Genesis 13

We see no primitive mode of life; no barbarous customs; but the same fowling and fishing scenes; the rearing of cattle and wild animals of the desert; the scribes using the same kind of reed for writing on papyrus the inventory of the estate to be presented to the owner; the same mode of entertaining; the same music and dancing; the same trades, as glass-blowers, cabinet-makers, and others. Thus no signs are found on the earliest monuments of a progress from infancy to the more advanced stages of art."

Furthermore, there are several facts, either expressly stated or implied, whereby we are able to compare this sacred history with what we may gather from profane sources. 1. That Egypt was already under an established government, having a king and princes who acted as the king’s subordinates, three thousand eight hundred years ago. This fact is confirmed by the fact that Herodotus, Diodorus, and other Greek historians all agree in giving to the Egyptian civilization an antiquity beyond that of any other people, and modern explorers justify that ancient judgment. 2. Egypt was the granary to which surrounding tribes resorted for food in times of scarcity, because its agriculture was not dependent upon the rains of the clouds as in other countries. This fact is universally attested by history from that day to the present. 3. The name of the monarch was one that to Semitic ears sounded as “Pha-ra-oh.” And the modern hieroglyphic research has pointed out how this name would readily be taken from the Egyptian “Per-a-o,” the “great house,” which was the regular title of the Egyptian kings. 4. The catalogue of Abram’s wealth in the sacred record is peculiar. He had, generally, “cattle, gold and silver,” and specifically, “sheep and oxen and he-asses, menservants, maidservants, and she-asses and camels.” Not only do ancient profane writers describe sheep and asses as existing in Egypt, but the monuments represent them as common. For there sheep appear in great numbers. So both he-asses and she-asses, the former also as sculptured as used for riding, and the latter as beasts of burden. Wilkinson describes one monumental picture in which appear 760 asses. But what is most striking in this catalogue is the fact that it mentions slaves—menservants and maidservants—at that early age. Yet, says Taylor, “We find from the monuments that domestic slavery was established in Egypt from the earliest ages, and the mistress of the mansion is very rigid in enforcing her authority. We see these unfortunate beings trembling and cringing before their superiors, sometimes threatened with a formidable whip wielded by the lady of the mansion herself.” “Most of them,” says Wilkinson, “appear to have been foreigners, either taken in war or brought to Egypt to be sold as slaves.” Thus, then, this history conforms in a very remarkable manner with the testimony from profane records, and thereby proves itself to be no poetic picture, but authentic history. S. R.

1. AND Abram went up out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had, and Lot with him, 2 into the South. And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And he went on 3 his journeys from the South even to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the 4 beginning, between Beth-el and Ai; unto the place of the altar, which he had made there at 5 the first: and there Abram called on the name of the LORD. And Lot also, which went with 6 Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. And the land was not able to bear them, that they 7 might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. 8 And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram’s cattle and the herdmen of Lot’s 9 cattle: and the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and 9 thy herdmen; for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou take

10 the right hand, then I will go to the left. 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 11 Gomorrah, like the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou goest unto Zoar. So Lot chose him all the Plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated them. 12 selves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the 13 cities of the Plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked 14 and sinners against the LORD exceedingly. And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, 15 northward and southward and eastward and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to 16 thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. 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 num- 17 bered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for unto 18 thee will I give it. And Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the LORD.

1. The length of Abram’s residence in Egypt cannot be determined. He returned to his highland camping ground near Bethel a much more extensive sheep-master than he left it. Dykes.—And Lot with him. Lot is not mentioned in the descent into Egypt, because no part of the narrative there concerns him. On the return to Canaan he becomes a principal actor. E. H. B.—Into the South. Not southward; for Canaan was north of Egypt; but into the southern part of Canaan. This part of the land is called the South (Josh. 10:40), and the South country (Josh. 11:16). Bp. Kidder. Hebrew, The Negeb. B.

2. Rich in cattle. In Egypt, being a rich country, his exchanging his cattle might be more advantageous to him. For which reason, perhaps, his being rich in silver and gold is mentioned immediately after his return from thence. Harmer.—In silver and in gold. Egypt seems to have abounded in gold from the earliest times, earlier perhaps than in silver. The gold mines of Ethiopia have within a few years been brought to light in the Bisháree desert. S. C. B.

Abram increased in riches, but never suf- fered his affections to fasten on these as his supreme good. He knew how to receive that degree of enjoyment they were designed to afford, without sensuality and without being insensible to God as the giver. R. Hall.— Abram, it is expressly said, was rich; but his riches did not interfere with his growth as a saint. The Gospel, while it cautions against the danger and the deceitfulness of riches, gives no countenance to the current absurdity that the rich man must go to hell because he is rich, and the poor man to heaven because he is poor. The apostle does not say that money, but the love of money, is a root of all evil; and the love of money may be, and often is, a per- fect idolatry in the heart of the poor who indulge in cant about the rich. The Word indeed declares, “How hardly shall a rich man enter the kingdom.” And “They that will be rich fall into a snare and drown their souls in perdition.” But the snare is as near many who are panting to be rich as to those who have attained riches. S. R.—Riches not only afford matter for contention and are the things most commonly striven about, but they also stir up a spirit of contention, by making people proud and covetous. Mine and Thine are the great make-bates of the world. Wants and wanderings could not separate between Abram and Lot; but riches did it. H.

5. The patriarchs were in the habit of en- camping on the same spot for years together. To some extent at least, they cultivated the soil. They certainly aimed at amassing vast flocks of the smaller cattle; and with the in- habitants of adjacent walled towns they culti- vated terms of friendship. All these things in- dicated their peaceful, industrious character.

8,9. As the older man and leader of the ex- pedition, Abram might not unfairly have se- lected for his own use the richest pasture- ground. But this would have ill become his nobler tempter. Dykes.

And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife. It was most unseemly that this strife should arise before the heathen. Now Abram’s noble character shines out. Tomkins. —He who has the promises can well afford to yield a point of difference for the holy sake of peace. And he it is who is the gainer by all he seems to concede. “The meek (and only they) inherit the earth.” Abram appeals to their brotherly relations against any strife between themselves or their herdsmen. Jacobus.—He gave his nephew the full choice. He was the head; yea, the whole land was given to him by the promise. But in his magnanimity he said to Lot, “Let there be no strife. Is not the whole land before thee?” Tomkins.—Abram was older than Lot, and richer than Lot, and yet he spoke with the meekness of great strength and ripe wisdom. His words would make a beautiful motto to-day for the kitchen, for the parlor, for the factory, for the Church! Brave Abram! we say as we read his words. He walked by faith and not by sight. Certainly his foot slipped in Egypt, but he is strong now, and he looks every inch a king as he stoops before Lot. It is beautiful to see strength stoop to weakness, but a very hard thing for strength to do. J. P.

The earliest on record this of those family quarrels about rights of property by which multitudes of human households have been so miserably dislocated. With what admirable discretion and good temper does Abram deal with it. What a bright constellation of the virtues—prudence, meekness, forbearance, unselfishness, peace-lovingness, brotherly kindness, unbounded generosity—shine forth in the magnanimous proposal, all the more remarkable because of the age of the world in which it appears! In speculative ideas, gifted men have often preceded their own age by centuries—in moral sentiments such precedence has been rare. Yet here is Abram, centuries before Christ, “walking in the moral atmosphere of the Sermon on the Mount,” by one act winning at least three of the beatitudes. W. H.

This beautiful sketch, simply as an exhibition of magnanimity and generosity, has well excited the admiration of the world. But it has a most practical value as illustrating certain great principles of Christian conduct, applicable to the affairs of the Church as a body, and great lessons for the instruction of the individual Christian, to which there is need of special attention at this day. The substance of the argument against any strife among the people of God is here very forcibly put. First, there should be no strifes because we are brethren. It is against that beautiful order of our nature which God has established, whereby the very instincts and impulses of the soul draw together those of the same kindred for mutual protection. And, secondly, we are in the presence of a common foe—the Canaanite and the Perizzite—ready to take advantage of our strife for the injury of both, and to the dishonor of the name of God. Here is the substance of the argument against all strifes in the Church of God. We are all brethren of the same household of faith; and we live ever in the presence of a hostile world, between whom and us the grace of God has “put enmity”—a world ever ready to take advantage of our strifes. Nor can these two thoughts ever be too prominently before the mind of the Church. All who by Divine grace are born again are children of the same Father, by a double bond, and therefore brethren of the same family. If, then, those of the same flesh and blood should be as one, surely those “born not of flesh and blood, nor of the will of man, but of God,” are doubly one. And, besides this, we are all voyaging together over a very tempestuous ocean, looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. We are all meeting the same obstructions, and encompassed with the same difficulties, and need, therefore, not to be hindered by strifes with each other, but encouraged and assisted by the strength which grows out of union in the same great brotherhood. S. R.

V. 10 describes the appearance of the valley plain of the Jordan, as it was before the great catastrophe in which the five cities perished. From the lofty highlands on the west, more than three thousand feet above the plain of the valley, the eye could trace the stream of the Jordan, winding its way through meadow-lands, and groves, and cultivated fields, and losing itself in a beautiful lake bordered by rich plains, that furnished subsistence to the thronged cities that dotted their surface. The great depression of the valley plain, more than thirteen hundred feet below the level of the Mediterranean Sea, gave to this tract a tropical climate; and being all “a well-watered region,” the more intense the heat the more active and vigorous was every form of vegetation. To the eye that beheld this scene, stretching far to the north and south, it seemed “like the garden of Jehovah, like the land of Egypt.” T. J. C.

Lot lifted up his eyes. They were encamped on that mountain on the east of Bethel, having Bethel on the west and Hai on the east, where Abram had built the altar and called on the name of the Lord. E. H. B.—Immediately east of the low gray hills on which the Canaanitish Luz and the Jewish Bethel afterward stood, rises,—as the highest of a succession of eminences, each now marked by some vestige of ancient edifices,—a conspicuous hill; its topmost summit resting, as it were, on the rocky slopes below, and distinguished from them by the olive-grove which clusters over its broad surface above. From this height, thus offering a natural base for the patriarchal altar, and a fitting shade for the patriarchal tent, Abraham and Lot must be considered as taking the wide survey of the country “on the right hand and on the left,” such as can be enjoyed from no other point in the neighborhood. To the east there rises in the foreground the jagged range of the hills above Jericho; in the distance the dark wall of Moab; between them lies the wide valley of the Jordan, its course marked by the tract of forest in which its rushing stream is enveloped: and down to this valley a long and deep ravine, now, as always, the main line of communication by which it is approached from the central hills of Palestine—a ravine rich with vine, olive, and fig, winding its way through ancient reservoirs and sepulchres, remains of a civilization now extinct, but in the times of the patriarchs not yet begun. In the south and west the view commanded the bleak hills of Judea, varied by the heights crowned with what were afterward the cities of Benjamin, and overhanging what in a later day was to be Jerusalem, and in the far distance the southern range, on whose slope is Hebron. Northward are the hills which divide Judea from the rich plains of Samaria. And now, from this spot, he and his kinsman made the choice which determined the fate of each, according to the view which that summit commands. Lot looked down on the green valley of the Jordan, its tropical luxuriance visible even from thence, beautiful and well watered as that garden of Eden of which the fame still lingered in their own Chaldean hills, as the valley of the Nile in which they had so lately sojourned. A. P. S.

In this fertile plain—or “circle”—of Jordan the four cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim appear to have been situated. In the subsequent account of their destruction, the same topographical term “plain” (Hebrew circle or circuit) is employed. Mr. Grove thinks that the mention of the Jordan is conclusive as to the situation of the district, for the Jordan ceases where it enters the Dead Sea, and can have no existence south of that point. Dic. B.—As it is hardly possible for any one to read the account without feeling that Abram and Lot were actually looking down on Sodom and Gomorrah, when “Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan,” it follows that those cities must have been situated on some part of the plain north of the Dead Sea and visible from the heights of Bethel. Wilson.—For the northern site we have the argument from the simple statement of the inspired writer, who calls them “the cities of the plain,” or circle of Jordan; an expression which cannot possibly apply to any other than the northern end of the Dead Sea. “Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east.” Looking from these hills the plain of Jericho and its far more extensive sister plain of Shittim, on the east side of the river, are spread almost at the beholder’s feet. It is probable that some of the four cities were on the east side of the Jordan. H. B. T.

The meaning will become clear if one will read all the middle portion of the verse as a parenthesis, as follows: “and Lot lifted up his eyes and beheld all the plain of Jordan (that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord like the land of Egypt), until thou comest to Zoar.” [Zoar (Bela), here so called by anticipation (ch. 14 : 2, 8 : 19 : 22).] Lot saw all the plain of the Jordan as far as Zoar, or until you come to Zoar. Zoar was both the limit of the plain and the limit of vision in that direction, as far as the land was concerned. How much of the Dead Sea he saw is not stated; but no human vision, unless miraculously aided, could reach to the southern end and distinguish anything; while from the point where he stood the greenness and beauty of the great Shittim plain are distinctly seen. The phrase, “all the plain of the Jordan,” cannot include the salt marsh at the southern end of the Dead Sea, since this marsh is fifty miles from the river, and belongs to a water system entirely distinct from that at the northern end of the sea. The few ruins at the south end are insignificant. The small amount of fertile land there could never have been a desirable location for towns or villages. On the other hand, there is a remarkable group of tells (mounds) at the north end of the Dead Sea, which are covered with ruins, and some of which are the sites of cities that existed in the days of Joshua. Merrill.

11. Lot chose all the plain of Jordan. We find not any instance of deference or respect to his uncle, in the whole management. Abram having offered him the choice, without compliment he accepted it, and made his election. Passion and selfishness make men rude. H.—He seeks not first the kingdom as the primary idea, and as secondary to that what else God may give. He seeks first the maximum herd of cattle, and with that as much of religion as time will permit him to exercise. Hence while the record of Abram always is that he set up his altar, that is never said of Lot. Lot lifted up his eyes—real grazier’s eyes—and could see nothing but that rich bottom along the lower Jordan, with its waving grass; and Sodom and Gomorrah in the centre—such a market. But Sodom and Gomorrah are very wicked places—no place of desire to a saint of God! True; but Lot is after their money, not their wickedness. He would not think of settling there, or being nearer than to be within reach of market. To that one idea, all must be sacrificed—character, family, everything. S. R.

Better doth it beseem every son of Abraham to win with love, than to sway with power. Abraham yields over his right of choice; Lot takes it. And behold, Lot is crossed in that which he chose, Abraham is blessed in that which was left him; God never suffers any man to lose, by an humble remission of his right in a desire of peace. Bp. H.—Lot lost all he had; he lost his wife; and he had like to have lost his life, had not Abraham prevailed with God for his deliverance. This choice was made about 20 years before Sodom was destroyed. Bp. Wilson.—Lot makes the worst choice, while he thinks that he has chosen well. For his worldly-mindedness, the sin in his choice, he was first punished through the plundering of his house, and his captivity in the war of the kings, which followed soon after his choice, and then through his fearful flight from Sodom, and the losses, misfortunes, and crimes which were connected with it. Thus the want of regard to true piety, the selfishness, the carelessness as to the snares of the world, must ever be punished. And, indeed, it is just when one thinks that in his own wilful and sinful ways he has attained his highest wishes, he finds himself ensnared in the retributions of divine righteousness, which rules over him and works with solemn irony. Lange.—Lot chose wisely, as they of the world speak. Well, if this world be all—he got a rich soil—became a prince, had kings for his society and neighbors. It was nothing to Lot that “the men of the land were sinners before the Lord exceedingly”—enough that it was well watered everywhere. F. W. R.

This brief history throws around the language, “he pitched his tent as far as Sodom,” a meaning of fearful and momentous interest. Here was that passage in his life which was ominous of all his future disaster; which was, in fact, its procuring cause. We shall find Lot’s experience a prototype. The grand reason why men are drawn into sin, or at least into irreligious and worldly company till they become Sodomized in hardness of heart, is in very many cases the purpose of making money. What friendships and partnerships money makes! What crimes it glosses over, what meanness it covers, what infamy it hides! And if these things are so, can we wonder that good men often forget their religion while they hurry on to make money? They pitch their tents near Sodom without knowing the character of the place—except that a heavy business is done there. They leave the Abrahams, the praying men, and mix themselves up with those that worship the dollar—the Judases, and Demases, and Balaams—whom they will soon resemble. Their families are becoming naturalized Sodomites, and they are, perhaps, coining the eternal hopes and welfare of their children into the wealth and fortune which they mean to leave them when they die. Gillett.

13. Sinners before the Lord.** Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboim are mentioned (Gen. 10 : 19) as among the first settlements of the Canaanites. The fertility of the soil in this Valley of the Jordan, with the luxurious and enervating character of the climate, rapidly developed the sensual vices of this early civilized but depraved race. Their wickedness is mentioned here perhaps in anticipation of the history in ch. 19; but partly also in order to exhibit more clearly the thoughtlessness and worldliness of Lot in choosing their neighborhood for his residence, as distinguished from the unselfish spirit of Abraham. E. H. B.

Lot’s eye regarded neither the dangers sleeping beneath, nor the light of God above, but only the corn and wine and verdant pastures. It is not the part of religion to teach us to despise natural beauty, or make us prefer to cultivate barren soil if we can get better. Asceticism is no feature of the Bible, from first to last. But to make outward advantage the first and main object in choosing our path in life, is certainly not the guidance of the Word of God; and either Lot was without true principle at the time, or he had for the season forgotten it. Wealth, or the chance of making it, is not the one thing needful; and that man pursues a very unwise and unchristian course who rushes straight at it, without taking other things into account. There are many signs of materialism in our age, and this among them, that the acquisition of money is one of the first things which men think of in choosing a profession for themselves or their children. Our natural capability of mind is one thing to be considered, for only as we cultivate it can we be most useful to our fellow-men, and most happy in ourselves. It is not with impunity that a man can do violence to his own nature, or crush that of his child, with no other motive than hastening to be rich. And still higher than natural taste is principle. The question, Can I, with a clear sense of duty, enter into such a line of pursuit? Am I not venturing into relationships where it will be hard, if not impossible, for me to maintain a conscience void of offence? These points do not seem at all to have troubled Lot, or they were lightly put aside in view of his material interests. We do him no injustice, for he remained clinging to Sodom, years afterward, though he must have felt the deleterious atmosphere. He returned to Sodom when he had lost all, and had recovered it again through Abram. That sharp warning was ineffectual, and he needed to be forced from the place by God’s destroying angel. What weighed with him all the while was that which determined him at first,—the rich returns of the fertile soil. When, in any step of life, the readiest thought which occurs to a man is not duty, or benevolence, or mental taste and capability, but bare worldly advantage, let him look at it well in other lights. Such a motive, if indulged, is certain to end by shutting out his view of all that is high and true in life, and to lead him into dark and miry ways. Ker.

14. The Lord said unto Abram.** He was more than rewarded for his true action toward Lot. We may be sure that this was a great crisis in the life of Abram; and, in his noble and unworldly conduct, we must “glorify the grace of God.” It is likely that up to this time he had viewed Lot as his heir. The first promise, “I will make thee a great nation,” may have been regarded as consistent with this. But now Lot was gone; and at this very time the blank was filled by the direct promise of “seed as the dust of the earth.” Tomkins.

15. All the land thou secest.** God renewed to him the promise first given at Shechem, that the land in which he was a stranger should become the possession of himself and his posterity. From that outlook, on the hill-summit east of Bethel, the view in every direction, except the west, was far-reaching; and westward it stretched across the almost entire width of the plateau of Judea. N. C. B.—God promised Canaan to Abram, and yet Abram never inherited Canaan: to the last he was a wanderer there; he had no possession of his own in its territory; if he wanted even a tomb to bury his dead, he could only obtain it by purchase. Now the surprising point is that Abram, deceived, as you might almost say, did not complain of it as a deception; he was even grateful for the non-fulfilment of the promise: he does not seem to have expected its fulfilment; he did not look for Canaan, but for “a city which had foundations;” his faith appears to have consisted in disbelieving the letter, almost as much as in believing the spirit of the promise. F. W. R.—His conduct suggests a further remark:—He had been promised the land in which he now lived as a stranger;—he had valiant troops, though few in number, who, doubtless, had he so desired, might have conquered for him a sufficient portion of it. But he did not attempt it: for he knew God could bring about His design and accomplish His promise in His own good time, without his own use of unlawful means. This is the true spirit of faith: to wait upon God, to watch for and to follow His guidance, not to attempt to go before Him. Newman.

15,16. In the renewed form, the promise embraces two more particulars—viz., perpetuity, “forever;” and the increase of his posterity to an innumerable multitude, “as the dust of the earth.” Both stretch far beyond the bounds of earth and nature to the heavenly Canaan, and comprehend the spiritual posterity of Abram, his children by faith. C. G. B.—The design of God was not that Abram himself should possess it, but that his posterity should, till the manifestation of Christ in the flesh. And this is chiefly what is to be understood by the words for ever, did Olam, to the end of the present dispensation, and the commencement of the new. Olam means either ETERNITY, which implies the termination of all time or duration, 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, etc. The first is its proper meaning; the latter its accommodated meaning. A. C.—All that God does is eternal. Even the transitory things He bestows with reference to the eternal, and if a man receives them in faith they bear everlasting fruit. The land of Canaan is the pledge and type of the new world, which the faithful, who are the children of Abram, shall receive for an everlasting possession. Gert.

16. The Angel of the Covenant appeared to Abram in open day, when he could take a distinct view of the length and the breadth of this good land. The revelation made (ch. 15:5) 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, which could not be seen but in the daylight. A. C.

The world was waiting for some Abraham—i.e. for just the system of which the great and godly Abraham was the prominent figure and the historic representative. The patent points in this new system, put in briefest words, were —Abraham the head of a great family; the founder of a great nation; the representative of the family covenant and its first and illustrious exemplar; the progenitor of the Great, long-promised Messiah; and coupled with his lineal posterity, the repositories of God’s truth and promises—his offspring, the people with whom God dwelt and was publicly worshipped for ages in the presence of the idolatrous nations of the earth; over whom God became their visible earthly Sovereign, their recognized King and God. Thus the Lord laid the foundation for progressive manifestations of himself and for a growing development of religious truth and of its legitimate forces from age to age till the Messiah should appear. H. C.

Great lives are trained by great promises. The world has never been left without a great promise singing in its wondering and troubled heart—something to rely upon: something to appeal to when difficulty was extreme. God never calls men for the purpose of making them less than they are, except when they have been dishonoring themselves by sin. This may be taken as a law: God’s calls are upward; they are calls toward fuller life, purer light, and sweeter joy. Men do not know their full capacity, except in the service of God: his presence in the soul is a life-expanding and life-glorifying presence. This is the claim that we set up on behalf of true religion—the religion of Jesus Christ—that it exalts human nature, it enriches the soul, it increases the substance and worth of manhood. To confound obedience with slavery is to overlook the argument which is founded upon the nature of God; to obey the little, the mean, the paltry is to be enslaved; to enter the cage of custom or passion is to be subject to bondage; but to accept the invitation of the sun, and to poise ourselves in his gladdening presence is liberty and joy. J. P.

17. Lot turned his face eastward, and left to Abram the hardship, the glory, and the virtues of the rugged hills, the sea-breezes, and the inexhaustible future of Western Palestine. It was Abram’s henceforward; he was to “arise and walk through the length and through the breadth of it, for God had given it to him.” This was the first appropriation, the first consecration of the Holy Land. A. P. S.—We passed over the high region or “mountain east of Bethel;” the place to which Abram returned from Egypt, and in which God called him to walk through the length and breadth of the land. The region commands a wide view. In travelling over these places one begins early to perceive that not only is the geography and scenery of Palestine “a fifth gospel,” but it is a second Pentateuch, Joshua and Kings. The feeling deepened at every step of the journey. S. C. B.

The result to Abraham is a vision of God—a glorious vision—saying, “Arise, go where you will, I am with thee; all is yours.” Lot goes to the well-watered bottom land. He pitches his tent only toward Sodom. But it turns out according to that remarkable graduation of the psalmist, Blessed is the man who walks not in the ways of the ungodly, stands not in the way of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scorner. So gradually Sodom appears less dreadful. Business calls him there often. He is a man of wealth; the families of Sodom court him and his family till at length a town residence is taken. Both these men are rich alike. Both have suddenly added to their wealth. Both are worshippers of the true Jehovah. The evidences of piety in the one are of course much brighter than in the other. We should be led from the history of the other to conclude the contrary. But as he is emphatically called just Lot by the apostle, we accept him as a believer. It is undoubtedly the teaching of Scripture that there are a great many varieties and degrees of Christian character, and down to the very feeblest pulses of spiritual life. The grace of God in this world has to work upon all sorts of materials. Often the noblest specimens of men are left in sin, while some of the meanest are taken. So we say in answer to cavils of the men of the world at the meanness of some Christians: When you are comparing character as evidence for or against Christianity, act fairly and compare grade of natural character with grade. If Jesus Christ had to select out only the better specimens of men for His kingdom, your process would be fair enough. But it is not when He tells you that He comes to call not the righteous but sinners to repentance; to save to the uttermost. S. R.

The lesson to be gained from the history of Abram and Lot is obviously this—that nothing but a clear apprehension of things unseen, a simple trust in God’s promises, and the greatness of mind thence arising, can make us act above the world—indifferent, or almost so, to its comforts, enjoyments, and friendships; or in other words, that its goods corrupt the common run even of religious men who possess them. Lot, as well as Abram, left his own country “by faith,” in obedience to God’s command; yet on a further trial, in which the will of God was not so clearly signified, the one was found “without spot and blameless,” the other

“was saved so as by fire.” Abraham became the “father of all them that believe;” Lot obscured the especial hope of his calling—impaired the privileges of his election—for a time allowed himself to resemble the multitude of men, as now seen in a Christian country, who are religious to a certain point, and inconsistent in their lives, not aiming at perfection. Newman.

We see in these two persons, that the conduct of parents descends, in its effects, very far into their posterity. Abraham, by his piety, transmitted his religion to his descendants; while in those of Lot we find no disposition to it. Abraham is great in this world, and he is great in heaven; for the highest happiness of the saints is represented by our Saviour in parable, as being found reclining on Abraham’s bosom. True greatness can be found only in the fear of God, in the freest and fullest devotedness of heart to his service and a fear of sinning against Him. R. Hall.

All good men have in their measure all graces; for he, by whom they have any, does not give one apart from the whole: he gives the root, and the root puts forth branches. But since time, and circumstances, and their own use of the gift, and their own disposition and character, have much influence on the mode of its manifestation, so it happens, that each good man has his own distinguishing grace, apart from the rest, his own particular hue and fragrance and fashion, as a flower may have. Abraham, Jacob’s forefather, was the pattern of faith. He seems to have had something very noble and magnanimous about him. He could realize and make present to him things unseen. He followed God in the dark as promptly, as firmly, with as cheerful a heart, and bold a stepping, as if he were in broad daylight. There is something very great in this; and therefore, Paul calls Abraham our father, the father of Christians as well as of Jews. For we are especially bound to walk by faith, not by sight; and are blessed through faith; and justified by faith, as was faithful Abraham. Newman.

The Patriarch appears in the page of Scripture as a solitary; a solitary in his creed; a solitary in the extreme and dim remoteness of the scene and object upon which his mind rests. As a believer he has cast off the popular religion and is a witness against it; as a prince he is a wanderer without alliances in a strange land; and his only compensation is that he is enabled to live in thought out of the present scene and circumstances, and to repose upon futurity. We are brought here for the first time in contact with the majesty, the strength, and the splendor of prophecy in the religion of the chosen race. There is nothing in the history of the character, the sentiment, the aspirations of nations, which is equal to or can for a moment be compared with this mighty impulse and current of faith in the Jewish community. The creed of Abraham has become the creed of the civilized world. The Patriarch’s creed has been victorious over the idolatry of the human race, and grown from a deposit in the breast of one man into a universal religion. It is this force which is characteristic of Jewish prophecy; there may be true prophecy elsewhere in the world, but it is weak, it is broken and its utterance dies away on the ear. In the Jewish channel it is strong, compact and consistent; it has a fixed and confident hold upon the future, a grasp of forecast and a practical ever-gazing assurance; it provided from the first for its own transmission, created laws and institutions, and made a prophetic nation. Mosley.

18. We are told what Abraham did, when God had thus confirmed the promise to him. 1. He removed his tent. God bid him walk through the land, that is, “Do not think of fixing in it, but expect to be always unsettled, and walking through it to a better Canaan;” in compliance with God’s will herein, he removes his tent, conforming himself to the condition of a pilgrim. 2. He builded there an altar, in token of his thankfulness to God for the kind visit he had made him. When God meets us with gracious promises, he expects that we should attend him with our humble praises. H.

Hebron. This is the first mention of this famous city. It is situated among the mountains, 20 Roman miles S. of Jerusalem, and the same distance N. of Beersheba. It is one of the most ancient cities in the world. In Num. 13:22 it is said to have been built seven years before Zoan, in Egypt. Alf.—This was the third resting-place of Abram: 1. Shechem, 2. Bethel, 3. Hebron. Near it was the cave of Machpelah, where he and Sarah were buried. It is now called El Khalil, “the friend,” i.e. the house of the friend of God. E. H. B.—Hebron was the earliest seat of civilized life in Palestine, its immediate neighborhood singularly favorable for all kinds of tillage and garden culture, especially the growth of the vine. Abraham in the first instance did not take up his abode in the town of Hebron, which was occupied by a lowland Hittite tribe. The rich valleys which sloped down to it from the north were occupied by three chiefs of the Amorites (mountaineers), Mamre, Esheol, and Aner, the first of whom gave his name not only to those

oak-trees, beneath one of which Abraham’s own tent was pitched, but for a time to the neighboring town itself. W. H.—In an oak grove not far from the town Abram now made his headquarters. Here he made for himself the nearest approach to a home which Providence permitted him in this world. At Mamre he experienced most of the chief honors and trials of his later life. At Hebron he found at last a resting-place. Dykes.