Vou ii

34 the ancestors of the Israelites and the Syrians are here conceived as fixing the border between the territories occupied afterwards by their respective descendants, wliich was often, especially during the period of the Syrian wars, matter of bloody dispute between them. The ' long game of well-matched wits ' is thus ended ; and Laban returns to l.laran (31"), while Jacob travels on towards Canaan.

As he journeys, the ' angels of God ' meet him, as if to welcome and congratulate him on his ausjiicious return ; and from this circumstance the name Mn/tanaiin ia explained ('the double camp'). Mahanaini be- came afterwards an important place (2 H 2"' '^- the capital of Isliboslieth's kingdom ; see also 17"' ", 1 K 4'*) ; but its situation is not known : from the sequel of the present narrative, it must, however, have been N. of the Jabbok (now the HerM), though not much N.

, and within sight of the Jordan (v.'") : in Jos 13^- se it is mentioned as a place on the border between Gad and Mana-sseh.t A fresh danger now threatens Jacob, the prospect of meeting again his brother Esau, who might be supposed to have still not forgotten old grudges. Jacob sends (32*"°) a conciliatory mes-sage to him, but learns in reply that he is coming to meet him with 400 men. He is greatly alarmed ; but his powers of resource do not desert him.

He divides Ids party into two ' camps,' in the hope that if one should be smitten by Esau, the other at least might escape ; and besides this worldly precaution, he invokes in prayer the aid of God, reminding Him that it was He who had bidden him (31') re- turn to his native land, and pleading before Him the blessings which He had already bestowed uijoii him (v.'"), and the promises which He had given liim (v.") J (In vv.'

-, it is to be observed, there is clearly a second explanation, parallel to the one in v., of the name Mahatiaim^). If w.'^'"'-' be the original sequel to w.^"'^, the passage \\ ill describe a further precaution taken bj' Jacob, viz. a present of cattle, consisting of 580 head, and divided into separate droves for the purpose of making a favourable impression upon Esau, who, as drove upon drove came up, would be at once gralilied and surprised to learn that each was intended for himself.

Hut the passage from v.""" to v.''" appears to proceed from the other narrator E ; [| .so that the account of the present maj' be a parallel, and not a sequel, to the division into two ' camps ' in vv.''' There follows the account of Jacob's wrestling with the angel. His party had crossed the Jabbok (the WdJuZcrM) ; and he himself was left behind 'alone,' — it is dillicult to .say, on which side of the stream. U It was the eve of the greatest crisis of his life.

His future welfare hung in the balance. Long ago he had taken cruel advantage of his brotlier : he had had to llee before his threatened vengeance ; now Esau was on his way to meet him with a large retinue of attendants ; and what woiUd the is-sue be ?

In the solitude and darkness a ' strange and nameless dread ' came over him : Urn terrible thought that God was his antagonist tooK possession of him ; and so vividly did he realize it that he seemed to himself to bo engaged in an • The word rendered ' hoet ' In SS*. and ' company " In Sj[7. 8. 10. 11 33S, properly means camp, and Is usually to rendered. It Is a pity that a different raoderinf has bMO adopteil here. t Conip. O. A. Smith, HGIIL 6S«. I With v.

n compare 2S1 '» (the phratlnf, as tS" Wy IVv.l « lK>long to K ; %-v.H>« to J. Notice that at v.n' tlie narrative It at exactly the same point tliat it had na.lu-d at v.H». «I V.w implies that Ja.-.ib had onx'-wl It, t.> that he had not. The two vemcs clearlv belong to different sour<:<». If, aa moat critics agree, >-v.n "^ Iwlong to J, the icene of the wrestling ! will have been S. of the JabboV- I i30 JACOB JACOB iictual striiji^le with a livinj; man.

* The stru^r^le continued till the approach of daybreak. t lint Jacob wrestled bravely : his mysterious an- tat;onist saw that he could not prevail against him Liy tlie means wliich a wrestler would naturally employ; so, in order to escape before daylight, ami at the same time to show that he was superior to Ja('ob, he sprained Jacob's thigh.

But Jacob, though he can no longer wrestle with his an- ta^'onist, can still hold him : he perceives that he Im more than an ordinary mortal ; so he seizes the opportunity to win a blessing for himself, ' I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.' The bless- ing takes the form of a change of name. 'Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel ; for thou hast persevered with God and with men, and hast prevailed.'

The name ' Israel,' meaning (on the analogy of other names similarly formed) ' God persists (or perseveres), 'J is interpreted as suggesting the meaning ' Perse verer with God.'§ Jacob's persevering struggle with God is j\ist endeil : of men, he has persevered against both Laban and Esau ; his struggle with Laban was concluded previously ; that with Esau is not yet concluded, but ' ticut prevailed ' is a word full of hope for the future.

At the same time, as the name was to the Hebrews the symbol or expression of the nature, the change of name is signiiicant of a moml change in the patriarch himself: he is to be no longer the Supplanter, the Crafty one, the Overreacher, but the Perseverer with God, wlio is worthy also to prevail. || The incident serves to exjilain further the name Pcnvel, ' Face of God ' ; 'for,' said Jacob, 'I have seen God /we to face, and yet my life is preserved.'

U The narrator deduces also from this incident the custom of not eatinj; in animals the muscle corresponding to the one \vliich had been strained in Jacob's thigh : it was treated as sacred through the touch of God. The site of Penuel is uncertain ; but it must have been near both the Jabbok and the Jordan.

As Jacob journeys from Penuel to Succoth, so Gideon, pursuing the Midianites in the contrary direction, comes first to Succoth, and afterwards ' ^oes up ' to Penuel ( Jg 8°- ') ; it may therefore be conjectured that it was some elevated or projecting spot, near where the Jabbok descends from the uplands into the Jordan Valley : Merrill suggests Tuliil ed- Dahab, conical hills, witli ruins at their top, which rise from the Jabbok Valley, with the stream flowing between them, to a height of 250 ft.

* The dreaded meeting with Esau passes off happily (33''"). Jacob prepares for the worst (vv.'"') ; but Esau shows a generous and magnani- mous spirit: he receives his brother with all friendliness, and inquires with interest after his children (vv.''). lie at first refuses Jacob's present: but Jacob by pressure induces him to * in the sense of the tradition, the contest, as Dillm. remarks, is plainly an external and physical one. t In theran word p^.xj for vn-estle, w.M.

25^ there is a play on the name Jablx)k (P^!), if not an explanation of its origin, as though it meant Wrestliruj (■stTcam). J Sayce's derivation (EHII 73, and elsewhere) from ydshar, * to be upright,' ' to direct' (I), has nothing to recommend it. § Cf. Arab, ahariya, to peTsii^t, or persevere ; conj. iii. ^ex- pressing the idea of riralry) to persist or persevere against another (viz. in contention or wrangling). The same root is contained in Seraiah, ' Jah persists.'

(The root means 'to strive ' (RVm) only in the sense of to exert oneself, not in that of (0 contend. It has no connexion with sar, ' prince,' from sdrar). I J from this point prefers, though not (in our existing text«) quite uniformly, Israel to Jacob as the designation of the patriarch. U With allusion to the often expressed beUef that no one could 'see Ood and live' (Ex 1921 332ti_ jj, 622f. 1322). Notice the adversative force of the Wdw consecutive (Ges. § 111^). •• See Moore, Judqes, 22nf.

, 223; G. A. Smith, HOBL 586f. There was a Phienician headland called flwi/ vpira^o^ ; and Penuel * may really, like this headland, have derived its name from some physical feature presented by it. accept it, no doubt hoping thereby to purchase the continuance of his good -will in the future (vv. '"").

* Esau afterwards otVers Jacob his pro- tection for the rest of the journey, or at least some of his people as an escort ; but Jacob declinea both these oilers ; he will lay himself under no obligation to his brother, nor will he incur any risk of a rupture in the cordial relations now established between them (vv. '-•'"'). E.sau accord- ingly returns to Edom ; while Jacob moves on to Succoth (the name of which is explained from the booilis ["i=-] built by him there for his cattle).

The site oi Succoth is not more certainly known than that of Penuel : it was on the E. of Jordan (Jg 8*- °), in the valley, perhaps (Uillm.) near the ford of ed-D.lmiyeh (on the road from es-Salt to Nflblus), a little S. of the point where the Jal>b<il> enters the Jordan. t After crossing the Jordan, Jacob advanced into the heart of the country, to Shechem. There he encamped in front of tlie city, and bought the plot of ground on which his tent rested, of the native Shechemites for lOu kesUalix.

X The purchase of this land is mentioned on account of the sequel : it was the place in which the bones of Joseph ultimately reposed (Jos 24'-) ; and it had the same interest and significance for the N. kingdom which the cave of Machpelah at Hebron (ch. 23) had for the king- dom of Judah.§ We come (ch. 34) to the somewhat remarkable narrative of the dealings of Jacob with Shechem.

The chapter is plainly composite ; but the criteria are in some cases ambiguous, so that critics are not fully agreed in their results. The main character- istics of the two narratives of which it is composed are, however, suHicicntly clear.

According to J,;i Shechem, son of Ilamor, having seduced Jacobs daughter, Dinah, desires to obtain her from her father and brothers in marriage : they agree, only imposing a condition the nature of which in the existing text of J is not specified, but whi<li Hamor at once accedes to (w.''

- '■'• ") ; afterwards, however, Simeon and Levi, resenting keenly Hamor's treatment of their sister, fall upon him, without their brothers' knowledge, slay hini and his father, and rescue Uinah ; their father blames them severely for making him and his family unpojiular among the native Canaanites, and endangering their lives; they reply that the honour of their tribe is above all such considerations : ' Should he deal with our sister as with an harlot?'

Here the transaction \\aa a, j^ersonal character: only Shechem is involved ; and his aim is the personal one of securing Uinah as his wife. According to the rest of the narrative, II Shechem equally desires to obtain Dinah as his wife, but much wider interests are involved : the transaction assumes a notional significance : Uamor • V.io * forasmuch as I have seen thy face, as when one seetb the face of tJod' (i.e. 1 have found it as favourable), is mani- festly, as Wellh.

remarks, another explanation of the name Pi-nitel. 'To see the face ' is the phrase used of one adniitti-0 to the presence-cliamber of a monarch, or other ruler (On 43**^ 2 S 14" 2a, 2 K 25>a ; of God, Ps 11', Job 832<l), and, it ie im plied, viewed by his superior favourably. Jacob, by using this expression, pays Esau a high compliment. ' Beiden \Vendungen dcr Sage liegt'zu Grund, dass man in Peniel denunfreundlicheo Oott als freundlichen erfahrt ' (Dillm. >. t Comp. Moore, he, p.

218 (who mentions another proposed site, at Deir'Alla, N. of the Zerka; cf. G. A. Smith, f.c. p. 68.'') I A piece of money (or metal) of uncertain value. It is mentioned besides only in Jos 24^2, Job 42". § As Dinah, who (31*1 comp. with 3021) must have been quite an infant when Jacob left Haran, appears of marriageable age in ch. 34, Jacob (if the narrative is to be treated as consistent) must be supposed to have passed some years at Succoth (or at Sliechem, before the events mentioned in ch.

34 occurred) ; cf. Dillm. on 3025'- 3317 341. t Vv.2b. 3. ». 7. 11. 12. 19. 20 (• twoof the SOUS of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, Dinah's brethren, took each man bis sword ') -»■ *>. 81. Tliis narrative is naturally not quite complete, part^ having been omitted when it was combined with the other narrative. II P ; or (Wellh.. Cornill, Holzinger) E, amplified in parts Ij writer of the school of P.

JACOB JACuB proposes what is virtually an amalgamation of the two communities, with foil reciiirocal rights of tratie and inter-marriage (vv.-'"- ^'•^) : the sons of Jacob generally (not merely Simeon and Levi) speak on their sister's behalf : they impose the condition (which is here circumcision) not on Shcchem only, but on the whole people (vv."-") ; and the entire city experiences tlicir vengeance (vv.'-"*"^"'^). On the possible signilicance of this narrative, see p. 535.

From Shechem Jacob proceeds on his way to Bethel (about 20 miles S. of Shechem), a panic terror (35°) restraining the natives of the neighbour- hood from pursuing him. Bethel was the spot, which, wlien he was startin" for l^aran some 20 years (31'") preWously, had been con.secrated for Iiiiii by his great dream (28"'°') ; and now, in anticipation of Wsiting it again, he bade his hou.

sehold and retainers put away all ' forei^cn gods ' from among them : the ' God of Bethel ' (31") had proved Himself true to His iiromise (2S'°) ; He had led His servant safelv through many trials and anxieties ; and at ISethel, in fullilment of his vow (28^), he would now build an altar to Him. Later generations pointed to the terebinth at Shechem (cf. Jos 24-'') as marking the spot at which the idols brought from Ijaran (cf. Gn 31'", Jos 24, "■="), and the amulets,* were buried by Jacob.

The erection of the altar is narrated in 35' (E, as also vv.i-»-8). 1' (35»-"- ") <lescribes at this point a thcophanj-, with a renewed promise to Jacob of a numerous and royal posterity, and of the gift of the land (\t."- '-') ; t to the same occasion he also assigns (v.'") the change of name from Jncub to Israel, wliich J has narrated already at I'etiuel (32'"), and the origin of the name of lidhel, wliich J had connected with Jacob's former visit to the place (28'").

The relation of the ' nillar,' wliich, accordin"; to v." (probably J), Jacou set up, and upon which he is said also to liave poured a drink- ollering and oil, to the one mentioned previously in 2S'" (E), is not clear ; the verse wiay relate to a dilTerent ' pillar,' it iiuty give a different version of the origin of the same ' pillar.' J Leaving Bethel, Jacou continued his journey to the South.

Shortly before reaching Ephrath, liachel died in childbirth : she herself, so tradition told, called her son Ben-oni 'son of my sorrow,' but his father preferred a name of better omen, and called him Ben-jntnin, 'son of the right hand.'§ On the site of her grave, Jacob erected a ' pillar,' which still l)ore her name in the narrator's day (3o»). In 1 S 10" Ilachel's grave is distinctly stated to have been on the (Northern) border of Benjamin, not far from Bethel (cf. v.'

; and see also Jer 31") : unless therefore there were different traditions respecting its site, the gloss 'the same is Beth-lehera' (in spite of its repetition in 48', and in spite also of its being in agreement with other statements, as Kn 4", Mic 5') is incorrect, and there were more loca- lities than one called Ejihrnth. Still pursuing his way, Jacob next rested beyond the 'tower of Eder' (or 'of the llock '),— a phice, of wliich (in spite of Mic 4") the situation is quite uncertain.

P (SS^"") brings Jacob on to Hebron (v."; cf. 37" JE). There Isaac (who wiu htsl mentioned as • This Is the inritninK ot the ' riiiK«' of S5«. t With V." of. the puaoges clttd p. 627 not« t ; »nd add V* CkinKi'). t Cornill conjectures that this verse oiii:<na)lr (without ' In the place whrre he spake with him ' ) stood in close connexion with V.8: In this case the 'plllur' would be a sepnlchnil stele (of. ».

*•), and the liliations would be poured out as ollirinifs U> the dead (ilil TIT, 1891, p. 16 0. ; c(. llolrin(cer, Camm. p. 1X1) I Whether this \» the true explanation of the name, must remain an open nueation. Savce (Kllll 78) aurres here with Stade (WescA. L 181) in thinking that the name (the 'SouUierner') haj .vally reference to the poaitioo ot tbe territory o' Ueojaiuln on the S. of Epbrmim.

being at Beersheba) dies ; and (according to tho same source, P) Jacob and Esau meet once more for the purpose of burying him (v.'' ; cf. 25'). The active period of Jacob's life is now over : the rest of his days is passed in quietude ; and Joseph becomes the moving spirit in the patriarchal family. Joseph was his father's favourite son ; his brethren envied him ; his dreams of future exaltation increased their jealousy ; but his father fondly wondered what these dreams might signify (37').

Jacob is still at Hebron, but his Hocks are at Shechem, t tended by his other sons, and he sends Joseph thither to inquire after his brethren's welfare (37'-''^). Deceived in his old age by his sons, as he had in his youth deceived his own aged father, he receives with inconsolable grief the evidence, as it seems to him, of Joseph's cruel death (37^'''').

As the famine grows severe in Canaan, he sends his sons, but witliout Benjamin, who now naturally takes Joseph's place as hia father's favourite, to buy corn in Egypt (42'"'') : upon their inauspicious return, his distress and grief hnd bitter expression in the reproachful words (42^), ' Me have ye bereaved of my children : Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away ; upon me are all the.se things come.'

In the end, he is obliged to let Benjamin go back with his brethren into Egypt, but with characteristic prudence he sends with them a present calculated to win the favour of the great man of the land (43"""). The dfnvumcnt soon follows ; and ch. 45 recounts the delight with which he hears that his son is still alive, and receives the message to come and join him in Egypt (vv.^'^). He sets forth from Hebron, journeys to Beersheba, the home of Isaac and of his own former days (27.

23'"), and there, when on the point of lea\'ing for a second time the land of jiroiiiise, and taking up his abode in the land of kgjpt, receives a word of encouragement and promise suitable to the occasion (4G^- '' ; cf. pre- viously, at Bethel, 28"-"). Israel thus ' went down into Egj'pt ' ; and a new and momentous epoch in the history of the nation was inaugurated. The list of Jacob's sons and grandchildren who accompanied him into Egypt is given by P (46', '').

J Jacob meets his son Joseph in Goshen, and the wish of his heart is accomplished (46="). Afterwards he is honourably received by the Pharaoh, and as- signed, with Ills sons, a residence in the pastorij district of Goshen (47'"-"' [from ' in the land '] J ; 47....7-np).

§ As the time drew near for Jacob to die, he made Joseph promise not to burj him in Egypt, but to lay him in the tomb of his fathers in Canaan • 2Si> compare<l with 27*^: aooonUng to P{35' cnmixired with 25' 20*) eujhty yearn previously, Jacob tieinu now 120 yiar>olrt I (AccordinL' to Jill, Jacob was but 20 yean in Mi 90|>o- lamia, 31" ; cf. p. t/M'')- t The author of this passage must have pictured Jacob's flocks as nianiini; pretty freely over the country (cf. v.

l', l>othan beluK about 15 inilea N. of Shtchem), H he himself was at Hebron. In view of ch. »4, the mention of their tn'itij; at Shechem Is remarkable ; but the writer. It la poasihle, pictured the inhabitants ot the neighlK>urhood aa deUrred by fear (cl. Xi-) Irom inttrlerinK' with Jacob's po.«e»»ion.«. 1 On dillW-vilties connectwi with the enumeration, enp. In vv.'i ^.

see the Coninu-iitariea- — An iiiterestini; illustration of Jacob's descent into K^'M't in alTonUil lt\' the n-prvsenution, on a tomb at Benillasaan, ol 37 Asialhs ( .< tn u ), bnnginif a prewnt ot eye i>-iint. and two live ibexes, to fxTtoieu ii.. of the l.ih dynastv, in his 6th year (c. >.c. 2600, I'elrie). The pro, i-si.

n la a n-inarkable one : it comprise men, women, and i-hiMrtn, and two assea : the men wear \ong ridily-coloureii tunica, or in some caat-s coloured loincloths, and one is playinp with a plectrum on a lyre of six striiic^ See Wilkinsim-Hireh. Ane. K'lyp. 1S7S, i. 4!50 ; Maspcro, Ihixcnof Cii-'li^atitm, 4''.s 470; or I'itne, llitt. «,' Kyv}, I. 172-174; also llonimel, AIITl'ii. J The sctiuence in w.- • ia better in the LA.\ ; s<-e tha Comma, or Ll>T pp. 10, 10 < 11, ID n.

The situation ot IJoHlien, fixed approximately by tradition, has been determine deflnitely by the reaearchos ot U. Vaiille; it waa the dinn.i Ivinif Iwtween the three moilern villawia of BafL Belbela, anrt 'tal cl-Kebir, about 40 uillc* K.H ot t:airu. 532 JACOB JACOB 147"""). Ch. 48 narrates (1) liow he aJopteii Joseph's two sons, Manasseh and Ejihraini, iilai injr them on the same level with his own ciiiliiren (vv.'

-' 1') ; and (2) how he blessed them, giving at the same time the first plaee to the younger, Ejihraim, in view of the future pre-eminence of the tribe descended Irom him (vv.'"'-', '" JE). There follows a special promise and gift, made to Joseph (yy ai. -.'J jrj "phe terms of v.- are remarkable, 'And I give thee one shoulder* {.i/u/:/iciii) above thj' brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow.' There is manifest!

}' here an allusion to Shechem, after- wards an important and central place in the terri- tory of Ephraim (cf. G. A. Smith, IIGIIL 33-2-334), wliere also Joseph was buried (Jos 24'^) ; but noth- ing is said elsewhere of a, conquest of Slieclicni by Jacob : it is evident that there is preserved here a version of Jacobs dealings with Snechem dill'erent from any which we linii elsewhere.

t 49-'-'' contains the more elaborate poetical Ulesa- iug, which Jacob is said to have addressed to all his sons before his death. Throughout this liless- ing what the poet really has in view are the tribes ; as so often elsewhere in Genesis, the tribe is con- ceived as impersonated in its ancestor, and the ancestor foreshadows the character of the tribe.

The poet i)asses the tribes in review : he singles out in each some striking feature of moral char- acter, political state, or geographical position, for poetical aniplilication ; and on each he pionounces some word of praise or blame, according to its deserts.

The moral instability of Reuben, the dis- organized social condition of Simeon and Levi, the ideal sovereignty and vine-clad territory of Judah, the maritime advantages enjoyed by Zebulun, the ignoble indifl'erence which led Issachar to prefer case to independence, the quick and eflective attack of Dan, the warlike bravery of Gad, the richness of Asher's soil,J the blessings of jpopulous- ness, military efficiency, climate, and soil, which, in spite of envious assailants, are showered upon Joseph, the martial skUl and success of Benjamin, — these, briefly, are the features which the poet selects, and develops one after another, in varied and eirective imagery.

The historical and geo- gr.'iphical conditions reflected in the poem are those of the period of the Judges, Samuel, and David ; and this is the age in which the ancient tradition of the patriarch's Blessing must have received its present poetical form. After this, we read, Jacob charged his sons to bury him in the faniUy grave at Machpelah (49^-^ r : 47-^-»' is parallel in JE), and then died (v.^^ P).

His body was embalmed, according to the Egyp- tian custom (50'"') : a great funeral procession was organized, such as was usual in Egypt (50'"") ; § and he was buried in the land of Canaan, in the cave at Hebron (SO''- ").|| • •'.«. ' mountain-elope ' or ' -side' ; of. the use of the ejii. IPJ Jos I6S. 10 isii li- la. 18 (RV poorly, ' side 'X t In the parta of ch.

34 which belong to J, two of Jacob's sons wreak their venjjeanee on individual Shecheniites ; but Jacob liiinself rejiu'iiates their deed. The present pass-it'e shows that a version must have been current accordinj;: to which Jacob (i.e. Israel as a whole) conquered and took possession of Shechem. This version is allied to, and perhaps unaerlies, the other narra- tive in ch.

34, according to which the eons of Jacob (and not Simeon and Levi alone) massacred the inhabitanta of Sliechem ; hut it is not said, or even implied, in this narrative that they retained the citj- as their own possession. (The statement in 3311* that Jacob purchased a piece of land outside the cit.v, is of course not inconsistent with his forcible conquest cf the city itaelf afterwards). See further, Dillm., Holzinger, and Wellh. Comp. 316 fl.

1 The blessing on Naphtali is too uncertain In Iti terms to be •ummarized with any confidence. f Erman, Life in Ancient Egj/pUp. 320 f. I 604 11 (JK) is the sequel to 47»3l (in both Joseph alone U the prominent person) ; Goms (p) jg the sequel to 49^-33 (in both Jacob's sons in general are the actors), the d/lour by Atad (vv.lO- 11).

on the East of Jordan, is manifestly made merely bv the narrator, for the purpose of explaining the name Abel- The chronology of Jacob's life presents serious ditlicultius : n is evident that the traditions (or theories) about it are incon- sistent. (1) r's chronology, as olun elsewhere in Un, is eiUirely irreconcilable with that ol JE. In cli. 'i7 (JE) Isaac is to all appearance uiton his deathl>ed (Cf. v.2) ; yet according lo P ('J.'j'.w '.i»p4 3iJ'.

^) he survived for eighty/ yearg, dying at the age ol ISO. t'ssher, Keil, and others, arguing back iroui the dales . given in 47" 460 ji-ui sjJl, inier that Jacob's llight to l,Iaran took place in his 77lh year ; this reduces the SU year« to 43 years, though that is almost ciiuully incredible ; but it involves the fresh incongruity o( supposing that thirty. scren years elaitscd between Ksau's marryinj; his Hittite wives ('.

itpJ), and Uebeliah's expressing her fear ('11^) that Jacob, then aged *'ctr»fi/-«frer», should follow his brother's example I Nor is it natural to picture Jacob seeking a wife in llaran, and tending Laban's sheep, as a man 77 years old. C^) It may bf doubted whether even the chronology of JK is perfectly consistent, (a) The supposition matle p.

630 note § is rc»iuired, as there explained, for consistency : but an unspecified sojourn of some years at eithsr Succoth or Shechem is harrlly consonant with the general tenor of the narrative of Jacob's return (31^) from l,Iaran. It is true, in 37'^ Joseph is said to be 17 years of age ; but the years of Joseph's boyhood would be placed more naturally between 35* and 3r.i than at 331' or 3;l'».

tli) Joseph is called' (373) ^ son of Jacob's * old age,' as though he were appreciably ^ ounger than his brethren : jet Zebulun and Dinah could not have been more than a year or two older (3020-^); for all Jacob's children (except Henjainin) nuist have been born, at least according to K (see 3H0. between the 7lh and the 10-17th yearn of his service with Laban (leaving, say, 4-3 years for the events narrated in 3025-43). llowevrr.

373' belongs very probably to the other source, J, which mav have represented Josejih as born later. In V he is horn when J'acob is about DO (Gn 414<i (« 45" KJ 4"9). Allusinns to Jacob in sub.icqiicnt piirts of Scrip- ture.— The most importjint are in Hosea, who already aiijilies his history didactically : — (1) fios lO, " l«-'i :— • In the womb he supplanted his brother ; And in his strei.gth he persintfd with (Jod : 4 Yea, he persiMed ["l^"!]

with the angel, and preva\led\ He \vept, and made supplication unto him ; At Bethel he found him, and there he spake with him.* The allusions to the incidents recoded in Gn 25-° 32^ 28"" are palpable. Ephraira is lax, in- difl'erent, and frivolous : the ambition shown by it« ancestor Jacob to secure pre-eminence even in the womb, the persistence with which afterwards he exerte<l himself to win the blessing, and the tears witli wliicli he sought it,t are held up as examples for its imitation.

(2) Hos 12'2'- ("'•! :— 13 And Jacob (led into the field of Aram, And Israel served for a wife. And for a wife he kept (sheep) : 1 But by a prophet did Jehovah bring Israel up out of Egypt, And by a prophet was he kept (preserved^ For the allusions in v.", see Gn 27' (cf. 35'- ')t 291s. 11). so 3141 'fiig ilij-ht, the penury, the hard- shii)S (cf. Gn 31*"') undergone by Jacob are con- trasted with the deliverance of his descendants under the honourable guidance of a prophet.

In Dl 26' 'An Araimean ready to perish ^ was my father, and he went down into Egypt, and sojourned there, few in number ; and he became there a nation, great, mighty, and populous,' the allusion is to Jacob's Aramiean connexions, and to his hard and perilous life as a shepherd in Aram-naharaim. Jacob is also most probably meant by ' thy first father ' in Is 43^'. In Mai !•• ' (cited Ko 9") the reference is really national : see Gore in Utiicfiii Biblica, iiL 37 U.

; Sauday-Ueadlam, EoDtavs, 245 11'. The Cliararter of Jacob. — Of all the characters which are sketched in any fulness in the UT, that of Jacob is the most mixed. (Jn the one hand, he is by nature the ' supplanter ' : ' is he not,' exclaims Esau, 'rightly named Jacob, for he hath sup- planted nie these two times'? Twice he takes a mean advantage of his brother ; he deceives bis Mizraim,' which, meaning properly Meadow of Kgijpt, — perhape (cf. the so-called 'Job's Stone' (above, L lee^n.]

as commemorate ing in some way the Egj-ptian occupation of Canaan, — is here derived, by an assonance, from '^bel, ' mourning.' • So Pesh., Aq., S)-nim., Theod. The Heb. text has tritA lu, which must mean * with us in the person of our ancestor.' ♦ A trait (v.'i-) not mentioned in On 3'228-29.

J Or, lout ; the word is of ten used of a lost sheep, aa Eik M^ >• JACOB JACOB 533 aged father ; even where he does not directly oveiTeach, prudence and expudiuuey are the deter- miiiinf; motives of his life ; his tliouglits centre in himself ; he is ever striving to turn circunislances to liis own proUt, to make the most out of every opportonity.

He is a striking contrast to his brother : Esau is frank, straightforward, and generous ; Jacob is sdieiuing, ambitious, and self- Beeking ; by fair means or foul, hy sots himself to comiiaxs Ins ends. On the othe.' hand, Jacob is not destitute of good qualities.

Ho has a deeper auil more stable character than Esau : Esau is Coverned by the impulses of the moment, is heed- less of the future, has no thought for any but present and material goods : Jacob, if he is the ' Overreacher,' is also the ' Perseverer ' { ' Israel ') ; he possesses steadiness and consistency of purpose ; he does not llinch from toil and e.

xurtion, — even Laban admits that lie has served liira well (30-"') ; he can labour and deny himself in order to attain a far-distant goal ; he has cleverness, versalilitj", and diplomatic ability : he thus possesses qualities which, though thev may be misdirected, are nevertheless adaptetf to form the foundation of a Bound and genuine character. And one aim of the liistory of Jacob, as written in t!

ie liook of Genesis, is to snow how, through the discipline and spiritual experiences of life, the better elements of a char- acter may in the end prevail, and becomo its determining and predominant principles. It may be asked liow a character exhibitn.f, so many doubtful qualities should have been .selected by Providence as its chosen agent, and be repre- sented as receiving so constantly the marks of God's care and approval (2S"-'° SV-''- i3-»J 32' etc.)

The answer, no doubt, is to be found in the fact that Providence does not judge by present appear- ances ; and that Jacob possessed qualities which, in spite of the faults, and even the grave faults, by wl.ich they were accompanied, were qualities which, when purilied, and elevated, and freed from purely personal aims, could be consecrated to the service of God, and made subservient to carrying out His purposes. The turning-point in his life is the struggle at Penuel.

In all his dealings hitherto, whether with Esau or Laban, he has been true to his name, he has been the Supplanter or Overreacher. His treatment of E.sau was without excuse : in his dealings with Lalian, craft was matched against craft ; though, in judging Jacob here, it is only right to re- member that Laban not only takes the first dis- honest step, but is throughout the chief oll'ender.

Had Laban treated Jacob honestly and generously, there is no reason to suppose that he would have sought to overreach him. But since Laban seeks, not once only, to profit at his expense, Jacob retaliates,* — and, so far as material gains are concerned, wins. Uut, as has just been pointed out, Jacob's character includes inconsistent ele- ments ; and the struggle at Penuel marks the triumph of the higher over the lower elements in his character. It is the critical moment of his life.

He is at the point of re-entering the land which he left twenty (31") jears before; he is about to meet his brother whom he had wronged and deceived ; memories of the past return upon him ; his con.science smites him, and he is 'greatly afraid.' Hut (iod is his real antagonist, not Esau ; it is God whom his sins have olleiided, and who here comes to contest His right. These thoughts and fears are, as it were, materialized in Irs • At Ifoat acoonling to J (30»>-«>).

Acconiiiiif to E(31«^ll »n»), Laban artiilnrily and unfairly chan^-cN Jacob's waifra ; but Jaroti'fl ^^li(ls arc not due to his own artiMc4>H, but to Ibe dis- pK-Jitions of Providence (31*18). As tlie two narrativen are thus derived from dlHeront iiourcea, It follows that 31»i>- ' » '«• »«■ '"> do not express, or imply, divine approval of the artifices dcicribed in ,1oa>-<'. dream.

He struggles with his mysterious antag- onist, and, as in his struggles with Esau and Laban, strives to win : he struggles bravely: not can his antagonist overcome iiim, until by a divine toucii He paralyzes his natural strength. Even then Jacob's tenacity of purpose remains un- Imjjaired ; he is conscious that he has a heavenly visitant in his embrace ; and he will not let Him go until he has received from Him a blessin". The moment marks a spiritual change in Jacob s character.

His carnal weajjons are lamed and useless, — they fail him in his contest with God ; as the result of his struggle his natural self is left behind, he rises from it an altered man. A new truth is vividly brought home to him, — the value- lessness before God of the weapons in which he has hitherto trusted. The lameness which he carries away with him is, as it were, a palpable memento of the fact. And his new name sym- bolizes his new nature.

It is tnie, even before this, he has not been represented as destitute of religious feeling; his prayer in 32'" evinces humility, thankiulness, and a sense of dependence upon God. Indeed this i)rayer may be .said to prepare psychologically for the spiritual .struggle which follows. But it is the result of this struggle that henceforth the better and higher elements in his character assert themselves more strongly than the}' had done before. In his dealings with Esau in eh.

33 he is politic, and makes the best of the situation ; but he cannot be said to treat his brother dishonourably. His rebuke of Simeon and Levi in 34"°, however, shows timidity and weak- ness, and is not prompted by any motive higher than expediency.

In his old age domestic trials overtake him : he loses Rachel ; for manj' years he is bereaved of his favourite son ; the dread of losing another son weighs heavily upon him (42' 43") : his character is mellowed and softened ; and the picture of his closing days is that of a just and God-fearing typical Israelite, strong in faith (48-'), and grateful for the Providence which had ' shepherded ' him through his long course of anxieties and vicissitudes, and 'redeemed him from all evil ' (48'"-).

There remains the question, how far, and in what sense, the narratn-es relating to Jacob arc historical. In approaching this question there are some important things to be borne in mind.

(1) Upon any view of the Book of Genesis, it was not committed to writing for many centuries after the events described in it occurred : we thus possess no guarantee whatever that it contains a literally exact record of the acts and sajings of the patriarchs ; for it does not satisfy the primary canon of sound historical criticism, that onl}' narratives contemporary, or nearly so, with the events narrated, and, moreover, consistent with them.selves, can claim such a character.

(2) It is remarkable liow, in Gn, individuals and tribes seem to be placed on the same level, and to be spoken of in the same terms, and how, further, individuals seem frequently to be the inii>crsonation of homonynioua tribe.s. ThusBethuel is mentioned as an individual (22-" 24" nl.), but his brothers Uf and Buz are tribes (22'^"-). I;Ceturali, again, is described a.s an individual (25') ; but her sons and grand.sons are tribes (25^"').

In Gn 10 nations are quite manifestly represented as individuals ; and one of them, Cush, has, conversely, an indixndual for his son (H)"). So elsewhere: Machir, in tin 50^ an individual, in Nu 2(>" 'U-geta' (the country) (Jilead ; in Jg 11' (lilead 'iK'get.s' Jeph- thab.+ .Vgaiii, Canajin, Japhuth, and Shem, in Noah's hlcs-sing (Gn '.i^"), clearly represent three • AV, RV, entirely losiiiK the metaphor, 'fed.' f Comp. the curious notii-e of ' Kpbraim' in 1 Ch 71^» (ni art. nuRiAii).

S34 JACOB JACOB groups of nations: Ishmael (16") is in character the personilitation of the desert tribes whose descent is traced to him (ij"-") : Esau 'ia Edom ' (25» 36'- 0- '» ; of. Jer 49'") ), and Edom is tlie name of a people. More tlian this, ' Jacob ' and ' Israel ' are tliemselves national names, the latter a stand- ing one, the former a poetical synonym (Gn 49', even in Jacob's own mouth ; Nu 23-'- ■", Dt 32" 33'-*, Hos 10" 12^ Am V- », and frequently).

Heredity is undoubtedly a true principle : children inherit the qualities of their parents ; thej" also often experi- ence, for good or for ill, as the civ.

se may be, the ionsequences of their parents' acts ; but it would bo extending the principle altogether unduly to suppose that the character and j)olitical condition of an entire group of peoples were really deter- mined by a father's curse upon their ancestor (Gn 9^), or to imagine that the whole subsequent history of two ot the Israelitish tribes was fixed in reality (49''') by an act of their ancestors, in which, after all, they were merely maintaining, by means consistent with the manners of the age, the honour of a sister.

In cases such as these, we can surely have only the explanations deviled either by popular imagination, or by a poet interpreting the mind of his people, for the purpose of accounting for national character, and national conditions, as they existed at a later age. Admitting, however, that these principles are true, how far may they be adopted in explanation of tlie patriarchal narratives ? Are .

Tacob and his twelve sons, Esau, and Laban simply the personi- fications of corresponding peoples, Israel and the 12 tribes, Edom, and Syria (like Hellen, with his sons, Dorus and .lEolus, and his grandsons, Achaius and Ion, among the Greeks), the characteristic features of each being reflections of the circum- stances and relations of the age which gave them birth (cf. Wellh. ffist. 318-325)?

* An unsub- stantial figure, like Canaan, might be an example of such personification ; but the abundance of personal incident and detail makes such a view improbable in the case, at least, of the principal patriarchal characters. May they then nprcsent tribes and sub-tribes? in other words, may the movements, and mutual relations, of tribes and sub-tribes have been expressed in a personal and individual form? This is Ewald's view.

Abra- ham, Isaac, and Jacob represent the successive migratory movements of Hebrew tribes from the original common home of the Hebrew and Ara- majan nationalities in Aram-naharaim across the Euphrates.

Jacob's father was a Hebrew already settled in Canaan : his mother was an AranLTan (Gn25^'); he marries two Arama^an wives: after a long contest with his uncle (and father-in-law) Laban, 'the Arama;an ' (25=<' 28" Sl^"- "), he ultimately comes to terms with him, returns to Canaan with great wealth, and finally gives his name to the people settled there : this means that a new and energetic branch of the Hebrew race migrated from its original home in Aram-naharaim, piished forward into Canaan, amalgamated there with the Hebrews ('Isaac') already on the spot (becoming thereby Isaac's ' son'), and, in virtue of the superior practical abilities displayed by it, acquired ultimately supremacy over all its kin : tilt," contest with Laban 'represents the struggle which continued, probably for centuries, between the crafty Hebrews on the opposite banks of the Euphrates, showing how in the end the southern Hebrews gained the upper hand and the northern were driven off in derision ' : Edom was a branch ('son') of the tribe represented by 'Isaac' ; 'Jacob,' becoming fused with this tribe, is Esau's ' brother,' * See the full discussion of this view in Ktienen, Th'l\ May 1871.

p. 228(1. : and cf. Smend, AT TfuoL 12, 9af. ; Meinhold, U'id/T dtn Kleinglauben CIS9d), 19, 2S. but at the same time his younger brother, ai arrivint; later in Canaan, — though, as he became afterwards the more powerful nation, he is de- scribed as having wrested from him his birthright : bimilailj . Jacob's wives and sons represent tha existence of dillurent elements in the original com- munity, and the growth of tribal distinctions within it.

* Ewald, howrver, holds at the sam« time that Abraham, Isiuit, .Jacob, and Joseph are historical characters, prominent leaders of the nation at successive stages of its history (pp. 301, 305 f., 340, 342, 345, 382).

t Again, the amount of personal incident and detail in the patriarchal narratives seems to constitute an objection to thij explanation of their meaning : would the move- ments of tribes be represented in this veiled manner on such a large scale as would be the case if this explanation w'ere the true one? No doubt, there are elements of truth in both these explanations: each w ill account rea.

sonably for some traits in the patriarchal narratives : the question is, whether they will account for all. Ihe view which on the whole may be said best to satisfy the circumstances of the case is the view that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are historical persons, and that the accounts which we have of them are in outline historically true, but that their characters are idealized, and their biographies in many respects coloured by the feelings and asso- ciations of a later ago. ' J,' says Mr.

Ottley,Jand his remarks are equally true of E, ' describes the age of the patriarchs as in some essential respects so closely similar to later periods, that it can only be regarded as a picture of primitive life and religion drawn in tlie light of a subsequent age. We have here to do with the earliest form of history — traditional folk-lore about primitive per- sonages and events, worked up according to some preconceived design by a devout literary artist.'

The basis of the narratives in Genesis is in fact popular oral tradition ; and that being so, we may expect them to display the characteristics which popular oral tradition does in other cases.

They may well include a substantial historical nucleus : but details may be due to the involuntary action of popular invention or imagination, oper- ating during a long period of time ; characteristic anecdotes, reflecting the feelings, and explaining the relations, of a later age may thus have become attached to the patriart-lis ; phraseology and ex- pression will nearly always be ascribed rightly to the narrators who cast these traditions into tlieir present literary shape.

One very conspicuous interest in these narratives is the explanation of existing facts and institutions — the fact, for instance, that Edom, though an older nation than Israel (36^'), was nevertheless politically its in- ferior, the sanctity of Bethel and its famous monolith, the names borne both by Israel itself and by its twelve tribes, the origin of the great border-cairn on Gilead, the names of places, as Bethel, Mahanaim, Fennel, Succoth, Allon-ba- • Ewald, nut. 1. 310 ST.

, 838, 341-344, 346, 348-350, 303, 371-374 376 S. Ct. Slade, Gtsch. i. 124-128 (who, however, does not allow that anything; pre-ilosaic is reflected in the patriarchal narratives).

t Dilhnann'sview is substantially that of Ewald : recollections of tribal movements are preser\'ed in the family histories of Genesis ; Isaac and Jacob, like Lot, Ishmael, Esau, and their sons, beinff * ideal personal names,' derived either from sub- di\isinn9 of the nation as it existed at a later time, or from historical stages of its f,'rowth, Jacob representing a new Hebrew immi;rration from Mesopotamia ; Abraham, however, beinp the personal leader of the first band of immigrants, who, according to all the Pcntateuchai narrators, was the spiritual father of the entire nation (flenfi 218, 219, 316 (Eng.

tr. vol. ii. pp. 1-6. 190) ; ATTheol, 77 f.. 79-81). (Dillmann's remarks on these narratives of Genesis contain much that is suggestive and excellent, and deserve to be read in their entirety). The view of Kittel {Gesch, i. 153 [Eng. tr. i. 168 ff.]) is similar, except that he treats ths patriarchs more distinctly as personal tribal chiefs, who aftel> wards gave their names to the tribes led by them. X Bampton Lectures, p. 109.

JACOB JACOB'S WELL 533 chulh, Abel-mizraini, tlie custom of not eating of a particular muscle (3'J^-), the ethnolofjical rel^itions eulisisliiig between Israel and its neighbours (Isli- maelite tribes, 25'^'" ; Edora, and the racial altinities of its inhabitants, ch. 36), the characteristics of the dillerent tribes (48'" ; cli. 49).

It may be doubted wliitther in all these cases we have the real his- torical explanations of the facts in question, and not rather explanations due to popular imagina- tion, or suggested by current etymologies : in some cases, it will be remembered, we find duplicate and inconsistent traditions respecting the same occur- rences. Wellhausen may be wrong in not allowing a mure substantial historical substratum for the patriarchal narratives ; but his general character- ization of them is ju.st.

* It must further be allowed that the characters of the patriarchs are coloured religiously by the feelings and beliefs of a later age. In the days of the patriarchs, religion must have been in a rudi- mentary stage : there are traces of this in the idea, for instance, of the revelations of deity being con- fined to particular spots, and in the reverence paid to sacred trees or pillars ; but at the same time the patriarchs often e.

xpress themselves in terms sug- gesting much riper spiritual capacities and experi- ences. Here we cannot but trace the hands of the narrators, who were men penetrated by definite moral and religious ideiis, and who, writing with a didactic aim, idealized to a certain extent the characters of the patriarchs, and, while not strip- ping them of the distinctive featuies with which they were traditionally invested, so tilled in the outlines .

supplied by tradition as to present the great figures of Hebrew antiquity as spiritual tijpcs, examples, for imitation or warning, as the case might be, for successive generations.

The patriarchs are, thirdly, idealized in another direction, in common with many of the other patriarchal figures in Genesis, by bein^ invested with the characteristics which afterwards marked the tribes descended, or reputed to be descended, from them : t indeed it is possible that sometimes even episodes of tribal life are referred back to them in the form of incidents occurring within the limits of their own families.

Ishmael, for instance, in It)'- may be the personal son of Abraham ; but if he is this, he is also something more : he imper- sonates the Bedawin of the desert. So Jacob and Esau, in their contest for supremacy, are more than the twin sons of a man named Isaac : they impersonate two nations ; and the later relations subsisting between these two nations plainly colour parts of the narrator's representation (esp. the terms of the Blessings).

Jacob, kee|iing Laban's sheep, may be an individual ; but when he and Laban are fixing the boundary which neither is to pa-ss, they plainly represent two peoples. The etory of Shechem and Dinah is one in which especially it may be suspected that this explanation la the correct one. Jg 9 shows how, after the con- q^uest, Israelites and Canaanites lived in Shechem side by side ; the almost complete identity of expression between Gn 3;!"

' the scms of IJamor, the father of Shechem,' and Jg 9^ ' the men of IJamor, the father of Shechem ' (where Shechem is clearly the place), t raises a legitimate doubt whether in the former passage ' Shechem ' does not mean the place as well, anil whether therefore in eh. 34 the same name is not a personification of the inhabit- ants of the place : it this view l>e correct, ch. 34 will mean that an Israelite clan (Dinah) had • Wirt. 31&-3*27 (c(. 454 n.)

The contemptuous criticlsmi of Robcrtaon {}irl. of Itr. 120-136) thow little inaight, cuid us uiytliiiii; but coDclusive. t Cf. l!actbi,'in, ap. Ottlev, p. 111. \ ' Vnihvr' ^fmimlrr. fillrr, u 1 Ch 2»1 a (Maclllr. ttln Mather ' of Oilciul). «*« «>" ( tho ' (atben' ol Ziph, llobrou, aiiu other towna), 4»»- " '»■ '»■ " ''.

never afterwards recovered from the bio wT See gained a footin" in Shechem, and was in danger of being absorbed by the native Canaanites (the Benfl yamor) : Simeon and Levi interposed to prevent, this ;* but their action was not supported by the Israelites at large (' Jacob,' 34'°) j cf . 4l>'- •. Gn 49', it has even been conjectured, contains an allusion to the result : the Canaanites retaliated with such cU'ect that these two tribes were broken up, and never afterwards reci art. Si.

MKON (Triiie). But, however that may be, it is impossible not to be impressed by the remarkable manner in which Jacob, both in the brijjhter and in the darker as|iects of his character, is the prototj'pe of his descendants. His doubtful qualities e.

xactly recall that remarkable faculty of acquiring wealtii and inlluence which the Jew possesses in such an extraordinary degree, and which, as must be admitted by his best friends, he is unfortunately apt to exercise with an exaggerated regard to self- interest. ' By Jacob's peculiar discipline of exile and suflering, a true counterpart is produced of the special faults and special gifts, knomi to us chielly tiirough his persecuted descendants in the Middle Ages.

Professor Blunt has, with much ingenuity, pomted out how Jacob seems to have "learned, like maltreated animals, to have the /ear uf mnn luibituaUy before his eyes."X In Jacob we see the same timid, cautious watchfulness that we know- so well, though under darker colours, through our great masters of fiction, in Shylock of Venice, and Isaac of York.

But no less, in the nobler side of his career, do we have the germs of the unbroken endurance, the undying resolution, which keeps the nation alive still even in its present outcast condition, and which was the basis, in its brighter days, of the heroic zeal, long-sutl'ering, and hope of Moses, of David, of Jeremiah, of the Alaccabeea, of the twelve Jewish apostles, and the first martyr, Stephen.' Literature. — Comma, on Gen. ; Ewald, Hist. i.

341-^G2 (who brings out well the dramatic aspect* of parta of Jacob'a cart'er) ; Stanley, Jrwuh Church, vol. i. LecL III. ; F. W. Robertson, A'oles on GenesU, and Sfrnums, i. 40 (T. (on the wrealllnj: at Penuel). For post-Biblical Jewiab \'iewB atxiut Jacob, it must auHice to refer to the Tarinima on Gn, the Mtdrash BrrfthUh Jiabba (tr. Wunsche, 1n>')), tlie Book of Jubilees (Dillm. in Ewald'8 yoArt. iii.; lionsch, 1S74 ; Charles, 169.i), the Mid- nujbim tr^ in Rdnsch. X04) ff., and art.

Jacob iu Uamburver'a lieal-Eivcyclopudu /. liiUi u. Talmud. 2. i'lcLKu^) The father of Joseph the husband of Mary (Mt l"'). S. R. Driver.