childhood; the idea of a divine retribution exists, but has not yet risen to the rank of a knowledge of a retribution in a future state. The abode of the dead, Scheol, Hades, did not yet appear, agreeably to the view presented in the New Testament, as an intermediate place and intermediate condition, which is succeeded, in the case of the righteous, by the blessedness of heaven. It rather seemed to be merely the conclusion of the development of life on earth, or a gloomy place of abode, which relieved, indeed, the sufferer from the sorrows of this life, and furnished the desired repose to him who was weary of the world (Gen. 25:8; 35: 29), but was, positively, inferior to the abundance and fulness of terrestrial life. This view depended on the knowledge that death had entered the world in consequence of sin. But precisely because death entered through sin alone, in the same degree in which the prospect of redemption from sin became clearer, the assurance became clear and full that (eternal) life would gain a victory over death and the Scheol. In the mean time, the view then entertained of the Scheol contained one important element of consolation, in representing the death of the individual as the event by which he was gathered unto his people (Gen. 49:33), for it is the first approach to the doctrine of the New Testament concerning the blessed communion of the saints with each other and with the Lord.

3. The divine worship of the patriarchs corresponded to their religious consciousness, both in its entire purity and in its proportionate poverty; while it supplied the wants of the times, it was far removed from the systematic and complete development which it received in the laws of Moses.

OBS. The term generally used to describe the patriarchal worship is: "calling upon the name of the Lord." (Gen. 12: 8; 13: 4; 26: 25). Wherever the patriarchs dwelt, they erected altars and instituted divine worship, particularly on mountains or in high places. The forms that occur in the service are: sacrifices, prayer, vows, tithes, and circumcision. No distinct traces are found of a special observance of the sabbath for the purpose of worship. But the two passages (Gen. 2: 2, and Exod. 16: 22, 23), render it probable that the day was observed as a day of rest. As a general rule, the head of a family discharged the priestly office.

4. The intellectual culture of the patriarchs was dependent on their nomadic mode of life, and the latter was maintained by the circumstance that, in their day, they were strangers, and possessed

no permanent place of abode. Their continued pilgrimage, hence, arose from necessity, and its termination was the object of their wishes and hopes. They do not, therefore, furnish any indications of nomadic rudeness, but are civilized, according to the standard of their age. When the circumstances are favorable, they combine agriculture with the care of cattle, and Jacob even built a house for himself (Gen. 33: 17). We find them in possession of money, garments, skilfully made, golden earrings, bracelets, &c. The mention of a signet (Gen. 38: 18) seems to imply that the art of writing was not entirely unknown to the patriarchs. They were certainly acquainted with poetry, the exalted daughter of religion, and composed poems, besides the song of Lamech (Gen. 4: 23, 24). Poetry continually oecurs as the bearer or the echo of divine revelation, when the latter is transmitted through the subjective frame of mind of man, but is never found when the revelation objectively and immediately proceeds from the mouth of God (see Gen. 9: 2527; 27: 27-29, and 39, 40; and ch. 49; on the general subject, see § 83). In civil life, the head of the family constituted the highest authority and centre of union, and to him belonged, according to established traditionary principles, the right to inflict death, in cases of necessity (ch. 38: 24). A subordinate condition was assigned to females, which was the case during the whole period preceding the Christian era, and polygamy did not bear an objectionable character. But no traces appear of that degradation to which females were subjected among other nations; on the contrary, many instances occur of the esteem and love which were bestowed upon the wife, and of the personal rights she enjoyed (Gen. 21: 10-12; 24: 58, 67; 29: 20; 31: 4, &c).

SECOND PERIOD.

MOSES, AND THE GIVING OF THE LAW.
(A period of 120 years.)

$37. Significance of this Period.

THE chosen family becomes a nation in the land of Egypt. Their departure from Egypt is the period of the birth of the na

tion, and the previous bondage formed the throes without which a new life is never ushered into this world. The Exodus or departure secures for Israel an independent national existence in its relation to other nations. As the Exodus is the birth, so the giving of the law is the consecration of the new-born nation, or its Baptism, that is, its regeneration, by which it acquires a higher character than that which belongs to any one nation which is simply classed with others. Israel becomes the first-born of the Lord (Exod. 4: 22) when the law is given, a peculiar treasure unto Jehovah above all people, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation (§ 43. 1, OBS. 2). The law, in its external relations, is a hedge, dividing and distinguishing Israel from other nations; in its internal aspects, it is a school-master, leading to Christ, and it has a shadow of good things to come (§ 43. 2, ОвS. 2). The Lord accomplishes these purposes through the instrumentality of Moses, a man who possesses great natural endowments, and is learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians (Acts 7: 22), the vicissitudes of whose life teach him both to rule and to obey, and who is, above all, sealed and fitted for the work by the Spirit of God. He is the servant of God, and faithful in all his house; he is the mediator of the old covenant (as Christ is of the new), and is a legislator and prophet, unto whom the Lord spake face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend (Exod. 33:11). The last four books of the Pentateuch constitute the source of the history of this period. (See § 58).

OBS. 1.-The mighty hand and the stretched-out arm with which the Lord conducts his people from the house of bondage to the promised land, his wonderful guidance of them during their journeying in the wilderness, the bread from heaven, &c., are convincing witnesses of Jehovah's faithfulness to his promises, and are pledges and types of the future gracious leading of his people; their stubbornness and perverseness are a mirror in which the unworthiness of man is beheld. The chastisements which Jehovah inflicts, and, in particular, the sentence of condemnation and rejection pronounced at Kadesh (2 54. 1), are abiding admonitions that the judgment of God is sure, and that, in his own house, it is severe. The guidance of God and the journeying of the people through the wilderness to the land of rest, flowing with milk and honey, are prefigurations not only of the whole history of Israel, but also of life on earth in

general.*

"There remaineth a rest to the people of God." (Heb. 4: 9.)

OBS. 2.-We append the following view of the genealogy of Moses and his brother Aaron:

Exodus, ch. 1.-During the 430 years (ch. 12:40) of the sojourning of the children of Israel in Egypt, they had so greatly multiplied, that they could furnish 600,000 men who were able to bear arms, indicating that the whole number of souls was at least two millions and a half. Their numbers awakened the apprehensions of the Egyptians, and a new king, who subsequently occupied the throne, and who knew nothing of Joseph, greatly oppressed the people, and made their lives bitter with hard bondage. But their numbers increased in proportion to the increased rigor of their servitude. When the command given to the midwives was found to be unavailing, Pharaoh directed that every new-born son of Israelitish parents should be cast into the river.

OBS. 1.—The extraordinarily great and rapid increase of the Israelites is the result of the blessing of promise given to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Still, the circumstance should not be overlooked, that the 70 souls which originally came to Egypt, were all the imme

* It is in this sense that Hamann observes: "He that is disposed to compare the map of the journeyings of the Israelites with the course of my life, will perceive an exact correspondence between them."

diate descendants of Jacob, and that, possibly, thousands of servants accompanied them, who were incorporated with the people of the covenant through the rite of cireumcision, and who were gradually blended with his bodily descendants. Thus, on one occasion, Abraham furnished 318 trained servants ( 25, 1), born in his own house, who were fit for military service; Esau met his brother, accompanied by 400 men, and Jacob himself returned from Mesopotamia with two hosts. ( 33.)

OBS. 2.—The Egyptian historian Manetho relates that the Hyksos or Shepherd-kings came from the East, invaded and subdued Egypt without meeting with resistance, burnt cities and temples, appointed one of their number, named Salatis, to be the king of Egypt, held possession of the country during 511 years, were afterwards driven away with disgrace, passed through the desert to Syria, and built the city of Jerusalem. There are two modes in which this account is brought into connection with the sojourning of the Israelites in Egypt. According to one interpretation, these Hyksos are the Israelites themselves. The considerations by which this view is supported are, among others, the following: the establishment of the Hyksos in the same region in which the Israelites dwelt, the remarkable statement that Salatis annually engaged in the measuring and sale of grain, and, especially, the retreat through the desert, and the building of Jerusalem. The alleged oppression of the Egyptians by the invaders, and the ease with which they seized the country, seem, in that case, to be merely a distorted statement, proceeding from popular hatred, respecting the political measures of Joseph, who availed himself of the famine for the purpose of acquiring for Pharaoh and his successors a title of possession covering the entire soil. (Gen. 47: 13-26.) According to the other interpretation, the Hyksos were a race allied to the Israelites by a common descent, which had conquered Egypt previous to the arrival of Joseph; this view explains both the original friendly reception of the Israelites, and also the bondage which the latter subsequently endured, when the ancient national dynasty was restored to the throne.

§ 39. The Birth and Calling of Moses.

Gen. ch. 2-6.-When the parents of Moses (that is, drawn out), perceive that they can no longer conceal him, he is placed by them among the flags, growing on the brink of the Nile; he is drawn out by Pharaoh's daughter (Termuthis?), nursed by his own mother, afterwards brought up at the court of the king, and,