Dukes of the house of Esau. B. C. cir. 1734. From B. C. cir. 1575 to A. M. cir. 2270. 13 And these are the sons | Esau's wife; duke Jeush, duke of Reuel; Nahath, and Zerah, Jaalam, duke Korah: these were. Shammah, and Mizzah: these were the sons the dukes that came of Aholiof Bashemath Esau's wife.. bamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife. 19 These are the sons of Esau, who is Edom, and these are their dukes. A. M. eir. 2292. 14 And these were the sons First aristocracy of dukes. From A. M. cir. 2429 to A. M. cir. 2471. From B. C. cir. 1575 to B. C. oir. 1533. 15 These were dukes of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the first-born son of Esau; duke Teman, duke Omar, duke Zepho, duke Kenaz, 16 Duke Korah, duke Gatam, and duke Amalek: these are the dukes that came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom: these were the sons of Adah. 17 And these are the sons of Reuel Esau's son; duke Nahath, duke Zerah, duke Shammah, duke Mizzah: these are the dukes that came of Reuel in the land of Edom: these are the sons of Bashemath Esau's wife. 18 And these are the sons of Aholibamah P1 Chron. i. 38. Chapter xiv. 6; Deut. ii. 12, 22.- Or, text to seize the land, and expel the ancient inhabit- fore, that some transcriber has improperly inserted ants, as we find they did, Deut. ii. 12. Amalek] The father of the Amalekites, afterwards bitter enemies to the Jews, and whom God commanded to be entirely exterminated, Deut. xxv. 17, 19. duke Korah in the 16th verse; from which interpo-lation both the` Samaritan têxt and the Samaritan version are free."-KENNICOTT's Remarks. Every thing considered, I incline to the opinion that these words were not originally in the text. Verse 20. These are the sons of Seir the Horite] These Horites were the original inhabitants of the country of Seir, called the land of the Horites, and afterwards the land of the Idumeans, when the descendants of Esau had driven them out. These people are first mentioned chap: xiv. 6. Verse 15. Dukes of the sons of Esau] The word duke comes from the Latin dux, a captain or leader. The Hebrew alluph has the same signification; and as it is also the term for a thousand, which is a grand capital or leading number, probably the x alluphey or dukes had this name from being leaders of or caplains over a company of one thousand men ; just as those among the Greeks called chiliarchs, which signifies the same; and as the Romans called those centurions who were captains over one hundred men, from the Latin word centum, which signifies a hun-land, as before observed; and Calmet has very prodred. The ducal government was that which prevailed first among the Idumeans, or descendants of Esau. Here fourteen dukes are reckoned to Esau, seven that came of his wife Adah, four of Bashemath, and three of Aholibamah. Verse 16. Duke Korah] This Dr. Kennicott pronounces to be an interpolation. "It is certain, from verse 4, that Eliphaz was Esau's son by Adah; and from verses 11, 12, that Eliphaz had but six sons, Teman, Omar, Zepho, Gatam, Kenaz, and Amalek. It is also certain, from verses 5 and 14, that Korah was the son of Esau (not of Eliphaz) by Aholibamah; and as such he is properly mentioned in ver. 18: These are the sons of Aholibamah, Esau's wife: duke Jeush, duke Jaalam, DUKE KORAH. It is clear, there Verse 21. These are the dukes of the Horites] It appears pretty evident that the Horites and the descendants of Esau were mixed together in the same perly remarked, that if we compare this verse with verse 30, there were princes of Seir in the country of Seir, and in that of Edom; and in comparing the generations of Seir and Esau, we are obliged to consider these princes as contemporary. Verse 24. This was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness] The words 'n eth haiyemim, here translated mules, has given rise, to a great variety of conjectures and discordant opinions. St. Jerome, who renders it aquas calidas, warm springs, or hot baths, says there are as many opinions concerning it as there are commentators. The Septuagint has rov Iauɛiv, which seems to be the name of a man; but this is expressed in a great variety of ways in different MSS. of that version. Dukes of the Horites, A. M. cir. 2248. B. C. cir. 1756. 25 And the children of Anah† 30 Duke Dishon, duke Ezer, A. M. cir. 2248. were these; Dishon, and Aholi- duke Dishan: these are the bamah the daughter of Anah. dukes that came of Hori, among their dukes in the land of Seir. 26 And these are the children of Dishon; ▾ Hemdan, and Eshban, and Ithran, and Cheran. 27 The children of Ezer are these; Bilhan, and Zaavan, and w Akan. From 31 And these are the kings A. M. cir. 2093, that reigned in the land of B. C. cir. 1911, Edom, before there reigned A. M. cir. 2429, to 28 The children of Dishan are these; Uz, any king over the children of B. C. cir. 1575. The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel paraphrases the place thus: "This is the Anah who united the onager with the tame ass, and in process of time he found mules produced by them." R. D. Kimchi says, that "Zibeon was both the father and brother of Anah; and this Anah, intent on heterogeneous mixtures, caused asses and horses to copulate, and so produced mules." R. S. Jarchi is of the same opinion. See his comment on this place. Bochart believes the Emim are meant; and argues forcibly, 1. That matsa, he found, never signifies to invent, but rather the meeting with or happening on a thing which already exists. 2. That mules are never called D yemim in the Scriptures, but D7 peradim. 3. That Anah fed ASSES only, not horses. And, 4. That there is no mention of mules in Palestine till the days of David. From the whole he concludes that the Emim are meant, with whom Anah fought; and he brings many places of Scripture where the same form of expression, he or they found, signifies the onset to battle, Judg. i. 5; 1 Sam. xxxi. 3; 1 Kings xiii. 24; 2 Chron. xxii. 8; Num. xxxv. 27; Gen. iv. 14; with many others. See the Hierozoicon, vol. i., cap. 21, p. 238., edit. 1692. Gusset, in Comment. Heb. Ling., examines what Bochart has asserted, and supposes that mules, not the Emim, were found by Anah. Wagenseil would credit what Bochart has asserted, did not stronger reasons lead him to believe that the word means a sort of plant! From the above opinions and versions the reader may choose which he likes best, or invent one for himself. My own opinion is, that mules were not known before the time of Anah; and that he was probably the first who coupled the mare and ass together to produce this mongrel, or was the first who met with creatures of this race in some very secluded part of Israel. the wilderness. Is it not probable that from this Anah, or my enah, the Eneta derived at least their fabulous origin, whom Homer mentions as famous for their race of wild mules? Παφλαγόνων δ' ήγειτο Πυλαιμενεις λασιον κηρ, Εξ Ενετών, όθεν ήμιόνων γενος αγροτεραων. IL., lib. ii., v. 852.. The Paphlagonians Pylamenes rules, Where rich HENETIA breeds her SAVAGE MULES. POPE. The Eneta or Heneta, who were a people contiguous to Paphlagonia, Cappadocia, and Galatia, might have derived their origin from this Anah, or Henah, out of which the Everol of the ancient Greek writers might have been formed; and according to Theophrastus, Strabo, and Plutarch, the first mules were seen among these people. See Ludov. De Dieu and Scheuchzer, Verse 31. Before there reigned any king overIsrael.] I suppose all the verses, from this to the 39th inclusive, have been transferred to this place from 1 Chron. i. 43-50, as it is not likely they could have been written by Moses; and it is quite possible they might have been, at a very early period, written in the margin of an authentic copy, to make out the regal succession in Edom, prior to the consecration of Saul; which words being afterwards found in the margin of a valuable copy, from which others were transcribed, were supposed by the copyist to be a part of the text, which having been omitted by the mistake of the ori ginal writer, had been since added to make up the deficiency; on this conviction he would not hesitate to transcribe them consecutively in his copy. In most MSS. sentences and paragraphs have been left out by the copyists, which, when perceived, have been added, in the margin, either by the original writer, or by some later hand. Now, as the margin was the ordinary place where glosses or explanatory notes were written, it is easy to conceive how the notes, as well as the parts of the original text found in the margin, might be all incorporated with the text by a future transcriber; and his MSS., being often copied, would of course multiply the copies with such additions, as we have much reason to believe has been the case. pears very frequently in the Vulgate and Septuagint; and an English Bible now before me, written some time in the fourteenth century, exhibits several proofs of this principle. See the preface to this work, This ap The kings and dukes GENESIS. of the Edomites. 39 And Baal-hanan the son of A. M. cir. 2387. B. C. eir. 1617. A. M. cir. 2135. 33 And Bela died, and Jobab B. C. cir. 1869. the son of Zerah of Bozrah Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his stead: and the name of his city reigned in his stead. A. M. cir. 2177. 34 And Jobab died, and Hu-was Pau; and his wife's name was Mehetabel, B. C. cir. 1827. Isham of the land of Temani the daughter of Matred, the daughter of reigned in his stead. B. C. cir. 1785. A. M. cir. 2219. 35 And Husham died, and Hadad the son of Bedad, who smote Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Avith. 36 And Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned A. M. cir. 2261. B. C. cir. 1743. in his 'stead. A. M. cir. 2303. B. C. cir. 1701. * 37 And Samlah died, and Saul of Rehoboth, by the river, reign I know there is another way of accounting for those words on the ground of their being written originally by Moses; but to me it is not satisfactory. It is simply this: the word king should be considered as implying any kind of regular government, whether by chiefs, dukes, judges, &c., and therefore when Moses says these are the kings which reigned in Edom, before there was any king in Israel, he may be only understood as saying that these kings reigned among the Edomites before the family of Jacob had acquired any considerable power, or before the time in which his twelve sons had become the fathers of those numerous tribes, at the head of which, as king himself in Jeshurun, he now stood. Esau, after his dukes, had eight kings, who reigned successively over their people, while Israel were in affliction in Egypt. Verse 33. Jobab the son of Zerah] Many have supposed that Jobab is the same as Job, so remarkable for his afflictions and patience; and that Eliphaz, mentioned verse 10, &c., was the same who in the book of Job is called one of his friends: but there is no proper proof of this, and there are many reasons against it. Verse 35. Smote Midian in the field of Moab] Bishop Cumberland supposes that this was Midian, the son of Abraham by Keturah, and that he was killed by Hadad some time before he was one hundred and nine years of age; and that Moses recorded this, probably, because it was a calamity to the ancestor of Jethro, his father-in-law.-Orig. of Nat., p. 14. Verse 40. These are the names of the dukes that came of Esau These dukes did not govern the whole nation of the Idumeans, but they were chiefs in their respective families, in their places-the districts they governed, and to which they gave their names. Calmet thinks that those mentioned above were dukes in Edom Mezahab. 40 And these are the names of the dukes that came of Esau, according to their families, after their places, by their names; duke Timnah, duke a Alvah, duke Jetheth. 3 41 Duke Aholibamah, duke Elah, duke Pinon, 42 Duke Kenaz, duke Teman, duke Mibzar, 43 Duke Magdiel, duke Iram: these be the dukes of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession: he is Esau the father of the Edomites. Ver. 31; Exod. xv. 15; Num. xx. 14. Ver. 7,8; Deut. ii. 5 a Chap. xxv.30; xlv. 8; xxxvi. 43; 1 Chron. iv. 14; Heb. Edom. or Idumea at the time of the exodus of Israel from Egypt. Verse 43. He is Esau the father of the Edomites.] That is, The preceding list contains an account of the posterity of Esau, who was the father of Edom. Thus ends Esau's history; for after this there is no farther account of his life, actions, or death, in the Pentateuch. 1. As Esau is so considerable a person in polemic divinity, it may be necessary, in this place especially, to say something farther of his conduct and character. I have already, in several places, endeavoured, and 1 hope successfully, to wipe off the odium that has been thrown upon this man, (see the notes on chap. xxvii. and chap. xxxiii.,) without attempting to lessen his faults; and the unprejudiced reader must see that, previously to this last account we have of him, his character stands without a blot, except in the case of selling his birthright, and his purpose to destroy his brother. To the first he was led by his famishing situation and the unkindness of his brother, who refused to save his life but on this condition; and the latter, made in the heat of vexation and passion, he never attempted to execute, even when he had the most ample means and the fairest opportunity to do it. Dr. Shuckford has drawn an impartial character of Esau, from which I extract the following particulars; "Esau was a plain, generous, and honest man, for we have no reason, from any thing that appears in his life or actions, to think him wicked beyond other men of his age or times; and his generous and good temper appears from all his behaviour towards his brother, When they first met he was all humanity and affection, and he had no uneasiness when he found that Jacob followed him not to Seir, but went to live near his father. And at Isaac's death we do not find that he made any difficulty of quitting Canaan, which was the very Observations on CHAP. XXXVII. the preceding chapter. point which, if he had harboured any latent (evil) in- | thoughts do appear to have been such as to evidence tentions, would have revived all his resentments. He that God's purpose towards Jacob was founded on the is indeed called in Scripture the profane Esau; and it truest wisdom."-SHUCKFORD'S Connections, vol. ii., is written, Jacob have I loved, and Esau have I hated; p. 174, &c. but there is, I think, no reason to infer, from any of The truth is, the Messiah must spring from some those expressions, that Esau was a very wicked man, ONE family, and God chose Abraham's through Isaac, or that God hated or punished him for an immoral life. Jacob, &c., rather than the same through Ishmael, For, 1. The sentence here against him is said expressly Esau, and the others in that line; but from this choice to be founded, not upon his actions, for it was deter- it does not follow that the first were all necessarily mined before the children had done good or evil. 2. saved, and the others necessarily lost. God's hatred of Esau was not a hatred which induced him to punish him with any evil, for he was as happy in all the blessings of this life as either Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob; and his posterity had a land designed by God to be their possession, as well as the children of Jacob, and they were put in possession of it much sooner than the Israelites; and God was pleased to protect them in the enjoyment of it, and to caution the Israelites against invading them with a remarkable strictness, Deut. ii. 4, 5. And as God was pleased thus to bless Esau and his children in the blessings of this life, even as much as he blessed Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob, if not more, why may we not hope to find him with them at the last day, as well as Lot or Job or any other good and virtuous man, who was not designed to be a partaker of the blessing given to Abra-zareth, who incontestably sprang from the last, the only ham? 3. All the punishment inflicted on Esau was an exclusion from being heir to the blessing promised to Abraham and to his seed, which was a favour not granted to Lot, to Job, to several other very virtuous and good men. 4. St. Paul, in the passage before cited, only intends to show the Jews that God had all along given the favours that led to the Messiah where he pleased; to Abraham, not to Lot; to Jacob, not to Esau; as at the time St. Paul wrote the Gentiles were made the people of God, not the Jews. 5. Esau is indeed called profane, (ßeßnãos,) but I think that word does not mean wicked or immoral, aσeßnç or ¿μapTw-not have been supported, an appeal to the registers 2oç he was called profane for not having that due value for the priest's office which he should have had; and therefore, though I think it does not appear that he was cut off from being the heir of the promises by any particular action in his life, yet his turn of mind and 2. To some the genealogical lists in this chapter will doubtless appear uninteresting, especially those which concern Esau and his descendants; but it was as ne-、 cessary to register the generations of Esau as to register those of Jacob, in order to show that the Messiah did not spring from the former, but that he did spring from the latter. The genealogical tables, so frequently met with in the sacred writings, and so little regarded by Christians in general, are extremely useful. 1. As they are standing proofs of the truth of the prophecies, which stated that the Messiah should come from a particular family, which prophecies were clearly fulfilled in the birth of Christ. 2. As they testify, to the conviction of the Jews, that the Messiah thus promised is found in the person of Jesus of Na remaining branch of the family of David. These registers were religiously preserved among the Jews till the destruction of Jerusalem, after which they were all destroyed, insomuch that there is not a Jew in the universe who can trace himself to the family of David ; consequently, all expectation of a Messiah to come is, even on their own principles, nugatory and absurd, as nothing remains to legitimate his birth. When Christ came all these registers were in existence. When St, Matthew and St. Luke wrote, all these registers were still in existence; and had they pretended what could would have convicted them of a falsehood. But no Jew attempted to do this, notwithstanding the excess of their malice against Christ and his followers; and because they did not do it, we may safely assert no Jew could do it. Thus the foundation standeth sure CHAPTER XXXVII. Jacob continues to sojourn in Canaan, 1. Joseph, being seventeen years of age, is employed in feeding the flocks of his father, 2. Is loved by his father more than the rest of his brethren, 3. His brethren envy him, 4. His dream of the sheaves, 5-7, His brethren interpret it, and hate him on the account, 8. His dream of the sun, moon, and eleven stars, 9-11. Jacob sends him to visit his brethren, who were with the flock in Shechem, 13, 14. He wanders in the field, and is directed to go to Dothan, whither his brethren had removed the flocks, 15-17. Seeing him coming they conspire to destroy him, 18-20. Reuben, secretly intending to deliver him, counsels his brethren not to kill, but to put him into a pit, 21, 22. They strip Joseph of his coat of many colours, and put him into a pit, 23, 24. They afterwards draw him out, and sell him to a company of Ishmaelite merchants for twenty pieces of silver, who carry him into Egypt, 25-28. Reuben returns to the pit, and not finding Joseph, is greatly affected, 29, 30. Joseph's brethren dip his coat in goat's blood to persuade his father that he had been devoured by a wild beast, 31-33. Jacob is greatly distressed, 34, 35. Joseph is sold in Egypt to Potiphar, captain of Pharaoh's guard, 36. 217 a Commencement of the GENESIS. history of Joseph. AND Jacob dwelt in the land wherein | father loved him more than all his A. M. 2276. his father was a stranger, in the land of brethren, they hated him, and could Canaan. A. M. 2276. 2 These are the generations of B. C. 1728. not speak peaceably unto him. B. C. 1728. 5 And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen it his brethren: and they hated him yet the years old, was feeding the flock with his bre- more. thren; and the lad was with the sons of 6 And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, Bilhah, and with the sons of Zilpah, his this dream which I have dreamed: : father's wives and Joseph brought unto his father their evil report. d 3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age and he made him a coat of many • colours. 7 For, behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf 8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed 4 And when his brethren saw that their have dominion over us? and they hated him see ver. 14. Verse 2. These are the generations] toledoth, the history of the lives and actions of Jacob and his sons; for in this general sense the original must be taken, as in the whole of the ensuing history there is no particular account of any genealogical succession. Yet the words may be understood as referring to the tables or genealogical lists in the preceding chapter; and if so, the original must be understood in its common acceptation. The lad was with the sons of Bilhah] It is supposed that our word lad comes from the Hebrew yeled, a child, a son; and that lass is a contraction of ladess, the female of lad, a girl, a young woman. Some have supposed that King James desired the translators to insert this word; but this must be a mistake, as the word occurs in this place in Edmund Becke's Bible, printed in 1549; and still earlier in that of Coverdale, printed in 1535. Brought unto his father their evil report.] Conjecture has been busily employed to find out what this evil report might be; but it is needless to inquire what it was, as on this head the sacred text is perfectly silent. All the use we can make of this information | is, that it was one cause of increasing his brothers' hatred to him, which was first excited by his father's partiality, and secondly by his own dreams. Verse 3. A coat of many colours.] _`D`DD nɔnɔ kethoneth passim, a coat made up of stripes of differently coloured cloth. Similar to this was the toga prætexta of the Roman youth, which was white, striped or fringed with purple; this they wore till they were seventeen years of age, when they changed it for the toga virilis, or toga pura, which was all white. Such vestures as clothing of distinction are worn all over It is no Persia, India, and China to the present day. wonder that his brethren should envy him, when his father had thus made him such a distinguished object of his partial love. We have already seen some of the evils produced by this unwarrantable conduct of parents in preferring one child to all the rest. old fable of the ape and her favourite cub, which she hugged to death through kindness, was directed against such foolish parental fondnesses as these. manner. حبيبي peace, or سلام Verse 4. And could not speak peaceably unto him.] Does not this imply, in our use of the term, that they were continually quarrelling with him? but this is no meaning of the original: 0 17 19 *bi velo yachelu dabbero leshalom, they could not speak peace to him, i. e., they would not accost him in a friendly They would not even wish him well. The eastern method of salutation is, Peace be to thee! Die shalom lecha, among the Hebrews, and salam, Uw salam hebibi, peace to thee my friend, among the Arabs. Now as peace among those nations comprehends all kinds of blessings spiritual and temporal, so they are careful not to say it to those whom they do not cordially wish well. It is not an unusual thing for an Arab or a Turk to hesitate to return the salam, if given by a Christian, or by one of whom he has not a favourable opinion: and this, in their own country, may be ever considered as a mark of hostility; not only as a proof that they do not wish you well, but that if they have an opportunity they will do you an injury. This was precisely the case with respect to Joseph's brethren: they would not give him the salam, and therefore felt themselves at liberty to take the first opportunity to injure him. Verse 7. We were binding sheaves in the field] Though in these early times we read little of tillage, yet it is evident from this circumstance that it was The whole of this practised by Jacob and his sons. dream is so very plain as to require no comment, unless we could suppose that the sheaves of grain might have some reference to the plenty in Egypt under Joseph's superintendence, and the scarcity in Canaan, which obliged the brethren to go down to Egypt for corn, where the dream was most literally fulfilled, |