and they did eat there upon the heap. 7 And Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha: but Jacob called it Galeed. 48 And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. Therefore was the name of it called Galeed; 49 And Mizpah; for he said, The LORD watch between me and thee, when we are absent one from another. 50 If thou shalt afflict my daughters, or if thou shalt take other wives beside my daughters, no man is with us; see, God is witness betwixt me and thee. 51 And Laban said to Jacob, Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast betwixt me and thee; 52 This heap be witness, and this pillar be witness, that I will not pass over this heap to thee, and that thou shalt not pass over this heap and this pillar unto me, for harm. 53 The God of Abraham, and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac. us. V. 53. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father Isaac.'-Jacob had observed what Isaac's reverence of God was, and so called Him 'my father's fear.' O teach your children, if you have any, to know God as their parents' fear. Teach them reverence and subjection to Him. Speak awfully before them, so as never to take that great name in vain; so as that your fear, your own fear, of the great God, whose name you bear, may be exemplary to them.-Howe. 54 Then Jacob offered sacrifice upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread: and they did eat bread, and tarried all night in the mount. 55 And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters, and blessed them: and Laban departed, and returned unto his place. CHAP. XXXII. AND Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. 2 And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host: and he called the name of that place Mahanaim. When God designs His people for by extraordinary comforts.-Bogatzky. extraordinary trials, He prepares them 3 And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now: 5 And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight. And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands; And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then 6 the other company which is left shall escape. • And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. V. 10. It was the excellent Mr. Herbert's motto, Less than the least of all God's mercies.' Those are best prepared for the greatest mercies that see themselves unworthy of the least. -M. Henry. 11 Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. 12 And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. 13 And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother; 14 Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams, 15 Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals. 16 And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove. 17 And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee? 18 Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us. 19 And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him. 20 And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me. went the present over before him and himself lodged that night in the company. 22 And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok. 28 And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had. 24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day. 25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him. V. 25. He with whom Jacob wrestled, by touching the hollow of his thigh, and dislocating the bone, evidently showed, that when He suffered For he said, 21 So Himself to be prevailed over, it was the effect of mercy, and the gracious acceptance of Jacob's prayers.-Scott. Wrestling believers may obtain glo rious victories, and yet come off with broken bones; for when they are weak, then are they strong (2 Cor. xii. 10)— weak in themselves, but strong in Christ.-Henry. 26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me. Jacob's boldness would have been arrant presumption, if he had not taken his stand on the Divine promise; and with this no importunity is too great.-L. Faith melts promises into arguments, as the soldier does lead into bullets, and then helps the Christian to send them with force to heaven in earnest prayer; whereas a promise in an unbeliever's mouth is like a shot in a gun's mouth without any fire to put to it. O, how cold and dead doth a promise drop from him in prayer! he speaks promises, but cannot pray promises, or press promises. And therefore, try thyself, not by thy naked praying, but by thy importunity in prayer.-Gurnall. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. 28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed. What seems less than for a Christian to pray? Yet this cannot be performed aright without a princely spirit; as Jacob is here said to behave like a prince when he did but pray, for which he came out of the field God's banneret. Indeed, if you call that prayer which a carnal person performs, nothing is more poor and dastard-like. Such a one is as great a stranger to this enterprise as the cowardly soldier is to the exploits of a valiant chieftain. The Christian in prayer comes up close with God, with a humble boldness of faith, and takes kold of Him, wrestles with Him; yea, will not let Him go without a blessing; and all this in the face of his own sins, and Divine justice, which lets fly upon him from the fiery mouth of the law; while the other's boldness in prayer is but the child, either of ignorance in his mind, or hardness in his heart; whereby not feeling his sins, and not knowing his danger, he rushes upon the duty with a blind confidence, which soon fails when conscience awakes; then in a fright the poor-spirited wretch throws down his weapon, flies the presence of God, like guilty Adam, and dares not look Him in the face.-Gurnall. Fervent prayer has great power with God. Luther excelled other Christians in the tone of his spirit in prayer as much as he did in actual efficiency. John Knox was second to none in regard to this quality. The depths of earnestness with which his soul entered into the spirit of prayer are told in this one petition of his'Give me Scotland, or I die.' His heart had seized its object with such an intensity of desire, that its grasp was stronger than death. He pleaded for a nation's deliverance from the pollutions and prisonhouse of Popery. The magnitude of the object had absorbed his very heart, and thus was he qualified to put forth that prayer, "Give me Scotland, or I die.' And so manifestly was that prayer the secret of his power, that even his enemies were made to confess it. And the Popish Queen of Scots declared that she would rather face an army of 20,000 men, than the prayers of John Knox.-Anon. 29 And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. Spiritual blessings which secure our felicity, are better and much more desirable than fine notions that satisfy our curiosity. An interest in the an gel's blessing is better than acquaintance with his name. The tree of life' is better than the tree of knowledge.'-M. Henry. 30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved. It was a popular opinion, that an succeeded by the death of the person apparition of the Divinity must be to whom He appeared.-Old Bible. 81 And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. 32 Therefore the children of Israel eat not of the sinew which shrank, which is upon the hollow of the thigh, unto this day because he touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh in the sinew that shrank. : The Lacedemonian disliked not his friend's limping, 'Because,' said he, 'it will make you think of virtue at every step.' And so, perhaps, Jacob often remembered the angel. When adversity has laid us flat upon our backs, we cannot choose but look up to heaven. Most Christians can unfold Mr. Herbert's riddle by experience :'A poor man's rod, when thou dost .ride, Is both a weapon and a guide.' (Ps. cxix. 71-75.)—Dr. Stoughton. CHAP. XXXIII. AND Jacob lifted up his eyes, and looked, and, behold, Esau 4 6 came, and with him four hundred men. And he divided the children unto Leah, and unto Rachel, and unto the two handmaids. 2 And he put the handmaids and their children foremost, and Leah and her children after, and Rachel and Joseph hindermost. 8 And he passed over before them, and bowed himself to the ground seven times, until he came near to his brother. And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell upon his neck, and kissed him: and they wept. And he lifted up his eyes, and saw the women and the children; and said, Who are those with thee? And he said, The children which God hath graciously given thy servant. Then the handmaidens came near, they and their children, and they bowed themselves. 'And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves. And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met ? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord. And Esau said, I have enough, my brother: keep that thou hast unto thyself. 10 And Jacob said, Nay, I pray thee, if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand: for therefore I have seen thy face, as though I had seen the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have enough. And he urged him, and he took it. 11 8 The Christian will expose all he hath in this world to preserve his hopes for another. Jacob, in his march towards Esau, sent his servants with his flocks before, and came himself with his wives behind. If he can save anything from his brother's rage, it shall be what he loves best. If the Christian can save anything, it shall be his soul, his interest in Christ and heaven; and then no matter if the rest go; even then he can say, not as Esau to Jacob, 'I have a great deal' (v. 9 Heb.), but as Jacob to him, 'I have all' (v. 11 Heb.).; all I want, all I desire. He that hath much would have more; but he that thinks he has all is sure he has enough.-Gurnall; M. Henry. 12 And he said, Let us take journey, and let us go, and I will go before thee. 18 And he said unto him, My lord knoweth that the children are tender, and the flocks and herds with young are with me: and if men should overdrive them one day, all the flock will die. 14 Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant: and I will lead on softly, according as the cattle that goeth before me and the children be able to endure, until I come unto my lord unto Seir. 15 And Esau said, Let me now leave with thee some of the folk that are with me. And he said, What needeth it? let me find grace in the sight of my lord. 16 So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir. 17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. 18 And Jacob came to Shalem, a city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Padanaram; and pitched his tent before the city. 19 And he bought a parcel of a field, where he had spread his tent, at the hand of the children of Hamor, Shechem's father, for an hundred pieces of money. 20 And he erected there an altar, and called it El-eloheIsrael. Jacob, in his tender care and attention to his family and flock, reminds us of the good Shepherd of our souls, who 'gathers the lambs in His bosom, and gently leads those that are with young;' whose example we all, as parents, teachers, and pastors, should imitate. Blessed be His name, He is ΑΝ CHAP. XXXIV. 3 ND Dinah the daughter of Leah, which she bare unto Jacob, went out to see the daughters of the land. 2 And when Shechem the son of Hamor the Hivite, prince of the country, saw her, he took her, and lay with her, and defiled her. 8 And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob, and he loved the damsel, and spake kindly unto the damsel. And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor, saying, Get me this damsel to wife. And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter; now his sons were 5 |