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gave him all neceffary inftructions and authority to conclude the marriage, and fent him away with a train fuitable to the embaffy he was fent upon; that is, with ten camels loaden with the richest prefents for the damfel's dowry; it being the custom in thofe days for the husband not to receive, but to pay a dowry for the wife. The servant made the beft of his way to Haran, where Nahor dwelt; and what by his prefents, what by his addrefs, and the favourable account he gave of Abraham's grandeur and wealth, did eafily obtain from him the beautiful Re-Rebecca is becca for his young mafter; and as foon as he had obtained given to her father's and her brother Laban's confent, he forthwith Ifaac. took out all the jewels of filver and gold, and fine raiment, which he had brought, and prefented them to her, making at the fame time fome confiderable prefents to her mother and brother; after which, the reft of the day was spent in feasting and mirth. The next morning Abraham's fervant, impatient to acquaint his mafter with the good fuccefs of his negotiation, defired to be difmiffed, and with fome difficulty obtained it; and after they had wished her all the ufual bleffings, and ordered her nurse to accompany her, they took their leave. The fervant foon after brought her in fight of his young mafter, who chanced that night to be taking a folitary walk in the neighbouring fields; and as foon as Rebecca was informed who he was, the alighted; and, throwing a veil over her face, as the manner of young damfels then was, she waited to receive his firft compliments h. He then con-Ifaac takes ducted her to his mother's tent, highly pleased with her her home. extreme beauty, and modeft carriage, as well as the kindred fhe came from; all which he looked upon as ample amends for the lofs of his mother. He had now nothing to wish for, but that fhe might prove fruitful; but he was forced to wait nineteen years before he could obtain that bleffing; during which he comforted himself and

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her with the affurance of God's promifes, and the example of Sarah, who remained childlefs till the ninetieth year of her age.

Year of ABRAHAM could not but be pleased to see his fon in the flood the poffeffion of fo agreeable a wife; but that not pro495. ving fufficient to comfort him for the loss of his own, and Bef. Chr. finding himself ftill capable of making a new addition to 1853. his family, though he was then an hundred and forty-one years old, and had continued a widower feveral years, Abraham, he took another wife, named Keturah (P); by whom he being 141 had fix fons, whom he afterwards portioned, that they years old, might not interfere with Ifaac's inheritance, and fent marries them to dwell towards the east. They went eastward of and has fix Beersheba, and the land of Canaan; and fettled in both fons by Arabias, the Petrea and the Deferta, where fome footber. fteps of their names are ftill to be met with, of which we have given an account in a former volume *.

Keturah,

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1 Gen. xxv. per tot. Vid. fup. vol. ii. p. 150, & feqq.

(P) The Jews pretend, that this Keturah was the fame with Hagar, whom Abraham fent for again after his wife's death, and by whom he had all these children. The reafons they give for it are, 1. Because the Pfalmift calls the Midianites, which came of Keturah, Hagarens (108). 2. It is faid elsewhere, they made war with the Hagarens, with Jethur, Naphife, and Nadab (109), which were the fons of Ishmael (110). And, 3. Because I mael, Hagar's fon, is faid to have affifted Ifaac at the funeral obfequies of their father Abraham (111). To which they add, that Hagar being Abraham's lawful wife, it was juster for him to marry her than another. But thefe rea

(108) Pfal. lxxxiii. 6.

:

fons, and her name's being
changed from Hagar into Ke-
turah, which fignifies incenfe,
and is the emblem of conti-
nency, in which she had lived
ever fince fhe had been dismis-
fed from Abraham, are rabbi-
nical dreams, for she is still
called Hagar in the fame chap-
ter (112). Befides, the text is
plain against them, it being
faid, that Abraham added or
proceeded to take another wife,
which is inconfiftent with his
recalling the old one. Add to
this, that Hagar was only a
concubine, and is no-where
called a wife, as Keturah is;
and that Hagar must then have
been about eighty years of
age, and fo too old to bear fo
many fons to fo old a man
(113).

(109) I Chron. v. 10.

ron. tradit. Hebr. in Gen. XXV. 20. (111) Gen. xxv. 9.
(113) Jun. in loc. Villet. c. 25. quæft. 3. & al.

(110) Hie (112) Ver. 12.

CON

491.

CONCERNING Abraham we have nothing more record Year of ed, except that he lived to the hundredth and feventy-fifth the flood year of his age, and was gathered unto his fathers; and that his two fons paid him their laft devoirs, Ifaac having Bef. Chr. probably fent for his brother Ishmael, and buried him in 1857. the cave of Machpelah, near Sarah his wife. Hence it Abrais plain, that Mofes has here anticipated his death, by mentioning it before the birth of his two grandfons Efau death. and Jacob, though he must have lived to the fifteenth year of their age (Q).

(Q) Abraham's hiftory has been embellished with a great many notorious fictions by the Fews, Arabians, and Indians. We have already touched on fome of them in his life ; and we fhall now fubjoin fome few more that are remarkable, fuch as his making a long abode in Egypt, and teaching aftronomy, and other sciences there (115); his inventing the Hebrew characters and tongue (116), the fame that are now in use; his being the author of feveral books, and in particular the famous one mentioned in the Talmud, and highly valued by feveral learned rabbies, called Jetzirah, or the creation; of which it gives an account. There is alfo an apocalypfe attributed to him by the Sethians, a fort of heretics that fprang up in the earliest times of chriftianity (117). His affumption is mentioned by St. Athanafius; and Origen tells us of an apocryphal book pretended to be

As

written by him, wherein two angels, a good one and a bad one, are introduced difputing about his falvation or damnation (118). The Jews make him alfo the compofer of fome prayers, and of the ninetieth pfalm, and of a treatise against idolatry (119). The Indian fire-worshipers, who think him to have been the fame with their great prophet Zoroafter, attribute his books to him, which they call the Zend, Pazend, and Voftah, containing all the principles of their religion (120). Dr. Prideaux mentions them as one book, or perhaps three books in one volume, which he calls Zendevefti; or, as the vulgar people pronounce it, Zundeveflow or plain Zund. Which name, he tells us, fignifies a fire-kindler, such as a tinderbox is here with us; and was given it by the author to infinuate, that it would kindle a brighter fire in those who should

(115) Artapan. & Eupolem. ap. Eufeb. præp. 1. ix. c. 17, 18. Juftin. ex Trog. 1. xxxvi. Jofeph. ant. l.i. c. 8.

(116). Id.

ibid. Suid. in Abraham. Ifidor. Hifpal. I.. i. c. 3. Origen, &c. (117) Epiphan. hæref. 1. xxxix. c. 5.

Xxxv. in Luc.

(118) Origen. bömil.

(119) R. Salom. in Bava Bathra, c. I. Gemar. ced. Talm, tra&. Abodab Zarab, c. 1. orient. p. 16.

(120) Herbeist. bibliot.

attentively

Rebecca's As for Rebecca, fhe continued barren above nineteen pregnancy. years; during which time Ifaac ceafed not intreating the LORD

attentively and devoutly read
it (150).

The Arabians have likewise
given us an history of this pa-
triarch, though fo altered and
blended, that one would hardly
think they were defcended, as
they are, from him by Ib
mael.

Abraham, according to them,
(131), was the fon of Azar,
and grandfon of Terah; which
account, could it be relied upon,
would eafily refolve that dif-
ficulty about his age when he
died, which we have lately
fpoken of, p. 248, (B); fince Te-
rab might have begot Azar in
the feventieth year of his age,
and Azar have begot Abraham
in the fixtieth of his; fo that
this laft number, which is
wanting in Mofes's account of
his life, would be here found
complete; but we dare not af-
firm any thing about it. Cal
met indeed thinks we might
eafily fuppofe two Terahs, one
furnamed Azar, Abraham's fa-
ther, and the other his grand-
father; but we dare not add
with him, that there is nothing
in fuch a fuppofition that con-
tradicts the facred text. The
eaftern heathens have alfo a
long tradition of Abraham's
life, though vaftly different
from that of Mofes, and fraught
with many wonderful additions

of their own invention, but which we think not worth a place in a book of this nature, and for which we shall refer our reader to the author quoted laft in the margin (132). The Perfian fire-worshipers to this day exprefs a great ve neration for him; they call him Zeerdooft, or Zoroafter, which fignifies the friend of fire; becaufe when he was thrown, as they pretend, into the furnace by Nimrod's order, the flames, inftead of confuming him, careffed and embraced him in a friendly manner (133). We may add, that Calmet (134) mentions a book in the French king's library, No. 792, written originally by St. Ephrem the Syrian, and tranflated from the Syriac into Arabic, upon Abraham's journey into Egypt; in which book there is alío a fermon on his death, preached by St. Athanafius, patriarch of Alexandria, on the twentyeighth of March; on which day the Coptic or Egyptian Chriftians celebrate his feftival. The antient fathers of the church have highly celebrated him on the account of his great faith and obedience; and the martyrologies have given him a place among their other faints, on the ninth of October (135). The church

(130) Conn. p. 317. (131) Tarikmounteckeb ap. eund. p. 12. (132) Id.

ibid. p. 13. ex lib. Mailem.

(134) Ex bibl. orient. p. 16.

ard, &c.

(133) Prid. connect. p. i. book iv. (135) Martyrol. Rom. Adon. Ufu

of

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LORD for her, who was pleafed at length to hear his prayers, and fend to him the long-defired bleffing. They now began to think themselves truly happy; but Rebecca's happiness was short-lived. The unnatural ftruggling of the twins in her womb gave her an extraordinary uneafiness, till, after having confulted GOD about it, fhe was answered, that two nations were striving in her, and that two forts of people should be feparated from her bowels, one of which should prove ftronger than the other, and that the elder fhould ferve the younger. Accordingly fhe was foon

of Rome hath likewife ordered an office for him, and they addrefs him in particular for thofe who are at the point of death.

It is reported, that the tomb of Abraham having been difcovered near Hebron, they found his body, and thofe of Ifaac and Jacob, whole and uncorrupted. There were likewise fome gold and filver lamps hung up in the cave, which was vifited by multitudes (136). The Molams have fuch a veneration for this place, that they make it one of their four pilgrimages, the three others being that of Mecca, Medina, and Jerufalem; and the Chriftians built a church over the cave (137), which the Turks afterwards turned into a mofque, as has been already hinted (138).

Mof. Ben Maimon (139', and after him the learned Spencer, tell us, that Abraham was brought up in the religion of the Zabeans, who are fuppofed to have been great aftnomers, aftrologers, &c. and,

(136) Ben Sholmab ap. Herbelot. ii. p.773.

by difcovering the power and influence of the ftars and heavenly bodies, came at length to worship them. As to what Maimonides fays, we fhall only anfwer with Meyer (140), that it is impoffible to prove, that the Zabeans were even as old as Mofes; much more that they were older than Abraham; for though it be granted, that there were fome people called Zabeans before Mofes's time, and that their idolatry had been in vogue long before him; yet this will not prove, that the Zabeans we are speaking of, were older than Abraham; and Spencer himself owns (141), that it is almoft impoffible to discover their beginning, which has given rife to fo many dif ferent opinions about it, and perhaps not one of them right. However, it is not improbable, that Abraham, being born and educated in an idolatrous country and family, might have been addicted to that fuperftition, till God called him away from the one and the other.

(137) Serm. quadrag, elmid. i. (139) Mai

(138) Vol. ii. p. 477, (A), ad fin.

mon. tractat. more nevoch. part. iii. c. 29 & 46. & in Avodah Zarab, c. II,

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(140) Meyer de feft. dieb, Hebr. c. 12.

leg. Hebr. ritual. 1. ii, c. 1,

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(141) Spenc. de

after

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