in by legendary invention. He seems to have arrived in Egypt within a year after he quitted Haran. For he was seventy-five then, and eighty-six when Ishmael was born; and we are told that he had been ten years in Canaan when he took to wife Hagar, whom he had brought with him from Egypt, and whom Sarai had had for ten years as her maid (Gen. xvi. 3).3

From Damascus to Canaan it is most probable that Abram took the southern track which led on the east side of lakes Merom and Gennesareth, crossing the Jordan at or near the Bridge Jisr el-Mejamia, some eight or nine miles south of the latter lake, thence to the locality afterwards known as Bethshean or Scythopolis, whence passing the ridge of Gilboa, it continued to Samaria and the south country. This is now the great caravan road between the south and Damascus, and owing to the physical features of the region the route could not have varied much from the earliest times.

“And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem," or Shechem (Gen. xii. 6). Here the Hebrew, he who had come from the other side of the great river, the river Euphrates, made his first station in the land of promise, at the oak or terebinth of Moreh. Who or what was "Moreh" we know not. It may be the name of a chieftain who was, or had been, famous in those parts; it may mean, as the Septuagint Version has it, "lofty," or as the Latin Vulgate renders, "illustrious;" or it may be etymologically connected with a verb meaning "to see," and so may refer to the vision there vouchsafed to Abram. Be this as it may, in this oak-grove he pitched his tent, and rested for awhile from his wanderings. The particular tree which shaded the great father of the race was long venerated, and survived unto Jacob's time; for we are told (Gen. xxxv. 1-4), that "under the oak that was by Shechem,” he buried the teraphim which his family had brought with them from Padan-aram. The situation of Shechem is one of remarkable beauty. It lies in a sheltered valley, protected by Gerizim on the south and Ebal on the north. The feet of these mountains, where they rise from the town, are not more than 500 yards apart. The bottom of the valley is about 1,800 feet above

Malan, "Philosophy or Truth," p. 98.

So the word "Hebrew" is explained. The name is given to Abram Gen. xiv. 13; it is usually employed by strangers, or else of the Israelites in contradistinction to strangers, e.g., 1 Sam. xiii. 3, 7; xiv. 21.

the level of the sea, and the top of Gerizim 800 feet higher still Those who have been to Heidelberg will assent to Von Richter's remark, that the scenery, as viewed from the foot of the hills, is not unlike the beautiful German town. The site of the present city, which we believe to have been that also of the Hebrew city, is placed exactly on the water summit; and streams issuing from the numerous springs there flow down the opposite slopes of the valley, spreading verdure and fertility in every direction. The somewhat sterile aspect of the adjacent mountains becomes itself a foil, as it were, to set off the effect of the verdant fields and orchards which fill up the valley. "There is nothing finer in all Palestine," says Dr. Clarke, "than a view of Nablus [Shechem] from the heights around it. As the traveller descends towards it from the hills, it appears luxuriantly embosomed in the most delightful and fragrant bowers, half concealed by rich gardens and by stately trees collected into groves, all around the bold and beautiful valley in which it stands." "The whole valley," says Dr. Robinson, was filled with gardens of vegetables, and orchards of all kinds of fruit, watered by fountains which burst forth in various parts and flow westward in refreshing streams." "There is no wilderness here," says Van de Velde (i. 386); "there are no wild thickets, yet there is always verdure, always shade, not of the oak, the terebinth, and the caroub-tree, but of the olive grove, so soft in colour, so picturesque in form, that, for its sake, we can willingly dispense with all other wood." I

' McClintock and Strong, "Cyclop." on Shechem

CHAPTER IV.

THE PROMISED LAND.

Canaan; the rame; Language then spoken-Its inhabitants; Aborigines ; Canaanites proper; Amorites; Hittites; Perizzites; Philistines-Their religion-Fertility and natural features of the country; its capabilities— Characteristics of the Canaanitish tribes-The Fellaheen-Abram's life-New promise-Selection of Canaan as the cradle of true religion -Bethel.

THE country was not untenanted at the time of Abram's arrival. “The Canaanite was then in the land" (Gen. xii. 6). The descendants of Canaan, the son of Ham, under various tribal appellations, were seated in the lowlands of Palestine, on the seashore, and in the valley of the Jordan. The name of Canaan was applied originally to that strip of territory called Phoenicia by the Greeks and Romans, between Lebanon and the sea; but as the tribe there settled and its kindred clans spread abroad, the whole land came to be called Canaan, and its inhabitants, without regard to origin and affinity, were termed generally Canaanites. The language which they spoke was closely related to, if not substantially identical with, Hebrew; in Isaiah xix. 18, the Hebræo-Phoenician tongue is called "the language of Canaan." In all the intercourse of the Hebrews with the old inhabitants there is no sign of the necessity of an interpreter; all communications pass directly with no mediator. The proper names of Canaanitish persons and places are, to all intents, Hebrew, and capable of being explained by Hebrew etymology. Of course, it is possible that the Israelites translated the native names into their own lan

2

Prof. Sayce, "Monthly Interpreter," iii. 133.

• Comp. Abimelech, Melchizedek, Shechem, Kirjath-Sepher.

guage, giving Hebrew equivalents for them, just as they altered Assyrian and Egyptian words into Hebrew forms; but there is no doubt that the remains of the Phoenician language which have been preserved have the closest analogy to the Hebrew; and that the Phoenician tongue was the Canaanitish is well established.'

With the aboriginal inhabitants of Canaan we do not find that Abram came in contact. Traces of Troglodytes have been discovered, not only in Edom, where the dwelling-places of the Horites are well known, but also at Beit-Jibrin, on the borders of the Shephelah, and in the Lebanon, where their flint instruments are mingled with the bones of the reindeer and wild ox. We often hear mention of a gigantic aboriginal tribe, the Rephaim, who dwelt chiefly in Bashan, and whose capital was AshterothKarnaim, named from the two-horned goddess whom they worshipped. These people are found also in the west, settled among the Philistines, and have left their name in a fertile valley near Jerusalem, which has been the scene of some stirring events in Jewish history. Offshoots of this gigantic clan are named, Anakim, Emim, and Zuzim. There is no reason to suppose that, though individuals of enormous stature occasionally appeared, the race generally exceeded the average height of tall, well-grown men. The Hebrews, recalling the legends of early times and investing these dwellers in the hoary past with monstrous attributes, applied the term Rephaim to the dead, perhaps with some idea that Sheol was the residence of these fallen giants. Another ancient people, the Avim, dwelt on the sea coast to the south. It was with the conquerors of the aboriginal inhabitants that Abram was concerned. At Sichem he found the Canaanites in possession.3 This people descended, as we have said, from Canaan, the son of Ham, and differing in many particulars from nations of Semitic origin, seem to have invaded Palestine from the south-east, gradually spreading to the north-west, and establishing themselves in Sidon and other strong places on the coast, as well as on the western side of the Jordan valley up to the Sea of Galilee. Another nation with whom the patriarch had dealings were the Amorites. Their

The question is discussed by Gesenius, "Gesch. d. Heb. Spr.,” pp. 16,

223 ff.

2 See 2 Sam. v. 22; xxiii. 13 f.; 1 Chron. xi. 15 ff.; xiv. 9 ff.

Ewald, "History of Israel," i. 232 f.

name implies that they dwelt in the mountainous district. Originally their home was beyond the mountains at the foot of the Dead Sea, and south of the subsequent territory of Judah ; but in patriarchal times they occupied the central and southeastern region of Palestine, and contained among them some relics of the aboriginal population. They are described as a warlike and fierce race; and Abram's alliance with them enabled him to carry out successfully his attack on the Elamite ravagers. In contrast with these warriors stand forth the peaceful Hittites, or "Sons of Heth," an offshoot of that great nation, the discovery of whose importance is one of the triumphs of modern investigation. Their city, Hebron, is most closely connected with Abram's life; it contains his sepulchre. The sacred historian, in mentioning (Numb. xiii. 22) that Hebron was built seven years before Zoan, or Tanis, in Egypt, countenances the idea that the Hittites formed part of the Hyksos forces which invaded that country some time earlier than this, and that a division of them remained behind in Southern Canaan and settled there. If this is so, it accounts for Abram finding friends when he went down into Egypt because of the famine in Canaan.

With the clan dwelling at Mamre the patriarch had the most amicable relations. He pastures his flocks in their midst; he turns to them when he wants to effect the purchase of Machpelah. They were a cultured and highly-civilized people. A city of theirs in the south of Judah was known as Kirjath-sepher, i.e., Book Town, a title which implies the possession of a library; and many inscriptions in peculiar writing have been discovered belonging to them. Their dress, as we learn from the monuments, even in their southern home recalled their Cappadocian origin. They are always depicted as wearing boots with turned-up toes, such as are still worn by mountaineers in Asia Minor. In figure they are short and thick-set, of a yellowish complexion, with black hair, but without beards. Such in appearance, doubtless, were Abram's friends, the children of Heth, at Kirjath-Arba. The Perizzites, dwellers in villages, pagani, were probably only Hittites under a different appellation, and in a different locality. The Philistines are mentioned as dwelling at Gerar, in the south-west. Whether they had already given the name Philistia to the sea coast of Canaan and the

See Prof. Sayce, "Fresh Light from the Monuments," chap. v., from which account the statements in the text are derived.