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fact that a portion of the Kenizzites was amalgamated with the Edomites. There is no occasion to suppose that the enumeration of this people in the passage which we are considering is proleptical, or introduced by a later hand; the tribe may have become extinct between the times of Abraham and Joshua, or they may have lived beyond the limits to which the Israelites' conquest then extended. Either of these hypotheses would account for their disappearance from the catalogue of the dispossessed inhabitants. As to the Kadmonites, we can give no account of their origin or location. The word itself probably means Eastern," and may be a synonym for "children of the East," the term by which the Arabian tribes were designated, and which is used in this passage by the Jerusalem Targum. The name occurs nowhere else. The Girgashites are sometimes mentioned among the Canaanitish peoples, but no indication of their geographical position is ever given, and Josephus ("Antiq.” i. 6. 2) says that we know nothing of them but their name, as they were utterly destroyed by the Israelites. The identification of them with the Gergesenes. who, according to some MSS. of Matt. viii. 28, lived on the coast of the sea of Galilee, has nothing to recommend it. Of the connection of the Jebusites with Jerusalem there is no doubt. In that sad picture of immorality contained in the story of the Levite and his concubine in the Book of Judges (chap. xix.), Jerusalem is expressly identified with Jebus, which is further called "the city of a stranger." It is this connection with the Holy City which has made this people more memorable than otherwise their comparative insignificance would have rendered them. They held a stronghold on Zion, which was not finally captured till the time of David; and even then Araunah their king retains his possessions, and treats his conquerors right royally. Their district included the hill country in the immediate vicinity of Jerusalem, which they defended with great vigour and success. With the capture of their fortress, their political existence came to a close. The other tribes who were doomed to be dispossessed have been already mentioned among the inhabitants of Canaan.

Sarai's impatience-She gives to Abram Hagar as secondary wife-Concubinage-Hagar a type--Her flight--She is met by the Angel of the Lord-Promise of a son- - Character of the Ishmaelites - Ishmael born--Renewal of the covenant-Abram's name changed-Extension of the promise-Circumcision; its nature and signification-The numbers "seven" and "eight"—Sarai's name changed-Promise of a son from her.

THE voice divine had promised Abram offspring, but had not stated distinctly that Sarai should be the mother of the predicted seed. Ten years had passed since the migration to Canaan; Abram was eighty-five years old, and Sarai only ten years younger; and the promise seemed no nearer of fulfilment than before. Pondering these things in her heart, and thinking that her own fruitlessness hindered the accomplishment of the word, Sarai, more impatient or more impulsive than her husband, would wait no longer, and took other means to attain their mutual wish. Sarai is set forth by St. Peter (1 Peter iii, 6) as the great example of conjugal obedience, of one who was in subjection to her own husband; but here she appears rather as taking the lead and inducing him to do that of which he had never thought, and which was somewhat repugnant to his sentiments. If we commend in Sarai that self-abnegation which, to gain a momentous object, put aside the dearest privilege of woman, and placed another in her own position, we cannot but blame the impatience which would not wait God's good time and way, but must endeavour to force the accomplishment in its own mode. She had a female slave, named Hagar, whom

she had brought with her from Egypt, being probably one of the gifts of Pharaoh. Legends' say that she was the daughter of the king by one of his concubines, Pharaoh having reconciled her to bondage by teaching her it was better to be a slave in the house of one who was in such high favour with God, than mistress in any family of her own. The name Hagar means "flight," and may have been given her here by anticipation in reference to an after event—her flight from her mistress, or because she had left her home in Egypt to become a stranger in a strange land. This woman Sarai persuaded Abram to take as concubine, that any child she might bear might be esteemed her own, and so the house might be built up by her.2 Abram was no polygamist; he upheld the primitive marriage law which obtained in Eden, and had been broken only by the lawless and violent, as Lamech, who, in the earliest recorded song, boasted of the power of his strong right hand (Gen. iv. 23, 26). But this pure view of matrimony did not impede concubinage under certain circumstances. The slave was absolutely in her mistress' hands to dispose of as she thought fit. The discredit attaching to barrenness was so great, that the means taken to avert this dire misfortune and virtually to obtain the merit of maternity were considered natural and proper. We find the same force acting in the case of Rachel when she gave her maid Bilhah unto Jacob (Gen. xxx. 3). And immoral and revolting as such a practice appears to us Christians, the patriarchs saw in it no infraction of conjugal fidelity, and their moral sense was not injured by the proceeding. In the case of Abram, the motive that inspired both him and his wife was a religious one, and redeemed from anything carnal or gross. The concubine, apparently without any formal betrothal or nuptial ceremony, assumed the position of secondary wife at the express command of her mistress, who herself retained her pre-eminent station, and lost none of her rights by this expedient. The children of this connection were regarded as what we should call legitimate. There was no question of this nature in their case. They were in all respects considered simply as a supplementary family, to be supported and provided for by their father, though not necessarily on an

1 Ap. Beer, p. 25.

2 So the Hebrew rendered "I may obtain children by her" (Gen. xvi. 2). -"Speaker's Commentary."

equality with the sons of the wife. Certainly Jacob made no difference between the children of his wives and those of his concubines; and though this impartiality is not found in the case of Abram and his son Ishmael, this was, as we shall see, an abnormal matter, and demanded special treatment. Speaking generally, the children of concubines inherited rather by will, than as natural heirs. The concubine also lost rights and privileges on the death of her lord; and though she could not be sold as a slave, she might, it seems, be dismissed without provision. The law of Moses sanctioned concubinage, and directed certain enactments against its abuse. Men learn the higher law of morals only by degrees. Patriarchal customs, Mosaic legislation, lead up to a better standard. These are schoolmasters to bring men to Christ. The severe purity of Christianity was taught by precept and example; degenerate practice was cleansed and modified, not violently abrogated—a process which would have revolted many minds and raised rebellion; and then the holiness of heart and body which the Son of God proclaimed found audience and was embraced by His followers. The use made by St. Paul of the relation of Hagar to Abram and Sarah shows how God overrules evil for good. Herein was a foreshadowing of the synagogue and the Church, the Jewish and Christian covenants. The Levitical Law was given till the promised seed should come; while the Church was restrained from bearing, the synagogue took its place; but at length Sarah became a mother of many nations, and Hagar was removed (Gal. iv.).

After a time Hagar conceived, and then, regarding herself as likely to be the mother of the promised heir, she despised her childless mistress; she saw herself loved and honoured by her lord, and she aspired to be the rival of Sarai in his affections. This led to its natural consequences, bickering and dissension. As Peninnah provoked Hannah sore (1 Sam. i. 6), and daily rallied her "because the Lord had shut up her womb," so Hagar, grown insolent from her condition, wounded the haughty princess in her tenderest feelings. Magnanimous enough to make one great sacrifice for a sufficient cause, Sarai could not endure the daily sight of her handmaid's superiority. Her outraged sensibilities made her not only harsh to the concubine, but also unjust to the husband. Though she had herself persuaded Abram to have these relations with Hagar, she charges

him with the consequences of her own impatience; because he does not at once take her part, and revenge the indignities to which she is subjected, she lays all the blame of the situation upon him. "My wrong be upon thee," she passionately exclaims; "the Lord judge between me and thee!" How true to nature is this! The readiness to put her own fault upon other's shoulders, to attribute unforeseen consequences to her husband's action, to show the spite of an angry woman, is what might be expected in an undisciplined mind struggling into a higher life, but yet at times following natural proclivities. Abram was loath to deal harshly with the future mother of his child, but he could not in the end resist his wife's appeal. Her just rights must not be slighted, and this source of contention must be removed. So he did what any man in every age who regarded the peace and happiness of his household would do. He did not think it necessary to interfere between his wife and her insolent handmaid, but bade her take such measures as she thought necessary to punish presumption and uphold authority. "Behold," he says, "thy maid is in thy hand; do to her that which is good in thine eyes." And Sarai, under this implied sanction, and having the damsel entirely in her power, treated Hagar with such unkindness and made her life so bitter, that the latter left the encampment and fled all alone into the wilderness, a very "Hagar," intending to make her way somehow back to her native country. She turned her steps to the distant Shur, that part of the wilderness of the Tih nearest to Egypt, which took its name from the wall of rock by which it was bounded. Wearied and worn, she welcomed the sight of a little oasis in the dreary waste, and gladly sat down beside the well which gave fertility to the spot. It was a place frequented by travellers; and Moses speaks of it as a well-known restingplace between Kadesh and Bered, somewhere on the ancient road to Egypt on the south-west frontier of the Negeb. Here, we are told, the angel of the Lord found her. This is the first time that "the angel of the Lord" (Maleac Jehovah) is said to have appeared to man. The term often recurs in the Pentateuch and elsewhere, notably in the account of the visit of the three mysterious personages to Abraham (chap. xviii.), where more will be said on the subject. Here the appearance must be regarded as a real Theophany, a manifestation of the Word, since He speaks as God, and Hagar speaks of Him in the same