Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men, and you have prevailed.”

“Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel--The old name was not to be abandoned; but, referring as it did to a dishonorable part of the patriarch's history, it was to be associated with another descriptive of his now sanctified and eminently devout…”

But Jacob himself went on ahead and bowed to the ground seven times as he approached his brother.

“The members of his family did the same. This was a token of profound respect, and, though very marked, it would appear natural; for Esau being the elder brother, was, according to the custom of the East, entitled to respectful treatment from his younger brother.”

Please accept my gift that was brought to you, because God has been gracious to me and I have all I need.” So Jacob pressed him until he accepted.

“He urged him and he took it--In the East the acceptance by a superior is a proof of friendship, and by an enemy, of reconciliation.”

Then Esau said, “Let us be on our way, and I will go ahead of you.”

“But the proposal was prudently declined. Jacob did not need any worldly state or equipage. Notwithstanding the present cordiality, the brothers were so different in spirit, character, and habits--the one so much a man of the world, and the other a man of God, that…”

After Jacob had come from Paddan-aram, he arrived safely at the city of Shechem in the land of Canaan, and he camped just outside the city.

“Shalem--that is, "peace"; and the meaning may be that Jacob came into Canaan, arriving safe and sound at the city Shechem--a tribute to Him who had promised such a return (compare Ge 28:15).”

Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, but since his sons were with his livestock in the field, he remained silent about it until they returned.

“Jacob held his peace--Jacob, as a father and a good man, must have been deeply distressed. In the case of a family by different wives, it is not the father, but the full brothers, on whom the protection of the daughters devolves--they are the guardians…”

Meanwhile, Shechem’s father Hamor came to speak with Jacob.

“Hamor--that is, "ass"; and it is a striking proof of the very different ideas which, in the East, are associated with that animal, which there appears sprightly, well proportioned, and of great activity.”

But Hamor said to them, “My son Shechem longs for your daughter. Please give her to him as his wife.

“They betray no jealousy of the powerful shepherds; on the contrary, they show every desire to establish friendly intercourse.”

But because Shechem had defiled their sister Dinah, Jacob’s sons answered him and his father Hamor deceitfully.

“Nothing is said of their teaching the people to worship the true God, but only of their insisting on their being circumcised; and it is evident that they did not seek to convert Shechem, but only made a show of religion--a cloak to cover their…”

So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the gate of their city and addressed the men of their city:

“Hamor and Shechem . . . came unto the gate of their city--That was the place where every public communication was made; and in the ready obsequious submission of the people to this measure we see an evidence either of the extraordinary affection for the…”

Then Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, “You have brought trouble upon me by making me a stench to the Canaanites and Perizzites, the people of this land.

“We may wonder that, in speaking of it to his sons, he did not represent it as a heinous sin, an atrocious violation of the laws of God and man, but dwelt solely on the present consequences.”

So they gave Jacob all their foreign gods and all their earrings, and Jacob buried them under the oak near Shechem.

“The oak being deemed a consecrated tree, to bury them at its root was to deposit them in a place where no bold hand would venture to disturb the ground; and hence it was called from this circumstance--"the plain of Meonenim"--that is, "the oak of…”

So Jacob and everyone with him arrived in Luz (that is, Bethel) in the land of Canaan.

“So Jacob came to Luz . . . that is, Beth-el--It is probable that this place was unoccupied ground when Jacob first went to it; and that after that period [CALVIN], the Canaanites built a town, to which they gave the name of Luz [Ge…”

Now Deborah, Rebekah’s nurse, died and was buried under the oak below Bethel. So Jacob named it Allon-bachuth.

“Deborah (Hebrew, a "bee"), supposing her to have been fifty years on coming to Canaan, had attained the great age of a hundred eighty. When she was removed from Isaac's household to Jacob's, is unknown.”

And with her last breath—for she was dying—she named him Ben-oni. But his father called him Benjamin.

“She called his name Ben-oni--The dying mother gave this name to her child, significant of her circumstances; but Jacob changed his name into Benjamin. This is thought by some to have been originally Benjamin, "a son of days," that is, of old age.”

And the sons of Leah’s maidservant Zilpah were Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan-aram.

“Sons of Jacob . . . born to him in Padan-aram--It is a common practice of the sacred historian to say of a company or body of men that which, though true of the majority, may not be applicable to every individual.”

This is the account of Esau (that is, Edom).

“The design of this historical sketch of Esau and his family is to show how the promise (Ge 27:39, 40) was fulfilled.”

These are the chiefs among the sons of Esau. The sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: Chiefs Teman, Omar, Zepho, Kenaz, Korah, Gatam, and Amalek.

“The head of each tribe was called by a term which in our version is rendered "duke"--not of the high rank and wealth of a British peer, but like the sheiks or emirs of the modern East, or the chieftains of highland clans.”

These are the sons of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. (This is the Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness as he was pasturing the donkeys of his father…

“This was that Anah that found the mules in the wilderness--The word "mules" is, in several ancient versions, rendered "water springs"; and this discovery of some remarkable fountain was sufficient, among a wandering or pastoral people, to entitle him to such a distinguishing notice.”

Now Jacob lived in the land where his father had resided, the land of Canaan.

“Jacob dwelt in the land wherein his father was a stranger--that is, "a sojourner"; "father" used collectively.”

Then Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him even more.

“But this dream was evidently symbolical. The meaning was easily discerned, and, from its being repeated under different emblems, the fulfilment was considered certain (compare Ge 41:32), whence it was that "his brethren envied him, but his father observed the saying" [Ge 37:11].”

“They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let us go to Dothan.’” So Joseph set out after his brothers and found them at Dothan.

“Joseph went after his brethren, and found them in Dothan--Hebrew, Dothaim, or "two wells," recently discovered in the modern "Dothan," situated a few hours' distance from Shechem.”

“Here comes that dreamer!” they said to one another.

“Behold, this dreamer cometh--literally, "master of dreams"--a bitterly ironical sneer. Dreams being considered suggestions from above, to make false pretensions to having received one was detested as a species of blasphemy, and in this light Joseph was regarded by his brethren as an artful pretender.”

Then Judah said to his brothers, “What profit will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood?

“What profit is it if we slay our brother?--The sight of these travelling merchants gave a sudden turn to the views of the conspirators; for having no wish to commit a greater degree of crime than was necessary for the accomplishment of their end, they…”

Then Jacob tore his clothes, put sackcloth around his waist, and mourned for his son many days.

“Jacob rent his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his loins--the common signs of Oriental mourning. A rent is made in the skirt more or less long according to the afflicted feelings of the mourner, and a coarse rough piece of black sackcloth or camel's hair…”