ABRAHAM
The Story of the First Great Hero of Israel's History. How He Tented with His Flocks on the Upland Pastures of Palestine, and Became the Father of a Great Nation.
THE MIGRATION.
He Leaves His Father's Home and Journeys to a New Country.
There was a man named Abram, who lived in the city of Ur of the Chaldees.
Now the Lord said unto Abram, "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee: and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing: and I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse: and in thee shall all the families of the earth he blessed."
So Abram went, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and all their families and servants; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.
And Abram passed through the land unto the place of [{22}] Shechem, unto the oak of Moreh. And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, "Unto thy family will I give this land": and there builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him.
And he removed from thence unto the mountain on the east of Beth-el, and pitched his tent, having Beth-el on the west, and Ai on the east; and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord. And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the South.
ABRAM AND LOT.
The Division of the Land.
And Abram was very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold. And Lot also, who went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents. And the land was not able to hold them, that they might dwell together: for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together. And there was a strife between the herd men of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle.
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 are brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou take the right hand, then I will go to the left."
And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the Plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt.
THE TRADITIONAL OAK OF ABRAHAM, NEAR HEBRON
From a photograph belonging to Miss Julia W. Snow and used by her kind permission.
"And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the Oak of Moreh."
So Lot chose for himself all the Plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the Plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners against the Lord exceedingly. And the Lord said unto Abram, after Lot was separated from him, "Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward and southward and eastward and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy family for ever. And I will make thy family as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy family also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for unto thee will I give it."
And Abram moved his tent, and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and built there an altar un to the Lord.
THE FIGHT OF THE FIVE KINGS AGAINST THE FOUR.
The Capture of Lot, and His Rescue by Abram.
And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar); and they set the battle in array against them in the vale of Siddim; against Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, and Tidal, king of Goiim, and Amraphel, king of Shinar, and Arioch, king of Ellasar; four kings against the five.
Now the vale of Siddim was full of pitch pits; and the [{26}] kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell there, and they that remained fled to the mountain. And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. And they took Lot, Abram's brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew.
And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan. And he divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.
And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him. And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High. And he blessed him, and said, "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth: and blessed be God Most High, who hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand." And he gave him a tenth of all.
And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, "Give me the persons and take the goods to thyself." And Abram said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted up my hand unto the Lord, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take a thread or a shoelatchet nor aught that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, 'I have made Abram rich': [{27}] save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me; let them take their portion."
GOD'S PROMISES.
The Making of the Covenant.
After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, "Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward."
And Abram said, "O Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I am childless, and he that shall be possessor of my house is my servant, Eliezer of Damascus?"
And Abram said, "Behold, to me thou hast given no child: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir." And, behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, "This man shall not be thine heir; but he that shall be thine own son shall be thine heir."
And he brought him forth abroad, and said, "Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them": and he said unto him, "So shall thy family be."
And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness. And he said unto him, "I am the Lord who brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it." And he said, "O Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?"
And he said unto him, "Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon."
And he took him all these, and divided them in the [{28}] midst, and laid each half over against the other: but the birds divided he not. And the birds of prey came down upon the carcases, and Abram drove them away. And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him. And he said unto Abram, "Know of a surety that thy family shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four hundred years; and also that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come out with great substance. But thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age. And in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet full."
And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a flaming torch that passed between these pieces. In that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, "Unto thy family have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river Euphrates."
THE BIRTH OF ISHMAEL.
Abram Receives a New Name. Visit of the Messengers.
(Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had no children, and, as the custom sometimes was in those days, she gave him her handmaid Hagar, to be his wife. And Hagar had a child, and Abram called the name of the child Ishmael.)
And when Abram was ninety and nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, "I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I [{29}] will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly."
And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying, "As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee, and thou shalt be the father of a multitude of nations. Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy family after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy family after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy family after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God."
And God said unto Abraham, "And as for thee, thou shalt keep my covenant, thou, and thy family after thee throughout their generations."
And God said unto Abraham, "As for Sarai, thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. And I will bless her, and moreover I will give thee a son of her: yea, I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; she shall bear thee a son; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant for his family after him."
And the Lord appeared unto him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood over against [{30}] him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself to the earth and said, "My lord, if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant: let now a little water be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree: and I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your heart; after that ye shall pass on: forasmuch as ye are come to your servant."
And they said, "So do, as thou hast said."
And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, "Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes."
And Abraham ran to the herd, and fetched a calf tender and good, and gave it to the servant; and he hasted to dress it. And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. And the Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do; seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, to the end that he may command his children and his household after him, that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; to the end that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him."
And the Lord said, "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; [{31}] I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the report of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know."
And the men turned from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord. And Abraham drew near, and said, "Wilt thou consume the righteous within the city: wilt thou consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the wicked; that be far from thee: shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"
And the Lord said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sake."
And Abraham answered and said, "Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes: peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous; wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five?"
And he said, "I will not destroy it, if I find there forty and five."
And he spake unto him yet again, and said, "Peradventure there shall be forty found there."
And he said, "I will not do it for the forty's sake."
And he said, "Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: peradventure there shall be thirty found there."
And he said, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there." And he said, "Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: peradventure there shall be twenty found there."
And he said, "I will not destroy it for the twenty's sake." And he said, "Oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but this once: peradventure ten shall be found there."
And he said, "I will not destroy it for the ten's sake." And the Lord went his way, as soon as he had done communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.
DESTRUCTION OF THE CITIES OF THE PLAIN.
The Fate of Sodom and Gomorrah.
And the two angels came to Sodom at evening; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot saw them and rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face to the earth; and he said, "Behold now, my lords, turn aside, I pray you, into your servant's house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your way."
And they said, "Nay; but we will abide in the street all night."
And he urged them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
And the men said unto Lot, "Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whomsoever thou hast in the city; bring them out of the place: for we will destroy this place, because the cry of them has grown great before the Lord; and the Lord hath sent us to destroy it."
THE DEAD SEA
The five "Cities of the Plain" are supposed to have been situated to the north of the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is 47 miles long, with an extreme breadth of about 10 miles. It lies 1290 feet below the sea level and is itself 1300 feet deep in the deepest part. (See note on [ page 257])
And Lot went out, and spoke to his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, "Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy the city." But he seemed to his sons in law as one who mocked.
And when the morning came, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, "Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters who are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city."
But he lingered; and the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, "Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the Plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed."
And Lot said to them, "Oh, not so, my lord: behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die: behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live."
And he said unto him, "See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar, that is, "Little."
The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah [{36}] brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord: and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the Plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.
And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the Plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.
BIRTH OF ISAAC.
Hagar and Ishmael Are Cast Out. Treaty with Abimelech.
And a child was born to Sarah, according as the Lord had promised, and Abraham called the name of his son, Isaac. And the child grew, and was weaned: and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. And Sarah saw the son of Hagar, the Egyptian, which she had borne unto Abraham, mocking. Wherefore she said unto Abraham, "Cast out this bondwoman and her son: for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with my son, even with Isaac."
HAGAR AND ISHMAEL
By Cazin
And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight on account of his son. And God said unto Abraham, "Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah saith unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy family be called. And also of the son of the bondwoman will I make a nation, because he is thy son."
And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread and a bottle of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba. And the water in the bottle was spent, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs. And she went, and sat her down over against him a good way off, as it were a bowshot: for she said, "Let me not look upon the death of the child."
And she sat over against him, and lifted up her voice, and wept. And God heard the voice of the lad; and the angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said unto her, "What aileth thee, Hagar? fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is. Arise, lift up the lad, and hold him in thine hand; for I will make him a great nation."
And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water, and gave the lad drink. And God was with the lad, and he grew; and he dwelt in the wilderness, and became an archer. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Paran: and his mother took him a wife out of the land of Egypt.
And it came to pass at that time, that Abimelech and Phicol, the captain of his host, spoke to Abraham, saying, "God is with thee in all that thou doest: now therefore swear [{40}] unto me here by God that thou wilt not deal falsely with me, nor with my son, nor with my son's son: but according to the kindness that I have done unto thee, thou shalt do unto me, and to the land wherein thou hast sojourned."
And Abraham said, "I will swear."
And Abraham reproved Abimelech because of the well of water, which Abimelech's servants had violently taken away. And Abimelech said, "I know not who hath done this thing: neither didst thou tell me, neither yet heard I of it, but to-day."
And Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them unto Abimelech; and they two made a covenant. And Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. And Abimelech said unto Abraham, "What mean these seven ewe lambs which thou hast set by themselves?"
And he said, "These seven ewe lambs shalt thou take of my hand, that it may be a witness unto me, that I have digged this well."
Wherefore he called that place Beer-sheba; because there they sware both of them. So they made a covenant at Beer-sheba: and Abimelech rose up, and Phicol, the captain of his host, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. And Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beer-sheba, and called there on the name of the Lord, the Everlasting God. And Abraham sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.
THE TESTING OF ABRAHAM.
God Provides the Sacrifice.
And it came to pass after these things, that God proved Abraham, and said to him, "Abraham!"
And he said, "Here am I."
And he said, "Take now thy son, thine only son, whom thou lovest, even Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of."
And Abraham rose early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him. On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, "Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder; and we will worship, and come again to you."
And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac, his son; and he took in his hand the fire and the knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spoke unto Abraham, his father, and said, "My father": and he said, "Here am I, my son."
And he said, "Behold, the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?"
And Abraham said, "God will himself provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son": so they went both of them together.
And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built the altar there, and laid the wood in [{42}] order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son. And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, "Abraham, Abraham."
And he said, "Here am I."
And he said, "Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me."
And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold, behind him a ram caught in the thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the place of his son. And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh (that is, Jehovah will provide): as it is said to this day, "In the mount of the Lord it shall be provided." And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said, "By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: that I will certainly bless thee, and I will certainly multiply thy family as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy family shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy family shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice."
So Abraham returned unto his young men, and they rose up and went together to Beer-sheba; and Abraham dwelt at Beer-sheba.
HEBRON
Used by special permission of the Palestine Exploration Fund.
This is one of the most interesting spots in all the world; for here is the cave of Machpelah, the one ancient burial place which has been handed down from remote antiquity as the genuine site. The spot, as the burial place of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah, has been venerated always by the adherents of the three great religions--Jews, Moslems, and Christians. The space containing the caves is inclosed by a great quadrangle of masonry 197 feet long and 111 feet wide called the Haram. Within this inclosure, directly over the caves, is built a mosque. For six hundred years no European except, in disguise was known to have set foot in the sacred precincts. In 1862 the Prince of Wales was given permission, with much reluctance, to visit the inclosure. Since then a few visits have been made, but the cave itself has never been explored. A few visitors have been permitted to look down a shaft in the rock beneath the mosque, but there is no positive information as to what exists below the surface.
DEATH AND BURIAL OF SARAH.
Abraham Buys a Place to Lay His Dead.
And the life of Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years: these were the years of the life of Sarah. And Sarah died in Kiriath-arba (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan: and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah, and to weep for her. And Abraham rose up from before his dead, and spoke unto the children of Heth, saying, "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."
And the children of Heth answered Abraham, saying unto him, "Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead."
And Abraham rose up and bowed himself to the people of the land, even to the children of Heth. And he communed with them, saying, "If it be your mind that I should bury my dead out of my sight, hear me, and intreat for me to Ephron, the son of Zohar, that he may give me the cave of Machpelah, which he hath, which is in the end of his field; for the full price let him give it to me in the midst of you for a possession of a burying place."
Now Ephron was sitting in the midst of the children of Heth: and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the audience of the children of Heth, even of all that went in at the gate of his city, saying, "Nay, my lord, hear me: the field give I thee, and the cave that is therein, I give it [{46}] thee; in the presence of the sons of my people give I it thee: bury thy dead."
And Abraham bowed himself down before the people of the land. And he spoke unto Ephron in the audience of the people of the land, saying, "But if thou wilt, I pray thee, hear me: I will give the price of the field; take it of me, and I will bury my dead there."
And Ephron answered Abraham, saying unto him, "My lord, hearken unto me: a piece of land worth four hundred shekels of silver, what is that betwixt me and thee? bury therefore thy dead."
And Abraham hearkened unto Ephron; and Abraham weighed to Ephron the silver, which he had named in the audience of the children of Heth, four hundred shekels of silver, current money with the merchant. So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, which was before Mamre, the field, and the cave which was therein, and all the trees that were in the field, that were in all the border thereof round about, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession in the presence of the children of Heth, before all that went in at the gate of the city.
And after this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave of the field of Machpelah before Mamre (the same is Hebron), in the land of Canaan. And the field, and the cave that is therein, were made sure unto Abraham for a possession of a burying place by the children of Heth.
REBEKAH AND ELIEZER
From the Sculpture by Therwaldsen.
"And she said, 'Drink, my Lord.' And she hasted and let down her pitcher upon her hand and gave him drink."
