in which Jacob, assisted by God, was a match for an angel, was so ordered (v. 28) that he might learn by this experiment of the divine assistance, that neither Esau, nor any other man, should have power to hurt him.” How elevating it must be to the true believer to conceive God helping Jacob to wrestle with his own representative. On the morrow Jacob met Esau. ³⁰ Genesis, xxxi, v. 24, Douay version. “And Esau ran to meet him, and embraced him, and fell on his neck, and kissed³¹ him; and they wept.” ³¹ The Talmud says: “Read not ‘and he kissed him,’ but read ‘and he bit him’” (Pirke d’Rab Eliezer, chap. 36); and Rabbi Yanai says: “Esau did not come to kiss him, but to bite him; only the neck of Jacob our father became as hard as marble, and this blunted the teeth of the wicked one. And what is taught by the expression ‘And they wept?’ ‘The one wept for his neck, and the other for his teeth” (“Midrash Rabbah,” c. 68). Aben Ezra says that this exposition is only fit for children. “And he said, What meanest thou by all this drove which I met? And he said, These are to find grace in the sight of my lord.” “And Esau said, I have enough, my brother; keep that thou hast unto thyself.” “The last portion of the history of Jacob and Esau”, writes G. J. Holyoake, “is very instructive. The coward fear of Jacob to meet his brother is well delineated. He is subdued by a sense of his treacherous guilt. The noble forgiveness of Esau invests his memory with more respect than all the wealth Jacob won, and all the blessings of the Lord he received. Could I change my name from Jacob to Esau, I would do it in honor of him. The whole incident has a dramatic interest. There is nothing in the Old or New Testament equal to it. The simple magnanimity of Esau is scarcely surpassed by anything in Plutarch. In the conduct of Esau, we see the triumph of time, of filial affection, and generosity over a deep sense of execrable treachery, unprovoked and irrevocable injury.” Was not Esau a merciful, noble, generous man? Yet God hated him, and shut him out of all share in the promised land. Was not Jacob a mean, prevaricating knave: a crafty, abject cheat? Yet God loved and rewarded him. How great are the mysteries in this Bible representation of an all-good and all-loving God, thus hating good, and loving evil! At the time of the wrestling a promise was made, which is afterwards repeated by God to Jacob, that the latter should not be any more called Jacob, but Israel. This promise was not strictly kept; the name “Jacob” being used repeatedly, mingled with that of Israel in the after part of Jacob’s history. Jacob had a large family; his sons are reputedly the heads of the twelve Jewish tribes. Joseph, who was much loved by his father, was sold by his brethren into slavery. This transaction does not seem to have called for any special reproval from God. Joseph, who from