Moses wrote. Chesed was the son of Nahor, the son of Terah, chap. xxii. 22. From Chesed descended the Chasdim, whose language was the same as that of the Amorites, Dan. i. 4; ii. 4. These Chasdim, whence the Xa2daioi, Chaldeans, of the Septuagint, Vulgate, and all later versions, afterwards settled on the south of the Euphrates. Those who dwelt in Ur were either priests or astronomers, Dan. ii. 10, and also idolaters, Josh. xxiv. 2, 3, 14, 15. And because they were much addicted to astronomy, and probably to judicial astrology, hence all astrologers were, in process of time, called Chaldeans, Dan. ii. 2-5.

The building of Babel, the confusion of tongues, and the first call of Abram, are three remarkable particulars in this chapter; and these led to the accomplishment of three grand and important designs: 1. The peopling of the whole earth; 2. The preservation of the true religion by the means of one family; and 3. The preservation of the line uncorrupted by which the Messiah should come. When God makes a discovery of himself by a particular revelation, it must begin in some particular time, and be given to some particular person, and in some particular place. Where,

to leave Haran.

when, and to whom, are comparatively matters of small importance. It is God's gift; and his own wisdom must determine the time, the person, and the place. But if this be the case, have not others cause to complain because not thus favoured? Not at all, unless the favouring of the one for a time should necessarily cut off the others for ever. But this is not the case. Abram was first favoured; that time, that country, and that person were chosen by infinite wisdom, for there and then God chose to commence these mighty operations of Divine goodness. Isaac and Jacob also received the promises, the twelve patriarchs through their father, and the whole Jewish people through them. Afterwards the designs of God's endless mercy were more particularly unfolded; and the word, which seemed to be confined for two thousand years to the descendants of a single family, bursts forth on all hands, salvation is preached to the Gentiles, and thus in Abram's seed all the nations of the earth are blessed. Hence none can find fault, and none can have cause to complain; as the salvation which for a time appeared to be restricted to a few, is now on the authority of God, liberally offered to the whole human race!

NOTES ON CHAP. XII. Verse 1. Get thee out of thy country] There is great dissension between commentators concerning the call of Abram; some supposing he had two distinct calls, others that he had but one. At the conclusion of the preceding chapter, ver. 31, we find Terah and all his family leaving Ur of the Chaldees, in order to go to Canaan. This was, no doubt, in consequence of some Divine admonition. While resting at Haran, on their road to Canaan, Terah died, chap. xi. 32; and then God repeats his call to Abram, and orders him to proceed to Canaan, chap. xii. 1.

Dr. Hales, in his Chronology, contends for two calls: "The first," says he," is omitted in the Old Testament, but is particularly recorded in the New, Acts vii. 2-4 The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was (at Ur of the Chaldees) in Mesopotamia, BEFORE HE DWELT IN CHARRAN; and said unto him, Depart from thy land, and from thy kindred, and come

b Chapter xvii. 6; xviii. 18; Deut. xxvi. 5; 1 Kings iii. 8. into the land (yn, a land) which I will show thee. Hence it is evident that God had called Abram before he came to Haran or Charran." The SECOND CALL is recorded only in this chapter: "The Lord said (not HAD said) unto Abram, Depart from thy land, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto THE LAND, HA-arels, (Septuagint, THN yn,) which I will show thee." "The difference of the two calls," says Dr. Hales, "more carefully translated from the originals, is obvious: in the former the land is indefinite, which was designed only for a temporary residence; in the latter it is definite, intimating his abode. A third condition is also annexed to the latter, that Abram shall now separate himself from his father's house, or leave his brother Nahor's family behind at Charran. This call Abram obeyed, still not knowing whither he was going, but trusting implicitly to the Divine guidance.'

Thy kindred] Nahor and the different branches

Abram and his family

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of the family of Terah, Abram and Lot excepted. That Nahor went with Terah and Abram as far as Padan-Aram, in Mesopotamia, and settled there, so that it was afterwards called Nahor's city, is sufficiently evident from the ensuing history, see chap. xxv. 20; xxiv. 10, 15; and that the same land was Haran, see chap. xxviii. 2, 10, and there were Abram's kindred and country here spoken of, chap. xxiv. 4.

Thy father's house] Terah being now dead, it is very probable that the family were determined to go no farther, but to settle at Charran; and as Abram might have felt inclined to stop with them in this place, hence the ground and necessity of the second call recorded here, and which is introduced in a very remarkable manner; lech lecha, GO FOR THYSELF. If none of the family will accompany thee, yet go for thyself unto THAT LAND which I will show thee. God does not tell him what land it is, that he may still cause him to walk by faith and not by sight. This seems to be particularly alluded to by Isaiah, chap. xli. 2: Who raised up the righteous man (Abram) from the east, and called him to his foot; that is, to follow implicitly the Divine direction. The apostle assures us that in all this Abram had spiritual views; he looked for a better country, and considered the land of promise only as typical of the heavenly inheritance.

Verse 2. I will make of thee a great nation] i. e., The Jewish people; and make thy name great, alluding to the change of his name from Abram, a high father, to Abraham, the father of a multitude.

1

7

i

k

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. And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.

8 Chap. xiv. 14.xi. 30; Judg. vii. 1. 1.- Chap. xiii. 15;

i Heb. xi. 9. Deut. Chap. xvii. Chap. xiii. 4.

b Chap. xi. 31.Chap. x. 18, 19; xiii. 7.xvii. 8; Psa. cv. 9, 11.

Verse 5. The souls that they had gotten in Haran] This may apply either to the persons who were employed in the service of Abram, or to the persons he had been the instrument of converting to the knowledge of the true God; and in this latter sense the Chaldee paraphrasts understood the passage, translating it, The souls of those whom they proselyted in Haran.

They went forth to go into the land of Canaan] A good land, possessed by a bad people, who for their iniquities were to be expelled, see Lev. xviii. 25. And this land was made a type of the kingdom of God.. Probably the whole of this transaction may have a farther meaning than that which appears in the letter. As Abram left his own country, father's house, and kindred, took at the command of God a journey to this promised land, nor ceased till he arrived in it; so should we cast aside every weight, come out from among the workers of iniquity, set out for the kingdom of God, nor ever rest till we reach the heavenly country. How many set out for the kingdom of heaven, make good progress for a time in their journey, but halt before the race is finished! Not so Abram; he went forth to go into the land of Canaan, and into the land of Canaan he came. Reader, go thou and do likewise.

Verse 6. The plain of Moreh.] ¡ elon should be translated oak, not plain; the Septuagint translate Tnv Spvv înv výnànv, the lofty oak; and it is likely the place was remarkable for a grove of those trees, or for one of a stupendous height and bulk.

The Canaanite was then in the land.] This is thought to be an interpolation, because it is supposed that these words must have been written after the Ca

Verse 4. And Abram was seventy and five years old] As Abram was now seventy-five years old, and his father Terah had just died, at the age of two hundred and five, consequently Terah must have been one hundred and thirty when Abram was born; and the seventieth year of his age mentioned Gen. xi. 26, was the period at which Haran, not Abram, was born. See on the preceding chapter.

under Joshua; but this by no means follows. All that Moses states is simply that, at the time in which Abram passed through Sichem, the land was inhabited by the descendants of Canaan, which was a perfectly possible case, and involves neither a contradiction nor absurdity. There is no rule of criticism by which these words can be produced as an evidence of interpolation or incorrectness in the statement of the sacred historian. See this mentioned again, chap. xiii. 7.

Verse 7. The Lord appeared] In what way this appearance was made we know not; it was probably by the great angel of the covenant, Jesus the Christ.

This is his wife and they w 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.

The appearance, whatsoever it was, perfectly satisfied Abram, and proved itself to be supernatural and Divine. It is worthy of remark that Abram is the first man to whom God is said to have shown himself or appeared: 1. In Ur of the Chaldees, Acts vii. 2; and 2. At the oak of Moreh, as in this verse. As Moreh signifies a teacher, probably this was called the oak of Moreh or the teacher, because God manifested himself here, and instructed Abram concerning the future possession of that land by his postérity, and the dispensation of the mercy of God to all the families of the earth through the promised Messiah. See on chap. xv. 7.

Verse 8. Beth-el] The place which was afterwards called Beth-el by Jacob, for its first name was Luz. See chap. xxviii. 19. x n beith El literally signifies the house of God.

And pitched his tent-and-builded an altar unto the Lord] Where Abram has a tent, there God must have an ALTAR, as he well knows there is no safety but under the Divine protection. How few who build houses ever think on the propriety and necessity of building an altar to their Maker! The house in which the worship of God is not established cannot be considered as under the Divine protection.

name.

And called upon the name of the Lord.] Dr. Shuckford strongly contends that op kara beshem does not signify to call on the name, but to invoke IN the So Abram invoked Jehovah in or by the name of Jehovah, who had appeared to him. He was taught even in these early times to approach God through a Mediator; and that Mediator, since manifested in the flesh, was known by the name Jehovah. Does not our Lord allude to such a discovery as this when he says, Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it, and was glad? John viii. 56. Hence it is evident that he was informed that the Christ should be born of his seed, that the nations of the world should be blessed through him; and is it then to be wondered at if he invoked God in the name of this great Mediator?

Verse 10. There was a famine in the land] Of Canaan. This is the first famine on record, and it prevailed in the most fertile land then under the sun; and why? God made it desolate for the wickedness of those who dwelt in it.

xxvi. 7.

v Ver. 14; chap. xxvi. 7.- Chap. xx. 11; * Chap. xx. 5, 13; see chap. xxvi. 7.

Went down into Egypt] He felt himself a stranger and a pilgrim, and by his unsettled state was kept in mind of the city that hath foundations that are permanent and stable, whose builder is the living God. See Heb. xi. 8, 9.

Verse 11. Thou art a fair woman to look upon] Widely differing in her complexion from the swarthy Egyptians, and consequently more likely to be coveted by them. It appears that Abram supposed they would not scruple to take away the life of the husband in order to have the undisturbed possession of the wife. The age of Sarai at this time is not well agreed on by commentators, some making her ninety, while others make her only sixty-five. From chap. xvii. 17, we learn that Sarai was ten years younger than Abram, for she was but ninety when he was one hundred. And from ver. 4 of chap. xii. we find that Abram was seventy-five when he was called to leave Haran and go to Canaan, at which time Sarai could be only sixtyfive; and if the transactions recorded in the preceding verses took place in the course of that year, which I think possible, consequently Sarai was but sixty-five; and as in those times people lived much longer, and disease seems to have had but a very contracted influence, women and men would necessarily arrive more slowly at a state of perfection, and retain their vigour and complexion much longer, than in later times. We may add to these considerations that strangers and foreigners are more coveted by the licentious than those who are natives. This has been amply illustrated in the West Indies and in America, where the jetty, monkey-faced African women are preferred to the elegant and beautiful Europeans! To this subject a learned British traveller elegantly applied those words of Virgil, Ecl. ii., ver. 18:

DRYDEN,

Alba ligustra cadunt, vaccinia nigra leguntur. White lilies lie neglected on the plain, While dusky hyacinths for use remain. Verse 13. Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister] Abram did not wish his wife to tell a falsehood, but he wished her to suppress a part of the truth. From chap. xx. 12, it is evident she was his step-sister, i. e., his sister by his father, but by a different mother. Some suppose Sarai was the daughter of Haran, and

Abram and his family

having received a great increase of cattle and servants, it was necessary that he should have the favour of the king, and his permission to remove from Egypt with so large a property; hence, a particular charge is given to the officers of Pharaoh to treat him with respect, and to assist him in his intended departure.

THE weighty and important contents of this chapter demand our most attentive consideration. Abram is a second time called to leave his country, kindred, and father's house, and go to a place he knew not. Every thing was apparently against him but the voice of God. This to Abram was sufficient; he could trust his Maker, and knew he could not do wrong in following his command. He is therefore proposed to us in the Scriptures as a pattern of faith, patience, and loving obedience. When he received the call of God, he spent no time in useless reasonings about the call itself, his family circumstances, the difficulties in the way, &c., &c. He was called, and he departed, and this is all we hear on the subject. Implicit faith in the promise of God, and prompt obedience to his commands, become us, not only as HIS creatures, but as sinners called to separate from evil workers and wicked ways, and travel, by that faith which worketh by love, in the way that leads to the paradise of God.

How greatly must the faith of this blessed man have been tried, when, coming to the very land in which he is promised so much blessedness, he finds instead of plenty a grievous famine! Who in his circumstances would not have gone back to his own country, and kindred? Still he is not stumbled; prudence directs him to turn aside and go to Egypt, till God shall choose to remove this famine. Is it to be wondered at that, in this tried state, he should have serious apprehensions for the safety of his life! Sarai, his affectionate wife and faithful companion, he supposes he shall lose; her beauty, he suspects, will cause her to be desired by men of power, whose will he shall not

return from Egypt to Canaan.

be able to resist. If he appear to be her husband, his death he supposes to be certain; if she pass for his sister, he may be well used on her account; he will not tell a lie, but he is tempted to prevaricate by suppressing a part of the truth. Here is a weakness which, however we may be inclined to pity and excuse it, we should never imitate. It is recorded with its own condemnation. He should have risked all rather than have prevaricated. But how could he think of lightly giving up such a wife? Surely he who would not risk his life for the protection and safety of a good wife, is not worthy of one. Here his faith was deficient. He still credited the general promise, and acted on that faith in reference to it; but he did not use his faith in reference to intervening circumstances, to which it was equally applicable. Many trust God for their souls and eternity, who do not trust in him for their bodies and for time. To him who follows God fully in simplicity of heart, every thing must ultimately succeed. Had Abram and Sarai simply passed for what they were, they had incurred no danger; for God, who had obliged them to go to Egypt, had prepared the way before them. Neither Pharaoh nor his courtiers would have noticed the woman, had she appeared to be the wife of the stranger that came to sojourn in their land. The issue sufficiently proves this. Every ray of the light of truth is an emanation from the holiness of God, and awfully sacred in his eyes. Considering the subject thus, a pious ancient spoke the following words, which refiners in prevarication have deemed by much too strong: "I would not," said he, "tell a lie to save the souls of the whole world.” Reader, be on thy guard; thou mayest fall by comparatively small matters, while resolutely and successfully resisting those which require a giant's strength to counteract them. In every concern God is necessary; seek him for the body and for the soul; and do not think that any thing is too small or insignificant to interest him that concerns thy present or eternal peace.

NOTES ON CHAP. XIII. Verse 1. Abram went up out of Egypt-into the south.] Probably the south of Canaan, as in leaving Egypt he is said to come from the south, ver. 3, for the southern part of the promised land lay north-east of Egypt.

Verse 2. Abram was very rich] The property of these patriarchal times did not consist in flocks only, but also in silver and gold; and in all these respects Abram was 11 cabed meod, exceeding rich. Josephus says that a part of this property was acquired by teaching the Egyptians arts and sciences. Thus