& C. cir. 1911. said, Look now toward heaven,

b
and tell the stars, if thou be

able to number them: and he said unto him,
So shall thy seed be.

Manner of offering it.

8 And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

k

A. M. cir. 2093.
B. C. cir. 1911.

9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer

6 And he believed in the LORD; and he of three years old, and a she-goat of three counted it to him for righteousness.

7 And he said unto him, I am the LORD that 'brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

4

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

2 Kings xx. 8. Luke i. 18.-
iSee ch. xxiv 13, 14. Judg. vi. 17, 37.
k Lev. i.
xiv. 22, 30. Luke xi. 24. Isai. xv. 5.-
19.

1 Sam. xiv. 9, 10. 3, 10, 14. xii. 8. Jer. xxxiv. 18,

Ps. cxlvii. 4.- b Jer. xxxiii. 22. e Ch. xxii. 17. Exod. xxxii. 13. Deut. i. 10. x. 22. 1 Chron. xxvii. 23. Rom. iv. 18. Hebr. xi. 12. See ch. xiii. 16.- d Rom. iv. 3,9, 22. Gal. iii. 6. James ii. 23.- e Ps. cvi. 31.-Ch. xii. 1. Ch. xi. 28, 31.- h Ps. cv. 42, 44. Rom. iv. 13. that this whole transaction took place in the evening; see on chap. xiii. 14. Abram had either two visions, that recorded in ver. 1, and that in ver. 12, &c.; or what is mentioned in the beginning of this chapter is a part of the occurrences which took place after the sacrifice mentioned ver. 9, &c: but it is more likely that there was a vision of that kind already described, and afterwards a second, in which he received the revelation mentioned ver. 13-16. | After the first vision he is 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. • Verse 9. Take me an heifer] by eglah, a she-calf; Verse 6. And he believed in the Lord; and he a she-goat, wy ez, a goat male or female, but distincounted it to him for righteousness.] This I conceive guished here by the feminine adjective; ♫wbwn meto be one of the most important passages in the shullesheth, a three-yearling ; a ram, ↳× ayil; a turtleble Old Testament. It properly contains and spe- dove, tor, from which come turtur and turtle; cies that doctrine of justification by faith which en- young pigeon, n gozal, a word signifying the young grosses so considerable a share of the epistles of St. of pigeons and eagles. See Deut. xxxii. 11. It is Pral, and at the foundation of which is the atone-worthy of remark, that every animal allowed or comment made by the Son of God: And he (Abram) bebered (heemin, he put faith) in Jehovah; nawn“ riyachshebeka lo, and he counted it-the faith he put 1 Jehovah, to HIM for righteousness, ¬ 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 ay merit of works; for in this case there could be Bone-no works of Abram which could merit the salration 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 te close of the chapter; see also on Rom. iv.

the weak and fainting, and the buttress that shores up the building, which otherwise must necessarily fall. This word often occurs in the Hebrew Bible, and is rendered in our translation Lord; the same term by which the word Jehovah is expressed: but to distinguish between the two, and to show the reader when the original is Yehovah, and when Adonai, the first is always put in capitals, LORD, the latter in plain Roman characters, Lord. For the word Jehovah see on chap. ii. 4, and on Exod. xxxiv. 6.

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 7. Ur of the Chaldees] See on chap. xi. Verse 8. And he said, Lord God], Adonai Tovah, my Lord Jehovah. Adonai is the word which the Jews in reading always substitute for Jerah, as they count it impious to pronounce this Lane. Adonai significs my director, basis, supporter, prop, or stay; and scarcely a more appropriate name can be given to that God who is the framer and dirator of every righteous word and action; the basis of 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

manded to be sacrificed under the Mosaic law is to be found in this list. And is it not a proof that God was now giving to Abram an epitome of that law and its sacrifices which he intended more fully to reveal to 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, Ps. 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 carcases 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

13 And he said unto Abram, B. C. cir. 1911. Know of a surety that thy ©

11 And when the fowls came down upon the seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not

e Exod. vi. 6. Deut. vi. 22. Ps. cv. 37.

Μηρους τ' εξεταμον κατα τε κνισση εκαλύψαν,

Δίπτυχα ποιησαντες, επ' αυτων δ' ωμοθέτησαν. They cut the quarters, and cover them with the fat; dividing them into two, they place the raw flesh upon them."

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.

Livy preserves the form of the imprecation used on such occasions, in the account he gives of the league made between the Romans and Albans. When the Romans were about to enter into some solemn league or covenant, they sacrificed a hog; and, on the above occasion, the priest, or pater patratus, before he slew the animal, stood, and thus invoked Jupiter: Audi, Jupiter! Si prior defecerit publico consilio dolo malo, tum illo die, Diespiter, Populum Romanum sic ferito, ut ego hunc porcum

an agreement, association, or meeting between two or more parties; for it is impossible that a covenant can 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." See this and the scriptures to which it refers particularly explained, chap. vi. 18. A covenant always supposed one of these four things: 1. That the contracting parties had been hitherto unknown to each other, and were brought by the covenant into a state of acquaintance. 2. That they had been previously in a state of hostility or enmity, and were brought by the covenant into a state of pacification and friendship. 3. Or that, being known to each other, they now agree to unite their counsels, strength, property, &c., for the accomplishment of a particular purpose, mutually subservient to the interests of both. Or 4. It implies an agreement to succour and defend a third party in cases of oppres- | hic hodie feriam; tantoque magis ferito,quanto magis sion 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 further confirmed by Herodotus, who says that Sabacus, king of Ethiopia, had a vision, in which he was ordered μeσovs diarεμely, 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 μeσov diareμely, 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 further, 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.

"Hear,

potes pollesque! LIVII Hist., lib. i., chap. 24.
O Jupiter! Should the Romans 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!"

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] byn haayit, birds of prey, came down upon the carcases 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 תרדמה

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.

An 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 added, The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full; text 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.”

Verse 14. And also that nation, &c.] How remarkably was this promise fulfilled, in the redemption of Ismael from its bondage, in the plagues and destruction of the Egyptians, and in the immense wealth ich the Israelites brought out of Egypt! Not a Tore circumstantial or literally fulfilled promise is to be found in the sacred writings.

Verse 15. Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace] This verse strongly implies the immortality of the soul, and a state of separate existence. He was gathered to his fathers-introduced into the place where separate spirits are kept, waiting for the general resurrection. Two things seem to be distinctly marked bere: 1. The soul of Abram should be introduced among the assembly of the first-born; Thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace. 2. His body should be buried after a long life, one hundred and seventy-five years, chap. xxv. 7. The body was buried; the soul went to the spiritual world, to dwell among the fathersthe patriarchs, who had lived and died in the Lord. See the note on chap. xxv. 8.

Verse 16. In the fourth generation] In former times most people counted by generations, to each of which was assigned a term of years amounting to 20, 25, 30, 33, 100, 108, or 110; for the gene raim was of various lengths among various people, at different times. It is probable that the fourth generation here means the same as the four hundred years in the preceding verse. Some think it refers to the time when Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the son of Amram, the son of Kohath, came out of Egypt, and divided the land of Canaan to Israel, Josh. xiv. 1. Others think the fourth generation of the Amorites is intended, because it is immediately

but in the fourth generation they should be expelled, and the descendants of Abram established in their place. From these words we learn that there is a certain pitch of iniquity to which nations may arrive before they are destroyed, and beyond which divine justice does not permit them to pass.

Verse 17. Smoking furnace, and a burning lamp] Probably the smoking furnace might be designed as an emblem of the sore afflictions of the Israelites in Egypt; but the burning lamp was certainly the symbol of the divine presence, which, passing between the pieces, ratified the covenant with Abram, as the following verse immediately states.

Verse 18. The Lord made a covenant] carath berith signifies to cut a covenant, or rather the covenant sacrifice; for as no covenant was made

without one, and the creature was cut in two that the contracting parties might pass between the pieces, hence cutting the covenant signified making the covenant. The same form of speech obtained among the Romans; and because, in making their covenants they always slew an animal, either by cutting its throat, or knocking it down with a stone or axe, after which they divided the parts as we have already seen, hence among them percutere fidus, to smite a covenant, and scindere fœdus, to cleave a covenant, were terms which signified simply to make or enter into a covenant.

From the river of Egypt] Not the Nile, but the river called Sichor, which was before or on the border of Egypt, near to the Isthmus of Sucz; see Josh. xiii. 3; though some think that by this a branch of the in the days of David and Solomon. See 2 Sam. viii. Nile is meant. This promise was fully accomplished 3, &c., and 2 Chron. ix. 26.

Verse 19. The Kenites, &c.] Here are ten nations mentioned, though afterwards reckoned but seven; see Deut. vii. 1; Acts xiii. 19. Probably some of them which existed in Abram's time had been blended with others before the time of Moses, so that seven only out of the ten then remained; see part of these noticed Gen. x.

to man.

to Abram.

In this chapter there are three subjects which | by faith; and the experience of millions of men, built on must be particularly interesting to the pious reader. this foundation, has sufficiently attested the truth and 1. The condescension of GoD in revealing himself to solidity of the ground on which it was built. mankind in a variety of ways, so as to render it absolutely evident that he had spoken, that he loved mankind, and that he had made every provision for their eternal welfare. So unequivocal were the discoveries which God made of himself, that on the minds of those to whom they were made not one doubt was left, relative either to the truth of the subject, or that it was God himself who made the discovery. The subject of the discovery also was such as sufficiently attested its truth to all future generations, for it concerned matters yet in futurity, so distinctly marked, so positively promised, and so highly interesting, as to make them objects of attention, memory, and desire, | till they did come; and of gratitude, because of the permanent blessedness they communicated through all generations after the facts had taken place.

3. The foundation of the doctrine itself is laid in the covenant made between God and Abram in behalf of all the families of the earth, and this covenant is ratified by a sacrifice. By this covenant man is bound to God, and God graciously binds himself As this covenant referred to the incarnation of Christ; and Abram, both as to himself and posterity, was to partake of the benefits of it by faith; hence faith, not works, is the only condition on which God, through Christ, forgives sins, and brings to the promised spiritual inheritance. This covenant still stands open, all the successive generations of men are parties on the one side, and Jesus is at once the sacrifice and Mediator of it. As therefore the covenant still stands open, and Jesus is still the Lamb slain before the throne, every human soul must ratify the covenant for himself; and no man does so but he who, conscious of his guilt, accepts the sacrifice which God has provided for him. Reader, hast thou done so? And with a heart unto righteousness dost thou continue to believe on the Son of God? How merciful is God, who has found out such a way of salvation by providing a Saviour every way suitable to miserable, fallen, sinful man! One who is holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners; and who, being higher than the heavens, raises up his faithful followers to the throne of his own eternal glory!

2. The way of salvation by faith in the promised Saviour, which now began to be explicitly declared. God gives the promise of salvation, and by means in which it was impossible, humanly speaking, that it should take place; teaching us, 1. That the whole work was spiritual, supernatural, and divine; and 2. That no human power could suffice to produce it. This Abram believed while he was yet uncircumcised, | and this faith was accounted to him for righteousness or justification; God thereby teaching that he would pardon, accept, and receive into favour all who should believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And this very | Reader, give God the praise, and avail thyself of the case has ever since been the standard of justification | sin-offering which lieth at the door.

CHAPTER XVI.

Sarai, having no child, gives Hagar her maid to Abram for wife, 1-3. She conceives, and despises her mistress, 4. Sarai is offended, and upbraids Abram, 5. Abram vindicates himself; and Hagar, being hardly used by her mistress, runs away, 6. She is met by an angel, and counselled to return to her mistress, 7-9. God promises greatly to multiply her seed, 10. Gives the name of Ishmael to the child that should be born of her, 11. Shows his disposition and character, 12. Hagar calls the name of the Lord who spoke to her, Thou God seest me, 13. She calls the name of the well at which the angel met her, Beer-lahai-roi, 14. Ishmael is born in the 86th year of Abram's age, 15, 16.

A. M. 2092.
B. C. 1912.

NOW Sarai, Abram's wife, a bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

e

A. M. 2092.
B. C. 1912.

the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened 2d And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, to the voice of Sarai.

с

b

f So ch. xxx. 3, 9.- - Heb. be builded by her. h Ch. iii, 17.

Verse 2. Go in unto my maid.] It must not be forgotten that female slaves constituted a part of the private patrimony or possessions of a wife, and that she had a right, according to the usages of those times, to dispose of them as she pleased, the husband having no authority in the case.

I may obtain children by her.] The slave being the absolute property of the mistress, not only her person, but the fruits of her labour, with all her children,

CHAP. XVI.