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h Neh. 9. 7. Judith 5. 7. Acts 7. 4.

1921.

31.

God calleth Abram.

Fear maketh him feign his wife to be his sister. 14 Pharaoh, having taken her from him, by plagues is compelled to restore her.

Before CHRIST

1921.

Chaldees, to go into the land of Ca-NOW the LORD had said unto a Acts 7. 3.

naan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

CHAP. XII.

1 God calleth Abram, and blesseth him with a promise of Christ. 4 He departeth with Lot from Haran. 6 He journeyeth through Canaan, 7 which is promised him in a vision. 10 He is driven by a famine into Egypt. 11

they went forth-from Ur of the Chaldees,] Terah removed from his own country with Abram, who had received a command from God to come out of it, Gen. xii. 1; xv. 7; Acts vii. 3. It may be concluded from this obedience to the Divine direction, that Terah, who is supposed to have been an idolater, perhaps an idolatrous priest, was become a worshipper of the true God. Bps. Kidder and Patrick.

and they came unto Haran,] Or Charran, as St. Stephen calls it; a place in Mesopotamia. Bp. Patrick.

and dwelt there.] He intended to go to Canaan, and not to settle here: but being arrested by sickness, could proceed no further. On his death, Abram went forward into Canaan. Bps. Patrick and Kidder.

32. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years:] By this time a striking change had been experienced in the duration of human life. Adam lived 930 years. His posterity before the flood appear to have passed, upon an average, nearly as large a portion of time, and some individuals even a longer period, upon earth. Noah lived to the age of 950 years. His son Shem fell far short of the age of man before the flood: and in the days of Peleg, man appears to have attained not to one half of the original measure of his existence. In succeeding generations a rapid diminution continued to take place; until at length, by the time when the children of Israel came out of Egypt, the continuance of the pilgrimage of man upon earth was reduced nearly within its present span.

The cause of this change is known to God, but immaterial to us. Our concern is to draw from the fact the moral and religious instruction, which it is so well adapted to suggest, that our lives are in the hand of God, and depend for their continuance, moment after moment, solely on his will. Gishorne.

Chap. XII. One great design of Moses being to lead the Jews to understand the genealogy of Abraham, their noble ancestor, he hastens to it: relating other matters briefly, but spending many pages about him. For instance, he comprises the history of the world from the creation to the flood, containing 1656 years, in six chapters: but bestows on the history of Abraham nineteen chapters, though it contains no more time than 175 years. Bp. Patrick.

mences.

With this period the Mosaical history properly comAll the preceding part of Genesis is only introductory to the birth of Abraham, the illustrious ancestor of the Israelites, and of the Jews: the father of the faithful, and by the highest of all titles, "the friend of God," and "a blessing" to the world, as being

Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

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the privileged ancestor of Christ, "in whom all the nations of the earth are blessed." Dr. Hales. Ver. 1. Now the Lord had said unto Abram,] Before he came to Haran, and while he lived in Ur of the Chaldees. Bp. Patrick.

unto a land] Which was 400 miles off. The father of the faithful was sent out of his own country, to intimate to his children, that they are but sojourners and pilgrims here, and therefore must wean their affections from this present world. Bp. Wilson.

that I will shew thee:] This was probably done by some appearance of the Shechinah going before him : as his posterity were afterwards conducted to the same country. Biblioth. Bibl.

It argued, as the Apostle observes, great faith in God, that he would follow Him, "not knowing whither" he should be led, Heb. xi. 8. Bp. Patrick.

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in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.] "In thee," that is, in thy Seed, chap. xxii. 18. 'And that Seed is Christ." Gal. iii. 16; Acts iii. 25. Bp. Kidder.

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It seems plain from hence, that Abram, as our Lord observes, John viii. 56, saw his day, and was glad;" that is, he saw, and it was made known to him, that the Messiah was to come out of his family.

It is plain also that in this and the foregoing verse are two distinct covenants or blessings: the first temporal, which respects only Abram and his family; the second spiritual, which has regard to Christ and the whole world. And all future prophecies have a regard to these two covenants. Ishmael and Esau, and all the family of Abram, had a right to the blessings of the first; and all the world to the blessings of the second. The Jews indeed expect, by virtue of the last, to bear rule over the whole world; but surely this would be no great blessing to the rest of the nations of the world, whatever it might be to them. Therefore saith St. Paul, with respect to this promise, Gal. iii. 28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, for ye are all one in Christ Jesus," the promised Seed, in which all the families of the earth were to be happy.

The terrible judgment of God upon the wicked world by the flood was now almost forgotten, and the greatest part of the world fallen into idolatry; when God, to preserve all the well-disposed from being infected, appeared to Abram, and by him kept up and preserved the knowledge of the true God in his family and posterity. From this time a particular providence attended the people of Israel, his posterity by his sons Isaac and Jacob: correcting, trying, punishing, redeeming them out of the hands of their enemies, until the promised Seed came. Bp. Wilson.

Abram journeyeth through Canaan.

Before CHRIST 1921.

GENESIS.

4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land. 7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded d Chap. 13. 4. he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.

c Chap. 13. 15.

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c

He feigneth his wife

8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.

Before CHRIST 1921.

9 And Abram journeyed, † going + Heb. in on still toward the south.

10 And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there; for the famine was grievous in the land.

11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon:

12 Therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife:

going and journeying.

ruptly Palestines; who inhabited the sea coasts, and were first known to them :-the Land of Promise, from God's promise to Abram of giving it to him:--the Land of Israel, from the Israelites who afterwards possessed it :the Land of Judah or Judea, from the tribe of Judah, the most considerable of the twelve tribes, and the only one that remained after the captivity:-and lastly, the Holy Land, from being the scene of the birth, miracles, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Stackhouse, Bp. Wilson.

4. So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken &c.] In the foregoing benediction of Abram, we observe the special privileges and advantage of the second, or Christian, covenant. In this noble pattern of his ready obedience, we may as plainly see the obligations which every Christian takes upon him, when he enters into this covenant of grace. Abram "departed," and forsook all to follow his Lord and Master: so must we. He believed, as the Lord had spoken unto him:" so must we believe "all the articles of our Christian faith." | "He went forth to go, &c." he actually set about and unto the place of Sichem,] That is, the place where performed what he was commanded and undertook to Sichem, Sechem, or Sychar, afterwards was. It was a do: so must we fulfil our solemn engagement of "keep- town of Samaria, in the borders of Ephraim. Stacking God's holy will and commandments, and walking in house. the same all the days of our life," never stopping, much less turning back again to those things we have renounced, till we arrive, as he did, in Canaan, the promised land, and lot of our inheritance. Wogan.

Here begin the 430 years, mentioned Exod. xii. 40, 41; Gal. iii. 17. Bp. Kidder.

5.- and the souls that they had gotten] That is, all the slaves born in their house, or bought with their money. Bp. Patrick.

They were "the little ones of their household," which formed part of the riches of the primitive patriarchal times. See Job xxi. 11; and compare Gen. xiv. 14. Dr. Hales.

the land of Canaan ;] It lies between the Mediterranean sea and the mountains of Arabia, and extends from Egypt to Phenicia. It is bounded to the east by the mountains of Arabia; to the south by the wilderness of Paran, Idumea, and Egypt; to the west by the Mediterranean, called in Hebrew the Great Sea; and to the north by the mountains of Libanus. Its length from the city of Dan, since called Cesarea Philippi, which stands at the foot of these mountains, to Beer-sheba, is about 70 leagues, or 210 miles; and its breadth from the Mediterranean sea to the eastern border, in some places 30 leagues or 90 miles. This country, though small, lying in the very middle of the then known world, was chosen by God wherein to work the redemption of mankind. It was first called the land of Canaan, from Canaan, the son of Ham, whose posterity possessed it :— afterwards Palestine, from the people whom the Hebrews called Philistines, and the Greeks and Romans cor

6

unto the plain of Moreh.] Or, oak of Moreh. It was under this oak, that Jacob hid the strange gods, (chap. xxxv. 4;) and that Rebekah's nurse was buried, (ver. 8.) It was here Joshua set up a great stone, (Josh. xxiv. 26;) and here Abimelech was made king, (Judg. ix. 6;) and here the sons of the old Prophet found the man of God, (1 Kings xiii. 14.) Bp. Wilson.

the Canaanite was then in the land.] This may relate, not to the whole country, but to the part of it where Sichem was. By the Canaanite is meant, not all the posterity of Canaan, or all the Canaanitish tribes, but only one particular tribe of them. Biblioth. Bibl. The Canaanite tribe, as distinguished from the rest; the Hivites, Perizzites, &c. Dr. Hales. See note on chap. xiii. 7.

7. And the Lord appeared unto Abram,] Abram had entirely resigned himself to the disposal of heaven, not knowing whither he was to go. When he was come into Canaan, his faith was rewarded with a farther revelation of God's will, and he was told that this was the land given to him and to his seed. Bp. Warburton. unto a mountain] Mount Ephraim, which lay between Beth-el, a town not far from Jerusalem, northwards, and Hai, which is situated toward the west of Beth-el. Dr. Wells.

8.

--

Beth-el,] The name of a place called Luz; and after this Beth-el, which signifies the House of God, chap. xxviii. 19. Bp. Kidder.

pitched his tent,] He did not build an house, being but a sojourner in a strange land, Heb. xi. 9. Bp. Kidder.

to be his sister.

Before CHRIST 1921.

about 1920.

CHAP. XII, XIII.

and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive.

13 Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with me for thy sake; and my soul shall live because of thee.

14 ¶ And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair.

15 The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.

16 And he entreated Abram well for her sake: and he had sheep, and oxen, and he-asses, and men-servants,

and maid-servants, and she-asses, and

camels.

17 And the LORD plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram's wife.

18 And Pharaoh called Abram,

13. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister:] He explains in what sense she was so, chap. xx. 12. Bp. Patrick. In those early ages of the world, the rules about marrying with their kindred were not so strict, neither was there any reason that they should be. The prohibited degrees came not to be minutely laid down, till the Levitical law commenced; which has been the standard ever since to those that admit Divine Revelation. Dr. Waterland.

If this conduct of Abram was weakness and defect in faith, (as who is perfect and sinneth not?) let it teach us to fear for ourselves, to "watch and to pray, lest we also enter into temptation." And if at any time, through frailty of the flesh, we happen to fall, let it also be an encouragement to us, that we shall not perhaps be cast away; that God is gracious, and may overlook our infirmities. But be it considered likewise, that, at this time, Abram was, as it were, in the state of natural religion he was not yet circumcised, nor yet professedly entered into covenant with God, as we are. His fall therefore, if it was a fall, is no excuse for ours, when in any article of danger we shall happen to betray an unworthy fear, or use unlawful means for our escape. Wogan.

15.- Pharaoh] This name was very ancient, and continued to be the name of all the kings of Egypt till the captivity of Babylon, perhaps longer: as Ptolemy was their name after the times of Alexander; and Cesar Augustus the names of the Roman Emperours; and Candace the name of the queens of Ethiopia. Pharaoh is supposed to mean Father of the country. Bp. Patrick. The name signified "the king," in the Egyptian tongue. Dr. Hales.

16. And he entreated Abram well &c.] The valuable acquisitions, made by Abram in Egypt, were not a consideration paid by Pharaoh, for permission to espouse one that was taken for Abram's sister; for a brother appears not to have had such a right: but they are to be understood as a gift of generosity, like that made to Laban, mentioned in Gen. xxiv. Harmer.

sheep, and oxen,] The word, rendered "sheep," includes both the goat kind and the sheep kind. It denotes also a flock of either kind; as the word rendered

Sarai is restored to him.

Before CHRIST

and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me? why didst thou not about 1920. tell me that she was thy wife?

19 Why saidst thou, She is my sister? so I might have taken her to me to wife now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way.

20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him: and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had.

CHAP. XIII.

1 Abram and Lot return out of Egypt. 7 By disagreement they part asunder. 10 Lot goeth to wicked Sodom. 14 God reneweth the promise to Abram. 18 He removeth to Hebron, and there buildeth an altar.

AND Abram went up out of about 1918. Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, into the south.

2 And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold.

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oxen," has also an extended signification, and implies sometimes a herd of cattle. Script. illust.

17.- his house] Pharaoh's courtiers partake of the punishment, because they were partners in the intended sin. Bp. Patrick.

19. Why saidst thou, She is my sister?] Notwithstanding the piety and worth of Abram, it must be acknowledged, that in this instance of denying his wife Sarai, he was guilty of a manifest dissimulation. This may be said in extenuation of his fault, that it proceeded from a weakness of faith, and a prevalency of fear, which are incident to the best of men. He considered himself as a stranger, among a licentious sort of people, and exposed to the power of an arbitrary government; and from a principle of worldly caution, both to preserve his own life, and his wife's virtue, he concluded, that this would be the best expedient; but much more wisely had he done, had he committed the whole matter to God's management, in reliance on his promises, and in confidence of his protection. "The most celebrated saints of God," says St. Austin, "are not secure from sinning and from their faults there is no arguing to the prejudice of the Book, in which as we find them recorded as matter of history, so we find them condemned as matter of morality. God has informed us of what passed, but not authorized it; and set the example before us, not for a pattern, but for a warning." Stackhouse.

Chap. XIII. ver. 1.-into the south.] Not southward; for Canaan was north of Egypt; but into the southern part of Canaan. This part of the land is called the south, Josh. x. 40; and the south country, Josh. xi. 16. Bp. Kidder.

2. · Abram was very rich &c.] His riches being increased, since he went into Egypt, by the bounty of Pharaoh. Dr. Wells. Abram lived with all the elegance of a modern Arab emir, or prince; or at least with no other abatement than what arose from his great antiquity. He was very rich in silver and in gold, as well as in cattle; and consequently he was able to procure the ancient elegancies of his way of life, as well as the modern Arab princes are theirs.

Authors have sufficiently explained how these ac

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