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his parents still more, by the exercise of every virtue, and adhering to his duty to his parents, and being zealous in the worship of God. Abraham placed also his own happiness wholly in this prospect, that when he should die he should leave this son in a safe and secure condition, which accordingly he obtained by the will of God; who being desirous to make an experiment of Abraham's religious disposition towards himself, appeared to him, and enumerated all the blessings he had bestowed on him; how he made him superior to his enemies; and that his son Isaac, who was the principal part of his present happiness, was derived from him, and he said that he required this son of his as a sacrifice, and a holy oblation. Accordingly, he commanded him to carry him to the mountain Moriah,* and to build an altar, and offer him for a burnt-offering upon it; for that this would best manifest his religious disposition towards him, if he preferred what was pleasing to God before the preservation of his

own son.

Now Abraham thought that it was not right to disobey God in any thing, but that he was obliged to serve him in every circumstance of life, since all creatures that live enjoy their life by his providence, and the kindness he bestows on them; accordingly he concealed this command of God, and his own intentions about the slaughter of his son from his wife, as also from every one of his servants, otherwise he would have been hindered from his obedience to God; and he took Isaac together with two of his servants, and laying what things were necessary for a sacrifice upon an ass, he went away to the mountain. Now the two servants went along with him two days, but on the third day, as soon as he saw the mountain, he left those servants that were with him till then in the plain, and having his son alone with him, he came to the mountain. It was that mountain upon which king David afterwards built † the

* Gen. xxii. 2.

+ Here is a plain error in the copies, which say that king David afterwards built the temple on this mount Moriah, while it was certainly no other than king Solomon who built that temple, as indeed Procopius cites it from Josephus; only if we change ipo into Bauer,

temple. Now they had brought with them; every thing necessary for a sacrifice, excepting the animal that was to be offered. Now Isaac was twenty-five years old, and as he was building the altar, he asked his father what he was about to offer, since there was no animal there for an oblation; to which it. was answered that God would provide himself an oblation, he being able to make a plentiful provision for men out of what they have not, and to deprive others of what they already have, when they put too much trust therein; that, therefore, if God pleased to be present and propitious at this sacrifice, he would provide himself with an oblation.

As soon as the altar was prepared, and Abraham had laid on the wood, and all things were entirely ready, he said to his son, "O son! I poured out a vast number of prayers that I might have thee for my son; when thou wast come into the world, there was nothing that could contribute to thy support for which I was not greatly solicitous; nor any thing wherein I thought myself happier than to see thee grown up to man's estate; and that I might leave thee, at my death, the successor to my dominion; but since it was by God's will that I became thy father, and is now his will that I relinquish thee, bear this consecration to God with a generous mind for I resign thee up to God, who hath thought fit now to require this testimony of honor to himself on account of the favors he hath conferred on me, in being to me a supporter and defender. Accordingly thou, my son, wilt now die, not in any common way of going out of the world, but sent to God, the Father of all men, beforehand, by thy own father, in the nature of a sacrifice. I suppose

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he thinks thee worthy to leave this world, neither by disease, by war, nor any other severe way by which death usually comes upon men, but so that he will receive thy soul with prayers and holy offices of religion, and will place thee near to himself, and thou wilt

temple into altar, we need not correct the name, for it was David, and not Solomon, who built the first altar there, as we learn, 2 Sam. xxiv. 18, &c. 1 Chron. xxi. 22&c.

* An. 1912.

there be to me a succourer and supporter in || God had said this, he produced to them a my old age, on which account I principally ram,† which did not appear before, for the brought thee up; and thou wilt thereby procure sacrifice; so Abraham and Isaac receiving me God for my comforter instead of thyself." each other unexpectedly, and having obtained Now Isaac was of such a generous dis- the promises of such great blessings, embraced position as became the son of such a father, one another; and when they had sacrificed, and was pleased with this discourse, and said they returned to Sarah, and lived happily tothat he was not worthy to be born at first, if gether, God affording them his assistance in he should reject the determination of God and all things they desired. of his father, and should not resign himself up readily to both their pleasures; since it would have been unjust if he had not obeyed, even if his father alone had so resolved: so he

and been done if God not

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went immediately to the altar to be sacrificed; opposed it, for he called loudly to Abraham by his name, and forbade him to slay his son, and said it was not out of a desire of human blood that he was commanded to slay his son, nor was he willing that he should be taken from him whom he had made his father, but to try the temper of his mind, whether he would be obedient to such a command: since, therefore, he now was satisfied as to the surprising readiness he shewed in his piety, he was delighted in having bestowed such blessings upon him, and that he would not be wanting in all sort of concern about him, and in bestowing other children upon him; that his son should live to a very great age, that he should live a happy life, and bequeath a large principality to his children, who should be good and legitimate. He foretold also that his family should increase into many nations, and that those patriarchs should leave behind them an everlasting name; that they should obtain the possession of the land of Canaan, and be envied by all men. When

It seems both here, and in God's parallel blessing to Jacob, c. 19, that Josephus had yet no notion of the hidden meaning of that most important and most eminent promise, In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed; he saith not of seeds, as of many, but as of one; and to thy seed, which is Christ, Gal. iii. 16. Nor is it any wonder, he being, I think, as yet not a Christian : and had he been a Christian, yet since he was till the latter part of his life no more than an Ebonite Christian, who above all the apostles rejected and despised St. Paul, it would be no great wonder if he did not now follow his | interpretation. In the mean time we have in effect St. Paul's exposition in the testament of Reuben in Authent. Rec. part I. page 302, who charges his sons "To worship

CHAP. XIV.

OF THE DEATH AND BURIAL OF SARAH, ABRAHAM'S WIFE,

NOW Sarah ‡ died a little while afterward, having lived one hundred and twenty-seven years. They buried her in Hebron, the Canaanites publicly allowing them a burying-place, which piece of ground Abraham bought, for four hundred shekels, of Ephron, an inhabitant of Hebron: and both Abraham and his descendants built themselves sepulchres in that place.

CHAP. XV.

OF THE NATION OF THE TROGLODYTES, WHO WERE DERIVED
FROM ABRAHAM BY KETURAH.

ABRAHAM after this married Keturah,
by whom six sons were born to him, men
of courage, and of sagacious minds. Zambran,
and Jazar, and Madan, and Madian, and
Josabak, and Sous. Now the sons of Sous
were Sabathan and Dadan. The sons of Da-
dan were Latusim, Assur, and Luom.
sons of Madian were Ephas, Ophron, Anoch,
Ebidas, and Eldas. Now Abraham contrived
to settle all these sons and grandsons in colo-
nies, and they took possession of Troglodytis,

The

the seed of Judah, who should die for them in visible and invisible wars, and should be among them an eternal king." Nor is that observation of a learned foreigner of my acquaintance to be despised, who takes notice, that as seeds in the plural must signify posterity, so seed in the singular may signify either posterity, or a single per son; and that in this promise of all nations being happy in the seed of Abraham, or Isaac, or Jacob, &c. it is always used in the singular; to which I shall add, that it is sometimes, as it were, paraphrased by the son of Abraham, the son of David, &c. which is capable of no such ambiguity. See Boyle's Lectures, page 247-272.

+ Gen. xxii. 13. Gen. xxiii. 1, 2. An. 1900.

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and the country of Arabia the Happy, as far as it reaches to the Red Sea. It is related of Ophren, that he made war against Lybia, and took it; and that his grand-children, when they inhabited it, called it from his name Africa and, indeed, Alexander Polyhistor gives his attestation to what I here say, when he speaks thus: "Cleodemus, the prophet, who was also called Malchus, who wrote a history of the Jews in agreement with the history of Moses, their legislator, relates that there were many sons born to Abraham by Keturah. He even names three of them. Apher, and Surim, and Japhran: that from Surim was the land of Assyria denominated; and that from the other two, Apher and Japhran, the country of Africa took its name; because these men were auxiliaries to Hercules, when he fought against Libya and Antæus; and that Hercules married Aphra's daughter, and of her begat a son, Didorus; and that Sophon was his son, from whom the barbarous people called Sophacians were denominated.

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CHAP. XVI.

OF ISAAC'S MARRIAGE.

the father Isaac, NOW Now when Abrahame 'Rebeka, who was had resolved to take Rebeka, who was grand-daughter to his brother Nahor, for a wife to his son Isaac, who was then about forty years old, he sent the eldest of his ser

An. 1897.

The present mode of swearing among the Mohammedan Arabs, that live in tents as the patriarchs did, according to de la Roque, (Voy. dans la Pal. p. 152,) is by laying their hands on the Koran. They cause those who swear to wash their hands before they give them the book; they put the left hand underneath, and the right over it. Whether, among the patriarchs, one hand was under, and the other upon the thigh, is not certain; possibly Abraham's servant might swear with one hand under his master's thigh, and the other stretched out to Hea

ven.

As the posterity of the patriarchs are described as coming out of the thigh, it has been supposed this ceremony had some relation to their believing the promise of God, to bless all the nations of the earth, by means of one that was to descend from Abraham. B.

HARMER, Vol. iv. p. 477.

Homer mentions the same custom of women's being employed in drawing water among the Phæacians and Læstrygonians. (Od. vii. 20. et x. 105.) Dr. Shaw, speaking of the occupation of the Moorish women in Barbary,

vants to betroth her; after he had obliged him to give him the strongest assurances of his fidelity, after the following manner. They put each other's hands under each other's thighs, and called upon God as the witness of what was to be done. He also sent such presents to those that were there as were in esteem, on account that they either rarely, or never, were seen in that country. This servant got thither not under a considerable time; for it requires much time to pass through Mesopotamia, in which it is tedious travelling both in winter, for the depth of the clay, and in summer, for want of water; and besides this, for the robberies there committed, which are not to be avoided by travellers, but by the utmost caution. However, the servant came to Haran; and when he was in the suburbs, he met a considerable number of maidens going to the water; he therefore prayed to God that Rebeka might be found among them, or her whom Abraham sent him as his servant to espouse to his son, in case his will were that this marriage should be consummated; and that she might be made known to him by this sign, that while others denied him water to drink, she might give it him.

intention he well, and desired the tidens went to the wee and desired the maidens to give him some water to drink : but while the cthers refused, on pretence that they wanted it all at home, and could spare none for him, one only of the

says, "to finish the day, at the time of the evening, even at the time that the women go out to draw water, they are still to fit themselves with a pitcher or goat-skin, and tying their sucking children behind them, trudge it in this manner two or three miles to fetch water." Travels, p. 421.

The same custom prevailed in ancient Greece. Homer down under the form of a Phæacian virgin carrying a represents Minerva meeting Ulysses as the sun was going pitcher of water, that being the time when the maidens

went out to draw water.

When near the fam'd Phæacian wall he drew,
The beauteous city opening to his view,
His step a virgin met, and stood before ;.
A polished urn the seeming virgin bore..
Odyss. b. vii. 25. Pope.

See also Odyss. lib. x. 105,

A similar custom prevailed also in Armenia, as may be seen in Xenophon's Anabasis, b. iv. B.

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company rebuked them for their peevish behaviour towards the stranger, and said, "What is there that you will ever communicate to any body, who have not so much as given the man some water? She then offered him water in an obliging manner, and he began to hope that this grand affair would succeed; but desiring still to know the truth, he commended her for her generosity and good nature, that she did not scruple to afford a sufficiency of water to those who wanted it, though it cost her some pains to draw it. He then asked her who were her parents, and wished them joy of such a daughter; " and mayest thou be espoused," said he, "to their satisfaction, into the family of an agreeable husband, and bring him legitimate children." Nor did she disdain to satisfy his inquiries, but told him her family. They call me Rebeka," said she: "my father was Bethuel, but he is dead; and Laban is my brother, and, together with my mother, takes care of all our family affairs, and is my guardian." When the servant heard this, he was very glad at what had happened, and at what was told him, as perceiving that God had thus plainly directed his journey; and producing his bracelets, and some other ornaments which it was esteemed decent for virgins to wear, he gave them to the damsel, by way of acknowledgment, and as a reward for her kindness in giving him water to drink, saying, it was but just that she should have them,

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The weight of the ornaments put upon Rebeka appears extraordinary. But Chardin assures us, that even heavier were worn by the women of the East when he was there. He says that the women wear rings and bracelets of as great weight as this, and even heavier, through all Asia. They are rather manicles than bracelets. There are some as large as the finger. The women wear several of them, one above the other, in such a manner, as sometimes to have the arm covered with them from the wrist to the elbow. Poor people wear as many of glass or horn. They hardly ever take them off. They are their riches. Hariner's Observations, vol. ii. p. 500. Among the several female ornaments, which Abraham sent by his servant, whom he employed to search out a wife for his son Isaac, were jewels of silver and jewels of gold, exclusive of raiment, which probably was very rich and valuable for the age in which Abraham lived. Rich and splendid apparel, especially such as was adorned with gold, was very general in the eastern nations, from the earliest ages and as the fashions and customs of the Orientals are not subject to much variation, so we find

because she was so much more obliging than any of the rest. She desired also that he would come and lodge with them, since the approach of the night gave him not time to proceed farther. Then producing his precious ornaments for women, he said, he desired to trust them to none more safely, than to such as she had shewed herself to be; and that he believed he might guess at the humanity of her mother and brother, that they would not be displeased from the virtue he found in her, for he would not be burthensome, but would pay the hire for his entertainment, and spend his own money: to which she replied, that he guessed rightly as to the humanity of her parents, but complained that he should think them so parsimonious as to take money, for that he should have all his wants supplied freely; but she said, she would first inform her brother Laban, and, if he gave her leave, she would conduct him in.

As soon as this was done, the servants of Laban brought the camels in, and took care of them, and the stranger was himself brought into supper by Laban, and after supper he said to him, and to the mother of the damsel, addressing himself to her, Abraham is the son of Terah, and a kinsman of yours: for Nahor, the grandfather of these children, was the brother of Abraham, by both father and mother, upon which account he hath sent me to you, being desirous to take this damsel for his son to wife. He is his legitimate son,

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that this propensity to golden ornaments prevails, even in the present age, among the females in the countries bordering on Judea. Thus Mungo Park, in the account of his travels in Africa, mentions the following singular circumstance, respecting the ornamental part of the dress of an African lady. "It is evident, from the account of the process by which negroes obtain gold in Manding, that the country contains a considerable portion of this precious metal. A great part is converted into ornaments for the women: and, when a lady of consequence is in full dress, the gold about her person may be worth, altogether, from fifty to eighty pounds sterling."

We find also that the same disposition for rich orna mental apparel prevailed in the times of the apostles; for St. Peter cautioned the females of quality in the first ages of Christianity, when they adorned themselves, not to have it consist in the outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing gold, or of putting on apparel.1 Pet. iii. 3. See also Psalm xlv. 9, 13. Upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir.-Her clothing is of wrought gold. B.

and

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