And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:
Ver. 4. Unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob, &c.] This was not baseness of spirit, much less a renouncing of his birthright and blessing; but a necessary submission for a time, such as was that of David to Saul, 1Sa 24:7 ; 1Sa 24:9 till the prophecy of his superiority should be fulfilled. That was baseness in the Samaritans, that in writing to Antiochus Epiphanes, that great king of Syria, because he tormented the Jews, to excuse themselves that they were no Jews they styled him, Antiochus the mighty God: a the Scripture styles him "a vile person". Dan 11:21 So was that also in Teridates, king of the Parthians, who, with bended knee and hands held up, worshipped Nero, and thus bespake that monster of mankind: To thee I come as to my god; and thee I adore as I do the sun: what thou decreest of me, I will be and do; for thou art to me both fate and fortune &c. b And what shall we think of those superstitious Sicilians, who, when they were excommunicated by Pope Martin IV, laid themselves prostrate at his feet, and cried; - O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world, grant us thy peace. The Venetians also, being excommunicated by Pope Clemens V, c could not be absolved till such time as their ambassador Dandalus had not only fallen at the Pope's feet, but lain also under his table as a dog with an iron chain about his neck, feeding on such scraps as were cast unto him. d Had this dog dealt by the Pope as the Earl of Wiltshire's spaniel did, he had served him but right. This earl, with Doctor Cranmer, and others, being sent ambassador to Rome about King Henry's divorce; when he should have kissed the Pope's foot, his spaniel, as though he had been of purpose appointed thereunto, went and caught the Pope by the great toe, which the spaniel haply mistook for some kind of repast. e But this by the way only. What hard servitude kings and emperors were forced to undergo in former times, and how basely to avile f themselves to the beast of Rome, is better known than that it need to be here related. Henry II of England, Henry IV of France, and Henry, the fourth Emperor of Germany, for instance. This last came, in the midst of a sore winter, upon his bare feet, to the gates of the Castle of Canusium, and stood there fasting from morning to night for three days together, waiting for the Pope's judicial sentence, and craving his pardon: which yet he could not obtain by his own or others' tears, or by the intercession of any saint, save only of a certain harlot, with whom the Pope was then taking his carnal pleasure. g The good emperor mistook who thought that the Pope could be pacified by fasting and prayer. This god required another kind of sacrifice than these. And here that of Solomon was fulfilled, "I have seen servants upon horses, and princes walking as servants upon the earth". Ecc 10:7
a Josephus.
b Hλθον προς σε τον εμον θεον, προσκυνησων σε, ως και τον Mιθραν, και εσομαι τουτο οτι αν συ επικλωσης συ γαρ μοι και μοιρα ει και τυχη. - Dio in Vita Neronis.
c Jac. Rev., De Vitis Pontif., p. 198.
d Unde ei Canis cognomentum apud suos. - Ibid.
e Act. and Mon., fol. 1690.
f [Abase.]
g Brightm., Upon the Revel., fol. 449.