A. M. 2108. A. C. 1897; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3398. A. C. 2013. GEN. CH. xx—xxv. 11. CHAP. II.-Difficulties Obviated, and Objections Answered. tures is, their unwillingness to suppose any faults in the lives of the ancient patriarchs; and therefore they study to apologize for every thing they did, and sometimes labour even to consecrate their very vices. Their opinion is, that the Holy Spirit has prescribed them as BUT we certainly judge wrong of the merits of any author, when we suffer our prejudice to blind our under-patterns every way worthy of our imitation; and therestanding, and to hinder it from attending to its chief drift and design. The great end which Moses had in writing this part of his history was, to instruct the Jews in their rise and original, their election and separation from the rest of mankind; and therefore fit it was, when he entered upon the history of their great founder Abraham, in whom they became a peculiar people, a chosen generation, and a royal priesthood, as the apostle' styles them, that he should lay aside his usual conciseness, and endeavour to expatiate a little upon so useful and so agreeable a subject. The Spirit of God very well foresaw that Abraham's character would become renowned in future generations; that not only the Jews, but several other nations, would lay claim to him as their progenitor; that not only the saints and prophets in the Old Testament would make him the chief pattern of faith and obedience to God's commands, but that, even under the New, his example would be propounded for our imitation, and his bosom' be made the happy receptacle of the souls of the righteous between their death and their resurrection; and therefore it is no wonder that he led the holy penman into a longer recital of the life and adventures of a person who is styled 'the friend of God,' and 'father of the faithful; who was the great founder of the very nation he was now writing to; whose sons were to be kings and princes in their several distant countries, and ' in whose seed all the nations of the earth were to be blessed.' a a The Jewish writers tell us that Abraham was bred up in the religion of the Zabii, who in those early times made images or representations of the sun, moon, and stars to worship, and that his father Terah was a maker and seller of these images; that Abraham, being well skilled in the astronomy of those times, learned from thence that the celestial bodies could neither make nor move themselves by their own power, but that there was one only God, who created, preserved, and governed all other things, and that therefore they ought to worship him alone; that his father Terah going from home about particular business, and leaving Abraham in the shop to sell the images, he in his absence broke them all, except the largest of them; that upon this Terah, being angry, brought Abraham before the chief king of the Assyrian monarchy, to be punished for this crime; that the king, being one of the Magi, commanded Abraham to worship the fire; and upon his refusal, ordered him to be thrown into a hot burning furnace; but that Abraham came out unhurt, in the presence, and to the admiration of them all. Maimonides in Mor. Nevoc. b. 2. c. 29; Jad. Chaz. de Idololatria, c. 1.; Shalsheleth, p. 8.; Inchasin, part 9. fol. 1.— But some think that this whole story rose from taking the word Ur to signify the fire, as it is in the Hebrew, and thence interpreting the saying of God to Abraham in this manner:-'I am the Lord, that brought thee out of the fire of the Chaldeans, to give thee this land to inherit it.' Since it is expressly said, however, (Gen. xi. 31.) that Terah, Lot, Abraham, and Sarah his wife, came all forth together out of Ur of the Chaldees, it may therefore very properly be taken for a city dedicated to the fire, which was there principally worshipped, and from thence it might take its name. fore they think it a disparagement to the Scriptures Abraham, in the age wherein he lived, was certainly accounted a man of great piety and worth. We have the testimony of several heathen authors in his favour; and Berosus in particular," as he is quoted by Josephus, gives us this character of him, namely, that in the tenth generation after the flood there was a man among the Chaldeans who was very just, and great, and sought after heavenly things. But notwithstanding this, it must be acknowledged, that in this instance of denying his wife Sarah, he was guilty at least of a manifest dissi mulation. It is in vain to say, " that she was really his sister by another wife, whom his father Terah might marry after the death of his mother; for this brings upon him the charge of incest. It is in vain to say,' that as he was a prophet, he was directed by the Holy Spirit to make use of this subterfuge, in order to preserve his life; for this is making God the author of sin. It is in vain to say, that what he declared was truth, though not the whole truth; that he concealed what was proper, and told nothing that was false; because his declaring her to be his sister was in effect denying her to be his wife, which was a direct falsehood. Men certainly have a right to conceal their sentiments, upon several occasions, by a prudent silence; but whenever they make e See Grot. de Verit. b. 3, s. 16. 3 Faustus, b. 22. c. 41. 8 Profane authors, if possible, say more in the praise and commendation of Abraham than do the sacred; but there is reason enough to believe that their accounts are loaded with fictions. Some have averred that he reigned at Damascus; others, that he dwelt a long time in Egypt, and taught the Egytians astronomy and arithmetic. Some say that he invented letters and the Hebrew language; that he was author of several works, and, among others, of a famous book entitled “Jezira,” or "the Creation:" and among the Persians, so great a man was he accounted, that the Magi, or worshippers of fire, believe Zoroastres, who was their prophet, to be the same with the patriarch Abraham.-Calmet's Dictionary. A. M. 2108. A. C. 1897; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3398. A. C. 2013. GEN. CH. xx-xxv. 11. use of words, and pretend thereby to discover their | with Abraham, when he dismissed him so honourably. thoughts, they impose upon their hearers, if they do not really express what they pretend; and in this the very formality of lying does consist, namely, in a settled intention to deceive others. "For whatever is said, whether in itself it be true or false, whether it agrees with the thoughts of the speaker or not, yet if it plainly tends to deceive the hearer; if he who says it perceives the tendency, and accordingly uses it to this end, however disguised it is, under whatever forms it is expressed, it is, to all intents and purposes, a lie." She was an Egyptian indeed, very probably one of those servants that were given to Abraham, and was employed about Sarah's person as her waiting-maid: but we have no grounds to think, that a woman of her extraction (had she been Pharaoh's daughter) would have condescended to serve in any capacity. However this be, Sarah seeing herself now grown old and barren, and knowing that God had promised a numerous posterity to Abraham, believed that, in order to contribute to the accomplishment of these promises, she ought to give her servant to him for a wife; and accordingly she is introduced as making the first offer: Behold now the Lord hath restrained me from bearing, I pray thee go in unto my maid; it may be, that I may obtain children by her.' This proposal (as St Chrysostom observes,) and the soft manner of making it, discovered a very uncommon love and respect to her 5 It is in vain, then, to pretend to assoil the patriarch from the imputation of lying or dissimulation in this case; but then this may be said in extenuation of his fault, that it proceeded from a weakness of faith, and a prevalency of fear, which are sometimes found to be incident to the best of men. He considered himself as a stranger among a licentious sort of people, and ex-husband; that she herself should persuade and urge him posed to the power of an arbitrary government; and, from a principle of worldly caution, both to preserve his own life and his wife's modesty, he concluded that this would be the best expedient; but much more wisely had he done, had he committed the whole matter to God's management, in reliance on his promises, and in confidence of his protection. to this expedient, in order to make him easy in that particular, which gave him so much disturbance, the want of issue, the default of which she supposed to be owing to herself: " and it was purely in compliance to this solicitation of hers, that he took Hagar to his bed. Sarah, undoubtedly, was by far the more beautiful woman, at least if so good judges as the king of Egypt and his sub It cannot, however, with any tolerable construction bejects may be depended on. Abraham had now lived many charged upon him, 'that he went about to betray his wife's chastity, since, according to his present sentiments, he took the most effectual method to prevent it. 2 For, in declaring her to be his sister, he made it known that she was committed to his care and disposal; and from hence he supposed it would come to pass, that if any of the country was minded to make his addresses to the sister, he would, of course, come and apply himself to the brother. The first motions of love he knew were most impetuous, and apt to hurry men into violence and outrage; and therefore he thought with himself, that if he should pass for her husband, such as were in love with ber would have no other way of accomplishing their desires but at the expense of his life; whereas, if he passed for her brother, time might be gained, the treaty of marriage prolonged, and several unforeseen accidents happen, that might give the divine providence a seasonable opportunity to interpose in his favour, as we find it did. years, without giving any occasion to have his modesty and continence suspected. Hagar too was no more than his wife's servant, and inferior to her in person as much as in condition. In a short time after, when, upon her conception, she grew undutiful to her mistress, Abraham never interposed in her favour, but left her entirely to her lady's discretion: from all which circumstances it appears that his taking Hagar to be his concubinary wife, was not from any motive of sensuali ty, but from a true principle of conjugal affection to Sarah. Nor can the presents which both Pharaoh and Abimelech gave Abraham, upon the delivery of his wife, with any justice, be imputed to his management; since they were voluntary acknowledgments for his interceding for them; oblations of gratitude for their recovery from the sore plagues wherewith God had afflicted them; and a kind of commutation for the injury and affront they had put upon persons so highly favoured by God, that at what time they went from one nation to another, from one kingdom to another people, he suffered no man to do them wrong, but reproved even kings for their sakes.' 36 "God had indeed promised him the land of Canaan, and a numerous issue to succeed him; but whether the son, from whom that issue was to spring, was properly to be his own, or only adoptive; or if his own, whether begotten of Sarah or of some other woman, was not revealed to him. Seeing, therefore, he had no children of his own, and yet stedfastly believed the promises of God, the only way that he could devise whereby to have these promises accomplished, was by way of adoption; and therefore he says, "Lo! one born in my house is my heir;' upon which God clears the first of these doubts to him, namely, whether his seed was to be natural or adoptive; This shall not be thine heir, but one that 86 a The words of St Austin upon this occasion are very nervous and very significant :-"Abraham used Hagar to rear an offspring for him, not to gratify his lust: he did not insult but rather complied with the wishes of his wife, who believed that it would be a com Hagar, according to the opinion of some of the rab-fort for her barrenness, if he should go in unto her maid, since she bins, who love to magnify every matter, was one of the daughters of Pharaoh king of Egypt, whom he sent along 1 Bishop Smalridge's Sermon on Lying. Heidegger's Hist. Patriar, vol. 2. Essay 4. Psalm cv. 13, 14. herself was incapacitated by old age. There is here no desire of wantonness-no disgraceful criminality; for the sake of offspring the maid is given by the wife to the husband, and, for the same reason, is she received by him."-De Civit. Dei, b. 16. c. 25; where he concludes with these exclamatory words, "O virum viriliter utentem fœminis, conjuge temperanter, ancilla obtemperanter, nulla intemperanter." A. M. 2108. A. C. 1897; OR, ACCORDING TO HALES, A. M. 3398. A. C. 2013. GEN. CH. xx--xxv. 11, shall come forth out of thine own bowels, shall be thine 1 Whether polygamy, in the age of the patriarchs, was innocent or no, is a question that has much employed the pens of the learned. a Most of the ancient fathers of the church maintain its lawfulness, and some of our latter divines can hardly persuade themselves, that a practice which the most holy and venerable men ordinarily engaged in, and during that engagement continued an intimate conversation and familiarity with God; a practice which God never blamed in them, even when he sharply reproved other vices, and for which they themselves never showed the least remorse or tokens of repentance, should be detestable in the sight of God, Our blessed Saviour, who has restored matrimony to its primitive institution, has certainly declared it to be criminal; but whether it was so, under a less perfect dispensation, is not so well agreed. At present, if we suppose it only tolerated by God in the time of the patriarchs, we shall soon perceive another inducement for Abraham's complying with his wife's request; and that is, namely, the passionate desire for a numerous progeny, which, in those days, was very prevalent; so very prevalent that we find men accounting of their children as their riches, their strength, their glory, and several families reckoning them up with a sort of pride, and placing the chief of their renown in the multitude of them; 3 For children, and the fruit of the womb, are an heritage and gift that cometh of the Lord; like as arrows in the hand of a giant, so are young children. Happy is the man that has a quiver full of them; he shall not be ashamed when he speaketh with enemies in the gate.' a The words of St Ambrose, b. 1. c. 4, concerning the patriarch Abraham, are very remarkable, and comprehend indeed the sentiments of most of the rest:-"Let us consider, in the first place, that before the existence of the law of Moses and the gospel, no interdict was laid on adultery. The punishment of a crime begins with the promulgation of a law prohibiting that crime. It is not before but after the existence of a law, that there is any condemnation of a culprit. Therefore Abraham did not sin against a law, he only anticipated it. Although the Almighty applauded the married state in paradise, yet he did not condemn adultery." Durandus, Tostatus, Selden, Grotius, and others, are clearly of opinion, that before the promulgation of the law, polygamy was no sin; but as their error turns upon this, that the first institution of marriage between one pair in paradise was not designed by God for a law, so have they received an ample ccnfutation from the learned Heidegger, in his Historia Patriar. vol. 1. Essay 1, and Essay 7. and vol. 2. Essay 6. Thus the desire of a numerous issue, the entreaty of a beloved wife, and the supposed innocence of concubinage in that age, may, in some measure, plead Abraham's excuse in assuming Hagar to his bed. But then, what shall we say for his turning her away so abruptly, and in a starving condition, after she had lived so long with him in the capacity of a wife, and had borne him a son? To clear up this matter, we must inquire a little into the time and occasion, as well as the manner and consequence of this her dismission. 46 The whole account of this transaction is thus related by the sacred historian. And the child (meaning the child Isaac) grew, and was weaned, and Abraham made a great feast the same day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, which she had born unto Abraham, mocking; wherefore she said unto Abraham, cast out this bond-woman and her son, for the son of the bond-woman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac. And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight, because of his son. And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight, because of the lad, and because of thy bond-woman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called: and also of the son of the bond-woman will I make a nation, because he is thy seed. And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar (putting it on her shoulder) and the child, and sent her away, and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.' 5 What the manner of celebrating this weaning feast, or feast of initiation was, we can only conjecture from certain circumstances, and some parallel passages and customs. There are no more than the weaning of Isaac, and the weaning of Samuel, (two very extraordinary persons, both foretold by the spirit of prophecy, and both miraculously born,) which are taken notice of in the sacred history. And (if we may be allowed to suppose a parallel between them) as the feast at the weaning of Samuel was a sacred feast, and kept before the Lord, (for the child was brought by his mother to the sanctuary, there presented, and there initiated, or dedicated by the high-priest, whereupon a sacrifice first, and then a feast did ensue); so we may suppose, 1. That at the weaning feast of Isaac, there was a burnt sacrifice, which Abraham, as priest and prophet, might early in the morning offer, in order to sanctify both the feast and those that were to communicate in it: 2. That there were changes of raiment given to all the guests, and to all the servants, to keep the feast in, and that, without the festival robes, no one was allowed to sit down at the table: 3. That a new sort of vesture was given to Isaac, as an habit of distinction, by which he was declared heir of the family, and the most honourable, next to his father: 4. That there was a dedication of the child, or an holy initiation of him, in a very religious and solemn manner, performed by both the parents: 5. That there was probably a commemoration of the entertainment of angels in pilgrim's habit, and of the joyful message then brought, together with the killing of the fatted calf, and other provisions made for them: and, 6. That upon this occa Gen. xxi. 8, &c. 51 Sam. i. 24. "Bibliotheca Biblica, vol. 1. Occasional Annotations, 24. |