account given in the tenth chapter of Genesis. The learned are not agreed whether we have any remains of the primitive language of men (u); and as the Scriptures are silent upon the subject, we must be content to leave it in uncertainty. Perhaps it is most probable, that the old Hebrew or Syriac is the most antient language which has descended to us; and, in support of this opinion, the Jewish historians assert, that the sons of Eber or Heber did not concur with the rest in the attempt to build the tower, and therefore retained the primitive language. Abraham, the sixth from Heber, is called in Genesis "Abraham the Hebrew (r)," and his posterity were called Hebrews by the Egyptians. The general custom of naming the people after the head of the family, and "the division of the earth," which is expressly mentioned to have taken

place

(u) Sir William Jones is of opinion, that the primary language is entirely lost. He says, "it appears that the only human family, after the flood, established themselves in the northern parts of Iran (that is, Persia); that as they multiplied, they were divided into three distinct branches, the Indian, the Arabian, and the Tartarian, each retaining little at first, and losing the whole by degrees, of their common primary language ;" and to these three roots, namely, the Hindoo, the Syriac, and the Tartarian, he traces all the languages in the world.

(*) Gen. c. 14. v. 13.

place in the days of Heber's two sons, Peleg and Joktan(y), seem to render it more probable that the name of Hebrew was derived from the patriarch Heber, than from the circumstance of Abraham's passing over the river Euphrates (3

Terah, the father of Abraham, was the ninth in descent from Shem, the son of Noah. He 1921. removed with his family from Ur in Chaldæa (a) to Haran in Mesopotamia, and there died. "Now the Lord had said unto Abraham, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee; and I will make of thee a great nation, and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed (b)." This is the second promise of a future Saviour of the world, in which it was declared that he should be a descendant of Abraham. Abrahám departed, and went by divine direction into the land of Canaan, with Sarah his wife, Lot his brother's son, and all their substance. After the removal of Abraham into Canaan, which is generally denominated the Call of Abraham, God gave him this farther pro

mise,

(y) Gen. c. 10. v. 25. (z) Heber, in the Hebrew language, signifies beyond, or on the other side.

(a) This Chaldæa was in or near Armenia, and must not be confounded with the country afterwards called Chaldæa, the capital of which was Babylon.—Maurice. (b) Gen. c. 12. v. 1, 2, and 3.

66

mise, "Unto thy seed will I give this land (c)." In consequence of a famine which arose in Canaan, Abraham went and resided in Egypt; but it is not recorded how long he remained in that country. At length Pharaoh (d), the king, commanded him to leave it, and he returned to his former habitation in Canaan, where he became very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And God said to Abraham, All the land which thou seest, to 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 numbered (e)."-And again, God said, "Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them. And he said unto him, So shall thy seed be (f)." These promises of numerous descendants were made to Abraham at the time he had no children, but "he believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righte

(c) Gen. c. 12. v. 7.

ousness.

(d) It is certain that the name of Pharaoh was common to all the kings of Egypt from this time till the Babylonian captivity; but how much longer it continued, or when the first Pharaoh reigned, is not known. Pharaoh, in the Æthiopic language, signifies Father of the Country.

(e) Gen. c. 13. v. 15 and 16. (f) Gen. c. 15. v. 5.

ousness (g)."—" And God said unto Abraham in a dream, Know of a surety that thy seed shall bé a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them 400 (h) years; and also that nation whom they shall serve, will I judge; and afterwards shall they come out with great substance; but in the fourth generation they shall come hither again (i)." And God having again promised numerous descendants to Abraham, instituted the rite of circumcision (k) as the sign of a covenant between himself and the seed of Abraham. He commanded

(g) Gen. c. 15. v. 6.

(h) The affliction here foretold was partly in Canaan and partly in Egypt, which were neighbouring countries, and both inhabited by the descendants of Ham. It began at the birth of Isaac, and ended at the deliverance from Egyptian bondage. The precise time was 405 years, but odd numbers are frequently omitted upon such occasions. In Exodus, c. 12. v. 40, this affliction or sojourning is said to have lasted 430 years. This difference is accounted for by considering, that in the latter case the 25 years, during which Abraham was in the land of Canaan, before Isaac was born, are included; and these 25 years, which began when the promise was given, added to 405, make exactly 430 years.

(i) Gen. c. 15. v. 13, &c.

(k) See Home's Scripture History of the Jews, vol. 2. for the origin of circumcision, and Shuckford's Connexion, from whose examination it appears evident that the Egyptians did not practise circumcision till after Abraham had been in Egypt.

5

commanded that on the eighth day every manchild should be circumcised (1).

When Abraham and Sarah were far advanced in years, their son Isaac was born; and God declared to Abraham, “In Isaac shall thy seed be called (m).” Isaac was born twenty-five years after 1896. Abraham's arrival in Canaan; and fourteen years before the birth of Isaac, Abraham had a son by Hagar, an Egyptian bond-woman, the handmaid. of his wife Sarah (n). This son was called Ishmael; and from him are descended the Arabians, whose character, even to this day, answers to the description

(1) The eighth day is the time of circumcision among the Jews, that is, the descendants of Abraham and Sarah; but because Ishmael, the son of Abraham and Hagar, was thirteen years old when he was circumcised, the descendants of Ishmael are not circumcised till that age. Circumcision was a type of baptism. Abraham was the first person circumcised, and he is also the first person called a prophet in Scripture.

(m) Gen. c. 21. v. 12.

(n) St. Paul points out a material difference between these two sons of Abraham. He says, that Ishmael, the son of Hagar the bond-woman, was born only according to the flesh, in the common course of nature; but that Isaac was born by virtue of the promise, and by the particular interposition of divine power: and that these two sons of Abraham were designed to represent the two covenants of the law and the gospel, the former a state of bondage, the latter of freedom. Gal, ch. 4.