Melchizedek blesses Abram, who B. C. cir. 1913. CHAP. XIV. A. M. cir. 2091. 19 And he blessed him, and I 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. 21 And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the "persons, and take the goods to thyself. refuses to take any of the booty, B. C. cir. 1913. have lift up mine hand unto A. M. cir. 2091. the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, P 23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoe-latchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: 24 Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men I which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let 22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, them take their portion. 0 * Ver. 22; Matt. xi. 25.- Chap. xxiv. 27.- Heb. vii. 4. Exod. vi. 8; Dan. xii. 7; Rev. x. 5, 6.—P Ver. 19; chap. Heb. souls. xxi. 33.- - So Esther ix. 15, 16. Ver. 13. n Verse 22. I have lift up mine hand] The primitive mode of appealing to God, and calling him to witness a particular transaction; this no doubt generally obtained among the faithful till circumcision, the sign of the covenant, was established. After this, in swearing, the hand was often placed on the circumcised part; see chap. xxiv. 2 and 9.1 Lord, a character which can be applied to him only, kings. These Abram gave as a tribute to the most as he alone is essentially righteous, and the only Po-high God, who, being the possessor of heaven and earth, tentate; but a holy man, such as Melchizedek, might dispenses all spiritual and temporal favours, and debear this name as his type or representative. 3. Office; mands the gratitude, and submissive, loving obedience, he was a priest of the most high God. The word of all his subjects. Almost all nations of the earth cohen, which signifies both prince and priest, be- have agreed in giving a tenth part of their property cause the patriarchs sustained this double office, has to be employed in religious uses. The tithes were both its root and proper signification in the Arabic; afterwards granted to the Levites for the use of the kahana signifies to approach, draw near, have sanctuary, and the maintenance of themselves and their intimate access to; and from hence to officiate as priest | families, as they had no other inheritance in Israel. bfeore God, and thus have intimate access to the Divine presence and by means of the sacrifices which he offered he received counsel and information relative to what was yet to take place, and hence another acceptation of the word, to foretell, predict future events, unfold hidden things or mysteries; so the lips of the priests preserved knowledge, and they were often the interpreters of the will of God to the people. Thus Verse 23. From a thread even to a shoe-latchet] we find that Melchizedek, being a priest of the most This was certainly a proverbial mode of expression, high God, represented Christ in his sacerdotal charac- the full meaning of which is perhaps not known. ter, the word priest being understood as before ex- Among the rabbinical writers chut, or ` chuti, plained. 4. His residence; he was king of Salem. signifies a fillet worn by young women to tie up their Dh shalam signifies to make whole, complete, or per-hair; taken in this sense it will give a good meaning fect; and hence it means peace, which implies the here. As Abram had rescued both the men and women making whole the breaches made in the political and carried off by the confederate kings, and the king of domestic union of kingdoms, states, families, &c., Sodom had offered him all the goods, claiming only the making an end of discord, and establishing friendship. persons, he answers by protesting against the acceptChrist is called the Prince of peace, because, by his ing any of their property: "I have vowed unto the incarnation, sacrifice, and mediation, he procures and Lord, the proprietor of heaven and earth, that I will establishes peace. between God and man; heals the not receive the smallest portion of the property either breaches and dissensions between heaven and earth, of the women or men, from a girl's fillet to a man's reconciling both; and produces glory to God in the shoe-tie." highest, and on earth peace and good will among men. His residence is peace and quietness and assurance for ever, in every believing upright heart. He governs as the Prince and Priest of the most high God, ruling in righteousness, mighty to save; and he ever lives to make intercession for, and save to the uttermost all who come unto the Father by him. See the notes on Heb. vii. Verse 19. And he blessed him] This was a part of the priest's office, to bless in the name of the Lord, for ever. See the form of this blessing, Num. vi. 23-26; and for the meaning of the word to bless, see Gen. ii. 3. Verse 20. And he gave him tithes] A tenth part of all the spoils he had taken from the confederate Verse 24. Save only that which the young men have eaten] His own servants had partaken of the victuals which the confederate kings had carried away; see ver. 11. This was unavoidable, and this is all he claims; but as he had no right to prescribe the same liberal conduct to his assistants, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, he left them to claim the share that by right of conquest belonged to them of the recaptured booty, Whether they were as generous as Abram we are not told. THE great variety of striking incidents in this chapter the attentive reader has already carefully noted. To read and not understand is the property of the foolish and the inconsiderate. 1. We have already God appears again unto Abram, GENESIS. and renews his promise seen the danger to which Lot exposed himself in pre- hands of God. 6. Here is a war undertaken by Abram ferring a fertile region, though peopled with the work-on motives the most honourable and conscientious; it ers of iniquity. His sorrows commence in the cap- was to repel aggression, and to rescue the innocent tivity of himself and family, and the loss of all his from the heaviest of sufferings and the worst of slavery, property, though by the good providence of God he not for the purpose of plunder nor the extension of his and they were rescued. 2. Long observation has territories; therefore he takes no spoils, and returns proved that the company a man keeps is not an indif-peaceably to his own possessions. How happy would ferent thing; it will either be the means of his salvation or destruction. 3. A generous man cannot be contented with mere personal safety while others are in danger, nor with his own prosperity while others are in distress. Abram, hearing of the captivity of his nephew, determines to attempt his rescue; he puts himself at the head of his own servants, three hundred and eighteen in number, and the few assistants with which his neighbours, Mamre, Aner, and Eshcol, could furnish him; and, trusting in God and the goodness of his cause, marches off to attack four confederate kings! 4. Though it is not very likely that the armies of those petty kings could have amounted to many | thousands, yet they were numerous enough to subdue almost the whole land of Canaan; and consequently, humanly speaking, Abram must know that by numbers he could not prevail, and that in this case particularly the battle was the Lord's. 5. While depending on the Divine blessing and succour he knew he must use the means he had in his power; he therefore divided his troops skilfully that he might attack the enemy at different points at the same time, and he chooses the night season to commence his attack, that the smallness of his force might not be discovered. God requires a man to use all the faculties he has given him in every lawful enterprise, and only in the conscientious use of them can he expect the Divine blessing; when this is done the event may be safely trusted in the the world be were every sovereign actuated by the same spirit! 7. We have already noticed the appearance, person, office, &c., of Melchizedek; and, without indulging in the wild theories of either ancient or modern visionaries, have considered him as the Scriptures do, a type of Christ. All that has been already spoken on this head may be recapitulated in a few words. 1. The Redeemer of the world is the King of righteousness; he creates it, maintains it, and rules by it. 2. His empire is the empire of peace; this he proclaims to them who are afar off, and to them that are nigh; to the Jew and to the Gentile. 3. He is Priest of the most high God, and has laid down his life for the sin of the world; and through this sacrifice the blessing of God is derived on them that believe, Reader, take him for thy King as well as thy Priest; he saves those only who submit to his authority, and take his Spirit for the regulator of their heart, and his word for the director of their conduct. How many do we find, among those who would be sorry to be rated so low as to rank only with nominal Christians, talking of Christ as their Prophet, Priest, and King, who are not taught by his word and Spirit, who apply not for redemption in his blood, and who submit not to his authority! Reader, learn this deep and important truth: "Where I am there also shall my servant be; and he that serveth me, him shall my Father honour." CHAPTER XV. promise, God appears fo Abram in a vision, and gives him great encouragement, 1. Abram's request and complaint, 2, 3. God promises him a son, 4; and an exceedingly numerous posterity, 5. Abram credits the and his faith is counted unto him for righteousness, 6. Jehovah proclaims himself, and renews the promise of Canaan to his posterity, 7. Abram requires a sign of its fulfilment, 8. a sacrifice of five different animals, 9; which he accordingly does, 10, 11. tion of his posterity in Egypt; and the duration of that affliction, 12, 13. the land of Canaan with great affluence, 14-16. Renews the covenant with Abram, and mentions the possessions which should be given to his posterity, 18–21. B. C. cir. 1911. с Jehovah directs him to offer God reveals to him the afflicPromises to bring them back to A. M. cir. 2093. | AFTER these things the word I am thy shield, and thy A. M. cir. 2003. d unto exceeding a great reward. of the LORD came Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram; b B. C. cir. 1911. 2 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt Dan. x. 1; Acts x, 10, 11. C Chap. xxvi. 24; Dan. x. 12; Psa. iii. 3; v. 12; lxxxiv. 11; xci. 4; cxix. 114.- d Psa. xvi. NOTES ON CHAP. XV, paraphrases in the next clause, called '' meimeri, Verse 1. The word of the Lord came unto Abram]"my word," and in other places " meimera This is the first place where God is represented as daiya, the word of Yeya, a contraction for Jehovah, revealing himself by his word. Some learned men which they appear always to consider as a person; suppose that the 7 debar Yehovah, translated and which they distinguish from Dan pithgama, here word of the Lord, means the same with the 2oyos which signifies merely a word spoken, or any part of FOV Oɛav of St. John, chap. i. 1, and, by the Chaldee speech. There have been various conjectures concern, Abram's complaint. B. C. cir. 1911. A. M. cir. 2093. thou give me, seeing I go child-| 4 And behold, the word of the A. M. cir. 2093. B. C. cir. 1911. less, and the steward of my LORD came unto him, saying, house is this Eliezer of Damascus ? This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed and lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 5 And he brought him forth abroad, and 82 Sam. vii. 12; xvi. 11; 2 Chron. xxxii. 21. with their history will, without hesitation, say, No. What then is intended? Just what the words state. GoD was Abram's portion, and he is the portion of every righteous soul; for to Abram, and the children of his faith, he gives not a portion in this life. Nothing, says Father Calmet, proves more invincibly the immortality of the soul, the truth of religion, and the eternity of another life, than to see that in this life the righteous seldom receive the reward of their virtue, and that in temporal things they are often less happy than the workers of iniquity. I am, says the Almighty, thy shield-thy constant covering and protector, and thy exceeding great reward, ing the manner in which God revealed his will, not only to the patriarchs, but also to the prophets, evangelists, and apostles. It seems to have been done in different ways. 1. By a personal appearance of him who was afterwards incarnated for the salvation of mankind. 2. By an audible voice, sometimes accompanied with emblematical appearances. 3. By visions which took place either in the night in ordinary sleep, or when the persons were cast into a temporary trance by daylight, or when about their ordinary business, 4. By the ministry of angels appearing in human bodies, and performing certain miracles to accredit their mission. 5. By the powerful agency of the Spirit of God upon the mind, giving it a strong conception and 17 sekarcha harbeh meod, “THAT supersupernatural persuasion of the truth of the things perceived by the understanding. We shall see all these exemplified in the course of the work. It was probably in the third sense that the revelation in the text was given; for it is said, God appeared to Abram in a vision, n machazeh, from in chazah, to see, or according to others, to fix, fasten, settle; hence chozeh, a SEER, the person who sees Divine things, to whom alone they are revealed, on whose mind they are fastened, and in whose memory and judgment they are fixed and settled. Hence the vision which was mentally perceived, and, by the evidence to the soul of its Divine origin, fixed and settled in the mind. Fear not] The late Dr. Dodd has a good thought on this passage; "I would read," says he, "the second verse in a parenthesis, thus: For Abram HAD said, Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, &c. Abram had said this in the fear of his heart, upon which the Lord vouchsafed to him this prophetical view, and this strong renovation of the covenant. In this light all follows very properly. Abram had said so and so in ver. 2, upon which God appears and says, I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward. The patriarch then, ver. 3, freely opens the anxious apprehension of his heart, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed, &c., upon which God proceeds to assure him of posterity." I am thy shield, &c.] Can it be supposed that Abram understood these words as promising him temporal advantages at all corresponding to the magnificence of these promises? If he did he was disappointed through the whole course of his life, for he never enjoyed such a state of worldly prosperity as could justify the strong language in the text. Shall we lose sight of Abram, and say that his posterity was intended, and Abram understood the promises as relating to them, and not to himself or immediately to his own family? Then the question recurs, Did the Israelites ever enjoy such a state of temporal affluence as seems to be intended by the above promise? To this every man acquainted latively multiplied reward of thine." It is not the Canaan I promise, but the salvation that is to come through the promised seed. Hence it was that Abram rejoiced to see his day. And hence the Chaldee Targum translates this place, My WORD shall be thy strength, &c. Verse 2. What wilt thou give me, seeing I go child less] The anxiety of the Asiatics to have offspring is intense and universal. Among the Hindoos the want of children renders all other blessings of no esteem. See Ward. And the steward of my house] Abram, understand, ing the promise as relating to that person who was to spring from his family, in whom all the nations of the earth should be blessed, expresses his surprise that there should be such a promise, and yet he is about to die childless! How then can the promise be fulfilled, when, far from a spiritual seed, he has not even a person in his family that has a natural right to his property, and that a stranger is likely to be his heir? This seems to be the general sense of the passage; but who this steward of his house, this Eliezer of Damascus, was, commentators are not agreed. The translation of the Septuagint is at least curious: 'Ode vios Μασεκ της οικογενους μου, οὗτος Δαμασκος Ελιεζερ The son of Masek my home-born maid, this Eliezer of Damascus, is my heir; which intimates that they supposed po meshek, which we translate steward, to have been the name of a female slave, born in the family of Abram, of whom was born this Eliezer, who on account of the country either of his father or mother, was called a Damascene or one of Damascus. It is extremely probable that our Lord has this passage in view in his parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Luke xvi. 19. From the name Eliezer, by leaving out the first letter, Liezer is formed, which makes Lazarus in the New Testament, the person who, from an abject and distressed state, was raised to lie in the bosom of Abraham in paradise. Verse 5. Look now toward heaven] It appears that 6 And he believed in the LORD; and he of three years old, and a she-goat of three m counted it to him for righteousness. 7 And he said unto him, I am the LORD n that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it. h Psa. cxlvii. 4. Jer. xxxiii. 22.- Chap. xxii. 17; Exod. xxxii. 13; Deut. i. 10; x. 22; 1 Chron. xxvii. 23; Rom. iv. 18; Heb. xi. 12; see chap. xiii. 16.- Rom. iv. 3, 9, 22; Gal. iii. 6; James ii. 23. Psa. cvi. 31.—" Chap. xii. 1. years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon. 10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each this whole transaction took place in the evening; see which otherwise must necessarily fall. This word on chap xiii. 14. Abram had either two visions, that often occurs in the Hebrew Bible, and is rendered in recorded in ver. 1, and that in ver. 12, &e.; or what our translation Lord; the same term by which the is mentioned in the beginning of this chapter is a part word Jehovah is expressed but to distinguish between of the occurrences which took place after the sacrifice the two, and to show the reader when the original is mentioned ver. 9, &c.: but it is more likely that there Yehovah, and when ' Adonai, the first is was a vision of that kind already described, and after-always put in capitals, LORD, the latter in plain Roman wards a second, in which he received the revelation characters, Lord. For the word Jehovah see on chap. mentioned ver. 13-16. After the first vision he is ii. 4, and on Exod. xxxiv. 6. brought forth abroad to see if he can number the stars; and as he finds this impossible, he is assured that as they are to him innumerable, so shall his posterity be; and that all should spring from one who should proceed from his own bowels-one who should be his own legitimate child. Whereby shall I know] By what sign shall I be assured, that I shall inherit this land? It appears that he expected some sign, and that on such occasions one was ordinarily given. Verse 9. Take me a heifer] ny eglah, a shecalf; a she-goat, iy ez, a goat, male or female, but Verse 6. And he believed in the Lord; and he distinguished here by the feminine adjective; nhun counted it to him for righteousness.] This I conceive meshullesheth, a three-yearling; a ram, 'x ayil; a to be one of the most important passages in the whole turtle-dove, tor, from which come turtur and turtle; Old Testament. It properly contains and specifies young pigeon, ia gozal, a word signifying the young that doctrine of justification by faith which engrosses of pigeons and eagles. See Deut. xxxii. 11. It is so considerable a share of the epistles of St. Paul, worthy of remark, that every animal allowed or comand at the foundation of which is the atonement made manded to be sacrificed under the Mosaic law is to be by the Son of God: And he (Abram) believed (found in this list. And is it not a proof that God was heemin, he put faith) in Jehovah, 1 vaiyach-now giving to Abram an epitome of that law and its shebeha lo, and he counted it-the faith he put in Je- sacrifices which he intended more fully to reveal to hovah, to HIM for righteousness, 3 tsedakah, or justification; though there was no act in the case but that of the mind and heart, no work of any kind. Hence the doctrine of justification by faith, without any merit of works; for in this case there could be none-no works of Abram which could merit the salvation of the whole human race. It was the promise of God which he credited, and in the blessedness of which he became a partaker through faith. See at the close of the chapter; see also on Rom. iv. Verse 7. Ur of the Chaldees] See on chap. xi. Verse 8. And he said, Lord God], Adonai Yehovah, my Lord Jehovah. Adonai is the word which the Jews in reading always substitute for Jehovah, as they count it impious to pronounce this name. Adonai signifies my director, basis, supporter, prop, or stay; and scarcely a more appropriate name can be given to that God who is the framer and director of every righteous word and action; the basis or foundation on which every rational hope rests; the supporter of the souls and bodies of men, as well as of the universe in general; the prop and stay of the weak and fainting, and the buttress that shores up the building, 104 Moses; the essence of which consisted in its sacrifices, which typified the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world? On the several animals which God ordered Abram to take, Jarchi remarks: "The idolatrous nations are compared in the Scriptures to bulls, rams, and goats; for it is written, Psa. xxii. 13: Many bulls have compassed me about. Dan. viii. 20: The ram which thou hast seen is the king of Persia. Ver. 21: The rough goat is the king of Greece. But the Israelites are compared to doves, &c.; Cant. ii. 14: O my dove, that art in the cleft of the rock. The division of the above carcasses denotes the division and extermination of the idolatrous nations; but the birds not being divided, shows that the Israelites are to abide for ever." See Jarchi on the place. Verse 10. Divided them in the midst] The ancient method of making covenants, as well as the original word, have been already alluded to, and in a general way explained. See chap. vi. 18. The word covenant, from con, together, and venio, I come, signifies an agreement, association, or meeting between two or more parties; for it is impossible that a covenant can God reveals to Abram B. C. cir. 1911. CHAP. XV. the bondage of his posterity. but | horror of great darkness fell A. M. cir. 2093. A. M. cir. 2093. piece one against another: u upon him. V B. C. cir. 1911. 13 And he said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a they shall afflict them four hundred years; 12 And when the sun was going down, Lev. i. 17.- U W Chap. ii. 21; Job. iv. 13.- - Exod. xii. 40; Psa. cv. 23; Acts vii. 6.- - Exodus i. 11; Psalm cv. 25.. But this place may be differently understood. St. Cyril, in his work against Julian, shows that passing between the divided parts of a victim was used also among the Chaldeans and other people. As the sacrifice was required to make an atonement to God, so the death of the animal was necessary to signify to the contracting parties the punishment to which they exposed themselves, should they prove unfaithful. in public counsel, through any evil device, first transgress these laws, in that same day, O Jupiter, thus smite the Roman people, as I shall at this time smite this hog; and smite them with a severity proportioned to the greatness of thy power and might!" be made between an individual and himself, whether God or man. This is a theological absurdity into which many have run; there must be at least two parties to contract with each other. And often there was a third party to mediate the agreement, and to witness it when made. Rabbi Solomon Jarchi says, "It was a custom with those who entered into covenant with each other to take a heifer and cut it in two, and then the contracting parties passed between the pieces." Livy preserves the form of the imprecation used on See this and the scriptures to which it refers particu- such occasions, in the account he gives of the league larly, explained, chap. vi. 18. A covenant always made between the Romans and Albans. When the supposed one of these four things: 1. That the con- Romans were about to enter into some solemn league tracting parties had been hitherto unknown to each or covenant, they saerificed a hog; and, on the above other, and were brought by the covenant into a state occasion, the priest, or pater patratus, before he slew of acquaintance. 2. That they had been previously the animal, stood, and thus invoked Jupiter: Audi, Juin a state of hostility or enmity, and were brought by piter! Si prior defecerit publico consilio dolo malo, tum the covenant into a state of pacification and friendship. illo die, Diespiter, Populum Romanum sic ferito, ut 3. Or that, being known to each other, they now agree ego hunc, porcum hic hodie feriam; tantoque magis to unite their counsels, strength, property, &c., for the ferito, quanto magis potes pollesque! Livп Hist., lib. accomplishment of a particular purpose, mutually sub-i., chap. 24.· "Hear, O Jupiter! Should the Romans servient to the interests of both. Or, 4. It implies an agreement to succour and defend a third party in cases of oppression and distress. For whatever purpose a covenant was made, it was ever ratified by a sacrifice offered to God; and the passing between the divided parts of the victim appears to have signified that each agreed, if they broke their engagements, to submit to the punishment of being cut asunder; which we find from Matt. xxiv. 51; Luke xii. 46, was an ancient mode of punishment. This is farther confirmed by Herodotus, who says that Sabacus, king of Ethiopia, had a vision, in which he was ordered μecovs diareμɛiv, to cut in two, all the Egyptian priests; lib. ii.. We find also from the same author, lib. vii., that Xerxes ordered one of the sons of Pythius peσov diarepew, to be cut in two, and one half to be placed on each side of the way, that his army might pass through between them. That this kind of punishment was used among the Persians we have proof from Dan. ii. 5; iii. 29. Story of Susanna, verses 55, 59. See farther, 2 Sam. xii. 31, and 1 Chron. xx. 3. These authorities may be sufficient to show that the passing between the parts of the divided victims signified the punishment to which those exposed themselves who broke their Covenant engagements. And that covenant sacrifices were thus divided, even from the remotest antiquity, we learn from Homer, Il. A., v. 460. Μηρους τ' εξέταμον κατά τε κνισση εκάλυψαν, Δίπτυχα ποιησαντες, επ' αυτων δ' ωμοθετησαν. "They cut the quarters, and cover them with the fat; dividing them into two, they place the raw flesh upon them." But the birds divided he not.] According to the law, Lev. i. 17, fowls were not to be divided asunder, but only cloven for the purpose of taking out the intestines. Verse 11. And when the fowls] yn haayit, birds of prey, came down upon the carcasses to devour them, Abram, who stood by his sacrifice waiting for the manifestation of GOD, who had ordered him to prepare for the ratification of the covenant, drove them away, that they might neither pollute nor devour what had been thus consecrated to God. tardemah, the Verse 12. A deep sleep] same word which is used to express the sleep into which Adam was cast, previous to the formation of Eve; chap. ii. 21. A horror of great darkness] Which God designed to-be expressive of the affliction and misery into which his posterity should be brought during the four hundred years of their bondage in Egypt; as the next verse particularly states. Verse 13. Four hundred years] "Which began," says Mr. Ainsworth, "when Ishmael, son of Hagar, mocked and persecuted Isaac, Gen. xxi. 9; Gal. iv. 29; which fell out thirty years after the promise, Gen. xii. 3; which promise was four hundred and thirty years before the law, Gal. iii. 17; and four hundred and thirty years after that promise came Israel out of Egypt, Exod. xii. 41." |