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, ch. xi. 32. and then God repeats his call to Abram, and orders him to proceed to Canaan, ch. 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 into the land (y, a land) which I will show thee. Hence, it is evident, that God had called Abraham 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, PN HA-arets, Septuagint THN 7, which I will show thee." "The difference of the two calls," says Dr. Hales, 66 mere 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 wither he was going, but trusting implicitly to the divine guidance," Heb. xi. 8.

Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten fin Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

18. 18. & 22 18. & 26. 4. Ps. 72. 17. Acts. 3. 25. Gal. 3. 8.-e Ch. 14. 14.-f Ch. 11. 31,

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 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 Canaanites were expelled from the land, by the Israelites 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 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,

ch. xiii. 7.

to

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. 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 whom God is said to have shown himself, or appeared: 1st. In Ur of the Chaldees, Acts vii. 2.-and 2dly. At the oak of Morch, as in this verse. As П Morch, signifies a teacher, probably this was called the oak of Morch, or the teacher, because God manifested himself here, and instructed Abram concerning the future possession of that land by his posterity; and the dispensation of the mercy of God to all the families of the earth through the promised Messiah: see on chap. xv. 7.

Thy kindred] Nahor, and the different branches of the The plain of Morch] eilon, should be translated family of Terah, Abram and Lot excepted. That Nahor oak, not plain: the Septuagint translate it Hy deur TAY went with Terah and Abram as far as Padan-Aram, inkar, the lofty oak; and it is likely the place was Mesopotamia, and settled there, so that it was afterward remarkable for a grove of those trees, or for one of a stucalled Nahor's city, is sufficiently evident from the ensuing pendous height and bulk. history, see ch. xxv. 20 xxiv. 10, 15. and that the same land was Haran, see ch. xxviii. 2, 10. and there were Abram's kindred and country here spoken of, ch. 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: 75 lec leca, CO 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, ch. xli. 2. Who raised up the righteous man (Abram) from the cast, 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. See Heb. xi. 8-10. Verse 2. I will make of thee a great nation] i. e. the Jewish people. I will make thy name great-alluding to the change of his name from Abram, a high father, to Abraham, the father of a multitude.

.

Verse 3. In thee] In thy posterity, in the Messiah, who shall spring from thee, shall all families of the earth be blessed; for as he shall take on him human nature, from the posterity of Abraham, he shall taste death for every man; his Gospel shall be preached throughout the world, and innumerable blessings be derived on all mankind, through his death and intercession.

Verse 4. And Abram was seventy-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.

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

Verse 8. Beth-el] That is, the place which was afterward called Beth-el by Jacob; for its first name was Luz. See chap. xxviii. 19.- 2 Beith el, literally signifies the house of God.

There he 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. Is it not remarkable, that few dwellings of truly religious people have ever been burnt down?

And called upon the name of the' Lord] Dr. Shuckford strongly contends, that p kara beshem, does not signify to call on the name, but to invoke IN the name. 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?

Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say,
This is his wife: and they will kill me, but
they will save thee alive.

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 is permanent and stable: whose builder is the living God. See Heb. xi. 8, 9. Verse 11. Thou art a fair woman to look on] 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 Sarah was ten years younger than Abraham, for she was but ninety when he OXEN; pa baquar, from the root, to examine, look out; was a 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 because of the full, broad, steady, unmoved look of most only sixty-five; and if the transactions recorded in the animals of the beeve kind; and hence the morning is preceding verses took place in the course of that year, termed boquer, because of the light springing out of the which I think possible; consequently Sarai was but sixty-east, and looking out over the whole of the earth's surfive: and as, in those times, people lived much longer, face: See on chap. i. 31. 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, Eclog. II. ver. 18. Alba ligustra cadunt, vaccinia nigra leguntar. 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 Sarah was the daughter of Haran, and consequently the granddaughter of Terah; this opinion seems to be founded on chap. xi. 29. where Iscah is thought to be the same with Sarah, but the supposition has not a sufficiency of probability to support it.

Verse 15. The woman was taken into Pharaoh's house] Pharaoh appears to have been the common appellative of the Cuthite shepherd kings of Egypt, who had conquered this land, as is conjectured, about 72 years before this time. The word is supposed to signify king, in the ancient Egyptian language. If the meaning be sought in the Hebrew, the root pb pharaa, signifies to be free or disengaged, a name which such freebooters as the Cuthite All the kings of shepherds, might naturally assume. Egypt bare this name till the commencement of the Grecian monarchy, after which they were called Ptolomies. When a woman was brought into the seraglio, or harem

HE-ASSES; On chamorim, from chamar, to be disturbed, muddy, probably from the dull, stupid appearance of this animal, as if it were always affected with melancholy. Scheuchzer thinks the sandy-coloured domestic Asiatic ass, is particularly intended. The word is applied to asses in general, though most frequently restrained to those of the male kind.

SHE-ASSES; nnx atonoth, from N aten, strength, properly the strong animal, as being superior in muscular force to every other animal of its size. Under this term CAMELS; DD gemalim, from Spa gamal, to recomboth the male and the female are sometimes understood. pense, return, repay, so called from its resentment of injuries, and revengeful temper, for which it is proverbial in the countries of which it is a native. On the animals, and natural history in general of the Scriptures, I must refer to the Hierozoicon of BOCHART, and the Physica Sacra of SCHEUCHZER. The former, the most learned and From this enumeration of the riches of Abraham, we accurate work, perhaps, ever produced by one man. may conclude that this patriarch led a pastoral and itinerant life, that his meat must have chiefly consisted in the flesh that his chief drink was their milk; his clothing their of clean animals, with a sufficiency of pulse for bread; skins, and his beasts of burthen asses and camels, for as yet we read of no horses; and the ordinary employment of his servants, to take care of the flocks, and to serve their master. Where the patriarchs became resident for any considerable time, they undoubtedly cultivated the ground to produce grain.

Verse 17. The Lord plagued Pharaoh] What these plagues were we know not. In the parallel case, chap. xx. 18. all the females in the family of Abimelec, who had taken Sarah, in nearly the same way, were made barren; possibly this might have been the case here; yet much 69 more seems to be signified by the expression great plagues.

b

10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld | him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered place where thou art, northward, and southevery where, before the Lord destroyed Sodom ward, and eastward, and westward: and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. 11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.

12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and 'pitched his tent toward Sodom.

13 But the men of Sodom & were wicked and b sinners before the Lord exceedingly.

A. M. cir. 2097.

14 And the Lord said unto Abram, B. C. cir. 1917. after that Lot i was separated from

a Ch. 19. 17. Deut. 34. 3. Ps. 107. 34.-b Ch. 19. 24, 25-e Ch. 2. 10. Isai. 51. 3.d Ch. 14. 2, 8 & 19. 22-e Ch. 19. 29-f Ch. 14. 12. & 19. 1. 2 Pet. 2. 7,8-g Ch. 18 20. Ezek. 16. 49. 2 Pet. 2 7, 8.--h Ch. 6. 11.-i Ver. 11-k Ch. 28. 14.-1 Ch. 12. 7. & 15. 18. & 17. 8. & 24. 7. & 26. 4. Num. 31. 12. Deut. 34. 4. Acts. 7. 5.

Zoar.] There is an obscurity in this verse which Houbigant has removed by the following translation:-Ea | autem, priusquam Sodomam Gomorrhamque Dominus delerit, erat, quá itur Segor, tota irrigua, quasi hortus Domini, et quasi terra Egypti. "But before the Lord had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, it was, as thou goest to Zoar, well watered, like the garden of the Lord, and like the land of Egypt." As paradise was watered by the four neighbouring streams; and as Egypt was watered by the annual overflowing of the Nile, so were the plains of Jordan, and all the land on the way to Zoar, well watered and fertilized by the overflowing of Jordan.

Verse 11. Then lot chose all the plain] A little civility or good breeding is of great importance in the concerns of life; Lot either had none, or did not profit by it. He certainly should have left the choice to the patriarch, and have sought to be guided by his counsel; but he took his own way, trusting to his own judgment, and guided only by the sight of his eyes-he beheld all the land of Jordan, that it was well watered, &c.-So he chose the land, without considering the character of the inhabitants, or what advantages or disadvantages it might afford him in spiritual things. This choice, as we shall see in the sequel, had nearly proved the ruin of his body, soul, and family.

Verse 13. The men of Sodom were wicked] râyim, from y raa, to break in pieces, destroy, and afflict: persons who broke the established order of things, destroyed and confounded the distinctions between right and wrong, and who afflicted and tormented both themselves and others. And sinners, Oxon chatayim, from Non chata, to miss the mark-to step wrong-to miscarry; the same as grave, in Greek, from, negative, and μ, to hit a mark; so a sinner is one who is ever aiming at happiness, and constantly missing his mark; because, being wicked, radically evil within, every affection and passion depraved and out of order, he seeks for happiness where it never can be found, in worldly honours and possessions, and in sensual gratifications, the end of which is, disappointment, affliction, vexation, and ruin. Such were the companions Lot must have in the fruitful land he had chosen! This, however, amounts to no more than the common character of sinful man; but the people of Sodom were exceedingly sinful and wicked before, or against the Lord: they were sinners of no common character; they excelled in unrighteousness, and soon filled up the measure of their iniquities; see chap. xix.

15 For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and m to thy seed for ever.

16 And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. 17 Arise, walk through the land in the length of it, and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.

18 Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the P plain of Mamre, 9 which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.

such as is measured by the celestial luminaries: or a hidden, unknown period, such as includes a completion or final termination of a particular era, dispensation, &c. therefore, the first is its proper meaning; the latter its accommodated meaning: see the note on chap. xvii. 7. xxi. 33.

Verse 18. Abram removed his tent] Continued to travel and pitch in different places, till at last he fixed his tent in the plain, or by the oak of Mamre, see ch. xii. 6. which is in Hebron; i. e. the district in which Mamre was situated was called Hebron. Mamre was an Amorite then living, with whom Abram made a league, ch. xiv. 13. and the oak probably went by his name, because he was the possessor of the ground. Hebron is called Kirjath-arba, ch. xxiii. 2. but it is very likely that Hebron was its primitive name, and that it had the above appellation from being the residence of four gigantic Anakim, for Kirjath-arba literally signifies, the city of the four; see the note on ch. xxiii. 2.

Built there an altar to the Lord] On which he offered sacrifice, as the word na mizbeach, from na zabach, to slay, imports.

THE increase of riches in the family of Abram must, in the opinion of many, be a source of felicity to them. If earthly possessions could produce happiness, it must be granted that they had now a considerable share of it in their power. But happiness must have its seat in the mind, and like that, be of a spiritual nature; consequently earthly goods cannot give it: so far are they from either producing or procuring it, that they always engender care and anxiety, and often strifes and contentions. The peace of this amiable family had nearly been destroyed by the largeness of their possessions! To prevent the most serious misunderstandings, Abram and his nephew were obliged to separate.-He who has much, in general, wishes to have more; for the eye is not satisfied with seeing.-Lot, for the better accommodation of his flocks and family, chooses the most fertile district in that country; and even sacrifices reverence and filial affection at the shrine of worldly advantage: but the issue proved, that a pleasant worldly prospect may not be the most advantageous, even to our secular affairs. Abram prospered greatly in the comparatively barren part of the land, while Lot lost all his possessions, and nearly the lives of himself and family, in that land which appeared to him like the garden of the Lord, like a second paradise. Rich and fertile countries have generally luxurious, effeminate, and profligate inhabitants; so it was in this case: the inhabitants of Sodom were sinners and exceedingly wicked, and their profligacy was of that kind which luxury produces; they fed themselves without fear, and they acted without shame. Lot, however, was, through the mercy of God, preserved from this contagion: he retained his religion, and this supported his soul and saved his life, when his goods and his wife perished. Let us learn from this to be jealous over our own wills and wishes; to distrust flattering prospects, and seek and secure a heavenly inheritance. Verse 15. To thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever.] "Man wants but little; nor that little long." A man's This land was given to Abram, that it might lineally and life, the comfort and happiness of it, does not consist in legally descend to his posterity, and though Abram himself the multitude of the things he possesses. "One house, cannot be said to have possessed it, Acts, vii. 5. yet it was one day's food, and one suit of raiment," says the Arabic the gift of God to him in behalf of his seed; and this was proverb, "are sufficient for thee; and if thou die before always the design of God, not that Abram himself should noon, thou hast one half too much." The example of possess it, but that his posterity should, till the manifesta- Abram, in constantly erecting an altar wherever he settled, tion of Christ in the flesh. And this is chiefly what is to is worthy of serious regard: he knew the path of duty be understood by the words for ever, y y âd ôlam, to was the way of safety; and that, if he acknowledged God the end of the present dispensation, and the commence- in all his ways, he might expect him to direct all his steps: ment of the new. by olam, means either ETERNITY, he felt his dependence on God, he invoked him through a which implies the termination of all time or duration, Mediator, and offered sacrifices in faith of the coming

Verse 14. The Lord said unto Abram] It is very likely that the Angel of the Covenant appeared to Abram in open day, when he could take a distinct view of the length and breadth of this good land. The revelation made, ch. xv. 5. was evidently made in the night, for then he was called to number the stars, which could not be seen but in the night season: here he is called on to number the dust of the earth, ver. 16. which could not be seen but in the daylight; see on ch. xv. 1.

The war of four confederate kings against the five kings of Canaan, 1-3. The which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of

AND it came to pass in the days of Amrapher, of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four

5 And in the fourteenth year came Chedorla-13 And there came one that had escaped, and omer, and the kings that were with him, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emims in and brother of Aner: and these were con1 Shaveh Kiriathaim. federate with Abram.

Saviour: he found blessedness in this work; it was not Emims] A people great and many in the days of an empty service-he rejoiced to see the day of Christ-Moses, and tall as the Anakim; they dwelt among the he saw it, and was glad; see on eh. xii. 8. Reader, has Moabites, by whom they were reputed giants; Deut. ii. God an altar in thy house? Dost thou sacrifice to him? 10, 11. Dost thou offer up daily by faith, in behalf of thy soul and the souls of thy family, the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world? No man cometh unto the Father but by me, said Christ: this was true, not only from the incarnation, but from the foundation of the world. And to this another truth, not less comfortable, may be added: Whosoever cometh unto me I will in nowise cast out.