Commentary on the Pentateuch

CHAP. XXV. Vers. 1. Then again Abraham, &c.]

AFfter Sarah's death, though Calvin thinks otherwise. His body dry and dead forty years before, is now, by God's blessing, made lively and lusty.

Vers. 5. Abraham gave all, &c.] So Esa. 19.25. Assyria is the work of God's hand, and Israel his inheritance.

Vers. 6. Abraham gave gifts ] So doth God to reprobates, but they are giftless gifts, better be without them. Saepe Deus dat iratus quod • egat propitius. God gives wealth to the wicked, non aliter ac siquis crumenam auro plenam latrinae injiciat. The Turkish Empire (saith Luther ) as great as it is, is but a crust cast to the dogs by the rich House-holder, or as Josephs cup, &c. [East-ward to the East-country] To both the Arabia's, which were Countries rough, but rich; looked rudely, but searched regularly, afforded great store of fine gold, precious stones, and pleasant odors.

Vers. 8. Gave up the Ghost ] Defecit, leniter expiravit. Describit Moses placidam & optatam quasi 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , which in Abraham God's friend, is no wonder. But how could that Apostate Julian say, trow, Vitam reposcenti naturae, tanquam debitor bonae fidei, rediturus, exulto? Sure it was but a copy of his countenance, but not of his dying countenance; for no wicked man alive, can look death in the face, with blood in his cheeks. [Dyed in a good old age] Or with a hoar head, after a hundred years troublesomepilgrimage, in the promised land. We, if for one year, we suffer hardship, think it a great business. Non quia dura, sed quia molles patimur, saith Seneca. [An old man, and full of years] The godly have oft a satiety of life: as willing they are to leave the world, as men are wont to be, to rise from the board, when they have eaten their fill,

Said the Heathen Poet: and they feign that when Tithonus might have been made immortal, he would not, because of the miseries of life. This made Plotinus the Platonist account mortality a mercy, and Cato protest, that if any God would grant him, of old to be made young again, he would seriously refuse it. As for me, said Queen Elisabeth (in a certain speech) I see no such great cause why I should be fond to live, or afraid to die. And again, whiles I call to mind things past, behold things present, and expect things to come, I hold him happiest, that goeth hence soonest.

Vers. 9. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael, &c.] It is like, that Abraham, a little afore his death, sent for his two sons, and reconciled them. This joining with Isaac in the burying of Abraham, some take for an argument of his repenance; whereunto also they add, that his whole life time is recorded in holy Scripture (which cannot be shown of any reprobate) and that he is said, when he died, to be gathered to his fathers. [Which is besides Mamre ] Where, seventy six years before, he had entertained the Lord Christ, and heard from his mouth, the promise of the Messiah. Wherefore, in remembrance of that most amiable apparition, and for love and honor of the divine promise there uttered, he would there be buried, in full hope of a glorious Resurrection; and that his posterity might take notice that he even died upon the promise. As that brave Roman Captain told his Soldiers, that if they could not conquer Britain, yet they would get possession of it by laying their bones in it.

Vers. 13. These are the names of the sons of Ishmael ] When Isaac was twenty years married, and had no child; and afterwards, nothing so many as Ishmael, nor so great in the world. This is God's usual way of dealing forth his favors: Saints suffer, wieked prosper. This made Pompey deny Divine Providence, Brutus cry out, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 : O miserable Virtue, slave of Fortune, &c. The Athenians, in Thucydides, when they had lost Nicias their good General, (who, together with his whole Army perished in Sicily) were at a great stand, and much offended; seeing so pious a person fare nothing better then those that were far worse. And what wonder, when Jeremiah and David stumbled at the same stone, ran upon the same rock, and were well-high shipwrecked? Jer. 12.1. Psal 73.3, 4. Neither they only, but many other of God's dear servants, as it is in the same I salm, verse. 10. Therefore his people return hither; that is, are every whit as wise (or rather, as foolish) as I have been, to mis-censure and misconstrue God's dealings on this manner; to repent me of my repentance, and to condemn the generation of the just, because waters of a full cup are wrung out to the wicked. When David went into God's Sanctuary, and there consulted his Word, he was better resolved: Then he saw, that the sunshine of Prosperity doth but ripen the sin of the wicked, and so fits them for destruction: as fatted ware are but fitted for the slaughter. What good is there in having a fine suit with the plague in it? Poison in wine works more furiously, then in water. Had Haman known the danger of Esther's banquet, he would not have been so brag of it. The prosperity of the wicked hath ever plus deceptionis, quam delectionis, saith One; more deceit then delight; able to entice, and ready to kill the entangled: As cunning to do that, as the spirit that seduced Ahab; and as willing to do the other, as the Ghost that met Brutus at the battle of Philippi. In which respect, David, Psal. 17. having spoken of these men of God's hand, that have their portion in this life, &c. wishes them, make them merry with it, and subjoins, As for me, I will behold thy face in righteous • ess; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness: As who should say, I neither envy, nor covet their happiness, but long after a glorious resurrection; and have, in the mean while, that which is sufficient to sustain me, I shall behold thy face in righteous • ess, that is, Beshechinah, in Christ, as Rabbi Menachem expounds it. And one good look of God, is worth all the world. It is better to feel his favor one hour, then to sit whole ages, as these Ishmaelites did, under the worlds warmest sun-shine.

Vers. 14. And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massah ] Out of these three names, (which signify Hearing, Silence, and Suffering) the Masorites gather the three principal duties of man, in common conversation; viz. to hear, keep silence, and bear: these (say they) make a quiet and good life. Sustine & Abstine, is the Philosophers counsel: Video, Taceo, I see, and say nothing, was Queen Elizabeth's Motto: and, I am for peace, was David's; (or, as the Hebrew hath it, I am peace ) He heard the slander of many, fear was on every side, Psal. 31.13. but he as a deaf man heard not, and as a dumb man, so he opened not his mouth, Psal. 38.13. Facile est in me dicere, cum non sim responsurus, said One once, to another that reviled at him: Thou shalt fight without an adversary; for I will hear and bear, and say nothing. The best answer to words of scorn and petulancy, (saith learned Hooker ) is Isaac 's apology to his brother Ishmael, patience and silence, no apology. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . A man would not be bound to such a slavery, as to answer every calumny. Qui nescit ferre calumnias, convitia, injurias, nescit vivere, saith Chytraeus. He that cannot patiently bear reproaches and injuries, may make up his pack, and get him out of the world; for here's no being for him. Vitus Theodorus sent to advise with Melancthon, what he should do when Osiander preached against him: Melancthon per Deum obtestatur, ut taceret, & se it a gereret quasi non audiret: Melancthon besought him, for God's sake, to say nothing in that case, but to carry himself so, as if he heard not. Vitus writes back, that this was very hard; yet he would obey. It is hard to swallow down Physical Pills: but better swallow them whole, then chaw them between the teeth.

Vers. 15. Naphish and Kedamah ] Twelve in all, Princes of their Tribes, as was promised, Gen. 17.20. See, saith One here, what God can do for a poor boy, sent out with a bottle of water on his back. God set • eth the solitary in families, Psal: 68.6. he raiseth the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dung▪hill, to set them among Princes, &c. 1 Sam 2.8.

Vers. 16. These are their names by their towns ] which they called after their own names, as Cain did that first built City Fnoch, after his sons name; that he might be styled Lord Enoch of Enoch. So, the many Alexandria's, Cesarea's, Augusta's, &c. See Psal. 49.11.

Vers. 17. And he gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered ] Sc. to the Congregation-house of all living, (as the grave is called, Job 30.23.) and (for ought we know) to the Congregationhouse of the first-born, (as heaven is called, Heb. 12.23.) Abraham prayed, that Ishmael might live in God's sight: Ishmael joined with his brother Isaac in burying their father Abraham, verse. 9. of this Chapter. Here he hath his whole life-time recorded; (the like whereof cannot be shown of any reprobate:) and at his death, he is said gently to give up the ghost▪ or yield up the spirit, (as Abraham also did, verse. 8.) and to be gathered to his people, as he. These are probable arguments, that (however he lived) yet he died in the faith of his father Abraham. He runs far, we say, that never turns. Nunquam sero si seri • .

Vers. 18. And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur ] A large tract and territory; but nothing so large as his posterity the Saracens, (called more rightly Hagarens, Psal. 83.6.) proved to be; whose Name and Empire notwithstanding is now swallowed up in the greatness of the Turkish Empire; which laboreth with nothing more, then with the weightiness of itself.

And he died ] Or, dwelt, as some read it. Compare Chap. 16, 12.

Vers. 19. And these are the generations ] That is, the affairs and occurrences.

Vers. 20. And Isaac was forty years old ] He was not overhasty to marry in the heat of his youth: but by hard labor, ardent prayers, and pious meditations, kept under his body, and brought it into subjection, as Saint Paul likewise did, 1 Cor. 9.27. We are not debtors to the flesh, Rom. 8.12. we owe it nothing but stripes, nothing but the blue eye, that the Apostle gave it.

Vers. 21. And Isaac entreated the Lord for his wife ] He did it constantly and instantly, (as the word signifies) he multiplied prayer, which (as those arrows of deliverance, 2 Kings 13.19.) must be often iterated, ere the mercy can be obtained.

And the Lord was entreated of him ] though it were long first, even full twenty years. God knows how to commend his mercies to us, and therefore holds us long in suspense. Cito data, vilescunt. Manna, lightly come by, was as lightly set by.

Vers. 22. And the children struggled together ] Heb. They ran at tilt, (as it were) and justled one against another, even to bruising and hurting. Esau (that he might lose no time) began to set against Jacob, before he was born.

If it be so, why am I thus?] A passionate abrupt speech: q. d. Better no children, then so troubled with them. See Chap. 27.46. compare Chap. 3.16. I will greatly multiply thy sorrow, and thy conception. This she should have born more patiently: but she presently bethought her of the best course; for she went to inquire of the Lord: she got into a corner, and prayed, and was answered. She prayed down her passions, (as a man sleeps out his drunkenness) and sets to work lustily, and so got the ensuing oracle.

Vers. 2 • . And the Lord said unto her ] Either by an Angel, or a Prophet, or some divine answer in her own heart.

Two nations are in thy womb ] So, what can a man see in the Shulamite, (in every sanctified soul) but as it were the company of two armies? Cant. 6.13.) Every good man is a divided man: every new man, two men.

Vers. 24. And when her days to be delivered ] Which fell out fifteen years before Abraham's death, to his great comfort, no doubt. God doth for his, his best at last.

There were twins in her womb ] See Cant. 4.2. with Isai. 66.8.

Vers. 25. And the first came ont red ] Red and rough, cruel and crafty, as that red old dragon, Rev. 12.3. who inhabited in him, and both acted and agitated him. Eph. 2.2. ab ascensore su • demon perurgebatur, saith Bernard. And so are those Romish Edomites, Esauites, Jesuits, &c.

And they called his name Esau ] Factus & perfectus pilis, a bearded man, one that had everything more like a man then a babe; a manly child.

Vers. 26. And after that, came his brother out ] God could have brought Jacob out first, (for it is he that takes us out of the womb, Psal. 22.9.) but he suffereth Esau for a time to enjoy the first birth-right, till his own time came to set things to rights. God waits to be gracious; for he is a God of judgment, Isai. 30.18.

And his hand took hold on Jacob's heel] As if he would have turned up his heels, and got to the goal before him.

And his name was called Jacob ] Calcanearius, an heel-catcher, or supplanter, as he afterwards proved to Esau, who hit him also in teeth with it, Gen. 27.

Conveniunt rebus nomina saepe suis.

And Isaac was threescore years old ] He lived twice threescore years after this, being an hundred and eighty, when he died, Gen. 35.28. five years longer he lived, then his father Abraham, Gen. 27.5. being bison for the last forty, Gen. 27.

Vers. 27. And the boys grew ] Nature, Art, Grace, all proceed from less perfect to more perfect. Grow in grace, saith Peter: grow unto a perfect man, saith Paul, even unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, saith Paul. Eph. 4.13.

And Esau was a cunning hunter ] Like Nimrod and Ishmael, whom he chose to imitate, rather then Abraham, and those holy Patriarchs that had lived before him,

A plain man ] Sept. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , without welt or gard, guile or gall. Gregory hereby notes the diverse dispositions of worldly and godly men.

Vers. 28. And Isaac loved Esau, &c.] Here (as likewise in Manoah 's wife) more grace appears in the woman, then in the man; whose blind and misplaced love, for carnal ends, commends and illustrates the divine adoption.

Vers. 29. And Jacob sod pottage ] Pottage of lentiles, which was a kind of pulse much like to Vetches or small Pease: so frugal and sparing was the diet of those precious Patriarchs, to the shame of our Luxury. Quicquid avium volitat, quicquid piscium natat, quicquid ferarum discurrit, nostris sepelitur ventribus. We devour the wealth of earth, air, and sea.

Esau came from the field, and he was faint ] Labor est etiam ipsa voluptas. Of carnal pleasures, a man may break his neck sooner then his fast. Nor is it want of variety in them, but inward weakness, or the curse of unsatisfyingness, that lies upon them. The creature is now as the husk without the grain, the shell without the kernel, full of nothing but emptiness; and so may faint us, but not fill us.

Vers. 30. Feed me, I pray thee, with that red, red ] He doubleth it, (and could not, for haste and hunger, tell what to call it) to show his greediness. And saith, Feed me, or let me swallow at once; as Camels are fed by casting gobbets into their mouth. He thought he should never have enough. Our proverb is, As hungry as a hunter: but this hunter hath no ho with him, and is therefore branded for a profane sensualist, Edom. The word used for a glutton, Deut. 21.20, is used for a vile person, or a losel, Jer. 15.19.

Vers. 31. Sell me this day thy birth-right ] Which he knew, by the instruction of his mother, to be his by God's appointment; and therefore takes this opportunity to get it. A well-chosen season, is the greatest advantage of any action.

Vers. 32. What profit shall this birth-right, &c.] Pluris faci • pulticulam bonam, quam titulum inanem. Sensualists look only at the present pleasure, and sell their souls for it. Earthly things are present and pleasant; therefore we so cleave to them; striving (like the toad) who shall fall asleep with most earth in his paws.

Vers. 33. Swear to me ] With fickle men, make all firm and fast.

And he sold his birth right to Jacob] And with it heaven also, as the Jerusalemy Paraphrast addeth, whereof the birth-right was a type and pledge. So his sin was in unthankfulness for such a dignity; in limiting it to this life; in selling it so light cheap: but especially, in his profane parting with a spiritual blessing, for a temporal. Such a foolish bargain makes every impenitent person, in the sale of his soul for a thing of naught: which Christ (who only went to the price of a soul) saith, is more worth then a world. Let there be no fornicator, (as every worlding is, Jam. 4.4.) or profane person amongst us, as Esau, Heb. 12.16. And that there may not, let not men take pleasure in pleasure, spend too much time in it, shoot their affections over-far into it. It is no wisdom, to go as far as we may. It was not simply a sin in Esau to go a hunting: but yet the more he used it, the more profane he grew by it, and came at length to contemn his birth-right. Adrian the Emperor was a great hunter, brake his leg in hunting; called a city that he built in Mysia, by the name of Adrian’s huntings: but how little care he took for his poor soul, that Animula vagula blandula of his, abundantly testifieth. The maddest hunter that ever I read of, was Mithridates; who was so set upon it, that he came not into any house, either of city or country, for seven years together, To lawful delights and recreations, God allows men to stoop, for their bodies sake; as the eagle to the prey▪ or as Gideon's soldiers, to soop their handful, not to swill their belly-full. An honest man's heart is where his calling is: such a one, when he is elsewhere, is like a fish in the air, whereunto if it leap for recreation or necessity, yet it soon returns to his own clement.

Vers 23. He did eat and drink▪ and rose up, &c.] Hac congerie, impoenitentia Esaui describitur. Away he went, without showing the least remorse or regret, for what he had done. Lysimachus soon repented him for parting with his Crown, for a draught of cold water, in his extreme thirst. Wine is a prohibited ware among Turks; which makes some drink with scruple, others with danger. The baser sort, when taken drunk, are often bastinadoed on the bare feet. And I have seen some (saith mine Author) after a fit of drunkenness, lie a whole night, crying and praying to Mahomet for intercession, that I could not sleep near them: so strong is conscience, even where the foundation is but imaginary; to the shame of many profligate professors, cauterized Christians.

XXVI. Vers. 1. Besides the first famine.]

NEw sins bring new plagues. Flagitium & flagellum, ut acus & filum. Where iniquity breaks fast, calamity will be sure to dine, to sup where it dines, and to lodge where it sups. If the Cana • nites had amended by the former famine, this later had been prevented; for God afflicts not willingly, nor grieves the children of men, Lam. 3.35. Polybius wonders, why Man should be held the wisest of creatures, when to him he seemeth the foolishest. For other things, saith he, where they have smarted once, will beware for the future. The Fox will not rashly return to the snare; the Wolf to the pitfal, the dog to the cudgel, &c. Solus homo, ab avo ad aevum peccut fere in iisdem, & in iisdem plectitur. Only Man is neither weary of sinning, nor wary of smarting for it.

And Isaac went to Abimelech] As Abraham had done before to Pharaoh, Gen. 12.10. The trials of God's servants, in several ages, are much alike: we suffer the same things that our betters have done afore us: which both Paul and Peter press as a lenitive to our miseries, and a motive to patience, 1 Cor. 10.13. 1 Pet. 5.9. The same fable is acted over again in the world, as of old; the persons only changed. That which hath been, is now; and that which is to be, hath already been: and there is no new thing under the sun, saith Solomon.

Vers. 2. And the Lord appeared unto him ] God knows our souls, and our souls him, best, in adversity. See Zech. 13.9. This famine was to the Canaanites in the nature of a curse, to Isaac, of a cure. Hinc distinctio illa poen • in conferentem & nocentem, sive in suffocantem & promoventem; item in poenam vindictae & poenam cautelae, sive in condemnant em & corrigentem.

Vers. 3. Sojourn in this land ] Though it lay under the common lash; that he might see God's power in providing for him, amidst greatest straights and difficulties. Poena duplicem habet ordinationem: unam ad culpam quae praecedit, alteram, ad gloriam Dei quam praecedit.

Vers. 5. Because that Abraham ] His obedience was universal to all the wills of God; and is here alleged, not as the meritorious cause, but as an antecedent, of the blessing. Our good works do truly please God in Christ, and move him, after a sort, to do us good; yet not as merits, but as certain effects of Christ's merits alone, and such as testify of his merit.

Vers. 7. She is my sister ] How apt are children to imitate their fathers infirmities! 1 Pet. 1.18. which yet is no excuse, Ezek. 18, 14. but an aggravation, Dan. 5.22, 23. The Orator therefore was far wide, that said, Me ex ea opinione, quam a Majoribus accepi, de cultu deorum immortalium, nullius unquam oratio aut docti aut indocti movebit. Isaac 's fault here, was greater then Abraham's, because he was not warned by domestical examples. Seest thou another make shipwreck of a good conscience? look well to thy tacklings. Sin is worse, after warning.

For he feared to say, &c.] Fear and infidelity is found in the most faithful. Corruption, in the best, will have some flurts, some out-bursts. As therefore Luther intreats his Readers, if they find in his writings anything, that smelleth of the old cask of Popery, to remember he was once a poor Monk: So when we see the Saints humanum aliquid pati, to play some mad pranks; we must consider, they were but lately cured of a spiritual frenzy.

Because she was fair to look upon ] Beauty therefore is not much to be desired, or the want of it to be bewailed; because it creates so many dangers to them that have it, and their dearest husbands. The British virgins deformed themselves, that the Danes might not deflower them.

Vers. 8. Sporting with Rebekah his wife ] Or, laughing and rejoicing; according to that of Solomon, Rejoice with the wife of thy youth: let her be as the loving hind, and pleasant roe, &c. The Hind and Roe are the females of the Hart, and Roe-buck. Now of the Hart and Roe-buck it is noted (saith a grave Divine) that of all other beasts, they are most enamored (as I may so speak) with their mates, and even mad again with heat and desire after them. Which being taken in a good sense, doth set forth the lawful vehement affection that an Isaac may bear to his Rebekah; which may be such, as that others may think he even doats on her. And so much is imported in that which follows: Let her breasts satisfy thee at all times, and earn thou always in her love. Not but that a man may be out in this lawful error too, and exceed in love to his wife; as he in Seneca did, who, when ever he went abroad, wore his wives fillet on his bosom for a favor, would never willingly be without her company, nor drink, but when she drank to him; with many the like fooleries, in quae improvida vis affectus erumpebat, saith he. The beginning of this love was honest; but the nimiety was not without deformity. Est modus in rebus.

Vers. 9. Lest I die for her ] See the Notes upon Gen. 20.11, 12, &c.

Vers. 10. Brought guiltiness upon us ] Or, a shameful crime, subjecting us to condign punishment. This is more then many pseudo -Christians will yield; who hold adultery a light sin, if any at all, a trick of youth: being of the same mind with that old dotard in Terence: It is nothing for a young man to be found potting, piping, drinking, drabbing, swearing, whoring, &c. And this poisonful position passed (it seems) for currant at Corinthus; whence the Apostle Paul so strives to stock up by the roots that wretched opinion, by many arguments, 1 Cor. 6. And Chap. 10.8, instead of the cloke of heat of youth, he puts upon fornication a bloody cloke, bathed in the blood of three and twenty thousand.

Vers. 11. He that toucheth this man, &c.] So sweetly doth God, many times, turn even our sins to our safety here, and to our salvation hereafter▪ What is not God able to do for his?

Vers. 12. Then Isaac sowed in that land ] In ground hired for his use, and managed by himself: for it was anciently a great commendation, saith Cicero, to be a good husbandman. M. Curius, after three triumphs, returned to the plow, and held it no disgrace; neither ever was there more plenty at Rome than then, saith Pliny; Quasi gauderet terra laureato vomere, & Aratore triumphali. This good husband in the text, sowing in that barren land, and in a time of famine too, hath an hundred-fold increase; which is the utmost that our Savior mentioneth, in the parable of the sower: And in reference hereunto, he elsewhere assureth such as part with all for his sake and the Gospels, they shall receive an hundred-fold here, and eternal life hereafter. That which Herodotus and Pliny report of Babylon, is beyond belief; That the land thereabouts returns two hundred-fold increase. But grant it were true, yet he that is a good husband for his soul, sows in a better ground, and shall have a better return: For, he that sows to the Spirit, shall, of the Spirit, reap life everlasting. Only it is required, that he be not weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. We must not look to sow and reap all in a day, as he saith of the Hyperborean -people far north; that they sow shortly after the sun-rising, and reap before the sun-set; because the whole half year is one continual day with them. We must wait, with the husbandman, for the precious fruit of the earth, and have long patience for it, until we receive the former and later rain, James 5.7. And be diligent in the mean while, that when Christ comes, we may be found of him in peace, 2 Pet. 3.14. Heaven will pay for all our pains and patience. He which soweth sparingly, shall reap sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully, shall reap bountifully, even blessing upon blessing, as the word there signifies: be shall doubtless come again with joy, bringing his sheaves with him.

Vers. 13. And the man waxed great ] Because the Lord blessed him, verse. 12. for it is his blessing that maketh rich. He sowed, and feared God, and the Lord blessed him. Godliness hath the promises of both lives, 1 Tim. 4.8. Now the promises, are the unsearchable riches of Christ, Eph. 3.6, 9. who is the heir of all, Heb 1.2, and hath made godly men his co-heirs, Rom. 8.17, entailing upon them riches and honor, delight and pleasure, life and length of days, the blessings of both hands. Godly men, in Scripture, are read to have been richer then any; as Abraham, Isaac, David, &c. so they might be now, (likely) if they would be as godly. Bonus Deus Constantinum Magnum, tantis terrenis implevit muneribus, quanta opt are nullus auderet, saith Augustine. If God deny gain to godliness, it is, that it may be admired for itself, as having an autarky, a self-sufficiency, 1 Tim. 6.6. he makes up in the true treasure: and a grain of grace is worth all the gold of Ophi • ; a remnant of faith, better then all gay clothing. Achan's wedge of gold served for no better purpose, then to cleave asunder his soul from his body; and the Babylonish garment but for a shroud. But, contented godliness, like Solomon's good wife, doth a man good, and not evil, all his days: for it brings his mind and his means together, and makes him rest well assured of a sufficiency, though he miss of a superfluity.

Vers. 14. And the Philistines envied him ] Envy is the constant companion of prosperity, as David felt, and complained. Succoth and Penuel contemn Gideon, out of envy of his victory; Josephs brethren cannot abide him, because more favored of his father. Corah maligneth Moses; Saul, David; the Pharisees, our Savior; their malice willfully crossing their consciences. Caligula sacrificed to Neptune and Envy, ne sibi, ut ipse dicebat, invideretur. He thought other men sick (belike) of his disease, (as the devil accused God of envy, to our first parents;) for certainly, there was not a more envious person living, then he; witness his throwing down the statues of all famous men, and defacing their titles; forbidding any new to be set up, without his leave and liking. So, that Tiger Tiberius laid hold, with his spiteful teeth, on all the excellent spirits of his time: He put a Poet to death, for making an excellent Tragedy; and banished a certain Architect, for building a curious Porch at Rome, which he could not choose but admire, and reward with money. Nero envied all men that were any whit gracious with the people. Valentinian hated all that were well appareled, or well learned, or wealthy, or noble. Fortibus etiam detrahere solebat, ut solus videretur bonis artibus eminere, saith Ammianus. Germanicus had not anymore deadly enemies, then his own ornaments: and his adversaries (as here Isaac 's) had nothing to complain of him, more then his greatness. So true is that of Salust. Difficillimum inter mortals est, gloriâ invidiam vincere. Hercules had not more ado with Hydra, then a good man shall have with this beast. Envied he shall be of his neighbor, for his labor, and right work. Eccles. 4.4. This is also vanity, and vexation of spirit.

Vers. 15. The Philistines had stopped them ] They deprived themselves of the benefit of those Wells, so that Isaac might not water at them. Envy doth nothing with reason. It is vitium diabolicum, saith Augustine. The devil, of pure spite, hinders men from heaven: he rageth and rangeth, roaring up and down, seeking whom to devour; and not caring to be double-damned himself, so that others may not be saved. We should be so far from envying at the happiness of others, that we should rejoice in it. This were to be as the Angels of God; and the contrary, is to be like the devils of hell: as Saul was; who, because he could not see David's heart, fed upon his own. Envy devours itself, as the worm doth the nut out of which it grows.

Vers. 16. Go from us; for thou art, &c.] Isaaco ob benedictionem Dei Ostracismus indicitur. It was well, they had nothing worse against him. Of Isaac it may be more truly said, then of Mithridates, Virtute eximius, aliquando fortunâ, semper animo maximus. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , as Dio saith of Pompey.

Vers. 17. And Isaac departed thence ] was compelled to do so; though, not long before, the king of the country had charged all his people, on pain of death, not to disquiet him. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . So near neighbors are Prosperity and Adversity. Friends are very changeable creatures, saith Plato. Friends, there's no friend, saith Socrates; no fast friend. Faithful friends (quoth the Duke of Buckingham to Bishop Morton, in Richard the third's time) are in this age, all, for the most part, gone in pilgrimage; and their return is uncertain. Sejanus his friends shown themselves (as did likewise Haman's ) most passionate against him; saying, that if Caesar had clemency, he ought to reserve it for men, not use it toward monsters. Carnal friends were never true to any that trusted to them: whereas, trust in God, at length, will triumph, as we see in this Patriarch.

Vers. 18. Isaac digged again the wells, &c.] Both for more certainty to find water, a scarce commodity in those hot countries; and because the labor was the easier, and his right the better, since they had once been his fathers.

Vers. 19. A well of springing water ] Heb. living; so called, for their continual motion. Life consisteth in action: and the godly esteem of life, by that stirring they find in their souls. O Lord, saith Hezekiah, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit. And thus, many a man lives more in a shorter, then others in a longer time. S. Jerome tells of One, qui in brevi vitae spacio tempora virtu • im multa replevit. As Seneca of another, qui non diu vixit, sed diù fuit: Non multum navigavit, sed multum jactatus est. Oh live, live, live, (saith a Reverend man) quickly, much, long: else, you are but histed, and kicked off this stage of the world, as Phocas was by Heraclius. Nay, many (as Job 27.23. and v. 15.) who were buried before half dead.

Vers. 20. And the herd-men of Gerar▪ ] Not content to have cast him out, they pursued him, with cruel hatred; and, by denying him water, went about to destroy both him and his herds. Crosses seldom come single, but in a crowd. James 1.2. The clouds return after the rain, and cluster against a new storm. See therefore, that ye keep your cloke close about you.

Vers. 21. And he called the name of it Sitnah ] Of Satan; to hate deadly, as the devil doth. So the Preacher in his travels, tells us of a place called The mouth of hell. And we read of a Country called Terra del fuego. Savoy, for the strait passages infested with thieves, was once called Malvoy; till a worthy adventurer cleared the coasts, and then 'twas called Salvoy, or Savoy, quasi salva via. So, King Alfred, as he divided the kingdom into shires, so the subjects, in the several shires, into Tens, or Tythings; every of which should give bond for the good abearing of each other. The ancientest of the ten, was called the Tything-man. And the Kingdom was called Regnum Dei, and Albion, quasi Olbion, happy; as Angli quasi Angeli; for that then, a poor girl might safely travel with a bag of gold in her hand, and none durst meddle with her.

Vers. 22. And he removed from thence, &c.] See here a pattern of a patient and peaceable disposition; not broken by the continual injuries and affronts of the Philistines, that maligned and molested him. I am peace, saith David; and I, saith Isaac, and I, saith every son of peace, every child of wisdom. How well might good Isaac take up that of David, and say, My feet stand in an even place, (now that he was at Rehoboth especially, and God had made room for him:) The scales of his mind neither rose up toward the beam, through their own lightness; nor were too much depressed with any load of sorrow: but hanging equally and unmoved between both, gave him liberty, in all occurrences, to enjoy himself. Our minds (saith a Divine) should be like to the Adamant, that no knife can cut; the Salamander, that no fire can burn; the Rock, which no waves can shake; the Cypress-tree, which no weather can alter; the hill Olympus, higher then storm or tempest, wind or weather can reach unto; or rather, like mount Zion, that cannot be removed, but standeth fast forever. Thus Paul had learned how to abound, and to be abased. Bradford, if the Queen would give him life, he would thank her; if banish him, he would thank her; if burn him, he will thank her; if condemn him to perpetual imprisonment, he will thank her; as he told one Creswel, that offered to intercede for him. Praeclara est aequabilitas in omni vita, & idem semper vulius, eademque frons, ut de Socrate, idemque de C. Laelio accepimus, saith Tully, in his books of Offices; which book the old Lord Burleigh, Lord high Treasurer to Queen Elisabeth, would always carry about him, to his dying day, either in his bosom or pocket: And what use he made of it, take M. Camdens testimony: Burleigh Lord Treasurer was wont to say, that he overcame envy more by patience then pertinency. His private estate he managed with that integrity, that he never sued any man, no man ever sued him. He was in the number of those few, that both lived and died with glory.

Vers. 23. And he went up ] to the place of God's worship. Strabo writeth, that the Metapontines, when they were enriched by a good year of corn, dedicated to Apollo a golden harvest.

Vers. 24. Fear not ] for the continued opposition of the Philistines, or whatever other discouragement. The best minds, when troubled for any long time, yield inconsiderate motions, and suffer some perturbation; as water that is violenly stirred, sends up bubbles. They cannot be so much master over their passions, as not otherwhiles to be disquieted: for, not the evenest weights, but at their first putting into the balance, somewhat sway both parts thereof, not without some show of inequality; which, after some little motion, settle themselves in a meet poise. Potissimùm vero fidei murus, tentationum ariete durius aliquanto pulsatus & concussus, facile nutare ac ruinam minari incipit, nisi divinitus sustentetur.

Vers. 25. And called upon the Name of the Lord ] that had made room for him; and now, by his presence and promise, comforted him. Let the streams of God's bounty lead us, as the water-course doth, either to the spring upward, or downward to the main Ocean, to the source and fountain whence they flow. Let God taste of the fruit of his own planting. Otherwise, it is no better then the refreshing of him that standeth by a good fire, and crieth, Ah, ah, I am warm. We are no better then brute beasts, if, contenting ourselves with a natural use of the creatures, we rise not up to the Author; if, instead of being temples of his praise, we become graves of his benefits. Isaac first built an altar, and then dig'd a Well.

Vers. 26. And Abimelech went to him ] Not of any great love, but as 1. pricked in conscience; 2. to provide for posterity. It was a mercy to him, howsoever, that strangers and Heathens should do him this honor: as it was to Luther, that when the Pope had excommunicated him, the Emperor proscribed him, two Kings written against him, &c. the Elector of Saxony should nevertheless stick to him; and that the Great Turk should send him word, not to be discouraged, for he would become his gracious Lord, &c. through From such a Lord, said Luther, good Lord deliver me.

Vers. 27. Wherefore come ye to me ] Here was his magnanimity, and his modesty both, in expostulating the wrongs they had done unto him. He could not but be sensible of their discourtesies. though he dissembled them. A sheep feels the bite of a dog, as well as a swine, though she make no such noise. Isaac having now a fit opportunity, gives them the telling of it: and how forcible are right words! There is a real confutation of injuries: and we should consult, whether, in such a case, it be best to deal with the wrong-doers, at all, by words. God's way is by works: and he must get an Isaac -like temperance and prudence, that thinks himself able to convince them by reason, and to set them down.

Vers. 28. Let there be now an oath ] See here, saith Chrysostom, how great the power of virtue is, and the might of meekness: For they that lately drove him out from amongst them, now come to him in courtesy, though a forlorn forraigner; and not only give him satisfaction, but seek his friendship. Thus, When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh his enemies to be at peace with him.

Vers. 29. Thou art now the blessed of the Lord ] This they had observed, and therefore did him this honor. So the King of Babylon sent Ambassadors, and a Present, to Hezekiah, because he had heard of the miracle of the Suns going back for him. Now because the Sun, which was their god, had honored him so much, the King of Babylon would honor him too, as Abulensis hath well observed.

Vers. 30. And he made them a feast ] Not to mischief them thereat, as Absalom did Amnon, as Alexander did Philotas, as the Great Turk doth the Bashaws whom he intends to strangle; but to show, there was no rancor, or purpose of revenge.

Vers. 31. And they rose up betime, &c.] The proverb is, De sero convivium, de mane consilium. It was the Persians barbarous manner, in the midst of their cups, to advise of their weightiest affairs, as Pererius here noteth: Ardua negotia, praesertim in quibus juramentum intervenit jejuno stomacho suscipi peragique debent, saith Piscator. Weighty businesses are best dispatched fasting.

Vers. 32. We have found water ] As crosses, so mercies, seldom come single, but by troops; as she said, when her son Gad was born, A company cometh.

Vers. 33. Je Beersheba to this day ] So it was before; but the name was almost worn out, the Well being stopped up: Isaac therefore new names it, and so preserves it for a monument of God's mercy to his father, and to himself.

Vers. 34. And Esau was forty years old ] In an apish imitation of his father, who married not till that age; keeping under his body, and bringing it into subjection, as Paul, being inured by good education, to hard labor, prayer, and pious meditation. But Esau did not so, a pleasure-monger; he was a profane person, and, as the Hebrews say, a filthy whore-master. So much also the Apostle seems to intimate, when he sets them together, and saith, Let there be no fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, Heb. 12.16. [He took to wife] Not consulting his parents, or craving their consent. This was abdicationis praeludium; Deus quem destruit, dementat.

Vers. 35. Which were a grief ] because idolatresses, Rev. 2.2. and intractable, because given up by God, Hos. 4.17. Rom. 1.28.

XXVII. Vers. 1. Isaac was old, and his eyes di • ]

OLd-age is of itself a disease, and the sink of all diseases. This Solomon sweetly sets forth, Eccles, 12. by a continued allegory, Ubi quot lumina imo flumina orationis exserit? saith One. In general, he calls it The evil day, the years that have no pleasure in them. In particular, the Senses all fail; the hands tremble; the legs buckle; the teeth cannot do their office, as being either lost or loosened; the silver cord, that is, the marrow of their backs, is consumed; the golden ewre, that is, the brain-pan, broke; the pitcher at the well, that is, the veins at the liver; the wheel at the cistern, that is, the head, which draws the power of life from the heart: all these worn weak, and wanting to their office: So that sleep faileth, desire faileth ; neither spring nor summer (signified by the almond-tree and grasshopper ) shall affect with pleasure: the daughters of music shall be brought low, as they were in old Barzillai: the sun, moon, and stars are darkened, for any delight they take in their sweet shine: yea, the clouds return after rain; a continual succession of miseries, like April -weather, as one shower is unburthened, another is brewed, and the sky is still over-cast with clouds. Lo, such is old age: and is this a fit Present for God? wilt thou give him the dregs, the bottom, the very last sands, thy dotage, which thyself and friends are weary of? Offer it now to thy prince, will he be pleased with thee? The Circassians (a kind of mongrel-Christians) as they baptize not their children till the eighth year, so they enter not into the Church (the Gentlemen especially) till the sixtieth year, but hear Divine Service standing without the Temple; that is to say, till, through age, they grow unable to continue their rapines and robberies, to which sin that Nation is exceedingly addicted: so dividing their time betwixt sin and devotion; dedicating their youth to rapine, and their old-age to repentance. But God will not be so put off: He is a great King, and stands upon his seniority, Mal. 1.14. In the Levitical Law, there were three sorts of first-fruits: 1. Of the ears of corn, offered about the Passover. 2. Of the loaves, offered about Pentecost. 3. About the end of the year, in Autumn. Now of the two first, God had a part; but not of the last: to teach us, that he will accept of the services of our youth or middle-age: but for old-age, vix aut ne vix quidem. Besides Abraham in the Old Testament, and Nicodemus in the New, I know not whether we read of any old man ever brought home to God.

Vers. 2. I am old, I know not the day of my death ] No more doth any, though never so young. There be as many young sculls as old, in Golgotha. But, young men, we say, may die; old men must die. To the old, Death is projanuis; to the young, in insidiis. Senex, quasi seminex. Old men have pedcm in cymba Charontis, one foot in the grave already. Our decrepit age both expects death, and solicits it: it goes groveling, as groaning for the grave. Whence Terence calls an old men Silicernium; and the Greeks, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , of looking toward the ground, whither he is tending; or (as others will have it) of loving earth and earthly things; which old folk greedily grasp at, because they fear they shall not have to suffice them while alive, and to bring them honestly home (as they say) when they are dead; as Plutarch gives the reason.

Vers. 3. Take me some venison ] It is some blemish to holy Isaac, that he so over-loved Esau, and that because he did eat of his venison, or because venison was in his mouth, Gen. 25.28. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under of anything. It is a shame to a Saint, to be a slave to his appetite; that it should be said of him, as it was of Epicurus, Dum palato quid sit optimum judicat, coeli palatium non suspexit.

Vers. 4. That my soul may bless thee, before I die ] The words of dying men, are living oracles. It was the Patriarchs care, and must be ours, to leave a blessing behind us; to seek the salvation of our children whiles we live, and to say something to same purpose when we die, that may stick by them. So, when we are laid in our graves, our stock remains, goes forwards, and shall do, till the day of doom.

Vers. 5. Esau went to the field to hunt, &c.] But before he returned, the blessing was otherwise bestowed. The hope of the hypecrite shall perish. How many lie languishing at hopes hospital, as he at the pool of Bethesda, and no help comes! they repair to the creatures, as to a Lottery, with heads full of hopes, but return with hearts full of blanks. Or, if they draw nigh to God, they think they take hold of him; but it is but as the child that catcheth at the shadow on the wall, which he thinks he holds fast in his hand; but it vanisheth. The common hope is ill bottomed. Hope unfailable, Rom. 5.5, is founded upon faith unfeigned, 1 Tim. 1.5. Deo consist nunquam confusi. He speaketh sweetest comfort to the heart, in the wilderness.

Vers. 6. I heard thy father ] She over-heard what Isaac spake secretly. Women will be listening, as Sarah behind the door; when she laughed, and little thought to be questioned for it.

Vers. 7. That I may eat, and bless thee ] Being cheered up by thy good cheer and wine, I may be the fitter instrument of the Spirit of God. So the Prophet called for a minstrel, 2 Kings 3.14, 15. Plato called Wine and Music 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the mollifying medicines of human miseries. Chearfulness is called for in all services.

Vers. 8. Now therefore, my son, obey my voice ] Which yet he ought not to have done, because she commanded him that which was evil: and they that do thus, are peremptores, potius quàm parents; rather parricides then parents, as saith S. Bernard.

Vers. 9. savoury meat for thy father, &c.] She knew his diet, and could fit his tooth. The wife is to take care to please her husband; to use her wits, and busy her thoughts how to give him content in diet, and other things of the world, as the Apostle hath it, 1 Cor. 7.34. It was devilish policy in Agrippina, (the mother of Nero; and it came home to her) to temper the poison that she gave her husband Claudius the Emperor, in the meat he most delighted in, and then to make a jest of it. Let us be sure to bring God such service as he loveth: He will eat, not only our honey, but our honey-comb: he will drink, not only our Wine, but our milk, Cant. 5.1. take in good part imperfect performances, so the heart be upright: But displeasing service is a double dishonor. The fat of rams was rejected with infinite disdain, where the hands are full of blood, the heart of sin. The Philosopher could complain of his country-men, that when they went to offer sacrifice to Health, they did then banquet most riotously against Health.

Vers. 10. And thou shalt bring it to thy father ] Though this action, in the general intendment, was good, yet the execution of it wanted not particular error. Her course had been, rather, to have minded her husband of God's promise to Jacob, and gently to have exhorted him to do nothing against it; and then, to have entreated the Lord, to bend his mind to the obedience of his divine will, though to the crossing of his own. But the Saints righteousness (while here) is mixed; as light and darkness, dimness at least, in a painted glass, died with some obscure and dim color: it is transparent, and giveth good, but not clear and pure, light.

Vers. 11. Esau my brother is an hairy man ] This, Rebekah thought not of. Plus vident oculi, quam oculus. Two is better then one; but woe be to him that is alone. We want much of our strength, in the want of a faithful friend, who might be our monitor: Whence David so bemoans the loss of his Jonathan; and S. Paul counted it a special mercy to him, that Epaphroditus recovered, Phil. 2.27. This the Heathen persecutors knew, and therefore banished the Christians, and confined them to Isles, and mines, where they could not have access one to another. Doctor Taylor rejoiced that ever he came into prison, there to be acquainted with that Angel of God (so he calls him) John Bradford. While Ridley and Latimer lived, they kept up Cranmer from entertaining counsels of revolt. It was not for nothing, surely, that our Savior sent forth his disciples by two and two: He knew by experience, that Satan is readiest to assault, when none is by to assist. Aaron may be for a mouth to Moses, Moses for a God to Aaron.

Vers. 12. My father peradventure will feel me ] Our heavenly Father will certainly feel us, and better feel us; and we shall feel him too, in his fatherly corrections, before he bless us. Suffer we must, or ere we reign: no coming to the Crown, but by the Cross. Christ himself was perfected by sufferings; and we must be conformed to his image. When Ignatius came to the wild beasts, Now, saith he, I begin to be a Christian. Qui non est Crucianus, non est Christianus, saith Luther, on the 29 of Genesis: And in another place; I have no stronger argument, saith he, against the Popes kingdom, then this, that he reigneth without the Cross. [And I shall seem to him as a de • eiver] So shall all complementing hypocrites to God, that pretend his service to their wicked or worldly ends and aims. They think, belike, to deceive him; but therein they are fairly deceived, (for he searcheth the hearts) and bring a curse, instead of a blessing, upon themselves and their posterity. The hypocrite in heart heaps up wrath. Nemo enim magis iram meretur, (saith a Father) quàm amicum simulans inimicus. Where shall we read of an hypocrite received to mercy.

Vers. 13. Upon me be thy curse, my son] A bold speech: but she respected the promise by faith; she relied on that oracle, Gen. 25.23. which Isaac might mis-interpret, understanding it not of the persons of his sons, but of their posterity. Bernardus non vidit omnia. Isaac was not more blind in his eyes, then in his affection to his first-born; and that might mislead him. But Rebekah saw further then he, and therefore made this bold adventure (not without some mixture of infirmity) to procure Jacob the blessing, against her husbands will and intention. A wife is not to perform such blind obedience to her husband, as Plutarch prescribeth; when he layeth it as a Law of Wedlock, on the wife, to acknowledge and worship the same gods, and none else, but those whom her husband honors and reputes for gods. Men be they pleased or displeased, God must not be displeased.

Vers. 15. And Rebekah took goodly raiment ] The Priestly garments (some think) proper to Esau, had he kept his birth right; but kept, not by Esau or his wives, but by the mother of the family. The Hebrew calleth them, Vestes desiderabiles, garments of desires, goodly, sweet, precious; yet far inferior to that rich and royal robe of Christ's righteousness, that garment of our elder brother; wherewith arrayed, we obtain the blessing. We read of Solomon's bravery, of Herod's cloth of silver, of Alcisthenes the Sybarite 's cloke, sold to the Carthaginians by 'Dionysius, for 120 talents; of Demetrius his robe of estate, which, for the exceeding costliness of it, no Prince that came after him would ever put on. But all these were but rags to the robe of righteousness, that fine White linen, and shining, Rev. 19.

Vers. 16. And she put the skins of the goats ] This, by some, is excused, as if it were only dolus bonus, to keep her husband from wrong-doing; as, when the Physician deceives his Patient, that he may heal him. But howsoever that she did may be extenuated, it can hardly be justified, albeit God ordered it to his own purpose.

Vers. 19. I am Esau, thy first born, &c.] Here he utters three lies in a breath; besides his intitling God to that he did, verse. 20, so taking that Reverend Name in vain. This was his sin, and he smarted for it, to his dying day: for he had scarce a merry hour after this; but God followed him with one sorrow upon another, to teach him and us, what an evil and bitter thing sin is, and how it ensnares and ensnarls us. Aristotle could say, that a lie is in itself evil and wicked. The Hebrews call it Aven, a great iniquity. And the Scripture reckons it among monstrous sins, Rev. 21.8, and condemns it to hell; whether it be the officious, merry, or pernicious lie. Indeed every lie is pernicious to ourselves, or others, or both; because flatly forbidden of God, and because it is against the order of nature, and for that no lie is of the truth, (as S. John hath it) but of the devil, who began, and still upholds his kingdom by lies. Contrarily, God is Truth, and his children are all such as will not lie, Isai. 63.8. Rev. 14.5. at least, not get a haunt and a habit of lying, which David calls a way of lying: Remove from me the way of lying, saith he, that I make not a trade or common practice of it. We find, that, 1 Sam. 21.2, he very roundly telleth two or three lies together, (as Jacob here did;) and all deliberate. So that tale he told Achish, of invading the South of Judah, when he had been upon the Geshurites and Gerarites, I know not how it can be excused. But this was not David's way, his common course; pity it should. Honest Heathens condemned lying: The Persians punished it severely in their children: Homer censures it in Dolon, Ulysses, and others. Clitarchi historici (saith Quintilian) ingenium probatur, sides infamatur. Nepos reporteth of Epaminondas, that he so loved truth, that he would not once lie, no not in jest. A shame to many Christians, who think the officious and sporting lie to be nothing. Whereas, Gal. 1.10. we must not speak the truth to please men, much less lie. And for saving ourselves, we must rather die, then lie: else Peter had not sinned, in denying his Master. As for profiting others, we may not lie, though it were to save a soul, Rom. 3.7. We may as well commit fornication with the Moabites, to draw them to our Religion; or steal from rich men, to give to the poor; as lie to do another man a good turn.

Vers. 20. How is it that thou hast found it so quickly] A man may very well ask our common Protestants this question, concerning the Faith they so much boast of, but came by it too quickly, to be right. They were never yet in the furnace of Mortification, felt the spirit of bondage, the terrors of God in their consciences. Their Faith is like Jonah 's gourd, that grew up in a night; or a bullet in a mould, that's made in a moment. Let ours be like the water of Bethlehem, much longed for, and hardly come by, &c.

Vers. 21. That I may feel thee, my son ] Here Isaac used all his Senses, and yet is cozened. There is neither Wisdom nor counsel against the Lord. Mihi hominum prudentia similis videtur talparum labori, non sine dexteritate sub terra fodientium, sed ad lumen Solis caecutientium.

Vers. 22. The voice is Jacob's voice ] Jacob must name himself Esau, with the voice of Jacob. It is hard, if our tongues do not bewray us, in spite of our habit, as it did the wife of Jeroboam.

Vers. 24. Art thou, &c. and he said, I am ] Thus one sin entertained, fetcheth in another; a lie especially, which, being a tinkerly blushful sin, is either denied by the liar, who is ashamed to be taken with it; or else covered by another and another lie, as we see here in Jacob; who being once over shoes, will be over boots too; but he will persuade his father, that he is his very son Esau.

Vers. 25. Bring it near to me] Divinum consilium dum devitatur, impletur: humana sapientia, dum reluctatur, comprehenditur, saith Gregory, Here Isaac doth unwilling and unwitting justice.

Vers. 27. As the smell of a field ] Compare Cant. 2.13. & 4.12, 13, 14. Aristotle writes of a parcel of ground in Sicily, that sendeth such a strong smell of fragrant flowers, to all the fields and leazes thereabouts, that no hound can hunt there, the scent is so confounded with the sweet smell of those flowers. Labor we so to resent heavenly sweetnesses, so to savor the things above, that we may have no mind to hunt after earthly vanities, &c. Alexanders body is said to be of such an exact constitution, that it gave a sweet scent where it went. Christ (the true carcase) smells so sweet to all heavenly eagles, that, being now lifted up, he draws them after him.

Vers. 28. God give thee of the dew ] For that country was dry and thirsty: They had rain, say some, but twice a year; the former in seed-time, and the later rain in May. The blessings here bestowed, are plenty, victory, domestical preeminency, and outward prosperity. But beyond all these, some better thing was provided and promised. Erant enim speculum, & pignus coelestium. The Church of Rome borrows her mark from the market-plenty, or cheapness, &c. she vaunts of her temporal felicity, and makes a catalogue of the strange victories which the Catholics have had. Immo vix unquam fuerunt Haeretici superiores quando justo praelio dimicatum est, saith Bellarmine. Upon one of the Easter -holydays, saith George Marsh, Martyr, Master Sherburn and Master More sent for me, persuading me much to leave mine opinions; saying, All the bringers up and favorers of that Religion, had ill luck, and were either put to death, or in prison, and in danger of life. Again, the favorers of the Religion now used, had wondrous good luck, and prosperity in all things. These wizards, these disputers of this world, as the Apostle calls them, 1 Cor. 1.20, either knew not, or believed not, that the Church is the heir of the Cross, as an Ancient speaketh; that Opposition is (as Calvin wrote • o the French King) Evangelii genius, the bad genius that dogs the Gospel; that Truth breeds hatred, (as the fair Nymphs did the ill-favored Fawns and Satyrs) and seldom goes without a scratched face. Some Halcyons the Church hath here, as in Constantine's time, ( Repugnante contra temetipsam tua foelicitate, saith Salvian, in his first book to the Catholic Church;) but grace she shall be sure of here, with persecution; and glory hereafter, without interruption. As for outward things, aut aderunt sane, aut non oberunt; either she shall have them, or be as well without them. God shall be her Cornu-copia, her All-sufficient, her shield, and exceeding great reward.

Vers. 29. Let thy mothers sons bow down to thee ] That is, thy brethren; which are therefore denominated from the mother, quod certior est a matre progenies, quàm a patre, saith an Interpreter. But this blessing is pronounced in an higher style then ordinary; therefore sentences are doubled; and that kind of speech is here used, which, with us, is either Poetical, or not far from it.

Vers. 30. Esau his brother came in] All-too-late. Detained he was by the devil, (say the Hebrews) who not seldom makes a fool of hunters, and leads them about. A sweet providence of God there was in it, certainly, that he should come in as soon as Isaac had done, and Jacob was gone, and no sooner. Like as there was in that which Master Fox reports of Luther, that on a time, as he was sitting in a certain place upon his stool, a great stone there was in the vault, over his head, which being staid miraculously so long as he was sitting, as soon as he was up, immediately fell upon the place where he sat, able to have crushed him in pieces. A Warrant once came down, under Seal, for the execution of the Lady Elizabeth; Steven Gardener was the engineer, and thought he had been sure of his prey: But God pulled the morsel out of his mouth; for one Master Bridges, mistrusting false play, presently made haste to the Queen, who renounced and reversed it. Another time, while Sir Henry Benning field her Keeper was at Court, one Basset, a Gentleman, and a great favourite of Steven Gardiners, came, with twenty men well appointed, to Woodstock, to have murdered her: But, by God's great providence, Sir Henry had left so strict a charge behind him, that no living soul might have access unto the Princess, upon what occasion soever, till his return, that they could not be admitted; whereby, their bloody enterprise was utterly disappointed. The Lord knoweth how to deliver his: he keepeth all their bones, not one of them is broken.

Vers. 31. And he also had made savoury meat ] Esau 's works here, are better then Jacob's. Election is not of works, but of grace, Rom. 9.11. Quis te discernit? saith the Apostle. Greevinchovius the Arminian saucily answers, Ego meipsum discerno. And surely, had the cause of our election been either by our faith, or good works foreseen (as the Papists and Arminians would have it) Saint Paul might have spared his question, or soon received a ready answer.

Vers. 33. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly ] The fear of God reined him, in that he durst not reverse the blessing, (though haply he had a mind to it;) nay, he stablished it to Jacob here, and more advisedly, in the next Chapter. Noli peccare: nam Deus videt, Angeli astant, diabolus accusabit, conscientia testabitur, infernus cruciabit. A reverend and religious man had this written before his eyes, in his Study, saith M. Gataker.

Vers. 34. He cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry ] Not for his sin, in selling the birth-right; but for his loss, in missing the blessing: though, having sold the birth-right, he had no right to the blessing. This is the guise of the ungodly. He cries Perii, not Peccavi. If he howl upon his bed, it is for corn and oil, as a dog tied up howls for his dinner, It never troubles him, that a good God is offended, which to an honest heart is the prime cause of greatest sorrow.

Vers. 35. Thy brother came with subtlety] Junius observes, that Isaac here, to please his son, committeth some over-sight, in transferring the fault upon Jacob. He might have seen how God chastised his seeking to cross the Oracle, in the sin of Rebekah and Jacob, who beguiled him. But our minds are as ill-set as our eyes, neither of them apt to turn inwards.

Vers. 36. Is he not rightly named Jacob ] He cavils and quarrels at his brothers guile, at his fathers store; ( Hast thou but one blessing, &c.) but not a word we hear of his own profaneness. How apt are men to mistake the cause of their sufferings, and to blame anything sooner then their own untowardness!

Vers. 38. Esau lift up his voice, and wept ] Yet, found no place for repentance, Heb. 12.17. that is, he could not, by his tears, prevail with his father, to reverse the blessing. See the fruit of God's holy fear. Moses his rod was not so famous for being turned into a Serpent, (for even the Magicians did as much) as for devouring the Magicians rod: So the true fear of God is most eminent and effectual, when set in emulation or opposition to other fears, or carnal aims and affections.

Vers. 39. Answered and said unto him] Dixit, non benedixit, quia p • tiùs fuit praedictio futurae conditionis, quàm benedictio, saith Pareus. And whereas we read, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth, and of the dew of heaven; Castalio renders it thus: Tua quidem sedes a terrae pinguitudine, & a supero coeli roar aberit. For Mishmanne, saith he, signifieth ab pinguitudine, sive sine pinguitudine; as it doth also, Psal. 109.24. My flesh faileth from fatness, (that is, for lack of fatness;) or, Without fatness. So the sense he sets upon this Text, is; Thou shalt dwell far from the fatness of the earth, in a barren country, &c. For Isaac could not give Esau what he had given Jacob afore: and this was that, that Esau so grieved at, and threatened his brother for. Or if he could, what cause had Esau so to take on? why should it trouble me, that another partakes of the sun-light with me, when I have never the less? &c. Object. But the Apostle saith, Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau. Sol. It was a blessing, no doubt, that Edom should shake off Israel's yoke; as it follows, verse. 40. and fell out, 2 Kings 8.20.

Vers. 40. When thou shalt have the dominion] Cùm planxeris, saith Junius; when thou hast, for some time, undergone hard, troublesome, and lamentable servitude, the grief whereof thou dost greatly groan under; as in David's time, who cast his shoe over them, Psal 60.8. The Sodomites, those worst of men, were the first that we find in Scripture brought in bondage to others, Gen. 14.4. When the Danes and other foreigners domineer'd in this Kingdom, was it not a lamentable time? were not men's dearest lives sold as cheap, as sparrows were among the Jews, five for two farthings? Did we but live a while in Turkey, Persia, yea, or but in France, (saith One) a dram of that liberty we yet enjoy, would be as precious, as a drop of cold water would have been to the rich man in hell, when he was so grievously tormented with those slames. Take we heed, lest for the abuse of this sweet mercy, God send not in the Midianites to thresh out our corn, the Assyrians to drink up our milk, to make a spoil of our cattle, Jer. 49.32, and to cause us to eat the bread of our souls in the peril of our lives, as our fathers did in Queen Mary's days.

Vers. 41. And Esau hated Jacob, &c.] Because God said, Jacob have I loved. And, as all hatred is bloody, he resolves to be his death. The righteous is abomination to the wicked, saith Solomon. Moab was irked because of Israel, or, did fret and vex at them, Num. 22.3, 4. who yet passed by them in peace. But the old serpent had set his limbs in them, transfused his venom into them: hence that deadly hatred, that is and will be betwixt the godly and the wicked. Pliny speaks of the Scorpion, that there is not one minute, wherein he doth not put forth the sting: So doth that serpentine seed, acted by Satan. The Panther so hates man, that he flies upon the very picture of a man, and tears it to pieces. So doth Satan and his imps upon the image of God, in whomsoever they find it. They Satanically hate me, saith David of his enemies. And seest thou thy persecutor full of rage? (saith Bernard ) know thou, that he is spur'd on by the devil that rides him, that acts and agitates him, Eph. 2.2. [And Esau said in his heart] Effutiverat etiam minaces voces; he had also bolted out some suspicious speeches, (as our Gunpowder-traitors did) whereby he was prevented. [The days of mourning for my father] No matter for his mother: yet God saith, Ye shall fear every man his mother and his father. The mother is first mentioned, because usually most slighted. Luther thinks, he threateneth his father also, in these words; as if he should say, I will be avenged, by being the death of my brother, though it be to the breaking of my fathers heart. A bloody speech of a vindictive spirit, whom nothing would satisfy, but to be a double parricide. [I will slay my brother] But threatened men live long: for even Isaac, who died soonest, lived above forty years beyond this. My times are in thy hand, saith David.

Vers. 42. And these words of Esau, &c.] For he could not hold, as Absalom did; who, intending to murder Amnon, spake neither good nor evil to him. These still revenges are most dangerous, as a dog that barks not. That Esau vented himself in words, was a great mercy of God to Jacob. He thought nothing, (good man) but followed his calling, not knowing his danger. But his provident mother hearkened it out, and took course to prevent it. So doth the sweet fatherly providence of God take care and course for the safety of his servants, when they are either ignorant or secure. Masses were said in Rome, for the good success of the Powder-plot; but no prayers in England, for our deliverance: and yet we were delivered. A seven-fold Psalmody they had framed here, which secretly passed from hand to hand, with tunes set, to be sung for the cheering up of their wicked hearts, with an expectation (as they called it) of their day of Jubilee. The matter consisteth of railing upon King Edward, Queen Elizabeth, and King James; of petition, imprecation, prophecy, and praise. This Psalter is hard to be had: for they are taken up by the Papists, as other books be, that discover their shame. But Mendoza, that liar, (convenient rebus nomina saepe suis) sounded the Triumph before the Victory. That blind Letter of theirs brought all to light, by the mere mercy of the Father of lights, who was pleased to put a divine sentence into the mouth of the King. Sorex suo perit indicio. Hunc tibi pugionem mittit Senatus, dixit ill: detexit facinus fatuus, & non imple vit. So here. See the like, 1 Sam. 19.2. Acts 9.24. & 23.16. [And she sent and called Jacob] Why did she not call both her sons together, and make them friends, by causing the younger to resign up his blessing to the elder? Because she preferred heaven before earth, and eternity before any the worlds amity or felicity whatsoever. The devil would fain compound with us, when he cannot conquer us; as Pharaoh would let some go, not all; or if all, yet not far. Religiosum oport et esse, sed non religentem. He cannot abide this strictne's, &c. But we must be resolute for God and heaven. It's better flee, with Jacob, yea, die a thousand deaths, then, with the loss of God's blessing, to accord with Esau.

Vers. 43. Flee thou to Laban ] Flee then we may, when in danger of life; so it be with the wings of a dove, not with the pinnions of a dragon. God must be trusted, not tempted. Means must be neither trusted, nor neglected.

Vers. 44. Tarry with him a few days ] Heb. unos dies. Sed facti sunt viginti anni. She reckoned upon a few days; but it proved to be twenty whole years: and she never saw Jacob again, as the Hebrew Doctors gather. Thus Man purposeth, God disposeth. Some think she sent Deborah her nurse, to fetch him home, who died in the return, Gen. 35.8.

Vers. 45. And he forget, &c.] Whiles wrongs are remembered, they are not remitted. He forgives not, that forgets not. When an inconsiderate fellow had stricken Cato in the Bath, and afterwards cried him mercy; he replied, I remember not that thou didst strike me. Our Henry the sixth is said to have been of that happy memory, that he never forgot anything but injuries. Esau was none such: He was of that sort, whom they call 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , soon angry, but not soon pleased. His anger was like coles of juniper, Psal. 120.4. which burn extremely, last long, (a whole twelve-month about, as some write;) and though they seem extinct, revive again:

Vers. 46. I am weary of my life, &c.] A wise woman (saith an Interpreter) not willing to grieve her husband, she conceals from him Esau 's malicious hatred of Jacob, and pretends another cause of sending him away, to take him a fit wife. Let women learn, not to exasperate their husbands with quick words, or froward deeds; but study their quiet. Livia, wife to Augustus, being asked how she could so absolutely rule her husband, answered, By not prying into his actions, and dissembling his affections, &c.

XXVIII. Vers. 1. Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him ]

HE doth not rate him, or rail at him. Anger must have an end. The Prodigals father met him, and kist him, when one would have thought, he should rather have kicked him, killed him. Pro peccato magno, paululum supplicii satis est patri.

Vers. 2. Arise, go to Padan-aram ] Jacob was no sooner blest, but banished: so our Savior was no sooner out of the water of Baptism, and had heard, This is my beloved Son, &c. but he was presently in the fire of temptation, and heard, If thou be the Son, &c. When Hezekiah had set all in good order, 2 Chron. 31. then up came Sennacherib with an army, Chap. 32.1. God will put his people to it; and often, after sweetest feelings.

Vers. 3. And God Almighty bless thee ] Here Isaac stablisheth the blessing to Jacob, lest haply he should think, that the blessing so got, would be of no force to him. God passeth by the evil of our actions, and blesseth the good.

Vers. 4. And give thee the blessing of Abraham ] Here he is made heir of the blessing, as are also all true Christians, 1 Pet. 3.9. Caesar, when he was sad, said to himself, Cogita te esse Caesarem: so, think thou art an heir of heaven, and be sad if thou canst.

Vers. 5. Isaac sent away Jacob ] with his staff only, Gen. 32.10. and to serve for a wife, Hos. 12.12. It was otherwise, when a wife was provided for Isaac. But Jacob went as privately as he could, probably, that his brother Esau might not know of his journey, and wait him a shrewd turn by the way. Theodoret saith, it was, that the divine providence might be the better declared toward him, no better attended or accommodated.

Vers. 6. When Esau saw, &c.] But he was ever too late, and therefore that he did, was to little purpose. An over-late sight is good neither in piety nor policy. They will find it so, that are semper victuri; and never can find time to begin, till they are shut out of heaven for their trifling. How many have we known taken away in their offers and essays, before they had prepared their hearts to cleave to God!

Vers. 7. And was gone to Padan-aram ] Which was distant from Beer-sheba almost five hundred miles. This was the father of the brood of travellers; and his affliction is our instruction, Rom. 14.4. 1 Cor. 10.11.

Vers. 8. pleased not his father ] Whether himself or they pleased God, or not, was no part of his care. God is not in all the wicked man's thoughts. That he strives for, is, to be well esteemed of by others, to have the good will and good word of his neighbors and friends, such especially as he hopes for benefit by. Thus Julian counterfeited zeal, till he had got the Empire: afterwards, of Julian, he became Idolian, as Nazianzen saith he was commonly called, because he set open again the Idols temples, (which had been shut up by Constantine ) and restored them to the Heathens.

Vers. 9. Then went Esau unto Ishmael ] Stulta haec fuit 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , & hypocrisis, saith Pareus rightly. Apes will be imitating men: Spiders have their webs, and Wasps their honey-combs. Hypocrites will needs do something, that they may seem to be some-body: but, for want of an inward principle, they do nothing well: they amend one error with another, as Esau here; and as Herod prevents perjury by murder. Thus, while they shun the sands, they rush upon the rocks; and while they keep off the shallows, they fall into the whirl-pool. Sed nemo it a perplexus tenetur inter du vitia, quin exitus pateat absque tertio, saith an Ancient.

Vers. 10. And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba] A long journey; but nothing so long as Christ took, from heaven to earth, to serve for a wife, his Church; who yet is more coy then Rachel, and can hardly be spoken withal, though he stand clapping and calling, Open to me, my sister, my spouse. Stupenda dignatio, saith One; a wonderful condescending.

Vers. 11. And he lighted upon a certain place ] Little thinking to have found heaven there. Let this comfort travellers, and friends that part with them. Jacob never lay better, then when he lay without doors; nor yet slept sweeter, then when he laid his head upon a stone. He was a rich man's son, and yet inured to take hard on.

Vers. 12. Behold a ladder ] Scala est piorum in hoc mundo peregrinatio, saith Pareus, after Junius. But besides this interpretation, our Savior offereth us another, John 1.51, applying it to himself, the true ladder of life, per quem solùm in coelum ascendere possimus. He that will go up any other way, must, as the Emperor once said, erect a ladder, and go up alone. He touched heaven, in respect of his Deity; earth, in respect of his humanity; and joined earth to heaven, by reconciling Man to God. Gregory speaks elegantly of Christ, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , that he joined heaven and earth together, as with a bridge; being the only true Pontifex, or bridge-maker. Heaven is now open and obvious, to them that acknowledge him their sole Mediator, and lay hold, by the hand of faith, on his merits, as the rounds of this heavenly ladder: These only ascend; that is, their consciences are drawn out of the depths of despair, and put into heaven, as it were, by pardon, and peace with God, rest sweetly in his bosom, calling him Abba Father; and have the holy angels ascending, to report their necessities; and descending, as messengers of mercies. We must also ascend (saith S. Bernard ) by those two feet, (as it were) Meditation, and Prayer: yea, there must be continual ascensions in our hearts, as that Martyr said: And as Jacob saw the Angels ascending and descending, and none standing still; so must we be active, and abundant in God's work, as knowing, that our labor is not in vain in the Lord; and that, non proficere, est deficere; not to go forward, is to go backward.

Vers. 13. I am the Lord God of Abraham, &c.] What an honor is this to Abraham, that God was not ashamed to be called, His and his sons God! Euseb •• s the Historian, was called Eusebius Pamphili, for the love that was betwixt him and the Martyr Pamphilus, as S. Jerome testifieth. Friend to Sir Philip Sidney is engraven upon a Noble-man's Tomb in this Kingdom, as one of his Titles. Behold the goodness of God, stooping so low, as to style himself, The God of Abraham, and Abraham again, The friend of God.

Vers. 14, 15. And thy seed shall be as the dust] Against his fourfold cross, here's a fourfold comfort, (as Pererius well observeth) a plaster as broad as the sore, and sovereign for it. Against the loss of his friends, I will be with thee: 2. of his country; I will give thee this lond: 3. against his poverty; Thou shalt spread abroad, to the east, west, &c. 4. his sol • tariness and aloneness; Angels shall attend thee; and, Thy seed shall be as the dust, &c. And who can count the dust of Jacob? saith Balaam, that Spelman of the devil, as One calls him. Whereunto we may add that which surpasseth and comprehendeth all the rest; In thee, and thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. Now whatsoever God spake here with Jacob, he spake with us, as well as with him, saith Hosea, Chap. 12.4.

Vers, 16. And I knew it not ] Viz. that God is graciously present in one place, as well as in another. Our ignorance and unbelief is freely to be confessed, and acknowledged. Thus David, Psal. 73.22. Agur, Prov. 30.2. Pray for me, saith Father Latimer to his friend; pray for me, I say: for I am sometimes so fearful, that I would creep into a mouse-hole. And in a certain Sermon; I myself, saith he, have used, in mine earnest matters, to say, Yea by S. Mary; which indeed is naught.

Vers. 17. How dreadful is this place! The place of God's public Worship, is a place of Angels and Archangels, (saith Chrysostom; ) it is the Kingdom of God; it is very heaven: What wonder then, though Jacob be afraid, albeit he saw nothing but visions of love and mercy? In thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple, saith David. The very Turk, when he comes into his Temple, lays by all his State, and hath none to attend him all the while. Omnino oportet nos, orationis tempore, curiam intrare coelestem, (saith S. Bernard ) in qua Rex regum stellato sedet solio, &c. Quanta ergo cum reverentia, quanto timore, quantâ illuc humilitate accedere debet e palude suâ procedens & repens vilis ranuncula? Our addresses must be made unto God, with the greatest reverence that is possible.

Vers. 18. And set it up for a pillar ] The better to perpetuate the memory of that mercy he had there received; and that it might be a witness against him, if hereafter he failed of fulfilling his vow. It is not amiss, in making holy vows, to take some friend to witness, that, in case we be not careful so to fulfil them, may mind us, and admonish us, of our duty in that behalf. Jacob, that was here so free, when the matter was fresh, to promise God a Chapel at Bethel, was afterwards backward enough; and stood in need that God should pull him by the ear, once and again, with a Go up to Bethel, and punish him for his delays, in the rape of his daughter, cruelty of his sons, &c. Gen. 35.

Vers. 20. And Jacob vowed a vow ] The first holy votary that ever we read of: whence Jacob also is called, The father of vows; which, out of this Text, may be thus described A Vow is nothing else, but a religious promise made to God in prayer, and grounded upon the promise of God; whereby we tie ourselves, by way of thankfulness, to do something that is lawful, and within our power; with condition of obtaining some further favor at the hands of God. Thus Jacob vows to God only: he is the sole object of Fear, therefore also of Vows. See them set together, Psal. 76.11. Next, he prays when he vows. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 : a vow and a prayer are of near and necessary affinity. See Psal. 61.6. Judge 11.30, 31. That was a blasphemous vow of Pope Julius, that said, he would have his will, all despito di Dio. And not unlike of Suleiman the Great Turk, in a Speech to his Soldiers: So help me great Mahomet, I vow, in despite of Christ and John, in short time to set up mine Ensigns with the Moon, in the middle of the Market-place in Rhodes. Jacob, as he vowed only by the Fear of his father Isaac; so he presented his vow in an holy prayer, not in an hellish execration. I add, that it is a promise, grounded upon God's promise: so was Jacob's here, in all points; as is to be seen, if compared with verse 15 of this Chapter. Next, I say, that by this Vow we bind ourselves, &c. Not as casting any new snare upon ourselves thereby; but rather a new provocation to the payment of an old debt. For what can Jacob vow to God, that he he owes him not before hand, without any such obligation? This he doth too, by way of thankfulness; as doth likewise David, Psal. 116.8, 9. and other-where. And that which he voweth, is lawful, and possible: not as theirs was, that vowed Paul's death, Acts 23. or as Julian the Apostate's; who, going against the Persians, made this vow, that, if he sped well, he would offer the blood of Christians. Or as that Constable of France, who covenanted with God, that if he had the Victory at S. Quintins, he would set upon Geneva. These men thought, they had made a great good bargain with God; but did not his hot wrath kindle against them? So Gerald Earl of Desmond 's Irish men were justly consumed with famine ••• d sword, which had barbarously vowed to forswear God, before they would forsake him. Lastly, all this that Jacob doth, is on condition of some further favor: If God will be with me, and will preserve me, and provido for me, &c. All which he doubts not of, as having a promise; but yet helps forward his faith by this holy vow; then shall God have the utmost, both in inward and outward worship: for God shall be his God; and he will build him an house, and pay him Tythes, &c. [And will give me bread to eat] Having food and raiment, (saith the Apostle) let us therewith be content. Nature is content with little; grace, with less. Insaniae damnandi sunt, quitam multa, tam anxie congerunt, quum sit tam paucis opus, saith Lud. Vives. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , saith Clem. Alex. Cibus & potus sunt divitiae Christianorum, saith Jerome. Bread and water, with the Gospel, are good cheer, saith Greenham. Cui cum paupertate been convenit pauper non est. The disciples are bid pray for bread, not bisket: they dined, on a Sabbath-day, with corn rubbed in their hands, with broiled fish, &c. Luther made many a meal of a herring; Junius, of an egg. One told a Philosopher, If you will be content to please Dionysius, you need not feed upon green herbs. He replied; And if you be content to feed upon green herbs, you need not please Dionysius.

CHAP. XXVI. Vers. 1. Then Jacob went on his journey ]

HEb. lift up his feet: indefessi cursoris instar; as it were a generous and manly horse, refreshed with his bait by the way, he went lightly on his long journey. The joy of the Lord was Jacob's strength: it became as oil; wherewith his soul being suppled, he was made more lithe, nimble, and fit for action. He that is once soaked in this oil, and bathed, with Jacob, in this bath at Bethel, will cheerfully do or suffer ought for God's sake. Tua praesentia Domine Laurentio ipsam craticulam dulcem fecit, saith One. Gaudebat Crispina cùm tenebatur, eùm audiebatur, cùm damnabatur, cùm ducebatur, saith Austin. So did many of the Marian Martyrs, as were easy to instance. Bernard gives the reason: The Cross is oiled, saith he; and, by the grace of the Spirit helping our infirmities, it is made, not only light, but sweet; and not only not troublous and terrible, but desirable and delectable. From the delectable Orchard of the Leonine prison: so that Italian Martyr Algerius dated his Letter. Another Dutch Martyr, feeling the flame to come to his beard, Ah, said he, what a small pain is this, to be compared to the glory to come! Let us pluck up our feet, pass from strength to strength, and take long and lusty strides toward heaven. It is but a little afore us; and a ready heart rids the way apace.

Vers. 2. Three stocks of sheep lying by it ] Semblab • y Christ, the chief Shepherd, feeds and leads his flock to the lively fountains of waters; commanding his under-shepherds, the Ministers, to roll a way the stone, by opening the promises, that his sheep may drink water with joy, out of those wells of salvation.

Vers. 3. And he put the stone again upon the wells mou •• ] To keep the waters clean and filth-free. The Turks had procured some traitor in Scodra (where Skanderbeg ruled) to poison the Town-well. The Pope hath endeavored the like, by pouring out his deadly poison upon the rivers and fountains of water (the Scriptures) that they might become blood: witness that Heathenish Decree of the Council of Trent; equalizing, if not preferring, the Apocrypha, to the Canonical Scripture; the vulgar Translation, to the Original; Traditions, to holy Writ: and affirming, that the holy Ghost himself is not to be heard, though he bring never so plain Scripture for himself, nisi accedat meretricis pnrpuratae effrons interpretatio, saith a learned Doctor; unless the Pope may interpret it. Horrible blasphemy! Had not God's servants need to see to the cleansing of this Well, and the keeping it free from the tramplings and defilements of this foul Beast? The Council of Constance comes in with a Non-obstante, against Christ's Institution; withholding the Cup from the Sacrament. Before that the Gospel was corrected, amended, and expounded, ( •• y the Canonists) there were many things permitted, (as Priests Marriage;) which now, since the time is come that all things are made perfect, are clearly abolished and taken away. When the Hussites denied to admit any Doctrine that could not be proved by the holy Scriptures, the Council of Basil answered them, by Cardinal Cusanus, that the Scriptures were not of the essence of the Church, but of the well-being of it only; That the Word of God was so much the better taught the people, by how much it had less of the Scriptures in it: That the Scripture was to be interpreted according to the currant Rite of the Church; quâ mutante sententiam, mutetur & Dei judicium. Can any hear this, and his ears not tingle? This was then the Popes Express: for in Popish Councils, the Bishops and others have no more to do, but simply, inclina • o capite, to say Placet to that, which in the Popes name is propounded to them: As nothing was resolved by the Trent -Fathers, but all in Rome: whence grew that blasphemous Proverb, which habhor to relate. This Council was that sea, upon which the second Angel poured out his vial, and it became as the blood of a dead man; and every living soul died in that sea. Cavete.

Vers. 4. And Jacob said ] These petty passages are recorded, when the acts of mighty Monarchs are unmentioned; to show God's dear respect to his poor servants. The Lion and Eagle were not offered in sacrifice, as the Lamb and Dove were. Master Fox being asked, whether he knew such an honest poor man; answered, I remember him well: I tell you, I forget Lord's and Ladies, to remember such. So doth God.

Vers. 6. And behold Rachel his daughter ] Note, that our least and ordinary actions, are ordered and directed by God; as Nathanael 's being under the fig-tree, &c. Birds flying seem to fly at liberty, yet are guided by an over-ruling hand of Heaven: so are our thoughts, affections, actions. Sic curat Deus universos, quasi singulos; sic singulos, quasi solos, saith Augustine. Rachel, by a divine providence, meets Jacob at the Well: so doth the Church (that shepherdess, Cant. 1.7.8.) meet Christ in his Ordinances, Psal. 23.2, 3.

Vers. 7. Neither is it time, &c.] Time is a precious commodity, and must be thriftily husbanded. The common complaint is, We want time: But the truth is, we do not so much want, as waste it; as the Heathen observed: which they that do, are wastfullest prodigals: for, of all other possessions, two may be had together; but two moments of time cannot be possessed together. This made the Philosopher so parsimonious of time; Nullus mihi per otium exit dies; I cannot afford to cast away a day; partem noctium studiis vendico; part of the night I take for my studies. So did Charles the Great; and after him, Charles the fifth, who (when at any time in the field against the enemy) spent what hours he could spare, in the study of the Mathematics. As if he had been of Cato 's mind, That great men must be able to give good account, non minus otii. quàm negotii; no less of their leisure, then of their labor. His constant custom was, saith Cicero, to call to mind, at evening, what thing soever he had seen, read, or done, that day. King Alfred, that reigned here, Anno Dom. 872, is said to have cast the natural day into three parts: Eight hours he spent in praying, study, and writing; eight in the service of his body; eight in the affairs of State. Which spaces, (having then no other engine for it) he measured by a great wax light, divided into so many parts; receiving notice by the keeper thereof, as the several hours passed in the burning.

Vers. 8. We cannot, until all the flocks] As we are not (by the example of these shepherds) to enterprise things above our strength, Psal. 131.1. so neither to be discouraged by every dissiculty; but to lend, and borrow help one of another; each man pleasing his neighbor for his good, and serving him in love, to edification.

Vers. 9. For she kept them ] Leah might be left at home, for the tenderness of her eyes. A man is to see, that all under his roof have a fit employment; as the Master gave each servant his task, his talent, according to his several ability, secundum peritiam & potentiam. And everyone hath some excellency or other in him, can we but find, and improve it. God hath dispensed his gifts diversely, for the common benefit. And as, in the same pasture, the ox can find fodder, the hound a hare, the stork a lizard, the fair maid flowers: so there is none so worthless, but something may be made of him; some good extracted out of the unlikeliest. Yea, wisdom is such an Elixar, as by contaction (if there any disposition of goodness in the same metal) it will render it of the property.

Vers. 10. Went near, and rolled the stone, &c.] If he did this alone, as the Text seemeth to say, it was very strange. He might put forth his strength, to gratify Rachel, and to insinuate himself into her love.

Vers. 11. Lifted up his voice, and wept ] For joy, that he had so happily light upon his kinswoman. It argued also his great affection, and passion of mind, for her sake: Love is exstatical; — nec juris se sinit esse sui. Animus est ubi amat, non ubi animat. He kisseth Rachel, as if he would have transfused his soul into her: and wept aloud; not as those vain lovers, who ut flerent, oculos erudiêre suos: Nor as the Brasileans, whose faculty is such, that tears are for a present salutation; and as soon gone, as if they had said, How do you? But as Joseph wept over Benjamin; the Prodigals father over him, &c.

Vers. 12. That he was her fathers brother] And therefore made so bold with her, upon no further acquaintance. His kisses were not unchaste, but modest; such as were common among kindred. And yet here care must betaken, that Satan corrupt not our courtesy, or more intimate acquaintance, with never so near an alliance. Flies may settle upon the sweetest perfumes, and putrefy them. S. Paul saw cause to exhort Timothy, (that mortified young man) to exhort the younger women, as sisters, With all purity; because, through the subtlety of Satan, and the deceit of his own heart, even whiles he was exhorting them to chastity, some unchaste motions might steal upon him. A great deal of caution doth no hurt.

Vers. 13. He ran to meet him, and embraced him] All in hypocrisy, as the Hebrews hold. There be many Laban's; hot at first, cold at last; friendly in the beginning, froward in the end. A free friend at first, a kind friend to the last, is Rara avis in terris. Trust not in a friend, put not confidence in a brother, &c. Look rather unto the Lord, as the Church doth there he is the only Suresby, as they say; and will never fail us: when the World, as Laban, will show itself at parting, if not before. [He told Laban all these things] why, and how he came so poorly to him; when as Abraham's servant, coming upon a like errand, came far better attended and appointed: which was the thing that Laban, likely, looked after, when he ran out to meet Jacob.

Vers. 14. Surely thou art my bone, &c.] Good words cost nothing; and the veriest carls are commonly freer of them, then of real courtesies. Pertinax the Emperor was surnamed 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , quod blandus esset, magis quàm benignus. But that of Nero was abominable; who, the very day before he killed his mother, most lovingly embraced her, kissed her eyes and hands; and accompanying her, when she departed, used these sweet words; All happiness attend you, my good mother: for in you I live, and by you I reign. As a potsherd covered with silver-dross, so are burning lips, and a wicked heart, Prov. 26.23.

Vers. 15. Shouldst thou therefore serve me ] He pretends loveand equity, to his covetous aims and reaches. Candid he would needs seem, (according to his name) and considerate. But as Blackmoors have their teeth only white; so is Laban's kindness from the teeth outward. He was as a whited wall, or painted sepulcher, or an Egyptian temple; fair and specious without; but within, some cat, rat, or calf there idolized, and adored. Hypocrites, whatever they pretend, have a hawks eye to praise or profit: they must be gainers by their piety or humanity; which must be another Dianae, to bring gain to the crafts-master. The Eagle, when she soareth highest, hath an eye ever to the prey.

Vers. 17. Leah was tender-eyed ] Purblinde, or squint, as One interprets it. Now a froward look, and squint eyes, (saith the Historian) are the certain notes of a nature to be suspected. The Jerusalemy Targum tells us, that her eyes were tender with weeping and praying. Mary Magdalene is famous for her tears; and Christ was never so near her, as when she could not see him for weeping. After which, she spent (as some report) thirty years in Gaul Narbonensi, in weeping for her sins. [ But Rachel was beautiful, &c.] Plate calls beauty, the principality of nature: Aristorle, a greater commendation then all Epistles. See the Notes on Chap. 24 16.

Vers. 18. I will serve thee seven years ] He had nothing to endow her with; he would therefore earn her, with his hard labor: which, as it shows Laban's churlishness to suffer it, and his baseness, to make a prize and a prey of his two daughters; so it sets forth Jacob 's meekness, poverty, patience, and hard condition here, mentioned many years after by the Prophet Hosea, Chap. 12.12. He was a man of many sorrows; and from him therefore the Church hath her denomination: neither were the faithful ever since called Abrahamites, but Israelites.

Vers. 19. It is better that I give her to thee ] Indeed, he sold her to him, for seven years service. This was Laban, or Nabal, choose you which. Their names were not more like, then their conditions. Laban's daughters, and Nabal's wife, were also alike handled by their unkind parents. He hath sold us, said they, and hath also quite devoured our money, Gen. 31.15. And, He hath married me, might Abigail have said, to the money, and not to the man; and though he named me his joy, yet he hath caused me much sorrow. How many a child is so cast away, by the covetous parents! It was better with Laban's two daughters; but no thanks to their father.

Vers. 20. And they seemed unto him but a few days] And yet lovers hours are full of eternity. But love facilitated the service, and made the time seem short. Should anything seem hard or heavy to us, so we may have heaven at length? The affliction is but light and momentary; the glory massy, and for all eternity. Hold out, Faith and Patience. Love is a passion, and seen most in suffering; much water cannot quench it. Nay, like fire, it devours all delays and difficulties; spending and exhaling itself, as it were, in continual wishes to be at home, to be with Christ, which is far far the better. Oh let the eternal weight of the Crown, weigh down, with us, the light and momentary weight of the Cross.

Vers. 21. Give me my wife; for my days, &c.] Jacob had served out his time, and now demands his due. David also is said to have served the will of God, for his own age; and John the Baptist, to have fulfilled his course, (in the same Chapter.) Moses also was faithful in all God's house, as a servant. Yet these could not call for heaven, as their wages, because they were (as the best are, at their best) but unprofitable servants, and did not, in any measure, what their duty was to do. We have not a bit of bread of our own earning; and are therefore taught to pray, Give us this day our daily bread: we get our living by begging. Our best plea is, Domine, non sum dignus, nihilominùs tamen sum indigens: Lord, I am not worthy, but I am needy, as Pomeran said. Then will God, of his free grace, supply all our necessities, and afterwards receive us to glory. He will bring us into the Bride-chamber of heaven, and there will he give us his loves. He will let out himself into us, to our infinite delight. Of all natural delights, that of Marriage is the most, because there is the greatest communication of one creature to another; and according to the degrees of communication, are the degrees of delight. Think the same in the mystical Marriage.

Vers. 22. And made a feast ] Never more seasonable, surely, then at the recovery of the lost rib. The Wedding-day is called, The day of the rejoicing of a man's heart, Cant. 3.11. Our Savior graced such a feast, with his presence, and first miracle: Ho supplied them with wine, to glad their hearts: not with a little, for healths sake only; but with a great quantity, for sober delight, and honest affluence. It is noted, as an absurd thing, in Samson 's wife, that she wept all the days of the feast. A feast then there was at Samson 's wedding, and of seven days continuance. And so there was at Jacob 's, as may be gathered out of verse. 27. Fulfil her week, saith Laban; to wit, of banquet or Bride-ale, as we call it: Only that of Chrysostom comes here in fitly; De nuptiis Jacobi legimus; de choreis & tripudiis, non legimus: Of Jacob's Wedding-feast we read; but of dancing and dalliance, of tracing, and tripping on the toe, we read not. In maxima libertate, minima licentia, saith Salvian. Merry we may be, at such a time; but, in the Lord: eat and drink we may; but, before the Lord. The old world may be a warning to us: they fed without fear; and therefore perished, without favor. Let such look to it, as live in pleasure, and are wanton; that cat to excess, and drink to drunkenness; accounting nothing mirth, but madness; no bread sweet, but stolen; no such pleasure, as to have the devil their play-fellow: so nourishing their hearts as in a day of slaughter, or belly cheer, James 5.5. and swallowing down those murthering morsels now, that they must digest in hell.

Vers. 23. He took Leah his daughter ] The elder, for the younger; by a like fraud as Rebekah his mother had, not long before, in a cunning disguise, substituted him 〈◊〉 younger son, for the elder. God pays us often in our own coin, and measures to us again the self-same measure that we have meted to others. Herod mocked the Wise-men, and is mocked of them: And how oft do we see those that would beguile others, punished with illusion? God usually retaliates, and proportions jealousy to jealousy, provocation to provocation, Deut. 32.21. number to number, Isai. 65.11, 12. choice to choice, Isai. 66.3, 4. device to device, Mic. 2.1, 3. frowardness to frowardness, Psal. 18.26. contrariety to contrariety, Levite. 26.21. Even the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth, as was Jacob.

Vers 25. In the morning, behold it was Leah] A foul disappointment: but so the world ever serves us. The Hebrews have taken up this passage for a proverb, when a man's hopes are deceived in a wife; or anything else, wherein he looked for content and comfort.

Vers. 26. It must not be so done in our country] A sorry excuse: but better, he thought, then none at all. A subtle fox he was, and far too hard for honest Jacob, who was simple to evil, but of a large reach for heaven. The children of this world are wise in their generation • ; and so is the Fox in his: but God will take them in their own craft, as wild beasts in a snare, made and taken to be destrayed. Let us take heed how we deal with them, and make our bargains as wise as we can. Crebr • nobis, sicut Ciceroni, vafer ill Siculus insusurret Epicharmi cantilenam illam suam, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . We have not received the spirit of this world; we cannot skill of the devils depths: but we have received a better thing; the Spirit which searcheth all, yea the deep things of God.

Vers. 27. We will give thee this also ] See here the guise of wicked and deceitful men: when one setch hath fadg'd to their minds, they devise another; and make no end of over-reaching; there never wanting (as the Proverb hath it) a new knack in a knaves cap. They will search the devils scull, but they will find out one slippery trick or another, to cheat, and go beyond those they deal with. But let them look to it; God is the avenger of all such, 1 Thess. 4. whose not not heads only, but bellies prepare deceit, Job 15.35.

Vers. 28. And Jacob did so] A mirror of patience; which, in Jacob here, had line and rope, her perfect work; showing him, to be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. Godly people can bear wrongs best of any: come ••• them to go a mile, they'll be content, if it may do good, to go twain; yea, as far as the shoes of the preparation of the Gospel of peace will carry them.

Vers. 30. And he went in also unto Rachel ] Which incestuous fact cannot ordinarily be justified, nor may at all be imitated. Wicked Julia soll •• iting Caracalla to incestuous marriage with her; when he answered, Vollem si liceret, replied impudently, (and is therefore, by very Heathens, condemned extremely) Si libet, licet: an nescis te Imperatorem esse leges dare non accipere? &c. Herod, for marrying his brothers wife, was reproved, and punished.

Vers. 31. When the Lord saw that Leah was hated ] That is, less loved and respected. So God hated Esau; and accounts the neglects of wife or husband, no better then hatred, Eph. 5.25. [But Rachel was barren] God commonly crosseth men's preposterous affections, that he may draw all love to himself. Jonah loseth his gourd, (and we our dearest delights) by over-loving them.

Vers. 32. They t •• ke my husband will love me ] This was her greatest care, (and is every good wives) to please her husband, and to win his love.

Vers. 33. And she conceived again ] God usually heapeth his favors upon those, whom others slight, and look aloof on.

Vers. 34. And she conceived again ] So, what she wanted in beauty, she had in foecundity or fruitfulness: and this redounded to God's greater glory, by Leah 's thankfulness; who might say,

Vers. 35. Now will I praise the Lord ] So she had done before, at the birth of her other children: But now she would do it anew, upon the receipt of a new mercy: according to that, Sing unto the Lord a new song. A good woman she seems to have been; and the better, because not so well beloved of her husband; which she could not but see to be just upon her, for her consenting to the sin (with her father) of deceiving Jacob.

CHAP. XXX. Verse 1. Give me children, or else I die ]

SHe was sick of the fret; and could not live, unless Jacob could cure her. Envy is the rottenness of the bones, and ever devours itself first; as the worm doth the nut out of which it groweth.

Vers. 2. And Jacob's anger was kindled ] He that will be angry, and not sin, must not be angry, but for sin. Reprove thy wife, thou mayest; chide her, thou mayest not, unless the offense be against God, as here, and Job 2.10. And here a man may carry a severe rebuke in his countenance, as God doth, Psal. 80.16. though he say nothing: he may chide with his looks only. [Am I in God's stead?] who carrieth this key under his own girdle; as is afore-noted. Lo, children are an heritage that cometh of the Lord, as David once sang for Solomon, who had the experience of it: for of so many wives, he had but one son, that we read of; and he was none of the wisest. This Solomon foresaw, and bewailed, as one unhappy bird, in his nest of Vanities.

Vers. 3. Behold my maid Bilhah ] Given her by her father on purpose, it may seem; that in case she proved barren, she might be built up by her. So Stratonice, the wife of King Dei • tarus, being barren, gave secretly her maid Electra unto her husband; by whom she had an heir to the Crown, as Plutarch relateth.

Vers. 4. And Jacob went in unto her ] Meerly to please his wise, he yielded to that which he could not but disallow, as evil. Heed must be taken, that the hen crow not, that the wife rule nor. This 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , was a part of Jacob 's punishment.

Vers. 6. God hath judged me, &c.] A vile profanation of God's holy Name, under an opinion and pretence of piety. So they that, brow-beating their brethren, better then themselves, said, Let the Lord be glorified: and it grew to a Proverb, In nomine Domini incipit omne malum. The Conspirators in Edward the sixth's time, indorsed their Letters with Glory be to God on high, on • arth peace, &c. A fair glove drawn upon a foul hand.

Vers. 8. With great wrestlings ] Heb. with wrestlings of God; that is, with excellent and most earnest wrestlings and endeavors; by storms of sighs, and showers of tears. Stupidity is the low extreme, like the dull earth. Despair is as much too high, as it were in the element of fire, which scorches up the spirit. The middle region of Air and Water, Sighs and Tears, is the best.

Vers. 14. And found mandrakes ] Some render it, Lovely flowers; others, Violets; others, Lilies; others again, Cherries of Jury; the Greek, and most Interpreters, Mandrakes, or Mandrakeapples. It is a plant very amiable, (according to the name) both for sweetness of smell, Ca •• . 7.13; the loveliness of the flower, resembling a man; and for the peculiar virtue it hath, to cause sleep, affection, and conception.

Vers. 15. Therefore he shall lie with thee, &c.] Thus he is bought and sold by his emulous wives: which was no small affliction to him, and a punishment of his Polygamy.

Vers. 16. Thou must come in unto me ] These contentions (saith an Interpreter) were not merely carnal, but partly also, for desire of God's ordinary blessing in propagation; and chiefly, for the increase of the Church, and obtaining the promised seed for salvation.

Vers. 18. God hath given me my hire ] Wherein she was much mistaken, as having not her senses exercised to discern good and evil. Here she rejoiceth, in that for which she should have repented; and was in the common error, of measuring and judging of things, by the success; as if God were not many times angry with men, though they outwardly prosper. Thus Dionysius, after the spoils of an Idol-temple, finding the winds favorable, Lo, said he, how the gods approve of sacrilege.

Vers. 20. God hath endued me with a good dowry ] That is as it proves, though. Children are dulcis acerbitas, saith One, certain cares; but uncertain comforts, saith Another; yet all men desire them: How much more should we covet grace, and those things that accompany salvation? These having gotten, we may safely and surely say, God hath endued me with a good dowry.

Vers. 22. And God remembered Rachel ] She begun to think, that God had forgotten her, because she was so long suspended, and her prayers not answered, This is a common fault. David bewails it in himself. Basil grew so weary of the Arian persecution, that once he cried out, An Ecclesias suas prorsus dereliquit Dominus? an novissima hora est? &c. So the Church of old; Where is thy zeal and thy strength, Lord? the soundings of thy bowels, and of thy mercies towards us? are they restrained? Here we must check and chide ourselves, for once questioning God's kind remembrance of us, whom we cannot forget; and learn, and labor not to waken our Welbeloved, until he please. He Waits to be gracious; and, when it is fit, will come leaping over the mountains of Bether, all lets and impediments.

Vers. 23. God hath taken away my reproach ] That is, her barrenness, (with which she was often upbraided) when now she was sufficiently humbled; besides that her children, (as the rest of those women that were long barren) are noted to have been the best, and most gracious: as Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Samuel, the Baptist, &c. A child of many prayers cannot lightly miscarry, as he told Monica.

Vers. 24. The Lord shall add to me another son] A sweet and sure way of argumentation, God that hath thus and thus done me good, will not be wanting to me in anything, that may conduce to mine eternal comfort; but will perfect that which concerneth me. Qui ad vituli hortatur esum, quid tandem mihi negaturus est?

Vers. 26. Let me go ] Here Jacob was too hasty; as Moses was, in doing justice before his time, and therefore fled for it.

Vers. 27. I pray thee, if I have found favor &c.] This miserable muck-worm, so he may advance his own ends, abaseth himself to his servants, colloguing, or anything, to curry favor, and compass commodity. But he that is swallowed up of the earth (as Core was) his ears stopped, his heart stuffed, and all passages for God's spirit obstructed by it, shall have earth enough, when he dies: his mouth shall be filled with a spade-full of mould, and his Never-enough quit with fire enough, in the bottom of hell. Such another courteous caytife as this in the text, was that Plautianus a rich Roman; of great authority with Severus the Emperor. Omnia enim petebat ab omnibus, et cupiebat omnia, saith the Historian. Herein only he differed from Laban; when he married his daughter to Antonius the son of Severus, he gave her as much portion, as would have sufficed for fifty Queens.

Vers. 30. The Lord hath blessed thee since my coming ] Heb. at my foot. Hence grew that proverb used in Africa; Homo boni pedis; a man whose coming is prosperous; and is appliable to the Ministers of the Gospel; whose feet are beautiful and prosperous, if they faithfully feed the flock.

Vers. 21. What shall I give thee?] Solent multum quaerere, qui cupiunt parum dare. But Laban would know his price, that he might be out of his pain.

Vers. 32. And of such shall be my hire] As white and black sheep were most set by in Mesopotamia, so were the party coloured in Palestine, ( Jacob 's country) whence the shepherds there are called Nochudim, ( Amos 1.1) that is, keepers of spotted cattle. This might be a reason, why Jacob desires to be paid in such; and, perhaps, had learned that skill there, which he used in the following verses.

Vers. 33. So shall my righteousness, &c.] A good conscience fears no judge, no not God himself, in some particulars; as Psal. 7.3, 4. That which Jacob did here, was of God, Chap. 31.10. It was also a plain bargain between them; and Laban was handled in his kind. Besides, the means Jacob used, was not fraudulent, but natural; not depending on man's skill, but God's blessing: and all to recover out of the wretches hands, that which was but due to him for his hard service, and for his wives dowry.

Vers. 34. Behold, I would it might be ] He was glad to have him on the hip for a bad bargain, but is fairly deceived himself. God will see to his servants, that they shall not lose all: though the world think it neither sin, nor pity, to defraud them of their due.

Vers. 36. And he set three days journey ] Hoping so to disappoint Jacob of having anything, and to make his own party good with him. For, naturally, the cattle would bring forth others like themselves; and so Jacob's part should be little enough. Sed & hic fallitur sordidus impostor, saith Pareus. Laban was utterly out in his count, and crossed in his design.

Vers. 38. And he set the rods which he had pilled ] This was done, partly by the force of the fantasy, which is much affected with objects of the sight; or some other cogitation in the time of conception: partly, and chiefly, by the blessing of God: For, he that shall now try the same conclusion, shall find himself frustrated.

Vers. 43. And the man increased exceedingly ] So shall all those do, (if it be for their eternal good) that depend upon God for success, and blessing upon their hard and honest labors. As for others, that will needs care and carve for themselves, being troubled about many things, but neglecting that One thing necessary, the Lord either gives the souls of such over to fuster shipwreck, or else strips them of all their lading and tacklings, breaking their estates all to pieces, and making them glad to go to heaven upon a broken plank.

CHAP. XXXI. Vers. 1. And he heard the Words of Laban's sons ]

THese were chips of the old block▪ as they say: as like the father, as if spit out of his mouth. Avarice made them think, as Seja • us did, Quicquid non acquiritur, damnum; all lost, that fell beside their own lips. As a ship may be over-laden with gold and silver, even unto sinking, and yet have compass and sides enough to hold ten times more: so, covetous men, though they have enough to sink them, yet have they never enough to satisfy them. [Hath he gotten all this glory] That is, all this wealth, which easily gets glory; and goes therefore joined with it, Prov. 3.16. & 8.18. This regina pecunia doth all, and hath all here below, saith Solomon. Money beareth the mastery, and is the Monarch of this world. None so admired, or so soon admitted, as he that is well moneyed. The Chaldee word for money, signifies to do some great work. It was commonly said in Greece, that not Philip, but his money, took their Cities. And a certain Grecian coming to Rome, where the honor of a Lord was offered unto him, answered,

Alli • had a Cardinals that there bestowed upon him by the Pope: but because his hat had so thin lining; he wanted wealth, I mean, to support his state, he was commonly called, The starveling Cardinal; and nobody cared for him.

Vers. 2. And Jacob behelà the countenance of Laban ] He said little, for shame, but thought the more; and could not so conceal his discontent, but that it appeared in his lowering looks. That which he had parted with in his riches, was, as it were, raked out of his belly, Job 20.11. he had as lief have parted with his very heartblood. And this was plain to Jacob by his countenance, which had been friendly, smooth, and smiling; but now was cloudy, sad, spiteful. The young men were hot, and could not hold or hide what was in their heart, but blurted it out, and spake their minds freely. This old fox held his tongue, but could not keep his countenance.

Vers. 3. Return to the land of thy fathers ] Laban's frowns were a grief to Jacob; the Lord calls upon him therefore to look homeward. Let the worlds affronts, and the change of men's countenances, drive us to him, who changeth not; and mind us of heaven, where is a perpetual serenity and sweetness.

Vers. 4. And Jacob sent, and called Rachel, &c.] He consults with his wives; so should we in matters of weight, of remove especially. They are our companions, the wives of our covenant, Mal. 2.14. not our vassals, or foot-stools; and must therefore be both of our court and counsel.

Vers. 5. I see your fathers countenance, &c.] This is the worlds wages. All Jacob 's good service is now forgotten. Do an unthankful person nineteen kindnesses, unless you add the twentieth, all's lost. Perraro grati homines reperiuntur, saith Cicero. Nemo benesicium in Calendarium scribit, saith Seneca. And the Poet Ausonius not unfitly,

Vers. 6. With all my power I have served ] The word translated power, signifieth that natural moisture of the body that maketh it lively and lusty, vigorous and valorous to do service. So it is used, Gen. 49.3. Psal. 22.15. Now if Jacob served Laban with all his might, should not we the Lord, a far better Master? Baruch repaired earnestly, Nebem. 3.20. Caleb fulfilled after God, Num. 14.24 Nehemiah traded every talent, with which divine providence had trusted him: He worketh, warreth, watcheth, commandeth, encourageth, threateneth, punisheth, &c. David danced with all his might, and did all the wills of God to his dying day; painfully serving out his time, to the last. Happy is he that can say, in a spiritual sense, as it was said of Moses, that, after long profession of Religion, he remits not of his zeal; his sight is not waxed dim, nor his natural heat or force abated; that he is not slothful in business, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.

Vers. 7. Changed my wages ten times] And ever for the worse. The matter mended, with poor Jacob, as sour ale doth in summer. Laban the churl, the richer he grew by him, the harder he was to him: like children with mouths full, and hands full, who will yet rather spoil all, then part with any. It is the love, not the lack of money, that makes men churls.

Vers. 9. Thus God hath taken away, &c.] He is the true Proprietary, and gives and takes away these outward things at pleasure; as Hannah •• th it, 1 Sam. • .7. And, Promotion cometh neither from the east, nor west, saith David; nor yet from the south, where the warm sun-shine is: much less from the north; (for, Ab Aquilone nihil boni: ) But God is the Judge; he puts down Laban, and sets up Jacob: he spoiled the Egyptians, and enriched the Israelites with their jewels; which yet proved a snare to them, perhaps, in the matter of the golden calf; as riches always do, when sent in to men by God's providence only, and not out of his favor, (as here to Jacob ) and by virtue of the promise.

Vers. 10, 11, 12. I saw in a dream, &c.] Of divine dreams, such as this was, see the Notes above, upon Chap 20.3.

Vers. 12. I have seen all that Laban doth] And am resolved to fleece him for thy hire. Gain ill got, will burn men's fingers, and burn thorough their purses. Yea, the greater wealth, the greater spoil awaits such Misers; as, a tree with thick and large boughs, every man desires to lop him.

Vers. 13. I am the God of Bethel, &c.] Here God pulls Jacob by the ear, as it were, and minds him of his vow, which he had well-nigh forgotten: But the Lord looked for a performance, and afterward punished him for his slackness. Most men's practice proclaims, that, having escaped the danger, they would willingly deceive the Saint. And of those that vow against sin, how many have we, who, when temptations, like strong Philistines, are upon them, break all bonds of God? whereby foul breaches are made into their consciences, such as nothing can cure, but the Blood of that great Votary, that Nazarite, Christ Jesus. Vows are solemn services; and they have much to answer for, that care not either to make or keep them; that dally and play with them, as children do with nuts and gawds. When the Cardinals meet to choose a Pope, they make a Vow, Whosoever is chosen, he shall swear to such Articles as they make. And Sleidan saith, The Pope is no sooner chosen, but he breaks them all, and checks their insolencies; as if they went about to limit his power, to whom all power is given, both in heaven and earth. Is not this pretty collusion? But God is the avenger of all such.

Vers. 15. Are we not counted of him as strangers?] Well might that Father say, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . The love of money is the root of all evil, as the Apostle hath it. This Kyte-footed corruption, wheresoever it seizeth and domineereth, it blasteth and banisheth all nobleness of spirit, natural affection, humanity, reason, discretion, manliness, mutual entertainment, intercourse of kindness and love: so that, for any fair dealing, a man had as good converse with a Cannibal, as with a • ruely covetous caitiff. Well might the Apostle set covetousness, and want of natural affection, together, as signs of a reprobate sense, Rom. 1.29, 31. Laban sells his own daughters here, and devours also their price. And the covetous Pharisees taught children to starve their parents, to offer to the altar; that is, to their paunches and purses.

Vers. 16. For all the riches, &c.] Here they speak the truth; but offend, 1. In that they utter it passionately, and with perturbation of spirit: 2. In that they seem somewhat to obscure God's blessing; as though it were but their due, as daughters. In dealing with those that have done us wrong, it is hard not to offend, either in the matter or manner of our expressions. [ Now then, whatsoever God hath said, &c.] Thus they prefer an husband to a father. So did Michal, though there was no great store of religion in her. And so Nature had taught that daughter of women to do, Dan. 11.17. Antiochus the Great gave Cleopatra his daughter to Ptolemy Epiphanes, thinking to use her as an instrument to destroy him: But she, contrary to his expectation, clave to her husband.

Vers. 19. Rachel had stolen the images ] She was somewhat tackt with her fathers superstition, though somewhat reclaimed. Little children, keep yourselves from idols, 1 Joh. 5. Nothing so natural to us, as Image-worship. Nothing so retained by us, when once entertained. After all that airing in the wilderness, Micah 's mother smells of Egypt, and hath her molten & graven gods, Judge. 17.3 Rachel also had her Mawmets long time after this, Gen. 35.2, 4. The devil is 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , saith Synesius, and so he would have us. Fence we therefore ourselves and ours, against this abomination: the itch of it, once got, is hardly ever cured and clawed off.

Vers. 20. And Jacob stole away ] God's Saints are put upon the use of such means sometimes, for their own safety, as render them contemptible to worldly men. All whose contumelies they can bravely bear, so long as their consciences clear and cheer them: yea, then can rejoice, and say, It is a mercy they know no worse by me. It is a great work of nature, to keep the filth of the body, when it is in man, from being unsavory to others. But it is a greater work of God to keep the filth of the soul, that is so unsavory to him, from the knowledge of those that wait all occasions to blaze and blaspheme us.

Vers. 21. He passed over the river] Euphrates; and so declined the ordinary way, that Laban might not overtake him; which yet he did. So God would have it, that he might have the greater glory of Jacob's deliverance.

Vers. 23. And he took his brethren ] The wicked may band themselves, and bend their strength against the Saints; but they are bounded by God. He lets them have the ball on their foot, many times, till they come to the very goal, and yet then makes them miss the game. He lets out their tedder, and then pulls them back again, to their task.

Vers. 24. Take heed thou speak not good or bad ] That is, that thou seek not, either by flattery or force, by allurement or affrightment, to bring him back. They write of the Asp, that he never wanders alone, without his companion with him. So the flattering promises of the Churches adversaries, go ever accompanied with cruel menaces, their tising tongues with their terrifying saws, Heb. 11.37. None of them shall want their mate; as the Scripture speaks of those birds of prey and desolation, Isai. 34.16.

Vers. 25. Jacob had pitched his tent ] Seeing Laban so near, he set himself in as good order as he could, fearing the worst, saith Musculus. But God was better to him, then his fears. He spake for him; and so he can, and doth oft, for us, in the hearts of our enemies. See Isai. 41.9. Charles the fifth, (then whom, all Christendom had not a more prudent • rince, nor the Church of Christ almost a sorer enemy) when he had in his hand Luther dead, and Melancthon, Pomeran, and certain other Preachers of the Gospel alive, he not only determined not anything extremely against them, or violated their graves; but also, entreating them gently, sent them away, not so much as once forbidding them to publish openly the doctrine that they professed.

Vers. 26. As captives taken with the sword ] No such matter; but that the old churl must have somewhat to say: for Jacob had their good-wills to go with him: and besides, they were now his, more then Laban's. Jacob had them in Marriage, and not in bondage: he carried them not as his captives, but companions.

Vers. 27. That I might have sent thee away with mirth] A likely, matter: but 'tis the hypocrites best now, to say the best. He durst do no other; for God had over-awed him, and put his hook into his nostrils. Hypocrites are likened to bull-rushes, which are green and smooth; and he is curious to a miracle, that can find a knot in them: but within is nothing, but an useless and spongie pith. Compared they are also to vipers, that are painted, as it were, without, but poisonful within: they have their teeth also buried in their gums, saith Pliny, so that one would think him to be harmless beasts, and that they could not bite: So hypocrites seem most innocent. Who would have thought otherwise of Laban, that had not known him; considering his contestation here with Jacob, his protestation, afterwards, of deep and dear love to his daughters; and lastly, his attestation, and taking God to witness for their good usage, and his heap of stones to witness (together with his heap of words to small purpose) calling it first Jegar-sahadutha, as a witness betwixt man and man; and then Mizpah, as a watch-tower or witness betwixt God and Man. Who could take Laban for less now, then a loving father, yea, and an honest man? But, as the Historian saith of another, so may we of him; Palàm compositus pudor, intùs summa adipiscendi libido. All this was but blanched hypocrisy, and coloured covetousness, as Saint Paul calls it.

Vers. 28. Thou hast done foolishly] And yet he had done no more then God bade him do. Wretched men dare reprehend that, which they do not comprehend. But if a wise man speak evil of thee, or to thee, endure him; if a fool, pardon him. Shake off reproaches, and hard censures, as Paul did the viper; yea, in a holy scorn, laugh at them, as the wild ass doth at the horse and his rider. Diotrephes prates against us, saith Saint John, 3 Epist. 10. In the Greek it is, trifles against us with malicious words. Although his words were malicious, and he a great man, yet all was but trifles, to a clear conscience.

Vers. 29. It is in the power of my hand ] It was, he might have said, till God forbade him: though indeed it never was, (as our Savior told Pilate, upon a like bravado, Joh. 19.10, 11.) further then given him from above. To God belong the issues of death, whatever tyrants dream they can do. Rideo, dicebat Caligula, Consulibus, quod uno nutu meo jugulare vos possim, & uxori tam bona cervix, simul ac jussero, demetur. And Caesar told Metellus, that he could as easily take away his life, as bid it be done. But what saith our Savior? Fear not them that kill the body; to wit, by divine permission He saith not, them that can kill the body, have power to do it at their own pleasure: for that's a royalty belongs to God only. [ But the God of your fathers spake unto me, &c.] Hypocrites forbear sin, as dogs do their meat; not because they hate the carrion, but fear the cudgel. These are as wicked, in their fearful abstaining from sin, as in their furious committing of it. Lupus venit ad ovile: quaerit invadere, jugulare, devorare. Vigilant pastores, latrant canes—Lupus venit fremens, redit tremens: lupus est tamen, & fremens & tremens, saith Augustine.

Vers. 30. Why hast thou stolen my gods?] Goodly gods, that could not save themselves from the thief. See Jer. 10.5, 11, 15. But Jacob, a just man, is here made a thief of. The best must look to be blasted; as deceivers, and yet true, 2 Cor. 6.8. Wicked men's throats are open sepulchers, wherein the good names of God's innocent ones too oft lie buried: their breath, as fire, shall devour you, saith the Prophet. Joseph suffered as a dishonest person; Elisha, as a troubler of the State; Jeremiah, as a traitor; Luther, as the trumpet of rebellion. Nay, in one of his Epistles to Spalatinus, Prorsùs Satan est Lutherus, saith he; sed Christus vivit & regnat, Amen. He adds his Amen to it; so little was he moved at it. He had learned, and so must we, to pass thorough good and evil report, with Paul. Epiphanius saith, somewhere, that the Jews give out, that Saint Paul turned Christian for spite, because he could not obtain the high-priests daughter in Marriage. We are made the filth of the world, the sweepings of all things, saith Saint Paul of himself and his companions; who yet were the very glory of Jesus Christ, 2 Cor. 8.23. Phagius reports a story of an Egyptian, who said, The Christians were a company of most filthy lecherous people. And for the keeping of the Sabbath, he saith, they had a disease upon them, and were therefore fain to rest the seventh day.

Vers. 31. Because I was afraid ] Note the Patriarch's simplicity and veracity, without cunning or colouring. Truth is like our first parents; most beautiful, when naked. It was sin covered them, and so this, for the most part.

Vers. 32. Let him not live ] This was a rash sentence. Hastie speech may work much woe. How sorry would Jacob have been, if Laban had found the images under Rachel, and taken him at his word! What a snare befell Jephthah, by his rash speaking • It is a Proverb among the Arabians, Cave ne feriat lingua tua collum tuum. He is a perfect man, that offends not in word, saith Saint James: for the tongue is an unruly evil. Sooner may a man teach a Camel to dance upon a rope, then bridle his tongue from evil-speaking. Pareus reckons up five virtues of the tongue, that perfect a man: but Peraldus recounts four and twenty several vices of it, that, if not restrained, will work his ruth and ruin. It should seem by that of our Savior, Matth 12.37, that a man's most and worst sins, are his words. And Saint Paul, making the anatomy of a natural man, stands more upon the organ of speaking, then on all the other members, Rom. 3. Let therefore thy words be few, true, and ponderous. An open mouth is a Purgatory to the master. Carry a pair of balances betwixt thy lips. Nescit poenitenda loqui, qui proferenda priùs suo tradidit examini, saith Cassiodore. Jacob might have learned of the Heathen Romans, to speak warily in passing sentence on, or giving testimony of another. Romani semper Videri in sententiis, in testimoniis Arbitrari, dicebant, saith Cicero.

Vers. 32. And Laban Went into Jacob's tent ] Hypocrites are suspicious of others, better then themselves; and impudently inquisitive: Curiosi ad cognoscendam vitam alienam, desidiosi ad corrigendam suam; as S. Augustine hath it Those that are most inquisitive about other men's manners, are most careless of their own.

Vers. 34. Put them in the camels furniture, and sat upon them ] Presumptuous sinners deal as homely with the dear mercies of Almighty God, pleading and pretending them to their wicked courses; and so kicking against his bowels; which are therefore fast closed against them.

Vers. 35. For the custom of women is upon me] A subtle, but sinful excuse, to shift a shame. Womens wits, we say, are best at 〈◊〉 pinch: but they must take heed they be not as C. Curio the Roman, ingeniose nequam, wittily wicked. Wit will not bear out sin.

Vers. 36. And Jacob was wroth, and chode] An angry expostulation; but not without some error, in the heat of altercation. Be angry, and sin not, is (saith One) the easiest charge, under the hardest condition, that can be. It is difficult to kindle and keep quick the fire of zeal, (which is the best kind of anger) without all smoke of sin.

Vers. 37. Set it here before my brethren ] See the confidence of a clear conscience! Happy is be, that can be acquitted by himself in private; in public, by others; in both, by God. Lucrum in arca, saepe facit damnum in conscientia. But all such as conceive with guile, by that time they have reckoned their months a right, though they grow never so big, shall bring forth nothing but wind and vanity. Yea, they that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind. Let that thou hast, be well gotten, and thou needest not care whom thou lookst in the face; thou shalt not be ashamed to speak with thine enemies in the gate.

Vers. 38. The rams of thy fleck I have not eaten] A lively picture of a careful Pastor. He fats not himself, but feeds the flock: he seeks not theirs, (neither fleece, nor flesh) but them, and their welfare. He takes not to him the instruments of a foolish shepherd, Zech. 11.15. that is, forcipes & mulctram, that he may carry away lac & lana •• ; but feeds the flock of God, and takes care of the cure, as Peter bids; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, &c. About the year of Christ 1260, the People and Clergy of England (the Popes Ass, as it was called) opposed themselves to the Legat's exactions. And when Rustandus the Legat alleged, that all Churches were the Popes; Leonard, a learned man of those times, answered, Tuitione, non fruitione; defensione, non dissipatione.

Vers. 39. Of my hand didst thou require it ] Which was against all right and reason, Exod. 22.10, 13. but that weighed little with this covetous cormorant. God smites his fists at such dishonest gain, as Balak did at Balaam, in token of extreme indignation, Ezek. 22.13. And lest Laban, or any like, should object, that these were but great words, The Lord would not do it, They would deal well enough with the Lord for that matter; he adds, in the ne •• verse, Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the day that I shall deal with thee? I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it; verse. 14.

Vers. 40. Thus was I in the day, &c.] Non-residents do none of all this, those Idol, and idle shepherds: they cry out, as he, Pan curet oves, oviúmque magistros; being herein not only worse then this good shepherd in the text, but also then Ulysses his swinehord, in Homer, who would not lie from his charge.

Vers. 41. I served thee fourteen years, &c.] If all this, to be son-in-law to Laban; what should not we do, or suffer gladly, to be the sons of God?

Vers. 42. The Fear of Isaac ] God, the proper object of fear; whence he is absolutely called, the Fear: Psal. 76.12. Bring presents to Fear; that is, to him, to whom all dread is due. The Cha • dee Paraphrast rendeth Teraphim, (verse 32 of this Chapter) Laban's fear. It was an atheistical speech of Statius, Primus in orbe deos fecit Timor. But it was a true saying of Varro, as Calvin cites his words; They that first brought in Images of the gods, increased men's error, but took away their fear.

Vers. 43. These daughters are my daughters, &c.] All this is a flaunt, or rather a flattery. Now he seeks to curry favor, where he could not exercise cruelty; smoothing over the matter, as if he meant them no hurt: when he was merely bridled, and could not do them that hurt that he desired. This is still the guise of hypocrites, and false brethren; they would be taken for friends, and seek to build up themselves upon better men's ruins: as here Laban would render Jacob suspicious to his daughters, as one that would hereafter deal hardly with them, if not bound by him, in a covenant, to his good abearance toward them.

Vers. 44. Now therefore come thou, &c.] A fool is full of words, saith Solomon. Which odious custom of his, is expressed 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , in his vain tautologies: A man cannot tell what shall be; and what shall be after him, who can tell? Eccles. 10.14. Laban likewise talks a great deal here; and is up with the more, and down with the less, (as they say.) A Covenant he will have, a pillar he will have, and a heap he will have; and that heap shall be a witness, and that pillar a witness, and God a witness, and a judge too, &c. there's no end of his discourse; as if, ' Domnio -like, he cared not so much what, as how much he spake. The basest things are ever most plentiful. History and experience tells us, that some kind of mouse breedeth an hundred and twenty young ones in one nest: whereas the Lion and Elephant bears but one at once. So the least worth, yields the most words.

Vers. 53. And Jacob sware by the fear of his father ] The Chaldee Paraphrast sometimes useth the word Fear, or Terror, for God, for the reason above-given, verse. 42. Hence Jacob, coming from Syria, and being to swear to a Syrian, swears here by the Fear of his father Isaac. Where note, that he riseth up no higher then his father; whereas Laban the Idolater pretends Antiquity, appeals to the God's of Abraham, of Nahor, and of their father Terah, who served strange gods, Josh. 24.2. Papists boast much of Antiquity, as once the Gileonites did of old shoes, and mouldy bread. A Gentleman being importuned by a Popish Questionist, to tell where our Religion was before Luther; answered, That our Religion was always in the Bible, where your Religion never was. Mine Antiquity is Jesus Christ, saith Ignatius, and we with him.

Vers. 54. Called his brethren to eat bread] And so overcame evil with good; which is the noblest of all victories. God cannot but love, in us, this imitation of his mercy; and that love is never fruitless.

Vers. 55. Laban rose up ] Laban leaves him, Esau meets him, and both with a kiss. When a man's ways please the Lord, &c.

CHAP. XXXII. Vers. 1. Angels of God met him.]

SEnsibly and visibly, as servants meet their masters, as the guard their Prince. Oh the dignity and safety of the Saints! who are in five respects, (say some) above the Angels. 1. Our nature is more highly advanced in Christ. 2. The righteousness whereby we come to glory, is more excellent then theirs; which, though perfect in its kind, is but the righteousness of mere creatures, such as God may find fault with, Job 4.18. such as may need mercy; therefore the Cherubims are said to stand upon the Mercy-seat, and to be made of the matter thereof. 3. The sonship of the Saints is founded in a higher right then theirs; viz. in the Sonship of the second Person in Trinity. 4. They are members of Christ, and so in nearer union then any creature. 5. They are the Spouse, the Bride; Angels only servants of the Bridegroom, and ministering spirits, sent out (as here) to minister for them that shall be heirs of salvation. They meet us still, as they did Jacob: they minister many blessings to us, yet will not be seen to receive any thank of us: they stand at our right hands, Luke 1.11. as ready to relieve us, as the devils to mischief us, Zech. 3.1. If Satan, for terror, show himself like the great Leviathan; or, for fraud, like a crooked and piercing serpent; or, for violence and fury, like the dragon in the seas: yet the Lord will smite him by his Angels, as with his great, and sore, and strong sword, Isai. 27.1. Angels are in heaven, as in their watch-tower, (whence they are called watch-men, Dan. 4.10.) to keep the world, the Saints especially, their chief charge; in whose behalf, they stand ever before the face of God, waiting and wishing to be sent upon any design or expedition, for the service and safety of the Saints. They are like Master • or Tutors, to whom the great King of heaven commits his children: these they bear in their bosoms, as the nurse doth her babe, or as the servants of the house do their young Master; glad to do them any good office; ready to secure them from that roaring Lion, that rangeth up and down, seeking to devour them. The Philosopher told his friends, when they came into his little and low cottage, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , The gods are here with me. The true Christian may say, though he dwell never so meanly, God and his holy Angels are ever with him, &c.

Vers. 2. This is God's host ] So called, for their number, order, obedience, strength, &c. God hath a complete hest of horse and foot. Angels, and heavenly bodies, are his horse, as it were; horses and chariots of fire, 2 Kings 6.17. yea, both horse and foot: for there are whole legions of them, Matth. 26.53. Now a Legion is judged to be six thousand foot, and seven hundred horse. Daniel tells us, there be millions of Angels, Dan. 7.10. yea, an innumerable company, saith the Author to the Hebrews, Chap. 12.22. The Greek Poet could say, There were thirty thousands of them here upon earth, keepers of mortal men, and observers of their works: Some think they are meant in the Parable, by the ninety and nine sheep; as if they were ninety and nine times as many as mankind, in number. All these, how many soever, pitch camp round about the godly, Psal. 38.8. make a lane for them, as they did here for Jacob at Mahanajim, (which signifies a double camp;) fight in battle-ray against their enemies, Dan. 10.20. and convey them at death, as they did Lazarus, thorough their enemies country, the air, into Abraham's bosom. So that all God's children may call death, as Jacob did this place, Mahanaim; because there th • Angels meet them. And as the palsy-man, in the Gospel, was let down with his bed thorough the tyling before Jesus. Luke 5.18. so is every good soul taken up in a heavenly couch, (or coach, rather) thorough the roof of his house, and carried into Christ's presence, by the blessed Angels.

Vers. 3. And Jacob sent messengers ] Means, he knew, was to be used by him, though well assured of safeguard. God must be trusted, not tempted: means must be used, but not trusted. Jacob was as one that fled from a Lion, and a Bear met him. Laban, as a Lion, had some shamefac'dness, saith a Rabbi: Esau, as a Bear, had none. Jacob therefore prays, and sends, and submits, and presents him; and all to pacify him. He that meets with a Bear, will not strive with him for the wall, but be glad to scape by him.

Vers. 4. to my lord Esau, Thy servant Jacob, &c.] This was not baseness of spirit, much less a renouncing of his birth-right and blessing; but a necessary submission for a time, (such as was that of David to Saul ) till the prophecy of his superiority should be fulfilled. That was baseness in the Samaritans, that in writing to Antiochus Epiphanes, that great king of Syria, because he tormented the Jews; to excuse themselves that they were no Jews, they styled him, Antiochus the mighty God: the Scripture stiles him a vile person, Dan. 11.21. So was that also in Teridates king of the Parthians; who, with bended knee, and hands held up, worshipped Nero, and thus bespake that monster of mankind: To thee I come, as to my god; and thee I adore, as I do the sun: what thou decreest of me, I will be, and do; for thou art, to me, both Fate and Fortune, &c. And what shall we think of those superstitious Silicians, who, when they were excommunicated by Pope Martin the fourth, laid themselves prostrate at his feet, and cried, O Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, grant us thy peace. The Venetians also, being excommunicated by Pope Clemens the fifth, could not be absolved, till such time as their Ambassador Dandalus had not only fallen at the Popes feet, but lain also under his table as a dog, with an iron chain about his neck, feeding on such scraps as were cast unto him. Had this dog dealt by the Pope, as the Earl of Wiltshire 's Spaniel did, he had served him but right. This Earl, with Doctor Cranmer, and others, being sent Ambassador to Rome, about King Henry 's divorce; when he should have kissed the Popes foot, his Spaniel (as though he had been of purpose appointed thereunto) went and caught the Pope by the great toe; which the Spaniel haply mistook for some kind of repast. But this by the way only. What hard servitude Kings and Emperors were forced to undergo in former times, and how basely to avile themselves to the Beast of Rome, is better known, then that it need to be here related. Henry the second of England Henry the fourth of France, and Henry the fourth Emperor of Germany, for instance. This last came, in the midst of a sore winter, upon his bare feet, to the gates of the Castle of Canusium; and stood there fasting, from morning to night, for three days together, waiting for the Popes judicial sentence, and craving his pardon: which yet he could not obtain, by his own or others tears, or by the intercession of any Saint, save only of a certain harlot, with whom the Pope was then taking his carnal pleasure. The good Emperor mistook, who thought that the Pope could be pacified by fasting and prayer. This god required another kind of sacrifice then these. And here that of Solomon was fulfilled, Eccles. 10.7.

Vers. 5. And I have oxen and asses, &c.] This, Jacob mentioneth in his message, that Esau might not think, that he sought to him for any need; but only for his favor. And this was something, to a man of Esau 's making; for such like not to hear of, or be haunted with their poor kindred. Luke 15.30. This thy son, saith he, that felt no want: He saith not, This my brother: he would not own him, because in poverty.

Vers. 6. And four hundred men with him ] Four hundred cutthroats as appears, verse. 8. And here, good Jacob is brought again into the briars. When he was well rid of his father-in-law, he thought all safe; and his joy was completed, by the sight of that army of angels. Presently upon this, he is so damped and terrified with this sad message of Esau 's approach, and hostile intentions, that he knew not what course to take to. Out of heaven, he is thrust suddenly, as it were, into hell, saith Pareus. This is the godly man's case, while here. Fluctus fluctum trudit: one trouble follows in the neck of another. Ripen we apace, and so get to heaven, if we would be out of the gun-shot. The Ark was transportative, till settled in Solomon 's temple; so, till we come to heaven, shall we be tossed up & down, and turmoiled: within will be fears, without fightings, whiles we are in hoc exilio, in hoc ergastulo, in hac peregrinatione, in hac valle lachrymarum, as Bernard hath it; in this pilgrimage, in this purgatory, in this vale of tears.

Vers. 7. Then Jacob was greatly afraid ] This was his weakness, (and may be ours, in like case) as looking to the present peril, and forgeting the consolation (as the Apostle speaketh) that he might have drawn from the promise of God, and presence of angels. Faith quelleth and killeth distrustful fears: but Satan, in a distress, hides from us that which should support us, and greatens that that may appale us. But what saith the Spanish proverb? The Lion is not so fierce as he is painted; nor danger, usually, so great as it is represented. Some hold, that Esau was here wronged, by being presumed an enemy, when he was a friend. Pessimus in dubiis augur Timor.

Vers. 8. If Esau come, &c.] It is a point of prudence, if we cannot keep all, to save what we can.

Vers. 9. The Lord which saidst unto me ] Promises must be prayed over. God loves to be burdened with, and to be importuned in, his own words; to be sued upon his own bond. Prayer is a putting the promises into suit. And it is no arrogancy, nor presumption, to burden God, as it were, with his promise; and of duty to claim and challenge his aid, help, and assistance, in all perils, said Robert Glover, Martyr, in a Letter to his wife. Such prayers will be nigh the Lord day and night, 1 Kings 8.59. he can as little deny them, as deny himself.

Vers. 10. I am not worthy of the least, &c.] In prayer, we must avile ourselves before God to the utmost; confessing our extreme both indigency and indignity of better. I am dust and ashes, saith Abraham. I am a worm, and no man, saith David. I am more brutish then any man, saith Agur. I am a man, a sinner, saith Peter. I am not worthy to be called thy son, saith the Prodigal. Pharisaeus non vulnera, sed munera ostendit: The proud Pharisee sets forth, not his wants, but his worth: God, I thank thee, &c. But if David were so humbled before Saul, that he called himself a flea, what should we do to God? Unworthy we should acknowledge ourselves of the least mercies we enjoy, with Jacob; and yet not rest satisfied with the greatest things in the world, for our portion, as Luther. Valde protestatus sum me nolle sic a Deo satiari: he deeply protested, that God should not put him off with these poor things below. [For with my staff I passed over this Jordan] Paupertatem baculinam commemorat. Jacob, though now grown great, forgets not his former meanness; but cries out, with that noble Captain, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 : From how small, to how great an estate, am I raised I So did Agathocles, who, of a Potters son, became King of Sicily; yet, would ever be served in earthen vessels. And in the year of Christ 1011, one Willigis, Bishop of Ments, being son to a Wheel-wright, caused wheels, and such like things, to be hanged on the walls, up and down his Palace, with these words written over them, in capital letters; Willigis, Willigis, recole unde veneris. Excellent was that counsel that Placilla the Empress gave her husband Theodosius: Remember, O husband, what lately you were, and what now you are: so shall you govern well the Empire, and give God his due praise, for so great an advancement.

Vers. 11. And the mother with the children ] It seems to be a metaphor taken from birds, when fowlers take away the young and the dams together; which God forbad, Deut. 22.6. See the like also of the ewe and the lamb, not to be slain in one day, Lev. 22.28. But Homo homini Iupus, nay daemon. The Indians would say, that it had been better for them, that their country had been given to the devils of hell, then to the Spaniards, (such hath been their cruelty towards those poor creatures;) and that, if Spaniards went to heaven, they would never come there. Three poor women were burnt at the Isle of Garnesey for Religion; together with the infant-child falling out of the mothers womb, and cruelly cast back into the flames. Another sweet child of eight or nine years old, coming to Bonners house, to see if he might speak with his father, a prisoner in the Lollards Tower, was, for some bold answer that he gave the Bishops Chaplain, so cruelly whipt, that he died within four days after. At Merindol in France, besides other execrable outrages and butcheries there done by Minerius, one of the Popes Captains; the paps of many women were cut off, which gave suck to their children; which looking for suck at their mothers breasts, being dead before, died also for hunger. Was not this, to kill the mother with the children? And was not that a barbarous act of Pope Honorius the third, in the year of grace 1224, to cause four hundred Scots to be hanged up, and their children gelt! and all for the death of Adam, Bishop of Cathnes, who was burnt in his own kitchen, by his own Citizens, for that he had excommunicated some of them, for non-payment of Tythes.

Vers. 12. And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good ] So Jacob interprets that promise, I will be with thee: which, indeed, hath in it whatsoever heart can wish, or need require. This promise was so sweet to the Patriarch, that he repeats and ruminates it, rolling it, as sugar, in his mouth, land hiding it under his tongue. God spake it once, he heard it twice; as David, in another case. He sucks, and is satisfied with these breasts of consolation; he presseth and oppresseth them, (such a metaphor there is in that text, Isai. 66.11.) as a rich man doth the poor man, till he hath gotten out of him all that he hath. A fly can make little of a flower; but a be will not off, till he hath the sweet thyme out of it. The promises are precious spices, which, being beaten to the smell, by the preaching of the Word, yield an heavenly and supernatural scent in the souls of God's people. Oh it is a sweet time with them, when Christ brings them into his banqueting house of the holy Scriptures, and there stays them with flagons of divine consolations, and bolsters them up with apples of heavenly doctrines. These, when by the Spirit they are applied to the love-sick soul; then is Christ's left hand under their head, and his right hand (which teacheth him terrible things,