Edom signify not individuals, but mces), Vere. 17-20.-And he commanded the and the mother with the children. Liter- foremost, saying (with admirable tact and nlly, mother upon the children, a proverblo.1 prudence), When Esau my brother meetcth ex;11nission for nnapo.ring cruelty (Rosen- thee, and o.sketh thee, saying, Wb.ose art muller, Keil), or complete extirpation (Ko.- thou 1 and whither goest thou 1 and whose lisch), to.ken from the idea of destroying o. nre these before thee 1 then thou shalt say, birrl while sitting upon its young (cf. Hosea They be thy servant Jo.cob's; it is a present x. 14). And thou eaidet, I will surely do sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also thee good,-literally, doing good, I will do he (Ja.cob) is behind us. And so colll.lllanded good to thee (vide eh. xxviiL 13). Jacob he the second, o.nd the third, and a.II that liere pleads the Divine promises at Bethel followed the droves, saying, On. this manner (eh. x.xviii .. 13-15) o.nd at Haran (eh. xxxi. shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him 3), as an argument why Jehovah should -literally, in your finding of him. And extend to him protection ago.inst Eso.u-:- eay ye (literally, and ye shall say) moreover, conduct o.t which Tuch is scandalised o.s :Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us- " somewhat inaptly reminding God of his " for he thought that this would convince comijlands o.nd promises, .11-nd call.i.ng upon Esau that he went to meet him with com- him to keep his word;" but just this is wnat plete confidence, and without apprehension" God expects his people to do (Isa. xliii. 26), (Kalisch)-for he said (the historian ad,ls and according to Scripture the Divine promise the motive which explained Jacob's singular is always the petitioner's best warrant-and behaviour), I will appease him (literally, make thy seed as the sand of the eea,-this I will cover hi,sface, meaning I will prevent was the sense, without the ipsissimn, verba him from seeing my pa.~t offences, i. e. I will of the Bethel promise, which likened J acob's turn away his anger or pacify him, as in descendants to the dust upon the ground, Prov. xvi. 14) with the present that goeth as Abraho.m's seed had previously been com- before me,-literally, going bejo1'e my face. pared to the dust of the earth (eh. xiii. 16), So .Abigail appeased David with a present the stnrs of heaven (eh. xv. 5), and the sand (1 Sam. xxv. 18-32)-and afterward I will upon the sea-shore (eh. xxii. 17)-which can- see his face; peradventure he will accept of not be numbered for multitude. me-literally, lift up my face; a proverbial Ver. 13.-A.nd he lodged there that same expression for granting a favourable reception night; and took-not by random, but after (cf. eh. xix. 21; Job xlii. 8). "Jacob <lill careful selection ; separavit (Vulgo.te )-of that not miscalculate the inftueuce of his princely which came to his hand-not of ,hose things offerings, and I verily believe there is not au which were in his linnd, wv l<fi•p•v (LXX.), emeer or sheikh in e.11 Gilead nt this day sucl1 as ho had (Ainsworth), qure in manu who would not be appeased by such pro• emnt (Rosenmiiller), but of such things ns sents ; and from my personal knowledge of l1nd come into his hand, i. e. as he had ac- Orientals, I should say thnt Jacob need not quired (Keil, Alford, 'Spenker's Comment- have been in such great terror, following in ary,' Inglis)-a present (Minchnh; used in their rear. Fo.r less will now ' make roo,n,' eh. iv. 3, 4, 6, as a sacrifice to Jehovah, q. v.) as Solomon says, for nny offender, howcYer for Esau his brother. atrocious, o.nd bring him before great men Ver. 14, 16-Two hundred she goats, and with acceptance" ('Lnnd o.nd Book,' p. 371). twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and Ver. 21-23.-So (literally, and) went tho twenty rams, thirty milch camels (specially present over before him: and himself lodged vnlu1tble in the E1tst on 1tccount of their that night in the compo.ny. And he rose milk, which we.s peculiarly sweet and whole- up that night,--i. e. some time before ,lay- some) with their colts, forty kine, an.d ten break (vide ver. 24) - and took his two bulls, twenty she aBSee, and ten foals. Tho wives, an.d his two womenservo.nts (Bilhah selection wns in harmony with the general and Zilpah), and his eleven sons (Dinctlt possessions of nomnds (cf. Job i. 3; xlii. 12), being not mentioned iu accordance with thu ond the proportion of male to female animals common usage of the Bible), and passe,l ,1·1ts nrrnnged 1tccording to what the experi- over the ford - the word signifies n place ence of the best ancient authorities has shown of pnssing over. Tristram (' Lnncl of lsrnel,' to be necessary for tho purposes of breeding p. 658) speaks of the strong current rcnch- (Rosenmiiller, Keil, Kalisch). 11\g the horses' girths nt the fonl crosst>,l Ver. 16.-A.nd he delivered them into the by himself and twenty horsemcn-Jabbok. hand of his servants, every drove by them- Jabbok, from bakak, to empty, to pour forth aelves (literally, d1'()1)e and drove separately); (Kalisch), or from abalc, to struggle (Keil), and said unto his servants, Pass over (the may liave been so named either from the river Jnbbok) before me, and put a space natural nppenrance of the river, or, ns is (literally, a breathing-place) betwixt drove more probable, by prolepsis from the wrest- and drove-lls is still the manner with Ori- ling which took place upon its bunks. It is ental shepherds (cf. 'Lnml and Book,' p. 331). now called the IVacly Zerka, 0r Bluo River, 'l'IIE BOOK OF GENESIS. [en. XXXII. 1-23.
which flows into the Jordan, nearly opposite that he had - himself remaining 011 the 1'hechem, and midway between tl1e Lake north side (Delitzsch, Keil, Kurtz, Murphy, 'l'ibcrias and the Dead Sea. The stream is G1lrlach, Wordsworth, Alford), although, rapid, and often completely l1idden by the having once crossed the stream (ver. 22), it dense rnnss of oleander which fringes its is not perfectly apparent that he recrossed, lJanks (' Land of Israel,' p. 558). And he which has led some to argue thnt the wrest- took them, and sent them (literally, caused ling occurred on the south of the river them to pass) over the brook, and sent over (Knobel, Rosenmiiller, Lange, Kalisch).