the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelled then in the land. 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 bed brethren. 9 Is not the whole land before thee? se- 10 And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld Ch. xxvi. 20. b Ch. xii, 6.men brethren. See ch. xi. 27, 31. i h deeven as the d Heb. Ps. cxxxiii. f Rom. xii. c 1 Cor. vi.7. Exod. ii. 13. Ch. xix. 17. Deut. iCh. ii, 10. 1. Acts vii. 26.- Le Ch. xx. 15. xxxiv. 10.- been enry between the herdmen of Abram and Lot. Verse 8. For we be brethren.] We are of the same family, worship the same God in the same way, Lave the same promises, and look for the same end. Why then should there be strife? If it appear to be unavoidable from our present situation, let that situation be instantly changed; for no secular advantages can counterbalance the loss of peace. Character of the men of Sodom. A. M. cir. 2087. garden of the LORD, like the B. C. cir. 1917. m k 11 Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east and they separated themselves the one from the other. 12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. 13 But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly. 14 And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot P was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: well watered and fertilized by the overflowing of the Jordan. Verse 11. Then Lot chose him all the plain] A little civility or good breeding is of great importance in the concerns of life. Lot either had none, or did not profit by it. He certainly should have left the choice to the patriarch, and should have been guided by his counsel; but he took his own way, trusting to his own judgment, and guided only by the sight of his eyes: he beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered, &c.; so he chose the land, without considering the character of the inhabitants, or what spiritual things. This choice, as we shall see in the advantages or disadvantages it might afford him in sequel, had nearly proved the ruin of his body, soul, and family. Verse 9. Is not the whole land before thee?] As Verse 13. The men of Sodom were wicked] Dy the patriarch or head of the family, Abram, by pre-raim, from y ra, to break in pieces, destroy, and scriptive right, might have chosen his own portion first, and appointed Lot his; but intent upon peace, and feeling pure and parental affection for his nephew, be permitted him to make his choice first. Verse 10. Like the land of Egypt, as thou comest Zoar.] There is an obscurity in this verse eh Houbigant has removed by the following anslation: Ea autem, priusquam Sodomam Gomor-mark: so a sinner is one who is ever aiming at hapriamque Dominus delerit, erat, qua itur Segor, tota irrigua, quasi hortus Domini, et quasi terra Ægypti. "But before the Lord had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, it was, as thou goest to Zoar, well watered, like the garden of the Lord, and like the land of Egypt." As Paradise was watered by the four neighbouring streams, and as Egypt was watered by the annual overflowing of the Nile; so were the plains of the Jordan, and all the land on the way to Zoar, afflict; meaning persons who broke the established order of things, destroyed and confounded the distinctions between right and wrong, and who afflicted and tormented both themselves and others. And sinners, Don chattaim, from Non chata, to miss the mark, to step wrong, to miscarry; the same as ȧuaprave in Greek, from a, negative, and μаρñтw, to hit a piness, and constantly missing his mark; because, being wicked-radically evil within, every affection and passion depraved and out of order, he seeks for happiness where it never can be found, in worldly honours and possessions, and in sensual gratifications, the end of which is disappointment, affliction, vexation, and ruin. Such were the companions Lot must have in the fruitful land he had chosen. This, however, amounts to no more than the common cha God renews his promise to Abram; A. M. cir. 2087. B. C. cir. 1917. A. M. cir. 2087. B. C. cir. 1917. C 16 And I will make thy seed | for I will give it unto thee. as the dust of the earth: so 18 Then Abram removed his that if a man can number the dust of the tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there 17 Arise, walk through the land in the an altar unto the LORD. length of it, and in the breadth of it; a Ch. xv. 5. xxii. 17. xxvi. 4. xxviii. 14. xxxii. 12. Exod. xxxii. 13. Numb. xxiii. 10. Deut. i. 10. 1 Kings iv. 20. 1 Chron. xxvii. 23. Isai. xlviii. 19. Jer. xxxiii. 22. Rom. racter of sinful man; but the people of Sodom were exceedingly sinful and wicked before, or against, the Lord-they were sinners of no common character; they excelled in unrighteousness, and soon filled up the measure of their iniquities. See chap. xix. Verse 14. The Lord said unto Abram] It is very likely that 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 chap. xv. 5 was evidently made in the night; for then he was called to number the stars, which could not be seen but in the nightseason: here he is called on to number the dust of the earth, ver. 16, which could not be seen but in the day-light. Verse 15. To thee will I give it, and to thy seed for | ever.] This land was given to Abram, that it might lineally and legally descend to his posterity; and though Abram himself cannot be said to have possessed it, Acts vii. 5, yet it was the gift of God to him in behalf of his seed; and this was always the design of God, 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, by ad olam, to the end of the present dispensation, and the commencement of the new. by 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, &c.: therefore the first is its proper meaning, the latter its accommodated meaning. See the note on chap. xvii. 7; xxi. 33. Verse 18. Abram removed his tent] Continued to travel and pitch in different places, till at last he fixed his tent in the plain, or by the oak, of Mamre, see chap. xii. 6, which is in Hebron ; i. e. the district in which Mamre was situated was called Hebron. Mamre was an Amorite then living, with whom Abram made a league, chap. xiv. 13; and the oak probably went by his name, because he was the possessor of the ground. Hebron is called Kirjatharba, chap. xxiii. 2; but it is very likely that Hebron was its primitive name, and that it had the above appellation from being the residence of four gigantic or powerful Anakim, for Kirjath-arba literally signifies the city of the four: see the note on chap. xxiii. 2. Built there an altar unto the Lord.] On which he offered sacrifice, as the word nam mixbeach, from zabach, to slay, imports. d iv. 16, 17, 18. Hebr. xi. 12.- b Ch. xiv. 13.- C Heb. plains. d Ch. xxxv. 27. xxxvii. 14. The increase of riches in the family of Abram must, in the opinion of many, be a source of felicity to them. If earthly possessions could produce happiness, it must be granted that they had now a considerable share of it in their power. But happiness must have its seat in the mind, and, like that, be of a spiritual nature; consequently earthly goods cannot give it: so far are they from either producing or procuring it, that they always engender care and anxiety, and often strifes and contentions. The peace of this amiable family had nearly been destroyed by the largeness of their possessions. To prevent the most serious misunderstandings, Abram and his nephew were obliged to separate. He who has much in general wishes to have more; for the eye is not satisfied with seeing. Lot, for the better accommodation of his flocks and family, chooses the most fertile district in that country, and even sacrifices reverence and filial affection at the shrine of worldly advantage; but the issue proved that a pleasant worldly prospect may not be the most advantageous, even to our secular affairs. Abram prospered greatly in the comparatively barren part of the land, while Lot lost all his possessions, and nearly the lives of himself and family, in that land which appeared to him like the garden of the Lord, like a second paradise. Rich and fertile countries have generally luxurious, effeminate, and profligate inhabitants; so it was in this case. The inhabitants of Sodom were sinners and exceedingly wicked, and their profligacy was of that kind which luxury produces; they fed themselves without fear, and they acted without shame. Lot however was, through the mercy of God, preserved from this contagion: he retained his religion; and this supported his soul and saved his life, when his goods and his wife perished. Let us learn from this to be jealous over our own wills and wishes; to distrust flattering prospects, and seek and secure a heavenly inheritance. "Man wants but little; nor that little long." A man's life-the comfort and happiness of it-does not consist in the multitude of the things he possesses. "One house, one day's food, and one suit of raiment," says the Arabic proverb, 66 are sufficient for thee; and if thou die before noon, thou hast one half too much." The example of Abram, in constantly erecting an altar wherever he settled, is worthy of serious regard; he knew the path of duty was the way of safety, and that, if he acknowledged God in all his ways, he might expect him to direct all his steps: he felt his dependance on God, he invoked him through a Mediator, and offered Chedorlaomer and his allies CHAP. XIV. invade and pillage the Canaanites. sacrifices in faith of the coming Saviour; he found | God who taketh away the sin of the world? No blessedness in this work-it was not an empty servite; he rejoiced to see the day of Christ-he saw it and was glad. See on chap. xii. 8. Reader, has God an altar in thy house? Dost thou sacrifice to him? Dost thou offer up daily by faith, in behalf of thy soul and the souls of thy family, the Lamb of man cometh unto the Father but by me, said Christ: this was true, not only from the incarnation, but from the foundation of the world. And to this another truth, not less comfortable, may be added; Whosoever cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. CHAPTER XIV. The war of four confederate kings against the five kings of Canaan, 1-3. The confederate kings overrun and pillage the whole country, 4-7. Battle between them and the kings of Canaan, 8, 9. The latter are defeated, and the principal part of the armies of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah slain, 10; on which these two cities are plundered, 11. Lot, his goods, and his family, are also taken and carried away, 12. Abram, being informed of the disaster of his nephew, 13, arms three hundred and eighteen of his servants, and pursues them, 14; overtakes and routs them, and recovers Lot, and his family, and their goods, 15, 16; is met on his return by the king of Sodom, and by Melchizedek, king of Salem, with refreshments for himself and men, 17, 18. Melchizedek blesses Abram, and receives from him, as priest of the most high God, the tenth of all the spoils, 19, 20. The king of Sodom offers to Abram all the goods he has taken from the enemy, 21; which Abram positively refuses, having vowed to God to receive no recompence for a victory of which he knew God to be the sole author, 22, 23; but desires that a proportion of the spoils be given to Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre, who had accompanied him on this expedition, 24. A. M. cir. 2091. B. C. cir. 1913. ΑΝ ND it came to pass, in the days of Amraphel king of *Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations; That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is "Zoar. *Ch. x. 10. xi. 2. b Isai. xi. 11.- c Deut. xxix. 23. NOTES ON CHAP. XIV. Verse 1. In the days of Amraphel] Who this king was is not known; and yet, from the manner in which he is spoken of in the text, it would seem that he was a person well known, even when Moses wrote this account. But the Vulgate gives a different turn to the place, by rendering the passage thus: Factum est in illo tempore, ut Amraphel, &c. "It came to pass in that time that Amraphel, &c." The Chaldee Targum of Onkelos makes Amraphel king of Babylon, hers make him king of Assyria; some make him the same as Nimrod, and others, one of his descendants. Arioch king of Ellasar] Some think Syria is eant; but conjecture is endless where facts cannot be ascertained. Chedorlaomer king of Elam] Dr. Shuckford thinks that this was the same as Ninyas, the son of Ninus and Semiramis: and some think him to be the same with Keeumras, son of Doolaved, son of Arphaxad, son of Shem, son of Noah; and that Elam means Persia; see chap. x. 22. The Persian historians f A. M. cir. 2091. 4 Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, iii. 16. Ps. cvii. 34.—Ch. ix. 26.- -6 Ch. xv. 20. Deut. unanimously allow that Keeumras, whose name bears Tidal king of nations] goyim, different peoples or clans. Probably some adventurous person, whose subjects were composed of refugees from different countries. Verse 2. These made war with Bera, &c.] It appears, from ver. 4, that these five Canaanitish kings had been subdued by Chedorlaomer, and were obliged to pay him tribute; and that, having been enslaved by him twelve years, wishing to recover their liberty, they revolted in the thirteenth; in consequence of which Chedorlaomer, the following year, summoned to his assistance three of his vassals, invaded Canaan, fought with and discomfited the kings of the Pentapolis or five cities-Sodom, Gomorrah, Zeboiim, Zoar, and Admah, which were situated in the fruitful plain of Siddim, having previously overrun the whole land. Verse 5. Rephaims] A people of Canaan: chap. xv. 20. |