vast and sudden increase, as Gen. 28. 14.- Since my coming; Heb. at my foot.' This phrase is elsewhere used as equivalent to conduct, guidance, direction. Thus, 2 Sam. 15. 17, And the king went forth, and all the people after him ;' Heb. ' at his foot.' 2 Kings 3. 9, And there was no water for the host, and for the cattle that followed them; Heb. 'at their feet.' So here, the Lord hath blessed thee at my foot;' i. e. under my guidance and management,

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What terms did Jacob propose, and how did Laban receive them? v. 31-34.

'Not give me any thing;' i. e. no definite, stipulated wages. He chose rather to rely on the providence of God.-Feed and keep ;' i. e. feed by day, and keep a guard by night. So he says afterward, Gen. 31. 41, 'In the day the drought consumed me, and the frost by night.'The flock.' This is a general term, under which he goes on to specify the two species of animals of which it was composed.-'Speckled;' those marked with small sprinklings.- Spotted;' marked with large spots. Cattle; applied in Scripture to sheep and goats as well as to oxen. Of such shall be my hire; i. e. not only those first separated, but all the parti-colored that should thenceforth be born. The advantage of this choice would depend upon the blessing of God, for the speckled and spotted would naturally constitute the smallest portion of any flock. This Laban saw, and therefore assented without hesitation to Jacob's offer; but the event shewed him supplanted by the superior astuteness of Jacob.-' So shall my righteousness answer for me;' i. e. so shall my honest and upright conduct bear witness for me. Contrary to this is that of the prophet, Is. 59. 12, Our sins testify against us; Heb. answer against us.' As if he had said, the thing will shew for itself that I am guilty of no fraud whatever, but merely take what you agree to give me.'-' When it shall come,' or, when thou shalt come upon my wages before

What envious speech of Laban's sons came to the ears of Jacob, and what change did he notice in Laban himself? v. 1, 2.

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Gotten; Heb. made,' in the sense of acquired, accumulated, amassed. See note on Gen. 12. 5. Chal. 'Acquired all this substance.'-'Glory; Heb. weight,' or burden;' as Gen. 13. 2, where Abraham is said to be very rich,' the original has it very weighty.' The word is rendered glory,' because glory and honor are the usual concomitants of riches. This sense of the term occurs Is. 61. 6, Ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and (or, even) in their glory shall ye boast yourselves;' i. e. in their abundance, their opulence. Rev. 21. 24, And the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor into it ;' i. e. their riches. Mat. 4. 8, He sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them ;' i. e. all their riches and treasures.- Beheld his countenance;' Chal. saw the look of his countenance.' As before; Heb. 'as yesterday and the day before.' What was the truth as to the matter of their charge? See v. 9.

What Divine command did he receive, and what preparatory steps did he take towards complying with it? v. 3, 4.

'And I will be with thee;' Chal. my word shall be for thy help.'

How did he then address his wives? v. 5-13. That it is not toward me as before;' Targ. Jon. that it is not placid toward me as before.' The God of my father hath been with me;' Chal. the word of the God of my father hath been for my help;' i. e. 'to bless me,' thus bearing witness to my integrity, and evincing that Laban's disaffection was groundless; for had he done wrong he would not have been thus blessed. 'Deceived.' The original in Judg. 16. 10, is

rendered mocked;' in Ex. 8. 29, 'deal deceitfully,' and by the Chal. is here paraphrased, 'has lied unto me.' The term properly signifies all these.Ten times;' probably a definite number for an indefinite. Thus, Num. 14. 22, 'Have tempted me these ten times;' i. e. many times. Job 19. 3, These ten times have ye reproached me;' i. e. in repeated instances; again and again.—' Suffered him not;' Heb. gave him not.' See note on Gen. 20. 6.- Grizzled ;' Heb. hail-spotted;' marked with little white spots like hail-stones. This was the color of the horses seen in the fourth chariot in Zechariah's vision, Zech. 6. 3, bay mottled with white.

What do we learn as to the true character of the angel here spoken of, by comparing v. 11 with v. 13?

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The Jewish writers call this angel Michael, regarding him as the tutelary angel of their nation.'I am the God of Bethel;' Gr. I am the God who appeared unto thee in the place of God;' Chal. I am the God who appeared unto thee in Bethel.' This was an intimation that God accepted the services performed at Bethel, and was mindful of the promises there made.

What did Rachel and Leah reply to Jacob? v. 14-16.

Is there yet any portion or inheritance?' implying that they had no hope of any further benefit from their father, and consequently no motive to staying longer with him. Portion' implies voluntary gifts and presents; inheritance,' that to which they might expect to succeed by law or common usage.—' Sold us and devoured our money;' i. e. instead of dealing with us as daughters, disposing of us with honorable dowries, he has bargained us away like slaves, and applied the proceeds to his own use, instead of bestowing any portion of it upon us. Our money ;' Heb, our silver;' i. e. the price for which we were

sold. The selling' to which they allude was Laban's compact with Jacob for 14 years service. As this service was in lieu of a dowry which would naturally have accrued to the wives as a right, they jointly complain of being excluded from all participation in the avails of it. Their crimination of their father is not to be reckoned a breach of filial reverence, for they are not traducing him in the presence of strangers, but merely stating the reason which justified them to their own consciences in leaving him.

What is said of the circumstances of their departure? v 17-21.

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'Set his sons,' &c.; Heb. 'bore or carried;' Gr. 'he took his wives and children upon camels.'-' And Laban went; rather, Laban had gone,' as most of the ancient versions render it.-Images; Heb. 'teraphim;' Gr. idols; Chal. images; Josephus, 'types of gods;' Oth. household gods;' by which latter appellation Laban virtually calls them, v. 30. The etymology, and consequently the exact signification of the word, is doubtful. Of the various conjectures respecting its origin, the two following appear to rest upon the most plausible grounds; either, 1. That it is derived from the Syriac teraph,' to inquire, from their being consulted and inquired of as oracles, Ezek. 21. 21; Zech. 10. 2; or 2. That it is formed, by a common change of the letters T and S, from Seraphim, the same as Cherubim, from which the original hint of them is supposed to be taken. The Teraphim' may be defined divining images, as they appear to have been employed in false worship for a purpose similar to that of the Ephod in the true. Accordingly the prophet Hosea, ch. 3. 4, in a prediction of the future desolate condition of the Jews, says, They shall be without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim,' or as it should probably be rendered without an ephod, even teraphim;' the word without' not occurring in the original; as if in their degenerate state the Ephod were in God's sight

no better than the Teraphim. The drift of the passage is to predict that they should be reduced to such extremities that they should neither have the implements of the worship of the true God nor of idols. From Michal's making use of one to personate David, 1 Sam. 19. 13, we infer that they bore a resemblance to the human form, but of what materials or of what dimensions they were made we are not instructed. The Gr. of the Sept. sometimes retains the Heb. word in the form of Theraphein,' as Judg. 17. 5, and it is from this term that the Gr. classic writers framed the word 'Therapeuein,' signifying both to worship and to heal, from the fact probably of idolaters consulting, and thus in a sense worshipping, their deities, with a view, among other things, to the recovery of health. Stole away unawares to Laban;' Heb. stole away the heart of Laban;' a Hebraism for departing without the consent or privity of Laban; Gr. Jacob hid (covertly eluded) Laban;' Chal. · Jacob concealed it from Laban.' To steal the heart,' in the original idiom, is to conduct or demean one's self in such a way as to create a false impression as to the matter of fact. Thus Absalom stole the hearts of the men of Israel,' 2 Sam. 15. 6, by so framing his conduct as to produce the impression of his being at once a dutiful son and a loyal subject, while he was at the same time plotting the overthrow of the government at the hazard of his father's life. So Jacob 'stole the heart of Laban,' by acting as if he had no other design but of remaining with him, while he was in fact making arrangements for a clandestine departure.

Over what river did he pass in his journey? Ans. The Euphrates; lying between Mesopotamia and Canaan.-Set his face;' i. e. directed his course with the full bent of his soul; going forward with the most determined purpose. Accordingly it is rendered in the Gr. Ormesen,' implying an earnest and violent running or rushing forward. It is equivalent to the expression, Luke 9. 51, ' He steadfastly set his face