"salt sea," meaning the same as the Dead sea. Prior to this celebrated battle, they had conquered all the other places mentioned in this list; and in this battle, too, they were successful, carrying away much spoil, and many captives, (including Lot and his family.) They extended their conquests as far as Kadesh, which, as we have seen, was not far distant from Egypt. The location of the other places is quite uncertain, though some other passages will be quoted, by and by, with reference to some of them, that will enable us to approximate to the truth.

195. Ashteroth-Karnaim is not located by any circumstance in the narrative, nor by any parallel passages in Genesis. Ham may have been named after the son of Noah, as we know that many of Ham's descendents settled in Canaan; and it is quite natural that they should name some place after him, but its location is not given. Mt. Seir has already been spoken of, and we shall have occasion to refer to it again. Hazezon-tamer appears to have been the residence of the Amorites and perhaps the Amalekites; but its location does not appear. Mamre, after whom the plain of Mamre was named, was an Amorite, and it is reasonable to presume that the residence of that tribe was not far from Mamre; and this places their residence in the direction of Kadesh, spoken of with it. Elparan was by the wilderness, perhaps the wil derness of Paran, and this, too, lay in the same direction towards Kadesh. xiv. 1-10.

196. Dan, Hobah, Damascus, Salem, Valley of Sha veh. Abraham, hearing that Lot had been taken captive and carried away, took his trained servants, and his confederates, Mamre, Eschol, and Aner, and pursued them into Dan. He then attacked them and pursued them to Hobah, on the left hand of Damascus. These places, therefore, were all north of Canaan, and on the way to Shinar, and the other places to which these kings belonged and to which they

were returning. On his return, Abraham was met by Melchisedek, king of Salem, an evidence that Salem was between Mamre and the other places just named; at least it was north of Mamre, as Abraham was on his way home toward the south. It is thought that this Salem, was the same as Jerusalem, so distinguished afterwards as the chief city of Judea.

197. The king of Sodom, too, went out to meet Abraham at the valley of Shaveh, which locates this place also in the same general direction as Salem. Besides, this valley was the "king's dale," or valley, and must have been near to Sodom. Furthermore, the spoils were there divided, Abraham's confederates. taking their share, and the king taking the rest, Abraham himself declining to receive any. Place this valley a little north and west of Sodom and we have the proper location to suit the circumstances. Was not this Shaveh, the same as Shaveh-Kiriathaim, men-tioned in the same account as being taken by the northern kings? The resemblance in the name would make this probable; for we shall have occasion to see that double names are often abridged. xiv. 14– 18.

198. Ur, Haran, Moreh, Bethel, Hai, Hebron, Lahairoi, Gerar, Beersheba. We will now take the patriarch Abraham as our guide, and follow him, and note the places he passes through, and the place of his residence. The first mention of Abraham is in connection with Ur of the Chaldees. Leaving this place with Terah, his father, and with Lot, his nephew, he is next seen in Haran, a place obviously taking its name from a brother of Abram, who had recently died in Ur. Of course Haran lay in the direction of Canaan, as Abram was on his way to that country. We shall find the same place mentioned in another passage, as the retreat of Jacob when he left home to escape the wrath of Esau. How natural that he should go to the former residence of his grandfather, where some of his relatives still resided.

199. Soon after this, Abram starts for the land of Canaan, and comes into that country. He came to Sichem unto the plain of Moreh. Soon thereafter he removed to a mountain on the east of Bethel, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east. This places Abraham's residence on the mountain, Bethel, and Hai, on an east and west line. But farther than this, their location does not appear. xii. 5, 6.

It is added that "Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south." This settles the point of his original residence. It was north of Palestine. He was far north; Haran not so far. Sichem, and the plain of Moreh, in Palestine, were north of Bethel and Hai. All these things are thus rendered certain. xii. 9.

200. After making a journey to Egypt, Abram returns to Bethel, and to his place between Bethel and Hai. xiii. 3. At this time Abram and Lot separated, to avoid unpleasant collisions between their respective herdsmen; and as Lot chose the plain of the Jordan, near Sodom; and as that was the eastern boundary of Canaan, the inference is, that Abram resided west of Sodom, though not very far off, as we have before seen. Besides, it is expressly said of Lot, when he separated from Abram, that he went east. xiii. 11. Abram's next residence is in the plain of Mamre, which is Hebron. Mamre, in whose plain was Hebron was one of Abram's confederates, and one of those who went with him in pursuit of the kings that had carried away Lot. Hebron was also called Kirjetharba. It was here that Sarah died, and near here was the cave of Machpelah, the place where she was buried.

Hebron, in Mamre, was a long time the abode of the patriarchs. Abram dwelt there, so did Isaac; and to the same place Jacob returned, when he came back from Padan-aram. Abram died in Hebron and was buried in Machpelah. xiii. 18; xiv. 13, 24; xxiii. 2, 17; xxxv. 27; xxv. 8,9.

201. Isaac had his abode near the well Lahai-roi, which must have been near Hebron. Afterwards, on account of a famine in the land, he went down to the country of the Philistines, and dwelt in Gerar. He afterwards went from there to Beersheba; and it was here that the unhappy conflict between Jacob and Esau occurred; and it was from this place that Jacob was sent away, to avoid the vengeance of his brother. xxiv. 62; xxv. 11; xxvi. 6, 23; xxviii. 10.

202. Padan-aram, Haran, Bethel, Mt. Gilead, Mahanaim, Seir, Jabbok, Peniel, Succoth, Shalem, Ephrath, Arbah or Hebron. We will now take another guide. We will follow Jacob on his excursion to the north. He was instructed to go to his uncle Laban at Padanaram. This same Laban is called a Syrian. Padanaram, then was Syria. The original of Syria is Aramea, which can at once be seen to have been derived from the last half of Padan-aram. xxviii. 5. Notice another circumstance. When Jacob left Beersheba, it is said he started for Haran, and when he arrived there he inquired of the men of Haran, whether they knew Laban, and was told that they did. This makes Haran, too, to be in Syria. Chaldea, it will be remembered, was still further north, as Abram came from that country to Haran, on his way to Canaan. xxviii. 10; xxix. 4, 5.

203. On his way to Haran from Beersheba, Jacob stopped over night at a place which he called Bethel, from a vision he had there. It was before called Luz. He visited the same place on his return from Haran. xxviii. 19; xxxv. 1. It may be recollected that this is mentioned in connection with Abraham, and called Bethel, though at that time, it had not received this name. The writer gives the modern name, and not the ancient one, a not uncommon occurrence in the Bible, as well as in other books. From Bethel Jacob went on his journey, and came into "the country of the people of the east."

The residence of Laban was evidently in a northeast direction from Canaan, and hence it is regarded as both north and east. xxix. 1.

204. As we are in search of places merely, and not transactions, we will pass over the experience of Jacob with Laban, and commence with his return from that country; which, as he moves slowly with his family, his flocks and herds, will naturally bring before us a number of places. It is quite probable, too, that he did not take the same route as when he came, since he seems to have wished to evade pursuit. At all events we first find him, on his return route, at Mt. Gilead, where Laban after a seven days' journey, had overtaken him. There, after some angry altercation, they entered into a solemn compact, set up a pillar of stones, as a memento thereof; and at length separated for their respective destinations. Laban called the place Jegar-sahadutha; but Jacob called it Galeed, or Gilead. He also named it Mizpah. xxxi. 47, 49.

205. The next place is called Mahanain, on account of a vision of angels he saw there. It may be added here, that names given, like this, to celebrate some passing event or circumstance, were not always permanent, though they sometimes appear to have been So. Here it is said that Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau, his brother, unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. It follows, then, that Seir or Edom lay between him and Canaan. It will be recollected that Mt. Seir is mentioned among the conquests of the kings, whose visit to Sodom has before been spoken of. This is very natural, for it lay right on their route. xxxii. 2, 3; xiv. 6. Still farther along, Jacob passed over the ford Jabbok, and near that place he wrestled with the angel, and called the place Peniel or Penuel. After the interview with Esau, Jacob journeyed to Succoth. He then came to Shalem, in the land of Canaan, and pitched his tent before the city, and there erected an altar which he called El-elohe