PUBLIC-DOMAIN CHRISTIAN BOOK
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible — Genesis
Gill, John, 1697-1771 · 265,871 words · 567 reading sections
Genesis 30:11
Genesis 30:11 Ver. 11. And Leah said, a troop cometh,.... A troop of children, having bore four herself, and now her maid another, and more she expected; or the commander of a troop cometh, one that shall head an army and overcome his enemies; which agrees with the prophecy of Jacob, Ge 49:19; and she called his name…
79 wordsSECTION 242Genesis 30:12
Genesis 30:12 Ver. 12. And Zilpah, Leah's maid, bare Jacob a second son. As well as Bilhah, and no more.…
21 wordsSECTION 243Genesis 30:13
Genesis 30:13 Ver. 13. And Leah said,.... Upon the birth of the second son by her maid: happy am I; or, "in my happiness"; or, "for my happiness" {c}; that is, this child is an addition to my happiness, and will serve to increase it: for the daughters will call me blessed; the women of the place where she lived would…
173 wordsSECTION 244Genesis 30:14
Genesis 30:14 Ver. 14. And Reuben went in the days of wheat harvest,.... Leah's eldest son, who is supposed to be at this time about four or five years of age {e}, who went out from the tent to the field, to play there perhaps; and this was at the time of wheat harvest, in the month Sivan, as the Targum of Jonathan, w…
356 wordsSECTION 245Genesis 30:15
Genesis 30:15 Ver. 15. And she said unto her,.... Leah to Rachel, taking this opportunity to bring out a thing which had some time lain with uneasiness upon her mind: [is it] a small thing that thou hast taken away my husband? got the greatest share of his affections, and had most of his company; which last was very …
252 wordsSECTION 246Genesis 30:16
Genesis 30:16 Ver. 16. And Jacob came out of the field in the evening,.... From feeding his flocks; and Leah went out to meet him; knowing full well the time he used to come home: and said, thou must come in unto me; into her tent, for the women had separate tents from the men; as Sarah from Abraham; and so these wi…
179 wordsSECTION 247Genesis 30:17
Genesis 30:17 Ver. 17. And God hearkened unto Leah,.... To the prayer of Leah, as the Targum of Jonathan, for more children: the desire of these good women for the company of their husband was not from lust, or an amorous desire in them, but for the sake of having many children, as appears by giving their maids to him…
4,727 wordsSECTION 248Genesis 31:1
Genesis 31:1 INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 31 This chapter relates how that Jacob observing that Laban and his sons envied his prosperity, and having a call from God to return to his own country, acquaints his wives with it; and reports to them Laban's ill usage of him, and the wonderful appearance of God to him, and for h…
574 wordsSECTION 249Genesis 31:2
Genesis 31:2 Ver. 2. And Jacob beheld the countenance of Laban,.... Upon this he observed Laban's looks, that he might gather from thence how he took his prosperity; what were his thoughts about it, and what he might expect from him on that account: and, behold, it [was] not towards him as before; he said nothing to …
134 wordsSECTION 250Genesis 31:3
Genesis 31:3 Ver. 3. And the Lord said unto Jacob,.... In answer to a prayer of his; or seeing what difficulties and discouragements Jacob laboured under, he appeared unto him for his encouragement and instruction how to proceed: return unto the land of thy fathers; the land of Canaan, given to Abraham and Isaac by p…
144 wordsSECTION 251Genesis 31:4
Genesis 31:4 Ver. 4. And Jacob sent,.... Having this encouragement and direction from the Lord, which seems to have been given him in the field, while he was attending his flocks, he dispatched a messenger home to his wives, one of his servants or under shepherds. The Targum of Jonathan says it was his son Naphtali, w…
293 wordsSECTION 252Genesis 31:5
Genesis 31:5 Ver. 5. And said unto them, I see your father's countenance, that it [is] not towards me as before,.... See Gill on "Ge 31:2"; no notice is taken of what their brethren, the sons of Laban, had said: but the God of my father hath been with me; not only by affording him his gracious presence with him, whic…
100 wordsSECTION 253Genesis 31:6
Genesis 31:6 Ver. 6. And ye know, that with all my power I have served your father. With all faithfulness and uprightness; with all diligence and industry; with all wisdom and prudence; with all my might and main, contriving the best methods, and sparing no pains by day or night to take care of his flocks, and increas…
95 wordsSECTION 254Genesis 31:7
Genesis 31:7 Ver. 7. And your father hath deceived me,.... In the bargain he had made with him about his wages for keeping his cattle the six years past, after the fourteen years' servitude were ended: and changed my wages ten times; that is, either very often, many times, as the number ten is sometimes. Used for man…
322 wordsSECTION 255Genesis 31:8
Genesis 31:8 Ver. 8. If he said thus, the speckled shall be thy wages,.... Sometimes Laban would say to Jacob, only the speckled lambs which the ewes shall bring forth shall be thine hire, and not the spotted; or the ringstraked, or the brown, which according to the bargain should have been his, the one and the other:…
207 wordsSECTION 256Genesis 31:9
Genesis 31:9 Ver. 9. Thus God hath taken away the cattle of your father,.... Not all of them, see Ge 31:19; but a great part of them; his flock was much lessened by those means, and more were taken away, and came to Jacob's share, than if Laban had abode by the original agreement: and gave [them] to me; who has the d…
151 wordsSECTION 257Genesis 31:10
Genesis 31:10 Ver. 10. And it came to pass, at the time that the cattle conceived,.... Whether in spring or in autumn cannot be said, for it seems this was twice a year; this probably was at the beginning of the six years' servitude, or just before the agreement was made between Laban and Jacob, and was an instruction…
316 wordsSECTION 258Genesis 31:11
Genesis 31:11 Ver. 11. And the Angel of God spake unto me in a dream,.... In the same dream before related, and to direct him to observe what was presented to him, and to confirm what he saw, and lead him to the design and use of it. This was not a created angel, but the eternal one, the Son of God, and who is afterwa…
128 wordsSECTION 259Genesis 31:12
Genesis 31:12 Ver. 12. And he said, lift up now thine eyes, and see,.... This was all visionary, Jacob was still in a dream; but it was so impressed upon his mind, that he was spoke to, and bid to observe, and take notice, as follows: that all the rams that leap upon the cattle [are] ringstraked, speckled, and grisle…
254 wordsSECTION 260Genesis 31:13
Genesis 31:13 Ver. 13. I [am] the God of Bethel,.... The same Angel that appeared to Jacob in a dream, at the beginning of his six years' servitude, now appeared to him at the close of it, declaring himself to be the God of Bethel; or that God that manifested himself to him at Bethel, as Onkelos and Jonathan paraphras…
227 wordsSECTION 261Genesis 31:14
Genesis 31:14 Ver. 14. And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him,.... One after another, and their answers agreeing, are put together; it may be Rachel answered in the name of Leah, and for herself, since she is mentioned first, and the verb is singular. The Targum of Jonathan is, Rachel answered with the consent…
180 wordsSECTION 262Genesis 31:15
Genesis 31:15 Ver. 15. Are we not accounted of him strangers?.... He had not treated them as children, nor even as freeborn persons; but as if they were foreigners that he had taken in war, or bought of others; or at least, that they were born bondmaids in his house, and so had a right to sell them as he had:for he ha…
7,307 wordsSECTION 263Genesis 32:1
Genesis 32:1 INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 32 This chapter informs us of Jacob's proceeding on in his journey, and of his being met and guarded by an host of angels, Ge 32:1; of his sending messengers to his brother Esau, acquainting him with his increase, and desiring his favour and good will, Ge 32:3, who return and repo…
388 wordsSECTION 264Genesis 32:2
Genesis 32:2 Ver. 2. And when Jacob saw them,.... These appeared in a visible form, most probably human, and in the habit, and with the accoutrements of soldiers, and therefore afterwards called an host or army. Aben Ezra thinks that Jacob alone saw them, as Elisha first saw the host of angels before the young man did…
333 wordsSECTION 265Genesis 32:3
Genesis 32:3 Ver. 3. And Jacob sent messengers before him unto Esau his brother,.... Or "angels": not angels simply, as Jarchi, for these were not under the command, and in the power of Jacob to send, nor would they have needed any instruction from him afterwards given, but these were some of his own servants. Esau it…
262 wordsSECTION 266Genesis 32:4
Genesis 32:4 Ver. 4. And he commanded them,.... Being his servants: saying, thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; being not only a lord of a country, but his eldest brother, and whom he chose to bespeak in this manner, to soften his mind, and incline it to him; and that he might see he did not pique himself upon the…
192 wordsSECTION 267Genesis 32:5
Genesis 32:5 Ver. 5. And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants,.... This he would have said, lest he should think he was come to ask anything of him, and put himself and his family upon him; and lest he should treat him with contempt, as a poor mean beggarly creature, and be ashamed of the…
118 wordsSECTION 268Genesis 32:6
Genesis 32:6 Ver. 6. And the messengers returned to Jacob,.... After they had delivered their message, with the answer they brought back: saying, we came to thy brother Esau; which, though not expressed, is implied in these words, and is still more manifest by what follows: and also he cometh to meet thee; and pay a…
199 wordsSECTION 269Genesis 32:7
Genesis 32:7 Ver. 7. Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed,.... Knowing what he had done to his brother in getting the birthright and blessing from him, and what an enmity he had conceived in his mind against him on that account, and remembering what he had said he would do to him; and therefore might fear that…
232 wordsSECTION 270Genesis 32:8
Genesis 32:8 Ver. 8. And said, if Esau come to the one company, and smite it,.... The first, which perhaps consisted only of some servants, with a part of his cattle; so that if Esau should come in an hostile manner, and fall upon that, and slay the servants, and take the cattle as a booty: then the other company whi…
209 wordsSECTION 271Genesis 32:9
Genesis 32:9 Ver. 9. And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac,.... In this distress he does not consult the teraphim Rachel had taken from her father; nor does he call upon the hosts of angels that had just appeared to him, to help, protect, and guard him; but to God only, the God of his …
262 wordsSECTION 272Genesis 32:10
Genesis 32:10 Ver. 10. I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies,.... Or of any of them, according to his humble sense of things his mind was now impressed with; he was not worthy of the least mercy and favour that had been bestowed upon him; not even of any temporal mercy, and much less of any spiritual one, an…
402 wordsSECTION 273Genesis 32:11
Genesis 32:11 Ver. 11. Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau,.... For though his brother, it was his brother Esau, that had formerly vowed revenge upon him, and had determined to kill him, Ge 27:41, and he knew not but that he was still of the same mind; and now having an opportun…
168 wordsSECTION 274Genesis 32:12
Genesis 32:12 Ver. 12. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good,.... All kind of good, most certainly and constantly; so Jacob rightly interpreted the promise, "I will be with thee", Ge 31:3; for the promise of God's presence includes and secures all needful good to his people; and from this general promise Jacob d…
135 wordsSECTION 275Genesis 32:13
Genesis 32:13 Ver. 13. And he lodged there that same night,.... At Mahanaim, or some place near it: and took of that which came to his hand; not what came next to hand, for what he did was with great deliberation, judgment, and prudence; wherefore the phrase signifies what he was possessed of, or was in his power, as…
139 wordsSECTION 276Genesis 32:14
Genesis 32:14 Ver. 14. Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams. And it seems this proportion of one he goat to ten she goats, and of one ram to ten ewes, is a proper one, and what has been so judged in other times and countries {x}. {x} Varro de rustica, l. 2. c. 3. apud Bochart.…
78 wordsSECTION 277Genesis 32:15
Genesis 32:15 Ver. 15. Thirty milch camels with their colts,.... Milch camels were in great esteem in the eastern countries; their milk being, as Aristotle {y} and Pliny {z} say, the sweetest of all milk: forty kine and ten bulls; one bull to ten cows; the same proportion as in the goats and rams: twenty she asses a…
135 wordsSECTION 278Genesis 32:16
Genesis 32:16 Ver. 16. And he delivered [them] into the hand of his servants,.... To present them to Esau as from him: every drove by themselves; there seems to have been three droves, see Ge 32:19; very probably the two hundred and twenty goats, male and female, were in the first drove; and the two hundred and twent…
342 wordsSECTION 279Genesis 32:17
Genesis 32:17 Ver. 17. And he commanded the foremost,.... He that had the care of the first drove, which consisted of goats, male and female:saying, when Esau my brother meeteth thee; as there was reason to believe he would, being on the road, and him first of all, being the foremost:and asketh thee, saying, what [art…
3,419 wordsSECTION 280Genesis 33:1
Genesis 33:1 INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 33 In this chapter we find Esau meeting Jacob in a friendly manner, contrary to his fears and expectation, having set his family in order in case of the worst, Ge 33:1; putting questions to Jacob concerning the women and children with him, who make their obeisance to him as Jacob …
391 wordsSECTION 281Genesis 33:2
Genesis 33:2 Ver. 2. And he put the handmaids and their children foremost,.... In the first division, as being less honourable and less beloved by him: and Leah and her children after; still according to the degree of honour and affection due unto them; Leah being a wife that was imposed and forced upon him: and Rac…
95 wordsSECTION 282Genesis 33:3
Genesis 33:3 Ver. 3. And he passed over before them,.... At the head of them, as the master of the family, exposing himself to the greatest danger for them, and in order to protect and defend them in the best manner he could, or to endeavour to soften the mind of his brother by an address, should there be any occasion…
225 wordsSECTION 283Genesis 33:4
Genesis 33:4 Ver. 4. And Esau ran to meet him,.... If he rode on any creature, which is likely, he alighted from it on sight of his brother Jacob, and to express his joy on that occasion, and affection for him, made all the haste he could to meet him, as did the father of the prodigal, Lu 15:20, and embraced him; in …
432 wordsSECTION 284Genesis 33:5
Genesis 33:5 Ver. 5. And he lift up his eyes, and saw the women and children,.... After the salutation had passed between him and his brother Jacob, he looked, and saw behind him women and children, Jacob's two wives and his two handmaids, and twelve children he had by them, and said, who [are] those with thee? who d…
264 wordsSECTION 285Genesis 33:6
Genesis 33:6 Ver. 6. Then the handmaids came near, they and their children,.... Being foremost, and next to, Jacob, as Bilhah and her two sons, Dan and Naphtali, and Zilpah and her two sons, Gad and Asher: and they bowed themselves; in token of respect to Esau, as Jacob had done before them, and set them an example, …
67 wordsSECTION 286Genesis 33:7
Genesis 33:7 Ver. 7. And Leah also with her children came near, and bowed themselves,.... Who were in the next division or company; their children were seven, Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah, six sons and one daughter: and after came Joseph near and Rachel, and they bowed themselves; it is o…
111 wordsSECTION 287Genesis 33:8
Genesis 33:8 Ver. 8. And he said, what [meanest] thou by all this drove which I met?.... Not as being ignorant of the design of it; for no doubt the several drovers, according to their instructions from Jacob, had acquainted him with it; but he chose not to take the present on what they said, but was willing to have i…
165 wordsSECTION 288Genesis 33:9
Genesis 33:9 Ver. 9. And Esau said, I have enough, my brother,.... Or "I have much" {o}, and stand in no need of this present, or have much more than thou hast: keep that thou hast unto thyself; for the use of himself and family, which is large; in this Esau showed himself not only not a covetous man, but that he was…
97 wordsSECTION 289Genesis 33:10
Genesis 33:10 Ver. 10. And Jacob said, nay, I pray thee,.... Do not say so, as the Targum of Jonathan supplies it, or do not refuse my present: if now I have found grace in thy sight, then receive my present at my hand; signifying, that the acceptance of his present would be a token to him, and give him full satisfac…
185 wordsSECTION 290Genesis 33:11
Genesis 33:11 Ver. 11. Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee,.... The present he had sent him, now carrying home to his house, which was a part of what God had blessed Jacob with; and which he from a beneficent generous spirit gave his brother, wishing the blessing of God to go along with it; it was a…
226 wordsSECTION 291Genesis 33:12
Genesis 33:12 Ver. 12. And he said, let us take our journey, and let us go,.... To Seir, where Esau lived, and whither he invited Jacob to stop a while, and refresh himself and his family: and I will go before thee; to show him the way to his palace, and to protect him on the road from all dangers; or "besides thee" …
106 wordsSECTION 292Genesis 33:13
Genesis 33:13 Ver. 13. And he said unto him, my lord knoweth the children [are] tender,.... The eldest being but thirteen years of age, and the youngest about six; and Esau might easily perceive by their stature that they were young and tender, and not able to bear either riding or walking very fast: and the flocks a…
213 wordsSECTION 293Genesis 33:14
Genesis 33:14 Ver. 14. Let my lord, I pray thee, pass over before his servant,.... He desired in a very respectable manner that he would not keep his pace in complaisance to him, but proceed on in his journey, and go on with his men, and he with his family and flocks would follow after as fast as he could, and their c…
347 wordsSECTION 294Genesis 33:15
Genesis 33:15 Ver. 15. And Esau said, let me now leave with thee [some] of the folk that [are] with me,.... To show him the way, and guard him on the road, and he appear the more honourable when he entered into Seir: and he said, what needeth it? Jacob saw not the necessity of it; he knew the direct way very probably…
137 wordsSECTION 295Genesis 33:16
Genesis 33:16 Ver. 16. So Esau returned that day on his way unto Seir. Took his leave of Jacob the same day he met him, and proceeded on in his journey towards Seir; whether he arrived there the same day is not certain, probably it was more than a day's journey.…
52 wordsSECTION 296Genesis 33:17
Genesis 33:17 Ver. 17. And Jacob journeyed to Succoth,.... Perhaps after he had been at Seir, and stayed there some little time. Succoth was on the other side of Jordan, so called by anticipation, for it had its name from what follows; as yet there was no city built here, or at least of this name; afterwards there was…
1,231 wordsSECTION 297Genesis 34:1
Genesis 34:1 INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 34 This chapter gives an account of the ravishment of Dinah by Shechem, Ge 34:1; of his father Hamor and him treating with Jacob and his sons about the marriage of her, Ge 34:6; of the condition proposed by Jacob's sons, circumcision of all the males in Shechem, which was agreed t…
511 wordsSECTION 298Genesis 34:2
Genesis 34:2 Ver. 2. And when Shechem the son of Hamor,.... From whom the city had its name, near which Jacob and his family now were: the Hivite, prince of the country; Hamor was an Hivite, which was one of the nations of the land of Canaan, and this man was the prince or a principal man of that nation, as well as o…
216 wordsSECTION 299Genesis 34:3
Genesis 34:3 Ver. 3. And his soul clave unto Dinah the daughter of Jacob,.... His inclination was to her, she was always in his thoughts; it was not a mere lustful desire that was suddenly raised, and soon over, but a constant and continued affection he bore to her, as follows: and he loved the damsel; sincerely and …
188 wordsSECTION 300Genesis 34:4
Genesis 34:4 Ver. 4. And Shechem spake unto his father Hamor,.... And told him the whole affair, at least what a strong affection he had for Dinah: saying, get me this damsel to wife; by which he meant not only that he would give his consent that he might marry her, but that he would get her parents' consent unto it,…
128 wordsSource & rights
Public domain; John Gill (1697–1771). Source item is marked Public Domain on Internet Archive.
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Historical Christian writing; not Scripture.