Genesis 7:1--9:29
Come <0935> [A.M. 1656. B.C. 2348. Come.]
I consider <07200> [thee.]
clean ............. unclean <02889> [every clean.]
seven <07651> [sevens. Heb. seven, seven. not.]
cause <05750> [For.]
days ............ forty days ... forty <03117 0705> [forty days.]
every <03605> [and every.]
wipe <04229> [destroy. Heb. blot out.]
Lord <03068> [all that.]
seven days <03117 07651> [after seven days. or, on the seventh day.]
floodwaters <04325> [waters.]
second month ........ month <02320 08145> [second month.]
The first month was Tisri, which answers to the latter end of September and first half of October; the second was Marchesvan, which answers to part of October and part of November.
fountains <04599> [all.]
floodgates <0699> [windows. or, flood-gates.]
forty .... forty <0705> [forty.]
day <03117> [day.]
Shem <08035> [and Shem.]
They <01992> [They.]
wings <03671> [sort. Heb. wing.]
God <0430> [as.]
Lord <03068> [the.]
waters ... overwhelmed ............. waters <01396 04325> [waters prevailed.]
ark <08392> [ark.]
high mountains <01364 02022> [and all the high hills.]
At the present day every mountain where search has been made, conspire in one uniform, universal proof that they all had the sea spread over their highest summits; shells, skeletons of fish, etc., having been found there.
mountains <02022> [and the mountains.]
breath ... life <02416 05397> [breath of life. Heb. breath of the spirit of life.]
living thing <03351> [every living substance.]
The most incontestable evidence has been afforded of the universality of this fact: the moose deer, a native of America, has been found buried in Ireland; elephants, native of Asia and Africa, in the midst of England; crocodiles, natives of the Nile, in the heart of Germany; and shell fish, never known in any but the American seas, with the entire skeletons of whales, in the most inland counties of England.
Noah <05146> [and Noah.]
[compare with ver. 11 of this chapter.]
The breaking up of the fountains of the great deep, and the raining forty days and nights, had raised the waters fifteen cubits, or twenty-two feet and a half, above the highest mountain; after which forty days, it appears to have continued at this height one hundred and fifty days more.
God remembered .................. God <02142 0430> [God remembered.]
domestic animals <0929> [the cattle.]
wind <07307> [a wind.]
fountains <04599> [fountains.]
rain <01653> [the rain.]
steadily <01980> [continually. Heb. in going and returning. hundred.]
ark <08392> [the ark.]
seventh month <02320 07637> [seventh month.]
That is, of the year, not of the deluge.
Ararat <0780> [Ararat.]
Ararat is generally understood to be Armenia, as it is rendered elsewhere, in which there is a great chain of mountains, like the Alps or the Pyrenees, upon the highest part of which, called by some, "The Finger Mountain," the ark is supposed to have rested.
on receding <02637 01980> [decreased continually. Heb. were in going and decreasing. the tenth.]
opened ... window <06605 02474> [opened the window.]
raven <06158> [a raven.]
flying back ... forth <03318 07725> [went forth to and fro. Heb. in going forth and returning.]
dove <03123> [a dove.]
find <04672> [found.]
returned <07725> [and she.]
brought <0935> [pulled her. Heb. caused her to come.]
waited <02342> [stayed.]
seven <07651> [seven.]
olive <02132> [an olive.]
waited <03176> [And he.]
seven <07651> [seven.]
six <08337> [A.M. 1657. B.C. 2347. six.]
From this, it appears, that Noah was in the ark a complete solar year, or 365 days; for he entered it on the 17th day of the 2nd month, in the 600th year of his life, and continued in it till the 27th day of the 2nd month, in the 601st year of his life, as we see above.
Bring out <03318> [Bring.]
increase <08317> [breed.]
groups <04940> [kinds. Heb. families.]
built <01129> [builded.]
clean animal ... clean <0929 02889> [clean beast.]
burnt offerings <05930> [burnt.]
smelled <07306> [smelled.]
soothing aroma <07381 05207> [sweet savour. Heb. savour of rest. curse.]
humankind ..... inclination .... minds <0120 03336> [for. or, though. the imagination.]
again ....................... again <03254> [neither.]
done <06213> [as I.]
earth continues to exist ............. day <0776 03117> [While the earth remaineth. Heb. as yet all the days of the earth.]
planting time <02233> [seed-time.]
Most of the European nations divide the year into four distinct parts, called quarters or seasons; but there are six divisions in the text, which obtained in Palestine among the Hebrews, and exist among the Arabs to the present day. According to this gracious promise, the heavenly bodies have preserved their courses, the seasons their successions, and the earth its increase for the use of man.
continues to exist ............. day <03117> [day.]
blessed <01288> [blessed.]
fruitful <06509> [Be.]
moving thing <07431> [Every.]
green <03418> [even.]
life <05315> [the life.]
creature ..................... man <02416 0376> [every.]
punishment ......... punishment ........ punishment <03027> [and at.]
relative <0251> [brother.]
human ..... humans .............. humankind <0120> [by.]
image <06754> [in.]
confirm <06965> [And I.]
living <01320> [neither shall all.]
remember <02142> [remember.]
waters <04325> [the waters.]
perpetual <05769> [everlasting.]
Shem <08035> [Shem.]
Ham ..... Ham <02526> [Ham.]
Canaan <03667> [Canaan. Heb. Chenaan.]
<07969> [These.]
earth <0776> [and of.]
<0376> [an husbandman.]
plant <05193> [planted.]
drunk <07937> [and was.]
drank .......... uncovered <08354 01540> [and he.]
Ham <02526> [Ham.]
told <05046> [told.]
Cursed <0779> [Cursed.]
lowest of slaves <05650> [a servant.]
The devoted nations, which God destroyed before Israel, were descended from Canaan: and so were the Phoenicians and Carthaginians, who were at length subjugated with dreadful destruction by the Greeks and Romans. The Africans, who have been bought and sold like beasts, were also his posterity.
Worthy <01288> [Blessed.]
Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
[Sem.]
slave <05650> [his servant. or, servant to them.]
enlarge <06601> [enlarge. or, persuade. Japheth.]
Japheth denotes enlargement, and how wonderfully have his boundaries been enlarged; for not only Europe, but Asia Minor, part of Armenia, Iberia, the whole of the vast regions of Asia north of Taurus, and probably America, fell to the share of his posterity.
live <07931> [he shall dwell.]
These words may mean either that God or that Japheth shall dwell in the tents of Shem. In either sense the prophecy has been literally fulfilled.
live <07931> [dwell.]
950 <08672> [A.M. 2006. B.C. 1998. nine.]
Genesis 23:1--24:67
Sarah <08283> [A.M. 2144. B.C. 1860. Sarah.]
It is worthy of remark, that Sarah is the only woman whose age, death, and burial are distinctly noted in the Sacred writings.
127 <03967> [an.]
Kiriath Arba <07153> [Kirjath-arba.]
went <0935> [came.]
For the convenience of feeding his numerous flocks, Abraham had several places of temporary residence; and it is likely, that while he sojourned at Beer-sheba, as we find he did from ver. 19 of the preceding chapter, Sarah died at Hebron, which was 24 miles distant.
mourn <05594> [mourn.]
Heth <02845> [Heth.]
temporary <01616> [stranger.]
burial site <06913> [buryingplace.]
bury <06912> [bury.]
sir <0113> [my lord.]
mighty prince <05387 0430> [a mighty prince. Heb. a prince of God.]
prince <05387> [prince.]
Ask <06293> [intreat.]
full price <03701 04392> [much money. Heb. full money.]
sitting <03427> [dwelt.]
Or, sitting (as the word frequently denotes) among the children of Heth, at the gate of the city, where all public business was transacted. Ephron, though a chief man, might have been personally unknown to Abraham; but now he answers for himself, making a free tender of the field and cave to Abraham, in the presence of all the people, which amounted to a legal conveyance to the Patriarch.
hearing <0241> [audience. Heb. ears. all that.]
city <05892> [his.]
lord <0113> [my lord.]
presence <05869> [in the.]
pay ................. bury <05414 06912> [I will.]
400 <0702> [is worth.]
Though the words "is worth" are not in the Text, yet they are clearly implied, to adapt the Hebrew to the English idiom. A shekel, according to the general opinion, was equal in value to about 2s. 6d. of our money, but according to Dr. Prideaux, 3s. English. In those early times, money was given in weight; for it is said (ver. 16.) that "Abraham weighed," {wayishkal,} the silver; and hence, we find that it was a certain weight which afterwards passed as a current coin; for the word shekel is not only used to denote a piece of sliver, but also to weigh.
pieces <08255> [shekels.]
weighed out <08254> [weighed.]
400 <0702> [four.]
field ......... field ................ field <07704> [the field.]
So ... secured <06965> [made sure.]
entered <0935> [all.]
secured <06965> [were.]
site <0272> [for a.]
old <02204> [was old.]
advanced ... years <03117 0935> [well stricken in age. Heb. gone into days. blessed.]
senior <02205> [eldest.]
charge <04910> [ruled.]
Put <07760> [Put.]
solemnly <07650> [swear.]
Lord ... God ...... God .... earth ............. daughters .... Canaanites <03068 0430 0776 01323 03669> [the.]
acquire <03947> [that.]
relatives <04138> [to my kindred.]
There does not appear in all this concern the least taint of worldly policy, or any of those motives which usually govern men in the settlement of their children. No mention is made of riches, or honours, or natural accomplishments, but merely of what related to God.--Fuller.
woman <0802> [Peradventure.]
Lord <03068> [Lord.]
took ...................................... find <03947> [took.]
promised <01696> [which spake.]
angel <04397> [angel.]
free <05352> [clear.]
back <07725> [only.]
gifts <02898> [for. or, and. all the.]
Aram Naharaim <0763> [Mesopotamia.]
city <05892> [city.]
kneel <01288> [kneel.]
out ... draw <07579 03318> [women go out to draw water. Heb. women which draw water go forth.]
Lord <03068> [O Lord.]
<06440> [I pray.]
standing <05324> [I stand.]
daughters <01323> [daughters.]
young woman <05291> [And let.]
chosen <03198> [she that.]
know <03045> [thereby.]
finished <03615> [before.]
Rebekah <07259> [Rebekah.]
Milcah <04435> [Milcah.]
jug <03537> [pitcher.]
beautiful <02896 04758> [fair to look upon. Heb. good of countenance.]
sexual relations <03045> [known.]
sip <01572> [Let.]
water .... jug <04325 03537> [water of.]
Silently .... watched <07583 02790> [wondering at.]
[to wit. i.e., "to know," or "to learn."]
Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
took <03947> [took.]
nose ring <05141> [earring. or, jewel for the forehead.]
From the word being in the singular number, it is not likely to have been an ear-ring, or a "jewel for the forehead," but "a jewel for the nose, a nose-ring," which is in use throughout Arabia and Persia, particularly among young women. It is very properly translated [epirrinon,] "an ornament for the nose," by Symmachus; and Sir John Chardin informs us, that "it is a custom in almost all the East, for the women to wear rings in their noses, in the left nostril, which is bored low down in the middle. These rings are of gold, and have commonly two pearls and one ruby between, placed in the ring. I never saw a girl or young woman in Arabia or in all Persia, who did not wear a ring after this manner in her nostril."
beka <01235> [of half.]
bracelets <06781> [bracelets.]
The word rendered "bracelet," from a root which signifies "to join or couple together," may imply whatever may clasp round the arms and legs; for rings and ornaments are worn round both by females in India and Persia. The small part of the leg, and the whole arm, from the shoulder to the wrist, are generally decorated in this way. As these were given to Rebekah for "her hands," it sufficiently distinguishes them from similar ornaments for the ankles.
Praised <01288> [Blessed.]
faithful <02617> [of his.]
Lord ................... Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
master ............ master ............ master's <0113> [of my.]
mother's <0517> [of.]
mother's <0517> [her mother's.]
Some have conjectured from this, that her father Bethuel was dead; and the person called Bethuel, (ver. 50,) was a younger brother. This is possible; but as Dr. A. Clarke remarks, the mother's house might be mentioned were even the father alive; for in Asiatic countries, the women have apartments entirely separate from those of the men, in which their little children and grown-up daughters reside with them. This was probably the case here; though, from the whole narrative, it is very probable that Bethuel was dead, as the whole business appears to be conducted by Rebekah's brothers.
blessed ......... out <01288 02351> [thou.]
prepared <06437> [for I.]
unloaded <06605> [he ungirded. i.e., Laban ungirded. straw.]
Straw, by the eastern mode of threshing, was cut or shattered, and reduced to a kind of chaff. With this, sometimes mixed with a little barley, the eastern people still feed their labouring beasts, as they anciently did.
wash <07364> [wash.]
Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
sheep <06629> [flocks.]
Sarah <08283> [Sarah.]
given <05414> [unto.]
master <0113> [And my.]
Canaanites <03669> [Canaanites.]
The Canaanites were infected with gross idolatry; and consequently, not proper persons with whom to form so intimate a connection; especially as Jehovah had shown Abraham that they were filling up the measure of their iniquity, and were doomed to destruction.
but <0518> [But.]
[my father's. i.e., Where the family of Haran his brother had settled; and where he himself had remained some time with his father Terah.]
Nahor did not dwell at Ur of the Chaldees, but at Haran in Mesopotamia. The true worship of God seems to have been in some measure preserved in this family, though afterwards corrupted.
[Peradventure.]
We may see, says Calmet, by this and other passages of Scripture, (Jos 9:18,) what the sentiments of the ancients were relative to an oath. They believed that they were bound precisely by what was spoken, and had no liberty to interpret the intentions of those by whom the oath was made.
answered <0559> [And he.]
before <06440> [before.]
send <07971> [will.]
Lord <03068> [O Lord.]
successful <06743> [prosper.]
Drink <08354> [Both.]
woman <0802> [the woman.]
chosen <03198> [appointed.]
Those events, which appear to us the effect of choice, contrivance, or chance, are matters of appointment with God; and the persuasion of this does not prevent, but rather encourage, the use of all proper means; at the same time that it confines us to proper means, and delivers the mind from useless anxiety about consequences.
finished <03615> [before.]
praying <01696> [speaking.]
put <07760> [I put.]
bowed down <06915> [bowed.]
led <05148> [led me.]
<03426> [now if.]
show faithful love <06213 02617 0571> [deal kindly and truly. Heb. do mercy and truth.]
go <06437> [that I.]
Laban <03837> [Laban.]
These seem both to be brothers, of whom Laban was the eldest and chief: the opinion of Josephus appears to be very correct, that Bethuel, the father, had been dead some time.
<01697> [The thing.]
<03201> [we.]
Rebekah <07259> [Rebekah.]
decided <01696> [hath.]
bowed <07812> [worshipped.]
jewelry <03627> [jewels. Heb. vessels.]
The original word denotes vessels, utensils, instruments, furniture, or dress; and these presented by Abraham's servant might have been of various kinds.
brother <0251> [brother.]
No mention is made of her father.
valuable <04030> [precious.]
This term, rendered "precious things," as may be seen in the parallel texts, is used to express exquisite fruits or delicacies, and precious plants or flowers: but here it may mean gifts in general, though rather of an inferior kind to those mentioned above.
Let <07971> [Send me.]
days <03117> [a few days. or, a full year, or ten months.]
detain <0309> [Hinder.]
success <06743> [prospered.]
sister <0269> [their.]
female attendant <03243> [nurse.]
blessed <01288> [they.]
become ..... thousands <01961 0505> [be thou the mother.]
Or, "be thou for thousands of myriads;" a large family being always considered, in ancient times, as a proof of the peculiar blessing and favour of God.
thousands <0505> [thousands.]
descendants <02233> [thy seed.]
mounted <07392> [they rode.]
<03212> [followed.]
Beer Lahai Roi <0883> [Lahai-roi.]
Negev <05045> [south.]
relax <07742> [to meditate. or, to pray.]
They who acknowledge God in all their ways, will find him present to direct their paths, and make their way prosperous; and when the prayer of faith meets with an immediate answer, the glory ought as speedily to be rendered to God in solemn praise and thanksgiving.
down <05307> [lighted.]
veil <06809> [a vail.]
mother ................... mother's <0517> [his mother.]
Sarah's tent <08283 0168> [Sarah's tent.]
Sarah, being dead, her tent, which, according to the custom of the east, was distinct from that of Abraham, became now appropriated to the use of Rebekah.
took <03947> [and took.]
comforted <05162> [comforted.]
