when we have reason to fear danger? Do not we wish, when fleeing from an enemy's country, that he should conclude we were taking a walk of pleasure? (Haydock)

12:12  And that when the Egyptians shall see thee, they will say: She is his wife: and they will kill me, and keep thee.

12:13  Say, therefore, I pray thee, that thou art my sister: that I may be well used for thee, and that my soul may live for thy sake.

My sister. This was no lie; because she was his niece, being daughter to his brother Aran, and therefore, in the style of the Hebrews, she might truly be called his sister; as Lot is called Abraham's brother. (Genesis xiv. 14.) See Genesis xx. 12. (Challoner) --- Others say, Sarai was the half-sister of Abraham, by another mother. (Haydock)

12:14  And when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman that she was very beautiful.

12:15  And the princes told Pharao, and praised her before him: and the woman was taken into the house of Pharao.

Pharao: the usual title of the kings of Egypt, in Ezechiel's time, Ezechiel xxxii. 2. Courtiers are often too ready to flatter the passions of the prince: these are punished along with Pharao (ver. 17); whence we may conclude, that they concurred with him, to take Sarai against her will.

12:16  And they used Abram well for her sake. And he had sheep and oxen and he asses, and men servants, and maid servants, and she asses, and camels.

Well. Perhaps they made him some presents to gain his favour; (Menochius) or, at least, they suffered him to remain quietly among them.

12:17  But the Lord scourged Pharao and his house with most grievous stripes for Sarai, Abram's wife.

Scourged Pharao with unusual pains, sterility, &c. that he might easily perceive that his taking Sarai was displeasing to God. (Haydock) --- He did not intend to commit adultery indeed, but his conduct was tyrannical and oppressive to the stranger, whom God protects, Psalm xliv.[cxlv. 9.?] (Menochius)

12:18  And Pharao called Abram, and said to him: What is this that thou hast done to me? Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?

12:19  For what cause didst thou say, she was thy sister, that I might take her to my wife? Now therefore there is thy wife, take her, and go thy way.

12:20  And Pharao gave his men orders concerning Abram: and they led him away and his wife, and all that he had.

Led him away: perhaps without allowing him time to vindicate his conduct, and with a degree of contumely, to shew the king's displeasure; who durst not, however, injure Abram in his effects, nor suffer any of his subjects to hurt him. The holy patriarch received his wife untouched, and departed with joy. (Haydock)

Cross-references: 1: Acts vii. 3. 3: Genesis xviii. 18. and xxii. 18. and xxvi. 4.; Galatians iii. 8.; Hebrews xi. 8. 4: Year of the World 2083, Year before Christ 1921. 7: Galatians iii. 17.[16.?]; Genesis xiii. 14. and xv. 18. and xxvi. 2.; Deuteronomy xxxiv. 4. 10: Year of the World 2084, Year before Christ 1920. 13: Genesis xx. 11.

Chapter 13

Abram and Lot part from each other. God's promise to Abram.

13:1  And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him into the south.

13:2  And he was very rich in possession of gold and silver.

Rich in possession. Hebrew may be "heavy laden with cattle, gold," &c. (Menochius)

13:3  And he returned by the way, that he came, from the south to Bethel, to the place where before he had pitched his tent between Bethel and Hai,

13:4  In the place of the altar which he had made before, and there he called upon the name of the Lord.

13:5  But Lot also, who was with Abram, had flocks of sheep, and herds of beasts, and tents.

13:6  Neither was the land able to bear them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, and they could not dwell together.

To bear or feed their flocks, as well as those of the Chanaanites. (Calmet)

13:7  Whereupon also there arose a strife between the herdsmen of Abram and of Lot. And at that time the Chanaanite and the Pherezite dwelled in that country.

13:8  Abram therefore said to Lot: Let there be no quarrel, I beseech thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen: for we are brethren.

Abram therefore, for fear of raising a quarrel with the Pherezites also, who might complain that these strangers were eating up what they had before taken possession of, suggests to his nephew the propriety of their taking different courses. Being the older, he divides, and the younger chooses, according to an ancient and laudable custom. (St. Augustine, City of God xvi. 20.)

13:9  Behold the whole land is before thee: depart from me, I pray thee: if thou wilt go to the left hand, I will take the right: if thou choose the right hand, I will pass to the left.

13:10  And Lot lifting up his eyes, saw all the country about the Jordan, which was watered throughout, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha, as the paradise of the Lord, and like Egypt as one comes to Segor.

13:11  And Lot chose to himself the country about the Jordan, and he departed from the east: and they were separated one brother from the other.

From the east of Pentapolis to Sodom, (Menochius) or to the east of the place where Abram was, as Onkelos has it. The Hebrew may signify either. (Grotius.)

13:12  Abram dwelt in the land of Chanaan: and Lot abode in the towns, that were about the Jordan, and dwelt in Sodom.

13:13  And the men of Sodom were very wicked, and sinners before the face of the Lord beyond measure.

Sinners before, &c. That is truly, without restraint or disguise. Lot might not have been acquainted with their dissolute morals, when he made this choice; in which however he consulted only his senses, and looked for temporal advantages, which ended in sorrow. This God permitted for a warning to us; and to restrain the Sodomites, by the example of Lot's justice, contrasted with their abominable lives. (Haydock) --- Ezechiel xvi. 49, explains the causes of their wickedness.

13:14  And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him: Lift up thy eyes, and look from the place wherein thou now art, to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west.

13:15  All the land which thou seest, I will give to thee, and to thy seed for ever.

And to: This is by way of explanation to the former words: (Haydock) for Abram never possessed a foot of this land by inheritance, Acts viii.[vii.?] 5. Even his posterity never enjoyed it, at least, for any long time. St. Augustine gives the reason; because the promise was conditional, and the Jews did not fulfil their part by obedience and fidelity. (q. 31. in Gen.) It is better, however, to understand these promises of another land, which the people, who imitate the faith of Abram, shall enjoy in the world to come. (Calmet) (Romans iv. 16.)

13:16  And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: if any man be able to number the dust of the earth, he shall be able to number thy seed also.

As the dust, an hyperbole, to express a very numerous offspring, which is more exact, if we take in the spiritual children of Abram. (Menochius)

13:17  Arise and walk through the land in the length, and in the breadth thereof: for I will give it to thee.

Through. Lot has chosen a part, I give the whole to thee. Thou mayest take possession of it, and go wherever thou hast a mind. (Calmet)

13:18  So Abram removing his tent, came, and dwelt by the vale of Mambre, which is in Hebron: and he built there an altar to the Lord.

Vale, or grove of oaks, where there was a famous one which was called the oak of Mambre, either from the neighbouring city, or from a man of that name, chap. xiv. 13. (Menochius) --- Hebron was on the hill above. (Calmet)

Cross-references: 4: Genesis xii. 7. 6: Genesis xxxvi. 7. 14: Genesis xii. 7. and xv. 18. and xxvi. 4.; Deuteronomy xxxiv. 4.

Chapter 14

The expedition of the four kings: the victory of Abram: he is blessed by Melchisedech.

14:1  And it came to pass at that time, that Amraphel, king of Sennaar, and Arioch, king of Pontus, and Chodorlahomor, king of the Elamites, and Thadal, king of nations,

Sennaar, or Babylon. --- Pontus, Hebrew: Ellasar, perhaps Thalassar, as Jonathan writes, not far from Eden. --- Elamites, or Persians. --- Nations in Galilee, east of the Jordan, whither the conquered kings directed their course. Josue xii. 23, mentions the king of the nations (foreigners) at Galgal. (Calmet)

14:2  Made war against Bara, king of Sodom, and against Bersa, king of Gomorrha, and against Sennaab, king of Adama, and against Semeber, king of Seboim, and against the king of Bala, which is Segor.

14:3  All these came together into the woodland vale, which now is the salt sea.

Now, in the days of Moses. --- Salt sea; called also the vale of salts, and the dead sea.

14:4  For they had served Chodorlahomor twelve years, and in the thirteenth year they revolted from him.

Served. Thus Noe's prediction began to be fulfilled, as Elam was the eldest son of Sem, to whose posterity Chanaan should be slaves, chap. ix. 26.

14:5  And in the fourteenth year came Chodorlahomor, and the kings that were with him: and they smote the Raphaim in Astarothcarnaim, and the Zuzim with them, and the Emim in Save of Cariathaim.

Raphaim, Zuzim, and Emim, were all of the gigantic race, robbers, like the Arabs. (Du Hamel) --- These dwelt in the land of Basan, or of giants, Deuteronomy iii. 13.

14:6  And the Chorreans in the mountains of Seir, even to the plains of Pharan, which is in the wilderness.

Chorreans, or Horreans, who dwelt in one part of that extensive range of mountains, which took their name from Seir; perhaps about mount Hor, where Aaron died. (Calmet) --- These also were auxiliaries of the five kings, and hence experienced the fury of the four confederates; who cut off all their opponents, before they made their grand attack upon Sodom. (Haydock)

14:7  And they returned, and came to the fountain of Misphat, the same is Cades: and they smote all the country of the Amalecites, and the Amorrhean that dwelt in Asasonthamar.

Misphat, or of judgment and contradiction, because there the Hebrews contended with Moses and Aaron: it was afterwards called Cadez, Numbers xx. 11. --- Amalecites, that is which they afterwards possessed; for as yet Amelec was unborn, chap. xxxvi. 16. (Menochius) --- Amorrheans, to the west of Sodom. (Calmet)

14:8  And the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha, and the king of Adama, and the king of Seboim, and the king of Bala, which is Segor, went out: and they set themselves against them in battle array, in the woodland vale:

14:9  To wit, against Chodorlahomor king of the Elamites, and Thadal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Sennaar, and Arioch king of Pontus: four kings against five.

14:10  Now the woodland vale had many pits of slime. And the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha turned their backs, and were overthrown there: and they that remained, fled to the mountain.

Of slime. Bituminis. This was a kind of pitch, which served for mortar in the building of Babel, Genesis xi. 3, and was used by Noe in pitching the ark. (Challoner) --- Moses does not make this remark without reason. This bitumen would easily take fire, and contribute to the conflagration of Sodom. (Calmet) --- Overthrown, not all slain, for the king of Sodom escaped ver. 17.

14:11  And they took all the substance of the Sodomites, and Gomorrhites, and all their victuals, and went their way:

14:12  And Lot also, the son of Abram's brother, who dwelt in Sodom, and his substance.

14:13  And behold one, that had escaped, told Abram the Hebrew, who dwelt in the vale of Mambre the Amorrhite, the brother of Escol, and the brother of Aner: for these had made a league with Abram.

The Hebrew, or traveller who came from beyond the Euphrates, (Calmet) or who dwelt beyond the Jordan, with reference to the five kings. (Diodorus)

14:14  Which when Abram had heard, to wit, that his brother Lot was taken, he numbered of the servants born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, well appointed: and pursued them to Dan.

Servants, fit for war. Hence we may form some judgment of the power and dignity of Abram, who was considered as a great prince in that country, chap. xxiii. 6. He was assisted by Mambre, Escol, and Aner, with all the forces they could raise on such a short warning; and coming upon the four kings unawares, in four divisions, easily discomfits them, while they were busy plundering the cities, and pursues them to Dan; which is either the city that went by that name afterwards, or more probably one of the sources of the Jordan, (Haydock) which the people of the country call Medan. Neither did he suffer them to repose, before he had retaken all the plunder at Hoba, or Abila, north of the road leading to Damascus. (Calmet)

14:15  And dividing his company, he rushed upon them in the night, and defeated them: and pursued them as far as Hoba, which is on the left hand of Damascus.

14:16  And he brought back all the substance, and Lot his brother, with his substance, the women also, and the people.

14:17  And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after he returned from the slaughter of Chodorlahomor, and of the kings that were with him in the vale of Save, which is the king's vale.

14:18  But Melchisedech, the king of Salem, bringing forth bread and wine, for he was the priest of the most high God,

Melchisedech was not Sem: for his genealogy is given in Scripture. (Hebrews vii. 6.); nor God the Son, for they are compared together; nor the Holy Ghost, as some have asserted, but a virtuous Gentile who adored the true God, and was king of Salem, or Jerusalem, and Priest of an order different from that of Aaron, offering in sacrifice bread and wine, a figure of Christ's sacrifice in the Mass; as the fathers constantly affirm. (Haydock) --- See Pererius. St. Jerome, ep. ad Evagrium, says, "Melchisedech offered not bloody victims, but dedicated the sacrament of Christ in bread and wine...a pure sacrifice." See St. Cyprian ep. 63[62?], ad Caecil.; St. Augustine, City of God xvi. 22, &c. Many Protestants confess, that this renowned prince of Chanaan, was also a priest; but they will not allow that his sacrifices consisted of bread and wine. In what then? for a true priest must offer some real sacrifice. If Christ, therefore, be a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech, whose sacrifice was not bloody, as those of Aaron were, what other sacrifice does he now offer, but that of his own body and blood in the holy Mass, by the ministry of his priests? for he was the priest: this is plainly referred to bringing forth, &c., which shews that word to be sacrificial, as in Judges vi. 18. The Hebrew may be ambiguous. But all know that vau means for as well as and. Thus the English Bible had it, 1552, "for he was the priest." (Worthington) --- If Josephus take notice only of Melchisedech, offering Abram and his men corporal refreshment, we need not wonder; he was a Jewish priest, to whom the order of Melchisedech might not be agreeable. It is not indeed improbable, but Abram might partake of the meat, which had been offered in thanksgiving by Melchisedech; and in this sense his words are true. But there would be no need of observing, that he was a priest on this account; as this was a piece of civility expected from princes on similar occasions. (Deuteronomy xxiii. 4; 2 Kings xvii. 27.) (Haydock)

14:19  Blessed him, and said: Blessed be Abram by the most high God, who created heaven and earth.

Blessed him, as his inferior, and received tithes of him, Hebrews iv. 7.[vii. 4.?] This shews the antiquity of the practice of supporting God's priests by tithes.

14:20  And blessed be the most high God, by whose protection, the enemies are in thy hands. And he gave him the tithes of all.

14:21  And the king of Sodom said to Abram: Give me the persons, and the rest take to thyself.

The persons ( animas ) the souls subject to my dominion. (Haydock)

14:22  And he answered him: I lift up my hand to the Lord God the most high, the possessor of heaven and earth,

I lift up. This is the posture of one swearing solemnly, by which we testify our belief, that God dwells in the heavens, and governs the world. (Calmet)

14:23  That from the very woof-thread unto the shoe latchet, I will not take of any things that are thine, lest thou say: I have enriched Abram.

Woof-thread. The first word is added by way of explanation. Abram declares he will not receive the smallest present for himself.

14:24  Except such things as the young men have eaten, and the shares of the men that came with me, Aner, Escol, and Mambre: these shall take their shares.

Their shares, due to them on account of the danger to which they had exposed themselves. The king of Sodom could not but accept these conditions with gratitude. In a just war, whatever is taken by the enemy, cannot be reclaimed by the original proprietor, if it be retaken. (Grotius, iii. 6. de Jure.)

Cross-references: 3: Genesis xix. 24. 5: Year of the World 2092, Year before Christ 1912. 18: Hebrews vii. 1.

Chapter 15

God promiseth seed to Abram. His faith, sacrifice, and vision.

15:1  Now when these things were done, the word of the Lord came to Abram by a vision, saying: Fear not, Abram, I am thy protector, and thy reward exceeding great.

Fear not. He might naturally be under some apprehensions, lest the four kings should attempt to be revenged upon him. --- Reward, since thou hast so generously despised earthly riches. (Haydock) --- Abram was not asleep, but saw a vision of exterior objects, ver. 5.

15:2  And Abram said: Lord God, what wilt thou give me? I shall go without children: and the son of the steward of my house is this Damascus Eliezer.

I shall go. To what purpose should I heap up riches, since I have no son to inherit them? Abram knew that God had promised him a numerous posterity; but he was not apprized how this was to be verified, and whether he was to adopt some other for his son and heir. Therefore, he asks modestly, how he ought to understand the promise. --- And the son, &c. Hebrew is differently rendered, "and the steward of my house, this Eliezer of Damascus." We know not whether Eliezer or Damascus be the proper name. The Septuagint have "the son of Mesech, my handmaid, this Eliezer of Damascus." Most people suppose, that Damascus was the son of Eliezer, the steward. The sentence is left unfinished, and must be supplied from the following verse, shall be my heir. The son of the steward, filius procurationis, may mean the steward himself, as the son of perdition denotes the person lost. (Calmet)

15:3  And Abram added: But to me thou hast not given seed: and lo my servant born in my house, shall be my heir.

15:4  And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying: He shall not be thy heir: but he that shall come out of thy bowels, him shalt thou have for thy heir.

15:5  And he brought him forth abroad, and said to him: Look up to heaven and number the stars if thou canst. And he said to him: So shall thy seed be.

15:6  Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.

Reputed by God, who cannot judge wrong; so that Abram increased in justice by this act of faith, believing that his wife, now advanced in years, would have a child; from whom others should spring, more numerous than the stars of heaven. (Haydock) --- This faith was accompanied and followed by many other acts of virtue, St. James ii. 22. (Worthington)

15:7  And he said to him: I am the Lord who brought thee out from Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land, and that thou mightest possess it.

15:8  But he said: Lord God, whereby may I know that I shall possess it?

Whereby, &c. Thus the blessed Virgin Mary asked, how shall this be done? Luke i. 34, without the smallest degree of unbelief. Abram wished to know, by what signs he should be declared the lawful owner of the land. (Haydock)

15:9  And the Lord answered, and said: Take me a cow of three years old, and a she-goat of three years, and a ram of three years, a turtle also, and a pigeon.

Three years, when these animals have obtained a perfect age.

15:10  And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid the two pieces of each one against the other: but the birds he divided not.

15:11  And the fowls came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

15:12  And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great and darksome horror seized upon him.

A deep sleep, or ecstasy, like that of Adam, chap. ii. 21, wherein God revealed to him the oppression of his posterity in Egypt, which filled him with such horror (Menochius) as we experience when something frightful comes upon us suddenly in the dark. This darkness represented the dismal situation of Joseph, confined in a dungeon; and of the Hebrews condemned to hard labour, in making bricks, and obliged to hide their male children, for fear of their being discovered, and slain. Before these unhappy days commenced, the posterity of Abram were exposed to great oppression among the Chanaanites, nor could they in any sense be said to possess the land of promise, for above 400 years after this prophetic sleep. (Haydock)

15:13  And it was said unto him: Know thou beforehand that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own, and they shall bring them under bondage, and afflict them four hundred years.

Strangers, and under bondage, &c. This prediction may be dated from the persecution of Isaac by Ismael, in the year of the world 2112, till the Jews left Egypt, 2513. In Exodus xii., and St. Paul, 430 years are mentioned; but they probably began when Abram went first into Egypt, 2084. Nicholas Abram and Tournemine say, the Hebrews remained in Egypt full 430 years, from the captivity of Joseph; and reject the addition of the Septuagint which adds, "they and their fathers dwelt in Egypt, and in Chanaan." On these points, we may expect to find chronologists at variance.

15:14  But I will judge the nation which they shall serve, and after this they shall come out with great substance.

Judge and punish the Egyptians, overwhelming them in the Red sea, &c. (Haydock)

15:15  And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried in a good old age.

15:16  But in the fourth generation they shall return hither: for as yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full until this present time.

Fourth, &c. after the 400 years are finished; during which period of time, God was pleased to bear with those wicked nations; whose iniquity chiefly consisted in idolatry, oppression of the poor and strangers, forbidden marriages of kindred, and abominable lusts. (Leviticus xviii; Deuteronomy vi. and xii.) (Menochius)

15:17  And when the sun was set, there arose a dark mist, and there appeared a smoking furnace, and a lamp of fire passing between those divisions.

A lamp, or symbol of the Divinity, passing, as Abram also did, between the divided beasts, to ratify the covenant. See Jeremias xxxiv. 18.

15:18  That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: To thy seed will I give this land, from the river of Egypt even to the great river Euphrates.

Of Egypt, a branch of the Nile, not far from Pelusium. This was to be the southern limit, and the Euphrates the northern; the two other boundaries are given, Numbers xxxiv. --- Perhaps Solomon's empire extended so far. At least, the Jews would have enjoyed these territories, if they had been faithful. (Menochius)

15:19  The Cineans, and Cenezites, the Cedmonites,

Cineans, in Arabia, of which nation was Jethro. They were permitted to dwell in the tribe of Juda, and served the Hebrews. --- Cenezites, who probably inhabited the mountains of Juda. --- Cedmonites, or eastern people, as their name shews. Cadmus was of this nation, of the race of the Heveans, dwelling in the environs of mount Hermon, whence his wife was called Hermione. He was, perhaps, one of those who fled at the approach of Josue; and was said to have sowed dragons' teeth, to people his city of Thebes in Beotia, from an allusion to the name of the Hevites, which signifies serpents. (Calmet) --- The eleven nations here mentioned were not all subdued; on account of the sins of the Hebrews. (Menochius)

15:20  And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also,

15:21  And the Amorrhites, and the Chanaanites, and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World 2092, Year before Christ 1912. 5: Romans iv. 18. 6: Romans iv. 3.; Galatians iii. 6.; James ii. 23. 10: Jeremias xxxiv. 18. 13: Acts vii. 6. 18: Genesis xii. 7. and xiii. 15. and xxvi. 4.; Deuteronoomy xxxiv. 4.; 2 Paralipomenon ix. 26.; 1 Kings iv. 20.[3 Kings iv. 24.?] and 3 Kings iv. 21.

Chapter 16

Abram marrieth Agar, who bringeth forth Ismael.

16:1  Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, had brought forth no children: having a handmaid, an Egyptian, named Agar,

16:2  She said to her husband: Behold, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: go in unto my handmaid, it may be I may have children of her at least. And when he agreed to her request,

May have. Hebrew, "may be built up," a metaphorical expression: so God is said to have built up houses for the Egyptian midwives, Exodus i. 21. (Menochius)

16:3  She took Agar the Egyptian her handmaid, ten years after they first dwelt in the land of Chanaan, and gave her to her husband to wife.

Ten years after she was 65; which shews that she might reasonably conclude she would now have no children herself; and as she knew God had promised Abram a son, she thought he might follow the custom of those times, and have him by a second wife. Abram shewed no eagerness on this matter, but only yielded to his wife's petition, deprecanti, being well aware of the inconveniences of polygamy, which Sarai had soon reason to observe. This is the first time we read of polygamy since the deluge; but it is not mentioned as any thing singular or unlawful. This was a matter in which God could dispense; but it was never left to the disposal of any man. Hence, when Luther and his associates ventured to dispense with the Landgrave of Hesse, to keep two wives at once, he required him to keep it a secret, being ashamed of his own conduct. He still maintained it was a thing indifferent, even in the law of grace, though Christ has so expressly condemned it. See praep 62, 65. The practice, so common of late in this country, of marrying again after a bill of divorce has been passed, is no less contrary to the Catholic doctrine, which allows only a separation of the parties from bed and board, in cases of adultery; but never of a second marriage, while both the parties are living. (1 Corinthians vii.; St. Augustine de Adult. Conj. i., City of God xvi. 25, 38; and other fathers.) (Haydock) --- It was never lawful for one woman to have two husbands. (Worthington) --- To wife. Plurality of wives, though contrary to the primitive institution of marriage, Genesis ii. 24, was by Divine dispensation allowed to the patriarchs; which allowance seems to have continued during the time of the law of Moses. But Christ our Lord reduced marriage to its primitive institution, St. Matthew xix.

16:4  And he went in to her. But she perceiving that she was with child, despised her mistress.

16:5  And Sarai said to Abram: Thou dost unjustly with me: I gave my handmaid into thy bosom, and she perceiving herself to be with child, despiseth me. The Lord judge between me and thee.

Despiseth. Few bear prosperity in a proper manner! --- And thee. Sarai thinks it is the duty of her husband to restrain the insolence of Agar. She commits her cause to God, and does not seek revenge. (Menochius)

16:6  And Abram made answer, and said to her: Behold thy handmaid is in thy own hand, use her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai afflicted her, she ran away.

Afflicted her, as she now resented even a moderate correction. (Haydock)

16:7  And the angel of the Lord having found her, by a fountain of water in the wilderness, which is in the way to Sur in the desert,

In the desert; omitted in Hebrew being a repetition of in the wilderness. (Calmet)

16:8  He said to her: Agar, handmaid of Sarai, whence comest thou? and whither goest thou? And she answered: I flee from the face of Sarai, my mistress.

16:9  And the angel of the Lord said to her: Return to thy mistress, and humble thyself under her hand.

Humble thyself. The angel, in God's name, does not blame Sarai; but gives Agar to understand that the fault was wholly on her side. (Haydock)

16:10  And again he said: I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, and it shall not be numbered for multitude.

16:11  And again: Behold, said he, thou art with child, and thou shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Ismael, because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.

Ismael, means "God hath heard" the groans and distress of Agar. (Calmet)

16:12  He shall be a wild man: his hand will be against all men, and all men's hands against him: and he shall pitch his tents over against all his brethren.

Wild. Hebrew: like a wild ass, not to be tamed or subdued. The Saracens or Arabs, have almost all along maintained their independence. --- Over against, ready to fight, without any dread of any one. (Calmet)

16:13  And she called the name of the Lord that spoke unto her: Thou the God who hast seen me. For she said: Verily, here have I seen the hinder parts of him that seeth me.

Thou the God. She had imagined before that she was talking to some man; but perceiving, at parting, that it was some superior being, she invoked him thus. --- The hinder parts, as Moses did afterwards, Exodus xxxiii, to let us know, that we cannot fully comprehend the nature of an angel, much less of God. Hebrew may be: "what! have I seen (do I live) after He has seen me." The Hebrews generally supposed, that death would presently overtake the person who had seen the Lord or his angel. (Judges vi. 22; Exodus xxxii.[xxxiii.?] 20.) (Calmet)

16:14  Therefore she called that well, the well of him that liveth and seeth me. The same is between Cades and Barad.

16:15  And Agar brought forth a son to Abram: who called his name Ismael.

Agar being returned home, and having obtained pardon. --- Ismael, as the angel had foretold; an honour shewn to very few; such as Isaac, Solomon, Jesus, &c. (Haydock)

16:16  Abram was four score and six years old when Agar brought him forth Ismael.

Cross-references: 3: Year of the World 2093, Year before Christ 1911. 13: Exodus xxxiii. 20. and 23.; Genesis xxiv. 62.

Chapter 17

The Covenant of Circumcision.

17:1  And after he began to be ninety and nine years old, the Lord appeared to him: and said unto him: I am the Almighty God: walk before me, and be perfect.

Walk, &c. by assiduous meditation and advancement in virtue. This apparition was to inform Abram, that the promised seed should be born of Sarai. (Haydock)

17:2  And I will make my covenant between me and thee: and I will multiply thee exceedingly.

17:3  Abram fell flat on his face.

17:4  And God said to him: I am, and my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations.

I am unchangeable, and faithful to my promises, the only God. (Du Hamel) --- Nations. Jews, Saracens or Arabs, Idumeans, and, by faith, of all nations who shall believe in Christ, the King of kings. (Calmet) --- The true Church will never then be reduced to a few unknown believers, as the Donatists and Protestants assert. (Worthington)

17:5  Neither shall thy name be called any more Abram: but thou shalt be called Abraham: because I have made thee a father of many nations.

Abraham. Abram, in the Hebrew, signifies a high father; but Abraham, the father of the multitude: Sarai signifies my Lady, but Sara absolutely Lady. (Challoner) --- God thus receives them as it were into his own family. (Calmet)

17:6  And I will make thee increase exceedingly, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

17:7  And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and between thy seed after thee in their generations, by a perpetual covenant: to be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee.

Perpetual; that shall last as long as they remain obedient. (Menochius) (

17:8  And I will give to thee, and to thy seed, the land of thy sojournment, all the land of Chanaan, for a perpetual possession, and I will be their God.

17:9  Again God said to Abraham: And thou therefore shalt keep my covenant, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

)

17:10  This is my covenant which you shall observe between me and you, and thy seed after thee: All the male-kind of you shall be circumcised.

17:11  And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, that it may be for a sign of the covenant between me and you.

You shall, either by yourselves, or by the ministry of others, with respect to infants. That part of the body was chosen, because the effects of sin first appeared there; and because a part of the Hebrews' creed was, that Christ should be born of the family of Abraham. --- A sign that Abraham had agreed to the covenant with God, and to be a memorial of his faith and justice, Romans iv. 2; to distinguish also the faithful from infidels; to purge away original sin in male children, eight days old; and to be a figure of baptism. (Menochius) (Tirinus) --- God always appoints some sign of his covenants, as Jesus Christ instituted the holy sacrament of his body and blood, under exterior appearances, to assure us of his new alliance with Christians. (Calmet) --- The sacraments of the old law caused grace, only by means of faith in the Redeemer, of which they were signs. (St. Augustine, de Nupt. ii. chap. ult.[last chap.]) In this sense, the holy fathers assert, that circumcision remitted original sin to those who could receive it; though some think, it was only a bare sign or distinctive mark of the Jews. (Calmet) --- It is far beneath our baptism, which is more easy, general and efficacious; as the Christian sacraments are not like those of Moses, weak and needy elements. (Galatians iv. 9; St. Augustine ep. 158, ad Jan.; Psalm 73, &c.) (Worthington)

17:12  An infant of eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man-child in your generations: he that is born in the house, as well as the bought servant, shall be circumcised, and whosoever is not of your stock:

Days, when he will be able to bear the pain without danger. This might be deferred for a just reason, as it was in the desert, Josue v. 6. In this case people might be saved, as younger children and all females might, by the application of the remedies used in the law of nature, sacrifice, the faith of parents, &c. (Menochius) --- Of your stock, and, being arrived at years of discretion, is desirous of enjoying your privileges. Some think, that slaves had no choice left; but servants, and people who had a mind to live in the country, were not bound to submit to this rite against their will. It is even more probable, that none were under this obligation, except Abraham and his posterity by Isaac. His other children adopted it in part, but not with the exactitude of the Jews. (Calmet)

17:13  And my covenant shall be in your flesh for a perpetual covenant.

17:14  The male whose flesh of his foreskin shall not be circumcised, that soul shall be destroyed out of his people: because he hath broken my covenant.

Circumcised. Septuagint adds, "on the eighth day," with the Samaritan and many Latin copies. (Calmet) --- Destroyed, &c. lose the privileges of the Hebrews, or be put to death, when he grows up and does not supply this defect. St. Augustine reading on the eighth day, concluded that as a child of that age, could not, with reason, be put to death for an offense, in which he could have no share, the destruction here threatened is that of the soul, for transgressing, in Adam, the original covenant, and dying in that state unclean, must be excluded from heaven, as people are now who die unbaptized. This difficult passage may, however, be explained as if the threat regarded the negligent parents. "He who shall not circumcise...shall be destroyed." Syriac, or, as the Hebrew may be rendered, "the male that doth not," &c.; in which case, he becomes guilty of a transgression, when he is arrived at the years sufficient to understand his duty, and does not fulfil it. (Worthington)

17:15  God said also to Abraham: Sarai thy wife thou shalt not call Sarai, but Sara.

Sara, princess of all the nations of the faithful, not simply of one family. (Menochius)

17:16  And I will bless her, and of her I will give thee a son, whom I will bless, and he shall become nations, and kings of people shall spring from him.

Bless, and enable her to have a son, who shall also have many children. --- Whom. This is referred to Sara, in Hebrew and Chaldean; but to Isaac, in the Syriac. The blessing, at any rate, reverts to the mother; who was a figure of the blessed Virgin Mary, and of the Church; both persecuted with their children; both, in the end, triumphant. (Galatians iv. 23.) (Calmet)

17:17  Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, saying in his heart: Shall a son, thinkest thou, be born to him that is a hundred years old? and shall Sara that is ninety years old bring forth?

Laughed for joy and admiration at such unexpected news. "He rejoiced," says the Chaldean, the faith of Abraham is never called into question. (Romans iv. 19.)

17:18  And he said to God: O that Ismael may live before thee.

Before thee, under thy protection, and in a virtuous manner. (Menochius) --- He seems to be satisfied, though God should not bless him with any more children, provided this one may live worthy of God. (Haydock)

17:19  And God said to Abraham: Sara thy wife shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him for a perpetual covenant, and with his seed after him.

Isaac, "laughter," alluding to the exultation of Abraham, more than to the laughter of Sara, which deserved some reprehension, chap. xxi. 6.

17:20  And as for Ismael I have also heard thee. Behold, I will bless him, and increase, and multiply him exceedingly: he shall beget twelve chiefs, and I will make him a great nation.

Nation of Arabs, who are still divided into twelve tribes. See chap. xxv. 13. (Calmet)

17:21  But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sara shall bring forth to thee at this time in the next year.

17:22  And when he had left off speaking with him, God went up from Abraham.

17:23  And Abraham took Ismael his son, and all that were born in his house: and all whom he had bought, every male among the men of his house: and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin forthwith the very same day, as God had commanded him.

His house. All were kept in such good order by their master, that none was found unwilling to submit, if indeed it was left to their choice. (Haydock) --- Abraham loses no time in complying with God's commands. (Menochius)

17:24  Abraham was ninety and nine years old, when he circumcised the flesh of his foreskin.

17:25  And Ismael his son was full thirteen years old at the time of his circumcision.

Full thirteen, or beginning his fourteenth year, at which age the Arabs and Mahometans still generally circumcise; but without any order from God. (Calmet)

17:26  The self-same day was Abraham circumcised and Ismael his son.

17:27  And all the men of his house, as well they that were born in his house, as the bought servants and strangers. were circumcised with him.

Cross-references: 9: Acts vii. 8. 11: Romans iv. 11.; Leviticus xii. 3.; Luke ii. 21. 19: Genesis xviii. 10. and xxi. 2.

Chapter 18

Angels are entertained by Abraham. They foretell the birth of Isaac. Abraham's prayer for the men of Sodom.

18:1  And the Lord appeared to him in the vale of Mambre as he was sitting at the door of his tent, in the very heat of the day.

Sitting, &c., that he might lose no opportunity of exercising hospitality.

18:2  And when he had lifted up his eyes, there appeared to him three men standing near him: and as soon as he saw them, he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and adored down to the ground.

Men in outward appearance, but angels indeed. (Hebrews xiii. 2; St. Augustine, City of God xvi. chap. 29.) Some have supposed, that one of them was the Son of God, whom Abraham adored, and who bears throughout the chief authority. Tres vidit et unum adoravit. He saw three and adored one, as we read in the Church office. In the former supposition, which is generally adopted, this adoration was only a civil ceremony, if Abraham considered them as mere men; or it might be mixed with a degree of religious, though inferior veneration, if he imagined they were angels; or in fine, he adored God in his representatives. (Haydock)

18:3  And he said: Lord, if I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away from thy servant.

18:4  But I will fetch a little water, and wash ye your feet, and rest ye under the tree.

Wash ye, or let your feet be washed by me, or by my servants, laventur. (Menochius)

18:5  And I will set a morsel of bread, and strengthen ye your heart, afterwards you shall pass on: for therefore are you come aside to your servant. And they said: Do as thou hast spoken.

Therefore, Providence has directed you hither. Abraham promises but little, and gives much, in the true spirit of generous hospitality. (Calmet)

18:6  Abraham made haste into the tent to Sara, and said to her: Make haste, temper together three measures of flour, and make cakes upon the hearth.

Measures, or one epha; that is, three pecks and three pints, English corn measure. --- Flour, of the finest quality, similae. --- Hearth, as being soonest ready.

18:7  And he himself ran to the herd, and took from thence a calf, very tender and very good, and gave it to a young man, who made haste and boiled it.

Himself. These rich and truly noble people, do not esteem it beneath them to wait on strangers. They provide abundance, but no dainties. (Haydock)

18:8  He took also butter and milk, and the calf which he had boiled, and set before them: but he stood by them under the tree.

18:9  And when they had eaten, they said to him: Where is Sara thy wife? He answered: Lo she is in the tent.

Eaten apparently. Tobias xii. 19, or perhaps they consumed the food, as fire may be said to eat. (St. Justin Martyr's Dialogue with Trypho the Jew.)

18:10  And he said to him: I will return and come to thee at this time, life accompanying, and Sara, thy wife, shall have a son. Which when Sara heard, she laughed behind the door of the tent.

Time, or season of the year ensuing, if I be alive; which he says after the manner of men, as he had assumed also the human form. (Haydock)

18:11  Now they were both old, and far advanced in years, and it had ceased to be with Sara after the manner of women.

18:12  And she laughed secretly, saying: After I am grown old, and my lord is an old man, shall I give myself to pleasure?

Laughed, as if the promise were incredible. --- My lord, or husband, which title of respect, 1 Peter iii. 6, commends. (Du Hamel)

18:13  And the Lord said to Abraham: Why did Sara laugh, saying: Shall I, who am an old woman, bear a child indeed?

Indeed. This was the import of Sara's words. By thus revealing what was secretly done in the tent, he shewed himself to be more than man.

18:14  Is there any thing hard to God? According to appointment I will return to thee at this same time, life accompanying, and Sara shall have a son.

Hard. So Gabriel says to the blessed Virgin Mary: there is nothing impossible to God, Luke i. 37.

18:15  Sara denied, saying: I did not laugh: for she was afraid. But the Lord said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.

Afraid; which does not entirely clear her of sin: for though she might innocently laugh, if she thought the person who spoke was only a man, yet she ought not to have told an untruth; and if she reflected, that he had disclosed what she supposed no one knew, and thereby manifested his superiority over man, her denial was still more inexcusable. But she was taken, as it were, by surprise; and therefore the Lord reproves her very gently. (Haydock)

18:16  And when the men rose up from thence, they turned their eyes towards Sodom: and Abraham walked with them, bringing them on the way.

18:17  And the Lord said: Can I hide from Abraham what I am about to do:

18:18  Seeing he shall become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth shall be blessed?

18:19  For I know that he will command his children, and his household after him, to keep the way of the Lord, and do judgment and justice: that for Abraham's sake, the Lord may bring to effect all the things he hath spoken unto him.

18:20  And the Lord said: The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha is multiplied, and their sin is become exceedingly grievous.

18:21  I will go down and see whether they have done according to the cry that is come to me; or whether it be not so, that I may know.

I will go down, &c. The Lord here accommodates his discourse to the way of speaking and acting amongst men: for he knoweth all things, and needeth not to go any where for information. --- Note here, that two of the three angels went away immediately for Sodom; whilst the third, who represented the Lord, remained with Abraham.

18:22  And they turned themselves from thence, and went their way to Sodom: but Abraham as yet stood before the Lord.

18:23  And drawing nigh, he said: Wilt thou destroy the just with the wicked?

18:24  If there be fifty just men in the city, shall they perish withal? and wilt thou not spare that place for the sake of the fifty just, if they be therein?

18:25  Far be it from thee to do this thing, and to slay the just with the wicked, and for the just to be in like case as the wicked; this is not beseeming thee: thou who judgest all the earth, wilt not make this judgment.

With the wicked. God frequently suffers the just to be here the most afflicted; designing to reward them abundantly hereafter. But this was not so common in the days of Abraham and Job. (Calmet)

18:26  And the Lord said to him: If I find in Sodom fifty just within the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.

18:27  And Abraham answered, and said: Seeing I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes.

18:28  What if there be five less than fifty just persons? wilt thou for five and forty destroy the whole city? And he said: I will not destroy it, if I find five and forty.

18:29  And again he said to him: But if forty be found there, what wilt thou do? He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of forty.

18:30  Lord, saith he, be not angry, I beseech thee, if I speak: What if thirty shall be found there? He answered: I will not do it, if I find thirty there.

18:31  Seeing, saith he, I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord: What if twenty be found there? He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.

18:32  I beseech thee, saith he, be not angry, Lord, if I speak yet once more: What if ten should be found there? And he said: I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.

Ten. Abraham's chief solicitude was for Lot; though, out of modesty, he does not mention him; trusting, however, in the divine goodness, that he would be preserved, unless he had forfeited his justice, he proceeds no farther. God thus challenges Jerusalem to produce one virtuous man, and the city shall be saved for his sake, Jeremias v. 1. (Haydock)

18:33  And the Lord departed, after he had left speaking to Abraham: and Abraham returned to his place.

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World 2107, Year before Christ 1897.; Hebrews xiii. 2. 10: Genesis xvii. 19. and xxi. 1.; Romans ix. 9. 12: 1 Peter iii. 6. 18: Genesis xii. 3. and xxii. 18.

Chapter 19

Lot entertaining angels in his house; is delivered from Sodom, which is destroyed: his wife, for looking back, is turned into a statue of salt.

19:1  And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of the city. And seeing them, he rose up and went to meet them: and worshipped prostrate to the ground.

Ground. Thus shewing himself a true relation and imitator of Abraham.

19:2  And said: I beseech you, my lords, turn in to the house of your servant, and lodge there: wash your feet, and in the morning you shall go on your way. And they said: No, but we will abide in the street.

My lords. He took them to be men. --- No. They refuse at first, that he may have the merit of pressing them to accept the invitation. (Haydock)

19:3  He pressed them very much to turn in unto him: and when they were come into his house, he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate:

19:4  But before they went to bed, the men of the city beset the house, both young and old, all the people together.

Together. The whole city was corrupt; even the children were taught iniquity, as soon as they came to the years of discretion. (Menochius)

19:5  And they called Lot, and said to him: Where are the men that came in to thee at night? bring them out hither, that we may know them:

Know them. They boldly proclaim their infamous design.

19:6  Lot went out to them, and shut the door after him, and said:

19:7  Do not so, I beseech you, my brethren, do not commit this evil.

This evil, so contrary to the rights of hospitality, and the law of nature.

19:8  I have two daughters who, as yet, have not known man; I will bring them out to you, and abuse you them as it shall please you, so that you do no evil to these men, because they are come in under the shadow of my roof.

Known man. They were neglected, while men were inflamed with desires of each other. See Romans i. (Haydock) --- Abuse. Lot tries by every means to divert them from their purpose; being well assured, that they would have nothing to do with his daughters, who were promised to some of the inhabitants. He endeavours to gain time, hoping perhaps that his guests would escape by some back way, while he is talking to the people. (Haydock) ---Some allow that, under so great a perturbation of mind, he consented to an action which could never be allowed, though it was a less evil. (Menochius)

19:9  But they said: Get thee back thither. And again: Thou camest in, said they, as a stranger, was it to be a judge? therefore we will afflict thee more than them. And they pressed very violently upon Lot: and they were even at the point of breaking open the doors.

Thither; from whence thou camest, or into the house. Dost thou pretend to tell us what is wrong? We will treat thee more shamefully. (Menochius) While they are beginning to offer violence.

19:10  And behold the men put out their hand, and drew in Lot unto them, and shut the door.

Behold, &c. the angels not only secure Lot, but strike the whole people with blindness, so that they could neither find Lot's door nor their own homes. Indeed, if they had been able to get back into their own houses, it would have been but a small consolation to them; since in a few minutes, the whole city was buried in sulphur and flame, Wisdom xix. 16.

19:11  And them, that were without, they struck with blindness from the least to the greatest, so that they could not find the door.

19:12  And they said to Lot: Hast thou here any of thine? son-in-law, or sons, or daughters, all that are thine bring them out of this city:

19:13  For we will destroy this place, because their cry is grown loud before the Lord, who hath sent us to destroy them.

19:14  So Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law that were to have his daughters, and said: Arise: get you out of this place, because the Lord will destroy this city. And he seemed to them to speak as it were in jest.

Sons-in-law. Perhaps they also were among the crowd, (ver. 4,) and therefore deserved to be abandoned to their incredulity; though, if they would have consented to follow Lot, the angels would have saved them for his sake. --- In jest. So little did they suffer God's judgments to disturb them!

19:15  And when it was morning, the angels pressed him, saying: Arise, take thy wife, and the two daughters that thou hast: lest thou also perish in the wickedness of the city.

) so this city must not have been very distant. It was before called Bala, or swallowed up, and afterwards Salissa. Theodoret supposes it was destroyed as soon as Lot had left it; and it seems Lot's daughters thought so, since they concluded all men, except their father, had perished.

19:16  And as he lingered, they took his hand, and the hand of his wife, and of his two daughters, because the Lord spared him.

He lingered, intreating the Lord to save the city; and loath, perhaps to lose all his property, for the sake of which he had chosen that abode. --- Spared him, and his wife and two daughters, for his sake. These four were all that were even tolerably just: for we find them all soon giving signs of their weakness, and of the danger to which even the best are exposed by evil communications. (Haydock)

19:17  And they brought him forth, and set him without the city: and there they spoke to him, saying: Save thy life: look not back, neither stay thou in all the country about: but save thyself in the mountain, lest thou be also consumed.

Look not back. Flee with all expedition; let no marks of pity for the wretched Sodomites, nor of sorrow for the loss of your property, be seen.

19:18  And Lot said to them: I beseech thee my Lord,

My lord, addressing himself to the angel, who led him and his wife. (Menochius)

19:19  Because thy servant hath found grace before thee, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewn to me, in saving my life, and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil seize me, and I die.

The mountain above Segor. He is faint-hearted, and does not comply with readiness and exactitude; though, when he had obtained leave to remain in Segor, he still fears, and flees to the mountain, ver. 30, (Haydock) on the south-east of the Dead Sea. (Calmet)

19:20  There is this city here at hand, to which I may flee, it is a little one, and I shall be saved in it: is it not a little one, and my soul shall live?

19:21  And he said to him: Behold also in this, I have heard thy prayers, not to destroy the city for which thou hast spoken.

19:22  Make haste, and be saved there: because I cannot do any thing till thou go in thither. Therefore the name of that city was called Segor.

Segor. That is, a little one. (Challoner) --- In allusion to Lot's words, ver. 20. As it was small, fewer sinners would of course be contained in it. God had resolved to spare it, and therefore inspired Lot to pray for its preservation. (Menochius) --- Hence we may learn, how great a treasure and safeguard the just man is. (Haydock)

19:23  The sun was risen upon the earth, and Lot entered into Segor.

Risen. It was morning when he left Sodom; (

19:24  And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrha brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.

The Lord rained...from the Lord, in a miraculous manner. Sodom and the other cities did not perish by earthquakes and other natural causes only, but by the divine wrath exerting itself in a visible manner. Here is an insinuation of a plurality of persons in God, as the C. of Sirmich declares, c. 14.[Council of Sirmich, canon 14.?] --- And Gomorrha, and the other towns which were not so large, nor perhaps so infamous. --- Brimstone and fire; to denote the bad odour and violence of their disorders. (Menochius)

19:25  And he destroyed these cities, and all the country about, all the inhabitants of the cities, and all things that spring from the earth.

All the inhabitants, both the body and soul, Jude ver. 7: even the infants would probably die in original sin, as their parents were unbelievers, and careless of applying the proper remedies. (Haydock) --- The women imitated the men in pride and dissolute morals, so that all deserved to perish. (Menochius) --- All things; so that even now the environs are barren, and the lake dark and smoking. (Tirinus)

19:26  And his wife looking behind her, was turned into a statue of salt.

And his wife. As a standing memorial to the servants of God to proceed in virtue, and not to look back to vice or its allurements. (Challoner) --- His, Lot's wife. The two last verses might be within a parenthesis. --- Remember Lot's wife, our Saviour admonishes us. Having begun a good work, let us not leave it imperfect, and lose our reward. (Luke xvii; Matthew xxiv.) --- A statue of durable metallic salt, petrified as it were, to be an eternal monument of an incredulous soul, Wisdom x. 7. Some say it still exists. (Haydock) --- God may have inflicted this temporal punishment on her, and saved her soul. (Menochius) --- She looked back, as if she distrusted the words of the angel; but her fault was venial. (Tirinus)

19:27  And Abraham got up early in the morning, and in the place where he had stood before with the Lord:

19:28  He looked towards Sodom and Gomorrha, and the whole land of that country: and he saw the ashes rise up from the earth as the smoke of a furnace.

19:29  Now when God destroyed the cities of that country, remembering Abraham, he delivered Lot out of the destruction of the cities wherein he had dwelt.

Lot. Even he owed his safety to the merits of Abraham.

19:30  And Lot went up out of Segor, and abode in the mountain, and his two daughters with him (for he was afraid to stay in Segor) and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters with him.

19:31  And the elder said to the younger: Our father is old, and there is no man left on the earth, to come in unto us after the manner of the whole earth.

No man. If this had been true, Lot might have had children by them, without any fault. But they ought to have consulted him. (Haydock)

19:32  Come, let us make him drunk with wine, and let us lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.

19:33  And they made their father drink wine that night: and the elder went in, and lay with her father: but he perceived not, neither when his daughter lay down, nor when she rose up.

19:34  And the next day the elder said to the younger: Behold I lay last night with my father, let us make him drink wine also to night, and thou shalt lie with him, that we may save seed of our father.

19:35  They made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in, and lay with him: and neither then did he perceive when she lay down, nor when she rose up.

Rose up; being oppressed with grief and wine, which would not excuse him from sin, particularly this second time. (Menochius)

19:36  So the two daughters of Lot were with child by their father.

19:37  And the elder bore a son, and called his name Moab: he is the father of the Moabites unto this day.

Elder. She first proposes: she is not ashamed to call her child Moab, "from father." The younger is rather more modest, and calls her son Ammon, "my people," not born of the Sodomites. Many reasons might be alleged to extenuate, or even to excuse the conduct of Lot and his daughters, as many of the fathers have done. But the Scripture barely leaves it upon record, without either commendation or blame. (Haydock)

19:38  The younger also bore a son, and she called his name Ammon; that is, the son of my people: he is the father of the Ammonites unto this day.

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World 2107, Year Before Christ 1897.; Hebrews xiii. 2. 9: 2 Peter ii. 8. 11: Wisdom xix. 16.; 2 Kings[4 Kings?] vi. 18. 17: Wisdom x. 6. 22: Wisdom x. 6. 24: Deuteronomy xxix. 23.; Isaias xiii. 19.; Jeremias l. 40.; Ezechiel xvi. 49.; Osee xi. 8.; Amos iv. 11.; Luke xvii. 29.; Jude i. 7. 26: Luke xvii. 32. 27: Genesis xviii. 1.

Chapter 20

Abraham sojourneth in Gerara: Sara is taken into king Abimelech's house, but by God's commandment, is restored untouched.

20:1  Abraham removed from thence to the south country, and dwelt between Cades and Sur, and sojourned in Gerara.

Gerara; at a greater distance from the devoted country of Sodom. (Haydock)

20:2  And he said of Sara his wife: She is my sister. So Abimelech the king of Gerara sent, and took her.

He said to the king, and to all others who made inquiry, as it was his custom, whenever he came into a strange land, ver. 13. He was encouraged to do this, by the protection which God had shewn him in Egypt. --- Took her, against her will, as Pharao had done. (Haydock) --- Though she was ninety years old, and with child, her beauty was still extraordinary, the Rabbin think miraculous. At that time people lived above 120 years; so that at the age of ninety, she would only be about as near the end of her life as our women are at forty; and we often see people sufficiently attracting at that age. (Calmet)

20:3  And God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and he said to him: Lo thou shalt die for the woman that thou hast taken: for she hath a husband.

Abimelech. This was an usual title of kings in Chanaan, and a very good one, to remind them and their subjects, of their obligations, (Haydock) as it means "my father the king." The behaviour of the prince shews, that as yet all sense of duty and knowledge of the true God was not banished from the country. (Calmet) --- Shalt die, unless thou restore the woman, whom thou hast taken by force; on whose account I have already afflicted thee, (Ver. 7, 17.) and thus prevented thee from touching her. This testimony was more requisite, that there might be no doubt respecting Isaac's legitimacy. (Haydock)

20:4  Now Abimelech had not touched her, and he said: Lord, wilt thou slay a nation that is ignorant and just?

20:5  Did not he say to me: She is my sister: and she say, He is my brother? in the simplicity of my heart, and cleanness of my hands have I done this.

He say, &c. The pronouns in Hebrew are printed very incorrectly. --- He is my sister; and she, even he, said. (Kennicott)

20:6  And God said to him: And I know that thou didst it with a sincere heart: and therefore I withheld thee from sinning against me, and I suffered thee not to touch her.

Sincere heart, abhorring adultery, but not altogether innocent. (Menochius)

20:7  Now therefore restore the man his wife, for he is a prophet: and he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live: but if thou wilt not restore her, know that thou shalt surely die, thou and all that are thine.

A prophet. One under my particular care, to whom I reveal many things. --- He shall pray for thee. Behold, God will sometimes grant, at the request of his saints, what he would deny even such as Abimelech or the friends of Job. Is not this sufficient encouragement for us, to have recourse to the intercession of the saints? And can any one be so foolish as to pretend this is making gods of them, and shewing them an idolatrous worship? (Haydock)

20:8  And Abimelech forthwith rising up in the night, called all his servants: and spoke all these words in their hearing, and all the men were exceedingly afraid.

In the night, ( de nocte ) or "as soon as it began to dawn." (Septuagint)

20:9  And Abimelech called also for Abraham, and said to him: What hast thou done to us? what have we offended thee in, that thou hast brought upon me and upon my kingdom a great sin? thou hast done to us what thou oughtest not to do.

Why, &c. He expostulates with him in a friendly but earnest manner. --- A great sin, or punishment, (Menochius) ver. 18, and exposed me to the danger of committing adultery. Abraham might have answered, this would have been his own fault, as he could not have done it without offering violence to Sara, in whose chastity he could confide. Having an opportunity here to vindicate himself, Abraham speaks freely, which he was not allowed to do in Egypt, chap. xii. 20.

20:10  And again he expostulated with him, and said: What sawest thou, that thou hast done this?

20:11  Abraham answered: I thought with myself, saying: Perhaps there is not the fear of God in this place: and they will kill me for the sake of my wife:

20:12  Howbeit, otherwise also she is truly my sister, the daughter of my father, and not the daughter of my mother, and I took her to wife.

My sister, or niece, according to those who say she was daughter of Aran, who thus must have had a different mother from Abraham; (Menochius) or, as we rather think, Sara was truly his half- sister, born of Thare by another wife. His adding truly, seems to restrain it to this sense; and we know that in those countries, marriages of such near relations were allowed, though not when both had the same parents. Why should we not, therefore, believe Abraham, who certainly knew the real state of the question, and who would not tell a lie, rather than seek for improbable and far-fetched solutions? Said, who lived eight hundred years ago, mentions the name of Jona, Abraham's mother, as well as that of Tehevita, who bore Sara to Thare. The Hebrews, in general, give this explanation. (Calmet) --- By calling Sara his sister without any addition, Abraham intended that the people should conclude he was not married: therefore he did not say she was his half-sister, as this would have frustrated his design, if, as St. Clement of Alexandria, asserts, such might and did marry under the law of nature. (Haydock) --- Philo observes, the Athenian legislator, Solon, sanctioned the same practice, which was followed also by the Ph oe nicians. (Calmet)

20:13  And after God brought me out of my father's house, I said to her: Thou shalt do me this kindness: In every place, to which we shall come, thou shalt say that I am thy brother.

20:14  And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and servants and handmaids, and gave to Abraham: and restored to him Sara his wife,

Gave, by way of satisfaction, for having detained his wife; as also to shew his respect for him who was a prophet. (1 Kings ix. 7.) (Haydock)

20:15  And said: The land is before you, dwell wheresoever it shall please thee.

20:16  And to Sara he said: Behold I have given thy brother a thousand pieces of silver, this shall serve thee for a covering of thy eyes to all that are with thee, and whithersoever thou shalt go: and remember thou wast taken.

Thy brother, as thou hast agreed to call thy husband. --- Pieces, or sicles of silver, worth a little above 2s. 3d. each; total £113 sterling. --- A covering, or veil, to shew thou art married, and prevent thee from being taken by any one hereafter. It was to be so rich, that all might know her quality. St. Paul (1 Corinthians xi. 5, 15.) orders women to be covered. (Calmet)

20:17  And when Abraham prayed, God healed Abimelech and his wife, and his handmaids, and they bore children:

Healed. It is not known how God afflicted Abimelech; but the women could not be delivered during the short time that Sara was detained: on her being set at liberty, they bore children. (Menochius)

20:18  For the Lord had closed up every womb of the house of Abimelech, on account of Sara, Abraham's wife.

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World 2107. 12: Genesis xii. 13. and xi. 29. 13: Genesis xxi. 23.

Chapter 21

Isaac is born. Agar and Ismael are cast forth.

21:1  And the Lord visited Sara, as he had promised: and fulfilled what he had spoken.

Visited, either by the angel, chap. xviii. 10, or by enabling her to have what he had promised, at the return of the season.

21:2  And she conceived and bore a son in her old age, at the time that God had foretold her.

21:3  And Abraham called the name of his son, whom Sara bore him, Isaac.

Isaac. This word signifies laughter; (Challoner) or "he shall laugh," and be the occasion of joy to many, as St. John the Baptist was, Luke i. 14; and thus Sara seems to explain it, ver. 6.

21:4  And he circumcised him the eighth day, as God had commanded him,

21:5  When he was a hundred years old: for at this age of his father, was Isaac born.

21:6  And Sara said: God hath made a laughter for me: whosoever shall hear of it will laugh with me.

21:7  And again she said: Who would believe that Abraham should hear that Sara gave suck to a son, whom she bore to him in his old age?

Gave suck; a certain proof that the child was born of her. (Menochius) --- His old age, when both the parents were far advanced in years, ver. 2. The mother being ninety at this time, would render the event most surprising. (Haydock)

21:8  And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast on the day of his weaning.

Weaned. St. Jerome says when he was five years old, though some said twelve. The age of men being prolonged, their infancy continued longer. One of the Machabees suckled her child three years, 2 Machabees vii. 27. (2 Paralipomenon xxxi. 16.) (Calmet) --- Feast. The life of the child being now considered in less danger. From the time of conception till this took place, the husband kept at a distance from his wife. (St. Clement of Alexandria, strom. iii.) Samuel's mother made a feast or present when she weaned him, 1 Kings i. 24. (Menochius)

21:9  And when Sara had seen the son of Agar, the Egyptian, playing with Isaac, her son, she said to Abraham:

Playing, or persecuting, as St. Paul explains it, Galatians iv. 29. The play tended to pervert the morals of the young Isaac, whether we understand this term metsachak, as implying idolatry, or obscene actions, or fighting; in all which senses it is used in Scripture. See Exodus xxxii. 6; Genesis xxvi. 8; 2 Kings ii. 14. (Menochius) Ismael was 13 years older than Isaac; and took occasion, perhaps, from the feast, and other signs of preference given by his parents to the latter, to hate and persecute him, which Sara soon perceiving, was forced to have recourse to the expedient apparently so harsh, of driving Ismael and his mother from the house, that they might have an establishment of their own, and not disturb Isaac in the inheritance after the death of Abraham. (Haydock) --- In this she was guided by a divine light; (Menochius) and not by any female antipathy, ver. 12. Many of the actions of worldlings, which at first sight may appear innocent, have a natural and fatal tendency to pervert the morals of the just; and therefore, we must keep as much as possible at a distance from their society. --- With Isaac her son. Hebrew has simply mocking, without mentioning what. But the sequel shews the true meaning; and this addition was found in some Bibles in the days of St. Jerome, as he testifies, and is expressed in the Septuagint. (Haydock) --- Ismael was a figure of the synagogue, which persecuted the Church of Christ in her birth. (Du Hamel)

21:10  Cast out this bond-woman and her son; for the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.

21:11  Abraham took this grievously for his son.

For his son. He does not express any concern for Agar. But we cannot doubt but he would feel to part with her also. It was prudent to let both go together: and the mother had perhaps encouraged Ismael, at least by neglecting to punish or to watch over him, and so deserved to share in his affliction.

21:12  And God said to him: Let it not seem grievous to thee for the boy, and for thy bond-woman: in all that Sara hath said to thee, hearken to her voice: for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

21:13  But I will make the son also of the bond-woman a great nation, because he is thy seed.

21:14  So Abraham rose up in the morning, and taking bread and a bottle of water, put it upon her shoulder, and delivered the boy, and sent her away. And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Bersabee.

Bread and water. This seems a very slender allowance to be given by a man of Abraham's riches. But he might intend her to go only into the neighbourhood, where he would take care to provide for her. She lost herself in the wilderness, and thus fell into imminent danger of perishing. (Haydock) --- This divorce of Agar, and ejection of Ismael, prefigured the reprobation of the Jews.

21:15  And when the water in the bottle was spent, she cast the boy under one of the trees that were there.

21:16  And she went her way, and sat over-against him a great way off, as far as a bow can carry, for she said: I will not see the boy die: and sitting over-against, she lifted up her voice and wept.

21:17  And God heard the voice of the boy: and an angel of God called to Agar from heaven, saying: What art thou doing, Agar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the boy, from the place wherein he is.

Of the boy, who was 17 years old, and wept at the approach of death. --- Fear not. You are under the protection of God, who will not abandon you, when all human succour fails; nor will he negelct his promises, chap. xvi. (Haydock)

21:18  Arise, take up the boy, and hold him by the hand, for I will make him a great nation.

21:19  And God opened her eyes: and she saw a well of water, and went and filled the bottle, and gave the boy to drink.

21:20  And God was with him: and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness, and became a young man, an archer.

Wilderness, in Arabia Petrea. --- An archer, living on plunder. (Calmet)

21:21  And he dwelt in the wilderness of Pharan, and his mother took a wife for him out of the land of Egypt.

21:22  At the same time Abimelech, and Phicol the general of his army, said to Abraham: God is with thee in all that thou dost.

Abimelech, king of Gerara, who knew that Abraham was a prophet, and a favourite of God, chap. xx. 7. (Haydock)

21:23  Swear therefore by God, that thou wilt not hurt me, nor my posterity, nor my stock: but according to the kindness that I have done to thee, thou shalt do to me, and to the land wherein thou hast lived a stranger.

Hurt me. Hebrew, "lie unto me, " or revolt and disturb the peace of my people.

21:24  And Abraham said: I will swear.

I will swear. The matter was of sufficient importance. Abraham binds himself, but not his posterity, who by God's order fought against the descendants of this king.

21:25  And he reproved Abimelech for a well of water, which his servants had taken away by force.

21:26  And Abimelech answered: I knew not who did this thing: and thou didst not tell me, and I heard not of it till to-day.

21:27  Then Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech: and both of them made a league.

Gave them; thus rendering good for evil. (Du Hamel)

21:28  And Abraham set apart seven ewe-lambs of the flock.

21:29  And Abimelech said to him: What mean these seven ewe-lambs which thou hast set apart?

21:30  But he said: Thou shalt take seven ewe-lambs at my hand: that they may be a testimony for me, that I dug this well.

21:31  Therefore that place was called Bersabee; because there both of them did swear.

Bersabee. That is, the well of oath; (Challoner) or "the well of the seven;" meaning the seven ewe-lambs set apart. (Menochius) --- This precaution of Abraham, in giving seven lambs as a testimony that the well was dug by him, was not without reason. See chap. xxvi. 15. (Calmet)

21:32  And they made a league for the well of oath.

21:33  And Abimelech, and Phicol, the general of his army, arose and returned to the land of the Palestines. But Abraham planted a grove in Bersabee, and there called upon the name of the Lord God eternal.

A grove: in the midst of which was an altar, dedicated to the Lord God eternal; to testify that he alone was incapable of change. Thither Abraham frequently repaired, to thank God for all his favours. Temples were not probably as yet known in any part of the world. The ancient saints, Abraham, Isaac, Josue, &c., were pleased to shew their respect for God, and their love of retirement, by planting groves, and consecrating altars to the supreme Deity. If this laudable custom was afterwards perverted by the idolaters, and hence forbidden to God's people, we need not wonder. The best things may be abused; and when they become a source of scandal, we must avoid them. (Haydock) --- (Josue xxix. 26[xx. 16?]; Deuteronomy xvi. 23[21?]; Judges vi. 25.)

21:34  And he was a sojourner in the land of the Palestines many days.

Cross-references: 1: Genesis xvii. 19. and xviii. 10. 2: Galatians iv. 23.; Hebrews xi. 11. 3: Year of the World 2108, Year Before Christ 1896. 4: Genesis xvii. 10.; Matthew i. 2. 12: Romans ix. 7.; Hebrews xi. 18. 14: Year of the World 2113, Year before Christ 1891. 23: Genesis xx. 13.

Chapter 22

The faith and obedience of Abraham is proved, in his readiness to sacrifice his son Isaac. He is stayed from the act by an angel. Former promises are renewed to him. His brother Nachor's issue.

22:1  After these things, God tempted Abraham, and said to him: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.

God tempted, &c. God tempteth no man to evil, James i. 13. But by trial and experiment, maketh known to the world and to ourselves, what we are; as here by this trial the singular faith and obedience of Abraham was made manifest. (Challoner)

22:2  He said to him: Take thy only begotten son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and go into the land of vision; and there thou shalt offer him for an holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will shew thee.

Thy only begotten, or thy most beloved, as if he had been an only child; in which sense the word is often taken, 1 Paralipomenon xxix. 1. Ismael was still living; but Isaac was the only son of Sara, the most dignified wife. --- Lovest. Hebrew, "hast loved" hitherto; now thou must consider him as dead. He has been to thee a source of joy, but now he will be one of tears and mourning. --- Of vision. Septuagint, "high," being situated on Mount Moria, by which name it was afterwards distinguished, ver. 14. (Menochius) --- Every word in this astonishing command, tended to cut Abraham to the heart; and hence we may the more admire his strength and disinterestedness of his faith. He could hope, in a manner, against hope, knowing in whom he had trusted, and convinced that God would not deceive him, though he was at a loss to explain in what manner Isaac should have children after he was sacrificed. (Haydock)

22:3  So Abraham rising up in the night, saddled his ass, and took with him two young men, and Isaac his son: and when he had cut wood for the holocaust, he went his way to the place which God had commanded him.

In the night: de nocte, Hebrew, "very early in the morning." --- His son, 25 years old, without perhaps saying a word to Sara about the intended sacrifice; though some believe, he had too great an opinion of her faith and constancy, not to reveal to her the order of God. The Scripture is silent. (Calmet)

22:4  And on the third day, lifting up his eyes, he saw the place afar off.

22:5  And he said to his young men: Stay you here with the ass; I and the boy will go with speed as far as yonder, and after we have worshipped, will return to you.

22:6  And he took the wood for the holocaust, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he himself carried in his hands fire and a sword. And as they two went on together,

22:7  Isaac said to his father: My father. And he answered: What wilt thou, son? Behold, saith he, fire and wood: where is the victim for the holocaust?

Holocaust. These were probably the only sacrifices yet in use. (Calmet) --- The conversation of Isaac could not fail to pierce the heart of his father. (Menochius)

22:8  And Abraham said: God will provide himself a victim for an holocaust, my son. So they went on together.

22:9  And they came to the place which God had shewn him, where he built an altar, and laid the wood in order upon it; and when he had bound Isaac his son, he laid him on the altar upon the pile of wood.

The place. Mount Moria, on part of which the temple was built afterwards; and on another part, called Calvary, our Saviour was crucified, having carried his cross, as Isaac did the wood for sacrifice. --- His son: having first explained to him the will of God, to which Isaac gave his free consent; otherwise, being in the vigour of his youth, he might easily have hindered his aged father, who was 125 years old, from binding him. But in this willingness to die, as in many other particulars, he was a noble figure of Jesus Christ, who was offered because it was His will. (Haydock)

22:10  And he put forth his hand, and took the sword, to sacrifice his son.

To sacrifice; a thing hitherto unprecedented, and which God would never suffer to be done in his honour, though he was pleased to try the obedience of his servant so far. The pagans afterwards took occasion, perhaps, from this history, to suppose, that human victims would be the most agreeable to their false deities: (Calmet) but in this misconception they were inexcusable, since God prevented the sacrifice from being really offered to him, in the most earnest manner, saying, Abraham, Abraham, as if there were danger lest the holy man should not hear the first call. (Haydock)

22:11  And behold, an angel of the Lord from heaven called to him, saying: Abraham, Abraham. And he answered: Here I am.

22:12  And he said to him: Lay not thy hand upon the boy, neither do thou any thing to him: now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake.

Hast not spared. Thus the intentions of the heart become worthy of praise, or of blame, even when no exterior effect is perceived. (Haydock)

22:13  Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw behind his back a ram, amongst the briers, sticking fast by the horns, which he took and offered for a holocaust instead of his son.

He took; God having given him the dominion over it. (Calmet)

22:14  And he called the name of that place, The Lord seeth. Whereupon, even to this day, it is said: In the mountain the Lord will see.

Will see. This became a proverbial expression, used by people in distress, who, remembering how Abraham had been relieved, endeavoured to comfort themselves with hopes of relief. Some translate the Lord will be seen, which was verified when Christ was crucified. (Menochius) --- Or, he will provide, alluding to what was said, ver. 8. Ver. 16. Own self; as he could not swear by any one greater. (Hebrews vi. 13; Jeremias xxii. 5.)

22:15  And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven, saying:

22:16  By my own self have I sworn, saith the Lord: because thou hast done this thing, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake:

22:17  I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea-shore: thy seed shall possess the gates of their enemies.

Stars and dust, comprising the just and sinners. --- Gates, shall judge and rule. (Haydock)

22:18  And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.

22:19  Abraham returned to his young men, and they went to Bersabee together, and he dwelt there.

22:20  After these things, it was told Abraham, that Melcha also had borne children to Nachor his brother.

Children. These are mentioned here, to explain the marriage of Isaac with Rebecca, the grand-daughter of Nachor and Melcha.

22:21  Hus, the first-born, and Buz, his brother, and Camuel the father of the Syrians,

Hus, who peopled Ausitis in Arabia, the desert, where Job lived. --- Buz, from whom sprung Elihu the Busite, the Balaam of the Jews. (St. Jerome) --- Syrians, called Camiletes, to the west of the Euphrates; or father of the Cappadocians. (Calmet)

22:22  And Cased, and Azau, and Pheldas, and Jedlaph,

22:23  And Bathuel, of whom was born Rebecca: these eight did Melcha bear to Nachor, Abraham's brother.

22:24  And his concubine, named Roma, bore Tabee, and Gaham, and Tahas, and Maacha.

Concubine, or wife, secondary in privileges, love and dignity. Though Nachor did not, perhaps imitate the faith and virtue of his brother Abraham, but mixed various superstitions with the knowledge of the true God; yet we need not condemn him, for having more wives than one. (Haydock)

Cross-references: 1: Judith viii. 22.; Hebrews xi. 17. ** Year of the World 2135, Year before Christ 1869. 10: James ii. 21. 16: Psalm civ. 9.; Ecclesiasticus xliv. 21.; 1 Machabees ii. 52.; Luke i. 73.; Hebrews vi. 13. and 17. 18: Genesis xii. 3. and xviii. 18. and xxvi. 4.; Ecclesiasticus xliv. 25.; Acts iii. 25.

Chapter 23

Sara's death, and burial in the field bought of Ephron.

23:1  And Sara lived a hundred and twenty-seven years.

Sara. She is the only woman whose age the Scripture specifies; a distinction which her exalted dignity and faith deserved. (Galatians iv. 23; Hebrews xi. 11.) She was a figure of the Christian Church. (Calmet)

23:2  And she died in the city of Arbee which is Hebron, in the land of Chanaan: and Abraham came to mourn and weep for her.

City. Hebrew, Cariath arbah, Josue xiv. 15. --- Which is Hebron. Serarius thinks it took its name from the society (cherber) between Abraham and the princes of the city. Hebron the son of Caleb possessed it afterwards. --- Came from Bersabee, (Chap. xxii. 19.) or to the place where the corpse lay, at Arbee, which signifies four; as Adam, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, with their four wives, reposed there. (Calmet) --- And weep. In the middle of this word, in the printed Hebrew, there is left a small c; whence the Rabbins ridiculously infer, that Abraham wept but a short time. But the retaining of greater, less, suspended and inverted letters in the Hebrew Bible, can be attributed to no other cause than a scrupulous veneration even for the faults of transcribers. (Kennicott)

23:3  And after he rose up from the funeral obsequies, he spoke to the children of Heth, saying:

Obsequies, or solemn mourning, accompanied with prayer. (Acts viii. 2; Matthew xii.[xi. 17.?]) The Jews are still accustomed to say, when they bury their dead, "Ye fathers, who sleep in Hebron, open to him the gates of Eden;" herein agreeing with the Catholic doctrine, as they did in the days of Judas the Machabee. (Haydock)

23:4  I am a stranger and sojourner among you: give me the right of a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead.

23:5  The children of Heth answered, saying:

23:6  My lord, hear us, thou art a prince of God among us: bury thy dead in our principle sepulchres: and no man shall have power to hinder thee from burying thy dead in his sepulchre.

Prince of God, powerful and holy, and worthy of respect. (Haydock) --- A great prince. See Acts vii. 5, where St. Stephen says, that God did not give Abraham a foot of land, meaning as an inheritance; and that Abraham bought this double cave, for a sepulchre, of the sons of Hemor, the son of Sichem; (Calmet) from which latter he seems to derive the name of the place, which is here called Hebron. (Haydock) --- Nothing is more common, than for men and places to have two names; though some think, the name of Abraham has been inserted in the Acts by a mistake of the copyists, when Jacob was meant. See chap. xxxiii. 19. (Calmet)

23:7  Abraham rose up, and bowed down to the people of the land, to wit, the children of Heth:

Bowed down to the people. Adoravit, literally, adored. But this word here, as well as in many other places in the Latin Scriptures, is used to signify only an inferior honour and reverence paid to men, expressed by a bowing down of the body.

23:8  And said to them: If it please your soul that I should bury my dead, hear me, and intercede for me to Ephron the son of Seor.

23:9  That he may give me the double cave, which he hath in the end of his field: for as much money as it is worth he shall give it me before you, for a possession of a burying place.

23:10  Now Ephron dwelt in the midst of the children of Heth. And Ephron made answer to Abraham in the hearing of all that went in at the gate of the city, saying:

23:11  Let it not be so, my lord, but do thou rather hearken to what I say: The field I deliver to thee, and the cave that is therein; in the presence of the children of my people, bury thy dead.

23:12  Abraham bowed down before the people of the land.

23:13  And he spoke to Ephron, in the presence of the people: I beseech thee to hear me: I will give money for the field; take it, and so will I bury my dead in it.

23:14  And Ephron answered:

23:15  My lord, hear me. The ground which thou desirest, is worth four hundred sicles of silver: this is the price between me and thee: but what is this? bury thy dead.

23:16  And when Abraham had heard this, he weighed out the money that Ephron had asked, in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred sicles of silver, of common current money.

Sicles. About £50. (Haydock) --- It was no simony to buy land for a sepulchre, as it was not blessed. (Menochius) --- Current money, was such as passed among merchants, though probably not yet coined in any part of the world; and therefore we find, that Abraham and others weigh the pieces of silver or gold. In this manner were bargains concluded before witnesses, who in those days supplied the want of writings and lawyers. (Calmet)

23:17  And the field that before was Ephron's, wherein was the double cave, looking towards Mambre, both it and the cave, and all the trees thereof, in all its limits round about,

23:18  Was made sure to Abraham for a possession, in the sight of the children of Heth, and of all that went in at the gate of his city.

23:19  And so Abraham buried Sara, his wife, in the double cave of the field, that looked towards Mambre, this is Hebron in the land of Chanaan.

23:20  And the field was made sure to Abraham, and the cave that was in it, for a possession to bury in, by the children of Heth.

Cross-references: 2: Year of the World 2145, Year before Christ 1859. 19: Genesis xxxv. 27.

Chapter 24

Abraham's servant sent by him into Mesopotamia; bringeth from thence Rebecca, who is married to Isaac.

24:1  Now Abraham was old, and advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed him in all things.

24:2  And he said to the elder servant of his house, who was ruler over all he had: Put thy hand under my thigh,

Servant. Eliezer, or Damascus, whom he had once intended for his heir, chap. xv. 2. (Haydock) --- Under, &c. either to shew their subjection, (Sa.) or their faith in Christ, who should be born of Abraham, (St. Jerome, ep. 140) or to testify that their oath shall be no less binding than the covenant of circumcision. For this last reason, the Jews still observe the custom of sitting upon the hand of the person who takes an oath. (Menochius) See chap. xlvii. 29, where Jacob imitates the action of his grand-father. These two patriarchs, progenitors of Christ, are the only ones in Scripture whom we find practising it; whence St. Augustine and St. Ambrose conclude, that it had a reference to the mysterious birth of our Redeemer. (Bonfrere.)

24:3  That I may make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and earth, that thou take not a wife for my son, of the daughters of the Chanaanites, among whom I dwell:

24:4  But that thou go to my own country and kindred, and take a wife from thence for my son Isaac.

Country. Haran, where Abraham had dwelt with Thare, &c. There Nachor's family still resided, and had more respect for the true God than the Chanaanites, (Haydock) though they gave way to some sort of idolatry. (Menochius) --- Hence Abraham was in hopes that a partner worthy of Isaac, might be found among his relations, better than among those devoted nations; and thus he has left an instruction to all parents, to be solicitous for the real welfare of their children; and to dissuade them earnestly from marrying with infidels; a thing which God forbade in the old law, as the Church still does in the new. (Haydock)

24:5  The servant answered: If the woman will not come with me into this land, must I bring thy son back again to the place from whence thou camest out?

If the woman. Thus he shews his religious respect for an oath; and will not depend on his own explanation of the sense of it. (Calmet)

24:6  And Abraham said: Beware thou never bring my son back again thither.

24:7  The Lord God of heaven, who took me out of my father's house, and out of my native country, who spoke to me, and swore to me, saying: To thy seed will I give this land: he will send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take from thence a wife for my son.

He will send his angel before thee. This shews that the Hebrews believed that God gave them guardian angels for their protection. (Challoner) --- Angel. A proof of the antiquity of our belief respecting angel guardians. (Calmet)

24:8  But if the woman will not follow thee, thou shalt not be bound by the oath: only bring not my son back thither again.

24:9  The servant, therefore, put his hand under the thigh of Abraham, his lord, and swore to him upon this word.

24:10  And he took ten camels of his master's herd, and departed, carrying something of all his goods with him, and he set forward and went on to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nachor.

24:11  And when he had made the camels lie down without the town, near a well of water, in the evening, at the time when women are wont to come out to draw water, he said:

24:12  O Lord, the God of my master Abraham, meet me to-day, I beseech thee, and shew kindness to my master, Abraham.

24:13  Behold, I stand nigh the spring of water, and the daughters of the inhabitants of this city will come out to draw water:

24:14  Now, therefore, the maid to whom I shall say: Let down thy pitcher that I may drink: and she shall answer, Drink, and I will give thy camels drink also: let it be the same whom thou hast provided for thy servant Isaac: and by this, I shall understand that thou hast shewn kindness to my master.

By this. He chose a mark which would manifest the kindness and humility of the maid, who would be a fit match for the pious Isaac. This was no vain observation. God heard his fervent prayer. (St. Chrysostom) (Calmet) --- It is sometimes lawful to ask a sign or miracle of God, (Acts i. 24; iv. 30; 1 Kings xiv, &c.,) but we must carefully avoid whatever the Church disapproves. (St. Augustine de Gen. ii. 17; xii. 22.) (Worthington)

24:15  He had not yet ended these words within himself, and behold Rebecca came out, the daughter of Bathuel, son of Melcha, wife to Nachor the brother of Abraham, having a pitcher on her shoulder:

24:16  An exceeding comely maid, and a most beautiful virgin, and not known to man: and she went down to the spring, and filled her pitcher, and was coming back.

24:17  And the servant ran to meet her, and said: Give me a little water to drink of thy pitcher.

24:18  And she answered: Drink, my lord. And quickly she let down the pitcher upon her arm, and gave him drink.

24:19  And when he had drunk, she said: I will draw water for thy camels also, till they all drink.

24:20  And pouring out the pitcher into the troughs, she ran back to the well to draw water; and having drawn, she gave to all the camels.

24:21  But he musing, beheld her with silence, desirous to know whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

To know, though he was now almost convinced, that this obliging virgin was the person of whom he was in quest; and hence he proceeds to make her presents of great value. (Haydock)

24:22  And after that the camels had drunk, the man took out golden ear-rings, weighing two sicles; and as many bracelets, of ten sicles weight.

24:23  And he said to her: Whose daughter art thou? tell me: is there any place in thy father's house to lodge?

24:24  And she answered: I am the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Melcha, whom she bore to Nachor.

24:25  And she said, moreover, to him: We have good store of both straw and hay, and a large place to lodge in.

24:26  The man bowed himself down, and adored the Lord,

24:27  Saying: Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not taken away his mercy and truth from my master, and hath brought me the straight way into the house of my master's brother.

Mercy and truth: or a real kindness, so often mentioned in the Psalms. (Calmet)

24:28  Then the maid ran, and told in her mother's house, all that she had heard.

24:29  And Rebecca had a brother, named Laban, who went out in haste to the man, to the well.

24:30  And when he had seen the ear-rings and bracelets in his sister's hands, and had heard all that she related, saying: Thus and thus the man spoke to me: he came to the man who stood by the camels, and near to the spring of water,

24:31  And said to him: Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; why standest thou without? I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.

24:32  And he brought him into his lodging; and he unharnessed the camels, and gave straw and hay, and water to wash his feet, and the feet of the men that were come with him.

24:33  And bread was set before him. But he said: I will not eat, till I tell my message. He answered him: Speak.

24:34  And he said: I am the servant of Abraham:

24:35  And the Lord hath blessed my master wonderfully, and he is become great: and he hath given him sheep and oxen, silver and gold, men servants and women servants, camels and asses.

24:36  And Sara, my master's wife, hath borne my master a son in her old age, and he hath given him all that he had.

24:37  And my master made me swear, saying: Thou shalt not take a wife for my son of the Chanaanites, in whose land I dwell:

24:38  But thou shalt go to my father's house, and shalt take a wife of my own kindred for my son:

24:39  But I answered my master: What if the woman will not come with me?

24:40  The Lord, said he, in whose sight I walk, will send his angel with thee, and will direct thy way: and thou shalt take a wife for my son of my own kindred, and of my father's house.

24:41  But thou shalt be clear from my curse, when thou shalt come to my kindred, if they will not give thee one.

Curse, which always attends the person who does not endeavour to comply with a lawful oath. (Haydock) --- The Hebrews commonly added in this sense, May God do these things to me, and still more, if I prove false. (Menochius) --- In this sense, Abraham's steward gives the meaning of his master, as he had hitherto repeated his very words at full length. This perfectly agrees with the style of the heroic ages; such as we find expressed in the poems of Homer, the most ancient work of any heathen author. The account which he gives of the noble simplicity of those ages, when the ladies went for water, and princes prepared the entertainments for their guests, cannot fail to strike us, when we compare the works of that admired author with the inspired writings. (Haydock)

24:42  And I came to-day to the well of water, and said: O Lord God of my master, Abraham, if thou hast prospered my way, wherein I now walk,

24:43  Behold, I stand by the well of water, and the virgin, that shall come out to draw water, who shall hear me say: Give me a little water to drink of thy pitcher:

24:44  And shall say to me: Both drink thou, and I will also draw for thy camels: let the same be the woman, whom the Lord hath prepared for my master's son.

24:45  And whilst I pondered these things secretly with myself, Rebecca appeared, coming with a pitcher, which she carried on her shoulder: and she went down to the well and drew water. And I said to her: Give me a little to drink.

24:46  And she speedily let down the pitcher from her shoulder, and said to me: Both drink thou, and to thy camels I will give drink. I drank, and she watered the camels.

24:47  And I asked her, and said: Whose daughter art thou? And she answered: I am the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Nachor, whom Melcha bore to him. So I put ear-rings on her to adorn her face, and I put bracelets on her hands.

24:48  And falling down, I adored the Lord, blessing the Lord God of my master, Abraham, who hath brought me the straight way to take the daughter of my master's brother for his son.

24:49  Wherefore, if you do according to mercy and truth with my master, tell me: but if it please you otherwise, tell me that also, that I may go to the right hand, or to the left.

Left, in quest of some other lady of my master's kindred; as some of Bathuel's brothers might also have children. He was the youngest. (Haydock)

24:50  And Laban and Bathuel answered: The word hath proceeded from the Lord: we cannot speak any other thing to thee but his pleasure.

Laban is placed before his father, having perhaps the administration of affairs in Bathuel's old age; and he had first introduced the stranger. (Menochius)

24:51  Behold, Rebecca is before thee, take her and go thy way, and let her be the wife of thy master's son, as the Lord hath spoken.

24:52  Which when Abraham's servant heard, falling down to the ground, he adored the Lord.

24:53  And bringing forth vessels of silver and gold, and garments, he gave them to Rebecca for a present. He offered gifts also to her brothers, and to her mother.

Present. Thus ratifying what he had already done, (ver. 22,) and obtaining full consent, both of the virgin, and of her father and brother.

24:54  And a banquet was made, and they ate and drank together, and lodged there. And in the morning, the servant arose, and said: Let me depart, that I may go to my master.

Morning. He loses no time to afford comfort to his masters, and to give proof that he was not esteemed by them without reason.

24:55  And her brother and mother answered: Let the maid stay, at least, ten days with us, and afterwards she shall depart.

24:56  Stay me not, said he, because the Lord hath prospered my way: send me away, that I may go to my master.

24:57  And they said: Let us call the maid, and ask her will.

Let us call the maid, and ask her will. Not as to her marriage, as she had already consented, but of her quitting her parents and going to her husband. (Challoner)

24:58  And they called her, and when she was come, they asked: Wilt thou go with this man? She said: I will go.

I will go, without delay, being well convinced that the good steward was directed by God. Hence she was guilty of no imprudence or levity, in yielding herself up to the divine will, and consenting so readily to the proposed marriage.

24:59  So they sent her away, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and his company.

24:60  Wishing prosperity to their sister, and saying: Thou art our sister, mayst thou increase to thousands of thousands; and may thy seed possess the gates of their enemies.

24:61  So Rebecca and her maids, being set upon camels, followed the man: who with speed returned to his master.

24:62  At the same time, Isaac was walking along the way to the well which is called Of the living and the seeing: for he dwelt in the south country:

The well of Agar, not far from Bersabee.

24:63  And he was gone forth to meditate in the field, the day being now well spent: and when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw camels coming afar off.

To meditate on the obligations of the state on which he was about to enter, and on other pious subjects, free from noise and distraction. (Haydock) --- In profane authors, the word used by the Septuagint means to talk about trifles, &c. (Calmet) --- But the known piety of Isaac, and the authority of that version, forbid that we should take it here in that sense. (Haydock)

24:64  Rebecca also, when she saw Isaac, lighted off the camel,

24:65  And said to the servant: Who is that man who cometh towards us along the field? And he said to her: That man is my master. But she quickly took her cloak, and covered herself.

Cloak, or summer veil, covering the whole body, and leaving an opening only for the eyes; such as the Eastern ladies use. St. Jerome in Isai. iii, Rebecca does this out of modesty. (Haydock) --- She prefigures the Gentiles, whom Jesus calls by his servants laden with his gifts, to become his spouse, or his Church, (Calmet) at the fountain of baptism. He adorns her with the ear-rings of obedience, and the bracelets of good works. (Du Hamel)

24:66  And the servant told Isaac all that he had done.

24:67  Who brought her into the tent of Sara his mother, and took her to wife: and he loved her so much, that it moderated the sorrow which was occasioned by his mother's death.

Mother's death, which happened about three years before. (Menochius) --- Isaac was now forty years old, and yet he does not pretend to take a wife for himself; leaving the choice to his good father, and to God. (Du Hamel)

Cross-references: 1: 140 years. 2: * Year of the World 2148, Year before Christ 1856. ** Genesis xlvii. 29. 7: * Genesis xii. 7. and xiii. 15. and xv. 8. ** Genesis xxvi. 2. 15: Exodus xi.[ii.?] 16.; Genesis xxix. 8. 62: Genesis xvi. 14.

Chapter 25

Abraham's children by Cetura, his death and that of Ismael. Isaac hath Esau and Jacob twins. Esau selleth his first birth-right to Jacob.

25:1  And Abraham married another wife, named Cetura:

Cetura, his third wife; the former two being perhaps both dead. This Abraham did in his 137th year, that God might have witnesses also among the Gentiles. Cetura was before one of his handmaids. (Menochius) --- God enabled him to have children at this advanced age; or perhaps, Moses may have related his marriage in this place, though it had taken place several years before. (St. Augustine, contra Jul. iii.) (Calmet) This learned father, City of God xvi. 34, supposes that the reason why Cetura is styled a concubine, though she was a lawful and only wife, is because her children prefigured heretics, who do not belong to the kingdom of Christ. (Worthington)

25:2  Who bore to him Zamran, and Jecsan, and Madan, and Madian, and Jesboc, and Sue.

25:3  Jecsan also begot Saba, and Dadan. The children of Dadan were Assurim, and Latusim, and Loomim.

25:4  But of Madian was born Epha, and Opher, and Henoch, and Abida, and Eldaa: all these were the children of Cetura.

25:5  And Abraham gave all his possessions to Isaac:

25:6  And to the children of the concubines he gave gifts, and separated them from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, to the east country.

Concubines. Agar and Cetura are here called concubines, (though they were lawful wives, and in other places are so called) because they were of an inferior degree: and such in Scripture are usually called concubines. (Challoner) --- The solemnities of marriage were omitted on these occasions, and the children were not entitled to a share in the inheritance. Jacob's two wives consented that all his children, by their handmaids, should be placed on the same footing with their own. (Calmet) --- Abraham contented himself with making suitable presents to the children, whom he had by these secondary wives, reserving the bulk of his property to Isaac, chap. xxiv. 36. He also provided for their establishment himself, that there might be no contest after his departure.

25:7  And the days of Abraham's life were a hundred and seventy-five years.

25:8  And decaying he died in a good old age, and having lived a long time, and being full of days: and was gathered to his people.

Good old age. Because well spent: though he lived not so long as many of the wicked; decaying not by any violent disorder, but dropping off like a ripe apple. --- Being full. The Hebrew does not express of what; but the Samaritan, Chaldean, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic agree with the Vulgate. See chap. xxxv. 29. (Haydock) --- Days, not years, as Protestants wrongfully interpolate. (Kennicott) --- His people, the saints of ancient days, in limbo; while his body was placed near the remains of his wife, by the pious attention of his two chief sons, attended by their other brethren. (Haydock) --- The life of Abraham was a pattern of all virtues, but particularly of faith; and it was an abridgment of the law. His equal was no where found, Ecclesiasticus xliv. 20. (Calmet)

25:9  And Isaac and Ismael his sons buried him in the double cave, which was situated in the field of Ephron the son of Seor the Hethite, over against Mambre,

25:10  Which he had bought of the children of Heth: there was he buried, and Sara his wife.

25:11  And after his death, God blessed Isaac his son, who dwelt by the well named Of the living and seeing.

25:12  These are the generations of Ismael the son of Abraham, whom Agar the Egyptian, Sara's servant, bore unto him:

25:13  And these are the names of his children according to their calling and generations. The first-born of Ismael was Nabajoth, then Cedar, and Adbeel, and Mabsam,

25:14  And Masma, and Duma, and Massa,

25:15  Hadar, and Thema, and Jethur, and Naphis, and Cedma.

25:16  These are the sons of Ismael: and these are their names by their castles and towns, twelve princes of their tribes.

By their castles; or, the castles, towns, and tribes of principal note, received their names from these twelve princes, or phylarks, whose authority is still recognized among all the tribes of the Arabs. (Thevenot.) (Haydock) --- The towns of these people were easily built, and more easily destroyed; for they consisted only of tents, Jeremias xlix. 31. Their castles were perhaps only sheep-folds, as the original Tiroth may signify; or they were a sort of watch-towers, to prevent the sudden attack of an invading enemy, and to serve also for a retreat. (Calmet)

25:17  And the years of Ismael's life were a hundred and thirty-seven, and decaying he died, and was gathered unto his people.

25:18  And he dwelt from Hevila as far as Sur, which looketh towards Egypt, to them that go towards the Assyrians. He died in the presence of all his brethren.

In the presence, &c. As he was the eldest, so he died first; having lived unmolested and fearless among his father's children, chap. xvi. 12. (Calmet)

25:19  These also are the generations of Isaac the son of Abraham: Abraham begot Isaac:

25:20  Who when he was forty years old, took to wife Rebecca the daughter of Bathuel the Syrian of Mesopotamia, sister to Laban.

25:21  And Isaac besought the Lord for his wife, because she was barren; and he heard him, and made Rebecca to conceive.

Barren. They had been married 20 years, (ver. 26.) during which time, St. Chrysostom says, Isaac had earnestly besought the Lord, (Menochius) and obtained by prayer what God long before decreed. See St. Gregory, Dial. i. 8. (Worthington)

25:22  But the children struggled in her womb: and she said: If it were to be so with me, what need was there to conceive? And she went to consult the Lord.

To be so. That is, if I must die, and my children also. She feared the worst; and immediately had recourse to the Lord, either in her oratory, or at one of his altars erected by Abraham; and received a gracious answer from him by means of an angel. (Haydock) --- Others think she consulted Melchisedech at Mount Moria. (Menochius)

25:23  And he answering, said: Two nations are in thy womb, and two peoples shall be divided out of thy womb, and one people shall overcome the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.

The younger. The Idumeans shall be subdued by the arms of David: and the Jews themselves shall yield to the Christian Church. (St. Augustine, City of God xvi. 35.) St. Paul, Romans ix, draws another very important truth from this history, shewing the mercy of God to be gratuitous in choosing his saints. (Worthington)

25:24  And when her time was come to be delivered, behold twins were found in her womb.

25:25  He that came forth first was red, and hairy like a skin: and his name was called Esau. Immediately the other coming forth, held his brother's foot in his hand: and therefore he was called Jacob.

Red. Hence he was called Edom, as well as from the red pottage, ver. 30. (Haydock) --- Hairy like a skin. On which account Rebecca afterwards clothed Jacob's hands and neck with the skins of kids, to make him resemble Esau. Furry robes were not unusual among the Jews. Some imagine that the name of Sehar, was given to Esau, on account of his being hairy: but Esau was the title by which he was commonly known, and it means one made perfect; because he came into the world, "covered with hair like a man." --- Jacob: "a supplanter, or wrestler." (Calmet) --- From the birth of these twins St. Gregory shews the folly of astrologers, who pretend that our actions are under the influence of the planets; and that two, born at the same moment, will have the same fate. How different were the lives of Jacob and Esau! (Haydock)

25:26  Isaac was threescore years old when the children were born unto him.

25:27  And when they were grown up, Esau became a skilful hunter, and a husbandman: but Jacob, a plain man, dwelt in tents.

A husbandman: a rustic, both in profession and manners, like Cain; while Jacob was a shepherd, in imitation of Abel, plain and honest. (Haydock)

25:28  Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his hunting: and Rebecca loved Jacob.

Loved Esau, as his first-born, who shewed him all attention, and whom he would naturally have appointed his heir, if the will of God had not afterwards been revealed to him. Rebecca, to whom this was already known, gave the preference in her love to Jacob. (Haydock)

25:29  And Jacob boiled pottage: to whom Esau, coming faint out of the field,

Pottage, of Egyptian lentiles, the most excellent in the world. (Calmet)

25:30  Said: Give me of this red pottage, for I am exceeding faint. For which reason his name was called Edom.

Give me, &c. Hebrew, "make me devour this red;" which denotes, the very red quality of the pottage, and the greediness of Esau. (Calmet)

25:31  And Jacob said to him: Sell me thy first birth-right.

Sell me. He had been informed by his mother, that God had transferred the birth-right to him; and, therefore, he takes this opportunity to obtain the consent of Esau quietly. The latter, who knew nothing of God's decree, shewed his little regard for that privilege. (Haydock) --- He perhaps intended to assert his claim by force, notwithstanding this agreement. (Menochius) --- It is not probable that he could plead in earnest, that he was famishing in the midst of his father's house. (Du Hamel) --- The birth-right was a temporal honour; though some assert, that the office of priesthood belonged also to it. This, however, does not seem to be certain; for we find Abel, Abraham, and other younger children offering sacrifice. The first-born were entitled to a double portion, (Deuteronomy xxi. 17; 1 Paralipomenon v. 2, 5) and to their father's peculiar blessing, Ecclesiasticus iii. 12.[11.?] To despise such advantages betrayed a bad disposition, for which Esau is condemned, Hebrews xii. 16; Romans ix. (Calmet) --- Jacob's conduct was perfectly innocent, whether we consider this transaction as serious or not. Isaac never ratified the bargain; nor do we find that Jacob rested his claim on it. (Haydock) --- But it is recorded by Moses, to shew the disposition of these two young men. (Calmet)

25:32  He answered: Lo I die, what will the first birth-right avail me.

25:33  Jacob said: Swear therefore to me. Esau swore to him, and sold his first birth-right. 34And so taking bread and the pottage of lentils, he ate, and drank, and went his way; making little account of having sold his first birth-right.

Swore; and still we find him enraged above measure, when Isaac had, by mistake, ratified the transfer of the birth-right to Jacob; (Chap. xxvii. 41.) whence we may gather, that he did not intend to perform what he promised, even with the solemnity of an oath; which renders him still more deserving of the title profane, which St. Paul gives him. (Haydock)

Cross-references: 1: 1 Paralipomenon i. 32.; Year of the World about 2150, Year before Christ 1854. 8: Year of the World 2182, Year before Christ 1821. 13: 1 Paralipomenon i. 29. 16: Genesis xvii. 20. 17: Year of the World 2231, Year before Christ 1773. 20: Year of the World 2148, Year before Christ 1856. 23: Romans ix. 10. 25: Osee xii. 3. ** Matthew i. 2. 26: Year of the World 2168, Year before Christ 1836. 30: Hebrews xii. 16.; Abdias i. 1.

Chapter 26

Isaac sojourneth in Gerara, where God reneweth to him the promise made to Abraham. King Abimelech maketh league with him.

26:1  And when a famine came in the land, after that barrenness which had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech, king of the Palestines, to Gerara.

26:2  And the Lord appeared to him and said: Go not down into Egypt, but stay in the land that I shall tell thee.

26:3  And sojourn in it, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee: for to thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries, to fulfil the oath which I swore to Abraham thy father.

26:4  And I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven: and I will give to thy posterity all these countries: and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.

26:5  Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and commandments, and observed my ceremonies and laws.

Ceremonies of religion, observed under the law of nature. (Menochius)

26:6  So Isaac abode in Gerara.

26:7  And when he was asked by the men of that place, concerning his wife, he answered: She is my sister: for he was afraid to confess that she was his wife, thinking lest perhaps they would kill him because of her beauty.

Sister, or niece. Though lawful at that time, it was not very common for people to marry such near relations; and therefore Isaac, by saying Rebecca was his sister, wished the people of Gerara to be ignorant of her being his wife; being under the like apprehension as his father had been twice before. He imitates his example, trusting in the protection of God, which had rescued Abraham from danger, chap. xxi. (Haydock)

26:8  And when very many days were passed, and he abode there, Abimelech, king of the Palestines, looking out through a window, saw him playing with Rebecca, his wife.

His wife; using greater familiarity than a grave and virtuous man, like Isaac, would offer to do with his sister, or with another person's wife. --- Sin, or punishment, (Menochius) such as Abimelech's father had formerly experienced. (Haydock)

26:9  And calling for him, he said: It is evident she is thy wife: why didst thou feign her to be thy sister? He answered: I feared lest I should die for her sake.

26:10  And Abimelech said: Why hadst thou deceived us? Some man of the people might have lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us a great sin. And he commanded all the people, saying:

26:11  He that shall touch this man's wife, shall surely be put to death.

Touch, or hurt, by offering to marry, &c. (Haydock) --- Adultery was punished with death among these nations, chap. xxxviii. 24, as it was by the law of Moses. (Calmet)

26:12  And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found that same year a hundred-fold: and the Lord blessed him.

And the Lord. This is not mentioned as a miracle; for Egypt and many other countries produced 100 fold. Pliny, Natural History xviii. 10, says, some parts of Africa rendered 150 times as much as was sowed. The famine had now ceased. (Calmet)

26:13  And the man was enriched, and he went on prospering and increasing, till he became exceeding great.

26:14  And he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very great family. Wherefore the Palestines envying him,

26:15  Stopped up at that time all the wells, that the servants of his father, Abraham, had digged, filling them up with earth:

26:16  Insomuch that Abimelech himself said to Isaac: Depart from us, for thou art become much mightier than we.

Depart. Instead of repressing the outrages of his subjects, the king enters into their jealousies, and banishes a wealthy person, (Haydock) as the Athenians so frequently did afterwards with respect to their best citizens. (Aristotle, Polit. iii. 9.) And Pharao used the same pretext, when he persecuted the Hebrews. (Calmet)

26:17  So he departed, and came to the torrent of Gerara, to dwell there:

26:18  And he digged again other wells, which the servants of his father, Abraham, had digged, and which, after his death, the Philistines had of old stopped up: and he called them by the same names, by which his father before had called them.

Servants. So the Septuagint and Syriac versions, and the Samaritan copy against the Hebrew, in the days, which is incorrect. (Kennicott)

26:19  And they digged in the torrent, and found living water:

Torrent. That is, a channel where sometimes a torrent, or violent stream, had run. (Challoner) --- In this vale of Gerara, a never-failing spring was found. (Haydock)

26:20  But there also the herdsmen of Gerara strove against the herdsmen of Isaac, saying: It is our water. Wherefore he called the name of the well, on occasion of that which had happened, Calumny.

26:21  And they digged also another; and for that they quarrelled likewise, and he called the name of it, Enmity.

26:22  Going forward from thence, he digged another well, for which they contended not; therefore he called the name thereof, Latitude, saying: Now hath the Lord given us room, and made us to increase upon the earth.

Latitude. That is, wideness, or room. (Challoner) --- Hebrew Rechoboth, widely extended streams, latitudines. See chap. x. 11.

26:23  And he went up from that place to Bersabee,

26:24  Where the Lord appeared to him that same night, saying: I am the God of Abraham thy father, do not fear, for I am with thee: I will bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.

Of Abraham, who still lives before me, and for whom I always testified such affection, though I suffered him to be persecuted: hence, fear not. (Haydock)

26:25  And he built there an altar: and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent; and commanded his servants to dig a well.

26:26  To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and Phicol chief captain of his soldiers, came from Gerara,

Ochozath. This name occurs in the Septuagint, as well as the other two; (Chap. xxi. 22.) and means a company of friends. Phicol also signifies the mouth or face of all, being the general of the army, on whom the soldiers must be intent. These are, perhaps, therefore, the names of offices, not of persons; or if they be the same who lived with Abraham, they must have held their high command above 100 years. (Menochius) (Calmet)

26:27  Isaac said to them: Why are ye come to me, a man whom you hate, and have thrust out from you?

26:28  And they answered: We saw that the Lord is with thee, and therefore we said: Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a covenant,

26:29  That thou do us no harm, as we on our part have touched nothing of thine, nor have done any thing to hurt thee; but with peace have sent thee away, increased with the blessing of the Lord.

26:30  And he made them a feast, and after they had eaten and drunk:

26:31  Arising in the morning, they swore one to another: and Isaac sent them away peaceably to their own home.

26:32  And behold, the same day the servants of Isaac came, telling him of a well which they had digged, and saying: We have found water.

26:33  Whereupon he called it Abundance: and the name of the city was called Bersabee, even to this day.

26:34  And Esau being forty years old, married wives, Judith, the daughter of Beeri, the Hethite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon, of the same place.

26:35  And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebecca.

Offended. They were the daughters of princes of the Heathens, (Josephus) and being brought up in idolatry and pride, refused to give ear to the advice of Isaac, who never approved of the marriage of his son with them. Esau would not leave the choice of a wife to his father, as Isaac had done at the same age. (Haydock)

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World about 2200. 3: Genesis xii. 3. and xv. 18. 4: Genesis xii. 3. and xviii. 18. and xxii. 17. and xxviii. 14. 22: Psalm iv. 1. 34: Year of the World 2208, Year before Christ 1796. 35: Genesis xxvii. 46.

Chapter 27

Jacob, by his mother's counsel, obtaineth his father's blessing instead of Esau. And by her is advised to fly to his uncle Laban.

27:1  Now Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see: and he called Esau, his elder son, and said to him: My son? And he answered: Here I am.

Old: 137 years, when falling sickly and blind, at least for a time, he wished to bless Esau, who was 77 years old. (Tirinus)

27:2  And his father said to him, Thou seest that I am old, and know not the day of my death.

27:3  Take thy arms, thy quiver, and bow, and go abroad; and when thou hast taken something by hunting,

27:4  Make me savoury meat thereof, as thou knowest I like, and bring it that I may eat: and my soul may bless thee, before I die.

That, &c. He does not mean, that the meat would induce him to give his blessing. Neither can we suppose, that he intended to pervert the order of God, in making the younger son subject to the elder, if he was informed by Rebecca, of that disposition of providence. (Calmet) --- But of this he seems to have been ignorant, ver. 29, 35. (Worthington)

27:5  And when Rebecca had heard this, and he was gone into the field to fulfil his father's commandment,

27:6  She said to her son Jacob: I heard thy father talking with Esau, thy brother, and saying to him:

27:7  Bring me of thy hunting, and make me meats that I may eat, and bless thee in the sight of the Lord, before I die.

In the sight of the Lord, answers to my soul, &c., ver. 4. I will bless thee with all earnestness and sincerity. (Haydock)

27:8  Now therefore, my son, follow my counsel:

27:9  And go thy way to the flock, bring me two kids of the best, that I may make of them meat for thy father, such as he gladly eateth.

27:10  Which when thou hast brought in, and he hath eaten, he may bless thee before he die.

27:11  And he answered her: Thou knowest that Esau, my brother, is a hairy man, and I am smooth:

27:12  If my father should feel me, and perceive it, I fear lest he will think I would have mocked him, and I shall bring upon me a curse instead of a blessing.

Mocked him, taking advantage of his blindness and old age. (Menochius)

27:13  And his mother said to him: Upon me be this curse, my son: only hear thou my voice, and go, fetch me the things which I have said.

This curse. Rebecca had too much confidence in God's promises, to think that he would suffer them to be ineffectual. Hence, Onkelos makes her say, "I have learnt by revelation, that thou wilt receive no curse, but only blessing." The sequel shewed, that she was directed by God in this delicate business. (Theodoret q. 78.) (Calmet)

27:14  He went, and brought, and gave them to his mother. She dressed meats, such as she knew his father liked.

27:15  And she put on him very good garments of Esau, which she had at home with her:

Very good. Hebrew desirable, kept among perfumes, ver. 27. Such, the Hebrews say, were used by the first-born, when they offered sacrifice. (St. Jerome, q. Hebrews.)

27:16  And the little skins of the kids she put about his hands, and covered the bare of his neck.

27:17  And she gave him the savoury meat, and delivered him bread that she had baked.

27:18  Which when he had carried in, he said: My father? But he answered: I hear. Who art thou, my son?

27:19  And Jacob said: I am Esau, thy first-born: I have done as thou didst command me; arise, sit, and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.

I am Esau, thy first-born. St. Augustine, (L. Contra Mendacium, c. x.) treating at large upon this place, excuseth Jacob from a lie, because this whole passage was mysterious, as relating to the preference which was afterwards to be given to the Gentiles before the carnal Jews, which Jacob by prophetic light might understand. So far is certain, that the first birth-right, both by divine election, and by Esau's free cession, belonged to Jacob: so that if there were any lie in the case, it could be no more than an officious and venial one. (Challoner) --- Ignorance might also excuse them from any sin; as many good and learned men have thought an officious lie to be lawful. (St. Chrysostom, hom. 52; Origen; Bonfrere.) And even if we allow that they did wrong; the Scripture relates, but does not sanction what they did, Let him that thinks himself to stand, take heed, lest he fall, 1 Corinthians x. 12. (Calmet) --- As our Saviour says of St. John the Baptist, He is Elias, Matthew xi, so, Jacob says, I am Esau, not in person, but in right of the first-born. (Worthington)

27:20  And Isaac said to his son: How couldst thou find it so quickly, my son? He answered: It was the will of God, that what I sought came quickly in my way:

27:21  And Isaac said: Come hither, that I may feel thee, my son, and may prove whether thou be my son Esau, or no.

27:22  He came near to his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac said: The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob; but the hands, are the hands of Esau.

Of Esau. Thus, too often our voice contradicts our hands or actions! (Haydock)

27:23  And he knew him not, because his hairy hands made him like to the elder. Then blessing him,

27:24  He said: Art thou my son Esau? He answered: I am.

27:25  Then he said: Bring me the meats of thy hunting, my son, that my soul may bless thee. And when they were brought, and he had eaten, he offered him wine also, which after he had drunk,

27:26  He said to him: Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son.

27:27  He came near, and kissed him. And immediately as he smelled the fragrant smell of his garments, blessing him, he said: Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord hath blessed.

Plentiful. A word retained by the Samaritan and Septuagint though lost in the Hebrew copies. (Grotius.) --- Hath blessed with abundance of fruit and odoriferous herbs; such as had probably been shut up in the drawers with Esau's robes. (Menochius)

27:28  God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, abundance of corn and wine.

Wine. "By which Christ gathers together the multitude, in the Sacrament of his Body and Blood." (St. Augustine)

27:29  And let peoples serve thee, and tribes worship thee: be thou lord of thy brethren, and let thy mother's children bow down before thee. Cursed be he that curseth thee: and let him that blesseth thee be filled with blessings.

Worship thee, with civil respect, (Haydock) as the Idumeans, Philistines and Moabites did, with respect to David, Solomon, and the Machabees, acknowledging their dominion, though reluctantly. --- With blessing. Thus Rebecca had not given her son a vain assurance. Isaac prays that God may ever be his protector, and avenge his cause. (Haydock)

27:30  Isaac had scarce ended his words, when, Jacob being now gone out abroad, Esau came,

Fear. Septuagint, "Isaac was wrapt into an ecstasy exceedingly great;" during which God explained to him the meaning of what had happened, that he might not think of revoking his blessing. (St. Augustine, q. 80.) He permitted Isaac to be in darkness respecting this affair, that it might be more manifest, that the will of man had no part in preferring Jacob; (St. Chrysostom, hom. 53.) and that Esau might not direct his rage against his father. (Worthington)

27:31  And brought in to his father meats, made of what he had taken in hunting, saying: Arise, my father, and eat of thy son's venison; that thy soul may bless me.

27:32  And Isaac said to him: Why! who art thou? He answered: I am thy first-born son, Esau.

27:33  Isaac was struck with fear, and astonished exceedingly; and wondering beyond what can be believed, said: Who is he then that even now brought me venison that he had taken, and I ate of all before thou camest? and I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed.

Be blessed. Thus he confirms what he had done; and shews that he bore no resentment towards his younger son, nor esteemed himself to be mocked, ver. 12. (Haydock)

27:34  Esau having heard his father's words, roared out with a great cry; and, being in a consternation, said: Bless me also, my father.

Roared, through savage fury and envy of his brother. (Eusebius) (Menochius)

27:35  And he said: Thy brother came deceitfully and got thy blessing.

Deceitfully. Hebrew, slily; directed by wisdom, as the Chaldean has it. St. Chrysostom (de sacerd.) praises the address of Jacob on this occasion. (Calmet)

27:36  But he said again: Rightly is his name called Jacob; for he hath supplanted me lo this second time: My first birth-right he took away before, and now this second time he hath stolen away my blessing. And again he said to his father: Hast thou not reserved me also a blessing?

Jacob. That is, a supplanter. (Challoner) --- My blessing. Both Isaac and Esau speak of this blessing, according to the dictates of nature. But God had disposed of it otherwise. The profane and cruel manners of Esau rendered him unworthy of it; and he could not maintain his natural claim, after having freely resigned it even with an oath. He seems to distinguish the blessing from the birth-right, though one necessarily followed the other. (Haydock)

27:37  Isaac answered: I have appointed him thy lord, and have made all his brethren his servants: I have established him with corn and wine, and after this, what shall I do more for thee, my son?

Brethren, or relations; (Menochius) for Isaac had no other children but these two. He never married any other woman but the beautiful and virtuous Rebecca. (Haydock)

27:38  And Esac said to him: Hast thou only one blessing, father? I beseech thee bless me also. And when he wept with a loud cry,

27:39  Isaac being moved, said to him: In the fat of the earth, and in the dew of heaven from above,

Moved; yet not so as to repent of what he had done; for Esau found no place of repentance in his father's breast, although with tears he had sought it, (Hebrews xii. 17.) desiring to obtain the blessing of the first-born. (Haydock) --- In the fat, &c. Idumea was a barren country; and hence some would translate the Hebrew, "far from the fat...shall thy dwelling be; but thou shalt live by the sword." Thus min often means from, as well as for in: my flesh is changed on account of the want of oil, Psalm cviii. 24. Hebrew, a pinguedine. (Calmet) --- But all the ancient versions agree with the Vulgate. So that we may say, the blessing of God made those barren regions supply the wants of the people abundantly; and as the Idumeans were to live by the sword, they would seize the rich habitations of their neighbours, (Haydock) and thus obtain a country rendered fertile without their labour. (Menochius)

27:40  Shall thy blessing be. Thou shalt live by the sword, and shalt serve thy brother: and the time shall come, when thou shalt shake off and loose his yoke from thy neck.

Thy brother, in the reign of David, 2 Kings viii. 14, and of the Machabees. (Josephus, Antiquities xiii. 17.) --- Yoke. When the house of Juda shall rebel against the Lord, in the days of Joram, then the Idumeans shall regain their liberty for a time; (4 Kings viii. 20.) to be subdued again after 800 years by John Hyrcan, the high priest. (Haydock) --- All the blessing of Esau, tends to confirm that already given to his brother; so that the apostle seems to have considered it unworthy of notice. (Calmet) --- Jacob, in the mean time, never asserted his dominion; but still called Esau his lord, (Chap. xxxii. 4.) and behaved to him with the greatest deference. (Haydock) --- Yet the Idumeans always hated the Jews, and assisted Titus to destroy Jerusalem. (Josephus) (Tirinus)

27:41  Esau therefore always hated Jacob, for the blessing wherewith his father had blessed him; and he said in his heart: The days will come of the mourning for my father, and I will kill my brother Jacob.

My father. He has no regard for this mother. (Menochius) --- Her love for Jacob filled him with greater indignation; and he resolved to murder him, in order, perhaps, to revenge himself on both. Though this cruel resolution was taken in his heart, with full deliberation, he was not so careful to conceal his intentions; but his watchful mother discovered it, and by her prudence, preserved him from committing the external sin: and Jacob from falling a prey to this second Cain.

27:42  These things were told to Rebecca: and she sent and called Jacob, her son, and said to him: Behold Esau, thy brother, threateneth to kill thee.

27:43  Now therefore, my son, hear my voice, arise and flee to Laban, my brother, to Haran:

27:44  And thou shalt dwell with him a few days, till the wrath of thy brother be assuaged,

27:45  And his indignation cease, and he forget the things thou hast done to him: afterwards I will send, and bring thee from thence hither. Why shall I be deprived of both my sons in one day?

Both my sons. Esau would have forfeited his life for murder, chap. ix. 6. (Haydock) --- Perhaps she might also fear that Jacob, in his own defence, should, in the very agony of death, give the aggressor a mortal wound; or that Esau, at least, would be forced to flee his country. Indeed, she considered him already as a lost man, on account of his marriage with the two women of Chanaan, and his savage manners. (Calmet)

27:46  And Rebecca said to Isaac: I am weary of my life, because of the daughters of Heth: if Jacob take a wife of the stock of this land, I choose not to live.

To live. Life will be a burden to me. (Menochius) --- She does not mention the principal reason of her desiring Jacob to go to Haran, for fear of grieving the tender heart of her husband; who, it seems, knew not the temper of Esau so well as she did. (Calmet)

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World 2245, Year before Christ 1759. 36: Genesis xxv. 34. 38: Hebrews xi. 20. 41: Abdias i. 10. 46: Genesis xxix.[xxvi.?] 35.

Chapter 28

Jacob's journey to Mesopotamia: his vision and vow.

28:1  And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, saying: Take not a wife of the stock of Chanaan:

28:2  But go, and take a journey to Mesopotamia of Syria, to the house of Bathuel, thy mother's father, and take thee a wife thence of the daughters of Laban, thy uncle.

Take. Septuagint, "flee;" as if Isaac began at last to be apprized of Esau's designs. Wisdom (x. 10) conducted the just when he fled from his brother's wrath, &c. --- Thy uncle. He points out the house, but leaves the woman to his choice.

28:3  And God almighty bless thee, and make thee to increase and multiply thee: that thou mayst be a multitude of people.

28:4  And give the blessings of Abrabam to thee, and to thy seed after thee: that thou mayst possess the land of thy sojournment, which he promised to thy grandfather.

Grandfather. Isaac, out of modesty, does not mention that the same promises had been made to himself. He determines the right over Chanaan to belong solely to Jacob, and to his posterity. (Haydock)

28:5  And when Isaac had sent him away, he took his journey and went to Mesopotamia of Syria, to Laban, the son of Bathuel, the Syrian, brother to Rebecca, his mother.

28:6  And Esau seeing that his father had blessed Jacob, and had sent him into Mesopotamia of Syria, to marry a wife thence; and that after the blessing he had charged him, saying: Thou shalt not take a wife of the daughters of Chanaan:

28:7  And that Jacob obeying his parents, was gone into Syria:

28:8  Experiencing also, that his father was not well pleased with the daughters of Chanaan:

28:9  He went to Ismael, and took to wife, besides them he had before, Maheleth, the daughter of Ismael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nabajoth.

To Ismael's family; for he had been dead fourteen years. Esau asks no advice. It is doubtful whether he meant to appease or irritate his parents, (Menochius) by this marriage with the daughter of Ismael. She lived with her brother, the head of the Nabutheans, and is called Basemath, chap. xxxvi. 3. (Calmet)

28:10  But Jacob being departed from Bersabee, went on to Haran.

28:11  And when he was come to a certain place, and would rest in it after sun-set, he took of the stones that lay there, and putting under his head, slept in the same place.

Head for a pillow. Behold the austerity of the heir of all that country! (Haydock) --- He departs from home in haste, with his staff only, that Esau might not know. (Worthington)

28:12  And he saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven: the angels also of God ascending and descending by it.

A ladder and angels, &c. This mysterious vision tended to comfort the patriarch, with the assurance that God would now take him under his more particular protection, when he was destitute of human aid. (Haydock) --- The angels ascending, foretold that his journey would be prosperous; and descending, shewed that he would return with safety. (Menochius) --- Or rather, the ladder represented the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, born of so many patriarchs from Adam, who was created by God, to the blessed Virgin Mary. He is the way by which we must ascend, by observing the truth, till we obtain life eternal. (Haydock) --- Mercy and truth are like the two sides; the virtues of Christ are signified by the steps. Angels descend to announce this joyful mystery to men; they ascend to convey the prayers and ardent desires of the ancient saints, to hasten their redemption. (Menochius) --- Our Saviour seems to allude to this passage, John i. 51; xiv. 6. The Providence of God, watching over all things, appears here very conspicuous.

28:13  And the Lord leaning upon the ladder, saying to him: I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac: The land, wherein thou sleepest, I will give to thee and to thy seed.

Thy father, or grandfather. God joins the dead with the living, to shew that all live to him, and that the soul is immortal. (Haydock)

28:14  And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth: thou shalt spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and thy seed, all the tribes of the earth shall be blessed.

28:15  And I will be thy keeper whithersoever thou goest, and will bring thee back into this land: neither will I leave thee, till I shall have accomplished all that I have said.

28:16  And when Jacob awaked out of sleep, he said: Indeed the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.

Knew it not. Jacob was not ignorant that God fills all places. But he thought that he would not manifest himself thus in a land given to idolatry. He begins to suspect that the place had been formerly consecrated to the worship of the true God, (Calmet) as it probably had by Abraham, who dwelt near Bethel, (Chap. xii. 8, ) and built an altar on Mount Moria, chap. xxii. 14. Interpreters are not agreed on which of these places Jacob spent the night. St. Augustine, q. 83, supposes it was on the latter, "where God appointed the tabernacle to remain." The Chaldean paraphrases it very well in this sense, ver. 17, "How terrible is this place! It is not an ordinary place, but a place beloved by God, and over against this place is the door of heaven." (Haydock)

28:17  And trembling, he said: How terrible is this place? this is no other but the house of God, and the gate of heaven.

28:18  And Jacob arising in the morning, took the stone which he had laid under his head, and set it up for a title, pouring oil upon the top of it.

A title. That is, a pillar or monument. (Challoner) --- Or an altar, consecrated by that rite to the service of the true God. This he did without any superstition; as the Catholic Church still pours oil or chrism upon her altars, in imitation of Jacob. (Rabanus, Instit. i. 45.) If pagans did the like, this is no reason why we should condemn the practice. They were blamable for designing thus to worship false gods. (St. Clement of Alexandria, strom. vii; Apuleius, Florid. i; &c.) If Protestants pull down altars, under the plea of their being superstitious, we cannot but pity their ignorance or malice. (Worthington)

28:19  And he called the name of the city Bethel, which before was called Luza.

Bethel. This name signifies the house of God. (Challoner) --- Bethel was the name which Jacob gave to the place; and the town, which was built after his return, was called by the same name. Hence those famous animated stones or idols, received their title ( Bethules, Eusebius, praep. i. 10.) being consecrated to Saturn, the Sun, &c. Till the days of Mahomet, the Arabs adored a rough stone, taken from the temple of Mecca, which they pretended was built by Abraham. (Chardin) --- Luza, so called from the number of nut or almond trees. Here the golden calf was afterwards set up, on the confines of the tribes of Benjamin and of Ephraim, (Calmet) the southern limits of the kingdom of Jeroboam. (Haydock)

28:20  And he made a vow, saying: If God shall be with me, and shall keep me in the way, by which I walk, and shall give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on,

A vow; not simply that he would acknowledge one God, but that he would testify his peculiar veneration for him, by erecting an altar, at his return, and by giving voluntarily the tithes of all he had. (Worthington) (Chap. xxxv. 7.) How he gave these tithes, we do not read. Perhaps he might hereby engage his posterity to give them under the law of Moses. (Calmet)

28:21  And I shall return prosperously to my father's house: the Lord shall be my God:

28:22  And this stone, which I have set up for a title, shall be called the house of God: and of all things that thou shalt give to me, I will offer tithes to thee.

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World 2245. 5: Osee xii. 12. 13: Genesis xxxv. 1. and xlviii. 3. 14: Deuteronomy xii. 20. and xix. 8.; Genesis xxvi. 4. 18: Genesis xxxi. 13.

Chapter 29

Jacob serveth Laban seven years for Rachel; but is deceived with Lia: he afterwards marrieth Rachel.---Lia bears him four sons.

29:1  Then Jacob went on in his journey, and came into the east country.

East. Mesopotamia, where Laban dwelt. (Haydock)

29:2  And he saw a well in the field, and three flocks of sheep lying by it: for the beasts were watered out of it, and the mouth thereof was closed with a great stone.

Stone. Not of such an immoderate size, but that Jacob could remove it. In that country water was scarce, and preserved with care. (Calmet)

29:3  And the custom was, when all the sheep were gathered together, to roll away the stone, and after the sheep were watered, to put it on the mouth of the well again.

Sheep. Instead of this, Kennicott would read shepherds; as also ver. 2. and 8. In which last, the Samaritan, Arabic and Septuagint agree with him; as the two former do likewise in this third verse. (Haydock)

29:4  And he said to the shepherds: Brethren, whence are you? They answered: Of Haran.

Brethren. Jacob understands and speaks their language, either because it was not very different from his own, or he had learnt the Chaldean language from his mother. In the days of Ezechias, the Jews did not understand it. (4 Kings xviii. 26; Jeremias v. 15.) (Calmet)

29:5  And he asked them, saying: Know you Laban, the son of Nachor? They said: We know him.

Of Nachor, by Bathuel, who was not so well known. (Menochius)

29:6  He said: Is he in health? He is in health, say they: and behold, Rachel, his daughter, cometh with his flock.

Health. Hebrew, "in peace;" by which name all good things are designated. (Du Hamel)

29:7  And Jacob said: There is yet much day remaining, neither is it time to bring the flocks into the folds again: first give the sheep drink, and so lead them back to feed.

To feed. He shews his knowledge of pastoral affairs, and his concern for them. (Menochius)

29:8  They answered: We cannot, till all the cattle be gathered together, and we remove the stone from the well's mouth, that we may water the flocks.

29:9  They were yet speaking, and behold Rachel came with her father's sheep; for she fed the flock.

She. Hebrew He, ipsa. Eva is put for Eia, the letters being similar, chap. iii. 15. (Haydock) --- Other copies agree with the Vulgate and the Septuagint (Calmet)

29:10  And when Jacob saw her, and knew her to be his cousin german, and that they were the sheep of Laban, his uncle: he removed the stone wherewith the well was closed.

Cousin-german, and uncle, are put for brevity's sake by St. Jerome, instead of the Hebrew, "the daughter of Laban, brother of Rebecca his mother," and "his mother's brother." (Haydock)

29:11  And having watered the flock, he kissed her: and lifting up his voice wept.

Kissed her, according to the custom of the country, (Chap. xxiv. 26,) having told her who he was. He was not so young, that she could suspect him guilty of an unbecoming levity, being above 77 years old, chap. xxvii. 1. (Haydock) --- In that age of simplicity, beautiful maids might converse with shepherds, without suspicion or danger. (Menochius) --- Wept, through tenderness, and perhaps on account of his present inability to make her a suitable present. (Calmet)

29:12  And he told her that he was her father's brother, and the son of Rebecca: but she went in haste and told her father.

Brother, or nephew. The name of brother, in Scripture, almost corresponds with the Consanguineus of the Latins, or our relation.

29:13  Who, when he heard that Jacob his sister's son was come, ran forth to meet him: and embracing him, and heartily kissing him, brought him into his house. And when he had heard the causes of his journey,

29:14  He answered: Thou art my bone and my flesh. And after the days of one month were expired,

My flesh, entitled to my utmost protection and friendship. (Calmet)

29:15  He said to him: Because thou art my brother, shalt thou serve me without wages? Tell me what wages thou wilt have.

29:16  Now he had two daughters, the name of the elder was Lia; and the younger was called Rachel.

29:17  But Lia was blear-eyed: Rachel was well favoured, and of a beautiful countenance.

Blear-eyed. Hebrew, racoth. Watery and tender, unable to look steadfastly at any object, but at the same time very beautiful. (Onkelos; &c.) --- The beauty of Rachel was perfect; not confined to one part. These two sisters represented the synagogue and the Church of Christ. Lia, though married first, never gains the entire affection of her husband. (Calmet)

29:18  And Jacob being in love with her, said: I will serve thee seven years for Rachel, thy younger daughter.

29:19  Laban answered: It is better that I give her to thee than to another man; stay with me.

29:20  So Jacob served seven years for Rachel: and they seemed but a few days, because of the greatness of his love.

For Rachel. It was then the custom to buy or to pay a dowry for a wife. (Chap. xxxiv. 12; Osee iii. 2.) Herodotus says, i. 196, that the Babylonians sold their beautiful women as high as possible, and gave part of the price to help off the more deformed. The Turks do the like. (Calmet) --- A few, &c. So highly did he esteem Rachel, that he thought he had obtained her for just nothing, though delays naturally seem long to lovers. (Tirinus) --- Calmet supposes that he was married to her the second month after he arrived at Haran; and on this account, easily explains his words, as love made all labour tolerable, and even easy, in the enjoyment of the beautiful Rachel. Usher also places the birth of Ruben in the first year of Jacob's service, A. 2246[the year of the world 2246]. But Salien and the context decide, that he waited full seven years, and then obtained Lia, by fraud, of Laban; and seven days after, Rachel. (Haydock) --- He was then 84 years old! (Du Hamel)

29:21  And he said to Laban: Give me my wife; for now the time is fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.

Go in, &c. To consummate my marriage; (Menochius) as the time is expired. (Haydock)

29:22  And he, having invited a great number of his friends to the feast, made the marriage.

Friends. Hebrew, Septuagint and Chaldean say, "all the men of that place." He was rich, and, though very greedy, could not well avoid conforming to the custom of making a splendid entertainment on such a joyful occasion. (Haydock)

29:23  And at night he brought in Lia, his daughter, to him,

29:24  Giving his daughter a handmaid, named Zelpha. Now when Jacob had gone in to her according to custom, when morning was come he saw it was Lia.

A handmaid, by way of dowry, as he did afterwards to Rachel. Both sisters considered it so small, as to say they had nothing, chap. xxxi. 14. --- Lia, who committed a great sin of adultery, though she was more excusable than Laban; inasmuch as she obeyed his order. (Menochius) --- Jacob might justly have refused to marry her; and then what a dishonour would have been entailed upon her for life! In consequence of this imposition, the legitimacy of Ruben's conception was rendered doubtful. We may suppose, that shame hindered Lia from opening her mouth; so that Jacob had no means of discovering the cheat till day-break, having gone into the nuptial chamber after it was dark, according to custom, and the woman being also covered with a veil, Tobias viii. 1. Hence Jacob was guilty of no fault, as his mistake was involuntary. (Haydock) --- He afterwards consented to marry her, (Calmet) probably on the second day of the feast. (Haydock)

29:25  And he said to his father-in-law: What is it that thou didst mean to do? did not I serve thee for Rachel? why hast thou deceived me?

29:26  Laban answered: It is not the custom in this place, to give the younger in marriage first.

Custom. This appears to be a false pretext: for all the people saw that Rachel was adorned like the intended bride, (Haydock) and were invited to her wedding. (Menochius)

29:27  Make up the week of days of this match: and I will give thee her also, for the service that thou shalt render me other seven years.

29:28  He yielded to his pleasure: and after the week was past, he married Rachel:

Week. Seven days; not years, as Josephus would have it. The nuptial feast lasted a week, Judges xiv. 15.

29:29  To whom her father gave Bala, for her servant.

29:30  And having at length obtained the marriage he wished for, he preferred the love of the latter before the former, and served with him other seven years.

Latter. Jacob is the figure of Jesus Christ; who rejected the synagogue, and treated his Church, gathered from all nations, with the utmost affection. (Calmet) --- Lia means "painful or labourious;" and Rachel a sheep; denoting, that a quiet contemplative life must be united with an active one; and that the Church must suffer here, and be crowned in heaven. (Haydock) (St. Gregory, Mor. vi. 28.)

29:31  And the Lord seeing that he despised Lia, opened her womb, but her sister remained barren.

Despised, or loved less; so Christ orders us to hate father, &c., Matthew x. 17.[37.?][Luke xiv. 26.] (Calmet)

29:32  And she conceived and bore a son, and called his name Ruben, saying: The Lord saw my affliction: now my husband will love me.

Ruben. "See the son, or the son of vision;" alluding perhaps, distantly, to ver. 24, He saw Lia. (Haydock)

29:33  And again she conceived and bore a son, and said: Because the Lord heard that I was despised, he hath given this also to me: and she called his name Simeon.

Despised, or the hated wife, Deuteronomy xxi. 15. --- Simeon, "hearing or obedient."

29:34  And she conceived the third time, and bore another son, and said: Now also my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne him three sons: and therefore she called his name Levi.

Levi, "adhesion or union." My husband will now stick to me.

29:35  The fourth time she conceived and bore a son, and said: Now will I praise the Lord: and for this she called him Juda. And she left bearing.

Juda, "praise or confession." (Calmet) --- Left bearing for a time. (Haydock) --- In the imposition of these names, Lia testified her gratitude to God. (Tirinus)

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World 2245. 20: Year of the World 2252, Year before Christ 1752. 32: Year of the World 2253, Year before Christ 1751. 33: Year of the World 2254. 34: Year of the World 2256. 35: Matthew xii.[i. 2.?]

Chapter 30

Rachel being barren, delivereth her handmaid to Jacob: she beareth two sons. Lia ceasing to bear, giveth also her handmaid, and she beareth two more. Then Lia beareth two other sons and one daughter. Rachel beareth Joseph. Jacob, desirous to return home, is hired to stay for a certain part of the stock's increase, whereby he becometh exceeding rich.

30:1  And Rachel seeing herself without children, envied her sister, and said to her husband: Give me children, otherwise I shall die.

Envied, or desired to have children like her. Thus we may envy the virtues of the saints. (Calmet) --- Give me, &c. These words seem to indicate a degree of impatience, at which we need not be surprised, when we reflect, that Rachel had been educated among idolaters. (Menochius) --- Die of grief and shame. "I shall be considered as one dead." (Jun.[Junius?]) St. Chrysostom thinks she threatened to lay violent hands on herself, and through jealousy, spoke in a foolish manner. This passion is capable of the basest actions, (Haydock) and is almost unavoidable where polygamy reigns. (Calmet)

30:2  And Jacob being angry with her, answered: Am I as God, who hath deprived thee of the fruit of thy womb?

Angry at the rash and apparently blasphemous demand of Rachel. (Menochius) --- As God, pro Deo. Am I to work a miracle in opposition to God, who has made thee barren? To him thou oughtest to address thyself. The Hebrews justly observe, that God has reserved to himself the four keys of nature: 1. Of generation; 2. Of sustenance, Psalm cxliv. 16; 3. Of rain, Deuteronomy xxviii. 12; And, 4. Of the grave or resurrection, Ezechiel xxxvii. 12. (Tirinus)

30:3  But she said: I have here my servant Bala: go in unto her, that she may bear upon my knees, and I may have children by her.

Servant, like a maid of honour. Josephus says she was not a slave, no more than Zelpha. --- My knees, whom I may nurse with pleasure. It was an ancient custom to place the new-born infants upon the knees of some near relation, who gave them a name, and thus in a manner adopted them. (Chap. l. 22[23, in some Bibles]; Job iii. 12; Psalm xxi. 11.) (Homer) (Calmet)

30:4  And she gave him Bala in marriage: who,

Marriage. The Manichees condemned Jacob for having four wives at once. But St. Augustine replied, it was not then unusual or forbidden. He took the two last only at the pressing instigation of Rachel and Lia, and that only for the sake of children. Lia herself was forced upon him. (contra Faust. xxii. 48.)

30:5  When her husband had gone in unto her, conceived and bore a son.

30:6  And Rachel said: The Lord hath judged for me, and hath heard my voice, giving me a son; and therefore she called his name Dan.

Dan, means judgment. From the same root as Adonis; Adoni, my lord or judge, &c. Rachel's whole solicitude was for children. (Haydock)

30:7  And again Bala conceived, and bore another,

30:8  For whom Rachel said: God hath compared me with my sister, and I have prevailed: and she called him Nephthali.

Compared me, &c. As Lia treacherously got my husband, so I have craftily surmounted the difficulties of barrenness; I have struggled earnestly, and have got the victory. Patal, means to act with cunning. (Psalm xvii. 27.) (Calmet) --- Nephtali, "a crafty wrestler." (Menochius)

30:9  Lia perceiving that she had left off bearing, gave Zelpha, her handmaid, to her husband.

30:10  And when she had conceived, and brought forth a son,

30:11  She said: Happily. And therefore called his name Gad.

Happily, fortunately. --- Gad, or Bonaventure. (Haydock) ---"Good-fortune," was acknowledge by the pagans for a divinity; (Isaias lxv. 11.) perhaps for the Sun, or Oromagdes, the Gad of Aram. He was opposed to the wicked Arimenes in the Chaldean theology, by Zoroaster, (Calmet) the inventor of the Two Principles. Whether Lia intended to attribute this child to the influence of the planet Jupiter, the Sun, or some other tool, we cannot determine. (Haydock) --- Her naming may be simply; Behold I am now a mother of a troop, or little army, Gad; and to which (Chap. xlix. 19.) Jacob evidently alludes. (Calmet)

30:12  Zelpha also bore another.

30:13  And Lia said: This is for my happiness: for women will call me blessed. Therefore she called him Aser.

Aser: happy. My servant has now had as many sons as my sister (Menochius) and I have given them both names, indicating my great felicity and joy. (Haydock)

30:14  And Ruben going out in the time of the wheat harvest into the field, found mandrakes: which he brought to his mother Lia. And Rachel said: Give me part of thy son's mandrakes.

Ruben, now perhaps about four years old, playing in the fields, in the latter harvest time, (Exodus ix. 32) found mandrakes of an extraordinary beauty and flavour, (Canticle of Canticles vii. 13.) whether they were flowers, lilies, jasmine, &c. as some translate; or rather, fruits of the mandrake tree, according to all the ancient versions; or of the citron, lemon, or orange tree, if we believe Calmet. Dudaim designates two breasts, or something lovely and protuberant. The ancients have spoken with admiration, and have attributed wonderful effects to the mandrakes, which, though controverted by moderns, might suffice to make Rachel greatly desire to have them; at least, if she believed they would contribute to remove her sterility, as Pliny, Natural History xxv. 15. Aristotle (de Gener. ii.) and other naturalists of eminence, have maintained they did. (Haydock) --- The effect which she desired so much, was not, however, to be attributed to them, since she conceived only three years after, and that by the blessing of God. (Tirinus)

30:15  She answered: Dost thou think it a small matter, that thou hast taken my husband from me, unless thou take also my son's mandrakes? Rachel said: He shall sleep with thee this night, for thy son's mandrakes.

From me. Lia was aware that Jacob's affection lay entirely towards Rachel; particularly now as she had ceased to bear children herself. (Haydock) --- This might, when it is my turn to have him. To prevent any jealousy, the husband visited his wives one after another, as was the case with Smerdis, the king of Persia. (Herodotus iii. 79; Exodus xxi. 10.) (Calmet)

30:16  And when Jacob returned at even from the field, Lia went out to meet him, and said: Thou shalt come in unto me, because I have hired thee for my son's mandrakes. And he slept with her that night.

30:17  And God heard her prayers; and she conceived: and bore the fifth son:

30:18  And said: God hath given me a reward, because I gave my handmaid to my husband. And she called his name Issachar.

Issachar, "the reward of the man, or husband." (Calmet) --- She might allude also to the reward she had obtained for her mandrakes. (Haydock)

30:19  And Lia conceived again, and bore the sixth son,

30:20  And said: God hath endowed me with a good dowry; this turn also my husband will be with me, because I have borne him six sons: and therefore she called his name Zabulon.

Zabulon, "dwelling or cohabiting." Zobad (which resembles the sound of Zobal) means to endow, (Calmet) to which she seems also to refer; as if her marriage was renewed, and God had given her more children for a dowry. (Menochius)

30:21  After whom she bore a daughter, named Dina.

Dina, "judgment," like Dan. God hath done me justice. The Hebrews assert that Dina was married to holy Job. She was born the same year as Joseph, the 91st of Jacob. Lia brought forth seven children in seven years.

30:22  The Lord also remembering Rachel, heard her, and opened her womb.

30:23  And she conceived, and bore a son, saying: God hath taken away my reproach.

30:24  And she called his name Joseph, saying: The Lord give me also another son.

Joseph. In imposing this name, Rachel looks both to the past and to the future; thanking God for taking away (asop) her reproach, and begging that He would add (isop or Joseph) the blessing of another son, as he really did, though it occasioned her death: so little do we know what we ask for! Joseph means one "adding or increasing," chap. xlix. 22. (Haydock) --- He was born when the 14 years of service were over; being a most glorious figure of Jesus Christ, who came to redeem us from slavery. (Du Hamel)

30:25  And when Joseph was born, Jacob said to his father-in-law: Send me away, that I may return into my country, and to my land.

30:26  Give me my wives, and my children, for whom I have served thee, that I may depart: thou knowest the service that I have rendered thee.

30:27  Laban said to him: Let me find favour in thy sight: I have learned, by experience, that God hath blessed me for thy sake.

30:28  Appoint thy wages which I shall give thee.

Give thee. He wishes to engage him to continue in his service; being convinced, that a faithful and pious servant is a great treasure. Laban promises every thing, and performs little according to agreement. He never thinks of making Jacob any present for his extraordinary diligence.

30:29  But he answered: Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how great thy possession hath been in my hands.

30:30  Thou hadst but little before I came to thee, and now thou art become rich: and the Lord hath blessed thee at my coming. It is reasonable, therefore, that I should now provide also for my own house.

30:31  And Laban said: What shall I give thee? But he said: I require nothing; but if thou wilt do what I demand, I will feed and keep thy sheep again.

Nothing. I am willing to depart with my family towards my father. But if I must stay, these are my terms. (Haydock) --- I require no certain wages, committing myself entirely to what Providence shall send. (Salien.)

30:32  Go round through all thy flocks, and separate all the sheep of divers colours, and speckled; and all that is brown and spotted, and of divers colours, as well among the sheep as among the goats, shall be my wages.

Speckled; from those which are all of one colour. Those which should be of the former description must belong to Jacob, while all the black and the white should be Laban's. --- Brown, or of a dull mixture of white and black. --- Spotted, having large patches of either colour. --- Divers, little spots variegating the fleece. (Menochius) --- The original is extremely obscure. Jacob asks only for the worst; the speckled sheep and goats, also the black sheep and the white goats, ver. 35. (Bochart.) (Calmet)

30:33  And my justice shall answer for me to-morrow before thee, when the time of the bargain shall come; and all that is not of divers colours, and spotted, and brown, as well among the sheep as among the goats, shall accuse me of theft.

Of theft, if they be found in my possession. I am so well convinced that God will reward my justice, that, even contrary to what might naturally be expected, he will enable me to have plenty of spotted sheep and goats, though their mothers be all of one colour. It is not certain, that Jacob agreed to have the flocks parted till the end of the year. (Menochius)

30:34  And Laban said: I like well what thou demandest.

30:35  And he separated the same day the she-goats, and the sheep, and the he-goats, and the rams of divers colours, and spotted; and all the flock of one colour, that is, of white and black fleece, he delivered into the hands of his sons.

His sons. These continued to observe the conduct of Jacob, while Laban drove off all the flocks of divers colours to so great a distance, ver. 36, that there was no danger of the sheep under Jacob's care getting to them. Thus Laban first began to violate the agreement; and the angel of the Lord suggested to Jacob, the plan by which he was preserved from serving a cruel and avaricious man without wages, chap. xxxi. 12. (Menochius)

30:36  And he set the space of three days journey betwixt himself and his son-in-law, who fed the rest of his flock.

30:37  And Jacob took green rods of poplar, and of almond, and of plane-trees, and pilled them in part: so when the bark was taken off, in the parts that were pilled, there appeared whiteness: but the parts that were whole, remained green: and by this means the colour was divers.

30:38  And he put them in the troughs, where the water was poured out; that when the flocks should come to drink, they might have the rods before their eyes, and in the sight of them might conceive.

30:39  And it came to pass, that in the very heat of coition, the sheep beheld the rods, and brought forth spotted, and of divers colours, and speckled.

30:40  And Jacob separated the flock, and put the rods in the troughs before the eyes of the rams; and all the white and the black were Laban's, and the rest were Jacob's, when the flocks were separated one from the other.

All the white, &c. Notwithstanding Jacob's stratagem, some had lambs all of a colour. The force of fancy is very surprising on such occasions. Oppian, Aristotle, and others, recommend Jacob's plan as consonant to nature. (Haydock)

30:41  So when the ewes went first to ram, Jacob put the rods in the troughs of water before the eyes of the rams, and of the ewes, that they might conceive while they were looking upon them.

30:42  But when the later coming was, and the last conceiving, he did not put them. And those that were late-ward, became Laban's; and they of the first time, Jacob's.

Later-coming, in autumn, when the spring lambs were of an inferior value. These he was willing to abandon for the most part to Laban; and therefore did not use his rods. Pliny, Natural History viii. 47; and Columella viii. 3, agree, that the lambs which are produced in spring, do not thrive so well as those of autumn, at least in Italy, and in those countries where sheep lamb twice a year. Bis gravidae pecudes. (Virgil) (Calmet) --- Many who have tried the same experiment as Jacob, have not experienced the same success; whence St. Chrysostom, and most of the Greek fathers, suppose that it was miraculous. (Tirinus)

30:43  And the man was enriched exceedingly, and he had many flocks, maid-servants and men-servants, camels and asses.

Cross-references: 23: Year of the World 2259, Year before Christ 1745.

Chapter 31

Jacob's departure: he is pursued and overtaken by Laban. They make a covenant.

31:1  But after that he had heard the words of the sons of Laban, saying: Jacob hath taken away all that was our father's, and being enriched by his substance is become great.

After that six years were expired, and calumnies and ill-will attended Jacob in Laban's family, God ordered him to retire, ver. 3. (Haydock)

31:2  And perceiving also, that Laban's countenance was not towards him as yesterday and the other day.

31:3  Especially the Lord saying to him: Return into the land of thy fathers and to thy kindred, and I will be with thee.

31:4  He sent, and called Rachel and Lia into the field, where he fed the flocks,

31:5  And said to them: I see your father's countenance is not towards me as yesterday and the other day: but the God of my father hath been with me.

31:6  And you know that I have served your father to the uttermost of my power.

31:7  Yea your father hath also over-reached me, and hath changed my wages ten times: and yet God hath not suffered him to hurt me.

Ten times. Very often, or perhaps this exact number of times, ver. 41.

31:8  If at any time, he said: The speckled shall be thy wages: all the sheep brought forth speckled: but when he said on the contrary: Thou shalt take all the white ones for thy wages: all the flocks brought forth white ones.

All, or the far greatest part, so that I was exceedingly enriched. (Menochius) --- The Septuagint here agrees with the Vulgate. But the Hebrew and other versions, instead of white ones, read of divers colours, or ring-streaked, which takes away the intended opposition. (Calmet)

31:9  And God hath taken your father's substance, and given it to me.

31:10  For after the time came of the ewes conceiving, I lifted up my eyes, and saw in my sleep, that the males which leaped upon the females were of diverse colours, and spotted, and speckled.

31:11  And the angel of God said to me in my sleep: Jacob. And I answered: Here I am.

31:12  And he said: Lift up thy eyes, and see that all the males leaping upon the females, are of divers colours, spotted and speckled. For I have seen all that Laban hath done to thee.

Are of divers colours. Their fancy was strongly impressed with these various colours, in consequence of the pilled rods, which they beheld: and which Jacob was directed by the angel to place in the troughs. --- I have seen with displeasure, the injustice of Laban; (Haydock) and therefore, I, the Lord of all things, authorise thee to act in this manner. By this vision, the justice of Jacob would appear; and the authority for removing, given in a second vision, would suffice to induce the two principal wives of Jacob to give their consent to leave their father's house, and to begin a long journey. During the last six years, Providence had given no increase of family, that the little children might be no impediment to the removal. (Haydock)

31:13  I am the God of Bethel, where thou didst anoint the stone, and make a vow to me. Now therefore arise, and go out of this land, and return into thy native country.

31:14  And Rachel and Lia answered: Have we any thing left among the goods and inheritance of our father's house?

31:15  Hath he not counted us as strangers, and sold us, and eaten up the price of us?

Eaten up. Laban kept for himself the dowry paid by Jacob for his wives, though he ought to have allotted it to them, with the addition of something more, in proportion to his immense wealth. (Menochius)

31:16  But God hath taken our father's riches, and delivered them to us, and to our children: wherefore, do all that God hath commanded thee.

31:17  Then Jacob rose up, and having set his children and wives upon camels, went his way.

31:18  And he took all his substance, and flocks, and whatsoever he had gotten in Mesopotamia, and went forward to Isaac, his father, to the land of Chanaan.

Gotten. Hebrew expresses over again, the cattle of his getting, &c., which is omitted in one manuscript, as well as in the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, though yet used in the Samaritan copy. (Kennicott) --- To Isaac, who was still living, though he had apprehended death was at hand 20 years before. He continued to live other 20 years after. (Salien) --- Jacob spent about 10 years at Sichem and at Bethel, before he went to dwell with Isaac. (Menochius)

31:19  At that time Laban was gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole away her father's idols.

Her father's idols. By this it appears, that Laban was an idolater: and some of the fathers are of opinion, that Rachel stole away these idols, to withdraw him from idolatry, by removing the occasion of his sin. (Challoner) --- Others think she was herself infected with this superstition, till Jacob entirely banished it from his family in Chanaan, chap. xxxv. 2. (Tirinus) --- The Hebrew Teraphim, is translated images by the Protestants in this place, though it certainly denotes idols. But Osee iii. 4, they leave it untranslated, lest they should be forced to allow that images pertain to religious service, as well as sacrifice, &c., which are mentioned together, (Worthington) though they now indeed leave images in the same verse of Osee for what the Vulgate renders altar. These teraphims are consequently taken in a good as well as in a bad sense. They were, perhaps, made of rich metal, and taken by Rachel and Lia to indemnify them for the want of a dowry. This, however, was wrong, and done without the participation of their husband. (Haydock)

31:20  And Jacob would not confess to his father-in-law that he was flying away.

Away. Hebrew, "Jacob stole the heart of Laban," concealing his flight from him. (Menochius)

31:21  And when he was gone, together with all that belonged to him, and having passed the river, was going on towards mount Galaad,

The river Euphrates. --- Galaad, as it was called afterwards, ver. 48. (Menochius)

31:22  It was told Laban on the third day, that Jacob fled.

Third day. He was gone to shear his sheep, distant three days' journey.

31:23  And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven days; and overtook him in the mount of Galaad.

31:24  And he saw in a dream God saying to him: Take heed thou speak not any thing harshly against Jacob.

Speak not. Laban did not comply exactly, but he used no violence. (Haydock)

31:25  Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain: and when he, with his brethren, had overtaken him, he pitched his tent in the same mount of Galaad.

31:26  And he said to Jacob: Why hast thou done thus, to carry away, without my knowledge, my daughters, as captives taken with the sword?

31:27  Why wouldst thou run away privately, and not acquaint me, that I might have brought thee on the way with joy, and with songs, and with timbrels, and with harps?

31:28  Thou hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and daughters; thou hast done foolishly; and now indeed,

31:29  It is in my power to return thee evil; but the God of your father said to me yesterday: Take heed thou speak not any thing harshly against Jacob.

31:30  Suppose thou didst desire to go to thy friends, and hadst a longing after thy father's house: why hast thou stolen away my gods?

31:31  Jacob answered: That I departed unknown to thee, it was for fear lest thou wouldst take away thy daughters by force.

31:32  But, whereas, thou chargest me with theft: with whomsoever thou shalt find thy gods, let him be slain before our brethren. Search, and if thou find any of thy things with me, take them away. Now when he said this, he knew not that Rachel had stolen the idols.

Slain. Homer says, "the father judges his children and wives;" and thus Jacob pronounces sentence. The Rabbins pretend it had its effect soon after in the death of Rachel, chap. xxxv. 18. (Calmet)

31:33  So Laban went into the tent of Jacob, and of Lia, and of both the handmaids, and found them not. And when he was entered into Rachel's tent,

31:34  She, in haste, hid the idols under the camel's furniture, and sat upon them: and when he had searched all the tent, and found nothing,

31:35  She said: Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise up before thee, because it has now happened to me according to the custom of women. So his careful search was in vain.

Vain. For who would imagine, that a woman should treat in this manner the objects of her father's adoration? (Calmet) --- It would hence appear, that she did not herself adore them, unless fear overcame her religion. (Haydock)

31:36  And Jacob being angry, said in a chiding manner: For what fault of mine, and for what offense on my part hast thou so hotly pursued me,

Angry. He was extremely quiet. But patience abused, turns to fury. (Menochius)

31:37  And searched all my household stuff? What hast thou found of all the substance of thy house? lay it here before my brethren, and thy brethren, and let them judge between me and thee.

31:38  Have I, therefore, been with thee twenty years? thy ewes and goats were not barren, the rams of thy flocks I did not eat:

31:39  Neither did I shew thee that which the beast had torn; I made good all the damage: whatsoever was lost by theft, thou didst exact it of me:

Exact it. Laban acted in opposition both to custom and to justice, (Calmet) while Jacob forebore to claim what he might have done, agreeably to both. (Haydock)

31:40  Day and night was I parched with heat, and with frost, and sleep departed from my eyes.

31:41  And in this manner have I served thee in thy house twenty years, fourteen for thy daughters, and six for thy flocks: thou hast changed also my wages ten times.

31:42  Unless the God of my father, Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had stood by me, peradventure now thou hadst sent me away naked: God beheld my affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesterday.

The fear of Isaac; or of that God, whom Isaac fears, on account of the danger to which he is exposed of losing his friendship; a thing which, Abraham being now departed in peace, has not to dread. (Calmet)

31:43  Laban answered him: The daughters are mine, and the children, and thy flocks, and all things that thou seest are mine: what can I do to my children, and grandchildren?

Are mine, or proceed from me originally; so that if I were to injure them, I should disregard the dictates of nature. (Menochius)

31:44  Come, therefore, let us enter into a league; that it may be for a testimony between me and thee.

31:45  And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a title.

31:46  And he said to his brethren: Bring hither stones. And they, gathering stones together, made a heap, and they ate upon it.

31:47  And Laban called it, The witness heap; and Jacob, The hillock of testimony: each of them according to the propriety of his language.

Testimony. Hebrew makes Laban give this etymology, Jegar-saha-dutha; while Galaad means the hill or the witness. The Syrian language had now begun to deviate some little from the Hebrew of Jacob. --- Each, &c. This is added by the Vulgate. (Calmet)

31:48  And Laban said: This heap shall be a witness between me and thee this day, and therefore the name thereof was called Galaad, that is, The witness heap.

31:49  The Lord behold and judge between us, when we shall be gone one from the other.

Behold. Hebrew, "and Mitspah," or "Hammitspah," the watch-tower, whence God will see us. (Calmet)

31:50  If thou afflict my daughters, and if thou bring in other wives over them: none is witness of our speech but God, who is present and beholdeth.

Over them. A wise precaution, which the rich Turks still observe when they give their daughters in marriage. (Busbeque, ep. 3.)

31:51  And he said again to Jacob: Behold this heap, and the stone which I have set up between me and thee,

I have, &c. One Samaritan copy reads very properly, "thou hast set up," ( yarithi ), ver. 45. (Kennicott).

31:52  Shall be a witness: this heap, I say, and the stone, be they for a testimony, if either I shall pass beyond it going towards thee, or thou shalt pass beyond it thinking harm to me.

31:53  The God of Abraham, and the God of Nachor, the God of their father, judge between us. And Jacob swore by the fear of his father Isaac:

God of Nachor. Hebrew uses Elohim, which is often applied to idols, such as Nachor worshipped along with the true God. (Calmet) --- Jacob swears by the one only God, whom his father revered. (Menochius) --- The God of their father, is omitted in the Septuagint and is deemed an interpolation by Kennicott. The Samaritan reads again the God of Abraham. (Haydock)

31:54  And after he had offered sacrifices in the mountain, he called his brethren to eat bread. And when they had eaten, they lodged there:

31:55  But Laban arose in the night, and kissed his sons, and daughters, and blessed them: and returned to his place. Bible Footnotes: 4: Year of the World 2265, Year before Christ 1739. 13: Genesis xxviii. 18. 29: Genesis xlviii. 16.

Chapter 32

Jacob's vision of angels: his message and presents to Esau: his wrestling with an angel.

32:1  Jacob also went on the journey he had begun: and the angels of God met him.

Angels. Guardians of Chanaan and Mesopotamia. (Jarchi.) --- The latter escorted him as far as the torrent Jaboc. That angels guard different provinces, is well attested, Daniel xii. 1, and Acts xvi. 9. (Calmet) --- Michael protected Chanaan and the people of God. (Diodorus of Tarsus.) (Menochius)

32:2  And when he saw them, he said: These are the camps of God, and he called the name of that place Mahanaim, that is, Camps.

Mahanaim, "two camps." A town was afterwards built here.

32:3  And he sent messengers before him to Esau, his brother, to the land of Seir, to the country of Edom:

Edom; comprising the countries east, west, and south of the Dead sea. (Calmet) --- Providentially, Esau had now left his father's house open to his brother; who, on this occasion, addresses him with the utmost civility, and speaks of the riches which he had obtained; in order that Esau might neither be ashamed of him, nor suspect that he would impoverish his father. (Menochius)

32:4  And he commanded them, saying: Thus shall ye speak to my lord Esau: Thus saith thy brother Jacob: I have sojourned with Laban, and have been with him until this day:

32:5  I have oxen, and asses, and sheep, and men-servants, and women-servants: and now I send a message to my lord, that I may find favor in thy sight.

32:6  And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying: We came to Esau, thy brother, and behold he cometh with speed to meet thee with four hundred men.

Men. Jonathan has Polemarchoi; officers or warriors, either to punish Jacob, (Wisdom x. 12.) as the latter feared, ver. 11; or to do him honour, as Esau protested, chap. xxxiii. 15. (Calmet)

32:7  Then Jacob was greatly afraid; and in his fear divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and the sheep, and the oxen, and the camels, into two companies,

32:8  Saying: If Esau come to one company, and destroy it, the other company that is left, shall escape.

32:9  And Jacob said: O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac: O Lord who saidst to me, Return to thy land, and to the place of thy birth, and I will do well for thee,

God of...Isaac. It is not true, therefore, that God never has the title of the God of any man, while living, as some assert, chap. xxxi. 42. Jacob addresses him by those very titles which he had assumed at Bethel, chap. xxviii. 13. (Haydock)

32:10  I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of thy truth which thou hast fulfilled to thy servant. With my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I return with two companies.

Not worthy. Chaldean, "my merits are beneath all thy kindnesses." St. Augustine reads, with St. Cyril, idoneus es, &c., "thou art sufficient for me."

32:11  Deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am greatly afraid of him; lest perhaps he come, and kill the mother with the children.

The children; sparing neither sex nor age, but destroying all. (Calmet) --- Jacob insists on the promises of God; yet fears lest he should, by some offence, have deserved to forfeit his protection; particularly, as he had been living 20 years among idolaters. He acts with all prudence. (Worthington)

32:12  Thou didst say, that thou wouldst do well by me, and multiply my seed like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

32:13  And when he had slept there that night, he set apart, of the things which he had, presents for his brother Esau,

32:14  Two hundred she-goats, twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,

32:15  Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and twenty bulls, twenty she-asses, and ten of their foals.

Camels. The milk of these animals is most exquisite, being mixed with three parts water. Pliny, Natural History xi. 41, who says, "They give milk till they be with young again." The Arabs feed chiefly on their milk and flesh. (St. Jerome, contra Jor. ii.) The value of all these presents, may give us some idea of the prodigious wealth which God had heaped upon Jacob in the space of six years! (Haydock)

32:16  And he sent them by the hands of his servants, every drove by itself, and he said to his servants: Go before me, and let there be a space between drove and drove.

32:17  And he commanded the first, saying: If thou meet my brother Esau, and he ask thee: Whose art thou? or whither goest thou? or whose are these before thee?

32:18  Thou shalt answer: Thy servant Jacob's: he hath sent them as a present to my lord Esau; and he cometh after us.

32:19  In like manner he commanded the second, and the third, and all that followed with the droves, saying: Speak ye the same words to Esau, when ye find him.

32:20  And ye shall add: Thy servant Jacob himself also followeth after us; for he said: I will appease him with the presents that go before, and afterwards I will see him, perhaps he will be gracious to me.

He said, &c. These words were not to be related to Esau; they are the words of the sacred historian. There were probably five droves of goats, sheep, camels, kine and asses; by the successive presenting of which, Esau might be appeased.

32:21  So the presents went before him, but himself lodged that night in the camp.

32:22  And rising early, he took his two wives and his two handmaids, with his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of Jaboc.

Sons, with Dina his daughter, and all his household.

32:23  And when all things were brought over that belonged to him,

All things. Grotius thinks this has been lost in the Hebrew copies; as it occurs in the Samaritan, Septuagint, and Syriac.

32:24  He remained alone; and behold, a man wrestled with him till morning.

A man, &c. This was an angel in human shape, as we learn from Osee xii. 4. He is called God, ver. 28 and 30, because he represented the person of the Son of God. This wrestling, in which Jacob, assisted by God, was a match for an angel, was so ordered, (

32:25  And when he saw that he could not overcome him, he touched the sinew of his thigh, and forthwith it shrank.

Sinew, near the coxendix, or huckel-bone. (Du Hamel) --- This was to convince Jacob, how easily he could have gained the victory over him; and to make him remember, that it was not simply a vision, but a real wrestling. (Tirinus)

32:26  And he said to him: Let me go, for it is break of day. He answered: I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

32:27  And he said: What is thy name? He answered: Jacob.

32:28  But he said: Thy name shall not be called Jacob, but Israel; for if thou hast been strong against God, how much more shalt thou prevail against men?

) that he might learn by this experiment of the divine assistance, that neither Esau, nor any other man, should have power to hurt him. It was also spiritual, as appeareth by his earnest prayer, urging, and at last obtaining the angel's blessing. (Challoner) --- The father will not refuse a good gift to those who ask him with fervour and humility. Jacob had before set us an excellent pattern how to pray, placing his confidence in God, and distrusting himself, ver. 9, &c. (Haydock) --- It is not certain, whether Jacob remained alone on the northern or on the southern banks of Jaboc. (Calmet)

Israel. This name was more honourable, and that by which his posterity were afterwards known; being called Israelites, and not Jacobites. God ratifies the title, chap. xxxv. 10. It means a prince of God, (St. Jerome, q. Heb.; Calmet) or one standing upright, and contending victoriously with God, rectus Dei, yisrael. (Haydock) --- Many have expounded it, a man seeing God; aiss-rae-al. (Philo, &c.)

32:29  Jacob asked him: Tell me by what name art thou called? He answered: Why dost thou ask my name? And he blessed him in the same place.

Why, &c. He represses Jacob's curiosity, (Haydock) perhaps because God did not as yet choose to reveal his name, Exodus vi. 3. Some Greek and Latin copies add, which is wonderful, taken from Judges xiii. 6, 18. (Calmet)

32:30  And Jacob called the name of the place Phanuel, saying: I have seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved.

Phanuel. This word signifies the face of God, or the sight, or seeing of God. (Challoner) --- Hebrew reads here Peni-el, though it has Phanuel in the next verse. Jacob thus returns thanks to God for the preservation of his life, after having seen God or his angel in a corporeal form, and not in a dream only. (Calmet)

32:31  And immediately the sun rose upon him, after he was past Phanuel; but he halted on his foot.

Halted, or was lame. Alulensis thinks the angel healed him very soon. (Menochius)

32:32  Therefore the children of Israel, unto this day, eat not the sinew, that shrank in Jacob's thigh: because he touched the sinew of his thigh and it shrank.

The sinew in beasts of any kind, corresponding with that part of Jacob's thigh. (Haydock) --- Some refrain from the whole quarter, others extract the sinew. This they do, without any command, in memory of this transaction. (Calmet)

Cross-references: 1: Genesis xlviii. 16. ** Year of the World 2265.

Chapter 33

Jacob and Esau meet: Jacob goeth to Salem, where he raiseth an altar.

33:1  And Jacob lifting up his eyes, saw Esau coming, and with him four hundred men: and he divided the children of Lia and of Rachel, and of the two handmaids.

33:2  And he put both the handmaids and their children foremost: and Lia and her children in the second place: and Rachel and Joseph last.

33:3  And he went forward and bowed down with his face to the ground seven times, until his brother came near.

Forward, before his family; like a good father, exposing himself to the greatest danger. (Menochius) --- Seven times, to testify his great humility and respect for his brother. How, then, can any one find fault with Catholics, if they bow down before the cross thrice on Good Friday, to testify their great veneration for their expiring Lord?

33:4  Then Esau ran to meet his brother, and embraced him: and clasping him fast about the neck, and kissing him, wept.

33:5  And lifting up his eyes, he saw the women and their children, and said: What mean these? And do they belong to thee? He answered: They are the children which God hath given to me, thy servant.

33:6  Then the handmaids and their children came near and bowed themselves.

33:7  Lia also, with her children, came near and bowed down in like manner; and last of all Joseph and Rachel bowed down.

33:8  And Esau said: What are the droves that I met? He answered: That I might find favor before my lord.

Favour. Esau had already heard from the servants. But he asks again, meaning to excuse himself from receiving them. (Haydock) --- This civil and unexpected behaviour, filled the breast of Jacob with such gratitude and love, that he made use of an hyperbole, I have seen, &c.... of God. Chaldean, "of a prince," Syriac, "of an angel," Elohim. See 2 Kings xix. 27; Esther xv. 16. (Calmet) --- A little present. Hebrew monee, or mincha, calculated to shew the subjection of the giver. (Menochius)

33:9  But he said: I have plenty, my brother, keep what is thine for thyself.

33:10  And Jacob said: Do not so I beseech thee, but if I have found favor in thy eyes, receive a little present at my hands: for I have seen thy face, as if I should have seen the countenance of God: be gracious to me,

33:11  And take the blessing which I have brought thee, and which God hath given me, who giveth all things. He took it with much ado at his brother's earnest pressing him,

33:12  And said: Let us go on together, and I will accompany thee in thy journey.

33:13  And Jacob said: My lord, thou knowest that I have with me tender children, and sheep, and kine with young: which if I should cause to be over-driven, in one day all the flocks will die.

Young, boves foetus, giving milk, having calved lately, Seputagint. (Bochart.) (Calmet)

33:14  May it please my lord to go before his servant: and I will follow softly after him, as I shall see my children to be able, until I come to my lord in Seir.

In Seir; not immediately, but as soon as it might be convenient. This time perhaps never arrived. (St. Augustine, q. 106.)

33:15  Esau answered: I beseech thee, that some of the people, at least, who are with me, may stay to accompany thee in the way. And he said: There is no necessity: I want nothing else but only to find favor, my lord, in thy sight.

33:16  So Esau returned that day, the way that he came, to Seir.

33:17  And Jacob came to Socoth: where having built a house, and pitched tents, he called the name of the place Socoth, that is, Tents.

33:18  And he passed over to Salem, a city of the Sichemites, which is in the land of Chanaan, after he returned from Mesopotamia of Syria: and he dwelt by the town.

The town of Salem, which was the first town of Chanaan that he came near since his return. It was afterwards called Sichem, and Sichar, John iv. 5, and Naplosa. Salim, mentioned John iii. 23, was probably more to the east. Some translate, "He came quite sound to the city of Sichem;" where, Demetrius says, he dwelt ten years, Eusebius, praep. ix. 21, having stopped at Socoth six months. (Calmet) --- This seems very probable, as Dina met with her misfortune a little before he left the country; and as she was six years old when she came from Haran, she would be about 15 when she began to go a visiting, &c., chap. xxxiv. 1. (Haydock)

33:19  And he bought that part of the field, in which he pitched his tents, of the children of Hemor, the father of Sichem, for a hundred lambs.

Lambs. Hebrew, Kossite, or Kesita, a word which occurs also, Josue xxvi. 32[xxiv. 32?], and Job xlii. 11; and may signify lambs, or a species of money, marked perhaps with their figure. It may also denote pearls, coral, a vessel, or purse of good money. St. Stephen, Acts vii. 19[16?], mentions the price of money. But he probably speaks of the bargain made by Abraham with Ephron, son of Heth, for which some have substituted Hemor, the son of Sichem. Kista in the Chaldean means a vessel or measure; and we learn from Herodotus iii. 130, that the Persians were accustomed to keep their money in this manner. In the Chaldean, Syriac, and Arabic languages, there are words derived from the same root as Kesita, which mean purity, perfection; and thus what Jacob gave was good current money; (Calmet) or such things as were received among merchants.

33:20  And raising an altar there, he invoked upon it the most mighty God of Israel.

The most, &c. El Elohe Yisrael. By this name he dignified the altar, consecrating his field and all his possessions to God, and acknowledging that all was his gift. (Haydock)

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World 2265.

Chapter 34

Dina is ravished, for which the Sichemites are destroyed.

34:1  And Dina the daughter of Lia went out to see the women of that country.

Country, when a great festival was celebrated. (Josephus, Antiquities i. 18.[21.?]) Dina was urged by curiosity to see and to be seen. Let others take example from her, and beware of associating with infidels, and of opening their hearts to pleasure at fairs and nocturnal meetings.

34:2  And when Sichem the son of Hemor the Hevite, the prince of that land, saw her, he was in love with her: and took her away, and lay with her, ravishing the virgin.

Virgin. Hebrew and Septuagint, "He humbled or afflicted the virgin." It is well if she made all the resistance she was able, and resented the indignity; as she seems to have done, though Sichem tried all means to comfort her. (Haydock)

34:3  And his soul was fast knit unto her; and whereas she was sad, he comforted her with sweet words.

34:4  And going to Hemor his father, he said: Get me this damsel to wife.

34:5  But when Jacob had heard this, his sons being absent, and employed in feeding the cattle, he held his peace till they came back.

Heard this, perhaps, from Dina's companion. (Menochius)

34:6  And when Hemor the father of Sichem was come out to speak to Jacob,

34:7  Behold his sons came from the field: and hearing what had passed, they were exceeding angry, because he had done a foul thing in Israel, and committed an unlawful act, in ravishing Jacob's daughter.

In Israel, or against the honour and peace of their father and all his family. --- An unlawful act, which some nevertheless commit without scruple, and even dare to represent as a matter of small consequence if they marry afterwards!

34:8  And Hemor spoke to them: The soul of my son Sichem has a longing for your daughter: give her him to wife:

34:9  And let us contract marriages one with another: give us your daughters, and take you our daughters.

34:10  And dwell with us: the land is at your command, till, trade, and possess it.

Command, or you are at liberty to purchase and till it as you please. (Haydock)

34:11  Sichem also said to her father and to her brethren: Let me find favor in your sight; and whatsoever you shall appoint I will give:

34:12  Raise the dowry, and ask gifts, and I will gladly give what you shall demand: only give me this damsel to wife.

Dowry for Dina. --- Gifts for her parents and brothers, chap. xxiv. 53. (Calmet)

34:13  The sons of Jacob answered Sichem and his father deceitfully, being enraged at the deflowering of their sister:

Deceitfully. The sons of Jacob, on this occasion, were guilty of a grievous sin, as well by falsely pretending religion, as by excess of their revenge. Though, otherwise their zeal against so foul a crime was commendable. (Challoner) --- In this light it is viewed by Judith ix. 2. Simeon and Levi spoke on this occasion, Septuagint, as they were afterwards the chief actors, ver. 25. They were commissioned by their father to speak for him; but Jacob was ignorant of their deceit. (Haydock)

34:14  We cannot do what you demand, nor give our sister to one that is uncircumcised; which with us is unlawful and abominable.

Abominable. To be uncircumcised, was a reproach among the Hebrews. Yet there was no law forbidding to marry such. Laban was of this description, and the Chanaanites also; whose daughters the sons of Jacob themselves espoused, at least Juda and this very Simeon, as the Scripture assures us.

34:15  But in this we may be allied with you, if you will be like us, and all the male sex among you be circumcised:

34:16  Then will we mutually give and take your daughters, and ours; and we will dwell with you, and will be one people:

34:17  But if you will not be circumcised, we will take our daughter and depart.

Our daughter, the only one of our father; who, it would hence appear, was detained by Hemor, ver. 26. (Calmet)

34:18  Their offer pleased Hemor, and Sichem, his son:

34:19  And the young man made no delay, but forthwith fulfilled what was required: for he loved the damsel exceedingly, and he was the greatest man in all his father's house.

The greatest man, (inclytus) perhaps associated to his father in the government of the town. Yet he is willing to submit to this painful operation. (Haydock)

34:20  And going into the gate of the city, they spoke to the people:

Gate. Here judgment was given, the markets held, &c. They endeavoured to convince the people, that the conditions offered would be for their interest. (Menochius)

34:21  These men are peaceable, and willing to dwell with us: let them trade in the land, and till it, which being large and wide wanteth men to till it: we shall take their daughters for wives, and we will give them ours.

34:22  One thing there is for which so great a good is deferred: We must circumcise every male among us, following the manner of the nation.

34:23  And their substance, and cattle, and all that they possess, shall be ours; only in this let us condescend, and by dwelling together, we shall make one people.

Ours, by mutual commerce. The Rabbin pretend the Sichemite designed to circumvent Jacob and his family. But their conduct seems to screen them from any reproach of this kind, and Jacob throws the blame upon his own sons, chap. xlix. 6. If Hemor said more than he was authorized by them to do, this will not palliate their injustice and sacrilegious perfidy. (Calmet) (Menochius)

34:24  And they all agreed, and circumcised all the males.

34:25  And behold the third day, when the pain of the wound was greatest: two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of Dina, taking their swords, entered boldly into the city, and slew all the men:

Greatest. On that day a fever and inflammation likewise often take place. See Hippocrates on fractures, Valesius sac. (Phil. xii.) (Menochius) --- Brothers of Dina by Lia, and both of a fiery temper. They were assisted by some servants, (Menochius) and afterwards the other children helped to pillage the city. (Theodot. ap. Eus. ix. 22.)

34:26  And they killed also Hemor and Sichem, and took away their sister Dina out of Sichem's house.

34:27  And when they were gone out, the other sons of Jacob came upon the slain; and plundered the city in revenge of the rape.

34:28  And they took their sheep, and their herds, and their asses, wasting all they had in their houses and in their fields.

34:29  And their children and wives they took captive.

Captive. No doubt Jacob would force them to restore such ill-gotten goods. (Calmet) --- They had acted without authority, and even contrary to the known disposition of their father. They rashly exposed him to destruction, which would inevitably have taken place, if God had not protected him, chap. xxxv. 5. (Haydock)

34:30  And when they had boldly perpetrated these things, Jacob said to Simeon and Levi: You have troubled me, and made me hateful to the Chanaanites and Pherezites, the inhabitants of this land. We are few: they will gather themselves together and kill me; and both I, and my house shall be destroyed.

34:31  They answered: Should they abuse our sister as a strumpet?

Should they, &c. This answer, full of insolence, to a father who was as much hurt by the indignity offered to Dina as they could be, heightens their crime. Sichem was the only one among the citizens really guilty, unless perhaps some of his servants might have given him assistance; and Hemor, the king, might contract some stain by not causing a better police to be observed, and by not punishing his son with greater severity, and not sending Dina home, &c. But why are the harmless citizens to be involved in ruin? unless Quicquid delirant Reges, plectuntur Achivi. (Haydock) Procopius says Hemor also abused Dina; but the plural is here used for the singular, and this author builds upon a false supposition. (Calmet)

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World about 2273, Year before Christ 1731. 25: Genesis xlix. 6.

Chapter 35

Jacob purgeth his family from idols: goeth, by God's commandment, to Bethel, and there buildeth an altar. God appearing again to Jacob, blesseth him, and changeth his name into Israel. Rachel dieth in child-birth. Isaac also dieth.

35:1  In the mean time God said to Jacob: Arise and go up to Bethel, and dwell there, and make there an altar to God, who appeared to thee when thou didst flee from Esau, thy brother.

God dissipates Jacob's well-grounded fears, and sends him to perform his vow, chap. xviii. 13.[xxviii. 13.?] (Haydock)

35:2  And Jacob having called together all his household, said: Cast away the strange gods that are among you, and be cleansed, and change your garments.

Strange gods, which his servants had reserved in the plundering of Sichem; perhaps he had also been informed of Rachel's theft. (Du Hamel) --- Garments; put on your cleanest and best attire, to testify the purity with which you ought to approach to the service of God. (Menochius) --- See Exodus xix. 10; Leviticus xv. 13.

35:3  Arise, and let us go up to Bethel, that we may make there an altar to God; who heard me in the day of my affliction, and accompanied me in my journey.

35:4  So they gave him all the strange gods they had, and the ear-rings which were in their ears: and he buried them under the turpentine tree, that is behind the city of Sichem.

And the ear-rings. Hebrew, hanezamim; such as had been consecrated to some idol, and adorned the ears of those false but gaudy deities. (Menochius) --- Men and women used them likewise, as phylacteries or talismans, to which many superstitious virtues were attributed. (St. Augustine, ep. 73[245?], ad Posid. 9, iii. in Gen.; Ezechiel xvi. 12; Proverbs xxv.; Exodus xxxv.; Judges viii.) (Calmet) --- The turpentine tree; or "an oak tree," as the Hebrew haela means also. Septuagint adds, "and he destroyed them till this present day;" which seems intended to refute the story of their being found and adored by the Samaritans, or employed by Solomon when he built the temple. Jacob buried them privately. (Calmet) See Deuteronomy vii. 5.

35:5  And when they were departed, the terror of God fell upon all the cities round about, and they durst not pursue after them as they went away.

Terror of God. A panic fear, which the pagans thought was sent by Pan. (Calmet) --- God can easily make the most powerful flee before a few. (St. Augustine, q. 112.)

35:6  And Jacob came to Luza, which is in the land of Chanaan, surnamed Bethel: he and all the people that were with him.

Chanaan, to distinguish it from another. Judges i. 26, (Menochius) or because Moses wrote this in Arabia. (Calmet)

35:7  And he built there an altar, and called the name of that place, The house of God: for there God appeared to him when he fled from his brother.

To him. Hebrew literally, "He called that place the God of Bethel, because there God ( or the angels) appeared to him." Haelohim, with a verb plural, generally refers to angels; when it is applied to God, the article is omitted, and the verb is singular. (Calmet)

35:8  At the same time Debora, the nurse of Rebecca, died, and was buried at the foot of Bethel, under an oak, and the name of that place was called, The oak of weeping.

Debora. The Rabbin say she had been sent to urge Jacob's return. (Menochius) --- Perhaps she was come to see him and the daughters of Laban, for whom she would naturally have a great regard, as she lived with Laban. --- Weeping. This shews the great respect they had for this good old servant. (Haydock)

35:9  And God appeared again to Jacob, after he returned from Mesopotamia of Syria, and he blessed him,

35:10  Saying: Thou shalt not be called any more Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name. And he called him Israel.

Israel. This name signifies one that prevaileth with God; (Challoner) and is more honourable and expressive than that of Jacob. God confirms what had been declared by his angel, chap. xxxii. 28.

35:11  And said to him: I am God almighty, increase thou and be multiplied. Nations and peoples of nations shall be from thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins.

35:12  And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to thee, and to thy seed after thee.

And to, &c. And is often put by way of explanation. Chanaan was possessed by all the twelve sons of Jacob. Those of the handmaids are not excluded, as Ismael had been. (Worthington)

35:13  And he departed from him.

35:14  But he set up a monument of stone, in the place where God had spoken to him: pouring drink-offerings upon it, and pouring oil thereon:

Set up either a fresh altar, or restored the stone which he had formerly used for sacrifice. (St. Augustine q. 116.) --- Drink, wine. --- Oil. Theophrastus, speaking of a man addicted to superstition, says, "he adores every anointed stone." (Calmet)

35:15  And calling the name of that place Bethel.

35:16  And going forth from thence, he came in the spring time to the land which leadeth to Ephrata: wherein when Rachel was in travail,

Spring. Hebrew, cibrath. Septuagint leave it untranslated, Chalratha, though they render it horse-race, (

35:17  By reason of her hard labour, she began to be in danger, and the midwife said to her: Fear not, for thou shalt have this son also.

35:18  And when her soul was departing for pain, and death was now at hand, she called the name of her son Benoni, that is, the son of my pain: but his father called him Benjamin, that is, the son of the right hand.

That is. These etymologies are given by St. Jerome. (Du Hamel) --- Right hand, ( jemini ) as he is often styled in Scripture. Jamin has the same meaning; though it may also signify of the south, with respect to Bethel and Sichem; or of days and old age, chap. xliv. 20, 1[21?]. (Calmet) Jacob chooses to give his son a more auspicious name; as the other would have reminded him too sensibly of his loss. (Haydock)

35:19  So Rachel died, and was buried in the highway that leadeth to Ephrata, this is Bethlehem.

) and join both together, chap. xlviii. 7. The word occurs again, 4 Kings v. 19; and St. Jerome translates it the spring, or the finest time of the earth. Others suppose it signifies the high road, (

) or horse-course, or a mile, &c. as if the place, where Rachel died, and not the season of the year, were designated. Calmet concludes, she died about the distance of an acre ( sillon, furrow or ridge) from Ephrata. But there seems to be no reason why we should recede from the Vulgate. (Haydock)

35:20  And Jacob erected a pillar over her sepulchre: this is the pillar of Rachel's monument, to this day.

A pillar; or sepulchral monument, about 500 paces north of Bethlehem, (Haydock) which was called Ephrata afterwards, from Caleb's wife. (Calmet)

35:21  Departing thence, he pitched his tent beyond the Flock tower.

Tower. Hebrew, Heder, about a mile to the east of Bethlehem, where the angels appeared to announce the birth of Christ. St. Helen built a temple there in honour of the angels. (Tirinus) --- Shepherds had such places to keep watch. (Calmet) --- There was a tower of this name near Jerusalem. (Micheas iv. 8; St. Jerome, q. His.)

35:22  And when he dwelt in that country, Ruben went, and slept with Bala the concubine of his father: which he was not ignorant of. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.

The concubine. She was his lawful wife; but according to the style of the Hebrews, is called concubine, because of her servile extraction. (Challoner) --- Ignorant of; and therefore, to mark his displeasure, he deprived him of the birth-right, chap. xlix. 4. Jacob approached no more to Bala, as David had no farther commerce with the wives whom Absalom had defiled, 2 Kings xvi. 22. (Menochius) --- The Septuagint add, and it appeared evil in his sight; an omission which the Hebrew editions seem to acknowledge, by leaving a vacant space. (Kennicott)

35:23  The sons of Lia: Ruben the first born, and Simeon, and Levi, and Juda, and Issachar, and Zabulon.

35:24  The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

35:25  The sons of Bala, Rachel's handmaid: Dan and Nephthali.

35:26  The sons of Zelpha, Lia's handmaid: Gad and Aser: these are the sons of Jacob, that were born to him in Mesopotamia of Syria.

Syria, all except Benjamin. (Calmet) --- All frequently means the greatest part. (Haydock)

35:27  And he came to Isaac his father in Mambre, the city of Arbee, this is Hebron: wherein Abraham and Isaac sojourned.

35:28  And the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years.

35:29  And being spent with age he died, and was gathered to his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.

Spent. He lived 42 years, after he had blessed Jacob. --- His people, in the bosom of Abraham, in limbo. --- Full of days, quite satisfied. Cedat uti conviva satur. (Horace, Sat. i. 1.) He was one of the brightest figures of Jesus Christ, on account of his miraculous birth, name, willingness to be sacrificed, marriage with a woman sought at a great distance, &c. (Calmet) --- Esau, who had always shewn a great regard for his father, joins his brother in rendering to him the last rites of burial. (Haydock) --- Rebecca was probably dead. (Menochius) --- The death of Isaac is mentioned out of its place, that the history of Joseph may not be interrupted, as it happened when Joseph was in prison, in the year of the world 2288. (Calmet)

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World 2273. ** Genesis xxviii. 13. 4: Exodus xxxii. 20.; 2 Kings[4 Kings?] xviii. 4. 7: Genesis xxviii. 18. 10: Genesis xxxii. 28. 16: Year of the World 2274, Year before Christ 1730. 20: Genesis xlviii. 7. 22: Genesis xlix. 4. 27: Year of the World 2275, Year before Christ 1729. 29: Year of the World 2288.

Chapter 36

Esau with his wives and children parteth from Jacob. An account of his descendants, and of the first kings of Edom.

36:1  And these are the generations of Esau, the same is Edom.

Edom. His genealogy extends as far as ver. 20, where that of Seir, the Horrite, begins. The seven first verses specify Esau's sons, the twelve next his grandsons born in Seir. From the 15th to the 20th verse, we have the most ancient form of government in that nation under the Aluphim, or heads of families. To them succeed kings, (ver. 31 to 40,) and then dukes to the end. Moses omits several generations of Oolibama's grand-children, as foreign to his purpose, which was to shew the Israelites whom they were not to molest. The kings, of whom he speaks, (ver. 31,) might govern different parts of the country at the same time; and that before any form of government was established among the Hebrews, as it was under Moses, who is styled a king, (Deuteronomy xxxiii. 5,) about 200 years after Esau had driven the Horrites from their mountains. (Calmet) --- Among these nations several good men might exist, as Job, &c. But the true religion was preserved more fully among the 12 tribes. (St. Augustine, City of God xv. xvi.) (Worthington)

36:2  Esau took wives of the daughters of Chanaan: Ada the daughter of Elon the Hethite, and Oolibama the daughter of Ana, the daughter of Sebeon the Hevite:

Ada. These wives of Esau are called by other names, chap. xxvi. But it was very common amongst the ancients for the same persons to have two names, as Esau himself was also called Edom. (Challoner) --- Ana the daughter of Sebeon. It is not certain that Ana was a woman. The Samaritan and Septuagint make him son of Sebeon, both here and ver. 14, (Haydock) as well as some Latin copies; and he is mentioned as such, ver. 24. The daughter of Sebeon may, therefore, designate his grand-daughter, which is not unusual. Sebeon is called Hevite, Hethite, and Horrite, on account of his dwelling in different countries; though some think they were different persons. (Calmet) --- This, and innumerable other difficulties, may convince Protestants that the Scriptures are not easy. (Worthington)

36:3  And Basemath, the daughter of Ismael, sister of Nabajoth.

36:4  And Ada bore Eliphaz: Basemath bore Rahuel.

Eliphaz; perphas the Themanite, and friend of Job, (St. Jerome) or his grandfather, by Theman; as Job was the grandson of Esau, and the second king, ver. 33. (Tirinus)

36:5  Oolibama bore Jehus, and Ihelon, and Core. These are the sons of Esau, that were born to him in the land of Chanaan.

36:6  And Esau took his wives, and his sons and daughters, and every soul of his house, and his substance, and cattle, and all that he was able to acquire in the land of Chanaan: and went into another country, and departed from his brother Jacob.

Jacob, by the divine Providence, as Chanaan was to be his inheritance. (Menochius) --- He had returned from Seir about the same time as Jacob came home. (St. Augustine, q. 119.)

36:7  For they were exceeding rich, and could not dwell together; neither was the land in which they sojourned, able to bear them, for the multitude of their flocks.

36:8  And Esau dwelt in mount Seir: he is Edom.

36:9  And these are the generations of Esau, the father of Edom, in mount Seir.

Of Edom, or of all the nations who inhabited Idumea, sprung from Esau's grand-children. (Calmet)

36:10  And these the names of his sons: Eliphaz the son of Ada, the wife of Esau: and Rahuel, the son of Basemath, his wife.

36:11  And Eliphaz had sons: Theman, Omar, Sepho, and Gatham and Cenez.

36:12  And Thamna was the concubine of Eliphaz, the son of Esau: and she bore him Amalech. These are the sons of Ada, the wife of Esau.

36:13  And the sons of Rahuel: were Nahath and Zara, Samma and Meza. These were the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau.

36:14  And these were the sons of Oolibama, the daughter of Ana, the daughter of Sebeon, the wife of Esau, whom she bore to him, Jehus, and Ihelon, and Core.

36:15  These were dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz, the first-born of Esau: duke Theman, duke Omar, duke Sepho, duke Cenez,

Hebrew Aluph, prince of a tribe, or of a thousand; a Chiliarch. (Zach. v. 2.[Zacharias ix. 7.?; Micheas v. 2.?]) The Rabbin assert they wore not a crown, as the kings did. (Calmet) --- Both obtained their authority by election. An aristocracy prevailed under the dukes. (Menochius)

36:16  Duke Core, duke Gatham, duke Amalech: these are the sons of Eliphaz, in the land of Edom, and these the sons of Ada.

Duke Core, being the son of Esau, is omitted in the Samaritan though found in all the versions and Hebrew. (Kennicott)

36:17  And these were the sons of Rahuel, the son of Esau: duke Nahath, duke Zara, duke Samma, duke Meza. And these are the dukes of Rahuel, in the land of Edom: these the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau.

36:18  And these the sons of Oolibama, the wife of Esau: duke Jehus, duke Ihelon, duke Core. These are the dukes of Oolibama, the daughter of Ana, and wife of Esau.

36:19  These are the sons of Esau, and these the dukes of them: the same is Edom.

36:20  These are the sons of Seir, the Horrite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, and Sobal, and Sebeon, and Ana,

36:21  And Dison, and Eser, and Disan. These are dukes of the Horrites, the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom.

36:22  And Lotan had sons: Hori and Heman. And the sister of Lotan was Thamna.

36:23  And these the sons of Sobal: Alvan, and Manahat, and Ebal, and Sepho, and Onam.

36:24  And these the sons of Sebeon: Aia and Ana. This is Ana that found the hot waters in the wilderness, when he fed the asses of Sebeon, his father:

Hot waters. Medicinal, (Menochius) like the springs at Bath, &c. (Haydock) --- Hebrew hayemim, a word which some translate mules; others, the nation of that name; or the giants, Emeans, with whom he had perhaps some engagement, as Adad (ver. 35,) had with the Madianites, the particulars of which were then well known. The Septuagint and ancient versions retain the original word. It is used for a body of water. (Calmet)

36:25  And he had a son Dison, and a daughter Oolibama.

36:26  And these were the sons of Dison: Hamdan, and Eseban, and Jethram, and Charan.

36:27  These also were the sons of Eser: Balaan, and Zavan, and Acan.

36:28  And Disan had sons: Hus and Aram.

36:29  These were dukes of the Horrites: duke Lotan, duke Sobal, duke Sebeon, duke Ana,

36:30  Duke Dison, duke Eser, duke Disan: these were dukes of the Horrites that ruled in the land of Seir.

Seir, contemporary with the princes of Esau, in another town or region. (Calmet)

36:31  And the kings that ruled in the land of Edom, before the children of Israel had a king, were these:

A king. See ver. 1. Moses might also add this with reference to the times, when he knew the Hebrews would petition for a king, for whom he gave particular laws. (Menochius) --- These kings were probably foreigners, who subdued the natives. They did not obtain the kingdom by succession. (Calmet)

36:32  Bela the son of Beor, and the name of his city Denaba.

36:33  And Bela died, and Jobab, the son of Zara, of Bosra, reigned in his stead.

Jobab. Most people suppose this is Job, the model of patience. (Menochius) --- Bosra, or Bezer, was the capital of Idumea, in the tribe of Ruben. (Calmet)

36:34  And when Jobab was dead, Husam, of the land of the Themanites, reigned in his stead.

36:35  And after his death, Adad, the son of Badad, reigned in his stead, who defeated the Madianites in the country of Moab; and the name of his city was Avith.

36:36  And when Adad was dead, there reigned in his stead, Semla, of Masreca.

36:37  And he being dead, Saul, of the river Rohoboth, reigned in his stead.

River Rohoboth; or as it is expressed, 1 Paralipomenon i. 48, of Rohoboth, which is near the river Euphrates, below where the Chaboras empties itself.

36:38  And when he also was dead, Balanan, the son of Achobor, succeeded to the kingdom.

36:39  This man also being dead, Adar reigned in his place; and the name of his city was Phau: and his wife was called Meetabel, the daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezaab.

Adar. Many confound him with the king, whom David overcame. --- Daughter of Mezaab, or perhaps her grand-daughter, or adopted child.

36:40  And these are the names of the dukes of Esau in their kindreds, and places, and callings: duke Thamna, duke Alva, duke Jetheth,

Callings. They left their names to various places. They were in power when the Hebrews approached their respective territories, and threw them into dismay, Exodus xv. 15. --- Alva. Septuagint, gola. (Calmet)

36:41  Duke Oolibama, duke Ela, duke Phinon,

36:42  Duke Cenez, duke Theman, duke Mabsar,

36:43  Duke Magdiel, duke Hiram: these are the dukes of Edom dwelling in the land of their government; the same is Esau, the father of the Edomites.

The same Edom is Esau. Moses seems particularly attentive to assert both titles for the same person, ver. 8, &c. The time of Esau's death cannot be ascertained. There is reason to hope that he died penitent; though in the early part of his life, he gave way to his ferocious temper, and became a figure of the reprobate. He lived on terms of friendship with his brother, assisted him to bury his father, &c. (Calmet) --- He was a hunter, indeed; which St. Jerome looks upon as a bad sign: " nunquam venatorem in bonam partem legi," in Micheas v. But this was also in his younger days. (Haydock) --- I have hated Esau, Matthew i., refers to his irreligious posterity, and to his being deprived of temporal advantages, attending the birth-right. (Tirinus) (Calmet)

Cross-references: 4: 1 Paralipomenon i. 35. 7: Genesis xiii. 6. 8: Josue xxiv. 4. 10: 1 Paralipomenon i. 35. 20: 1 Paralipomenon i. 38.

Chapter 37

Jospeh's dreams: he is sold by his brethren, and carried into Egypt.

37:1  And Jacob dwelt in the land of Chanaan, wherein his father sojourned.

Sojourned at Hebron and the environs. (Haydock)

37:2  And these are his generations: Joseph, when he was sixteen years old, was feeding the flock with his brethren, being but a boy: and he was with the sons of Bala and of Zelpha, his father's wives: and he accused his brethren to his father of a most wicked crime.

Generations. This connects his history with chap. xxxv. What happened to Jacob and his sons, and particularly to Joseph, forms the subject of the remaining part of Genesis. (Haydock) --- Old; complete, or beginning "his 17th year," as the Hebrew, Chaldean, and Septuagint have it. "He was the son or boy of"---so many years always means the current year unfinished. (Bochart 1. R. xiii. 1.) --- The sons. Perhaps these were not so much enraged against Joseph, till he told his father of their scandalous behaviour, in order that he might put a stop to it. --- He accused. Some editions of the Septuagint read, "they accused him," &c.; but all others confirm the Vulgate and Hebrew. (Calmet) --- Crime: perhaps of sodomy, or bestiality (St. Thomas Aquinas); or of abusive language to Joseph himself. (Calmet)

37:3  Now Israel loved Joseph above all his sons, because he had him in his old age: and he made him a coat of divers colours.

Old age, and therefore expected to have no more children; but he loved him still more, on account of his innocent and sweet behaviour (Menochius): in which sense the Samaritan, Chaldean, &c., have, "because he was a wise and prudent boy." --- Colours. The nations of the East delight in gaudy attire, "hanging down to the heels" as the original passim is sometimes expressed, talaris & polymita, ver. 3. (Calmet)

37:4  And his brethren seeing that he was loved by his father, more than all his sons, hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him.

Could not, through envy, which caused them to notice every little distinction shewn to Joseph. They perceived he was the most beloved. His accusing them, and insinuating by his mysterious dreams that he would be their lord, heightened their rage. (Haydock)

37:5  Now it fell out also that he told his brethren a dream, that he had dreamed: which occasioned them to hate him the more.

A dream. These dreams of Joseph were prophetical, and sent from God, as were also those which he interpreted, chap. xl. and xli.; otherwise, generally speaking, the observing of dreams is condemned in the Scripture, as superstitious and sinful. See Deuteronomy xviii. 10, and Ecclesiasticus xxxiv. 2, 3.

37:6  And he said to them: Hear my dream which I dreamed.

37:7  I thought we were binding sheaves in the field: and my sheaf arose as it were, and stood, and your sheaves standing about bowed down before my sheaf.

Sheaf. Joseph probably knew not what this portended, as the prophets were sometimes ignorant of the real purport of their visions. (Calmet) --- But it admirably foreshewed the famine, which would bring his brethren to adore him in Egypt. (Menochius)

37:8  His brethren answered: Shalt thou be our king? or shall we be subject to thy dominion? Therefore this matter of his dreams and words ministered nourishment to their envy and hatred.

37:9  He dreamed also another dream, which he told his brethren, saying: I saw in a dream, as it were the sun, and the moon, and eleven stars worshipping me.

The sun. This second dream confirmed the truth of the former. Joseph relates it with simplicity, not suspecting the ill will of his brethren: but his father easily perceives what effect the narration would have, and desires him to be more cautious. He even points out the apparent incoherence of the dream, as Rachel, who seemed intended by the moon, was already dead; unless this dream happened before that event. St. Augustine (q. 123.) observes, this was never literally verified in Joseph, but it was in Jesus Christ, whom he prefigured. (Calmet) --- Some think that Bala, the nurse of Joseph, was intended by the moon. (Tirinus)

37:10  And when he had told this to his father, and brethren, his father rebuked him, and said: What meaneth this dream that thou hast dreamed? shall I and thy mother, and thy brethren worship thee upon the earth?

Worship. This word is not used here to signify divine worship, but an inferior veneration, expressed by the bowing of the body, and that, according to the manner of the eastern nations, down to the ground.

37:11  His brethren therefore envied him: but his father considered the thing with himself.

With himself: not doubting but it was prophetical. Thus acted the Blessed Virgin Mary. (Calmet)

37:12  And when his brethren abode in Sichem, feeding their father's flocks,

37:13  Israel said to him: Thy brethren feed the sheep in Sichem: come, I will send thee to them. And when he answered:

In Sichem. About ninety miles off. The town had not probably been as yet rebuilt. Jacob had a field there, and the country was free for any one to feed their flocks. It was customary to drive them to a distance. (Calmet)

37:14  I am ready: he said to him: Go, and see if all things be well with thy brethren, and the cattle: and bring me word again what is doing. So being sent from the vale of Hebron, he came to Sichem:

Bring me. He was afraid of letting him remain with them, and retained him mostly at home for company, and to protect him from danger.

37:15  And a man found him there wandering in the field, and asked what he sought.

37:16  But he answered: I seek my brethren, tell me where they feed the flocks.

My brethren. The man was acquainted with Jacob's family, as he had dwelt in those parts for a long time. (Haydock)

37:17  And the man said to him: They are departed from this place: for I heard them say: Let us go to Dothain. And Joseph went forward after his brethren, and found them in Dothain.

Dothain: twelve miles to the north of Samaria. (Eusebius)

37:18  And when they saw him afar off, before he came nigh them, they thought to kill him:

37:19  And said one to another: Behold the dreamer cometh.

The dreamer. Hebrew Bahal hachalomoth, "the lord of dreams," or the visionary lord (Calmet); or one who feigns dreams: so the Jews say of our Saviour, this seducer. (Haydock)

37:20  Come, let us kill him, and cast him into some old pit: and we will say: Some evil beast hath devoured him: and then it shall appear what his dreams avail him.

Pit: walled around to contain water: Hebrew Bur. Bar means a well that has no walls. (Menochius) --- Shall appear. They resolve to tell a lie, and easily believe that Joseph had been as bad as themselves in telling one first. If they had believed the dreams were from God, they would hardly have supposed that they could prevent them from having their effect. (Haydock)

37:21  And Ruben hearing this, endeavoured to deliver him out of their hands, and said:

37:22  Do not take away his life, nor shed his blood: but cast him into this pit, that is in the wilderness, and keep your hands harmless: now he said this, being desirous to deliver him out of their hands and to restore him to his father.

His father. Ruben wished to regain his father's favour, chap. xxxv. 22.

37:23  And as soon as he came to his brethren, they forthwith stript him of his outside coat, that was of divers colours:

37:24  And cast him into an old pit where there was no water.

37:25  And sitting down to eat bread, they saw some Ismaelites on their way coming from Galaad, with their camels, carrying spices, and balm, and myrrh to Egypt.

To eat bread. How could they do this while their innocent brother was praying and lamenting! (chap. xlii. 21.) (Haydock) --- Some: a caravan of merchants. (Du Hamel) --- Balm, or rosin; "that of Syria resembles attic honey." (Pliny, Natural History) --- Myrrh, (stacten); Hebrew, Lot: "drops of myrrh or laudanum, or of the Lotus tree." (Calmet)

37:26  And Juda said to his brethren: What will it profit us to kill our brother, and conceal his blood?

37:27  It is better that he be sold to the Ismaelites, and that our hands be not defiled: for he is our brother and our flesh. His brethren agreed to his words.

37:28  And when the Madianite merchants passed by, they drew him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ismaelites, for twenty pieces of silver: and they led him into Egypt.

Of silver. Some have read, thirty pieces of gold or silver. (St. Ambrose, c. 3.) --- The price was trifling: twenty sicles would be about £2 5s. 7.5d. English. The Madianites and Ismaelites jointly purchased Joseph. (Haydock)

37:29  And Ruben returning to the pit, found not the boy:

Ruben, who, in the mean time, had been absent while his brethren hearkened to the proposal of Juda only, and therefore consented to this evil. (Haydock)

37:30  And rending his garments he went to his brethren, and said: The boy doth not appear, and whither shall I go?

I go to seek for him. His brethren inform him of what they had done, and he consents to keep it a secret from his father. (Menochius)

37:31  And they took his coat, and dipped it in the blood of a kid, which they had killed:

37:32  Sending some to carry it to their father, and to say: This we have found: see whether it be thy son's coat, or not.

37:33  And the father acknowledging it, said: It is my son's coat, an evil wild beast hath eaten him, a beast hath devoured Joseph.

A beast. So he might reasonably conclude from the blood, and from the insinuations of the messengers sent by his ten sons, (Haydock) whom he would not suspect of so heinous a crime. Wild beasts infested that country. (Menochius)

37:34  And tearing his garments, he put on sackcloth, mourning for his son a long time.

Sack-cloth, or hair-cloth, cilicio. These garments were made very close, like a sack, of the hair taken from the goats of Cilicia, which grew long, rough, and of a dark colour. The poorest people used them: Usum in Castrorum & miseris velamina nautis, (Virgil, Geor. 3.); and the Ascetics, or monks, afterwards chose them for the sake of mortification and humility. (Calmet) --- Jacob was the first, mentioned in Scripture, who put them on, and the Israelites imitated him in their mourning. --- Long time; twenty-three years, till he heard of his son being still alive. (Menochius)

37:35  And all his children being gathered together to comfort their father in his sorrow, he would not receive comfort, but said: I will go down to my son into hell, mourning. And whilst he continued weeping,

Into hell; that is, into limbo, the place where the souls of the just were received before the death of our Redeemer. For allowing that the word hell sometimes is taken for the grave, it cannot be so taken in this place; since Jacob did not believe his son to be in the grave, (whom he supposed to be devoured by a wild beast) and therefore could not mean to go down to him thither: but certainly meant the place of rest, where he believed his soul to be. (Challoner) --- Soal, or sheol, to crave, denotes the receptacle of the dead, (Leigh) or a lower region; the grave for the body; limbo, or hell, when speaking of the soul. See Delrio, Adag. in 2 Kings, p. 209. (Haydock) --- Protestants here translate it, "the grave," being unwilling to admit a third place in the other world for the soul. See the contrary in St. Augustine, ep. 99[164?], ad Evod.; City of God xx. 15. (Worthington)

37:36  The Madianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Putiphar, an eunuch of Pharao, captain of the soldiers.

An eunuch. This word sometimes signifies a chamberlain, courtier, or officer of the king: and so it is taken in this place. (Challoner) --- Soldiers, cooks, or butchers. Hebrew tabachim, executioners, mactantium. He might also be chief sacrificer, governor of the prisons, &c., all these employments were anciently very honourable, Daniel ii. 14. The providence of God never shines more brightly in any part of the Scripture, than in this history of Joseph, except in that of Jesus Christ, of whom Joseph was a beautiful figure. He was born when his father was grown old, as Jesus was in the last age of the world; he was a son increasing, as Jesus waxed in age and grace before God and men; both were beloved by their father, both comely, &c. (Calmet)

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World 2276, Year before Christ 1728. 2: Genesis xxxv. 27. 21: Genesis xlii. 22. 28: Wisdom x. 13. ** Year of the World 2276, Year before Christ 1728.

Chapter 38

The sons of Juda: the death of Her and Onan: the birth of Phares and Zara.

38:1  At that time Juda went down from his brethren, and turned in to a certain Odollamite, named Hiras.

At that time Juda, twenty years old, marries the daughter of Sue, and has three sons by her during the three following years. The first takes Thamar to wife, when he was seventeen. Onan marries her the next year; after which, she remains a widow about three years, when she bears twins to Juda. Phares goes down with him into Egypt, and has children there during Jacob's life. On this account, they are numbered among those who went down with Jacob, (chap. xlvi. 12,) as the children of Benjamin seem to be likewise. Thus all these events might happen during the twenty-three years that Jacob dwelt in Chanaan, and the seventeen that he sojourned in Egypt. Some have thought the time too short, and have concluded that Juda had been married long before Joseph's slavery. He was, however, only four years older. (Calmet)

38:2  And he saw there the daughter of a man of Chanaan, called Sue: and taking her to wife, he went in unto her.

38:3  And she conceived, and bore a son, and called his name Her.

38:4  And conceiving again, she bore a son, and called him Onan.

38:5  She bore also a third: whom she called Sela. After whose birth, she ceased to bear any more.

Sela. Juda gave the name of Her to his first-born, as the Hebrew shews. His wife gave names to the two latter. --- Ceased; Hebrew casbi: "she died in bearing him," as Aquila has it. Most commentators take the word for the name of a place mentioned, Josue xv. 44. "He (Juda) was at Casbi when she bare him."

38:6  And Juda took a wife for Her, his first born, whose name was Thamar.

38:7  And Her, the first born of Juda, was wicked in the sight of the Lord: and was slain by him.

Wicked; without shame or remorse, sinning against nature, in order, if we may believe the Jews, that the beauty of his wife might not be impaired by having children. Onan was actuated by envy. (Menochius)

38:8  Juda, therefore said to Onan his son: Go in to thy brother's wife and marry her, that thou mayst raise seed to thy brother.

Wife. This was then customary among the Chanaanites, as Philo insinuates. It also continued to be practised in Egypt, till the year of Christ 491 at least, when the marriage had not been consummated. Moses established it as a law, when no issue had sprung from the deceased brother. (Calmet) (Deuteronomy xxv. 5.) The eldest son bore his name; the rest were called after their own father. This law is now abrogated; and the prohibition, which has been issued by the Church, can be dispensed with only by herself, (Worthington) as was the case in the marriage of Henry VIII, with Catherine, the virgin relict of his brother Arthur. (Haydock)

38:9  He knowing that the children should not be his, when he went in to his brother's wife, he spilled his seed upon the ground, lest children should be born in his brother's name.

38:10  And therefore the Lord slew him, because he did a detestable thing:

Slew him, perhaps by the hand of evil angels, Psalm lxxvii. 49. Asmodeus, &c., who slew the libidinous husbands of Sara. (Tobias iii. 7.) (Menochius)

38:11  Wherefore Juda said to Thamar his daughter-in-law: Remain a widow in thy father's house, till Sela my son grow up: for he was afraid lest he also might die, as his brethren did. She went her way, and dwelt in her father's house.

Till. Juda had no design to give her to Sela, as the custom of that age required. (Calmet) --- She waited patiently for a time; when, perceiving that she was neglected, she devised a wicked scheme to punish Juda, even at the hazard of her own life. (Haydock)

38:12  And after many days were past: the daughter of Sue the wife of Juda died: and when he had taken comfort after his mourning, he went up to Thamnas, to the shearers of his sheep, he and Hiras the Odollamite, the shepherd of his flock.

38:13  And it was told Thamar that her father-in-law was come up to Thamnas to shear his sheep.

38:14  And she put off the garments of her widowhood, and took a veil: and changing her dress, sat in the cross way, that leadeth to Thamnas: because Sela was grown up, and she had not been married to him.

Veil; (theristrum) a long robe, covering the whole body, except the eyes. Thus she was disguised; or, as it were, masked, as Aquila translates. Harlots herein imitated modest women, chap. xxiv. 65. --- Cross way. Hebrew Henayim, which the Septuagint and Syriac take for a proper name. Others translate "at the gate of the eyes," which means two roads, where a person must open his eyes to judge which is the right one---or "at the gate of the two fountains leading to Thamnas," Judges xiv. 1. Prostitutes formerly infested the high roads. (Jeremias iii. 2; Ezechiel xvi. 25.) Chrysippus says, "at first harlots remained out of the city, and covered their faces; but afterwards growing more hardened, they laid aside the mask," &c.

38:15  When Juda saw her, he thought she was a harlot: for she had covered her face, lest she should be known.

38:16  And going to her, he said: Suffer me to lie with thee: for he knew her not to be his daughter-in-law. And she answered: What wilt thou give me to enjoy my company?

38:17  He said: I will send thee a kid out of the flock. And when she said again: I will suffer what thou wilt, if thou give a pledge, till thou send what thou promisest.

38:18  Juda said: What wilt thou have for a pledge? She answered: Thy ring and bracelet, and the staff which thou holdest in thy hand. The woman therefore at one copulation conceived.

Staff. These were all marks of dignity. "Kings made use of spears, or sceptres, before they wore a diadem." (Trogus. 43.) (Calmet) --- Juda might blame himself for exposing these valuable things, and divesting himself of all his dignity, to gratify his unjustifiable passion. If some have excused both the parties concerned, the Scripture at least sufficiently shews in what light we ought to consider their conduct. Juda himself thought her worthy of death; though in some sense, she was juster than himself, ver. 24, 26. (Haydock) --- She was guilty of a sort of adultery, being engaged to Sela; and also of incest, &c.; whereas the fault of Juda, through ignorance of her person, was simply fornication; which is, however, always contrary to the law of nature, as the pagans themselves confessed. (Grotius in Matthew v.) (Calmet) --- From Christ's choosing to be born of such progenitors, we may learn to adore his humility and tender regard for sinners. (Haydock)

38:19  And she arose and went her way: and putting off the apparel which she had taken, put on the garments of her widowhood.

38:20  And Juda sent a kid by his shepherd, the Odollamite, that he might receive the pledge again, which he had given to the woman: but he, not finding her,

38:21  Asked the men of that place: Where is the woman that sat in the cross way? And when they all made answer: There was no harlot in this place,

Harlot. Hebrew Kedesha a person consecrated to good or evil. Many nations esteemed prostitution, in honour of Venus, as a laudable action, 2 Kings[4 Kings?] xvii. 30. (Calmet)

38:22  He returned to Juda, and said to him: I have not found her; moreover the men of that place said to me, that there never sat a harlot there.

38:23  Juda said: Let her take it to herself, surely she cannot charge us with a lie, I sent the kid which I promised: and thou didst not find her.

A lie. Hebrew, "lest we be exposed to shame," by making any farther search. (Menochius)

38:24  And behold, after three months, they told Juda, saying: Thamar, thy daughter-in-law, hath played the harlot, and she appeareth to have a big belly. And Juda said: Bring her out that she may be burnt.

38:25  But when she was led to execution, she sent to her father-in-law, saying: By the man, to whom these things belong, I am with child. See whose ring, and bracelet, and staff this is.

Execution. The Rabbin say she was to be marked with a hot iron. If she was to die, before she was delivered, God prevented the cruel sentence from taking effect. (Haydock) --- Many nations have punished adultery with fire. Macrinus, the Roman emperor, ordered the culprits to be tied together and thrown into the flames. (Capitolin.) --- Moses commanded the daughters of priests, who should be detected in this crime, to be given to the flames, (Leviticus xxi. 9,) and others to be stoned; (Leviticus xx. 10,) whence the Rabbin have concluded, that Thamar was a priest's daughter. (Calmet)

38:26  But he acknowledging the gifts, said: She is juster than I: because I did not give her to Sela, my son. However, he knew her no more.

Juster. For Juda had been guilty of injustice; and had thus exposed her to the danger of following a life of lewdness. (Haydock) --- She remained a widow afterwards, as she was now rendered unfit to be married either to Juda or Sela. The latter married another woman, Numbers xxvi. 19. (Calmet) --- While Juda was engaged in this unlawful commerce, and yielded to the temptation, Joseph was triumphing over a much greater temptation, in rejecting the solicitations of his master's wife. (Haydock)

38:27  And when she was ready to be brought to bed, there appeared twins in her womb: and in the very delivery of the infants, one put forth a hand, whereon the midwife tied a scarlet thread, saying:

38:28  This shall come forth the first.

38:29  But he drawing back his hand, the other came forth: and the woman said: Why is the partition divided for thee? and therefore called his name Phares.

Partition; the secundinae. The midwife was apprehensive of danger. (Menochius) --- Phares. That is, a breach or division. (Challoner)

38:30  Afterwards his brother came out, on whose hand was the scarlet thread: and she called his name Zara.

Zara. "Orient, or rising;" in whose hand the red ribband denoted, that the blood of Christ is the source of all our merits and happiness. These two brothers were a type of the vocation of the Gentiles, and of the reprobation of the Jews, who lost the privileges to which they thought themselves entitled. (St. Irenaeus iv. 42; St. Chrysostom; &c.) (Calmet) --- Phares was the ancestor of Jesus Christ, St. Matthew i. 3.

Cross-references: 2: 1 Paralipomenon ii. 1. 4: Numbers xxvi. 19. 7: Numbers xxvi. 19. 27: Matthew i. 3. 30: 1 Paralipomenon ii. 4.

Chapter 39

Joseph hath charge of his master's house: rejecteth his mistress's solicitations: is falsely accused by her, and cast into prison, where he hath the charge of all the prisoners.

39:1  And Joseph was brought into Egypt, and Putiphar, an eunuch of Pharao, chief captain of the army, an Egyptian, bought him of the Ismaelites, by whom he was brought.

Ismaelites. They are called Madianites, chap. xxxvii. 36. (Haydock)

39:2  And the Lord was with him, and he was a prosperous man in all things: and he dwelt in his master's house:

39:3  Who knew very well that the Lord was with him, and made all that he did to prosper in his hand.

39:4  And Joseph found favour in the sight of his master, and ministered to him: and being set over all by him, he governed the house committed to him, and all things that were delivered to him:

39:5  And the Lord blessed the house of the Egyptian for Joseph's sake, and multiplied all his substance, both at home and in the fields.

39:6  Neither knew he any other thing, but the bread which he ate. And Joseph was of a beautiful countenance, and comely to behold.

Bread. A proverbial expression, to shew how entirely he reposed in Joseph's fidelity and prudence. (Menochius) --- He was so rich, that he knew not the extent of his wealth. So Petronius says, Nescit quid habeat, adeo Zaplutus est. It may also be understood as a commendation of Joseph's disinterestedness.

39:7  And after many days, his mistress cast her eyes on Joseph, and said: Lie with me.

Many days. About 10 years; as Joseph was 30, three years after this. (Calmet)

39:8  But he in no wise consenting to that wicked act, said to her: Behold, my master hath delivered all things to me, and knoweth not what he hath in his own house:

39:9  Neither is there any thing which is not in my power, or that he hath not delivered to me, but thee, who art his wife; how then can I do this wicked thing, and sin against my God?

His wife, and such things as could not be touched without sin; such as his daughter, if the woman, whom Joseph afterwards married, was the daughter of this man, chap. xli. 45. --- My God, Elohim; which might also be understood of his lord and master. The sin against the latter would be resented by God, who is offended by every transgression. (Haydock)

39:10  With such words as these day by day, both the woman was importunate with the young man, and he refused the adultery.

Both the woman was importunate, &c. Hebrew does not express this so fully. (Du Hamel)

39:11  Now it happened on a certain day, that Joseph went into the house, and was doing some business, without any man with him:

39:12  And she catching the skirt of his garment, said: Lie with me. But he leaving the garment in her hand, fled, and went out.

Out. He could easily have wrested it from her. But he would not do any thing that might seem disrespectful, nor claim what her impure hands had touched. (Menochius)

39:13  And when the woman saw the garment in her hands, and herself disregarded,

39:14  She called to her the men of her house, and said to them: See, he hath brought in a Hebrew, to abuse us: he came in to me, to lie with me; and when I cried out,

39:15  And he heard my voice, he left the garment that I held, and got him out.

39:16  For a proof therefore of her fidelity, she kept the garment, and shewed it to her husband when he returned home:

A proof of her fidelity, or an argument to gain credit, argumentum fidei. (Challoner) --- Love neglected, turns to fury. She wishes to take away Joseph's life, according to the laws of Egypt against adulterers. Diodorus says Sesostris burnt some women taken in the crime; and we must attribute it to divine Providence, that the enraged husband did not inflict instant death upon his slave. Perhaps he did not altogether believe him guilty. (Haydock)

39:17  And said: The Hebrew servant, whom thou hast brought, came to me to abuse me.

Thou hast, &c. As if her husband were guilty of an indiscretion. (Menochius)

39:18  And when he heard me cry, he left the garment which I held, and fled out.

39:19  His master hearing these things, and giving too much credit to his wife's words, was very angry,

Too much. The proof was of an ambiguous nature. But Putiphar perhaps thought it unbecoming to distrust his wife, or to interrogate his slave. (Haydock)

39:20  And cast Joseph into the prison, where the king's prisoners were kept, and he was there shut up.

39:21  But the Lord was with Joseph, and having mercy upon him gave him favour in the sight of the chief keeper of the prison:

Keeper. Pererius thinks this was the same Putiphar, who, recognizing the innocence of Joseph, allows him every indulgence in prison; but does not liberate him, for fear of the dishonour and resentment of his wife. (Calmet) --- He had before put him in irons. (Psalm civ. 18; Wisdom x. 13.) Joseph here exercises at once the four cardinal virtues. Prudence, in keeping out of the company of his mistress, as the Hebrew express it, ver. 10: "He yielded not to lie with her, or to be in her company." (Haydock) --- Justice, in regard to his master. Fortitude, in bearing with all sorts of hardships, loss of character, &c. And Temperance, by refusing to gratify the most violent of all passions, at an age when it is the most insidious and ungovernable. This makes the fathers exclaim, We wonder more at the conduct of Joseph, than at the delivery of the three children from the Babylonian furnace. [Daniel iii.] For, like them, Joseph continues unhurt, and more shining, in the midst of the flames. (St. Chrysostom) (Tirinus) --- The stories of Hippolitus, Bellerophon, &c., seem to be copied from this. (Calmet)

39:22  Who delivered into his hand all the prisoners that were kept in custody: and whatsoever was done, was under him.

39:23  Neither did he himself know any thing, having committed all things to him: for the Lord was with him, and made all that he did to prosper.

Cross-references: 7: Year of the World about 2286, Year before Christ 1718. 20: Psalm civ. 18.

Chapter 40

Joseph interpreteth the dreams of two of Pharao's servants in prison: the event declareth the interpretations to be true, but Joseph is forgotten.

40:1  After this, it came to pass, that two eunuchs, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, offended their lord.

Two eunuchs; chief officers, and high in dignity, as the Hebrew expresses it, ver. 2. (Haydock) --- Offended, perhaps, by stealing, or by some treasonable conspiracy. (Menochius)

40:2  And Pharao being angry with them, (now the one was chief butler, the other chief baker,)

And, &c. Hebrew, "Pharao was enraged against two of his officers; against the chief of the butlers," &c. Mashkim. St. Jerome translates this word procurator domus, "steward of the house," chap. xv. 2. No slave was entrusted with these high offices in the courts of Egypt and of Persia.

40:3  He sent them to the prison of the commander of the soldiers, in which Joseph also was prisoner.

Commander. Putiphar. (Calmet) --- Prisoner, though his chains were struck off. (Menochius)

40:4  But the keeper of the prison delivered them to Joseph, and he served them. Some little time passed, and they were kept in custody.

40:5  And they both dreamed a dream the same night, according to the interpretation agreeing to themselves:

According to, &c. foreshewing what would happen to them, as Joseph afterwards interpreted the dreams. (Tirinus)

40:6  And when Joseph was come into them in the morning, and saw them sad,

40:7  He asked them, saying: Why is your countenance sadder to-day than usual?

40:8  They answered: We have dreamed a dream, and there is nobody to interpret it to us. And Joseph said to them: Doth not interpretation belong to God? Tell me what you have dreamed: 9: The chief butler first told his dream: I saw before me a vine, 10 On which were three branches, which by little and little sent out buds, and after the blossoms brought forth ripe grapes: 11 And the cup of Pharao was in my hand: and I took the grapes, and pressed them into the cup which I held, and I gave the cup to Pharao. 12 Joseph answered: This is the interpretation of the dream: The three branches, are yet three days: 13 After which Pharao will remember thy service, and will restore thee to thy former place: and thou shalt present him the cup according to thy office, as before thou wast wont to do. 14 Only remember me when it shall be well with thee, and do me this kindness: to put Pharao in mind to take me out of this prison: 15 For I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here without any fault was cast into the dungeon. 16 The chief baker seeing that he had wisely interpreted the dream, said: I also dreamed a dream, That I had three baskets of meal upon my head: 17 And that in one basket which was uppermost, I carried all meats that are made by the art of baking, and that the birds ate out of it. 18 Joseph answered: This is the interpretation of the dream: The three baskets, are yet three days: 19 After which Pharao will take thy head from thee, and hang thee on a cross, and the birds shall tear thy flesh. 20 The third day after this was the birth-day of Pharao: and he made a great feast for his servants, and at the banquet remembered the chief butler, and the chief baker. 21 And he restored the one to his place, to present him the cup: 22 The other he hanged on a gibbet, that the truth of the interpreter might be shewn. 23 But the chief butler, when things prospered with him, forgot his interpreter.

Doth not interpretation belong to God? When dreams are from God, as these were, the interpretation of them is a gift of God. But the generality of dreams are not of this sort; but either proceed from the natural complexions and dispositions of persons, or the roving of their imaginations in the day on such objects as they are much affected with, or from their mind being disturbed with cares and troubles, and oppressed with bodily infirmities: or they are suggested by evil spirits, to flatter, or to terrify weak minds; in order to gain belief, and so draw them into error or superstition; or at least to trouble them in their sleep, whom they cannot move while they are awake: so that the general rule, with regard to dreams, is not to observe them, nor to give any credit to them. (Challoner) --- Physicians indeed, sometimes form some judgment of the nature of a distemper from dreams; on which subject, Hippocrates and Galen have written. But to pretend to discover by them the future actions of free agents, would be superstitious, Deuteronomy xviii. 10. (Tirinus) --- Justin (xxxvi. 2,) says, "Joseph was the first interpreter of dreams, and often gave proofs of his knowledge," &c.

Cross-references: 1: Year of the world 2287, Year before Christ 1717.

Chapter 41

Joseph interpreteth the two dreams of Pharao: he is made ruler over all Egypt.

41:1  After two years Pharao had a dream. He thought he stood by the river,

River; or the branch of the Nile which ran to Tanis, his capital. There were seven principal canals, and this was the most to the east, except that of Pelusium. (Calmet)

41:2  Out of which came up seven kine, very beautiful and fat: and they fed in marshy places.

Marshy. Hebrew Achu; a word which the Septuagint and Siracides (Ecclesiasticus xl. 16, ) retain. (Du Hamel)

41:3  Other seven also came up out of the river, ill-favoured, and lean fleshed: and they fed on the very bank of the river, in green places:

Very bank; to shew that the Nile had not inundated far, and that consequently a great famine would prevail, as the fertility of Egypt depends greatly on the overflowing of the Nile. "When the river rises 12 cubits, sterility pervades Egypt; when 13, famine is still felt. Fourteen cubits bring joy, 15 security, 16 delight. It has never yet been known to rise above 18 cubits." (Pliny, Natural History v. 9.) This successive depression of the waters was an effect of God's judgments, which no astrologers could foretel. (Tirinus)

41:4  And they devoured them, whose bodies were very beautiful and well conditioned. So Pharao awoke.

41:5  He slept again, and dreamed another dream: Seven ears of corn came up upon one stalk full and fair:

Another dream of the same import, (ver. 25,) to convince Pharao that the event would certainly take place, ver. 32. Thus Daniel had a double vision, Daniel vii. 2, 3. --- One stalk. It was of the species which Pliny (Natural History xviii. 10,) calls ramosum, branchy. What would strike Pharao the most was, that the last ears should devour the former ones. (Calmet)

41:6  Then seven other ears sprung up thin and blasted,

Blasted with the eastern wind, blowing from the deserts of Arabia, Osee xiii. 15. (Menochius)

41:7  And devoured all the beauty of the former. Pharao awaked after his rest:

Rest. Hebrew adds, "and behold a dream" sent by God, like Solomon's, 3 Kings iii. 15. The king's mind was quite full of what he had seen.

41:8  And when morning was come, being struck with fear, he sent to all the interpreters of Egypt, and to all the wise men: and they being called for, he told them his dream, and there was not any one that could interpret it.

Interpreters: chartumim is probably an Egyptian word; denoting magicians, priests, and interpreters of their sacred books, hieroglyphics, &c. King Ptolemy consulted them. (Tacitus, Hist. iv.)

41:9  Then at length the chief butler remembering, said: I confess my sin:

My sin against your majesty, and my ingratitude towards Joseph. (Calmet)

41:10  The king being angry with his servants, commanded me and the chief baker to be cast into the prison of the captain of the soldiers:

41:11  Where in one night both of us dreamed a dream foreboding things to come.

41:12  There was there a young man a Hebrew, servant to the same captain of the soldiers: to whom we told our dreams,

Servant. Chap. xxxix. 4. He waited also upon the prisoners of rank, chap. xl. 4. (Haydock)

41:13  And we heard what afterwards the event of the thing proved to be so. For I was restored to my office: and he was hanged upon a gibbet.

41:14  Forthwith at the king's command Joseph was brought out of the prison, and they shaved him: and changing his apparel brought him in to him.

Shaved him. The Egyptians let their hair grow, and neglected their persons, when they were in mourning or in prison. But on other occasions they cut their hair in their youth. (Herodotus ii. 36; iii. 12.) It was not lawful to appear in court in mourning attire. (Esther iv. 2; Genesis l. 4.) (Calmet)

41:15  And he said to him: I have dreamed dreams, and there is no one that can expound them: Now I have heard that thou art very wise at interpreting them:

41:16  Joseph answered: Without me, God shall give Pharao a prosperous answer.

Without, &c. The interpretation does not proceed from any natural acquirement, but from God alone. (Chaldean) (Tirinus) --- The Samaritan and Aquila read, "Without me God will not give," &c. See Matthew x. 20.

41:17  So Pharao told what he had dreamed: Methought I stood upon the bank of the river,

41:18  And seven kine came up out of the river, exceeding beautiful and full of flesh: and they grazed on green places in a marshy pasture.

41:19  And behold, there followed these, other seven kine, so very ill-favoured and lean, that I never saw the like in the land of Egypt:

41:20  And they devoured and consumed the former,

41:21  And yet gave no mark of their being full: but were as lean and ill-favoured as before. I awoke, and then fell asleep again,

41:22  And dreamed a dream: Seven ears of corn grew up upon one stalk, full and very fair.

41:23  Other seven also thin and blasted, sprung of the stalk:

41:24  And they devoured the beauty of the former: I told this dream to the conjecturers, and there is no man that can expound it.

41:25  Joseph answered: The king's dream is one: God hath shewn to Pharao what he is about to do.

41:26  The seven beautiful kine, and the seven full ears, are seven years of plenty: and both contain the same meaning of the dream.

41:27  And the seven lean and thin kine that came up after them, and the seven thin ears that were blasted with the burning wind, are seven years of famine to come:

41:28  Which shall be fulfilled in this order.

41:29  Behold, there shall come seven years of great plenty in the whole land of Egypt:

41:30  After which shall follow other seven years of so great scarcity, that all the abundance before shall be forgotten: for the famine shall consume all the land,

The land of Egypt, and the adjacent countries.

41:31  And the greatness of the scarcity shall destroy the greatness of the plenty.

41:32  And for that thou didst see the second time a dream pertaining to the same thing: it is a token of the certainty, and that the word of God cometh to pass, and is fulfilled speedily.

41:33  Now therefore let the king provide a wise and industrious man, and make him ruler over the land of Egypt:

41:34  That he may appoint overseers over all the countries: and gather into barns the fifth part of the fruits, during the seven fruitful years,

Fifth part. This was a tax laid upon all the Egyptians, (Calmet) unless Pharao paid for what corn was laid up. (Haydock) --- This quantity would be sufficient, as the people would be content with a smaller allowance during the famine; and the environs of the Nile would produce something, though not worth mentioning, chap. xlv. 6. (Menochius)

41:35  That shall now presently ensue: and let all the corn be laid up, under Pharao's hands, and be reserved in the cities.

41:36  And let it be in readiness, against the famine of seven years to come, which shall oppress Egypt, and the land shall not be consumed with scarcity.

41:37  The counsel pleased Pharao, and all his servants.

41:38  And he said to them: Can we find such another man, that is full of the spirit of God?

God. Hebrew, of the gods Elohim. Pharao was probably an idolater.

41:39  He said therefore to Joseph: Seeing God hath shewn thee all that thou hast said, can I find one wiser and one like unto thee?

41:40  Thou shalt be over my house, and at the commandment of thy mouth all the people shall obey: only in the kingly throne will I be above thee.

Obey. Hebrew Yishak; which may signify also "kiss" you, or their hand, in testimony of respect; or "shall be fed, governed, and led forth," &c. He made him master of his house, and ruler, &c. (Psalm civ. 21; Wisdom x. 14.)

41:41  And again Pharao said to Joseph: Behold, I have appointed thee over the whole land of Egypt.

41:42  And he took his ring from his own hand, and gave it into his hand: and he put upon him a robe of silk, and put a chain of gold about his neck.

His ring, the sign of power. Thus Alexander appointed Perdiccas to be his successor. (Curtius x. 5.) Assuerus gave his authority to Aman and to Mardocheus, Esther iii. and viii. --- Silk, or fine cotton; shesh (or ssoss). See byssus, Exodus xxv. 4. --- Chain, with which the president of the senate in Egypt, or the chief justice, was adorned. The three chief officers among the Chaldees wore chains, Daniel v. 7, 16. (Calmet)

41:43  And he made him go up into his second chariot, the crier proclaiming that all should bow their knee before him, and that they should know he was made governor over the whole land of Egypt.

Second chariot. On public occasions, the king was followed by an empty chariot, (2 Paralipomenon xxxv. 24,) or the chariot here spoken of, was destined for the person who was next in dignity to the king. (Calmet) --- That all, &c. Hebrew, "crying Abroc," which Aquila explains in the same sense as the Vulgate. Others think it is an exclamation of joy, (Grotius) like huzza! (Haydock) or it may mean father of the king, or tender father, chap. xlv. 8.

41:44  And the king said to Joseph: I am Pharao: without thy commandment no man shall move hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.

Pharao, or the king. This is the preamble to the decree for the exaltation of Joseph, which subjected to him the armies and all the people of Egypt.

41:45  And he turned his name, and called him in the Egyptian tongue the saviour of the world. And he gave him to wife Aseneth, the daughter of Putiphare, priest of Heliopolis. Then Joseph went out to the land of Egypt.

The saviour of the world. Tsaphenath pahneach. (Challoner) --- In the Coptic language, which is derived from the Egyptian, Psotemphane is said to mean the saviour of the world. St. Jerome supposed this word was not Hebrew; and therefore he added, in the Egyptian tongue, though he knew it might be interpreted in Hebrew "a revealer of secrets." (q. Heb.) --- Putiphare. Whether this person be the same with his old master, cannot easily be decided. Most people think he was not. See St. Chrysostom, 63. hom. --- Priest. None were esteemed more noble in Egypt. --- Heliopolis. Hebrew On, "the city of the sun," built on the banks of the Nile, about half a day's journey to the north of Memphis.

41:46  (Now he was thirty years old when he stood before king Pharao), and he went round all the countries of Egypt.

41:47  And the fruitfulness of the seven years came: and the corm being bound up into sheaves, was gathered together into the barns of Egypt.

Sheaves. The straw would serve to feed the cattle, and would hinder the corn from spoiling for 50 years, if kept from the air. (Varro.; Pliny, Natural History xviii. 30.) (Calmet)

41:48  And all the abundance of grain was laid up in every city.

41:49  And there was so great abundance of wheat, that it was equal to the sand of the sea, and the plenty exceeded measure.

41:50  And before the famine came, Joseph had two sons born: whom Aseneth, the daughter of Putiphare, priest of Heliopolis, bore unto him.

41:51  And he called the name of the first-born Manasses, saying: God hath made me to forget all my labours, and my father's house.

Manasses. That is, oblivion, or forgetting. (Challoner) --- Father's house, or the injuries received from my brethren. (Haydock)

41:52  And he named the second Ephraim, saying: God hath made me to grow in the land of my poverty.

Ephraim. That is, fruitful, or growing. (Challoner) --- Being in the plural number, it means "productions." --- Poverty; where I have been poor and afflicted, though now advanced in honour. (Haydock) Ver. 54 [55]. World. Round about Egypt; such as Chanaan, Syria, &c. (Menochius) --- There was. The Syriac and some Latin copies, read not, &c.: there was a famine. We must adhere to the Vulgate and Hebrew.

41:53  Now when the seven years of the plenty that had been in Egypt were passed:

41:54  The seven years of scarcity, which Joseph had foretold, began to come: and the famine prevailed in the whole world, but there was bread in all the land of Egypt.

41:55  And when there also they began to be famished, the people cried to Pharao, for food. And he said to them: Go to Joseph: and do all that he shall say to you.

41:56  And the famine increased daily in all the land: and Joseph opened all the barns, and sold to the Egyptians: for the famine had oppressed them also.

41:57  And all provinces came into Egypt, to buy food, and to seek some relief of their want.

All provinces in the neighbourhood: for the stores laid up would not have supplied all mankind even for a few months. (Calmet)

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World 2289, Year before Christ 1715. 16: Matthew x. 20. 40: Psalm civ. 21.; 1 Machabees ii. 53.; Acts vii. 10. 50: Genesis xlvi. 20. and xlviii. 20. 54: Year of the World 2296, Year before Christ 1708.

Chapter 42

Jacob sendeth his ten sons to buy corn in Egypt. Their treatment by Joseph.

42:1  And Jacob hearing that food was sold in Egypt, said to his sons: Why are ye careless?

Careless. Hebrew, "gazing one at another," like idle people.

42:2  I have heard that wheat is sold in Egypt: Go ye down, and buy us necessaries, that we may live, and not be consumed with want.

42:3  So the ten brethren of Joseph went down, to buy corn in Egypt:

42:4  Whilst Benjamin was kept at home by Jacob, who said to his brethren: Lest perhaps he take any harm in the journey.

42:5  And they entered into the land of Egypt with others that went to buy. For the famine was in the land of Chanaan.

42:6  And Joseph was governor in the land of Egypt, and corn was sold by his direction to the people. And when his brethren had bowed down to him,

To him. Conformably to the prophetic dreams, chap. xxxvii. 7, 9. (Menochius) --- Joseph was like a prince or sultan, shallit, with sovereign authority. (Calmet)

42:7  And he knew them, he spoke as it were to strangers, somewhat roughly, asking them: Whence came you? They answered: From the land of Chanaan, to buy necessaries of life.

42:8  And though he knew his brethren, he was not known by them.

By them. Years and change of situation, had made such an alteration in him. God was pleased that Jacob should remain so long ignorant of his son's fate, that, by sorrow, he might do penance, and purify himself from every stain; and that he might not attempt to redeem Joseph, whose slavery was to be the source of so much good to his family. (Menochius) --- Joseph did not make himself known at first; in order to bring his brethren to a true sense of their duty, that they might obtain pardon for their sin. Thus pastors must sometimes treat their penitents with a degree of severity. (St. Gregory, hom. 22, Ezec.; St. Augustine, ser. 82, de Tem.) (Worthington)

42:9  And remembering the dreams, which formerly he had dreamed, he said to them: You are spies: you are come to view the weaker parts of the land.

You are spies. This he said by way of examining them, to see what they would answer. (Challoner) --- Aquila translates "vagrants" going from place to place, as if to discover the weakest parts. Joseph was a person in authority. It was his duty to guard against invasion. He knew how his brethren had treated Sichem, and how they had behaved to himself; and though he might not suppose, that they had any evil design upon Egypt, yet he had a right to make them give an account of themselves. (Haydock) --- He wished also to extort from them a true account respecting Jacob and Benjamin. (Menochius)

42:10  But they said: It is not so, my lord; but thy servants are come to buy food.

42:11  We are all the sons of one man: we are come as peaceable men, neither do thy servants go about any evil.

42:12  And he answered them: It is otherwise: you are come to consider the unfenced parts of this land.

42:13  But they said: We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of one man in the land of Chanaan: the youngest is with our father, the other is not living.

42:14  He saith, This is it that I said: You are spies.

42:15  I shall now presently try what you are: by the health of Pharao, you shall not depart hence, until your youngest brother come.

Health. This oath implies, that he is willing that even Pharao, whom he so much revered, should perish, if he did not execute what he said: (Haydock) or, as Pharao is now in health, so true it is you should not all depart, till your youngest brother come. (Calmet)

42:16  Send one of you to fetch him: and you shall be in prison, till what you have said be proved, whether it be true or false: or else by the health of Pharao you are spies.

Or else by the health of Pharao you are spies. That is, if these things you say be proved false, you are to be held for spies for your lying, and shall be treated as such. Joseph dealt in this manner with his brethren, to bring them by the means of affliction to a sense of their former sin, and a sincere repentance for it.

42:17  So he put them in prison three days.

42:18  And the third day he brought them out of prison, and said: Do as I have said, and you shall live: for I fear God.

God. I shall do nothing contrary to justice or good faith, as I know I have a superior in heaven, to whom I must give an account. (Menochius)

42:19  If you be peaceable men, let one of your brethren be bound in prison: and go ye your ways, and carry the corn that you have bought, unto your houses.

42:20  And bring your youngest brother to me, that I may find your words to be true, and you may not die. They did as he had said.

42:21  And they talked one to another: We deserve to suffer these things, because we have sinned against our brother, seeing the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear: therefore is this affliction come upon us.

We deserve. Conscience upbraids. "Punishment opens the mouth, which sin had shut," St. Gregory. (Menochius) --- They had sold Joseph about 22 years before! (Calmet)

42:22  And Ruben, one of them, said: Did not I say to you: Do not sin against the boy: and you would not hear me? Behold his blood is required.

His blood. Ruben supposed his brother was dead, (ver. 13,) and judging that Jacob would not let Benjamin come, he thought they must all perish. (Haydock)

42:23  And they knew not that Joseph understood, because he spoke to them by an interpreter.

Interpreter, to keep them at a greater distance. It does not appear that the sons of Jacob were ignorant of the language of the country. (Calmet)

42:24  And he turned himself away a little while, and wept: and returning, he spoke to them.

42:25  And taking Simeon, and binding him in their presence, he commanded his servants to fill their sacks with wheat, and to put every man's money again in their sacks, and to give them besides provisions for the way: and they did so.

Simeon. If he had joined himself to Ruben and Juda, who seemed inclined to protect Joseph, they might easily have prevented the cruel act, by overawing their younger brothers. Hence he was most guilty. (Menochius) --- Presence. That they might learn to condole with an afflicted brother.

42:26  But they having loaded their asses with the corn went their way.

42:27  And one of them opening his sack, to give his beast provender in the inn, saw the money in the sack's mouth,

42:28  And said to his brethren: My money is given me again; behold it is in the sack. And they were astonished, and troubled, and said to one another: What is this that God hath done unto us?

42:29  And they came to Jacob their father in the land of Chanaan, and they told him all things that had befallen them, saying:

42:30  The lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us to be spies of the country.

42:31  And we answered him: We are peaceable men, and we mean no plot.

42:32  We are twelve brethren born of one father: one is not living, the youngest is with our father in the land of Chanaan.

42:33  And he said to us: Hereby shall I know that you are peaceable men: Leave one of your brethren with me, and take ye necessary provision for your houses, and go your ways,

42:34  And bring your youngest brother to me, that I may know you are not spies: and you may receive this man again, that is kept in prison: and afterwards may have leave to buy what you will.

And you may, &c. Joseph had said, (ver. 20,) and you may not die, which they thus interpret. (Haydock)

42:35  When they had told this, they poured out their corn, and every man found his money tied in the mouth of his sack: and all being astonished together,

Astonished. One had before made the discovery, ver. 28. Now all find their purses among the corn, which renews their astonishment. (Calmet)

42:36  Their father Jacob said: You have made me to be without children: Joseph is not living, Simeon is kept in bonds, and Benjamin you will take away: all these evils are fallen upon me.

Without. Through excess of grief, Jacob speaks with a degree of exaggeration; or he thought his children were now taken from him so fast, that he would soon have none left.

42:37  And Ruben answered him: Kill my two sons, if I bring him not again to thee: deliver him into my hand, and I will restore him to thee.

Kill, &c. By this proposal, he meant to signify his utmost care and zeal to bring back young Benjamin safe to his father.

42:38  But he said: My son shall not go down with you: his brother is dead, and he is left alone: if any mischief befall him in the land to which you go, you will bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to hell.

Alone: the son of my beloved Rachel. (Haydock) --- To hell. That is, to that place where the souls then remained, as above, chap. xxxvii. ver. 35, (Challoner) though with respect to his grey hairs, and body, it may signify the grave. (Haydock)

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World 2297, Year before Christ 1707. 20: Genesis xliii. 3. and 5. 22: Genesis xxxvii. 21.

Chapter 43

The sons of Jacob go again into Egypt with Benjamin. They are entertained by Joseph.

43:1  In the mean time the famine was heavy upon all the land.

43:2  And when they had eaten up all the corn, which they had brought out of Egypt, Jacob said to his sons: Go again, and buy us a little food.

43:3  Juda answered: The man declared unto us with the attestation of an oath, saying: You shall not see my face, unless you bring your youngest brother with you.

43:4  If therefore thou wilt send him with us, we will set out together, and will buy necessaries for thee.

43:5  But if thou wilt not, we will not go: for the man, as we have often said, declared unto us, saying: You shall not see my face without your youngest brother.

My face, in peace. Joseph had told them they should be considered as spies, if they did not produce their youngest brother. (Menochius)

43:6  Israel said to them: You have done this for my misery, in that you told him you had also another brother.

43:7  But they answered: The man asked us in order concerning our kindred: if our father lived: if we had a brother: and we answered him regularly, according to what he demanded: could we know that he would say: Bring hither your brother with you?

Asked us. This is perfectly consonant with what they say, chap. xlii. 13, and chap. xliv. 19. They mentioned their having a brother at home, without the smallest suspicion of doing wrong.

43:8  And Juda said to his father: Send the boy with me, that we may set forward, and may live: lest both we and our children perish.

The boy; now 24 years old, (Calmet) and the father of a family, chap. xlvi. 21. (Haydock)

43:9  I take the boy upon me, require him at my hand: unless I bring him again, and restore him to thee, I will be guilty of sin against thee for ever.

For ever. Always lay the blame on me, and punish me as you think fit. (Menochius)

43:10  If delay had not been made, we had been here again the second time.

43:11  Then Israel said to them: If it must needs be so, do what you will: take of the best fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry down presents to the man, a little balm, and honey, and storax, myrrh, turpentine, and almonds.

Best fruits: Hebrew literally, "of the praise, or song of the earth;" or of those things for which the country is most renowned, and which are not found in Egypt. (Origen) --- Balm. Literally, rosin, resinae; but here by that name is meant balm. (Challoner) See chap. xxxvii. 25. --- Honey, or all sorts of sweet fruit. --- Storax: Septuagint, "incense," or perfumes. It is like balm; thick, odoriferous, and medicinal. --- Myrrh, (stactes); Hebrew Lot. A liquor stamped from fresh myrrh pilled, with a little water. (Calmet) --- Sometimes it is translated Gutta, a drop. (Psalm xliv. 9.) (Menochius) --- Turpentine. St. Jerome and the Septuagint seem to have read Bothmin instead of the present Hebrew Batenim, which some translate, "nuts of the pistacium," (Bochart); which hand in clusters, and are of an oblong shape. Vitellius first brought them out of Syria. (Pliny, Natural History xv. 22.) --- Almonds; Septuagint nuts, of which almonds are one species. (Menochius)

43:12  And take with you double money, and carry back what you found in your sacks, lest perhaps it was done by mistake.

43:13  And take also your brother, and go to the man.

43:14  And may my almighty God make him favourable to you: and send back with you your brother, whom he keepeth, and this Benjamin: and as for me I shall be desolate without children.

Desolate. Hebrew and Septuagint, "Since I am deprived of my children, I am deprived of my children:" I must submit.

43:15  So the men took the presents, and double money, and Benjamin: and went down into Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

43:16  And when he had seen them, and Benjamin with them, he commanded the steward of his house, saying: Bring in the men into the house, and kill victims, and prepare a feast: because they shall eat with me at noon.

Victims: the blood of which was first offered to God, as he had appointed, (chap. xviii. 1[Leviticus xvii. 11?]; Leviticus xvii. 5.) and the flesh brought upon the table. If idolatry was then common in Egypt, as Calmet supposes, in opposition to Grotius, Joseph did not participate at least in that impiety. --- At noon. This was the time for the chief meal in Egypt. The Hebrews generally took something at this time, and again in the evening. To eat before noon was esteemed a mark of intemperance. (Ecclesiastes x. 16; Acts ii. 15.) Plato thought the people of Italy, who eat two full meals in the day, would never be eminent for wisdom or for prudence. (Athen. iv. 10.) (Calmet)

43:17  He did as he was commanded, and brought the men into the house.

43:18  And they being much afraid, said there one to another: Because of the money, which we carried back the first time in our sacks, we are brought in: that he may bring upon us a false accusation, and by violence make slaves of us and our asses.

43:19  Wherefore, going up to the steward of the house, at the door,

43:20  They said: Sir, we desire thee to hear us. We came down once before to buy food:

43:21  And when we had bought, and were come to the inn, we opened our sacks, and found our money in the mouths of the sacks: which we have now brought again in the same weight.

We opened. Chap. xlii. 35. They seem to have discovered the whole of their money only when they were in the presence of Jacob; though they had already, perhaps, seen part of it at the inn, and left it in their sacks for the satisfaction of their father. (Haydock)

43:22  And we have brought other money besides, to buy what we want: we cannot tell who put it in our bags.

43:23  But he answered: Peace be with you, fear not: your God, and the God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks. For the money, which you gave me, I have for good. And he brought Simeon out to them.

Your God. To Him we must always refer what advantage we derive from men. He inspired Joseph to give such orders to his stewards. --- I have for good. I received it, and was satisfied that it was good: you need not be uneasy; you are not suspected of any fraud. (Haydock) --- Hebrew, "Your money came into my hands." (Menochius)

43:24  And having brought them into the house, he fetched water, and they washed their feet, and he gave provender to their asses.

43:25  But they made ready the presents, against Joseph came at noon: for they had heard that they should eat bread there.

43:26  Then Joseph came in to his house, and they offered him the presents, holding them in their hands; and they bowed down with their face to the ground.

43:27  But he courteously saluting them again, asked them, saying: Is the old man your father in health, of whom you told me? Is he yet living?

43:28  And they answered: Thy servant our father, is in health; he is yet living. And bowing themselves, they made obeisance to him.

Living. The Samaritan and Septuagint add, "Joseph replied, Blessed be he of God: and bowing themselves," &c. Thus all Joseph's brethren adore him, chap. xxxvii. 7. (Haydock)

43:29  And Joseph lifting up his eyes, saw Benjamin, his brother by the same mother, and said: Is this your young brother, of whom you told me? And he said: God be gracious to thee, my son.

43:30  And he made haste, because his heart was moved upon his brother, and tears gushed out: and going into his chamber, he wept.

43:31  And when he had washed his face, coming out again, he refrained himself, and said: Set bread on the table.

43:32  And when it was set on, for Joseph apart, and for his brethren apart, for the Egyptians also that ate with him apart, (for it is unlawful for the Egyptians to eat with the Hebrews, and they think such a feast profane):

Hebrews. "They had the same aversion for all who did not adopt their superstition." (Porphyrius, Abstin. iv.) Herodotus, ii. 41, says, they would not use a knife which had been in the hands of a Greek, nor kiss him. This aversion arose, from their custom of abstaining from various meats which other nations eat. (Chaldean; &c.) They disliked the Hebrews, because they were also shepherds, chap. xlvi. 34 (Calmet); and because they knew they were accustomed to eat goats, oxen, and sheep, the objects of adoration in Egypt, (Exodus viii. 26): though they were not, probably, served upon Joseph's table. (Tirinus) --- They who dwelt in the towns could not bear even the Egyptian shepherds, because they were of a more stirring and warlike temper. (Calmet) (Cunaeus)

43:33  They sat before him, the first-born according to his birth-right, and the youngest according to his age. And they wondered very much;

They sat. This posture is more ancient than that of lying down at table. The Hebrews adopted the latter, from the Persians, during the captivity, Esther i. 6, and vii. 8. --- We have at least no earlier vestige of this custom in Scripture. (Calmet) --- Very much: as they were placed in that order by the steward. They knew not how he could so exactly discover who was born first, as there was so short an interval between the births of many of them. (Haydock)

43:34  Taking the messes which they received of him: and the greater mess came to Benjamin, so that it exceeded by five parts. And they drank, and were merry with him.

Of him. Joseph, the master of the feast, sends a portion to each of his guests, according to the ancient custom. (Plutarch, Sympos. ii.) --- Five parts: in order to distinguish Benjamin the more. So Hector reproaches Diomed for fleeing before him, though he was placed in the highest place at table among the Greeks, and had the largest portion both of meat and drink. --- Merry. Inebriati sunt, sometimes means intoxicated: but it is not at all probably that Joseph's brethren would indulge in any such excess, while they knew him not, (Calmet) and were under the impressions of fear and wonder. They took what was sufficient, and even decently abundant, with thankfulness for so unexpected an honour. (Haydock) --- The word is often taken in this sense, as at the feast of Cana, where Jesus would never have furnished such an abundance of wine for people already drunk. (John ii. 10; Proverbs xi. 24[25?].) Homer's feasts consist in every man taking what he pleased. (Calmet)

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World 2298, Year before Christ 1706. 5: Genesis xlii. 20. 9: Genesis xliv. 32. 20: Genesis xlii. 3.

Chapter 44

Joseph's contrivance to stop his brethren. The humble supplication of Juda.

44:1  And Joseph commanded the steward of his house, saying: Fill their sacks with corn, as much as they can hold: and put the money of every one in the top of his sack.

44:2  And in the mouth of the younger's sack put my silver cup, and the price which he gave for the wheat. And it was so done.

44:3  And when the morning arose, they were sent away with their asses.

44:4  And when they were now departed out of the city, and had gone forward a little way: Joseph sending for the steward of his house, said: Arise, and pursue after the men: and when thou hast overtaken them, say to them: Why have you returned evil for good?

Pursue; escorted by a troop of horsemen, to prevent resistance. (Menochius)

44:5  The cup which you have stolen, is that in which my lord drinketh, and in which he is wont to divine: you have done a very evil thing.

To divine. This was spoken by Joseph to his steward in jest; alluding to the notion of the people, who took him to be a diviner. (Challoner) --- St. Thomas Aquinas, 2, 2, q. 195, a. 7. Hebrew may be translated without attending to the points, "Is not this the cup, out of which my lord drinketh; and he has augured, or discovered, by it the evil which you have committed." Pliny (Natural History xxx. 2.) mentions a method of divining, by means of water in a basin. (Calmet) --- The Egyptians probably supposed, that Joseph used some means to disclose what was hidden; and he alludes, in jest, to their foolish notion. (Haydock) --- He had a right to afflict his guilty brethren; and as for Benjamin, who was innocent, he made him ample recompense for this transitory terror. Some think that the steward said, in which he is wont to divine, unauthorized by his master. (Menochius)

44:6  He did as he had commanded him. And having overtaken them, he spoke to them the same words.

44:7  And they answered: Why doth our lord speak so, as though thy servants had committed so heinous a fact?

44:8  The money, that we found in the top of our sacks, we brought back to thee from the land of Chanaan: how then should it be that we should steal out of thy lord's house, gold or silver?

44:9  With whomsoever of thy servants shall be found that which thou seekest, let him die, and we will be the bondmen of my lord.

44:10  And he said to them: Let it be according to your sentence: with whomsoever it shall be found, let him be my servant, and you shall be blameless.

Sentence. It is but just; yet I shall only insist on the detention of the culprit. (Calmet) --- Joseph wished to see whether the marks of attention, which he had shewn to Benjamin, would have excited the envy of his brethren (Menochius); and whether they would be concerned for him: thus he would discover their present dispositions. He might wish also to keep his younger brother out of danger, in case they were inclined to persecute him. (Haydock)

44:11  Then they speedily took down their sacks to the ground, and every man opened his sack.

44:12  Which when he had searched, beginning at the eldest, and ending at the youngest, he found the cup in Benjamin's sack.

44:13  Then they rent their garments, and loading their asses again, returned into the town.

The town, with heavy hearts, of which their torn garments were signs (Haydock): yet they say not a word in condemnation of Benjamin. They are determined either to clear him, or never to return home. (Menochius)

44:14  And Juda at the head of his brethren went in to Joseph (for he was not yet gone out of the place) and they all together fell down before him on the ground.

Juda, mindful of his engagement, (chap. xliii. 9,) and perhaps more eloquent and bolder than the rest. (Menochius)

44:15  And he said to them: Why would you do so? know you not that there is no one like me in the science of divining.

The science of divining. He speaks of himself according to what he was esteemed in that kingdom. And, indeed, he being truly a prophet, knew more without comparison than any of the Egyptian sorcerers. (Challoner) --- Hebrew, Septuagint, and Chaldean, "knew ye not that a man like me would divine with certainty," and presently discover any fraud? (Calmet)

44:16  And Juda said to him: What shall we answer my lord? or what shall we say, or be able justly to allege? God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants: behold, we are all bondmen to my lord, both we, and he with whom the cup was found.

Iniquity. He begins with the greatest humility, acknowledging that they were justly punished by God for some transgression, though they were, in his opinion, innocent of any theft. (Haydock) --- Perhaps he might imagine, that Benjamin had been guilty, (Bonfrere) and is willing to bear a part of the blame with the rest; or his conscience still presents before him the injustice done to Joseph so long before. (Haydock)

44:17  Joseph answered: God forbid that I should do so: he that stole the cup, he shall be my bondman: and go you away free to your father.

44:18  Then Juda coming nearer, said boldly: I beseech thee, my lord, let thy servant speak a word in thy ears, and be not angry with thy servant: for after Pharao thou art,

Boldly, perceiving that he had to deal with an equitable judge. --- Thou art; the second man in the kingdom. Hebrew, "even as Pharao."

44:19  My lord. Thou didst ask thy servants the first time: Have you a father or a brother.

44:20  And we answered thee, my lord: We have a father an old man, and a young boy, that was born in his old age; whose brother by the mother is dead; and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him tenderly.

Is left of, (habet mater.) Rachel had been dead about twenty-four years. (Haydock)

44:21  And thou saidst to thy servants: Bring him hither to me, and I will set my eyes on him.

44:22  We suggested to my lord: The boy cannot leave his father: for if he leave him, he will die.

44:23  And thou saidst to thy servants: Except your youngest brother come with you, you shall see my face no more.

44:24  Therefore when we were gone up to thy servant our father, we told him all that my lord had said.

44:25  And our father said: Go again, and buy us a little wheat.

44:26  And we said to him: We cannot go: if our youngest brother go down with us, we will set out together: otherwise, without him we dare not see the man's face.

44:27  Whereunto he answered: You know that my wife bore me two.

44:28  One went out, and you said: A beast devoured him; and hitherto he appeareth not.

44:29  If you take this also, and any thing befall him in the way, you will bring down my grey hairs with sorrow unto hell.

44:30  Therefore, if I shall go to thy servant, our father, and the boy be wanting, (whereas his life dependeth upon the life of him)

44:31  And he shall see that he is not with us, he will die, and thy servants shall bring down his grey hairs with sorrow unto hell.

With us, is not now found in Hebrew. But it is in the Samaritan, Septuagint, Syriac, and Chaldean. (Calmet) --- His grey hairs. That is, his person, now far advanced in years. --- With sorrow unto hell. The Hebrew word for hell is here Sheola, the Greek hades: it is not taken for the hell of the damned; but for that place of souls below, where the servants of God were kept before the coming of Christ. Which place, both in the Scripture and in the creed, is named hell. (Challoner) --- In this speech, we find many particulars not mentioned before; whence it appears, that the sacred historian does not always specify every circumstance. But, in relating the same speech, uses various expressions to the same purport. (Calmet)

44:32  Let me be thy proper servant, who took him into my trust, and promised, saying: If I bring him not again, I will be guilty of sin against my father for ever.

44:33  Therefore I, thy servant, will stay instead of the boy in the service of my lord, and let the boy go up with his brethren.

The boy. I am older, and more fit for service. (Menochius)

44:34  For I cannot return to my father without the boy, lest I be a witness of the calamity that will oppress my father.

My father; who will drop down dead, oppressed with grief. How eloquent and pathetic was this address! Joseph could bear no more.

Cross-references: 19: Genesis xlii. 13. 23: Genesis xliii. 3. and 5. 28: Genesis xxxvii. 20. and 33. 32: Genesis xliii. 9.

Chapter 45

Joseph maketh himself known to his brethren: and sendeth for his father.

45:1  Joseph could no longer refrain himself before many that stood by: whereupon he commanded that all should go out, and no stranger be present at their knowing one another.

45:2  And he lifted up his voice with weeping, which the Egyptians, and all the house of Pharao heard.

Weeping, with a loud cry, being unable to restrain himself. The servants, who were in the adjoining apartments, heard this cry and declaration of Joseph, acknowledging one common father with these men; and they presently conveyed the intelligence to the king. (Haydock)

45:3  And he said to his brethren: I am Joseph: Is my father yet living? His brethren could not answer him, being struck with exceeding great fear.

45:4  And he said mildly to them: Come nearer to me. And when they were come near him, he said: I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.

Nearer; that no one might hear what he was going to say respecting their fault. (Menochius) --- It is thus we ought to treat those who have injured us. He excuses his brethren as much as possible. (Haydock) See chap. l. 20.

45:5  Be not afraid, and let it not seem to you a hard case that you sold me into these countries: for God sent me before you into Egypt for your preservation.

Hard. Hebrew, "Be not indignant in your eyes." Perhaps he was afraid, lest they should begin to accuse one another, as the authors of the deed, and thus disturb the harmony of this reconciliation. He perfectly understands the conduct of divine Providence, which can draw good out of evil, and cause even the malice of men to co-operate in the execution of his designs. (Calmet) --- God did not sanction or will this malice, as Calvin, &c., impiously assert. (Tirinus)

45:6  For it is two years since the famine began to be upon the land, and five years more remain, wherein there can be neither ploughing nor reaping.

Reaping, as in common years, though the places near the Nile might produce some little; (Menochius) and hence the Egyptians ask Joseph for seed, chap. xlvii. 19. (Calmet)

45:7  And God sent me before, that you may be preserved upon the earth, and may have food to live.

45:8  Not by your counsel was I sent hither, but by the will of God: who hath made me as it were a father to Pharao, and lord of his whole house, and governor in all the land of Egypt.

Counsel. Joseph's brethren had no design of elevating him to so high a dignity; but God's will directed Pharao to appoint him his counsellor or prime minister. His father. (Haydock) --- So the Roman emperors styled the prefects of the Praetorium, and the Caliphs their chief minister. (Calmet)

45:9  Make haste, and go ye up to my father, and say to him: Thus saith thy son Joseph: God hath made me lord of the whole land of Egypt; come down to me, linger not.

45:10  And thou shalt dwell in the land of Gessen: and thou shalt be near me, thou and thy sons, and thy son's sons, thy sheep, and thy herds, and all things that thou hast.

Gessen, to the north-east of Egypt, near me, at Tanis, in the Delta and near the promised land, being a part of Arabia. (Haydock) --- This country is often refreshed by showers of rain, (Calmet) which never falls in most parts of Egypt. It is intersected by many canals, and is very rich and proper for pasturage. (Haydock)

45:11  And there I will feed thee, (for there are yet five years of famine remaining) lest both thou perish, and thy house, and all things that thou hast.

Perish. Hebrew, be reduced to poverty. He fed them like the priests, chap. xlvii. 12, 22. (Calmet)

45:12  Behold, your eyes, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, see that it is my mouth that speaketh to you.

My mouth. You now recognize my features and my speech; particularly you, my dear Benjamin. (Haydock) --- I speak no longer by an interpreter. (Menochius)

45:13  You shall tell my father of all my glory, and all things that you have seen in Egypt: make haste and bring him to me.

45:14  And falling upon the neck of his brother Benjamin, he embraced him and wept: and Benjamin in like manner wept also on his neck.

45:15  And Joseph kissed all his brethren, and wept upon every one of them: after which they were emboldened to speak to him.

45:16  And it was heard, and the fame was spread abroad in the king's court: The brethren of Joseph are come; and Pharao with all his family was glad.

Family, and courtiers. They were all so enraptured with Joseph's conduct, that they rejoiced in whatever gave him pleasure. (Menochius) --- They thought, perhaps, that his relations would resemble him, and be of service to Egypt. (Haydock)

45:17  And he spoke to Joseph that he should give orders to his brethren, saying: Load your beasts, and go into the land of Chanaan,

45:18  And bring away from thence your father and kindred, and come to me; and I will give you all the good things of Egypt, that you may eat the marrow of the land.

Marrow; which is an emphatical expression, to signify the best things of Egypt, Chaldean. Hebrew, "the fat, or the cream of the land." (Calmet)

45:19  Give orders also that they take waggons out of the land of Egypt, for the carriage of their children and their wives; and say: Take up your father, and make haste to come with all speed:

45:20  And leave nothing of your household stuff; for all the riches of Egypt shall be yours.

Leave nothing. Hebrew may have another meaning, which Calmet approves, "Let not your eye spare your furniture." Be not concerned to leave what may be useless, as most of the husbandry utensils would be in Egypt, "for all," &c.

45:21  And the sons of Israel did as they were bid. And Joseph gave them waggons according to Pharao's commandment: and provisions for the way.

45:22  He ordered also to be brought out for every one of them two robes: but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, with five robes of the best:

Two robes ( stolas ) hanging down to the feet. These properly belong to women. But they are worn by men in the East. It was customary to make presents of such robes, as it is still among the great men and kings of that country. Lucullus kept 6000 cloaks in his wardrobe. (Horat.[Horace?] 1. sat. 2.) (Calmet) --- Of silver, sicles. The Septuagint has "of gold," as also chap. xxxvii. 28.

45:23  Sending to his father as much money and raiment; adding besides, ten he-asses, to carry off all the riches of Egypt, and as many she-asses, carrying wheat and bread for the journey.

As much...besides. This is omitted in Hebrew or at least is left ambiguous, "He sent in like manner to his father ten," &c. But the Syriac and Septuagint explain it like the Vulgate. --- She-asses. Septuagint, "mules." --- Bread. Hebrew adds, "meat," or provisions. (Calmet) --- These presents might convince Jacob that Joseph was still alive. (Haydock)

45:24  So he sent away his brethren, and at their departing said to them: Be not angry in the way.

Angry. A prudent admonition at all times, but particularly now, to Joseph's brethren; lest reflecting on his excessive kindness, they should each wish to remove from themselves the stigma of cruelty towards him, by throwing it upon others. (Haydock)

45:25  And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of Chanaan to their father Jacob.

45:26  And they told him, saying: Joseph, thy son, is living; and he is ruler in all the land of Egypt. Which when Jacob heard, he awaked as it were out of a deep sleep, yet did not believe them.

He awaked, &c. His heart was overpowered between hope and distrust. He seemed to himself to be dreaming. Septuagint, "in an ecstacy." Such a sudden transition has oftentimes caused death. (Haydock)

45:27  They on the other side told the whole order of the thing. And when he saw the waggons, and all that he had sent, his spirit revived,

Revived; like a lamp, which was just going out, for want of oil, resumes fresh vigour when a new supply is poured in. (St. Chrysostom)

45:28  And he said: It is enough for me if Joseph, my son, be yet living: I will go and see him before I die.

Cross-references: 4: Acts vii. 13. 5: Genesis l. 20.

Chapter 46

Israel warranted by a vision from God: goeth down into Egypt with all his family.

46:1  And Israel taking his journey, with all that he had, came to the well of the oath, and killing victims there to the God of his father Isaac,

The well of the oath. Bersabee.

46:2  He heard him, by a vision in the night, calling him, and saying to him: Jacob, Jacob. And he answered him: Lo, here I am.

46:3  God said to him: I am the most mighty God of thy father; fear not, go down into Egypt, for I will make a great nation of thee there.

Fear not. He might be apprehensive, lest his children should be depraved, living among idolaters, or prefer Egypt before the promised land. He was also afraid to undertake this journey without consulting God. (Menochius)

46:4  I will go down with thee thither, and will bring thee back again from thence: Joseph also shall put his hands upon thy eyes.

Thence; in thy posterity. Septuagint add at last, or after a long time. Jacob's bones were brought back and buried in Chanaan. (Calmet) --- Eyes, as he is the most dear to thee. Parents closed the eyes of their children in death. The Romans opened them again when the corpse was upon the funeral pile; thinking it a mark of disrespect for the eyes to be shut to heaven; "ut neque ab homine supremum eos spectari fas sit, & coelo non ostendi, nefas. " (Pliny, xi. 37.)

46:5  And Jacob rose up from the well of the oath: and his sons took him up, with their children and wives in the waggons, which Pharao had sent to carry the old man,

46:6  And all that he had in the land of Chanaan: and he came into Egypt with all his seed;

46:7  His sons, and grandsons, daughters, and all his offspring together.

Daughters. Dina, and grand-daughter Sara, (ver. 17,) and his sons' wives, &c. (Calmet) --- We may observe, that all here mentioned were not born at the time when Jacob went down into Egypt, but they were before he or Joseph died; that is, during the space of 17 or 71 years. See St. Augustine, q. 151, 173. (Menochius) --- The names of the Hebrew and Septuagint vary some little from the Vulgate, which may be attributed to the difference of pronunciation, or to the same person having many names. The number is also different in the Septuagint as the authors of that version have, perhaps, inserted some names taken from other parts of Scripture, to remove any apparent contradiction. The genealogies of Juda, Joseph, and Benjamin, are carried farther than the rest, as those families were of greater consequence.

46:8  And these are the names of the children of Israel, that entered into Egypt, he and his children. His first-born Ruben,

46:9  The sons of Ruben: Henoch and Phallu, and Hesron and Charmi.

Hesron and Charmi, were probably born in Egypt, as Ruben had only two sons, chap. xlii. 37. (Philo.)

46:10  The sons of Simeon: Jamuel and Jamin and Ahod, and Jachin and Sohar, and Saul, the son of a woman of Chanaan.

Jamuel. Numbers xxvi. 12, he is called Namuel. --- Jachin is Jarid [ Jarib?], 1 Paralipomenon iv. 24. (Calmet)

46:11  The sons of Levi: Gerson and Caath, and Merari.

46:12  The sons of Juda: Her and Onan, and Sela, and Phares and Zara. And Her and Onan died in the land of Chanaan. And sons were born to Phares: Hesron and Hamul.

Were born, afterwards. (Menochius)

46:13  The sons of Issachar: Thola and Phua, and Job and Semron.

46:14  The sons of Zabulon: Sared, and Elon, and Jahelel.

46:15  These are the sons of Lia, whom she bore in Mesopotamia of Syria, with Dina, his daughter. All the souls of her sons and daughters, thirty-three.

Syria. This must be restrained to her seven children. --- Thirty-three, comprising Lia or Jacob; but without Her and Onan, who were dead. (Calmet)

46:16  The sons of Gad: Sephion and Haggi, and Suni and Esebon, and Heri and Arodi, and Areli.

46:17  The sons of Aser: Jamne and Jesua, and Jessuri and Beria, and Sara their sister. The sons of Beria: Heber and Melchiel.

46:18  These are the sons of Zelpha, whom Laban gave to Lia, his daughter. And these she bore to Jacob, sixteen souls.

46:19  The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife: Joseph and Benjamin.

46:20  And sons were born to Joseph, in the land of Egypt, whom Aseneth, the daughter of Putiphare, priest of Heliopolis, bore him: Manasses and Ephraim.

Ephraim. The Septuagint take in here the children of both, Numbers xxvi. 29, 35.

46:21  The sons of Benjamin: Bela and Bechor, and Asbel and Gera, and Naaman and Echi, and Ross and Mophim, and Ophim and Ared.

Benjamin. Ten in number; though the Septuagint have only nine, and suppose that some of them were his grand-children. He was 33 (or 24, Menochius) years old. (Calmet) --- Grotius thinks three names have been made out of two; Echi, Ros, and Mophim, out of Ahiram and Supham, as we read, Numbers xxvi. 38.

46:22  These are the sons of Rachel, whom she bore to Jacob: all the souls, fourteen.

46:23  The sons of Dan: Husim.

Sons. The Arabic has son. Husim is Suham, (Numbers xxvi. 42,) by change and transposition of letters. (Kennicott)

46:24  The sons of Nephthali: Jaziel and Guni, and Jeser and Sallem.

46:25  These are the sons of Bala, whom Laban gave to Rachel, his daughter: and these she bore to Jacob: all the souls, seven.

46:26  All the souls that went with Jacob into Egypt, and that came out of his thigh, besides his sons' wives, sixty-six.

Sixty-six; not including Jacob, Joseph, and his two children, who make up 70, ver. 27. (Deuteronomy x. 22.) The Septuagint taking in Joseph's grand-children, read 75; in which they are followed by St. Stephen, Acts vii. 14. See St. Jerome q. Heb. (Calmet) --- St. Augustine cannot account for these grand-children and great grand-children of Joseph being mentioned as coming with Jacob into Egypt, since some of them were not born during his life-time. He suspects some hidden mystery. (Worthington) See ver. 7. --- Some think St. Stephen excludes Jacob, Joseph, and his sons; and includes the 64 men, with 11 wives. (Du Hamel)

46:27  And the sons of Joseph, that were born to him in the land of Egypt, two souls. All the souls of the house of Jacob, that entered into Egypt, were seventy.

46:28  And he sent Juda before him to Joseph, to tell him; and that he should meet him in Gessen.

46:29  And when he was come thither, Joseph made ready his chariot, and went up to meet his father in the same place: and seeing him, he fell upon his neck, and embracing him, wept.

46:30  And the father said to Joseph: Now shall I die with joy, because I have seen thy face, and leave thee alive.

46:31  And Joseph said to his brethren, and to all his father's house: I will go up, and will tell Pharao, and will say to him: My brethren, and my father's house, that were in the land of Chanaan, are come to me:

46:32  And the men are shepherds, and their occupation is to feed cattle; their flocks, and herds, and all they have, they have brought with them.

46:33  And when he shall call you, and shall say: What is your occupation?

46:34  You shall answer: We, thy servants, are shepherds, from our infancy until now, both we and our fathers. And this you shall say, that you may dwell in the land of Gessen, because the Egyptians have all shepherds in abomination.

Abomination. See chap. xliii. 32. The source of this hatred against foreign shepherds, was probably because, about 100 years before Abraham, the shepherd-kings, Hycussos, had got possession of a great part of Egypt, and were at last expelled by the kings of Thebais. See Manetho ap. Eusebius, Praep. x. 13. Another reason why they hated foreigners was, because they slew and eat sheep, &c., which they themselves adored. The Egyptians kept sheep for this purpose, and for the benefits to be derived from their wool, &c., chap. xlvii. 17. (Calmet) --- Joseph took advantage of this disposition of the inhabitants, to keep his brethren at a distance from them, that they might not be perverted. He does not introduce them at court, that no jealousy might be excited. He shews that he is not ashamed of his extraction. (Menochius)

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World 2298, Year before Christ 1706. 5: Acts vii. 15. 6: Josue xxiv. 5.[4.?]; Psalm civ. 23.; Isaias lii. 4. 8: Exodus i. 2. and vi. 14.; Numbers xxvi. 5.; 1 Paralipomenon v. 1. and 3. 10: Exodus vi. 15.; 1 Paralipomenon iv. 24. 11: 1 Paralipomenon vi. 1. 12: 1 Paralipomenon ii. 3. and iv. 21. 13: 1 Paralipomenon vii. 1. 17: 1 Paralipomenon vii. 30. 20: Genesis xli. 50. 21: 1 Paralipomenon vii. 6. and viii. 1. 27: Deuteronomy x. 22.

Chapter 47

Jacob and his sons are presented before Pharao: he giveth them the land of Gessen. The famine forceth the Egyptians to sell all their possessions to the king.

47:1  Then Joseph went in and told Pharao, saying: My father and brethren, their sheep and their herds, and all that they possess, are come out of the land of Chanaan: and behold they stay in the land of Gessen.

47:2  Five men also, the last of his brethren, he presented before the king:

The last. Extremos. Some interpret this word of the chiefest, and most sightly: but Joseph seems rather to have chosen out such as had the meanest appearance, that Pharao might not think of employing them at court, with danger of their morals and religion; (Challoner) or in the army, where they might be distracted with many cares, and be too much separated from one another. (Haydock) --- He took such of his brethren as came first at hand. (Vatable)

47:3  And he asked them: What is your occupation? They answered: We, thy servants, are shepherds, both we and our fathers.

47:4  We are come to sojourn in thy land, because there is no grass for the flocks of thy servants, the famine being very grievous in the land of Chanaan: and we pray thee to give orders that we thy servants may be in the land of Gessen.

47:5  The king therefore said to Joseph: Thy father and thy brethren are come to thee.

47:6  The land of Egypt is before thee: make them dwell in the best place, and give them the land of Gessen. And if thou knowest that there are industrious men among them, make them rulers over my cattle.

47:7  After this Joseph brought in his father to the king, and presented him before him: and he blessed him.

Blessed him, Pharao; saying, perhaps, God save the king; or, O king live for ever: thus wishing that he might enjoy all sorts of blessings. (Menochius) --- It is generally taken in this sense, when men bless one another; but when they bless God, they mean to praise, supplicate, or thank him. (Calmet)

47:8  And being asked by him: How many are the days of the years of thy life?

47:9  He answered: The days of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty years, few and evil, and they are not come up to the days of the pilgrimage of my fathers.

Pilgrimage. He hardly deigns to style it life, as he was worn out with labour and sorrows, and was drawing fast to an end, so much sooner than his ancestors. Isaac had lived 180 years, and was only dead the year before Joseph was made ruler of Egypt. Some had lived above 900 years. (Haydock)

47:10  And blessing the king, he went out.

47:11  But Joseph gave a possession to his father and his brethren in Egypt, in the best place of the land, in Ramesses, as Pharao had commanded.

47:12  And he nourished them, and all his father's house, allowing food to every one.

47:13  For in the whole world there was want of bread, and a famine had oppressed the land, more especially of Egypt and Chanaan;

Chanaan. The whole world that was inhabited, and known to the Hebrews, felt perhaps the effects of this raging famine; but the countries here mentioned were the most afflicted. (Haydock)

47:14  Out of which he gathered up all the money for the corn which they bought, and brought it in to the king's treasure.

Treasure, reserving nothing for himself. (Philo)

47:15  And when the buyers wanted money, all Egypt came to Joseph, saying: Give us bread: why should we die in thy presence, having now no money?

Wanted. Or "failed both in Egypt and Chanaan," as the Hebrew insinuates. (Haydock)

47:16  And he answered them: Bring me your cattle, and for them I will give you food, if you have no money.

47:17  And when they had brought them, he gave them food in exchange for their horses, and sheep, and oxen, and asses: and he maintained them that year for the exchange of their cattle.

47:18  And they came the second year, and said to him: We will not hide from our lord, how that our money is spent, and our cattle also are gone: neither art thou ignorant that we have nothing now left but our bodies and our lands.

Second; or the next year after they had sold their cattle; the fourth of the famine, or perhaps the last, since they ask for seed, ver. 19. In that year, Joseph gave back the cattle, &c., to the Egyptians, on condition that they should ever after pay the fifth part of the products of the land to the king, the sole proprietor, who had thus full authority to send them to till any part of his dominions. (Calmet)

47:19  Why therefore shall we die before thy eyes? we will be thine, both we and our lands: buy us to be the king's servants, and give us seed, lest for want of tillers the land be turned into a wilderness.

Servants. A person may part with his liberty, to preserve life. (Menochius)

47:20  So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt, every man selling his possessions, because of the greatness of the famine. And he brought it into Pharao's hands:

47:21  And all its people from one end of the borders of Egypt, even to the other end thereof,

People, "he transplanted" from, &c., as the Hebrew, Arabic, &c., now read, by the change of one letter. Herodotus, ii. 108, says, the same person has never a field there two years together. Diodorus 1, also attests, that individuals have no property in Egypt, the land being divided among the priests, the king, and the military. Tradesmen always follow their father's profession, which makes them very skilful.

47:22  Except the land of the priests, which had been given them by the king: to whom also a certain allowance of food was given out of the public stores, and therefore they were not forced to sell their possessions.

Priests. This was done by the king's direction, as they were probably idolaters. (Menochius) --- The immunities of the sacred ministers have been respected both by Pagans, Jews, and Christians; by all who have had any sentiments of religion. Reason dictates that they should live by the altar. They have to labour for the truest interests of the people, and consequently are worthy of their hire. --- Which had been given, &c. Inasmuch as their wants were supplied, and the king forebore to claim their land. Hebrew, "only the land of the priests he, Joseph, bought not." (Haydock) --- If infidels did so much for their priests, ought we to do less for those of God? (St. Chrysostom, hom. 65.) (Worthington)

47:23  Then Joseph said to the people: Behold, as you see, both you and your lands belong to Pharao; take seed and sow the fields,

47:24  That you may have corn. The fifth part you shall give to the king; the other four you shall have for seed, and for food for your families and children.

47:25  And they answered: Our life is in thy hand; only let my lord look favourably upon us, and we will gladly serve the king.

47:26  From that time unto this day, in the whole land of Egypt, the fifth part is paid to the kings, and it is become as a law, except the land of the priests, which was free from this covenant.

This day. When Moses wrote, and long after, as we learn from Josephus, St. Clement of Alexandria, Diodorus, &c. (Calmet)

47:27  So Israel dwelt in Egypt, that is, in the land of Gessen, and possessed it; and grew, and was multiplied exceedingly.

47:28  And he lived in it seventeen years: and all the days of his life came to a hundred and forty-seven years.

47:29  And when he saw that the day of his death drew nigh, he called his son Joseph, and said to him: If I have found favour in thy sight, put thy hand under my thigh; and thou shalt shew me this kindness and truth, not to bury me in Egypt.

Thigh. To swear, as the steward of Abraham did, chap. xxiv. 2. --- Kindness and truth. This act of real mercy; or, shew me mercy, by promising freely to comply with my request; and truth, by fulfilling this oath. (Menochius)

47:30  But I will sleep with my fathers, and thou shalt take me away out of this land, and bury me in the burying-place of my ancestors. And Joseph answered him: I will do what thou hast commanded.

Place. Hebron, where Sara, Abraham, and Isaac reposed. (Calmet) --- Thus he manifested his belief in a future resurrection with his Saviour, who should be born in that land; and he admonished his descendants never to lose sight of it, nor forfeit the promises by their wicked conduct, chap. xxiii. 17. (Menochius) --- He teaches us likewise, to be solicitous to obtain Christian burial. (Worthington)

47:31  And he said: Swear then to me. And as he was swearing, Israel adored God, turning to the bed's head.

To the bed's head. St. Paul, (Hebrews xi. 21,) following the Greek translation of the Septuagint, reads adored the top of his rod. Where note, that the same word in the Hebrew, according to the different pointing of it, signifies both a bed and a rod. And to verify both these sentences, we must understand that Jacob, leaning on Joseph's rod, adored, turning towards the head of his bed: which adoration, inasmuch as it was referred to God, was an absolute, and sovereign worship: but inasmuch as it was referred to the rod of Joseph, as a figure of the sceptre, that is, of the royal dignity of Christ, was only an inferior and relative honour. (Challoner) --- St. Augustine proposes another very probable explanation. He adored God, supporting himself on the top of his staff, or of Joseph's sceptre, q. 162. The Septuagint and Syriac intimate, that Jacob bowed down respectfully towards the sceptre of his son, and thus complied with the explication which he had given to his dream, chap. xxxvii. 10. Others, who understood the Hebrew Hamitta, in the sense given to it by St. Jerome, Aquila, and Symmachus, suppose that after he had given his last instructions to Joseph in a sitting posture, growing weaker, he laid his head again upon his pillow. (Calmet) --- God was pleased to have this recorded in a language subject to such various interpretations; as he, perhaps, would have us to understand, that Jacob literally bowed down both to the bed-head and to the top of the sceptre. For many believe, that the Scripture has often several literal meanings. (Tirinus) --- If the Massoretic points had been known to the Septuagint, we should not have had this variation. But the learned generally agree, that they are of human, and even of very modern invention.

Cross-references: 15: Year of the World 2300, Year before Christ 1704. 29: Year of the World 2315, Year before Christ 1689. ** Genesis xxiv. 2. 30: Genesis xxiii. 17.

Chapter 48

Joseph visiteth his father in his sickness, who adopteth his two sons Manasses and Ephraim, and blesseth them, preferring the younger before the elder.

48:1  After these things, it was told Joseph that his father was sick; and he set out to go to him, taking his two sons Manasses and Ephraim.

Sick. Worse than when he was with him before. (Haydock)

48:2  And it was told the old man: Behold I thy son Joseph cometh to thee. And being strengthened, he sat on his bed.

Strengthened; with the thought of seeing this beloved son, and also with the prophetic spirit (Menochius) of God, which filled him with joy, &c, Galatians v. 22. (Haydock)

48:3  And when Joseph was come in to him, he said: God almighty appeared to me at Luza, which is in the land of Chanaan, and he blessed me,

48:4  And he said: I will cause thee to increase and multiply, and I will make of thee a multitude of people: and I will give this land to thee, and to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

Possession. He makes mention of this first vision of God to him, to shew that he had a right to Chanaan, and to adopt the two children of Joseph, who were each to have as much as his own children. (Haydock) --- Jacob's posterity enjoyed that land till the Messias came, with some few interruptions. But his spiritual children inherit a much better country, (of which this was a figure) an eternal kingdom in heaven.

48:5  So thy two sons, who were born to thee in the land of Egypt before I came hither to thee, shall be mine: Ephraim and Manasses shall be reputed to me as Ruben and Simeon.

Mine, by adoption; and shall be heads of their respective tribes. (Menochius)

48:6  But the rest whom thou shalt have after them, shall be thine, and shall be called by the name of their brethren in their possessions.

Thine. They shall not claim the same prerogative: they shall live among their brethren, Ephraim and Manasses. We read not that Joseph had any other children besides these two. (Calmet) --- The double portion, or birth-right, was thus transferred from Ruben to Joseph. (Du Hamel)

48:7  For, when I came out of Mesopotamia, Rachel died from me in the land of Chanaan in the very journey, and it was spring time: and I was going to Ephrata, and I buried her near the way of Ephrata, which by another name is called Bethlehem.

For when, &c. Hebrew, "as for me." Do not wonder that I should so earnestly desire to be laid in the tomb of Mambre, whereas your mother was buried at Ephrata. I was in a manner forced to bury her there, by the heat of the weather, (Menochius) and the confusion to which my family was then exposed, on account of the slaughter of the Sichemites. (Haydock) --- That place was, moreover, to be honoured with the birth of the Messias. (St. Augustine, q. 165.)

48:8  Then seeing his sons, he said to him: Who are these?

48:9  He answered: They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this place. And he said: Bring them to me, that I may bless them.

48:10  For Israel's eyes were dim by reason of his great age, and he could not see clearly. And when they were brought to him, he kissed and embraced them,

48:11  And said to his son: I am not deprived of seeing thee; moreover God hath shewn me thy seed.

Deprived. Hebrew, "I did not expect; or, I durst not pray " to God for a thing which I thought impossible; I mean, the happiness of seeing thee; and lo, God, &c.

48:12  And when Joseph had taken them from his father's lap, he bowed down with his face to the ground.

Lap, ( gremio, breast, ) after Jacob had embraced them; or from between his knees, where they knelt to receive his blessing. --- Bowed down, out of reverence to his father, and to beg of God that he would put words of comfort into the mouth of his father, on this solemn and important occasion. Then, in order that his children might not lean upon, or incommode Jacob, he placed them, the elder at his right-hand, the other at his left. (Haydock)

48:13  And he set Ephraim on his right-hand, that is, towards the left-hand of Israel; but Manasses on his left-hand, to wit, towards his father's right-hand, and brought them near to him.

48:14  But he stretching forth his right-hand, put it upon the head of Ephraim, the younger brother; and the left upon the head of Manasses, who was the elder, changing his hands.

Changing. Hebrew, "making his hands intelligent;" or giving to understand, by forming a cross with his extended hands, that he had some particular reason for so doing. (Haydock) --- By the preference given to Ephraim, he foreshewed his royal dignity, in giving kings to the ten tribes, (Eusebius) and that his tribe would surpass that of his brother in glory and numbers; (ver. 19,) and lastly, give birth to that great leader, Josue; who, as a figure of Christ, should introduce the Israelites into the promised land. (Menochius) --- The custom of imposing hands on a person, is of high antiquity, and is still practised in the Christian church in the ordination of her ministers. (Numbers viii. 10; Acts vi. 6.) See Matthew xix. 13; Numbers xxvii. 23. (Calmet) --- The cross of Christ is the source of all our exaltation. A preference for the younger children is generally observable in Scripture; being intended to shew that the Church, though chosen later out of all nations, should obtain the preference over the synagogue. (Theodoret.) (Tirinus)

48:15  And Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph, and said: God, in whose sight my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, God that feedeth me from my youth until this day:

48:16  The angel that delivereth me from all evils, bless these boys: and let my name be called upon them, and the names of my fathers Abraham, and Isaac; and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.

The angel guardian, who, by God's ordinance, has ever protected me, continue his kind attention towards these my grand-children. It is not probable that he, who was called God before, should now be styled an angel, as some Protestants would have us believe. (Haydock) --- St. Basil (contra Eunom. iii.) and St. Chrysostom, with many others, allege this text, to prove that an angel is given to man for the direction of his life, and to protect him against the assaults of the rebel angels, as Calvin himself dares not deny. --- Let my, &c. Let them partake of the blessings (promised by name to me, to Abraham, and to Isaac) among the other tribes; or, may God bless them, in consideration of his servants. Moses obtained pardon for the Hebrews, by reminding God of these his chosen friends, Exodus xxxii. (Worthington)

48:17  And Joseph seeing that his father had put his right-hand upon the head of Ephraim, was much displeased: and taking his father's hand, he tried to lift it from Ephraim's head, and to remove it to the head of Manasses.

Displeased; ( graviter accepit,) was grieved to see the elder son neglected; and thinking it might possibly proceed from a mistake, as his father's eyes were so dim that he did not know them, (ver. 8,) he ventured to suggest his sentiments to his father; but acquiesced in his decision. (Haydock) --- The greatest prophets are not always under actual inspiration. (Calmet)

48:18  And he said to his father: It should not be so, my father; for this is the first-born, put thy right-hand upon his head.

48:19  But he refusing, said: I know, my son, I know: and this also shall become a people, and shall be multiplied; but his younger brother shall be greater than he; and his seed shall grow into nations.

A people, ( in populos ). He shall be father of many peoples. The tribe of Manasses was divided, and had a large territory on either side of the Jordan, immediately north of that which fell to the lots of Ephraim and of Gad. (Haydock) --- Grow. Hebrew, "shall be the fulness of nations;" or shall possess every thing that can make a nation great and enviable. The event justified this prediction. Ephraim was at the head of the ten tribes, most valiant and powerful, 3 Kings xi. 26. (Calmet)

48:20  And he blessed them at that time, saying: In thee shall Israel be blessed, and it shall be said: God do to thee as to Ephraim, and as to Manasses. And he set Ephraim before Manasses.

In thee, Joseph. Septuagint, "in you," Ephraim and Manasses. The Israelites shall wish the same happiness to their greatest friends, as that which you have enjoyed. (Menochius)

48:21  And he said to Joseph, his son: Behold I die, and God will be with you, and will bring you back into the land of your fathers.

48:22  I give thee a portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorrhite with my sword and bow.

Thee. In thy posterity; and particularly in Ephraim, to whose lot it shall fall, a portion. Hebrew shecem; which the Septuagint explain of the city, or field near it, which Jacob had formerly purchased; and which, being wrested from him after he had left that country, by the Amorrhites, he recovered by the sword. (Masius.) --- The particulars of this transaction are not given in Scripture. (Menochius) --- The children of Joseph buried their father in this field, Josue xxiv. 32. There also was Jacob's well, John iv. 5. We have already observed, that Jacob restored whatever his sons had taken unjustly from the unhappy Sichemites, chap. xxxiv. 30. --- Sword and bow, is understood by St. Jerome and Onkelos in a spiritual sense, to denote his justice and earnest prayer, by which he merited the divine protection; (Calmet) or it may mean the money, which he had procured with hard labour. (St. Jerome, q. Heb.)

Cross-references: 1: Year of the World 2315. 3: Genesis xxviii. 13. 5: Genesis xli. 50. ** Josue xiii. 7. and 29. 7: Genesis xxxv. 19. 15: Hebrews xi. 21. 16: Genesis xxxi. 29. and xxxii. 2.; Matthew xviii. 10. 22: Josue xvi. 1. and xv. 7. ** Josue xxiv. 8.; Deuteronomy xiii. 16.

Chapter 49

Jacob's prophetical blessings of his twelve sons. His death.

49:1  And Jacob called his sons, and said to them: Gather yourselves together, that I may tell you the things that shall befall you in the last days.

Last. Hebrew, "future days." It was an ancient and commendable custom, for parents to assemble their children in their last moments, to give them salutary instructions. They often also foretold to them what should happen. See Deuteronomy xxxi; Josue xxiv; 1 Kings xii; Tobias iv. 3; 1 Machabees ii. Cyrus and Socrates both believed that they had then an insight into futurity. (Calmet)

49:2  Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob, hearken to Israel, your father:

49:3  Ruben, my first-born, thou art my strength, and the beginning of my sorrow; excelling in gifts, greater in command.

My strength, &c. He calls him his strength, as being born whilst his father was in his full strength and vigour: he calls him the beginning of his sorrow, because cares and sorrows usually come on with the birth of children. --- Excelling in gifts, &c., because the first-born had a title to a double portion, and to have the command over his brethren, which Ruben forfeited by his sin; being poured out as water; that is, spilt and lost. (Challoner) --- In command. He ought to have succeeded to his father in authority. But Joseph entered in upon his rejection, 1 Paralipomenon v. 1. The priesthood was given to Levi's descendants; and the regal power, partly to those of Joseph, who reigned over the ten tribes, for a long time; and partly to the posterity of Juda, who exercised dominion over all the people of Israel. (Chaldee) (Worthington)

49:4  Thou art poured out as water, grow thou not; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed, and didst defile his couch.

Grow thou not. This was not meant by way of a curse or imprecation; but by way of a prophecy, foretelling that the tribe of Ruben should not inherit the pre-eminences usually annexed to the first birth-right, viz., the double portion, the being prince or lord over the other brethren, and the priesthood: of which the double portion was given to Joseph, the princely office to Juda, and the priesthood to Levi. (Challoner) --- Thou hast abandoned thyself to thy brutal passion; do so no more, ne adjicias. (St. Jerome, q. Heb.) Let Ruben live, and die not; let him be small in number, Deuteronomy xxxiii. 6. His tribe never became very considerable. (Calmet) --- Couch. See chap xxxv. 22. Eternal infamy attends the name of Ruben. (Haydock)

49:5  Simeon and Levi brethren: vessels of iniquity waging war.

Brethren. Born of the same parents; similar in disposition. --- Vessels; instruments. Septuagint and Chaldean, "they have completed wickedness," as they read calu, instead of the present Hebrew cele, which is adopted by Aquila. (Calmet)

49:6  Let not my soul go into their counsel, nor my glory be in their assembly: because in their fury they slew a man, and in their self-will they undermined a wall.

Slew a man, viz., Sichem, the son of Hemor, with all his people, chap. xxxiv. Mystically and prophetically it alludes to Christ; whom their posterity, viz., the priests and the scribes, put to death. (Challoner) --- A wall, Sichem, which they destroyed: or, according to the Septuagint, "they ham-strung" a bull, as the same Hebrew word signifies; both which may refer to the prince of the town, or to Joseph, (Calmet) in whose persecution these two were principally concerned. Jacob declares, he had no share in their attack upon the people of Sichem: his soul, or his glory, was not impaired by their misconduct. (Haydock)

49:7  Cursed be their fury, because it was stubborn: and their wrath, because it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter them in Israel.

Scatter them. Levi had no division allotted to him, but only some cities among the other tribes; and Simeon had only a part of Juda's lot, which was so small, that his descendants were forced to seek for a fresh establishment; some in Gader, others in Mount Seir. (1 Paralipomenon iv. 39; Josue xi. 2.) Simeon alone was not blessed by Moses, Deuteronomy xxxiii. (Du Hamel) --- The Levites obtained a blessing, on account of their distinguished zeal; (Numbers xxv.) while Zambri rivets, as it were, the curse upon the family of Simeon. (Menochius)

49:8  Juda, thee shall thy brethren praise: thy hands shall be on the necks of thy enemies; the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee.

Praise. He alludes to his name, his martial prowess, and dominion over all his brethren; who should be all called Jews, and submit to his sway. Some explain all this of Jesus Christ; others refer the first part of the prophecy to Juda. (Haydock)

49:9  Juda is a lion's whelp: to the prey, my son, thou art gone up: resting thou hast couched as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall rouse him?

A lion's whelp, &c. This blessing of Juda foretelleth the strength of his tribe, the fertility of his inheritance, and principally that the sceptre, and legislative power, should not be utterly taken away from his race till about the time of the coming of Christ: as in effect it never was: which is a demonstration against the modern Jews, that the Messias is long since come; for the sceptre has long since been utterly taken away from Juda. (Challoner) --- This none can deny. Juda is compared to a lion, which was the emblem of his royal dignity, and was borne in the standards of that tribe. --- To the prey. Hebrew, "from the prey." He proceeds from victory to victory. He couches, ready to fall upon his prey; and, retiring to the mountains, is still eager to renew the attack. (Calmet) --- Read the history of David and of Solomon, who, both in peace and war, were a terror to the surrounding nations.

49:10  The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the expectation of nations.

The sceptre. Almost every word in this verse has been explained in a different manner. But all the ancient Jews agree with Christians, that it contains a prediction of the Messias, and points out the period of his coming. Whether this was verified when Herod, a foreigner, got possession of the throne, and was acknowledged by the Jews, just about the time of our Saviour's nativity, as most of the fathers suppose; or it only took its full effect when Agrippa II lost all his power, the temple and the city were laid in ruins, and the whole nation dispersed for ever, it is not perhaps so easy to determine. In either supposition, the Messias has long since come. Jacob foretels, either that Christ would make his appearance as soon as the Jews should fall under a foreign yoke, and in this sense he was born about the 37th year of Herod the great --- or he should come just before the kingdom of Juda should have an end, which took place in the 70th year of the Christian era, or about 37 years after the public appearance and death of our Saviour. The sceptre shall not depart irrevocably from the Jews; over whom the tribe of Juda had always the greatest authority in appointing the princes, when they were not selected from the tribe itself, or from his thigh; till the Messias, who has been expected so long, shall come and gather all nations into his Church. Then the designs of Providence, in watching over the Jews, being accomplished, their republic shall be dissolved, because they have shed his blood, instead of acknowledging his celestial beauty, ver. 12. The evident signs of decay in the kingdom of the Jews, were sufficient to excite the attention of all to look for the Messias; and we read, both in St. John iv. 25, in Tacitus, and Suetorius, that his appearance was fully expected about that time. The sceptre is the emblem of sovereign, though not always independent, power. Juda and his posterity were always at the head of their brethren. They marched first in the wilderness; two of the judges were of this tribe. But their chief glory began with David, whose posterity the whole nation obeyed, till Jeroboam tore away the ten tribes. Still the tribe of Benjamin and the Levites adhered to Juda. During the captivity, there were judges admitted to superintend over their brethren; and King Joakim was raised to high authority. The rulers who came into power after the return of the Jews, were either of this tribe, at least by the mother's side, or were chosen and recognized by the tribe of Juda. Even Herod, in this sense, might be considered as a Jewish king, though a foreigner, as well as a Thracian might be counted a Roman emperor, without any diminution of the imperial authority of Rome. Perhaps indeed he was an usurper, till the nation acknowledged his authority two years after the birth of Christ. (Philo, de Temp. ii; Josephus, Antiquities xvii. 3.) "Herod was the first foreign king admitted by the Jews." (St. Augustine, City of God xviii. 45.) If, therefore, no stranger was to be acknowledged by the nation, till He came, who was to establish a spiritual and everlasting kingdom, the moment was arrived, when the Jews submitted to Herod, and Christ had actually been born two years. --- From Juda, or from that tribe; for Jacob gave peculiar blessings to each; (ver. 28,) and hence the fathers gather, that the Messias should spring from Juda. --- Ruler from his thigh, lineally descended from him, or acknowledged at least by his posterity, as all the legal princes were till the coming of Christ. --- Mechokek might also signify a teacher or scribe expounding the law of Moses, which subsisted for the same period; but this is more probably a farther explication of the sceptre, &c. (Calmet) --- Till had ci, which words being joined together, are always taken in this sense. (Helvicus.) --- Sent. Schiloach (or Ssolu e) seems to have been in St. Jerome's copy, though we now read Shiloh (or Ssole ) "to whom" the authority belongs; Septuagint, "to whom all things are reserved; or till the things arrive, which are laid up for him. (Calmet) --- Expectation, or congregation of nations, as Aggeus afterwards foretold, ii. 8. If we examine all the plausible explications which have been given to this verse, we shall find that they all tend to convey the same truth. "The sceptre (shebet, rod, crook, power or tribe) shall not depart (cease, be taken off) from Juda, (the tribe or the Jews) nor a leader (scribe, lawyer, or legislator) from his thigh, (between his feet, or from his banners) till He, who shall be sent, (shio, the pacific, his son, to whom it is, or the things are, reserved) arrive; and Him shall the nations expect, (and obey) to Him they shall look up (and be gathered). Whom will the Jews point out to whom all these characters agree, except our divine Lord, whom they also must one day adore? (Haydock)

49:11  Tying his foal to the vineyard, and his ass, O my son, to the vine. He shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of the grape.

Foal. The nations, which had not been subjected to the yoke of the old law. --- Vineyard; the house of Israel, the vineyard of the Lord of hosts, Isaias v. 7. Christ broke down the wall of separation, and made both one, Ephesians ii. 14. --- His ass, or the Jews. --- O my son; Juda, the Saviour king, who shall be born of thee, shall tie both Jews and Gentiles to the vine, which is himself, John xv. To the Jews he shall preach in person; but the Gentiles he shall call by his apostles, chosen out of the vineyard of the Jewish church. (Menochius) --- He shall wash his robe, his flesh, and his garment, or all his disciples, in his own blood; adorning them with all graces by means of his death, which must be applied to their souls, in the holy sacraments devoutly received, and in the Mass, where his blood is offered under the appearance of wine. (Haydock) See St. Ambrose, &c. Tertullian, (against Marc. iv.) shewing that Christ fulfilled the figures of the old law, interprets the stole to mean his body, and wine his blood. (Worthington) --- Jacob alludes also to fertility and abundance of vines, which should enrich the portion of Juda, particularly about Engaddi, Canticle of Canticles i. 13. (Calmet)

49:12  His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than milk.

Beautiful. The eyes and teeth contribute much to the beauty of a face. Our Saviour, rising form the dead, filled the hearts of the beholders with joy, as wine exhilarates the heart of man. (Menochius) --- The spouse in the Canticle of Canticles, (ver. 12,) compares the eyes of the bridegroom to the shining reddish, or fiery ones of pigeons: chaclili, beautiful, means shining red, &c. Jesus Christ seems to allude to this prophecy of Jacob, (Matthew xxi. 43. and John x. 16,) telling the Jews, that the kingdom of God should be taken from them, and one fold should be established for all. God would then cease to distinguish the Jews by any other marks than those of his wrath. He would no longer be their king and shepherd. His sceptre, or pastoral crook, should be taken off the tribe of Juda, and it should be confounded with the rest, as it is at this day. (Calmet)

49:13  Zabulon shall dwell on the sea-shore, and in the road of ships, reaching as far as Sidon.

Road. The territory of Zabulon was famous for good harbours, being situated between the Mediterranean and the sea of Genezareth. (Menochius) --- Jacob marks out the limits to be assigned his children, 200 years before Chanaan was conquered; and Moses wrote this before they possessed a foot of land in it. The reason why Zabulon is placed before his elder brother Issachar, is not known. --- Sidon: not the city, but the territory of Sidon, or Phenicia. (Calmet)

49:14  Issachar shall be a strong ass, lying down between the borders. 16 He saw rest that it was good: and the land that it was excellent: and he bowed his shoulder to carry, and became a servant under tribute. 16 Dan shall judge his people like another tribe in Israel. 17 Let Dan be a snake in the way, a serpent in the path, that biteth the horse's heels, that his rider may fall backward. 18 I will look for thy salvation, O Lord. 19 Gad, being girded, shall fight before him: and he himself shall be girded backward. 20 Aser, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield dainties to kings. 21 Nephthali, a hart let loose, and giving words of beauty. 22 Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold: the daughters run to and fro upon the wall; 23 But they that held darts, provoked him, and quarrelled with him, and envied him. 24 His bow rested upon the strong, and the bands of his arms and his hands were loosed, by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob: thence he came forth a pastor, the stone of Israel. 26 The God of thy father shall be thy helper, and the Almighty shall bless thee with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings of the deep that lieth beneath, with the blessings of the breasts and of the womb. 26 The blessings of thy father are strengthened with the blessings of his fathers: until the desire of the everlasting hills should come: may they be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren. 27 Benjamin a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and in the evening shall divide the spoil. 28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel: these things their father spoke to them, and he blessed every one with their proper blessings. 29 And he charged them, saying: I am now going to be gathered to my people: bury me with my fathers in the double cave, which is in the field of Ephron the Hethite, 30 Over-against Mambre, in the land of Chanaan, which Abraham bought together with the field, of Ephron the Hethite, for a possession to bury in. 31 There they buried him, and Sara his wife: there was Isaac buried with Rebecca, his wife: there also Lia doth lie buried. 32 And when he had ended the commandments, wherewith he instructed his sons, he drew up his feet upon the bed, and died: and he was gathered to his people.

Strong. Hebrew, "bony ass." Many of Jacob's children are compared to animals, which was customary in the eastern style. Homer compares Ajax with the ass, for his strength and patience, Iliad xii. Jacob thus indicates the laborious disposition of Issachar's tribe, which did not delight in war. Their country was the most fruitful of all Galilee. (Calmet)

Cross-references: 4: Genesis xxxv. 22.; 1 Paralipomenon v. 1. 6: Genesis xxxiv. 25. 7: Josue xix. 1. 9: 1 Paralipomenon v. 2. 10: Matthew ii. 6.; John i. 45. 22: 1 Paralipomenon v. 1. 30: Genesis xxiii. 17. 32: Year of the World 2315, Year before Christ 1689.

Chapter 50

The mourning for Jacob, and his interment. Joseph's kindness towards his brethren. His death.

50:1  And when Joseph saw this, he fell upon his father's face, weeping and kissing him.

Kissing him, as it was then the custom, in testimony of an ardent affection. (Menochius)

50:2  And he commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father.

Physicians, whose business it was to embalm dead bodies, with a composition of myrrh, &c., in order to keep them from putrefaction, (Menochius) as the Egyptian mummies are treated. (Haydock) --- The entrails are taken out, &c., by the embalmer during 30 days, and the body is left in salt and various drugs, for other 40, in all 70 days, as Herodotus informs us, (B. xi. 86,) and as Moses here insinuates, ver. 3. This was an honour peculiar to the kings. Before any person was buried, his praises were rehearsed; and it was lawful on this occasion to declare, what evil even the kings themselves had done; which sometimes caused them to be deprived of funeral honours. We have several funeral canticles preserved in Scripture: 2 Kings i. 18; iii. 33; 2 Paralipomenon xxxv. 25. (Calmet) --- The Lamentations of Jeremias were perhaps of this nature, on the death of King Josias. The usual time for mourning among the Jews, was 30 days for people of eminence, (Numbers xx.; Deuteronomy xxxiv. 8; Procopius) and seven for the rest, Ecclesiasticus xxii. 13. (Haydock)

50:3  And while they were fulfilling his commands, there passed forty days: for this was the manner with bodies that were embalmed, and Egypt mourned for him seventy days.

50:4  And the time of the mourning being expired, Joseph spoke to the family of Pharao: If I have found favour in your sight, speak in the ears of Pharao:

Expired. Before the corpse was interred, Joseph could not lay aside his mourning attire, in which it was not lawful to appear at court. (Calmet)

50:5  For my father made me swear to him, saying: Behold I die; thou shalt bury me in my sepulchre which I have digged for myself in the land of Chanaan. So I will go up and bury my father, and return.

Digged, in the sepulchre which Abraham had purchased. This circumstance, and the exact words here used by Joseph, are not mentioned elsewhere. (Haydock)

50:6  And Pharao said to him: Go up and bury thy father according as he made thee swear.

50:7  So he went up, and there went with him all the ancients of Pharao's house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt.

Ancients; chief officers. (Calmet) --- This is a name of dignity; like our aldermen. (Haydock)

50:8  And the house of Joseph with his brethren, except their children, and their flocks and herds, which they left in the land of Gessen.

50:9  He had also in his train chariots and horsemen: and it was a great company.

50:10  And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is situated beyond the Jordan: where celebrating the exequies with a great and vehement lamentation, they spent full seven days.

Atad, which was so called, from being encompassed with thorns. (Calmet) --- Beyond; with relation to Moses, (Haydock) or on the west side of the Jordan. (Calmet)

50:11  And when the inhabitants of Chanaan saw this, they said: This is a great mourning to the Egyptians. And therefore the name of that place was called, The mourning of Egypt.

Mourning: Hebrew, "Ebel Mitsraim beyond the Jordan." On this occasion they fasted till the evening: perhaps they also cut their flesh and plucked their hair, according to the manners of the Egyptians, which customs (Leviticus xix. 28; Deuteronomy xiv. 1.) were prohibited to the Jews. (Tirinus)

50:12  So the sons of Jacob did as he had commanded them.

50:13  And carrying him into the land of Chanaan, they buried him in the double cave, which Abraham had bought together with the field for a possession of a burying place, of Ephron, the Hethite, over-against Mambre.

50:14  And Joseph returned into Egypt with his brethren, and all that were in his company, after he had buried his father.

50:15  Now he being dead, his brethren were afraid, and talked one with another: Lest perhaps he should remember the wrong he suffered, and requite us all the evil that we did to him.

50:16  And they sent a message to him, saying: Thy father commanded us before he died,

A message; perhaps by Benjamin. (Menochius) --- They hope thus to obtain pardon for the sake of their deceased father, and for the sake of their common God.

50:17  That we should say thus much to thee from him: I beseech thee to forget the wickedness of thy brethren, and the sin and malice they practised against thee: we also pray thee, to forgive the servants of the God of thy father this wickedness. And when Joseph heard this, he wept.

Wept, that they should entertain no doubts respecting the reconciliation, which had taken place seventeen years before. (Haydock)

50:18  And his brethren came to him; and worshipping prostrate on the ground, they said: We are thy servants.

50:19  And he answered them: Fear not: can we resist the will of God?

Resist, &c. Hebrew, "Am I not subject to God; or, Am I a God," to oppose his will. Septuagint, "I belong to the Lord." You see that your designs against me have turned to our mutual advantage. Can I, therefore, think of punishing you? Repent, and obtain pardon of God: I certainly forgive you. (Haydock) --- Thus God drew good out of the evil, in which he had no share. (St. Augustine, City of God xiv. 27; St. Chrysostom, hom. 67.)

50:20  You thought evil against me: but God turned it into good, that he might exalt me, as at present you see, and might save many people.

50:21  Fear not: I will feed you and your children. And he comforted them, and spoke gently and mildly.

50:22  And he dwelt in Egypt with all his father's house; and lived a hundred and ten years. And he saw the children of Ephraim to the third generation. The children also of Machir, the son of Manasses, were born on Joseph's knees.

And ten; consequently he had been governor of all the land eighty years; God having made him abundant recompense, even in this world, for a transient disgrace! (Haydock) --- Knees. Joseph adopted the only son of Machir. See chap. xxx. 3.; or, according to the Samaritan, "in the days of Joseph" he was born. (Calmet)

50:23  After which he told his brethren: God will visit you after my death, and will make you go up out of this land, to the land which he swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

50:24  And he made them swear to him, saying: God will visit you, carry my bones with you out of this place:

Visit you with various persecutions; or will fulfil his promises. --- Carry my bones. He would have them to keep his bones till the time of their departure, as an earnest that they should certainly obtain the land of Chanaan; and thus his bones were visited, and after death, they prophesied, Ecclesiasticus xlix. 18. Perhaps the Egyptians would have been offended, (Worthington) if the corpse of Joseph had been removed out of the country immediately, as that of Jacob was; and they might have taken occasion hence to envy and persecute his brethren. (Haydock)

50:25  And he died, being a hundred and ten years old. And being embalmed, he was laid in a coffin in Egypt.

Embalmed, like the Egyptian momies, or mummies, which is a Persian word, signifying a dried corpse. Some of them are very magnificent, adorned with golden letters and hieroglyphics, various bandages, &c. They are laid in coffins. Some pretend that Joseph was afterwards adored in Egypt, under the names of Serapis and Osiris: but the grounds of this supposition are only a few uncertain etymologies and emblems, which might agree with him as well as with those modern deities: (Calmet) at least it does not at all appear probable, that he was adored in Egypt before the departure of the Israelites, as the king who persecuted them did not know Joseph, Exodus i. 8. His greatest glory was, to have prefigured Jesus Christ in so wonderful a manner during the course of his life, and to have been replenished with all the graces which could form the character of a great man and a saint. Some think, that the history of Joseph has been imitated in the fable of Proteus, or Cetes, king of Egypt. See the True History of Fabulous Times, by Juerin du Roche, a virtuous and learned ecclesiastic, who was put to death for his faith, at Paris, September 8, 1792. See also Rollin's Abridgment. (Haydock)

Cross-references: 5: Genesis xlvii. 29. 13: Acts vii. 16.; Genesis xxiii. 17. 20: Genesis xlv. 5. 21: Genesis xlvii. 12. 22: Numbers xxxii. 39. 23: Hebrews xi. 22. 24: Exodus xiii. 19.; Josue xxiv. 32. 25: Year of the World 2369, Year before Christ 1635.