Spent. He lived 42 years, after he had blessed Jacob. --- His people, in the bosom of Abraham, in limbo. --- Full of days, quite satisfied. Cedat uti conviva satur. (Hor.[Horace?] Sat. i. 1.) He was one of the brightest figures of Jesus Christ, on account of him miraculous birth, name, willingness to be sacrificed, marriage with a woman sought at a great distance, &c. (Calmet) --- Esau, who had always shewn a great regard for his father, joins his brother in rendering to him the last rites of burial. (Haydock) --- Rebecca was probably dead. (Menochius) --- The death of Isaac is mentioned out of its place, that the history of Joseph may not be interrupted, as it happened when Joseph was in prison, in the year of the world 2288. (Calmet) CHAPTER XXXV. Edom. His genealogy extends as far as ver. 20, where that of Seir, the Horrite, begins. The seven first verses specify Esau's sons, the twelve next his grandsons born in Seir. From the 15th to the 20th verse, we have the most ancient form of government in that nation under the Aluphim, or heads of families. To them succeed kings, (ver. 31 to 40,) and then dukes to the end. Moses omits several generations of Oolibama's grand-children, as foreign to his purpose, which was to shew the Israelites whom they were not to molest. The kings, of whom he speaks, (ver. 31,) might govern different parts of the country at the same time; and that before any form of government was established among the Hebrews, as it was under Moses, who is styled a king, (Deuteronomy xxxiii. 5,) about 200 years after Esau had driven the Horrites from their mountains. (Calmet) --- Among these nations several good men might exist, as Job, &c. But the true religion was preserved more fully among the 12 tribes. (St. Augustine, City of God xv. xvi.) (Worthington) Ada. These wives of Esau are called by other names, chap. xxvi. But it was very common amongst the ancients for the same persons to have two names, as Esau himself was also called Edom. (Challoner) --- Ana, the daughter of Sebeon . It is not certain that Ana was a woman. The Samaritan and Septuagint make him son of Sebeon, both here and ver. 14, (Haydock) as well as some Latin copies; and he is mentioned as such, ver. 24. The daughter of Sebeon may, therefore, designate his grand-daughter, which is not unusual. Sebeon is called Hevite, Hethite, and Horrite, on account of his dwelling in different countries; though some think they were different persons. (Calmet) --- This, and innumerable other difficulties, may convince Protestants that the Scriptures are not easy. (Worthington) Eliphaz; perphas the Themanite, and friend of Job, (St. Jerome) or his grandfather, by Theman; as Job was the grandson of Esau, and the second king, ver. 33. (Tirinus) Jacob, by the divine Providence, as Chanaan was to be his inheritance. (Menochius) --- He had returned from Seir about the same time as Jacob came home. (St. Augustine, q. 119.) Of Edom, or of all the nations who inhabited Idumea, sprung from Esau's grand-children. (Calmet) Hebrew Aluph, prince of a tribe, or of a thousand; a Chiliarch. Zach. v. 2[Zacharias v. 2.?]. The Rabbin assert they wore not a crown, as the kings did. (Calmet) --- Both obtained their authority by election. An aristocracy prevailed under the dukes. (Menochius) Duke Core, being the son of Esau, is omitted in the Samaritan though found in all the versions and Hebrew. (Kennicott) Hot waters. Medicinal, (Menochius) like the springs at Bath, &c. (Haydock) --- Hebrew hayemim, a word which some translate mules; others, the nation of that name; or the giants, Emeans, with whom he had perhaps some engagement, as Adad (ver. 35,) had with the Madianites, the particulars of which were then well known. The Septuagint and ancient versions retain the original word. It is used for a body of water. (Calmet) CHAPTER XXXVI. Seir, contemporary with the princes of Esau, in another town or region. (Calmet) A king. See ver. 1. Moses might also add this with reference to the times, when he knew the Hebrews would petition for a king, for whom he gave particular laws. (Menochius) --- These kings were probably foreigners, who subdued the natives. They did not obtain the kingdom by succession. (Calmet) Jobab. Most people suppose this is Job, the model of patience. (Menochius) --- Bosra, or Bezer, was the capital of Idumea, in the tribe of Ruben. (Calmet) River Rohoboth; or as it is expressed, 1 Paralipomenon i. 48, of Rohoboth, which is near the river Euphrates, below where the Chaboras empties itself. Adar. Many confound him with the king, whom David overcame. --- Daughter of Mezaab, or perhaps her grand-daughter, or adopted child. Callings. They left their names to various places. They were in power when the Hebrews approached their respective territories, and threw them into dismay, Exodus xv. 15. --- Alva. Septuagint, gola. (Calmet) The same Edom is Esau. Moses seems particularly attentive to assert both titles for the same person, ver. 8, &c. The time of Esau's death cannot be ascertained. There is reason to hope that he died penitent; though in the early part of his life, he gave way to his ferocious temper, and became a figure of the reprobate. He lived on terms of friendship with his brother, assisted him to bury his father, &c. (Calmet) --- He was a hunter, indeed; which St. Jerome looks upon as a bad sign: "nunquam venatorem in bonam partem legi," in Micheas v. But this was also in his younger days. (Haydock) --- I have hated Esau, Matthew i., refers to his irreligious posterity, and to his being deprived of temporal advantages, attending the birth-right. (Tirinus) (Calmet) Sojourned at Hebron and the environs. (Haydock) Generations. This connects his history with chap. xxxv. What happened to Jacob and his sons, and particularly to Joseph, forms the subject of the remaining part of Genesis. (Haydock) --- Old; complete, or beginning "his 17th year," as the Hebrew, Chaldean, and Septuagint have it. "He was the son or boy of"---so many years always means the current year unfinished. (Bochart 1. R. xiii. 1.) --- The sons. Perhaps these were not so much enraged against Joseph, till he told his father of their scandalous behaviour, in order that he might put a stop to it. --- He accused. Some editions of the Septuagint read, "they accused him," &c. but all others confirm the Vulgate and Hebrew. (Calmet) --- Crime: perhaps of sodomy, or bestiality (St. Thomas Aquinas); or of abusive language to Joseph himself. (Calmet) Old age, and therefore expected to have no more children; but he loved him still more, on account of his innocent and sweet behaviour (Menochius): in which sense the Samaritan, Chaldean, &c., have, "because he was a wise and prudent boy." --- Colours. The nations of the East delight in gaudy attire, "hanging down to the heels" as the original passim is sometimes expressed, talaris &polymita, ver. 3. (Calmet) Could not, through envy, which caused them to notice every little distinction shewn to Joseph. They perceived he was the most beloved. His accusing them, and insinuating by his mysterious dreams that he would be their lord, heightened their rage. (Haydock) A dream. These dreams of Joseph were prophetical, and sent from God, as were also those which he interpreted, chap. xl. and xli.; otherwise, generally speaking, the observing of dreams is condemned in the Scripture, as superstitious and sinful. See Deuteronomy xviii. 10, and Ecclesiasticus xxxiv. 2, 3. Sheaf. Joseph probably knew not what this portended, as the prophets were sometimes ignorant of the real purport of their visions. (Calmet) --- But it admirably foreshewed the famine, which would bring his brethren to adore him in Egypt. (Menochius) The sun. This second dream confirmed the truth of the former. Joseph relates it with simplicity, not suspecting the ill will of his brethren: but his father easily perceives what effect the narration would have, and desires him to be more cautious. He even points out the apparent incoherence of the dream, as Rachel, who seemed intended by the moon, was already dead; unless this dream happened before that event. St. Augustine (q. 123) observes, this was never literally verified in Joseph, but it was in Jesus Christ, whom he prefigured. (Calmet) --- Some think that Bala, the nurse of Joseph, was intended by the moon. (Tirinus) Worship. This word is not used here to signify divine worship, but an inferior veneration, expressed by the bowing of the body, and that, according to the manner of the eastern nations, down to the ground. With himself: not doubting but it was prophetical. Thus acted the Blessed Virgin. (Calmet) In Sichem. About ninety miles off. The town had not probably been as yet rebuilt. Jacob had a field there, and the country was free for any one to feed their flocks. It was customary to drive them to a distance. (Calmet) Bring me. He was afraid of letting him remain with them, and retained him mostly at home for company, and to protect him from danger. My brethren. The man was acquainted with Jacob's family, as he had dwelt in those parts for a long time. (Haydock) Dothain: twelve miles to the north of Samaria. (Eusebius) The dreamer. Hebrew Bahal hachalomoth, "the lord of dreams," or the visionary lord (Calmet); or one who feigns dreams: so the Jews say of our Saviour, this seducer. (Haydock) Pit: walled around to contain water: Hebrew Bur. Bar means a well that has no walls. (Menochius) --- Shall appear. They resolve to tell a lie, and easily believe that Joseph had been as bad as themselves in telling one first. If they had believed the dreams were from God, they would hardly have supposed that they could prevent them from having their effect. (Haydock) His father. Ruben wished to regain his father's favour, chap. xxxv. 22. To eat bread. How could they do this while their innocent brother was praying and lamenting! (chap. xlii. 21.) (Haydock) --- Some: a caravan of merchants. (Du Hamel) --- Balm, or rosin; "That of Syria resembles attic honey." (Pliny, Natural History) --- Myrrh, (stacten); Hebrew, Lot: "drops of myrrh or laudanum, or of the Lotus tree." (Calmet) Of silver. Some have read, thirty pieces of gold or silver. (St. Ambrose, c. 3.) --- The price was trifling: twenty sicles would be about \'a32 5s. 7\'bdd. English. The Madianites and Ismaelites jointly purchased Joseph. (Haydock) Ruben, who, in the mean time had been absent while his brethren hearkened to the proposal of Juda only, and therefore consented to this evil. (Haydock) I go to seek for him. His brethren inform him of what they had done, and he consents to keep it a secret from his father. (Menochius) A beast. So he might reasonably conclude from the blood, and from the insinuations of the messengers sent by his ten sons, (Haydock) whom he would not suspect of so heinous a crime. Wild beasts infested that country. (Menochius) Sack-cloth, or hair-cloth, cilicio. These garments were made very close, like a sack, of the hair taken from the goats of Cilicia, which grew long, rough, and of a dark colour. The poorest people used them: Usum in Castrorum &miseris velamina nautis, (Vir.[Virgil,?] Geor. 3.); and the Ascetics, or monks, afterwards chose them for the sake of mortification and humility. (Calmet) --- Jacob was the first, mentioned in Scripture, who put them on, and the Israelites imitated him in their mourning. --- Long time; twenty-three years, till he heard of his son being still alive. (Menochius) Into hell; that is, into limbo, the place where the souls of the just were received before the death of our Redeemer. For allowing that the word hell sometimes is taken for the grave, it cannot be so taken in this place; since Jacob did not believe his son to be in the grave, (whom he supposed to be devoured by a wild beast) and therefore could not mean to go down to him thither: but certainly meant the place of rest, where he believed his soul to be. (Challoner) --- Soal, or sheol, to crave, denotes the receptacle of the dead, (Leigh) or a lower region; the grave for the body; limbo, or hell, when speaking of the soul. See Delrio, Adag. in 2 Kings, p. 209. (Haydock) --- Protestants here translate it, "the grave," being unwilling to admit a third place in the other world for the soul. See the contrary in St. Augustine, ep. 99, ad Evod.; City of God xx. 15. (Worthington) An eunuch. This word sometimes signifies a chamberlain, courtier, or officer of the king: and so it is taken in this place. (Challoner) --- Soldiers, cooks, or butchers. Hebrew tabachim, executioners, mactantium. He might also be chief sacrificer, governor of the prisons, &c., all these employments were anciently very honourable, Daniel ii. 14. The providence of God never shines more brightly in any part of the Scripture, than in this history of Joseph, except in that of Jesus Christ, of whom Joseph was a beautiful figure. He was born when his father was grown old, as Jesus was in the last age of the world; he was a son increasing, as Jesus waxed in age and grace before God and men; both were beloved by their father, both comely, &c. (Calmet)