Kiriathaim, (6) and the Horites in their mount Seir, unto 1 El-paran, which is by the wilderness. (7) And they returned, and came

Lot a Prisoner.

and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. (11) And

Paran.

and that only their rulers, like Og (Josh. ix. 10), were Amorites.

Ashteroth Karnaim.-The two-horned Astarte, the Phoenician Venus, identified by the Rephaim with the moon. Her worship had, no doubt, been introduced by the Amorites. This city was the capital of Og (Deut. i. 4), and is called Be-Eshtera, "the house of Astarte," in Josh. xxi. 27. Its remains have been found at Tell-Ashtereh, in the Hauran, about two leagues from the ancient Edrei.

The Zuzims.-Called in Deut. ii. 20 Zamzummim, where they are identified with the Rephaim, of which stock they were an inferior branch. Their capital, Ham, has been identified with Hameitât, about six miles to the east of the lower part of the Dead Sea (Tristram, Land of Moab, p. 117).

The Emims.-Of these also we read in Deut. ii. 10, 11: "The Emim . . . also were accounted Rephaim, as the Anakim.”

In Shaveh Kiriathaim.-More probably, in the plain of Kiriathaim. This city, given to the tribe of Reuben (Num. xxxii. 37), was, upon the decay of the Israelites upon the east of Jordan, re-occupied by the Moabites (Jer. xlviii. 1), who had taken it from the Emim.

(6) The Horites.-Cave-men, the aboriginal in. habitants of Mount Seir, subsequently conquered by the Edomites (Deut. ii. 12, 22). The miserable condition of these earth-men is described in Job. xxx. 3-8.

El-paran.-This forest of oaks (or terebinths) was on the edge of the great wilderness, and reached to within three days' journey of Sinai (Num. x. 12, 33).

(7) They returned.-More correctly, they turned, as they did not go back by the same route, but wheeled towards the north-west.

Enmishpat.-The fountain of justice, because at this spring the ancient inhabitants of the country used to meet to settle their disputes. It was also called Kadesh, probably the 'Ain Qadis described by Professor Palmer. It was a great stronghold, and both a sanctuary and a seat of government. It has been visited lately by Mr. Trumbull, for whose account see Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Statement, July, 1881, pp. 208-212.

The Amalekites. Saul had to pursue these wandering hordes into the recesses of Paran (1 Sam.

Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. (12) And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

(13) And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram. (14) And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto

3

xv. 7), but they were evidently now in possession of the Negeb of Judea.

Hazezon - tamar, the felling of the palm, is certainly the same as Engedi (2 Chron. xx. 2). For descriptions of this wonderful spot, so dear to Solomon (Cant. i. 14), see Conder, Tent-work, ii. 135; Tristram, Land of Israel, 281; and for its strategical importance, Tristram, Land of Moab, 25.

(8) They joined battle with them.-Heb., they set themselves in array against them. As the five kings left their cities to do battle with the invaders "in the vale of Siddim," it is plain, as was said in verse 3, that the vale embraces a far wider extent of country than merely the site of the five cities.

(10) The vale of Siddim was full of slimepits. -That is, of holes whence bitumen had been excavated. Layers of this natural asphalte, well known both to the Greeks and Romans as pix Judaica, Judean pitch, still exist on the western side of the Dead Sea; and the places whence it had been dug out, and which are often very deep, formed dangerous impediments in the way of the defeated side.

(13) Ŏne that had escaped.-Heb., the escaped; not any one in particular, but the fugitives generally. As Sodom lay at the north-western end of the Dead Sea, the region where Abram was dwelling would be their natural place of refuge.

Abram the Hebrew.-That is, the immigrant (from beyond the Euphrates), but also his patronymic from Eber, who in like manner had crossed the Tigris. It was, no doubt, the usual title of Abram among the Canaanites, and has been preserved from the original document, whence also probably was taken the exact description of Lot in verse 12.

The plain of Mamre these were confederate with Abram.-Heb., the oak of Mamre (see chap. xiii. 18), and lords, or owners of a covenant. Abram had not occupied Mamre without the consent of the dominant Amorites, and probably there was also a league for mutual defence between him and them.

(14) Abram. armed . . .-Heb., led forth, or literally, let them loose, let them pour forth, the verb indicating both their number and also their haste. The word for trained comes from the same root as the name Enoch, for which see note on chap. iv. 17. As Abram's cattle would often be exposed to danger from

the Amalekites, who throughout the Biblical history appear as a race of inveterate plunderers, there is no reason to doubt that these men were trained and practised in the use of weapons. This large number of servants born in his house, and of an age capable of undergoing the fatigues of a rapid pursuit, added to the older men left to defend and take care of the cattle, proves that Abram was the chieftain of a powerful tribe.

Dan.-There is a city of this name in Gilead, mentioned in Deut. xxxiv. 1, but this is probably the better known town at the source of the Jordan, also called Laish (Judges xviii. 29). For having swept the hill country on his march southwards, Chedorĺaomer would now plunder the rich vale of the Jordan as his final exploit. Dan is about 140 miles from Hebron, where Abram began his march,

(15) Hobah... on the left hand of Damascus. -That is, to the north, as the Hebrews looked eastward in defining the quarters of the heaven. The victory had thus been followed up with great energy, the pursuit having lasted, according to Josephus, the whole of the next day and night after that on which the attack was made. At Hobah the mountains cease, and the great plain of Damascus begins, and further pursuit was therefore useless.

(17) The slaughter.-Heb., the smiting, that is, the defeat of Chedorlaomer.

The valley of Shaveh.-That is, the valley of the plain (see on verse 5). It was the place where Absalom erected his pillar (2 Sam. xviii. 18), and lay on the northern side of Jerusalem, probably where the Kedron valley widens out. Its other name, "the king's dale," may have been given it from this meeting of the kings of Salem and Sodom with the victorious Abram; but Onkelos, with far greater probability, considers that it was so called because upon this level ground the kings of Judah in subsequent times assembled and exercised their forces.

(18) Melchizedek king of Salem.-There is a Salem near Scythopolis in the tribe of Ephraim, near to which John baptised (John iii. 23, where it is called Salim), and Jerome mentions that some local ruins there were said to be the remains of Melchizedek's palace. But such traditions are of little value, and we may feel certain that the place was really Jerusalem (Ps. lxxvi. 2); for it lay on Abram's route homeward, and was within a reasonable distance of Sodom, which, as we have seen, lay in the Ciccar of Jericho, at the northern end of the Dead Sea. Salem is a common name for towns in Palestine (Conder, Tent-work, i. 91), and the village in Ephraim is too remote to have been the place of meeting.

In Melchizedek we have a type of Christ (Ps. cx. 4; Heb. v. 6, 10, vii. 1—21), and so venerable is his character

The Greeting of Melchizedek.

a

kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale. (18) And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. (19) And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: (20) and blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

and aspect that Jewish tradition identified him with the patriarch Shem, thus reconciling also to themselves his superiority over their forefather Abraham. But this idea is contradicted by Heb. vii. 3. He was more probably the king of some Semitic race who still occupied Salem, but from whom it was at a subsequent period wrested by the Jebusites, who called it Jebus, after the name of their ancestor (Judges xix. 10, 11). Up to David's days it seems to have still had a titular king (2 Sam. xxiv. 23), and upon his conquest of it its old name reappears, but with a prefix, and henceforward it was known as Jeru-salem, that is (probably), the possession of Salem.

The typical value of Melchizedek's priesthood lies not merely in his being "king of righteousness and king of peace," but even more in his priesthood being universal, limited by no external ordinances, and attached to no particular race or people. Moreover, he is a kingpriest (Ps. cx.), and by taking precedence of Abram, and blessing him, and receiving of him tithes, he became the representative of a higher priesthood than any that could spring from Abram's loins.

Bread and wine.-The representatives of food of all kinds, both liquid and solid. Though the primary object of this offering was the refreshing of the bodies of Abram's men, and of the prisoners wearied with their long march to and fro, yet we cannot but recognise in it a foreshowing of the bestowal by Christ, the antitype. upon His Church of the spiritual food of His most blessed Body and Blood.

66

Priest of the most high God.-Heb., of El 'elyon. The mention of the term priest (used here for the first time) shows that some sort of sacrificial worship existed at Salem. Sacrifice had, however, been practised before; for Abel had acted as a priest when offering his firstlings, and Abram at the various altars which he built. Apparently, however, Melchizedek had been set apart for the priesthood in some more definite way. El 'elyon means the supreme God," ," and though the two words are so similar in English, they are altogether unlike in Hebrew. In Ps. vii. 17 the epithet 'elyon is applied to Jehovah. With that precision in the use of the names of Deity which we have so often noticed before, Melchizedek is described as a priest of El 'elyon, the Supreme Ruler of the universe; but Abram swears by Jehovah El 'elyon, thus claiming that Jehovah was that Supreme Deity whom Melchizedek served, though without the special knowledge of Him which the patriarch possessed.

(19) Possessor.-Literally, creator, or framer. It is a poetical word, as are also those for "delivered" and "enemies." The form of the blessing, moreover, is poetical, as it is arranged in parallel clauses.

(20) He gave him tithes. Abram thus consecrated the war by a thank-offering to God, Who had

God's Covenant

1

given him the victory. But he also, by paying tithes, acknowledged the priesthood of Melchizedek, and that the God Whom he served was the true God. See Heb. vii. 4-11.

(21) Give me the persons.-To this day it is the rule among the Arabs that, if a camp be plundered, anyone who recovers the booty gives up only the persons, and takes the rest for himself. But Abram, with noble generosity, will accept nothing. The "lifting up of the hand" to give solemnity to an oath is mentioned here for the first time.

(24) The young men the men which went with me.-The former are Abram's 318 servants, and they are to take only their food. The latter are the Amorites, and they are to have their fair share of the spoil.

We must notice in Abram's policy that, while Lot had joined himself to the Canaanites, he stood aloof, ready to help on fit occasion, but even so maintaining his independence, and refusing to draw the bonds of friendship close together. Such, too, was the true policy of the people sprung from him. Standing apart from all nations, they were to trust in Jehovah alone for the maintenance of their liberty and rights; and so long as they did thus act they found in Him peace and security.

XV.

JEHOVAH'S COVENANT WITH ABRAM.

(1) After these things. - After the war with Chedorlaomer.

The word of the Lord came (Heb., was) unto Abram.-This phrase, used so constantly afterwards to signify revelation, occurs here for the first time. The revelation on this occasion is made by night (verse 5), not however in a dream, but in a trance, in which the senses of Abram were closed to all earthly impressions and he became passive in the hands of the Almighty. Up to this time Abram had received only general promises of offspring, and of the land being the possession of his seed; but years were passing by, and the fulfilment of his hopes remained distant as ever. By the war with the Elamite king he had also made for himself powerful enemies; and though the immediate result was fortunate, yet many Canaanite nations may have witnessed with displeasure so remarkable an exhibition of

with Abram.

Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding "great reward. (2) And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus? (3) And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. (4) And, behold, the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. (5) And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them and he said unto him, 'So shall

the power and energy of an "immigrant." And thus the time had come when the patriarch needed and obtained more formal assurances, first, of the bestowal upon him of offspring (verses 1-6), and, secondly, of the future possession of Palestine (verses 18—21).

(2) Lord God.-Not Jehovah Elohim, but Lord Jehovah, "Lord" being the ordinary title of respect. Usually Jehovah takes the vowels of 'donai, "lord," but as the two words occur here together, it takes the Vowels of Elohim, whence the translation in our version, in obedience to a superstition of the Jews (chap. iv. 1).

What wilt thou give me ?-There is a slight tone of complaint in these words. Jehovah promised Abram a "reward great exceedingly." He answers that no reward can really be great so long as he has no heir.

I go childless.-Either, I am going to my grave childless (Ps. xxxix. 13), or better, I continue to be, pass my days, in childlessness.

The steward of my house. - Heb., the benmeshek of my house. Ben-meshek is generally explained as meaning "the son of possession," that is, the possessor, owner of my house when I die. Other authorities derive meshek from a verb signifying "to run about," as if it was Eliezer's business to go to and fro in execution of Abram's orders. The term is rare, and has evidently been chosen for the play of words upon Dammesek Damascus. Perhaps this may also explain. the last words, which literally are, he is Damascus Eliezer. Grammatically it should have been, "he is the Damascene Eliezer," but this would have spoiled the assonance between ben-meshek (probably pronounced bemmeshek) and Dammesek.

(3) One born in my house.-This is a mistake. Those born in Abram's house were his servants (chap. xiv. 14). The Hebrew is, the son of my house, my house-son, not born of me, but the chief of the house next to myself, and its representative. Eliezer was probably born at Damascus.

(5) He brought him forth.-There is no reason for regarding this as a poetical description of a merely mental emotion. With his senses dormant, but alive to every spiritual impression, Abram feels himself led forth from the tent into the open space around, and is there commanded to count the stars. As a matter of fact, the stars visible to the naked eye are not very numerous, but they have ever been a received metaphor

thy seed be. (6) And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

(7) And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. (8) And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it ? (9) And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. (10) And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece

b Acts 7. 6.

for an infinite multitude, probably because, as men gaze, they perpetually see the faint radiance of more and more distant constellations. Thus they cannot be counted, and Abram's seed was to be countless, because of the vastness of its number.

(6) He believed in the Lord (in Jehovah) -We have here the germ of the doctrine of free justification. Abram was both a holy man and one who proved his faith by his works; but nevertheless the inspired narrator inserts this reflection, not after the history of the offering of Isaac, but in the account of this vision, where all that Abram did was to believe, and for that belief's sake was accounted righteous before God. For the definite conclusions deduced from this verse by St. Paul see Rom. iv. The quotation there is from the LXX., and gives the general sense, but the correct rendering of the Hebrew is that given in our version.

(8) Lord God.-Heb., Lord Jehovah, as in verse 2. Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it ?-Jehovah had required Abram to leave his home in Ur of the Chaldees on a general promise of future endowment with the land of Canaan. Abram now asks this question, not from want of faith, but from a desire for a more direct confirmation of the promise and fuller knowledge of the details. What Abram, therefore, receives is an exact and circumstantial prophecy, made in the form of a solemn covenant.

(9, 10) Take me an heifer -This form of making a covenant was probably that usual in Babylonia, and thus Abram received the assurance of his inheritance by means of a ceremonial with which he was familiar. But in most ancient languages men are said to cut or strike a covenant, because the most solemn formula involved either the cutting of victims in two, or striking them dead, as was the Roman manner. The severing of the bodies was not, as some suppose, to represent the two parties; but, as explained in Jer. xxxiv. 18-20, it set forth the penalty of perjury, and was usually accompanied by the imprecation upon the covenant-breaker of a destruction as complete as that which had befallen the slaughtered animals. There is no mention in this place of a sacrifice, although the animals are those subsequently set apart for sacrifice by the Levitical law. The heifer, she-goat, and ram at three years old would each have attained its full maturity; but there may be a further symbolic meaning in there being three animals each three years old. Laid each piece .-More exactly, and laid each half over against the other. The birds were not

The Bondage Foretold.

one against another: but the birds divided he not. (11) And when the fowls came down upon the carcases, Abram drove them away.

b

(12) And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. (13) And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not their's, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; (14) and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge and afterward shall they come out with great substance. (15) And

divided; but as there were two, Abram probably placed one on one side and one on the other. (11) And when the fowls Heb., And the birds of prey came down upon the carcases, and Abram scared them away. Had there been a sacrifice the fire would have kept the vultures from approaching; but the bodies lay exposed, and Abram therefore kept guard over them, lest the purpose of the ceremonial should be frustrated by any want of respect shown to the outward symbols.

(12) When the sun was going down.-The time described was the evening following the night on which he had received the assurance that his seed should be countless as the stars. He had then, in his trance, also asked for some security that Canaan should be the heritage of his posterity, and in answer had received the command to arrange, upon a large scale, the ceremonial of a solemn treaty-making. The morning had been spent in the performance of the command, and afterwards he had watched, probably for several hours, by the side of the divided bodies, uncertain what would happen, but occupied in driving away the vultures, which gathered from all quarters round the abundant feast. At sunset the revelation came to him, not in a waking trance, as on the previous night, but in " a deep sleep," and with those accompaniments of terror so powerfully described in Job iv. 12-16, and which the creature cannot but feel when brought near to the manifest presence of the Creator (Dan. x. 8).

Lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.-Heb., lo, a terror, even great darkness, falling upon him. The terror was not mental so much as bodily, caused by a deep gloom settling round him, such as would be the effect of an eclipse of the setting sun, and shutting all mortal things away from his view.

(13) Four hundred years.-The exact duration of the sojourn in Egypt was 430 years (Exod. xii. 40, 41), and with this agrees the genealogy of Jehoshua (1 Chron. vii. 23-27).

(14) That nation.-Had it been expressly revealed that the country that would afflict them was Egypt, the patriarchs might have been unwilling to go thither; but the reference to the plagues in the denunciation of judgment, and to the spoiling of the Egyptians in the promise that they should "come out with great substance" (Exod. xii. 36), gave detail sufficient for future guidance, and for their assurance in time to come that the promise had been fulfilled.

(15) Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace. -Abram's ancestors had died in Babylonia, but the

thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.

to Abram's Seed.

thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river,

shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full. (17) And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and 1a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

(18) In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, "Unto

fire.

phrase, used here for the first time, evidently involves the thought of the immortality of the soul. The body may be buried far away, but the soul joins the company of its forefathers in some separate abode, not to be absorbed, but still to enjoy a personal existence. (Comp. chap. xxv. 8.) A similar, but more exact, distinction between the body and the spirit is drawn in Eccles. xii. 7. (16) The fourth generation.-Heb., dôr. (See Note on chap. vi. 9.) As the four generations are identical with the four centuries of verse 13, we have here an undesigned testimony to the long duration of human life. So Abram was 100 years old when Isaac was born, and Isaac was 60 at the birth of his children, and Jacob

64 years of age at his marriage. But the word dôr had

probably come down from a remote antiquity, and, like the Latin word seculum, signified a century.

The iniquity of the Amorites.-As the chief and leading tribe, they are used here for all the Canaanite nations. We learn from this declaration that the Canaanites were not extirpated by any wilful decree to make room for Israel, but as an act of justice, like that which, because of their moral depravity, overwhelmed the Sethites with a flood. So, subsequently, Israel and Judah had each to bear a punishment in accordance with their sinfulness; and so, throughout the history of the world, whenever nations settle down in vice and corruption, the decay of their institutions follows upon that of their morals, and they either waste away or give place to some more manly race of conquerors. The conquest of Canaan by Israel was parallel to that of the enervated Roman empire of the West by the Germans; only we see the preparation for it, and God's purpose explained; and we also see that if the Amorites had not made the scale of justice weigh down heavily, they would not have been deprived of their country.

(17) A smoking furnace.-The word really means the circular firepot which Orientals use in their houses to sit round for purposes of warmth. This one was wreathed in smoke, out of which shot " a burning lamp" (Heb., a torch of flame). For not two symbols, but only one, passed between the divided carcases. Abram had probably passed between them immediately after arranging them, and now Jehovah does the same. Fire is the recognised symbol of the Deity, as in the burning bush, the pillar of fire, the lightnings on Mount Sinai, &c.

(18) The Lord made a covenant.-Heb.,Jehovah cut a covenant. Abram had divided the slaughtered animals, and Jehovah, by passing between them, made the whole act His own.

The river of Egypt.-That is, the Nile. In the Hebrew the Wady-el-Arish, on the southern border of Simeon, is always distinguished from the Nile, though the distinction is neglected in our version. Thus, in

and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, (20) and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims, (21) and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the Jebusites.

CHAPTER XVI. (1) Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and

Num. xxxiv. 5; Josh. xv. 4; Isa. xxvii. 12 (where alone an attempt is made at accuracy by translating stream), the Hebrew has, the torrent of Egypt, that is, a stream full after the rains, but dry during the rest of the year. For a description of these torrent-beds see Isa. lvii. 5, 6, where in verse 5 the word is translated valleys, and in verse 6 stream. The word used here signifies a river that flows constantly; and Abram's posterity are to found a kingdom conterminous with the Nile and the Euphrates, that is, with Egypt and Babylonia. these bounds are large and vague, we must also remember that they are limited by the names of the ten nations which follow. Between the Nile and the Euphrates, the territories of these ten tribes is alone definitely bestowed upon Abram.

If

(19) The Kenites.-An Arab race, found both among the Amalekites in the south (1 Sam. xv. 6) and among the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulon in the north (Judges iv. 11), and even in Midian, as Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, is called a Kenite (Judges i. 16). Balaam speaks of them as being a powerful nation (Num. xxiv. 21), and this wide dispersion of them into feeble remnants seems to show that they were a race of early settlers in Canaan, who, like the Rephaim, had been overpowered and scattered by subsequent immigrants. They were uniformly friendly to Israel.

The Kenizzites.-The chief fact of importance connected with this race is that Caleb was a Kenezite (Num. xxxii. 12). Apparently with his clan he joined the Israelites at the Exodus, and was numbered with the tribe of Judah. Kenizzite and Kenezite are two ways of spelling the same Hebrew word, the former being right.

The Kadmonites.-This may mean either an eastern or an ancient people, of whom we know nothing. For the Perizzites see chap. xiii. 7; for the Rephaims, chap. xiv. 5; and for the rest, chap. x. 15-18.

XVI.

THE SON OF THE BondWOMAN.

(1) Now Sarai.-The history of Abram is given in a succession of brief narratives, written possibly by the patriarch himself; and though papyrus was known at Ur (Trans. Soc. Bibl. Arch., i. 343, ii. 430), yet the absence of any convenient writing material for ordinary use would oblige men in those ancient days to content themselves with short inscriptions, like those tablets of clay brought from Ur, many of which now in the British Museum are said to be considerably older than the time of Abram. The narrator would naturally make but few alterations in such precious documents, and hence a certain amount of recapitulation, like that which we find in the Books of Samuel, where