_—Y wind" of Temptation, and unbounded in thy Luſt ; as Water of it #15 ſelf hath no bounds, but will ſcatrer itſelf every way, if it be nor ' kept within Banks, or in a Veſſel: Or, hafty, wiolent, impetuous in thy Luſt, like Water, which eirher overflows or breaks its Banks. Or, 2. Something ro come, or Reuben's puniſhment, and ſo the meaning is, thou, 7. e. thy poſterity, ſhall be unf#able, orunſet:led, flicting and vanifhing, coming to nothing, or poured forth like Wa- ter, uſeleſs, contemptible and weak. Such indeed was the ſtate of that Tribe, of which we read nothing eminent in Scripture. See Fudg: 5: 15, 16. This I prefer before the former, xr. becauſe it is nor probable that this fault ſhould be deſcribed here in ſuch general and ambiguous and dark terms, which 1s deſcribed ſo plainly and particularly in the following words. 2. Becauſe this makes the co- herence moſt plain. Here is a deſcription, ( 1. ) Of Reuben's exce]- Jent fate to which he was born, werſe 3. ( 2. ) Of his fall from thar ſtate, in th:ſe words, and the immediatly following, #hou ſhalt not extel. ( 3. ) Of the reaſon of rkis fall, his great ſu. 3- Be- cauſe th2 ſimi'itude of Water applied to men in this manner, notes
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Pſal: 22: 14. e Or, B: the moſt eminent amongſt thy Brethren ; thou haſt left thy pre-eminency due to thee by birthright, both for
Prieſthood ro Lovi, the Dominiofi to Fudah, and the double Portion to Joſeph. f By commitring inceſt with B:lhah, g He repeats the ſame thing, and that in an emphartica]l manner turning his Speech and Face from Reuben to his Brethren, in a poſture of Endignation and Dereſtarion ; which ye.-muſt nor impure to Jacob's paſſion, he bzing now a dying man, and this being forty years after the crime cony mirted, bur the Spirit of God guiding his Tongue to utter this, not only nor chiefly for the puniſhment of Reuben, who, as many think, had repented of hisjſin ; bur ſor terrour, inſtruction, and cautionto all. orhers, and to aſſure them that ſin, though ir may be long difſembled and born with, yer it will one time or other be ſorely puniſhed. Bur theſe and the next foregoing words may be thus rendred, Then defiledft thou my bed : He went wp to it, or rather heis gone up, i. e. heis vaniſhed, or periſhed, or loſt; for ſo this word is oft uſed, as Job 5, 26: I/a. 5: 24. Jer. 48. 15. And ic here is an elegant Figure, called Antansclafs, whereby the ſame word is repeated irc the ſame verſe in adifferent ſenſe, as Pſal: 18: 26: Matth: 8: 22: Sohere; He went up wickedly to his Fathers Bed ro commit a great fin ; therefore now he is goneup penally, to receive condign punifhmenr; hisexcellency is gone up like Smoak, which aſcenderh and i: diſperſed in the Air. And this may ſeem to be the rrueſt Tranſlation,and Interpretation, becauſe it keeps cloſe to the Hebrew words and their order ; whereas, in our Tranſlation, there
3s both a tranſplacing of the Hebrew words, and a ſupplement added ynneceſſarly.
® Chaps: _5 T * Simeon and Levi re brethren b; + inftruments 29:33,34 of cruelty are in their habitations 5. + Oc,;her þ Not only by Nature, but in Iniquity ; of like eruel and blood Jwwrd; art diſpoſition, confegerate in the ſame wicked deſign, Gen: 34: 25: w# pen; of So the word Brother iselſewhere uſed, for him that agrees much \widlence.” with another in his temper, or employment, or deſigns, as Jeb 30 | 29; Prov; 18: 9, Os. i ( i: e: ) Their bloody Swords are yet in their dwellings, to bear witneſs againſt them for their barbar- ous cruelty. But theſe words may be, and are by ſome both anci- ent and later Interpreters,rendred otherwiſe, For the Hebrew word Mecheroth, here rendred /abjtarimw, bg never ty uſed, nor indeed js
GENESIS
Jacob calls his ſons to bleſs them before his agath, 1. Beſpeaks their attention,
| ments to break down a Wal), which doubtleſs they brought with
| them, as eaſily forefeeing that difficu'ty in their enterprize. Bur rather their imporency and calamity, than their fin, as Foſ: 7: 5:|
N Chap: XL: * found elſewhere in Scripture. Nor doth that fignification agree with the Hebrew root from whence this comes, which is'Machar,and ſignifies to Bargain, or ſell, or exchange. And accordingly this word is by the Samaritan Tranſlator, and by other learned Interpreters, rendred, their conventions, or compaitsy, or civil contraffs, or agre- ments. And whichis more, the Chaldee Verb, Mechar from whence this word may very well be dedveced ; fignifies to eſpoxſe, and the Noun, Mechirah, derived from it, ſignifies a ſpouſe. And fo the words may be rendred thus, their contratts, or agreements ( 07 their nuptial contraffs )) were inſtruments of craelty. Which Tranſlation ſeems better than the other, 1. Becauſe it keeps cloſeſt ro the words | of the. Text,and leaves oug that Particle,in, which is not in the He-
brew Text, but was added by our Tranſlators to compleat the ſenſe”
2- Becauſe this beſt agrees with the Hiſtory recorded, Gen: 34.where j
we read that they did cover their bloody deſign with a pretence of an
agreement, and nuptial Contra with the Srchemites, which was a
great aggravation of their villany, that thoſe things which to 6- ;
thers are bonds of love and peace, were made by them inſtruments of |
cruelty. | 6 O my ſoul, come not thou into their ſecret &: unto
their aſſembly mine h onour / be not thou united ; for
in their anger they flew a man mp, and in their felf-will | 7 they + digged down a wall + Or,