Christ, considering the nachash above as the seducer, be here intended. From his four sons Jahzeel, Guni, and the Messiah the promised seed.

The prophecy seems to refer generally to the frequent disturbances to which this tribe should be exposed, and their hostile, warlike disposition, that would always lead them to repel every aggression. It is likely that the prophecy had an especial fulfilment when this tribe, in conjunction with that of Reuben and the half tribe of Manasseh, got a great victory over the Hagarites, taking captive one hundred thou-23. sand men, two thousand asses, fifty thousand camels, and two hundred and fifty thousand sheep; see 24. 1 Chron. v. 18-22. Dr. Durell and others translate

24 But his bow abode in strength, and the 26 The blessings of thy father have prevailed arms of his hands were made strong by the above the blessings of thy progenitors, unto hands of the mighty God of Jacob; "(from the utmost bound of the everlasting hills: thence is the shepherd, w the stone of Israel :) w the stone of Israel :) they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on 25 Even by the God of thy father, who the crown of the head of him that was sepashall help thee and by the Almighty, who rate from his brethren.

4 Heb. daughters.

Psa. cxviii. 13.

:

r

b

V Chap. xxxvii. 4, 24, 28; xxxix. 20; xlii. Psa. lxxx. 1. w Isa. xxviii, 16.- Chap. xxviii. 13, 21 ; 21; - Job xxix. 20; Psa. xxxvii. 15.- Psa. xxxv. 3; xliii. 23. - Chap. xvii. 1; xxxv. 11.——2 Deut. xxxiii. cxxxii. 2, 5.— Chap. xlv. 11; xlvii. 12; 1. 21. 13.- Deut. xxxiii. 15; Hab. iii. 6.b Deut. xxxiii. 16.

Joseph as to get upon walls, the tops of houses, &c., to see him as he passed by. This is agreeable to the view taken of the subject by the Koran. See the notes on chap. xxxix. 7.

Verse 23. The chief archers] 'n baaley chitstsim, the masters of arrows-Joseph's brethren, who either used such weapons, while feeding their flocks in the deserts, for the protection of themselves and cattle, or for the purpose of hunting; and who probably excelled in archery. It may however refer to the bitter speeches and harsh words that they spoke to and of him, for they hated him, and could not speak peaceably to him, chap. xxxvii. 4. Thus they sorely afflicted him, and were incessantly scolding or finding fault.

Shaddai, see the note on chap. xvii. 1.
The blessing of the heavens from above] A gene-
rally pure, clear, serene sky, frequently dropping down
fertilizing showers and dews, so as to make a very
fruitful soil and salubrious atmosphere.

Blessings lying in the deep beneath] Whatever riches could be gained from the sea or rivers, from mines and minerals in the bowels of the earth, and from abundant springs in different parts of his inheritance. Our translation of this line is excessively obscure: Blessings of the deep that lieth under. What is it that lies under the deep? By connecting ♫ bircoth, blessings, with nya robetseth, lying, all ambiguity is avoided, and the text speaks a plain and consistent sense.

Verse 24. But his bow remained in strength] The more he was persecuted, either. by his brethren or in Egypt, the more resplendent his uprightness and virtues shone and the arms-his extended power and influence, of his hands—plans, designs, and particular operations of his prudence, judgment, discretion, &c., were all rendered successful by the hand-the powerful succour and protection, of the Mighty One of Ja- The blessings of the breasts and of the womb.] A cob that God who blessed and prospered all the coun- numerous offspring, and an abundance of cattle. The sels and plans of Jacob, and protected and increased progeny of Joseph, by Ephraim and Manasseh, amounthim also when he was in a strange land, and often un-ed at the first census or enumeration (Num. i.) to 75,900 der the power of those who sought opportunities to oppress and defraud him.

Verse 26. The blessing of thy father, &c.] The blessings which thy father now prays for and pronounces are neither temporal nor transitory; they shall exceed in their duration the eternal mountains, and in their value and spiritual nature all the conveniences, comforts, and delicacies which the everlasting hills can

men, which exceeded the sum of any one tribe; Judah, the greatest of the others, amounting to no more By the name of the Shepherd; the Rock of Israel] than 74,600. Indeed, Ephraim and Manasseh had Jehovah, and El-Elohey Israel; see chap. xxxiii. 20. multiplied so greatly in the days of Joshua, that a comThis appears to me to refer to the subject of the thirty-mon lot was not sufficient for them. See their comsecond chapter, where Jacob wrestled with God, had plaint, Josh. xvii. 14. God's name revealed to him, and his own name changed from Jacob to Israel, in consequence of which he built an altar, and dedicated it to God, who had appeared to him under the name of Elohey-Israel, the strong God of Israel; which circumstance led him to use the term Rock, which, as an emblem of power, is frequently given to God in the sacred writings, and may here re-produce. fer to the stone which Jacob set up. It is very probable that the word shepherd is intended to apply to our blessed Lord, who is the Shepherd of Israel, the good Shepherd, John x. 11-17; and who, beyond all controversy, was the person with whom Jacob wrestled. See the notes on chap. xvi. 7, and xxxii. 24.

They shall last when the heavens and the earth are no more, and shall extend throughout eternity. They are the blessings which shall be communicated to the world by means of the Messiah.

The Jerusalem Targum paraphrases the place thus: "The blessing of this father shall be added unto the blessings wherewith thy fathers Abraham and Isaac, who are likened to mountains, have blessed thee; and they shall exceed the blessings of the four mothers, Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, and Leah, who are likened to the hills: all these blessings shall be a crown of

Prophecy concerning Benjamin.

A. M. 2315. 27 Benjamin shall

B. C. 1689.

d

B. C. 1689.

raven as a | Canaan,) h which Abraham bought A. M. 2315. wolf: in the morning he shall devour with the field of Ephron the Hittite for a possession of a burying-place. 31 (There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife; there they buried Isaac and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.)

the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil. 28 All these are the twelve tribes of Israel : and this is it that their father spake unto them, and blessed them; every one according to his blessing he blessed them.

29 And he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite.

30 In the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, (which is before Mamre in the land of Judg. xx. 21, 25; Ezek. xxii. 25, 27.

Num. xxiii. 24; Esth.

viii. 11; Ezek. xxxix. 10; Zech. xiv. 1, 7.-e Ch. xv. 15; xxv. 8.

magnificence on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him who was a prince and governor in the land of Egypt."

27. Benjamin is a ravenous wolf:

In the morning he shall devour the prey,
And in the evening he shall divide the spoil.

This tribe is very fitly compared to a ravenous wolf, because of the rude courage and ferocity which they have invariably displayed, particularly in their war with the other tribes, in which they killed more men than

the whole of their own numbers amounted to.

32 The purchase of the field and of the cave that is therein was from the children of Heth.

33 And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and 1 was gathered unto his people.

Ch. xlvii. 30; 2 Sam. xix. 37.8 Ch. 1. 13.-
Chap. xxiii. 19; xxv. 9.- k Chap. xxxv. 29.-

h Ch. xxiii. 16. Ver. 29.

In the morning, according to Mr. Ainsworth, “signifies the first times; for Ehud of Benjamin was the second judge that saved the Israelites from the hands of the Moabites, Judg. iii. 15, &c. Saul of Benjamin was the first king of Israel; he and his son were great warriors, making a prey of many enemies, 1 Sam. xi. 6, 7, 11; xiv. 13, 15, 47, 48. And the

evening, the latter times; for Mordecai and Esther of Benjamin delivered the Jews from a great destruction, and slew their enemies, Esth. viii. 7, 9, 11; ix.

5, 6, 15, 16."

"This last tribe," says Dr. Hales, "is compared to That is, guided by the unerring Spirit of prophecy, Verse 28. Every one according to his blessing] a wolf for its ferocious and martial disposition, such Jacob now foretold to each of his sons all the importas was evinced by their contests with the other tribes, ant events which should take place during their sucin which, after two victories, they were almost exter-cessive generations, and the predominant characteristic minated, Judg. xix., xx." Its union with the tribe of Judah seems to be intimated in their joint conquests, expressed nearly in the same terms: "Judah went up from the prey;" "Benjamin devoured the prey." Moses in his parallel prophecy, Deut. xxxiii. 12, confirms this by signifying that the sanctuary should be fixed in his lot, and that he should continue as long as the existence of the temple itself:

THE BELOVED OF THE LORD shall dwell with him
in safety,

And shall cover him all the day long,
And shall dwell between his shoulders.

Deut. xxxiii. 12.
In the morning, &c.] These expressions have been
variously understood. The sense given above is that
in which the principal interpreters agree; but Houbi-
gant protests against the prophecy signifying the con-
tinuance of this tribe, as the words, "in the morning
devouring the prey," and "in the evening dividing the
spoil," are supposed to imply; “because,” he observes,
"after the return from the Babylonish captivity, this
tribe is no more mentioned." But this may be ac-
counted for from the circumstance of its being asso-
ciated with that of Judah, (see 1 Kings xii. 21-24,)
after which it is scarcely ever mentioned but in that
union. Being thus absorbed in the tribe of Judah, it
continued from the morning till the evening of the Jew-
ish dispensation, and consequently till the Lion of the
tribe of Judah was seen in the wilderness of Israel.

of each tribe; and, at the same time, made some comparatively obscure references to the advent of the Messiah, and the redemption of the world by him.

this it appears that the cave at Machpelah was a comVerse 29. Bury me with my fathers, &c.] From indeed the first public burying-place mentioned in hismon burying-place for Hebrews of distinction; and tory. From ver. 31 we find that Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah, and Leah, had been already deposited there, and among them Jacob wished to have his bones laid; and he left his dying charge with his children to bury him in this place, and this they conscientiously performed. See chap. 1. 13.

Verse 33. He gathered up his feet into the bed] It is very probable that while delivering these prophetic blessings Jacob sat upon the side of his bed, leaning upon his staff; and having finished, he lifted up his feet into the bed, stretched himself upon it, and expired!

And was gathered unto his people.] The testimony that this place bears to the immortality of the soul, and to its existence separate from the body, should not be lightly regarded. In the same moment in which Jacob is said to have gathered up his feet into the bed, and to have expired, it is added, and was gathered unto his people. It is certain that his body was not then gathered to his people, nor till seven weeks after; and it is not likely that a circumstance, so distant in point both of time and place, would

Jacob's sons supposed to have

GENESIS.

given rise to the ancient Zodiac.

have been thus anticipated, and associated with facts | cannot pretend to say; but that the twelve signs were that took place in that moment. I cannot help there- at that time known in Egypt and Chaldea, there can fore considering this an additional evidence for the be little doubt. immateriality of the soul, and that it was intended by the Holy Spirit to convey this grand and consolatory sentiment, that when a holy man ceases to live among his fellows, his soul becomes an inhabitant of another world, and is joined to the spirits of just men made perfect.

1. Ir has been conjectured (see the note, chap. Xxxvii. 9) that the eleven stars that bowed down to Joseph might probably refer to the signs of the Zodiac, which were very anciently known in Egypt, and are supposed to have had their origin in Chaldea. On this supposition Joseph's eleven brethren answered to eleven of these signs, and himself to the twelfth. General Vallancy has endeavoured, in his Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, vol. vi., part ii., p. 343, to trace out the analogy between the twelve sons of Jacob and the twelve signs of the Zodiac, which Dr. Hales (Analysis, vol. ii., p. 165) has altered a little, and placed in a form in which it becomes more generally applicable. As this scheme is curious, many readers who may not have the opportunity of consulting the above works will be pleased to find it here. That there is an allusion to the twelve signs of the Zodiac, and probably to their ancient asterisms, may be readily credited; but how far the peculiar characteristics of the sons of Jacob were expressed by the animals in the Zodiac, is a widely different question.

1. REUBEN" Unstable (rather pouring out) as waters"-the sign AQUARIUS, represented as a man pouring out waters from an urn.

2. We have now seen the life of Jacob brought to a close; and have carefully traced it through all its various fortunes, as the facts presented themselves in the preceding chapters. Isaac his father was what might properly be called a good man; but in strength of mind he appears to have fallen far short of his father Abraham, and his son Jacob. Having left the management of his domestic concerns to Rebekah his wife, who was an artful and comparatively irreligious woman, the education of his sons was either neglected or perverted. The unhappy influence which the precepts and example of his mother had on the mind of her son we have seen and deplored. Through the mercy of God Jacob outlived the shady part of his own character, and his last days were his brightest and his best. He had many troubles and difficulties in life, under which an inferior mind must have necessarily sunk; but being a worker together with the providence of God, his difficulties only served in general to whet his invention, and draw out the immense resources of his own mind. He had to do with an avaricious, procrastinating relative, as destitute of humanity as he was of justice. Let this plead something in his excuse. He certainly did outwit his father-in-law; and yet, probably, had no more than the just recompense of his faithful services in the successful issue of all his devices. From the time in which God favoured him with that wonderful manifestation of grace at Peniel, chap. xxxii., he became a new man. He had frequent discoveries of God before, to encourage him in journeys, secular affairs, &c. ; but none in which the heart-changing power of Divine grace was so abundantly revealed. Happy he whose last days are his best! We can scarcely conceive a exhibited at the deathbed of Jacob. This great man scene more noble or dignified than that was now one hundred and forty-seven years of age; though his body, by the waste of time, was greatly enfeebled, yet with a mind in perfect vigour, and a hope full of immortality, he calls his numerous family together, all of them in their utmost state of prosperity, and gives them his last counsels, and his dying blessing. His declarations show that the secret of the Lord was with him, and that his candle shone bright upon his tabernacle. Having finished his work, determined that while he was able to help himself with perfect possession of all his faculties, and being none should be called in to assist, (which was one of the grand characteristics of his life,) he, with that dignity which became a great man and a man of God, stretched himself upon his bed, and rather appears to have conquered death than to have suffered it. Who, seeing the end of this illustrious patriarch, can help exclaiming, There is none like the God of Jeshurun! Let Jacob's God be my God! Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his! Reader, God is still the same: and though he may to make thee as good; and, whatever thy past life not make thee as great as was Jacob, yet he is ready may have been, to crown thee with loving-kindness What likelihood the reader may see in all this, I and tender mercies, that thy end also may be peace.

2. SIMEON and LEVI-" The united brethren "-
the sign GEMINI or the Twins.

3. JUDAH-" The strong lion"-the sign LEO.
4. ASHER-" His bread shall be fat"-the sign
VIRGO or the Virgin, generally represented as
holding a full ear of corn.

5. ISSACHAR" A strong ass" or ox, both used in
husbandry-the sign TAURUS or the Bull.
6. and 7. DAN-"A serpent biting the horse's
heels"-SCORPIO, the Scorpion. On the celes-
tial sphere the Scorpion is actually represented
as biting the heel of the horse of the archer
Sagittarius; and Chele, "his claws," origin-
ally occupied the space of Libra.
8. JOSEPH His bow remained in strength"-the
sign SAGITTARIUS, the archer or bow-man; com-
monly represented, even on the Asiatic Zodiacs,
with his bow bent, and the arrow drawn up to the
head-the bow in full strength.
9. NAPHTALI—by a play on his name, taleh, the
ram-the sign ARIES, according to the rabbins.
10. ZEBULUNA haven for ships"-denoted by

CANCER, the crab.

11. GAD" A troop or army"-reversed, dag, a fish -the sign PISCES.

12. BENJAMIN "A ravening wolf"-CAPRICORN, which on the Egyptian sphere was represented by a goat led by Pan, with a wolf's head.

Joseph mourns for the

CHAP. L.

CHAPTER L.

death of his father.

Joseph bewails the death of his father, and commands the physicians to embalm him, 1, 2. The Egyptians mourn for him seventy days, 3. Joseph begs permission from Pharaoh to accompany his father's corpse to Canaan, 4, 5. Pharaoh consents, 6. Pharaoh's domestics and elders, the elders of Egypt, Joseph and his brethren, with chariots, horsemen, &c., form the funeral procession, 7-9. They come to the threshingfloor of Atad, and mourn there seven days, 10, The Canaanites call the place Abel-Mizraim, 11. They bury Jacob in the cave of Machpelah, 12, 13. Joseph returns to Egypt, 14. His brethren, fearing his displeasure, send messengers to him to entreat his forgiveness of past wrongs, 15-17. They follow, and prostrate themselves before him, and offer to be his servants, 18. Joseph receives them affectionately, and assures them and theirs of his care and protection, 19-21. Joseph and his brethren dwell in Egypt, and he sees the third generation of his children, 22, 23. Being about to die, he prophecies the return of the children of Israel from Egypt, 24, and causes them to swear that they will carry his bones to Canaan, 25. Joseph dies, aged one hundred and ten years; is embalmed, and put in a coffin in Egypt, 26.

thus preserved; and though the work had been done for some thousands of years, the very feathers were in complete preservation, and the colour of the plumage discernible. The account of this curious process, the articles used, and the manner of applying them, I subjoin from Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus, as also the manner of their mournings and funeral solemnities, which are highly illustrative of the subjects in this chapter.

likewise their clothes girt about them, beat themselves. These things being done, they carry the dead body to be embalmed; for which there are certain persons appointed who profess this art. These, when the body is brought to them, show to those that bring it certain models of dead persons in wood, according to any of which the deceased may be painted. One of these they say is accurately made like to one whom, in such a matter, I do not think lawful to name; Tov oνk bolov ποιούμαι το ούνομα επι τοιούτῳ πρηγματι ονομάζειν ; (pro

Verse 2. The physicians] □'*Dropheim, the healers, those whose business it was to heal or restore the body from sickness by the administration of proper medicines; and when death took place, to heal or preserve "When any man of quality dies," says Herodotus, it from dissolution by embalming, and thus give it a "all the women of that family besmear their heads and sort of immortality or everlasting duration. The ori- faces with dirt; then, leaving the body at home, they ginal word om chanat, which we translate to embalm, go lamenting up and down the city with all their relahas undoubtedly the same meaning with the Arabic tions; their apparel being girt about them, and their Lihanata, which also signifies to embalm, or to pre-breasts left naked. On the other hand the men, having serve from putrefaction by the application of spices, &c., and hence hantat, an embalmer. The word is used to express the reddening of leather; and probably the ideal meaning may be something analogous to our tanning, which consists in removing the moisture, and closing up the pores so as to render them impervious to wet. This probably is the grand principle in embalming; and whatever effects this, will preserve flesh as perfectly as skin. Who can doubt that a human muscle, undergoing the same process of tanning as the hide of an oa, would not become equally incor-bably Osiris, one of the principal gods of Egypt, is ruptible I have seen a part of the muscle of a human thigh, that, having come into contact with some tanning matter, either in the coffin or in the grave, was in a state of perfect soundness, when the rest of the body had been long reduced to earth; and it exhibited the appearance of a thick piece of well tanned leather. In the art of embalming, the Egyptians excelled all nations in the world; with them it was a common practice. Instances of the perfection to which they carried this art may be seen in the numerous mummies, as they are called, which are found in different European cabinets, and which have been all brought from Egypt. This people not only embalmed men and women, and thus kept the bodies of their beloved relatives from the empire of corruption, but they embalmed useful animals also. I have seen the body of the Ibris ( 19 )

VOL. I.

here intended ;) then they show a second inferior to it, and of an easier price; and next a third, cheaper than the former, and of a very small value; which being seen, they ask them after which model the deceased shall be represented. When they have agreed upon the price they depart; and those with whom the dead corpse is left proceed to embalm it after the following manner: First of all, they with a crooked iron draw the brain out of the head through the nostrils; next, with a sharp Ethiopic stone they cut up that part of the abdomen called the ilia, and that way draw out all the bowels, which, having cleansed and washed with palm wine, they again rinse and wash with wine perfumed with pounded odours: then filling up the belly with pure myrrh and cassia grossly powdered, and all other odours except frankincense, they sew it up again.

273

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