negro races, so long-suffering under the curse of the slavetrade.

After the completion of this episode, the genealogy resumes its course; and the statement in chap. ix. 19, that from the three sons of Noah the whole earth was overspread, is now (chap. x.) verified in detail. The descendants of Japheth come first, and ver. 3 sums up by saying that they peopled the "isles of the Gentiles." This phrase and analogous ones seem always to denote the western countries, the sea coasts, whether of islands or continents, specially those bordering on the Mediterranean. Thus Esther x. I, "the isles of the sea,” in contrast with “the land,” denotes Xerxes' Western provinces, as opposed to those on the Continent of Asia. “The isles of Chittim” (Jer. ii. 10, xxvii. 6) denote the coasts of Greece, Italy, and the great islands of the Mediterranean, such as Crete (Jer. xlvii. 4). Here then "the isles of the nations" denote the "countries of Europe, and the coasts of Asia Minor, to which the inhabitants of Palestine and Egypt had access only by sea" ("Speaker's Commentary"). The names of Japheth's descendants given in vers. 2-4 are striking evidences of the truth of this ethnology. Gomer represents the Cimbri, the Cimmerian Bosphorus, and the Cymri, or Cambri. Javan represents the Ionians ('Iάoves). Elishah Elis, and perhaps Hellas, and 'EAλnvés. Tarshish = Tartessus in Spain, and so on.

=

The sons of Ham came next. Cush comprises some, at least, of the dark-skinned races of Africa. Mizraim is the Bible name for Egypt, and found occasionally on Egyptian monuments; Phut, found also on the monuments, is the Libyan race; and some South Arabian tribes, indicated by the names Seba, Havilah, and others in ver. 7, also belong to Cush. We are surprised, at first, to find Nimrod (Micah v. 6), with his cities of Babel and Nineveh, assigned to Cush, and consequently to Ham. But the recent revelations of the most ancient history of those countries, made by the cuneiform inscriptions, fully confirm the truth of the statement, "As the cuneiform inscriptions were deciphered, it gradually became evident that before any inhabitant of the

Semitic stock had entered Chaldea, it had been peopled by the Accadians, who had been the builders of the cities, and the founders of the civilisation, afterwards borrowed by the Semites" (Note to Gen. x. 10 in Bishop Ellicott's Commentary). The same writer observes, with reference to the name Accad in ver. 10, that whereas it was meaningless fifty years ago, it is now a household word in the mouth of Assyriologers" (ibid.). So surprisingly have these ancient Scriptural records been confirmed by the recent discoveries of long lost monuments. To Ham belong also the Philistines, and all the tribes of Canaanites, including the Sidonians. These, under the name of Fenike or Phoenicians, are often mentioned in the Egyptian inscriptions. It is worth mentioning, as an indication of the great antiquity of this document, that in ver. 19 Sodom and Gomorrah, and the other cities of the plain, are spoken of as still standing.

The sons of Shem, "the father of all the children of Eber,” follow; but in this chapter (x.) the Messianic line is only carried down to Peleg, "in whose time the earth was divided.” From vers. 31, 32, which look like the end of a pedigree, as well as from the fact that chap. xi. 10, which is the heading of the subsequent generations of Shem, looks like the heading of a pedigree, we may, perhaps, conclude that the older document ended when chap. x. ends, and that chap. xi. 10 ff. is a later pedigree, made out in the days of Abraham. Anyhow, this genealogy in chap. xi. carries us down through ten generations, from Shem to Abraham, and is repeated exactly in 1 Chron. i. 24-27, and in Luke iii. 34-36, with the exception of the interposition of a Cainan between Arphaxad and Sala in Luke, which seems to be clearly a scribe's error. (See "Genealogies of our Lord Jesus Christ," chap. viii.) Of the sons of Shem, the most remarkable names are Elam, named as a people in Gen. xiv. 1, and appearing frequently in the cuneiform inscriptions as a powerful nation; Asshur, from whom descended the Assyrian race; and Aram, whose descendants were the various tribes of Arameans, or Syrians, -as the A.V. calls them-in Mesopotamia, at Damascus, at Zoba, &c. Eber was the father of the Hebrew race.

Before quitting the tenth chapter, we ought to notice that there is some doubt as to the order of birth of the three sons of Noah. They were always named as Shem, Ham, and Japheth; and the A.V. of Gen. x. 21, "Shem . . . the brother of Japheth the elder,” is, to say the least, doubtful. The more natural rendering is that of the Revised Version. "Unto Shem . . . the elder brother of Japheth." But on the other hand, Shem being named first, is no proof that he was the eldest. Abraham is named before Nahor (chap. xi. 29), though Nahor was the eldest. Ephraim is almost always named before Manasseh, though Manasseh was the eldest. Jacob is named before Esau (Josh. xxiv. 4). And in Gen. x. 2, Japheth's genealogy being given first, is rather indicative of his being the eldest. And Gen. ix. 24 looks as if Ham was the youngest of the three sons, so that some doubt hangs over the order of the sons of Noah.

The only historical event mentioned in this genealogy is the remarkable one of the confusion of tongues, and the dispersion of mankind to the several countries assigned to them in the preceding chapter. The narrative goes back, as is usual with Hebrew narratives, to explain what had gone before. It seems that shortly after the flood men had journeyed eastward,* and settled in the rich plain of Shinar, or Babylonia. Here they found abundance of brick-earth, which, whether dried in the sun, or baked in the kiln, supplied excellent material for building. Here, then, they resolved to build a city and a lofty tower. It seems from ver. 4 that their object was, not as has been thought without any sufficient ground, on the authority of Josephus,t to build a tower so lofty as to secure them a place of refuge from another flood, but to check the dispersion which they had some reason to fear would take place. It seems, too, that there was some spirit of defiance of God in what they pro

* De might mean "from the East," as it is rendered in the A.V. of Gen. xi, 2. But it may also mean "in the direction of the East," "eastwards," which is doubtless its meaning here. The ark rested to the west of Shinar, and the first inhabitants journeyed eastwards.

+ Compare Ps. lv. 9.

posed to do, though from the conciseness of the narrative, it is not clear in what it consisted. Anyhow, this purpose was defeated by the confusion of tongues, and the result was the dispersion of mankind, and their settlement in their various localities.

The obscurity of this history of the dispersion which took place in the days of Peleg is probably due to its antiquity. When it was first put on record, circumstances might be known by tradition which explained it, but which have since been forgotten. But the two main facts of it, the original unity of language, and the spread of the population of the world from one centre, are matters for scientific research. Thus, not only are the widely spread members of the IndoEuropean family springing from Japheth, and comprising the Sanscrit, Greek, Latin, Teutonic, Sclavonic, and Celtic languages closely connected with each other, but they have also a clear, though less close connection with the Semitic family. At least 900 or 800 Hebrew roots are found in Greek or Latin words alone. Philology discovers a like connection between other families of language. We know, too, how the great streams of European population have flowed from the East to the West. All the evidence we have confirms our belief that the different races of mankind were not avτóxoves, springing up like the indigenous flora of particular districts, but that they all migrated from the place of their original settlement to that which they afterwards possessed, so that the statements which lie at the root of the narrative are unquestionably true.

CHAPS. XI. 29-XII. 18.-THE CALL OF Abram.

The genealogy of Shem now brings us to a most important incident, the birth of Abram, whose history follows at length down to chap. xxv. IO. This illustrates a marked feature in the Scriptural narrative, viz., that it treats certain epochs very fully, as the life of Jacob, the sojourning of his descendants in Egypt, and their Exodus under Moses, the times of Samuel, the reigns of David and Solomon, the life

of Elijah and Elishah, and so on; while other long periods, like the lives of the Patriarchs, the first thirty years of Saul's reign, the long reign of Uzziah, &c., are passed over in comparative silence. There is a gap of nearly sixty years between Ezra vi. and vii. in which nothing whatever is recorded.

This section of the history is also remarkable as bringing forward for the first time that purpose of God, which for between one and two thousand years had so powerful an influence upon the world at large, and still affects materially the condition of mankind, I mean the planting of Abram's descendants in the land of Canaan. Infidels can of course, if they please, shut their eyes to the most colossal truths. But the fact remains firmly embedded in the history of our race that the separation of the Israelites from the nations of the earth, their establishment in Palestine, their religious institutions, and the great gift of Holy Scripture entrusted to them, has been for between 3000 and 4000 years a living influence affecting more powerfully the moral condition of mankind than any other event that can be named, including as it does the coming of Christ into the world. Nor do we know what further benefits to flow from Israel to the world are in the womb of time (see Rom. xi. 12, 15). It is well therefore to fix our attention upon this first appearance of the Divine purpose which we see in Gen. xi. 31, where we read that "Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and led them forth (so LXX.) from Ur of the Chaldees to go into the land of Canaan." But what was the motive of this journey? for none has hitherto been given. It is given in chap. xii. 1, which, as usual, goes back to supply something that is wanting in the previous narrative. Let us hear St. Stephen's explanation (Acts vii. 2-4), “The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldæans (i.e., Mesopotamia), and dwelt in Charran: and from thence, when his father was