THE GIFT OF S-Ilrefi C Barnes- M«MM^w*ibai^iiM»f«^ Date Due _MIM LT96? MP *«fc«a^^. ^IMU J^^^^^g^^, C The original of tliis bool< is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924029286023 Cornell University Library BS580.I73 R26 Isaac and..,Ja.cob,.thelrJWes^^^^^^^^^^^^ olin ^m oi tixe fiMe. THEIR LIVES AND TIMES. " IVe commend the volumes of this series as useful contributions to the popularization of the results of Biblical scholarship— a tendency and movement of our time of t lie utmost interest and promise" — New- Englandee. ABRAHAM : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. By the Rev. W. J. Deane, M.A. MOSES : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. By the Rev. Canon G. Rawlinson, M.A. SOLOMON : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. By the Ven. Archdeacon Farrar, D.D. ISAIAH: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. By the Rev. Canon S. R. Driver, M.A. SAMUEL AND SAUL: THEIR LIVES AND TIMES. By Rev. William J. Deane, M.A. JEREMIAH: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. By the Rev. Canon T. K. Cheyne, M.A. JESUS THE CHRIST : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. By the Rev. F. J. Vallings, M.A. ELIJAH : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. By the Rev. W. MILLIGAN, D.D. DANIEL : HIS LIFE AND TIMES. By H. Deane, B.D. DAVID: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. By Rev. Wm. J. Deane, M.A. KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH. By the Rev. Canon G. Rawlinson, M.A. JCSHUA: HIS LIFjg. AND TIMES. By Rev. William J. Deak^. "^?"!;~ ST. PAUL : HI3..LIF® AND TIMES. By James IVERACH, M.A. "' >; - -^ THE MINOR PROPHETS. By the Ven. Archdea- con Farrar, D.D. ISAAC AND JACOB: THEIR LIVES AND TIMES. By George Rawlinson, M.A. GIDEON AND THE JUDGES : A Study, Historical and Practical. By Rev. John Marshall Lang,D.D. EZRA AND NEHEMIAH : THEIR LIVES AND TIMES. By George Rawlinson, M.A., F.R.G.S. Each volume sold separately at $i.oo ; or the set of \T volumes sent prepaid on receipt o/ price, $17.00. <^nson JD. J. laanbolpl) &; OTomponB, No. 182 Fifth Avenue, New York. ISAAC AND JACOB THEIR LIVES AND TIMES. GEORGE BAWLINSON, M.A., F.R.G.S., RECTOR OF ALL HALLOWS, LOMBARD STREET, AND CANON OP CANTERBURY ; CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF TURIN ; AUTHOR OF ••'the FIVE GREAT MONARCHIES OF THE ANCIENT EASTERN WORLD;" " MOSES : HIS LIFE AND TIMES ; " " THE KINGS OP ISRAEL AND JUDAH," ETC, BTC, ETC. NEW YORK : ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY, 182 FIFTH AVENUE. PREFACE. The Book of Genesis is almost the sole original authority for the lives of Isaac and Jacob. A few additional touches are derivable from the New Testament, especially Gal. iv. and Heb. xi. Josephus adds scarcely anything, and what he adds is of doubtful value. The lives of the Second and Third Patriarch must be made out almost wholly from a careful study of Gen. xxi. — 1. inclusive. In thus studying them, however, considerable assistance may be obtained from the works of several modern writers, who have devoted special attention to the period. Among these the most valuable are Dean Stanley's " Lectures on the Jewish Church," and Ewald's " History of the People of Israel," so excellently rendered into English by Mr. Carpenter. A clever monograph upon Jacob has been recently published by Mr. F. B. Meyer, throwing fresh light occasionally on his motives and character. The articles of Mr. W. T. Bullock on "Isaac" and "Jacob," in Dr. Smith's "Dictionary of the Bible," though rather slight, are also of value. The light, however, which can be thrown at the present day on the " lives and times " of the two patriarchs proceeds mainly from the progress of geographical and archaeological research. Such works as Dr. Robinson's " Researches in Palestine," Canon Tristram's " Land of Israel," Thomson's " The Land and the Book," Stuart Poole's " Cities of Egypt," Condor's "Tent Work in Palestine," Geikie's " The Holy Land and the Bible," and Harper's " The Bible and Modern Discoveries," furnish an inexhaustible store of illustrations bearing upon the patriarchal histories, and enable vivid representations to be given of almost every scene and step in the narrative. The author has largely IV PREFACE. availed himself of all these sources, and feels that what he has borrowed from them will constitute the principal attraction of his pages. He cannot allow his essay to go to press without making full acknowledgment of the great advantage which he has derived from the labours of these eminent persons. London, April 26, 189a CONTENTS. ISAAC: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. CHAPTER I. PAGB Isaac's Birth at Beersheba i Antecedents of the birth — Isaac "the child of promise" — Circumstances under which the birth took place — The name Isaac and its meaning — How the birth affected (i) Abraham'-^ (a) Sarah — (3) Hagar — (4) IshmaeL CHAPTER II. Isaac's Bringing Up 8 Position and surroundings of Beersheba — Infancy of Isaac — Tent life — Rude conductor Ishmael towards his brother — Special insult on the day when Isaac was weaned, and consequent expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael — Isaac's boyhood — Influences of his outward life — Influences of his close companionship with his father. CHAPTER III. First Great Trial 16 Isaac called upon to accompany his father to Mount Moriah — The journey — His outward behaviour during the journey — His probable inward feelings — ■ Isaac's question and Abraham's ambiguous response — The scene on Mount Moriah — Severity of Isaac's trial — His release — Influences and thoughts that sustained him during the trial. CHAPTER IV. Marriage 26 Isaac's return to Beersheba — Death of his mother — His grief — His marriage determined on — Abraham's servant sent to Haran — Scene between the servant and Rebekah — Communications between the servant and Laban — Rebekah's willingness — The return journey — Meeting of Rebekah and Isaac — Marriage, CHAPTER V. Early Married Life '35 Abraham gives Isaac a step-mother in Keturah — Her sons — Rebekah's barrenness and Isaac's prayer with respect to it — Pro- phecy given to Rebekah — Birth of Esau and Jacobs-Abraham with his grandsons — His death and burial — Probable reconcili,- ation between Ishmael and Isaac — Isaac's removal to Lah|ii-roi, VI CONTENTS. PACK and life there — Contrast of disposition between his sons — Parental leanings — Esau sells his birthright ■to Jacob— Conse- quences. CHAPTER VI. Second Great Trial 45 Famine in Palestine— Isaac, by the Divine direction, goes to Gerar — Description of Gerar — Isaac repeats his father's evasion with respect to his wife — He is rebuked by Abimelech — Degree of his culpability — After relations of Isaac with Abimelech — Re- quired to quit Gerar— His return to Beersheba and covenant of peace with the Philistines. CHAPTER VII. Domestic Troubles 55 Marriages contracted by Esau — Isaac's sight fails— He proposes to give the blessing of the firstborn to Esau — Deceit practised on him by Rebekah and Jacob— Jacob gets the blessing — Scene be- tween Esau and Isaac — Esau also blessed — Contrast between the two blessings — Esau's resentment — Plot and counterplot. CHAPTER VIII. Closing Years of Isaac's Life— his Death and Burial . 63 Isaac^s later years uneventful — Esau's third marriage — Isaac's bereavements — Death of his brother Ishmael — Death of Rebekah ^Death of Rachel — Re-union with Jacob — Death — Burial — Character. JACOB: HIS LIFE AND TIMES. CHAPTER I. Birth and Bringing Up , . Rebekah's barrenness — Isaac's prayer — Rebekah conceives — Struggles of the two children in her womb — Circumstances of the birth— Jacob's name and the meaning of it — His early hfe — His probable aspirations— Rebekah's share in them. CHAPTER II. Purchase of Esau's Birthright , . Nature of the "birthright," i. Generally; 2. In the Abrahamic family— How far the sale and purchase were justified— Considera- tion of Esau's conduct in the matter— Consideration of Jacob's conduct— Influence of Rebekah probably traceable in the trans- action. CHAPTER III. Deception of his Father 70 7S Jacob in Gerar— Isaac's resolve to bless his firstborn— Rebekah's interference and plot — Behaviour of Jacob — His success 83 CONTENTS. ;; PAGE Rebekah's short-lived triumph — Threat of Esau, how met by Rebekah — Jacob's expatriation punishes both himself and his mother — Isaac's second blessing. CHAPTER IV. Flight to Haran, and Early Life There ; . i . 91 Halt at Bethel — Character of the site — View southwards — Jacob's ladder and vision of God — His pillar— Journey from Bethel to Haran — Probable route followed — Meeting with Rachel — Recep- tion by Laban — Laban's trickery and double marriage of Jacob. CHAPTER V. Domestic Unhafpiness 102 Evils inherent in polygamy — Leah's unhappiness not much diminished by her fruitfulness — Rachel's unhappiness at her sterility — Addition to the household of two secondary wives — Rachel's reproach removed by the birth of Joseph— Fresh con- tract with Laban. and its results — Dissatisfaction of Laban and his sons — Dissatisfaction of Jacob with his position. CHAPTER VI. Return from Haran to Palestine no Jacob commanded to return — His consultation of his wives — Their consent given^acob's clandestine departure — Pursuit of Laban — His vision — Interview between Laban and Jacob — Search for Laban's gods — " Heap of Witness " — Laban's departure — Jacob at Mahanaim — His messengers to Esau, and their report — His alarm — His prayer — Present sent by him to his brother — His ' ' wrestling with an angel " — His ascent of Penuel — Reconcilia- tion with his brother. CHAPTER VIL Life at Succoth and Shechem ....... 12a Settlement at Succoth — House built there — Life in Succoth — Re- moval to Shechem — Line of route — Beauty of the country about Shechem — Shechem in possession of the Hivites — Jacob's pur- chase of land there— His well — Dinah outraged by the Hivite pr.nce, Shechem — Proposal of marriage — Accepted on condition of the tribe's adoption of circumcision — Massacre of the Hivites by Simeon and Levi — ^Jacob's alarm — Commanded to remove to Bethel — Burial of idols. CHAPTER VIII. Bethel, Bethlehem, and Hebron 130 Altar set up by Jacob at Bethel — His brief sojourn there — Rea>sons for his leaving — His regrets — Death of Deborah — Re- moval to the neighbourhood of Bethlehem — Birth of Benjamin, and death of Rachel — Rachel's tomb — Residence near the " Tower of Edar " — Wicked conduct of Reuben — ^Jacob visits Isaac at Hebron— Death of Isaac, and meeting between Jacob and Esau. CONTENTS. CHAPTER IX. Residence at Hebron . 137 Position occupied by Jacob in Palestine — Advantages of Hebron as a residence — Regions occupied by Jacob's sons — Discord intro- duced into the family through the special favour shown by Jacob towards Joseph — Imprudent conduct of Joseph — Plot to murder him — He is sold to the Midianites, and reported as dead to Jacob — ^Jacob's extreme grief — His affections transferred to Benjamin. CHAPTER X. Famine in Canaan 14S Liability of Palestine to famine — Apathy of Jacob's sons — Jacob sends them into Egypt to buy corn — Line of route which they would pursue — Gaza — Gerar — The Desert — Sin or Pelusium — Tanis or Zoan — Reception by officials— Presentation to Joseph — His behaviour to them' — His detention of Simeon— -Their return and Jacob's grief — His reluctance to send Benjamin overcome by Judah — Second journey into Egypt — Kind reception by Joseph — Dismissal — Arrest on charge of theft — Bidden to depart, leaving Benjamin as bond-slave — Judah's remonstrance — Joseph discovers himself — Reconciliation— Jacob invited to come and settle in Egypt CHAPTER XI. Life in Egypt 158 Jacob invited by Joseph to remove to Egypt — Importance of the removal — Jacob's doubts — All doubt ended by a vision seen at Beersheba — The tribe sets forth — Description of its probable ap- pearance — The route taken — Condition of Egypt at the time — Recent conquest by the Hyksfls— Their original barbarism and later adoption of Egyptian civilization- Joseph's Pharaoh pro- bably Apepi — His marked character — Meeting of Jacob and Joseph in Goshen — Five of his brethren presented by Joseph to the Pharaoh — Separate presentation of his father— Jacob blesses Apepi — Returns to Goshen — His peaceful life there. CHAPTER XII. Illness, Death, and Bdhial 171 Failure in Jacob's strength — He arranges with Joseph for his funeral— Falls sick, and is visited by Joseph and his two sons — Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh — Solemn address to his twelve sons from his death-bed — Strict injunctions given to all as to his place of burial — Death and embalmment — Moiurning for him— Great funeral cortige — Interment — Character. CHAPTER I. ISAAC'S BIRTH AT BEERSHEBA. Antecedents of the birth — Isaac "the child of promise" — Circumstances under which the birth tooli place — The name Isaac and its meaning — How the birth affected (i) Abraham — (2) Sarah — (3) Hagar — (4) Ishmael, The promise of seed — of seed in which "all the families of the earth should he blessed" — was made to Abraham before his departure from Haran (Gen. xii. 1-3). It was not till a quarter of a century later that the promise was fulfilled. Mean- while, however, from time to time, fresh intimations came from the Divine Source of life and light, confirming the original promise, and adding to it continually more gracious and more glorious assurances. Abraham, in his impatience, had con- cluded at one time, that the " seed" was to be an adopted one, , and looked for a while on Eliezer of Damascus as his heir (Gen. XV. 2) ; but this delusion was dispelled, and he was plainly told — " He that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir " (ibid. ver. 4). The " great nation '' of the earlier prophecy was expanded into a countless multi- tude — " Look now towards heaven," it was said to him, " and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them : so shall thy seed be " ; and Canaan was declared to be the land in which the " great nation " would grow up (ibid. ver. 7). Canaan, more- over, was explained to mean the entire tract intervening between the Euphrates and the river of Egypt — the land of " the Kenites, and the Kenizzites, and the Kadmonites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Rephaim, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Girgashites, and the 2 2 ISAAC AND JACOB. Jebusites " (vers. 19-21). When ten years had gone by with- out any further result from the promises made, and Sarai had reached the age of seventy-five, and deemed herself altogether beyond child-bearing, she suggested to Abraham that he should take a secondary wife, and look for the fulfilment of the announcements that had been received by him, to a semi- legitimate issue (Gen. xvi. 2). Hagar the Egyptian became the patriarch's concubine, and in due course Ishmael was born ; and now for thirteen years it would seem that Abraham con- tentedly acquiesced in the notion, that here was the fulfilment of the original promise made to him, and that it was through Ishmael that all the generations of men would obtain their blessing (Gen. xvii. 18). But at length the time had come when God's intention was to be made fully known — " Sarai thy wife," Abraham was told, "shall bear thee a son indeed" (ibid. ver. 19), and "with him'" — not with Ishmael — "will I establish My covenant for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him." And a definite date for the birth of the son was assigned — " My covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto thee at this set time in the next year}' Then there was waiting and expectation. The " child of promise" was now definitely known. Sarah shortly found herself about to become a mother. Whatever incredulity had been hitherto felt, passed away ; and the patriarch and his wife awaited, in patient faith (Heb. ix. 1 1) and full assurance of ■ hope, the " set time " which was to crown their marriage with the blessing of offspring. As the "set time" approached, Abraham desisted from the ordinary wanderings of the nomadic life, and pitched his tent (probably) at " the Well of the Seven "— Beer-sheba. Here was an altar which he had erected to "the Everlasting God," and here was the tamarisk-tree, or "grove," which he had planted, to mark the spot as his own. The tent of the great chief would be of large size, containing many compartments — a special chamber for Sarah, another for Hagar and her son, others for the numerous attendants who would perform the domestic offices for the sheikh and his family. Round about would be scattered over a large space the smaller habitations of the "trained servants" (Gen. xiv. 14)— more than three hundred in number— who served the sheikh as shepherds and herdsmen (Gen. xiii. 8), or, if need were, as soldiers (Gen. xiv. ISAACS BIRTH AT BEERSHEBA, 3 14). They, with their families, would amount to above a thousand persons, and their tents would be dotted about the Beersheba valley, and its slopes on either side, for a consider- able distance. The patriarch had reached his hundredth year. Sarah was ninety. Doubtless there was joy and rejoicing in the great tent as the critical time approached, but there must also have been excitement and anxiety. Even in the East, where the dangers attendant upon child-birth are comparatively slight, the first accouchement of a noiiogenarian must have been recognized as hazardous. But Sarah, "judging Him faithful who had promised" (Heb. xi. 11), did not allow herself to be dismayed, but " through faith having received strength to conceive," also through faith bore up against natural weak- ness, and natural apprehension, and finally against the keen pangs of travail, giving birth to a man child "at the set time of which God had spoken " (Gen. xxi. 2), and hailing the fulfil- ment of the promise with a burst of delight. " God," she cried, "hath made me to laugh, so that all who hear me will laugh with me. Who would have said unto Abraham that Sarah should have given children suck 'i for I have borne him a son in his old age " (Gen. xxi. 6, 7). Orientals exhibit their feelings in a way that is not natural to the colder people of the West. " When the tidings arrived that Xerxes was master of Athens, such was the joy of the inhabitants," says Herodotus, "that they forthwith strewed all the streets with myrtle boughs, and burnt incense, and fell to feasting and merriment^' ' So now Sarah's gossips and her handmaidens gathered about her, and in their joy ^^ laughed with her" at the auspicious event, congratulating her, and each other, on the crowning blessing that had been granted to their master and mistress — a blessing which, under the circumstances of their advanced age, was almost miraculous. And then came the question as to the naming of the wonderful child. No doubt many names were suggested, for the secret commandment given by God to Abraham (Gen. xvii. 19) would probably not have been generally known : but the father and mother had laid up the injunction in their inmost hearts, and when the day for circumcising the child, and for naming him, came, they called him " Isaac" — literally, Jitskhak — which means " He laughs," or " The Laughing one." ' ' Herod, viii. 99. * See the note of Bishop Harold Browne on Gen. zvii. 19 in the 4 ISAAC AND JACOB. They felt, as Zacharias and Elisabeth felt (Luke i. 60-63), ^^^ as Joseph and Mary doubtless felt (Matt. i. 21-25), that a God- given name carried with it a blessing to the recipieht, and could not possibly be set aside. They recognized also, it is probable, the appropriateness of the name, partly to the antecedent circumstances, which had so often connected laughter with the child,' but also, and still more, to the relation in which the child stood to the scheme of Redemption, as he in whom " all the families of the earth should be blessed" — he through whom should come upon the earth the joy of deliverance from sin and Satan, the restoration of peace, and the right to bask once more in the smile of a reconciled God. Of course, we cannot tell the extent to which "the Father of the Faithful," and his faithful wife, realized the scheme of Redemption, or under- stood how the whole world was to be blessed in their son and his seed ; but we may presume that they had sufficient know- ledge to make their joy and rejoicing not the mere natural delight of parents at the birth of a legitimate heir, but a religious uplifting of the soul in gratitude and thankfulness to God. Abraham's position as the sheikh of a tribe was not greatly altered by the birth of Isaac. He had already a son, who might have succeeded him in the chieftainship — the actual issue of his loins, and towards whom he felt all the tenderness of a warm-hearted father. He had been quite content for years to look on Ishmael as his successor (Gen. xvii. 18). But, as soon as Sarah had conceived, his views and intentions were, as a matter of course, changed. The child of the true wife in the East always takes precedence of the children of concu- bines, and Hagar was not even, in the full sense of the word, a concubine. She had become the partner of Abraham's bed without, so far as appears, any legal ceremony. Isaac, as the son of the legitimate wife, was entitled to the succession, and, as " the son of promise," was, if possible, even more entitled to it. To Abraham it must undoubtedly have been a high satisfaction to have a thoroughly legitimate heir ; but, as in the world wherein we live there are few advantages without their drawbacks, he must have felt at once that in his cup of "Speaker's Commentary," vol. i. p. 121 ; and compare Ewald, "History of Israel," vol. i. p. 339. " Gen. xvii. 17, xviii. 12-15, ^^'- ^- ISAAC'S BIRTH AT BEERSHEBA. 5 joy there would be likely to be a dash of bitterness. Surgil amari aliquid. The disadvantages of polygamy are brought out especially in connection with the conflicting claims of the several wives' children, and the higher the position of the father, the more likely are such claims to cause trouble and disturbance. Without undue anticipation of occurrences which will be considered in another chapter, we cannot but glance here at a shadow which must have somewhat dimmed, even from the first, the patriarch's joy, and produced within him a certain amount of anxiety. To Sarah, on the other hand, the event would have been one producing unmixed delight and wholly unalloyed satisfaction. First, there would be the gratification of the maternal instinct, the more keen perhaps for having been so long suppressed and dormant. Next, there would be the peculiar delight and exultation which all Hebrew mothers felt in the possession of offspring, from the shame that rested, on barrenness, and the taunts and jeers to which childless wives were exposed at the hand of their adversaries (Gen. xvi. 4 ; i Sam. i. 6, 7). Further, there would be the sense of gratified pride, in that now at length she was indeed a " princess " — the mother of " kings of people " (Gen. xvii. 16) — the undoubted mistress of the tribe, whom none could presume to rival. And lastly, there would be the religious exaltation arising from the gracious and glorious, even if obscure, promise, that in the babe whom she had borne " all the nations of the earth should be blessed." Sarah's status in the tribe could not but be im- proved by the mere fact of her becoming a mother ; and the circumstances of the case would secure her an almost reli- gious reverence. It is not on record that any other woman ever became a mother at so advanced an age, and the astonish- ing occurrence would be likely to impress the simple shepherds and herdsmen very sensibly. They would see in their chief- tain's wife one specially favoured of Heaven, and would regard her as a probable channel through which blessings of all kinds might be expected to descend upon the tribe. She would thus become a personage of extraordinary importance, whose wishes would be consulted in every way, and who would be held in the highest honour. The case would be very different with Hagar. Nay, it would be the exact reverse. All that Sarah gained by her new posi- 6 ISAAC AND JACOB. tion, Hagar lost. Hitherto, Hagar had been generally looked upon and treated as the mother of the heir-apparent, the coming mistress of the tribe, when Abraham should have departed this life, and Ishmael should have taken his place. Tradition says that she was a king's daughter ; " and though in the slave condition, since her mother had been a slave, yet well known to have royal blood in her veins. No doubt this fact had gained her from the first a certain amount of respect in the tribe, and had made her connection with Abraham appear to the tribesmen neither unfitting nor incongruous. When Abraham consorted with her, this respect increased, and when a son was borne by her to the hitherto childless chieftain, the satisfaction of the tribe must have been extreme, and their regard for the mother of their (supposed) future lord and master must have deepened and been intensified. Flattery and adulation, we may be sure, followed ; and for thirteen years the " handmaid " was, more or less, a rival to the legiti- mate wife, by many probably more courted and looked up to than Sarah, considered to be the rising sun, before whose beams the lesser light would pale and sink into obscurity. With the birth of Isaac all this was changed. Hagar dropped back into a wholly secondary position ; her parasites fell away from her ; the customary obeisances ceased ; she was once more the mere '"slave-wife" — the handmaid, whom her master's favour had distinguished for a while, but whose importance was now ended. Very bitter to Hagar must have been the consciousness of this great change. Hitherto she had, either openly (Gen. xvi. 4) . or secretly, " despised " her mistress, looked upon her as already her inferior, and as one day to be subjected to her rule : now she saw her mistress firmly fixed in her exalted place for the rest of her life, first in her husband's affection, first in the regards of the tribesmen — surrounded with a sort of holy halo on account of the strangeness of what had occurred to her, and of the promises whereof her child was the object. Hagar must have felt herself "Fallen, fallen, fallen — Fallen from her high estate "— and, as a woman of a high and haughty spirit, must have been filled with bitter grief and keen resentment. ' See Beer, " Leben Abrahams," p. 35. ISAAC'S BIRTH AT BEERSHEBA. 7 But on Ishtnael probably the blow fell with the greatest severity. He had reached his thirteenth year, and was con- sequently just at the age which in the East is regarded as incipient manhood. He was of a proud, hot, and overbearing temper, ambitious, and impatient of restraint. From his in- fancy, all through his boyhood, for thirteen long years, he had lived under the conviction that he was his father's heir, the hope of the tribe, their coming leader in war and judge in peace. He had been the del'^ht of the tribesmen, whose labours and sports he had shared, who had admired his courage and fierce spirit, and made him as true a child of the desert as any of themselves. Hagar had exercised no restraining influence over him, but had rather fostered his ambitious hopes, encouraged his proud temper, and taught him to cherish the feelings and assume the airs of a young chief. To him Isaac's birth must have been the most cruel disappointment, upsetting all his illusions, and toppling him down from the high place which he had hitherto occup.ed, not in his own thoughts only, but in the thoughts of all with whom he was intimate, into a position of dependence, and (as he would feel it) of degradation. We cannot but sympathize with the poor youth thus suddenly disillusioned, waking from the daydreams in which he had so long very naturally indulged himself to the conviction that they were empty visions, and that the reality was wholly different. As Abraham's only son, Ishmael was his successor, his heir, the assured head of the tribe when his aged father should die, the ancestor (by promise) of a long line of kings (Gen. xvii. i6), the prince, 'in whose seed all the families of the earth should be blessed. As one merely of two sons, whereof the other was son of the legitimate wife, he lost the succession, he lost the heirship, he stood outside the promises, he sank back into " the son of the bondwoman " (Gen. xxi. lo), without rights, portionless, pro- spectless, not very much better in position than a purchased slave. So great a change could not but be a sore trial to any youth. To one of Ishmael's temper it must have been felt as almost unendurable. None could be surprised if it led to some outbreak, and to a disruption of the family which had hitherto been united, if not contented. CHAPTER 11. ISAAC'S BRINGING UP. Position and surroundings of Beersiieba — Infancy of Isaac— Tent life — Riide conduct of Islimael towards his brotlier — Special insult on the day when Isaac was weaned, and consequent expulsion of Hagar and Ishmael — Isaac's boyhood— Influences of his outward life — Influences of his close companionship with his father. Beersheba lies at the southern extremity of the Holy Land, on the very verge of the desert. It is far away from the coast, in E. Long. 34° 47' nearly. Eastward, between Beersheba and the Dead Sea, lies the high rocky desert of Paran, which extends also far to the south, running parallel with the Red Sea and the Arabah. To the west is the low sandy tract, called in Abraham's time "the Desert of Shur," the region com- monly traversed by those who proceed from Gaza {Gkuzzah) to Egypt. A watercourse, known now as the Wady es Seba, runs down from the high ground, which is a continuation of the Highland of Juda;a, with a course that is at first from east to west, but, after pursuing this direction for some miles, it turns towards the north, and effects a junction with the Wady Ghuzzah a little to the south of the great Philistine city. The Wady es Seba is a well-watered and fairly fertile district. In winter it "contains a running stream, which drains a large area, and many springs rise in the western part of the plain into which it opens." ' In almost any part of the Wady water may be found by digging, and generally it is tolerably near the surface. Beersheba derived its name from the well which Abraham dug, when he was sojourning in Gerar, and was on " " Abraham : His Life and Times," by the Rev. W. J. Deane, p. 126. ISAAC'S BRINGING UP. 9 friendly terms with the Philistine chief, Abimelech (Gen. xxi. 22-32). The name has clung to the place, and the modern Bir-es-Seba, so remarkable for its two great reservoirs,' marks beyond any reasonable doubt the site of Abraham's favourite abode in his later years and of the birthplace of Isaac. The situation is a remarkable one. Beersheba lies on one of the two great highways to Egypt. It is the last outpost on the skirts of the cultivable ground upon the more inland of these two routes, and looks back on the one side to the soft-swelling hills of Judsea, while on the other it gazes down upon a green plain which gradually fades into the desert. The traveller may imagine that he sees Egypt in the far hazy distance. Around him and about him is an " undulating plain," without forest trees, but "sprinkled with shrubs,"' and in the spring clothed with the innumerable wild flowers, which make the lands adjacent to the desert for some weeks a carpet of the most brilliant and varied hues. There is excellent pasture for flocks during the greater part of the year ; and if, on the whole, the landscape has a bleak appearance, yet good crops of grain can be raised without difficulty on the lower slopes of the hills, and in the beds of the valleys. Wells are necessities, for in the summer the torrent-courses are dry, and even the springs mostly fail, while, if we except an occasional thunderstorm, rain is for many months almost unknown. The wells are consequently a feature of the district. They are "dug far into the rocky soil, and bear upon their stone or marble margins the traces of the long ages during which the water has been drawn up from their deep recesses." ^ The famous Beer- sheba sources are reservoirs, rather than wells — one is five feet, the other twelve and a half feet in diameter ; the larger of them is excavated through sixteen feet of the solid rock, and the water commonly lies at the depth of forty feet below the level of the soil at the mouth.* Drinking-troughs for cattle are still, as in the days of old, clustered around the margins of the pools, and the water is still daily drawn up by hand and poured into the troughs for the flocks of the neighbouring Arabs. It is cold and of good quality — pure, sweet, and refreshing. There ' Thomson, "The Land and the Book," p. 297 ; Grove, in " Dictionary of the Bible," ad voe. Beersheba. • Stanley, " Lectures on the Jewish Church," vol. i. p. 35. 3 Ibid * Conder, "Our Work in Palestine," vol. ii. p.gt to ISAAC AND JACOB. are remnants of an ancient village on the hills immediately north of the wells, but they do not show much trace of antiquity, and are consequently of but little interest. Still, they probably mark the site of the hamlet which grew up on the spot, and was reckoned the last village of Palestine upon the south, as Dan was the last towards the north (Judg. xx. i). In Abraham's day the village had not yet sprung into being, and Isaac's first experience was not of life in a house, but of life in a tent. He was suckled by his mother for some con- siderable time, probably for the full " three years," which appears to have been the customary period with the Hebrews of a later age.' During this space he was no doubt carefully looked after, and had his own special attendant or attendants, besides being the peculiar object of his mother's regard and protection. The tent life brought him into frequent contact with his brother, Ishmael, whose resentment at his birth was in no way appeased or softened by the infantile prattle, or the witching ways of "the Laughing one," but grew with his growth, and strengthened with his strength, until it attained the dimensions of an active and continuous "persecution." " He that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit " (Gal. iv. 29), was insolent to him, perhaps "mocked" him (Gen. xxi. 9), derided his childish speech, and made sport of his weakness and inexperience. The merry boy, safe in his mothef's, or his nurse's, arms, may not have greatly heeded, or even understood, his half-brother's insolence ; but Sarah took it to heart ; and the day came when she could no longer patiently endure her infant's wrongs, but resolved on proclaiming and avenging them. The time for weaning the child had at last arrived, and Abraham, in the joy of his heart at the troubles of infancy being so far surmounted, had " made a great feast" (Gen. xxi. 8) in honour of the occayon, which probably was felt by Ishmael as a special grievance, since when (he would ask himself) had a great feast been made for him ? Hereupon, to vent his rage and his disappointment, the rough, ill-mannered youth indulged his mocking vein freely and openly, deriding the young heir in the actual presence of his mother (ibid. ver. 9). Naturally, she was greatly vexed. Allowing her anger no time to cool, she made immediate appeal to her husband, told him what had occun-ed, and pre- » 2 Maco. vii. 27 ; Josephus, "Ant. Jud." ii. g, } 6. ISAAC'S BRINGING UP. II ferred a peremptory demand, that a stop should be put at once, and for ever, to Ishmael's rude impertinence. " Cast out," she said, " this bondwoman and her son, for the son of this bondwoman shall not be heir with rpy son, even with Isaac." In judging her conduct, much will depend on the view that we take of Ishmael's previous action. If the mockery of the weaning day was a mere piece of boyish petulance, an isolated act caused by a special provocation, then to insist on the dismissal of Hagar, and the expulsion of her son from the family, on account of it, would certainly seem to have been a severe proceeding, indicative of a harsh and spiteful temper. But if, as St. Paul's language shows him to have understood the matter,' the mockery on the particular occasion was no isolated act, but part of an established system of persecution in which the rough boy was abetted by his passionate mother, in that case Sarah may well be exonerated from blame, and regarded as having merely pointed out the course which justice, and a. prudential consideration for the welfare of the family, required. The disruption of a household is, at the best, a sad and sorrowful thing ; but if the discontented son had his feel- ings permanently embittered, if he was determinately set on thwarting, and vexing, and in every way causing annoyance to the legitimate heir, and if his mother was likely to aid and abet him in the line of conduct whereon he was bent, then it is plain that to have kept the family together would have been injudicious, would have led to continual bickerings and jars, would have caused Ishmael's character to deteriorate, and have exposed Isaac to trials for which his quiet and gentle nature was unsuited. Clearly, the Divine approval, which would not have been given to spite ° or to injustice, rested on Sarah's demand ; and it was not because his wife urged him, but because God endorsed her words (Gen. xxi. 12), that Abraham adopted the course which Sarah had recommended, and sent his concubine and her son to seek their fortunes in the desert of Paran (ibid. ver. 21). A strange lull must have followed their departure. The jars ' It is to be specially noticed that St. Paul, in Gal. iv. 29, uses the imperfect tense (iSioiicc), which is frequentative — " kept persecuting "^and not the aorist (tSiio^e). ' Sarah's insistence has been called " spiteful " (Deane, " Abraham : His Life and Times," p. 130). 13 ISAAC AND JACOB. and bickerings, the taunts and jeers, the persecution and the complaints that persecution naturally arouses, suddenly ceased, Sarah found herself without a rival, unquestioned mistress of the whole domestic establishment, with none to thwart or vex her, or spy upon her actions, or divide with her the affection of her husband. Isaac, no longer mocked or bullied, but on all sides flattered and made much of, experienced a pleasing, if not altogether a salutary, relief. Abraham exchanged a con- dition of perpetual disquiet and annoyance for one of domestic tranquillity and repose, only shadowed by occasional regret at his separation from a companion who had grown dear to him, and from a son whom he tenderly loved (Gen. xxi. II). But sacrifices made at the command of God, however grievous, are always followed after a time by compensations ; and the dis- appearance from his life of the two, who had possessed so much of his heart, enabled the patriarch to concentrate his affections upon the legitimate wife and the legitimate heir, and to give them a deeper, fuller, and intenser love than had been possible previously. In the hushed calm of so profoundly happy a family life Abraham's spirit doubtless gathered strength and refreshment, while Isaac profited vastly by a change which not only freed him from constant spiteful annoyance, but brought him so much nearer to his father, and made him the one object of that father's tender solicitude. Isaac's boyhood, after the departure of Hagar and Ishmael, must have been a peculiarly delightful one. He was the apple of their eye to both his parents, known to both as " the son of promise " through whom God would do great things for man- kind at large, the " only son " (Gen. xxii. 2) left to Abraham, absolutely the only child of Sarah, gentle, affectionate, tender- hearted, a boy to love and to be proud of. Like other Eastern children, he was no doubt until the age of eight or nine brought up in the female apartments, under the charge and under the careful supervision of his mother. He would then become his father's charge, and his constant companion. He would wander with the patriarch over the swelling slopes of the grey feature- less hills, seeing that the flocks were rightly cared for, and that no danger threatened them ; or he would rest at noontide under the shadow of a " white chalk cliff ; " ' or he would return at even to the patriarchal tent, with the shepherds, who led their « Conder, "Our Work in Palestine," vol. ii. p. 84. ISAAC'S BRINGING UP. 1 3 flocks back to the sheepfolds. He would become familiar with nature, as she shows herself on the verge of the desert, in all her varied aspects. The beautiful verdure of spring, the brilliant flowers of a thousand different hues, the pink and white blossom which covers the broom or "juniper" (i Kings xix. 4), the numerous " tufts of plants and shrubs," ' the feathery tamarisk trees, now single, now clustered in a "grove," the showers, and " fierce rains," and occasional dense sand-storms of the spring season,' would be known to him so intimately as scarcely to obtain conscious notice. He would hear the lark carol in the bright blue sky, or even when seated on the ground, and see the plovers and the sand-grouse running along the chalky soil, and the pigeons and turtle-doves flying from tree to tree, and the jerboa ^ peeping from its burrows and then hastily concealing itself, and the vultures wheeling in wide circles through the sky on the outlook for a strayed lamb or a sick kid. As spring advanced into summer, he would see the flowers wither, the rich herbage shrink and pale, the hill-sides grow brown, the torrent courses dry up, the springs cease to flow, the hot air quiver and palpitate. Then, every evening, would the flocks and herds, weary and athirst, be collected by the herdsmen to the great wells at Beersheba and elsewhere, and boys and men would set to work to draw the precious liquid in buckets of skin from the deep recesses, the drawers keeping time together by the help of a rude chant, and waking the echoes of the rocks with a sound harsh and wild, yet musical. Soon the stone troughs would be filled, and the impatient animals be allowed to satiate their thirst, before being led away to be folded and secured for the night. Now and then, on such occasions, strife might arise. Though Abraham had made a covenant with Abimelech, the Philistine prince, and had had the property in certain wells conceded to him (Gen. xxi. 25-32), yet the rude nomads may not always have adhered to the compact, but, as when Isaac had become the chief of the tribe, the " herdsmen of Gerar did strive with Isaac's herdsmen " (Gen. xxvi. 20, 21), so in his boyhood Isaac may have witnessed scenes of contest when water was scarce, and finding their own wells fail them, the Philistines, not over scrupulous about the difference between meum and tuum, may ' Geikie, " The Holy Land and the Bible," vol. i. p. 258. ' Ibid. p. 239. 3 Conder, vol. ii. p. 93. 14 ISAAC AND JACOB. have made a raid upon the wells of their neighbours. As summer passed into autumn, and autumn deepened into winter, the season of heavy rains, and even that of snow, would arrive ; the torrent courses would be filled from time to time with a loud rush of turbid water, rendering them temporarily impas- sable ; the flocks would require the carefuUest tending to save them from the baneful effects of snow and frost upon the uplands, and of heavy rain on the plains ; ' sometimes they would have to be housed in some of the many caves with which the chalky cliffs are penetrated ; above all, they would have to be guarded from the wolves, hysenas, and jackals, which are ever on the look-out for prey, and are most ravenous and most daring in the winter time. Isaac would grow familiar with all these sights and sounds as he gradually advanced from boyhood towards manhood, and would doubtless bear his part in much of the rough work that had to be done by the tribesmen ; for the sons of sheikhs are not more delicate than their daughters, and, as the latter draw water for the household use (Gen. xxiv. 15) and for the flocks (Ex. ii. 16), so the former act as shepherds on occasion, and lead out the sheep and goats, and bring them home, and watch the folds, and take part in the shearing, and are ready to lend a hand whenever there is important work to be done and an extra hand is of value. Nurtured on the simplest food — milk and cheese principally — and passing the greater part of his time in the free and open air, engaged in healthful occupations, he would naturally grow up into a strong, active, vigorous youth, not perhaps so daring or adventurous as Ishmael, but still a youth of promise, with his physical nature well developed, his frame braced by exercise, his moral qualities such as the air of the desert is apt to produce in those who breathe it — brave, high- spirited, cheerful, capable of endurance — well suited to be the prop of his father's declining years, and to succeed him as sheikh of the tribe, which, after passing through great dangers and difficulties, was now entered upon a period of tranquillity. But, if Isaac's character was formed in part and fixed by the outward circumstances of his life during these years, in all its most essential qualities it was still more determinately settled by the close relation into which he was brought with his father, Abraham— the "father of the faithful," and the "Friend of God." • Geikie, vol. i. p. 225. ISAAC'S BRINGING UP. IS Great must have been the privilege, in those days, of close and continuous contact with one so deeply religious as Abraham, so full of an abiding trust in the Almighty, so perpetually conscious of the Divine Presence, so self-denying, so reverent, so full of high and holy aspirations. God-fearing men were few. It was Isaac's happy lot to have in his father one of God's specially chosen ones, and to have him almost wholly to himself, to be the main object of his care, with one exception his best-beloved, and his most constant companion. Good men have an atmo- sphere of piety around them which affects all who come within the sphere of their influence. Isaac dwelt in this atmosphere. Naturally, and without effort, he became partaker of those high thoughts concerning God which filled the patriarch's soul, shared his spirit of faith and of obedience, shared probably with him whatever knowledge God had vouchsafed him of the scheme of Redemption. It was an exceptionally happy boy- hood. If the infancy of Isaac had been troubled by the petulant provocation of his rough and arrogant brother, at any rate his passage from infancy to manhood was a calm and placid time, a time to be ever remembered with devout thank- fulness, as beyond the ordinary lot of man — tranquil, peaceful, and, abovfe all, pure — free from those fleshly defilements which are the ruin of so many, free from all storms of passion and all sufferings of a violent kind — in thorough harmony with the name which bad been given him by the direct command of God — the name of " the Smiling one." CHAPTER III. FIRST GREAT TRIAL. Isaac called upon to accompany his father to Mount Moriah — The Jouruey — His outward behaviour during the journey — His probable inward feelings — Isaac's question and Abraham's ambiguous response — The scene on Mount Moriah — Severity of Isaac's trial — His release — Influences and thoughts that sustained him during the trial. The tranquil life which Isaac had led from the age of three to, probably, that of about twrenty, was suddenly broken in upon by a strange and terrible trial. Early one spring morning ' he was summoned to sally forth with his father from the patriarchal tent, still pitched at Beersheba, on a journey of which the object was at first wholly unknown to him. Abraham had risen from his bed, had saddled the ass which he usually rode ; ' had cleaved with his own hands a quantity of wood, had arranged it upon the back of the animal, had roused two of his men-servants from their sleep, and had then sent for his son Isaac, and together they had all started on a journey into the north country. He seems to have given no explanation of his purpose either to Isaac, or to any one else. Sarah certainly cannot have been apprised of it, or she would at least have bidden her loved ones adieu. Most likely she would have remonstrated, and^^made a scene ; and this Abraham would naturally have been desirous of preventing, so that his departure without any notice to his wife is not surprising. The route taken was probably that which led north-eastward, over the bare lime- stone hills, by way of Anab and Debir (Dhaberiyeh) to Hebron, ' This is conjectural ; but there seems a fitness in the type having been made to correspond to the anti-type in this as in other respects. ' " His ass " (Gen. xxii, 3). FIRST GREAT TRIAL. 17 where Abraham had friends, and thence nearly due north, by Bethlehem, to Jerusalem. The counter-theory, that Mount Gerizim was the point aimed at, though it has in its favour some great names, as those of Bleek, De Wette, Dean Stanley,' and Tuch, is scarcely more than a fancy, without support either from Scripture or from any tradition at all worthy of trust. " Moriah " is not " Moreh " (Gen. xii. 6), which is rather the name of a man than of a place (comp. Gen. xiv. 13). The word "Moriah" means "the Vision of Jehovah," the place where Jehovah was seen and worshipped, and is applied in Scripture to no other place but that sacred hill on which Solomon built his Temple (2 Chron. iii. i), where the Shechinah, or "Glory of God," was from time to time wont to appear (2 Chron. vi. 14 ; vii. 3). Starting off then from the encampment at Beersheba, Isaac, in company with his father and the two servants, and the ass bearing the cleft wood, proceeded to mount that rugged and rocky plateau, seamed with water-courses, which stretches from Beersheba to Hebron, and again, at a lower level, from Hebron to Jerusalem, forming a continuation of the great Samaritan and Judaean upland, which has been called " the backbone of Palestine." The table-land consists for the most part of open downs and arable soil of soft white chalk ; but much of it rises up into rounded hills, from the sides and tops of which the bare limestone " stands out in huge sheets and rough masses, giving the whole landscape a ghastly white colour." ' For some distance from Beersheba there are no trees. The land continually rises, sometimes in great sudden steps diflficult to climb ; and the ascent is so considerable and so constant that on the hills north of Hebron the traveller finds himself at an elevation of 2,700 feet ^ above that from which he started at Beersheba. Water is scarce ; for many miles from Beersheba there are no streams and no springs. The traveller depends wholly upon wells, unless he has brought water with him, and so do the flocks and herds of the district during the greater part of the year. In spring, however, there is a burst « "Sinai and Palestine," p. 251; "Lectures on the Jewish Church," vol. i. p. 49. • Geikie, "The Holy Land and the Bible," vol. i. p. 362, 3 Ibid. pp. 34S, 346. 3 1 8 ISAAC AND JACOB. of verdure, accompanied by the usual carpet of flowers, and if the journey was made in the latter part of March, or the beginning of April, Isaac would see the upland plains and the hill slopes covered in many places with the loveliest tints, and would find the air scented with the sweetest perfume. At all times of the year there would be pasture. As Hebron was approached — especially if it was approached, as is likely, by way ofEl-Dilbeh — the general aspect of the country would improve. There are at El-Dilbeh fourteen springs, gathered into three groups, which form together a considerable brook, and the waters of which, if there were energy to utilize them, would suffice to turn the whole valley into a paradise.' Beyond El- Dilbeh the hills begin to show a clothing of trees and bushes ; dwarf oak and arbutus appear, and on nearing Hebron are seen vineyards and olive-grounds, together with orchards of pear, fig, quince, pomegranate, apricots, and other fruits, extending in some directions for miles.' Anciently it is not to be supposed that there would have been so much variety, but still Hebron would have had special charms, with its grove of terebinth trees (Gen. xviii. i. Rev. Vers.), and its rich vineyards (Num. xiii. 22-23), and probably its figs and olives; and the tired travellers, having journeyed a distance of twenty miles over the hot hills, would naturally halt there, and refresh themselves in preparation for their further travel. From the hills north of Hebron the country has a gentle descent, not of course without frequent interruptions, but still tolerably persistent, so that while near Hebron an elevation is attained of 3,500 feet above the sea level, the elevation at Beth- lehem, fifteen miles further to the north, is no more than 2,550 feet.3 The decline is thus one of very nearly a thousand feet A rugged pathway, very direct, and sometimes paved with rough stones, but which can never have been passable for wheels, connects the two places, and has every appearance of having been always the highway between them. The scenery is still bleak and bare to a Western eye ; but occasionally there are patches of verdure ; a low scrub often clothes the sides of the hills, hiding the bare chalk ; fine vineyards are to be seen growing on terraces here and there ; olive grounds are frequent; and in places the soil is suitable for the cultivation of grain or ' " Quarterly Statements of Palestine Exploration Fund " for 1874, p. 55, ■ Geikie, vol. i. p. 364. 3 IbM. pp. 345, 431. .FIRST GREAT TRIAL. 1 9 vegetables. Water is supplied no longer from wells, but from natural founts and sources, which are sometimes really copious. At Urtas, a few miles south-west of Bethlehem, are the extensive "Pools of Solomon," supplied by a number of springs,' while at the same site "a fountain sends forth an abundant supply of fine water, which flows in a bright murmuring stream, all the year round, down the valley." " Along its sides there are at the present day "gardens of citrons, pomegranates, figs, oranges, pears, apples, and cherries, intermingled with plots in which grow cauliflowers, turnips, and potatoes." ' Further north, as Bethlehem is approached, the hills are now "terraced into a succession of hanging gardens, rich with olives and other fruit trees, great walls running along the ascent to form the level breadths. Down the valley rich groves flourish everywhere, till, as the eye follows them, green fields and ploughed land, in some directions, gradually take their place." * At the end of their second day's journey Abraham and Isaac may probably have found themselves in this locality, and have passed the night at Ephrath, which became Bethlehem (Gen. xxxv. 19). From the height on which Bethlehem stands they would have looked down on less cultivation, and less variety of foliage than the eye now rests upon, but probably upon a richer natural vegetation ; dwarf oak would have covered the hill- sides, abundant grass and flowers the valleys. Still the general features of the scene would have been the same. Grey rock would have predominated in the view, whichever way the eye was turned ; but the purple-pink Moabite ridge would show to the east, aglow with the bright tints of sunset, and the deep blue waters of the Dead Sea would be seen at their base, sunk in the shades of evening. The third day was come, and the travellers once more set off, probably in the cool morning air, still shaping their course northward, and most likely pursuing the route that continues in use to the present day. They would pass the site of " Rachel's Tomb," 5 not as yet hallowed by the reception of her earthly remains, and would scarcely note it as in any way remarkable ; and they would then, after a short descent, begin to mount the ' Robinson, " Researches in Palestine." vol. ii. pp. 164-167. ■ Geikie, vol i. p. 382. Compare Robinson, vol. ii. p. 168. 3 So Geil