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14 Anamim, and Lehabim, and Naphtuhim, And Pathrusim, and Casluhim, (out of whom came Philistim,) and Caphtorim.

15 And Canaan, the youngest son of Ham, begat Sidon his first 16 born, and Heth, the father of the Hittites, And the Jubusite, and 17 the Amorite, and the Girgasite, And the Hivite, and the Ar18 kite, and the Sinite, And the Arvadite, and the Zamarite, and

the Hamathite and afterward were the several families of 19 the Canaanites now mentioned spread abroad. And the borderof the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, and it extended southward unto Gaza: as thou goest unto Sodom and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto 20 Lasha. These [are] the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, [and] in their nations.

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Unto Shem also, the father of all who in scripture are called the children of Eber, (and after him are named Hebrews) unto Shem the brother of Japheth the elder son of Noah, even 22 to him, whom God had blessed, were [children] born.

And

The children of Shem, whose family is of peculiar importance in the history of the church, were these; Elam, and Asshur, and 23 Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram. And the children of Aram, 24 were Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash, or Meshech. And

Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber beforemen25 tioned. And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one [was] Peleg, which signifies, dispersion; for in his days was the earth divided ;|| and his brother's name [was] Jok26 tan. And Joktan begat thirteen sons; namely, Almodad, and 27 Sheleph, and Hazermaveth, and Jerah, And Hadoram, and 28 Uzal, and Dicklah, And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba, And 29 Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these [were] the sons of 30 Joktan. And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest 31 unto Sephar, a mount of the east. These [are] the sons of

Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, 32 after their nations. These [are] the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood; the occasion of which division is hereafter related.

A famous ancient city, lying northward, which took its name from Canaan's eldest son. Or the famous city Dan; called also Laish, Judges xviii. 29. and Lesham, Josh. xix. 47. This was the country of the Canaanites, which God afterwards gave to the Israelites, extending about one hundred and eighty miles. Wells's Geogr. Vol. I. p. 304.

About the time of his birth it happened that the inhabitants of the earth were divided. first in language, then in habitation,

CHAP. XI.

The dispersion of the sons of men at Babel; the posterity of Shem down to Abram; and his removal from his native country.

'A'

ND the whole earth was till this period, that is, about an hundred years after the flood, of one language, and of 2 one speech, which probably was the Hebrew. And it came to pass, as they, Nimrod and his confederates, journeyed from the east, that they found a large fruitful plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.*

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And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, which that country did not afford, and slimet had they for mor→ 4 tar. And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top [may reach] unto the clouds of heaven; and thus let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth: let us perpetuate our fame, strengthen 5 our union, and provide ourselves a settled abode. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded; and made it appear, by the sequel, that he took notice of this their proud, vainglorious at6 tempt, to punish it. And the LORD said, Behold, the people [is] one, and are determined so to remain; and they have all one language, which is favourable to their purpose; and this which they begin to do is an evidence of their ambitious designs : and now they apprehend nothing will be restrained from them, 7 which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand 8 one another's speech. So the LORD, by the confusion he introduced among them, scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth and they left off to build the city, 9 without attempting it any more. Therefore is the name of it called Babel, that is, confusion; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth; and from thence did the LORD scatter thein abroad upon the face of all the earth.

10

These following [are] the generations of Shem, the ancestors of Abram, and progenitors of Christ: Shem [was] an hundred 11 years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood: And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and 12 begat other sons and daughters. And Arphaxad lived five 13 and thirty years, and begat Salah: And Arphaxad lived after

The pleasant valley along which the river Tygris runs, comprehending the country of Eden, in which paradise was situated. See Wells's Geog. Vol. 1. p. 209.

A kind of liquid pitch, which was an exceeding strong cement; of which there was, according to Pliny, great plenty in Assyria. With this, Herodotus says, the walls of BabyJon were cemented; it is called bitumen by some writers, and is thought to be the asphal tus, which (says Suidas) being mixed with bricks and small stones, became as hard as iron. Edit.

This was done by making them forget their former language, and imprinting several languages in the minds of several families or nations,

he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons 14 and daughters. And Salah lived thirty years, and begat 15 Eber: And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and 16 three years, and begat sons and daughters. And Eber lived 17 four and thirty years, and begat Peleg: And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, the longest of any of the patriarchs after the flood, and begat sons and daugh18 ters. And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu: And 19 Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, 20 and begat sons and daughters. And Reu lived two and thir21 ty years, and begat Serug: And Reu lived after he begat

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Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and 22 daughters. And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Na28 hor, the first patriarch who fell into idolatry: And Serug lived

after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and 24 daughters. And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and 25 begat Terah, Abram's father: And Nahor lived after he begat

Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and 26 daughters. And Terah lived seventy years, and between that time and his hundred and thirtieth year he begat three sons; the most distinguished of which, though the youngest, was Abram; the other two were Nahor, and Haran.

Now these [are] the generations of Terah; Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran, the eldest son, begat 28 Lot. And Haran died before the face of his father Terah in

the land of his nativity, in the country afterwards called Ur of 29 the Chaldees. And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife [was] Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, their elder brother, deceased, who was the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah, 30 otherwise called Sarai. But Sarai was barren; she [had] no child.

31 And Terah took Abram his son, who had been warned of God to leave his native country, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan ;* and they came unto a place which they called Haran, after Terah's son who was dead, and 32 dwelt there. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years and Terah died in Haran, which was about half way to the land of Canaan.

Here begin the four hundred and thirty years, at the end of which Israel came out of Egypt.

The Samaritan Pentateuch reads one hundred and forty five; which. Dr. Kennicett observes, vindicates the truth of St. Stephen's assertion in Acts vii. 4. Edit.

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1.

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schemes.

REFLECTIONS.

learn, that men are often imposed upon by their own ambition, and that God can easily confound their He takes the wise in their own craftiness; no device that is formed against him and his designs shall stand: the fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him. They wanted a name and a defence, and God gave them confusion. It is to be feared we have our Babels, on which we bestow pains and cost, to be talked of: but let us be cautious; Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall..

2. Learn the dependence of the human mind and tongue uponGod. He made man at first capable of speaking; gave him ideas, and the power of utterance. The wiser heathens ascribe the origin of language to God. What a surprising thing was it, that all the ideas of such multitudes should be changed, and a new language impressed on their minds at once! Some have said, that there was nothing new or strange in this; but no other than a divine, supernatural cause was ever assigned that was adequate to such an effect. God, who made the tongue, can ea-sily give the proper use of it, and form the mind to the knowl~edge of a new language. Thus, while the world was peopled by the confusion of tongues, the gospel was propagated by the gift of tongues. See Acts ii. A circumstance equally extraordinary and useful in its place.

3. Since we find in this chapter, that human life was shortened, it becomes us to work in haste. Shem lived six hundred years ;: some of his immediate descendants only two hundred years; and at length the term was reduced to seventy years: therefore let us redeem the time, begin the great work of religion early, and whatever our hands find to do, do it with all our might, since there is neither wisdom, nor device, nor knowledge in the grave, whither we are going.

4. Friendship with God is a greater honour than birth can give us. Abram is here put before his elder brother, because he was chosen to be a remarkable man. The greatest honour is to be a friend and servant of God let us seek that honour which cometh from him only.

5. Parents should engage their children to set out with them in the way to the heavenly Canaan, the land of promise; thus, v.. 31, Terah took his children. It is not sufficient to serve God. ourselves, but we must do it with all our house while we walk ourselves in the paths of righteousness and the way to heaven, we should endeavour to lead others with us; pray for them, that they may be inclined to follow us; tell them what a good land it is, what God hath commanded us and them, and what kind pro-visions he hath made for our eternal felicity. Let us be steadfast and diligent in all our attempts to persuade and lead them to the heavenly country.

6. Let not good men be surprised if they meet with accidents in the way, to retard them in their progress toward the promised land. Terah died in Haran. His children hoped for his company and instructions for years to come; but he was cut off in the way. This often happens to good men; their guides and leaders are taken away. Let us then be solicitous to fill up their places, to walk in the same paths; and not be slothful, but followers of them, who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

CHAP. XII.

The Old Testament being principally written for the Jews, much is said of Abram their ancestor. Ancient writers mention him as a great and good man. We now enter upon his story; and have here, God's call of Abram to leave his native country; the divine promise to him in Canaan; his removal into Egypt, on account of the famine, and Sarai's danger and deliverance there.

unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, lest thou be infected with idolatry, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee, but with which 2 thou art not at present acquainted: And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name 3 great; and thou shalt be a blessing † And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee; I will enter into the strictest friendship with thee; thy friends shall be my friends, and thy enemies my enemies; then comes the great promise; and in thee, that is, in thy seed, which is Christ, (as the apostle shows, Gal. iii. 8, 16.) shall all families of the earth, believers of all nations, be blessed.

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So Abram departed, first from Ur, and afterwards from Haran, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him and Abram [was] seventy and five years old when 5 he departed out of Haran. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran, proselyted servants as well as children; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan, a strange and unknown land; but, trusting in God for their guide, they persevered, and into the land of Canaan they came.

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And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, afterwards called Samaria, unto the plain of Moreh.t

See Acts. vii. 2.

A means of conveying blessedness to thy posterity, who shall be blessed for thy sake; to thy friends and servants, who shall be blessed by thy instruction and example; to all the world by being the progenitor of Christ, and an eminent pattern of faith and holi

.ness.

Situated near the two mountains Gerizzim and Ebal.

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