off all his hair (Herod. ii. 37). He that touched a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, had to purify himself by water. Other instances may be found in the following references:-Lev. xiv. 8, seq.; xv. 5, 13, 18; xvii. 16; xxii. 6. Num. xix. 7. Deut. xxiii. 11; xxiv. 8, 9.

These ablutions took place sometimes in rivers (2 Kings v. 12. Lev. xv. 13. Exod. ii.5), sometimes in the house. The inner court of the houses of distinguished persons held a bath (2 Sam. xi. 2; and, in later times, there were public baths (Joseph. Antiq. xix. 7. 5), and princes had servants whose special duty it was to superintend the royal bath (Joseph. Antiq. xiv. 15, 13). In places having a mixed population, Jews frequented the baths which the Heathen used. Bathing was considered 50 necessary, as, in later times, to be permitted on the Sabbath; only it was required, with that unmeaningness of distinction for which Rabbinical religion is marked, that the cloths used in the baths should not be handed to the servants, lest they should contract sin. A certain fee was paid to the bath-keeper for the accommodation. Baths, among the Heathen, were places where sometimes the worst of vices were practised and encouraged, against which precautionary laws may be found in the Rabbinical writings (Othon. Lex. Rabb. 78). Besides water, women sometimes employed bran in washing the body; and Arabs of the present day, if they are without water, perform their prescribed lustrations by rubbing themselves over with earth; which practice may throw light on the request which Naaman prefers for two mules' burden of earth (2 Kings v. 17).

Natural baths were found at Tiberias, Gadara, and Bethesda (Plin. v. 15. Joseph. Bell. Jud. i. 33, 5), and appear to have been much frequented.

ABNER (H. father of light. A.M. 4466; A.C. 1082; V. 1095), captain of Saul's host, son of Ner, Saul's uncle (1 Sam. xiv. 50; xvii. 55; xxvi. 5). On the death of Saul, he made Ishbosheth his son king over Israel, while the house of Judah followed David. Abner, on the part of Saul, met Joab, on the part of David, when an encounter took place between twelve young men on each side, who all slew each other, and, the battle becoming general, Abner was beaten. Being pursued in his flight by Asahel, who was as light of foot as a wild roe, he turned round and slew him (2 Sam. ii. 8, 12, seq.). After this, he disagreed with Ishbosheth, who became jealous of him as a pretender to the throne, in consequence of his great power, and particularly his intimacy with Saul's concubine Rizpah. Hence he was led to make overtures to David, which were accepted on condition that he brought back David's wife Michal, daughter of Saul. Abner, having taken measures for complying with this stipulation visited David

at Hebron, and was well received, having al. ready negociated for making David the sole monarch. He reported his success, and left David, who is shortly after visited by Joab, by whom he is reproached on the ground that Abner was a deceiver. Leaving the king, Joab despatched messengers after Abner, who, as if in obedience to the wishes of David, returned, and was treacherously slain by Joab in revenge for the death of Asahel his brother (2 Sam. iii. 30). Abner's fate was much bewailed: King David himself followed the bier. Abner was buried in Hebron.

ABOMINATION (L. something impious, causing a person to turn away shocked as from a bad omen). In Isa. xliv. 19; lxvi. 3, it refers to idols and idolatrous practices; a signification which it retains in the New Testament, when the abomination of desolation' - that is, the troops and standards of idolatrous Rome-is spoken of (Matt. xxiv. 15 Mark xiii. 14. Luke xxi. 20);

ROMAN STANDARDS.
'ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION.'

the reference being to Dan. ix. 27, where, in connection with the ceasing of the temple offerings, the 'overspreading of abominations' is spoken of. In Rev. xvii. 4, 5, Papal Rome is again described by this term,

as

'full of abominations,' and mother of abominations' (see also Rev. xxi. 27; and comp. Tit. i. 16. Rom. i. 22).

ABRAHAM (H. the father of a multitude. A. M. 3186; A. C. 2362; V. 1996). This renowned ancestor of the chosen people is the subject of the first distinct and adequate biographical picture which the Bible presents, though of his early life nothing is recorded, except that he was the son of Terah; having for brothers Nahor and Haran, the father of Lot, who was consequently nephew of Abraham; all of them being descendants of Shem, who is called the father of all the children of Eber (Gen. x. 21). Abraham having mar ried Sarah, his sister by his father (Gen. xi. 29; xx. 12), who proved barren, proceeded,

C

under the direction of his father, to leave his native place, Ur of the Chaldees, and, going south, came to Haran, where he dwelt, though the ultimate end of his journey was Canaan. From the first verse of the twelfth chapter of Genesis, this migration would appear to have been commanded to Abraham by the Divine Being, who, at the same time, gave him a promise of great temporal prosperity, with a shadowy intimation of something better: 'I will bless thee and make thy name great, and thou shalt be a blessing: in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed;'

a promise which would of course be understood by Abraham according to his own notions, but which may equally have had, in the intention of the speaker, a far larger and higher import. Thus, at the age of seventyfive, Abraham, accompanied by Lot and Sarah, left Haran in Mesopotamia, where he had resided long enough to acquire much substance; and, coming into Canaan, advanced, in a southerly course, to Shechem, in which he built an altar to Jehovah, by whom he was visited, and promised the land then occupied by the Canaanite. Thence, going towards the south-east, he pitched his tent on a mountain between Hai on the east, and Bethel on the west, where he built an altar, and offered sacrifice. Again he journeyed, going on still toward the south. Nor is it a little remarkable that he should thus proceed through the land with his property, which mostly consisted of cattle, apparently unmolested, and without alarm.

A famine induces Abraham to direct his steps towards Egypt, the great corn-bearing country: the mention of this fact furnishes, by its accordance with what is known of Egypt, an incidental, and therefore strong, evidence of the reality of the things of which we are pursuing the record. The beauty of Sarah, and the custom of eastern despots to take beautiful women into their harems, made Abraham fear that his own life would fall a sacrifice to the reigning Pharaoh's lust: he therefore requests Sarah to call herself his sister. Accordingly, when they arrived in Egypt, the courtiers of Pharaoh, following the instinct of their nature, recommend Sarah to the notice of their master, who, hoping to conciliate her so-called brother, loads him with presents of men and cattle. Plagues fall upon the monarch's house, when Sarah is returned to him who is found to be her husband as well as her brother. They are, however, sent out of the land.

This is the first view which is afforded of Egypt in the Biblical history, and deserves a special study on the part of the reader; affording, as the country does in its already formed, graduated, and to some extent civilised, state of society, a striking contrast to the wandering herdsmen of whom Abraham is the representative; and conforming, in a

wonderful manner, with the idea which we are led to form of Egypt in the earliest period of authentic history, from other sources, especially the paintings found on still surviving Egyptian monuments.

Abraham returned into Canaan, and went northward as far as Bethel, being very rich in cattle, in silver, and in gold; having most probably obtained the precious metals in Egypt. Lot was with him, having flocks, and herds, and tents. The number of their cattle was too great for the fodder which the land, rich as it was, supplied. Accordingly, a quarrel arose between their herdsmen. Abraham has hitherto appeared a pious, obedient man: he now shows himself a lover of peace. He will have no strife. Let Lot choose his portion-he will then take another. Nor does he withdraw his offer, when his selfish nephew, unable to appreciate the highminded disinterestedness of Abraham, takes for his share the well-watered plain of Jordan. This transaction, on the part of the patriarch, seems to have been pleasing to Jehovah; for the Divine Being immediately renews his promise in very emphatic terms, that the land, in the length of it and in the breadth of it, should come into possession of Abraham and his seed for ever. The peculiar value of this promise receives illustration from the fact just recited,—namely, that the land was not able to support both Abraham and Lot; for to herdsmen, before the productiveness of the soil is brought out by agriculture, land is of the greatest importance, especially that which nature irrigates; since it is usual, in the nomad condition of life, to pasture one plot of ground, and then, when the sustenance is consumed, to remove to another.

Leaving Lot in quiet possession, Abraham proceeded toward the south, and settled at Mamre, which was in Hebron. Lot, however, was made captive, in wars which raged among certain petty princes in the vicinity. Abraham pursued the victors, having armed his trained servants born in the house, in number 318, and, falling on the enemy by night at Dan, put them to flight; and, again pursuing, finally vanquished them near Damascus, rescued his nephew, brought him back to his settlement, together with his goods, and the women, and the people; thus returning good for evil, and showing that he possessed energy of character as well as placability. Returning thus from overcoming Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, he is met by the king of Sodom. Melchizedek also, king of Salem (Jerusalem), offers the conqueror bread and wine for refreshment, after his toils and perils; and, being priest of the Most High God, implores a blessing on Abraham. The booty is now to be divided. A tithe is given to the priest; the king of Sodom has the chief part; Abra

ham, with characteristic unselfishness, takes nothing for himself.

Again is the divine pleasure signified to the patriarch, who now ventures to intimate that he is childless, and has no other heir than his steward, Eliezer of Damascus, who, it appears, derived his right from being born in his master's house (Gen. xv. 2). A child is promised to Abraham, whose seed is to be as the stars of heaven for number: this also is a promise which had peculiar appropriateness and value in the then thinly populated world. Abraham 'believed in the Lord, and he counted it to him for righteousness.' The promise was, however, still further confirmed by a solemn sacrifice, a dream, and a covenant, in which the land is defined as extending from the river of Egypt (the Sihor, Josh. xiii. 3) unto the great river, the river Euphrates (Gen. xv. 7-18). In this com

munication is made known to Abraham the descent of his posterity into Egyptian bondage, and their rescue thence by divine aid, after a servitude of 400 years.

Sarah being still barren, Abraham, now eighty-six years old, and having long waited for the divine promise, has, according to eastern custom, a child by his slave Hagar. Sarah, however, becomes jealous of Hagar, who, in consequence, leaves the tent. Thirteen years now pass away, and still the patriarch and his wife are without issue, when God again appears to them, changes the name of Abram to Abraham, and Sarai to Sarah, as a token of their being the progenitors of many nations. On this occasion, the rite of circumcision is appointed, as a covenant with God. Abraham's faith, however, proves weak. He himself was a hundred years old; Sarah, ninety. The patriarch could not restrain an incredulous laugh, and pleaded that Ishmael might, by the divine favour, be considered as his heir. The request is refused; but a promise is given, that, within a year, Sarah should bear Isaac, with whom God's covenant should be established. Ishmael, however, was circumcised by Abraham, together with his entire household; whence it appears that the young man was residing with his father on friendly terms. Abraham also, though now an old man, was himself circumcised. Then ensues nother visit from on high, which gives us an engaging insight into the better parts of pastoral life, and brings out a new feature in the estimable character of Abraham; namely, a simple, hearty, and self-forgetting hospitality. The promise of a child is renewed, though Sarah seemed past the age of childbearing.

The Divine Being sees fit to disclose to the patriarch the destruction which he is about to bring on Sodom and Gomorrah. In the narrative respecting this determination, the piety of Abraham, and the fact that

he would train his children rengiously, are assigned as the grounds of his having been thus chosen and favoured of God. In how amiable a light does this truly good man appear in his earnest but nugatory pleadings with God to spare the wicked cities of the plain! (Gen. xviii. 23, seqq.;) and how must he have been grieved and terror-struck when, on rising early in the morning, he looked toward the devoted cities, and 'lo the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace!'

This dreadful visitation may have been the cause why Abraham, in order to be more distant from the dismal scene, removed southward to Gerar, where he had with the king (ABIMELECH) a similar affair to that which took place with Pharaoh respecting Sarah, though now she was 'well stricken in age.'

At length Sarah brought forth Isaac, who was circumcised, in obedience to the divine command, when eight days old. Trouble, however, follows on the heels of joy; for Ishmael, probably encouraged by his mother, and in no way pleased to behold a competitor, mocks at the event, and is in conse. quence expelled from home, together with Hagar (Gen. xxi. 14). For Ishmael's age when thus expelled, comp. xvi. 16; xvii. 23; and xxi. 12, 20: the lad,' notwithstanding the painters, could not have been under fifteen years old.

Abraham, having some disagreement with Abimelech because of a well of water, makes peace with him, ratified by a present of cattle, as a witness' (Gen. xxi. 30), and by an oath on each side. At the spot where this took place, which, from the oath, was called Beersheba, the patriarch planted a grove, and called there on the name of God, the everlasting God;' thus reminding the reader of his piety, and showing that groves were connected with the worship of the Almighty.

Now comes the sore trial, the great event of Abraham's life, the test of his piety and faith. He is commanded of God to slay Isaac as a victim in sacrifice. The narrative itself must be read. It is too concise to be condensed; too graphic - too real to be touched (Gen. xxii.). The patri. arch proves equal to the temptation; a substitute is ound; Isaac lives; and confirmation of the former promise is made on the express ground, because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son.'

The shadows of night begin to fall. Sarah dies, being 127 years old, in Kirjath-arba, that is Hebron, and is mourned and wept for by her husband. The necessity of a burial-place for his wife brings to light that Abraham, though a mighty prince,' was a stranger and sojourner, not having even

ground for a tomb, in a land, the possession of the whole of which he had been promised. By arrangement with Ephron, Abraham purchases the cave of Machpelah, in Hebron, in the country of the Hittites, for 400 shekels of silver, which are paid, not by tale, but by weight; the bargain being concluded in the audience of the children of Heth,' at the gate of the city' (Gen. xxiii). Thus was made sure unto Abraham'the field, and the cave therein, and all the trees in the field, in all the borders round about,' 'for a possession of a burying-place.'

After interring Sarah, Abraham became anxious about a wife for his son. He, on this, makes a solemn engagement with the eldest servant of his house to take a wife for Isaac, not among the Canaanites, but from his relations in Mesopotamia; in doing which he gives us reason to conclude that the eldest house servant performed, in these patriarchal days, an office similar to that of executors with us. The result is, that Eliezer of Damascus (Gen. xv. 2) goes to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor (Gen. xxiv. 10), and engages for Isaac the hand of Rebekah, Abraham's grand niece (xxiv. 15), who, accordingly, becomes the young man's wife.

Abraham then took another wife, Keturah. She bare six sons (Gen. xxv. 1-4), who became founders of so many Arab tribes (Joseph. Antiq. i. 15), and who were dis. missed from the paternal home towards the east country, with certain presents, as being, together with Ishmael, sons of the concubines, that is, Hagar and Keturah (xxv. 6); a remarkable illustration of the care which Abraham took to preserve the line of transmission intact and unmingled in Isaac ; thus obeying the will of God, who had declared, 'In Isaac shall thy seed be called;'-'My covenant will I establish with Isaac' (Gen. xvii. 21; xxi. 12. Rom. ix. 7. Heb. xi. 18), and showing an accordance of one part of the sacred narrative with another, which must tend to confirm its credibility, as being an account of real events.

The disposal of his property now engaged the attention of the venerable patriarch. By some formal act or other, having the effect of a deed of gift or testament, he had bequeathed the substance of his wealth to Isaac, before he sent his servant to solicit the hand of Rebekah (Gen. xxiv. 36; comp. xxi. 10). Accordingly, contenting himself with making presents to the sons of his concubines, who, on receiving them, were dismissed from home and sent eastward, he seems, ere he left the world, to have put Isaac into possession of his goods. Having thus accomplished his last wishes, Abraham, conformably with the divine promise (Gen. xv. 15), died in a good old age,' — 175 years (A. M. 3360; A. C. 2188; V. 1821), and was gathered to his people, being laid

by the side of his wife in the cave of Machpelah (xxv. 8, 9), leaving behind a reputa tion that finds no equal throughout the East, which is full of memorials of his influence and greatness. Of these memorials not a few are perversions and corruptions of the realities whence they are taken: yet even these serve by contrast to show the truth and confirm the reality of the events recorded in the Bible. Of these events the general tenor is so natural, simple, and unsophisticated; the narrative is so congruent with the manners and spirit of a primitive age; the character of the patriarch is so consistent, harmonious, and entire, -a gradual development, not a heap of disjointed and unconnected facts, a life-something really lived -a transcript of a human being's experiences, that those who study the Biblical records in their own light, and not in the light of theological philosophies, will have little difficulty in rejecting the theory of De Wette and others; namely, that this is only a part of the great Hebrew epic; and may with the writer feel a pleasure in the conviction, that, amidst the scattered fragments and discordant notices of early profane history, the sacred page begins to shed a clear, trustworthy, and useful light on the path trodden by human kind, some fifteen centuries before the Christian era. In this fact is found a very high eulogy on the Bible, which its friends, as well as its detractors, would do well to ponder.

Piety, which led to entire trust and implicit obedience towards God, and prompted gentleness and justice in his dealings with man, was Abraham's chief characteristic. Converted from idolatry (Josh. xxiv. 2), he became a constant and unswerving witness of the one true and only God; and was, in consequence, honoured as the great father of the faithful, whether found in the Jewish or in the Christian church. Accordingly, Abraham appears in the New Testament as the type of unshaken confidence and holy submission towards God (Rom. iv. 2. Heb. xi. 8); while to be admitted to the intimacy of so great a personage was natu rally accounted the highest honour and the largest happiness. So, in the conceptions of the Jews of our Lord's day, to be in Abraham's bosom-that is, to have a place next to him at the celestial banquet - was a figure denoting the enjoyment of the bliss of heaven. The same estimation of Abraham led the Jews to be proud of their descent from him, and to boast of being Abraham's seed (John viii. 33).

The fact that religiousness was the essential feature of the patriarch's character may serve to make apparent God's own way of carrying forward human civilisation. Doubt less, Providence works for that purpose by

various instrumentalities; but, when God elects and sets up a special agency, it is not Egyptian art, but patriarchal piety the simple manners of home and of rural Life-nourished, strengthened, and refined by a warm and operative faith. This fact seems to teach us, that religion must be at the basis of all true social advancement. It is not to Greece nor Italy, but to Mesopotamia and Judea, that we owe our religion, and what is best and most durable in our civilisation. Man may spare the pleasures of taste; but he cannot live and be happy without the sentiments of piety, and the principle of obedience.

The nature of true and acceptable faith is exemplified in Abraham, — the friend of God. If compared with the views which are entertained by enlightened Christians, Abraham's idea of God was very limited and rudimental; for though, doubtless, he had a firm persuasion of God's spirituality and omnipresence, yet it was mostly as his God, the God of his family, that the patriarch regarded the Creator. Yet his imperfect and defective knowledge falling as good seed into good ground, brought forth that trust, that confidence, that love towards God, which prompted to obedience, and made its possessor willing to sacrifice even his fondest affections and his dearest hopes, in compliance with what appeared to him the divine will. Such is the character of all genuine faith, which is very dissimilar to mere opinion, with which it is often confounded; and thus we see, that true religion is as old as at least the patriarch Abraham. As he pleased God, so may we.

Most important for mankind was the call of Abraham. It was one of those events on which human destiny is found from time to time to hinge. Idolatry was all but universal. The knowledge of the Creator had nearly vanished from the earth. Egypt, the centre of the arts and refinements of life, worshipped even the lowest animals. There it was fully proved how little man can do for himself in regard to the solemn obligations of duty, and the high hopes and destiny of the religious life. But God chose Abraham, and a new era began which will never come to an end; for Jesus finished what Abraham commenced. It is a gratifying fact, that the series of biographical pictures begins with one which is so pleasing and so ennobling as that of Abraham. Had the dispositions which actuated him been shared by all who came afterwards, we should not have found the great life-roll of humanity blotted, blurred, and disgraced by such names as Alexander, Nero, and Napoleon.

Already, at the times of Abraham, had the world made some decided progress in civilisation; a knowledge of which, so far as it is definite and satisfactory, we owe to the di

vinely illuminated pages of the Bible. The most useful arts of life had long been invented, and were in general use. Those large societies of men which are called nations were gradually forming themselves on spots which were determined by a regard to the natural limits and advantages afforded by seas, rivers, and mountain-ranges. And, as men fixed themselves in different places up and down the earth, so did they become more and more divided from each other by the continually increasing diversity of languages, which led to other alienating diversities in social usages, and in religious opinions and observances. The first empires were thus founded, and the great question of human education began to be seriously worked out. War had begun its desolations; slavery was quietly but effectually wasting human energies away, perverting the natural relations of life. The union of the sexes, which is the great hinge of man's highest good, was uncertain and ill-regulated. Hospitality had assumed a distinguished position, and sheds a mild lustre over these early days; but if, from such a tent as that of Abraham, we turn to the world at large, we behold scarcely any other virtue in a high condition, and such vices abounding as easy abundance and extreme leisure may produce, under the aid of burning skies, vivid imaginations, and uncontrollable passions.

The sacrifice of his son, demanded of Abraham, has given occasion to many objections, most of which have arisen from falsely viewing the subject through the atmosphere of modern times. As a means of putting Abraham's reliance on God to the test, it was peculiarly efficacious and appropriate, seeing that the child was demanded, which God had openly and extraordinarily given. The Power that had bestowed Isaac on parents advanced in years was, Abraham may well have felt, both willing and able to do 'all things well,' and make 'all things work together for good.' To have faltered would have betrayed a weakness of moral character, ill befitting one who had been so signally favoured of God. Unquestioning, undoubting reliance on God was Abraham's duty, and it proved his 'crown of rejoicing. He was tried, and was found faithful. In his fidelity, he remains a model to all generations, though the specific sacrifice required of him is required no more. Yet the principle remains the same. Our Lord gave expression to it when he said,

-"He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me' (Matt. x. 37).

Without sacrifices there is no true religion. Without trial there is no conscious strength. We have no proof that we love Christ, till we have surrendered some cherished thing on his behalf. It is a baneful delusion to regard religion as an easy thing. Hence the superficiality that prevails, the