[22] And it came to pass,
when Israel dwelt in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah his
father's concubine: and Israel heard it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve:
[23] The sons of Leah; Reuben, Jacob's firstborn,
and Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Zebulun: [24]
The sons of Rachel; Joseph, and Benjamin: [25]
And the sons of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid; Dan, and Naphtali: [26]
And the sons of Zilpah, Leah's handmaid; Gad, and Asher: these are the
sons of Jacob, which were born to him in Padan-aram.
When Israel dwelt in that land - As if he were then absent
from his family, which might be the unhappy occasion of these disorders.
Though perhaps Bilhah was the greater criminal, yet Reuben's crime was
so provoking that for it he lost his birth - right and blessing, Genesis
49:4.And Israel heard it - No more is said, that is enough; he heard it
with the utmost grief and shame, horror and displeasure.
[27] And Jacob came unto Isaac
his father unto Mamre, unto the city of Arbah, which is Hebron, where Abraham
and Isaac sojourned.
And Jacob came unto Isaac his father - We may suppose
he had visited him before since his return, for he sore longed after his
father's house, but never 'till now brought his family to settle with him,
or near him. Probably he did this now upon the death of Rebekah, by which
Isaac was left solitary.
[28] And the days of Isaac were
an hundred and fourscore years. [29]
And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered unto his people,
being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob buried him.
The age and death of Isaac are here recorded, though
it appears by computation that he died not 'till many years after Joseph
was sold into Egypt, and much about the time that he was preferred there.
Isaac, a mild quiet man, lived the longest of all the patriarchs, for he
was one hundred and eighty years old: Abraham was but one hundred and seventy
- five. Isaac lived about forty years after he had made his will, Genesis
27:2. We shall not die an hour the sooner, but abundance thebetter, for
our timely setting of our heart and house in order. Particular notice is
taken of the amicable agreement of Esau and Jacob in solemnizing their
father's funeral, Genesis 35:29, to shew how God had wonderfully changed
Esau's mind, since he vowed his brother's murder, upon his father's death,
Genesis 27:41. God has many ways of preventing ill men from doing the mischief
they in tended; he can either tie their hands, or turn their hearts.
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