Genesis 29:1--30:43
Jacob <03290> [Jacob.]
moved on <05375 07272> [went on his journey. Heb. lifted up his feet. came.]
people <01121> [people. Heb. children. east.]
The district of Mesopotamia, and the whole country beyond the Euphrates, are called Kedem, or the East, in the Sacred Writings.
well ................. well ........... well <0875> [a well.]
three <07969> [there.]
large stone <068 01419> [a great stone.]
In Arabia, and other places in the East, they cover up their wells of water, lest the sand, which is put in motion by the winds, should fill and quite stop them up. So great was their care not to leave the well open any length of time, that they waited till the flocks were all gathered together before they began to draw water; and when they had finished, the well was immediately closed again.
flocks <05739> [the flocks.]
Instead of {haadarim,} "the flocks," the Samaritan reads {haroin,} "the shepherds," as does also the Arabic in Walton's Polyglott. This verse describes what was usually done by some mutual compact among the shepherds, and shows the purpose for which the flocks lay by the well; for the stone was not removed till all the flocks had been collected. Scott.
Haran <02771> [Of Haran.]
[Charran.]
grandson ... Nahor <01121 05152> [son of.]
[Is he well? Heb. there peace to him?]
Since <02005> [Lo.]
day <01419 03117> [it is yet high day. Heb. yet the day is great.]
flocks <05739> [until.]
rolled <01556> [roll.]
Rachel <07354> [Rachel.]
tending <07462> [for she kept them.]
In those primitive times, a pastoral life was not only considered useful but honourable: nor was it beneath the dignity of the daughters of the most opulent chiefs to carry water from the well, or tend the sheep. Jacob, Moses, and David were shepherds.
rolled <01556> [rolled.]
kissed <05401> [kissed.]
weep <01058> [and wept.]
relative <0251> [brother.]
ran <07323> [and she.]
news <08088> [tidings. Heb. hearing. he ran.]
kissed <05401> [kissed.]
<01697> [all these.]
flesh <06106> [art my.]
month <02320 03117> [the space of a month. Heb. a month of days.]
Tell ..... wages <05046 04909> [tell me.]
Leah <03812> [was Leah.]
Rachel <07354> [Rachel.]
lovely .... beautiful <03303> [beautiful.]
love <0157> [loved.]
serve <05647> [I will serve.]
In ancient times, it was a custom among many nations to give dowries for their wives; but Jacob, being poor, offered for Rachel seven year's service.
worked <05647> [A.M. 2251. B.C. 1753. served.]
<0160> [for the love.]
Give .... wife <03051 0802> [Give me.]
time <03117> [my days.]
have marital relations <0935> [go in.]
prepared <06213> [and made.]
brought ......... had marital relations <0935> [brought her.]
Zilpah <02153> [Zilpah.]
morning <01242> [in the morning.]
tricked <07411> [wherefore.]
here <04725> [country. Heb. place.]
week <07620> [week.]
give <05414> [we will.]
When ... completed .... week <07620 04390> [fulfilled her week.]
The public marriage feast made on this occasion, seems to have formed the regular method of recognising the marriage, and lasted seven days: it would therefore have been improper to have broken off the solemnities to which all the men of the place had been invited (ver. 22) and probably Laban wished to keep the fraud from the public eye. It is perfectly plain that Jacob did not serve seven years more before he got Rachel to wife.
Bilhah <01090> [Bilhah.]
loved <0157> [he loved.]
worked <05647> [served.]
saw <07200> [saw.]
unloved <08130> [was hated.]
enabled ... to become pregnant <06605> [he opened.]
named <08034> [A.M. 2252. B.C. 1752. his name.]
Reuben <07205> [Reuben. that is, See a son. looked.]
Lord <03068> [A.M. 2253. B.C. 1751. Because.]
So she <07121> [called.]
Simeon <08095> [Simeon. that is, Hearing.]
named <08034> [A.M. 2254. B.C. 1750. was.]
Levi <03878> [Levi. that is, joined.]
she <07121> [A.M. 2255. B.C. 1749. called.]
Judah <03063> [Judah. that is, Praise. left bearing. Heb. stood from bearing.]
That is, for a time; for she had several children afterwards. (See ch. 30:17, etc.).
Rachel <07354> [when Rachel.]
Rachel ............ jealous <07065 07354> [Rachel envied.]
Envy and jealousy are most tormenting passions to the breast which harbours them, vexatious to all around, and introductory to much impatience and ungodliness. "Who is able to stand before envy?"
I'll die <0369 04191> [or else I die.]
furious <0639> [anger.]
God <0430> [Am I.]
exclaimed ........... kept <04513> [withheld.]
servant <0519> [Behold.]
bear children <03205> [she shall.]
family <01129> [have children by her. Heb. be built up by her.]
wife <0802> [to wife.]
God <0430> [A.M. 2256. B.C. 1748. God.]
Dan <01835> [Dan. that is, Judging.]
[A.M. 2257. B.C. 1747.]
desperate struggle <05319 0430> [great wrestlings. Heb. wrestlings of God.]
So she <07121> [and she.]
Naphtali <05321> [Naphtali. that is, My wrestling.]
[Nephthalim.]
stopped <05975> [A.M. 2256. B.C. 1748. left.]
Jacob <05414 03290> [gave her.]
named <07121> [she.]
Gad <01410> [Gad. that is, A troop, or company.]
happy <0837> [A.M. 2257. B.C. 1747. Happy am I. Heb. In my happiness. will call.]
named <07121> [and she.]
Asher <0836> [Asher. that is, Happy.]
mandrake ....................... mandrakes <01736> [A.M. 2256. B.C. 1748. mandrakes.]
The mandrake may be the Hebrew {dudaim:} it is so rendered by all the ancient versions, and is a species of melon, of an agreeable odour. Hasselquist, speaking of Nazareth in Galilee, says, "What I found most remarkable at this village was the great number of mandrakes which grew in a vale below it. I had not the pleasure of seeing this plant in blossom, the fruit now (May 5th, O. S.) hanging ripe on the stem, which lay withered on the ground. From the season in which this mandrake blossoms and ripens fruit, one might form a conjecture that it was Rachel's {dudaim.} These were brought her in the wheat harvest, which in Galilee is in the month of May, about this time, and the mandrake was now in fruit." The Abbee Mariti describes it as growing "low like a lettuce, to which its leaves have a great resemblance, except that they have a dark green colour. The flowers are purple, and the root is for the most part forked. The fruit, when ripe in the beginning of May, is of the size and colour of a small apple, exceedingly ruddy, and of a most agreeable odour. Our guide thought us fools for suspecting it to be unwholesome."
Give <05414> [Give me.]
[A.M. 2257. B.C. 1747.]
named <07121> [and she.]
Issachar <03485> [Issachar. that is, An hire.]
Now ... husband <06471 0376> [A.M. cir. 2258. B.C. cir. 1746. now will.]
named <07121> [and she.]
Zebulun <02074> [Zebulun. that is, Dwelling.]
[Zabulon.]
<07121> [A.M. cir. 2259. B.C. 1745. and called.]
Dinah <01783> [Dinah. that is, Judgment.]
took note <02142> [remembered.]
enabled ... to become pregnant <06605> [opened.]
barrenness therefore was reckoned a reproach. The intense desire of having children, observable among the Jewish women, arose not only from this reproach of barrenness, but from the hope of being the mother of the promised seed, and Him in whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed.
She <07121> [And she.]
Joseph <03130> [Joseph. that is, Adding.]
Send <07971> [Send me away.]
home <04725> [mine.]
country <0776> [and to.]
wives <0802> [my wives.]
know <03045> [for thou.]
favor <02580> [favour.]
Lord <03068> [the Lord.]
increased <06555> [increased. Heb. broken forth.]
Lord <03068> [and the.]
<07272> [since my coming. Heb. at my foot.]
long <04970> [when.]
wages <07939> [of such.]
integrity <06666> [righteousness.]
testify <06030> [answer.]
later <04279 03117> [in time to come. Heb. to-morrow.]
stolen <01589> [that shall be.]
Supply the ellipsis by inserting "if found," after "stolen," and the sense will be clear.
So ..... removed <05493> [he removed.]
From this it appears, that, as Jacob had agreed to take all the parti-coloured for his wages, and was now only beginning to act upon this agreement, and consequently had as yet no right to any of the cattle, therefore Laban separated from the flock all such cattle as Jacob might afterwards claim in consequence of his bargain, leaving only the black and white with Jacob.
care ... his <03027> [the hand.]
Jacob <03290> [Jacob.]
fresh-cut .... poplar <03839 03892> [green poplar.]
{Livneh} is the white poplar, so called from the whiteness of its leaves, bark, and wood, from {lavan} to be white.
[hasel.]
Jerome, Hiller, Celsius, Dr. Shaw, Bochart, and other learned men, say, that {luz} is not the "hazel" but the almond-tree, as the word denotes both in Arabic and Syriac.
[chestnut tree.]
The Heb. word {armon,} signifies "the plane-tree," so called from the bark naturally peeling off, and leaving the trunk naked, as its root {aram,} signifies.
gave birth <03205> [brought forth.]
stronger females ... in heat ............... flock ..... mate <06629 03179 07194> [whensoever the stronger cattle did conceive.]
As the means which Jacob used would not in general produce similar effects, nay, probably the experiment was never in any other instance tried with effect, it is more in harmony with Divine truth to suppose that he was directed by some Divine intimation; and rendered successful, if not by a direct miracle, yet at least by the Lord's giving a new and uncommon bias to the tendency of natural causes.
The Lord will, in one way or other, honour those who simply trust his providence.
Genesis 35:23
Genesis 49:1-33
Gather together <0622> [Gather.]
future <03117 0319> [last days.]
listen ...... listen <08085> [hearken.]
firstborn <01060> [my firstborn.]
might <03581> [my might.]
destructive <06349> [Unstable.]
excel <03498> [thou shalt not excel. Heb. do not thou excel.]
got ........... got <05927> [because.]
got ........... got .... couch <03326 05927> [he went up to my couch. or, my couch is gone.]
Simeon <08095> [Simeon.]
weapons <03627> [instruments, etc. or, their swords are weapons of violence.]
soul <05315> [O my soul.]
come <0935> [come.]
council <05475> [secret.]
assembly <06951> [unto their.]
heart <03519> [honour.]
men <0376> [a man.]
hamstrung oxen <07794 06131> [digged down a wall. or, houghed oxen.]
Cursed <0779> [Cursed.]
divide <02505> [I will divide.]
praise <03034> [shall praise.]
hand <03027> [thy hand.]
neck <06203> [the neck.]
father's <01> [thy father's.]
lion's .................... lion <0738> [a lion's.]
<03766> [he stooped.]
scepter <07626> [sceptre.]
ruler's staff <02710> [lawgiver.]
feet <07272> [between.]
<03588> [until.]
obey <03349> [the gathering.]
foal <05895> [his foal.]
wash <03526> [he washed.]
resting place <04496> [rest.]
bend <05186> [bowed.]
snake <05175> [shall be.]
viper <08207> [an adder. Heb. an arrow-snake.]
[Nepthalim.]
fruitful .... fruitful <06509> [a fruitful.]
branches <01323> [branches. Heb. daughters.]
bow <07198> [his bow.]
skillful <06339> [were made.]
Mighty One <046> [the mighty.]
Shepherd <07462> [the shepherd.]
Rock <068> [the stone.]
God <0410> [the God.]
sovereign <07706> [the Almighty.]
blessings ...... blessings ......... blessings <01293> [with blessings.]
greater than <01396> [have prevailed.]
age-old hills <01389 05769> [everlasting hills.]
head <07218> [they shall.]
prince <05139> [was separate.]
ravenous <02963> [ravin.]
wolf <02061> [a wolf.]
evening <06153> [at night.]
twelve <06240> [the twelve.]
go <0622> [gathered.]
Bury ..... fathers <06912 01> [bury me.]
cave <04631> [in the cave.]
Ephron <06085> [Ephron.]
Abraham bought <07069 085> [Abraham bought.]
finished <03615> [had made.]
breathed ... last breath <01478> [and yielded.]
Exodus 1:1-5
Reuben <07205> [Reuben.]
Issachar <03485> [Issachar.]
Benjamin <01144> [Benjamin.]
<03409> [loins. Heb. thigh.]
seventy <07657> [seventy.]
Exodus 6:14-18
heads <07218> [the heads.]
sons <01121> [The sons.]
heads ......................... clans <07218 04940> [these be.]
sons ............. son <01121> [sons.]
[Nemuel. Jarib. Zerah.]
sons <01121> [sons.]
Kohath <06955> [Kohath.]
137 <03967> [an hundred.]
[Shimei.]
[Laadan. Shimei.]
sons <01121> [sons.]
[Izehar.]
length ....... years <08141> [and the years.]
Exodus 6:1
see <07200> [Now shalt.]
compelled ............. strong <02389> [with a strong.]
drive <01644> [drive them.]
Exodus 2:1
household <01004> [A.M. 2432. B.C. 1572. of the house.]
Exodus 8:1
Go ........... Release <0935 07971> [Go.]
people <05971> [Let my.]
