Genesis 16

Notes

Ver. 5. Since you indulge your concubine in her contempt of me, may God plead my cause, and avenge the injury done to me on both you and her, 1 Sa. 24. 12, 15; Ge. 31. 53; Ex. 5. 21; De. 32. 36; 2 Ch. 20. 12; Re. 6. 10.

Ver. 7. Here, and in many other places, the Angel of the Lord, or Angel Jehovah, denotes Jesus Christ, who is the messenger of the new covenant, ch. 22. 11; 48. 16; Ju. 2. 1; 6. 11; 13. 3; Is. 63. 9; Zec. 1. 12; 3. 5; Mal. 3. 1.

Ver. 8, 9. He puts her in mind of her relation to Sarai, to render her sensible of her fault, and dispose her to a dutiful return and subjection to her, Tit. 2. 9; 1 Pe. 2. 18; Ep. 6. 5.

Ver. 10-12. Here it is foretold that Ishmael and his seed should be wild free men, like wild asses; mischievous to all around them, and extremely numerous. For almost four thousand years the fulfilment hath been amazingly remarkable. Ishmael had twelve sons, who gave rise to as many tribes or nations, called by their names, and who dwelt southward in Arabia, before the face or in the presence of their near relations, the Ammonites, Moabites, descendants of Keturah, Edomites, and Jews, ch. 17. 20; 21. 13, 18; 25. 11-18. All along they have been a nuisance and plague to the nations around them; infamous for theft, robbery, revenge, pillage, and murder. It hath therefore been the continued and common interest of mankind to extirpate them from the earth. But though almost every noted conqueror who hath appeared in the world, whether Hebrew, Egyptian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Persian, Grecian, Roman, Tartar, or Turkish, hath pushed his conquests to their borders, or even beyond them into Egypt or Arabia Felix, not one hath ever been able to subdue these Ishmaelites, or deprive them of their freedom. The mighty Shishak, King of Egypt, was obliged to draw a line along their frontiers for the protection of his kingdom from their ravaging inroads. The Assyrians under Shalmaneser and Sennacherib, and the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar, greatly harassed them, and almost extirpated some of their tribes, Is. 21. 11-17; Nu. 24. 22; Je. 25. 23, 24; 49. 28-33. Provoked with their contempt, Alexander the Great made vast preparations for their utter destruction; but death cut short his purpose. Antigonus, one of his valiant captains and successors, provoked with their depredations, more than once, but to his repeated dishonour, attempted to subdue them. Flushed with his eastern victories, Pompey, the famed Roman general, attempted to reduce them; but his army being recalled when they had hopes of gaining their purpose, these wild Arabs pursued them, almost at their heels, and dreadfully harassed the Roman subjects in Syria. Augustus, the renowned emperor, made one or more fruitless attempts to subdue them. About A.D. 110, Trajan, one of the most powerful emperors and valiant generals that ever filled the Roman throne, with a mighty army, determined if possible to subdue them, and laid siege to their capital. But storms of hail, which are scarcely ever seen in that country, thunder, lightning, whirlwind, swarms of flies, and dreadful apparitions in the air, terrified or repulsed his troops as often as they repeated their attacks. About eighty years after, Severus, another warlike emperor, determined to punish their siding with Niger, his rival, by an utter reduction of them. But, after he had made a breach on the wall of their principal city, an unaccountable difference between him and his beloved and faithful European troops obliged him to raise the siege, and leave the country. In the seventh century of the Christian era, these Ishmaelites, under Mahomet, their famed impostor, and his successors, furiously extended their empire, and their new and false religion, through a great part of Asia and Africa, and even some countries of Europe, Re. 9. 1-11. Since the fall of their empire, the Turks have made repeated attempts to subdue them; but instead of succeeding, they have been obliged, for near three hundred years past, to pay them a yearly tribute of forty thousand crowns, for procuring a safe passage for their pilgrims to Mecca, the holy city, where Mahomet was born. If, to fulfil his promise, God hath done so much for protecting the temporal liberty of miscreants, what will he not do for the salvation of his people!—[Ver. 12. The 'wild ass' (pere, the Hebrew word here translated 'wild') was the emblem of wild, rude, uncontrollable freedom—total disregard of law and social restraint, Job 24. 5; 11. 12. Such has ever been, and is still, the character of the Arab. He roams free through his native desert. No power has been able to control his movements, or to induce or compel him to adopt the settled habits of civilized life. His hand has been, and is, against every man who, without his protection, enters his country; and the hand of every surrounding ruler has been and is against him. Yet he dwells to this day, as he has done for nearly forty centuries, in the presence of all his brethren. He meets them on the east, west, north, and south; and none can extirpate or subdue him. P.—Against every man, and every man's hand against him. The descendants of Ishmael were divided into tribes, after the manner of the Jews, differing to a certain extent in dispositions, habits, character, and government. Many of them made great advances in civilization and learning; and exhibited the ordinary aspect of powerful, settled, and regular communities. Still there has been a vast number, of whom the Bedouins are most generally known, who have, in all ages, practically and literally realized this prediction, and lived, as they still do, in a state of uninterrupted hostility with all men; seeking no home but the desert, submitting to no law but their will, and acknowledging no right but their sword; 'their hand against every man, and every man's hand against them.'—And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren. To ascertain the meaning of this phrase, we must recollect that one peculiarity in the prophecies concerning the Jews—another branch of the Abrahamic tree—was, De. 28. 64, 'And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other.' Now this was foretold of the child of the promise, the descendants of Isaac; but of Ishmael, the son of the bond-woman, it is said, He shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren; that is, while Israel shall be scattered, dispersed, and outcast, Is. 11. 12, from the land promised to Abram, Ishmael shall abide in the land promised to Hagar. The event has verified the prediction, and proved that it proceeded from him who 'determined the bounds of their habitation.' Israel is scattered in judgment as chaff of the thrashing-floor; Ishmael abides immovable as Sinai. C.]

Ver. 13. Have I, in this desert as well as in my master's family, and notwithstanding my misbehaviour, received a gracious visit from God, as my powerful guardian and kind benefactor? and have I duly considered, and thanked him for, and improved the same? Ps. 9. 13; Lu. 1. 48, 49.

Reflections.—The best of saints too often degrade themselves to obtain what they desire before God's time, and with some plausible pretexts endeavour to conceal their guilt. An uneasiness of temper, and too much affection to creatures, often induce us to comply with their sinful proposals. But the best intended transgressions will quickly issue in shame and trouble to the guilty, especially if saints; while our tempters prove our first and principal accusers. How transcendent the mercy of God, in visiting transgressors in the very troubles which they had drawn upon their own heads! Yet remember no happy deliverance is to be expected but in the way of returning to our duty. Let me never therefore hope for comfort in children, or in anything besides, but in the Lord's way. Let me always leave it to him to give his promise a proper and honourable accomplishment in the season which he thinks fit. And if he grant me undeserved visits, while the yoke of my transgressions is wreathed about my neck, let me with wonder remark his kindness, and take to myself shame and confusion of face.