12 And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

d

13 And he said unto Abram, Know d Acts 7. 6. 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 afterwards shall they come out with great substance.

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

covenanting passing between the parts of the beasts so divided. This place however shews it to have been a very ancient custom: which appears also from Homer, the earliest heathen writer. The rite was as much as to say, "Thus let me be divided and cut in pieces, if I violate the oath which I have now made in the presence of God." Jos. Mede, Bp. Patrick, Stackhouse.

11. And when the fowls came down] The birds of prey. 12. -an horror of great darkness] An horrible darkness and dread of spirits. That horrour and dread of spirits frequently seized on those who saw visions is evident from Daniel: "I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength," chap. x. 8. The description of this matter in Job is very awful and affecting: "In thoughts from the visions of the night, &c." chap. iv. 13, &c. Stackhouse. 13. And he said unto Abram, &c.] Three things were to befall Abram's seed: 1st, That they "should be a stranger in a land not their's;" and they sojourned partly in Canaan, partly in Egypt: 2dly, That they should "serve;" and they did serve the Egyptians: 3dly, That they should be "afflicted;" and so the Israelites were in a great degree, a long time before they came out of Egypt. The time from the birth of Isaac to the deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt was 400 years. Bps. Patrick and Kidder.

15. And thou shalt go to thy fathers] Die, and depart to the other world. Bp. Patrick.

It is no small mercy in God, it is no small comfort to us, if either He take us away, before his judgments come; or keep his judgments away, till we be gone. When God had told Abram that "his seed should be a stranger in a land that was not their's," meaning Egypt, where they should be kept under and afflicted 400 years, lest the good Patriarch should have been overwhelmed with grief at it, He comforteth him, as with a promise of a glorious deliverance at the last, so with a promise also of prosperity to his own person and for his own time. See also Isaiah xxxix. 8; 2 Kings xxii. 20. Bp.

Sanderson.

16. But in the fourth generation] The fourth from the descent into Egypt. Thus Caleb, one of those who came into the promised land, was the fourth from Judah, 1 Chron. ii. 4, 5, 9, 18. And Aaron and Moses were the fourth in descent from Levi, Exod. vi. 16, 18, 20. Bp. Kidder.

the iniquity of the Amorites &c.] Abram now

confirmed by a sign and a vision.

16 But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

Before CHRIST 1913.

17 And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a Heba burning lamp that passed between lamp of fire. those pieces.

18 In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this e Chap. 12.7. land, from the river of Egypt unto 26.4. the great river, the river Euphrates :

19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites,

20 And the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaims,

21 And the Amorites, and the

& 13. 15. &

Deut. 34. 4.

lived among the Amorites, (chap. xiv. 13,) but under their name are comprehended all the other nations of Canaan. There is a certain measure of wickedness, beyond which God will not spare a sinful land. And though the seasons of punishing nations with a general ruin be known to God only, yet when a land adds to its sins, it both hastens and assures to itself destruction. Compare Jer. li. 13; Matt. xxiii. 32; 1 Thess. ii. 16; with Ezek. xiv. 14. Bps. Kidder and Patrick.

When neither the mercies nor the judgments of God will bring us to repentance, we are then fit for destruction: according to the saying of the Apostle in Rom. ix. 22, "What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction? They who are wrought upon neither by the patience of God's mercies, nor by the patience of his judgments, seem to be fitted and prepared, to be ripe and ready for destruction." Abp. Tillotson.

17. — behold a smoking furnace, &c.] By this symbol God designed to represent to Abram, either the future state of his posterity, the "smoking furnace," signifying Israel's misery in Egypt, and the "burning lamp" their escape and deliverance: or more probably to notify his own immediate presence. A symbolical representation of his majesty appeared in great splendour, like a flaming fire, as it afterwards appeared to Moses, (Exod. iii. 2, 6,) and "passed between the pieces" of the beasts that were divided, (ver. 10,) in token that He entered into covenant with Abram and his posterity. Stackhouse, Bp. Patrick.

18.-from the river of Egypt] "The river of Egypt," which is here mentioned, as one of the boundaries of the land promised to the posterity of Abraham, was the river Nile, whose eastern or Pelusiac branch was reckoned the boundary of Egypt, towards the great desert of Shur, which lies between Egypt and Palestine, and which is about 90 miles in breadth. From a comparison of 1 Kings viii. 65, and 2 Chron. vii. 8, with 1 Chron. xiii. 5, it appears that "Sihor" and "the river of Egypt" are the same. And it appears from Jer. ii. 18, that Sihor was the Nile. The Hebrew name "Sihor" signifies "black;" it is an apt epithet of the Nile, bringing down, with its flood, from Abyssinia, a rich, black, loamy sand, which fertilizes the lower Egypt. In the Ethiopian, Egyptian, Greek, and Hindu languages, the Nile is distinguished by appellations, all of which signify "black."

Sarai giveth Hagar to Abram.

Before CHRIST 1913.

1911.

+ Heb. be builded by her.

CHAP. XVI.

1 Sarai, being barren, giveth Hagar to Abram. 4 Hagar, being afflicted for despising her mistress, runneth away. 7 An angel sendeth her back to submit herself, 11 and telleth her of her child. 15 Ishmael is born.

TOW Sarai Abram's wife bare
OW

an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

2 And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

3 And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after

From a solitary passage in the Septuagint version, rendering "the stream or the river of Egypt" (Isa. xvii. 12)" by Rhinocorura," a city of Palestine Syria, built on the borders of the desert which separates that country from Egypt, it has been supposed to denote a stream or torrent near that city by St. Augustine, and by some respectable modern geographers, Wells, Cellarius, Bochart, &c. But none of the old geographers, Strabo, Mela, Pliny, Ptolemy, &c., notice any such stream or torrent there. Dr. Hales.

The reader will observe, that, in the maps constructed for the present edition of the Bible, attention has been paid to the two opinions respecting the "river of Egypt," stated above: accordingly, in the "Map of the stations of the Israelites," the south border of Canaan is delineated so as to agree with the hypothesis of the eastern branch of the Nile being the river here spoken of by Moses and in the "Map of Canaan," the same border is made to correspond with the opinion, which identifies that river with the supposed stream near Rhinocorura.

Chap. XVI. ver. 1. -an handmaid, an Egyptian,] Every woman (in Barbary) that is married, has at least one female slave, who is usually a black, to attend her; whilst others have two or more, according to their rank and quality. In like manner we find that Hagar was Sarai's "handmaid;" that Rebekah, when she was betrothed to Isaac, was attended by "her nurse and her damsels;" that Laban gave to his daughter Leah, when she was married to Jacob, Zilpah "his maid for an handmaid ;" and to Rachel, on the like occasion, Bilhah "his handmaid to be her maid." Dr. Shaw.

3.--gave her to her husband &c.] In concubinage, these secondary wives were accounted lawful and true wives, and their issue was reputed legitimate; but they were inferiour to the chief wife, having no authority in the family, nor any share in household government : so, if they had been servants in the family, before they became concubines, they continued to be such afterwards, and in the same subjection to their mistresses as before. Stackhouse.

Hagar being Sarai's bond-slave, her children would be Sarai's children, according to the custom of those times, chap. xxx. 3; Exod. xxi. 4. Bp. Patrick.

4 And he went in unto Hagar, and she conceived: and when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress was despised in her eyes.

5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when

despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.

Before CHRIST 1911.

4. And he went in &c.] As an excuse, in some measure, for Abram, it may be pleaded, that having lived many years without giving occasion to suspect his modesty and continence, he did not in all probability now act from a criminal motive, but from a principle of conjugal affection to Sarai, in compliance with those solicitations, made from her desire of thus contributing to the accomplishment of God's promises, he took Hagar to his bed that having no longer any hope of issue by Sarai, he had recourse to this, as the only way he could devise, whereby to have God's promise of an heir, that should be born of himself," accomplished; and that polygamy, though certainly declared criminal by our Saviour, who has restored matrimony to its primitive institution, may have been at that time, if not allowed, yet tolerated by God, for the hardness of men's hearts. Stackhouse.

66

The instances of polygamy, which Scripture records, by no means exhibit inducements to the practice: witness Sarai and Hagar, Leah and Rachel, Hannah and Peninnah. As in ancient times, family feuds imbittered polygamy, we shall find on enquiry, that in modern times also this irregular practice is far from adding any thing to domestick happiness. In Mahometan countries, where polygamy is allowed, what we are able to learn of the domestick life of the husbands, who have several wives, is calculated neither to make their lot enviable, nor to give a favourable opinion of Mahomet's legislation: their house is a perpetual scene of tumult and contention. Nothing is to be heard but quarrels among the different wives, and complaints made to the husband. The four legal married wives complain, that their slaves are preferred to them; and their slaves, that they are abandoned to the jealousy of their mistresses. Fragments to Calmet, Volney's Travels.

her own country, on which the wilderness of Shur bordered. Bp. Patrick.

8.- Hagar, Sarai's maid,] He addresses her as Sarai's maid, to put Hagar in mind of her relation and duty. Bp. Wilson.

10.—I will multiply &c.] The angel delivers this message in the name of God who sent him. Bp. Patrick. He speaks in the person of God, and by Hagar is acknowledged as God, ver. 13, which seems to some to intimate, that it was the Son of God who appeared. Bp. Kidder.

multiply thy seed exceedingly,] In a few years the family of her son Ishmael was so increased, that in the 37th chapter we read of Ishmaelites trading into Egypt. Afterwards his seed was multiplied exceedingly in the Hagarenes, probably so called from his mother Hagar; and in the Nabatheans, who had their name from his son Nebaioth; and in the Itureans, so called from his son Jetur or Itur; and in the Arabs, especially the Scenites, and the Saracens, who overran a great part of the world: and his descendants, the Arabs, are a very numerous people at this day. Bp. Newton.

66

12. And he will be a wild man;] Live in a rambling unsettled state. Dr. Wells. It is in the original a wild ass-man; meaning as wild as a wild ass: so that that should be eminently true of him, which is affirmed of mankind in general, Man is born like a wild ass's colt," Job xi. 12. The nature of the creature, to which Ishmael is compared, cannot be described better than in the same book, (chap. xxxix. 5, &c. :) according to which Ishmael and his posterity were to be wild, fierce, savage, ranging in the deserts, and not easily softened and tamed to society. And whoever hath read or known any thing of this people, knoweth this to be their true and genuine character. Bp. Newton.

- his hand will be against every man, &c.] The one is the natural and almost necessary consequence of the other. Ishmael lived by prey and rapine in the wilderness; and his posterity have all along infested Arabia and the neighbouring countries with their robberies and incursions. They live in a state of continual war with the rest of the world; and are both robbers by land, and pirates by sea. As they have been such enemies to mankind, it is no wonder that mankind have been enemies to them again: that several attempts have been made to extirpate them; and even now, as well as formerly, travellers are forced to go with arms and in caravans or large companies, and to march and keep watch and guard like a little army, to defend themselves from the assaults of these freebooters. Bp. Newton.

The Arabs are naturally thievish and treacherous : and it sometimes happens that those very persons are overtaken and pillaged in the morning, who were entertained the night before with all the instances of friendship and hospitality. Neither are they to be accused

to multiply her secd.

Before CHRIST 1911.

11 And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name || Ishmael; because the That is, LORD hath heard thy affliction.

God shall hear.

12 And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; a and a Chap. 25. he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

13 And she called the name of the LORD that spake unto her, Thou

18.

for plundering strangers only, and attacking almost every person whom they find unarmed and defenceless; but for those many implacable and hereditary animosities, which continually subsist among them; literally fulfilling to this day the prophecy to Hagar, that 'Ishmael should be a wild man; his hand should be against every man, and every man's hand against him.” Dr. Shaw. and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.] Shall tabernacle; for many of the Arabs dwell in tents, and are therefore called Scenites, from a Greek word, signifying a tent. They dwelt in tents in the wilderness as long ago as Isaiah's and Jeremiah's time, Is. xiii. 20; Jer. iii. 2; and they do the same at this day. This is very extraordinary, that "his hand should be against every man, and every man's hand against him ;" and yet that he should be able to "dwell in the presence of all his brethren :" but extraordinary as it was, this also hath been accomplished both in the person of Ishmael, and in his posterity. As for Ishmael himself, the sacred historian afterwards relates, chap. xxv. 17, 18, that "the years of the life of Ishmael were an hundred and thirty and seven years, and he died in the presence of all his brethren." As for his posterity, they dwelt likewise in the presence of all their brethren; Abraham's sons by Keturah; the Moabites and Ammonites, descendants of Lot; the Israelites, descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and the Edomites, descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Esau. They still subsist a distinct people, and inhabit the country of their progenitors: they have from first to last maintained their independency; and notwithstanding the most powerful efforts for their destruction, still dwell in the presence of all their brethren, and in the presence of all their enemies. Bp. Newton.

The region inhabited by the Arabs is not remote or insulated, separated from social life, and therefore exempt from the influence, which naturally results from intercourse with other countries. It is situated in that portion of the globe, in which society originated, and the first kingdoms were formed. The greatest empires of the world arose and fell around them. They have not been secluded from correspondence with foreign nations; and thus attached through ignorance and prejudice to simple and primitive manners. In the early periods of history they were united as allies to the most powerful monarchs of the East: under their victorious prophet they once carried their arms over the most considerable kingdoms of the earth: through many succeeding ages the caravans of the merchant, and the companies of Mahometan pilgrims, passed regularly over the deserts: even their religion has undergone a total change. Yet all these circumstances, which, it might be supposed, would have subdued the most stubborn prejudices, and altered the most inveterate habits, have produced no effect upon the Arabs: and they still preserve unim

1898.

15 And Hagar bare Abram a son: and Abram called his son's name, which Hagar bare, Ishmael.

16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

ND when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto a Chap. 5. 22. him, I am the Almighty God; a walk before me, and be thou || perfect. 2 And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.

|| Or, upright, or inCere.

3 And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,

paired a most exact resemblance to the first descendants of Ishmael. Richards.

13.—for she said, Have I also here &c.] That is, Have I not here also, even in the waste desert, and not only in the house of Abram, seen that good God of mine, which hath first graciously looked upon me and mine affliction? Bp. Hall.

Chap. XVII. ver. 1.-I am the Almighty God;] Or All-sufficient. This is the first time we meet with this name. And God plainly uses it here, to confirm his covenant; that Abram might more firmly believe, that He was able to perform what He promised, seeing He was 'God Almighty." Bp. Beveridge.

perfect.] See note on chap. vi. 9.

2. -I will make my covenant] Establish, and confirm, and give a token of it: it was made before. See ch. xii. 2. Bp. Patrick.

4.-thou shalt be a father of many nations.] Not only of Jews, and Ishmaelites, and others; but in the spiritual sense, of all the Gentile world. Bp. Patrick.

5. Neither shall thy name &c.] Abram means, a high father: Abraham, a father of a great multitude. Bp. Patrick, Calmet.

6.-kings shall come out of thee.] Many kings sprang from Abraham; of the Jews, Ishmaelites, Idumeans, Midianites, and our great King the Messiah. Bp. Kidder.

7.-to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.] The family of Abraham was to be disciplined as a select people, and God in a peculiar sense engaged to be a God unto him and to his seed after him. Whilst other nations seemed to be neglected, and left to follow their

4 As for me, behold, my is with thee, and thou shalt be a fa- 1898. ther of many nations.

+ Heb.

nations.

5 Neither shall thy name any more multitude of be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many b Rom. 4.17. nations have I made thee.

b

6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations. of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

7 And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.

sojournings.

8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land + wherein Heb. of thy thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession ; and I will be their God.

9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man e Acts 7. 8. child among you shall be circumcised.

own imaginations, He prescribed them a body of laws, as their proper head and governour; and, by a continued series of typical prefigurations, prepared them for the acknowledgment and reception of that great Deliverer, who had been promised from the beginning. Dr. Berriman.

This is the first place in all the Scriptures, wherein God promises in express terms to be a God to any people. Afterwards indeed He often repeated the same thing by his prophets, saying, "I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people." But these words were only as the transcripts of this covenant : this was the original copy; the first grant here made to Abraham and to his seed. Bp. Beveridge.

8.—for an everlasting possession;] The word "everlasting" is to be understood according to the capacity of the subject; sometimes for a perpetual duration; sometimes for as long as the world shall last: according to God's appointment or purpose. Bp. Wilson.

Abraham's seed were to " possess" the land, if they did not forfeit it by their disobedience to God. Bp. Patrick.

10. This is my covenant,] That is, this which I am about to mention, is a sign or token of the covenant, as the Paschal Lamb is called the "Passover of the Lord," Exod. xii. 11, that is, the memorial of the angel's passing them by, when he smote the Egyptian children. But circumcision was such a sign, that they entered thereby into a covenant with God to be his people. For it was not a mere mark, whereby they should be known to be Abraham's seed, and distinguished from other nations; but they were made by this the children of the covenant, and entitled to the blessings of it. This mark

Circumcision instituted.

Before CHRIST 1898.

d Acts 7. 8. Rom. 4. 11.

+ Heb. a son of eight days.

Luke 2. 21. John 7. 22.

11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.

12 And he that is eight days old e Lev. 12. 3. shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.

13 He that is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting covenant.

14 And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.

15 ¶ And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Šarai, but Sarah shall

her name be.

was very fitly chosen, because it was such a token, as no man would have set upon himself, and upon his children, unless it were for faith and religion's sake. Covenants were anciently made in the East by means of blood. Thus God's covenant with Abraham was solemnized on Abraham's part by his own and his son Isaac's blood, and so continued through all generations: and as they were thus made the select people of God, so God in conclusion sent his own Son, who by this very covenant of circumcision was consecrated to be their God and their Redeemer. Bp. Patrick.

One great end of circumcision was, not only to distinguish them from all others, but chiefly to keep them from idolatry, into which all other nations had fallen; and to put them in mind of the covenant made with Abraham, and with every one that was circumcised, that he would worship no other God but the true God, the God of his father Abraham; nor own any other Mediator, but Him promised to Abraham: all other nations worshipping the sun, &c. as mediators. Bp. Wilson.

The Egyptians borrowed circumcision either from the Hebrews, or the Ishmaelites, or some other people descended from Abraham. Bp. Patrick.

12. And he that is eight days old] The eighth day is the time of circumcision among the Jews, that is, the descendants of Abraham and Sarah; but because Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised, the descendants of Ishmael are not circumcised till that age. Circumcision was a type of baptism. Abraham was the first person circumcised: and he is also the first person called a Prophet in Scripture. Bp. Tomline.

14.—that soul shall be cut off] The meaning of this phrase is much disputed. The simplest sense seems to be, he shall not be accounted one of God's people. Bp. Patrick.

15.. Sarai] Sarai means my princess, Sarah a princess, or the princess; a princess indefinitely not of one family, but of many nations. Bp. Wilson, Calmet. 17.-laughed,] Not doubting of the promise, for the Apostle tells us the contrary, Rom. iv. 19, but out VOL. I.

Isaac is promised.

Before CHRIST 1898.

+ Heb. she

nations.

16 And I will bless her, and give thee a son also of her: yea, I will bless her, and + she shall be a mother of nations; kings of people shall be of her, shall become 17 Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?

18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

of his great joy and admiration. He is therefore not censured for it, as Sarah is, chap. xviii. A reference seems to be made to this by our Saviour, John viii. 56. God had promised, that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent's head. This covenant is renewed to Abraham, ver. 3, 4 of this chapter; and here limited to Isaac. Good reason therefore had he to rejoice exceedingly, believing that so great a blessing should proceed out of his loins: a blessing, which should abolish the curse, brought upon all nations by Adam's transgression. Bps. Patrick, Kidder, and Wilson.

18. O that Ishmael might live before thee !] I believe, O Lord, as Thou sayest, that my old age shall be blessed with farther issue, for which also Thou wilt in all likelihood reserve thy special and highest favour: but let not the son Thou hast given me already, even Ishmael, be cast out and neglected by Thee: let it please Thee to continue him also to me, with much prosperity. Bp. Hall.

19.Isaac:] Which signifies in Hebrew he has, or shall laugh. He was so called, not from Sarah's laughter, ch. xviii. 12, but from Abraham's joy. His name was a memorial of his father's faith, not of his mother's unbelief. Stackhouse, Bp. Kidder.

20.—and will multiply him &c.] See the note from Bp. Newton, on the tenth verse of the preceding chapter.

- twelve princes shall he beget,] This circumstance is very particular, but it was punctually fulfilled. Moses hath given us the names of these twelve princes, chap. xxv. 13-16: by which we are to understand, not that they were so many distinct sovereign princes, but heads of clans or tribes. Heathen writers speak of the Arabian phylarchs, or rulers of tribes; and of that people having twelve kings over them. The people have ever since lived in tribes; and still continue to do so, as Thevenot and other modern travellers testify. Bp. Newton.

- and I will make him a great nation.] This is repeated twice or thrice; and it was accomplished as soon as in the regular course of nature it could be. His seed in process of time grew up into a great nation; and such they continued for several ages, and such they

E