{"commentary":{"id":"jamieson-fausset-brown","name":"Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary","website":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamieson-Fausset-Brown_Bible_Commentary","licenseUrl":"https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/","licenseNotes":null,"licenseNotice":null,"englishName":"Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary","language":"eng","textDirection":"rtl","sha256":"db3d4c8b3c1f32ef9d1430a57392e02bda3a17aac1f9bbe398461de021a3cb13","availableFormats":["json"],"listOfBooksApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/books.json","listOfProfilesApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/profiles.json","numberOfBooks":66,"totalNumberOfChapters":1187,"totalNumberOfVerses":17056,"totalNumberOfProfiles":0,"languageName":"English","languageEnglishName":"English"},"book":{"id":"GEN","commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","name":"Genesis","commonName":"Genesis","introduction":"GENESIS, the book of the origin or production of all things, consists of two parts: the first, comprehended in the first through eleventh chapters, gives a general history; the second, contained in the subsequent chapters, gives a special history. The two parts are essentially connected; the one, which sets out with an account of the descent of the human race from a single pair, the introduction of sin into the world, and the announcement of the scheme of divine mercy for repairing the ruins of the fall, was necessary to pave the way for relating the other, namely, the call of Abraham, and the selection of his posterity for carrying out the gracious purpose of God. An evident unity of method, therefore, pervades this book, and the information contained in it was of the greatest importance to the Hebrew people, as without it they could not have understood the frequent references made in their law to the purposes and promises of God regarding themselves. The arguments that have been already adduced as establishing the Mosaic origin of the Pentateuch prove of course that Moses was the author of Genesis. The few passages on which the rationalists grounded their assertions that it was the composition of a later age have been successfully shown to warrant no such conclusion; the use of Egyptian words and the minute acquaintance with Egyptian life and manners, displayed in the history of Joseph, harmonize with the education of Moses, and whether he received his information by immediate revelation, from tradition, or from written documents, it comes to us as the authentic work of an author who wrote as he was inspired by the Holy Ghost (Pe2 1:21). \n \n\n\nNext: Genesis Chapter 1\n\n","order":1,"numberOfChapters":50,"sha256":"ec815a3918530d6e58baacb7273848b505bde282d2878c9c6d40c430ca66075d","firstChapterNumber":1,"firstChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/GEN/1.json","firstChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"GEN","chapter":1},"lastChapterNumber":50,"lastChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/GEN/50.json","lastChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"GEN","chapter":50},"totalNumberOfVerses":529},"chapter":{"number":33,"content":[{"type":"verse","number":3,"content":["he bowed himself . . . seven times--The manner of doing this is by looking towards a superior and bowing with the upper part of the body brought parallel to the ground, then advancing a few steps and bowing again, and repeating his obeisance till, at the seventh time, the suppliant stands in the immediate presence of his superior. 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. His attendants would be struck by it, and according to Eastern habits, would magnify it in the hearing of their master.\n \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":4,"content":["Esau ran to meet him--What a sudden and surprising change! Whether the sight of the princely present and the profound homage of Jacob had produced this effect, or it proceeded from the impulsive character of Esau, the cherished enmity of twenty years in a moment disappeared; the weapons of war were laid aside, and the warmest tokens of mutual affection reciprocated between the brothers. But doubtless, the efficient cause was the secret, subduing influence of grace (Pro 21:1), which converted Esau from an enemy into a friend.\n \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":5,"content":["Who are those with thee?--It might have been enough to say, They are my children; but Jacob was a pious man, and he could not give even a common answer but in the language of piety (Psa 127:3; Psa 113:9; Psa 107:41).\n \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":11,"content":["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. It was on both accounts Jacob was so anxious that his brother should receive the cattle; and in Esau's acceptance he had the strongest proofs of a good feeling being established that Eastern notions admit of.\n \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":12,"content":["THE PARTING. (Gen 33:12-20)\n \nAnd he said, Let us take our journey--Esau proposed to accompany Jacob and his family through the country, both as a mark of friendship and as an escort to guard them. 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 there was great risk of something occurring to disturb the harmony. Jacob having alleged a very reasonable excuse for the tardiness of his movements, the brothers parted in peace.\n \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":14,"content":["until I come unto my lord--It seems to have been Jacob's intention, passing round the Dead Sea, to visit his brother in Seir, and thus, without crossing the Jordan, go to Beer-sheba to Isaac; but he changed his plan, and whether the intention was carried out then or at a future period has not been recorded.\n \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":17,"content":["Jacob journeyed to Succoth--that is, \"booths,\" that being the first station at which Jacob halted on his arrival in Canaan. His posterity, when dwelling in houses of stone, built a city there and called it Succoth, to commemorate the fact that their ancestor, \"a Syrian ready to perish\" [Deu 26:5], was glad to dwell in booths.\n \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":18,"content":["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 Gen 28:15). But most writers take Shalem as a proper name--a city of Shechem, and the site is marked by one of the little villages about two miles to the northeast. A little farther in the valley below Shechem \"he bought a parcel of a field,\" thus being the first of the patriarchs who became a proprietor of land in Canaan.\n \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":19,"content":["an hundred pieces of money--literally, \"lambs\"; probably a coin with the figure of a lamb on it.\n \n"]},{"type":"verse","number":20,"content":["and he erected . . . an altar--A beautiful proof of his personal piety, a most suitable conclusion to his journey, and a lasting memorial of a distinguished favor in the name \"God, the God of Israel.\" Wherever we pitch a tent, God shall have an altar.\n \n\n\n\nNext: Genesis Chapter 34\n\n"]}],"introduction":"KINDNESS OF JACOB AND ESAU. (Gen 33:1-11)\n \nbehold, Esau came, and with him four hundred men--Jacob having crossed the ford and ranged his wives and children in order--the dearest last, that they might be the least exposed to danger--awaited the expected interview. His faith was strengthened and his fears gone (Psa 27:3). Having had power to prevail with God, he was confident of the same power with man, according to the promise (compare Gen 32:28).\n \n"},"thisChapterLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/GEN/33.json","thisChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"GEN","chapter":33},"nextChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/GEN/34.json","nextChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"GEN","chapter":34},"previousChapterApiLink":"/api/c/jamieson-fausset-brown/GEN/32.json","previousChapterReference":{"commentaryId":"jamieson-fausset-brown","book":"GEN","chapter":32},"numberOfVerses":10}