CHAPTER XXXII _Jacob, proceeding on his Journey, is met by the angels of God_, 1, 2. _Sends messengers before him to his brother Esau, requesting_ _to be favourably received_, 3-5. _The messengers return without an answer, but with the intelligence_ _that Esau, with four hundred men, was coming... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:2. _MAHANAIM._] The _two hosts_, if read by the _points_, the angels forming one, and Jacob and his company forming another; or simply _hosts_ or _camps_ in the plural. There was a city built afterwards here, and inhabited by the priests of God, Joshua 21:38. For what purpose the an... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:3. _JACOB SENT MESSENGERS_] מלאכים _malachim_, the same word which is before translated _angels_. It is very likely that these messengers had been sent some time before he had this vision at Mahanaim, for they appear to have returned while Jacob encamped at the brook Jabbok, where h... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:4. _THUS SHALL YE SPEAK UNTO MY LORD ESAU_] Jacob acknowledges the _superiority_ of his brother; for the time was not yet come in which it could be said, _The elder shall serve the_ _younger_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:6. _ESAU - COMETH - AND FOUR HUNDRED MEN WITH HIM._] Jacob, conscious that he had injured his brother, was now apprehensive that he was coming with _hostile_ intentions, and that he had every evil to fear from his displeasure. _Conscience_ is a terrible accuser. It was a fine saying... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:7. _HE DIVIDED THE PEOPLE, C._] His prudence and cunning were now turned into a right channel, for he took the most effectual method to appease his brother, had he been irritated, and save at least a part of his family. This dividing and arranging of his flocks, family, and domestic... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:9. _O GOD OF MY FATHER ABRAHAM, C._] This prayer is remarkable for its simplicity and energy and it is a model too for prayer, of which it contains the essential constituents: - 1. Deep self-abasement. 2. Magnification of God's mercy. 3. Deprecation of the evil to which he was ex... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:10. _I AM NOT WORTHY OF THE LEAST OF ALL THE MERCIES_] The marginal reading is more consistent with the original: קטנתי מכל החסדים ומכל האמת _katonti miccol hachasadim umiccol haemeth, I am_ _less than all the compassions, and than all the faithfulness,_ _which thou hast showed unto... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:11. _AND THE MOTHER WITH THE CHILDREN._] He must have had an awful opinion of his brother when he used this expression, which implies the _utmost cruelty_, proceeding in the work of slaughter to total extermination. See Hosea 10:14.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:12. _MAKE THY SEED AS THE SAND_] Having come to the _promise_ by which _the covenant_ was ratified both to _Abraham_ and _Isaac_, he ceased, his faith having gained strong confirmation in a promise which he knew could not fail, and which he found was made over to _him_, as it had be... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:13. _AND TOOK OF THAT WHICH CAME TO HIS HAND_] הבא בידו _habba beyado_, which came under his hand, i.e., what, in the course of God's providence, came under _his power_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:14. _TWO HUNDRED SHE-GOATS, C._] This was a princely present, and such as was sufficient to have compensated Esau for any kind of _temporal loss_ he might have sustained in being deprived of his birthright and blessing. The thirty _milch camels_ were particularly valuable, for _mil... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:15. _TEN BULLS_] The Syriac and Vulgate have _twenty_; but _ten_ is a sufficient proportion to the _forty kine_. By all this we see that Jacob was led to make _restitution_ for the injury he had done to his brother. Restitution for injuries done to man is essentially requisite if in... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:22. _PASSED OVER THE FORD JABBOK._] This brook or rivulet rises in the mountains of Galaad, and falls into the Jordan at the south extremity of the lake of Gennesaret.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:24. _AND THERE WRESTLED A MAN WITH HIM_] This was doubtless the Lord Jesus Christ, who, among the patriarchs, assumed that human form, which in the fulness of time he really took of a woman, and in which he dwelt thirty-three years among men. He is here styled an angel, because he w... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:25. _THE HOLLOW OF JACOB'S THIGH WAS OUT OF JOINT_] What this implies is difficult to find out; it is not likely that it was complete luxation of the thigh bone. It may mean no more than he received _a stroke_ on the groin, not a _touch_; for the Hebrew word _naga_ often signifies t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:26. _LET ME GO, FOR THE DAY BREAKETH_] Probably meaning, that as it was now morning, Jacob must rejoin his wives and children, and proceed on their journey. Though _phantoms_ are supposed to disappear _when the sun rises_, that could be no reason in this case. Most of the angelic ap... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:28. _THY NAME SHALL BE CALLED NO MORE JACOB, BUT ISRAEL_] ושראל _Yisrael_, from שר _sar_, a prince, or שרה _sarah_, he ruled as a prince, and אל _el_, God; or rather from איש _ish_, a man, (the א aleph being dropped,) and ראה _raah_, he saw, אל _el_, God; and this corresponds with t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:29. _TELL ME, I PRAY THEE, THY NAME._] It is very likely that Jacob wished to know the name of this angel, that he might invoke him in his necessities: but this might have led him into idolatry, for the doctrine of the incarnation could be but little understood at this time; hence,... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:31. _THE SUN ROSE UPON HIM_] Did the Prophet Malachi refer to this, Malachi 4:2: _Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise_ _with healing in his wings_? Possibly with the rising of the sun, which may here be understood as emblematical of the _Sun of_ _righteou... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Genesis 32:32. _THEREFORE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL EAT NOT OF THE SINEW_] What this sinew was neither _Jew_ nor _Christian_ can tell; and it can add nothing either to science, or to a true understanding of the text, to multiply conjectures. I have already supposed that the part which the angel t... [ Continue Reading ]