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The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 31:46
And Jacob said unto his brethren,—Laban's kinsmen and his own (vide Genesis 31:37)—Gather stones; and they took stones, and made an heap:—Gal, from Galal, to roll, to move in a circle, probably signified a circular cair…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 31:47
And Laban called it Jegar sahadutha:—A Chaldaic term signifying "Heap of testimony," βουνὸς τῆς μαρτυρίας (LXX.); tumulum testis (Vulgate)—but Jacob called it Galeed—compounded of Gal and 'ed and meaning, like the co…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 31:48-50
And Laban said, This heap is a witness between me and thee this day. The historian adding—Therefore was the name of it called (originally by Jacob, and afterwards by the Israelites from this transaction) Galeed (vide on…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 31:51-55
Final covenant between Jacob and Laban. I. ENTIRE SEPARATION FROM TEMPTATION IS THE ONLY SAFETY. Very imperfect knowledge in the Mesopotamian family. Rachel's theft of the household gods a sign of both moral and spiritu…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 31:51-53
And Laban said to Jacob,—according to Ewald the last narrator has transposed the names of Laban and Jacob—Behold this heap, and behold this pillar, which I have cast (same word as in Genesis 31:45. The Arabic version an…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 31:54
Then Jacob offered sacrifice—literally, slew a slaying, in ratification of the covenant—upon the mount, and called his brethren to eat bread. The sacrificial meal afterwards became an integral part of the Hebrew ritual…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 31:55
And early in the morning Laban rose up, and kissed his sons and his daughters,—i.e. Rachel and Leah and their children. It does not appear that Laban kissed Jacob on taking final leave of him as he did on first meeting…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 32:1-8
The angels of God appeared to Jacob, to encourage him with the assurance of the Divine protection. When God designs his people for great trials, he prepares them by great comforts. While Jacob, to whom the promise belon…
Jacob Pursuing His Journey. (b. c. 1739.)
JACOB PURSUING HIS JOURNEY. (B. C. 1739.) Jacob, having got clear of Laban, pursues his journey homewards towards Canaan: when God has helped us through difficulties we should go on our way heaven-ward with so much the…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:1-23
Mahanaim, or preparing for Esau. I. THE ANGELIC APPARITION. 1. The time when it occurred. 2. The impression which it made. Whether completely surrounding him, or divided into two companies, one on either side of him, Ja…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:1-23
EXPOSITION
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:1
And Jacob (after Laban's departure) went on his way (from Galeed and Mizpah, in a southerly direction towards the Jabbok), and the angels of God—literally, the messengers of Elohim, not chance travelers who informed him…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:2
And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host:—Mahaneh Elohim; i.e. the army (cf. Genesis 1:9; Exodus 14:24) or camp (1 Samuel 14:15; Psalms 27:3) of God, as opposed to the Mahanoth, or bands of Jacob himself (vi…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 32:3-8
Now that Jacob was re-entering Canaan God, by the vision of angels, reminded him of the friends he had when he left it, and thence he takes occasion to remind himself of the enemies he had, particularly Esau. It is prob…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:3-8
Faith and fellowship. Jacob's preparation against danger betokened his sense of duty to do his utmost under the circumstances, and his sense of past errors and ill desert towards his brother. There is an exercise of our…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:3
And Jacob sent messengers (with the messengers of Jacob, the messengers of Elohim form a contrast which can scarcely have been accidental) before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir,—vide on Genesis 14:6. Seir…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:6
And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee (vide Genesis 33:1), and four hundred men with him. That Esau was attended by 400 armed followers was a proof th…
Matthew Henry on Genesis 32:9-23
Times of fear should be times of prayer: whatever causes fear, should drive us to our knees, to our God. Jacob had lately seen his guards of angels, but in this distress he applied to God, not to them; he knew they were…
Jacob's Prayer. (b. c. 1739.)
JACOB'S PRAYER. (B. C. 1739.) Our rule is to call upon God in the time of trouble; we have here an example to this rule, and the success encourages us to follow this example. It was now a time of Jacob's trouble, but he…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:9-12
And Jacob said,—the combined beauty and power, humility and boldness, simplicity and sublimity, brevity and comprehensiveness of this prayer, of which Kalisch somewhat hypercritically complains that it ought to have bee…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:9-12
Jacob's prayer. 1. It was the prayer of humility. 2. Of faith—faith in a covenant God, faith in him who had already revealed himself, faith in promises made to the individual as well as to God's people generally, faith…
Jacob's Present to Esau. (b. c. 1739.)
JACOB'S PRESENT TO ESAU. (B. C. 1739.) Jacob, having piously made God his friend by a prayer, is here prudently endeavouring to make Esau his friend by a present. He had prayed to God to deliver him from the hand of Esa…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:13
And he lodged there that same night; and took—not by random, but after careful selection; separavit (Vulgate)—of that which came to his hand—not of those things which were in his hand, ω}n e!feren (LXX.), such as he had…
The Pulpit Commentary on Genesis 32:13-23
The crisis at hand. Jacob understood the human heart. I. KINDNESS WILL WORK WONDERS. "I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face." It gave Esau time to think of an altere…