2 And Sarah died in a Kirjath-arba; the same is Hebron in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her.

3 And Abraham stood up from before his b.Chapter xiii. 18;

men.

Joshua xiv. 15; Judges i. 10.

ver. 19.

Preparations for her burial.

dead, and spake unto the sons of A. M. 2145. Heth, saying,..

d

B. ('. 1859.

4. I am a stranger and a sojourner with you: give me a possession of a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight.

5 And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him,

© Chap. xvii. 8; 1 Chron. xxix. 15; Psa. cx, 12; Hebrews xi. 9, 13. Aots vii. 5.

bear a son in her old age, and by whose miraculous interference a virgin conceived, and the man Christ Jesus was born of her, can by the same power transform the sinful soul, and cause it to bear the image of the heavenly as it has borne the image of the earthly.

Verse 2. Sarah died in Kirjath-arba] Literally in the city of the four. Some suppose this place was called the city of the four because it was the burial place of Adam, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; others, because according to the opinion of the rabbins, Eve was buried there, with Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah. But it seems evidently to have had its name from a Canaanite, one of the Anakim, probably called Arba, (for the text, Josh. xiv. 14, does not actually say this was his name,) who was the chief of the four brothers who dwelt there; the names of the others being Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai. See Judges i. 10. These three were destroyed by the tribe of Judah; probably the other had been previously dead.

Abraham came to mourn for Sarah]; From verse 19 of the preceding chapter it appears that Abraham had settled at Beer-sheba; and here we find that Sarah died at Hebron, which was about twenty-four miles distant from Beer-sheba. For the convenience

NOTES ON CHAP. XXIII. Verse 1. And Sarah was a hundred and seven and twenty years old] It is worthy of remark that Sarah is the only woman in the sacred writings whose age, death, and burial are distinctly noted. And she has been deemed worthy of higher honour, for St. Paul, Gal. iv. 22, 23, makes her a type of the Church of Christ; and her faith in the accomplishment of God's promise, that she should have a son, when all natural probabilities were against it, is particularly celebrated in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chap. xi. 11. Sarah was about ninety-one years old when Isaac was born, and she lived thirty-six years after, and saw him grown up to man's estate. With SARAH the promise of the incarnation of Christ commenced, though a comparatively obscure prophecy of it had been delivered to Eve, chap. iii. 15; and with MARY it terminated, having had its exact completion. Thus God put more honour upon these two women than upon all the daughters of Eve besides. Sarah's conception of Isaac was supernatural; she had passed the age and circumstances in which it was possible, naturally speaking, to have a child; therefore she laughed when the promise was given, knowing that the thing was impossible, because it had ceased to be with her after the manner of wo-of feeding his numerous flocks, Abraham had probably God allows this natural impossibility, and grants that the thing must be the effect of Divine interposition; and therefore asks, Is any thing too hard for God? The physical impossibility was increased in the case of Mary, she having no connection with man; but the same power interposed as in the case of Sarah: and we find that when all aptitude for natural procreation was gone, Sarah received strength to conceive seed, and bore a son, from whom, in a direct line, the Messiah, the Saviour of the world, was to descend; and through this same power we find a virgin conceiving and bearing a son against all natural impossibilities. Every thing is supernatural in the births both of the type and antitype; can it be wondered at then, if the spiritual offspring of the Messiah must have a supernatural birth likewise hence the propriety of that saying, Unless a man be born again-born from above-born, not only of water, but of the Holy Ghost, he cannot see the kingdom of God. These may appear hard sayings, and those who are little in the habit of considering spiritual things may exclaim, " It is enthusiasm! Who can bear it! Such things cannot possibly be." To such persons I have only to say, God hath spoken. This is sufficient for those who credit his being and his Bible; nor is there any thing too hard for him. He, by whose almighty power, Sarah had strength to conceive and

several places of temporary residence, and particularly one at Beer-sheba, and another at Hebron; and it is likely that while he sojourned at Beer-sheba, Sarah died at Hebron; and his coming to mourn and weep for her signifies his coming from the former to the latter place on the news of her death.

Verse 3. Abraham stood up from before his dead] He had probably sat on the ground some days in token of sorrow, as the custom then was, (see Tobit ii. 12, 13; Isa. xlvii. 1; and Gen, xxxvii. 35;) and when this time was finished he arose and began to treat about a burying place.

Verse 4. I am a stranger and a sojourner] It appears from Heb. xi. 13-16; 1 Pet. ii. 11, that these words refer more to the state of his mind than of his body. He felt that he had no certain dwelling place, and was seeking by faith a city that had foundations.

Give me a possession of a burying place] It has been remarked that in different nations it was deemed ignominious to be buried in another's ground; probably this prevailed in early times in the east, and it may be in reference to a sentiment of this kind that Abraham refuses to accept the offer of the children of Heth to bury in any of their sepulchres, and earnestly requests them to sell him one, that he might bury his wife in a place that he could claim as his own.

GENESIS.

12 And Abraham bowed down himself be- before Mamre: the same is Hebron in the fore the people of the land.

Observations on the

-A. M. 2145.

B. C. 1859.

B. C. 1859.

20 And the field, and the cave that Abraham for a possession of a bury- A. M. 2145. is therein, were made sure unto ing place P by the sons of Heth.

See Ruth iv. 7, 8, 9, 10; Jer. xxxii. 10, 11. Verse 20. And the field, &c. were made sure] p" vaiyakom, were established, caused to stand; the whole transaction having been regulated according to. all the forms of law then in use.

1. In this transaction between Abraham and the sons of Heth concerning the cave and field of Machpelah, we have the earliest.account on record of the purchase of land. The simplicity, openness, and candour on both sides cannot be too much admired.

P Chap. 1. 13; 2 Kings xxi. 18. first ages of mankind, suspicion, deceit, and guile seem to have had a very limited influence.. Happy days of primitive simplicity ! When shall they return?

3. We often hear of the rudeness and barbarity of the primitive ages, but on what evidence? Every rule of politeness that could be acted upon in such a case as that mentioned here, is brought into full practice. Is it possible to read the simple narration in this place without admiring the amiable, decent, and polite con 2. Sarah being dead, Abraham being only a duct displayed on both sides? Had even Lord Chessojourner in that land, shifting from place to place for terfield read this account, his good sense would have the mere purpose of pasturing his flocks, and having led him to propose it as a model in all transactions beno right to any part of the land, wished to purchase a tween man and his fellows. There is neither awkward, - place in which he might have the continual right of stiff formality on the one hand, nor frippery or affectasepulture. For this purpose, 1. He goes to the gate tion on the other... Decent respect, good sense,` good of the city, the place where, in all ancient times, jus- nature, and good breeding, are all prominently displaytice was administered, and bargains and sales con- ed. And how highly laudable and useful is all this! cluded, and where for these purposes the elders of the A-pedant or a boor on either side might have destroyed people sat. 2. He there proposes to buy the cave the simplicity of the whole transaction; the one by known by the name of the Cave of Machpelah; the cave engendering caution and suspicion, and the other by of the turning or the double cave, for a burying place exciting disgust. In all such transactions the beau and for his family. 3. To prevent him from going to any the boor are equally to be avoided. From the first no unnecessary expense, the people with one voice offer sincerity can be expected, and the manners of the latter him the privilege of burying his wife in any of their render him intolerable. The religion of the Bible resepulchres; this appearing to them to be no more than commends and inculcates orderly behaviour, as well as the common rights of hospitality and humanity required. purity of heart and life. They who, under the sanc 4. Abraham, intent on making a purchase, Ephron, tion of religion, trample under foot the decent forms the owner of the field and cave, values them at four of civil respect, supposing that because they are relihundred shekels, but at the same time wishes Abraham gious, they have a right to be rude, totally mistake the to receive the whole as a gift. 5.. Abraham refuses spirit of Christianity, for love or charity (the soul and the gift and weighs down the silver specified. 6. The essence of that religion) behaveth not itself unseemly. people who enter in at the gate, i. e,, the inhabitants Every attentive reader of the thirteenth chapter of St. coming from or going to their ordinary occupations in Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians, will clearly disthe country, witness the transaction, and thus the con- cern that the description of true religion given in that veyance to Abraham is made sure without the inter-place applies as forcibly to good breeding as to inward vention of those puzzlers of civil affairs by whose and outward holiness. What lessons of honesty, detricks and chicanery property often becomes insecure, cent respect, and good manners could a sensible man and right and succession precarious and uncertain. derive from Abraham treating with the sons of Heth But this censure does not fall on lawyers properly so for the cave of Machpelah, and William Penn treating called, who are men of honour, and whose office, in with the American Indians for the tract of land now every well-regulated state, is as useful as it is respect-called Pennsylvania! I leave others to draw the paable. But the accumulation and complex nature. of rallel, and to show how exactly the conduct and spirit almost all modern systems of law puzzle even justice of patriarch the first were exemplified in the conduct herself, and often induce decisions by which truth and spirit of patriarch the second. Let the righteous falls in the streets and equity goes backwards In the be had in everlasting remembrance!

CHAPTER XXIV.

Abraham, being solicitous to get his son Isaac properly married, calls his confidential servant, probably Eliezer, and makes him swear that he will not take a wife for Isaac from among the Canaanites, 1-3, but from among his own kindred, 4. The servant proposes-certain difficulties, 5, which Abraham removes by giving him the strongest assurances of God's direction in the business, 6, 7, and then specifies the conditions of the oath, 8. The form of the oath itself, 9. The servant makes preparations for his journey, and sets out for Mesopotamia, the residence of Abraham's kindred, 10. Arrives at a well near to the place, 11. His prayer to God, 12-14. Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel, son of Nahor, Abraham's brother, comes to the well to draw water, 15. She is described, 16. Conversation between her and Abraham's servant, in

GENESIS.

to procure a wife for Isaac. which every thing took place according to his prayer to God, 17-21. He makes her presents, and learns whose daughter she is, 22-24. She invites him to her father's house, 25. He returns thanks to God for having thus far given him a prosperous journey, 26, 27. Rebekah runs home and informs her family, 28; on which her brother Laban comes out, and invites the servant home, 29–31. His reception, 32, 33. Tells his errand, 34, and how he had proceeded in executing the trust reposed in him, 35-48. Requests an answer, 49. The family of Rebekah consent that she should become the wife of Isaac, 50, 51. servant worships God, 52, and gives presents to Milcah, Laban, and Rebekah, 53. He requests to be dismissed, 54-56. Rebekah, being consulted, consents to go, 57, 58. She is accompanied by her nurse, 59; and having received the blessing of her parents and relatives, 60, she departs with the servant of Abraham, 61. They are met by Isaac, who was on an evening walk for the purpose of meditation, 62–65. The servant relates to Isaac all that he had done, 66. Isaac and Rebekah are married, 67.

Verse 10. Took ten camels] It appears that Abraham had left the whole management of this business to the discretion of his servant, to take with him what retinue and what dowry he pleased; for it is added, All the goods of his master were in his hand; and in those times it was customary to give a dowry for a wife, and not to receive one with her.

Verse 11. He made his camels to kneel down] To rest themselves, or lie down, as the Septuagint has very properly expressed it, Και εκοιμισε τας καμήλους.

The time that women go out to draw water.] In Bengal it is the universal practice for the women to go to pools and rivers to fetch water. Companies of four, six, ten, or more, may be seen in every town daily going to fetch water, with the pitchers resting upon their sides; and, on their return from bathing, women frequently bring water home.-WARD.

"The

Verse 12. And he said, O Lord God, &c.] conduct of this servant," says Dr. Dodd, "appears no less pious than rational. By supplicating for a sign, he acknowledges God to be the great superintendent and director of the universe, and of that event in particular; and at the same time, by asking a natural sign, such as betokened humanity, condescension, and other qualities which promised a discreet and virtuous wife, he puts his prayer upon such a discreet, rational footing, as to be a proper example for all to imitate who would not tempt the providence of God, by expecting extraordinary signs to be given them for the determi

I neither believe myself, nor would wish my readers to credit. I believe the true sense is given in the Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, and that called the Jerusalem Targum. In the former it is said, Put now thy hand a bigzirath mehulathi, in sectione circumcisionis meæ; in the latter ''p in techoth yerech keyami, sub femore fœderis mei. When we put the circumstances mentioned in this and the third verse together, we shall find that they fully express the ancient method of binding by oath in such transactions as had a religious tendency. 1. The rite or ceremony used on the occasion: the person binding himself put his hand under the thigh of the person to whom he was to be bound; i. e., he put his hand on the part that bore the mark of circumcision, the sign of God's covenant, which is tantamount to our kissing the book, or laying the hand upon the New Testament or covenant of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2. The form of the oath itself: the person swore by Jehovah, the God of heaven and the God of the earth. Three essential attributes of God are here mentioned: 1. His self-existence and eternity in the name Jehovah. 2. His dominion of glory and blessedness in the kingdom of heaven. 3. His providence and bounty in the earth. The meaning of the oath seems to be this: "As God is unchangeable in his nature and purposes, so shall I be in this engagement, under the penalty of forfeiting all expectation of temporal prosperity, the benefits of the mystical covenant, and future glory." An oath of this kind, taken at such a time, and on such an occa-nation of cases which they are capable of deciding by sion, can never be deemed irreligious or profane. Thou a proper use of their rational faculties.” This is all shalt swear by his name—shalt acknowledge and bind very good; but certainly the case referred to here is thyself unto the true God, as the just Judge of thy such a one as required especial direction from God; motives and actions, is a command of the Most High; a case which no use of the rational faculties, without and such an oath as the above is at once (on such an Divine influence, could be sufficient to determine. It occasion) both proper and rational. The person bind- is easy to run into extremes, and it is very natural so ing himself proposes for a pattern the unchangeable | to do. In all things the assistance and blessing of and just God; and as He is the avenger of wrong, God are necessary, even where human strength and and the punisher of falsehood, and has all power in the wisdom have the fullest and freest sphere of action; heavens and in the earth, so he can punish perjury by but there are numberless cases, of infinite consequence privation of spiritual and temporal blessings, by the to man, where his strength and prudence can be of little loss of life, and by inflicting the perdition due to un- or no avail, and where the God of all grace must work godly men, among whom liars and perjured persons all things according to the counsel of his own will. occupy the most distinguished rank. Our ideas of To expect the accomplishment of any good end, withdelicacy may revolt from the rite used on this occa-out a proper use of the means, is the most reprehension; but when the nature of the covenant is considered, sible enthusiasm; and to suppose that any good can of which circumcision was the sign, we shall at once be done or procured without the blessing and mercy perceive that this rite could not be used without producing sentiments of reverence and godly fear, as the contracting party must know that the God of this covenant was a consuming fire.

of God, merely because proper means are used, is not
less reprehensible. Plan, scheme, and labour like
Eliezer, and then, by earnest faith and prayer, commit
the whole to the direction and blessing of God.
145

a