GENESIS XIII.

8. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren.

""Tis dreadful for words and strife to happen between brothers, when they fall into dispute."-EURIP, Iph. in Aul. v. 376.

"What is more infamous than want of friendship between brothers ?" XEN. Cyrop. 1. VIII. c. 7. 10. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom 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.

"The spot on which Jerusalem was built is not such as to excite jealousy, nor for which there could be any fierce contention; for it is rocky, and though well supplied with water, it is surrounded by a barren and waterless territory."-STRAB. 1. XVI. c. 2.

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.

"In number more

Than dust in fields, or sand along the shore."-Hoм. Il. 1. IX, v. 385.

GENESIS XIV.

9. Chedorlaomer, the king of Elam, Tidal king of nations, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar.

This Chedorlaomar must have been Ninyas, the son of Ninus and Semiramis. Amraphel was his deputy at Babylon in Shinaar, and Arioch and Tidal his deputies over some other countries. Ctesias, from whom the profane historians took the names of these kings, did not use the original names in his history, but rather such as he found in the Persian records, or such as the Greek language offered instead of them. Ninyas was the first who appointed deputies under him; and these deputies were called kings, as the Assyrian himself boasted in the days of Isaiah, "Are not my princes altogether kings?"—(Is. x. 8.)

"Ninyas, that he might reign the more securely and be feared of all his subjects .........appointed over every country a governor such as he could most confide in, and who would be most devoted to him."-DIOD. SIC. 1. II. c. 22.

:

18. And Melchizedeck king of Salem brought forth bread and wine and he was the priest of the most high God.

The office of king and priest was generally united in the earliest ages.

'Nestor, the aged king, pours out the ablutions and the sacred corn."

HOM. Odyss. 1. III. v. 444.

"Sethos, king of Egypt, was a priest of Vulcan."-HDT. 1. II. c. 141. "No other business is left in battle for the king but to be priest in what regards the gods, and general in what regards men."-XEN. Lac. Rep. c. 13.

"In the time of the heroes, the custom was for one and the same person to be general of the forces, judge, and high priest."-ARISTOT. Polit. 1. 1.

"In old times, kings themselves performed the most and the greatest of the sacred rites."-PLUT. Quæst. Rom. c. 63.

"When Agis, king of the Lacedemonians, neglected to offer the sacrifice usual on occasion of victory, the Polemarchs set a fine upon him."-PLUT. Lycurg. c. 12.

"The king always offered sacrifice to the Muses before a battle."-IBID. c. 21.
Anius, both king of men and priest of Apollo."-VIRG. Æn. 1. III. v. 80.

20. He gave

him tithes of all.

"His whole array the warlike son of Jove,
On Pisa's plain assembling with the spoil,
Raised to his mighty father, Altis' grove,

And fenced from tread profane the hallow'd soil."

Croesus recommends Cyrus

PIND. Olymp. XI. v. 51.

66 Let your soldiers stop the plunderers of Sardis with their booty, and bid them assign as a reason that one-tenth part must be consecrated to Jupiter."-HDT. 1. I. c. 89.

"Each man received his share of the money that had been raised by the sale of the captives, the tenth part of which they consecrated to Apollo, and to Diana of Ephesus."-XEN. Anab. 1. v. c. 3.

After the capture of Babylon,

Cyrus, summoning the Magi, commanded them to choose out for the gods the first-fruits of certain portions of ground for sacred use, as out of a city taken by the sword."-XEN. Cyrop. 1. VII. c. 5.

After the battle of Coronea, Agesilaus, repairing to Delphi, offered the tenth of his spoils to the gods."-XEN. Hist Græc. I. IV. c. 3.

"Tithes and first-fruits each revolving year
From distant climes shall on thy shores appear."

CALLIM. H. in Delon. v. 278.

"The Carthaginians were accustomed to send to the god (Hercules) a tenth of all their increase."-DIOD. SIC. 1. xx. c. 1.

"For what reason were many rich men accustomed to consecrate to Hercules the tenth part of all their possessions? Was it not because Hercules himself, being at Rome, sacrificed the tenth of the oxen of Geryon."-PLUT. Quæst. Rom. c. 18.

"Sylla gave the people a magnificent entertainment on the occasion of his dedicating the tenth of his substance to Hercules."-PLUT. Sylla, c. 35.

"Marcus Crassus, though remarkable for his avarice, consecrated the tenth of his substance to Hercules."-PLUT. Crass. c. 2.

"I should like to know how much gold my master has taken for himself, and how much he has given up to his father. If he is a prudent person he has made a Hercules of his parent he has given him the tenth part, and has kept back nine for himself." PLAUT. Bacch. Act IV. sc. 3.

"O Pythian Apollo, under thy guidance and inspired by thy divinity, I am now proceeding to destroy the City of Veii, and I devote to thee the tenth part of the spoil thereof."-LIV. 1. v. c. 21.

22. And Abraham said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, 23. That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, 1 have made Abram rich.

"Marius, before engaging with the Cimbri, having purified, lifted up his hand towards heaven and vowed a hecatomb to the gods; and Catulus, in the same posture, promised to consecrate a temple to the fortune of that day."-PLUT. C. Mar. c. 26.

5.

The word thread refers to the garments which were the customary spoils of war, as well as gifts of honour, and which were much coveted. Josh. vII. 21, and 2 Kings v. A similar expression occurs in Menander.

"Covet not even a needleful of thread."-MENAND. apud Clem. Alex. Strom. v.

GENESIS XV.

17. And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces.

18. In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram.

It was customary in ratifying a covenant to cut asunder the animals sacrificed on the occasion, and to pass between the parts; the meaning of which observance was probably-" "Thus let me be cut asunder if I violate the oath which I now make in the presence of God:" hence the expression to cut a covenant, &c.

"Xerxes commanded the officers to find the eldest son of Pythius and divide his body in two: he then ordered one part of the body to be thrown on the right side of the road, and the other on the left, whilst the army continued their march betwixt them." HDT. 1. VII. c. 39.

"The ceremony of the purification of the army, among the Lacedemonians, is thus performed: a dog being cut asunder in the middle, the head, with the forepart and entrails, is laid on the right side of the road, and the hind part on the left. Between the parts of the victim thus divided the forces march under arms. In front of the van are carried the remarkable suits of armour of all the kings of Macedonia, from the remotest origin; next follows the king himself, with his children; then the royal cohort and bodyguards, and the rest of the national troops close the rear."-LIV. 1. XL. c. 6.

GENESIS XVI.

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

Dower servants, who were entirely at their mistresses' command, were called pepvai whence the latin verna, a slave born in the house. They were also called Aάtpɩs, and their service λarpeía which expressed their entire devotion to their mistress.

12.

"CLYTEMNESTRA. I know thee as being a faithful servant to my house. "OLD MAN. And that king Agamemnon received me among thy dowry.” EURIP. Iph. in Aul. v. 868. "Your wife brought her dower-servant with her."-PLAUT. Asin. Act I. sc. 1. And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

The Arabians never were subdued. They did not submit to Alexander the Great; Antigonus attempted to overcome them, but was repulsed. They joined with the Romans or with the Parthians in their wars as they thought fit; but were never conquered by them. Crassus, Pompey, and others, endeavoured to enslave them, but in vain. Severus besieged their city, and was twice repulsed.

"The Arabians were never reduced to the subjection of Persia, but were in its alliance: they afforded Cambyses the means of penetrating into Egypt, without which he never could have accomplished his purpose."--HDT. 1. III. c. 88.

"The fifth Satrapy extended from the frontiers of Cilicia and Syria as far as Egypt, parts of Arabia alone excluded, which paid no tribute."—IBID. c. 91.

"The Arabians inhabit a tract partly desert, and in other parts without water, and very little of it there is that bears any fruit: therefore the inhabitants live by robbery and plunder, roving up and down the countries far and near, killing the inhabitants, who find it very difficult to resist them. For in the arid parts of the country they have wells in convenient places unknown to strangers, whither they flee for refuge and are safe; while those who pursue them, not knowing where to procure water, perish of thirst, or meet with other disasters, and scarcely ever return home. These Arabians, therefore, as they are not to be conquered, are never enslaved, nor ever admit any foreign prince over them, but preserve their liberty at all times. Neither the Assyrians, nor the Medes, nor the Persians, nor even the Macedonians, though they often marched great forces against them, were ever able to overcome them."-DIOD. SIC. 1. II. c. 48.

"Augustus Cæsar despatched Ælius Gallus against the Arabians, whom it was his intention either to conciliate or subdue. Gallus arrived at Leuce-Come with the army labouring under diseases of the country, affecting the mouth and the legs with a kind of paralysis, caused by the water and the plants used for food: he was, therefore, compelled to pass the summer and the winter there for the recovery of the sick.........He assaulted and besieged Marsiaba, but raised the siege in consequence of a scarcity of water. Finally, he returned to Alexandria with so much of his army as could be saved: the remainder he lost, not by the enemy, but by disease, fatigue, famine, and marches through bad roads; for seven men only perished in battle. For these reasons this expedition contributed little in extending our knowledge of the country."-STRAB. 1. XVI. c. 4.

"All Alexander's projects terminated with his death, which happened suddenly; but certainly one of his projects was to try whether the Arabians would receive him voluntarily or resist him by force of arms: for finding that they did not send ambassadors to him either before or after his expedition to India, he was beginning to make preparations for war against them."-IBID.

"The Arabians neither sent ambassadors to Alexander requesting his friendship, as all others thereabouts had done, nor made him any presents, nor paid him homage." ARR. Exped. Alex. 1. vII. c. 19. 13. And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seeest me for she said, Have I not also here looked after him that seeth me?

"There is verily a God who both sees and hears what we do."

GENESIS XVII.

1. I am the Almighty God.

PLAUT. Capt. Act II. sc. 2.

"All power is his, and whatsoe'r he wills,

The will alone, omnipotent, fulfils."-Hoм. Oydss. 1. xiv. v. 445.

"If God thou knowest, thou wilt know this also, that God is able to do all things.”

CALLIM. fragm.

"The all-powerful and all-good, Jupiter."-Cic. de nat. Deor. I. III. c. 36.
IBID. de Divin. 1. 1. c. 10.

"The omnipotent Father."-VIRG. Æn. 1. I. v. 64, Ov. Metam. 1. I. v. 154.
"Omnipotent Jove."-IBID. 1. II. v. 689.
"The Omnipotent."-IBID. 1. IV. v. 220.

See Exodus xx. 3.

10. This is my covenant which ye shall keep between me and you and thy seed after thee; every man child among you shall be circumcised.

Circumcision was practised by the Egyptians and some other nations from the remotest antiquity, and the Jews are said by the heathen writers to have inherited or borrowed this custom. But Moses has given a clear account of its original, while other historians offer only imperfect hints and conjectures; and the Egyptians, doubtless, learned this rite from Abraham, who, with his family, were circumcised at an earlier period than any instance related by heathen writers can be referred to. The Egyptians had a particular inclination to copy whatever was introduced into Abraham's religion. They followed him, therefore, in the practice of circumcision; as afterwards, when they heard of his intending to sacrifice his son Isaac, they instituted human sacrifices, a barbarous custom which continued among them for five or six hundred years.

"Male children, except in those places which have borrowed the custom from hence, are left in other nations as nature formed them: in Egypt they are circumcised." HDT. 1. II. c. 36.

"The inhabitants of Colchis, Egypt, and Ethiopia, are the only people who, from time immemorial, have used circumcision. The Phoenicians and the Syrians of Palestine acknowledge that they borrowed this custom from Egypt.........As this practice can be traced both in Egypt and Ethiopia to the remotest antiquity, it is not possible to say which first introduced it."-IBID. 1. II. c. 104.

"The Colchians prove that they are derived from the Egytians, by the fact of their being circumcised after the manner of the Egyptians."-DIOD. SIC. l. I. c. 55.

"The Egyptians circumcise their males; as is the custom among the Jews, who are of Egyptian origin."-STRAB. 1. XVII. c. 2.

mark.

12.

"The Jews instituted circumcision on purpose to be distinguished by a peculiar The same is assumed by their proselytes."-TAC. Hist. 1. v. c. 5.

And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you.

Many infants die before the seventh day; for which reason their names are given to them at that time, because there is then more ground for expecting that they will survive.”—ARISTOT. de animal. 1. vII. c. 7.

The young of the oxen and the sheep were not to be dedicated to the Lord before the eighth day for the same reason. See Exod. XXII. 30.

GENESIS XVIII.

1. And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;

2.

And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground.

The ancient mythology abounds in stories of the descent of the gods upon earth in human forms. See Acts XIV. 11.

"In this low disguise

Wanders, perhaps, some inmate of the skies;

They (curious oft of mortal actions) deign

In forms like these to round the earth and main."

HOм. Odyss. 1. XVII. v. 484

"Are you not, Theodorus, unconsciously bringing in, not a guest, but some god ?"

PLAT. Sovhist. c. 1.