We turn to the map to look for Ur of the Chaldees, anxious to discover it as possibly Abraham"s place of nativity, but find that the translators of G.o.d"s inspired word have taken a slight liberty with the text by subst.i.tuting "Ur of the Chaldees" for "Aur Kasdim," the latter being, in plain English, _the light of the magi, or conjurors, or astrologers_ is stated by Kalisch to have been made the basis for many extraordinary legends, as to Abraham"s rescue from the flames. In the Talmud P"sachim, fol. 118, col. 1, it is written that "At the time when Nimrod the wicked had cast our Father Abraham into the fiery furnace, Gabriel stood forth in the presence of the Holy one-blessed be He!-and said, "Lord of the universe, let me, I pray thee, go down and cool the furnace, and deliver that righteous one from it.""
? The quotations are taken from Hershon"s Talmudical Miscellany.
Abraham, being born-according to Hebrew chronology, 2,083 years after the creation, and according to the Septuagint 3,549 years after that event-when his father was seventy, grew so slowly that when his father reached the good old age of 205 years, Abraham had only arrived at 75 years, having, apparently, lost no less than 60 years" growth during his father"s fife-time. St. Augustine and St. Jerome gave this up as a difficulty inexplicable. Calmet endeavors to explain it, and makes it worse. It is surely impossible Abraham could have lived 135 years, and yet be only 75 years of age?
"The Lord" spoke to Abraham, and promised to make of him a great nation, to bless those who blessed Abraham, and to curse those who cursed him. I do not know precisely which Lord it was that spake unto Abraham, the Hebrew says it was Jeue, or, as our translators call it, Jehovah, but as G.o.d said (Exodus vi, 2) that by the name "Jehovah was I not known" to either Abraham, Isaac, or Jacob, either the omniscient Deity had forgotten the matter, or a counterfeit Lord had a.s.sumed the name. The word Jehovah, which the book of Exodus says Abraham did not know, is nearly always the name by which Abraham addresses, or speaks of, the Jewish Deity.
Abraham having been promised protection by the G.o.d of Truth, initiated his public career with a diplomacy of statement worthy Talleyrand. He represented his wife Sarah as his sister, which, if true, is a sad reproach to the marriage. The Talmud, when Abram came into Egypt, asks: "Where was Sarah? He confined her in a chest, into which he locked her, lest anyone should gaze on her beauty. When he came to the receipt of custom, he was summoned to open the chest, but declined, and offered payment of the duty. The officers said: "Thou carryest garments;" and he offered duty for garments. "Nay, it is gold thou carriest;" and he offered the impost laid on gold. Then they said: "It is costly silks, belike pearls, thou concealest;" and he offered the custom on such articles. At length the Egyptian officers insisted, and he opened the box. And when he did so, all the land of Egypt was illumined by her beauty" (Beres.h.i.th Rabba, chap. 40). The ruling Pharaoh, hearing the beauty of Sarah commended, took her into his house, she being at that time a fair Jewish dame, between 60 and 70 years of age, and he entreated Abraham well for her sake, and he had sheep and oxen, a.s.ses and servants, and camels. We do not read that Abraham objected in any way to the loss of his wife. The Lord, who is all-just, finding out that Pharaoh had done wrong, not only punished the king, but also punished the king"s household, who could hardly have interfered with his misdoings. Abraham got his wife back, and went away much richer by the transaction. Whether the conduct of father Abraham in pocketing quietly the price of the insult-or honor-offered to his wife, is worthy modern imitation, is a question only within the competence of episcopal authority. After this Abraham was very rich in "silver and gold." So was the Duke of Marlborough after the Duke of York had taken his sister in similar manner into his house. In Gen. xii, 19, there is a curious mistranslation in our version. The text is: "It is for that I had taken her for my wife;" our version has: "I _might have taken_ her." The Douay so translates as to take a middle phrase, leaving it doubtful whether or not Pharaoh actually took Sarah as his wife. In any case, the Egyptian king acted far the better of the twain. Abraham plays the part of a timorous, contemptible hypocrite. Strong enough to have fought for his wife, he sold her. Yet Abraham is blessed, and his conduct is our pattern!
Despite his timorousness in the matter of his wife, Abraham was a man of wonderful courage and warlike ability. To rescue his relative, Lot-with whom he could not live on the same land without quarrelling, both being religious-he armed 318 servants, and fought with four powerful kings, defeating them and recovering the spoil. Abraham"s victory was so decisive, that the King of Sodom, who fled and fell (xiv, 10) in a previous encounter, now met Abraham alive (see verse 17), to congratulate him on his victory. Abraham was also offered bread and wine by Melchisedek, King of Salem, priest of the Most High G.o.d. Where was Salem? Some identify it with Jerusalem, which it cannot be, as Jebus was not so named until after the time of the Judges (Judges xix, 10). How does this King of this unknown Salem, never heard of before or after, come to be priest of the Most High G.o.d? These are queries for divines-orthodox disciples believe without inquiring. Melchisedek was most unique as far as genealogy is concerned. He had no father. He was without mother also; he had no beginning of days or end of life, and must be therefore at the present time an extremely old gentleman, who would be an invaluable acquisition to any antiquarian Bible Evidence a.s.sociation fortunate enough to cultivate his acquaintance. G.o.d having promised. Abraham a numerous family, and the promise not having been in any part fulfilled, the patriarch grew uneasy, and remonstrated with the Lord, who explained the matter thoroughly to Abraham when the latter was in a deep sleep, and a dense darkness prevailed. Religious explanations come with greater force under these or similar conditions. Natural or artificial light and clear-sightedness are always detrimental to spiritual manifestations.
Abraham"s wife had a maid named Hagar, and she bore to Abraham a child named Ishmael; at the time Ishmael was born, Abraham was 86 years of age. Just before Ishmael"s birth Hagar was so badly treated that she ran away. As she was only a slave, G.o.d persuaded Hagar to return and humble herself to her mistress. Thirteen years afterwards G.o.d appeared to Abraham, and inst.i.tuted the rite of circ.u.mcision-which rite had been practised long before by other nations-and again renewed the promise.
The rite of circ.u.mcision was not only practised by nations long anterior to that of the Jews, but appears in many cases not even to have been pretended as a religious rite (See Kalisch, Genesis, p. 386; Cahen, Genese, p. 43). After G.o.d had "left off talking with him, G.o.d went up from Abraham." As G.o.d is infinite, he did not, of course, go up; but still the Bible says G.o.d went up, and it is the duty of the people to believe that he did so, especially as the infinite Deity then and now resides habitually in "heaven" wherever that may be. Again the Lord appeared to Abraham, either as three men or angels or as one of the three, and Abraham, hospitably inclined, invited the three to wash their feet and to rest under the tree, and gave b.u.t.ter and milk and dressed calf, tender and good, to them, and they did eat; and after the enquiry as to where Sarah then was, the promise of a son is repeated. Sarah-then by her own admission an old woman, stricken in years-laughed when she heard this, and the Lord said: "Wherefore did Sarah laugh?" and Sarah denied it; but the Lord said: "Nay, but thou didst laugh." The three men then went toward Sodom, and Abraham with them as a guide; and the Lord explained to Abraham that some sad reports had reached him about Sodom and Gomorrah, and that he was then going to find out whether the report was reliable. G.o.d is omnipresent, and was always therefore at Sodom and Gomorrah, but had apparently been temporarily absent; he is omniscient, and therefore knew everything which was happening at Sodom and Gomorrah, but he did not know whether or not the people were as wicked they had been represented to him. G.o.d, Job tells us, "put no trust in his servants, and his angels he charged with folly." Between the rogues and the fools, therefore, the allwise and all-powerful G.o.d seems to be liable to be misled by the reports made to him. Two of the three men or angels went on to Sodom, and left the Lord with Abraham, who began to remonstrate with Deity on the wholesale destruction contemplated, and asked him to spare the city if fifty righteous should be found within it. G.o.d said: "If I find fifty righteous within the city, then will I spare the place for their sakes." G.o.d, being all-wise, knew there were not fifty in Sodom, and was deceiving Abraham. By dint of hard bargaining in thorough Hebrew fashion Abraham, whose faith seemed to be tempered by distrust, got the stipulated number reduced to ten, and then "the Lord went his way."
Jacob Ben Chajim, in his introduction to the Rabbinical Bible (p. 28), tells us that the Hebrew text used to read in verse 22: "And Jehovah still stood before Abraham;" but the scribes altered it, and made Abraham stand before the Lord, thinking the original text offensive to Deity.
Genesis xviii has given plenty of work to the divines. Augustine contended that G.o.d can take food, though he does not require it. Justin compared "the eating of G.o.d with the devouring power of the fire."
Kalisch sorrows over the holy fathers "who have taxed all their ingenuity to make the act of eating compatible with the attributes of Deity."
In the Epistle to the Romans Abraham"s faith is greatly praised. We are told (iv, 19 and 20) that: "Being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah"s womb. He staggered not at the promise of G.o.d through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to G.o.d." Yet, so far from Abraham giving G.o.d glory, Genesis xvii, 17, says that: "Abraham fell upon his face and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?" The Rev. Mr. Boutell says that "the declaration which caused Sarah to "laugh" shows the wonderful familiarity which was then permitted to Abraham in his communications with G.o.d."
After the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Abraham journeyed south and sojourned in Gerar, and, either untaught or too well taught by his previous experience, again represented his wife as his sister, and Abimelech, king of Gerar, sent and took Sarah. As before, we find neither remonstrance nor resistance recorded on the part of Abraham.
This time G.o.d punished the women in Abimelech"s house for an offence they did not commit, and Sarah was again restored to her husband, with sheep, oxen, men-servants, women-servants, and money. Infidels object that the Bible says Sarah "was old and well stricken in age;" that "it had ceased to be with her after the manner of women;" that she was more than 90 years of age; and that it is not likely King Abimelech would fall in love with an ugly old woman; but if Genesis be true, it is clear that Sarah had not ceased to be attractive, as G.o.d resorted to especial means to protect her from Abimelech. At length Isaac was born, and his mother Sarah urged Abraham to expel Hagar and her son, "and the thing was very grievous in Abraham"s sight because of his son;" the mother being only a bondwoman does not seem to have troubled him. G.o.d, however, approving Sarah"s notion, Hagar was expelled, "and she departed and wandered in the wilderness, and the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs." She had apparently carried the child, who-being at least more than 14, and according to some calculations as much as 17 years of age-must have been a heavy child to carry in a warm climate.
The Talmud says: "On the day when Isaac was weaned Abraham made a great feast, to which he invited all the people of the land. Not all of those who came to enjoy the feast believed in the alleged occasion of its celebration, for some said contemptuously, "This old couple have adopted a foundling, and provided a feast to persuade us to believe that the child is their own offspring." What did Abraham do? He invited all the great men of the day, and Sarah invited their wives, who brought their infants, but not their nurses, along with them. On this occasion Sarah"s b.r.e.a.s.t.s became like two fountains, for she supplied, of her own body, nourishment to all the children. Still some were unconvinced, and said, "Shall a child be born to one that is a hundred years old, and shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear?" (Gen. xvii, 17). Whereupon, to silence this objection, Isaac"s face was changed, so that it became the very picture of Abraham"s; then one and all exclaimed, "Abraham begat Isaac"" (Bara Metzia, fol. 87, col. 1).
G.o.d never did tempt any man at any time, but he "did tempt Abraham" to kill Isaac by offering him as a burnt offering. The doctrine of human sacrifice is one of the holy mysteries of Christianity, as taught in the Old and New Testament. Of course, judged from a religious or Biblical stand-point, it cannot be wrong, as, if it were, G.o.d would not have permitted Jephtha to sacrifice his daughter by offering her as a burnt offering, nor have tempted Abraham to sacrifice his son, nor have said in Leviticus, "None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but shall surely be put to death" (xxvii, 29), nor have in the New Testament worked out the monstrous sacrifice of his only son Jesus, at the same time son and begetting father.
Abraham did not seem to be entirely satisfied with his own conduct when about to kill Isaac, for he not only concealed from his servants his intent, but positively stated that which was not true, saying, "I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you." If he meant that he and Isaac would come again to them, then he knew that the sacrifice would not take place. Nay, Abraham even deceived his own son, who asked him where was the lamb for the burnt offering? But we learn from the New Testament that Abraham acted in this and other matters "by faith," so his falsehoods and evasions, being results and aids of faith, must be dealt with in an entirely different manner from transactions of every day life. Just as Abraham stretched forth his hand to slay his son, the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, and prevented the murder, saying, "Now I know that thou fearest G.o.d, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son." This conveys the impression that up to that moment the angel of the Lord was not quite certain upon the subject.
In Genesis xiii G.o.d says to Abraham, "Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward. For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. Arise, walk through the land, in the length of it, and in the breadth of it, for I will give it unto thee." Yet, as is admitted by the Rev. Charles Boutell, in his "Bible Dictionary," "The only portion of territory in that land of promise, of which Abraham became possessed," was a graveyard, which he had bought and paid for.
Although Abraham was too old to have children before the birth of Isaac, he had many children after Isaac [was] born. He lived to "a good old age" and died "full of years," but was yet younger than any of those who preceded him, and whose ages are given in the Bible history, except Nahor.
According to the Talmud, as Abraham was very pious so were his very camels, for they would not enter into a place where there were idols (Avoth d" Rabbi Nathan, chap. 8).
Abraham gave "all that he had to Isaac," but appears to have distributed the rest of the property amongst his other children, who were sent to enjoy it somewhere down East.
According to the New Testament, Abraham is now in Paradise, but Abraham in heaven is scarcely an improvement upon Abraham on earth. When he was entreated by an unfortunate in h.e.l.l for a drop of water to cool his tongue, father Abraham replied: "Son, remember that in thy lifetime thou receivedst thy good things, and now thou art tormented," as if the reminiscence of past good would alleviate present and future continuity of evil.
Rabbi Levi says that Abraham sits at the gate of h.e.l.l and does not permit any circ.u.mcised Israelite to enter (Yalkut Shimoni, fol. 33, col.
2, sec. 18).
The Talmud declares that "Abraham was a giant of giants; his height was as that of _seventy-four_ men put together. His food, his drink, and his strength were in the proportion of seventy-four men"s to one man"s. He built an iron city for the abode of his seventeen children by Keturah, the walls of which were so lofty that the sun never penetrated them; he gave them a bowl full of precious stones, the brilliancy of which supplied them with light in the absence of the sun." (Sophrim, chap.
21).
NEW LIFE OF JACOB
IT ought to be pleasant work to present sketches of G.o.d"s chosen people.
More especially should it be an agreeable task to recapitulate the interesting events occurring during the life of a man whom G.o.d has loved. Jacob was the son of Isaac; the grandson of Abraham. These three men were so free from fault, their lives so un.o.bjectionable, that the G.o.d of the Bible delighted to be called the "G.o.d of Abraham, the G.o.d of Isaac, and the G.o.d of Jacob." It is true that Abraham owned slaves, was not always exact to the truth, and, on one occasion, turned his wife and child out to the mercies of a sandy desert; that Isaac in some sort followed his father"s example and disingenuous practices; and that Jacob was without manly feeling, a sordid, selfish, unfraternal cozener, a cowardly trickster, a cunning knave; but they must nevertheless have been good men, for G.o.d was "the G.o.d of Abraham, the G.o.d of Isaac, and the G.o.d of Jacob." The name Jacob is not inappropriate. Kalisch says-"This appellation, if taken in its obvious etymological meaning, implies a deep ignominy: for the root from which it is derived signifies _to deceive, to defraud_, and in such a despicable meaning the same form of the word is indeed used elsewhere" (Jeremiah ix, 3.). Jacob would, therefore, be nothing else but the crafty _impostor_; in this sense Esau, in the heat of his animosity, in fact clearly explains the word, "justly is his name called Jacob (cheat) because he has cheated me twice." (Genesis xxvii, 36.) Pious Jews in the formula for blessing the new moon are taught in the Kabbalah "to meditate on the initials of the four divine epithets which form Jacob." According to the ordinary orthodox Bible chronology, Jacob was born about 1836 or 1837 B.C., that is, about 2168 years from "in the beginning," his father Isaac being then sixty years of age. There is a difficulty connected with Holy Scripture chronology which would be insuperable were it not that we have the advantage of spiritual aids in elucidation of the text. This difficulty arises from the fact that the chronology of the Bible, in this respect, like the major portion of Bible history, is utterly unreliable. But we do not look to the Old or New Testament for mere common-place, every-day facts-if we do, severe will be the disappointment of the truth-seeker-we look there for mysteries, miracles, paradoxes, and perplexities, and have no difficulty in [finding] the objects of our search. Jacob was born, together with his twin brother, Esau, in consequence of special entreaty addressed by Isaac to the Lord on behalf of Re-bekah, to whom he had been married about nineteen years, and who was yet childless. Infidel physiologists (and it is a not unaccountable fact, that all who are physiologists are also in so far infidel) a.s.sert that prayer would do little to repair the consequence of such disease, or such abnormal organic structure, as had compelled sterility. But our able clergy are agreed that the Bible was not intended to teach us science; or, at any rate, we have learned that its attempts in that direction are most miserable failures. Its mission is to teach the unteachable: to enable us to comprehend the incomprehensible. Before Jacob was born G.o.d decreed that he and his descendants should obtain the mastery over Esau and his descendants: "the elder shall serve the younger." (Gen. xxv, 23) The G.o.d of the Bible is a just G.o.d, but it is hard for weak flesh to discover the justice of this proemial decree, which so sentenced to servitude the children of Esau before their father"s birth. Jacob came into the world holding by his brother"s heel, like some cowardly knave in the battle of life, who, not daring to break a gap in the hedge of conventional prejudice, which bars his path, is yet ready enough to follow some bolder warrior, and to gather the fruits of his courage. "And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field: and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents." One day, Esau returned from his hunting, faint and wearied to the very point of death. He was hungry, and came to Jacob, his twin and only brother, saying, "Feed me, I pray thee" (Ibid., xxv, 30) "for I am exceedingly faint." (Douay Version) In a like case would not any man so entreated immediately offer to the other the best at his command, the more especially when that other is his only brother, born at the same time, from the same womb, suckled at the same breast, fed under the same roof? But Jacob was not merely a man and a brother, he was one of G.o.d"s chosen people, and one who had been honored by G.o.d"s prenatal selection.
"If a man come unto me and hate not his brother, he cannot be my disciple." So taught Jesus the Jew, in after time, and in this earlier age Jacob the Jew, in practice, antic.i.p.ated the later doctrine. It is one of the misfortunes of theology, if not its crime, that profession of love to G.o.d is often accompanied with bitter and active hate of man.
Jacob was one of the founders of the Jewish race, and even in this their prehistoric age, the instinct for driving a hard bargain seems strongly developed. "Jacob said" to Esau, "Sell me this day thy birthright." The famished man vainly expostulated, and the birthright was sold for a mess of pottage. If to-day one man should so meanly and cruelly take advantage of his brother"s necessities to rob him of his birthright, all good and honest men would shun him as an un-brotherly scoundrel, and most contemptible knave; yet, less than
4,000 years ago, a very different standard of morality must have prevailed. Indeed, if G.o.d is unchangeable, divine notions of honor and honesty must to-day be widely different from those of our highest men.
G.o.d approved and endorsed Jacob"s conduct. His approval is shown by his love, afterwards expressed for Jacob; his endors.e.m.e.nt by his subsequent attention to Jacob"s welfare. We may learn from this tale, so pregnant with instruction, that any deed which to the worldly and sensible man appears like knavery while understood literally becomes to the devout and prayerful man an act of piety when understood spiritually. Pious preachers and clever commentators declare that Esau despised his birthright. I do not deny that they might back their declaration by scripture quotations, but I do deny that the narrative ought to convey any such impression. Esau"s words were, "Behold I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright be to me?"
Beres.h.i.th Rabba, cap. 95, says that "wherever Jacob resided, he studied the law as his fathers did," and it adds, "How is this, seeing that the law had not yet been given?" There is no record that Esau also studied the law, and there is no mention of any legal proceedings to set aside this very questionable birthright transfer.
Isaac growing old, and fearing from his physical infirmities the near approach of death, was anxious to bless Esau before he died, and directed him to take quiver and bow and go out in the field to hunt some venison for a savory meat, such as old Isaac loved. Esau departed, but when he had left his father"s presence in order to fulfil his request, Jacob appeared on the scene. Instigated by his mother, he, by an abject stratagem, pa.s.sed himself off as Esau. With a savory meat prepared by Rebekah, he came into his father"s presence, and Isaac said, "Who art thou, my son?" Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord. The Lord loved Jacob, yet Jacob lied to his old blind father, saying, "I am Esau thy firstborn." Isaac had some doubts: these are manifested by his inquiring how it was that the game was killed so quickly. Jacob, whom G.o.d loved, in a spirit of shameless blasphemy replied, "Because the Lord thy G.o.d brought it to me." Isaac still hesitated, fancying that he recognised the voice to be the voice of Jacob, and again questioned him, saying, "Art thou my very son Esau?" G.o.d is the G.o.d of truth and loved Jacob, yet Jacob said, "I am." Then Isaac blessed Jacob, believing that he was blessing Esau and G.o.d permitted the fraud to be successful, and himself also blessed Jacob. In that extraordinary composition known as the Epistle to the Hebrews, we are told that by faith Isaac blessed Jacob.
But what faith had Isaac? Faith that Jacob was Esau? His belief was produced by deceptive appearances. His faith resulted from false representations. And there are very many men in the world who have no better foundation for their religious faith than had Isaac when he blessed Jacob, believing him to be Esau. In the Douay Bible I find the following note on this remarkable narrative: "St. Augustine (_L. contra mendacium_, c. 10), treating at large upon this place, excuseth Jacob from a lie, because this whole pa.s.sage was mysterious, as relating to the preference which was afterwards to be given to the Gentiles before the carnal Jews, which Jacob, by prophetic light, might understand. So far it is certain that the first birthright, both by divine election and by Esau"s free cession, belonged to Jacob; so that if there were any lie in the case, it would be no more than an officious and venial one." How glorious to be a patriarch, and to have a real saint laboring years after your death to twist your lies into truth by aid of prophetic light! Lying is at all times most disreputable, but at the deathbed the crime is rendered more heinous. The death hour would have awed many men into speaking the truth, but it had little effect on Jacob. Although Isaac was about to die, this greedy knave cared not, so that he got from the dying man the sought-for prize. G.o.d is said to love righteousness and hate iniquity, yet he loved the iniquitous Jacob, and hated the honest Esau. All knaves are tinged more or less with cowardice. Jacob was no exception to the rule. His brother, enraged at the deception practised upon Isaac, threatened to kill Jacob. Jacob was warned by his mother and fled. Induced by Rebekah, Isaac charged Jacob to marry one of Laban"s daughters. On the way to Haran, where Laban dwelt, Jacob rested and slept. While sleeping he dreamed; ordinarily, dreams have little significance, but in the Bible they are more important. Some of the most weighty and vital facts of the Bible are communicated in dreams; and rightly so; if the men had been wideawake they would have probably rejected the revelation as absurd. So much does that prince of darkness, the devil, influence mankind against the Bible in the day time, that it is when all is dark, and our eyes are closed, and the senses dormant, that G.o.d"s mysteries are most clearly seen and understood. Jacob "saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth, and the top thereof touching heaven; the angels also, of G.o.d ascending and descending by it, and the Lord leaning upon the ladder (Gen. xxviii, 12 and 13, Douay Version). In the ancient temples of India, and in the mysteries of Mithra, the seven-stepped ladder by which the spirits ascended to heaven is a prominent feature, and one of probably far higher antiquity than the age of Jacob. Did paganism furnish the groundwork for the patriarch"s dream?
"No man hath seen G.o.d at anytime." G.o.d is "invisible." Yet Jacob saw the invisible G.o.d, whom no man hath seen or can see, either standing above a ladder or leaning upon it. True, it was all a dream. Yet G.o.d spoke to Jacob, but perhaps that was a delusion too. We find by scripture that G.o.d threatens to send to some "strong delusions that they might believe a lie and be d.a.m.ned." Poor Jacob was much frightened; as any one might be, to dream of G.o.d leaning on so long a ladder. What if it had broken, and the dreamer underneath it? Jacob"s fears were not so powerful but that his shrewdness and avarice had full scope in a sort of half-vow, halfcontract, made in the morning. Jacob said, "If G.o.d will be with me and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I shall come again to my father"s house in peace, then shall the Lord be my G.o.d." The inference deducible from this conditional statement is, that if G.o.d failed to complete the items enumerated by Jacob, then the latter would have nothing to do with him.
Jacob was a shrewd Jew, who would have laughed to scorn the preaching "Take no thought, saying, what shall we eat? or, what shall we drink?
or, wherewithal shall we be clothed?"
After this contract Jacob went on his journey, and reached the house of his mother"s brother, Laban, into whose service he entered. "Diamond cut diamond" would be an appropriate heading to the tale which gives the transactions between Jacob the Jew and Laban the son of Nahor. Laban had two daughters. Rachel, the youngest, was "beautiful and well-favored;"
Leah, the elder, was "blear-eyed." Jacob served for the pretty one; but on the wedding day Laban made a feast, and when evening came gave Jacob the ugly Leah instead of the pretty Rachel. Jacob being (according to Josephus) both in drink and in the dark, it was morning ere he discovered his error. After this Jacob served for Rachel also, and then the remainder of the chapter of Jacob"s servitude to Laban is but the recital of a series of frauds and trickeries. Jacob embezzled Laban"s property, and Laban misappropriated and changed Jacob"s wages. In fact, if Jacob had not possessed the advantage of divine aid, he would probably have failed in the endeavor to cheat his master, but G.o.d, who says "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor"s house, nor anything that is thy neighbor"s," encouraged Jacob in his career of covetous criminalty.
At last Jacob, having ama.s.sed a large quant.i.ty of property, determined to abscond from his employment, and taking advantage of his uncle"s absence at sheepshearing "he stole away unawares," taking with him his wives, his children, flocks, herds, and goods. To crown the whole, Rachel, worthy wife of a husband so fraudulent, stole her father"s G.o.ds.
But in those days G.o.d"s ways were not as our ways. G.o.d came to Laban in a dream and compounded the felony, saying, "Take heed thou speak not anything harshly against Jacob." This would probably prevent Laban giving evidence in a police court against Jacob, and thus save him from transportation or penal servitude. After a reconciliation and treaty had been effected between Jacob and Laban, the former went on his way "and the angels of G.o.d met him." Balaam"s a.s.s, at a later period, shared the good fortune which was the lot of Jacob, for that animal also had a meeting with an angel. Jacob was the grandson of the faithful Abraham to whom angels also appeared. It is somewhat extraordinary that Jacob should have manifested no surprise at meeting a host of angels. Still more worthy of note is it that our good translators elevate the same words into "angels" in verse 1, which they degrade into "messengers" in verse 3. John Bellamy, in his translation, says the "angels" were not immortal angels, and it is very probable John Bellamy was right. Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau, and heard that the latter was coming to meet him followed by 400 men. Jacob, a timorous knave at best, became terribly afraid. He, doubtless, remembered the wrongs inflicted upon Esau, the cruel extortion of the birthright, and the fraudulent obtainment of the dying Isaac"s blessing. He, therefore, sent forward to his brother Esau a large present as a peace offering. He also divided the remainder of his flocks, herds, and goods, into two divisions, that if one were smitten, the other might escape; sending these on, he was left alone. While alone he wrestled with either a man, or an angel, or G.o.d. The text says "a man," the heading to the chapter says "an angel"
and Jacob himself says that he has "seen G.o.d face to face." Whether G.o.d, angel, or man, it was not a fair wrestle, and were the present editor of Bell"s Life referee, he would, unquestionably, declare it to be most unfair to touch "the hollow of Jacob"s thigh" so as to put it "out of joint," and consequently, award the result of the match to Jacob. Jacob, notwithstanding the injury, still kept his grip, and the apocryphal wrestler, finding himself no match at fair struggling, and that foul play was unavailing, now tried entreaty, and said, "Let me go, for the day breaketh." Spirits never appear in the day time, when if they did appear, they could be seen and examined; they are often more visible in the twilight, in the darkness, and in dreams. Jacob would not let go: his life"s instinct for bargaining prevailed, and probably, because he could get nothing else, he insisted on his opponent"s blessing, before he let him go. In the Roman Catholic version of the Bible there is the following note:-"Chap. x.x.xii, v. 24. _A man, etc_.This was an angel in human shape, as we learn from _Osee_ (c. xii, v. 4). He is called G.o.d (xv, 28 and 30), because he represented the son of G.o.d. This wrestling, in which Jacob, a.s.sisted by G.o.d, was a match for an angel, was so ordered (v. 28) that he might learn by this experiment of the divine a.s.sistance, that neither Esau, nor any other man, should have power to hurt him." How elevating it must be to the true believer to conceive G.o.d helping Jacob to wrestle with his own representative. On the morrow Jacob met Esau.
Genesis, x.x.xi, v. 24, Douay version.
"And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed him; and they wept."
The Talmud says: "Read not "and he kissed him," but read "and he bit him"" (Pirke d"Rab Eliezer, chap. 36); and Rabbi Yanai says: "Esau did not come to kiss him, but to bite him; only the neck of Jacob our father became as hard as marble, and this blunted the teeth of the wicked one. And what is taught by the expression "And they wept?" "The one wept for his neck, and the other for his teeth" ("Midrash Rabbah," c. 68). Aben Ezra says that this exposition is only fit for children.
"And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord." "And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself."
"The last portion of the history of Jacob and Esau", writes G. J.
Holyoake, "is very instructive. The coward fear of Jacob to meet his brother is well delineated. He is subdued by a sense of his treacherous guilt. The n.o.ble forgiveness of Esau invests his memory with more respect than all the wealth Jacob won, and all the blessings of the Lord he received. Could I change my name from Jacob to Esau, I would do it in honor of him. The whole incident has a dramatic interest. There is nothing in the Old or New Testament equal to it. The simple magnanimity of Esau is scarcely surpa.s.sed by anything in Plutarch. In the conduct of Esau, we see the triumph of time, of filial affection, and generosity over a deep sense of execrable treachery, unprovoked and irrevocable injury." Was not Esau a merciful, n.o.ble, generous man? Yet G.o.d hated him, and shut him out of all share in the promised land. Was not Jacob a mean, prevaricating knave: a crafty, abject cheat? Yet G.o.d loved and rewarded him. How great are the mysteries in this Bible representation of an all-good and all-loving G.o.d, thus hating good, and loving evil! At the time of the wrestling a promise was made, which is afterwards repeated by G.o.d to Jacob, that the latter should not be any more called Jacob, but Israel. This promise was not strictly kept; the name "Jacob"
being used repeatedly, mingled with that of Israel in the after part of Jacob"s history. Jacob had a large family; his sons are reputedly the heads of the twelve Jewish tribes. Joseph, who was much loved by his father, was sold by his brethren into slavery. This transaction does not seem to have called for any special reproval from G.o.d. Joseph, who from early life was skilled in dreams, succeeded by interpreting the visions of Pharaoh in obtaining a sort of premiership in Egypt; while filling which office he, like more modern Prime Ministers, "placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land." Joseph not only gave his own family the best place in the land, but he also, by a trick of statecraft, obtained the land for the king, made slaves of the people, and made it a law over the land of Egypt that the king should be ent.i.tled to one-fifth of the produce, always, of course, excepting and saving the rights of the priest. Judah, another brother, sought to have burned a woman by whom he had a child. A third, named Reuben, was guilty of the grossest vice, equalled only by that of Absalom the son of David; of Simeon and Levi, two more of Jacob"s sons, it is said that "instruments of cruelty were in their habitations;" their conduct, as detailed in the 34th chapter of Genesis, alike shocks by its treachery and its mercilessness. After Jacob had heard that his son Joseph was governor in Egypt, but before he had journeyed farther than Beersheba, G.o.d spake unto him in the visions of the night, and probably forgetting that he had given him a new name, or being more accustomed to the old one, said, "Jacob, Jacob," and then told him to go down into Egypt; where Jacob died after a residence of about seventeen years, when 147 years of age. Before Jacob died he blessed first the sons of Joseph, and then his own children, and at the termination of his blessing to Ephraim and Mana.s.seh, we find the following speech addressed to Joseph, "Moreover I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorite with my sword and with my bow." This speech implies warlike pursuits on the part of Jacob, of which the Bible gives no record, and which seem incompatible with his recorded life. The sword of craft and the bow of cunning are the only weapons in the use of which he was skilled. When his sons murdered and robbed the Hivites, fear seems to have been Jacob"s most prominent characteristic.
Bava Bathra, fol. 17, col. 1, says: "Over six the angel of death had no dominion and these were: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam," and it also says that these and Benjamin, the son of Jacob, "are seven who are not consumed by the worm in the grave."
The Talmud says: "The sons of Esau, of Ishmael, and of Keturah, went on purpose to dispute the burial (of Jacob); but when they saw that Joseph had placed his crown upon the coffin, they did the same with theirs."
There were _thirty-six_ crowns in all, tradition says. "And they mourned with a great and very sore lamentation." Even the very horses and a.s.ses joined in it, we are told. On arriving at the cave of Machpelah, Esau once more protested, and said, "Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, are all buried here. Jacob disposed of his share when he buried Leah in it, and the remaining one belongs to me." "But thou didst sell thy share with thy birthright," remonstrated the sons of Jacob.
"Nay," rejoined Esau, "that did not include my share in the burial place." "Indeed it did," they argued, "for our father, just before he died, said (Gen. i, 5), "In my grave which I have bought for myself.""
"Where are the t.i.tle-deeds?" demanded Esau. "In Egypt," was the answer.
And immediately the swiftfooted Naphthali started for the records ("So light of foot was he," says the Book of Jasher, "that he could go upon the ears of corn without crushing them"). Hushim, the son of Dan, being deaf, asked what was the cause of the commotion. On being told what it was, he s.n.a.t.c.hed up a club and smote Esau so hard that his eyes dropped out and fell upon the feet of Jacob, at which Jacob opened his eyes and grimly smiled (Soteh, fol. 13, col. 1).
NEW LIFE OF MOSES