Commentary on the Pentateuch

CHAP. XXXIII. Vers. 1. He divided the children.]

CArnal fear oft expectorates a man's wisdom, and leaves him shiftless. But Jacob, after he had prayed, and prevailed, was not so moped, as not to know what to do in that great danger: he masters his fears, and makes use of two the likeliest means: 1. The marshalling of his wives and children in best manner, for the saving of the last, at least. 2. The marching before them himself, and doing low obeisance. So Esther, when she had prayed, resolved to venture to the King, whatever came of it. And our Savior, though before fearful, yet, after he had prayed in the garden, goes forth, and meets his enemies in the face, asking them, Whom seek ye? Great is the power of prayer, to steel the heart against whatsoever amazements.

Vers. 2. He put the handmaids, &c.] Of children and friends, some may be better beloved then others: And whereas all cannot be saved or succoured, the dearest may be chiefly cared for.

Vers. 3. And he passed over before them] As a good Captain and Shepherd, ready to be sacrificed for the safety of his charge. So the Captain of our salvation, the Arch-shepherd, Christ. So should the under-shepherds, the captains, (as Ministers are called, Heb. 12.5.) fight in the front, and bear the brunt of the battle; not loving their lives unto the death, so they may finish their course with joy; de scuto magis quàm de vita solliciti, as Epaminondas. The diamond in the Priests breast-plate, shown what should be their hardness, and hardiness, for the people's welfare.

Vers. 4. And kissed him ] The word kissed hath a prick over every letter, in the Original: to note, say the Hebrew Doctors, that this was a false and hypocritical kiss, a Judas -kiss. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , saith Philo: Amor non semper est in osculo. But our Interpreters are agreed, that this kiss was a sign, that his heart was changed from his former hatred; and that those extraordinary pricks do denote the wonder of God's work therein: which is further confirmed, in that they both wept; which could not easily be counterfeit; though they were in Ishmael, that notable hypocrite, Jer. 41.6, and in the Emperor Andronicus, who, when he had injuriously caused many of the Nobility to be put to death, pretended himself sorry for them, and that with tears plentifully running down his aged cheeks, as if he had been the most sorrowful man alive. So the Egyptian Crocodile, having killed some living beast, lieth upon the dead body, and washeth the head thereof with her warm tears; which she afterward devoureth, with the dead body. We judge more charitably of Esau here. And yet we cannot be of their mind, that here-hence conclude his true conversion and salvation. We must take heed we neither make Censures whip, nor Charities cloke too long: we may offend in both, and incur the curse, as well by calling evil good, as good evil. Latomus of Lovain wrote, that there was no other a faith in Abraham, then in Cicero. Another wrote a long Defense and Commendation of Cicero, and makes him a very good Christian, and true penitentiary; because he saith, somewhere, Reprehendo peccata mea, quod Pompeio confisus, ejusque partes secutus fuerim. I believe neither of them.

Vers. 5. The children which God hath graciously given ] Sept. 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 . For children are God's gifts, as David taught Solomon, Psal. 127. It is well observed, that good Jacob, before a bad man, speaks religiously; ( God of his grace, &c.) and Esau, as bad as he was, makes no jest of it. There is no surer sign of a profane heart, then to jeer at good expressions; then which, nothing nowadays is more familiar. Carnal spirits cannot hear savoury words, but they turn them off with a scorn, as Pilate did our Savior, speaking of the truth, with that scornful profane question, What's truth? Shall these scoffers be counted Christians? Could any that heard Elijah mocking the service and servants of Baal, believe, that Baal was god in his esteem? Shall not Esau rise up in judgment against such profane persons? And shall not Jacob disclaim all such profligate professors for having any relation to him, that dare not speak religiously, for fear of some Esau in company? that are ashamed to seem what they are, with Zedekiah, lest they that are fallen to the Chaldeans should mock them?

Vers. 7. After came Joseph near, &c.] Jussus accedere Joseph, (saith Junius; ) for he was but a little one of six years old; therefore he did nothing, but as his mother bade him; and, because he went before her, he is first named.

Vers. 8. What meanest thou by all this drove, &c.] He met it, but had not yet accepted of it: either that he might take occasion, at their meeting, more mannerly to refuse the Present; or, that he might show his brotherly affection frankly and freely, not purchased or procured by any gift or Present. Utrunque liberale & civile est, oblata munera modeste recusare, praesertim si grandia sint, & eadem ab instant humaniter acceptare.

Vers. 9. I have enough, my brother ] Here's no mention of God: God is not in all the wicked man's thoughts: he contents himself with a natural use of the creature, (as brute beasts do;) the godly taketh all as from God; and findeth no such sweetness, as in tasting how good the Lord is, in the creature. Tam Dei meminisse, opus est, quàm respirare, saith One. But profane Esau's will neither have God in their heads, Psal. 10.4, nor hearts, Psal. 14.1, nor ways, Tit. 1.16, nor words, Psal. 12.4. They stand in a posture of distance, nay of defiance to God.

Vers. 10. As though I had seen the face of God ] I cannot but see God, and his goodness, in thy so unexpected kindness. The Lord hath done great things for me, whereof I am glad, and think my Present well bestowed.

Vers. 11. I have enough ] Heb. I have all. Esau had much, but Jacob had all, because he had the God of all. Habet omnia, qui habet habentem omnia, saith Augustine. Esau 's enough, in the Original, is not the same with Jacob 's. There are two manner of enoughs: Godliness only hath contentedness, 1 Tim. 6.6.

Vers. 12. Let us take our journey ] The Hebrews note, that Esau speaks in few, Jacob more fully: because it is the guise of proud stately persons, to speak briefly, and hardly to bring forth half their words. The poor speaketh supplications, saith Solomon; but the rich answer roughly.

Vers. 13. If men should over-drive] A pattern of a good Pastor, ever to have an eye to the weak ones; and so to regard all in his flock, as he over-drive not any. Who hath despised the day of small things? Weak ones are to be received, but not to doubtful disputations. Novices are not to be put upon the austerities of Religion, Matth. 9.15. Christ preached as they were able to hear, Mark 4.33. Peter was specially charged to look to the lambs, John. 21.15. Christ bears them in his bosom, and gently leads those that are with young, Isai. 40.11.

Vers 14. Until I come to my lord, to Seir ] Which yet he never meant, say some: it was but an officious lie, saith Tostatus. Others think, that he did go to Seir, though it be not recorded. It is like he purposed to go, but was otherwise warned by God; as the wisemen were, Matth. 2. or necessarily hindered, as Saint Paul was, in many of his intended journeys.

Vers. 15. Let me find grace ] That is, Condescend unto me, and leave none.

Vers. 16. On his way, unto Seir ] Whither God had sent him aforehand, to plant, out of Jacob's way. He was grown rich, desired liberty, and saw that his wives were offensive to the old couple; therefore he removed his dwelling to mount Seir, and left better room for Jacob; who, perhaps, had intelligence thereof from his mother, by Deborah, and so was the rather willing to return.

Vers. 17. built him an house, and made boothes ] So did his posterity, at their going out of Egypt, Exod. 12.37. and, for a perpetual memorial thereof, were appointed to keep a yearly feast of boothes or tabernacles, Lev. 23.34, made of green boughs of trees, in praise of God, who had now vouchsafed them better houses. And here one would wonder, (saith a Divine) that all along, during the reign of David and Solomon, (who gave a pattern of, and built the Temple) and all those succeeding reformers, there should something be omitted about this feast of tabernacles, till their return from Babylon: Yet so it was, Neb. 8.16, 17. This feast was kept (as 'tis thought) by Solomon, 2 Chron. 7.8, and by these same Jews, Ezra 3.4. yet not in this manner, Neh. 8.14. Now they had learned, by sad experience, to keep it aright, in dwelling in boothes, by having been lately strangers out of their own land: to signify which, and profess themselves strangers, (as this Syrian ready to perish, their father, was now at Succoth ) was the intent of that feast, and that rite of it, dwelling in boothes. This is intimated, verse. 17. They did read also out of the law, &c. verse. 19. which, till then, they had not done.

Vers. 18. Came to Shalem ] Or, came safe and sound to Shechem, as the Chaldee interprets it.

Vers. 19. For an hundred pieces of money ] Heb. lambs, (as we call Angels, Jacobusses ) because stamped with the image of a lamb. So Josh. 24.32. Job 42.11.

Vers. 20. And he erected there a • altar ] 1. As a memorial of the promises, and a symbol of God's presence. 2. As an external profession of his piety. 3. That he might set up God in his family, and season all his worldly affairs with a relish of Religion.

CHAP. XXXIV. Vers. 1. Went out to see the daughters of the land.]

WHo went abroad at this time, with timbrels, to play, say the Hebrews; kept a solemn feast, saith Josephus. Hence Dinah 's desire to see them. But what saith S. Bernard? Si tu otiose spectas, otiose non spectaris: tu curious spectas, sed curiosiùs spectar • s. Dinah 's wanton gadding, and gazing on others, gave occasion to the adulterer to look and lust after her. See the fruit of her needless jetting abroad, to see fashions and novelties. The name of a virgin, in the Original tongues, is derived from the house, hiding, shadow, locked treasure, apple of the eye: to teach them to refrain ill company, and idle gadding. Young women are taught to be keepers at home, Tit. 2.2. As when they come abroad among men, they must be, if not veiled, (as at Venice ) yet clothed, and in their right minds, (as that Demoniac, Luk. 8.35.) And this not only in winter, that they take no cold; but in the summer, that others take no heat from them, (which may rather burn them, then warm them) as Shechem here did.

Vers. 2. saw her, he took her, and lay with her] Ut vidit, periit. By those windows of the eyes and ears, sin and death often enter: thorough them, the devil throws balls of wild-fire into the soul, and sets all into a combustion. Visus, colloquium, contactus, osculum, concubitus, do too oft one succeed another. See to the Cinqueports, if ye would keep out the enemy. Shut up the five windows, if ye would have the house (the heart) full of light, saith the Arabian proverb. Joseph 's mistress cast her eyes upon him; but when she laid hands on him, she was the more inflamed, and set agog, as it were. The viewing, touching, or familiar talking with a woman, either without necessary occasion, or then, without prayer for holy affection, is dangerous, saith a grave Divine. Thou mayest not look intently upon what thou mayest not love. Democritus the Philosopher pulled out his eyes, that he might not look upon forbidden beauties. This was no part of his wisdom: But it shall be ours, by mortification, to pluck the wanton eye out of old Adam, and to set it sober into the new man: to get that oculum irretortum, that well-ordered eye, that Job had, Chap. 31.1, that Joseph had; that Gregory Nazianzen had, who could 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , tutor his eyes: that Charles the fifth, Emperor of Germany, had, who would shut the casements, when at any time he saw fair women afar off, or heard that such were to pass by his window. It is not safe, to pry into the beauty of a fair woman. Circe may inchant us, the Cockatrice slay us with her sight: Let her not take thee with her eyebrows, saith Solomon; as larks, while they gaze in a glass, are taken in a day-net. See the Notes on Chap. 6.2. and 26.7.

Vers. 3. And his soul clave unto Dinah ] He kicked her not out of doors, (as Amn • n did Tamar, far sweeter to him in the ambition, then in the fruition;) but to make amends (as they call it) by Marriage, he seeks to go by the old Rule in that case, Et dotet, & ducat. Howbeit, Marriage (God's ordinance) is not to be entered into thorough the devils portal.

Vers. 4. Get me this damosel to wife ] This is praise-worthy in Shechem, as bad as he was, that he correcteth his base-born love, (or lust rather) by seeking to make her his wife; not without consent of parents on both sides; which, in the Church of Rome, is ofttimes not regarded. Children are a principal part of their parents possessions, (as Job 's children were accounted by Satan) yea, a piece of themselves, Matth. 15.22. Have mercy upon me, that is, upon my daughter. Fit it is therefore, that they should by the parents be disposed of in Marriage.

Vers. 5. And Jacob heard ] To his very great grief and regret: For she was his only daughter; a damosel of not above fifteen years of age. The Hebrews say, she was afterwards given to Job in marriage: But that's not likely; for she is reckoned among those that went down to Egypt, Gen. 46. [And Jacob held his peace] He felt God's hand upon his back; he therefore lays his own hand upon his mouth. And herein he did better in ruling his own spirit, then his sons did, that took the City, verse. 27. He sitteth alone, and is silent, saith the Prophet of the afflicted person. So was Aaron, so was David, so was the Lord Christ, as a sheep dumb before the shearer. The Romans placed the image of their goddess Angeronia, upon the altar of Volupia, with her mouth shut, and sealed up: to signify, saith Macrobius, that they that bridle their grief, and say nothing, shall, by their patience, soon attain to greatest pleasure. Patience in the soul, as the Town-clerk at Ephesus, sends away mutinous thoughts, as he did the many-headed multitude: it quiets the boiling spirit, as Christ becalmed the raging sea, with Peace, and be still: it makes a David dumb: a dumb show, but a very good one: it says, Cedamus: leve fit, quod been fertur onus.

Vers. 6. And Hamor the father of Shechem ] Unruly youth put their aged parents, many times, to much travel and trouble; as Samson, Shechem, Paris, &c. Green wood is ever shrinking and warping; whereas the well-seasoned holds a constant firmness.

Vers. 7. The men were grieved, and very wroth] A pair of unruly passions, when combined, especially: they ride one upon the back of another, as kine do in a strait passage; and will make an Alexander kill his best friends, such as he would afterwards have revived, with the best and warmest blood in his own heart.

Vers. 8. And Hamor communed with them] A fond father seeks to satisfy the lust of a loose son, whom he should severely have punished, Such parents are peremptores potius quàm parents, faith Bernard; like apes, that kill their young with culling them. They show their love as little, as if, by clapping their hands on their children's mouths, to keep the cold wind from them, they should strangle them to death. A fair hand, here, maketh a foul wound; when correction would be a kind of cure. Severitas tamen non sit tetra, sed tetrica, saith Sidonius. For, as a cur by tying waxeth fiercer; and as new wine breaketh weak vessels; so too much severity overthroweth, and quite spilleth a tender mind.

Vers. 9. And make ye marriages with us ] The world thinks, we may do as they; and what need we be so scrupulous and straitlaced? But Saints must walk accurately, by line, and by rule; not as unwise, but as wise; having their feet where other men's heads are: for the way of the wise is on high, saith Solomon; he goes a higher way to work then others: he may not buckle, and stoop to their base courses. Singular things are conferred upon him, singular things are expected from him. An Israelite dare not yoke himself with any Sichemish heifer, that bears not the yoke of Jesus Christ. Those that stood with the Lamb, had not defiled themselves with women, &c. Rev. 14.14. Nec aliunde noscibiles (saith Tertullian of those Primitive Christians) quàm de emendatione vitierum pristinorum. They were distinguished from all others, by their holy behavior.

Vers. 10. And ye shall dwell with us, &c.] Thus the world tempts the Saints, by offer of profits, pleasures, and preferments. Sed surdo cantilenam. For they answer the world, as here, We cannot do this thing, verse. 14. or as the children of Israel bespake the king of Edom; Let us pass, I pray thee, thorough thy country: We will not pass thorough the fields of profit, or vineyards of pleasure, &c. we will go by the kings high-way, chalked unto us in the holy Scriptures: we will not turn to the right hand, or to the left, for any allurement or affrightment of thine, until we have passed thy borders, Num. 20.17.

Vers. 11, 12] Ask me never so much dowry ] Heb. Multiply ye upon me, vehemently. Unbridled affection spares for no cost, so it may be satisfied. Judah parted with his signet, bracelets, and staff, to the harlot. Herod, that old fornicator, bids the dancing damosel ask what she will, to the half of his kingdom. One there was, that would not buy repentance so dear, as the harlot demanded. But those miscreants in Micah, will give anything for a dispensation to live in sin: they offer thousands of rams, and ten thousands of rivers of oil; yea, the sons of their body, for the sins of their souls.

Vers. 13. deceitfully, and said, Because he had, &c.] Therefore they thought, they had reason to do as they did. Satan doth so bemist men, many times, that they think they have reason to be mad, and that there is some sense in sinning: whenas, indeed, our only wisdom is, to keep God's Laws, Deut. 4.6. All which are founded upon so good reason, that, had God never made them, yet it had been best for us to have practiced them.

Vers. 14. That Were a reproach unto us] And yet the world reproached them with nothing more, then with their Circumcision; as it is to be seen in Horace, Juvenal, Tacitus. Appion scoffs at it, and is answered by Josephus. But, as he were a fool, that would be mo • kt out of his inheritance; so he, much more, that would be mo • ked out of his Religion. Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor, saith David, because the Lord is h •• refuge; because he runs to God by prayer. But, to show how little he regarded their reproaches, he falls presently a praying, O that the salvation of Israel &c. Psal 14.6, 7. So Nazareth was a reproach cast upon Christ; and he glories in it, Acts 22.8. I am Jesus of Nazareth, Whom thou persecutest. He saith not, I am the Son of God, heir of all things, King of the Church, &c. but, I am Jesus of Nazareth. If this be to be vile, said David, I Will be yet more vile.

Vers. 15. That every male of you be circumcised ] Lo, herein was their deceit. How often is Religion pretended, made a stale and stalking-horse to worldly and wicked aims and respects! A horrible profanation: as when Na • oth was put to death at a fast; Henry the seventh, Emperor, poisoned in the Sacramental bread, by a Monk. He pretends to worship Christ, intends to worry him, &c. From such stand off, saith S. Paul; or, if ye come near them, set a mark upon them. Foenum habet in cornu.

Vers. 16. Then will we give our daughters ] Whether Jacob were present at this whole conference, it is not certain. It is probable, that he was not. For surely, he would either have dissuaded them from thus doing: or if he had consented, he would have said something more, to the Shechemites, for their better assurance. It is a Maxim in Machiavel; Fidem tamdiu servandam esse, quamdiu expediat. But Jacob had not known this depth of the devil: his sons better could skill of it. They seem to be somewhat akin to those Thracians, of whom it was anciently said, Eos foedera nescire; that they knew no covenants: or the Turks at this day, whose Covenants, grounded upon the Law of Nations, be they with never so strong capitulations concluded, or solemnity of oath confirmed, have, with them, no longer force, then standeth with their own profit; serving, indeed, but as snares, to entangle other Princes in. There is no faith, say they, to be kept with dogs; that is, with Christians. And this, perhaps, they have learned of those pseudo Christians, the Papists, who dealt so perfidiously with them, at the great Battle of Varna: Where Amurath, the Great Turk, seeing the great slaughter of his men, against the oath given him by King Ladislaus, (dispensed with by the Pope's Legat) and beholding the picture of the Crucifix in the displayed Ensigns of the voluntary Christians; he plucked the Writing out of his bosom, wherein the late League was comprised; and holding it up in his hand, with his eyes cast up to heaven, said, Behold, thou crucified Christ, this is the League thy Christians, in thy Name, made with me; which they have, without cause, violated. Now, if thou be a God, as they say thou art, and as we dream, revenge the wrong now done to thy Name, and me; and show thy power upon thy perjurious people, who, in their deeds, deny thee their God. And it fell out accordingly: For God hates foul and faithless dealing, Zech. 5.4. Rom. 1.31. Perjurii poena divina exitium; humana, dedecus. This was one of the Laws of the twelve Tables in Rome.

Vers. 17. But if ye will not hearken ] How often have men found treason in trust; and murder, under show of marriage! as 1 Sam. 18.17, 25. Dan. 11.17. and in the Massacre of Paris.

Vers. 18. And their words ] See the force of love, and hope of profit!

Vers. 19. And the young man deferred not, &c.] Heb. Neque distulit pure; The lad deferred not. He is called a lad or a child, that is, a fool; because he was carried, not by right reason, but blind affection, walking in the ways of his heart, and sight of his eyes, Eccles. 11.9. And, verse. 10. the word used to signify youth, signifieth darkness; to note, that youth is the dark age, hot, and headlong, indeliberate and slippery, such as had need to cleanse their ways, by cleaving to the Word, saith David, Psal. 119.9. where the word for cleansing, properly signifies the cleansing of glass; which, as it is slick and slippery; so, though it be very clean, yet it will gather filth, even in the sun beams, and of itself: which noteth the great corruption of this age.

Vers. 20. And Hamor and Shechem, &c.] These great men easily persuaded, and prevailed with the people, to have what they would. Great need have we to pray for good Governors. When Crispus believed, who was the chief Ruler of the Synagogue, many Corinthians believed also, Acts 18.8. Paul was loath to lose the Deputy; because his conversion would draw on many others. As on the contrary, Jeroboam caused Israel to sin; and generally, as the Kings were good or evil, so were the people; in which, as in a beast, the whole body follows the head.

Vers. 21. These men are peaceable, &c.] Nothing more ordinary, with Politicians, then to cover private ends and respects, with pretence of public good: As Jeroboam told the people, it was too much trouble for them to go up to Jerusalem to worship; they should take a shorter cut to Dan and Bethel. So Jehu, in all his reformations, had a hawks eye to a kingdom; his main end was, to settle the Crown upon his own head. The Turkish Janizaries, desirous to be rid of their Sultan Osman, pretended, and persuaded the people, that he was Jaour, that is, an Infidel; and that he endeavored to betray the Turkish Empire to Christian dogs, May 18. 1622.

Vers. 23. Shall not their cattle, &c.] Profit persuades mightily with the multitude: They all look to their own way; everyone for his gain from his quarter. Who Will show us any good? is Vox populi. And who begs not attention, or inoculates not his faithful endeavor into his friends Creed and Belief, with a tale of utile!

Vers. 24. And every male was circumcised ] Many have lost their blood, and suffered so much trouble for their lusts, as, had it been for Religion, they had been Martyrs. But the Cause, and not the Punishment, makes the Martyr. Samson and the Philistines died together; sed diverso fine ac fato. Multum interest, saith Augustine, & qualia quis, & qualis quisque patiatur.

Vers. 25. On the third day ] Which is the worst day, to those that are wounded; the critical day, as the Surgeons call it. Wicked men are witty, to take their opportunity to act villainy.

Vers. 26. And they slew Hamor and Shechem ] This is commended in Apocryphal Judith, Chap. 9.2, for zeal; which the Canonical Scripture condemneth for self-will; and Jacob, on his death-bed, cursed it for cruelty, and blessed himself from their assembly, Gen. 49.6, 7. Quest. But why doth he not more sharply reprove it here? Answ. First, he considered God's just judgment on the Shechemites; who, without the knowledge and faith of God, had profaned the Sacrament of Circumcision. A sin that God suffereth not to pass without a sensible check, in his dearest children; how much less in strangers and enemies? The Donatists, that cast the holy clements of the Lord's Supper to dogs, were devoured of dogs. He that came without his wedding-garment, was taken from the table, to the tormenter. Secondly, Jacob gave place, for present, to his sons rage and fury. Discretion in the choice of seasons for reproving, is no less necessary, then zeal and faithfulness in reproving. Good Physicians use not to evacuate the body, in the extremities of heat and cold. Good Mariners do not hoise up sail in every wind.

Vers. 27. Because they had defiled their sister ] So it was just in God, though unjust in the instruments; who were therefore cursed by Jacob; but yet not rejected by God. His election is of free grace, and not of foreseen faith or works.

Vers. 28. They took their sheep, &c.] One only sinned, all suffered. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. All the Corinthians were tackt with, and taxed for the incestuous man's offense, because they bewailed it not, repressed it not. He knew what he did, that prayed for pardon of his other-men's-sins.

Vers. 29. And all their wealth ] Or, power: For, in a man's wealth, is his power; yea, it is his tower of strength, Prov. 18.10, 11. and so much he is valued at, as he is able to disburse. See the Notes on Chap. 31.1. [And spoiled even all that was in the house] So dealt Minerius, at Merindol; Charles the fifth, at Magdeburg; the bloody Papists, at the Parisian Massacre. But when the Lord came to make inquisition for blood, he remembered them. He drew Articles of enquiry against them, as strict, and as critical, as ever the Spanish Inquisition; and dealt with them accordingly. Cambyses lighting off his horse, after he had been showing great cruelty to them of Athens, his sword flew out of the seabberd, and slew him. If these brethren in iniquity sped better, they may thank a good God, whose terror fell upon the adjacent Cities. For they did enough to undo, not themselves only, but their father, and his whole family. It was good counsel to such, that Tertullian gives to bloody Scapula; Si nobis non parcis, tibi parce: si non tibi, Carthageni: See thou undo not thyself, and thy City, by thy cruelty to Christians.

Vers. 30. Ye have troubled me ] In mind, and state: and many such trouble-houses and trouble-towns there are abroad: All places are full of them, and so is hell too. There God will trouble them another while, as he did Achan, Josh. 7.25. when he will show mercy to such Jacob's, in whose families that is committed, that they abhor. [I being few in number] So the Saints were ever, a little flock, a poor few, to the many: Jewels, nothing so much in bulk, as lumber; strangers, few, in respect of home dwellers; sons of God, few, to common subjects. When Christ came to his own, his own received him not: He wondered at one good Nathanael, and set an ecce upon him, as a rare bird.

Vers. 31. Should he deal with our sister as an harlot?] Why no: But should you therefore speak so big to your father, and deal so cruelly with your Confederates; whom you first cozened into a Covenant, and then basely butchered, when not able to help themselves? But anger is outrageous, and forethinks not what will follow hereafter, or becomes a man for present. Bridle it therefore.

CHAP. XXXV. Vers. 1. Arise, go up to Bethel.]

THis is not the first time that God tells him of that Vow, and calls for performance. See Chap. 31.13. It is with us, as with children; Eaten bread is soon forgotten: deliverances, commonly, are but nine days wonderment, at utmost; and it is ten to one, that any leper returns to give praise to God. If anything arrouze and raise up our hearts to thankful remembrance of former mercy, it must be the sense of some present misery, as here. Jacob was in a great straight, and fright: His sons had troubled him; the country was ready to rise upon him, and root him out: God also was justly displeased with him, for his forgotten Vow; yet chides him not, now that he was in heaviness; but takes his opportunity, (for we are best, when at worst) and gently minds him of what was his duty, and would be for his safety. Numa is said to have put so much confidence in his gods, that when he was sacrificing, and news came, that the enemy was at hand; he laughed, and said, At ego r • m divinam facio. Those Philistines were even ambitious of destruction, and ran to meet their ruin, that gathered themselves against Israel, whiles they were sacrificing, and serving the Lord, in their meet at Mizpah. The Church, in her Worships, is terrible as an army with banners; a cup of trembling to all the people round about; a burdensome stone for all people; a torch of fire in a sheof, Zech. 12.2, 3, 6. He is a mad man that will meddle with her, whiles she is upon good terms with Christ, her Champion. Balaam knew this, and therefore gave that villanous counsel. All Germany was in arms against that handful of H • ssites in Bohemia vet could not suppress them. Geneva, a small people inviron • d with enemies, and barred from aid of neighb • urs, yet •• ithf •• with God, hath been hitherto strangely upheld. At the siege of Mountabone in France, the people of God, using d • ily humiliation, as their service would permit, did sing a Psalm after, and immediately before their sallying forth. With which practice the enemy coming acquainted, ever, upon the singing of the Psalm, (upon which they expected a sally) they would so quake and tremble, crying, They come they come, as though the wrath of God had been breaking out upon them.

Vers. 2. Then Jacob said unto his household ] So Gideon began his reformation at his fathers house. David also would walk wisely in the midst of his house; and this he calls a perfect way, a sign of sincerity, Psal. 101. This Psalm, Bishop Ridley read over often to his family, hiring them to learn it by heart; and taking care, that they might be a spectacle to all others, of virtue and honesty. [Put away the strange gods] Strange it was, that such Mawmets should be suffered among them. Calvin thinks, that Jacob winked at Rachel 's superstition, of a blind love to her; as Solomon gratified his mistresses of Moab. I should think rather, that they were the idols of Shechem, brought into the house, either by Jacob 's sons and servants, or by the captive women. [Be clean, and change your garments] God is to be approached unto, with the best preparation we can make. Heathens saw, that God is not to be drawn nigh unto, hand over head; but preparation to be made at home. We wash us every day; but, when to dine with great ones, we wash us with balls, and put on our best.

Vers. 3. And was with me in the way, &c.] Deducendo, reducendo, franumque socero, fratri, finitimisque Shecemi injiciendo, ne me ullo pacto laederent, saith Junius. All this called for thankfulness. Prayer and thanks, should be like the double motion of the lungs. The air that is sucked in by prayer, should be breathed out again by praises. God had heard Jacob, now he should hear of him.

Vers. 4. And they gave unto Jacob ] Now they were in danger of destruction, they would do anything. So those false Israelites, when God slew them, then they sought him, Psal. 78.34. So many, when they are deadly sick, are wondrous good; as William Rufus, who vowed, upon his recovery, to see all vacancies furnished. In the Sweating sickness, so long as the ferventness of the Plague lasted, there was crying, Peccavi, peccavi: the Ministers were sought for in every corner; You must come to my Lord, you must come to my Lady, &c. The Walnut-tree is most fruitful, when most beaten. Fish thrive best, in cold and salt waters. The most plentiful Summer, follows upon the hardest Winter. David was never so tender, as when hunted like a partridge; nor Jonah so watchful, prayerfull, as in the Whales belly. When men suffer for their sin, hands, and hearts, and all, are list up to heaven; that before were as without God in the world, & thought they could do well enough without him. A Lethargy is commonly cured by a Fever; worms killed with alocs: so are crawling lusts, by bitter afflictions. Israel under the cross, will defile the dols that they had deified, Isai. 30.22. and after that they were captives in Babylon, they could never be drawn to that sin, whatever they suffered for their refusal; as under Antiochus. I end with S. Ambrose: Beata anima, quae est instar domus Jacobi, in qua nulla simulachra, nulla effigies vanitatis: Blessed is that soul, that, like Jacob 's house, hath no Idol in it.

Vers. 5. The terror of God was upon them ] The Hebrews tell us, that they pursued Jacob, and were beaten back by him: whereupon he saith, Gen. 48.22, that he took that country out of the hand of the Amorites, with his sword, and with his bow, God might send a panic terror upon them, as they were fighting against Jacob, and so bridle them from further attempts. The Syrians heard a noise of chariots and horses in the air, (made by Angels, likely; or whether it were but their own fancy, as Judge. 9.36. and as the Burgundians took a field of standing corn for an army of fighting men) and fled for their lives. Theodosius the Emperor overcame the Persians and Saracens, by means of a panic terror smitten into them by God; so that they ran into the river Euphrates, and above an hundred thousand of them perished in the waters.

Vers. 6. So Jacob came to Luz ] Which was thirty miles from Shechem: a long journey for such a large family, who went it with hearts full of heaviness; for, without were fightings, within fears: but this was their comfort, they went to see the face of God at Bethel. As they that passed thorough the valley of Baca, though they took many a weary step, yet went from strength to strength, because they were to appear before God in Zion. Popish Pilgrims, though used hardly, and put to much expense and inconvenience; yet satisfy themselves in this, I have that I came for, viz. the sight of a dumb Idol, (as Calvin noteth.) What then should not we suffer, to see God in his Ordinances? They shall bring your brethren as an offering to the Lord, upon horses, in chariots, and in bitters, saith the Prophet: that is, though s • ck, weakly, and unfit for travel; yet, rather in litters, then not at all.

Vers. 7. Because there God appeared ] Heb. Revelavissent Dii: Not the Angels, but the sacred Trinity. See the Notes on Chap. 1. verse. 1.

Vers. 8. But Deborah, Rebekah 's nurse, died] A grave matron she was; of great use, while she lived; and much missed, when she died. This is not every man's case. Some have their souls, as swine, for no other use, then, as salt, to keep their bodies from putrefaction: And when they die, there's no more miss of them, then of the sweepings of the house, or parings of the nails.

Vers. 9. And God appeared, &c.] A sweet allayment of his late heaviness for Deborah, and a gracious preparative to the ensuing loss of Rachel. The joy of the Lord is the Christian man's strength, Neh. 8. One sight of him, is enough to carry one thorough all conditions with comfort. As a man that hath his bones filled with marrow, and that hath abundance of good blood, and fresh spirits in his body, he can endure to go with less clothes then another, because he is well lined within: so it is with a heart that hath a great deal of fat and marrow, communion with God, and feeling of his favor; he will go thorough troubles, in the fail of outward comforts. And as the lily is fresh, and looks fair, though among thorns; so will he, amidst miseries.

Vers. 10. And God said unto him, &c.] It is usual with God, to revive and renew the promises, with fresh supplies of comforts upon the hearts of his faithful servants, for the further confirmation of their faith and hope. Thus he seals to us at every Sacrament, besides those sweet supplies of the Spirit of promise, whereby we are daily sealed to the day of redemption, as the merchants goods are signed with his seal.

Vers. 11. I am God Almighty ] This is hardly persuaded; and yet it is the ground of all true comfort and spiritual security. We are apt to measure things according to our own model, as to think God so powerful, as our understanding can reach, &c. But, for a finite creature to believe the infinite All-sufficiency of God, he is not able to do it thoroughly, without supernatural grace; nor can he be soundly comforted, till he comes to comprehend it. Of his will to do us good, we doubt not, till, in some measure, we doubt of his power to help.

Vers. 13. And God went up from him ] Not by local ascension; (for he is every-where) but in respect of that visible sign of his glory, which he now withdrew from over, or from upon Jacob. For the righteous are as God's chariot, say the Hebrews on this Text. Confer Cant. 6.12. [Where he talked with him] Prayer is a free and familiar conference or intercourse with God; a parling with his Majesty, as Saint Paul calls it; a standing upon interrogatories with him; especially when Satan, sin, and conscience accuse. It was a part of the Persian Kings silly glory, to keep their greatest subjects from coming near them, without special license, Esth. 4.11. To God we have free access, upon all occasions; and are bid to come boldly, Heb. 4.16. If Seneca could say, Audacter Deum roges, nihil illum de alieno rogaturus; how much more may the faithful Christian, since All is his, God and all! Moses and Luther could have what they would of God. Fiat voluntas mea, saith Luther; and then he adds, Mea voluntas, Domine, quia tua: Let my will be done; but no otherwise mine, then as thine, Lord.

Vers. 14. And Jacob set up a pillar ] Or, had set up a pillar, had poured a drink offering, &c. to wit, Chap. 28.18, 19. And now he either repeats it in the presence, and for the edification of his family; or else he repairs the pillar now ruinated, and new consecrates it, by the old name Bethel.

Vers. 16. She had hard labor ] Woman, of all creatures, bringeth forth with most pain and peril, as the Philosopher observeth, and experience confirmeth. Her only way is, to send for Lady Faith, the best Midwife; and thereby, to repose upon him, whose voice causeth the hinds to calve, Psal. 29.9 which yet, of all brute creatures, bring forth with greatest trouble; bowing themselves, bruising their young, and casting out their sorrows.

Vers. 17. Thou shalt have this son also ] So she had children, according to her desire; but this last, to her cost, for a chastisement of her strong affections, which drew on strong afflictions; as hard knots must have hard wedges They that would needs have a penny for their pains, had no joy of their penny: when the end of the day came, when they were to go into another world, they saw, that their penny was no such good silver; that preferment, profit, credit, were but empty things, and could not satisfy. It is best to be moderate in our desires after these outward things; and not so set upon it, as to indent with God for such, and so much: this may be dangerous.

Vers. 18. As her soul was in departing] Viz. To God that gave it. It is a spiritual, immortal substance, distinct from the body;and can subsist of itself; as the Mariner can, when the ship is broken. [For she died] In our birth, we rent our mothers, (to death sometimes) whom before we had burdened; so far Nature witnessing our viperous generation, because of sin, which we bring into the world. [But his father called him Benjamin] Lest the former name should be a daily revival of his loss. Let men make their burdens as light as they can, and not increase their worldly sorrow, by sight of sad objects. It will come (as we say of foul weather) soon enough; we need not send for it. What should dropsy-men do eating salt meats?

Vers. 19. And Rachel died ] We forfeit many favors, by overaffecting them. Our jealous God will not endure us to idolize any creature: Let them that have wives, (or any other thing they hold most dear to themselves) be as if they had none. So love, as to think of loss. Let all outward things hang loose, as an upper garment, that we can throw off at pleasure.

Vers. 20. And Jacob set a pillar upon her grave ] To testify his love, and continue her remembrance. Dead friends may be lawfully thus honored with Monuments, modo vitetur luxus & superstitio.

Vers. 21. beyond the tower of Edar ] Or, of the flock. This tower was built, it seems, for the safety and service of shepherds. There it was, probably, that those shepherds, Luke 2. watched their flocks. There also, Helena, mother to Constantine the Great, did afterwards build a Temple, for a memorial of the Angels that there appeared to those shepherds, carolling Christ into the world.

Vers. 22. Reuben went, and lay with Bilhah] A foul fault, in so good a family: but so it sometimes falls out, by the malice of Satan, for the discrediting of Religion. Such ugly incest was committed at Corinth, as was hardly heard of among Heathen, that a man should have his fathers wife, 2 Cor. 5.1. Some such there were among the Kings of Egypt; but not many. Ethelbald, King of West- Saxons, with great infamy marrying his fathers widow Judith, enjoyed his Kingdom but two years and a half. But how hateful is that Spanish incest, by Papal dispensation? King Philip of Spain might call the Arch-duke Albert, both Brother, Couzen, Nephew, and Son: for, all this was he unto him, either by blood, or affinity; being Uncle to himself, Couzen-german to his father, Husband to his sister, and Father to his wife. Abhorred filth! [And Israel heard it] And held his peace, because he saw God in it, chastising him for his Polygamy. The punishment is sometimes so like the sin, that a man may boldly say, Such a sin was the mother of such a misery. And here's a pause in the Hebrew, to show Jacob 's great amazement at this sad tidings. Dolores ingentes stupent. He was even dumb, and opened not his mouth, because God was in it, Psal. 39.9.

Vers. 23. Reuben, Jacob's first-born ] Who, though by his sin he fell from his birth-right, yet is here reckoned as a Patriarch; and afterwards, upon his repentance, not a little honored, Exod 28.21, 29. Rev. 21.12. God is not off and on with his elect: their frowardness interrupts not the course of his goodness.

Vers. 24. And Isaac gave up the ghost ] Twelve years after Joseph was sold, and forty years after he first became blind. Three special friends Jacob buries, in this Chapter. Crosses come thick: be patient.

CHAP. XXXVI. Vers. 1. This is Edom.]

THe name and note of his profaneness. A stigmatical Belialist. It were a happiness to the wicked, if they might be forgotten, Eccles. 8.10.

Vers. 4. Eliphaz ] Job 's friend, say some: a good man; but much mistaken in Job, whom he so sharply censures.

Vers. 6. From the face of his brother Jacob ] Or, before the coming of his brother Jacob; by a special providence of God, to make room for the right heir. It is he that determineth the bounds of our habitations, Acts 17.26. It was he, that espied out this land for his peculiar people; and that kept the room empty all the time of the Babylonish Captivity, till the return of the Natives; though it were a pleasant country, left destitute of inhabitants, and surrounded with many warlike Nations. Piscator renders this text, propter Jacobum, and expounds it, Because he knew that the land of Canaan should be Jacob 's, according to God's promise made to him in his fathers blessing of him. But I doubt whether Esau would yield to him for any such reason.

Vers. 7. For their riches were more, &c.] And besides, mount Seir was fitter for a hunter. A good ease it was to Jacob, who had little joy in his neighbourhood. God will not take the ungodly by the hand, Job 8.20. no more will his people. When they are forced to be in ill company, they cry, Oh that I had the wings of a dove, that I might flee away! Or if that Oh will not set them at liberty, they take up that Woe, to express their misery; Woe is me, that I sojourn in Meshec, &c. It was once the prayer of a good Gentlewoman, when she came to die, being in much trouble of conscience; O Lord, let me not go to hell, where the wicked are: for, Lord, thou knowest, I never loved their company here.

Vers. 11. And the sons of Eliphaz ] See here the fulfilling of God's predictions and promises, even to an Esan: will he be wanting to his obedient people?

Vers. 20. These are the sons of Seir ] Esau was by marriage allied to this Seir; for he married his niece Aholibamah, verse. 2. yet the children of Esau chased away the Horims of Seir, and dwelt in their stead in mount Seir, Deut. 2.12. Wicked men are void of natural affection, in their pursuit of profit or preferment. Abimelech, Absalom, Athaliah, for instance; and that Amida, son of Muleasses King of Tunes, who rose up against his father, and possessing himself of his Kingdom, slew his Captains, polluted his wives, took the Castle of Tunes; and, after all, put out his fathers and brethren's eyes, like as Muleasses himself, before, had dealt with his own brethren.

Vers. 24. That found the mules ] By coupling divers kinds together, contrary to Levite. 19.19. Neither did the world, till then, want any perfect kind of creature; for the mule and the ass differ not, but only in degree. The Greeks call mules half-asses. See here (saith one) the busy curiosity of some men's natures, given to news, and strange inventions. So he that taught a Parrot in Rome to repeat the Creed, every Article in order, and by itself, distinctly. Another, that painted the whole story of our Savior's passion (both for persons and things) upon the nails of his own fingers. Had not he little to do, that learned to write a fair hand with his feet? ( Heidfeld saith he saw it, with wonderment.) And he as little, that enclosed Homer 's Iliads written in a nut? which Cicero tell us, he saw with his eyes. These were toilsome toys, quae nec ignoranti nocent, nec scientent juvant, as Seneca saith of Sophistry. Hard they are to come by; but of no use or worth: like an olive, or date-stone; hard to crack the one, or cleave the other: but nothing, or nothing worth ought, when cracked or cloven, within either. This same foolish wittiness Alexander wittily scoffed, when he gave a fellow only a bushel of pease, for his pains of throwing, every time, a pease upon a needles point, standing a pretty way off.

Vers. 31. Before there reigned any king, &c.] Sicut herba tectorum praecocem habet vigorem, sed citius arescit. Exoriuntur impii, sed exuruntur. They are set up on high, but on slippery places, Psal. 73.18. advanced, as Haman; but to be brought down again, with a vengeance. This observation the Hebrews make upon this text. Whiles Edom reigneth and flourisheth, Israel groaneth under the servitude of Egypt. • omp and prosperity, then, is no sure note of the true Church.

Vers. 40. Duke Timnah, duke Alvah ] We had a Duke d'Alva lately in the Netherlands, Governor there for the Spaniard, infamous for his inhumanity. For he roasted some to death, starved others, and that even after quarter; saying, though he promised to give them their lives, he did not promise to find them meat. This was a right Romish Edomite. The Hebrews think, the Romans came of the Idumeans. Sure I am, if they be not of the natural descent, they are of the spiritual, (or unnatural;) and so like, as, by the one, we may see the face, favor, and affection, of the other.

Vers. 43. These be the dukes of Edom] As the Principality of Edom began with Dukes, and rose to Kings; so it returneth to Dukes again, after the death of Hadad, in Moses his time, 1 Chro. 1.51. It is likely, (saith an Interpreter) that, upon the unkind dealing of that Hadad, in denying to let Israel pass thorough his land, the Lord removed the dignity of Kings from that Commonwealth, and let it be ruled by Dukes again; whereof, eleven are here by name rehearsed. So sensible is God, and so severe, in punishing the least unkindness done to his people. Julius Pflugius complaining to the Emperor (by whom he had been employed) of great wrong done him by the Duke of Saxony, received this answer: Have a little patience, Tua caus • erit mea causa. So saith God to his abused: He reproveth, yea deposeth even Kings for their sakes; and accounts, that the whole world is not worthy of them, nay, not worth one of them, how mean soever in regard of outwards; as Chrysostom expounds that, Heb. 11.38.

CHAP. XXXVII. Vers. 1. In the land of his fathers sojournings.]

THe Dukes of Edom had habitations in the land of their possessions, Chap. 36.43. But Jacob, with his father Isaac, were pilgrims in the land of Canaan; content to dwell in tents here, that they might dwell with God forever. Justin Martyr saith of the Christians of his time; they dwell in their own countries but as strangers; have right to all, as Citizens; but suffer hardship, as foreigners, &c.

Vers. 2. These are the generations ] That is, events, begotten of time, after he came to live with his father Isaac, who also wept for Joseph, verse. 35, as Junius. [ With the sons of Bilhah, &c.] It is thought, that these sons of the handmaids, for the baseness of their birth, were more modest then the rest; and that Joseph therefore, out of his humility, sorted himself with them. Probable it is, they were more unruly then the rest, and ill conditioned, (as such are, commonly) whereof Joseph made complaint, and was therefore hated. Veritas odium parit. Truth is a good mistress; but he that follows her too close at heels, may hap have his teeth struck out. An expectas ut Quintilianus ametur? said he. Those that are wakened out of sleep, are usually unquiet, ready to brawl with their best friends. So here.

Vers. 3. Because he was the son of his old-age ] The Chaldee Paraphrast renders it morally, Because he was a wise son, in quo ante canos sapientia: such a one as Macarius was, of whom Nicephorus saith, that, for his prudence and gravity, whiles he was yet but a youth, he was surnamed 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , The old stripling. Josephus saith, He was very like his mother, Rachel; and therefore his father so loved him. But Chrysostom saith, better, that it was for his virtuous life, and godly disposition. Goodness is lovely in any, much more in an own child. John was the best beloved disciple, because best conditioned. But otherwise, Cavete, saith Ambrose, ne quos natura conjunxit, paterna gratia dividat. Parents partiality, may breed heart-burnings, Eph. 6.4.

Vers. 4. They hated him ] There is a passion of hatred: This is a kind of averseness, and rising of the heart against a man, when one seeth him; so that he cannot away with him, nor speak to him, nor look courteously or peaceably upon him; but ones countenance falls when he sees him, and he even turns away, and, by his good will, would have nothing to do with him. 2. There is a habit of hatred: when the soul is so soured with this leaven, so settled in this alienation and estrangement, that it grows to wish, and desire, and seek his hurt. And this is one difference betwixt Hatred and Envy: whom men hate, they will harm; but sometimes men's gifts are envied, against whom no hurt is intended.

Vers. 5. And Joseph dreamed ] Of divine dreams to be regarded as Oracles, see the Notes on Chap. 20. verse. 3. [They hated him yet the more] So the Jews did Jesus, for his parables; especially, when he spake of his exaltation.

Vers. 7. We were binding sheaves ] This was fulfilled, when they came to him for corn into Egypt. Here Joseph dreams of his advancement, but not of his imprisonment: So do many professors, which therefore prove apostates.

Vers. 8. Shalt thou indeed reign over us?] They rightly interpreted the dream, yet stubbornly resist the revealed will of God. This leaves sin without a cloke, John. 15.22, as it did in the Pharisees. They rightly interpreted that place in Micah, Matth. 2, &c. and yet, when Christ, to whom all their own signs did so well agree, came amongst them, they would by no means receive him; nay, they sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us.

Vers. 9. Beheld, the sun, and the moon ] The father of the family should be as the sun, full of heavenly light, and illightning all about him: The mother, as the moon, shining out in her husbands absence, and veiling to him, when he is in place. The children, as stars of light, or rather, as a heaven full of stars, as one saith well of Joseph: Fuit Iosephi vita coelum quoddam lucidissimis virtutum stellis exornatum. The people of God are called, the host of heaven, Dan. 8.10: and are bid to shine as lamps, or rather, as those great lights of heaven, Phil. 2.15.

Vers. 10. And his father rebuked him ] Either as not yet understanding the mystery, or dissembling it. It is wisdom, at some time, and in some place, to pretend a dislike of another man's fact, (so far as we may with truth) for the preventing of envy. This, some think, was Jacob's drift here. And therefore he draws an argument, ab impossibili & absurdo; Shall thy dead mother rise and reverence thee? A likely matter: and yet, as light as Jacob made of it, (to deonerate Joseph of the envy) he laid it to heart, verse. 11.

Vers. 11. And his brethren envied him ] Envy is a filthy fruit of the flesh, Gal. 5.25. and the devil; who is called, the envious man, Matth. 13.20. and such wisdom is said to be devilish, Jam. 3.15. The Pharisees, envying our Savior, did the devils Work, Joh. 8. So did Cain, the devils Patriarch, when he laid his cruel club on the innocent head of his brother Abel. And Saul, when seized upon by the evil spirit, (more then a melancholy humor) he envied David, and sought his death. For, this vice, as it makes the heart to boil with hellish venom; so it blisters out at the tongue, as here; They could not speak peaceably to Joseph, but scoff, and consult his ruin. It sits also looking out at the windows of the eyes; and, as a Basilisk, blasteth the object. Hence invidere, to see with an evil eye, and naughty mind: And our English saith, to overlook a thing; that is, to bewitch it. This very looking upon others precellencies, whereby we are over-shined, so as to lust to have that light put out, that our candle might shine above it, (this is every man's sin;) though it act nothing, yet it is abominable, I am. 4.5. As on the other side, to rejoice in the good parts of others, though it eclipseth our light; and this from the heart; this is indeed more then to excel others in any excellency, if this be wanting. For this, it is good to get the heart fraught with mercy, meekness of wisdom, fear of God, (whose providence cuts us out our several conditions and proportions) zeal for his glory, as Moses; humility, charity, ( Love envieth not, 1 Cor. 13.4.) And to take heed of strife, Rom. 13.13. Envy and strife go coupled; they are brought in there by the brace: and as it were twisted together. Likewise, of pride, and vainglory, Phil. 2.3. covetousness, Prov. 28.22, logomachies, 1 Tim. 6.4. self-love, ignorance, &c. all which, make the soul sick of the fret, and to pierce itself thorough with many sorrows. For this sin killeth the silly one, Job 5.2, if it kill no other. Envy and murder go coupled, Rom. 1. Gal. 5. An hectic it is to itself, however; the same that rust is to iron, blasting to corn, or a moth to the cloth it breeds in. It drinketh the most part of its own venom, gnaws on its own heart, is consumed in its own fire as Nadab and Abih • were; and, like the snake in the fable, licks off its own tongue, as envying teeth to the file in the forge. Socrates called it, The Saw of the soul. David compares it to fire in billets of Juniper, which burns vehemently; and continues, they say, more years then one. Simul peccat & plectitur: expedita justitia, saith Petrarch. Other sins have some pleasure; this hath none, but torment. It is a very hell-aboveground, and paves a way to the unpardonable sin, as in Saul, and the Pharisees.

Vers. 13. And he said unto him, Here am I.] Children obey your parents, ( quorum divina est dignitas, saith Chrysostom: Our parents are 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , saith Another; and Philo, for this maketh the fifth Commandment a part of the first table,) for this is right, Ephes. 6.1. Blind Nature saw it to be so. For it is not fit (saith the Philosopher) to cross the gods, a man's own father, and his Tutor, or Teacher.

Vers. 14. Well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks ] His first care is for the welfare of his children. Many a Laban is more solicitous of his flock, then of his family. It was better being Herod's swine, then his son, said Augustus. Hawks and Hounds are better tended and tutoured in some great houses, then children. Or if they be taught manners, and handsome behavior, that's all that's cared for. But piety must be principally planted, where God's blessing upon posterity is expected: the promise whereof, is therefore specially annexed to the second Commandment.

Vers. 15. What seekest thou?] This was not the Angel Gabriel, (as the Hebrews will have it) but some courteous passenger, that thus offereth himself to wandering Joseph, and sets him in his way again. At Athens, there were public curses appointed against such as shown not those their error, that were out of the way. See the like, Deut. 27.18. Brethren, saith St. James, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him, Let him know that he saves a soul from death; yea, he pulls him out of the fire of hell, saith St. Jude: for they that err from God's Commandments, are cursed, Psal. 11.21.

Vers 16. I seek my brethren ] He staid not at Sh • ch em, whither his father sent him; but missing of them there, he seeks further, till he found them. This is true obedience, whether to God or man; when we look not so much to the letter of the law, as to the mind of the Law-maker; Apices juris non sunt jus.

Vers. 17. He found them in Dothan ] That is, in defection; So found our Savior his lost sheep, in utter defection, both of doctrine and manners: some four, or fewer, that looked for the consolation of Israel.

Vers. 18. They conspired against him ] So did the husbandmen against Christ, Luk. 20.14 This is t • e heir, say they, &c. The word is by one rendered, They craftily conspired. The Greek hath it malignantly: craft, and cruelty, go usually together in the Churches adversaries. The Devil lends them his seven heads to plot, and his ten horns, to push poor Joseph, that dreads no danger.

Vers. 19. Behold this dreamer ] This Captain-dreamer, or, this Architect of dreams, A lewd scoff, and withal, a cruel calumny. Envy, so it may gall, or kill, cares not how true or false it be, that it alledgeth: it usually aggravates the matter beyond truth, to do mischief, as here. Their hearts were so big-swollen with spite and spleen, that they could not call him by his name, but this dreamer. So the Pharisees called our Savior, this fellow. And the Jews sought him at the feast, and said, Where is He? they could not find in their hearts to say, Where is Jesus? as Saul asked not for David, but for the son of Jesse, by way of contempt. Christ tells his Disciples, that men shall, in hatred of them cast out their names for evil, for his sake, Luk. 6.22. Their persons should be proscribed, and their names expunged, as unworthy to breathe on the common a • r. That like as we give names to new-born-babes; so when we cannot afford to mention a man's name, it shows, we wish him out of the world: Nomine Christianorum deleto, qui Remp. exercebant. So those bloody tyrants of the primitive times, sounded the triumph beforehand, and engraved the victory they never got, upon Pillars of Marble; Ubicunque invenitur nomen Calvini, deleatur, saith the Index expurgatorius. After Stephen Brune the Martyrs death, his adversaries commanded it to be cried, that none should make anymore mention of him, under pain of heresy. So in Queen Mary's days, one Tooly hanged for fellony, for defying the Pope, was, after his death, suspended and excommunicated; and strict charge given, that no man should eat or drink with him; or if any met him by the way, he should not bid him good morrow, or call him by his name. It was not for nothing, surely, that our Savior, in token of hearty reconciliation, requires men to salute their enemies, and to call them friendly by their names, Matth. 5.47.

Vers. 20. And we will say ] So they consult, to cover their murder with a lie. One sin admitted, makes way for another. He that hath fallen down one round of Hells ladder, knows not where he shall stop, till he break his neck at the bottom.

Vers. 21. And he delivered him out of their bands ] Josephus relates his Arguments, whereby he prevailed with them: As 1. That God would surely see them. 2. Their father would extremely grieve at it. 3. That Joseph was but a child, and their brother. 4. That they would bring upon themselves the guilt of innocent blood, &c. It was happy they hearkened to him. God would have it so: And he will ever have one Reuben or another, to deliver his. It is not in vain, for someone to stand for God and his people, against many adversaries. When the Pharisees had destined our Savior to death, John. 7. Nicodemus, though he had none in the Counsel to second him, spoke in his behalf, ver. 51. and for that time, frustrated their bloody intention. See the like, Ier. 26.24.

Vers. 22. Shed no blood ] Every drop of it hath a tongue to cry for vengeance. Well might K. James say, that if God did leave him to kill a man, he would think God did not love him. David, God's darling, falling into that crimson sin, carried the bruise of that fall with him to his grave, Woe to those Italians, that blaspheme oftener, then swear; and murder more, then revile or slander.

Vers. 23. They stripped Joseph out of his coat ] For, 1. It was an eye-sore to them. 2. Therewith they would color their cruelty. And this whiles they were doing, Joseph used many entreaties for himself, but they would not hear him, Gen. 42.21. Reuben also pleaded hard for the child, but all to no purpose, Gen. 42.22. their tender mercies were cruelties.

Vers. 24. They cast him into a pit ] Where they meant he should pine and perish with hunger, which is a more cruel death, then to die by the sword, Lam. 4.5. Thus died Drusus by the command of Tiberius; meat being denied him, he had eaten the stuffings of his bed. I have heard of a certain Bishop (saith Melancthon ) who having cast ten men into a dungeon for their religion sake, kept them there so long without all manner of meat, that they devoured one another.

Vers. 25. And they sat down to eat ] To weep for their wickedness, they should have sat down rather. But the Devil had drawn a hard hoof over their hearts, that either they felt no remorse of what they had done, for present; or else, they sought to ease themselves of it, by eating, and merry-making. They drank wine in bowles; but no man was sorry for the affliction of Joseph. Nay, perhaps, they had so tired themselves with making away their brother, that they were even spent again, and stood in need of some refreshing. The good providence of God was in it howsoever, that they should there sit down, till the Merchants came by from Gilead, which was a Mart for Merchants, Ier. 8.22. & 22.6. All things co-operate for good to them that love God, Rom. 8.28.

Vers. 26. What profit is it, &c.] Cui bono? said that old Judge in Rome. This is a song that most men will listen to, As the Jassians in Strabo, delighted with the music of an excellent Harper, ran all away, when once they heard the Market-bell ring, save a deaf old man, that could take little delight in the Harpers ditties. But it were to be wisht, that whenever we are tempted to sin, we would ask ourselves this question, What profit is it? &c.

Vers. 27. For he is our brother, and our flesh ] This consideration should be, as the Angels call to Abraham, to stay our hand from striking another; 1. That he is our brother, in respect of God, for have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? Mal. 3.10. Next, that he is our flesh, in regard of our first parents, Act. 17.26. Isaiah 58.7.

Vers. 28. For twenty pieces of silver] A goodly price; not all out the price of a slave, Exod. 21.32. Here they sold the just one for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes, Amos 2.6. The Hebrews tell us, that of these twenty shekels, every of the ten brethren had two, to buy shoes for their feet. [And they brought Joseph into Egypt] Little knowing what a price they had in their hand, even the Jewel of the world, and him that should one day be Lord of Egypt. The Saints for their worth, are called Princes in all lands, Psal. 45. Kings in righteousness, though somewhat obscure ones; as Melchizedek Heb. 7. They are called the world, Joh. 3.16. every creature, Mark 16.16. all things, Col. 1.20. God's portion, Deut. 32.9. the dearly beloved of his soul, Jer. 12.7. a royal Diadem in the hand of Jehovah, Isaiah, 62.3. This the cock on the dunghill, the Midianitish muck-worms take no notice of. They could see no comeliness in Christ, (though the fairest of ten thousand) nothing more then a despicable man. How can this man give us his flesh to eat? God had hid him (in whom all the treasures of worth and wisdom were hid) under the Carpenters son: This pearl was covered with a shell-fish; so are all God's precious people, for most part, abjects in the worlds eye; their glory is within; their life is hid: they are great heirs, but as yet in their non-age; Kings, but in a strange country, heads destinated to the diadem; but this the world knows not, 1 John. 3.1. Let it suffice us, that God, and all that can spiritually discern, know it; and so shall others: as Joseph 's brethren did him, in his bravery. For when Christ, our life, shall appear, we shall appear with him in glory.

Vers. 30. The child is not, and I, &c:] In an old Manuscript, I met with these words thus pathetically rendered;

Vers. 32. Know now whether it be thy sons coat ] One Philip, Bishop of Beau-vieu in France, in the time of our Richard the first, being a martial man, and much annoying our borders, was by King Richard in a skirmish happily taken, and put in prison. The Bishop hereupon complained to the Pope, who wrote in the behalf of his son, as an Ecclesiastical person, &c. The King sent to the Pope, the armor he was taken in, with these words engraven thereon, Know whether this be thy sons coat, or not. Which the Pope viewing, sware it was rather the coat of a son of Mars, then a son of the Church; and so bad the King use his pleasure.

Vers. 33. It is my sons coat, &c.] The Lord may well say as much of hypocrites. Their outward from of godliness is the garb of my sons and daughters; but some evil spirit hath devoured them, who use it only in hypocrisy. They are fair professors, but foul sinners. And when the filthy sinner goes dam • ed to hell, what shall become of the zealous professor? As the Churl said to the Bishop of Cullen, praying in the Church like a Bishop; but as he was a Duke, going guarded like a tyrant; Whither thinkest thou the Bishop shall go, when the Duke shall be damned?

Vers. 34. Mourned for his son many days ] Puerilitas est periculorum pelagus; Few live to be old, for one evil beast or another that devours them: As for one apple, that hangs till it falls, many are endgel'd down, or gathered off the tree. We should learn to bury children and friends, whiles yet alive; by acting their death to ourselves aforehand.

Vers. 35. And all his sons, &c.] Oh faces hatched with impudence! Oh hearts hewn out of a rock! Could they cause his woe, and then comfort him? Miserable comforters were they all; such as the Usurer is to the young Novice; or the Crocodile that weeps over the dead body that it is devouring. These were the evil beasts that devoured Joseph. [But he refused to be comforted] Wherein he shown his fatherly love, but not his son-like subjection to God's good providence: without the which, no evil beast could have set tooth in Joseph; whom he was sure also to receive safe and whole again at the Resurrection: which was a great comfort to those afflicted Jews, Dan. 12.2. and those mangled Martyrs. [His father also wept for him] Jacob's father Isaac, saith Junius; which might very well be; for he lived twelve years after this, and likely loved Joseph best, for his great towardliness.

Vers. 36. And the Midianites ] Little knew Joseph what God was in doing. Have patience, till he have brought both ends together.

CHAP. XXXVIII. Vers. 1. And it came to pass at that time ]

BEfore the rape of Dinah, the sale of Joseph, and soon after their return from Mesopotamia. [Judah went down from his brethren] A green youth of 13. or 14. years of age, left his company, where he might have had better counsel. There is a special tie to perseverance, in the Communion of Saints. They that forsake the assembling of themselves together, are in a fair way for Apostasy, Heb. 10.25. [To a certain Adullamite] There is a double danger of evil company: 1. Infection of sin, at least, defection from grace. 2. Infliction of punishment, Rev. 18.4.

Vers. 2. And Judah saw there, &c.] He saw, took, went in, all in haste: Patre inconsulto, forte etiam invito; His father neither willing nor witting. Hence, for a punishment, was so little mercy shown to his sons. These hasty headlong matches, seldom succeed well. It is not amiss to marry, but good to be wary. Young men are blamed of folly, for following the sight of their eyes, and lust of their hearts, Eccles. 11. Sed, Leo cassibus irretitus dicet, Si praescivissem.

Vers. 3. And she conceived, &c.] St. Jerome tells us of a certain drunken nurse, that was got with child by her nursling, a boy of ten years old. This he relateth as monstrous, and takes God to witness, that he knew it to be so.

Vers. 6. And Judah took a wife for Er ] When he was but 14. years of age (as appears by the Chronicle) seven years after the selling of Joseph. And here it is well observed, that though Judah took a wife without his fathers consent, yet he will not have Er to do so.

Vers. 7. Wicked in the sight of the Lord] A Sodomite, say the Hebrews; but this is hard to say. As an evil doer, he was soon cut off, Psal. 37.9. God would not have such to be his Son Christ's progenitor. Too wicked he was to live: you may know him to be the son of a Canaanitess. Partus sequitur ventrem.

Vers. 8. And Judah said unto Ona • ] At fourteen years of age likewise. For from the birth of Judah, to their going down to Egypt, were but 43. years. And yet before that, Perez had Hezron, and Hamul, being married about the fourteenth year of his age; which was, doubtless, too soon. Childhood is counted and called the flower of age, 1 Cor. 7.36. And so long the Apostle would have marriage forborne. Whilest the flower of the plant sprouteth, the seed is green, unfit to be sown. Either it comes not up, or soon withereth. Over early marriages, is one cause of our overshort lives. Venery is deaths best harbinger, saith One.

Vers. 9. When • e went in unto his brothers wife ] God, for the respect he bears to his own Institution of marriage, is pleased to bear with, cover, and not impute many frailties, follies, vanities, wickednesses that are found betwixt man and wife. Howbeit, there is required of such an holy care and conscience, to preserve between themselves, by a conjugal chastity, the marriage▪bed undefiled; taking heed of an intemperate, or intempestive use of it: which by Divines, both Ancient and Modern, is deemed no better then plain adultery before God. Qui cum uxore sua, quasi cum aliena concumbit, adulter est, saith that Heathen; Onans sin here was self pol • ution, aggravated much, by his envy that moved him to it, expressed in these words, lest he should give seed to has decea sed brother. And the more sinful was this sin of his, in spilling his seed; because it should have served for the propagation of the Messiah; Therefore the Lord slew him: As also; because he was not warned by his brothers punishment.

Vers. 10. Wherefore he slew him ] God oft punisheth the abuse of the marriage-bed, either with untimely death, (It was well said of One, that Venus provideth not for those that are already born, but for those that shall be born:) or else with no children, misshapen children, idiots, or prodigiously-wicked children, &c. Cavete. Let this consideration be as the Angel standing with a drawn sword over Balaam 's shoulders.

Vers. 11. Lest peradventure he die also, &c.] Judah lays the fault all on her, whereas it was in his sons. Sarah, on the other side, blamed herself only for barrenness, Gen. 16.2. Judge not, that ye be not judged: but if we judge ourselves, we shall not be judged. In judging of the cause of our crosses, we are oft as far out as she was, that laid the death of her child to the presence of the good Prophet.

Vers. 12. The daughter of Shuah, &c.] This was just, in God, upon Judah, for his fraudulent dealing with Tamar; whom he neither married to his son Shelah, nor suffered to be married to another. Sin is oft punished in kind.

Vers. 13. To shear his sheep] And so to put by his sorrow, as Jonathan did his anger, by going into the field to shoot. At sheepshearings they had feasts, 1 Sam. 25.8, 11.

Vers. 14. Covered her with a veil] As they that do evil, shun the light. She was going about a deed of darkness. [For she saw that She was grown] She ran into this foul sin, partly for revenge, and partly for issue. But this excuseth her not: for the revenge she took, was private; and she should have sought a godly seed, by lawful Wedlock, and not by abominable Incest. Discontent is the mother of much mischief; as it was in Judas, Haman, &c.

Vers. 15. He thought her to be a harlot ] Because she sat in an open place: first, In bivio, saith Junius, where there is liberty of looking every way; the guise and garb of harlots, Prov. 7.12. and 9.14. Ezek. 16.24, 25. Next, she sat covered: Whores were not altogether so shameless then, as now: they shun not to be seen, with bold and bare faces, breasts, and wrists. Such a sight may soon enflame a Judah; nay, occasion a Job to break his covenant, Job 31.1. The Ivy-bush showeth, there is wine within: which, though no evil follow upon it; yet the party shall be damned, saith Jerome, because she offered poison to others, though none would drink it. See Isai. 3.16. [Because she had covered her face] Some read, Because she had coloured, or painted her face. But, that he knew her not by her voice, one would wonder. Surely, he was so set upon the satisfying of his lust, that he minded nothing else. Lust is blind; and if the blind lead the blind, &c.

Vers. 16. Let me come in unto thee ] This is recorded, 1. To cut the comb of those ••• d Jews, that glory so much of their pedigree, and name of Ju • ah. How could they say, We be not born of fornication? Joh. 8.41. 2. To mind us, that there is no Church to be found on earth, without blot and blemish. 3. That we may consider and admire the utter abasement of our Lord Christ, who would be born, not only of holy, but of impure parentage. And this, to show, 1. That he borrowed no grace or glory from his progenitors: and as he needed not to be ennobled, so neither was he disparaged by them. 2. That by his purity and passion, all our sins are expiated and done away; like as the sun cleareth whatsoever filth is found in the air, or on the earth. Three women only are mentioned in his Genealogy; Rahab the harlot, Bathsheba the adulteress, and this incestuous Tamar; to show his readiness to receive the most notorious offenders, that come unto him with bleeding and believing hearts, 1 Tim. 1.15.

Vers. 17. Wilt thou give me ] The love of money breeds noisome lusts. Harlots are sordida poscinummia, as Plautus hath it.

Vers. 18. And he gave it her, and came in unto her ] He gave her whatsoever she desired; as the manner of such men is: and although he committed incest ignorantly, yet not through ignorance, but through heat of lust; which is brutish and boisterous, burning, as an oven: whence the Greeks have named it: and Plato compares it to a head-strong horse.

Vers. 20. By the hand of his friend ] His broker. Fie upon such Adullamites. Such cole-carriers as this, (saith One) be good to scour an hot oven withal. Such another was Jonadab to Amnon. How much better that Heathen, that answered, Amicus tibi sum, sed usque ad aras.

Vers. 21. Where is the harlot?] The holy whore, as the Hebrew word importeth; such as committed that filthiness, under a pretence of holiness. Such, among the Heathens, were the lewd worshippers of Priapus; (this is thought to be Baal-peor; ) and Venus at Cyprus; where the maids, in honor of their goddess, prostituted their chastity to all that would, once a year. So in their Lupercals and Bacchanals at Rome, in quibus discurrebatur ad publicos concubitus, for like reason. Of such unclean persons, even by God's house, we read, 2 Kings 23.8. and of such as sacrificed with harlots, Hos. 4.14. who brought their hire for a vow; called therefore, the price of a salt bitch, Deut. 23.17, 18. Vah propûdium! [There was no harlot in this place] Few places can say so. Every house in Egypt had a dead corpse in it; 〈◊〉 too many houses here have such, as, living in pleasure, are dead while they live, 1 Tim. 5.6. Of this sort was that Arlet, a Skinners daughter in Normandy, whose nimblenefs in her dance, made Duke Robert enamored, &c. On her, he begat our William the Conqueror. In spite to whom, and disgrace to his mother the English called all whores Harlets. But who can read, without detestation, that in Rome a Jewess may not be admitted into the stews, unless she will be first baptized? as Espencaeus, an honest Papist, complaineth.

Vers. 23. Lest we be shamed ] His care was more to shun shame, then sin. How much better that Heathen! S • tis nobis persuasum esse debet, &c. This we should be fully persuaded of, saith he, that although we could conceal the matter from all, both gods and men, yet we should do nothing covetously, nothing unjustly, nothing against chastity, or common honesty. Though I were sure, (saith another Philosopher) that all men would be ignorant of what evil I do, and that all the gods would forgive it me; yet, for the filthiness that is • n sin, I would not commit it. Plato condemneth the Poets, for saying, that it were no matter though mon did commit sin, so they could hide it. Si non caste, sultem caute. How much better the Christian Poet? Turpe quid acturus, te, sine teste • , time. Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in his sight, though none else saw thee? saith God to David, 2 Sam. 12.9. And David, in his sorrowful confession, saith as much to God, upon the matter, Psal. 51.4. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned; viz. in respect of the secrecy of my sin; therefore it is added, And done this evil in thy sight. [ Behold, I sent this kid, &c.] He comforts himself, in the loss of his pledge, that yet he had been as good as his word: but not a word we hear of sorrow for his sin; which, if he can but keep secret, he rests secure. This is a piece of natural atheism; and it is general.

Vers. 24. Bring her forth, and let her be burnt ] He was willing to be rid of her, for fear of losing his son Shelah; and therefore passeth a precipitate and savage sentence, to burn a great-bellied woman; which the very Heathens condemned, as a cruelty, in Claudius. Howbeit, there are, that take these to be his words, not as a Judge in the cause, but as an accuser. Bring her forth, sc. into the gates, before the Judges; and let her be burnt, if found guilty, according to the custom of the country. We read not of any that were, by God's Law, to be burnt with fire, but the high-priests daughter only, for adultery, Levite. 29.1. Hence the Hebrews say, that this Tamar was Melchizedek the high-priests daughter. But it is more likely, she was a Canaanitish proselyte. Let us beware of that sin, for which so peculiar a plague was appointed, and by very Heathens executed. See Jer. 29.22, 23.

Vers. 25. By the man whose these are, &c.] So his secret sin comes to light. All will out at length, though never so studiously concealed, Matth. 10.26. Eccles. 10.20. That which hath wings shall tell the matter. It was a quill, a piece of a wing, that discovered the powder plot. [Discern, I pray thee, whose are these] So, when we come to God, though he seem never so angry, and ill set against us; can we but present unto him ourselves his own; our prayer, Mediator, arguments, all his; and then say, as she here to Judah, Whose are these? he cannot deny himself.

Vers. 26. She hath been more righteous then I] A free confession, joined with confusion of his sin; for he knew her no more. This was, to confess and forsake sin, as Solomon hath it. Not like that of Saul; I have sinned, yet honor me before the people; or that of those in the wilderness; We have sinned; we will go up: they might as well have said, We have sinned, we will sin, Deut. 1.41. The worser sort of Papists will say, When we have sinned, we must confess; and when we have confessed, we must sin again, that we may also confess again, and make work for new Indulgences and Jubilees; making account of confessing, as drunkards do of vomiting. But true confession goes along with hatred, care, apology.

Vers. 27. Behold, twins were in her womb ] Betokening two people's pertaining to Christ. The Jews first put forth their hand, as it were, willing to be justified by their works, and to regenerate themselves. For this, they were bound with a Scarlet thread, condemned by the Law: wherefore, pulling back their hand, they fell from God. Then came forth Perez, the breach-maker, that is, the violent and valiant Gentiles; who took the first-birth-right and kingdom by force: who when they are fully born, then shall the Jews come forth again, Rom. 11.11, 25, 26. And that this is not far off, hear what a worthy Divine (yet living) saith: Dan. 1 • .11, we have a prophecy of the final restauration of the Jews; and the time is expressed, which is One thousand two hundred ninety years, after the ceasing of the daily sacrifice, and the setting up of the abomination of desolation, which is conceived to be in Julian 's time; who did assay to re-build the Temple of the Jews, which was an abomination to God; who therefore destroyed it by fire out of the earth, tearing up the very foundation thereof, to the nethermost stone. This was Anno Dom. 360; to which if you add 1290 years, it will pitch this calculation upon the year, 1650. Before this Babylon must down, &c.

CHAP. XXXIX. Vers. 1. And Potiphar an officer of Pharaoh 's]

SEe here a sweet providence, that Joseph should fall into such hands. Potiphar was Provost-Martial, keeper of the Kings prisoners. And what could Joseph have wished better then this, that, since he must be a prisoner, he should be put into that prison, where he might, by interpreting the Butlers dream, come to so great preferment? Chrysostom, in his 19. Hom. on the Ephesians, saith; we must not once doubt of the Divine providence, though we presently perceive not the causes, and reasons of many passages. And this he sweetly sets forth by apt by similitudes drawn from the works of Carpenters, Painters, bees, ants, spiders, swallows, &c. Surely, as a man, by a chain made up of divers links, some of gold, others of silver, some of brass, iron, or tin, may be drawn out of a pit: so the Lord by the concurrence of several subordinate things, which have no manner of dependence, or natural co-incidency among themselves, hath oftentimes wrought and brought about the deliverance and exaltation of his children, that it might appear to be the work of his own hand.

Vers. 2. And the Lord was with Joseph, and he, &c.] The Lord also is with you, while ye be with him, 2 Chron. 15.3. and so long you may promise yourselves prosperity, that of Gaius, howsoever, that your souls shall prosper; and for most part also, your outward estates. If it fall out otherwise, it is, because God will have godliness admired for itself. If ungodly men prsper, it is, that case may slay them, Prov. 1.32. and that they may perish forever, Psal. 37.20. Moritur Zacharias Papa, rebus pro Ecclesiae salute & Apostolicae sedis dignitate, non tam pie quam prosper gestis, saith Sigonius. This was little to his commendation, that he was not so pious, as he was prosperous.

Vers. 3. And his Master saw ] Though he knew not God, yet he acknowledged that God was the giver of prosperity, and that piety pleaseth him. This ran into his senses, but wrought not kindly upon his heart.

Vers. 4. And Joseph found grace in his sight ] This also was of God, who fashioneth men's opinions; and therefore Paul, though he went to carry alms, (and such are commonly welcome) yet prays that his service may be accepted of the Saints. [And he served him] As his Page, or Chamberlain; afterwards, he became his Steward. He that is faithful in a little, shall be master of more.

Vers. 5. The Lord blessed the Egyptian ] There's nothing lost, by any love men show to the Saints. God is not unfaithful to forget it, nor unmindful to reward it.

Vers. 6. And he knew not ought he had &c.] Some expound this of Joseph, that he took nothing for all his pains, but the meat he eat; did not feather his own nest, as many in his place would have done; nor embezel his masters goods committed to his trust. But without doubt, the other is the better sense: Potiphar took what was provided for him, and cared for no more. This is few men's happiness; for usually the master is the greatest servant in the house. [And Joseph was a goodly person] But nothing so goodly on the outside, as on the in-side. His brethren had stripped him of his coat, but could not dis-robe him of his graces. Still he retained his piety and fear of God, his integrity and faithfulness toward his master, his chastity and modesty toward his mistress, his spiritual prudence and watchfulness over himself. How stoutly did he resist the Devil, despise the world, subdue the flesh? Many archers shot at him, but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made firm by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob, Gen. 49.23, 24. Of bodily beauty, see notes on Chap. 6.2.

Vers. 7. After these things] After he had been ten or eleven years in that house; so long he was safe: Yet at length set upon. Learn we always to stand upon our guard; to do, as it is reported of the bird Onocrotalus, that she is so well practiced to expect the Hawk to grapple with her, that even, when she shutteth her eyes,she sleepeth with her beak exalted, as if she would contend with her adversary. A man is to expect, if he live out his days, to be urged to all sins; to the breach of every branch of the ten Commandments, and to be put to it, in respect of every article of our Creed. [His masters wife cast her eyes upon Joseph] She looked and lusted. See for this, Notes on Chap. 34. verse. 2. [And she said, Lye with me] An impudent harlotry, that could so barely and basely solicit. Such a frontless propudium was that in the Proverbs, Chap. 7.13, 18. Such were those insatiate Empresses, Messalin • , wife to Claudius; and Barbara, wife to Sigismund, Emperor of Germany, foemin • immensae libidinis & procacitatis inverecundae, quae saepiùs viros peteret quàm peteretur. Vitam omnem censuit inanem, quae non coitu, l • xu, ac libidine contereretur. And such were those brazen-faced curtisans, that Franciscus Junius (that learned man) met with; and for their sakes, abhorred the company of all women ever after, as himself recordeth, in his own life.

Vers. 8. But he refused ] So would but a few have done of his years, (he was now about seven and twenty) and that might have committed this sweet sin, (as they wickedly call it) with so much security and secrecy, &c. The fear of God is both a virtue, and a keeper of other virtues. It is the bond of perfections, as Paul saith of Charity. It is the riband, or string, that tyes together all those precious pearls, the graces; as Peter saith of Humility. It is, as Basil saith of the same grace, caeterarum virtutum 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , the storehouse of other virtues; and as Chrysostom, the mother, and root, and nurse, and foundation, and ligament of all good things in us. [ Behold my master wotteth not, &c.] Beneficium postulat offic • um. To argue from bounty to duty, is but right reason: But to argue, as most do, from God's liberality, to liberty in sin, is the Devils Logic. Joseph will not deal so basely with his mastor, though an Egyptian. To render good for evil, is Divine; good for good, is human; evil for evil, is brutish; but evil for good, is devilish. Should we again break thy Commandments, saith holy Ezra, after so many mercies and deliverances? There is so much unthankfulness, and dis-ingenuity in such an entertainment of mercy, that heaven and earth, he thinks, would be ashamed of it. Every blessing is a binder; and each new deliverance, a new tie to obedience. The goodness of God should lead us to repentance, saith Paul. And this, Peter picks out of Paul 's Epistles, as one of the choicest sentences, and urgeth it upon those to whom he wrote, 2 Pet. 3.15.

Vers. 9. Neither hath he kept anything back from me, but thee] As the beams of the Sun shining upon fire, doth discourage the burning of that; so should the shining of God's mercies, or man's favors on us, quench and quell lust and licentiousness in us.

Because thou art his wife] In primitiva Ecclesia. Christiani animo animaque inter se miscebantur, & omnia, praeter uxorer, indiscreta habebant, saith Tertullian. Community of wives is a monster in Religion. [ How then can I do this great wickedness, &c?] So he calls it, not a trick of youth, a light offense, a peccadillo, but wickedness, and great wickedness. Abhorred be that Religion of Rome, that licenceth it; nothing better herein, then that of the Turks, whose Quran tells us, that God did not give men lusts and appetites to be frustrated, but enjoyed; as made for the gust of man, and not for his torment, wherein his Creator delights not. [And sin against God] Who makes the marriage-covenant; and keepeth the bonds, Prov. 2.17. Thus David, • sal. 51.4. Against thee, thee only have I sinned, &c. The trespass was against Uriah, but the transgression against God; who only can remove the guilt, remit the punishment. And here, though the iron entered into Joseph 's soul, sin could not; because it was fraught with God's fear. He had set God at his right hand, with David, and therefore was not moved by the importunate imp • dency of his wanton mistress. Satan knocked oft at that dooor, but there was none within to answer, or open. He struck fire, but upon wet tinder. Joseph in Egypt, like a pearl in a puddle, keeps his virtue still, wherever he came.

Vers. 10. And it came to pass, as she spake, &c.] A violent temptation valiantly withstood and vanquished; and that by the force of the fear of God, that powerful grace, where it may bear sway. Alexander, Scipio, Pompey, tempted with the exquisiteness and variety of choyeest beauties, forbare that villainy: Not for conscience sake, or fear of God, whom they knew not, but lest thereby they should stop the current of their victories, and obscure the glory of their remarkable valor. But what saith Cyprian? As it is the greatest pleasure to have overcome pleasure, so there is no such victory, as that that is gotten over a man's lusts. This none but a Joseph fearing God, can do. For the fear of the Lord is pure, saith David, Psal. 19.9. it is to hate evil, not forbear it only, saith Solomon: and he instanceth in inward evils, as pride, arrogancy, &c. so unchaste thoughts, lustful longings, and hankerings after strange flesh. These the fear of God purgeth upon, and represseth; not suffering a man to sin though he could do it so closely and covertly, that the world should be never the wiser. Loe, this is Chastity: And it differs herein from Continency; (which is the best we can say for those Heathens aforementioned.) The Continent person refrains the outward act of uncleanness; either for love of praise, or fear of punishment, but not without grief; for inwardly he is scalded with boiling lust. Whereas the chaste man, (like S. Paul's virgin, 1 Cor. 7.34.) is holy, both in body and in spirit; and this with delight, out of fear of God, and love of virtue. Now if upon such a ground, we can refuse proffered pleasures, and preferments; resolving rather to lie in the dust with Joseph, then to rise by wicked principles, the trial is as sound, as if we had endured the tortures of the rack, Heb. 11. [As she spake to Joseph day by day] Satan will not be said with a little, nor sit down by a light repulse. A man must give him a peremptory denial again and again, as our Savior did; and yet the tempter departed not, but for a season. He is called Beelzebub, that is the Master-fly, because he is impudent as a fly, and soon returns to the bait, from which he was beaten. He will be egging us again and again, to the same sin: and try every way to overturn us. Many times he tempts by extremes; as he did Mr. John Knox, on his death bed; first, to despair, by setting before him his sins; and (when foiled there) afterwards to presumption, and challenging of heaven as his due, for his many good works, and zeal in the Scottish Reformation. So he dealt here by Joseph: he first set upon him on the left hand, when he sold him for a slave. And when this prevailed not, he sets here a Delilah to tickle him on the right side, and to tie him with the green withes of youthful pleasures. Sed pari successu; but he lost his labor. Joseph was semper idem; famous for all the four cardinal virtues, if ever any were. See here in this one temptation, his fortitude, justice, temperance & prudence; in that he shuns the occasion: (for he would not only, not lie with her, but not be with her, saith the Text;) And that a man is indeed, that he is in a temptation; which is but a tap, to give vent to corruption. [To lie by her, or to be with her] Keep thee far from an evil matter, saith Moses. Come not nigh the door of the harlots house, saith Solomon. Flee fornication, saith Paul. And, fly youthful lusts. Not abstain from them only, but fly them, as ye would do a flying Serpent. These are God's commandments: and they are to be kept as the sight of the eye, Prov. 7.2. The Nazarite might not only, not drink wine, but not taste a rasin, or the husk of a grape. The Leper was to shave his hair, and pare his nails. The good Christian is taught to abstain from all appearance of evil; and to hate the very garment that is spotted by the flesh. The Devil counts a fit occasion, half a Conquest; for he knows that corrupt Nature hath a 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , a seed-plot of all sin: which being drawn forth and watered by the breath of ill company, or some other occasion, is soon set awork, to the producing of death. Satan cozens us, when he persuades us, its no conquest, except we beat away the temptation, yet keep the occasion by us. God will not remove the temptation, till we remove the occasion. And in such case to pray, Lead us not, &c. but deliver us from evil, is to thrust our finger into the fire, and then pray it may not be burnt. A bird whiles aloft, is safe; but she comes not near the snare, without danger. Solomon thought himself wise enough to convert his wives, & not be corrupted by them. But it came to pass, when Solomon was old; that his wives turned away his heart after other gods, &c. He that can shun, or remove the occasion of his own proper motion, as Joseph did, he's the Man; this is grace, here's a victory.

Vers. 10. To do his business ] To look up his bills of account, saith the Chaldee. Idleness is the Devils opportunity, the hour of temptation. But let a man be never so busy about his lawful employments, he is to expect assaults. As he is not idle, so neither is Satan: but walks about, and spreads his snares for us in all places, and businesses; speaking a good word also in temptations that come from the flesh, which are therefore called his messengers, 2 Cor. 12.7. and by giving place to them, we give place to the Devil, Ephes. 4.26.

And there was none of the men of the house within ] Josephus saith, that they were all gone forth to a feast; and she only left at home, as feigning herself sick. Sick she was (as likewise Amnon ) with the lust of concupiscence, which the Apostle calls 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ; a disease, 1 Thess. 4.5. such as those which the Physicians say, are corruptio totius substantiae; the body and soul, are both tainted and rotted by it. Other diseases consume only the matter of the body, but this, the holiness and honor of the body. Other sicknesses sanctify us, but this profanes us, and lets the devil into our hearts. Behemoth lieth in the fennes, Job 40.21. That is, the devil in sensual hearts; as Gul. Paris. applieth it. And when the waters of the Sanctuary slowed, the miry places could not be healed.

Vers. 12. And she caught him by the garment ] By wanton touches and dalliance, mental adultery is oft committed. He that toucheth his neighbors wife, shall not be innocent saith Solomon. This is the offensive right hand, that must be cut off, Mat. 5.30. The harlot caught the silly simple, and kissed him; and with an impudent face said unto him, Prov. 7.13. till a dart struck through his liver, verse. 23. cogit amare jecur

And he left his garment in her hand ] This second time is Joseph stripped of his garment; before, in the violence of envy, now of lust: before, of necessity, now of choice: before, to deceive his father; now his master. Infamy and other misery he was sure to suffer, but that must not drive from duty. 2 Cor. 6.8. The Church comes from the wilderness, that is, through troubles and afflictions, leaning on her beloved; choosing rather to suffer, then to sin. The good heart goes in a right line to God, and will not fetch a compass: but strikes through all troubles and hazards, to get to him. It will not break the hedge of any commandment, to avoid any piece of foul way. The primitive Christians chose rather to be thrown to lions without, then left to lusts within: Ad leonem magis quam lenonem; saith Tertullian. I had rather go to hell pure from sin, saith Anselm, then to Heaven, polluted with that filth. I will rather leap into a bone-fire (saith another of the Fathers) then willfully commit wickedness against God. Of the Mouse of Armenia they write, that she will rather die, then be defiled with any filth. Insomuch as if her hole be besmeared with dirt; she will rather choose to be taken, then to be polluted: Such are or ought to be, the servants of God; unspotted of the world, undefiled in the way.

Vers. 13. And it came to pass, &c.] Incontinency is a breeder. It never goes alone (as some say the asp doth not) but hath many vices; Impudency, subtlety, treacherous cruelty, &c. that come of it, and accompany it; crying out, and calling to one another, as they once did; Now Moab to the spoil.

Vers. 14. See, he hath brought in an Hebrew ] So she calls him, by way of contempt; as they called our Savior Nazarene, and his followers Galileans. The Arians called the true Christians Ambrosians, Athanasians, Homousians, &c. And at this day, the most honorable name of Christian, is, in Italy, and at Rome, a name of reproach: and usually abused, to signify a fool, or a dolt.

Vers. 15. And it came to pass, &c.] How many innocents, in all ages, have perished by false accusation! Here, this vermin, accuseth her husband of foolishness, her servant of filthiness; which she first affirmeth, secondly confirmeth, by producing his garment, left in her hands. That accuser of the brethren set her on; as he did the malicious heathens, to traduce and denigrate those pure primitive Christians, (purer then snow, whiter then milk; ruddier then rubies; their polishing was of Sapphire, Lam. 4.7.) as so many murderers, man-eaters, adulterers, Church-robbers, traitors, &c. Which last, Lipsius calls Unicum crimen corum, qui crimine vacabant. So the Waldenses were spitefully accused of Manichisme, and Catharisme; and thereupon a Croisado was published against them, as common enemies. So, a little afore the Massacre of Paris, it was given out by the French Papists, that the Protestants in their conventicles plotted treason, acted villainy, &c. And after the Massacre, there was a coin stamped; in the fore-part whereof, together with the Kings picture, was this inscription; Virtus in rebels: and on the other side, Pietas excitavit justitiam. Those that kill a dog, make the world believe, he was mad first: So the enemies of the Church, first ever traduced her to the world, and then persecuted her; first pulled off her veil, and then wounded her, Cant. 5.6.

Vers. 17. And she spake unto him, &c.] Here the adulteress hunteth for the precious life, Prov. 6.26. Her lust (as Amnons ) turneth into extreme hatred. This is just the custom of a Courtesan;

Vers. 19. His wrath was kindled ] Heb. exarsit nasus ejus. Good cause he had; if all had been true that his wife told him, Prov. 6.34, 35. It is well known how the rape of Lucrece was punished upon the Tarquines. Valentinian the Emperor defiled the wife of his subject Maximus. Maximus afterwards slew Valentinian, succeeded him in the Empire, ravished his wife, and forced her to marry him. She, to be revenged, sent for Gensericus, who seized upon all Italy, &c. But Potiphar was too light of belief; and should have examined the matter, ere he had condemned the man. Credulity is a note of folly, Prov. 14.15.

Vers. 20. And Joseph's Master took him ] It was a providence, that he had not presently slain him, upon that false accusation. The Devil is first a liar, and then a murderer: But he is limited by God. Joseph is imprisoned in the round tower; where they hurt his feet with fetters, the iron entered into his soul. He, meanwhile, either pleads not, or is not heard. Doubtless he denied the fact; but durst not accuse the offender. His innocence might afterwards appear, and thereupon, the chief Keeper show him favor, ver. 21. But his Master should have been better advised. If he lived till Joseph was advanced, he had as good cause to fear his power, as ever Joseph 's brethren did. Cardinal Woolsey was first Schoolmaster of Magdalene School in Oxford; after that, beneficed by Marquess Dorset, whose children he had there taught. Where he had not long been, but one Sir James Paulet, upon some displeasure, set him by the heels: which affront was afterwards, neither forgotten, nor forgiven. For when the School-master became Lord Chancellor of England, he sent for him; and after a sharp reproof, imprisoned him: A good president for men in authority, which work their own wiles without wit; not to punish out of humor, &c. Discite justitiam moniti, &c. Despise not any man's meanness, we know not his destiny.

Vers. 21. But the Lord was with Joseph] A prison keeps not God from his; witness the Apostles, and Martyrs, whose prisons, by God's presence, became palaces; the fiery furnace, a gallery of pleasure; the stocks, a music-school, Act. 16.25. Bradford, after he was put in prison, had better health, then before; and found great favor with his Keeper, who suffered him to go whither he would, upon his promise to return, by such an hour, to his prison again.

CHAP. XL. Vers. 1. Had offended their Lord, the King of Egypt ]

WHat their offense was, is not expressed. The Hebrews say, Pharaoh found a fly in his cup, and a little gravel in his bread, and therefore imprisoned these two great Officers. But this had been, to kill a fly (as one said) upon a man's forehead with a great beetle. Some think they attempted the chastity of Pharaoh 's daughters. Such a thing as this, made Augustus so angry against Ovid. But most likely it was, for some conspiracy; such as was that of Bigthan and Teresh, Esth. 4. The present government is, for most part, always grievous; to some discontented great Ones especially, who know not when they are well: but are ready to drive a good Prince out of the world, and then would dig him up again, if they could; as the swain said of Dionisius. But what said Alphonsus, that renowned King, to this, in a speech to the Popes Ambassador? He professed, that he did not so much wonder at his Courtiers ingratitude to him, who had raised sundry of them from mean to great estates; as at his own to God. whom by every sin we seek to depose, nay to murder: for Peccatum est Deicidium, Rom. 1.30. with 1 Joh. 3.15.

Vers. 2. And Pharaoh was wroth, &c.] That had been enough to have broke their hearts: as a frown from Augustus, did Cornelius Gallus; and another from Queen Elizabeth, did Lord Chancellor Hatton.

Vers. 3. And he put them in ward, &c.] See the slippery estate of Courtiers: today in favor, tomorrow in disgrace; as Haman, Sejanus, whom the same Senators conducted to the prison, who had accompanied him to the Senate. They which sacrificed unto him, as to their god, which kneeled down to adore him, now scoffed at him, seeing him dragged from the Temple to the goal, from supreme honor, to extreme ignominy. His greatest friends were most passionate against him, &c. they would not once look at him; as men look not after Sun-dials, longer then the Sun shines upon them. [The place where Joseph was bound] Here was a wheel within a wheel, Ezek. 1. a sweet providence; that these obnoxious Officers should be sent to Joseph 's prison.

Vers. 4. And the Captain of the guard, &c.] This was Potiphar probably; who by this time, saw his own error, and Joseph 's innocence: yet kept him still in prison, perhaps to save his wives honesty. Truth is the daughter of Time; it will not always lie hid. Splendet cum obscuratur, vincit cum opprimitur. Hinc ut pacis templum in media urbc extruxerunt olim Romani, ita Veritatis statuam in suis urbibus olim coluerunt Aegyptii.

Vers. 5. And they dreamed, &c.] Of dreams natural, and supernatural, see the Notes on Chap. 20. verse. 3.

Vers 6. And behold they were sad ] Or, angry; and yet knew not how to help themselves. But carnal men digest their passions, as horses do their choler, by chewing on the bit. Pope Boniface being clapt up prisoner by Cardinal Columnus, tore his own flesh with his own teeth, and died raving. Bajazet the great Turk, could not be pacified in three days, after he was taken by Tamberlane; but, as a desperate man, still sought after death, and called for it. Vivere noluit, morinesciit, as it is said of that Bishop of Salisbury, prisoner in King Steven 's days.

Vers. 7. And he asked Pharaoh 's officers, &c.] Vincula qui sonsit, didicit succurrere vinctis. Josephs tender heart soon earned toward them, upon the sight of their sadness: and unasked, he offers himself to them; as our Savior did to the widow of Naim, and to those two doubting Disciples, Luk. 24.17. S. Cyprians compassion is remarkable: Cum singulis pectus meum copulo, maeroris & funeris pondera luctuosa participo: cum plangentibus plango, cum deflentibus defleo, &c. I weep with those that weep, and am like-affected, as if like-afflicted.

Vers. 8. And there is no Interpreter ] The superstitious Egyptians did curiously observe their dreams; and commonly repaired to the sooth-sayers for an interpretation, Gen. 41.8. Joseph calleth these Idolaters from their superstitious vanities, to the living God; as Isaiah did those of his time, Chap. 8.19, 20. and Daniel those of his, Chap. 2.28. & 5.18. He had consulted with God by prayer, and with the Scripture, which revealed sufficient direction to him, Ezek. 31.1, to 12. and so, soon dispatched the interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, Dan. 4.10. So Joseph here; he suffered troubles as an evil doer, even unto bonds: but the Word of God is not bound.

Vers. 9. Behold, a vine was before me ] God, of his infinite grace and wisdom, gives men such signs, as excellently answer and agree to the thing thereby signified. Those two Sacraments of the New Testament for instance; which the Greek Fathers (in the Apostles sense, Heb. 9.24.) call 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , signs and symbols of better things, signified and sealed up thereby to the Believer. The Lord (saith Venerable Beza ) knowing well the vanity of our natures prone to idolatry, hath appointed us two Sacraments only; and those consisting also of most simple signs, and rites. For signs, he gave us water, bread and wine. The rites are no more then to sprinkle, eat, drink, (things of most common use) and a very little of these too; that men may not too much dote on the elements, or external acts in the Sacrament: but be wholly raised up to the mystery, and by faith mount up to Christ thereby set forth and exhibited: and fetching him down, as it were, that we may feed on him. Hence the outward sign is no further used, then may serve to mind us of the inward grace. The Minister also stirs up the people, to look higher then to what they see, with Sursùm corda; Lift up your hearts. A thing in use among the Primitive Christians.

Vers. 12. The three branches are three days,] That is, they signify three days. So Chap. 41.26. The seven kine, are seven years. So, this is my body; that is, this signifieth my body, saith Zwingli, after Augustine and Ambrose. Or, this is the sign and figure of my body, saith Calvin, after Augustine and Tertullian; whatsoever Bellarmine and Hunnius, prate to the contrary. It is an ordinary Metonimy, whereby the name of a thing signified, is given to the sign, for the analogy that is betwixt them, and for the certainty of signification: Homer and Virgil have the like. As for those Christians that eat their God, let my soul be with the Philosophers, rather then with them, saith Ave • roes the learned Arabian: When it was objected to Ni •• las Shetterden Martyr, by Archdeacon Harps-field; that the words of Christ, when he said, hoc est corpus meum did change the substance, without any other interpretation, or Spiritual meaning; he answered. Then belike when Christ said, this cup is my blood, the substance of the cup was changed into his blood, without any other meaning; and so the cup was changed, and not the wine. Harpsfield hereupon, was forced to confess, that Christ's Testament was broken, and his institution changed from that he left it; but he said, they had power so to do.

Vers. 13. Yet within three days ] Joseph foresaw the time of the Butlers deliverance, he knew not the time of his own. In good hope he was, that now he should have been delivered, upon the restauration of the Butler, and his intercession for him; but he was fain to stay two years longer; till the time that God's Word came: the Word of the Lord tried him; by trying, as in a fire, his faith and patience in afflictions.

Vers. 14. But think on me, &c.] Liberty is sweet, and should be sought by all lawful means, 1 Cor. 7.21. The Jews censure Joseph, for requesting this favor of the Butler; and say, he was therefore two years longer imprisoned. But this is a hard saying. Possible it is, that Joseph might trust too much to this man, and be over-hasty to set God this time, and no other; and so might be justly crossed of his expectation. It is hard and happy so to use the means, as not to trust to them; and so to wait God's good leisure, as not to limit the holy One of Israel. We trust a skillful workman to go his own way to work, and to take his own time. Shall we not do as much for God? He oft goes a way by himself, and gives a blessing to those times and means, whereof we despair.

Vers. 15. For indeed I was stolen away ] Joseph inveighs not against his brethren, that he may clear himself; but hideth their infamy, with the mantle of charity: which is large enough to cover a multitude of sins. It is a fault to speak of other men's faults, unless it be in an ordinance. Infamy soon spreads. [Out of the land of the Hebrews] So he by faith calls the land of Canaan; which yet was detained from them, till the sins of the Amorites were become full, But God's promises are good free-hold. Jacob disposeth of this land on his death-bed; though least master of it.

And here also I have done nothing, &c.] We may not betray our innocence by a base silence, but make seasonable apology; as did Daniel, Paul, Justin Martyr, Tertullian, and other the primitive Apologists. Francis King of France, to excuse his cruelty exercised upon his Protestant Subjects, to the German Princes, whose friendship he sought after, set forth a declaration to this purpose, That he punished only Anabaptists, that preferred their private revelations before the Word of God, and set at naught all civil government. Which brand, set upon the true Religion, and all the Professors thereof, Calvin not enduring, though he were then a young Divine, (of five and twenty years of age,) yot he compiled and set forth that admirable work of his, called, The Institution of Christian Religion; In commendation whereof, One writes boldly;

Vers. 16. When the chief Baker saw ] So when hypocrites hear good to be spoken, in the Word, to God's children, they also listen, and fasten upon the comforts, as pertaining to them: they receive the word with joy: they laugh, as men use to do in some merry dream: they catch at the sweet-meats as children, and conclude with Haman, that they are the men whom the King means to honor. But when they must practice duty, or bear the cross, they depart sad; and Christ may keep his heaven to himself, if it be to be had on no other conditions.

Vers. 17. And the birds did eat them ] He seeth not that he did anything, but suffereth only. He heareth therefore an unpleasing interpretation, saith Pareus.

Vers. 18. And Joseph answered, &c.] It is probable, he used some preface to this sad destiny he reads him; as Philo brings him in saying, I would thou hadst not dreamt such a dream: or as Daniel prefaced to Nebuchadnezzar; My Lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation to thine enemies. If Ministers, God's Interpreters, must be mannerly in the form, yet in the matter of their message, they must be resolute. Not only toothless, but bitter truths must be told, however they be taken. If I yet please men, &c. Gal. 1.10.

Vers. 19. And shall hang thee on a tree, &c.] This was cold comfort to the Baker: so shall the last judgment be to the ungodly; when the Saints, as the Butler, shall lift up their heads with joy. But what a sweet providence of God was this, that the Butler should first relate his dream, and receive his interpretation, as good as he could wish? Had the Baker begun, the Butler would have been disheartened, and hindered, perhaps, from declaring his dream. And then, where had Joseph 's hopes been of deliverance by the Butler? How could he have had that opportunity of setting forth his innocence, and requesting the Butlers favor, and good word to Pharaoh, for his freedom? See how all things work together for good to them that love God.

The birds shall eat thy flesh ] Those that were hanged, among the Jews, were taken down, Deut. 21.23. Not so among the Gentiles. A sore judgment of God threatened, in a special manner, against those that despise parents, Prov. 30.17. and fulfilled in Absalom. Abslon Marte furens, pensilis arbore obit. Gre • ser the Jesuit, to show his wit, calls that tree, a cross; and makes it a manifest figure of the cross of Christ. Sed ô mirum & delirum figurativae crucis fabrum! Our Lord indeed died upon the cross, and that with a curse. But that Absalom should, in that behalf, be a type of him, is a new Jesuitical invention. Some say, that in honor of Christ crucified, Constantine the Great abolished that kind of death, throughout the Empire.

Vers. 20. Which was Pharaohs birth-day] An ancient and commendable custom, to keep banquets on birth-days; in honor of God, our Sospitator, for his mercy in our creation, education, preservation, &c.

Vers. 21. So he hanged the chief Baker ] God's menaces, as well as promises, will have their accomplishment. Vengeance is in readiness for the rebellious, 2 Cor. 10.6. Every whit as ready in God's hand, as in the Ministers mouth.

Vers. 22. Yet did not the chief Butler ] Too many such Butlers, that forget poor Joseph. What cares Nabal though David die at his door, so he may eat the fat, and drink the sweet, &c? The Heathens picture of their graces, young and fresh, two looking towards you, and one from you, bids check to all ungrateful persons.

CHAP. XLI. Vers. 1. At the end of two full years ]

AFter the Butler was restored; by whose intercession, Joseph hoped to have been presently delivered, but was fairly deceived. So are all such sure to be, as depend upon living men, (never true to them that trust in them) or deceased Saints to intercede for them to God, Deus O. M. pro ineffabili sua clementia dignetur, & in posterum Divo Kiliano intercessore, Amplitudinem tuam contra fidei & Ecclesiae hosts tueri fortiter, & fovere suaviter, saith Eckius, in a certain Epistle to a Popish Bishop. Such a prayer begs nothing but a denial, with a curse to boot.

Vers. 2. There came up out of the river ] Nile: which, by over-flowing, fatteneth the Plain of Egypt, filling it with fruits; and so fitly deciphering the seven years of plenty. So far as this river watereth, is a black mould so fruitful; as they do but throw in the seed, and have four rich harvests, in less then four months, say travellers.

Vers. 3. Seven other kine came out of the river ] These, by their leanness, portended drougth and dearth, though they came up out of Nile also. This River, when it overflows unto twelve cubits height only, causeth famine; when to thirteen, scarcity; when to fourteen, cheerfulness; when to fifteen, affluence; when to sixteen, abundance, as Pliny tells us. The greatest increase ever known, was of 18 cubits, under Claudius: (we read of a general famine in his days, Act. 11.28. mentioned also by Suetonius, and Josephus; ) The smallest, of five cubits; in the history of the Pharsalian Wars. Such a thing might fall out now, to cause this sore famine. Or the river, for their sins, might be dried up, as God threatens them, Ezek. 29.3, 9. Isaiah 19.5, 6. And as it fell out in the reign of Cleopatra, that prodigiously prodigal Queen, the river overflowed not for two years together, saith Seneca: as at another time it overflowed not, for nine years together, saith Callimachus; and after him, Ovid. How easy is it for God, to starve us all, by denying us a few harvests? In case of famine, let us inquire the supernatural cause; as David did, 2 Sam. 21.1. when he know the natural cause to be the drought.

Vers. 4. Dideat up the seven, &c.] In famine is not only outward want, but a greedy dog-like appetite within, that an ordinary meal sufficeth not, Isaiah 9.20. but men are ready to eat one another: as they did at Potidea, in the Peloponnesian War; at Utica, when it was besieged by Amilcar the father of Hannibal; at Jerusalem, when it was beleagured by Vespasian; at Tunes, in the African War, when the soldiers were tithed; that is, every tenth man was cut in pieces and devoured. Such a famine there was at Rome in the days of Honorius the Emperor, that they were ready to eat one another; and this voice was heard in the place of public meeting. Pone pretium humanae carni. At Antioch in Syria, many of the Christians, (in the holy war) through famine, devoured the dead bodies of their late slain enemies. At the siege of Scodra, they were well night put to this extremity, when horses were dainty meat: yea they were glad to eat dogs, cats, rats, and the skins of beasts sodd. It exceedeth all credit, to tell at what exceeding great price a little mouse was sold, or puddings made of dogs guts. And if our relations deceived us not, such things as these we heard of lately, to have fallen out in Germany. Alterius perditio, tuacautio. Seest thou another man perish? see to thyself.

Vers. 5. And dreamed the second time ] Divine dreams use to be repeated, and to take deep impression, as this did, verse. 8. Pharaoh 's spirit was troubled. Heb. behammered.

Vers. 7. Behold, it was a dream ] That is, it was but a dream, and no more; yet a divine dream: whereof, see the Notes on Chap. 20. ver. 3.

Vers. 8. All the Magicians ] Or, natural Philosophers, that studied the secrets of nature, and could give a ready reason of everything: Magus is a persian word, and hath affinity with the Hebrew 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 a contemplative person; 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 : Such as was Aristotle among the heathens, and Augustine amongst Christians; the greatest and accuratest of men, after the Apostles, in contemplation and argumentation, as many are of opinion. The Grecians were so delighted with his learned labors, that they have translated him wholly into their tongue. As for the deep Theorems of natural Philosophy; they make one learned indeed, but seldom better, ofttimes worse, mere Atheists; as these wisemen of Egypt, else where called enchanters, wizards, Exod. 7.11. Of these were Jannes and Jambres that resisted Moses; learned they were, and lewd, as were those Philosophers, Rom. 1. [But there was none that could interpret] Because God had smitten them with a spirit of diziness▪ and made the wisdom of the wise to perish; for else, it had been easy for them, to have seen plenty in the fat kine, and penury in the lean, &c. But God had reserved that honor to Joseph, as a step or stirrup to further preferment.

Vers. 9. I remember my fault this day ] Oratio vere aulica, saith Pareus, a right courtiers speech. • e so relates the history of his imprisonment, that he takes all the blame thereof to himself; gives Pharaoh the full commendation of his justice and clemency. As for Joseph, he mentions him to the King; (lest if any esse should have done it before him, he should have been shent for hi • silence;) but somewhat slenderly, and more for self-respects, then of any good affection to the innocent prisoner; whom he calls a young-man, a bond-man, and hebrew; in whose behalf he neither adviseth, nor entreateth that he may be sent for. So very little is it, that Joseph oweth to this Patron. And such, for most part, are court▪commendations. There you have 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 ; as one said of old, delays and changes good store: every man seeking and serving his own aims and ends; but little minding the good of others, further then subservient to their own.

Vers. 10. Pharaoh was wroth with his servants, &c.] It is wisdom in a man to confess his faults, before the Prince whom he hath offended; and to commend his clemency in pardoning them: As Tully did Caesar's, as Mephibosheth did David's, &c. The Lord Cobham, the L. Gray, Sir Griffin Markham, being condemned for treason, about the beginning of King James, Anno 1603; and brought forth to execution: as they were upon the scaffold, the Sheriff notified the Kings pardon, his Majesty's warrant for the stay of the execution: at which unexpected clemency, besides the great shouts of the people, the condemned wished, that they might sacrifice their lives, to redeem their fault, and to repurchase so merciful a Princes love.

Vers. 11. Each man according to the interpretation ] That is, no vain dream, but significant, and deserving an interpreter.

Vers. 12. And he interpreted to us our dreams] And well you requited him: but better late then never; though a ready dispatch doubleth the benefit; howbeit God had an over-ruling hand in it, for Joseph's greatest good: he turneth the worlds ingratitude, to the salvation of his servants.

Vers. 13. As he interpreted to us, so it was ] Semblably, as Christ foretold the two thieves with whom he suffered, so it fell out; the one went to Heaven, the other to Hell. And so it shall fare with all men at last day, according to Isai. 3.10.11.

Vers. 14. And they brought him hastily ] Heb. They made him run: who haply knew not, what this haste and h • rry meant, but was betwixt hope and fear, till he came to the King. It is God that bringeth low, and lifteth up; that raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set him among Princes, &c. 1 Sam. 2.7, 8. In the year of Grace 1622. The Turkish Janizaries (who have learned that damnable art of making, and unmaking their King at pleasure) drew Mustapha, (whom they had formerly deposed) out of prison: and when he begged for his life, they assured him of the Empire; and carrying him forth upon their shoulders, cried with a loud voice; This is Mustapha, Sultan of the Turks, God save Mustapha, &c. with which sudden change the man was so affected, that he fell into a swoon for joy, and they had much ado to keep life in him: Our Henry fourth was crowned the very same day, that, the year before, he had been banished the Realm. [And changed his raiment, and came in unto Pharaoh] And should not we get on our best, when we are to come before God? Should we accost him, in the nasty tattered rags of the old Adam? and not spruse up ourselves, with the best of our preparation.

Vers. 15. I have dreamed a dream, and there is none, &c.] So men send not for the Minister, till given up by the Physician. Then they cry out with him in the Gospel: Sir if thou canst do anything, help us, &c. Whereunto what can we reply, but as that king of Israel did to the woman that cried to him for help, in the famine of Samaria; If the Lord help the • not, whence shall I help thee? out of the barn-floor, or out of the wine-press? Did not I forewarn you, saying, touch not the unclean thing, &c. and ye would not hear. Therefore is this thing come upon you. [ And I have heard say, &c.] Pharaoh despiseth not wisdom, how meanly soever habited. Saepe sub attrita latitat sapientia vest: Paupertas est philosophia vernacula, saith he in Apuleius: And Eumolpus in Petronius, being asked why he went so poorly apparrelled, answered; the study of wisdom, never made any man wealthy. And afterward he addeth; however it comes to pass, poverty is the sister of piety, and virtue is forsaken of fortunne. Nudus opum, sed cui coelum terraeque paterent, saith Silius of Archimedes, that great Mathematician. And Aelian observes, that the best of the Greeks, Aristides, Phocion, Pelopidas, Epaminondas, Socrates, were very poor men: Lactantius, that Christian Cicero, as Jerome calleth him, was so needy, that he wanted necessaries. All that Calvin left behind him, books and all, came scarce to three hundred French crowns: as Boz • his colleague witnesseth.

Vers. 16. It is not in me, God shall give Pharaoh, &c.] This is the voice of all that have true worth in them: they are humble, upon the knowledge of their perfections; they vilify and nullify themselves before God and men; like true balm, that put into water, sinks to the bottom: or like a vessel cast into the Sea, which the more it fills, the deeper it sinks. And this is the bottom and bosom of humility, and very next degree to exaltation, as here.

Vers. 25. The dream of Pharaoh is one ] One in signification, but diverse, in respect of vision. Why it was doubled, see ver. 32. Repetitions in Scripture are not tautologies, but serve to set forth to us, the necessity, excellency, or difficulty of the thing so re-enforced. To write to the Philippians the same things, to S. Paul it is not grievous, and for them it is safe, Phil. 3.1. Nunquàm satis dicitur, quod nunquàm satis discitur. Away then with those nice Novellists, that can abide to hear nothing but what is newminted. Ministers meet with many that are slow of heart, and dull of hearing; these must have precept upon precept, line upon line, &c. Many also of brawny breasts and horny-heart strings; that as ducklings stoop and dive at any little stone thrown by a man at them, yet shrink not at the heavens great thunder, &c. Here a Minister must beat and inculcate; turn himself into all fashions of spirit and speech, to win and work upon his hearers. He must so long pursue and stand upon one and the same point, (saith Austin ) till, by the gesture and countenance of his Auditors, he perceives they understand and assent to it. Hear this, all ye people, give ear all ye Inhabitants of the world, (saith the Psalmist) Both low and high, rich and poor together. Quid dignum tanto feret hic promiss • r hiatu, will some proud spirit say? what so great matter is there delivered in this Psalm, that so much attention is called for? Is it not an ordinary argument, such as we have heard of an hundred times, ( viz. the happy and secure estate of the Saints, though in trouble, and the miserable and slippery condition of the wicked, though they prosper in the world?) True, saith the Holy Ghost; this is the subject of this Psalm; and this, how common a theme soever, is the great wisdom, and the dark saying, that I will here open unto you and that calls for your utmost attention.

Vers. 33. Now therefore let Pharaoh, &c.] This was good counsel, and it proved best to the councellour. The Jews injuriously charge him with ambitious self-seeking: So they did Noah (as is above noted); with hard-heartedness, and in compassionateness to the old world. These made the worst of things, and so condemned the generation of God's Children. How much better had it been, to have followed that golden rule of Epictetus? Take every man by that handle, whereby he may best be held; as Virgil dealt by Ennius, Cyprian by Tertullian, Jerome by Origen, August in by Tichonius. If an action had an hundred several faces, we should always cast our sight upon the fairest; and make the best of everything. What Joseph did here, he did doubtless, by divine direction.

Vers. 34. Let him appoint officers ] Bishops or overseers. The word signifieth, any such as have public charge and office, whether in Church, or common-wealth. But how many of our Episcopy, are now become Aposcopi, by-seers, rather then over-seers; as Espencaeus long since complained? Our land groans for some Moses, to take away the evil-Officers. Nam non unum tantùm vitulum, sed multos habemus, as honest Ferus said of his times. And as John Hus, of his Church-men; Many things, saith he, which they call order, breed confusion of all things, throughout whole Christendom.

And take up the fifth part of the land ] For so much money, as it is worth: the Egyptians might well spare it, and the King might as well buy it, since he should sell it again, for very good profit. Neither would Joseph advise, nor Pharaoh be advised, to take his Subjects goods by violence. When Samuel tells the people, that their King, whom they called for, would take their fields and vineyards, the best of them, and give them to his servants, &c. loquitur non tam de jure quam de more, he speaks not of the right of Kings, (as if all were theirs, and no man had anything of his own) but of the manner, and illimited power that some Kings take over their subjects goods; as in Turkey, Persia, &c. Let it be the voice of a Nero, whensoever he put any one in office, Scis quid mihi opus sit, & hoc agamus, nequis quicquam habeat: Of a Seleucus, to proclaim, that the Kings pleasure is the only law; as if it were not enough, to be above men, but above mankind: as those Princes Would be, saith our English Chronicler, that would have their will to be law. Melancthon tells us of a certain Prince, in those parts, that extorted money from his miserable subjects, by knocking out their teeth. First he knocked out one tooth, threatening to do so by the rest, unless they brought him in such a sum, by such a time, as he demanded. The same Author elsewhere relates, that he was at a Sermon on the birth-day of our Savior: The Preacher took his text out of Luk. 2.1. There went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. And whereas the audience expected, that the Preacher should have discoursed of Christ's Nativity, of the hypostatical union, &c. he spent his whole hour (the weather being extreme cold) in this subject, that Obedience must be yielded to the higher powers; that they must have as much money given them, as they call for; with a great deal of such like stuff, little to the purpose, but much to the pleasure of some Princes then and there present. Such Court-Parasites, many times, do much mischief in a State; as well by seducing good Princes, (qui essent alii, si essent apudalios) as by stickling against them, when the world doth not favor them. When Edward the second, surnamed Carnarvan, was pursued by his Queen, and son, the Bishop of Hereford being to preach before her at Oxford, and to deliver the cause of her proceeding, took for his text, My head aketh, my head aketh; and concluded most undivinely, that an aking and sick head of a Kingdom, was, of necessity, to be taken off, and no otherwise cured.

Vers. 35. And let them gather all the food ] This text warranteth providence, in laying up for a rainy day. Solomon sends us to school to the pismire, to learn this lesson, Prov. 6.6. And it is well observed, that our Savior had a purse for common store for himself and those about him. Neither was this a penny-pouch, but a bag so big, as needed a bearer. God would have us to be good husbands, and see that Condus be fortior promo, our comings in, more then our layings out; Parents must lay up for their children, 2 Cor. 12.14. yea, leave inheritance to children's children, Prov 13.22. playing the good husbands abroad and at home, Prov. 27.26, 27.

Vers. 37. And the thing was good in the eyes of Pharaoh ] The Devil, no doubt, by the Magicians and Politicians of those times, did his utmost to hinder the Kings purpose of preferring Joseph; as he did here for Cromwell, that great Reformer, whom King Henry the eight, of a Smiths son, made Farl of Essex. But these is neither counsel nor wisdom against the Lord, Prov. 21.30.

Vers. 38. And Pharaoh said unto his servants ] He would resolve nothing without the advice of his Counsel. He was not like the Persian Monarchs, who gave their Peers no freedom nor liberty of advice: Nor that willful King James of Scotland, (that reigned in our Edward the fourth's time) that would seldom ask counsel, but never follow any: so wedded he was to his own opinion, (saith the Historian) that he could not endure any man's advice (how good soever) that he fancied not. Pharaoh heard what his servants could say to it; who all, at length, consented, when the ill-affected saw it was no boot to dissent.

Can we find such a man as this ] Hence some collect, that Joseph preached many more things to the King, of God, his power, providence, goodness, &c. then are here recorded; and was therefore so admired, and advarced to the office of teaching his Senators wisdom. To bind his Princes to his soul, and make wise his Elders, as the Original hath it.

Vers. 39. Forasmuch as God hath shown thee all this ] Pharaoh, at first, took him for no other, then a cunning sooth-sayer, and conjecturer of dreams. Now he finds better worth in him, a spirit of wisdom and discretion: He seeth him to be a man spiritually rational, and rationally spiritual; one that seemed to see the insides of Nature and Grace, and the world and heaven, by those perfect anatomies he had made of them all. Briefly, such a heart so well headed, nor such a head better hearted, he had never met with. Wherefore he resolves to set him at the stern of the State; there being not anything that makes a man so good a Patriot, as true Religion; which admits not of that distinction between a good man and a good Citizen.

Vers. 40. Thou shalt be over my house, &c.] Pharaoh prefers him, because he found good parts in him. They that bestow places of charge in Church or Common-wealth, upon undeserving persons, for by-respects, shall have Pharaoh to rise up in judgment against them. In King Edward the sixth's minority, Dignity waited upon desert, (saith the Historian) which caused it again to be waited upon by respect. Order also was taken, that no man should have any benefice from the King, but first he should preach before him. Tamberlane -never bestowed his preferments upon such as ambitiously sought them; as deeming them, in so doing, unworthy thereof: but upon such, as whose modesty or desert, he thought worthy of those his great favors.

Vers. 41. See, I have set thee over all, &c.] So Antoninus the Emperor, made Pertinax (a mean man, but well qualified) Consul; which many murmured at. But he was afterwards made Emperor; and finding the public treasure woefully wasted by his predecessor Commodus, he restored it by his good husbandry; which many Magnifico'es laughed at; caeteri, quibus virtus luxuriâ potior erat, laudabamus, saith the Historian.

Vers. 42. And Pharaoh took off his ring ] Pliny therefore is out, that thinks the use of rings came not up before the Trojan War. How happy had he been, (that was so great a book-devourer) had he light upon the Bible. He was in-sighted in all the secrets of Nature; as appears by his works; (which is non minùs varium quam ipsa rerum natura, saith Erasmus: ). He never read anything but he excerped it; neither in his library only, but in his couch; and whiles he was on horseback, he either wrote, or dictated somewhat to be written. When he saw his Nephew walk out some hours without studying, he said to him, Poteras has horas non perdere. He lived in the days of Vespasian; and was a great dealer under him. What pity it was, that neither by Jews nor Christians he came to the knowledge of the Scriptures; where he might have met with many Antiquities, (as this of the use of the ring, an ornament of honor) not elsewhere to be read of. But God had hid these things from the wise and prudent, because it so seemed good in his sight, Matth. 11.25, 26. [And put a gold chain about his neck] Behold (saith a learned Interpreter) one hour hath changed his fetters into a chain of gold, his rags into robes, his stocks into a chariot, his jail into a palace; Potiphar 's captive, to his Masters Lord; the noise of his chains into Abrech. God commonly exalts his people to the contrary good to that evil, he had cast them into; as Joseph, here, of a slave, to be a Ruler; Christ judged, to be Judge of all. So Gaius, so soon as he came to the Empire, the first thing he did, was to prefer Agrippa, (who had suffered imprisonment for wishing him Emperor:) he made him King of Judea, (this was that Herod that was eaten with worms, Act. 12) and gave him a chain of gold, as heavy as the chain of iron, that was upon him in prison.

Vers. 43. Bow the knee ] Or, tender Father, because he was young in years, but old in wildom, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 , as Macarius was called. Not the ancient are wise, but the wise ancient.

Vers 44. I am Pharaoh ] Of a root that signifieth to make bare, because (say some) he was to be bared, that is, sifted and manifested by Joseph.

without thee shall no man lift up his hand] And yet the Egyptians (in Seneca 's time however) were a proud peremptory people, apt to cast contempt and contumely upon their Governors, were they never so upright and unblameable. Joseph had said, without me, God shall answer Pharaoh; And now he heareth, without thee shall no man, &c.

Vers. 45. Zaphnath Pa • neach ] That is, saith Idiprome, the Savior of the world. An high style: so the Greeks, when Flaminius, who had freed them from bondage, came amongst them, called him, Savior, Savior, with such a courage, that the birds that flew over their heads, amazed at the noise, fell to the ground. Hunniades, having overthrown Mesites, the Turks General, at his return into the camp, a wonderful number of the poor captives came, and falling at his feet and kissing them, gave God thanks for their deliverance by him. Some called him Father; some, the Defender of his country; the soldiers, their invincible General; The captives, their Savior; the women, their protector; the young men and children, their tender father. He again, with tears standing in his eyes, cunceously embraced them, rejoicing at the public good; and himself, giving most hearty thanks unto God, commanded the like to be done, in all the Churches of that province. [ The daughter of Potipherah Prince of On] Called Aven. Ezek. 30.1 •