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 was to repel aggression, and to rescue the innocent from the heaviest of sufferings and the worst of slavery, not for the purpose of plunder nor the extension of his territories; therefore he takes no spoils, and returns peaceably to his own possessions. How happy would 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 ers of iniquity. His sorrows commence in the captivity of himself and family, and the loss of all his property, though by the good providence of God he and they were rescued. 2. Long observation has proved that the company a man keeps is not an indifferert 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 | Priest of the most high God, and has laid down his thousands, yet they were numerous enough to subdue life for the sin of the world; and through this sacrialmost the whole land of Canaan; and consequently, fice the blessing of God is derived on them that behumanly speaking, Abram must know that by numbers lieve. Reader, take him for thy King as well as thy he could not prevail, and that in this case particularly | Priest; he saves those only who submit to his authe battle was the Lord's. 5. While depending on the thority, and take his Spirit for the regulator of their Divine blessing and succour he knew he must use the heart, and his word for the director of their conduct. means he had in his power; he therefore divided his How many do we find, among those who would be troops skilfully that he might attack the enemy at sorry to be rated so low as to rank only with nominal different points at the same time, and he chooses the Christians, talking of Christ as their Prophet, Priest, night season to commence his attack, that the small- and King, who are not taught by his word and Spirit, ness of his force might not be discovered. God re- who apply not for redemption in his blood, and who quires a man to use all the faculties he has given him submit not to his authority! Reader, learn this deep in every lawful enterprise, and only in the conscientious and important truth: "Where I am there also shall use of them can he expect the Divine blessing; when my servant be; and he that serveth me, him shall my this is done the event may be safely trusted in the Father honour." CHAPTER XV. Abram's request and complaint, God appears to Abram in a vision, and gives him great encouragement, 1. 2, 3. God promises him a son, 4; and an exceedingly numerous posterity, 5. and his faith is counted unto him for righteousness, 6. Jehovah proclaims 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. A. M. cir. 2093. B. C. cir. 1911. с AFTER these things the word | I am thy shield, and thy A. M. cir. 2093. of the LORD came B. C. cir. 1911. Abram a in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram; 2 And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt с b Chap. xxvi. 24; Dan. x. 12; Psa. iii. 3; v. 12; lxxxiv. 11; xci. 4; cxix. 114,- a Dan. x. 1; Acts x. 10, 11. NOTES ON CHAP. XV. d Psa, xvi, 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 revealing himself by his word. Some learned men suppose that the debar Yehovah, translated here word of the Lord, means the same with the λoyos Tov Ocov of St. John, chap. i. 1, and, by the Chaldee daiya, the word of Yeya, a contraction for Jehovah, which they appear always to consider as a person; and which they distinguish from NDN pithgama, which signifies merely a word spoken, or any part of speech. There have been various conjectures concern 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 supernatural 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, in machazeh, from nin 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 Isaac is promised. B. C. cir. 1911. 4 And behold, the word of the A. M. cir. 2093. LORD came unto him, saying, This shall not be thine heir; but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 5 And he brought him forth abroad, and 62 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. "THAT super It is not the I am, says the Almighty, thy shield-thy constant covering and protector, and thy exceeding great reward, ND 1 sekarcha harbeh meod, latively multiplied reward of thine." 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 Chaldec 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, understanding 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 Dumascus, was, commentators are not agreed. The translation of the Septuagint is at least curious: 'Ode vios Μασεκ της οικογένους μου, οὗτος Δαμασκος Ελιέζερ The son of Masek my home-born maid, this Eliezer of Damascus, is my heir; which intimates that they supposed pun 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. 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. It is 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 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 6. And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness.] This I conceive to be one of the most important passages in the whole Old Testament. It properly contains and specifies that doctrine of justification by faith which engrosses so considerable a share of the epistles of St. Paul, and at the foundation of which is the atonement made by the Son of God: And he (Abram) believed (¡ heemin, he put faith) in Jehovah, is now varyachshebeha lo, and he counted it-the faith he put in Jehovah, to HIM for righteousness, y 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] 8, 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, years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle-dove, and a young pigeon. This word which otherwise must necessarily fall. 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 9. Take me a heifer] hay eglah, a shecalf; a she-goat, ¡y ez, a goat, male or female, but distinguished here by the feminine adjective; nuhun meshullesheth, a three-yearling; a ram, xayil; a turtle-dove, tor, from which come turtur and turtle; young pigeon, ila gozal, a word signifying the young of pigeons and eagles. See Deut. xxxii. 11. It is worthy of remark, that every animal allowed or commanded 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, 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. upon him. the bondage of his posterity. A. M. cir. 2093. piece one against another: but | horror of great darkness fell A. M. cir. 2093. t the birds divided he not. 11 And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12 And when the sun was going down, "a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, a 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 they shall afflict them four hundred years; W 'Lev. i. 17.- 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. 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 sacrificed 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 poles pollesque! LIVII 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 in public counsel, through any evil device, first transagreement to succour and defend a third party in cases gress these laws, in that same day, O Jupiter, thús of oppression and distress. For whatever purpose a smite the Roman people, as I shall at this time smite covenant was made, it was ever ratified by a sacrifice this hog; and smite them with a severity proportioned offered to God; and the passing between the divided to the greatness of thy power and might!" 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 peoovç diareμeiv, 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 μeoov diareμew, 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 I 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' εξεταμον κατα τε κνισση εκαλύψαν, Δίπτυχα ποιησαντες, επ' αυτών δ' ωμοθέτησαν. "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] vyn 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. Verse 12. A deep sleep] П tardemah, the 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." Israelites' redemption foretold. B. C. cir. 1911. GENESIS. g Extent of the promised land. B. C. cir. 1911. A. M. cir. 2093. 14 And also that nation, whom | furnace, and a burning lamp that A. M. cir. 2093. they shall serve, * will I judge: passed between those pieces. and afterward shall they come out with great substance. Exod. vi. 6; Deut. vi. 22.- -y Exod. xii. 36; Psa. cv. 37. z Job v. 26.- -a Acts xiii. 36.- b Chap. xxv. 8.- - Exod. xii. 40.- d1 Kings xxi. 26.- Le Dan. viii. 23; Matt. xxiii. 32; 1 Thess. ii. 16.- f Heb. a lamp of fire.- - Jer. xxxiv. 18, 19. a Chap. xxiv. 7.- iChap. xii. 7; xiii. 15; xxvi. 4; Exod. xxiii. Verse 14. And also that nation, &c.] How remarkably was this promise fulfilled, in the redemption of Israel from its bondage, in the plagues and destruction of the Egyptians, and in the immense wealth which the Israelites brought out of Egypt! Not a more 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 here: 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. The body was buried; the soul went to the spiritual world, to dwell among the fathers—the patriarchs, who had lived and died in the Lord. See the note on chap. xxv. 8. XXV. 7. i h 18 In the same day the LORD 1 made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates: 19 The Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, k 31; Num. xxxiv. 3; Deut. i. 7; xi. 24; xxxiv. 4; Josh. i. 4; Chap. 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] n 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 the percutere fœdus, 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 Suez; see Josh. xiii. 3; though some think that by this a branch of the Nile is meant. This promise was fully accomplished in the days of David and Solomon. See 2 Sam. viii. 3, &c., and 2 Chron. ix. 26. 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 generation was of various lengths among various people, at different Verse 19. The Kenites, &c.] Here are ten nations times. It is probable that the fourth generation here mentioned, though afterwards reckoned but seven; see means the same as the four hundred years in the pre-Deut. vii. 1; Acts xiii. 19. Probably some of them ceding verse. Some think it refers to the time when which existed in Abram's time had been blended with Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the son of Amram, the others before the time of Moses, so that seven only out son of Kohath, came out of Egypt, and divided the of the ten then remained; see part of these noticed land of Canaan to Israel, Josh. xiv. 1. Others think Gen. x. the fourth generation of the Amorites is intended, because it is immediately added, The iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full; 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 In this chapter there are three subjects which must be particularly interesting to the pious reader. 1. The condescension of GOD in revealing himself to 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 |