very where mentioned as-the height of Bleſſednefs. See Gen: 17: 7: Pſal: 144: 15: Jer: 31: 33: Match: 22: 32. Burt the phraſe is here juitly varied. The Curſe is fixed upon Ham, becauls Man alone 1s . the Authorof his own Sin, an the Cauſe 'of his Ruine : But be- cauſe (od is the Author and tountain of all the Good that Man either doth or receiveth, therefore the Blefling is emphatically given to God, who only doth the Work, and of right is ro receive all the Glory, yet ſo as it redounds to Shem allo. And Shem 1s here peculiarly mentioned, nor Japherh, both for the comfort of the 1ſraelites, whoſe Progenitor he was, and becauſe this Bleſſing was firſt ſcated and long continued in Shemr's , Politerity alone, 574= »keth's Poſterity being tor along time excluded from it: and be- cauſe the Lord Chriſt, whois often called the Lord and God in Scri- pture, did take Hleſh from Shem; and ſo the Incarnation of Chriſt may be here foretold ; and Shem highly honoured and bletled in this, that he ſhould Le the Father of Chriſt according to the Fleſh, Rom: 9: 5. Speech, which is frequent in the Hebrew Tongue ; and it may ſig- nify that Shem ſhould be ſo eminently bleſſed, that men beholding ir, tt}ould be wrapt vp into Admization, and break forth into the Praiſes of that God who gaveſuch gifts unto men, and did ſo great things for Sh-m. Anſ, 3 The words may be otherwiſe rendred,ci- ther thus, blI:ſſcd, Oo Lora God, let Shem be, 7: 6: do thou Bleſs him. So iris only the conſtru& from Elbe, for the abſolute Elohim, which is not unuſua] in Scripture : Or thus, Bleſſed of the Lord God be Shem, or ſhall Shem be. So here 1s only adete& of the Hebrew Particle min, Which is oft wanting.
his ſervant s.
ro him, becauſe he had a very numerous Poſterity ; and by them he poſſeſſed the Jargeſt part of the World, even all Europe, a great parr of 4a, and as it is probable 4merica alſo. Or,God ſhall perſwade 3aph:th, to do what follows, to dwell in Shem's Tents, where God dwelieth ; and fo to be re-unitcd to his Brother Shem both in Affes- tion and in Religion, in both which the Gentiles, the g:eareſt part of whom were 7apherh's Poſteriry, were for a long time at an irreconcileable diſtance from the Jews, x ( z. e. ) Shall be of the ſame Church with She, 7. e. of the Church, which is called in Scripture the Tents or Tabernacles of Judah, or of Jacob, or in gene ral of the Saints, Zech. 12. 7. Mal. 2. 12. Revel. 20. 9, and here of Shem, in whoſe Poſteriry the Church was firſt and longeſt ſet- tled. And ro dwell with another, notes friendly Aſſociation and Communion with him, as when God is ſaid to dwell with Men: And when the Wolf is ſaid to dwell with the Lamb, Iſa. 11. 6. Poſſi- bly this may nore Japherh's Succeſſion into Shem's Tents, or co- ming into their place and ſtead, or the calling of the Genriles to- gether with the reje&ion of the Jews; as the Reubenites are fad to dwell in the Tabernacl.s of the Hagarens, whom they ſubdued and expel led, 1 Chron. 5. 10. s This was eminently accompliſhed : for though Shem and Japheth, in their Poſterity, did ſucce ely conquer and rule one over the other, yet none of Ham's Poſterity did ever bear rule over Japheth ; but Ham, though for a time he bore ſway in his Son Nimrod ; yet that Dominion ſoon expired, and the Aſtyrians Chaldeans,Grecians, and Romans, ruled the World for*a ſucceſſion of
many Ages ; and Haw's People were conſtantly their Servants and Subjetts.
28 And Noah lived after the food three hundred and fifry years 7.
# Whichreacheth to the fifty eighth Year of 4braham's age, as the Jews note And ſo we havea manifeſt Account of the Propa- gation of Religion, from the beginning of the World to this Day. Noah received it from his Parents, who had the account of it from their firſt F ather Adam's own Mouth, and tranſmitted it to Abra= ham ; and igs deſcent; from him to the Jews, and by the Jews to
others
Anſw. 2. This may be a ſhort and abrupt manner of _
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+ Heb.Seia > Bueſft. What isthis to Shem ? For it is not Shem, but God who 77 #0 is here bleſſed. Anſw 1. Shem allo is here bleſſed, and that in the 72-
27 God ſhall * enlarge Japhech 9, and he ſhall * or, pre dwe!l in the tents of Shem r, and Canaan ſhail be + ſwade. b T Heb. ſer« : ; q Or, Enlarge to Japheth, underſtand here his place, as Gen: 26: 299 fo | 22: | Pſal: 4: 1: or his border : Which was very literally made good them,
- "7; Fg rs A. \ x Py jr :.. "5 i Pp, ' . Ho » » 4
T "4 \
5s ſufficiently known. Within this time alſo Noah ſaw the agref Bobel's Tower, the horrid Wickedneſs and Idolatry of his Children, and the bloody Wars which even then aroſe between ſome of them. , 29 And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and
ifty years «, and he died.
, ne? bn i5.an omiſſion of that ſolemn clauſe uſed in all the pre- ceding Generations, And he begat Sons and Daughters ; which implies that Neak had no more than theſe rhree Sons, which alſo appears from the 19th. verſe of this chapter.