God hath given me in this place. And he said, Bring them, I pray thee, unto me, and I will bless them." But Jacob's eyesight had greatly failed, so that he could see nothing distinctly. Joseph brought forward the lads, and Jacob said, "I had not thought to see thy face; and lo, God hath showed me also thy seed." And when Joseph presented his sons to his father for his benediction, he bowed himself to the earth. And he held Ephraim in his right hand, opposite to Jacob's left; and Manasseh in his left hand, opposite to his father's right; but Israel stretched out his right hand, and placed it on the head of Ephraim the younger, and his left hand on Manasseh the elder, evidently doing this not by accident, but designedly. He first blessed Joseph himself, and then said, "God, before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac did walk, the God which fed me all my life long to this day, the angel which redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; and let my name be named on them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth." "And when Joseph saw that his father laid his right hand upon the head of Ephraim, it displeased him, and he held up his father's hand, to remove it from Ephraim's head to Manasseh's head; and Joseph said to his father, Not so, my father, for this is the first-born; put thy right hand on his head. And his father refused, and said, I know it, my son, I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great; but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. And he blessed them that day, saying, In thee shall Israel bless, saying, God, make thee as Ephraim, and as Manasseh; and he set Ephraim before Manasseh. And Israel said unto Joseph, Behold I die, but God shall be with you, and bring you again into the land of your fathers. Moreover, I have given to thee one portion above thy brethren, which I took out of the hand of the Amorites with my sword, and with my bow."

SECTION XXVIII.

JACOB'S DYING PROPHECY RESPECTING HIS SONS-HIS DECEASE.

JACOB now called together all his sons, and being inspired to foretell future events, he went on to prophecy what would befall each of them as a tribe and nation. It is worthy of remark, that the moral character of the father seems to be impressed on his descendants, and their destiny is made to depend in a great measure on the conduct of him from whom they derived their descent.

Reuben was the first-born, but though he was "the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power," yet, on account of a base crime already referred to, he is excluded from the chief blessing, and is pronounced to be unstable as water, and it is foretold that his tribe shall not rise to high excellence or great power.

The treachery and cruelty of Simeon and Levi come now into remembrance, in the case of the Shechemites, whom they inhumanly murdered, after deceiving them, when they were unable to defend themselves. "Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce, and their wrath, for it was cruel: I will divide them in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel." This last prediction was most exactly accomplished, in the after history of these two tribes. Simeon having lost a large portion of his numbers in the wilderness, obtained an inheritance, not in a district by himself, but in scattered portions among the other tribes; and it is said that the men of this tribe travelled about as schoolmasters; so that they were literally scattered abroad, and divided in Israel. And all know that Levi had no inheritance with his brethren; but, having received the priesthood, his people were divided among the other tribes, each of which furnished a certain quota of cities for their habitation.

Judah receives a rich blessing, and the future dignity and power of the tribe answered to the patriarch's prediction. "Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise: thy hand shall be in the neck of thine enemies: thy father's children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion's whelp; from the prey, my son, art thou gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion; who shall rouse him up? The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come, and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt unto the choice vine; he washed his garments in wine, and his clothes in the blood of grapes. His eyes shall be red with wine, and his teeth white with milk." This is undoubtedly the chief blessing of all; for two peculiar things are promised-superiority over the other tribes, and the possession of a sceptre and lawgiver; and secondly, that the Messiah should arise from this tribe, for thus must we interpret the word Shiloh. The temporal blessings of this tribe were also very rich. Their country abounded in vineyards and flocks; so that wine and milk were the characteristics of Judah. He is compared to the lion, which became, through all ages, the ensign of this tribe, and is believed to have been the figure on its standard. THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH is also one designation of the Messiah.

The maritime situation of the tribe of Zebulun is exactly foretold, and the boundaries of its possessions, on the great sea,

are described, even unto Zidon. As this tribe was on the coast, so it is described as having harbours and ships.

Issachar is described as having a pleasant land, but an abject spirit; and as a servant of tribute. Accordingly, we scarcely read of a distinguished person from this tribe, nor any distinguished dignity which it possessed.

In most of these predictions there is an evident allusion to the literal import of the names of Jacob's sons; as here, when Dan is introduced in his order, it is said, "Dan shall judge his people, as one of the tribes of Israel." (The word Dan signifies to judge.) Dan is compared to a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse-heels: so that his "rider shall fall backward." We know very little of the character and history of Dan, as a separate tribe; but what is recorded, exactly corresponds with this description.

At this point Jacob seems to have been exhausted. He paused, and lifted up his soul to God in an earnest ejaculation, "I have waited for thy salvation, O Lord." Then he proceeded. "Gad," which name signifies a troop-"a troop shall overcome him, but he shall overcome at the last." "Out of Asher"-which signifies riches, or property-"his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield royal dainties." "Naphtali is a hind let loose: he giveth goodly words."

But now the patriarch comes to his beloved Joseph, which as to mere temporal blessings, the benediction may seem to be the richest of all; but does not include the two things before mentioned as peculiar to Judah, namely, government and the Messiah. It is as follows: "Joseph is a fruitful bough, even a fruitful bough by a well, whose branches run over the wall. The archers have sorely grieved him, and shot at him, and hated him; but his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob: (from thence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel:) even by the God of thy father, who shall help thee, and by the Almighty who shall bless thee with the blessings of heaven above, blessings of the deep that lieth under, blessings of the breasts and of the womb. The blessings of thy father have prevailed above the blessings of my progenitors, unto the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills; they shall be on the head of Joseph, and on the crown of the head of him that was separate from his brethren."

The only difficulty here is to understand who is meant by the shepherd, and stone of Israel, which was to come out of this tribe. These titles apply very exactly to the Messiah, but we have seen that he was to proceed from Judah. It is very probable, however, that these words contributed to produce in the minds of some of the Jews, a notion of a twofold Messiah, the one to spring from Judah, who should be a ruler, and the other

from Joseph, who should be a sufferer. May it not be possible, that through the line of females received by marriage into the tribe of Judah, or by some other intermingling of the tribes, Messiah may have derived his descent from both these tribes?

Of Benjamin it is said, he "shall raven as a wolf: in the morning he shall devour the prey, and at night he shall divide the spoil."

After Jacob had finished blessing his sons, "he charged them, and said unto them, I am to be gathered unto my people: bury me with my fathers, in the cave that is in the field of Ephron the Hittite; in the cave that is in the field of Machpelah, which is before Mamre, in the land of Canaan, which Abraham bought with the field of Ephron the Hittite, for a possession of a burying-place. (There they buried Abraham, and Sarah his wife: there they buried Isaac, and Rebekah his wife; and there I buried Leah.) The purchase of the field, and of the cave that is therein, was from the children of Heth. And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was gathered unto his people."

SECTION XXIX.

JACOB IS BURIED ACCORDING TO HIS REQUEST IN CANAAN-MOURNING ON ACCOUNT OF THE PATRIARCH.

WHEN Joseph perceived that his father had ceased to breathe, he "fell upon his face, and wept upon him, and kissed him. And Joseph commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his father: and the physicians embalmed Israel." The art of preserving human bodies, by embalming them, was certainly better understood in Egypt, in ancient times, than it ever was in any other country, as is evident by the numerous mummies, which unto this day are found in the caves and subterraneous catacombs, and some of which are probably almost as ancient as the time of Joseph. It was customary to mourn forty days for persons embalmed; but in this case, the Egyptians, by reason of their great regard for Joseph, and their veneration for the aged and pious patriarch, extended their mourning to seventy days. And when the mourning was ended, Joseph informed Pharaoh of the oath which his father had made him swear, in regard to his burial, and Pharaoh readily granted him permission to carry the body of his father to Canaan; and all the servants of Pharaoh accompanied him, and, also, all the elders of Israel, and all the elders of the land of Egypt; and all Joseph's brethren, and all their households, except that they left their young children, and their flocks and herds in the land of Goshen.

"And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen; and it was a very great company. And they came to the threshingfloor of Atad, which is beyond Jordan, and there they mourned with a great and very. sore lamentation: and they made a mourning for his father seven days." When the people of the land saw this funeral procession, and observed their bitter lamentation, they said, "This is a grievous mourning to the Egyptians," and on this account the place received the name of Abel-mizraim; that is, the mourning of the Egyptians. And his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, which is before Mamre. "And Joseph returned into Egypt, he and his brethren, and all that went up with him to bury his father."

SECTION XXX.

JOSEPH'S BRETHREN SUSPICIOUS OF HIS FRIENDSHIP-CHARACTER OF JOSEPH-LENGTH OF HIS LIFE-HIS INJUNCTION RESPECTING HIS BONES-HIS DECEASE.

"AND when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph, peradventure, will hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. And they sent messengers unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin, for they did unto thee evil; and now we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him;" and said unto them, "Fear not, for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now, therefore, fear ye not: I will nourish you and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly to them."

The character of Joseph, as here exhibited, is exceedingly amiable. His brothers, disturbed by their own guilty fears, could not enter into his kind and benevolent feelings. They could not but think, that now their father was out of the way, and all restraint removed, he would be disposed to avenge himself upon them for their cruel treatment. After so long a manifestation of kindness and forgiveness, it cut Joseph to the heart, to find them entertaining such suspicions of his motives and designs; so that he wept, when they presented their supplication before him. From this history we learn how troublesome a thing guilt is. These men were, for a while, successful in covering their transgression from men; but after more than a score of years, their sin found them out, and they were sore afflicted by the lashes of conscience, while suffering under the severe pressure of external affliction.