of the ownor, or from the quantity or buck- ing theii garments, smiting on their breo.sts, thorn which grew in the neighbourhood. throwing dugt and mud on their heads, call- Which is beyond Jordan-literally, on the ing on the deceased by name, and chanting other side of the Jordan, i. e. west side, funeral dir~es to the music of a tambourine if the narrator wrote from his o,m stand- with the tinkling plates removed (Wilkin- point (Jerome, Drusius, Ainsworth, Kalisch, son's 'Ancient Egyptians,' vol. iii. p. 440, 'Spoaker's Commentary,' Wordsworth, et ed. 1878). And he made a mourning for alii), in which case the funeral train would hia fe.ther seven days. This was a special in all probability follow the direct route mourning before interment (cf. Ecclns. xxii. through the country of the Philistines, and 11). Goren Atad would be situated somewhere Ver. 11.-And when (literally, a-nd) the south of Hebron, in the territory (afterwards) inhabitants of the le.nd, the Canaanites, of Judah ; but east side of the river if the se.w the monrni.ng in the floor of Atad, they phrase must be interv.reted from the stanii- (literally, and they) said, This is a grievous point of Palestine (Clericus, Rosenmiiller, monrni.ng to the Egyptians : wherefore the Hengstenberg, Kurtz, Keil, Lange, Gerlach, no.me of it we.a ca.lled Abel - mizraim, - Ha.vernick, Murphy, antl others), in which case the burial procession must have jour- i. e. the meadow ('~~) of the Egyptians, neyed by the wilderness, a.s the Israelites on with a play npon the word (',~~) mourni,ig a latter occa.sion did, -and probably for not (Keil, Kurtz, Gerlach, Rosenmiiller, &c.), if dissimilar rea.som. In favour of the former indeed the word has not been punctuated interpretation may bo claimed ver. 11, which wrongly-,.;;~ instead of ',;;i~ (Kalisch), says the Cana.a.nites beheld tho mourning, implying seemingly that it occurred within which latter reading appears to have been the borders of Cana.an, i. e. on the west of followed by the LXX. (iriv9oc Aiyuirrou) the Jordan ; while support for the latter is and the Vulgate (plandus ..d?gypt,)-which is derived from ver. 13, which appears to state beyond Jordan (vide supra). that after the lamentation at Goren Atad Vers. 12, 13.-And his sons--the E~nt- the sons of Jacob carried him into Canaan, ians halting at Goren Atad (Keil, Hiiver- almost necessarily involving the inference JJick, Ko.lisch, Murphy, &c.); but this does that Goren Atad was on the east of the J or- not appear from the narrative- did unto dan ; but vule infra. If the former is cor- him according as he commanded them (the rect, Goren Atad was probably the place explanation of what they did being given ,vhich Jerome calls Betagla tertio ab H~- in tho next clause): for his sons carried him richo lapide, duobus m.illibus ab Jordane; if -not simply from Goren Atad, but from the latter is correct, it does not prove 11 Egypt, so that this verse does uot imply post-Mosaic 1111thorship (Tuch, Bohlen, &c.), nnything abont the site of the Buckthorn since the phrase appears to have had an icleo.l threshing-floor (vide sztpra, ver. 11)-into the usage with reference to Cana.au iu addition land of Canae.n, and buried him in the ce.ve to the objective geographical one (Heng- of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham stenberg 'on the Genuineness of the Penta- bought with the field for a possession of a touch,' vol. ii. p. 260 ; Keil's 'Introduction,' burying-place of Ephron the Hittite, before vol. i. p. 189 ; Kalisch ' on Genesis,' p. 776). Me.mre (vide eh. u:iii. ). And there they mourned with a gree.t and Ver. 14. -And 1oseph returned into Egypt, very sore le.mentation. The Egyptians wore he, and his brethren, and all that went np exceedingly demonstr11tivo and vehement in with him to bury his father, a.!ter he had their public lamentations for the dead, rend- buried his fe.ther.
HOMILETICS. Vere. 1-14.-Thefuneral of Jacob. I. Tun: PRIVATE SORROW. 'rhat a great 11nd good man like Jacob, the father of a numerous family, the nncestor of an important people, the chieftain of an influential tribe, the head of the Church of God, should depart this life without eliciting from some heart a tribute of sorrow, is inconceivable. That any of his sons witnessed the last solemn act of this great spiritual wrestler, when he gathered up his feet into his bed und yielded up his spirit into the hands of God, without a tear and without a pang of grief, although it is only the emotion of Joseph that is recorded, is whut we cannot for a moment believe. Less demonstrative than was thut of Joseph, less deep too, probably, since the heart of Joseph appears to have been peculiarly susceptible of tender emotions, we may yet snppo8o that tho grief of Joseph's brethren wus not less real. II. THE PUDLIC MOURNING. In accordance with tho custom3 of the time~, anJ of 638 THE BOOK OF GENESIS. [OH. L. 1-14.