r 6. ^0/02^, Stom t^e fei6rarg of (profcBBor ni^ifftdm J^^^^ (Breen f ^e &i6rarg of (Princeton C^eofogicdf ^eminarj^ CRITICAL NOTES ON THE Jntcrnational Sunbaij-Siijool Ccssons FROM THE PENTATEUCH For 1887 (January 2 — Junk 26) BY / The Rev. S. R. DRIVER, D.D. Regius Professor of Hebrew, and Canon of Christchiirch, Oxford. NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 18S7 CONTENTS PAGE Indications ok Different Documents in the Pentatf.ucii i LESS01\S~-Firsi Quarter. I. The Beginning — Gen. i : 26-31 ; 2 : 1-3 (Jan. 2) g II. Sin and Death — Gen. 3 : 1-6, 17-19 (Jan. 9) 12 III. Cain and Abel — Gen. 4 : 3-16 (Jan. 16) 16 IV. Noah and the Ark — Gen. 6 : 9-22 (Jan. 23) 18 V. The Call of Abram — Gen. 12 : 1-9 (Jan. 30) 21 VI. Lot's Choice — Gen. 13 : 1-13 (Feb. 6) 22 VII. God's Covenant with Abram — Gen. 15 : 5-iS(Feb. 13).. 24 VIII. Abraham Pleading for Sodom — Gen. 18 : 23-33 (Feb. 20). 27 IX. Destruction of Sodom — Gen. 19 : 15-26 (Feb. 27) 30 X. Abraham Offering Isaac— Gen. 22 : 1-14 (Mar. 6) 33 XI. Jacob at Bethel — Gen. 28 : 10-22 (Mar. 13) 37 XII. Jacob's New Name — Gen. 32: 9-12, 24-30 (Mar. 20) 40 XIII. Temperance Lesson — Gen. 9 : 18-27 (Mar. 27) 44 Second Quarter. I. Joseph Sold into Egypt — Gen. 37 : 23-36 (April 3) 50 II. Joseph E.xalted — Gen. 41 : 38-48 (April 10) 52 III. Joseph Makes Himself Known— Gen. 45: 1-T5 (April 17). 54 IV. Joseph and His Father — Gen. 47 : 1-12 (April 24) 55 V. Israel in Egypt — Ex. i : 6-14 (May i) 58 VI. The Child Moses — Ex. 2 : i-io (May 8) 59 VII. The Call of Moses — Ex. 3 : 1-12 (May 15) 60 VIII. The Passover — Ex. 12 : 1-14 (May 22) 63 IX. The Red Sea — Ex. 14 : 19-31 (May 29) 63 X. The Manna — Ex. 16 : 4-12 (June 5) 65 XI. and XII. The Commandments — Ex. 20 : i-ii (June 12 and 19) 68 XIII. The Tabernacle — Lev. 10: i-ii ; Ex. 35 : 20-29 (June 26) 75 The Characteristics of t)ie Documents 77 PREFACE. The following series of papers was designed origi- nally for publication in the Sunday School Times, with the view of explaining, from the point of view of liter- ary criticism, the lessons selected from the Old Testa- ment for the first two quarters of the current year. The introductory article, and papers on the first four lessons, appeared in due course in the Sunday School Times (Dec. i8, 25, 1886; Jan. i, 8, 1887); but at this stage the series was discontinued by the decision of the edi- tor. Meanwhile, the writer had completed his notes for the remaining lessons of the half-year ; and in the belief that there arc students who may not have access to larger works dealing with the subject, and to whom those notes, detached and incomplete as they are, may be of service in the endeavor to understand the organ- ism of the Bible, they are here published in a separate form. It has seemed best on the whole to reprint the intro- ductory article and the first four lessons as they ap- peared in the Sunday School Times. There are several omissions of matter contained in the original manu- scripts of the first four lessons ; but all the strictl)' critical notes were duly printed, and there is no suffi- cient reason to challenge a comparison. IV PREFACE. The other notes are printed exactly as the writer would have desired them to appear in the Sunday School Times, had the series not been interrupted — sub- ject only to such curtailment as the limits of space at the editor's disposal might, in some cases, have rendered necessary. The writer has introduced no alteration in the manner of treatment, beyond the addition of a (tvf explanatory foot-notes, which would have been unsuit- able in the columns of a weekly journal. A certain in- equality of treatment' may possibly be noticed in the different papers. Not realizing, at the time when his earlier notes were being prepared, the comprehensive scale upon which each lesson was treated in the S^inday School Times, by independent contributors, the writer dwelt at greater length than was required upon the sub- ject-matter of the selected passages: in the later papers the treatment is generally briefer, and is more exclu- sively devoted to the literary aspects of the lesson. A little repetition will, it is hoped, be excused, as unavoid- able under the circumstances of the case, the notes upon each lesson having to be made separately intelligible. The task of preparing the notes for publication has been materially lightened by the courtesy of the editor in returning to him the MS. (on the sixth and follow- ing lessons) in his possession, and in consenting to the republication of the notes already published. The writer's theological position is defined in the in- troductory article, and will further appear incidentally in the course of the following pages. Of the reality of the revelation embodied in the Old Testament he has never entertained any doubt, and his studies have only TREFACE. V confirmed him in his belief of it. But these same studies have also persuaded him that the facts of the Bible itself do not (in many cases) permit the ordinarily- accepted views respecting the origin and structure of the different books to be maintained. It appears to him to be the duty of Christian teachers and apologists to accept such conclusions as are thus authorized, and to appropriate, so far as they are assured, the results of critical and historical research. Where the data, in the writer's judgment, have appeared doubtful or ambigu- ous, care has been taken, in the following pages, to point this out to the readers. The writer would be more than satisfied, should the present series of notes have the effect of directing fresh attention to this im- portant subject. It will be understood that, in the compilation of the notes, use has been made of the best authorities, though never without an independent exercise of judgment ; but in a work of this character there did not seem to the writer to be occasion for recording his obligations expressly. February^ 1SS7. INDICA TIONS OF DIFFERENT DOCUMENTS IN THE PENTATEUCH, When any of the longer historical books of the Old Testament are examined attentively, some remarkable facts disclose themselves which are not, perhaps, appar- ent to an ordinary reader. In particular, the narrative is seen to be neither perfectly continuous nor perfectly uniform. Sometimes, for instance, there are breaks in- terrupting the connection ; at other times, what is ap- parently the same occurrence is narrated twice. Far- ther, particular sections of any given book are found to resemble one another in style and phraseology, while differing from the surrounding or intervening sections ; the resemblances, morever, being not isolated or su- perficial, but numerous and recurrent. Thus, to take a particular example, Genesis 9: 1-17 and Genesis 17 have many features common to one another, which are very different from those of chapter 18 or chapter 24, but, on the other hand, resemble those of Genesis i. And, upon farther examination, it appears that sections or passages, longer or shorter, as the case may be, re- sembling the three just mentioned — namely, Genesis i ; 9: 1-17; 17 — recur, at intervals, to the end of the book of Joshua. What is the. explanation of this peculiar- ity ? A consideration of all the circumstances Gt)nccrned I 2 CRITICAL NOTES. shows that only one explanation is possible. The Pen- tateuch (from which, though it does not at present con- cern us, the book of Joshua cannot be separated) is not the work of a single author ; documents or writings, the work of different hands, are combined in it. The method of a Hebrew historian was not that of a modern Avriter of history. The modern writer borrows his ma- terials from ancient sources or documents, but rewrites them in his own language, except where a quotation is expressly introduced. The style of his history is thus homogeneous throughout. A Hebrew historian, on the other hand, excerpted from his sources such pas- sages as were suitable, and incorporated them substan- tially as he found them ; sometimes adding comments of his own, but, as a rule, only introducing such alter- ations as were necessary for the purpose of harmonizing them and fitting them together. If, now, the original sources or documents made use of by the historian — or, as one may more fitly term him, the compiler — differed in style from one another, the differences, it is obvious, would not be obliterated by this treatment; and if, far- ther, the compiler, in his comments or additions, used phrases peculiar to himself, we should naturally find three separate styles side by side, and still distinguishable. To be sure, the style of three ordinary writers of Eng- lish prose would not, probably, in a similar case, be dis- tinguishable ; but it must be remembered that the Hebrew style of writing (like that of the ancients gen- erally) was much more condensed than that of modern times ; the characteristics of a particular style were, in consequence, more strongly marked. Thus a Hebrew DOCUMENTS IN THE FENTATEUCII. 3 author impressed a definite and distinct individuality upon whatever came from his pen. That the method which has been described was one actually followed by the Hebrew historian can be read- ily shown in the case of the Chronicles. The books of Chronicles are based largely upon our existing books of Samuel and Kings, long and numerous excerpts from which were combined by the compiler with the materi- als contributed by himself. Thus 2 Chronicles 5 : 2-14 agrees substantially with i Kings 8 : i-ii ; but in verses 11-13 is a passage inserted by the compiler of Chron- icles between the two halves of verse 10 in Kings ; 2 Chronicles 18 in the main agrees verbally with i Kings 22 ; but in verses 2 and 31 are short additions, due simi- larly to the later compiler : the first part of 2 Samuel 6: 19 appears in i Clironicles 16: 3. The second part of the same verse is found in i Chronicles 16: 43 ; the intervening verses being, as in the other cases, an addi- tion of the compiler. In these and all similar instances the passages added differ radically in style and phrase- ology from those excerpted from the earlier books. Mutatis milt and is, iht same phenomena are presented by the Pentateuch. Groups of passages occur in it, dis- tinguished from each other by such an aggregation of characteristic features that it is impossible not to attrib- ute the differences to a similar cause. In fact (if we may for the present leave Deuteronomy out of consid- eration), two streams of narrative run through the first four books, distinguished from one another not merely by differences of piirascology, but also by differences of purpose or scope. Of these, one, from the attention 2|. CRITICAL NOTES. bestowed in it to all ceremonial or sacrificial usage (it includes, for instance, Lev. i-i6), may be termed the priestly narrative, and may be referred to, for brevity, by the letter P. The other narrative, from its affinity of spirit with the great prophets, may be termed the prophetical narrative. From the fact that it is not throughout perfectly homogeneous, and can in some places be separated, with tolerable certainty, into its component parts, it is customary now to denote it by the double letters JE, the separate letters J and E be- ing used when it is required to refer to either part sepa- rately ; and these particular letters being chosen be- cause the names " Jehovah " and " Eloheem " are used by preference (though not exclusively) in the two com- ponent parts respectively (compare, for instance. Gen. 21 : 6-24, which belongs to E, with chapter 24, which is part of J). The distinction between J and E is, how- ever, of secondary importance, as compared with that between JE (treated as a whole) and P ; and it is only mentioned here for the sake of completeness. The proc- ess by which these different narratives were combined together appears to have been somewhat as follows : Firstly, there were two independent narratives of the patriarchal and early history of Israel, J and E, cover- ing largely the same ground ; these were afterwards combined by a redactor or compiler into the single whole which ^ve have denoted by JE. At a later date, when P had been composed, another compiler came, and united P with JE, thus giving rise to the first four books of the Pentateuch substantially as we have them. We have next to ask to what date these different nar- DOCUMENTS IN THE PENTATEUCH. 5 ratives or sources may be assigned. Do they all belong to the Mosaic age ; or are they in part, or even entire- ly, subsequent to it ? Wc are here moving on uncer- tain ground, and can only, in some cases, give an an- swer approximately. Still there are indications, neither few nor unimportant, which point independently to the conclusion that the Pentateuch, at least as a whole, is not a work of the Mosaic age. One of the sources of which it is composed might, indeed, be of early date ; but its complex and artificial structure, as disclosed by literary criticism, is surely the mark of a much later age. Again, both in style and subject-matter, especially in certain of the legislative enactments, the discourses of Deuteronomy differ so fundamentally from the earlier books of the Pentateuch that it is impossible to suppose both to be the work of the same legislator. Reluctant- ly the present writer makes the admission which the facts extort from him : he does not see how the Mosaic authorship of Deuteronomy can be maintained. But Deuteronomy is not, on this account, to be set down as a " forgery ; " nor can it be granted that the author de- sired to win credit for himself by passing off as Mosaic his own " inventions." The laws which he incorporated were, for the most part, ancient, and recognized by the Israelites: the author^ instinct with prophetic inspira- tion, merely threw them into a new framework, empha- sized the motives by which their observance should be dictated, and accommodated the whole to the position of the legislator, Moses. In principle, his method does not differ from that of the Chronicler, who, for instance, in I Chronicles 29, attributes to David a speech which 6 CRITICAL NOTES. the idioms employed in it show to be the author's own composition. It is an ideal Moses whose aspirations and aims he unfolds before us ; and his conception is splendidly and worthily developed. According to Kuenen (with whom Wellhausen sub- stantially agrees), J wrote about 800 B. C, E somewhat later. Deuteronomy was composed in the reign ofjo- siah. P was not completed till during, or even after, the Bab}donian Captivity. The dates here assigned may be regarded as the lowest possible. Other critics are not satisfied, for instance, that Deuteronomy is later than the reign of Manasseh ; both J and E also may have written earlier. Whatever their date, however, we must suppose their work to have consisted essentially in casting into a written form the traditions current in Israel respecting the earlier history of the nation, with the aid, doubtless, of literary sources, when such were at their disposal. The most important difference of opinion concerns the date of P. This was at first tac- itly assumed by critics to be the oldest part of the Pen- tateuch — earlier, namely, than J or E ; and although the arguments in favor of the more recent view are un- doubtedly strong, there remain points which are still not fully cleared up. For instance, part of Leviticus II is, and is admitted to be, earlier than Deuteronomy (for Deuteronomy 14: 3-20 is based upon it); and if this be so, the question arises. What other parts of P may be earlier than Deuteronomy likewise? Perhaps the truth may be that the ceremonial law arrived at completeness by gradual stages ; thus, in some of its features it may be older, and even much older, than the DOCUMENTS IN THE PENTATEUCH. 7 seventh century B. C, while other features may repre- sent developments which were only fully completed af- terwards. The safest course will be to treat the dates proposed merely as provisional and approximate. But in any case, the laws embodied in P are not to be re- garded as " manufactured "by its author (in which case, of course, their acceptance by the Jews would be in- credible). They are a codification of existent usages, in many features, we may be sure, handed down from a remote antiquity, though in others, as has been just said, perhaps modified or developed by the lapse of years. It is a mistake to imagine, as is sometimes done, that the critical view of the formation of the Pentateuch is framed in the interests of unbelief, or has its foundation in the premises of a negative theology. Particular crit- ics may indeed share these premises, and employ argu- ments which the present writer, for instance, would repudiate ; but the grounds upon which in fact the crit- ical position depends are neutral theological!)', and con- sist simply of the application to a particular case of the canons and principles by which evidence is estimated and history judged. We are bound, indeed, as Christians, to accept the authority of the Old Testament, and to see in it a Di- vine preparation for the revelation of Jesus Christ made in the Gospels ; but there is no obligation upon us to accept a specific theory, either of its literary structure or of the course of history which it narrates. These may not lie upon the surface, but may have to be dis- engaged by the ordinary methods of human investiga- tion and research. If they should prove to be different 8 CRITICAL NOTES. from what we had supposed, the value of the Old Tes- tament, whether in itself or in its relation to the New Testament, is not of necessity either diminished or im- paired. The fact of revelation will not be affected ; we shall only have modified our view — perhaps have ob- tained a truer view — of the form in which it was mani- fested, or of the course along which, historically, it advanced. It is no mark of wisdom in the Christian advocate to link his faith with elements — in reality un- connected with theology at all — which, if judged by the standards which ordinarily satisfy mankind, would ap- pear at once to be untenable. Rather, it should be his aim to show that such elements are no integral part of his faith. The Christian critic does not question the fact of a revelation being embodied in the Old Testa- ment Scriptures ; he assumes tJiat, and proceeds to in- quire under what conditions it was developed histori- cally, in what order its different parts took shape, and how they are mutually connected together. Where his results differ from those sanctioned by tradition, they have sometimes to be accommodated to the main body of Christian truth. It has to be shown, for instance, that the teaching of the Old Testament has still a value and a meaning, though not altogether of the nature that was once supposed. The present writer, while not pledging himself to every detail of the critical position (for the grounds, in every particular, are not equally con- clusive), is satisfied that, in the main, it is substantiated by the facts : and in the series of notes which he supplies he will endeavor, as far as he is able, to consider the weekly lesson from the new point of view thus acquired. CRITICAL NOTES. I. The Beginning — Gen. i : 26-31 ; 2 : 1-3. (Jan. 2.) The verses of our lesson form part of the opening narrative of P, which consists of an account of the creation of heaven and earth, and of the manner in which God " rested " when his work of creation was ac- complished. The account extends as far as the word " created," in Genesis 2 : 4, where the compiler, or " re- dactor," who threw the Pentateuch into its present form, has fitted on to it a narrative by a different hand. As has been said, it is difficult to fix, otherwise than approximately, the date at which this source P was composed. The Old Testament is of importance, not on account of the dates at which its different books were written, but on account of the ideas which they contain. If we fix our attention steadily on the ideas, we shall soon find that the dates are a matter of second- ary moment. The dignified and impressive style of the chapter with which the Bible opens is worthy of its theme; and the sublimity of the third verse has ex- torted the admiration of all critics, from the author of ancient times ■'• (commonly supposed to be Longinus) to WeDhausen.f * Feri Ilypsous, 9, ch. 9. f Prolegomena, p. 314 {Uistoiy of Israel, p. 29S). lO CRITICAL NOTES. Long before the rise of scientific method or histori- cal research, efforts were made to fill the void in the past which begins where historical reminiscences cease ; and most ancient nations framed for themselves theories to account for the beginnings of the earth and man, or to solve the problems which the observation of human nature suggests. Of the theories current in Assyria and Phoenicia fragments have been preserved • and, at least in outline, so far resemble the biblical narrative as to support the inference that both spring from the same source, and have their root in the same cycle of popu- lar tradition. But in their Assyrian or Phcenician form these theories are crude in themselves, and associated with a grotesque polytheism ; in the hands of the in- spired Hebrew historian the same materials — if we are right in calling them the same — are unified and trans- formed, and made the vehicle of profound religious truths. They become, under his magic touch, symbolic pictures of the prehistoric past. The first chapter of Genesis may have passed, as critics have conjectured, through more phases than one of literary growth. As we read it, it is the result of mature theological reflec- tion, operating, as we seem forced to suppose, upon elements derived from human sources, but breathing into them a new spirit, and adapting them to a new aim. The chapter is no authoritative exposition of the past history of the earth ; it has a different purpose al- together. Its purpose is to teach religious truth, not scientific truth. With this object in view, its author arranges the materials at his disposal in a series of what may be termed representative pictures, remark- GEN. I : 26-31 ; 2 : 1-3. 1 1 ably adapted to suggest the reality, if only they be not treated as a " revelation " of it, and embodying theo- logical teaching of permanent value. Thus the first chapter of Genesis teaches, (i) in oppo- sition to the conceptions prevalent in antiquit}', that the world is not self-originated, that it was called into existence, and brought gradually into its present state, at the will of a spiritual Being, prior to it, independent of it, and deliberately planning every stage of its prog- ress. It is silent as regards the secondary or physical causes through which, as science teaches in particular cases, or perhaps even universally, the effects described may have been produced ; but dividing the whole period artificially into six parts, it exhibits an ideal picture of the successive stages by which the earth was fitted to become the habitation of man, insisting that each of these stages is no product of chance or of mere mechanical forces, but is an act of the Divine will, real- izes the Divine purpose, and receives the seal of the Divine approval. And, {2) in the verses before us, this chapter insists in particular on the distinctive pre-emi- nence belonging to man ; implied in the remarkable self-deliberation taken in his case by the Creator, and signified more expressly by the phrase, made " in the image of God." By this is meant, doubtless, to use modern phraseology, the possession by man of self-con- scious reason. This by no means exhausts the theological teaching which this chapter of Genesis embodies; but it will be sufficient to show that, even while we abandon the views popularly entertained respecting it, we do not 12 CRITICAL NOTES. ' divest it of its.value or significance. On the contrary, we relieve it of very serious difficulties which otherwise attach to it. Understood as a report, or narrative, of actual fact (even with the admission that " day " may be used fig- uratively as "period"), it is a stumbling-block which, in the eyes of many a student of natural science — and, in- deed, of other persons as well — is fatal to the claims of the entire Bible. The order of the several creative acts is an essential feature of the narrative. The order, as taught by science, is fundamentally different ; and a mind trained in the precise and vigorous methods of scientific investigation, which repudiates everything that is vague or evasive, detects immediately the falla- cies by which every attempt to prove that these two orders are identical is vitiated. The reconciliation may be spread over an entire volume ; but the reader who does not permit his attention to be diverted will dis- cover the flaws in the argument even there.* Let the Christian teacher state the truth plainly and unambigu- ously. He will find that the Bible suffers no disparage- ment in consequence ; but that its claims to speak with authority, where matters relating to theology are con- cerned, will be the more readily recognized and owned. II. Sin and Death — Gen. 3: 1-6, 17-19. (Jan. 9.) The account of the creation and fall of man contained in chapters 2 and 3 is by a different hand from that to ■"See The Expositor iox January, 1886. GEN. 3 : 1-6, 17-19. 13 which chapter i is attributed. The account begins in the middle of Genesis 2 : 4, at the words " in the day." The redactor or compiler, in combining different narratives together into a simple whole, frequently, from the necessity of the case, made slight alterations at the points of juncture between them. If the rendering of the Revised Version be correct, the construction of the opening sentence of the second narrative must have been modified, and very possibly some words have been omitted. That the author of the two narratives is not the same appears, not merely from the difference of style and phraseology, but also from differences in the manner of representation. Thus, to notice but one point, the order of creation in the two accounts is dif- ferent. In chapter i the order is, first, vegetation (third day) ; second, animals (fifth and sixth days); third, man (both sexes). In chapter 2 the order is, first, man (v. 7); second, vegetation (v. 9); third, animals (v. I9''''); fourth, woman (v. 21 ff.). The separation made between the creation of the two sexes might, indeed, be reason- ably explained upon the hypothesis that chapter 2 de- scribes in greater detail what is stated summarily in Genesis i : 27 ff ; but this explanation will not account for the other differences. The order followed by the narrator forms part of a progression, evidently, on his part, intentional (observe, for instance, Iiow verse 7, fol- lowing upon verses 5 and 6, agrees with the statement there expressly made, that no plant or herb was yet in the earth), and as evidently opposed to the order in chapter i. Genesis 2 : 4^ to 3 : 24 belongs, in fact, to * The rendering "had formed " is contrary to Hebrew idiom. 14 CRITICAL NOTES. the source which we term J, while Genesis i to 2 : 4a, as we saw, belongs to P. The object of the narrator is to explain the prominent facts of human nature, and in particular its moral characteristics. But his narrative cannot be understood as a description of events as they actually occurred. The actual mode in which man came into being endowed with the gift of reason, and the step by which actually he committed his first sin, are both unknown to us ; they are represented here in a symboli- cal dress, in which secondary causes, as in chapter i, being disregarded, human nature is analyzed in its theo- logical aspects. The ideas of a paradise, of a terrestrial garden fre- quented by the gods, of a sacred tree, of a mysterious power possessed by the serpent, were widely diffused in antiquity; and the conviction that there is some con- nection between the biblical representation and the scene depicted on an ancient Bab)'lonian cylinder — a tree, with a figure on each side, and beside it a serpent — forces itself irresistibly upon us. Can an objection in principle be maintained against the inference thus sug- gested, that the materials for the narrative of these two chapters may have been drawn from the same, or a similar, source ? But though, as antiquarians, we may find an interest in speculating on the source whence the framework, or other elements, of the story may have been derived, as theologians we are only concerned with the narrative as it lies before us. Whatever it may have been originally, the narrator who cast it into its present form invested it with a new significance, so that it becomes, in his GEN. 3 : 1-6, 17-19. 15 hands, a profound and impressive allegory. Tliey are facts with which he deals, though he clothes them in a symbolical dress. His narrative tells us, for instance (Gen. 2 : 7), of the double nature of man — his earthly frame and the spirit communicated to him by the Crea- tor — representing a fact which science inclines to be- lieve may have actually taken long ages to accomplish, under a forcible concrete image which all can under- stand. It tells us, again, how man lirst used his reason by the creation of language, distinguishing objects from one another, and from himself (Gen. 2: ig, 20). It teaches, under a symbolical form, the deep ethical and social significance which underlies the difference between the sexes (Gen. 2: 18 ff.). It tells us, by a dim allegory, which speaks, however, only too distinctly to every child of Adam, how man became conscious of a moral law, and how, upon the first temptation, he broke it. In the serpent, versatile and insidious, the seductive power of evil is inimitably personified ; and Adam's fall is a typical illustration of the indirect manner in which it assaults and overcomes the strong. A long and bitter conflict is reserved for humanity ; but there is a pros- pect, as the narrator, with prophetic intuition, foresees, of victory in the end (3 : 15). Thus, by a figurative nar- rative, based, it may be, upon materials derived from the far East, but, if so, let it not be forgotten, accommo- dated to the spirit of Israelitish religion, the funda- mental truths of human nature are brought home to every one of us. We must penetrate the artificial guise in which they are presented to us, and, interpreting the narrative by the light of the Bible as a whole, appre- l6 CRITICAL NOTES. hend and appropriate the ideas which it is intended to convey. III. Cain and Abel— Gen. 4: 3-16. (Jan. 16.) Chapter 4 is the continuation of chapter 2 : 4<^ to 3 : 24, and belongs, like it, to J.* It gives the story of Cain and Abel, and continues the account of Cain's descendants as far as the sons of Lamech (vs. i to 24). The descendants of Seth, Adam's second son, as far as Noah, are enumerated, with precise chronological par- ticulars, in chapter 5 (which belongs to P. Comp. vs. i, 2, with chap, i : 27, 28 ; 2 : 40^) ; some account of Seth and Enosh, written in a very different style, occupies the last two verses of J's narrative in chapter 4 ; and the verse (v. 29) with the explanation of Noah's name, which is unlike every other part of the same chapter, resembles them, and, at the same time, refers back to chapter 3:17. Originally, as seems clear, J contained particulars of the entire line of Seth's descendants to Noah ; but the redactor preferred, on the whole, to retain the list as given by P (chap. 5), merely incorporating a speci- men of the parallel list in J — the verses 4: 25, 26, and 5: 29. Doubtless much which might have been told is omitted (for example, particulars respecting other in- ventions than those mentioned in Genesis 4 : 17 ff.); but the writer (a redactor) selected no more than v/as * The question whether the verses selected for tlie lesson belong, as some writers suppose, to a " secondary stratum " in J, is of subordinate mportance for our 2>resent purpose, and need not detain us. GEN. 4 : 3-16. 17 required for his purpose. Of the two accounts, the one in J (chap. 4) appears to have preserved the old tradi- tions in their most primitive form ; it is the more pict- uresque, and more full of incident. In P (chap. 5) an interest in precise chronological statistics has prevailed to the exclusion of all besides. In construction, too, the narrative in chapter 5 is much more artificial. The beginnings of pastoral or shepherd life are con- nected with Abel ; agriculture is stated to have origi- nated with Cain (v. 2). The transition from the wan- dering, nomadic state, once common to all nations, to settled life, is associated likewise with Cain, who, in conjunction with his son Enoch, is said to have " builded a city," and given it a name (v. 17). Music, and the art of working metals, are ascribed to two of the sons of Lamech ; while the invention of metal weapons is the occasion of a song, in which the old patriarch triumphs in his sons* success, and boasts that he can now, by their aid, defy attack. Thus, in the line of Cain, the progress of material civilization is traced in some of its more salient features, not without allusion to the darker traits — the growth, for example, of a spirit of selfishness and revenge, which too often accompany it. But it is in the character of Cain himself that the ethical motive of the narrative is most pronounced, and the psycho- logical discrimination of the narrator most evident. The outlines of the picture arc drawn broadly, but it is easy to fill them in. The drama is a typical one: it stands ominously at the beginning of human history as the first consequence of the fall; and it has often — more often, we may be 1 8 CRITICAL NOTES. sure, than history records — been re-enacted since. The sullen temper, the unchecked passion, the mean and heartless excuse, have again and again wrought out their fatal effects ; they have spread misery and suffer- ing around them, even if they have not actually ended in the terrible sin of Cain. We have the warning. Let no flow of temper, no insincerity of purpose, vitiate our sacrifice, and render it unacceptable to God. Let the envious, discontented temper be overcome and ban- ished ; it is like a beast of prey crouching at the door, whose deadly assault nothing but prompt and instant exertion can repel. And let us not imagine that the excuse, which we condemn so readily in Cain, is suffi- cient in our own case. Even in the complex organism of modern society there will always be some who have the claim, which Cain so coldly repudiated, for a brother's consideration and help. IV. Noah and the Ark — Gen. 6: 9-22. (Jan. 23.) In the story of the deluge, the composite structure of the narrative is particularly evident ; for the redactor has preserved more than is his wont from both the sources employed by him. The verses chosen for the lesson form the opening section of P's narrative; and the sequel is given in Genesis 7 : 6, 11, 13-16 (to " com- manded him "), 18-21, 24; 8: I, 2 (to "stopped"), 3-5, 13 (to " off the earth "), 14-19; 9: i-i". If these verses be read consecutively, they will be found to contain an almost complete narrative of the flood, and of the sub- sequent blessing and covenant with Noah. The verses GEN. 6 : 9-22. 19 which remain, from Genesis 6 : 5 to 8 : 22 (except Gen. 7 : 7-9, which are due, probably, to tlie compiler), form part of a parallel narrative derived from J, but not preserved so completely as that of P, which the compiler has interwoven with it. In some places the duplicate char- acter of the narrative is plain ; thus Genesis 6 : 9-13 is, in substance, identical with Genesis 6 : 5-8 ; and thou<^h the directions for the construction of the ark are natu- rally only given once (from P), the sequel (Gen. 6:17, 19, 20, 22, P) is similarly repeated in Genesis 7 : 1-5. The most characteristic difference between the two ac- counts is that in P one pair of clean and unclean animals alike are taken into the ark (Gen. 6 : 19, 20; 7 : 14, 15); whereas in J a distinction is drawn, and the proportion is seven pairs of clean and one of unclean (Gen. 7 : 2, 3). Another difference relates to the duration of the deluge, which is much greater in P than in J. In phraseology, the parts assigned to P have a strong resemblance with chapter i ; for instance, the rare word denoting " kind '' (Gen. 6 : 20 ; 7 : 14), and the expressions in Genesis 8 : 17; 9 : 1-4, 7 (comp. Gen. i : 20, 22, 28-30). Legends of a deluge overflowing the whole or part of the earth have been current in many countries; and fifteen years ago the clay tablets containing the legend, as it was told in Babylonia, were discovered by the late Mr. George Smith. The legend is one of a series relat- ing to a hero named Izdubar, whose deeds and advent- ures appear to have formed a kind of epic narrative, inscribed on twelve tablets, of which the eleventh con- tains the episode of the flood. The account exhibits several remarkable points of contrast with the biblical 20 CRITICAL NOTES. narrative, especially with those parts of it which are assigned to J. In the biblical account, the episode of the raven and the dove belong to J. The resemblances of the Baby- lonian narrative are evident. The most characteristic differences, as Schrader remarks, are the generally " heathen coloring" of the latter, and, in particular, the different motive assigned for the flood — not, as in the Bible (both P and J), the corruption of mankind, but an arbitrary resolve on the part of the gods. But the biblical account, as we read it, can hardly have been derived immediately from Babylonia; its character is too distinctively Hebraic for this view of its origin to be probable. Rather, the recollection of an actual deluge, which once inundated particular districts of Asia, has been preserved both in Babylon and Pales- tine, retaining, to be sure, common features, but other- wise developing independently in the two countries. Or, if we should prefer to suppose that the story reached Palestine originally from Babylon, it must nevertheless have been gradually transformed and recast in the mouths of the people before it could become suitable for either J or P to adopt as part of his work. As they present it to us, it marks an epoch in the early history of mankind, A judicial motive is assigned for it ; it is a judgment upon corrupt and degenerate mankind. The narrative thus declares God's anger upon sin. Noah, on the other hand, is a preacher of righteousness, an example of blamelessness and obedience in the midst of a heedless and perverse generation ; a man worthy of the seal of God's approval. His probity saves, not him- GEN. 12 : 1-9. 21 self only, but his family. Rescued from the flood of waters, he becomes the second father of humanity, and inaugurates for it a new era. A new declaration of God's purpose with regard to man marks the significance of the occasion ; a promise and a covenant, more defi- nite than before (Gen. i : 28-30), is announced ; a new condition is established (9 : 5, 6) for the maintenance and welfare of society. Humanity starts afresh, in- vested with new rights and charged with new duties ; the covenant of mercy embraces all (9 : 17), if they do but respond and fulfill the obligations which it imposes. V. The Call of Abram — Gen. 12: 1-9, (Jan. 30.) The narrative as a whole is that of J, only vs. 4b (from and Abravi), 5 being from a different source, virj., P. The grounds for assigning vs. /^b, 5 to this source consist partly in the fact that v. ^a repeats, in different words, the substance of v. 4^, partly in the accumulation of expressions which mark the narrative of P elsewhere. Thus, both " substance " and "souls" (in the sense of *' persons "), though not indeed confined to P, prepon- derate in the sections which are grouped as belonging to this narrator (13 : 6 ; 31 : 18 ; 36 : 7 ; 46: 6 ; and 17 : 14; 36 : 6 ; 46: 15, 18, 22, 26, 27); and the word rendered "gathered" (cognate to that rendered "substance") is peculiar to him (occurring besides only 31 : 18; 36: 6; 46 : 6). The chronological note in v. /\b respecting Abram's age is in harmon\- with other similar notices in P, and supports the same conclusion : comp. for in- stance, 16 : 16; 17 : 25 ; 25 : 26; 41 : 46 ; Ex. 7 : 7, where •22 CRITICAL NOTES. even the form of the sentence is identical with that which occurs here. The author of the priestly narrativ^e, in accordance with his design, relates his introductory narrative sum- marily, and deals with his subject more fully. He dis- plays his characters in action, and discloses the motives under which they act. Here, for example, he exhibits the Divine purpose which prompted the call of Abraham, and was promoted by his migration from Haran into Canaan. He was to be the founder of a great nation, whose future history should be fraught with blessing for the whole of mankind, and whose home should be the land of Canaan, which the patriarch was now to visit (v. 7). The design with which this nation was founded, and the character impressed upon it from the beginning, is stated more distinctly in a subsequent passage, ch. 18:19 (R. v.), likewise due to the same narrator. VI. Lot's Choice — Gen. 13: 1-13. (Feb. 6.) It will be convenient to group together the portions of the narrative relating to Abraham which belong to the source P. They are 12 : 4<5 (from and A bra tn), 5113:6, lib (from and they separated)^ 12a (top/ain) ; 16 : la (prob- ably*), 3,15, 16; ch. 17; 19:29:21 : i<5, 2-5; ch. 23:25:7- * There is little or nothing in this half-verse which is characteristic ; but it is a repetition, in substance, of ii : 30 ; and there is a presumption that />of/i notices are not taken from the same source. But 11 : 30 appears to be one of three verses (28-30) inserted in the narrative of P, and belong- ing to J. Hence the balance of probability is in favor of the parallel notice, 16 : 1(7, being derived from the other source, P. But naturally a point like this cannot be insisted on, and hence the qualification " probably." GEN. 13 : I-13. 23 I la {io his son). These, if read consecutively,will be found to constitute an outline of the history of Abraham, sufficient to form part of an introduction to the code of ceremonial law in Ex. — Numb,, for which alone, as it would seem, it was originally designed. From their brief and compact character, and from the attention regularly bestowed in them upon chronological partic- ulars, these notices are well adapted to constitute the framework of the book, and to mark the successive stages of the narrative; and they have been utilized by the final redactor of the Pentateuch for this purpose. The only occasions in which they are more circumstantial in character are in the account of the covenant of circum- cision (ch. 17), and of the purchase of the burial-place of Machpelah (ch. 23). Both these are of interest to the narrator, the one as carrying back to its origin an observance of supreme religious significance, the other as establishing the patriarch's legal ownership of the ancient site which, as tradition told, was the burial- place not of himself alone, but also of Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Leah (see 25 : 9, 10 ; 49: 29-32 ; 50: 12, 13, all by the same narrator, where these facts are recorded in their due order). In this lesson only vs. 6, lib, 12a belong to P. That these verses are by a different hand from the rest of the narrative is inferred, partly from their style, which connects them with other passages of P (compare, for instance, v. 6 with 36 : 6, 7), partly from the relation in which they stand to the context. Thus V. 6 has undoubtedly been inserted very skillfully in its present place, but if the context be studied care- full)', it will be found to be really superfluous. When 24 CRITICAL NOTES. the narrative, for instance, is read without it, nothing will be felt to be missing ; and the reason for which Abram and Lot separated, though not irreconcilable with that assigned in the following verses, is still not altogether the same. And in vs. Ii, 12 the words, "and Lot journeyed east " (i i^) " and moved his tent as far as Sodom" {12I?) cohere well together: the intervening words, on the other hand (ii^, 12a) form a natural sequel to V. 6. The rest of the section belongs to J." The contrast between the characters of Abraham and Lot is well brought out in the narrative of J. Abra- ham is peace-loving, disinterested, offers his younger relative the first choice; Lot, thinking of none but himself, selects immediately the richest and most at- tractive region which the land contains. As a conse- quence of the separation, Abraham alone becomes henceforth the central figure in the narrative, while Lot's choice brings him his first step toward the east of Jordan, where he becomes (19: 36-38) the reputed an- cestor of the two tribes of Moab and Ammon, the near kinsmen, and frequent rivals, of the Israelites. VIL God's Covenant with Abram — Gen. 15: 5-18. (Feb. 13.) Chapter 15 forms part of the narrative of JE, though it is difficult, if not impossible, to determine what parts of it should be assigned to J and E respectively. As was * The question whether the words and Lot iviih him, in v. I, and vs. 3, 4, should rather be refer) ed to the redactor of JE, need not, for our pres- ent purpose, I)e considered. GEN. 15 : 5-18. 25 said in the introductory paper, J and E are welded more intimately together, and differ less from one another in style, than is the case between P and JE ; hence sections of JE occur, in which, though the /act that they are composite appears to be clear, it is impos- sible to assign definite verses to one or the other nar- rator with any certainty. Here, for instance, in v. 5 Abraham is bidden to count the stars ; the time therefore must be nigJit ; in v. 12 we read that the sun is setting; and in v. 17 that it has actually set, without any in- timation that vs. loff. belong to a different occasion, or day, from vs. 1-5. It is singular also that after the full expression of his faith, in v. 6, Abraham immediately afterward craves to receive some visible sign or token that the promise will be fulfilled. Further, the promise contained in vs. I2~i6 not only anticipates v. 18, but, speaking strictly, is a limitation of it : the promise given absolutely in v. 18 is limited in vs. 12-16 by the declara- tion that it is not to take effect immediately; and while the " Amoiite" in v. 16 appears as a general name for the older population of Canaan (as it does similarly Josh. 24 : 8 ; Amos, 2:9, 10) in v. 21 the usage seems to be different, the name being that of just one tribe out of many. One solution of the problem which the chapter thus presents to the critic is to suppose that a narrative comprising vs. i, 2,4, 7-1 1, 17, 18, and be- longing to E, was combined with notices derived from J, vi.^., vs. 3, 5, 6, by a redactor, who at the same time added vs. 12-16 himself; and that vs. 19-21 were an amplification of v. 18, appended subsequently on the model of similar enumerations occurring frequently in 2 26 CRITICAL NOTES. other parts of the Pentateuch {c. g., Ex. 3:8, 17 ; 23 : 23 ; 34: II, etc.). Whether, however, this solution is the correct one must remain undetermined. Unambigu- ous as the criteria distinguishing the sources in some cases are, in other cases they speak less distinctly ; and where that is so, more than one explanation is often possible, and the question must be left unde- cided. But whatever the source of the different elements of which the chapter is composed, it presents as a whole two impressive scenes, and marks an essential moment in the development of Abraham's character. Hitherto fortune has uniformly accompanied him ; he has been the favored one of Heaven; has received the promise of an august future for his descendants; has been hon- ored and successful in the eyes of the native princes of Palestine. But his happiness is now clouded, and his bright hopes are crossed by questionings and doubts. His faith is subjected to its first trial. Notwithstand- ing the sense of Divine favor under which (v. i) he is conscious that he rests, he is still childless. The spectacle of the heavens by night is made at once the means of reassuring him as to the Creator's power, and of representing to him, under an impressive figure, the multitude of descendants who should own him as their father. The comparison to the "stars of heaven" — more conspicuous and numerous, travelers tell us, as viewed through the air of Syria than under the moister atmosphere of northern climes — is a favorite one in the Hebrew writers. It is repeated, from here, in the subsequent promises, 22 : 17 ; 26 : 4, which, in their turn, GEN. l8: 23-33. 27 are made the ground of Moses' intercession in Ex. 32 : 13; and in Deuteronomy it thrice appears as the stand- ard by which Israel's ideal greatness is measured (1:10; 10 : 22 ; 28 : 62). Thus the first trial of faith is overcome, and Abraham "against hope believed in hope " (Rom. 4 : 18). But, again, even if Abraham be satisfied that he will have posterity, what assurance has he that his descendants will inherit the land of Palestine? To convey this assurance the promise is thrown into a more definite and solemn form ; the flaming torch, passing between the divided victims, symbolizes its ratification, on Jehovah's part, as a cove- nant binding upon him; and (vs. 12-16) in the " deep sleep " which falls upon the patriarch he sees projected upon the darkness the dim vista of the future, and understands, at least in part, why the designs of Provi- dence do not always admit of immediate accomplish- ment. Possessed of these new assurances, Abraham is the better prepared to undergo any severer trials which may hereafcer come upon him. VIII. Abraham Pleading for Sodom — Gen. 18: 23-33- (Feb. 20.) The whole of chapters 18, 19, with the exception of the single verse 19: 29,''- belongs to the narrative of J. * Which (i) betrays itself as an insertion, in that it repeats in other words the substance of the preceding narrative: and (2) contains several independent marks of the style of P, viz., "God" (Elohcem), twice for "Jehovah," which has been used before {e. g., vs. 13, 14, 16, 24, 28 CRITICAL NOTES. The section furnishes us with a fuller insight into the character and personality of Abraham ; it represents him as pleading with God on behalf of the righteous who may be shut up within the doomed cities: it ex- hibits to us by contrast the fate of the reprobate men of Sodom. From a literary point of view, it is well adapted to illustrate the characteristic excellences of the author's style. Among the prose writers of the O. T., J stands unsurpassed. Deuteronomy, indeed (chs. 1-28), possesses an eloquence and power unique in its kind, and not approached by any of the later writers who appear to have taken it as their model; but rhet- oric and history hardly admit of being compared. J's touch is delicate and light : he tells a narrative with just that amount of circumstance which makes it at- tractive and picturesque : there is not a word too much: the reader's interest is awakened at once, and sustained without flagging to the end (comp. ch. 24). His narrative, moreover, is pervaded throughout by a fine vein of ethical and psychological discrimination ; characters and motives stand before us with the vivid- ness and reality of actual life ; the old traditions which he recounts become in his hands the vehicle of deep theological ideas. The figures of the patriarchs, and the story of the exodus, have been invested by him 27) ; " remembered," of God, as 8:1; Ex. 2 : 22 (comp. Gen. 9 : 15, 16) ; and the general statement that Lot dwelt in the "cities of the plain," as in 13 : 12 (P), which would fall naturally from a writer compiling a summary account of the occurrences, but hardly so from one who had just before specified repeatedly Sodom as the particular city in which Lot was dwelling. GEN. i8 : 23-33. 29 with imperishable charm : the scenes from the Penta- teuch which impress themselves most indelibly upon our memory are mostly those which his pen has sketched. Gladly would we have known the name which he bore among men, but Hebrew historiography, as it would appear, was uniformly anonymous. Of not a single historical book in the O. T. has the name of the author been preserved. The books of Ezra and Nehemiah form but an apparent exception, for these books, as we have them, were composed long after the age of Ezra and Nehemiah themselves, and only portions of each are directly due to the author whose name it bears. The narrative presents a wonderful picture of Divine mercy, brought to light through human intercession. Abraham is shocked at the prospect of Sodom's de- struction : his keen sense of justice (18 : 25) recoils at the thought of the innocent perishing with the guilty, and this by the decree of an all-righteous Judge. The vision of Lot, who, though he had shown himself thoughtless and unheeding, was still not steeped in guilt, rose before him ; others, not less " righteous " (2 Pet. 2 : 8), might be there as well; he is moved to compassion, and takes upon himself to intercede. With humility and distrust of self he makes his re- quest ; emboldened by success, he repeats it ; until he at last receives the gracious assurance that the presence of ten righteous men in Sodom shall save the city. The truth is established that the God of justice is also a God of mercy. But, do the innocent never suffer with the guilty? Are they never, as the world moves 30 CRITICAL NOTES. on, involved in the disasters which the wrong-doing of others brings so often in its train ? This would seem to be a consequence inseparable from the organiza- tion which we call " society." God has willed that men should not live in isolation. They are dependent upon one another as well for the necessities as for the en- joyments of life ; ties of feeling, sympathy, interest, bind them together; innumerable links unite us each with our fellow-men. In virtue of such connecting links a single misdeed may mar in one case the hap- piness of a family, and in another it may spread misery and ruin far and wide ; it may even affect an entire peo- ple. How is this to be reconciled with the ordinance of a just God ? Let it suffice here to have suggested this question. There are indications abundantly sufficient to establish the truth that God is a God of beneficence and mercy. We must seek, therefore, for some higher purpose, some higher law, not immediately apparent, in which these seeming antagonisms are reconciled and explained. IX. Destruction of .Sodom — Gen. 19: 15-26. (Feb. 27.) These verses are part of the same long narrative of J to which the last lesson belonged, and from the point of view of literary criticism nothing need be added to what was said in the preceding paper. It may be allowable, therefore, to handle briefly two questions of interest arising out of the subject-matter of the nar- rative. It was customary, formerly, to connect the GEN. 19 : 15-26. 31 origin of the "Dead* Sea" with the catastrophe de- scribed in the present chapter, which overthrew the cities of the " plain." This opinion is known now to be untenable. Geology has shown that in reality the Dead Sea is a vastly older formation. The region has been explored most recently, at the instance of the Palestine Exploration Society, by Professor Edw. Hidl; and his conclusions upon this point confirm those of other geologists who have visited the spot, e. g., of Sir J. W. Dawson. According to Professor Hull, in miocene times, long before the appearance of man upon earth, when the land of Palestine was first elevated above the sea, a great rupture or fissure, caused by lateral pressure, was formed in its surface, corresponding generally to what is now the entire length of the Jordan valley ;t and in this fissure a por- tion of the ocean was imprisoned. In process of time changes of climate took place; the rainfall decreased ; and thus the surface of the great lake fell until ulti- mately all that remained of it was the Sea of Tiberias * This name is a misnomer, and, as travelers agree, suggests associations wliich the sea in (]uestion does not possess. It appears to be first used in Greek geographers of the first and second centuries, A.D. In the O. T. it is known only as (i) "the Salt Sea;" (2) " the Sea of the Arabah " (/. e., of the Jordan valley); (3) "the Eastern (///. Foremost) Sea" (opp. to the Western, lit. Hinder, Sea, i. c, the Mediterranean). See, e. g., ch. 14 : 3 ; Deut. 4 : 40 ; Joel 2 : 20. f But never extending (as has been conjectured, and indeed was held by Professor Hull himself till 18S3) southward as far as the Gulf of Aka- bah. The geological character of the lofty chalk hills which intervene between the south end of the Dead Sea and the Gulf of Akabah, con- vinced Professor Hull that this was impossiJjle. 32 CRITICAL NOTES. and the Dead Sea. The surface of the latter is now nearly thirteen hundred feet beneath the level of the Mediterranean ; but the terraces still visible along its sides mark the higher levels at which in former times the water has stood. Thus the geological conforma- tion of the region in which the Dead Sea lies proves it to have existed, and to have been even larger than it now is, long before the time of Abraham, Respecting the physical cause of the destruction of the cities of the plain, an attractive theory has been pro- pounded by the eminent Canadian geologist. Sir J. W. Dawson. The region is not, in the strict sense of the term, volcanic; for the volcanic vents, of which there are traces on the east side of the Dead Sea, were extinct long before the age of man. The region is, however, bitumi- nous. In Gen. 14 : 10, the Vale of Siddim, in the same neighborhood, is described as having been full of " slime " pits — /. e., pits of asphalt or bitumen ; and the fact is abundantly attested by modern explorers. The description of Gen. 19 : 24, writes Sir J. W. Dawson, " is that of a bitumen or petroleum eruption, similar to those which, on a small scale, have been so destructive in the regions of Canada and the United States. They arise from the existence of reservoirs of compressed in- flammable gas along with petroleum and water, existing at considerable depths below the surface. When these are penetrated, as by a well or bore-hole, the gas escapes with explosive force, carrying the petroleum with it, and when both have been ignited, the petroleum rains down, in burning showers, and floats in flames over the ejected water, while a dense smoke towers high in the GEN. 22 : 1-14. 33 air."* Through an eruption of this nature wliich once happened in Canada, a space of about fifteen acres was enveloped in fire, and a village was burned. The air flowing toward the eruption caused a whirlwind, which carried the dense smoke high into the air, and threw down burning bitumen all around. X. Abraham offering Isaac— Gen. 22 : 1-14. (March 6.) A narrative from the source which we have termed E, to which also the greater part of the two preceding chapters are assigned, vi.z., ch. 20 (at least to v. 17) and 21: 6-31, 33, all marked by a preponderating use of the term EloJicem rather than Jehovah. The verses 22 : 19, which contains the conclusion of the narrative, is attributed likewise to E ; but the intermediate verses, 15-18 (chiefly from the accumulation of slightly diver- gent phraseology which they present), are thought to have been added, or at least amplified and re-cast, by the redactor who combined J and E into a single whole. The scene which E here describes is one of dramatic force and interest, and it marks the culminating point of Abraham's faith. It exhibits to us, according to the tradition current among the Israelites, the trial to which * E.xpositor for Jaiuuiry, iSS6, p. 74. See also the luminous exposition of the geology of the Jordan valley, in Egypt ami Syria, by the same author (Religious Tract Society, London, 1S85), p. 99 sq. (where, how- ever, the statement, p. 112, that in Gen. 19 : 26 the word rendered " pillar " means properly " mound," is scarcely correct. It is not certain that the word occurs elsewhere in the same sense as here ; but from its etymology it would denote something set jip). 2* 34 CRITICAL NOTES. their great master had been exposed, and the temper in which he underwent it. He had received the child of promise, the son long waited for, through whom, as he believed, he would become a great and mighty nation, and a blessing to the entire world. And now the hope which had become a reality, to which he clung with all a father's affection for the child of his old age, was to be snatched from him ; he is bidden to sacrifice him as a burnt offering. Of the mental struggle which must have ensued, the conflict of motives, the questionings, whether he should obey the strange command or not, the text says nothing; we only read that he proceeds forthwith to carry it into effect ; that he arrives with Isaac at the appointed spot, and that the fatal blow is only averted by the voice from heaven : " 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." An animal victim is substituted in Isaac's place, and a proverb or expression current among the Hebrews of a later age is associated with the occasion. The meaning of this expression is obscure ; but the phrase " mount of the Lord " elsewhere denotes commonly the hill upon which the Temple stood (Is. 2 : 3 ; 30: 29 ; also Ps. 24: 3, where the Hebrew term is the same, though it is ren- dered " hill" in the English version); and the expression appears thus to have some reference to the Temple wor- ship. If the rendering of the margin of R. V. (which is, perhaps, as probable as any), be adopted, the meaning will be that, as of old, Jehovah graciously appeared to Abraham, to relieve his care in the hour of trial, so GEN. 22 : I-I4. 35 now he will be present to those who seek him in his Temple, and will support them with his providence and aid. The significance of the narrative is twofold. It teaches, firstly, what God does not demand of his wor- shippers: it teaches, secondly, what he docs demand. The first of these lessons was perhaps the one of great- est immediate importance to the people of Israel it- self. There are many allusions in the O. T. to the practice of offering human sacrifices, prevalent among the native populations of Canaan ; the surrender of what was dearest, especially of the first-born, was supposed to possess a singular propitiatory influence ; and the law by which, in Israel itself, the first-born was claimed by Jehovah, though always redeemed at a money-valu- ation (Ex. 13 : 2, 13), perhaps stands in some relation to this custom, and may have been designed to supersede it. In the narrative before us, the sacrifice of Isaac is commanded, but is not exacted. Thus it taught the Israelites, distinctly and unmistakably, that whatever might be the superstitious usages of neighboring nations, whatever the inducements to imitate them in Israel, the God of the Hebrews did not demand from his wor- shippers human sacrifices. The lesson was no super- fluous one. In spite of the prohibition of legislators (Lev. 18 : 21 ; 20 : 2 ; Deut. 18 : lo), the remonstrances of prophets, the ghastly practice crept into both kingdoms: Ahaz, King of Judah, patronized it himself (2 Kings 16 : 3) ; it became still more popular in the heathen reaction under Manasseh about half a century afterward (see, c. £■., Jer. 7:31; Ez. 23 : 37). The prophet Micah, writ- 36 CRITICAL NOTES. ing about that time, re-enforces the lesson of the nar- rative in well-known words (6 : 6-8), which show how thoroughly the people confused the nature of Jehovah's demands, and imagined that their power to propitiate him depended upon the magnitude and costliness of their offerings. God, replies the prophet, demands no refinement of severity, and is appeased by no outrage upon natural affection. He respects conduct ; and sac- rifice is only of value as the symbol and token of an up- right heart. God, indeed, in the narrative of Genesis, appears to demand the sacrifice of Isaac's life, but he demands in reality only the surrender of his father's will. This leads us to the second feature in which the narrative is significant. Abraham shows his readiness to part with what is dearest to him : his character is proved ; his faith triumphs ; but the sacrifice is not ac- tually taken. He has not been " tempted " (v. i, A. V.), but " proved " (R. V. rightly) ; and his temper has borne the probation. His willingness is treated as a proof that his religion is sincere (v. 22). The narrative thus exemplifies the true nature of the sacrifice and surren- der which God demands of his worshippers — the sur- render of their %vill, the abandonment of some cherished purpose, or possession, or employment, at the call of duty. The trial may not come upon us quite in the same way in which it came upon Abraham ; it may come neither with the same directness nor with the same severity ; nevertheless occasions continually arise in the various circumstances of life, in which some sac- rifice or surrender is demanded of us, and our character is thereby put to the test. GEN. 28 : 10-22. 37 XI. Jacob at Bethel — Gen. 28: 10-22. (March 13.) The main narrative is that of E, with an insertion, however, in vs. 13-16, and v. 19, from J. As has been said on a previous occasion, both J and E covered largely the same ground : there are indications, espe- cially in chapters 30, 31, that both described the cir- cumstances of Jacob's life ; * and both accordingly included an account of the migration of Jacob from Canaan to Mesopotamia. One of these accounts, as it would seem, vis., that of E, dwelt principally upon the ancient associations connected with Bethel itself; the other, that of J, differing slightly in form, emphasized the promises made there to Jacob: and the passage re- lating to these has been incorporated by the redactor into his main narrative, which, as has been said, is here that of E. Verse 10 is the sequel of 27 : 1-45 (J) ; the intermediate verses, 27 : 46-28 : 9, assign a different motive for Jacob's departure from Canaan, and by their phraseology are at once recognized as part of the nar- rative of P. In the passage before us, v. 17 is the sequel of v. 12: the dream — the vision of the ladder, with the angels ascending and descending upon it — marks the spot as one where (as has been said) " heaven and earth meet," and explains Jacob's exclamation in v. * Notice, for instance, the double explanation of the names of Issachar (vs. 16, 18), Zebuhin (v. 20), and Joseph (vs. 23, 24) in the last of which, as if by an '• undesigned coincidence," confirming the /wy/rt/^aV presump- tion which the double etymology suggests, there appears a variation in the sacred name employed. 38 CRITICAL NOTES. 17, and the expressions " house of God," and "gate of heaven," which he forthwith applies to it. In the in- sertion, vs. 13-16, " above it," in v. 13, appears, as the words now stand, to refer to the ladder; but the He- brew expression may equally signify " beside him " (which is, in fact, the rendering in the margin of R. V. ; comp. 18:2), and the sense of the passage in its original context probably was that Jehovah appeared to Jacob, not above the ladder, but standing beside him, and there, as he slept, bestowing upon him his blessing. The blessing is in form a renewal of those given pre- viously to Abraham (12 : 3 ; 13 : 14, 16 in the same nar- rative), with an application (v. 15) suitable to Jacob's particular case. Thus the passages derived from the two sources supplement one another. In J, the renewal of the blessing, and the assurance of the Divine pro- tection, is bestowed upon the patriarch at the com- mencement of his wanderings ; in E Jacob erects a monument in commemoration of his dream, and pro- nounces a vow in connection with it, which combine to explain the sanctity attaching afterward to the place, Bethel. The present is not the only allusion to Bethel in the history of Jacob. In the account contained in E of Jacob's return from Laban (35: 1-4,6-8), it is again specially mentioned, with evident reference (vs. 1,3) to E's narrative here (see 28 : 20, and comp. 31 : 13). There appears, however, to have been a different tradition current respecting the origin of the name ; for E's nar- rative of Jacob's return to Canaan is followed by a parallel one from P (35 : 9-15), in which the patriarch GEN. 28 : 10-22. 39 halts similarly at Bethel, and gives the place its name (v. 15), clearly, in the intention of the writer, for the first time. Thus, wliilc one account connected the name with the occasion of ]diCoh's flight from Canaan, the other connected it with the occasion of his return. In later times Bethel was regarded as a sacred spot (i Sam. 10 : 3), and was selected by Jeroboam for one of his golden calves (i Kings 12 : 29 ; comp. 13 : i). It is to be observed that Jacob does not anoint the stone as such, but sets it up as a " pillar," and then anoints it. Tiiese " pillars " are frequently alluded to in the O. T. (in R. V. often, with a margin. Or, obelisk) as a relig- ious symbol (comp. ch. 31 : 45 ; Ex. 24:4; Hos. 10: i); and, according to many critics, were once freely per- mitted in the worship of Jehovah, but were afterward, on account of their heathen associations,* prohibited (Deut. 16: 22). It is not improbable that there was such a "pillar" at the sanctuary (Amos 7:13) of Bethel, the origin of which is here explained. Further, it is at least probable that tithes were paid there (comp. v. 22, end, and Amos 4 : 4). The custom of anointing stones, as a mark of con- secration, was widely diffused in antiquity, and is men- tioned in the classical writers. Sometimes the stones thus treated were actually regarded as the abode of some deity, and venerated as such ; among the Phoe- nicians, for example, there was a belief that certain * They were connected especially with the worship of Baal, being erected in, or in front of, his temples (2 Kings 3:2; 10 : 26, 27, R. V.). The destruction of such " pillars" as were avowedly heathen is repeatedly enjoined (Ex. 23 : 24 ; Lev. 26 : i ; Deut. 7:5; 12 : 3, R. V.). 40 CRITICAL NOTES. stones even had souls, and possessed the power (like amulets) of protecting their owners ; at other times they were merely regarded as a symbol or representa- tive of the absent god. The act here narrated of Jacob must stand in some relation to this belief. But while in heathenism such stones were regarded as in some sense the real representative of a deity, the one erected by Jacob at Bethel cannot have had any other signifi- cance than as commemorative of the incident in the patriarch's life, and symbolical of the sacredness of the spot. It was a custom in antiquity to set up a stone as a memorial of a noteworthy occurrence (comp. Josh. 24 : 26. 27 ; I Sam. 7 : 12). The entire narrative, as we read it, brings before us the truth that God's presence is about us wherever we may go : it shows us how we ought to realize this truth for ourselves, and how the sense of it should form a check and restraint upon our actions: it has made the "God of Beth-el" (31:13; 35:7) a title expressive for all time of ever-watchful guardianship and care. XII. Jacob's new Name — Gen. 32 : 9-12, 24-30. (March 20.) The narrative from Gen. 32 : 3 to 33 : 17 belongs in- dubitably to JE; though the apportionment of its several parts between J and E respectively is in some places exceedingly difficult and uncertain. There are indications that the narrative is composite — for instance, in 32 : 23, 24, Jacob sends his wives and children over the stream Jabbok, he himself remaining behind, after it has been stated, in v. 22, that he has already crossed : GEN. 32 : 9-12, 24-30. 41 but the criteria for apportioning it definitely between the two sources are indecisive, and have been interpreted differently. Ch. 32 : 3-12, may, indeed, be attributed safely to J ; but whether vs. 24-32 belong to J or E must be left undetermined ; perhaps, on the whole, the former alternative is the more probable. In v. 9 the reference to 28 : 13 ; 31 : 3 (both J), will be noticed. The passage is remarkable on account of the etymological allusions contained in it. In the word — not occurring elsewhere — for zvrcstle there is an allusive play on the name of the stream Jabbok, as though this meant the •wrestler. The name Israel, to judge by the analogy of names similarly formed — e.g., " Ishmael," God hears, " Jerachmeel," God has mercy — will have meant prop- erly God strivetJi : but it is here applied as if it suggested the idea of Striver ivith God. Lastly, there is an explanation of Peniel, /. e., Face of God. The change of name from Jacob to Israel is connected by P (35 : 9-15) with a subsequent occasion, the arrival, viz., of the patriarch, after entering Canaan, at Bethel (35 : 10). The variation may be compared to the one referred to on the last lesson, respecting the origin of the name Bethel (28: 19; 35 : 15). The explanation of these, and other similar variations which might be mentioned, is to be found, probably, in the fact that tradition is apt to fluctuate, and to assume a divergent shape in differ- ent localities. The narrative sets before us a critical moment in the history of the patriarch, and the turning-point in the development of his character. Ilis fear at the prospect of meeting his brother Esau is vividly portrayed ; his 42 CRITICAL NOTES. precautionary measure, vs. 7, 8, is described : with this alone, however, he is not satisfied ; he betakes himself to prayer addressed to the God of his fathers, whom, with a deep acknowledgment of his own unworthiness, he reminds of the promises and encouragements before vouchsafed to him, and prays, upon the strength of them, to be delivered from his present distress. Jacob, Ave read, " was afraid ; " and there was ground for his fear. He had listened to the wicked suggestions of his mother; he had deceived his aged father; he had wo- fully wronged his brother (ch. 27). But Jacob's charac- ter is not wholly bad, though it needs purification ; and here, when he is about to re-enter the land of promise, it receives it. God is his real antagonist, not Esau ; it is God whom his sins have offended, and who here comes to contest his right. Jacob conquers, not by the use of fleshly weapons such as he has hitherto employed — the failure of his thigh is a proof of that — but by spirit- ual earnestness, by the sincerity of his repentance and the strength of his faith. This, at least, is the interpre- tation of the occurrence both probable in itself and fa- vored by the language of Hosea, 9:3^^. (who mentions what is not expressly stated in the text), " and in his manhood he had power {or strove) with God ; yea, he had power (or strove) against the angel, and prevailed ; he %vept and made supplication unto him. '' His persist- ency is rewarded ; success, with men not less than with God, is to be his ; and he obtains the wished-for bless- ing. Esau and Jacob are the ancestors respectively of Edom and Israel, and they prefigure in their lives the history of the nations descended from them. Edom, as GEN. 32 : 9-12, 24-30. 43 a nation, was older than Israel, and had attained before it the stage of settled civilization and centralized gov- ernment (Gen. 36: 31). But closely allied by kindred as they were, a keen rivalry soon sprang up between them, often alluded to in the O. T.* and leading fre- quently to actual hostilities ; in the end, however, Is- rael showed itself the stronger, and morally, if not po- litically (for Edom was never permanently its depend- ent), prevailed. The two brothers prefigure, in some of their most salient features, the contrasted character and history of the two nationalities. We see the elder brother, frank, straightforward, open, but without depth of character, or far-sightedness of aim. The younger brother is scheming, ambitious, persistent ; by fair means or foul, he sets himself to compass his ends ; he is even striving to be superior, and is at last successful. But he does not ivin by foul means ; on the contrary, when the crisis comes, they fail him altogether. In his struggle, his unholy self is left behind ; he rises from it an altered man ; and only then does he receive the blessing which is the guerdon of his final success. His perseverance is rewarded ; but not until he has re- nounced self, and applied his energy in a good cause, God's preference of Jacob above Esau (Mai. i : 3, where the allusion is to the two nations, not to two individu- als) was not arbitrary ; it was grounded upon a funda- mental difference of character. Israel possessed quali- * E. g.. Am. I : II ; Obad. 10 ; Ez. 25 : 12-14 ; Lam. 4 : 21, 22 ; Ps. 137 : 7. Comp. Gen. 27 : 40 (Edom exciting itself restlessly to regain its freedom). 44 CRITICAL NOTES. ties which fitted him, ivJien purified, better than Edom, for the honorable, if arduous, task of being, through a long succession of centuries, the organ and witness of the truth. XIII. Temperance Lesson — Gen. 9 : 18-27. (March 27.) This is the conclusion to J's history of Noah, and the sequel to 8 : 20-22. With reference to v. 18 it may be noticed that in J's narrative of the flood the names of Noah's sons have not been mentioned, so that they are appropriately specified here. The expression in v. 19, " was the whole earth overspread,'' is identical in the Hebrew with that in 10 : 18, likewise belonging to J. In the narrative which follows, a difficulty arises from the fact that while Ham is the offender, it is against his son Canaan that the curse is directed. The explanation that Ham is cursed in his son in retribution for the offense which he, as a son, had committed against his father, is insufficient : it fails to explain why, among the four sons of Ham (10: 6), the curse should fall upon Canaan alone. The explanation that the curse de- velops the meaning of the name "Canaan" (inter- preted as = siibjectioii) is not more satisfactory ; for even supposing that the name were prophetic of the future, why, it must still be asked, should the person bearing it be cursed for his father s act ? The difficulty is so great that some critics have been led to conclude that the narrative has been modified in form by the re- dactor : originally, they suppose, the author of the mis- deed was Canaan, who may, even in the oldest form GEN. 9 : 18-27. 45 of the tradition, have been treated not as the grandson of Noah, but as his son (as the connection in vs. 24-27, where he stands by the side of Shem and Japheth, seems, indeed, still to imply). Upon this view, the name of Ham will have been introduced subsequently into the genealogy of Noah's descendants. We are here dealing, it is tolerably plain, not with individuals as such, but with individuals as representing nationalities, i. e., with larger or smaller aggregates of kindred peo- ples:* and it is readily conceivable that these should have been differently grouped, and the relations be- tween them differently represented in different places or at different times. Others, however, holding equally the same view that the names here represent not per- * At least in chap. lo the names can hardly, for the most part, be those of actual individuals. Thus, some are dual or plural in form (as Mizraim, Dodanim, Ludim, etc.), being the names borne elsewhere by the historic, nations (e. g., Mizraim, i. e., Egypt, constantly : Kittim, i. e., Cyprus, Is. 23 ; I, 12). Others (like those in vs. 16-18) are Gentile names, or names of places (such as Sidon, Havilah, etc.), by which the writer himself can scarcely have meant to designate actual persons. It was the custom in ancient times to represent the relations between countries and races arti- ficially, under the form of a genealogy (cf. i Chr. 2 : 50-52, 54, where Beth-lehem, for instance, is described as the " son " of its " father," or first settler, Salma). In Gen. 10 the principal nations known to the ancient Hebrews are exhibited as the members of a great family, more or less closely related to each other, as the case may be. The great ethnical groups, most strongly distinguished from one another in physical type and character, are represented as the sons of Noah. The primary divisions (/. c, nations) into which each of these groups falls, appear as the sons of its representative ancestor (as Javan, /. e., the Greeks [lonians], the son of Japheth) : subordinate divisions (/. c, tribes or local settlements) appear as grandsons (as Elishah, .son of Javan, grandson of Japheth ; Sidon, son of Canaan, and grandson of Ham). 46 CRITICAL NOTES. sons but nationalities, consider this hypothesis not to be necessary, and think that Canaan alone is cursed, be- cause, amongst all Ham's descendants, the Canaanites were the most intimately known to the Hebrews, and in intercourse with them showed themselves to be the most complete representatives of the Hamitic charac- ter. Whatever explanation of the difficulty be adopted, the fact remains that it is Canaan who receives the curse ; and this alone, as will appear, is of importance in interpreting the narrative. As regards the meaning of the passage, vs. 20, 21, firstly, should be compared with ch. 4 : 17-24. As there we learned how Hebrew tradition accounted for the origin of different inventions and institutions, so here we learn how it accounted for the origin of the more artificial types of husbandry, and in particular of the culture of the vine. The vine does not grow natu- rally in every region of the globe : and there are many nations of the East who only became acquainted with it, and learned the uses to which its juice might be put^ at a comparatively late period of their history. Hence the introduction of its culture marks a step in advance? and it is here ascribed to Noah, the founder of a new era for humanity, first in the region of Pontus or Arme- nia (8 : 4), in which the plant appears to have been act- ually indigenous. But, with a keen perception of its liability to abuse, the narrator paints a vivid picture of the disgrace and misfortune which the enjoyment of the fermented juice of the vine entailed upon its first culti- vator. The scene is a typical one ; and it stands here as an impressive warning of the consequences of ex- GEN. 9 : 18-27. 47 cessive indulgence and of the need of watchfulness and self-control, even in the use of what is innocent in itself. We of the present day cannot, of course, make what, per- haps, might have been Noah's excuse — that he had no experience of the effects which the treacherous draught might induce upon him. The Bible does not discounte- nance the use of wine as such, but it condemns, unmistak- ably, its abuse. It exhorts us to moderation, and justi- fies us in adopting whatever measures may be necessary to insure ourselves against temptation. Secondly, in the Avords addressed by Noah to his three sons, we have a prophetical interpretation of the history. Canaan, Shem, and Ham reflect the characters of the nationalities which they represent, and of which they are the reputed an- cestors. The political subjection of the Canaanites (see Jud. I : 28, 30; I Kings 9: 20 sq.), which is the import of the curse upon Canaan, is traced to its root ; it is a consequence of the innate moral degradation (seeLev. 18: 3, 24-30) for which they are conspicuous, and of which the first germs showed themselves in their ances- tor. A nation abandoned to sensuality and licentious- ness speedily decays, and becomes a prey to its manlier and more vigorous neighbors. The knowledge of the true God possessed by the Hebrews forms the basis of the blessing pronounced upon their ancestor (see 10: 21 ; II: 10 sq.), Shem ; and the form in which the bless- ing is cast — not " Blessed be Shem," but "Blessed be Jehovah f/ie God of Shem" — evinces the full and grateful sense of the privilege which this knowledge conferred upon those who shared it : it is the "happi- ness " of Shem and his descendants that they have "Je- 48 CRITICAL NOTES. HOVAH for their God" (Ps, 144: 15). The expansive- ness of the nations represented by the sons of Japheth, their material development and growth, suggest the motive for the blessing which next follows : God enlarge JaplietJi. In the second clause : '' and let him dwell in the tents of Shem," it is a question who is meant by the pronoun Jiini. Commentators are divided ; some refer it to God, others to Japheth, both of whom are men- tioned in the preceding line. As the subject of this part of the blessing is Japheth, it is perhaps more nat- ural to understand the pronoun as referring to him. " May Japheth dwell in the tents of Shem ! " Unlike the Canaanites (Ex. 23 : 32 ; Deut. 7 : 2, 3), let Japheth have free intercourse with the descendants of Shem ; let him be admitted to share the same spiritual privileges already granted to his more fortunate brother! It is the same prophetic thought, which, in a more developed form, meets us repeatedly in the great prophets of the eighth and seventh centuries B. c. ; the thought, viz., that the exclusiveness, which for the time was necessary for the preservation of the truth, could not be final, but that a time would arrive when it would be broken down, and there should be no distinction between Gentile and Jew. That the narrator does not include Ham in his outlook is a consequence, doubtless, of the unfavorable im- pression which the Hamites with whom he was best acquainted, /. ara//c'/ to that in vs. 25-27, and not the se- gue/ o( it. If it be true that there is thus an independ- ent ground for attributing part of v. 28 to a different source from vs. 25-27, the variation above noticed ap- pears in a new light, and will be more naturally ex- plained as arising from the same cause. If the context be read attentively, it may be observed further, (i) that the words " and sold Josepl^to the Ishmaelitcs," in v. 28, follow more suitably as a sequel to v. 27 than to the words immediately preceding in v. 28 (" and there passed 52 CRITICAL NOTES. by Midianites," etc.); and (2) that the same variation recurs afterwards — comp. 37 : 36 (Midianites) with 39 : i (Ishmaelites). We may assign, then, to the source E, vs. 22-24, 28 (" and there passed by Midianites, mer- chantmen ; and they " — /. e., probably, in the original context, the Midianites: comp. 40: 15, where Joseph says that he was stolen out of the land of the Hebrews — "drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit; and they brought Joseph unto Egypt ''), 29 : 36 ; and to J, vs. 25-27, 28 ("and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver " — which connects smoothly with the end of v. 27), 31-35 (the narrative being continued in ch. 39 : i). II. Joseph Exalted — Gen. 41 : 38-48. (April 10.) The narrative of Joseph in Egypt, chaps. 40-45, ap- pears to consist of long passages derived alternately (in the main) from the two sources J and E. Thus the narra- tive from ch. 40 : i to ch. 42 : 37 (with the exception of a few phrases which may have been incorporated by the compiler from J) is assigned to E ; from 42 : 38 to the end- of ch. 44 is assigned to J (with similar slight excep- tions, attributed of course conversely to the use of E) ; ch. 45 belongs again to E. The grounds for this divis- ion can only be understood in connection with parts of the narrative lying outside the limits of the selected lesson. They consist principally in differences in the representation. Thus, in ch. 42, Joseph's brethren are charged with being spies, and in reply volunteer the infor- mation respecting their younger brother, at home with GEN. 41 : 38-48. 53 his father (vs. 7-13, 30-32) ; in the report of what had oc- curred, contained in ch. 43, there is no allusion to such a charge, and Joseph is expressly stated to have asked them whether they had a brother (vs. 6, 7 ; so 44 : 19, in Judah's pleading before Pharaoh). Again, according to 43 : 21, the discovery of the returned money (" every man's money was in the mouth of his sack ") is stated to have been made at the " lodging place " on the homeward journey: according to 42 : 35 it appears to have taken place after the brethren's arrival home, whilst they were emptying their sacks. The former representation, however, agrees with that in the two verses 42 : 27, 28 (which, where they stand, anticipate, at least partially, v. 35); hence it is supposed that, while ch. 42 in the main belongs to E, and ch. 43 to J, the two verses 42 : 27, 28 were incorporated by the compiler from the parallel narrative of J. This inference derives some support from the fact that the Hebrew word for sack, in 42 : 2']b (but not 2^0), 28 is a peculiar one, agree- ing with the one used regularly by J in chaps. 43 and 44 (not found elsewhere in the O. T.), while in 42 : 25, 35 the more ordinary term is employed. There are also other slight differences of phraseology. Thus, in the parts assigned to E, the use of Elolicem preponderates (41 : 51, 52 ; 45 : 5, 7, 8, 9) : ^=- in ch. 39 (J) we have re- peatedly Jehovah. Further it may be noted that in one group of passages (E) Jacob is retained as the name of * Of course, the use of this term, in converse with the Egyptians, or be- tween Joseph, whilst in disguise, and his brethren, is inconclusive, either for E, 40 : 8, etc., or against ], 43 : g, etc. ; for the national name Jehovah would naturally not be used in either of these cases. 54 CRITICAL NOTES. the patriarch (42 : i, 4, 29, 36; 45 : 25, 27); in the other (J) Israel is preferred (though not exclusively), 43 : 6, 8, II (and similarly in chaps. 46 and 48). These and other indications of the same kind, taken collectively, and viewed in the light of the fact that the previous parts of what has been termed JE in Genesis present traces of composite origin, appear to the pres- ent writer to constitute a presumption that the narra- tive of Joseph is of composite structure likewise, and that those critics are right, at least approximately, who apportion it in the manner indicated above. In the lesson for to-day, then, while (as was said in the last paper) v. 46 belongs to P, the rest of the nar- rative is part of E. It is true, the suggestion has been made that verses 41, 43^^ (from and lie set), 44 (which appear to repeat in different words the substance of verse 40) may have been borrowed from the parallel narrative of J : but the supposition, even if it be true, does not affect the integrity of the narrative, and the grounds upon which it rests are exceedingly slight. III. Joseph makes Himself Known — Gen. 45 : 1-15. (April 17.) The structure of the narrative relating to Joseph was explained so fully in the note upon the last lesson that little remains to be added. As a whole, the lesson — and indeed, practically, the entire chapter — is a piece of continuous narrative, excerpted from E. The only exceptions worth noticing are (according to some crit- ics) the words in verse 4, " whom ye sold into Egypt," and in verse 5, " that ye sold me hither," which are GEN. 47 : I-I2. 55 thought to have been introduced from the narrative of J. This, however, is only necessary if it be decided to be probable that in 37 : 28 only J, and not E, described Joseph as " sold " by his brethren. But in any case, even though the words quoted be borrowed from J, words of similar import, imputing blame to his breth- ren, must have stood in the narrative of E, as a ground for the exhortation, " be not angry with yourselves." IV. Joseph and his Father— Gen. 47 : 1-12. (April 24.) Verses 1-4 are closely connected with 46 : 28-34, and carry on J's account of the introduction of Joseph's brethren to Pharaoh. The two next verses are arranged somewhat differently in the text of the Septuagint ver- sion (made probably in the third century B. C.) ; and this arrangement appears to be preferable to that of the present Hebrew text. The verses read in the Septua- gint ; "(5) And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Let them dwell in the land of Goshen : and if thou knowest any able men among them, make them chief over my cattle. And Jacob and his sons came into Egypt unto Joseph. And Pharaoh King of Egypt heard (of it). And Pha- raoh spake unto Joseph, saying. Thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee : (6) Behold, the land of Egypt is before thee ; in the best of the land make thy father and thy brethren to dwell. (7) And Joseph brought in Jacob his father," etc. (as in the English ver- sion). In this text, the words, *' Let them dwell in the land of Goshen," etc. {6b in the Hebrew), appear more suitably as the answer of Pharaoh to Joseph in v. 5, and 56 CRITICAL NOTES. at the same time agree better with the tenor of vs. 3, 4 than the words which stand in the corresponding place in the Hebrew, " thy father and thy brethren are come unto thee : " on the other hand, these last words suit well the position in which they appear in the Septua- gint, as the beginning of tk. fresJi speech of Pharaoh, and not as the direct continuation of vs. 3, 4. In the text, now, as thus restored (if it be permissible so to speak of it), V. 5, as far as my cattle, connecting with vs. 3, 4, con- cludes J's narrative of the appointment of Goshen by Pharaoh for the residence of Joseph's brethren. The rest of verse 5 in the same text (from and Jacob and his sous . . .), verse 6, and verses 7-1 1 (which agree in both the Septuagint and the Hebrew), belong to the narrative of P, forming the sequel to 46 : 6-27, and containing P's account of the arrival of Jacob in Egypt, of his pres- entation by Joseph before Pharaoh, and of the latter's appointing him a possession in the " best of the land." The clause, " and Jacob and his sons came into Egypt unto Joseph," which is not in the Hebrew text, and which appears tautologous after 46 : 6, 7, is in the man- ner of the writer of P, who, after an intervening para- graph (46 : 8-27), is apt to repeat the substance of what has been already narrated (^. ^., 5 : i, 2 ; comp. i : 27, 28).* Criteria of P's style are : the word sojoiirtiings, v. * Though the text reads more clearly in the form in which it is pre- served in tlie Septuagint, the critical analysis in no way depends upon the proposed restoration being adopted. If the existing Hebrew text be held to represent the narrative as it left the compiler's hands, it will merely follow that he amalgamated his sources more intimately, omitting, for ex- ample, the introductory words in P. The part assigned to P will then be V. 5/^ 6rt (from Jhy father, to thy brethren to divell). GEN. 47 : I-I2. 57 9 (as 17 : 8 ; 28 : 4 ; 36 : 7 ; 37 : i ; Ex. 6 : 4 — elsewhere three times only in the Old Testament, vis., {a) borrowed from P, Ez. 20: 38, and probably Ps. I19 : 54; (1!^) used independently, Job, 18 : 19) ; and the word {ox possession in V. II, which, though found occasion^illy besides, is characteristic of P throughout — occurring in it in pas- sages too numerous to quote {e. g., 17 : 8 ; 23 : 4, 9, 20 ; 48 : 4) f the style of vs. 9, 10 ; also the phrase " days of the years of the life of," vs. 8, 9 (25 : 7) ; but the lat- ter occurs elsewhere in a similar context (2 Sam. 19:35); so that it can only be regarded as having weight when taken in connection with other indications. The source of v. 12 is uncertain. It seems to form a connecting link, introductory to the narrative in vs. 13-26. As it describes how^ Joseph fulfilled the promise given in 45 : 11 (E), and agrees in phraseology both with that verse and with 50: 21, which is also part of a passage (50: 15-26) attributed to E, it is best to re- gard it as belonging to this source. Of the two writers between whom, as we have seen, the history of Joseph is to be in the main distributed, E dwells on its didactic aspect. The issue of the whole is given in the words, 50 : 20, " and as for you, ye meant evil against me ; but God meant it for good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive;" and the preceding narrative has exemplified in detail how God's purpose is realized through human means, even though it be against the knowledge, and * In Deuteronomy a different word is used to express the same idea, 2 : 5, 9, 12, 19 ; 3 : 20 (Deut. 32 : 49 occurs in a paragrnpli whicli, from other indications as well, must be assigned to I'). 58 CRITICAL NOTES. even against the wishes, of the agents themselves(cf. also 45 • S~^}' J niust have narrated substantially the same events ; but whether their significance in this respect was similarly brought out in the parts of his narrative which are now replaced by E, cannot of course be said : it is, at least, not equally prominent in the parts which remain (chs. 43, 44). The ease and beauty of J's style, and especially the eloquent pathos of Judah's interces- sion on behalf of Benjamin (44: 18-34), will be apparent to the reader (comp. ch. 24). V. Israel in Egypt— Ex. i : 6-14. (May I.) In this chapter, verses 1-5, 7, 13, 14, belong, unques- tionably, to P ; probably, also, v. 6 as well, though some critics, regarding this verse as introductory to vs. 8-12, prefer to assign it to the same source. The verse is too short to supply any decisive linguistic criterion ; but there appears no sufficient reason for separating it from the verses on each side of it, and refusing to assign it to P. Marks of P : the style of verses i and 5, and the reference to previous passages, attributed upon inde- pendent grounds to the same source (see Gen. 46 : 8 ; 26 : 2y); expressions in verse 7, especially "were fruit- ful and multiplied " (Gen. i : 22, 28 ; 8 : 17 ; 9 : i , 7 ; 35 : 11; 47 : 27 ; also 17 : 20 ; 28 : 3 ; 48 : 4 ; Lev. 26 : 9 ; not elsewhere in the Pent,, and only three times elsewhere in the O. T.), and " increased abundantly," ///. swarmed, Gen. I : 20, 21, and applied to human beings, 8: 17; 9: 7; the peculiar form (in the Hebrew) of the expres- sion rendered " exceeding mighty " (only Gen. 17: 2, 6, EX, 2 : I-IO. 59 20, besides, and in Ezek. 9:9; 16: 13, a writer who exhibits other remarkable affinities of style with P) ; and in vs. 13, 14, the rare word rendered "rigor" (Lev. 25 : 43, 46, 53 ; Ez. 34 : 4 only), and " hard service " (6 : 9, in a section marked by many other characteristics of P).* The sequel in P is 2 : 23^ (from "and the chil- dren of Israel")-25. The rest of ch. i belongs to JE ; and in particular, vs. II, 12, 15-21 (if not 15-22) to E, but there is some dif- ference of opinion among critics respecting the three verses 8-10. It is true these verses contain one or two expressions which slightly favor J, but they are not dis- tinctive of J (as the expressions quoted above are dis- tinctive of P), nor are they such as another writer, as E, might not naturally and reasonably have made use of. As, then, there is no break or interruption in the narra- tive, such as to suggest that vs. ii, 12 are by a different hand from vs. 8-10, it is best to consider the whole five verses. 8-12, as belonging to E. In the lesson, there- fore, vs. 6, 7, 13, 14, may be referred to P, vs. 8-12 to E, VI. The Child Moses— Ex. 2 : i-io. (May 8.) The whole chapter, as far as v. 23^: (to " died "), con- tains none of the marks of P's style, and is hence to be referred to JE. The lesson (and indeed the entire sec- tion) forms a continuous narrative, without any trace of interruption or break; and there is no ground for sup- * It may be observed, also, that vs. 13, 14 repeat in substance the con- tents of vs. II, 12. 6o CRITICAL NOTES. posing it to be the work of more than a single hand. Such criteria as there are point to E as the source, rather than to J ; for instance, the word rendered " handmaid " {^dindli) in v. 5. This may appear to be of slight weight, but in all the passages of Genesis in which the word oc- curs, it is in the context of E (Gen. 21 : 10, 12, 13 ; 20 : 17 ; 30 • 3 ; 31 • 33) ! ^""^^ there is a word which, in col- loquial " language is practically a synonym {shiphchnh), which has been used regularly in Genesis by both J and P {e. g-., 16: I, 2, 5, 8, and frequently). It is true, the case is one of those in which there are no grounds which speak strongly and decidedly in favor of E rather than J ; but there are none whatever which here favor the view that the narrative is composite, or includes ele- ments from both : hence, it is reasonable to be guided by such indications as there are (even though they be slight), and to treat it as forming part of the source which it generally resembles, 77^., E. VII. The Call of Moses— Ex. 3 : 1-12. (May 15.) With ch. 3 begins a long narrative from JE, extend- ing as far as 6 : i, after which there follows a passage (6: 2-7, 13) showing the characteristic marks of P. The lesson, Ex. 3 : 1-12, is in all probability to be as- signed to E, with the exception of vs. 7, 8, which appear to be derived from J. As has been said before, the dif- ferences between J and E are by no means so strongly marked as those which distinguish P from JE. The * 'Amah is a legal term, is used accordingly in the laws [e.g., Ex. 2 1 : 20, 26), which is r.ot the case with shiphchalt. EX. 3 : I-I2. 6i separation of P from JE (as a rule) is a comparatively simple task ; the characteristic expressions of P are so definite and recur so frequently (and by no means merely in passages of a technical nature), that the absence of them, in a section of any length, forms a reasonable pre- sumption that it is the work of a different hand. But in dealing with what remains, in the first four books of the Pentateuch, after the separation of P, the critic finds himself confronted by a more difficult problem. It seems, indeed, undeniable that this remainder is com- posite ; and in certain cases groups of passages, each connected together by common features, can be distin- guished with tolerable certainty, which we have desig- nated J and E' respectively. But in other cases this separation cannot be accomplished. The criteria are ainbiguous, or too slight to authorize any conclusion being founded upon them. We cannot feel sure, for in- stance, whether, in a given passage, one and the same writer has deviated slightly from his usual mode of ex- pression (which is, of course, perfectly possible), or whether the compiler who combined J and E together has adopted elements from, both, and so imparted to the narrative a double character (which likewise would im- ply no impossible or improbable procedure.) Hence, in the analysis of " JE," there arc passages in which critics, according as one peculiarity or another impresses them, or according as they deem the first or second of the al- ternatives referred to the more probable, differ between themselves in the parts which they attribute to J and E respectively. The existence of such differences cannot, of course, bcurged as an argument against the justice 62 CRITICAL NOTES. of the critical analysis, in passages where the criteria are distinctive and definite ; but it must be allowed that they exist not unfrequently in the analysis of " JE," rarely in Genesis, more often in Exodus and Numbers Thus, in the present instance, Wellhausen sees in vs. 1-6 traces of J, which are not recognized by other sub- sequent critics; and in ch. 5, if we were dealing with it, we should have to notice similar disagreements. Here, however, the difference is of no great moment, the only question being whether or not the narrative embodies elements from two parallel accounts of the same occur- rence : but it has been mentioned for the sake of the reader's information. The present writer prefers (pos- sibly without sufficient reason) to consider a narrative as single until it has been shown to contain clear marks of being composite ; and he is, therefore, disposed to agree with the analysis given above, which refers the entire lesson to E, with the (probable) exception of vs. 7, 8. The principal criterion of E is the predominant use of Elohccin, vs. 4, 6 cud, 11-15 (contrast Jehovah, 4:1, 2, 6, 10, II, etc.): others, which have been re- ferred to by critics, are of less weight.* The reasons * The expressions in v. i, " mountain of God," and " Iloieb," point to the same conclusion, though their significance must not be overrated. The first of these expressions occurs four times besides, twice in the con- text of E (18 : 5 ; 24 : 13) ; but it appears to have been an appellation in general use, and occurs also in 4 : 27 (J), and i Kings, 19 : 8. " Horeb " occurs 17:6, in the context of E ; but 33 : 6 is too uncertain to be ap- pealed to in argument (not elsewhere in the Pentateuch, except in Deut. 1-28 (nine times); in P and J the name used is uniformly "Sinai"). These facts point, at least, to a slight preference on the part of E for the terms in question ; and, therefore, so far as they go, favor the inference that a narrative in which they are used belongs to the same source. EX. 12 : I-14; 14 : 19-31. 63 for attributing vs. 7, 8 to J are partly tliat v. 7 seems in substance to anticipate v. 9 (and, therefore, presumably to be derived from the parallel narrative), partly that the enumeration of nations, such as occurs in v. 8, is generally found elsewhere in the context of J. VIII. The Passover— Ex. 12 : 1-14. (May 22.) P's account of the institution of the Passover (vs. 1-13), and of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (vs. 14-20), and embracing in the sequel vs. 28, 37^, 40, 41 (narrative*), and vs. 43-51 (supplemental law, presenting the con- ditions to be satisfied by those who eat the Passover) ; the rest of the chapter belonging to JE. The parts assigned to P are distinguished by a covibinaiioti of criteria absent in the remainder of the chapter, but agreeing with those which have been determined else- where to be those of this source : conversely, the re- mainder of the chapter has links connecting it with parts of chaps. 10 and ii, which are referred inde- pendently to JE {e. g., vs. 29, 30, 31, 32, with ii : 5, 6; 10 : 8, 9, 24; vs. 35, 36, with il : 2, 3; 3 : 21, 22). IX. The Red Sea — Ex. 14 : 19-31. (May 29.) The analysis of this chapter is difficult and uncer- tain. It seems probable, however, that to P should be * The parts in which this is now defective being superseded by passages excerpted from the other sources, and preferred by the redactor — perhaps oil the ground that they gave prominence to different aspects of the insti- tution (vs. 20-27), or were more circumstantial (v. 29ff.) 64 CRITICAL NOTES. assigned vs. 1-4, 8, 9, lob ("and the children of Israel cried unto the Lord"), 15-18, 21 (the words, "And Mose,5 stretched out his hand over the sea ; and the waters were divided"), 22, 23, 26, 2ya (to "over the sea"), 28, 29; the rest belonging to JE (in particular, probably, except v. 19^7, to J). But it cannot be pre- tended that this analysis has a claim to more than approximate probability: nor is it denied that critics have proposed more complicated solutions, and have as- signed, for instance, parts of what has here been attrib- uted to P, to E. The differences arise from the fact that the phraseology of the chapter is less distinctive than is generally the case in the Pentateuch, and hence allows scope for divergent interpretations. The parts assigned to P are connected together amongst themselves (note, i\ g., " harden the heart," vs. 4, 8, 17; "get me honor," vs. 4, 17, 18; "and the Egyptians pursued," vs. 9, 23; "the dry land," and " the Avail," vs. 22 and 29; "di- vide," vs. 16 and 21), and agree in phraseology with the usage of P in other places {e. g., the style of v. 2 : " with an high hand," v. 9 ; Numb. 15 : 30, and especially 33 : 3) ; on the other hand, the other parts of the chap- ter (which are likewise connected together, vs. 13, 30; 19, 20, 24) sometimes slightly interrupt the connection, and read as if they were derived from a parallel narra- tive {c. g., vs. 5-7, preceding the statement that Pha- raoh's heart was hardened, v. 8), and have points of contact with passages occurring elsewhere, and referred to JE (comp. especially vs. 19, 20, with 13, 21, 22; and V. 3i(^ with 4 : i sq., 31). The two narratives which have been thus interwoven dwell, it may be observed, upon EX. i6 : 4-12. 65 different incidents or aspects of the transaction related. P (as elsewhere) specifies the locality, vs. 2, 9; he fur- ther describes the " hardening" of Pharaoh's heart, and sees in his discomfiture an evidential purpose (vs. 4, 18), the acquisition of " honor " or " glory " by God (comp. Lev. 10:3; Ezek. 28 : 22 ; 39 : 13) ; he alone mentions the outstretching of Moses' hand, or compares the waters to a " wall " on each side of the Israelites. J, on the other hand, speaks of the altered attitude of Pha- raoh and his servants toward the children of Israel on its human side, as a change of mind arising from the recognition that an error of judgment has been com- mitted (v. 5) ; he gives a fuller and more graphic repre- sentation of the murmurings of the people, and of Moses' reply (vs. 11-14), which is barely alluded to in P (v. 10/^, 15^?); he alone mentions the agency of the wind (v. 21, middle clause, comp. 15 : 8; contrast the command in v. 16, where the division of the waters is referred iinuicdiatcly to the outstretching of Moses' hand), or notices the changed position of the pillar of cloud, vs. 19, 20, and the confusion in the host of the Egyptians, vs. 24/;", 25. It need hardly be remarked that these two narratives are in no sense inconsistent ; they are rather supplementary to each other; the one dwell- ing on aspects or particulars of the occurrence on which the other is silent, or wliich it treats as subordinate. X. The Manna — Ex. 16 : 4-12. (June 5.) The greater part of this chapter belongs to P, the only exceptions (probably) being vs. 4, 5, 27-30. Marks 66 CRITICAL NOTES. of P are the expressions, "congregation of the children of Israel," vs. i, 2, 9, 10; "between the two even- ings," V. 12 (see R. V. marg. : a technical ritual term ; comp. 12 : 6 ; 29 : 39, 41, and elsewhere) ; "a head," lit. skull, V. 16 (another technical term, used in formal enumerations, 38 : 26 ; Numb. 3 : 47) ; " a solemn rest," V. 23 (comp. 31 : 15; 35 : 2, and elsewhere); "through- out your generations," vs. 32, 33 ; also the general style, in such verses as I, 9, 16, 34. In the passage selected for the lesson it is possible that the text, by some acci- dent of transmission, has been disarranged ; for as it stands, the instruction to Moses to convey the promise of food to the people, vs. 9-12 (esp. v. 12), folloivs the account of the actual delivery of the message in vs. 6--8. If it might be supposed that the original position of vs. 9-12 was before vs. 6-8 (so as to produce for P the order vs. 1-3, 9-12, 6-8, 13, etc.), it would at least seem as if the consecution of the narrative would be im- proved. Respecting the source of the verses v/hich remain, after the separation of P, it must be admitted that critics are not entirely agreed. There are some, for in- stance, who refuse to attribute them to JE, and who regard them as insertions introduced into the narrative of P at a comparatively late date. The grounds upon which this supposition rests are, however, very ques- tionable; and there is no sufficient reason for departing from the opinion (which is also that of Dillmann) that they belong to JE (in particular, apparently, to J). The reasons for which vs. 4, 5, 27-30 are referred to a different source from the rest of the chapter are, partly, a differ- EX. i6 : 4-12. ^y ence of style, and partly a material difference apparent in vs. 4, 5 when they are compared with the verses which follow. In vs. 4, 5 the promise is given that bread will be rained from heaven for the people, the allusion being plainly to the manna; but in the communication made to the people in vs. 6-8, the terms of the promise differ remarkably : a distinction is drawn between evening and morning ; " flesh," /. ^'., the quails (v. 13^), is promised for the one, and " bread," /. e., the manna (v. i^^b, 14), for the other. The same distinction is found in v. 12, so that even if it be true (as was suggested above) that originally vs. 9-12 preceded vs. 6-8, there remains the same difference between the promise in v. 4 and in V. 12 : the one alludes to the manna alone, the other to the manna and quails. Hence, it seems that vs. 4, 5 must be derived from an independent source. And vs. 27-30 are connected with vs. 4, 5 by subject-matter and style. Dillmann, it is fair to add, assigns vs. 25, 26, as well as vs. 27-30, to J. Possibly this is right : there is little or nothing that is distinctive in these two verses, or that might not have been said by one writer as well as by the other. As is plain, of course, from vs. 5, 27-30, J's account included a notice of the special provision for the Sabbath, and the question only concerns the exact point at which his narrative is attached to that of P. As in other cases, the two narrators emphasize dif- ferent aspects of the occurrence related. In the prom- ise of food, as contained in J, vs. 4, 5, only the manna is alluded to ; the notice of the quails, it is reasonable to suppose, was included in the omitted portion of this narrative, which, in the existing text, is replaced by the 68 CRITICAL NOTES. account of P, vs. 6-12. J, however, it may be noticed, lays stress on the didactic import of the occurrence : the manna is to have the effect of proving the peo- ple (v. 4), " whether they will walk in my law or not," or of testing their obedience (comp. vs. 27, 28 ; also Deut. 8 :2, 3, 16). P, as usual, is precise in the statement of particulars (vs. 16, 17, 18, 21, 22), and is careful to ex- plain in what manner provision was made for the mem- ory of the miraculous manna being preserved to future generations (vs. 32-35 ; " for your generations," cf. Gen. 17 : 7, 9, 12; Ex. 12 : 14, 17; 31 : 13, and frequently in the same source). XL, XII. The Commandments — Ex. 20: i-ii. (June 12 and ig.) The Decalogue, like the collection of laws following (20 : 22-23 • 33)» hnown as the " Book of the Covenant " (see 24: 7), belongs to JE, of which there is here a long passage, extending from 19 : 3 to 24: 15, and in partic- ular, probably (comp. FJoIiccm, 20: i, 19, 20, 21) to E. Not, of course, that it was composed by E, but E incor- porated it in his narrative. The most interesting critical questions connected with the Decalogue arise from a comparison with the form in which it is repeated in Deuteronomy (5 : 1-21), which, although it is introduced, apparently (vs. 5, 22), as a verbal quotation, presents several noticeable differences from the text as given in Exodus. Neglecting some slight and insignificant dif- ferences, in two or three of the other Commandments, it will be worth while to exhibit to the reader the remark- able ones in the Fourth and Fifth Commandments, by EX, 20 : I-I I. 69 placing the two texts in parallel columns. The varia- tions (which are sometimes of the nature of additions) are printed in italics: Exodus 20. Deut. 5. 8. Remember the sab- i2. Observe the sabbath bath day to keep it holy. day to keep it holy, as the Lord thy God commanded 9. Six days shalt thou ///r^. 13. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work : labor, and do all thy work ; 10. but the seventh day is 14. but the seventh day is a sabbath unto the LORD a sabbath unto the LoRD thy God: in it thou shalt thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy son, nor thy daughter, thy^ man-servant, nor thy nor thy man-servant, nor maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates : thy maid-servant, nor thine ox, nor tJiine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates : in order that thy man-ser- vant and thy maidservant may rest as well as tJion. II. For in six days the 15. And thou shalt remem- LORD made heaven and her that thomvast a servant earth, the sea, and all that in the land of Egypt, and in them is, and rested the the LORD thy God brought seventh day : wherefore the thee out thenec by a mighty Lord blessed the sabbath hand,and by a stretched-out day, and hallowed it. arm : therefore the Lord thy God eommanded thee to keep the sabbath day. 70 CRITICAL NOTES. 12. Honor thy father and i6. Honor thy father and thy mother : thy mother, as the LORD thy God commanded thee : that thy days may be long that thy days may be long: and that it may be ivcll zuith upon the land which the thee, upon the land which Lord thy God is giving the Lord thy God is giv- thee. ing thee. The variations in the Tenth Commandment may be added : ly. Thou shalt not covet 21. And thou shalt not thy neighbor's house, thou covet thy neighbor's zvife, shalt not covet thy neigh- and thou shalt not desire bor's wife, thy neighbor's house, his field, or his man-servant, or his or his man-servant, or his maid-servant, or his ox, or maid-servant, his ox, or his his ass, or any thing that is ass, or any thing that is thy thy neighbor's. neighbor's. The principal variations are in agreement with the style of Deuteronomy, and the author's hand is recog- nizable in them. The word observe is used by him in a similar connection in 16 : i. The clause " as the LORD thy God commanded thee " (vs. 12 and 16), is not strictly appropriate in what purports to be a report of the words spoken ; but the Decalogue (or, to speak more precisely, the First Commandment) is the text of the discourse, occupying the whole of chs. 5-1 1 ; and the comment begins, speaking strictly, before the text is completed. The reference to a previous command is quite in the EX. 20 : i-ir. 71 manner of Deut. 20: 17 (and similarly, 24:8; 26: 18). The most important variation is in the ground upon which the Fourth Commandment is based. The funda- mental basis of the commandment, as stated in Exodus, "in.-:., the Divine rest after Creation, is omitted, and there is substituted for it a definition (i) of the purpose or object of the observance, (2) of the motive which should actuate the Israelite to observe it. The purpose is based, doubtless, upon the precept in the "Book of the Covenant," Ex.23: 12: "in order that thine ox and thine ass may rest, and that the son of thine handmaid, and the stranger, may be refreshed;" its introduction hisre is in keeping with the practical aim of Deuter- onomy, and the philanthropic spirit which breathes throughout it; see, e. g:, 14:29; 15:10. The motive, the recollection of the Egyptian experiences and of the redemption from them, is made elsewhere in Deuteron- omy the ground of a grateful spirit and of liberality in dealing with dependents or the poor (15: 15; 16: 11, 12 ; 24 : 18, 22) ; and it is applied similarly in the pres- ent instance ; the Israelite knows what servitude is, and is therefore to show regard toward those who are in servitude to him. In phraseology, also, the verse is, throughout, Deuteronomic. In verse 16, the first addi- tion has been referred to already ; the second, " and that it may be well with thee," is a phrase recurring several times in Deuteronomy (5 : 29 ; 6 : 18 ; 12 : 25 ; 28 : 22) ; also, in a slightly varied form elsewhere." Thus, while quoting his text, the speaker in Deuteronomy already * Cli. 4 : 40 ; 6:3; comp. also, 5 : 33 ; 19 : 13. 72 CRITICAL NOTES. begins to make his comments upon it — in one case, the comment involving the omission, at least, apparently, of ajjart of the original text. Have we, however, even in Exodus, the Decalogue in its primitive form ? It is an old conjecture, based in part upon the fact of the evidence of a varying text, and mentioned with approval in the " Speaker's Com- mentary," that in its original form the Decalogue con- sisted merely of the Commandments themselves, and that the explanatory comments appended in certain cases were only added subsequently. Thus, according to this view, the Second, Fourth, and Fifth Command- ments read originally : " Thou shalt not make to thee any graven images." " Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy." " Honor thy father and thy mother." All the Commandments would thus be molded in uni- form shape, and would have the same terse and simple form of expression in which the First and the Sixth to the Ninth actually appear now. It has further been conjectured that, as the comments in vs. 9, 10, 12 bear a singular resemblance to the style of Deuteronomy, they were in the first instance added in that book, and thence transferred subsequently to Exodus ; and that, as it is not probable that the author of Deuteronomy would permit himself to omit a part of the Decalogue (though he might for the simple purpose of explanation <7('/(r/ clauses), v. 1 1 may have been only introduced into the text of Exodus after Deuteronomy was written. These are conjectures, founded, indeed, upon an ob- EX. 20 : i-ii. 73 servation of real facts, but not altogether borne out upon closer examination. It is true that the explana- tory comments in Exodus contain expressions charac- teristically Deuteronomic, and, in some cases, occurring besides only in Deuteronoiny. Thus, in the phrase, v. 6, ** them that love inc,'' there is embodied a thought which in the entire Pentateuch is confined to Deuter- onomy, viz., the love of God, which in that book (6:5; 10 : 12 ; 1 1 : I, etc.) is made the foundation of all human action : the expression, " in thy gates," v. 10, is pecu- liar to Deuteronomy, occurring in it in the same appli- cation not less than twenty-nine times, and rarely, if ever, besides:* the expressions in v. 12, "that thy days may be long," and "the land which the LORU thy God is giving thee," are also (especially the latter) of re- peated occurrence in the same book (neither occurring elsewhere in the Pentateuch). These facts possess un- doubtedly considerable weight. But it is an objection to the. view which they appear to support, that the clauses in question are not (as a glance at the parallel table will show) incorporated entire in Exodus. If the clauses were borrowed in Exodus from Deuteronomy, why were portions of them omitted ? On the other hand, the more obvious supposition, that the clauses in Exodus TkXQ furtJicr commented on in Deuteronomy, is in accordance both with the general aim and method of Deuteronomy, and is supported, in the present case, by other minor additions introduced by the author into * For Jer. 14 : 2 ; Ez. 21 : 15 (Heb. 20) are not parallel ; and i Kings 8 : 37 (= 2 Chr. 6 : 28), which is parallel, or at least is nearly so, occurs in a context which is molded throughout upon the style of Deuteronomy. 4 74 CRITICAL NOTES. the text of the Decalogue, for none of which the claim of superior originality can be raised. Another, and on the whole a preferable explanation, may, however, be adopted for the similarities of style that have been alluded to. It is true that the style of Deuteronomy is singularly marked, and that it exhibits no points of contact with that of P, and but slight ones with the general style of either J or E. But there are certain sections of J, those sections in particular in which his style becomes parenetic or hortatory, which do exhibit an approximation to the style of Deuteronomy, and which afford some (though by no means all) of the expressions which in their entirety give Deuteronomy its peculiar coloring. Such sections are Ex. 13 : 3-16 : 19 : 4-6 ; 23 : 20-33 ! 34 • 10-26. We have no space to cite illustrations in detail ; two will be sufficient : the expression, " house of bondage," Ex. 13 : 3, 14 (and also 20:2), becomes a standing phrase in Deut. (6: 12; 7: 8; 8:14; 13:6,11); and the " peculiar people ".of Ex. 19 : 5 is repeated similarly in Deut. 7:6; 14 : 2 ; 26 : 18. It would be in agreement with the relation in which Deuteronomy stands to these sections of Exodus if the phrases occurring first in the Exodus text of the Deca- logue were appropriated subsequently as part of the standing phraseology of Deuteronomy. It must, in- deed, be admitted that the expression, " within thy gates," and the phrases in v. \2,x&2idLm.oxQ distinctively Deuteronomic than those occurring in the sections quoted; but (unless the text of the Decalogue has passed through phases about which we can but specu- late) the explanation'proposed appears on the whole LEV. lo : i-ii ; EX. 35 : 20-29. 75 to be the least free from difficulty. Verse 11, however (which forms no model for Deuteronomy), stands upon a different footing : and at what time this was intro- duced into the Decalogue must be left undecided. The first clause resembles closely ch. 31 : 17^, and the second, Gen. 2. : 2b (both P) ; and those who are of opinion that the verse would not have been omitted when the Deca- logue was incorporated in Deuteronomy, had it already formed part of it, will be justified in supposing that it was inserted subsequently, upon the basis of the two verses just referred to. XIII. The Tabernacle — Lev. 10 : i-ii; Ex. 35: 20-29. (June 26.) Both these passages belong to the priestly narrative (P), forming part of the long account of the construc- tion of the Tabernacle, and the vessels, etc., belonging to it (Ex. 25-31, 35-40), of the sacrifices offered at it (Lev. 1-7), of the ordination of a priesthood (Lev. 8-10), of the law respecting the distinction between clean and unclean, leprosy, and certain cognate subjects (Lev. 11-15), culminating in the description of the ritual observed at the great annual Day of Atonement (Lev. 16). As has been said before, the Temple and priesthood, the ritual and ceremonial observances of the Levitical law, are, in this narrative, the center of interest ; and hence the precision, and fullness of detail, with which the subject is treated. There are, indeed, some critics who question whether the whole of the chapters which have been enumerated belong to the ^6 . CRITICAL NOTES. original draft of P, and are of opinion that some pas- sages may have been inserted subsequently. In Lev. lO : i-io, for instance, some difficulty is caused by the fact that Aaron's sons, i. e., the ordinary priests, are alluded to as being anointed, whereas, in the funda- mental passage, Ex. 29, which prescribes the ceremony of ordination, the rite of anointing is reserved appar- ently for the Higli Priest (vs. 7, 8). But there are other passages in which "anointing" is extended to Aaron's sons ; and the question is, probably, one of exegesis rather than of criticism. Ex. 35 : 20-29 is part of the detailed account, occupying chaps. 35-40, of the manner in which the directions given in chaps. 25-31, for the construction of the Tabernacle and its parts, were car- ried out: the passage to which the verses quoted refer being ch. 25 : 1-8. A large part of these chapters (35- 40) is narrated nearly in the same words as are used in the injunctions, chaps. 25-31, with merely a change of tense in the verbs (comp., for instance, 25 : 10-20 with 37 : 1-9) ; but when the two are compared closely to- gether, certain differences of detail reveal themselves, which have led some critics to a similar conclusion re- specting these chapters. A discussion of the question would occupy too much space; and as the conclusion is disputed by other critics, is not necessary. Even should there be some truth in it, the analysis of the chapters would not be affected : in style and manner of treatment they exhibit the type which is uniformly recoEfnized as that of P. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DOCUMENTS. 7/ THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DOCU- MENTS. A FEW general remarks, relating to the whole series of papers now concluded, may be here permitted. It will, of course, be understood that no attempt has been made to demonstrate the composite structure of the Penta- teuch : that would have required not merely the con- tinual quotation of Hebrew words, but a multitude of minute references to every part of the Pentateuch, which would have been impossible within the limits at the writer's disposal. Moreover, the selected passages were not always those best adapted for this purpose. All that the writer has attempted to do has been to illustrate, as each particular lesson afforded opportu- nity, the kind of evidence upon which the analysis of the Pentateuch depended, and to help the reader to estimate its value in different cases. The priestly narra- tive, which has been denoted by the letter P, is marked by such well-defined characteristics that there is seldom any difficulty in distinguishing it. It is, indeed, some- times urged by objectors that it is illegitimate to allege these characteristics in evidence of diversity of author- ship, that they belong mainly to the ritual terminology of the Hebrews, and that consequently any author making it his aim to describe this ritual must perforce use the terminology which belonged to it. But this objection overlooks the fact that a similar distinctive phraseology, possessing many points of contact with the phraseology of the ritual sections, characterizes ccr- 78 CRITICAL NOTES. tain historical sections of Genesis and Exodus, and dis- tinguishes them from the adjacent narrative. There is nothing, for instance, of a ceremonial or technical character in Gen. 27 : 46-28 : 8 ; or Ex. 6 : 2-7 : 13; yet these sections are connected with each other and with certain other sections of these two books by well- defined marks, which are altogether absent from the intermediate sections — even from those which (speaking generally) deal with the same (or with a similar) subject- matter.'" If the peculiarities belonging to these sec- tions corresponded uniformly with a change of subject- matter, there would be plausibility in the contention that the case was merely that of one and the same author adopting the phraseology which his new subject required, and dropping it when it was finished ; but this correspondence is not what we observe : the pecu- liarities appear frequently, irrespectively of subject-mat- ter: and the sections which we have designated"?" differ from the intermediate ones, not in terminology (or vocabulary) only, but in style as well. They differ from them, in a word, just in the same manner as {e. g^ 2 Chr. 20 : 1-30 differs from 2 Chr. 18, which we knoiv to be (as a whole) f the work of a different author (see * Thus, in Gen. 28 : 3, 4: " El Shaddai," as 17 : i ; 35 : 11 ; 48 : 3 ; Ex. 6:3; "make thee fruitful," and "multiply thee," as 17 : 6, 20 (cf. 9:1; 35 : II ; 48 : 4); " assembly of peoples," as 35 : 11 ; 48 : 4 ; "land of thy sojournings," as 17 : 8 ; 36 : 7 ; Ex. 6 : 4. These are examples of phrases which appear in combination in one series of promises, whilst in another series (Gen. 12 : 2, 3 ; 18 : 18 ; 28 : 14 ; also, 22 : 17, 18 ; 26 : 3-5) they are absent, and a different set of expressions appears instead. •j- For the Chronicler, in excerpting the narrative of Kings, has intro- CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DOCUMENTS. 79 I Kings 22 : 1-35). The argument is, of course, greatly strengthened when, as is frequently the case, a change of iDhraseology occurs simultaneously with a variation of stand-point, or manner of treatment. With respect to what remains, in Gen.-Ex., after the separation of P, the case is different. It is true that those who have studied the question most closely are agreed that this also is not homogeneous ; and the writer must admit that it appears to him to exhibit phenom- ena which are with difficulty reconcilable with the be- lief in its unity. But he does not conceal, either from himself or from others, that here the means of fixing definitely the points of demarkation frequently fail us, and that the criteria wdiich are relied upon for the purpose appear to him to be sometimes slight and inconclusive. There is a presumption that what has been termed "JE"is composite; and a long continuous passage may present affinities entitling us to connect it with one or other of these sources respectively ; but in other cases there is so little to guide us that we must either give up the attempt, or admit frankly that our analysis is tentative and liable to error. It need hardly be re- duced into it one or two little insertions or amplifications (see vs. i, 2, 31) whicli at the same time betray his ozvn style. The best introduction to tlie literary study of the Pentateuch would be a comparison, sentence dv sentence, and word by word, of the Clnonicles (beginning with i Chr. 10 = I Sam. 31) with the parallel texts in Samuel and Kings. Of course, the more delicate idiomatic differences could only Ije perceived in the Hebrew text ; but the Revised English Version would form a sufficient basis for sucli a comparison ; and the reader wlio instituted it would prob- ably be surprised to find how numerous wert; the insertions, omissions, and alterations made by the compiler of Chronicles in the texts incorpo- rated by him in his work. 80 CRITICAL NOTES, marked that an uncertainty, where the criteria are not clear, does not constitute any cogent argument against the validity of conclusions deduced from criteria which are clear. It cannot be claimed that all writers should exhibit equally characteristic marks of difference, or even that a wa'iter who, as a rule, displays a characteristic style, should impress it with equal distinctness upon every individual sentence or verse ; nor, again, can it reasonably be objected as improbable that the compiler or redactor, in combining his sources together, should have made slight alterations at the points of juncture, concealin.g, or obscuring, thereby the precise line of de- markation. Owing to the operation of causes such as these, it is but natural that passages should present themselves in which the literary analysis remains uncer- tain. But such uncertainty cannot alter or affect our judgment upon the many passages of which the charac- teristics are unmistakable, or prevent our recognizing, where they exist, the criteria which are significant of diversity of authorship. The determination of the dates at which the different sources of the Pentateuch were composed rests largely upon considerations other than those of criticism proper, and would demand a long and difficult investi- gation. Undoubtedly, the different codes of law em- bodied in the Pentateuch (Ex. 21-23 ; the " priest's code," Lev. 1-16, etc. ; the code underlying the legislat- ive part of Deuteronomy, viz., chaps. 12-26) had their source in the Mosaic age ; but ^vhether they all assumed at once their present shape is open to question. It is possible that, in some z2js,q%, pi'inciplcs were laid down CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DOCUMENTS. 8 1 by Moses, which it was left to a later age, under the continued aid of inspiration, to develop and apply. It remains, in conclusion, to say a few words on the general scope and character of the several Pentateuchal sources, for which no suitable opportunity occurred be- fore, and in which it may be permitted to refer to other passages as well as to those actually selected for the lessons. It has been more than once observed that the different narratives of the Pentateuch (like the different gospel narratives) dwell upon particular incidents of the history, or emphasize its different aspects or teach- ing. The observation is true generally. Each narra- tive has throughout a consistent character, and is con- structed with a definite aim. The main object of the priestly narrator (P) is to present a systematic view of the theocratic institutions of Israel: and to this aim everything in his work is more or less subordinated. His narrative in Genesis, for instance (which has appar- ently been preserved with approximate completeness), leads up to this : it is mostly of a summary character, suited to form an introduction : it becomes more de- tailed on occasions of importance in the development of the theocracy, as at the covenants with Noah or Abra- ham (9:1-17; ch. 17). But it is throughout arranged systematically : the stages of the history are marked by the recurring phrase, tliese arc the generations of . . . (comp. 5:1; 6:9; 10:1: 11:10, etc.) : great attention is devoted to the chronology, and to other statistical data which help to give a clearer picture of the growth of the clan, founded by Abraham, into a nation. The love of method and system is visible even 82 CRITICAL NOTES. in the style of P ; he writes as a jurist rather than as an historian : his language is circumstantial, formal, precise : a subject is developed systematically, and the effort is always made, even at the cost of some repetition, to insure particularity and precision of detail (comp., e.g., Gen. II, 13-16 ; 8 : 15-19 ; 23 : 17, 18, 20; 49 : 29-32). In accordance with the statement in Ex. 6: 3, the name used by him in Genesis is regularly God {Elohccni)* or God Almighty {El Shaddai : see Gen. 17:1; 28 : 3 ; 35 : II ; 48 : 3) : but after this point in Exodus he adopts consistently the name JehOVAH. In the prom- ises embodied in the patriarchal narrative of P, it is to be observed that the outlook is limited io Israel {ly : 6-8 ; 28 : 3, 4 ; 35 : 1 1-12, quoted 48 : 3 ; Ex, 6 : 4, 6, 7). The substance of these promises is the future growth and glory {''kings shall come out of thee") of the Abraham ic clan : the establishment of a covenant with them, implying a special relation between them and God (" to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee ;" " and I will take you to me for a people, and I will be to you a God ") : the confirmation of the land of Canaan as an inheritance. There is no reference in P to Israel's being made the medium of salvation to * There are only two exceptions, Gen. 17 : i ; 21 : il>, due, probably, to the hand of a redactor or of a copyist. The compiler of Chronicles many times changes " Jehovah " of his original source into " Eloheem," neither consistently nor with apparent reason, except that the latter term was the one which, when writing independently, he was disposed to pre- fer. Comp., c. g., 2 Chr. 10 : 15 ; iS : 5 ; 22 : 12 ; 23 : g ; 34 : 9. 27, with i Kings 12 : 15 ; 22 : 6 ; 2 Kings 11 : 3, 10 ; 22 : 4, 19. But even should this not be the case in Genesis, the use of Eloheem in this source is still so predominant as fairly to be described as " regular-." CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DOCUMENTS. 83 the Gentiles. The Israelitish theocracy is the writer's ideal: and the cuhninating promise is that in Ex. 29: 43-46, declaring the continual gracious presence of God in the midst of his people. The aspect of truth which P thus emphasizes and illustrates is the abiding prcsoice of God with ] lis people Israel. On the general style of \\\q. prophetical narrative (JE) some remarks have been already made (in the notes on Gen. 18), and need not be repeated. In this narrative there is both greater freedom of treatment and greater breath of view than in P. The history of the patri- archal times is told throughout with greater fullness : the incident is more varied : in dialogue and action character displays itself without reserve : a vivid and life-like drama is enacted before our eyes. The same characteristics may be observed in the narratives of the Mosaic age which belong to the same source, e. g., Ex. 3: 1-6: i; ch. 18 (E) ; ch. 32-34; Numb, ii, 12, 22-24. I^ J be rightly distinguished from E, it may be said that while, in general, the characteristics just noted are common to both these sources, they are viore conspicuous in J than in E : J's narrative is viore dra- matic and bright than that of E, as it is also richer in theological ideas. It is J, for instance, who deals with the deep problem of the origin of sin in the world, and shows, at the same time, how from the first it lay in the Divine plan to provide a remedy against it (Gen. 2 : 4-3 : 24; esp. 3 : 15). J further emphasizes and gives instances of the Divine mercy, long-suffering, and forbearance (r.^., 8 : 21, 22 ; 18 : 23 {{.-^ Ex.32 ; 33: 12-34:9); and anticipates a blessed relation to be es- 84 CRITICAL NOTES. tablished between the descendants of the patriarch and other nations (Gen. 12:3; 18 : 18; 28 : 14 : comp. 22 : 18 ; 26 : 14). Like P, he states the design with which the na- tion was founded in its ancestor Abraham, and delivered subsequently from its bondage in Egypt (Gen. 18: 19 R. V. [A. V. is here incorrect and misleading] ; Ex. 19 : 4-6) to establishing a people enjoying a special re- lation of nearness to God, and maintaining observances, righteous and well-pleasing to him : but he states it in less formal and circumstantial terms. "''^ Passages such as Gen. 9 : 25-27 ; 16:12 ; 25 : 23, illustrate his broader view of history, and the manner in which he interpreted its various aspects and phases prophetically. E, as has been said, is, as a rule, less rich than J in ideas of special theo- logical significance : on the other hand, he has interwoven into his narrative many interesting antiquarian notices, especially (as Dillmann has observed) in matters relating to Egypt. For instance, the names, Eliezer, Gen. 15:2; Phichol, 26 : 22 ; Deborah, 35 : 8 ; Potiphar, 37 : 36 (also 39 : i) ; the Egyptian word dklul, rendered " reed- grass," 41 : 2-18 [also Job 8: il] ; the (probably) Egyptian term, "Abrech,"4i 143; Zaphnath-paaneah, Asenath, and Poti-pherah, 41 : 45 ; the names of the store-cities, built in Egypt by the Israelites, Pithom and Raamses, Ex. i : 11 ; Shiphrah and Puah, 1:15; the notices of the teraphim-worship (Gen. 31 : 19, 30), ■" The scope of the different promises in Genesis, and their relation to one another, may be studied in greater detail in Professor C. A. Briggs' suggestive volume entitled Messianic Prophecy (New York, iSS6), chap, iii. 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