Job indeed, was one of the best men that ever lived; but he was not exempt from the frailties and infirmities of human nature; and he failed, in some measure, under his last and sorest trial. Still, with all his imperfections, he will shine forth to the end of time, an admirable example, and a heroic pattern of piety and patience: to be exceeded only by THAT inimitable standard of perfection, who was "meek and lowly of heart;" who was “tried in all respects as we are," and that " by the Devil," but yet did "no sin," nor was guile found in his mouth; and who was "perfected by sufferings," in this life, that He might be "transcendently exalted at the right hand of GOD,"-the "blessed seed of the woman," THE MAN CHRIST JESUS.

"There is, methinks," says Peters, p. 118," a pleasure in observing the accomplishment of that passionate wish of his, chap. xix. 23, and that in a higher and better sense than Job himself could possibly have hoped for when he made it.

"Had his words been graven upon a rock, they might have remained some few ages; but in this divine poem they will live for ever. And how could this good man better employ the remainder of that life which God had so miraculously restored and lengthened out to him, than in the composing such a noble work as this! A thing so agreeable to his own most ardent wishes, and for which none could be so well qualified as he :-to write his own story, and to leave it as an instruction for the Church of God in all succeeding ages."

THIRD PERIOD.

FROM THE BIRTH OF ABRAHAM TO THE RETURN OF THE ISRAELITES TO CANAAN, 545 YEARS.

With this period the Mosaical history properly commences. All the preceding part of Genesis is only introductory to the birth of Abraham, the illustrious ancestor of the Israelites, and of the Jews; the father of the faithful, and by the highest of all titles, "the friend of GOD," 2 Chron. xx. 7, Isa. xli. 8, James ii. 23, and "a blessing" to the world, Gen. xii. 2; as being the privileged ancestor of CHRIST, in whom," all the nations of the earth are blessed," Gen. xxii. 18.

"Now these are the generations of Terah [or the history of his family]. Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran." &c. Gen.

xi. 27.

The chronology of this period has been considerably embarrassed by the vulgar error, that Abram was the eldest of Terah's sons, because he is named first; and the date of Abram's birth has been usually assigned to the seventieth year of Terah, because it is said that" Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran." But this is the date of the birth of Haran, who was unquestionably the eldest son, because his daughters, Milcah and Iscah (the latter surnamed Sarai and Sarah) were married to their uncles, Nahor and Abram, respectively, and Sarah was only ten years younger than her husband, Gen. xvii. 17; Abram was probably the youngest son, born by a second wife, Gen. xx. 12, when Terah was 130 years old, Gen. xi. 32. xii. 4, as proved in Vol. I. p. 229, &c.

From this rectification of the time of Abraham's birth, in the year B.C. 2153, according to the genuine system of Josephus, (see Vol. I. p. 297,) the outline of this period is easily adjusted, for Abram was 75 years old when he went to Canaan, and the exode of the Israelites from Egypt happened 430 years after, Gen. xii. 4, Exod. xii. 41, Gal. iii. 17, amounting to 505 years. We learn also from Josephus, that from Abraham's migration to Canaan, until the settlement of Jacob's family in Egypt, was 215 years, and from thence to the exode 215 years more; thus subdividing the 430 years, Ant. II. 15, 2. And it was foretold to Abraham by the divine ORACLE, that "his seed should sojourn in a land, not their own" [Canaan], and serve [in Egypt] 400 years, in round numbers, and should return again to Canaan in the fourth generation after they left it, Gen. xv. 13-16, which was accordingly fulfilled; for from the birth of Isaac, the promised seed, to the exode was 405 years, and Moses, who led the Israelites out of Egypt, was the fourth in descent from Levi, whose son, Kohath, was born in the year of their migration to Egypt, shortly before it; and from the exode of the Israelites, under Moses, till their arrival in Canaan, under Joshua, was 40 years more.

But there are some chasms in the sacred history which render it difficult and embarrassing to fill up the outline, and give the particular dates in detail. 1. The stay of Abraham's family at Charran, until the death of Terah, is not noticed in Scripture; and 2. The years of the births of Levi, Kohath, and Amram, are also omitted, though the lengths of their lives are given in their genealogy, Exod. vi. 16-20. Fortunately these chasms are

supplied by the judicious Abulfaragi, and by him only, with critical accuracy. He informs us, 1. that Abraham was 60 years old at the time of his first migration to Charran, where he staid with his household fourteen years complete, or fifteen years current, p. 13; and 2. that Levi was born when Jacob was 82 years old, p. 15; Kohath when Levi was 47*, p. 17; and Amram when Kohath was 75, ibid. These numbers accurately harmonize both with the outline and with the detail, and by so doing, demonstrate their correctness.

We shall now proceed to explain the leading events of this period.

ABRAHAM.

Terah's family were originally idolaters, and "served other gods," Josh. xxiv. 2. According to tradition, Terah himself was a statuary, or maker of images, Suidas voce Zepovx. Such were the Teraphim, or "images" of divination, probably, in his grandson Laban's days, used in Mesopotamia, Gen. xxxi. 19. But they were converted to the true faith by special revelation to Abraham, Acts vii. 2, and forced to fly from Chaldea, to avoid the persecution of their countrymen, for adhering to "THE GOD whom they knew, THE GOD OF HEAVEN;" because "they would not follow the gods of their fathers," Judith v. 6-8. In obedience to the divine oracle, Terah, his two sons Abraham and Nahor, and their wives, and Lot, the son of Haran, went from the family settlement," Ur, of the Chaldees," in the eastern, to Charran, in the western part of Mesopotamia. Compare Gen. xi. 31, with xxiv. 10, where Charran is called "the city of Nahor," and xxvii. 43, the residence of Laban, his son.

FIRST CALL.

This first call, omitted in the Old Testament, is fortunately recorded in the New;

"THE GOD OF GLORY appeared to our father Abraham while he was [at Ur of the Chaldees] in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto him, Depart from thy land and from thy kindred, and come hither to a land (ynv) which I

• In the foregoing Table, Levi's generation is reckoned 48 years current, in order to complete 215 years to the migration of Jacob's family to Egypt, and to complete the remaining 215 years from the birth of Kohath, shortly before, to the exode; therefore Kohath was the youngest son of Levi, Gen. xlvi. 11.

will shew thee. Then departing from the land of the Chaldees, he dwelt in Charran," Acts vii. 2-4. Compare Nehem. ix. 7.

Charran, as it is called still by the Arabian geographers, was Carrhe, a city in the north-west part of Mesopotamia, famous in after times for the defeat of Crassus, the Roman general, by the Parthians; it was seated upon a river of the same name, which ran into the Chaboras, and thence into the Euphrates, and was about 150 miles distant from Ur, lying in the road to Canaan. See Bochart's Phaleg, map, p. 78, and p. 95. This then was a convenient resting place for the aged Terah, and there they all sojourned many days," Judith v. 8, or fourteen years, till his death, aged 205 years, Gen. xi. 32.

"From thence, after his father's death, GOD removed him to the land of Canaan," Acts vii. 4.

SECOND CALL.

This is recorded in the Old Testament only.

"Then THE LORD said unto Abram, Depart * from thy land,' and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land (8, τηv уnv, Sept.) which I will shew thee +," Gen. xii. 1.

The difference of the two calls (more carefully translated from the originals) is obvious; in the former, the land is indefinite, which was designed only for a temporary residence; in the latter, it is definite, intimating his abode. A third condition is also annexed to the latter, that Abram shall now separate himself from his father's house, or leave his brother Nahor's family behind at Charran. This call Abram obeyed, still "not knowing whither he was going," but trusting implicitly to the Divine guidance, Heb. xi. 8 ‡.

"So Abram departed, as THE LORD had spoken unto him ; and Lot went with him: (and Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Charran.) And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot, his brother's son, and all their substance that

• Heb. 75, 75. "Go, go."

+ This call is injudiciously confounded with the former, in the English Bible; incorrectly rendering the Hebrew, “Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country," &c. Gen. xii. 1.

This distinction of the two calls is not novel: I have since found that it was made by the sagacious Lightfoot, on Acts vii. 3, and noticed from him in Poole's Synopsis.