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CLARK
FOKEIGN

THEOLOGICAL LIBRARY.

NEW

SERIES.

VOL. XXXYI.

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1888.

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NEW COMMENTARY

GENESIS.
FRANZ DELITZSCH,
LEIPZIG.

D.D.,

(Eranslatctf fig

SOPHIA TAYLOR

VOL.

I.

EDINBURGH:
T.

&

T.

CLARK,
is

38

GEOEGE STEEET.

1888.
[This Translation
Copyright, by arrangement with the Author.]

PREFACE.

TjlIFTEEN
scientific

years

have elapsed since the fourth and

last

appearance of this
opinion of
able to
tion
to
is

Commentary.

Among my

various

performances I have always had but a very slight

this.

was therefore the more

at a possibly

rejoiced at being

make another attempt

The
this

improved execu

of this task.

results of incessant labour, subsequent

fifth edition. The exposition out in conjunction with the

1872, are deposited in

now

proportionably

carried

translation of the text, the analysis

according to the previous

works

of AVellhausen,

more thoroughly effected Kuenen, and

especially Dillmann, while various alterations of arrangement have made the volume, thus shortened by many sheets, a more serviceable compendium and book of reference. Nevertheless,

the praise of full and complete scholarship will

still

be with

held from

it.

For the

spirit

of this

Commentary remains
in the
in
"

unaltered since 1852.

of the times of
Darwin."

am not a believer I am a believer

Eeligion
of

two orders

things and not merely in one, which the miraculous would drill holes in. I believe in the Easter announcement, and I accept
its

deductions.

I have explained
Genesis,"

my

standpoint in an

"

Episodic lecture on

printed in the

23rd annual

series

(188G)

of the

Journal Saat avf Hoffnuny, of which I am the editor. I have done so still more thoroughly in twenty-four papers on Gen. i. Ex. xx., which have appeared under the title of
Suggestive Jottings, in the Philadelphia

Sunday -School Times

(Dec.

1886, to June 4, 1887), while to my eighteen on the criticism of the Pentateuch in Luthardt s papers
18,

VI

PREFACE.

Zeitschrift (twelve in the

annual

series

for

1880 and

six in
"

that for 1882), has been added a nineteenth, entitled,

Tanz

und Pentateuchkritik
for the sake of those

"

(in the series for

1886).

I state this

who might

care to read

more of me than

the introduction to this

Commentary

furnishes.

What
at the

author

is

completion

of

spared the sad experience that his joy a work is quickly disturbed by that

perception of defects

which follows in
to

its

track

It

can

hardly be permitted

me

send forth a fresh revision of this

to

Commentary. May the Lord animate younger theologians retain what is good in it and to produce what is better
!

FRANZ DELITZSCH.
LEIPZIG, July 1887.

TRANSLATOR
To
by himself)
lation,
it

NOTE.
trans

this Preface of the author (revised for the English edition

must be added, that while preparing the

by Prof. Delitzscli numerous improvements and additions, that it may be regarded as made from a revised version of the New
with such

the translator has been favoured

Commentary on
The

Genesis.

abbreviations

DMZ. and KAT.,

s)

so

frequently

used

in the work, stand respectively for Deutsche Morgcnliindisclien

Zcitung and (Schrader

Kcilinscliriften

und das

alte Testament.

INTRODUCTION.
/^KITICISM
Law
at present fixes the date of the

main bulk

of the

of Holiness,

Pentateuch, the so-called Priest Codex, together with the which has so striking a relation to Ezekiel, at

the time of the captivity and the restoration under Ezra and

Deuteronomy however presupposes in Ex. xix.-xxiv. and the contained primary legislation work of the Jehovistic historian. Hence we cannot avoid
Nehemiah.
the
of

The Book

relegating the origin of certain

component parts
;

of the

Penta

teuch to the middle ages of the kings

and,

if

we continue

our
still

critical analysis,

we

find

ourselves constrained to go back

farther,

thus to tread the

perhaps even to the times of the Judges, and soil of a hoar antiquity without incurring

Even those who the verdict of lack of scientific knowledge. insist upon transferring the conception of the account of the
creation in Gen.
i.

1-ii.

4,

and of the primaBval

histories,

form homogeneous with it, to the post-exilian do not, for the most part, deny that they are based period, upon subjects and materials handed down from long past ages.

which are

of a

For the most part, we repeat for there are even some who think that these primeval histories, e.g. the account of the Deluge, were not brought with them by the Terahites at
;

their departure

from Chaldea, but

Babylonian
of
it

first

obtained by the exiles

in

Babylon
the

from

sources,

and remodelled in
especially

Israelite fashion.

Under these circumstances, and

Genesis,

on

threshold

that

book

of

origins

and

primaeval history,
critical

will be a suitable preparation for our

problems to attain to historical certainty as to how far the art of writing reaches back among the people to whom the

INTRODUCTION.

authorship of Genesis belongs, and as to the date at which the beginnings of literature may be found or expected among them. It is a self-understood fact that writing originally consisted
of ideographic signs
(figures of things),

partly figurative signs (representations of

partly symbolical signs

and that these were what was meant) and (emblems of what was meant). Picture
all writing,

writing

is

the beginning of

not only in Egypt, but

also in ancient

Anahuac.

The Babylonio-Assyrian cuneiform

writing likewise bears evident traces of having been originally

which the invention

Nowhere however is the progress by was developed so perceptible The cuneiform never as in the Egyptian hieroglyphics. Even in the Persian advanced beyond the stage of syllables.
a

picture

writing.

of writing

from syllable to letter writing was not as yet so complete that the former did not still encroach upon the latter. Egyptian writing, on the
cuneiform of the
first

kind, the

transition

matured alphabet of twenty-six letters, and we see plainly how an advance was made in the depart ment of phonetic signs (signs of sound) from those denoting
contrary, exhibits a
syllables to those denoting letters.

came

to perfection

The invention of writing the by discovery of the acro-phcenician

will be found

principle,
to

and

J.

Grimm and W. von Humboldt

be right in regarding the invention of the alphabet as the

-

world

But when Egyptian act of the Egyptians. had distinguished separate letters, one advance had writing For even after letters became fixed signs still to be made.
famed
of

sounds,

the

use

of

pictures

of

things, partly per

as a

se,

partly as determinatives,

was continued
It

means

for the

expression of thought.

(Ch-amm. derived their knowledge of writing from the Egyptians, and on the other settled the supremacy of the acro-phoenician
principle

18) conjectures the Hyksos,

was the Semites perhaps, as Stade who on the one hand

by remodelling and simplifying the alphabet con

the

tained

in

Egyptian
the

system

of

writing.

Although

Semitic letter signs of sound to the Egyptian (hieroglyphic or hieratic) could not be shown

secondary relation of

OKIGIN OF ISRAELITE WEITING.

Bickell, de Bouge,

(as

by

Lenormant, and Halevy), this would

prove nothing against the secondary relation in general, the The acro-phoenician principle admitting of infinite variation.
alphabetic

names
the

says Jacob

Grimm
things

in his history of the of a people.

German language
Accordingly,

show the natural surroundings

pictures
of

used

in

the

Semitic

alphabet as signs
of a

of sounds

nomadic people.

correspond with the simple life It was not the variegated and mingled
Semitic alpha
of

Egpytian writing, but

bet, to which, as

this simple stereotyped

Hitzig says in his

work on the invention

the alphabet (1840), all culture adheres, and with which the

human mind
It is

traffics.

no slight commendation
in

of the

fidelity of Scripture

history that

the

transaction between
of the

Abraham and

the

Hittites respecting the purchase

cave of Machpelah,

which

is

related with the accuracy of a protocol (Gen. xxiii.),

is

not a word

said of the use of writing.

Nor does the verb

xxiii.

3fD occur in Genesis, either

while

in

chap,

or

elsewhere

we

find in Exodus,

and onwards down

the

to

Deuteronomy,
of

both an
writing,
"it3$,

acquaintance with, and 3TO (together with

most various use

-IBB>,

in the official designation

is,

which occurs in Ex. Num. Deut.)

chiselling), fine

in distinction
xxxii.

from

monumental writing (by

graving on
writing (by carving
nna),

mn, Ex.

16, or

plaster (Deut.

xxvii. 1-8),
recalls
"

and ornamental
"

which

Egyptian sculpture
;

and lithoglyphy, the usual word

thing in writing.

for

to write
">SD2

to

put any

To record

officially is

3TD^ Ex. xvii.

14

Num. v.

23.

Of writing on papyrus, not a

for book,
">sp

trace is found.
off,

The

Hebrew term

(from nao, to strip

to smooth, syn.
off

Die), refers to the skin of

an animal with the hair stripped

"ISO,

and smoothed (compare ^Sb, a scribe, a writer, with biblical term for a barber), or to wumbranoe (2 Tim.

the post1

iv.

13).

Hence the

patriarchal ancestral families of Israel do not as

first

yet manifest a knowledge of writing, which

In Assyrian neither being Satd-nt (1BB>).
1

appears

among
write"

2fD nor ISO

is

found, the usual word for

"to

INTRODUCTION.

the people on their departure from Egypt.

history itself impresses

The Pentateuchal

upon us the

fact that Israel learned

the art of writing in Egypt, where the possession of this art

reaches far back in pre-Mosaic times.
place under Menephthes, the

For the exodus took

Pharaoh of the 19th

fourth

dynasty, and Herodotus already saw the pyramid belonging to the 1st Manethonian dynasty covered with hieroglyphics.

Thus the people

to writing.

of Israel possessed in the Mosaic period at

latest the prerequisites for

committing their memorable events

East, the precursors of all

In ancient times, however, and especially in the literature were those discourses
before they

which were
documents.

orally disseminated

became written
iv.

The sword-lay

of

Lamech, Gen.
for

23

sq.,

and

other antediluvian sayings cannot be regarded as such pre

cursors
of

Hebrew
in

literature,

the

Hebrew language

originated

post

diluvian times.

But the testamentary

utterances of Isaac concerning his twin sons, Gen. xxvii., and

of

Jacob concerning his sons as ancestors of the twelve tribes, Gen. xlix., were, assuming their historical nature, delivered in

the language of Canaan, which Abraham and his descendants had there appropriated. Their contents show them to be no
vaticinia post eventum,

forms marvels
tradition,
i.e.

hence

it

and the memory of the Orientals per may be at least esteemed possible that

oral narration, propagated

them

in their original

form.

have undoubtedly such an orally propagated dis course in the lay in Num. xxi. 27-30, which Israel heard from

We

the

mouth

of

domain

of the

Amorite poets (DWD) when they conquered the Amorite King Sihon, to whose kingdom the

formerly Moabite land northward from Arnon to Heshbon then belonged. This lay is quoted as a proof that Heshbon, which was

then Amorite, had formerly been Moabite.

antique stamp speaks
It is as follows:

Its peculiar

and

for

the

originality of the document.

27

Come ye to Heslibon, Let the city of Sihon be built and established 28 For a fire is gone out of Heshbon,

ORAL TRADITION.

A flame
It

from the

city of Sihon.

hath devoured Ar of Moab, The Lords of the high places of Arnon.

29

Woe

to tliee,

Moab

Thou

He And

art undone, oh people of Chemosh hath given his sons as fugitives,

his daughters into captivity

(Unto Sihon, king of the Amorites). 30 We have shot at them Heshbon is perished even unto Dibon, And have laid waste, so that fire was kindled unto Medeba.
;

No

other Canaanite (Phoenician) written record

is

of

even

approximate antiquity
xv.

extant.

Nevertheless,
xv.

"i&5

rvnp, Josh.

15,

and nao

mp,

Josh.

49 (comp.

^,

to furrow,

to line, to draw, to trace with a sharp instrument), the ancient

name
far

of Debir, situate

on the southern mountain range not

from Hebron, gives reason to conjecture that the use of writing dates back to the Mosaic, nay, pre-Mosaic (though not
the patriarchal), period

to

among

the heathen population of

Canaan.

Hitzig (Gesch.

i.

to the hypothesis that the

31) goes too far when he advances alphabet was invented in Debir.

But the
town

notice

of Debir,

(Num. xiii. 22) that Hebron, the neighbour was built seven years before Zoan in Egypt,
an

certainly gives rise to the supposition that this Debir has

importance with respect to culture consisting in some sort of 1 connection with Egypt. In the circle of patriarchal family life, oral tradition was
sufficient to

hand down the experiences of the

authorship everywhere begins
the people, and when
its

fathers to their

descendants,
increases to

when

the family

this people has attained to

to

such a climax in
past and before
it

development as

have behind

it

a great

a great future.

Hence we may expect the

beginnings of Israelite literature in the time of the sojourn in Egypt. But of this time we know little. The Thorah hastens
past these four (Gen. xv. 13; Ex.
or
1

xii.

40

comp. Acts
Gal.

vii.
iii.

6)

two hundred years (Ex.

The name

xii.

40,

LXX. comp.
;

17)

of the city of Sippar, in

which Xisuthros

is

said to have hidden

the sacred books of the Chaldees before the Flood, does not mean vili e des lie res See Friedr. (Menant and others), but is the Semiticized Sumerian Zimbir.
Delitzsch, Paradies, p. 210.

INTRODUCTION.

to the history of the exodus,

the son of

Eamses

II.,

which took place under Mepenthes, after the rule of the Hyksos had been
It

already for a long time terminated by the conquest of their

stronghold, Avaris

Pelusium.

is,

however, evident from

Josh. xxiv.

14, Ezek. xx., that

Israel

was secularized and

The silence of the Thorah can only Egyptianized in Egypt. be explained by the fact that the period was, with respect to the history of salvation, a barren waste. But the more Israel
was then blended with Egypt, the more would
it

be influenced

by Egyptian

culture,

God

so ordained

it

that Egypt was to

Israel a secular preparatory school for its future national life

and authorship.
this

No

purpose as Egypt,

people of antiquity was so adapted for which to a certain extent became to

mankind
it

in a worldly sense

what

Israel

was

to

become

to

in a spiritual sense.

The

influence of the legalism and

multiformity of Egyptian national and private life is of great importance in forming a judgment of the Mosaic legislation and its codex. Whatever may be the case with respect to

Deuteronomy, such precepts

Deut.
xvii.,

as

those

respecting
others,

the king,

the prophets, chap,

settled

xvii.,

and

which pre

suppose

habitation, are
for

by no

means surprising

after Israel

had

d\velt

centuries in a country with duly

constituted king, priests, and prophets.

There too the impulse to authorship was powerfully ex

cited.

No

Egyptian

says

Herodotus,

ii.

82

neglects
it

to

record unusual and striking occurrences.

Besides,

was just

under the Pharaohs of the 18th and 19th dynasties that national science and art reached their highest splendour in
Egypt.
poet,

was then that the poem by Pentaur, the court on the victory of Eamses II. over Cheta, which has
It
t
;

been compared with a lay of the Iliad appeared

then that

the passion for writing led to competition in every variety of composition, that literature flourished, and even epistolary
1 See on the poem of Pentaur, Lenormant, Anfange der Cultur (1875), i. 195 sqq. Id. Roman von den zwei Brudern, i. 249 sqq. On fictitious litera ture, Brugscb, Aus dem Orient (1864) and on epistolography, Lincke, BeMrage. zur Kenntniss der altay. Brieflitcratur (Leipzig 1879).
;

REASONABLE EXPECTATIONS.
style

7
Israelite litera

was

cultivated.

Hence a beginning

of

ture in the period succeeding the

exodus would be by no

means
"VVe

too early.
"1BD

know nothing further concerning the n DIDn^D Wars of Jahveh), which is quoted Num. xxi. 14 sq. (Book to show that the Arnon was the boundary of Moab towards the Amorites, i.e. in the time of the Entrance, when the
of the

Moabites had been driven southwards over the Arnon by the 1 The quotation sounds ancient, highly Amorite king Sihon.
poetic,

and

to

us partly enigmatical,
Valieb in Supliali the rivers of

And And

Arnon
where Ar lies of Moab.

the valley of the rivers.

stretches thither

That

And

leans

upon the border

If it is the Jehovist

who here
its

cites this book, it is a source

unknown
It was, to
If

since at least the Assyrian period (the eighth century).

judge from
into

title,

a collection of heroic songs.

we

take

consideration

the

fact

that

the

poem

of

Pentaur exhibits verses with internal parallelism, and offers various parallels to the lyric poetry and prophecy of the
Bible,
it is

not too fantastic a notion to regard

it

as possible

that the component parts of this

ancient Israelite Harnasa

reach back to the Mosaic period.

The

history of Israel does not begin with the condition of

an ignorant, rude and undisciplined horde, but with the transi tion to a nation of a race which had come to maturity amidst
the most abundant

means and examples

this

of culture.

This

is

a fact which
account.

all criticism of

the Pentateuch has to take into

Moreover,

developing

nation

possessed

un

doubtedly traditions concerning its ancestors, the patriarchs, who had come from Chaldea and Araniea through Canaan to Egypt, remembrances of the events of their lives, and
especially
1

of their
article
011

religious

life,

by means

of

which
in

this
s

See

my

the quotation from the Book of

"Wars

Luthardt

Zeltachr. 1882, p. 337

sc^

IXTEODUCTIOX.

people, though for the most part Egyptianized, might attain to

a perception
destiny
critic

of

the

religious

allotted

them

since

the

knowledge granted and the The time of Abraham.

reflect,

of

the

Pentateuch has also to

that

however

late

a date

roots

may be assigned to the patriarchal histories, their must reach as far back as the sojourn in Egypt.
in

The man,

whom
its

sciousness reached

the revived national and religious con climax, was not only, as an Israelite, a

man

of deep religious feeling

also, as

the adopted son of

it

and great endowments, but had Pharaoh s daughter, the favourite

daughter, as

appears, of

Ramses

II.,

been brought up at

the court, and initiated into the science and mysteries of that
priestly caste

which ranked next

This, too, is a fact
it

Acts
fail

vii.

22).

to the king (Ex. ii. 10; which criticism must not

to

take into account, lest

should

form too low an

estimate of the share of Moses in the legislation codified in

the Pentateuch.

And

the more

so,

since

it

cannot be denied

that this legislation points in

various institutions, tendencies,

of the legislator.

and matters

to the

Egyptian fatherland

The

ark of the covenant recalls the sacred chests (KLGTCLI) of the Egyptians, and the Urim and Thummim the sapphire image
of the goddess of Truth,

who wore

from a golden chain on her bosom.

Leviticus

the ap^i^tfcao-r^, hanging The law of leprosy in

is best historically accounted for by the fact that was an epidemic disease among the Egyptian Semites leprosy as well as among the Israelites, whose exodus was hence

transformed in the national Egyptian view into an expulsion of lepers. And the monumental writing upon plastered stones,

Deut. xxvii. 2-4, as well as the rpa^o

xxxiii. 52),

^ntf,

Lev. xxvi. 1

JSTum.

cannot be more aptly illustrated than by the monu ments of the land of hieroglyphics. The admission of these

and other references

to

Egypt may be

refused, but even the

most negative criticism cannot deny that the legislation of the Pentateuch bears in its matter the impress of Egypt. If we insist on making the history of Israel begin with the
free

and unrestrained

life

of a half-savage people,

it

would be

INFLUENCE AND AFTER EFFECTS OF THE SOJOURN IN EGYPT. 9

necessary, in

order to

make room

for

such a beginning, to

plunge the sojourn in Egypt in prehistoric darkness, as Stade does when he says (Gcsch. L 129): "If any Hebrew clan
ever sojourned
in

who

will

follow

the

Egypt, no one knows its bold doubter in this ?

name."

But
is

It

true

that, as

Eanke

says, only

history which has been

;

critically

investigated can be
critically

esteemed as history annihilated, what is left but to

?

but
fill

if

history

is

the tabula rasa

with modern myths

sojourn
is

If,

fact not to be got rid

on the other hand, the Egyptian of by denying it, then

Pentateuchal criticism and the reconstruction of the history of Israel cannot refuse to take account of the consequences
of this fact
;

then there exists an internal connection between

;

the sojourn in Egypt and the Sinaitic legislation

then the
Israel for

Egyptian sojourn could not have failed

its

to prepare

destiny as

the people of the law; and then, finally, the

tyrannous oppression, which made Egypt a house of bondage and an iron furnace, completed this preparation by calling into

new

life

that national and religious consciousness which

had

disappeared when it was a hospitable place of refuge. shall never be persuaded that the proper names in Ex.

We
vi.,

Num.

random, they are a significant mirror of contemporary history, and

i., ii.,

vii., x.,

and elsewhere, are just

hit

upon

at

especially

of

the

religious
of

disposition

of the

time.

The

reawakened consciousness
as ^RB*D, b&TO,
s

God

is

expressed in such names

"irama,

wii,

and the reawakened national

"H^tty.

consciousness in such as
of

Tirpioy, 3irtty,

Ditty,

the

name
;

Moses

father, declares that Israel is

an

illustrious nation
is

and that of

his

mother, 133^,
it

that

the glory

Jahveh

s.

These two names are as

ideas

which

filled

were the anagrams of the great the soul of Moses, and made him the

deliverer of his people.

In opposition to Noldeke,

DMZ.

xl. 185,

we

separate

n^y

and Ditty; the

former
life.

may

be connected with the Arabic j^.

(j+z.\

which means culture and

INTRODUCTION.
It is generally

acknowledged, except
of

ultra sceptics, that the time

that

really creative period of standard for after ages. For our part, we thence infer that a Mosaic Thorah is the basis of the Pentateuch, without

perhaps by a few Moses must be regarded as Israel which is the type and

desiring on that account already to pronounce a

to its

judgment

as

form and
it

extent, although

it

seems to us a priori

probable that
Decalogue.

We

more than the ten sayings of the are convinced that the history and literature of
consisted of

the post -Mosaic age

tion of

demand the

existence of a Divine revela

which Moses was the mediator, and which raised the

now independent nation to the self-consciousness of being the chosen people of Jahveh. The circumstance that the national life of Israel, with the
exception of a few brighter intervals, shows an absence of the normal influence of such a Thorah, does not perplex us as to
its

existence.

The

history of the

result

of laws

does not

coincide with the history of their composition.

especially to the

law of

Israel,

which

is

This applies not a law sanctioned

ideal

by custom, but a revealed, and therefore an

aims at becoming custom.

law which

Undoubtedly the unity of God and His worship without the medium of an image formed the fundamental dogma of the
Mosaic Thorah.
1

Nevertheless, Israel was never during

the

whole period of their pre-exilian history entirely free from idolatry and the worship of false gods, and the masses were If the religion of Israel was, as mostly even steeped in it.

Kuenen
ethic

conceives

resistance offered to

monotheism

monotheism, the constant by Israelite nature shows that this was no spontaneous growth, but was
it,

an

ethic

it

ideal

the requirement of a document of revelation, which set up an whose realization was frustrated by the natural inclina
It is

tions of the people.

at

most but comparatively that

itself

the

religion

of

Jahveh manifests

as

ruling

power

during the reigns of Saul, of David, and the early years of

1

See Ed. Konig, Bildlosiykeit des legitimen Jahwehcultus, 1886.

THE THORAH AND POST-MOSAIC LITERATURE.

Solomon, and that indeed
without

11

having, as under Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiali, obtained recognition by means of a violent reaction. This is a circumstance which

can hardly be otherwise explained than by assuming that after the barbarism of the time of the Judges, Samuel effected
the same kind of reformation as Ezra did after the captivity. That is to say, that he obtained a victory for the religion of the
law, though only for its substance
of the
;

for a

complete accordance
letter of the

community and of public custom with the

law can at no period, not even the post-exilian, be predicated

of Israel.

The

pre-exilian history requires on its bright side also the

existence of a divine Thorah falling back

ship of Moses.

upon the mediatorThe regulations of David and Solomon, the reforms of Hezekiah and Josiah, are based upon it. The sacred authority of the prophets, and the oneness of spirit
kingdoms, notwithstanding the totally different circumstances in which they found them selves, are, apart from the radical unity of a God-given

shown by the prophets

of both

documentary foundation, incomprehensible. The just claims of the postulate of a Mosaic Thorah find
confirmation in post-Mosaic literature also from unhesitating historical testimony. It is true that neither ^D nor 2^n are

mentioned in the
Deborah,
Judg.
v.

fifteen
4,

prophetic

books, but

the song of
of

celebrates
as

the
place
4,

revelation

God

upon

Mount
as

Sinai

taking
vi.

amidst

wondrous

phenomena and Miriam

Egypt,
at

of nature.

Micah,
out

names Moses, Aaron,

of

leaders

of

the house
that

bondage in
time
of

the

same

time

testifying

this

deliverance was a time of miracles, which will, according to vii. 15, be repeated in the latter days. It is not only in the

Pentateuch that Moses

regards
xii.

is

exalted as a prophet, Hosea also

him

as such in a pre-eminent sense

when he
Israel

says,

13:

By

prophet

did

Jahveh

lead

out

of

And Jeremiah, Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved. with unmistakeaule reference to what is related Ex. xxxii.

12

INTRODUCTION.

11-14, 31

sq.,

speaks of him (xv. 1) as powerful in prayer.

Ixiii.

What we

read, too, Isa.

10

sq.,

is,

though belonging

to the period of the exile, a

noteworthy

historical testimony.

The prophet here

declares

that

when

Israel

was delivered

from bondage under Moses, the Holy Spirit (sjnpn nrO mani fested His agency in the midst of the people. Thus post-

Mosaic
xii.

prophecy confirms what

is

related,
life

Num.

xi.

23

13, of the activity of prophetic

in the time of Moses,

;

and of the closeness of his communion with God

the forty years between Egypt and Canaan
that act of

it

affirms

that the deliverance from Egypt, and what followed during

(Amos

ii.

10), is

God which impressed upon

;

the people of Israel the

character indclebilis of their nationality

and thus

justifies

us in

assuming a Mosaic Thorah, a Mosaic basis for the Pentateuch. ]STor less does psalmody, in which David has at least an

is

epoch-making importance, afford such held by Hitzig to be Davidic in all

of great antiquity.

justification.
its

Ps. xix.

three parts, and he

pronounces the second part especially to be in every respect

The Thorah, which David here

extols,

must be a documentary instruction of God as to how we are to walk according to His will, and it must have had a fixed form,
for

David speaks
of

of something universally
TNSfo,

known, while the

DKT,
"

synonyms min, nny, "Tips, which Bielmi compares xviii. 23, 31)
series

DB^D

(with

testifies

to the copious

That the piety expressed in the Psalms its contents. not a fruit of the prophecy of the eighth century, results from the fact that acknowledged Davidic psalms already
ness of
is

spiritualize

ceremonies

into

symbols
1

and

condemn
6.

their

merely external performance.

pis TQT
iv. 6,

Ps. iv. has, as Hitzig

acknow

ledges, its historical foundation in

Sam. xxx.

Whether

are here

meant
with
still

of sacrifices,

which consist in
21, Deut.
sacrifices

righteousness to their offerer, or of such as are offered with a

right

disposition

(which

regard

to

Ps.

li.

xxxiii. 19, 1 prefer), pi

TOT

remain a contrast to

as dead works,

which are worthless before God.

THE PENTATEUCH AND

ITS DIVISIONS.

Before endeavouring to obtain a historico-critical view of

the origin and composition of the Pentateuch, we will take a view of the work according to its traditional appellation,
division,

and plan.

It is
it

divided into five parts, into which,

in its present state,

naturally separates.

For the second

book begins with a recapitulation, the third has a boundary

towards the second in the homogeneousness of its contents, and towards the fourth in a subscribed formula, the fourth
is

also

terminated

by a formula,

and the
first

fifth

concludes

with the death of Moses, as the

of

does with the deaths

?;

Jacob and Joseph.

of
Trevre

Hence
and

it is

called

irevrdrev^o^, viz.
masc.),
to

/3//3XO? (Lat. pcntatcuchus, viz. liber, therefore

which

is

composed
diction,

reO^o?, according the same as volumcn. In the Hebrew Codex, and

Alexandrian

as the chief

book preserved in the sacred chest

it

(fritf)

of the
(n),

synagogue, and read in divine worship,

the instruction,
viz.

is

called

min

of

God (from HT,

to

throw, Hiph. to
6 vopos
i.e.

throw

out,

i.e.

the hand to point), in the

New Test.

(from

vepeiv, to

assign), the rule of life

five

or the law,

of Israel,

and the

parts

(books)

are

called

minn ^Tpin
to

nwn

for

ran

(the Aramaic noun form answering But as segolate ^n) means the fifth.

the

Hebrew

the fourth but also the square, so WChn

;

means not only mean some may

Jtti")

also

thing divided into five (2 tpno) consequently t?o^n is not only the name of each of the five books, so that, e.g., the first book
is

called

minn

win

ntycn^ ppjn

win, but

also

that of the

and more externally and, so to speak, secularly designated, is called The Talmud also pluralizes it pw^n, ^ Chagiga 14 a Win.
five
e>

books together.

The Thorah

in its extra-synagogal use,

but the Masora already calls, e.g. a manuscript of the Thorah coming from Jericho, or perhaps Lunel in France, NTT ran. That the division into five parts is testified by Philo

and Josephus, is merely in conformity with the LXX. but Havernick and v. Lengerke were mistaken in thinking that it The Psalter also is proceeded from the Alexandrians.
;

divided into

pran

nwn

(Kiddusliin

33), and indeed

1:133, i.e.

14
corresponding
Ps.
i.

INTRODUCTION.
the five books of the Thorah (Midrash on
after the pattern of the Thorah,

to,

1).

It

was thus divided

as its echo of the

from the heart of the Church, as early

(see

as the

time

Chronicler

chap.

iv.

of our introduction to the

Psalter).

Hence the
sacred

division of the

Thorah into

five

parts

custom long before the end of the Persian 1 We are however entirely without a settled point period. from which to date backwards into the pre-exilian period, and
a

was

here already the view presses

teuch,

itself

upon us that the Penta

foundation
is
is

though coming down

to

us, so far as its

concerned, from the days of Moses, and final redaction post-exilic.

as to its present

form

The five books

are in

Hebrew each designated by names taken

:

from their opening words

(not

JTO&TQ

"ISO,

niDt? D, sop *! D,

nmDl D
is

Vajedabber, as

we

find it in Jerome,

and which
is

its

Masoretic name), tion |it?jo D Din,

Dnmn

rbs

D.

Less usual

the enumera
D oro

"otP

& Din,

etc.

But the
book

title
is

min

(the

Thorah of the
is

priests) of the third

in frequent use, as

also the

name

of the fourth book, D Hlpan

it

^in

(the fifth of
to

the mustered), by which

was already known

Origen.

The designation of the first book as n^n nso appears in the Talmud (jer Sota i. 10) as a private view connected with
2

Sam.

i.

18,

but

it

also

occurs

elsewhere.
p.

Ben-Asher
it

(Dikdukc hateamim,
D

ed.

Baer and Strack,

upright,
i.e.

57) gives

as

Wn

(book of the
zarali

ancestors), in

conformity
D).

with

Abodali

25a (Dn^

i&op:JB>

npjn pnv DiTQK

The names

pp^n

D and rnrovi D denote the second and fifth

former (book of those

books synecdochically according to prominent portions, the who commit injuries) after Ex. xxi.

and
and
1

xxii.,

the latter (book of the curses) after Deut. xxvii. xxviii. The third book bears the name aoBD (the

The division into seven books, spoken of Shabbath 116a, rests only upon the private view that the important passage, Num. x. 35, 36, constitutes a separate
and supports itself by Prov. ix. 1, njnt5> HHIDj; See Raphael Kirchheim, Preface to the Hebrew commentary on Chronicles of the tenth century, edited by him (1874); comp. Schiirer, Neutest. Zeitgeschichte,
host,
2

rom

p. 439.

HEBREW, GREEK AND SYRIAC NAMES OF THE FIVE BOOKS.

book) only as the
title

15

of the

Day
title

of

Atonement bears the

Midrash upon it, just as the name NDV (the day) as the
title

of the

of

the

The Talmudic tractate upon it. will come into book fifth special

min

njB D

consideration

farther on.

The Alexandrino - Greek designations of the The copied in the Syriac, are short and good.
called Teveais, complete Tevecns
KOO-/JLOV,

five
first

books,

book

is

Syr. ffritha, translated

back into Greek, Krlais, according to which a commentary of Theodore of Mopsuestia (Fragments edited by Sachau, 1869)

was

entitled,

Eppyveia

rrjs

/cr/a-ew?

the

second,

"Eg

0809,

complete ".E^oSo? AlyvTrrov, Syr. mapkana ; the third, AeviTixov (the Levites book, Lat. Leviticus, i.e. liber), Syr. the fourth, with reference to sefra dfkdhne (the priests book)
;

the enumerations of the people in the second and fortieth years

of the exodus,

phrase

ApiOpol (Numbers, or also, according to the apiOpov iroieiv, censum liabere: enumerations), Syr.
;

menjane

the

fifth,

Aevrepovofjaov,

Syr.

tenjdfyi)

ndmilsd

(Deuterosis of the

Nomos).
to

We
that

will

now endeavour
this

make

a survey of the contents

and plan of
the

whole

of five parts, in

which

it

will be

shown

order, not only of the historical, but also of the For legislative matter, is, or is intended to be, chronological.

regulations

course of the national history or even

and laws are always described just where the more fortuitous incidents

It is no systematic code that we gave occasion for them. have to deal with, but a historical work, which, following the thread of the national development, describes how Israel,
after

becoming o a

free

nation, *

obtained

a by decrees o
/

le^al o

constitution.

The

first

book begins with the creation of the world

:

the

Thorah has no corresponding conclusion the five primaeval Toledoth (of heaven and earth, chaps, i.-iv., of Adam,
v.-vi. 8,

of
xi.

Noah,

vi.

9-ix.,

of the sons of Noah, x. 1-xi. 9,

of the history

of

Shem,

1026)

form the foundation

of

redemption in its entire world-embracing course.

The

call

16

INTRODUCTION.

of

Abram and
first

his entrance into

Canaan
to this

are,

on the other hand,

five patriarchal

the

direct preparation for the setting apart of the people

of the history of redemption,

and

end the

Toledoth (of Terah, xi. 27, xxv. 11, of Ishmael, xxv. 12-18, of Isaac, xxv. 19, xxxv., of Esau, xxxvi., of Jacob, xxxvii.-l.)
contribute.

Here the covenant

off of the

line is carried on,

with the

branching without further ramification, in the twelve sons of Jacob, the

ancestral family,

collateral lines

down

to

where we have,
to

which was transplanted

of twelve
1

to Egypt, there

mature into a nation

tribes.
till

In the second book

xii.

Egypt

is

the scene of the history

chap.

36,

when upon

the occasion of the tenth Egyptian plague, the slaying of the

and of the now imminent exodus, the Passover A continua and Eeast of Unleavened Bread were instituted.
first-born,

tion of the law of the Passover

is

and the law of the First-born

interwoven in the history of the

Sea, xii.

march from Eamses

to the

The song of praise for deliverance, 37-xiv. forms the 121, partition between the exodus and the march in the wilderness. Israel arrives, under God s gracious

Red

xv.

and miraculous
ascents
xix.

guidance, at

Sinai,

xv.

22-xvii.

In

two
laws,

of

Sinai

Moses

receives

the

fundamental

xxiv.,

and the directions concerning the sanctuaries to

xxv.-xxxi.
for his

be

prepared,

Having

again

obtained

pardon
the

from the Lord

preparation
of

rebellious

people,

xxxii.-xxxiv.,

the

sanctuaries

advances, and the abode of

Jahveh

is

set up,
first

day of the
first

This took place on the first month of the second year. The third book
xxxv.-xl.

contains throughout precepts and proceedings during this one

month.

The

offering Thorah, i.-vii., is followed

priests, viii.
ix.

by the

account of the consecration of the

(the perfor

which was anticipated Ex. xl. 1 6), interrupted by the and A catastrophe of Nadab and Abihu (viii.-x.). trespass
of
1

mance

sets aside

Lagarde, Orientalia, ii. 40 sq. , enumerates the ten Toledoths differently he ii. 4, and looks upon Num. iii. 1, the Toledoth of Aaron, as the centre
:

of gravity of the ten.

It is also in his eyes a proof of the post-exilian standpoint

of the author of the Hexateuch.

CONTENTS OF THE PENTATEUCH.

series of

17

begins,

ch.

laws concerning cleanness, uncleanness and purification xi., with the laws concerning clean and unclean
All these laws find their climax in the ritual of the

animals.

day of atonement, xi.-xvi. The laws that follow, xvii.-xxvi. 2, with the peroration, xxvi. 3 sqq., are all pervaded with the
sentiment that the
series

God
in

of Israel is the

Holy One.

They form
(xvii.

which are

part

connected with each other

prohibition of blood, xviii. incest, xx.

penal appointments), It is striking that but are without premeditated succession. directions concerning the candelabra and the shewbread, xxiv.

1-9, and a further carrying out of the penal law, xxiv. 10, are inserted between the cycle of annual festivals, ch. xxiii., and the
cycle of epoch festivals, ch. xxx., while ch. xx.
is

a mosaic of

moral, ritual

and judicial precepts.

The

series

of

laws con

an outlook towards Numbers. from the

first

cerning sacred consecrations, ch. xxvii., already gives to Leviticus The fourth book transports us

month

of the second year to the beginning of

It begins, chs. i.-x.,

the second month.

with measures to be

taken

preparatory to

decamping

but this compact whole,

concluding with the signal words of Moses, is interrupted by interpolations of laws which seem inserted where the occur
rences of the time call

them

forth.

Manifestations of

God

in

mercy and judgment during the second year follow, and laws for the period of their future settlement
ch. xv.

chs. xi.-xiv.,

in Canaan,

Then we

have in its chronological place the history of

Koran s

rebellion, chs. xvi.-xviii.

The law

of the red heifer

comes in not unexpectedly, ch. xix., in view of the great field But ch. xx. leaps quite without notice or con of dead bodies.
nection from the second to the fortieth year.
it

Israel

is

now

as

was

thirty-eight years ago at the fatal

Kadesh-Barnea.

The

sad events of ch. xx. are followed by circumstances tending again to exalt the people, especially the frustrations of Balaam s
curse, xxii.-xxiv.,
ch.

which however

is

rendered vain by Israel,

second numbering of the people takes place in A demand on the part of the the plains of Moab, ch. xxvi. daughters of Zelophehad gives rise to the law concerning
xxv.
Y.

18

INTRODUCTION.

heiresses, ch. xxvii.

1-11.

After Moses has, in view of his

approaching

death, appointed the

man who

is

to

lead the

people into Canaan, xxvii.

12

sqq., follows the completion of

the law of sacrifice with reference to the ritual to be more

abundantly provided for by the people now soon to be settled, The law of vows of the second year (in chs. xxviii., xxix.
Leviticus)
is

also

expanded by new ones,

ch.

xxx.

Moses

takes vengeance on the Midianites, and on the occasion of this

war laws
ch. xxxi.

are given concerning spoil

and the rights of war,

sions

Eeuben, Gad, and half Manasseh receive the posses awarded them in the land east of Jordan, ch. xxxii.

In

ch. xxxiii.,

Moses

specifies

the stations, the boundaries of

its

the land are laid

down and

division

arranged

for,

ch.

xxxiv., the cities of the Levites and the cities of refuge are
set apart, ch. xxxv.,

and a new law

restricting the marriage of

heiresses, ch. xxxvi., brings

The

fiftli

book
of

now

the Moabite legislation to a close. follows it contains discourses and

;

institutions

month

of

Moses during the first days of the eleventh the fortieth year, and hence stands chronologically

in its right place.

But

it

may

be abstracted from the struc

ture of the Pentateuch without destroying the latter.

ch. xxxii.

For at

48 the

history continues in the tone of Numbers.

to

The divine command

ascend Nebo, one of the mountains

;

of Abarim, and to die there, is repeated and the narrative continued to the death of Moses and there concluded.

Before proceeding to our analysis, we affirm upon the ground of the survey just taken (1) that the Pentateuch is no code of

law like the portions

juris, civilis ; it

of the Justinian legislation in the

is

contains separate codices legitm, but

Corpus not itself

Nor is it a code in the form of a history of a codex legum. its contents are not exhausted in the legal and historicolaw,
legal portions,
it

is

a historical work, in which the previous

their history
till

history of Israel
depicted.

and

the death of Moses are

It is true that the history of the Sinaitic legislation

and
chief

of its

Moabite development and completion forms the And an observation with body
of the historical matter.

THE COLLECTIVE HISTORICAL WORK AND

ITS TARTS.

19

of its contents

respect to this fact, which pressed upon us in our reproduction is (2) the correspondence between the succession
of the laws according to
their period of origination

and the

character of the historical

work

as such.

For even where the

historical circumstances are absent, the

only assumption of an intention to give them in chronological We find an example of this in the fact that the law order.
of the later celebration of the Passover,

disconnected

matters

can

sequence of internally be comprehended on the

Num.

ix.

1-14, an

addition to the Passover law of Exodus, stands in the midst

of the history of the second
it

month

is

expressly said that,

first

when
of

second year, while the Passover was to be cele

of the

brated in the

month

the second year, an additional

celebration of this festival

prevented by defilement. indeed that of its origination, but

spective statement of this, where

was permitted to those who were The position of this law is not
it it

is

found with a retro

first

was

put in practice.

This

circumstance

affords

author, instead of

placing related

matter for thought. Could the matters in their natural

connection, have thrown together things dissimilar for the pur

We

pose of giving an artificial appearance of historical succession ? are here placed in the dilemma between unfair suspicion

and the acceptance

of

historical

knowledge

apparently

surpassing probability.

The Pentateuch
relates the

is

then a historical work which chiefly

circumstances under which the legislation arose. The book of Joshua carries on the history, that of Judges

from the close of Joshua, the books of Samuel begin with a continuation of the times of the Judges, the books of Kings are characterized even more than the others as parts
starts

of a
its

whole by their beginning with Tn the Pentateuch in form as the fundamental present appears portion of the

collective historical

work continued

in Joshua, Judges, Samuel,

and Kings, which beginning the history of Israel from the

1

See

my
sqtj.

Pcntatcuch-kritischcn

Studien."

in Lutliardt s Zeitschrifl (1882),

p.

114

20
Creation relates

INTRODUCTION.

it down to the middle of the Captivity It was not till after the Captivity and, xxv. 27 (2 Kings sqq.). as may be inferred from the book of Sirach, in pre-Maccabean
1

times,

when

the

whole

of

these

specially

distinguished
D OirD, that

national writings were divided into min,

DW3J and

the Pentateuch received the

of Israel.

name min,

as containing the

law

Nowhere

in the canonical books of the 0. T.

itself,

when

the expression the Thorah, or book of the Thorah, the

of

Thorah

God, the Thorah of Moses

is

used,

is

the writing

there intended equivalent with the Pentateuch in

plan, composition and conclusion.

This

is

its present not the case either

in the history of Joshua, Josh.

xvii. 9,
viii.

i. 8, or Jehoshaphat, 2 Chron. nor finally even in the history of Ezra-JSTehemiah, Neb. 1 sq. Besides, this denomination has more frequently in

view Deuteronomy alone (Josh.

xxii.)
;

viii.

30-32

2 Kings xiv. 6, the book of the

moreover, as

we

shall presently see,

Thorah, which Moses, according to Dent, xxxi., delivered to the Levitical priests, was not entirely identical with Deuteronomy
in its present state as a fifth part of the Pentateuch.

All individual criticism,

i.e.

investigation of the character

2

and origin
testing

of a

work

says Bockh
of

ultimately rests on the

evidence.

of the
"ISO,

credibility

external
6,

The name
xiv. 6,
N"eh.

n^D min
viii.

Josh.
briefly

viii.

31, xxiii.
"ISD,

2
iii.

Kings
18,
xii.

1,

or

nt^D

Ezra

Neb.

xiii.

1,

Chron. xxv. 4, xxxv. 12, comp.

Mark

20, cannot be

regarded as such external evidence for the composition of the whole Pentateuch by Moses, even supposing that it referred to Eor although in this the Pentateuch exactly as we have it.
case
nfc?D is

gen. suljecti

and

not, as

e.g.

in D^bfc

"ISO,

gen. objedi,

most modern writings also, tells us no yet the name, more than that Moses was the mediator of the law codified in
in the
more than questionable whether what Ezra read in the year 440 (Bleek, 273) was the Pentateuch in its present form of a historical work, can only be assumed that this great collective work was edited by Ezra.
1

It is

Einleitung,
it
2

Encyklopadie und Mclhodologie (1877),

p. 230.

21
In the later synagogue indeed (Sanhedrin 99#), and also according to traditional church opinion, Moses is esteemed the composer of the whole Pentateuch from its
the Pentateuch.
first

letter

to

its

last.

The

last

eight

verses are

indeed

declared by the well-known Mishnic tradition (Barajtha) in

the tractate
besides this

ItaJba

lathra to be an addition by Joshua.

is

But

view there

another, that no letter could have

the

been missing in the book of the Law which Moses delivered to to rw custody of the priests, and thus that down
"

Holy One, blessed be He, spoke, and Moses and wrote down, and that from this n^l onwards He repeated with tears." What an unpsychologiand Moses wrote spake,
(xxxiv. 5) the
]

cal

view of the act

of inspiration
if

Certainly on the ground

24-26, identify the laws and the history, the opinion might be established, that Moses was the author
of Deut. xxxi.
of the entire Pentateuch al
history.

we

In the

N".

T.

also

the

Pentateuch

is

called

77

MCOVOTJS, Acts xv. 21,

/3//3Xo? MwiWo)?, Mark 2 Cor. iii. 15 and when

;

xii.

26, or just

injunctions or

sayings are quoted from

Leviticus,

it

(e.g.

from Exodus, Luke xx. 37;

Mark

i.

44, Bom.
is

Bom.

x.

19),

Moses

Deuteronomy, Mark xii. 19, named as the speaker and writer. For
x. 5
;

our Lord and His apostles conceive of the Thorah as might be expected of them as members of their nation it is to them
;

the

work

of Moses.

revelation of God.
revelation,

They regard it as proceeding from the But it is not yet God s full and final

hence they intentionally emphasize the

human

side

of its origin, without regard to the directness or indirectness of

the authorship of Moses, which lay outside their exalted and

practical object,
their age.

and was, moreover, alien

to the

character of

were penetrated the that the Moses was mediator of the law, conviction, by through which Israel became the people of God but historicoIt is important to us, that they too
;

critical

investigation as to his share as author in the

is left

com

position of the Pentateuch

are concerned.
1

free as far as

N.

T.

statements

Batlira 15a, and also Menachoth 30a.

INTRODUCTION.

From

external traditional evidence,

we

turn to the evidence

of the Pentateuch itself concerning the share

Moses had in

its

composition.

There are certain passages in the three middle

books, the writing of which by

1.

Moses

is

expressly testified.

The Book

of the Covenant contained in Ex. xx.-xxiii. (ISD

mnn,

xxiv. 7) or the fundamental laws of the Sinaitic cove

nant, combined with the Decalogue, which laws Moses is said 2. The laws of the renewed (xxiv. 4) to have written down.
Sinaitic covenant promulgated in connection with the restora

tion

of the

xxxiv. 27, Moses was to write.

two tables in Ex. xxxiv., which, according to 3. Jahveh s decree to destroy

to write in a

Amalek, which Moses was

ance
1

book

for the observ

"ij?B|i,

of Joshua,
x. 25).
is
1

Ex. xvii.
4.

14 (where we have
of the stations

as in

Sam.

The

list

Moses

said (xxxiii. 2) to have written.

(Num. xxxiii.) To these must be

which

added, according to the statements in Deuteronomy, 5, the Thorah contained in Dent. xxxi. 9, 24, and, 6, the

nw

appended
(xxxi.

in

cli.

xxxii.

19) to write,

which Moses and Joshua were enjoined and which, according to xxxi. 32, was

written by Moses. This testified writing of certain passages by Moses does not justify the conclusion that he was the author of

the whole, which

is

besides inconceivable with respect to the

narrative of his death and such eulogiums as

iNiim. xii. 3.
is said,

we

find Ex. xi. 3

Eor even supposing that nNTn minn, which Moses according to Deut. xxxi., to have written to the end in
i.

a book, had begun at Gen.

and closed with the

final testa

mentary words of Deuteronomy, still all lying between this beginning and ending could not be without exception intended.

Where

nxrn

minn

or

nrn

laon or run minn nao

occurs

in

Deuteronomy, we are nowhere obliged to extend this expression beyond the Deuterosis of the law in the plains of Moab.
Retrospects of the Sinaitic legislation appear in another form,
v.

12, 16, xxiv. 8, while, on the other hand,

1

nwn minn

is

at

In

"both

passages
i
-

1SD3 3D2j
4.

to

put in writing, the

article is the specific,

as in

"))D3

n I sa xxxiv.

"

**

EVIDENCE OF PENTATEUCH TO THE AUTHORSHIP OF MOSES. 23

iv.

5 limited

by the addition

"

which I

set before

"

you
the

this

day

to the legislation of the fortieth year,

minn
book

nsT, iv. 44, points

(of
Thorah),"

onward

to

what

follows,

and

"

this

xxviii. 58, 61, xxix. 19, 20, 2G,is evidently that

which,

when
and

the speaker alludes to

its

it, is

still

in process of formation
to

this, DNrn minn completion. According approaching Moses made also, i. 5, points not backwards, but forwards.
"

plain the following

Thorah,"

i.e.

he

set

about delivering
understood.
write
"

it

(comp. xxvii.
it

8),

so

as

to

be generally

And
all
Ebal"

is

self-evident that the

command,

xxvii. 8, to
of

the

words of
Josh.

this
viii.

law upon the stones

Mount

(comp.

30

sqq.),

refers not to the

whole book of
contained
in

Deuteronomy,
Deuteronomy.

but

only

to

nucleus

legis

Hence the evidence

to certain passages

of direct writing

down by Moses

refers

of the Thorah, not to the

to the
if

whole Thorah,

and by no means
of the

whole Pentateuch.
is

And

criticism

Pentateuch,

it

to

proceed

methodically,

must

commence with an examination of this evidence. We must not be beguiled from admitting a just claim by the
fact,

that adversaries of Christianity and of revealed religion

first to

were the
books
of

deny that Moses was the author of the

five

Moses.

philosopher

in

the

ATTOKPITLKOS of

Macarius the Magnesian (edited by Blondel, Paris

asserts, that
all

1876), nothing written by Moses was preserved, but that was burnt when the temple was reduced to ashes, and

that what

now

bears the
VTTO

name

of

Moses was written 1800

TWV

years

afterwards

"Eo-Spa

KOI

a^

avrov.

The

emperor Julian (in Cyril of Alexandria) pronounced a more he regarded the Pentateuch, of whose moderate judgment
;

religious contents he forms a

low estimate, as not entirely the

:

work

of Moses, but partly of Ezra

vrore Be TOP

"EcrSpav

diro

<yva)lJi7]$

l$ias irpocreveyKelv TLVCU SiaTeiveTai.

to

There

is

somewhat

more reason

be assigned for what Carlstadt, de canonicis scripturis, 1520, Hobbes in the Leviathan, 1670, and Spinoza in the Tractatus tlicoloyico-politicus, 1670, already say concern-

24
1

INTRODUCTION.

But the beginning of critical analysis ing the Pentateuch. dates from the French physician Astruc, a believer in Scrip
ture (died at Paris 1766),

and the author of

il

Conjectures sur les

Memoires originaux, dont

composer
says
line
:

paroit que Moyse sest servi pour Brussels 1753, of which Goethe

le

livre de la Genese,

"Astruc,

a physician of Louis XIV.,

to

was the

first

to lay

and plummet
"

the

Pentateuch

and what have not

amateurs, interested in science and unprejudiced guests, been Astruc is the founder of the document already guilty of
!

hypothesis, and above all of a discrimination of two chief authors according to their use of the name of God. Accepted by

Eichhorn, this document hypothesis was extended to the whole

Pentateuch, other indications of authorship besides the name In thus straying beyond Genesis, it of God being discovered.
This was confirmed by the became the fragment hypothesis. and developed by Vater and Hartmann, Englishman Geddes,

who

Pentateuch as a variegated mosaic in the composition of which there is more of chance than of plan. Dissatisfaction with this opinion, and the endeavour to throw
regard the
light

upon the

origin of a book,

which was on the whole and

in

its

greater portion a single work, transformed the

document

hypothesis into the completion hypothesis. ously carried out by Tuch,

This was ingeni

Genesis,

who

in his

Commentary on

1838, distinguishes throughout the Jehovist as the complete! and enlarger from the Elohist, the author of the fundamental
work, but without taking any further part in Pentateuch In place of this simple state of affairs, Ewald puts criticism.
a complicated succession of
six authors.
five, or, reckoning Deuteronomy, This incited to fresh analysis, but without any decided advance. Hupfeld s paper on the Sources of Genesis

(1835), on the contrary, represents an advance which has He shook the completion hypothesis, by stood the test.

making
1

it

probable that the Jehovistic portions of the Pentaof Pentateuch on Pentateuch Criticism," in the (Oberlin, Ohio), 1884 and onwards.

The most thorough information concerning these precursors

is

criticism

given in p. Bibliotheca Sacra, vol.

1 of
xli.

Curtis

s "Sketches

SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF PENTATEUCH CRITICISM.

teucli

25

formed an independent history, and by showing (what Ilgen, Urkunden des jerus. Tempelarchivs, 1798, had already remarked) that two Elohistic narrators are to be

had

originally

distinguished.
in

Thus the question now arose

as to the relation
to

which the Jehovist and the second Elohist stand

each
;

other. Hnpfeld regards them as two independent authorities but Noldeke, in his Untersucliungen zur Kritik des A. T. 1869, endeavours to show that the work of the second Elohist was

quoted and worked into his own history by the Jehovist. The author of the so-called fundamental narrative was still

esteemed the older

of the

two

Elohists,

till

Graf (who died

1869

as gymnasial Professor at Meissen), propagating

and

developing the views of Eeuss, his Strasburg tutor, transformed

the theory thus far held with respect to the Pentateuch, by pointing out, on grounds some of them beyond the mark, but

some convincing, that the Elohistic fundamental narrative is not the most ancient, but the most recent, and indeed a post-exilian
element of the Pentateuch, including also the primaeval history This latter statement is as he admits, when pressed section.

by liiehm, the consequence

vorexilisclie

of

such a date

(his

chief

work

is

Die geschichtlichen Bilcher des A. T. 1866).

Bucli der Urgeschichte Israels

Kayser (Das
seine EnoeiterHexateuchs,"

und

ungen,

1874) and Wellhausen

("Composition

des

in the Jahrb.fiir deutsche Theologie,

187677)
s

have carried out

the analysis of the Pentateuch and the book of Joshua in con

formity with these principles.

(vol.
i.

Wellhausen

Geschichte Israels

1878,

ed. 2, 3,
is

Israels,

1883, 86)

the most important

with the T. Prolegomena zur Geschichte work on this stand

point.

It has attained in the region of Scripture a

power over

minds, which
Unbewussten.

may

be compared to

It has, as the

completely captivated It has gained logians."

in

Hartmann s Philosophic des on a sudden Evang. KZ. says, a great number of our academic theo
"

its

most learned and

influential allies

Eobertson Smith (chief work, The Old Testament in the Jewish Church, Edinburgh 1881), and Abr. Kuenen, whose
lectures on national

W.

and universal religion (German 1883) are

26

INTRODUCTION.

an ingenious attempt to fit the legislation of the middle books of the Pentateuch as post-exilian into, and to make them appear
as

essential

members

of

a state of development aiming at

Dillmann, in his new edition of Knobel s Com mentary on the Pentateuch, takes up an independent separate All the divergences of his analysis, however, are of position.
Christianity.

small note before the one that he embraces, the pre-exilian origin
of the legislation of the middle books, although
final redaction of the

he makes the

whole take place in the time of Ezra. I have purposely sketched the course of development taken by the criticism of the Pentateuch only in its main points,

and therefore incompletely.

has in this department been produced laboriously, only to be forgotten, and to serve as litter to prepare the soil for a fresh aftergrowth.

Much

however deny that the work of investigation has gone onwards and not moved in a circle. The factors which have to be taken account of with respect to
intelligent observer will

No

the composition of the Pentateuch have obtained recognition, and since the completion hypothesis has been set aside, fellowlabourers in this field are divided less
of

by the

different results

than by their different religious position towards Holy Scripture, and their different manner of turning such results to account with respect to sacred history.
analysis,

In the

first

edition of ray

Commentary on

Genesis,

1852, I

already advocated the claims of critical analysis, and obtained In the later editions herein the concurrence of J. H. Kurtz.
I acknowledged the necessity of distinguishing two Elohistic
narrators.

Later on the more recent revolution in the

criti

cism of the Pentateuch so far influenced

ceive also, as

me

that I

my

eighteen articles in Luthardt

writer,
is

s Zeitschr.

now per 1880

and 1881 show, that the

with whose account of the

not relatively to the narrator more ancient, but the more

Creation the Pentateuch opens,

of the occurrences in Paradise the

recent,

and that the historico

legal

and
its

literary process

by

which the Pentateuch was brought into

continued

present form, was

down

to the post-exilian period.

Nevertheless

my

COMPOSITION OF THE PENTATEUCH.

27

view

of the circumstances differs essentially

and on principle
the
self-

from the modern one.

This difference will come out more

and more

distinctly,

when,

before

investigating

evidence of the Thorah,

we have explained

the present state

of analysis and its technical terms.

The work, which was formerly called the Elohistic funda mental work, and may still be entitled the fundamental work, inasmuch as it forms the scaffolding of the whole in the
form in which the Pentateuch
Gen.
lates
i.

at present exists, begins with

ii.

4.

usual

mainly to and significant appellations

It is

Dillmann designates this portion, which re worship and law, A ; we, following the more
of
"Wellhausen, call

it

(book of four covenants).

ii.

simply impossible that Gen.

5-iv. should proceed from the

same author.

The writer

whose book opens with these primeval histories is the Jahvist. Dillmann calls him With chap, xx., if ; we name him J.
not before, a third narrator makes his appearance, who like Q calls God DNlta down to the Mosaic turn of the history, but
is

distinguished by a

peculiar to himself.

mode of statement and tone of speech As long as Q was regarded as the more
;

ancient Elohist, he was called the second Elohist

relation is reversed
:

but their
calls

he

is

the older Elohist.

of

Dillmann

him

B;

we

call

him E.

The works

J and E

seem

to

have

been blended into a whole even before Deuteronomy received we call this whole JE, while Wellhausen calls its final form
;

the writer

who blended J and

Jahvist.

the Jehovist, to distinguish

him from the

all

Q moreover has been gradually

enlarged, and the work which thus came

to maturity, at within the priestly order, called as it was to propagate the law, is now called the Priest-Codex, the letters for this being PC. To the collections of laws included in

events

PC belongs
Law

a special corpus Icgum in Lev. xvii.-xxv., with the

peroration in xxvi., which we, after Klostermann, call

of Holiness,

the

and designate by LH, because it enforces its prescriptions by mrv ^K, and therewith lays stress on the fact that Jahveh is the Holy One, and He who makes holy. It

28

INTRODUCTION.

forms a middle term between the Jehovistic-Peuteronomic

matter and diction and that of the Priest- Codex, with which
it is

now

blended.

The

sign for

Deuteronomy

in its original

We call its author the Deuteroand independent form is D. nomian while, on the other hand, we call the writer, who
;

among

the

re-touchers of

the Pentateuch manifests

in his

insertions the

Deuteronomic view and mode

of statement, the

Deuteronomist. His interposing hand makes itself felt through out the whole Pentateuch, the purely legislative part of PC excepted, though not by far to the extent and with the

frequency that
books.

it

does so in the post-Pentateuchal historical

Perhaps he

may

be identified with the

author ot

Deuteronomy
to denote him,

in its present form.

If a letter were
7?,

wanted

Dt seems

appropriate, as does

set

down by
Analysis with

Dillmann as a

joint designation for the

hands that took part

to be contented
;

in the final redaction

will

and form of the Pentateuch.

have to continue uncertain and often

possibility

and probability

in particulars

but, in general, the

constituents above described

may

all

be distinguished.

Such

distinction naturally involves temporal succession, but not a prejudgment concerning the date of composition of each com

ponent
dates

part.

And though
to

we should have

more nearly determining such advance to far more recent times than
in

the Mosaic, yet this does not exclude the facts, that the nar rative is based on tradition and that the codified law grows from

Mosaic

roots.

tions in the Priest-Codex

Dillmann too acknowledges ancient founda and in Deuteronomy, which he some

times marks with

(Sinai), his cipher for the

Law

of Holiness.

This leads us back to that self-testimony of the Pentateuch which we were about to examine, and first to that Book of the

Covenant, with the Decalogue at

its

head, which according to

Ex. xxiv. was written by Moses and read by him in the audience of the people when they entered into covenant with God at Sinai.

The Decalogue announces itself as that which is relatively most Divine in the Law but even it forms no exception to the
;

THE DECALOGUE.
universal fact, that in Divine revelation, whether
writing, everything
is.

29

at

the same time,

by word or both Divine and

"

human.
in

The mind
the

of the

which

Divine

mediator must have been the factory the ten words took thoughts of
"

linguistic

expression.
is

The human words

are the words

in

which

God

revelation

here

set

of Moses.

Now

the

Decalogue being esteemed the most radical document of the Sinaitic legislation, and (assuming that here all is not doubtful

and obscure) the most genuine

of

genuine productions (cornp.

Ps. xxiv., acknowledged by Ewald as Davidic, with Ex. xx. 7), we may to some extent form from it an idea of the mode of thought and language of Moses. The Decalogue then,

not only in the text of Deut. v. 6-18, but also in the text of the Book of the Covenant, Ex. xx. 2-17, is Jehovistico-

Deuteronomic, comp. DHay

vi.

JVUtt,

and Ex.

12,

viii.

8, etc.;

DnnK

D nta (in

14; Deut. the Decalogue and in the

xiii.

3,

Book
;

of the Covenant, xxiii.

13), with Deut. vi.

14,

vii.

4,
;

etc. i?yo DWn, found only out of the Decalogue, Deut. iv. 39 N3j? ?$ as in Deut. iv. 24, pfc6 nnn D on only Deut. iv. 18 HCK as in Deuteronomy, where, except xxviii. 68, vi. 15
s
; ;

nnafc?

nowhere

occurs

"pjftia

as

about twenty

times

in

Deuteronomy and nowhere

else in the Pentateuch.

Also D^Q
object,

of the Person of God, r^lion form,

"W,

IDH with an accusative

bear witness to, to enhance probably also the Jehovistico-Deuteronomic expression. The circumstance n is a however that formula of promise run ifiJ "prpK
"it?K
"P

= to testifying

ning through the whole of Deuteronomy from

i.

20

to xxxii. 52,
iv.

and that
40,
vi.

^i

"on^O

\yzb is

a favourite Deuteronomic motive,

2, xi. 9, xvii.

20, xxv. 15, weighs more in the balance,

and most

of all, that ^ntf? is

God,"

love the Lord thy

based upon the saying Thou shalt which in the Pentateuch is exclusively
"

Deuteronomic,
itself that the

vi. 5, xi. 1.

Decalogue

is

This one expression nn^ shows by written in the spirit of Deuteronomy,

s

for just the thought, that

man

can and must love God,

is

of

central

importance in this book.

ii.

And

if

Offenbarimgsbegriff,

346, Kittle, Geschichte,

i.

with Ed. Konig, 225, and others,

30
the Decalogue
is

INTRODUCTION.
regarded as

"copiously

mentating additions and enlargements/ there

the original form to which
it is

provided with com still remains in

reduced the Jehovistico-Deutero-

nomian D nnN DTi^x (xx. xxiii. 13 comp. Deut.

;

3,
vi.

and in the Book of the Covenant

14,
vii. 4,
viii.

19,

etc.).

^D
iv.

^y,

comp. Deut.
xvi. 23,
xii.

iv.

37;

D 3D = person,
S

nnttn,

comp. Deut.

1 2,

25 (Reminiscences of the Decalogue), and

;

also
*!E>n

Num.

with 8 (Jehov), *W, the same as DViy, Deut. xxxi. 21 ace. of object, like Deut. vii. 25 and Ex. xxxiv. 24 (Jehovistic).

How
1

then

is

this Jehovistico

of the Decalogue to be explained?

"

"Some

Deuteronornic composition Wellpassages," says

;

hausen,

current from Deut.

have a Deuteronornic tinge there is certainly a back Dillmann too does not get on v. in Ex.
xx."

without the admission of such a current from the Deuteronornic

text of the Decalogue into that of Exodus.

We
;

however

relinquish these expedients,

and renounce the reduction of and the ten

the Decalogue to an imaginary original form

words being in both texts equally Jehovistico-Deuteronomic, we infer, that if, of the two characteristically distinct modes
of statement in the Pentateuch, one falls

Mosaic type,
Elohistic.

it is

back upon an original the Jehovistic -Deuteronomic and not the

of

Nor does the grounding

Ex. xx.
11,
characteristically
to

the

observation

of

the Sabbath,

on the seventh day of creation

Elohistic.

contain

anything
itself

If

it

did,

it

be thereby a more recent interpolation. It does not follow from Deut. v. 15, where another motive

would show
for the

Sabbath commandment
is

is

given, that

it is

such.

The

On the other hand it literally reproduced. in Ps. viii., that this from the echo be inferred, lyric may in was extant the time of David. the creation of narrative
Much more
committed
then
to

Decalogue oratory, and not

there freely rendered in the flow of hortatory

may we

assume, that the tradition therein

to

writing was already known

ii.

Moses.
is

And

why
1
"

should we not admit that in Gen.

Composition of the Hexateuchs,
"

2 sq.

conforming
Theol. 1876, p.

in Jahrb.

fur deutsche

558

sq..

THE BOOK OF THE COVENANT AND THE SECOND TABLES.

31

with the reason for the Sabbath commandment found in the

Decalogue

We

now

turn to the

Book

of the

Covenant and the law of

the second tables.

laws of the
those
of

first

The former comprises the fundamental covenant, xx. 22 sqq., xxi.-xxiii., the latter
;

the

come from JE.

renewed covenant, ch. xxxiv. both portions The fundamental laws of the renewed cove

nant are a compendious although in many points an extended Ch. xxxiv. is repetition of the former fundamental laws.
characterized as the more recent recapitulation by the circum
gives for Dvjn $?$, xxiii. 14, the more generally Ds vfaw (ver. 23 sq.) ; that Pentecost is not comprehensible
stance, that
it
pV2>

here called, as at

xxiii.

16, vspn

an,

but

rf5DB>

in

(ver. 22), as at

Dent. xvi. 10, 16

of the feast

(in

PC

simply

ff\y\y&),

and that in speaking

of ingathering

or close of harvest (whose

name

feast of tabernacles first appears Deut. xvi.

and xxxi. 10, the

V er. 22).

reason for

it

being stated Lev. xxiii. 42) the vague expression

16,
is

rupn nKva,

xxiii.

exchanged

for n:^n nsipri

(this ver.

The
xiii.

legislation is

extended vers. 19, 20

20 verbally
more

13

</),

the law of the first-born, which was only sketched in the

closely

Book

of the Covenant, xxii. 2S&, 29, being here

defined.

The
also

fact

that

xxiii.

19

is

verbally

repeated

in

xxxiv. 26

speaks

for the

secondary relation of the

of

law

of the second table to the

"

Book

the Covenant.

Thus the

Moses wrote," given at xxiv. 4 and double testimony that xxxiv. 27, is reduced to the one, that according to the account
in

JE,

i.e.

both according to

and

Moses committed

to

writing the fundamental laws of the Sinaitic covenant, and

our investigation

is

limited to the question, whether the claim

of the undoubtedly older series of laws, xx. 22-xxiii. (apart

from the editorial additions which here as everywhere are

is to be acknowledged as justified, or at no decisive reasons against it. We believe having that this question must be answered in the affirmative. That

not to be excluded),

least as

these fundamental laws were issued in connection with the

l)ecalogue

is

confirmed by their grouping.

Ewald

first

and

32
after

INTRODUCTION.

him Bertheau (Die

called

sieben

1840) which here and

altar, xx.

attention
there, as

to

their

Gruppen mosaischcr Gesetze, tendency to form decades,

be separated into two pentades.

Ewald subsequently remarked, may The law too of the sacrificial

24-26,

is

unquestionably older than the directions

concerning the tabernacle and its altar of burnt-offering, and older than the institution of the Aaronic priesthood. This is
the only passage in the Thorah, which under a certain con
dition legalizes the

Dim

there

is

not a second.

The language

bears the impress rather of the Decalogue than of the Priest

code, to
feast of

n^xn snn (xxiii. 15) as a name of the the Passover is unknown. Characteristic of the Book
which
e.g.
"TO

of the

transferred thence to xxxiv.

Covenant are the undoubtedly antique xxiii., 17, 33 Deut. xvi. 16, xx. 13 the
; ;

designation
occurs

of

rulers

by DTltan and
s

also

by D^^D, which

elsewhere only in Deut. xxxiii. 31 and thence in Job xxxi. 11 D^JO for D ttya elsewhere only in the section on Balaam, Num. xxii. 28-33. Much is without further
;

authority in the A. T.;

we only
sq.
;

bring forward

^^ W\

xxi. 2,

and TOr6 rhw, xxi. 3, and nw,

pares
aity,

xxi.

26

iaJ3,

with his

person =:

he alone,

to release, xxiii. 5,

with which Dillmann com

is

Deut. xxxii. 36.

The colouring
also of

altogether different

from that of the

j^DS,

PC

and

E (for words
J
and
in a

such as iiEN and

the latter only again in

of

the

history of Joseph, are no

D~),

marks
that

E
is

in contradistinction to

but

is

just

more developed manner has to D. the conclusion with its promises and Especially of the the peculiar figure angel, an unmistakable Jehovisticowhich
peculiar to

J and

Deuteronomic
the

ring.

We
as

have
in
its

before

us in the

Book

of

Covenant

as

well

the

Decalogue
oldest

the

special

Mosaic type, and that in

form.

relatively

and purest

On
blot

hand God s penal sentence, I will utterly out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven,"
the other
"

which Moses was

to

write in memoriam, contains nothing

linguistically characteristic.

The account

is

however

histori-

DESIGN"

AND CHARACTER OF DEUTERONOMY.

it

33
1

cal, for

Dent. xxv. 17 calls

to

remembrance, and
the

Sam. xv.
having

declares, that Saul has forfeited

throne

for not

acted in strict accordance with

it.

The

fact

too
;

that

Moses wrote a

list

of the stations is

incontestable

but that

Num.

xxxiii. is his autographic list, is

if
it

neither said, nor could be proved to be such

It is

were

said.

however no

fictitious

record of either

or

but an

ancient extant document.

of

twenty stations sixteen, from Eithmah onwards, xxx. 18, seem thirty-seven years between the 2nd and 40th.
the three stations from Ijje Abarim, xxx.
are

For (1) we have here the names occurring nowhere else, of which the
to belong to the

(2) Instead of

45-47, seven

others

(3) Four of the forty-one stations are also brought forward, Deut. x. 6-9, but with statements not in harmony with Num. xxxiii. The biblical historians

named

in xxi.

12-20.

reproduce with fidelity traditions differing from each other, and abstain on principle from forced harmonistic interference.

In the present
the whole there

case, the testing of the

is

mutual relation of the

historico-geographical details
is

withheld from criticism.

On

striking harmony.

For the Pentateuchal

narrators are agreed in the two facts, that the sojourn in the

Amos

wilderness between Egypt and Canaan lasted forty years (comp. ii. 10, v. 25), and that the people having arrived at

Kadesh
Next

or its neighbourhood,

were turned back

to

wander

in the desert for yet thirty-eight years.

Ex. xxiv. 4, the most important self-testimony of the Pentateuch to the n^D an^l is Deut. xxxi. 9, 24. To be
to

able to examine

it

critically,

we must
title

first call

to

mind the

structure of this book.

It is a historical book.

books there follow after a short

In the prophetic the words of the prophets

named, but here Moses is introduced as a speaker, and indeed in such wise that his discourses are set in a broad frame

work

of

historical

introductions, conclusions
i.

and
v.

insertions.

Two

introductory discourses,
iv.

6-iv.

40, and

1-xi.

32,

between which occurs

41-43

appointment of the three

(comp. Num. xxxv. 14), the trans - Jordanic cities of refuge,

34
prepare for the
final

INTRODUCTION.

legislation in

view of the approaching

occupation of the land

spect of the events

and unite
to

it,

from Horeb

by a recapitulatory retro Kadesh and Moab, with the

of the

fundamental

legislation.
c.

The middle

book

with the corpus legum,

xii.-xxvi., which, as it

is taken up was introduced

by two

prologues,

is

followed by two perorations.

The

first

of these, xxvii.-xxviii., begins with the

their entry all the

command

to write after

words of this Thorah on stones in Mount

Ebal, and to proclaim the blessing and the curse

upon Mount

the speaker himself developing both in chap, xxviii. (a pendant to Lev. xxvi.). In the second
;

Gerizim and Mount Ebal

peroration, xxix.

xxx., the covenant with

Jahveh

is

renewed

with a reference to the acts of God that have been experienced, and the will of God that has been made known the blessing
:

and curse are

set before the

people for their choice, and at the

same time a future return from captivity promised them if Moses then confirms Joshua in his calling, and they repent.
delivers
to

the

Levitical priests

and the elders the Thorah

1

written by himself for periodical public reading, xxxi. 1-1 3. He and Joshua are also commanded to write the song which
follows in chap, xxxii.,
this

and the book of the Law completed by

covenant, xxxi. 14 sqq.

appendix
of

is

delivered to the Levites to be kept

of the

side

the ark

by the The song,

together with the concluding exhortation, is purposely placed At xxxii. 48 the diction of the at the end of the book.

former books begins again, so that the blessing of Moses,

lies

xxxiii.,

outside
in

Deuteronomy

properly so

called.

The

historian,

who

Deuteronomy

relates the testamentary discourses

and

last directions of

Moses, neither is Moses nor intends to be taken for him, for he introduces him as speaking (i. 1-5, iv. 44-49), and admits into the discourses of Moses all kinds
of historical
(ii.
1

(iv.

41-43,
iii.

10-12, 20-23,
That nKTn

9,

6-9) and antiquarian details 11, 136, 14), which look the more
x.
is also

minn

here

is

Deuteronomy,
:

acknowledged in Sifri on

Deut. xvii. 18 (105&, ed. Friedmann)

"

min iWE

&6

*?Tl$T\

DV1

p*Vlp p&5
is
read."

*W,*.e.

on the day of assembly

VJi?D,

xxxi. 12) only

Deuteronomy

THE TESTIMONY OF DEUTERONOMY.

35
of to

more admirable the deep psychological truth these discourses as to both their tone and contents is felt
strange the

they breathe the sincerity of one about to depart, and his grief at the refusal of permission for him to enter
be
:

the

promised

land

gives

them

throughout

melancholy

keynote.

Eichhorn says in vol. iii. of his Introduction, that Deuteronomy bears on every page the stamp of a work written on the borders of the grave," this is a testimony to the great natural and spiritual gifts of the Deuteronomian.
"

When

We

assume

for

these

testamentary discourses a traditional

This is substratum, which the free reproduction follows. moreover so spirited and artistic, that neither the freely

reproduced discourses of the older prophets in Kings and Chronicles, nor those Psalms in the Psalter composed on the
subject of David
relation of the
s

condition and state of mind, equal

to

Deuteronomian

it. The Moses may be compared to

the relation of the Isaianic author of Isa. xl.-lx. to that kine o and to the relation of the fourth to among prophets, evangelist

The Deuteronomian has completely appropriated the thoughts and language of Moses, and from a genuine oneness of mind with him reproduces them in the
his

Master and Lord.

The writing of highest intensity of Divine inspiration. history with a tendency or a free invention of historical facts
would be contrary
to that veracity

which
;

is

the

first

of all

the requirements to be

made

of a historian

on the other hand,

the historian shows, according to the view of antiquity, the measure of his gifts and the dignity of his vocation in his free

reproduction of the discourses of great men. cannot then lightly disregard the historical nature of

We

na?!D

sn^l, Deut. xxxi.

It is not the self-testimony of

Moses,

but testimony concerning him.

that

The Deuteronomian

testifies,

Moses before

his departure left behind with the priestly

order an autograph Thorah to be preserved and disseminated.

If this nt?D

nnm
in

were intended to apply to the whole book of

its

Deuteronomy

present state,

it

would be a pseudepi-

36
graphic

INTRODUCTION.
work.

But
this

the

premiss

must

be

denied,

and
of

consequently also
the fortieth year
identical with
it.

conclusion.

The Mosaic Thorah

is

indeed contained in Deuteronomy, but not

That the testimony, Deut. xxxi. 9, 24, is to be referred merely to the kernel of the Moabite legislation, framed as it
is

in history

from xxvii.
at

and introduced by prologues, may be inferred 8, according to which the people having arrived
"

Jordan were to write

all

the words of this Thorah

"

in in

plastered stones on

Mount

Ebal.

The demonstrative nstn

n&tfn minn, as already remarked,

always points in

Deuteronomy

forwards or to the present, and not backwards to the Sinaitic So does the ntftn minn, i. 5 for it is again taken legislation. at iv. 44, vi. 1, and also the nwn minn in nwn minn nr^D up
;

of the law concerning the king, xvii. 18,

able,

where

it is

question

whether we must translate

ritf

copy of this law, the

rare occurrence of
to

before indeterminate nouns

:

seeming

speak against

it,

or

the deuterosis of this law

latter

this

Deuteronomy. but was not necessary, for xxviii. 61 also changes ntftn minn nao for the more frequent nrn minn nao, xxix. 20, The synagogue tradition is itself xxx. 10 Josh. i. 8.
clearer,
;

In

this

case

run

would have been

uncertain

the Midrash,

like

the LXX., understands

it

of

Deuteronomy, Onkelos, and with him the Peshitta, of a copy another reading is pt^na), the Talmud, of a duplum (comp. Deut. xv. 1 8), i.e. a double copy. Gen. xliii. 1 5 The
, ,

account of the carrying out of Moses injunction, Deut. xxvii. 1-8, which we read in Josh. viii. 30-32, is decisive for the

meaning copy,
in Josh.
viii.

as translated

32.

As

in xvii.

by both the Targum and Peshitta 18 so here it is a copy that is

spoken

of,

in the law of the king a copy in a book, here a

copy upon memorial stones.

designation of
that
this

And

that

minn

rwo

is

not a

Deuteronomy, may book is called in the

viii.
1

be inferred from the fact

paragraph

preceding Josh.

31,

n^E>

min

naD.

Besides,

immediately if it were

Slfri (ed.

Fricdmann) 1056.

THE TIIOKAH OF THE FORTIETH YEAH.

used to designate Deuteronomy we should minn than nro IPK roo min nt^o nro
"iG5>x

ratlier
nr.r?3.

expect nrj D

Hence we

must

"

translate,

he wrote there

upon the stones the (a) copy

of the

Thorah, which Moses had written in the presence of

Israel."

the children of

And
and
in

the Thorah here meant

is

the recapitulated, completed

some

respects
in

modified
the

Thorah
Dent,

of
xii.

the
xxvi.

Moabite
This

covenant,

contained

codex,

codex does not however give such an impression of being a

document inserted

in its original form, as does the

Book

of

the Covenant or even the Law of Holiness. For Deuteronomy is in like manner as St. John s Gospel entirely a work of one
cast.

Its

historical connecting links, conclusions, transitions

all

and narratives have

the same colouring as the discourses

and

this oneness
force,

of tone is true also,

though in perceptibly

slighter
chs.

of

the Deuterosis of the

Law
1

contained in
is

xii.-xxvi.
xviii.

Here too the mount

of legislation
,

called
;

^h,

16

the day of legislation, bnpn DT

xviii.
;

16

the

land of promise,

cam
xii.

J?n rot ptf, xxvi. 9, 15

the people of

God, n^D
possession,
1

Dy, xiv. 2, xxvi.

18 (comp.
xv.
4,

vii.

6); the taking in

xxi.
1,

PUJBHf,

1,

xix.

2,

xxiii.

21,

xxv. 19.

The codex moreover nowhere stands

the

in actual
it

contradiction with
setting apart of the

prologues

for

in

iv.

41

is

the

three trans- Jordanic, and in xix. of the

three cis-Jordanic cities of refuge and their eventual increase

that

Xor are references to the Book of the spoken of. Covenant, which forms the basis of the legal codex, wanting
is
e.g. vii.

in the prologues,

22
is

comp. Ex.

xxiii.

29

sq.,

where the

contradiction to
S>Din

ix.

obviated by the consideration that

meaning usual in Deuteronomy of moral = shall or must not). impossibility (thou canst not not Thus only the Mosaic discourses, but also the Mosaic
&6

has

the

laws
1

are

throughout pervaded
xx.
pj>,

by the
5

subjectivity

of

the

Comp.

also *JB
vii. 22,

3,

with
6,

vii. 21, xxi. 6

^H (for ntan), xix. 11, as

(=
Ps. Ixxxi. 11), as

in iv. 42,
viii.

and

TpQri,

xiii.

and

xiii. 11,

xx. 1

14, 15, 1C.

38

INTRODUCTION.

Deuteronomian.
of

traditional

In the historical orations he gives a sketch occurrences, and this, in his consciousness of

unanimity with Moses, he enlarges and further developes from the standpoint of the condition and frame of mind of
the speaker.
legislation
of

In the codified law he renovates the traditional

the fortieth year as the moral and religious

needs of his time required. Not a few laws, which were without an object in the later times of the kings, the times of
the Deuteronomian, afford a proof that Deuteronomy contains actual testamentary injunctions of Moses. This applies to

15-18, for in the later times longer war with the old Canaanite
xx.

of the kings there

was no

races

to xxv. 1 7 sqq., for

then the decree of extirpation against Amalek was already to xxiii. 8 sq., for the exhortation to a grateful executed
;

demeanour towards Edomites and Egyptians is opposed to the subsequent change of relations between both these nations

and

Israel

to ch.

xii.,

for

that the slaughter of animals for

domestic use might take place anywhere in the country, was self-evident in post-Mosaic times and needed no concession
;

to

xvii.

15, for the prohibition to

make

a foreigner king

is

comprehensible in the mouth of Moses, but without motive or object in so late an age as Josiah s, and generally during the
period of the undivided and divided kingdoms to xviii. 2 1 sq., for the criterion of the true prophet here laid down could
;

no longer

suffice in

the seventh century.

And why

should

not this legislation be in its root and stem Mosaic, since it must be admitted beforehand that Moses would before his

death once more impress the law of

God upon

the heart of

the people, and give a further exposition of the will of

!

God

with reference to their dwelling in the promised land If the Book of the Covenant is genuinely Mosaic, then Mosaic
foundations

must be assumed

for

Deuteronomy

for

the

legislation of the fortieth year is the

Mosaic Deuterosis of the

in its present form,

Book
as the

of the Covenant, but

Deuteronomy
is

work

of the

Deuteronomian,

a post-Mosaic Deuterosis

of this Deuterosis.

RELATION OF DEUTERONOMY TO THE BOOK

All the laws
of the
Sinaitic

OJ?

-L

legislation

codified

in the

Book

of the
;

nomy

Covenant are repeated and emended in Deutero the penal enactments concerning injuries to limbs or
Ex.

property, Ex. xxi. 18-xxii.

speaking

against rulers,

14; the warning against lightly and the prohibition of xxii. 2 7

;

even uttering the names of

4), alone excepted.

(comp. Ps. xvi. All other fundamental laws are at least

idols,

Ex.

xxiii. 1 3

brought to remembrance, and in some cases also remodelled. Instances of such remodelling are Deut. xv. 12, comp. Ex. xxi.
2,

in

according to which the Hebrew bond-maid is to go out free the seventh year, as well as the Hebrew bond - man
xxiv.
7,

comp. Ex. xxi. 16, by which man-stealing is to be punished with death only in case he who is stolen and

and

sold as a slave

is

fellow-countryman.

important
locality, in

modification relates to worship.

is

The actually most In Ex. xx. 24

and

sqq. the erection of a place of sacrifice

not restricted to one

cli.

opposition to which Deuteronomy, in

xii.

throughout, has in view a central sanctuary, which God will choose out of all the tribes as the exclusive place of sacrifice. But the discrepancy between Deuteronomy and the Book of
the Covenant
process
is

in this matter also only a relative one.

The

which

regulated
divine,
it

the
is

origin

of

the

Thorah being

both
first

human and

quite comprehensible that the

saying concerning the place of sacrifice should be rudi

mentary, sketchy, vague, and should, in the further course of This is however already legislation, be outdone and modified.

done in the Book of the Covenant

assumes the future establishment

itself, for

the law

there

given of the three great pilgrimage festivals, Ex. xxiii.

14-18,
Still

of a central sanctuary.

a central place of worship and an exclusive place of worship are not as yet one and the same, and it was the legislation of
the fortieth year which, in view of the approaching occupation of the promised land, took this further step and limited the

worship of God by the one sanctuary.

sacrifices

and other

offerings exclusively to

tendency

to

this

The history too of Israel runs on with a end. Even the period of the Judges shows

38

INTRODUCTION.

in the tabernacle at Shiloh at least an attempt at the in

stitution of a central sanctuary.

David and Solomon

built

the splendid

stone temple at Jerusalem.

of

Nevertheless the

(local places worship) were never entirely and in pre-exilian times. with done Deutero permanently away nomy, as we have it, reproduces the testamentary Thorah

Bamoth

of

effort for centralization

Moses with the evident purpose of giving support which aimed at the abolition

to that

of local

the

worship, but the exertions of Hezekiali (Isa. xxxvi. 7) and still greater ones of Josiah had only a temporary success.

Besides, the jus reformandi of these kings extended only to

For scarcely had David and Solomon built a central worship, than the disruption of the kingdom place occurred to thwart the recent unity of worship. The pro
Judah.
of

phets and psalmists of Judah one sanctuary, the temple on the

know but one holy

Zion.
as

city,

and
of

But the prophets

northern kingdom
soil also,

must have esteemed

Hos.

permissible,

on Ephraimite
(see 1

the worship of Jehovah

ix. 4), for

by

sacrifice

Kings kingdom was an

condition of the
condition.

xix.

10

the disruption of the

authorized, providential fact, and hence the

kingdom

of Israel a God-decreed exceptional

What however was

anticipation
of

the

case

with the tabernacle, that

of

central

place

worship

The people

needing during the forty years a central sanctuary as well as single direction in general, the tabernacle is no anachronism.
Graf, however, in his article, de templo Silonensi,

1855, began

his critical investigation of the Pentateuch with the assertion,

that the Mosaic tabernacle

was a copy

of the
all

diminished to a portable tent.

Now

who

temple of Solomon side with him

have

this in

common,

that they refuse all value to the historical

basis of

element, which in the Priest-codex forms the frame and

the legislation. element is the result of relegating the narrator to post-exilian

times, for
it is

And

in fact this depreciation of the historical

inconceivable that so vigorous and fruitful a source

of genuine traditions

from the Mosaic

aoje

should at so late a

THE HISTORICAL ELEMENT IN THE TTJEST- CODEX.

date be
still

41

extant.

We

nevertheless firmly maintain (1)

that the preceding history of Israel, from the Elohistic account of the creation to the history of Joseph, was written in ancient
pre-exilian times.

For

it

must be assumed that legends and

it

reminiscences of these matters were extant, while

may

be

concluded from the pre-exilian literature that they had on the whole the form in which they appear in Genesis (2) that
;

the historico-legislative element, as well in

PC as

in

JE and

D,

was not independently invented for the sake of foisting a Mosaic origin upon the legislation, but derived from tradition, which in many
(whether
furnish
oracle
points, as
e.g.

in respect of

the tabernacle

or place

of

worship), did
;

the

same views and statements

and

not everywhere (3) that the

foundation of the legislation codified by an Elohistic pen was For already laid at the time when Deuteronomy originated.
(1) Deuteronomy points back, xxiv. 8, to the law of leprosy, which is found, Lev. xiii. xiv., as a component part of the

Priest- codex.

(2)

The law

as

to

what animals might be

is

eaten and what were forbidden, Deut. xiv. 3-20,

;

a passage

adopted from the Elohistic legislation, Lev. xi. the reproduc tion breaking off, Deut. xiv. 19 sq., where Lev. xi. 21-23
continues.
(3)

The

setting apart
iv.

of three

cities

of

refuge

east of the Jordan, Deut.

41

sqq., is

the fulfilment of the

Elohistic law,
is

Num.

xxxv.; and the injunction, Deut. xix. 1-13,

(4)

a repetition and completion of this law.

xviii. 2, of
;

Deut.

the priestly race

is

a retrospect

What is said, of Num. xviii.

and (5) wherever else Deuteronomy is content to sq. give a general outline of an injunction, it presupposes the
existence of

20, 23

more

special

appointments,
to

(a)

When

it

gives

the

name
in the
in,
it

JTODn

in, xvi. 31, 10,

the feast at the close of

harvest,

which in the Book

law
of the

of

the Covenant (Ex. xxiii. 16)

is

and

second tables (Ex. xxxiv. 22)

of

called
of
is

f^DNn

alludes to the historical reference in the

Law

Holiness, Lev. xxiii. the expression.

(5)

42

sq.,

which

this

more recent name

When

it is

forbidden, xvii. 1, to sacrifice

an animal which has any blemish, there was required for the

42
layman, and
still

INTRODUCTION.

more

for the priest, information (by

no means
to

completely given xv. 21) as to

what was and what was not

be regarded as a blemish
fice,

(DID) involving incapability for sacri

and the rules respecting

Lev.
xxii.
(c)

this being given in the

Law

of

Holiness,

20-25, are therefore

it is

essentially

pre-

Deuteronomian.
a father
to
this

Also when

forbidden, xxiii. 1, to take

s wife, it is

not intended to limit the crime of incest

one case, but the lawgiver has in view, beside this

case,

one chief

the

other

nearly resembling
sqq.,

criminal

acts

mentioned Lev.

xviii.

as

shown by the anathemas,

xxvii. 20, 22, 23.

These references of Deuteronomy to the Elohistic element in the Priest -codex suffice to show, that together with
the Mosaic type of legal phraseology and the Jehovistico-

Deuteronomic mode of statement formed upon

it,

the Elohistic

The type already existed in the pre-Deuteronomic period. difference of time does not suffice to explain the diversity of
these
types. They must, equally with the Asaphite and Korahite psalmody, be referred to authorities at once creative

and dominant
Mosaic
origin,

the the

Jehovistico

Deuteronomic

type

is

of

Elohistic

originated with

some eminent

this legal and historical phraseo within the priestly order, just as logy was further developed the prophetico-historical style was within the schools of the
priest, after

whose example

prophets.

The

PC

is

the product of a successive develop

it

ment and

formation, which, even supposing

to

reach

down

Mosaic period. characteristics have certain been Very erroneously linguistic urged in favour of the contemporaneousness and high antiquity
to post-exilian times, has still its roots in the

of the component parts of the Pentateuch. occurs only eleven times in the Pentateuch (never in Deuteronomy), tfin 195 times (thirty-six times in Deuteronomy). This feminine
fcOn

Kin,

which

is

by means

of the

final

redaction

inseparably

impressed upon the Pentateuch in all its component parts, is, on the assumption that distinction of gender was not con
sistently carried

out

in the

ancient language, an archaism.

THE ELOHISTIC ELEMENT IN DEUTERONOMY.

1

43

Tliis

assumption

is

questionable;

while, on the other hand,

nyj, which occurs twenty-one times in the sense of girl, is a veritable archaism Deuteronomy even has frequently nhra
;
"iy:,

and only once, xxiii. 19, myj. pun;, Deut. viii. 3, 16, is no for one archaism, and cannot pass (comp. pipy, Isa. xxvi. 16); the is an appendage conforming the perfect to the imperfect
|

and here and there in current Arabic; the Arabic, ancient Ethiopic and Aramean show that itap without was the primitive form. pX too (with the article ?Nn), Gen.
as

in Syriac,

xix. 8, 25, xxvi. 3, 4, Lev. xviii. 27, Deut, iv. 42, vii. 22, xix.

11,

is

no mark of an ancient period of the language, for the

Arabic

^\

^Ethiopic

cllii,

Aramean

pW,

7]^

(with

strengthening n and /), show of the plural had originally a vowel termination.
is

that this pronoun as the expression

~No

more
also

nx, which

is

twice, viz.

Num.

xi.

15, Deut.

v.

27

(as

Ezek. xxviii.

And granting as masculine. 14), pointed that inT exclusively occurring in the Pentateuch is, as com
pared with in^l, the older form of the name, yet this admission cannot be utilized for critical purposes for in the Hagiographa
;

also (Ezra,

in Neh. Chron.) this town is always called opposition to which in the Nebiim (from Joshua onwards) So that in this case (except 2 Kings xxv. 5). always in*
in"i\
1

11

"]

also the uniformity has to be set to the account of the final

redaction.

Nor can ^K and

;
"OK

^K

be so critically handled as

is in agreement with the Arabic Ul, the by Giesebrecht for Ethiopic ana, the Aramean &OX; the older form (with analogically

influenced transition of d into

obscured to
eycoye to

d),

ana -f- ki with d ), ^bs (from has a secondary relation something like that of

e<ya).

In speaking of Deuteronomy we have not yet given an

opinion concerning the n&TDnWi, xxxi. 22, as applied to the nTS?, Deut. xxxii. now do so by taking a view of the poetry

We

Mosaic age in general. Amorite song of victory, Num.

of the
1

We
xxi.

have already spoken of the 27-30, and also of the highly

Studicn,"

See Xo.

viii.

of

my

"

Pentateucli-kritischen

in

Luthardt

s Zeitsch.

for 1880.

44

INTRODUCTION.

poetical quotation from the

Books

of

"Wars,

Num.

xxi.

14
of

sq.

The former
Wars,
tract, will

is

not Israelite, while as to

the

Book

the

its title

and the fragment of three

lines given as

an ex
is

only allow of very uncertain conjectures.

There

however nothing against the supposition, that the foundation It of this Israelite Iliad was laid at the time of the Exodus.
is possible, for

a history of such poetic tone and form as the

of necessity bear poetic
fruit.

Exodus must

The people

of

Jahveh came indeed from that land which was

the most productive of
all

intellectually

lands, bringing with

materials and castanettes for dancing.

One

of the lays
is

them writing which

the song of

the occurrences of the wanderings brought forth

the well,

Num.

xxi.

17 Spring up, well; sing ye unto it 18 To the well, which princes digged, Which the nobles of the people delved,
:

With
It is there

the sceptre, and with their staves.

given in explanation of the

name

of the trans-

Jordanic station Beer.

That Moses was himself a poet

contemplate his
life,

is

understood when

we

life

so ideally fashioned
feeling,

by God

Himself.

The poetry
Ex. xx. 4,
formula, as

of thought

and

which wings and animates

of the Covenant, as in

the language in the words of the

xxii.

Book

we

sq., culminates in two original Mosaic believe them to be. One is the harmoniously

25

rising triad of the priestly blessing,

!

Num.

vi.

The Lord bless thee and keep thee The Lord make His face to shine upon thee, and be gracious to thee The Lord lift up His countenance upon thee, and give thee peace

! ! !

In the original the

five,
is

first

clause consists of three, the second of

the third of seven words, and the seventh and last

word

seven being the number of satisfaction and peace. The other formula is the two sentences at the setting out and

ofe

at the resting of the ark of the covenant

35 Rise up,

And

let

Lord, and let Thine enemies be scattered them that hate Thee flee before Thy face
!

36 Return,

Lord, to the myriads of the thousands of Israel.

THE SONG OF MOSES.

4-5

The

introduction, Ex. xv. 1, does not require

of praise at the

Moses
;

to

have

been the author of the song

Eed Sea

the carry

ing out of the theme, 15-3, may not have received its present form till the arrival in Canaan (see ver. 13), but must have
clone so

in pre-Davidic times, as the echoes in Ps. xxiv. 8,

Ixxviii. 13, 54, Ixxxix. 7,

demand, or at
the
find

least

make

probable.
finds

It is

here, ver.

18, that

theocratic relation

first

expression, here that

we

for the first

xvii.

time

(ver.

2)

the

Divine name W, which returns, Ex.

of

16, in

the very
:

Moses concerning Amalek A poetically expressed saying hand (is lifted up) upon the throne of Jah (to be explained by Jahveh hath war with Amalek from Deut. xxxii. 4 sq.)
;

generation to generation
;

(i.e.

from the most distant generation

onwards compare in the similarly expressed Divine saying, Ex. iii. 15, ~n VD, in generation, generation i.e. to the latest
generation).

We

must bring before us these

poetical pieces, for the pur

pose of not too lightly denying the testimony in Deut. xxxi. that
the song i^TNH, Deut. xxxii., was written by Moses.

Although

only this one thing is certain, that the signal words, Num. x. 35 sq., were the product of the lofty and powerful mind of Moses, he may also have been the author of this song, which,
as I have elsewhere shown, contains nothing

which may not

gift of insight

be conceived as the production of the natural

of a deeply religious

and

patriotic poet.

It

is

a picture, from

supernaturalistic,

theocratic

standpoint,

of

the

inwardly

necessary concatenation existing between the vicissitudes of Israel s history, a picture thoroughly original, containing

nothing that gives an impression of being obtained from else where, and probably one of the models of the Deuteronomian

employed by him as sources when reproducing the testamentary

discourses of Moses.

Equally original

is

the blessing of Moses, ch. xxxiii., ap

Setting aside ver. 4, which
to
is

pended
has

to

Deuteronomy.
this

a more

recent interpolation,

throughout

the

pendant Mosaic period

the blessing of Jacob

as
its

historical

basis.

46

INTRODUCTION.
national

It coincides with the great song in the

name
But
por by the

and in D nax mnrn and

it

does
of

not,

like

ata with the signal words. the great song, form an original

mw

tion

Deuteronomy, hut

was

admitted

into

it

redactor,
i.e.

incorporated Deuteronomy in the Pentateuch, the collective work on the period of legislation and its

who

Till then the blessing of Moses would have previous history. disseminated as a separate composition, like Ps. xc., been

whose
sounds
Dip,

title

is

similar

in

form, and whose

of

commencement
Tita nsiyD
like that
is
still
is

like

development

the three words

of

xxxiii.

27.

The physiognomy
authorship

Ps. xc.

of the

blessing undeniably Mosaic, although this

no

irresistible

proof of the

of

Moses.

For as the

Deuteronomian imitated the Mosaic type in orations, he might also have imitated it in poetry. The fact that the fourth book
of

Psalms begins with

this

Ps. xc., speaks

more

for its

being

written according to the

mind
title

of
is

Moses than
fully

for its being his

own
with

composition.

The

justified

even in the

former case.
the

They who judge

otherwise are unacquainted

especially

spirit

and custom of ancient, and

it

of

Biblical,

history and poetry, which esteem

one of their

tasks to appropriate completely the thoughts and phraseology

of great

encing their feelings, to

are

men, and by thinking their thoughts and experi make themselves their organs. There

however no internal grounds for compelling us to deny the Mosaic authorship of Ps. xc. It corresponds with the condition and frame of mind of Moses in the fortieth year, and the echoes
of the original

Mosaic diction of the Pentateuch resounding

in it increase the impression of its authenticity.

There was a time when the horizon of Pentateuch criticism

was bounded by Genesis and the beginning of Exodus.

We

now know
moreover

that the

mode

of composition found in Genesis

It extends continues to the 34th chapter of Deuteronomy. in and Deut. the continues xxxiv., beyond
of

book

Joshua.

Hence, both on this account and because

THE THORAH AND BOOK OF JOSHUA A HEXATEUCH.

the exodus and

47

the occupation of Canaan together form a

whole,
its

viz.

the history of the

deliverance of Israel and of

becoming

comprising
hexateuch.

independent nation, we are justified in the Pentateuch and the book of Joshua as a

an

And

this

hexateuch also

is

only a component

part of the great historical

work

in five parts (viz. Moses,

i.

Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings), extending from Gen. 2 Kings xxv., of which the Pentateuch forms one.

to

The
a

connection

of

the

Pentateuch

and Joshua

is

however

closer one than

that of Joshua and Judges, for the book of

Judges only borrows twice from Joshua, and gives extracts only four times from the same sources, while the book of

Joshua
from

composed in entirely the same manner as the In Judges are found a few scattered fragments Pentateuch.
is

JE

(i.

10-15, 20,

xxi.

27

sq.,

29).

In the book of

Joshua, from the beginning to the end, the three chief modes the Jehovistic, the Deuteronomic, and the of statement
Elohistic

be distinguished one from the other. The history of the conquest, chs.i.-xii., is Jehovistico-Deuteronomic we meet with but few traces of the mode of statement

may

of the Priest-codex (ft iv. 19, ix. 15&,

17-21,

LH v.

10-12).

On

the other hand, the part relating the history of the division
xiii.

of the land,
of ft

xxi.,

together with

xxii., is

written in the style

but only as far as the main bulk is concerned, for we there meet also with the Jehovistic mode of delineation, e.g. xviii.

3-10, which

is

a Jehovistic as xiv.

15

is

an Elohistic prologue

to the business of division.

the two styles

may

An impression of the diversity of be obtained by comparing xviii. 7 with

it
is,

Num.
for

xxxiv. 14, of which

so to

speak, the Jehovistic

translation.
E:I^

Peculiar to the Elohistic style are the use of

also has always D^Dn^

(Deuteronomy

and not

the designation of the trans- Jordanic land by inT pT? "ayo for pT^-ayB the statement of direction ni^ip for nmno, and as
;

favourite

expression

rVQN

rpli,

or

shorter
7.

only nnx,
difficult

all
is

these peculiarities are got rid

it

of, xviii.

More

to distinguish the Jehovistic

from the Deuteronomic

style.

48

INTRODUCTION.

There are Jehovistic passages which keep throughout within

mode of statement, e.g. xiv. 6 sqq. of endowment Elsewhere however the two (the Caleb). nearly related modes encroach upon each other, yet not so much that we should fail in tracing them to two different
the limits of the Jehovistic

hands.

The
the one
of

relation

of the

book of Joshua
of

to

Deuteronomy

is

similar to that of the

is

book

planned after
begins ch.
i.

book of Ezra, the model of the other. The book

to the

Nehemiah

Joshua

(the

summons

to

Joshua and the

engagement on the part of the people) in Deuteronomic style, and maintaining it throughout terminates in the same fashion
in ch. xxiii. (Joshua
tives of Israel).
s

farewell discourse to the

viii.

representa

run

11

is

41-43
ch.

section, sqq., beginning with TN an such intermediate portion as that in Deut. iv. just The account of the fid- Altar, beginning with ^HIT TK.
f
1

The

30

xxii.,

which excludes separate places of worship beside

sanctuary,
is

the

central

indeed

as

well

as

ch.

ix.

(the

successful stratagem of the Gibeonites) of a mingled mosaiclike kind, but in tone

Deuteronomic.

And

finally the

book of

Joshua runs parallel with Deuteronomy in the circumstance, that as Moses left behind him a testamentary book of the
law to be preserved beside the ark of the covenant, so did
Joshua,
according to xxiv. 25, set before the people in a statute and an ordinance (the same expression as that used at the beginning of the legislation at Marah,

Shechem

"

Ex. xv. 25), and wrote these words in the book of the law
of

The expression Neh. vii. D^r6sn rmn

God."
"iao,

DTita
8,

min ISO
is

occurs only here

for

18,

not quite the same.

It

sounds as

if

that Elohistic and directly Mosaic Thorah were

intended, which, together with the

Book

of the Covenant, is

presupposed in the Deuteronomic code of laws as the lowest and most ancient stratum of the priest codex.

That the literary activity of the Elohistic pen reaches back

to ancient times nearly approaching those

of

Moses

is

also

confirmed by the book of Joshua.

Modern

criticism indeed

FINAL REDACTION OF THE COLLECTIVE HISTORICAL WORK.

greatly depreciates the
historical

49

authority

of

the

priestly
;

narrator in matters relating to the history of the conquest

but

the priestly narrator wrote also the

of

main bulk of the account

claim to

the

division,

and

this
this

may

lay

documentary
is

authority.

For that

history of the

division

based

upon written documents may be conjectured from

its

very

nature, while the -IBD of the commissioners entrusted with the

task of describing the land, xviii. 19, shows that the division of

the land was carried out with legal accuracy.

Now

as there

were never during the course of Israelite history boundary disputes between the tribes (for the migration of the tribe of

Dan, Judg.
it

i.

34, was caused by the pressure of the Amorites),

may

be inferred that the records of the division of the

land transferred to the book of Joshua had the respect and

gave the

sanction of

public

document reaching back

to

well-known

authorities.

It is therefore

quite an arbitrary

assertion, at least with respect

to the history of the division,

that the priestly narrator of the book of Joshua

was

of

more

recent times than the Jehovist and

it is

the Deuteronomian, and

certainly possible that the Deuteronomian himself

com

posed and formed the book of Joshua from Jehovistic and

Elohistic models.

But we may here leave the

undecided.

origin of the

book of Joshua

Two

observations only are of

is
:

importance with respect to Genesis, which

centre of all these

the goal and

(1) that

preliminary investigations

the

book of Joshua

also exhibits a similar structure with Genesis,

though with an unequal mingling of the component parts (especially of the Deuteronomic, which occurs but rarely in
Genesis)
;

and

(2) the

circumstance, deserving a further dis

last

cussion, that

it

was the
2

redactor of

the

entire

history
it

from Gen.

i.

to

Kings xxv.

who

incorporated

into

the

book

of Joshua.

It is mistakenly urged against regarding Joshua as a sixth and integral part with the

the
five

book of
books of

Moses, that

if

this

had been the case the author would not

D

again have narrated the conquest of the country on the east

INTRODUCTION.

of Jordan under Moses,

and

its

division

by him among the

two and a half

tribes,

nor the appointment by Moses of the

three cities of refuge in that land.

the two and a half tribes in their inheritance,

a
of

For (1) the installation of xiii. 15-33, is not

mere

repetition, but a recapitulatory

Num.

xxxii.

33

sqq.;

comp. xxxi.

sq.,

and completed retrospect and Deut. iii. 13-15

and
is

(2) the establishment of the six cities of refuge, ch. xx., the fulfilment of the injunction, Num. xxxv. 9-29 that of
;

the three east of Jordan being but recapitulated according to Deut. iv. 41-43. The final redaction however certainly
dissolved the hexateuchal relation of the book of Joshua to

the five books of Moses, and placed these by themselves as the Thorah.

For

Kin occurs

no more in the book

not here called inn

of
11

Joshua

l
;

and the

city of

palm

trees is

as in the

Pentateuch, but as everywhere in the Prophetce priores, with the exception of a single passage, in The final redaction has
1

"!

thereby emphasized the assumption, that the Pentateuch is a completed whole to the exclusion of all that follows, is the

fundamental book of the canon, and that the book of Joshua belongs as a separate book to a more advanced period.

Thorah and Pentateuch arc not identical

not
at.
1

ideas,

and

it

was

till

post-exilian times that their identification

is

was arrived

This

a fact of supreme importance.

Its consideration is of

Of tlie three extra- Pentateuch al passages, in which the received Masoretic Isa. xxx. 33 ; text recognises Sin with the Keri fcOn (1 Kings xvii. 15 Job xxxi. 11), none is of the same kind as the double gendered Pentateuchal
;

Siri;

but what is said, p. 394 sq., of Xo. viii. of my Pentateuch-kriliscken Studien iiber den Text des Cod. Babyl. vom J. 916, needs the correction given in Buhl s Gamthis text, according to the meltestamentlige Skr /fiver levering (1887), p. 179
:

recension of the

written over
a noun,

it,

in
in

Snj lD (Orientals), has in many passages Sin with a Khirik which Sin can neither be meant to be neuter nor referred to
any case may
also be masculine, e.g.
;

which

Jer. xxviii. 17, nj

20 (the sinning soul), DIDD Sin (see Baer s Ezekiel, p. 108) an evident proof that the separation of the five books of Moses from the book of Joshua by certain characteristics esteemed archaic, such

Ninn

Ezek. xiv. 17, Sinn

psn

xvlii.

as

Sin and inT

(for

1PPT), comes

down from

a time in which the Pentateuch

as n~nn was disconnected from the entire history reaching from Genesis to 2 Kings, and that the process from which the Old Testament text in its present Palestino-Masoretic final form resulted, first came to an end in Christian times.

THE OKTATEUCir.
itself

51

well adapted to raise us above scruples of conscience with respect to the criticism of the Pentateuch, and to deliver us

from

all sorts

of inveterate prejudices.

Their identification

is

not more ancient than the construction of the Old Testament

canon, with which the final redaction of the entire historical

work reaching from Gen.

i.

to 2

Kings xxv.
to

is

connected.

When

the book of Joshua originated, the priestly historical the death of Moses,
it,

book from the creation of the world

with the extracts from
already enlarged

JE

which had entered into

of

was
the

by the

insertion

Deuteronomy
as
its

in

Pentateuch, with which the book of Joshua was combined as

a sixth.

To

this

Hexateuch were added

successive

continuations Judges, Samuel, and Kings, as

have them.
that which

we at present All the three books have a different form from

Judges

is

The book of they had in their separate state. fastened on to the book of Joshua by ii. 6-10
xxiv.

(=

Josh.

28-31

the

close

of

Joshua

life).

It

originally contained also the history of Eli and Samuel, at least down to the victory over the Philistines at Ebenezer (as

from Judg. xiii. 5, VE^n? prp NirT) this concluding portion is now detached from it and made the introduction to the history of the kings. In LXX. Samuel
certainly appears

and Kings

are, in

conformity with

their

subjects, entitled

Ba(Ti\itov TTpwTT], SevTepa, TpiTTj, T6Taprr). For 1 Kings i. does not begin like a commencement, but like a continuation
of the history of the kings
;

the notion of a n^tan -|2D in

of

volving a similar treatment

the

history

of

David and

author, under the influence of Deutero nomy, which became after Joshua a spiritual power, worked up Judges, Samuel, and Kings, as we have them, into each

Solomon.

Some

other and linked them to the Hexateuch.

This final Deuteronomic redaction of the collective historical work undoubtedly stands in connection with the construction of the Canon, but the redactor or redactors of the Canon are more recent than this Deuteronomist the construction of the
;

Canon being prepared

for

by

the

condensation

of

similar

52

INTRODUCTION.
ix.

writings into one whole (see Dan.

2 Mace.

ii.

13

f.).

We

do not know when and

how

the

Canon was brought

into

the state of an entire body of writings in three parts,

we only
for

know
son

that this was already accomplished in the times of the

of

Sirach

(about

200 years

before

Christ)

the

prologue which the grandson of Ben- Sirach prefixed to his Greek translation, composed in Egypt, of his grandfather s

book of proverbs,
holy writings as a

testifies

that in the

latter s

lifetime the
Trpoffirai,

whole were divided into vopos,

and a\\a irdrpia {3i{3\la (i.e. D OlfiD). It was not till the five books of Moses were severed from
Joshua and
the
latter

thrown among the D K QJ that the

of its language
also

Pentateuch, upon which the tone

pressed the

im

mark

of priority, obtained the

name

of the Thorah.

an apt name for a historical book and its object and form; and it is only per synecdoclien partis pro toto that the Pentateuch can be so called. Wherever the Thorah

minn

is

not in

itself

quoted in any Old Testament book, it reference to Divine legal (2 Chron. xxv. 4
is

is
;

always with Neh. xiii. 13)

14), including

or ritual enactments (Ezra

iii.

Neh.

viii.

the curses and blessings, promises and threats,

by which the
xxii.

law

is
is

fenced round

(Josh.

viii.

34

Kings
the idea
plural,
;

12).

minn

everywhere instruction concerning the will of

;

God

in either a legislative or hortatory form

is

a wider

one than

Z/O/AO?,

though narrowed in the

nmn

every
;

where meaning legal precepts, Ezek. xliv. 24 Ps. cv. 45 JSTeh. ix. 13 (comp. m, Ezra vii. 25), and Isa. Dan. ix. 10 The book of the Thorah, which, according to Josh. i. xxiv. 5.
;

sq.,

was not

to depart out of

Joshua
;

of the law, not the Pentateuch

"

s mouth, is the law codex and when Malachi says, iii. 22:

Eemember
Moses
arid

the Thorah of Moses,

my

servant,"

it

is

the law

of

not the Pentateuch that

is

intended.

It is

even

uncertain, as

we

incidentally remarked

above, whether the

which Ezra read publicly on the 1st Tisliri of the year 444 (Neh. viii.), was the Priest-codex or the Penta The fomner is the teuch as we have it as an historical work.
HE D

min

"IBD,

PENTATEUCH AND THORAII.

53

more probable. It was not till after the canon was fixed as a whole collection of writings, in three parts, that the name The materials irnnn coincided with that of the Pentateuch.
of

which

it is

formed were old

history
of

traditional primaeval histories,

traditional

legislation,

and

traditional

though

not throughout ancient Mosaic laws. Assuming even that this work must be of collective a share in the formation

accorded to Ezra,

still

farther on after him.

the process of formation was also carried The texts of the Samaritan and of the
of the text at the

Greek Pentateuch show that the form

time

when
the

these

translations

were

made was

in

many
sqq.,

places

unsettled.

This

is

seen especially in the section concerning

the
sanctuaries, Ex.

completion

of

xxxv.

which

betrays a more recent hand than the section containing the directions concerning their formation, and is in the LXX.

from the hand of a different translator, and displays many

variations.

The perception that the Pentateuch contains the Thorah,

but
this
is

not identical with

as

it,

and that

it

subsequently received
that the book of the

name
if

though

it

were

so, exercises a liberative effect.

For,

this is the case, it is self-evident

Thorah, which according to Deut. xxxi. was written by Moses, can have been neither the Pentateuch nor Deuteronomy in
its

Hence we need entertain the less present historical form. in that the Pentateuch, like the other historical scruple holding
books of the Bible,
is

composed from documentary sources

of
is

various dates and different kinds, which critical analysis

able to recognise

and distinguish from each other with more

mental influence which contributed to
the
history of re

or less certainty.
If inspiration is the

the formation of an authentic record of

demption, such inspiration holds good not of the several docu ments of the Pentateuch, but of that extant whole into which
these writings, which, considered in themselves, might perhaps have been incomplete, one-sided, and insufficient, were worked The Christian as such regards the Pentateuchal historical up.

54

INTRODUCTION.

work and the Holy Scriptures in general as a unity, the product of One spirit, having one meaning and one object. And this unity really exists in everything which concerns our
redemption and the history of its preparation and foundation, and is exalted far above the discoveries of critical analysis.
Criticism seems indeed,
original
this

by breaking up the

single into

its

and non-affinitive elements,

unity
of
;

to threaten

essential

Holy

Scripture.

Hence

and question it must

it,

always remain unpopular a congregation has no interest in And indeed there but on the contrary takes offence at it.

is

a kind of criticism which, while dismembering the Pentateuch

like a corpus vile with its dissecting knife, finds such pleasure

in its ruthless

hunt

for discrepancies as to

thoroughly disgust

not only the Christian layman, but also the Christian scholar with analysis. Still the just claims of analysis are indisput
able,

hence

it is

scientifically necessary.

It is

requirement of the history of literature,

copious
material,

which

an indispensable it supplies with

to

and

of

historical

criticism,

which

it

furnishes the foundation of the various traditions and autho

rities.

In the department of Holy Scripture it is, however, a dangerous matter exposed to that arbitrariness, ill-will, and want
of moderation,

which thinks
subdue

to

see through everything

and

crushes everything to atoms.

of Scripture will not

And

yet believing investigation

this nuisance of critical analysis,

its

unless

it

wrests the weapon from

adversary

hand, and

actually shows that analysis can be exercised without thereby Of such a trampling under foot respect for Holy Scripture.

process however scarcely a beginning has been made.

It
is

true that the present destructive proceedings in the

of

department
construction

Old Testament
a
to

criticism,
is

which demand the

fitted

of

new

edifice,

quite
faith

to
all

confuse

consciences and

entangle

weak

in

kinds of

temptation.

If

however we keep

fast hold in this labyrinth

of the one truth, Christus vere resurrexit,

we have

in our

hands

Ariadne

thread to lead us out of

the

it.
!

God

is

God

of truth, n?3K D*r6s

The love

of truth,

FIIEEDOM AND OBLIGATION.

55

submission to the force of truth, the surrender of traditional

views which will not stand the test of truth,

is

a sacred duty,
for

an element
(ixl T)

of the fear of

God.

Will ye be partisans

God

V:an), exclaims Job (xiii. 8), reproving his friends, who were assuming the part of advocates for God towards him,

while misrepresenting the facts of the case ad majorcm Dei This great saying of Job, admired also by Kant yloriam. the philosopher, has always made a deep impression upon me.

Ever since I began to officiate as an academical tutor in 1842, I have taken up the standpoint of inquiry, freely sur
rendering
itself to

the leadings of truth.

have not been in

sympathy with the Hengstenberg tendency, because it allowed the weight of its adversaries reasons to have too little influ
ence upon
it.

view a correlative obligation is, combined with freedom, an obligation which is not so much its limitation as its I esteem the great fundamental facts of redemp foundation.
in

But

my

tion as exalted far above the vicissitudes of scientific views

and

discoveries.

The certainty and security

and are sealed
to

of these facts
;

have no need

to wait for the results of

advancing science

are credibly testified,

they every Christian as

to this

such by inward experience and by continual perception of

their truth in himself
of faith is

and

others.

And

obligation

added an obligation of reverence, and, so to speak, of Christian decorum. For faith in these facts of salvation
naturally

involves
to the

reverent

relation

to

Holy
because

Scripture,
it

which

is

Christian a

Holy

thing,

is

the

record of the works and words of God, the frame and image of the promised and manifested Eedeerner. Certainly Holy
Scripture
is

not a book which has fallen from heaven,

on

the contrary, the self-testimony therein given to the Divine is affected by all the marks of human, individual, local, tem
poral

and educational

diversity.

But

to

the end of time

will confess
that,
ct

the Church renovated

by the Beformation
et

Primum

toto

pcclorc Proplictica

Apostolica scripta Vetcris

Novi Testamenti ut limpidissimos purissimosgue

Israelis fontcs

56

INTRODUCTION.
et

recipimus

ampledimur.

And

they

who

thus confess with

her will not

make

a boast of uttering depreciating, insolent,

and contemptuous criticisms concerning the writers of the

towards Holy Scripture will be free but not free-thinking, free but not frivolous. And this will be especially the case with respect to Genesis, that funda
Bible.

Their attitude

mental book in the Book of books.

the Old Testament which
for all true religion,
is

For there

is

no book in

of such

fundamental importance

religion

and particularly for Christianity, as the of redemption, as this first book of the Pentateuchal
first

Thorah, which corresponds with the

book

of the quadri-

forme Evangelium.

We

do not belong to those moderns who, as the children

of their age, are so

charmed by the most recent stage

as
to

of

Old
all

Testament science

see

therein

the

solution

of

enigmas, and to disregard with an easy mind all the new But as little too are we enigmas created by such solution.
of those ancients who, as the children of an age that has been

overtaken, see in the

ness,

new

stage a product of pure

or too

wanton
the

and

are

too

weak - brained

mentally idle to
to

take up an independent position with

respect

new

problems by surrendering their musty papers. Only in one do now as we remain ever faithful to the old school. point

We

are
to

Christians,

and therefore

occupy

position with

Holy Scripture quite different from that which regard we take towards the Homeric poems, the Nibelungen, or the
treasures of the library of Asurbanipal.

Holy Scripture being the book of the records of our religion, our relation thereto is
but also in the highest degree one of We will not deny the human element moral responsibility. with which it is affected, but will not with Hamitic scorn
not merely
scientific,

discover the nakedness of Noah.

We

will not
is

with Vandalic

complacency reduce to ruins that which

sacred.

We

will

not undermine the foundations of Christianity for the sake of

playing into the hands of Brahmosamajic, i.e. of Brahmanhic .For the notes that are struck in

or Buddhistic, rationalism.

THE PRIMITIVE HISTORIES AND CHRISTIANITY.

German

lecture-halls

and books are

at last re-echoed
of

from

distant Asia,

and make vain the

efforts

our missionaries.

We

will not give

wherever possible

up what is untenable without replacing it by that which is tenable. We will interpret

Genesis as theologians, and indeed as Christian theologians, i.e. as believers in Jesus Christ, who is the end of all the ways

and words of God.

There

is

no people of antiquity that possesses a historical

work that can be compared with the book of Genesis. Not even for supposing they had possessed one, it would the Egyptians
;

have been a mere history of the Egyptians, beginning with a But mythological jumble, which cleaves to the soil of Egypt.
here, before

the history of Israel

commences

in the remote

patriarchal era, are related the

beginnings of the

human
;

race

Godhead and mankind

exists

are

strictly

distinguished

mankind

before nations, and the nation which this history,

as it does

com

mencing

from the beginning, has in view, does not

deny

This circumstance already bespeaks its later origin. But our interest in it is not our confidence in the history. but For the essential truth of merely historical, religious.

what

is

here related and the truth of Christianity stand in

closest

mutual connection.
no
direct

Its essential truth,

we

say,

for

Christianity has

relation

to

such

questions

as

whether

Adam
;

lived

930 years
the

or not; whether the descent

of one or another nation can be ethnographically or linguisti

cally
verified

whether

chronological

network

of

the

ante-diluvian and post-diluvian history appears in presence of

the Egyptian and Babylonico-Assyrian monuments to need whether many narratives are but duplicates, i.e. extension
;

different legendary forms of one

and the same occurrence

no,

Christianity has a height and depth at which it is unaffected by any verdict pronounced upon such matters as these. But

were true that geology can follow back the age of the earth for myriads, nay, millions, of years (Lyellism), and that
if it

man was

in

the struggle for existence developed from the

58

INTRODUCTION.

animal world (Darwinism), if in the place of the child-like innocence of the first -created pair we have to place the cannibalism of the half-brutal manhood of the stone period,

and in that of the Divine re-elevation of the

gradual upward
years,

fallen,

the

steps

of self-culture
it

then indeed, we admit

of

during ten thousand without reserve, the Chris

as

tian view

the

world

is

condemned

from henceforth

untenable.
religion of
its

For documentary Christianity professes to be the the redemption of Adainic mankind, and has for
first

inalienable premises the unity of the

fall of

creation of

man,

the

the first-created pair, and the curse and promise by

which

this

was succeeded.

Hence, were we even to grant

that Gen.

i.-iii. speaks of the beginnings of human history with the stammering tongue of childhood, it must still be maintained, if Christianity is to maintain its ground as the

religion of the recovery of the lost,

and as the religion of the

consummation aimed

from the beginning, that man, as the creature of God, entered upon existence as at once human and capable of development in good, but fell from this good be
at

Menken ginning by failing to stand the test of his freedom. If the first three chapters of Genesis is right when he says are taken out of the Bible, it is deprived of the terminus a
"

quo

if

the last three chapters of the Apocalypse are taken

away,
It

it is

Genesis
is

deprived of the terminus ad quern." is the most difficult book of the Old Testament.

esteemed the easiest by reason of its mostly simple but it deals all along with the great historical diction
;

and of redemption, and problem upon which we have to beat our way, rises in our problem, through We hope however to get through without making path. For the ground on which our faith shipwreck of our faith.
realities

of the world

is

anchored

is

independent of

scientific evidences.

The

scaffold of Genesis in its present state is

formed by

the genealogically planned pre-Israelite history, as related by the Elohist (in Dillmann A, in Wellhausen Q), from ancient
sources.

We

distinguish

(in

Dillmann B)

as

the older

THE SCAFFOLD OF GENESIS.

Elohist

59

from this Elohist

/car

ef.,

whose work forms the

plan of Genesis,

and

is

in this sense the fundamental writing.

Hebrew,
logics,

like all other historical writing, O begins o

nn^in.

Hence, down

with *D ^eneato the Exodus from Egypt,

i.e.

genealogy takes the place of chronology,

to their foundation genealogical.

the reckoning-

according to this or that era, the historical narratives being as

The history encamps upon the

is

quartered upon them. These tables have Jacob-Israel in view, the direct line is that of the
genealogical table of descent,

and

chosen race, from which proceeds the chosen people.

genealogy of the

But the

most nearly related

line is

collateral lines proceeding

from the direct

also noted,

and indeed in such wise,

the purpose of giving

that the branching off of the collateral lines always precedes

the continuation of the

free space to the latter.

main The

line, for

direct or
to

main

line begins

with
its

the genealogical table from

Adam

Noah

(ch. v.),

reaches

twenty- second

member with
belonging

Jacob, and spreads out into the

genealogies of his twelve sons (ch. xlvi.)

There are in

all

ten

Toledoth, five
history, as

we have

five to patriarchal already stated in our survey of the contents

to primitive

and

and plan of the Pentateuch. The number ten is not accidental. The Elohist, to whom we undoubtedly owe all these main genea
logical tables, deals

with significant numbers, which the other

other,
<yeveai,

writers also use.

makes them, as the framework of

finished whole.

The Elohist however, more than any St. Matthew does, ch. L, his 3 x 14
his matter.

Ten was

in ancient times re

garded as the number of completeness and the signature of the

THE TOLEDOTH OF THE HEAVEN AND THE

EARTH,
I.

1-IV. 26.

THE CREATION OF THE WORLD AS THE FOUNDATION OF

ITS HISTORY,
I.-IT.

4.

THE Thorah,

or rather

the book of the History of Israel,

;

begins with the Creation

its

for (1) the

;

history of the world

is

presupposes the origins of the nations and of mankind

history of

formation

the origin of Israel

;

later

than

the theatre of the

redemption
(2)

lies

within the circumference of heaven

and

earth.

The

seal of the

Divine nature of the revelation

given to Israel is the identity of the God of this revelation with the God who created the world. (3) The creation of the world is also the first beginning of the Thorah, inasmuch as
the
sanctification

of the

Sabbath

is

traced to the order of

creation (Ex. xx. 11, comp. xxxi.

17

quent self-stated foundation of the

also evident that the creation of the

From this subse Sabbatic command it is

sq.).

world in seven days was

this account of

regarded as a fact

by the religious consciousness of Israel, and

of

was hence no invention

the creation.

him who conceived

no visionary revelation which he commits to writing, for where would be found in Holy Scripture an example of a
It is

revelation
1 Cor. xi.

of things

past in visionary pictures

Even

in

23 the circumstances

are quite different.

No, the

We reproducing what has been handed down. resounds from meet in his account the same keynote which The cosmogonic legend is the Ganges to the Nile (Tuch).
author
is
" "

the

common

property of the most ancient of cultured peoples,

RELIGIOUS IMPORTANCE OF THE ACCOUNT OF TRADITION.

61

and even beyond the ancient regions of culture strikingly similar notions have been found by those who have set foot

among
and

the hitherto

unknown

nations, of

e.g.

Northern India

interior Africa.

The cosmogonic legend has experienced the most various

mythological
transformations
;

we

have

it

here

in

its

simplest and purest form, in which, no

human

being having

been a spectator of the creation (Job xxxviii. 4), it points It is part of that back to Divine information as its source. revelation which resounds throughout all heathen primitive

dom in reminiscences of every kind. It is God who disclosed It was impossible for him to to man what we here read. know all this from himself, exclusively lumine naturce. We, who have been acquainted with this narrative of the
ness
creation from our youth, only too easily overlook its unique Its true greatness is not in the world of nations.

dependent on the confirmation afforded or denied to it by physical science, though the latter is obliged, on the whole,
involuntarily to confirm
i.e.

it.

An

"

ideal

"

harmony

(Zockler),

an agreement in fundamental features, actually exists. For it is established, or at least remains uncontradicted, that,
setting

aside

primitive
first

matter,

light is
;

as

this

account

teaches us
stars

the

of substances
to

that
of

the formation of
light
;

was subsequent

the

creation

that

the

creation of plants preceded that of animals

that creatures

form an ascending scale, and that man is the close of the creation of land mammalia. The true greatness however of
this

narrative of creation consists

in

its

proclaiming, at

period of universally prevailing idolatry, the true idea of God,

which

is

to this very

day the basis of

is

all

genuine piety and

Israelite
;

culture.

This monotheism

specifically

and the

fact that the natural

reacted against
a gift of grace.

it,

heathen disposition of Israel unceasingly shows that it was no product of nature, but

They
in this

which are expressed account of creation, not as dogmas, but as facts which
are truths of infinite importance

THE TOLEDOTH OF HEAVEN ASD EAUTIL

speak for themselves.

These truths are

1.

There

is

one God

who,

as the

One Elohim,

unites in Himself all the Divine which

was by the heathen world shattered to pieces and dispersed among their many Elohim. 2. The world is not the necessary
His being, but the free appointment of His will, and brought to pass by His word. 3. The world in an of creative and this acts, ascending gradation originated

and natural emanation

of

successive nature of

its

origin is the foundation of those laws

to

of development according
4.

which

its

existence continues.
is

The

object of creation

was man, who

on the one hand

the climax of the earthly world, on the other the synthesis of nature and spirit, the image of God Himself, and by His

These are the appointment the king of the earthly world. truths with which we are in confronted the tradition of great
creation, as
If

we we have

here have

it,

free

from mythological deformity.

critical fusion of

in the Scripture narrative a heathen form of

that tradition reduced to

what the

the spirit

of revelation

insists

on, its

Phoenician or Babylonian

form

affords the nearest comparison.

Our sources

for the Phoenician

i.

10, and cosmogony are Philo Bybljos in Euseb. prcep. ev. Mochos and Eudemos in Tjamascius, de principiis, c. 125 for
;

the Babylonian cosmogony, a fragment in Damascius on the origin of the gods, the detailed narrative of the process of the

world
i.

origination

col.

11

sqq.),

by Bexosus (Euscbii Chronica, ed. Schoene, and the clay table inscriptions from the

library of Asurbanipal (see F. Delitzsch s

German
true, as

edition of

Dillmann 1876). urges, that it is only in the Phoenician legend that Bdav (}rQ=5inh) occurs as the name of primitive matter (personified

Smith

Ckaldee

Genesis,

It

is

as

female),

and there too alone that we meet with the

(eoz>),

that widely disseminated myth, found both in the Finnish epos Kalewdla (i. 235) and in the Indian Maliabliarata (DMZ. xxxviii. 229 sq.), and

notion of the world-egg

is

which

a glimmer of which

is

seen

in

the

biblical

namo.

The

Babylonian legend however also offers, even in the fragments in which it has been preserved, many still closer points of contact

RELATION TO HEATHEN LEGENDS.

63

with the Scripture narrative, and these Lotz (De liistorm Sabbati, 1883, p. 98 sq.) has in my estimation undervalued.

Chaos

is

there called tidmat

(=

Eton), the origin of the

world

starting from the primal flood instead of from the tohu-waThe creation of the heavenly bodies sounds very like bohu. Three kinds of animals are the work of the fourth day.

distinguished
seri

Ml = nom, um&m
The twofold
a parallel
is

seri

= psn nTi, and nammassi

"

niDl^n
good,"

W2i~\.

ubaJssim (u),
to

he made (they
nitt

made)

also

the sevenfold

of

the

Scripture account.

To

this

must be added, that

as

nsmD
;

alludes to the world-egg, so does nvn rhwfc d? to

sun and king are is the chief matter

v King Samas written with the same ideogram. And what

:

the hebdomad of days point to Babylon. For the week of seven days is, as Lotz has shown, a Babylonian There too the seventh day is called sabattu, institution.

which

is

explained by

umu

null

IMi

(day of the heart

s rest).

After every fourth

that

week one

or

two days were there

inserted,

beginning of the month might coincide with the Israel had from Babylon the week beginning of a new week. of seven days, but with the abolition of the inserted days, the
the

computation of the week being no longer combined with that of the month.
Israelite

If then

it

really is a fact, that the account of the

creation

shows notions and expressions which are common both to it and to the Babylonian legend of creation, and if it is besides
in other respects established, that there
is

an historical con
traditions, the

nection between the

question
arises

Hebrew and Babylonian

the

as

to

period
it

at

which

this

picture

of

creation or of single features in

in his
of

commentary and in

his academical essay

was accepted. Dillmann on the origin

the primitive historical traditions of the Hebrews, 1882,

;

does not admit the premisses to the same extent that we do but the grounds on which he opposes the assertion ventured upon on the part especially of Assyriology, that this period

was that of the

the captivity
is

captivity, are also ours.

1.

This dating from

the

frustrated

by the

fact, that

Babylonian

6-4

THE TOLEDOTH OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

parallels in the account of Creation as well as of the

Deluge extend beyond the Elohistic and into the Jehovistic portion.
it is

Now

universally acknowledged, that the Jehovistic book,

or if the expression is preferred, the Jahvistic extracts of the Pentateuch, are pre-Deuteronomic and therefore pre-exilic, and

pertaining to

the period previous to complication with the

2. It may indeed be perceived Babylonian world empire. from the book of Ezekiel, that life in the midst of Babylonian surroundings was not without influence upon the ideas and

diction

of the

prophets, but

"

it

is

incredible that the exiles

should

have adopted whole

the

portions

from the writings or

traditions of their oppressors,

the

forefront of

and have even placed them in The national and religious Thorah.
pronounced to allow of the
;

antagonism was

at that time too

formation of a mythological syncretism and it was but slowly, and not till they were in general use under the Persian
sovereignty,

that

the

names

of the

months."

Jews adopted even the Babylonian 3. The Babylonian legends in question

"

were already in their ancient cuneiform character, and how much more then were they subsequently, so overgrown and interspersed with coarsely sensual notions and a polymorphous
mythology, that it would have required such eminent religious genius, as was not to be expected from the Jews of the exile and restoration, to reform them to the purity of their original
state,

and

to

restore

to

them the monotheistic

simplicity,

beauty and truth in which they appear in the Bible." Moreover it is quite arbitrary to give so recent a date
the contents of the account of Creation, and to regard

to as

them

borrowed.

That which

is

common may

indeed be derived
of the

from a common source.

Might not a

tradition

Cos

mogony have existed among men before they parted into This might take various forms nations and paganisms ?
among
their

the several

peoples of
religious

national

and

Semitic speech, according to peculiarities, without however

of Terah,

denying the common root. quently emigrated from Ur

The sons

who

subse
their

of the Chaldees,

would have

REST OF THE SEVENTH DAY.

05
these would

own

notions of the process of the world

s creation,

be mythological and probably akin to those of their Babylonian The spirit of revelation, who delivered Abraham from abode.
the bonds of heathenism, would free these notions from their

mythologic deformity and reduce them to the form of majestic

simplicity,

which

belief in the

One premundane and super

mundane God

induces.

The

essential matters in this account

of the creation are

religion of Israel.

among

the most ancient foundations of the

There was a tradition believed in at least as early as the

Mosaic period, that God after

seventh as a day of
rest.

six

days

work

sanctified the

We

infer

this
is

from the circum

in the Decalogue
six

stance, that the institution of the Sabbath

of the

Book

of the

Covenant (Ex. xx. 11) based upon the

This testimony may indeed be Lemme of does in his paper on rid by deciding (as e.g. got the religious and historical importance of the Decalogue, 1880,

days of the

week

of creation.

p. 8,

123), that Ex. xx. 11

is

of more recent date.

But

this does not follow

an insertion in the Decalogue from Deut. v. 15.

Eor here

it

is

not, as in

Ex. xx. 11, the institution of the

Sabbath (compare xxxi. 17, probably from LH\ but the duty of observing it, which is founded on the favourite Deuteronomic
motive, the ten words being freely recapitulated in the flow
of hortatory discourse.

Another testimony is Ps. viii., of which Hitzig says This on no side the of has a recent In one. appearance psalm in of construction, and in genuine poetic perfection expression,
"

value

it is

thoroughly worthy of David, and forms the correlate

xix."

of the assuredly Davidic Ps.

is

Well then

this Ps. viii.

a lyric echo of the tradition committed to

;

writing in the

Elohistic account of the creation

especially in the fact, that

here just as in Gen.

the
earthly world
in the

i.

the

position

being made

regarded as image of God.

is

supreme over flowing directly from his

as

of

man

When

the ancient traditionary material received the written

i.-ii.

setting found in Gen.

is

another question.

We

do not

66

THE TOLEDOTH OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

ignore that certain linguistic indications seem to require a

recent date.

Kin (DWQ)
in

do not reckon &TQ among them, for though becomes more frequent as an appellation of God
literature

We

Old Testament

the farther

down we come,

yet

Kin as denoting Divine creation is guaranteed to us as preNor exilianby D r6x &ro, Deut. iv. 32, and miT tna, Isa. iv. 5.
s

name for the firmament of heaven Nor in^n (i. 24), which occurs ten is defended by Ps. xix. 2. times in the 0. T., for Zepli. ii. 14 shows that pre-exilian
yp-|, for the antiquity of the

literature also

was not averse

it is

to the use of this archaism.

Ixxii.
8,

Nor

mi

(i.

26, 28), for

found also in Ps.

against

whose Solomonian composition nothing valid can be objected. Nor even piD, though it is certainly striking that this word, so
frequently used by the Elohist, only occurs elsewhere once in

Ezek.

xlvii.

10, and several times in the reproduction of the laws

on food, Deut. xiv.

13-18

for

we do not

regard the law of

i:^!?, in^iD^,

clean and unclean animals with the classifying

there reproduced in

Deuteronomy
is

as the insertion of a

ro^, more

recent redactor, but as an ancient pre-Deuteronomic element of

the Elohistic Thorah. There
therefore no reason

why

}>>,

species,

should not be a word belonging to the most ancient Hebrew. On the other hand, it is striking that the Elohistic word rops
(especially in the formula mpjl
"OT,

i.

27, or rapJ IK

-IDT)

is

only

found, besides Deut. iv. 16, in the enigmatic saying, Jer. xxxi.22.
It

must however be nevertheless assumed that the word

is

pre-Deuteronomic, for there is

no other word in the language to designate the woman in her sexual distinction from the man. It is moreover striking that the Elohistic m*n ma (i. 22, 28)
occurs elsewhere only Jer.
;

iii.

16, xxiii. 3; Ezek. xxxvi. 11

but this pairing of the two synonyms may comp. Zech. x. 8 indeed be regarded as a peculiarity of style, but not as a
characteristic sign in
rilDi
(i.

26,

v.

3),

any language. Again, it is striking that apart from the chronologically uncertain
2 Kings xvi. 10,
still

passages, Ps.

Iviii. 5,

is

found only in 2

Isa.,

Ezekiel and Daniel, and

more

so that the

word D^% used

by the

Elohist,

i.

26

sq., v. 3, ix.

6, to

express

man s

likeness

ELOHISTIC ACCOUNT OF CEEATIOX.

to God, is without parallel,
Ps. xxxix. 7

G7

and

Ixxiii.

20 even

entering into collision with this application of the word.

Him

however may,

like JTO, Hos. iv. 11, vi. 10, belong to the classic

period of the language,

and oh?

is

not found for the imago

divina even in post-exilian writings, although we meet in them with tones in unison with those of the Elohistic account of
the creation which are absent from pre-exilian writings, e.g. the waters that are above the heavens, Ps. cxlviii. 4, and the Dinn,

which covered the originating earth like a garment, civ. 6. Accident and choice have here prevailed, as is shown e.g. by allusions to the primordial imi inn, being found only in Jer. Ezekiel nowhere uses the word inn iv. 23; Isa. xxxiv. 11
;

so frequent in 2 Isa.
Isa. xxix.

while on the other hand

it

its

appearance

belongs to the classic period. beforehand might expect that more points of contact with the Priest- codex would be found in the priestly prophets
is

11

a pledge that

We

Jeremiah and Ezekiel than elsewhere.

And

if it is, as

we have

shown, the case that Deuteronomy does not indeed as yet pre
suppose the Priest-codex in
Thorah,
it is

its

complete form, but an Elohistic

easily conceivable, that subsequently to the era of

Josiah literature would not only be under the preponderating

influence of Deuteronomy, but would here
also

and there receive

an Elohistic

tinge.

The

style too of the Jehovist, in

passages where no suspicion of interpolation can arise, already

assumes sometimes an Elohistic colouring,

for the plague of frogs, Ex.
viii. 3,

e.g.

the expression
i.

corresponds with Gen.

20.

The non-Elohistic
and Deut.
iv.

verses, Gen.

vii.

8 (comp. Ezek. xxxviii. 20)

10), approach in their use of
style,

18 (comp. Ezek.
B>ID-I

viii.

the peculiarly Elohistic

ii.

the Elohistic
i.

while Hos.

20 sounds

like

an echo of Gen.

25,

vi.

20.

There are then no marks of style which constrain us to relegate the Elohistic account of the creation to the period of
the exile.
If
it is

to be regarded as the portal of the historical

work
is

of Q,

which embraces the ancient Elohistic Thorah and

it,

homogeneous with

no appeal can be made

to the account

of the creation for relegating the origin of this historical

work

68

THE TOLEDOTH OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

It is in any case a tradition reaching Mosaic period, which the account of the creation for the foundation of the Sabbath upon the

to the period of the exile.

back

to the
;

reproduces

Sabbath
tradition

of

creation

is

defended

as

matter

of

ancient

by

the

Decalogue.

Neither Ex. xx.

11 (heaven,
itself

earth, sea, rim, inenp^) nor Ex. xxxi. 1 7 to be

(^1 ra^) proves taken from the Elohistic account of the creation.
are able to separate into its

We
inquire

component parts the

fabric
to

of the Pentateuch (Joshua included); but

when we proceed
came

existence,

when we

the separate elements here interwoven

are

into

but groping in the dark.

history,

Budde

in his

work on the Scriptural primitive

Jahvist,

1883, hazards the

Israelites

conjecture, that the original account of the creation (in the

whom

he

letters as

came
of

to the

from

Mesopotamia, and that in the time

Ahaz

that

is,

at the

time when the cowardly unbelief of Ahaz purchased the help of Assyria, and thereby delivered up not only Syria and

He also Ephraim, but his own kingdom also to Assyria. one of the most ancient inheritances of genuine designates as
"

the knowledge that the original account of creation enumerated eight works (light, the firmament, the dry land, plants, the stars, air and water animals, land animals, man),
"

criticism

and that Q impressed

upon

this

older model, which

made

creation take place in eight works, the period of six days This is not shown by the with the concluding Sabbath.
diction, for all is of

one

style, of

one

cast.

But

it is

said to

be indicated by the fact, that the third

and fourth works (dry

land and plants) are forced together into one day, the third, while on the contrary the second and third (the firmament

and the dry land) are torn asunder and assigned to two days, although the creation of birds and fishes form one work, and
consequently the firmament and the dry land should also be In any case however there is more the work of one day. sense in the Hexaemeron than in the unorganized eight works.
Besides, the history of the

world confirms the fact that in

THE IIEXAKAIEEON OF THE ACCOUNT OF CUEATIOX.

processes
of

09

development the middle is wont to be com and the end comparatively stronger than weaker paratively In accordance with this, each triad of creative the beginning.
acts in the process of creation forms a

whole in which what

made

its

appearance in the first is continued in the second

its

and attains
and, as

aim in the

third.

There

is

delicate contrivance

we

think,

fundamental importance in the circum

stance, that the course of creation is effected according to the

o rhythm The Hexaemeron

falls

of the account of creation as

now

extant

two groups of three days, so arranged that the days works of the second group accord with the correspond On the first day light was created, on ing ones of the first.
into

the fourth the heavenly light-giving bodies

on the second

day the vault of heaven dividing the waters from the waters, on the fifth the birds of heaven and the animals of the
waters
;

on the third day,

;

land, the vegetable world

after the appearance of the dry on the sixth land animals, to fill
for their nourishment,
its

the dry land

now provided with herbage

and man, in
climax.

whom

the

whole animal creation reaches

even

if

This parallelism strikes the eye at once. It remains, an older account enumerating eight works without a

division into days is assumed,

when two

equally corresponding

In both groups of four take the place of the groups of three. cases the second series begins with the creation of sun, moon,

and

stars.

It

is

questionable in what sense

for

only

if
it

no
be

consistent connection at all could be perceived could

admitted, that the beginning of the second series is out of But this is not the case. connection with the first (v. Hofm.).
It

may

be conceived, that an advance

to

is

made from

the plants
freely in

which are bound

the soil to substances

moving

So Drechsler, Dillmann, etc., and also space, the stars above. Kiehm, who at the same time remarks, that this is not as

prominent in the Hexaemeron as formerly

that the fourth

now day the commencement

s

\vork has

a hybrid position, forming

of

on one side

the

creation of the freer individual

70

THE TOLEDOTH OF HEAVEX AND EARTH.

equipment of the vault

existences, and being on the other, as the

of heaven, the corresponding half to the clothing of the earth.

For plants clothe and adorn the earthly floor as the heavenly bodies do the superstructure of the whole edifice. Then

would the narrative intimate,

heaven, as Riickert says

as

we

read

in the poets, that

the flowers are the stars of earth, and the stars the flowers of

Die Sonn 1st eine goldne Eos im Blauen, Die Eos ist eine rote Sonn im Griinen. 1

The connection however

of

the

several

acts

of

creation

is

throughout closer, more genetic, and brought about in a more For this very reason, the view that the inward manner. of creation independent individual existences began with the
stars

and then continued in the animals

of air

and water

is

an

unsatisfactory one.

From

plants to

the lower animals, and

from these
;

through the land mammalia to man, there is that in this scale of being sun, moon and stars but progress should form a degree between plants and the lower animals,
too unnatural

is

and far-fetched a notion

to be the

meaning

of

the account.

To me the placing

of the stars in the midst of

the gradually progressive creation of this earthly world has

always seemed and still seems to have another intention. The fundamental condition of all creative development is light,
therefore light

But opens the series of the creative acts. after the Divine fiat has called forth the vegetable world, the
creation of
this

fundamental condition

of

the

continuance

and growth of
of sun,

all life

moon and

stars.

upon earth is completed by the creation Hence this follows the creation of
It

the vegetable and precedes that of the animal world.

was

not possible that plants should arise without light ; but when the creation of the independent creatures is about to take
place, the light is parted into bodies of light,

and

at the

same

time a stable, regular and visible measure of time

is established.

The

alternation of day and night had hitherto been effected

1

The sun is a golden rose in the blue, The rose is a red sun in the careen.

THE HEBDOMAD OF DAYS.

71
s

by the exercise and the cessation of God

"but

creative agency, henceforth they alternate for the good of the creatures, 1 according to the universal timepiece of the heavenly bodies.

Even Budde
the

concedes, with regard to the Decalogue, that

of days

Hebdomad
it.

was not invented, but met with by the

of his

author of the account, even supposing that his original did not
contain
It
is

no plan
is

making, but one Divine and

traditional,

and there

objective truth in the circumstance that

three creative acts of

third
is

God

twice form a whole, and that the

a

in

both instances

double one.
to

For the
subjectivity

rest

however the author has given play

his

by

impressing on the process of creation, even within the frame of the seven days with its twice three work days, many
judicious arithmetical proportions.

creative
is

and directing

word

of

nnsso mwy, Aloth

command, introduced by v. 1, of which

"HO&OI,

ten times issued (the

first,
i.

i.

3 gives the
("rtN^m,

29 the

tenth) and a seven times repeated TP1

ver. 3,

and p~TPi,

vv. 7, 9, 11, 15, 24, 30) confirms the accomplishment of the

uttered will of God.

distinctive
(vv.

threefold Nnp^i refers to

;

God

the
"pm

names
ii.

of

the separate creations

a threefold

22, 28 and

3) records His blessing

;

upon animals, men,

upon the
These relations

and the Sabbath day

of

a sevenfold mtt impresses

creature the seal of the Divine approbation.

inward necessity requires their statement, for a might have followed ver. 2 5 also, but is omitted because the narrative hastens on to the creation of
are significant, but no

number

pm
l

man

the threefold &op

;

(vv. 5, 8,

10)
"inx

is
111

completed, v.

2,

by a

fourth

and with regard

to the ten
"iD&n

),

Dillmann

is

right in

saying, that in ver. 22 also

might stand instead of

The
LXX.,

text of the account of creation, as translated

differs in

by the

many

though non-essential respects from our

Hebrew

text.

This was at that time not as yet so unalterably

1 In this vic\v the relation of the narrative to physical science is not one of such rude antagonism as Driver thinks, who in his article "The Cosmogony of Genesis," in the Expositor 1886, 1, lays special stress on this discord.

72
fixed as subsequently.

GENESIS

I.

1.

Besides, the treatment of his text

is

by

the translator was then freer than

now thought consistent with

Hence
it is

the duty of a believer in the Bible.

difficult to say,

in

most cases
a

whether their Hebrew text of the

LXX. was

different one

are free

from the Masoretic, or whether their divergences Their Hebrew text seems to have modifications.
/cal

actually contained another verse after ver. 9, viz.

TO v8a)p TO vTro/caTO) TOV ovpavov

teal

el?

ra?

away coyas
(DHIDlpD) pre

w(f)07)

77

%r)pd, for

here crvvaywyas avrwv

supposes, instead of

B^D.
in the

o-vvfydr] TO vSwp, the Hebrew ^jW In the second day s work the teal eyeveTO OVTWS stands
teal

LXX.

not after

131

t?jn,

as

in

the

Hebrew
itself,

text,

but

after the creative

command
the

ver. 6,

which in

and

as ver.

14-16 shows,
the

is

more

fitting place.

On

the other

hand

insertion of the /cal elSev 6 #eo? OTI tca\6v after the

s

second
;

day
it

work
there

rests

upon

a short-sighted desire for conformity

purposely absent, because the gathering of the In ver. waters under the firmament was not as yet effected.
is

11

it

inserts

after jnt VITID, /caTa

it

yevos

/cal

ouoioTrjTa,

and

places
11 Ijnt

WD^
"i^tf.

as

stands in ver. 12 of the

Hebrew

text after

It also translates the in^rf* of ver.

12 /caTa 70/05

/cal 6/j,oioT7]Ta,

and

after the second in^rfj reads

pKJviy
KCLTCL

as in

ver. 11, translating ov TO o-Trepfjia avTov ev eVt rf?? ryfjs. These divergences give an

avTa>

yevos

arbitrariness

the superfluous

/cal

impression of o/^oiOT^ra may be a gloss

which has slipped into the Greek

is

text, especially as OJJLOIOTTJS

real

besides not a Septuagint word,

is

lyeveTo OVTWS, after ver.

20,

in accordance with the matter, but unnecessary; the

of.

other divergences are not worth speaking

a various reading in the

It is just

where

LXX. would
7775,

leaves us in the lurch.

striking
/cal

be acceptable, that it Like the Hebrew text, it has the

266, and the extraordinary
teal

irdcr^

T%

eyeveTo OVTW? after ver. 30.

In the The fact of creation in a universal statement. The beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth.
I.

1.

account

is

at once designated as the

work

of the Elohist

by the

GENESIS

I.

1.

73
world might just as
xxxiii.

Divine name D

ritf,

for the Creator of the

e.g.

well have been called mrp, as

in

Ps.
iv.

mrr N-Q,

Isa. iv. 5,
is

with DM^K *O3, Deut.

lirt/g,

32.

comp. This Divine

;

name DM^N
It is

the plural of

certainly striking that the singular

which occurs only in poetry. nfttf is unused in

prose literature, and that in proper

names
is

also there is

not a

employment. with Nestle (Theol. Studicn

D nta
is

trace of its

But there
ecus

no reason

for inferring,

Wurtcmlcrg,

iii.

243), that

related to DvK, as nlnttx,

Aram, nnn^

is

to the nearest as in

plural forms of nipK,

3^ and

that in this case

those

n is only an insertion to be deducted, and hence that Fnfa cannot be regarded as the original singular of DTibtf, but on the contrary as an additional secondary form from this

epenthetic plural.
that
D\"6tf

This inference rests on the assumption and ?$ are derived from the same verbal root.

We

shall have occasion to speak about *$ at xiv. 18. But whether the verbal stem from which it is derived is ^K (^1*0

or n7N\

and means

else, fi/W,

be strong, or to be foremost, or anything from which DTvN is derived, is at all events another
to

verb,

to

which the
is

signification

of

violent

inward anxiety,
s-s.

s
(<id.).

discomposure, fear,

assured by the Arabic

A!!

,J\
iii.

d\

means

in Arabic exactly the

same

as

ina, Hos.
its

5, trepide

confuycre ad aliqucm, and hence

coincides as an appellation of

DTi^x, with

singular rnta,

God with

nna. Gen. xxxi. 42,

53

and

tf")io,

Isa. viii.

13

Fs. Ixxvi. 12.

Eloah, Arab,

-z,7aA,

means reverence, and then the

religious sentiment was and
is

object of reverence.
ix.

Primus

in orbe Deos fecit timor, says Statins (Thebais,

in
its

661), the foundation a deepest

feeling of dependence

and

limitation.
it is

The plural n nta ranks

an external (numerical),
plural.

with

Q^"

^,

&vy3

in heathenism

in Israel

an internally multiplying (intensive)

God

is

thus designated as
reverenced.
Eccles.
,

He who is in the highest degree to be D Wia as an appellation of the all-exalted Creator,

is

xii.

l,is a similar plural (though, according to Baer, not

^"N3,

but

the Masoretically authorized reading).

The

74

GENESIS

I.

1.

verb tna, together with which the Elohist has used ntjty, but never ny, has, as its Piel, tf ia, shows, the fundamental meaning of to cut, to cut out, and then of the forming and fashioning
to

be thus effected.

to designate

the creative agency of the

In other languages also the verbs used Godhead fall back

upon

meanings, e.g. Assyr. patdku (whence pdtiku, creator, synonymous with bdnf), to break, to Arab, u-did-, to make, properly to smooth. With the split
;

similar original material

in Kal has withdrawal of the original material meaning become the special designation for Divine production, which,
N"Q

whether in the realm of nature (Ex. xxxiv. 10

or of spirit (Ps.
li.

Num.

xvi.

30)

12), brings into existence something new,

something not yet or not thus existing. Nowhere is Kin used of human production, nowhere is it found with an accusative of
the matter.
tioned, and
It designates
its

the Divine causality as uncondi

product as being, with respect to its real state,

its

absolutely new, and, as to

ultimate cause, miraculous and

of creation,
e.g.

God-originated.
creation of
of animals
;

There are
a

many modes

the

man was

different

process from the creation

is

the kernel of the notion expressed by K-Q

the

origination of the absolutely new,

and both the beginning in

time of such origination and the finiteness of the originated

are essential

marks

of the notion.

The account begins with an alliteration significant JVIP&rQ. The accentuation distinguishes and ear, as possible each word of this supremely important
K"i2

to eye

as far
verse.

Tifcha, the separative of Athnach, stands

definition of time

in

nWD
;

as the in 11

which

is

separated from what follows

as the separative of Silluk

it

keeps the two objects apart, and the

two ns are made independent by means of Mercha, the servant of Tifcha and Silluk, while Athnach has its Munach as a servant.
Ancient translators
proposition.
all

regard ver.

as

an independent

Hashi

however, and
:

Bunsen, Schrader, Budde construe and the earth was waste and Elohim created heaven and earth
desert, etc.

among moderns Ewald, In the beginning, when

and Grotius
:

then God said

otherwise, Abenezra

GENESIS

T.

1.

75

In the beginning, when Elohim created the heaven and the The former is, accord earth, the earth was waste and desert.
ing to Hos.
i.

2,

syntactically admissible.
so,

according to

vii.

10, xxii. 1, seem equally

:

might, but neither of these

The

latter

examples

is

exactly similar
iii.

vii.

follows the plan of

contem

poraneousness, Josh.

3,

and

xxii. 1 that, viz., of

making the
If the
:

circumstances preceding the principal sentence,

1
"),

xl. 1.

account had begun with JWK"O M* xxii. 1 would be similar It came to pass in the beginning, when God created that
. .
.

when
stands

the earth was

first,

God

said.

Since however no

w\

we must admit
The
sole

that the language proceeds parafor the

tactically.
is,

ground

periodizing construction

that

JW&TD
it is

requires a nearer genitive definition, and that

it

without such
JWfcna, as
micta,
i.

must rather have been, instead of JW&O2, transcribed in Greek /3ap7)o-?j9 (Lagarde, Sym-

comp. Getting. Anzeigcr, 1882, p. 327 sq.), although even then the a may be but a disguised sheva. We have here however a similar case with Deut. xi. 12,
;

113

Isa. xlvi.

10, where

nwi

the
of

nearer

definition

has neither genitive nor suffix, but has to be supplied from the nature
JTtt

the case or the connection.

xii.

&O occurs only once, viz.

Neli.

44, with the

article,

where

nwin

signifies

the

JW6O demanded by
the
first-fruits

the law (Ex. xxiii.

19 and elsewhere),
besides
it

of

the

ground.

Everywhere

is

either defined

by the following genitive, or by its suffix, or the completion of the definition is left to the hearer (reader).
It has

been said that

nwo

is

in a twofold sense an
article it

Aramaism

ranks with TPli?? (so here Onkelos), and (2) because in old Hebrew JW&O does not mean the beginning of an event, but the first (and generally the
best) part of anything.

(1) because in being without

an

The
is

latter is
it,

however untrue

Driver
fig;

rightly refers, in opposition

tree
"

to

to Hos. ix. 10,

where a

in its beginning

"

equal

to,

in the beginning of fig-time

first

also at Gen. x. 10,

rvwi

signifies not the

part, but the

temporal beginning.
at the

The beginning which precedes

or stands
JT

head

of a series or course is

everywhere called

76
(from

GENESIS

I.

1.

^ &O=^N"i,

the head as the foremost).

And

with respect

to the absence of the article, it corresponds,

without being an
tongue, which

Aramaism, with the

here as often
is

spirit of the

old

Hebrew
find
;

undefinable.

We
an

npnna,

but never

nn

always
*"ip,

njb^K")3,

never rup &oa

and on the other hand

article.

Q 7.PP, always without

The Aramaic

and omits determinatives only according to a certain feeling not to be more precisely accounted for. The Targum, Jer. ii., translates rrwa by K|K"|, but
also frequently uses

Hos.

ix.

(early),

10 means an undetermined ?JK3 in the beginning and NTO*i3 is used as well as IW3 for initio (e.g.
not eV

John

In Greek too eV dpxy is used (LXX. here and but TTJV ^PX V (John viii. 23) is rfj apxfi 1), under certain circumstances used for initio.
Gen.
xiii. 4).
i.
J
,

Besides the relativity of the JTO&O

the article does not abolish
it.

is

involved in the notion,

:

Beginning

of

what

relation of the relative

The question still remains First part of what ? What is the notion which must be here added in
:

thought

Lyra (dissenting herein from Eashi) explains

scil.

in

principle,

temporis, but this

is

too abstract, vel productionis

rcntm, but this gives a tautology, for heaven and earth are res, and indeed the very res, with which the Divine creation not only began, but in which it came forth. Nor can the meaning be In the beginning of the world (of things) God created the matter of the universe, for heaven and earth are the
:

universe
both.

itself

in its twofold order, not the

prima materia

of

Hence rpp&o

will here be the beginning of the history

which
of

follows, as eV dpxfi is

meant absolutely
to

of the beginning

existence.

The history

be
for

related
its

from

this

point

onwards has heaven and earth

factors.

object, its

scene, its

At
its

the head of this history stands the creation of the

world as

The
able.

relation in

commencement, or at all events its foundation. which ver. 1 stands to ver. 2 is question

whose creation takes place farther on, on the fourth day, coincides with own of ver. 1, ver. 1 would But the heaven which was be a summary of what follows.
If the heaven,

GENESIS
created on the fourth day
is

I.

1.

77

only the heaven of the earthly

world, while Scripture speaks also of the heaven of heavens, Dent. x. 14, and of the heaven of heavens which are of old,
Ps. Ixviii. 33, therefore of

heavenly spheres above the heaven

of this earth.

Besides, the nBtyj, faciamus, ver. 26, presupposes

beings in the immediate presence of God, of whose creation to that of this (prior, as it appears from Job xxxviii. 4-7, world) nothing
is

said in the narrative.

Hence

ver. 1 states

the fact of
follows

creation

in

an extent which the account that

It
is

does

not

exhaust.

within the
2

all-embracing
takes up
its
its

work

of

creation, stated in ver. 1, that ver.

position, at the point

:

when

the creation of this earth and

heaven begins And the earth was in a state of desolation and rigidity, and darkness was upon the surface of the primaeval waters, and the Spirit of Elohim brooded upon the surface of the
waters.

The

perfect thus preceded

by

its

subject

is

the usual

way
tive

of stating the circumstances under

which a following narra

;

takes place,
xi.

iii.

1, iv. 1, xviii.

1720 Num.
;

xxxii.
;

Judg.
iii.

1, vi.

33

Kings

i.

1 sqq.

Prov.

iv.

3 sq.

Zech.

sq. -L

The
to

chief accent of

nnTi
/r
:

could not here before

inn

have fallen back upon the penultima, because then the two similar tones tho and tha, would have been in
danger of being indistinct
;

seem

in

truth
1

however there

is

This nrvn is no mere very subtile accentualogical reason. found in a condition of inn was it that the earth declares erat,
inm,

when God s
is

condition
1

Its primitive six-days creative agency began. designated by a pair of words of similar sound,
a rule in its place, because sign, and indeed into Mehuespecially
;

The

servus

if it

were to recede
It

Mercha before Pashta remains as it must be changed into another

Hence here
lilh

pach.

therefoae maintains its

position unaltered

when the
JIJTl

accent Rebia, precedes.

(xivii.
3),

HJVn

p^ni
>

comp.

J^

or6 ^P^J
>

wn
ny i

(Ex. xvi. 22), ri2

nwta ^
(2

(*w. xxxi
-rai
iii.

ru &oar6 ~vn
niy

(i

Sam.

xxvii. 11),

^
(HOS.

I-IDI

n^n
2),

Sam.

xvii. s),

(isa. xiv. i),

nn

Dnas

xii.

^13 \TI

"ivixn

(Mai.

10),

and elsewhere.

78

GENESIS

I.

1.

and such-like endings (rhymes) and

KOI xprfais,
\6<ya)

alliterations (comp.

teal epyqj,

ep<yov

Kal eVo?) are found through

out the Pentateuch,

Deut.

ii.

15.

inn
x\j,

12; Ex. xxiii. 1; Num. v. 18, 24; = = l;)) comes from the Y. nnn, Aram. ( tf?n
iv.

Knn, Arab.
(attonituwi

to

roar,

to

be desolate, to
desolation,

be

confounded
emptiness,
Syriac

csse),

and means

vastitas,

formlessness.

inh

("lip")??)

has, according to the

and the secondary verb Enn

(to

be closed, deaf, stupid), the

the inn

meaning

of heaviness, unconsciousness, lifelessness,

paired with inn does not with the separative accent read regularly ^nhl, but with the first sound kametz, inhl (see Ps. The sound as well as the meaning of the pair of Iv. 10).

words

is

awe-inspiring

the earth according to

its

substratum

book
V\T)

was a desolate and dead mass, in a word a chaos (%o?). The of Wisdom xi. 18 has for it the philosophic appellation
a/jLop<j>o?,

in opposition to

which the LXX. by translating

fixes

doparo?

teal

aKarao-fcevacrTos

of ideal pre-existence in the

cerning which the account

the

is

in the aoparos that stage Divine plan of the world con silent. The question whether

mm
the

inn

is

to

be regarded as potentially including not

only earth but also heaven,

of
narrative,

must according
agrees

to

the meaning

which

herein

with other ancient

cosmogonies, be answered in the affirmative.

as

The
for

chaos,
also

which

the

developing

earth

existed,

embraced
it.

the

heaven which was developing with

is left

and

The

substance of the imi inn

of
f^K,

undefined

inn is the

synonym

DSK, np^3, Son

and the

like,

and

is

therefore a purely
it

negative notion.
ninn
Dinn,
^srity,
i.e.

Or does the
that the

narrative,

when

continues -jem

mean

mm

inn

were as
?

to their substance
is

a mass of surging waters

No, the Dinn

not the

imi
if

mn

themselves, but the flooding of the chaos, and, especially

its as

the earth in

yet chaotic state, already forms part of the

preparation of the six days work.

In

this sense Ps. civ. says of

the earth
(1JVD3,

Thou

coveredst

it

with the Dinn as with a garment

Isa. Ix. 18, Ixvi. 8);

per

attract, for nn^D3,

comp.

and in the

book

of

Job we read of the

sea, xxxviii.

"

I protected the sea

GENESIS

I.

1.

79

with doors, when

I

it

brake forth, issued from the

womb

when

made

the clouds the garment thereof, and thick darkness a

it."

swaddling-band for

This means the state of chaos out of

which the primeval waters, at first enveloped in vapour and It corre clouds, came forth as from their mother s womb.
sponds to

Bdav
;

1
O""

?),

personified as a

woman

in the Phoenician
it is

cosmogony
primseval

but in the Babylonian in Berosus

the dark

flood

which
of
Sin,

as

Umm-arka, Mother
of

Erech,

O^opwica (perhaps the same as a second name of the wife

in

the

moon -god
as

honoured
This

Erech
the

or

Warka)
i.e.

is

personified

female.

becomes

rrhr\,

the

originating cause (matrix), there combined with

ddXa-rra, of

heaven and

earth,

which

arise

from

its

being rent asunder.

In

the cuneiform fragments also of the Babylonio-Assyrian legend

of

the creation, the primseval deep and chaos are identical.

is

Chaos
Ocean)

called

ti

amtu

(tdmtu),

and
of

this
all

(a

synon. of apsu,

is

the producing mother

in

tilings.

Hence
are

the

word
almost

is

all

Babylonio-Assyrian feminine, nouns formed with the prefix ta,

is

as

in

Hebr.

e.g.

n^nri, nawri.
"W

The form Dinn

E*P\,

comp. noun-form with the prefix ja. If the stem were Dnn (DMZ. xxvi. 211 sq.), Qinn would be a form like Aram, ^n, lina to us however it seems more probable

an ancient formation like ^f),

which

is

just as old a

"iton,

that Din (akin to iron), to roar, to bluster,

"

is

the stem-word.

a nonentity. If chaos," says Dillmann, once the notion of an Almighty God is so far developed that He is also conceived of as the author of matter, the application
"

created

is

of chaos in the doctrine of creation

For such a God will not

form, but

first

create

must consequently cease. the matter and then the

the account

both

together."

Certainly

does

not

expressly say that

so
-

God

created chaos, on which account the

Zockler,
its
first

called

restitution hypothesis, as

post-

Eeformation advocate, disclosed to the Arminian Episcopius, 1

fancies
1

itself justified

in

assuming that the chaos was the

"

But compare Job.

Delitzscli (t 3 Feb. 1876),

Ein

altes Theologumenon,"

in the Luth. Zeitschrift, 1872.

80

GENESIS

I.

1.

consequence of a derangement connected with the

angels,

fall of

the
of a

and that the

six

days creation

was the restoration

new world from

should have

the ruin of the old.

But

(1) if

by chaos were

meant the deposit of such a process in the

*nrn instead of
nn"m
;

spirit-world,

we

(2) this notion is a

Theo-

logumen read into the and Holy Scripture

;

text,

and not one

to be

proved by
of
it

(3)

we

have

no

need

to
its

understand that the creation of the earthly world had For on the one hand the beginning from a chaos.
comprising
statement, ver.
1,

all-

at the

head of the narrative,

not only the former, but the creator of the world, to the exclusion of anything originating apart from
declares that
is

God

Him

on the other hand, the circumstance that chaos

is

is

not

expressly stated to have been created

by God, explained by chaos being only a means not an end, only the substratum of the work of creation and not properly such a creative work itself; God made it the foundation of His creative agency, for the purpose of gradually doing away with it. For the world
is

the non-Divine, the creation of the world

is

the realization

of

something different from God.

first

Hence the world comes

to its contrast

forth
to

of all in a condition
it

which answers

God, and

is

in the course of the six days

work

raised

out of this condition into one pleasing to God, and in which the problem of
its history, concentrated as it is in man, is to an If it does not develop ever-increasing likeness to God. contradict the idea of an Almighty God that the development

of the cosmos

was

effected in a series of gradually advancing

His having made chaotic primitive matter, as yet formless and confused, the foundation of this development. Such a foundation is even
creative epochs, neither will

the fact

of

of the highest cosmical

and ethic

significance, for the raising

world out of chaos involves the possibility of its reverting thereto, and of the relapse of man to that materiality which is the foundation of his being. The possibility of such

up

of the

a reversion to the tohu-wa-bohu

of judgment,

is

pointed out by pictures

such as

Isa.

xxxiv.

8-11,

Jer.

iv.

23-26,

GENESIS

I.

3-5.

81

representing primitive matter as a fiery stream the process of formation was indeed prepared for by the thohu being flooded over by the thehoni.

which go
;

i;ear

to

Darkness

(^n V

t?n,

to

press

together,

to

thicken,

see

comm. on the Psalms on 2 Sam. xxii. 12) settled over this flood of waters, in which the fervid heat of chaos was quenched but though there was now present in water the
;

solvent

which

brings

all

matter

into

contact

and inter

devoid of plan would have action, only resulted had not the Spirit of God hovered over the waters.
accidental

forms

Dillmann rightly
the

finds in this ^Iprnp a

"

"

delicate allusion
"
"

to

myth

of the world-egg.

Encycl. Britannica) translates

Cheyne (art. Cosmogony the wind of Elohim." Certainly

"

in the

nn means breeze and

the

spirit,

t\m however cannot be said of

the
action
:

wind, but

indicates

that

of

the

Spirit

is

similar to that of a bird, as Milton says

"

Dove-like sat st brooding on the vast

abyss."

For

^Hi

means,

according to

loose, so that they touch

607), and then both to to hover down in flight

translates
i.

its root, to keep the wings and yet do not touch (DMZ. xxxix. brood with loose wings over and

upon

anything.

The

Ethiopia

jeselel,

he overshadowed, with reference to Luke

35, but the real

New

The sanction

of the

Testament parallel Spirit of God, even

is

is

Matt.

iii.

16.

Him who came

down

in the

form of a dove upon Jesus,

compared with the

The Jerus. Targum calls this Spirit Nnn brooding of a bird. the spirit of love, and the Midrash on Genesis ch. viii. is
I

wn,

even so bold

as

to

say that

He

is

/won

"jta

^ Tin,

the

Spirit of the future Christ.

The First
Yer.
2,

Day

of Creation,

i.

3-5.

states the

beginning with the chief historical tense circumstances under which the creative acts of the F

82
six days

GENESIS

T.

3-5.

now
:

sentences
first of

Then Elohim

take place, in a verb sentence and two noun The said, Let ligld be : and light was.
i.e.

the beings of the Cosmos,

(nitf

of the ordered universe,

-i,

was

light

with the vibrating sound

n&n).

which

is

also

characteristic

of

The

creation
creation

of
;

light
for

forms

the

commencement

of

the acts of

as

water, the

primitive matter, leads to

new

material combinations, so are

the forces manifesting themselves, as light with heat (litf, lux, and TIN, calor\ the conditio sine qua non of all further
origination of separate beings.
being, light not at
especially to
first

Primitive light comes into

to the
;

restricted

heavenly bodies,
for the source of

that source of light the sun

is

primitive light
it

God.

But not

in an emanative sense, for

the fiat of God, that word in which His will

t|

comes into being through the creative word of command, is comprised and
n*i
")OS

energised

Nin^
is

ps

xxxiii.

9,

comp.

6.

His
its
:

calling

the light into being

the commencement, and

its genesis, ver.

appearing
Eloliim
the

good in His sight

is

the close of

And

say: the light, that it

was good

and Eloliim divided between

xii.

light

and
ii.

the darkness.

Eccles.

24)

it is

Instead of Kin HID (comp. Ex. here briefly niD, as in the Hodu Ps.

cvi. 1,

and frequently; and instead of: He saw that the light was good, He saw the light, that (it) was good, that which it is said
:

was perceived being divided

i.e.

into a nearer

and a more

distant,

a
c.

predicative
inf.,

ace.

(corresponding with the classical inasmuch as the accusative is after the model of
object

Apollonios Dyskolos attracted to the finite), as in vi. 2, xii. 14, xiii. 10, xlix. 15 Ex. ii. 2 Ps. xxv. 19 Prov. xxiii. 31
; ;
; ;

Eccles.
J"WB?,

ii.

24,

viii.

17
4
;

Gal.

iv.

11
8
;

comp. the similar

it?aj

^ND>

Kings

xix.

Jonah

iv.

construction with the undivided object,

and on the other hand, the iii. 6. Chaos with

the dark primaeval waters

of God,

is

far

below the ultimate purpose

i.e.

who

did not create the earth, inn,

inn, Isa.

riot

that

it

might be and continue a

light

xlv.

18.

The creation

of

works by means of which the world, now being brought into existence, became step by step

was the

first

of those

GENESIS

I.

3-5.

Sli

an

object

of

the

Divine

complacency.

The
to

separation

between

light

and darkness henceforth secures

both their

The appearance of light is the first independent peculiarity. not absolutely do away with but does of creation, morning darkness light and darkness are separated, that from this
;

time forth they

place of a single
prefers

may
p,
as

alternate

in conformity with law.

In

the account with circumstantial solemnity

e.g.

pi

p,
is

does also Cicero

.

in Laelius,

c.

25

quid

intcrsit

inter
"D,

popularem

et

inter constantem.

The

testimony, niD

given to the
:

light,

not to the darkness, but

Eloliim called the light

both are named by God, ver. 5

"Day"

And
first

and

the darkness called

He

"Night"

And
it

it

was evening
called the
;

and was morning

"

one day (the

day).
this

He

light

day,"

i.e.

by the name day

ii.

gave

name

coinp.

xxxi.

47 with

20. xxvi. 18, where DS? also stands.

is

The

name, as given by God,

the seal of the future
ness
;

the expression of the nature and

of appearance of light and dark
are

mode

the

many tongued human names

-

but
is

lisping

attempts to denote the nature of things.

Day

called in
;

Hebrew

D1\ Assyr.

comp. D^, and hence of light

less
7;

xxxvi.

umu, perhaps related with Dh (xviii. 1 24 = DW, thermw), as the time of warmth
;

night,

and therefore an accusative-adverbial

fOT (here in pause iM, with a tone a, like modern Greek

vvKTa, vvftQa), perhaps as the time of veiling and enveloping out of lW?) in Assyr. the plural is lildti, which a fern. presupposes sing, lilatu, Ultu, and besides usually means the evening in distinction from musu, night. When then it is

(from

W>

evening the terminus a quo is the morning, which dawned with the creation of light, and the which follows the

morning

evening is that which begins the second day, and therefore terminates the first. Hence the days of the Hexaiimeron are
not reckoned from evening to evening, 14; 2 Cor. xi. 25), according to the
ecclesiastical

w^O^epa

(Dan.

viii.

computation of

the

Mosaic calendar, but from morning subsequent to morning, as the Babylonians reckoned their days. For,
says Pliny,
h. n.
ii.

79, alii aliter olservavcre, Balylonii inter

84
duos
soils

GENESIS
cxortus.
1

I.

3-5.

The evening seems

to be called

2"$,

as

being

the mingling of light with darkness, the

twilight, in

which the darkness begins to be overcome by the light. According however to the Assyr. irib samsi, sun going in

BWn

K13O, it

means the time of the going in (setting) of the

sun, from erebu, to go in, to go down, like Isa. xxiv. 11,

nmy

nrw^D,
(comp.
first

all

joy

is

gone down.
of

i|?i

without doubt means

properly the
">to?,

breaking, viz.
"fin?,

light,

hence early morning

T^s?,
Di
iv.

a youth, where the breaking forth, the

appearance, the
11

notion),
as

"inK

is

early, is everywhere the fundamental found instead of pt?&n DV, nntf being used

in

ii.

11,

19, and in rmsfe

in^ ^[a rwv aappdrcov,

;

Matt, xxviii.

1, equivalent to
is

juwi

the day which forms

the cardo ordinis

article is absent as it regularly

tion.

With

designated by the cardinal number, the is in a casting up enumera to the respect length of the days of creation we
:

would say with Augustine (de civ. Dei, xi. 6) Qui dies cujusmodi sint, aut perdifficile nobis aut etiam impossibile est cogitare,

Days of God are intended, and with guanto magis dicere. Him a thousand years are but as a day that is past, Ps. xc. 4.

M Donald,
days
of

Dawson, and
are,

others,

who
to

are convinced that the

creation
itself,

according

the

meaning

of

Holy

Scripture
1

not days of four-and-twenty hours, but asons,

2

are perfectly right.

of time cannot

For
to

this earthly

and human measurement

if only because apply the sun, the measurer of time, did not as yet exist nor to the Sabbath, because there the limiting formula is absent
first

the

three days,

while

it

by no means follows that the remaining three days

of

were days
1

four-and-twenty hours, because they elapsed

This twofold manner of reckoning days, sometimes from morning, some times from evening twilight, is found in the Avesta as well as in the Thorah ; see Spiegel, "Zur Gesch. des Avestakalenders, in DMZ. xxxviii. 433 sq. 2 According to a subsequent Indian view, the history of the world runs its
"

course in an infinite series of creations

and destructions (comp. a

:

similar state

ment

in Weber, Synagogale Theologie, p. 193 sq.) "The entire duration of the continuance of one of these creations is called a day, the interval of

destruction until the next renovation a night of

Brahma

"

see

Holtzmann

in

DMZ.

xxxviii. 192.

GENESIS

I.

6-8.

85

between morning and morning.

work

of

God
week.

according

to

the image of

The account represents the human days, which

of

together with

the Sabbath
It
lies,

form the primitive type

the

human
that
it

however, in the nature of the copy

1

should correspond only on a very reduced scale with

its

the incommensurable greatness of

original.

limit

is

put to the six work-days only to give them in distinction The from the Sabbath the character of terminated periods. anew is called time at which the creative agency ever began

morning
foolish

the time at which the Creator brought His

2

work

to

a close, evening.
notion,

It

is

a childish, or to speak plainly,

arbitrarily

forced

upon the
it

narrative with

out compulsory reasons, to

make

measure the lapse of time

from morning
of

human

evening and to morning again by a clock manufacture.

to

The Second Day of Creation,

i.

68.

Darkness having been on the first day broken up by light, the primaeval waters are now also broken up and separated, ver. 6
:

Then Elohim
waters,

said, Let there be a

firmament in
h

the

midst of the

and

let it be

dividing between waters against waters, more

;

accurately towards waters

the

(with a fore-tone Kametz)

ii.

is

that of relation, here, as in

Jonah

17, the local direction:

;

between the waters towards the other waters

the division
is effected, T^i
Vi?"),
. . .

in ver. 7,

when

pa stands instead, as at 4b.

The LXX.

translates

crrepeco/^a,

Jerome firmamentum, Gr.

rd/j,a

Ven. coming nearer to the root notion with a self-made

(after rera^at,

from
to

Teivco).

The stem-word

yp"i

means

to tread

(comp.

ip-),

.^ij

stamp on the ground,

tdlusj,

as in the Horatian

nunc pedz
1

libero

pidsanda
"

then also to make thin, close

Driver also admits

that the writer

it.

may have
left

consciously used the term

figuratively." 2

We

assert
:

formerly thought

at

which the Creator

His work to

its

own now

established development. But if the evening means a pause in creating, a pause of rest extending from the evening of the sixth day till the morning of

the seventh would have preceded the Sabbath of creation.

86
and
firm,

GENESIS

I.

6-8.

and in

this

way

to extend, to

stretch out.

The
is

higher ethereal

region, the so-called atmosphere, the sky,

is

here meant

it

represented as the semi-spherical vault of

its

heaven stretched over the earth and

waters, Prov.
opificio

viii.

27

Job

xxvi.
:

10.

What

Petavius

(de

mundi) here

remarks

Ccetum aereum

o-repeco/ua dicitur

non natures propria

conditions, sed ab effectu,

cssct

quod perinde aquas separet, ac si murus have forced itself upon ancient observa must solidissimus,
Di s np

tion also.

the place of VIstantive in

dividing,"

might, agreeably to the meaning, have taken ^30 is not to be understood as a sub

the

meaning of a
135.

partition, but
"

as

"

let
"

it

be

which includes the notion

5).

permanently

(Driver,

Hebrew

Tenses,

It is intentionally that
is

^)

is

not

used, but that the statement of what

to be henceforth a

law of
;

nature

is
ix.

Deut.

expressed in the tempus durans (comp. Num. xiv. 33 Ver. 7 gives the carrying out of that which was 7).
:

thus called into being

And
it

Eloliim

made

the

firmament, and

divided between the waters beneath the firmament

above the firmament
;

and
is

the waters

and
6,

was

so.

This p-\Ti

placed by
24,
its

the

LXX.
the

after ver.

where, according to vv.

It

9, 15,

original place
after

may

have been.
fiat,

everywhere
its

else

stands

creative

but

here

after

accomplishment,
"

declaring that the Divine will which had been expressed was
fulfilled in

and by the Divine operation.

waters," it

Instead of

between
the

the waters towards the

is

here said,

"between

waters which are below and the waters which are above the

firmament

"

^nnp meaning beneath,

>$?

above, whereas

^J;E>

nnnD with a genitive following means from beneath, 9, and with a genitive following means from above, Ex. xxv.
22,
vii.

17.
"

cxlviii. 4,

The upper waters the waters D^ ^n SjJ

(e.g. xl.

are
"

however called in Ps.

with a gen. following
t ^VD, as
"
"

5>JJD

sometimes coincides
with
"

1 7)

with

over

does

above."

The upper waters

us, the

are the mists

and clouds

which move above

of heaven, from

which
or, to

rain, bursting

watery masses clinging to the arch from the clouds, descends

upon the

earth,

use a scientific term of similar meaning,

GENESIS
"

I.

C-8.

87

the meteoric

"

water.

Eain

is

described in the Old Testament

as the

emptying

of the water-stores of heaven, the water-gates

(vii.

or sluices of heaven being opened

11

Ps. civ. 3, 13),

and

the heavenly waters, as

it

were,

drawn

off

(Job

xxxvi. 27),

and channels, the paths

xxxviii.

for the lightnings, cleft for

is

them (Job
still

24

sq.)

the ancient representation

herein

incomplete, but in such descriptions the poetic form of state ment chiefly prevails. After God had called forth the firmament

by His

creative word,
is

and then

effectually carried

out His

purpose (as the Latin perftcere

stated

by njyy, which corresponds more with than with facere), it received from Him its
Eloliim
called
the
"

name,

ver.
it

And

Heaven." firmament was evening and was morning a second day. The
:

And

form &
really just

is

only apparently a dual (DMZ.

xviii.

104), being
rp!j?,

as

much

a plural as the
of

Phceri.

D^^,

Assyr.

same, with the

retention

the

third

letter
{,,

of

the

stem
j^a,

(comp. the Chald. participles of verbs

pass.
ft|3),

which make
nBK>

for the primitive

form

of the verb

is

1EB>,

whence

the Arab, plural samawdt, or

samajdt
extollere)
(viii.

whence the ^Eth. plural is it means, to be high to raise, (Arab. U^, with also in ancient Greek to Strabo according
*OSP,
c_>,

<rdp,oi,

19, x. 17),

means ra

1^77.

The

spirit of the
D^lDty

language

as little thinks of a plurality of

cccli ;

heavens in

as in ovpavot,

here especially

is

meant the atmosphere stretched over

(see

us like a vault.

The plural
liebr.

on this matter Dietrich

Abhandlung zur

Grammatik,

1846)

denotes

the

im

measurable heights and distances among which the up-looking eye loses itself. Scripture calls the heavens which span in
continuous
circles

the heaven
has, after

of

this

earthly

world

WJ

The LXX.
o?

the Divine naming, KOI elbev o

on

KO\OV*

sidered ana

here

"God

The account however contains seven well con the seventh and last of which is IND niB. And ^, saw that it was good" would be as yet out of
firmament divides the upper from the under still form a boundless con
still

place, for the

waters, but the waters beneath

tinuity,

which

holds imprisoned within

it

the developing

88
earth.

GENESIS

I.

9-13.

Hence the

31B

is

reserved for the

work

of the next

day.

The Third Day of Creation,

i.

9-13.
s

The

first

creative act of the third day

of the

work consisted
the

in

the embanking

lower waters and the formation of the

said,

dry land,

ver.

And Elohim

Let

waters gather

together from under the heaven to one place, and let the dry land The Niphal nijpj has here a reflexive appear : and it was so.

meaning, to gather together, as at Jer. iii. 17, to accumulate. D DB n nnrip is not a virtual adjective to D on the waters
:

situated under heaven, but

to gather together while in

belongs to the jussive

they are

sinking they recede from heaven

nt^iP

(comp. Jer.
n K~rt

x.

11).
its

The intensive form

denotes the land

according to

permanent quality
tell

of dry ness.

The

jussive

commands only

the appearing which strikes the senses.

The account does not

us the manner in which the at

relief
its

first

embryonic earth floating in the waters with its and valleys came into existence. What made

of hills

appearance

when

the waters gathered into one place

Ps.
civ.

is

graphically par
rose, the valleys

ticularized,

sq.

The mountains
miles.

sank, as Hilarius Pictav. says in his Genesis, ver.

97

sq.

colics

tumor arduus
their

cffert,

Subsidunt

The LXX. had

in

Hebrew

KT\. after

p w.

text the description of this event: ical (rvvfyQ r) In our text the allotment of the name:

follows immediately on p-TVl, ver. 10

And Elohim

called the

dry land

"Earth;"
"

and

the gathering place of the waters called

He

"

Seas

and Elohim saw

that

it

(was) good.

While God
this

separates things according to their natures,

act separates also notions

He by
it

and names
act.

human naming

is

very but

the distant echo of this Divine

in
its

Above

was the earth

ver.
2.
o,f

entirety, ver.

1,

and then the chaotic mass,

(as
it

which was called

P^n
tne

is

always written instead

of

pNJ)
a

now

>

a ^ er

separation

the

dry land and

tlie

waters, the land obtains the

name ptf
probably

(Assyr. irsituv,

with
time

feminine

ending), which

means

properly

GENESIS

I.

9-13.

89
Mf

ground under our

feet,

from
i.e.

H?

related with pn,

^>j,

to

tread down, pn, to run,

according to

Virgil,

cclcri

peek

pulsare
receives

humum. And the gathering the name && (different from D

it

place
EJ,

of

the

waters

and therefore not

derived like

from a middle vowelled, but from a geminatum

is

verbal stem), the seas or ocean, for the plural

here con

ceived of as singular and intensive (and construed accordingly,

Ps. xlvi. 3
,

sq.).

The sea
rivers

in its origin

is

represented as a
lesser

connected whole, in respect of which

especially the
noticed.

the

reservoirs,

which

it

receives
sea,

into

itself,

are

un

After the basin of the

that

Divine bulwark
v.

against the pressure of the waves, Job xxxviii. 11, Jer.

22,

has come into existence

ever,

God

finds it good.

The dry land how

which

is still

bare and empty,

creative act
is

He

cannot as yet find good.

11

Hence a second
the
said,
first,

on the third day added to

:

the world of plants arises, ver.

And

Eloliim

Let the earth sprouting sprout forth green, seed-yielding

herbs, fruit trees bearing fruit after their (the fruit trees) kind,

in which (in which fruit) their (the fruit trees) seed is, upon KWlft has the the earth : and it was so. euphonic Gaja to ensure a clear pronunciation to i before w, as in nbhf^ Ex.
xxviii.

22, to

"i

before w.

nb>

has the tone

*"|S,

falling

back

Dag. forte conjunctivum. regularly on the penultima, and *n3 It is a question whether in fa np y the suffix of iro^ falls but certainly reference to the fruit back on na or na py

accented accordingly) is intended, the (which fruit of the fruit tree is determined according to its species.
tree
is

also

The
(Fr.

fruit is called

na, as that which has

come

forth or from

Delitzsch, Proleg.

114),

i.e.

in virtue

of the productive
is

vegetative power of the plant.

semen, from
serere,

The seed
piD,

called

snt,

like
$.

the kind pp, from

;

finger e (comp.

^U,

to think, to consider

^U,
to

fut.

i,

to feign),

whence

also n:mri,

thus

answering exactly

the

Greek

eZ8o?,

and the Latin

refers

species.

The meaning

sulcarc, to

which Dillmann

this
first

word

in the sense of division, seems

U U,

fut.

i,

to

have

90

GENESIS

I.

9-13.

gained the meaning sulcare as a clenom. from

j Uucv,

furrow;

and the Assyr. minu, number

Language,
p.

mwju

(Fr.

Delitzsch,

Hebrew

40
Fr.

sq.),

is

related to j^p
s

=
"iBpO.

Moreover the

remark in

Delitzsch

Proleg.

notions po does not so

kinds,
is

much
three,

144, that in collective signify kind as distinction of

but two kinds of plants are

correct.

Not

For KBH according to the schema etymologicum distinguished. belongs to Ntjnn, and is hence the conception of a species, KBH denotes plants iA the first which is then specialized.
stage of
their origin, the

agricultural picture,

young sprouting green (comp. the Prov. xxvii. 25: the hay is carried, and
"

the sen, the second crop growing afterwards, showeth

itself")

which growing up becomes, some of The herbs are called yy, trees.
;

it

u^y, herbs,

some

of

it

JP")Tp,

seed-forming, seeding,

what they become while maturing cornp. on the other hand SHf, seed-bearing, ver. 29, when come to maturity; both Hiph. and Kal are in this sense denominative. The final word oi
the creative
fiat,

KlKrrpJJ, falls
")

back upon N^in

is

for

if

con

nected with imjnT

S a false distinction

the result, since

a distinction which herbs also yield their seed upon the earth, is also inadequately expressed, for it should be i?JJD instead of
i?y.

Thus the earth

i.e.

is

to bring

forth

these kinds of plants

upon the earth,

ment, ver. 12,

as a clothing for itself.

The accomplish
kind,

is

thus stated:

And

the earth sprouting brought

)

forth green, herbs yielding seed after their (the herbs

trees

and

bearing fruit, wherein

)

is their

(the trees

seed, after their

was good. While there is now no generation of organic existences from lifeless matter, the world of plants originally came into existence through the earth being miraculously fertilized by the word of
(the trees

kind

and Elohim saw

that

it

God.

And

here,

on the third day, the narrative relegates the

severance of the kinds entirely to the beginning of creation. Instead of frCT we have here in ver. 1 2 tfww twice, with the
suffix ehu,

from ahu, customary with nouns from verbs

rare.
:

fo,

but
is

elsewhere

The second
"

creative act of the third

it

day

also sealed with

Elohim saw that

(was)

good."

On

the

GENESIS

I.

1419.

91
all,

day we have niB^S once, on the second not at 1 o Both triads represent the scheme third twice.
first

on the

ver.

13

And

it

was evening and was morning

The Fourth

a third day.

Day
is

of Creation,
parallel

i.

14-19.
first.

The fourth work

first

day
-

with the
the

On

the

light

was

created,
light

on the fourth
giving bodies.

firmament was

endowed with the

on the
to

The generation and

existence of plants was not possible without the light created

first day; but now, when creation rises from plant-life animated living beings, light is separated and united to

heavenly bodies as regulators of the application of to the earth, ver. 14 And Elohim said Let there be
:

its

benefits

lights

in the

firmament let them le for

of heaven, to
signs,

divide between the

day and

the night;

and

and for

seasons (serving to

and for

(the

measurement

of)

days and

measure them), The Divine years.

:

Let there

be, is still

^\ though followed by a plural subject,

ix.

as at v. 23, ix. 29,

is

Num.

and the same enallage numeri

even with a not subsequent but preced 140. 3); here too it is apparent ing material subject (Ges. that the notion which is in Hebrew combined with the plural

found Ex.

xxviii. 7,

is

originally and predominantly rather cumulative than multi

plicative.

The

light is called

"litf,

the lights

(light-bearers,

light-bodies) rrfe,

LXX.
;

(frwarTJpes (once, Ps. cxxxvi. 7, with

poetic boldness

D^}itf

accuracy

"NN

^^p).

and once, Ezek. xxxii. 8, with peculiar The lights called into existence in the
:

1. firmament of heaven have (A) the double special purpose of dividing the entire day into two halves, a day-half and a

night-half

2.

they are to serve

2
i.e.

(^ni, ct fiant,

ruled by the pre

= ceding jussive) (a) for nhfc, signs (plur. of nix awajat,

related to mn, nxn),
of heaven, or also

from

niK,

signs of the weather, of the quarters

of historical occurrences (com p. Jer. x. 2,

where D^^n mnK

1

refer to astrological prognosis),

called

whether in a

Hence Tuesday

is

by the Jews

Ki-tol),

and reckoned a lucky day, and

therefore a favourite wedding-day. 2 So also Friedr. Delitzsch, Proleg. 116 sq.

92
regular
or,
;

GENESIS
like Matt.

I.

14-19.

ii.

2,

Luke

xxi.

25, an extraordinary

manner (6) for &H$ D (comp. the echo, Ps. civ. 9), limits of time (from nyi, to predetermine whether space or time), i.e. for
the intimation and regulation of definite periods and intervals
of time, in virtue of their periodic influence

upon husbandry, and the work human of other navigation, callings, as well as of human the course animal and life (the growth upon plant,
plants,

of

the

coupling time
;

of

animals, the

migration of

D^ fl tW, days and years, i.e. for (c) the demarcation of the length of the days and of the lunar
birds, Jer. viii. 7)
for

and

solar

years.

The months

are

included in

the

3B>;

but the week, as a unit of time not measured by either sun

or moon,
njfe^ Assyr. sattu, (from santu\ seems to mean change or vicissitude, the \y of rot?, to fold, to be double (whence the name of the number
<U~:,

is

left

out of consideration,

two), having a different phonetic value (Aram, n, Arab. ^J)

from the w of
twofold
ver.

ruB>,

a year (Aram,

t?,

special
:

purpose now

follows

Arab. ^w). After the the general one, (B)

15

And

let

them

be

for
:

lights in the
it

firmament of heaven,

to give light

bodies) are to

upon become

the earth

and

was

so.

The

lights (light-

lights (light-sources) to give light

upon

and

for the earth.

Wisdom
16
:

called into being, ver.

lights
;

then carries out what omnipotence And Elohim made the two great

the great light

for the ruling of the day, and the small

the night
:

light

for the riding of

and

the stars.

Both

lights are

great in respect of the

to the
earth,

amount

of light proceeding from

them

but of different magnitude among

is

themselves.

The

greater light

appointed for the ruling of the day, the

less for the ruling of the night.

Mythology makes Samas and

heaven, Trpvrdveis KOCT^OV is a designation of the

Sin gods and kings, the lights of Seoi (Wisd. xiii. 2) but here
;

""V?^?

predominant agency of the two lights of heaven which gives but a distant reminiscence of this personification and deifica
heathen myths are in the mind and speech of revealed religion reduced to rhetorical metaphors and poetic images.
tion,

The

sun,

Btet?,

and moon,

rnj,

are

left

unnamed, the narrator

GENESIS

I.

20-23.

93
it is

designating by describing them. he does not say that God gave

And

intentionally that

them names.
is

The Semitic

names

of the

sun and moon

are of so accidental a nature, that

the reference of
omitted.

them

to

Divine appellation

deliberately

The giving

of

night, heaven, earth, sea,

v. 2,

names by God is restricted to day, to which is only added as a sixth,

the

name

of

man

(DIN).
:

The

creation of the stars

is

D^Dian the stars as round bodies, for 3313

333, to

despatched in

two words

n&o.
is

The name designates

softened from 2333 (from

be rolled, to be round), just as ralral, Syr., becomes The narrative intends the starry heavens of this raurdb.
earthly world, in which the sun and
lights.

moon appear

as great

The formation
18

of the heavenly lights is followed

by

their local establishment with a recapitulation of their desti

nation, vv. 17,

And

Eloliim placed them in the firmament

the

of heaven,
the night,

to give light

upon

earth,

and

to rule the

and
of

to

divide between the light

it

and

the
jro

day and darkness : and

combines the
concealed in

Eloliim saw that

notions

Oetvai

was good. The verb and Sovvai, like the

finj

Light and darkness here stand for day and and the destination, to be for signs and measures night, 14a, The Divine of time, which there follows, 145, is umnentioned.
run, Ps. viii. 2.

work of the fourth day to be completed, and an evening and morning now produced by sun and moon And it was evening, and was morning a closes it, ver. 19
31D acknowledges the
:

fourth day.

The Fifth Day of Creation,

i.

20-23.
being determined
of
light,

The time
by the
that

of

all

earthly

occurrences

creation

of

the stars, condition

and the regularity

of
all

fundamental
first

earthly

life,

secured,
into

the

self-moving animated beings are

now

called

existence.

The work of the second day had separated the waters below from the waters above by means of the atmo sphere, that of the fifth peoples both the waters and the air
with beings moving freely in them,
ver.

20

And Elohim

94
said,

GENESIS
Let
let

I.

20-23.

the

waters

swarm forth a swarm of

the

living

souls,

and

fowl fly upon

earth on the face of the firmament of

of the birds is left undefined,
1

heaven.

The component matter

with the accus. (like

that of the

For

n^

water animals also not being distinctly stated. fSpveiv, Jas. iii. 11, with the

intransitive

Ppvew
30

rm or
:

-7-^09)

bring forth out of itself in a

(Jahv.), Ps. cv.
to

does not necessarily mean to swarming mass, but like Ex. vii. 2 8
:

bring to light in a swarming mass. Meanwhile the narrative places the water animals and birds
at their origin in a relation to their elements

even

water and

air

which

limits their condition.

The LXX.

translates n;n

wm pp,

ep7TTa TJrVXcov ^worcov ; but Y~)$ does not mean merely creeping animals, but, without respect to magnitude (see ver. 21), swarm
ing,
i.e.

numerous, animals actively moving about among each

other.

On

the other hand

p>

it

is

correct that nTi

K>53

is

not

in apposition to

supposed require governed by it in the genitive. Plants are not, according to Scripture, without life (Job xiv. 8, 9 Ps. lxxvm.47; Isa.xiv. 3; Jude 12, comp. Ps. Iviii. 10), but animals

(Dillm. according to the

is

ment

of the ace.),

but

of even the lower classes

x/rir^al

which now come into existence are

fwcrat,

i.e.

beings

who

are indeed material (for

>s:

is

always rm, combined with matter), but who have the

centre of a soul or conscious self-hood.
tion

life

nn
but

in

this
is

connec
a really

not a governed genitive (for inadmissible expression, see on ii.

is

^v^
7),

??}?
a

descriptive
bodies,

epithet
"

soul
souls."

which

lives

and

animates,

viz.

and

living

stands synecclochically for animated material

"OB

beings, bodies having souls.

is its

of the firmament of heaven

side turned towards earth (comp. Isa. xxv. 7).

The
:

double

command

of the Creator is fulfilled as stated, ver. 2 1

And Elohim
living

created great whales,

the waters

and

all

kind of

souls,

the

and moving, which

swarmed forth

after their

1 Not indeed according to the Vulgate, et volatile super terram sub fcrmamento cadi, the influence of which upon the ecclesiastical observance of fasts

produced abundant results

Theologie

see

Zockler
i.

Gesch.
ii.

der Bcziehunyen zwischen

und Naturwissenschaft,

174, etc.,

133, etc.

GENESIS

I.

20-23.

95

kind (the kind of these beings), and all winged fowls after The great their kind: and Eloliim saw that it was good. Cetaceas and Saurians, which from their long stretched -out
shape are called (V
|n) BTjin,

are mentioned in the

first

place

only by way of example. ^n means all an article,

absolute
(viii.

Both wzi and

together, $o, all

spy

are without
bs
ritf,

and each,

(ix. 3),

or with a following indeterminate genitive

ii.

21; Deut.

34;

Eccles.

xii.

14):

all

of every kind,

all

without
;

exception.

The
is

definition

should

begin
rvnn,

with
iracrav

but a beginning

already

made with

T7]v %cuaav, for rpnn is here, as

always in this connection,

(defectively written

not a substantive
adjective,

E^nn, as in Elihu and Ezekiel), but an

and accented accordingly.

B^p?
fJ?

like |n?^n, iv. 4) is the

only plural of

that occurs in the

Old Testament.
according to vii.
irrepwTov.

*|33

too,

14 intended

which might be a substantive, is as an adj., LXX. irav nrereivov

;

As

yet
i.e.

God

has spoken to no creature

but

now

that animated,

conscious (though not as yet self-conscious,

fully conscious),

life

has begun,

He
:

begins to bless, ver. 2 2

And

Eloliim

blessed

them, saying
seas,

Be
let

fruitful,

and

increase,
earth.

and fill

the waters

in the

and
"

fowl increase upon

"

According to the usual view,

blessing

is

a notion developed

from the fundamental notion of kneeling, and indeed of kneeling in prayer. According however to the Arabic custom of speech,
the verb

CJy has
l

whence

birka, n ? ]r

to extend," meaning pond, from the mass of water extending

the fundamental

"

in breadth,

and especially

to lie
;

breast lie

upon the ground

down, so that the knees or the knees are called 0)3^3, as the

limbs which more especially participate in this action. Hence too n 2 abundance of goods, Arab, especially abundance of
?"3

fruits,
to,

a plentiful harvest,

and

sp3,

to

bless,

is

equivalent

to

cause

extension,

increase,

prosperity by word
to bless

and

deed.

Fr. Delitzscli obtains the

:

meaning

by another

path
==
"H?.

Assyr. bardku means to step (syn. asdru), Pi. burriiku 3:, to cause to step, to bring onwards, to make prosperous.
is

The knee

then called birku as the means of advancing, and

96

GENESIS

I.

24-31.

the blessing nrna as a prosperous advance (Prolegomena, p. 46); the admission however of the pond, nrna, in this tissue of
notions,
is

a difficulty.

Here where God

blesses, or

better

perhaps, pronounces a blessing (benedicit), the wishing word is at the same time the imparting deed, the bestowal of gene
rative power.

The

naTi pair of words

;

ma
:

is

characteristic of

day with the Divine blessing, ver. 23 And it was evening, and icas morning a fifth day. The number is written in
closes
full,

the Elohistic sections

2T

is

the jussive of Kal.

The

fifth

not appear creases, though not then without exception

;

^pn

the Dagesh does

till

the form in

and D^pn, n

wn

for

we

find

HE^n

and n

tfpn

still

yuintus

is

throughout

^pn.

The Sixth Day of Creation,

i.

24-31.

The

sixth day

work, like that of the third, consists of two

creative acts, the land which appeared on the third

day being

now peopled with land animals and men. The work of the six in view. The animals were created in increas clays kept man
ing approximation to him, and now, ver. 24, the land animals, which most nearly approach him, are created: And Elohim said:
Let the earth bring forth living soids after their kind (that of these
living beings),

and creeping animals and the wild least of kind the earth after its (that of these wild beasts and of these The land animals are animals in general) and it was so.
cattle,
:

divided into three classes

dull, heavy),

nDnn (from Qn?

to be

dumb,

name
move,

here as elsewhere (though not exclusively) the 2. toj (from w*n, to of four-footed domestic animals.
to
:

swarm, a synonym of pp), i n this connection the smaller creeping animals, which keep closer to the ground.
3.

n?~fr^, the wild beast of the earth, which, as representing the the most active kind of animal life, is called nn /car e f.
;

connective form
n*n
;

but here in

25 given in the narrative tone as the divine fiat the more ancient and therefore
is

in ver.

more solemn

10, Zeph. ii. 14, and frequently, the second word being always without the
1.

favn

is

used, as in Ps. Ixxix. 2,

GENESIS
article (because the oldest

I.

24-31.

97
article)
;

form of the language had no

ancient

the final
accusative
to
0),

is

certainly not the

termination

of

the

(0

obscured from
90. 3

a),

but the nominative (u enhanced

Ges.

(comp. the forms,

Num.

xxiv.

3,

15, Ps.

cxiv. 8,

with the same case-vowel faded into a connective

sound).

The

creative
is

word which

calls into
:

being the three

kinds of animals

addressed to the earth

produced

terra.
it

Their genesis takes place with the maternal participation as

were of the earth, hence their bodily nature is, as compared with that of fishes and birds, pre-eminently earthy. While
the creative word goes forth, what And Eloliim the Creator, ver. 2 5
:

it

declares

is

realized

by

made
its
:

the wild beast of the

earth after

its

kind,

and

cattle after

kind,

and

all

creeping
that
it

animals of
(ivas) good.

the

ground W|} is here used

after their

kind

and Eloliim saw

(as vv. V, 16) instead

of KI^I,
;

ver. 2 1

the latter

means

to

former, to carry into execution.

classes is here

bring forth by creating the The succession of the three

from that in the former verse; there the advance was from the nearer to the more distant here, from
different
;

the greater to the

less.
>

The creeping animals

are here called

^-^ the addition n1Kn not merely !? but Lev. xi. 46 Ps. Ixix. defining (comp. ver. 21 colouring an is found ii. 20. echo Hos. earth is The called 35);
more
definitely

p,

as a solid body,
feet
;

and especially as the

solid

ground under our

nEHK

is

the earthy covering, especially the

mould

or

humus, which covers the body of the earth as the skin does man.

We
This

are not specially told that

is

God
22.

blessed the land animals.

understood

from

ver.

The intentionally only

V v. 22, 28, ii. 3) sheds its light on all sides, "pm ( while here the narrator hastens past the blessing of the land
threefold

animals to the creation of man.

The creation
work.

of

man

forms the second half of the sixth day

He

is

made

last of all the creatures of the six

;

days as

the noblest, but also as the most needy of all for he is in need of all the creatures that precede him, without their being in

need of him.

Man

does not come into being by &fiat addressed

98
to the
earth.

GENESIS

I.

24-31.

solemn declaration of the Divine will here

:

answers to the creative Let there be

Let us make,
subject to

ver. 26,

And Elohim said,

;

man

in our image, after our likeness

and

let

them

themselves the fish of the sea,

cattle,

and

the birds of heaven,

and

the

and
the

the

whole earth, and every creeping tiling

moving upon

earth.
;

The

indicative

form

HOT

has

cohortatory meaning the intentional ah of the cohortative only occurs once in the Kal of a verb Ps. cxix. 117 (but comp.
t,,

also Ixxvii. 4),

and once in the Hithpael,

Isa.

xli.

23.

But

how

understand this plural faciamus ? It is not a self-objectivizing plural (Hitzig on Isa. vi. 8), for there is no
are
to

we

example

of a speaker speaking of himself in the plural, while

his ego is addressing his

words to himself as
is

object.

On

the

other hand the so-called plur. majestatis

by no means un
speaks in the

usual in the East

(DMZ.

xxii.

109).

He who

plural of greatness proper, appears to himself (without being

In this comprised with others) to be of the value of many. sense God frequently speaks of Himself in the Koran (e.g.
88. 25
sq.) as

We.

But such a plural cannot be shown in

Holy Scripture where God is speaking of Himself. Where it seems to be found, we have to admit that God the Father is
the celestial spirits.

comprising Himself either with the Son and the Spirit or with Scripture itself confirms the latter, for

from beginning to end it testifies that God communicates to the spirits who surround Him what He purposes to do upon
earth, 1

Kings
Bev.

xxii.

19-22
with Ps.

9 sqq.

iv. sq.,

10; Luke ii. Ixxxix. 8 and Dan. iv. 14, where

Job
i.
;

Dan.

vii.

compare the Chaldee representation of the pTjj, eyptfyopoi,, as It is in this communicative Oeol j3ov\aloL (Diodor. ii. 30).
sense that nby:)
is

intended.

with the true

seraphim, Isa.

Israel,
vi.

Isa. xli.

Just as Jahveh comprises Himself 21 sq,, so does He with the

also
iii.

8,

and here, as

22 and

xi.

7,

with

the heavenly spirits in general.

Midrasli (Pesikta de
Jer.),
Ral>

This
ed.

is

the explanation of the

Buber, 34&; comp. Targ. and in accordance with this of Philo (i. 556, ed. Mangey):

Cahana,

TWV

oXw

Trar

rals eavrov SwdjLeaiv.

Elohiin

GENESIS

I.

24-31.

99
in

no
the

more
e

concedes

thereby

a share

creation

itself
vi.

to

but

B ne Haelohim than He He does give them an

and
will.

does

in

sending
therein

(Isa.

8)

interest

as

to

their

knowledge
remains, in

The
to

communicative

speaker ever

relation

those

with Himself, the Higher. gives them an interest in the matter in hand.
accordance

whom he thus comprises But He imparts to them and

It
"

is

in

with

this

that
"

we must understand
as including the angels.

in

our

image and in our likeness

ing to Scripture, the
family,

Accord

angels

form

together with
s

God one
TI

and man, being made in God

image,

is

for this very

reason

made

also

in the

image

of angels

({Spa^y

Trap

dyyeXovs, according to
directly stated,

and

is

is not LXX.), though therefore denied by Keerl as well as

Ps. viii. 6,

this

by most ancient teachers (DMZ. xxiv. 283 sq.). We do not ^H^D12 is a more particular nearer definition of question that
the LXX. (Frank, System der chr. Wahrheit, i. 348) /cat KCUT el/cova a inserts too sharply separating arbitrarily But it is not a secondary, an rj/jierepav Kal /ca9* ofjioiwcriv.
5>y:i

"

determinative (Wendt, VollJcommenheit, p. 2 0), for then the exchange of the words (ver. 3) would not be
adverbial
admissible.

"

The noun

WX

(from D^

+,&, to

cut,

to

cut

a good away *) means the image, and TO^ = die G-leicke German substantive, mid. high. Germ, gelichc, which we

prefer to the too abstract sounding Grleichheit or AehnlichJceit

(likeness)
;

both words admit of a twofold use, and are then

thus distinguished,

obtf meaning original image or imitation model or The idea of is more rigid, that rnl, copy. of ni1 more fluctuating, and so to speak more spiritual

in the former the notion of the original image, in the latter

that
this
1

the ideal predominates. that the prefixes n and 3

of

It is

in accordance with

are

used,

although
to be

they
dark

Friedr. Delitzscli thinks otherwise, Prolecj. 141, from

Q^?= J^,

(whence

TOp)

but

it is difficult

thence to arrive at the idea shadow-imago

(something like adumbratio}.

100

GENESIS

I.

24-31.

might be exchanged (comp. Lev. v. 25 with xxvii. 12 2 Chron. xxxi. 17 with 16). With 2 the original form is
thought of as though model set before one
it

were a form
(comp.

for

casting, in 3 as

a
3).

on
of

the

other

hand

v.

Hence the Greek and many

from at
elrcova

the Latin Fathers started

referred the tear
/caO
O/JLOIWCTIV

least a correct feeling

when they
and

of the

LXX.
of

to the

physical,

to

the

ethic

side

the

imago divina, though

there

is

no

linguistic

necessity for this distinction.

The narrative does

for the

not expressly state wherein the Divine likeness consisted, dominium terrce promised to man, 26&, is not, as the
Socinians think,
its

content but
it

its

thinks

it

better to express

(ib.

i.

consequence, or as Frank p. 349), not its nature,

but the manifestation of that nature.

as a retrospective inference

Nevertheless

it

results

from

this sovereignty (Ps. viii. 6 &),

that the Divine image in

man

consists in his being a creature

who

has mastery over himself (self-conscious and self-deter mining), and therefore exalted above all other earthly
creatures.

Because
the

Dltf

is

used of

man

in a sense

which
:

includes

species, the

sentence goes
suligere,
fl*n

on in the plural

and

let

them

subject
of

("Tin,

with 2 of the object as

usual in verbs

ruling).

seems to have fallen out

between
with

^221

and

pKn

for

if

the sentence a

had concluded
climax

pNH

^mi,

ascendcns, while
is

we now

should

have had

significant

the enumeration of the kinds of animals

continued contrary to expectation.

one, for

The

deficiency

must
T?}?

however be an old

the

LXX.
it

has KOI

Trda-rjs

7%

both at 26& and at ver. 28, which

Jas.
iii.

enlarges from 26&

(comp.

7,

enumerated, and not

stood here)
rpn.
;

where only four kinds of animals are five, as would be the case if rvn had

the Syriac alone

among

ancient versions inserts

Next

follows the carrying into execution of the resolution

ver. 2 7
:

formed in the Divine counsel,

And Elohim

created

man

in His own image

in the image of Eloliim

He created him ;

male and female

joy at these

He
;

created them.

We

experience a trembling

words

the three propositions are like a tripudium,

GENESIS

I.

21-31.

101

i.e.

a dance of victory of three measures.

detail in

What

is

related in

more

the Jahvistic narrative

few winged words: God The notion of the pair predominates in nttw of sexes.
that of sexual distinction in nripil 13T
Lith.
:

here comprised in a created man, and that with difference

is

^\s%

(LXX.
of

apaev KOI drfkv,

-or

tin

Menlin vnd Frewlin), stem-words

Dp,

3T,

infigcre,

and

np3

cxcavarc.

The

origin

man, though not

brought to pass by a creative fiat, is nevertheless called a creation, ton, and may be also so called in respect of ii. 7.

For the essential characteristic of creation

of

is

not the exclusion

existing

material,

but the

achievement, and indeed the

;

miraculous achievement, of something hitherto non-existent for to appoint that anything shall henceforth exist according
to

law

is

a miracle.

The narrator now the more opportunely

reiterates, that

in the image of God. He has was which he towards What now reached the point steering. follows concerning the Divine blessing announces also an

man was made

exalted frame of mind, ver. 28 Eloliim said

earth,
to

And

Eloliim blessed them

increase,

and
the

them
it,

Be

fruitful,

and

and

Jill

and subdue

and

subject to yourselves the fish

of

the sea,

and

the birds of heaven,

and

every beast that moves

upon

the earth.

The

brief

"ifr6

at the blessing of the animals, ver. 22, is here,

for

in the
D\"6tf.

effort

poetical parallelism, extended to Dr6

to

"lOfcOl

The authorization and vocation

dominion over the

proculcare,

earth employs such strong expressions as

G5Q3,

and

nT), subigere, because this dominion requires the energy of We have translated rpn strength and the art of wisdom.

by

G-etier

(=

all

beasts), because
ver.

the

word has here a wider

1
!

meaning than at
points out to
vv. 29,

24

sq.

The tenth nojo

of the narrative

man and

beast their
said
:

means

of

nourishment in

30

And Elohim

Behold,

give

you every
all

seed-

yielding herb upon the face of the whole earth,

and

trees

in

which are seed-yielding fruits

to

let it

serve

you for food.

of heaven,

And
and
to

every beast of the earth,

that moveth

and

to all the birds

all

upon

the earth, in
:

which

is

living soul, (have I

so.

given) every green herb for food

and

it

ivas

The

perfect

102

GENESIS

I.

2-1-31.

Tiro is usual in agreements, grants of authority,

givings of

names

an indeterminate
kind), see on ver.

engagements, On ^VIK with 126. 4). 45) (Ges. noun (all and each of the after - named
(xli.

21.

jnf

followed by JHJ here means, in

sq.,

distinction from jmro, ver.

11

seed-yielding or containing.

In

ver.

30 we must supply
ix.

WJ
3
;

before

1W
x.

P V-PDTIN,

omnem
The

virorem herbce (recurring

it

comp. Ex.

15

Isa. xv. 6);

was absent

also

from the Hebrew text of the

LXX.

latter

agrees with the Masoretic text in also making ver. 30 This p-\Tl declares, that conclude with /cal eyevero ovrcos.
of

the will
vegetable

God which
was
also

directed

man

as

well as beast to

diet

carried into effect.

There was only

an unimportant difference between the food of both, herbs only being allotted to beasts, but to man fruit trees as well,
the inexhaustible nature of such food being indicated by 3nf
SHt.

The announcement
noni
is

of the will of

God
;

is

but cursorily

sketched,

included in p^rt rvn

left

certain articles of

food, such as

milk and honey, are

out of consideration,

without being said to be forbidden. The main point is not what is expressed, but its reverse for the direction to vege
;

table

diet

means the

restriction to this, to
It

the exclusion of

the flesh of animals.

was not

till

after the

Flood that
ix.

man
The
de

was authorized
creation of
struction.

to kill

animals for his food,

for

3.

God was designed

propagation, not
of the world
is

for

The subsequent order

not the

original

at the beginning peace prevailed

between

man and
Ewald

the beasts, and

among

the beasts towards each other.

and Dillmann rightly see in the p-TPl an indication that in

the beginning of the world
vailed,
s

history a Paradisaic peace pre

and find that

(Q)

and

Q. (J]

are
is

agreed on this

matter.

Outside of Israel too the tradition

that

men and
;

food

it

is

widely spread, animals were originally satisfied with vegetable not merely a notion of Pythagoras. Such pro

phecies also as Isa. xi.

it,

20, presuppose We promise the restoration of this aurea cetas. cannot admit that this Paradisaic peaceful commencement of
ii.

6-9, Ixv. 25, Hos.

for they

GENESIS

I.

24-31.

103

life is

but a pleasant dream, a shadowy picture of the imagina

tion, if it were only for the fact that there is more wisdom in The the traditions of nations than in the views of individuals.

objection, that the teeth

beasts, are

and
for

intestines of

men. as well

as of

both animal and vegetable diet, adapted many of the six days creation is, the whole not does perplex us,
so to speak, supralapsarian,
i.e.

so

constituted that the conse

quences

of the foreseen fall

of

man were

taken into account,

and that there should be no need of remodelling of creation. That man can live and thrive without animal food is a fact
confirmed by experience, and there are nations who live almost entirely on vegetable food and the milk of their flocks, very rarely eating flesh, e.g. the nomadic Arabs and the Indians,

who

are nevertheless very fine and intelligent races.

Nor

does the reference to the animals of the primceval world,

among whom devouring each

seem
to

already customary, For such animals belong to us any counter-proof. the time prior to the world of man, while the peace, which
restriction to vegetable

other was

diet

would

secure, refers only to the

animal world contemporary with man, and appointed to live along with him. It is indeed true that, if we would enforce the
thesis, that the

killing of one living creature

by another was
to the

not the direct will of

the infusoria,

God

for the universe

down

world of

we

shall encounter insuperable difficulties.

first

But

the scriptural narrative concerning the

no such
it silent

far

and deep reaching consequences.

beginning requires For why then is

concerning the animals of the waters ? The dominion over the DM nail also was indeed allotted to man, ver. 28,

but in ver. 29
tion.

sq.

the fish are purposely left out of considera

animals are here in question only so far as they associate together it is only in this department that the Divine will, which excludes killing for the purpose of food, attains legislative expression. The inference, that it was not
;

Men and

then also a law and appointment of nature, that apart from men and those animals who formed their nearest surrounding,
the
life of

one creature might be preserved by the killing of

104

GENESIS

I.

21-31.

another, would be unjustifiable.

this

All living creatures within

It is in earthly world exist in a state of constant war. the nature of certain animals to torture their prey with refine

ment

And it seems as if it ought to be and must of cruelty. be thus, that as a limit is set to the encroachments of the vegetable world by means of the frugivorous animals, so the
of prey, while

immoderate increase of the

these

are in

weapons

of

man.

implied in ver. 29,

subjected as
viii.

From we may conclude

prevented by the beasts turn kept under by the the sanction however of the peace
latter is

their

that the present world,

r?}?

it is

to

^a-TaioT^ and Bov\eia

$6opas (Eom.

not that absolutely best world, that adequate exponent of the holy love which is God s nature, but only the preliminary stage of a glorified world, in which love will bear

18-26),

is

and death in every form be cast out. The word of God, which made peace the fundamental law for mankind, and for the animals most nearly approximating him, was now And followed by the close of the Hexaemeron, ver. 31
sole sway,
:

Eloliim saw all that

good.

He had
all

made, and, behold,

it

was very

And
it

it

was evening, and was morning

that

The Creator surveys

very good. single item is niD,
finds
if

He
is

day. has brought to pass, and

the sixth

The

result

introduced by nan.
alone, yet

Each

not in
;

itself

in its relative

adaptation to the whole

but this whole, in which are har

moniously comprised all the single suitable items, is THO 31D. The adverbially used INK) means mightiness, and the funda

mental idea
as
it

ma

is either weight (from n^, to burden) or extension, seems to be according to the Assyrian, from HKD, 1 Pro ddu, to be much (V ID, to extend, to stretch).

minence

is

given to the sixth,

article
:

as

the

concluding
sixth.

creation, by the

a day, viz.

the

day of That the

connection of the words

is

not intended to be a genitive one

pessimistically said, after Bereshith rabba,

In the Thorah of R. Meir

it is

by which is meant certainly not the roll of the Thorah. but the reading of the Thorah of this R. Meir see Rosen feld s DnS1D
ch. 9,
3113
i"Uni,
;

mo

(Wilna 1883),

p. 59.

GENESIS
seen

II.

1-3.

105

is

e.g.

from

Jer. xxxviii. 14,

temple),

viz. the third.

y^n Nl3, entrance (to the That this connection of the determi

nate adjective with an indeterminate substantive (like e.g. xli. 26) is no sign of a later period of the language, has been

shown by Driver (Journal of

tftjJn

xvi.
first

Philology, vol. ix. 1883, p. 229). Dto with the preposition is constantly found, e.g. Ex. but Neh. viii. 18, Dan. x. 12, are the 29 5, xxii.
;

examples

of ^t^n Dfan, so

that the statistical discovery

tries to prove.

rather proves the contrary of

what Giesebrecht

The Sabbath of Creation,

If the days of creation

ii.

1-3.

are regarded as the periods inter

of

duos

occasus,
i.e.

the

Sabbath

creation

begins

with

the

evening,

late in the evening of the sixth day.

Then how
The matter

ever

we have

the incongruous result, that evening being the

is
:

beginning of rest,
is

also

the beginning of work.

rather as follows

the days of creation consisted of a

morn

ing half and an evening half, the morning reaching its climax at noon, and the evening its lowest point at midnight, and
this

whole

clay

is

reckoned a work

day.

For

if

it

is

the

meaning

of the narrative, that the Creator rested at the begin

ning of each evening,

we should then have seven Sabbaths This is what we do find in the Avesta, which instead of one. is here evidently under Semitic influence (DMZ. xxvi. 719 sq. comp. xxxv. 642 sqq.). Ahuramazda, in conjunction with the
;

Amschaspands, creates heaven, the water, the earth, trees, animals, men, in six periods, each containing an unequal number
of days, each period being followed

by a

festival of rest

on his

part (Burnouf, Yagna, pp.

294334).

The Scripture narrative

however knows nothing of six Sabbaths and a final Sabbath, but of one only, which began when the sixth day, with
its

of the
far,

morning and evening halves, was seventh day was beginning.

rest

over,

and the morning

Having arrived thus

the form of the narrative becomes imitative of the

;

now

approaching

the

hitherto

more rapid flow

of

speech

106

GENESIS

II.

1-3.

seems restrained, and extends

itself

tautologically in breadth.

As Meinecke, Fragmenta choliambica, p. 90, says of Babrios, when the latter is describing the luxurious living of the Assyrian
ruler
:

non sine
it

artis laude

numeros argumento carminis attem-

peravit, so is

due

to the art of the narrator, that his language,

in describing the seventh day, gets slow and dragging.

He
and

all

begins with a summary, ii. 1 their host, were finished.

crvveT6\ea6i](7av,

And the heaven and

the earth,

The LXX. rightly

it

translates

heaven and earth were finished in the manner

ri],

described

comp. Ex. xxxix. 32,

finished,

(the

work
%
,

of the taber
totality of

nacle) was

heaven and

earth,

and the

the beings that filled them.

swell, to press

NJV (from
;

Nm

prodire,

nv, to

upwards and outwards

star),

ance of a claw, a tooth, a

is

Arab, of the appear elsewhere the host of heaven,

zeugmatically (comp. on the other hand, Neh. ix. 6) to the creatures of earth (per zeugma we say because elsewhere, when &os is used of earthly beings, it means
here
to be referred
?

only a multitude of men, ing Assyrian formula is

totality of

e.g.

Isa, xxxiv. 2).

Jcissat

(from

tj^a)

sam
to

The correspond u irsitim,

Merodach
III.,

heaven and earth

(see the

hymn
p.

E. 29, No. 1), Sumerian anJcisarrdna, troop of heaven of earth

(Fr. Delitzsch in Lotz, Tiglathpileser,
i.

76).

Now follows

the

fact

meant

in ^]\,

which looks both backwards and forwards,

the

the fact by which

God impressed upon

:

now finished earth the

on the seventh

seal of completion, ver. 2

And Elohim finished

day His work which He had made ; and He rested on the seventh The ?5?, on the day from all His work which Pie had made.
seventh day, appeared so incomprehensible to ancient trans lators, LXX. Samar. Syr. Book of Jubilees, that they preferred to read Budde (Urgesch. p. 490) as well as DV1

wn

Olshausen regards ^"a^n as an error of transcription. But the Targums give back T27i, and the Talmudic scholars know how Indeed with a good will there needs but to manage with it.
little

penetration to recognise the legitimacy and the sense of

Complevitgiic

Deus

die septimo opus

ing

is

not that on the seventh day

suum (Jerome). The mean God continued and ended His

GENESIS

II.

1-3.

107
an end
vi.

as yet uncompleted work, but that

He made
2

(n?3, like

Ex.

xli.

33

1
it

Sam.

x.

13; comp.

Sam.

18) of the

work, because

was now
the

finished, not continuing it at the

beginning

of the seventh day,

1

but ceasing from further work,

given to God s ennobled to the highest con
"

and

resting.

When

name
is

work

"

is

six clays creation,

human work

ceivable degree, as being the copy of this model.

The verb

means in Arab, and Ethiop. to send: hence ro&6 (out of means a sending (a mission) thus it means the direction of
;

the business given one, or which one gives himself, therefore Creation is the execution of a task the work of one s calling.

which God

set

Himself, an achievement in which His

Word
of

and His

Spirit participate,

and on which
rest of

all

the powers

His Being are engaged.

completed, Ex. xxxi. 17 by
*IDJ) is

The
;
.

is

here expressed by
t^

God, after His work is Ex. xx. 11 by ru^ rtl$"i

Symrn. yamdru,

a^l

rn&

rnsy (Assyr. sdbdtu,

the most unambiguous word, the other two on the con

trary have an anthropopathic sound.

In no case must the rest

of the Creator be understood as the result of fatigue (see on

the contrary, Isa.

28) it was the consequence of the now perfect and harmonious whole, combined with the satisfaction
xl.
;

and joy (Ps. liv. 31) which this whole, as IND niD, afforded Him. He now rested, not with the intent of henceforth

He was indeed from that time withdrawing from the world, onwards the governor of the world and the director of its
history,

but

He

rested as Creator

now

concluded, His rest belongs to

is

His creative agency was that order of the world

:

which
"blessed

binding upon the creatures, ver. 3 the seventh day, and hallowed it ; for on it
wliicli

And Elohim
He
rested

from

all

His work

He had

creatively effected.

Undoubtedly

nib jJ? refers back to irDfe&E, to

referred
;

which {OH could not be directly the combination of the finite with the infinite must

be explained according to the Schema, T\wfa ^IJPI, Joel ii. 20 This explanation being simple and in con(E\v. 285a).
1

The Arabians

also

explain c^A**: etymologically by: he cut (-.U_*) the

thing, he put an end to work

(DMZ.

xxxix. 585).

108
formity with
the

GENESIS

II.

1-3.

style,

is

preferable
or

to

Knobel
:

which

He

being

active

created,

our former one

cases

which
is

He
com

performing created. bined with creaverat

theless

In

both

quod (opus)

and not with fadendo ; it is never the most obvious to combine it with fadendo, like npy

However it may be quod (opus} fadendo creaverat. with the inf. in case the has sense of fadendo, explained, any
naxta
:

*?

11; comp. Judg. ix. 56; 2 Kings xix. 1 1 Ps. ciii. 20. The blessing and hallowing is not meant as onwards from the standpoint of the Mosaic legisla pointing
like Eccles.
ii.

God subsequently hallowed the Sabbath but is a fact following upon departure from Egypt, the conclusion of creation, and having in view the history of
tion,

in this respect

at the

the world, which,

begin.

now

that
i.

its
;

creation
E^Jip

is

completed,

is

about to

On

?p3>

see on

22

means the quality

of appro

priating the

^ilij,

but tjnp (V

"ip,

to cleave, to divide),

used of

God, designates
sinful world
it

Him as a Being separated from the finite and exalted above it, and used of men and things,
them
as

designates
($>h),

separated from the worldly and

1

the

common

and raised above them.

The divine blessing

endowed the seventh day with a treasure of grace flowing forth from the rest of the Creator, which is opened for those who keep it, and the divine hallowing removed it from among the

week days and invested

it

with a special and distinguishing consecration, both retrospectively and prospectively, because on
it

He

ru^, reguievit or reyuieverat,

i.e.

entered into

rest.

Hence
13,
as the

the Sabbath, personally conceived of, is called, Isa. n nip. The narrative points in m^l and rot? to

Iviii.

J"I3K>

name
that

of the

day of

H3^

is

The old view, rest following the six days. contracted from 1TOP (e.g. Lactant. Inst. vii. 14),
on this account, rejected, nor
is
t

must
need
Lev.

be, if only

for it in explaining the use of flSUP for

xxiii.

WW

there any week (comp.

15 with Deut.

xvi.

9),

"seventh

day"

standing

1 The adj. TcitdduSu is in Assyrian (comp. Isa. x. 17) one of the synonyms which denote brilliant unobscured light see Zimmern, Bdbyl. Busspsalmen
;

a 885),

p.

37 sq.

GENESIS

II.

1-3.

109

per sijnccdochen partis pro

toto for

seven days, hebdomas.

^|5,
Ivi. 2,

however is not formed from nn^, after the formation the name of the Sabbath is with rare exceptions (Isa.
Iviii.

for
G,

13) feminine, and the Kametz is so mutable comp. It is as to get evaporated into Sheva (e.g. rrirm^ ^hr^"). contracted from nrmKJ, as fWB, 1 Kings i. 15, is from ntryffO and nn& D, Mai. i. 14, from nnnt^ and means either "rest
t

time,"

with a glance at

ny, or

"

"

rest

(Feier ) as a self-contained

notion (comp.feri^festum, and diesfestus).

ferable, as Lotz,
is

The

latter is pre

DC

historia Sabbati, pp. 5-8, has

riN
5?7-^>

shown,

rDK>

of similar formation with n

sallattu,
rest

1
?>

n
It

?f?j
is

and means, like

the

thus that the Assyr. feminine gender must be explained, which (though as in the case of rriN it here and there afterwards vanished from the
or repose.

usage of the language) so far predominates, that the Sabbath

is

liturgically

personified

as

queen and

bride,

and even as
the Falashas.

a goddess, under the Ethiopia

name

Saribat

among

Thus

also is to be explained the thoroughly

mutable Kametz

because lengthened from Pathach, and the various use of the word, which presupposes the general notion of a holiday.

The name
earlier

of the planet Saturn,

^2,

which does not occur

than in the Pharisaico - astrological technical language,

i.

in

Epiphanius in Book

against heresies

(Opp.

i.

p.
l|

24, ed.
J

Petav.), does not

mean
xl.
is

the destructive (from

ni^=n 3l^n)

or

the pausing

(DMZ.

the Sabbatic, and

202), but in accordance with its form in this sense a favourite Jewish proper

name
(Gr.

already occurring in the books of Ezra and

a/3/3aTeuo9, 5a/3j3cm?, 5a/3/3arto9), like the proper

Nehemiah names
etc.

Jomtob (Feast-day), NovptivLos, Paschalis, Sonntag, Freitag,

The day
the

first

gave

its

name

to the planet,

and the name

to

of

planet was
i.

then

subsequently
sacra
dies,

transferred

the day

(Tibull.

3,

18, Saturni

Eng.

Saturday).

The

custom of naming the seven days of the week after the seven planets is an ancient Babylonian one (Schrader in Studicn und
Kritiken, 1873, pp.

343-353
(ii.

and
32,

Lotz,

DC

historia Sdbbati,

1883), and a syllabus

E,

1G&)

which

treats

of

110

GENESIS

II. 4.

divisions of time, explains la-lat-tu

by Amu nuh

libbi,

hence

the Sabbath
of delightful

is

also in Babylonio-Assyrian
festal repose.

and

At
find

expression a day the end of the account of

the closing day of creation

we

and there was

perspective
:

evening,"

for the

there was morning Divine Sabbath has an infinite

no

"

it

terminates the creation of the world, and after

becoming

at the close of the

world

history the Sabbath of the

creature, will last for ever

and

ever.

Le Sabbat de Dieu n

est

plus

un

jour, une periode, mais

un
the

fait (Theophile Eivier in

Le Eecit
II. 4.

Bibliqiie de la Creation, 18*73).

The endorsement
is

of

Elohistic

account of the

here given in such terms as to form at the same time the transition to the Jahvistic These are the generations
creation
:

of the heaven and of the earth when they were created, on the day It is a question that Jahveh Elohim made heaven and earth.

whether
or

this

verse

is

the
of

subscription
section

to

what precedes
Luzzatto

the

superscription

the

following.

and Eeggio

(as already Easchi), Ewald, Knobel, Stahelin, Dillmann Hoelemann, regard it as the former Hengstenberg,
;

Baumgarten, Kurtz, Hofmann, Keil, as the

latter.

The

chief

ground

viewing this cannot mean

:

for

it

as

a superscription

is,

that nnpin n?x

is

(was)

the origin of the heaven

Pnirtfl

and

the earth,

for the

plural nvi^in (of the sing.

or

n*TOfl,

occurring

only

in

post

Biblical
its

Hebrew, Assyr.

tdlidtu),

which comes from i^

in

mean

jevea-^

(as

might
i.

Hiphil signification, does not be thought from a mistaken

but
as

inference from
/evvr]aeis.

Matt.

1),

Gr. Yen. translates

it,

The word appears only in the stat. constr. or with a suffix, and the genitive is always the gen. siibjecti not
dbjecti,
rri"6in

which

always
of
2

denotes

the

given

beginning,

and

the genealogical, and

hence also more generally the

^j-*, t;-*,

historical progress

this beginning (comp. Syr.

genealogy, history).
1 "Whether

As

in the title of the Jewish crime;

n^tf

is

in this formula subject or predicate is a nice question

according to Arabic syntax it would be subject. 2 Such it is also e.g. in the inference drawn in the

Midrash from Gen.

vi.

GENESIS

II.

4.

Ill

book,

IB*

rm^n

D,

the \vord

is

generalized to the inclusion of

the history, so too must the nr6in nta following the Sabbath of creation signify the further history of the heaven and the
earth,

which

is

concentrated in

man who

is

at

once earthly

and heavenly.
of

man

is

But the theological notion that the history the history of the world of the Hexaemeron cannot

be expected from the child-like simplicity of this primeval It is also at variance with the under historical narrative.
standing of the E^jjr ? (with
1

He

minusculuni) as part of the

rrnbin are encircled
1).

title,

whereby, as

Hoelem. remarks, the said

in the course of creation (comp.

side the declaration
:

Num.

iii.

On
"

the other

these are the generations, productions of

its
ii.

the heaven and the earth, has

earth,"

difficulties.

Heaven and

says Lagarde (Orientalia,

39),
;

"have

according to the

Hebrew
at

notion nothing to generate

the beginning of Genesis, where the

they certainly have not chief matter is to

Hence represent Jahveh as the cause and Lord of the world." he thinks that another form of the word, signifying the birth
and process of being born, must be substituted for nriTin. Certainly wherever else creation is conceived of as a genera
tion, as
e.g.

Ps. xc. 2,

God

is

Himself the generator (without

the notion, as in the Semitic up heathen cosmogonies, which start from a male and a female The fact however that the pure idea of creation principle).

any further following

of

does not exclude the conception of heaven and earth as gene rating or producing may be inferred from Joma 54&: nn^in
1&O33

PSB

pn

nrtan iK-nj D^D^D

DWH,

"

the productions of

the heavens are

of earthly

made

of heavenly material, those of the earth

material."

wards

(as at x. 5, xx.
:

Hence, regarding r&s as pointing back 31 sq., xxxv. 26, xxxvi. 19), we explain

the sentence
of the earth,

these are the generations of the heaven

and
in

i.e.

the productions wherewith in the day,

i.e.

the period of creation, they, with their

"the

own participation, were

nflTlfl of

man
(

(i.e.

Instead of VflH/in
has

Tanchuma, comp. Rashi on Gen.

that wherein he goes on living) are his good works." vi. 9), Beresldth JRabba

Vnvva

(his fruits).

112
gradually
JWK"a,
i.

GENESIS

II.

4.

peopled.
1,

Whether

ii.

4a

originally stood

before

and was transferred

to its present position

redactor

as a

boundary mark between the

Elohistic

by the and

Jahvistic narratives, or whether the author himself, for the

sake of making his historical work begin with rVE Kti, placed here the nv6in n pK, which he elsewhere puts in the first place, Nor is it easier to discover what cannot be ascertained.
share

or

J may

have had in the form of

ii.

4&.

For as

this half verse reads, it is a link connecting the

two narratives

In the transposition and leading from one to the other. D^^l pK (occurring only again Ps. cxlviii. 13) the endorse

ment likewise
the narrative

points onwards.

The earth stands

first,

because

now about

to

follow and continuing the former

one, confines itself thereto as the dwelling-place of

the scene of the history which revolves

that

about him.

man and And

we may even beforehand gain an impression of the harmony between the two narratives, we have here already in the prelude the twofold name of God, DTI^K mm, which
predominates from this passage onwards throughout
chs.
ii.

and

iii.

It is only in the

mouth

of

the serpent and of the

woman
it

that

God

is

called merely D s n^s, the narrative as such

everywhere (twenty times) speaking of

the redactor
i.-ii.

Him

as DTlta

mm.

Is

who

effects in this

manner the

transition

from

by DTita mm, or is it the Jahvist himself who has impressed upon the .momentous history of
&rh$,
3, to

mm,

ch.

iv.,

Paradise the special stamp of this twofold name ? Looking at the Jahvistic verse, Ex. ix. 30, the latter also must be
It is the single passage in the Hexateuch esteemed possible. in which DT&K mm occurs besides Gen. ii. and iii., and there

are

but four more passages in

the

entire

Old Testament

Scriptures in

which DTita

mm

is

repeated to as

many

as three

1 is the author of the According to Yatke s residuary Introduction, 296, transposition, for the succession of documentary sources is in his opinion as D. He adheres to the completion hypothesis, and his Intro follows
:

E QJLFf
its

duction in
it

himself, is behind the

it.

present form, in which he would certainly never have published march of progress, but calculated to put a check

upon

GENESIS
times, viz. 1

II.

4.

113
Chron.
Ps.
vi.

Chron.

xvii.
vii.

16

sq.

(twice), 2
(twice),

41

sq.

(three times), 2

Sam.

22, 25

Ixxxiv. (once

D nta

n,

once

rn&Qtf DTi^H n)

the accumulation here being

un

exampled, and hence designed to serve certain unusual purposes. We have already spoken of the Divine name B^N, i. 1 God
;

is

so called as the

summary

of all that

as absolute majesty and power. not as subject, but as object moreover the plural brings into the foreground rather the fulness of the Divine substance
;

commands reverence, The name designates Him,

This applies both than the unity of the Divine personality. used of the true God, to D^nbtf without an article, which, when
is

equivalent to a proper name, and to DTPXn^ in which the

article lays stress, not

of God.

on the personality, but on the uniqueness In the name nirv on the other hand, which is formed
1

from the Kal of the verb mn,

tradition in Theodoret
rnrr or njiV (for
is

and was, according

1

to ancient

^Ald

is

and Epiphanius, pronounced la/Be, i.e. 2 ^, and law, in* ), the idea of personality

more impressed, if only because this name was originally a proper name, while DTibs on the contrary only became a proper name from D*r6tfn. According to its meaning, mrp is,

God

as the absolute

Being,

i.e.

the Being unlimited by time,

the super-temporal, or, since the idea of the verb run (irn) is not so much Being at rest as Being in movement or selfmanifesting, as
i.e.

He who

exists

and

lives in

an absolute manner,

perpetually positing and manifesting Himself, whose Being coming into appearance is the supporting foundation,
is

who

and

essential

content of the universe and

3

its

history,

and

especially of the history of redemption.

His own declaration,

it,
1

Ex.

iii.

14, which makes this

name

of

God
niiT,"

See

my

"

treatise,

Die neue

Mode

der Herleitung des Gottesnamens

in the Luth. Zeitschrift, 1877, pp. 593-599. 2 See the letters of Franz Dietrich published

by me in Stade s Zeitschrift, 1883, on the pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton. 3 Compare the diagram of explanations of the flTlS "1E?K nTJK in Griinbaum s article "On the Shem hammephorash," xxxix. 562-566, none of

DMZ.
it

which hits the centre of the meaning; nor is means nomen separatum = secretum (arcanum}.
II

correct that

EHlQDn
this it

DB>

If it

meant

would

114

GENESIS

II.

5.

the sign-manual of the period of the Mosaic deliverance, adds to the notion of absolute Being (ceviternitas) according to the

Kings viii. 1, Ezek. xii. 25, that of absolute freedom (aseitas), and gives to that which is in itself a personal name a still stronger personal
syntactic

Schema, Ex.

xxxiii.

19,

stamp

God

is

the

absolutely

self

determining ego, ever

equal to Himself.

Such

is

the appellation of the

God who

unalterably and inobstructably accomplishes what He has determined historically to be, the God who fashions and

pervades history by freely working according to His

counsel.
1

own

"While

D^r6s

is

the

more

especially

appropriate

mrp designates more particularly the God of history, and indeed of the history of redemption, hence God The combination of the two names denotes, the Eedeemer.

name

of the Creator,

according to Ps. c. 3, the oneness of the supermundane God and the God of history, the oneness of God the Creator and
the

God

of Israel, or the

God

of positive revelation.

The Creation of Man, and

Surroundings,
ii.

the

Nature of

his

5 sqq.
is
ii.

The
parts
:

so-called

Jahveh-Elohim document

divided into two

5 sqq.,

the History of the Creation of

Man,

and the

Part i. History of the Fall, ch. iii. creation, but only so far as its occurrences had

goes back into the process of

man

for their

centre and object, and formed the foundation of the eventful

commencement of human history. This diversity of tendency must be considered, that the two accounts may not be involved La Peyrere, in his Preadamitce, in unnecessary contradiction.
1655, brought forward the daring view, that
ch.
i.

related

the origin of natural and heathen mankind, and ch.

be written &JH1)Dn
DK>-

ii.

that of

KHIDOH
and

nounced
the
1

as it is written,

but not as

Dt^ means nomen explicitum, the name pro it ought to be spoken (the opposite of,
first

D^US standing

in its place,

of

them

*01fcO.

survey of present views concerning the origin and meaning of the name Jahveh, with a careful discussion of their several degrees of probability, is given by S. R. Driver in the Oxford Studio, BiUica, 1885.

GENESIS

II.

5.

115

Jewish mankind, i.e. of 1 But this redemption.

man
is

as the

subject of the history of

self-deception in

the

interest

of

scriptural cosmogony begins with one man, polygenesis. The difference and one race of mankind developed from him.

The

between the two accounts

of the

is,

that ch.

i.

relates the
first

origin

the

human race, and ch. ii. first human pair; and that

that of the

in the former

man and man appears

of
as

the object and end of the line of creation, in the latter as the
centre of the circle of creation.

There are expositors (Knobel, Hoelem. Kohler) who make but this is the apodosis to 45 begin with !W"$O1, ver. 5
;

if syntac without a xxii. 1, it is preceding NTI, tically possible (though hardly so), yet with the form DIE, seq. impf., very improbable. If 45 really belonged to what follows, we should have, with
is

opposed by the division of the verse, and

even,

Hofmann, Bunsen, Schrader, Dillmann, to take lyi, ver. 7, as and this would correspond with the fact that the apodosis
;

narrative has in view the creation of

man and

the history
a
lon<

which

starts

from

it.

But

vv. 5,

would then be

parenthesis,

such as we rejected at 45 has, according to

vv. 5

and we should get a clumsy interpolated period i. 1-3, because it was not to be expected

in this simple narrative style.

To

this

must be added that

v.

Num.

iii.

1, if

not according to

1,

the

presumption of belonging to

4a

in its favour.

Hence we regard
by way
of prepara

and 6

as independent sentences related

tion for ver. 7,

fact.

which opens with

"tt"l

as

an expression of the chief

The second account

begins, like

marriage, xxiv. 1, with a double

circumstances.

e.g. the history of Isaac s sentence descriptive of the

And no plant
had
it to

of the field was

yd upon

the earth,

and no
had not
not to

hcrl of the field

yet caused

as yet sprung up : for Jahveh Elohim rain upon the earth, and men there were If DIE
iii.

till

the ground.

comes from
it

T)D="iDJ

with the

termination

cm

(6m,

which most
1

easily

would mean expectation, the with an impf. construction explains

14),
Criticism,"

Euth

See on Peyrere, S. J. Curtis, "Sketches of Pentateuch North -American Bibliotheca sacra for 1884.

in the

GENESIS

II.

5.

following (exspectandum erat ut fieref)

but supposing the stem-

word
"

to

be

D")B

= ^j),
first

which indeed no Semitic dialect

letter,
it

presents with such a a cutting

off,"

would signify originally

then remoteness from existence (compare the nouns D3K, 73, \y\ become particles). It is combined in the
adverbial

sense

nondum, as

TK

is

in that of turn with the

second tense, in historical connection in the imperfect mean

ing (nondum existebat], xix. 4, xxiv. 45, and out of historical connection in the present meaning, Ex. ix. 30, x. 7 (nondum
timetis,

an nondum

scis)

a perfect following
desieraf),

it

has a plu

perfect meaning, xxiv.

15 (nondum
almost

Sam.

iii.

tautological synonymous parallelism of the two sentences, 5 a, has its equal in the
noverat).

(nondum

The

Elohistic narrative,
are xxi. 1
;

i.

28a ;

other examples in historical prose

3.

Ex.

iii.

15, xix.

broad and open plain (comp.

The repeated ni&n denotes the rwn JVn, ii. 19 sq., iii. 1, with

in distinction from the enclosed dwelling i.), There was a time, says the narrator, when there were no shrubs (T^, properly that which sprouts, from rvt?, to sprout,

psn

rvn in ch.

of

man.

Assyr. sdhu ),no herbs (2OT, from zwy, Assyr. esSbu, to shoot up, to a time when the world of plants grow), not to mention trees,

had not yet appeared. And why not ? of their appearing were not yet effected.
the earth
is

The two conditions As yet there was no

rain for the fructification of the germs creatively deposited in

;

for the

and as yet man, to whose care the vegetable world most part relegated, was still absent. The construc
is

tion of the double sentence, 5&,

like Isa. xxxvii. 35,

it

with the

subject emphatically preceding the 1^, as

does both there

and Num. xx.

and here
all
:

5,

men
to

where we must translate water there is not ; there were not, for K (constr. P) denotes in
:

tenses non-existence.
"not
yet,"

The two
for

"

nots

"

are in

meaning
&6
jyiJJ

equivalent

in post-biblical speech

means nondum, but

1

in biblical

Hebrew

tib liy,

Job

xxiv. 20,

In Arabic

^iJw

is

the

name

of the thorn plant of the desert (Artemisia

judaica?), the wood of which is the principal fuel of the Bedouins. "Wetzstein in the Reports of the Anthropological Society, 1882, p. 465.

See

GENESIS U.

0,

7.

117

and ps

Tiy liave the

also for nonclum,

meaning non amplius, and $h alone stands Job xxii. 16 Hag. i. 2.

;
:

The

first

condition effected, ver. 6

And
n!?j

a mist went up
of the ground. has also a past

from

the

earth,

and watered

the

whole face

In virtue of the historical connection

meaning
on
of

it

here denotes, in distinction from ?JW, a reiterated

;

event (with a perfect following, like vi. 4, xxxi. 8 comp. with the fundamental idea ii. (from *nK, 10).
"IN
jf>

compressing, massing, making heavy) means condensed vapour, as does also the Arab, ijad, atmosphere, a synonym of
;

haivd, atmosphere

the mist developed from the moist air

filled

with watery vapour and which trickles down as rain, Job From xxxvi. 27, and here descends as dew, is thus called. this point onwards the deposition of mist rendered the appear

The LXX. translates Trrjytj, ance of the plant-world possible. is far on which account Diestel regards ?y as original but more appropriate, and rf?y only occurs once, Num. xxi. 17, of
;
"is

the water-flow of a well.

Now

follows the

first

act in effecting
:

second preliminary condition into existence as a formation from the earth, 7 :

the realization of the

man comes
Jahveh

And

Elohim formed man out of

formation of

the dust of the ground.

Thus the

man does not take place till the necessary measure has been taken for the springing up of the plant-world, that is
to say, of

appointed to form his nearest surrounding and to enter into closest relation to him, for the interest of the
is

what

narrator adheres to
to ch.
i.

his territory. While according land animals culminates in man, the creation of the

man and

and
of

that in such wise that he, as

made

at the

same time

of higher nature

in the image of God, is and therefore no production

the earth,

we here

learn further particulars of the peculiar

It is not said
:

mode

of his origin.

God formed

the dust into

a man, but He formed the man pulverem de humo, i.e. so that this was the material of which he consisted is the pre
"iBV

dicative

accusative

of

the

material,

as

in

Ex.

xxxviii.

3,

xxv. 39 (Ges.

139.
call

and the Arabs

The Latins translate,^ limo terra, 2). the material from which man was formed

118
-vL

GENESIS

II.

7.

and rightly so, for man was formed of moistened dust. Syinm. and Theod. translate KOI eVXacre /cvpios o Oeo? rov
:

d&dfju

^ovv diro
is

rfjs 7779 dSa/jid,

D"IN

to give us to understand that

;

man
time,

called

as being

formed of ncns

but at the same

correct,

if

the reading diro TT)S 7779 dSajjud is

from the

same view which Josephus expresses, Ant. i. 1. 2, that Adam meant Trvppos, because formed diro T?J$ Trvppds 7% (frvpaOeio-rjs,
was virgin and genuine earth. He means the fruitful and aromatic red ard earth, hamrd, of the wonderfully
for
this

slopes of the

Hauran chain

of mountains,

which

is
is

esteemed
believed

of marvellously strong
to be
self
-

and healing power, and which

Theodoret also says

rejuvenescent.

(Qucest.

60)
its

that dSafjiOd (NfiDnx, Aram.

=n

9"[^?)

is

so

named from
referred
to

red colour.

But whether noiN

is

to

be

the

fundamental notion
transfers

of a flat covering, as

the Arabic, which

to

the
- -

name
cutis),

of

the

earthy -covering
or,

the

skin-

covering (aUj],
the
Assyrian,

makes probable,
fundamental

as is inferred
of
tilling

from
(Fr.

to

the

notion

Delitzscb,

"

Hebrew Language, p. 58 sq.), it is in no case derived The appellation of man as from a word expressing colour. the red would be just as superficial as that of the beautiful
"
"

being

The derivation of the name from (Ludolf Kn. Schr.). the Ethiopic adma, to be pleasant, agreeable, charming, may be The meaning looked upon as done away with by Dillmann.
"

"

begotten,

created,"

after the Assyr.

admu,

child, especially the

young of a bird, synonymous with liddnu (Fr. Delitzsch in Hebrew Language, ibid., and Prolegom. pp. 103-105), would be
more judicious
in
!

if

only a trace of this

D"iK

= ro:i

could be shown

In the Babylonian myth in Berosus, man arose Hebrew from a mingling of the drops of blood running from the decapi tated head of Bel with earth thus making man the incorporated
;

blood of the god (Assyr. ddmu ; Aram. CH^, blood). The scriptural and thus designates account however combines DTK with

ni,

man
"

as 777761/779 according to

the earthly part of his nature.

Schrader (Jenaische LZ. 1875, No. 13) calls this derivation and this is true, for there is no second linguistically absurd
"

GENESIS

II.

7.

119
Tn
3

denominative
being verbals.

thus formed,

all

such names as

5)0^
is

;nj

We
-S.

are therefore of opinion that DIN

not a

denominative, but an accessory form to nn&5, as in Arabic

besides LcJ\, +4\ also occurs as the
is

name
iii.

of the skin.
:

Man
%oifc6$,

called
art.

"

earth,"

as it is said to him,

19

lay,

i.e.

whole present crea view of the foreseen in was fall, and therefore so tion, planned His origin from dust to speak in an infralapsarian manner.
thou

The

creation of

man,

as of the

makes

his return thereto possible

man bears
The second

in his primaeval act

condition the possibility of death.

now

follows

the material form, only at

first

anticipatively called DIN,

is

animated, 7&

And He

breathed into his nostrils breath of

soul.

life ;

and

so

man

became a living

The two

to each other,
first

were not simultaneous.

though near The body of man was

acts,

formed of the moist dust of the ground by divine TrXaert?, and then man became an animated being through divine
epirvevo-is.

na5, impf. Kal, from nSJ

s

e^vaav, John

xx. 22.

The genitival combination Q\ n nBKfo with relation to the adjectival njn ^33, supposes an important difference of ideas.
For in
irn VZ)

(four times in ch.

i.),
(i.

rpn

is

an

adjective.
xi.

If

sometimes n^nn

^J

is

met with

21,

ix.

10; Lev.

10,

46), this must, according to Ges.

condemned
ii.

and when
is

rpn

E>B3

is

111. 2a, be syntactically construed as masculine (e.g.

19), this
is

always done only ad sensum.

difference of this
for

That rpn
rpn

is

an

adjective

shown by the
or/5?, is

^23

from

D^n DEttO and D^n nn,

nnn
i.

nn, Trvev^a
sq., x.

which nn ngtt is nowhere said. found only a few times in Ezekiel,

is

20

17, but in such wise that rpnn

a subst. (comp.

45 with Eev. xvi. 3, where the text is uncertain, ^Tw^r] &cra however deserving the preference to ^rvxv ?WT)S). The breath, which creatively went forth from God and entered
1 Cor. xv.

into

in breathing
TrvevfjLd

man, becoming the principle of his physical life, manifested and of his life in general, is called nCW,
D"n

f&)^?, that created spirit of which the soul

is

the

mani

festation conformable to corporeity.

Animals too

are, accord-

120
ing to
ii.

GENESIS

II. 8.

19, though according to

i.

24

sq.

not

directly,

formations by God, and the animal soul also is the effect of the D"n nn which entered into the animal world, nn and t?a3

everywhere bear to each other the relation of the primary and but the spirit and soul of man secondary principles of life
;

have

this

advantage over the animal soul, that they are not

only the individuation of the entire natural life, but a gift bestowed on man expressly and directly by the personal God.

The consciousness
in

of this exaltation above the beast is innate as to his physical nature the
of animals
;

man.

Man

is

most perfect

and highly developed

spiritual

nor

is

his inner nature, his

soul, categorically

different

from the animal inner

t?ai
is

nature, which equally consists of

nn and

The

difference

however
and

is this,

that the spirit-soul of

infinite

man

self-conscious,
is
is

development, because it descended in another and a higher manner. If it

capable
of

Godasked

whether
question

ii.

is

in favour of trichotomy or dichotomy, the

is

not, as I

have shown in

my

Biblisclien Psychologic,

2nded. 1861, correctly formulated, the Scripture view of man 1 Thess. v. 23), and yet being trichotomous (Ps. xvi. 9
;

dichotomous.

It distinguishes in

man

spirit (heart, i/ous), soul

and body; but spirit and soul belong to each other o,s principium and principiatum ; the former is irvev^a 0*779, principium
principians, the latter tyv%ij ^ooaa, principium principiatum
;

the former has

its life

ately from the spirit.

of his having a spirit,

immediately from God, the latter medi His having a soul is the consequence

and the

latter is a mysteriously creative

creation of man, into whenever a man comes existence, and specifically repeated distinguishing him from all other beings who are also rrn 6?aj.

act of God, exclusively appropriated to the

The plantation
ver. 8
:

And

and the placing of man therein, Jahveh Elohim planted a garden in Eden east
of Paradise

ward ; and placed

events are
first

therein the man whom He had formed. Both but summarily related, to form as it were the

theme
by
its

of

what
it

follows.

beauty

The garden was of God s planting the impression of being more directly gave

GENESIS

II.

8.

121
and vegetable kingdom delight, and

of Divine origin than all the earth

The garden was here land of delight it was

besides.
;

in

}"$,

which means

then, as thus indicated, the centre

of

the land

of

delight,

the ne plies ultra of delightfillness.

is

This primaeval seat of

iii.

man

elsewhere called

!*$

|3,

ver. 15,

23

sq.,
;

Joel

ii.

xxxi. 8

DTitan

p,

3, or the garden of God, DTita |3, Ezek. n p, xiii. 10 Ezek. xxxi. 9 Isa. li. 3
;
;

sometimes H#, the

situated
Isa.
is
li.

name

of

the district in

which

it

was
9
;

is

transferred to

itself,

Ezek. xxviii.

13, xxxi.

3.

The name
to

py, though

of appellative signification,
;

denote a definite country but the Assyrian Eden, Isa. xxxvii. 12, Ezek. xxvii. 23, and the Ccelesyrian Amos
i.

meant

5, are

written

H??>

with two Segols.

the same
;

Perhaps the meaning

of the
is

two names

is

at least the Ccelesyrian

Eden

similarly explained, for

n^"^?,

Amos

i.

5, is

certainly the

same place
v.

as Hapd&eia-os, Ptol. v. 15. 20. Paradisus, Plin. Eibla from to near the 19, (different village Bet Genii, near

the heights of Bettagene on the eastern declivity of Hermon),

the valley between Libanus and Antilibanus,

is

in the

Moslem

Sunna reckoned
this

passage
;

is

one of the four earthly Paradises, p in translated Trapd&eiacx; by LXX. Sam. Syr.
as

Jerome

it is

the D Y!^ occurring in the

Spiegel,
is

Song

of

Solomon and

Ecclesiastes, which, since

identified in

graph on the Song of Solomon, 1857, with the

daSza (from pairi = 7repl, and
dez,

my Mono Zend, pamheap, from

of
2

heap,

diz, to

which

also

comes

dista, hearth), in the 3rd

and 5th Eargard

p.

the Vendidad (see Justi, Handbucli der Zendspraclic,

"

ISO).

The word there indeed means only a heaping round," and not a walled garden but where else than in Persia, if not
;

Babylonia (see Er. Delitzsch, Paradies, pp. 95-97), should the root-word of the Armenian pardez, Arab, firdam, Heb.
1

Compare, not the Arab.

^.c jj!

..tXc,

mansio

(as

Beidhawi on Sur.

xiii.

23

explains

^,Jo^),
in

but

.,JL.

mollities.

On

the

first

explanation,

eomp.
2

DMZ.

xxxix. 580 sq.

See

"VVetzstein

2nd

ed. of

my

Jesaia, p. G89 sq.

122
D T1?, be sought for
?

GENESIS
It is
is

II.

9.

shading from above, which

of p, so that
13

not the idea of fencing, but of connected with the stem-word

Aram.

pi33

means a place roofed over by foliage, as the means the Baldachino (Fleischer on Levy s Chald.

WB.\. 435). God planted this garden in a delightful country, from ancient times (Trgg. Syr. Aq. Symm. Theod. B7P.P, not Jer.), but from the east (i.e. the quarter of heaven being
:

regarded as the fixed point whence the eye looks forth to 1 determine the locality of the place ) eastwards, viz. east of the
:

Palestinian standpoint of the narrator.

In the Qucestiones of

Jerome

is

found besides
is

D1pE>,

the reading

mtED

in

many
23

texts

the word

wanting entirely (see Lagarde, Genesis, p. sq.). In this eastwardly situated garden God placed the man not nfct for vv. ponendi are con whom He had formed
;
DB>,

strued in

Hebrew

as in Latin (Jer. in quo posuit).

Particulars
ver. 9
:

And

concerning the planting of Paradise follow, Jahvch Elohirn made to spring out of the earth
in the midst of the garden,

every kind of tree pleasant to the sight,

the
tree

of life The article of fijnn shows that knowledge of good and evil. jni nto (the whole idea of these contrasts will be discussed

and good for food ; and and the tree of the

subsequently)
infinitive like

is

the accusative object (njnn

is

a substantivized
falls

rn$n,

Num.
xxii.

iv.

1 2)

the

emphasis
n

upon

the knowledge in this accusative connection more than in the

genitive (comp. Jer.
16).

The nouns
?,

^")P

and

<?^p

without an
(for

article,

but supplied with

are also used infinitively

seeing, for eating

= to

see, to eat),

same nature

as the nomina, actionis

and are of really the (similarly formed with a

x.

preformative D in the
x. 2.

Aramean manner), Deut.

is

11

Num.
in the

The

tree

of life

distinguished, as standing

midst of the garden, from the fruit trees, which were so The pleasant to look on, and which excited the appetite.
chief emphasis
fj?1
1

with what

follows
s

being here laid upon the Divine authorship, is to be regarded, as by Jer. Luth. and
2nd Excursus
in his

See Nagelsbacli 3rd ed. 1864.

Anmerkungen zur

Ilias,

Autenrieth

GENESIS

II.

10.

123
*}.

most

expositors,

as

dependent

on
is

It

is

however

striking that the tree of knowledge

mentioned incidentally,

and that
of as

questionable whether it also is to he conceived Hence standing in the midst of the garden or not.
it is

Budde
jni 31D,

conjectures, that the original text

was njnn

pj?

pn

"prai

without D^nn

py.

This

conjecture seems

confirmed
this one
iii.

by the circumstance, that the woman only designates

forbidden tree as standing in the midst of the garden,

2.

From
ii.

these and other indications, especially that, according to

sq.,

16

the eating of the tree of

life,

as well as of all the

other trees of the garden, one only excepted, would have been

granted to man, he draws the conclusion, that the history of the fall, which turns upon the tree of knowledge, is a specially
Israelite

tree of life

theologumen of the Jahvistic school, and that the was afterwards introduced into it from popular

tradition
xiii.

not specially Israelite (comp. Prov. iii. 18, xi. 30, should thus have here an attempt to 12, xv. 4).

We

explain the origin of sin in the form of a myth, which was

The main subsequently embellished with an alien element. in lies the that this as the of narrative fact, conjecture support
reads, the partaking of the

tree

of life appears to be freely

conceded to man, while

iii.

we

nevertheless
as

afterwards

learn,

22

sq.,

that

it

was reserved

a reward in the case of

is
:

their

The

But this standing their test. state of the case is as follows

in

appearance only.

the narrative testifies

indeed to the presence of the tree of life from the beginning, but nothing is said to men concerning it. Only one tree, the
tree
of

knowledge,

is

put in the foreground for their notice

as for the tree of

life, it is

at first not present to their notice,

till

and

is,

so to speak, not

unmasked

after the

fall.

But before proceeding Paradise and its relation

ver.

to the history of the fall, the nature of to the rest of the

world are described,

stream went forth from Eden to water the and thence it ivas divided, and became garden; four new rivers.

10

And a

Jerome rightly
peverat,
;

translates cgredicbatur,
is

LXX.

incorrectly

eWo-

the writer

indeed speaking of Paradise as a thing

124
of the past,
is

GENESIS

II.

10.

and the temporal sense of such a noun sentence

always determined by the connection (e.g. Obad. ver. 11, The connection here where fuisti has to be thought of). however is a historical one, and therefore equivalent
*
N>

"inji

to
ix.

NV 1 rvn

injl, like
;

Ex.

xiii.

21

sq.

Judg.

iv.

sq.;

Sam.

11-13

John

i.

11, comp. xviii. 16 (an adverbial sentence

in historical connection).
in a past sense, dirimebat

Hence
1

se.
i.e.

T]^ must also be taken The stream was parted D$

too

from the garden onwards,

four
is

at its

departure from

it,

into

D^

an.

According as the

upwards or that in which anything culminates (head, chief matter, sum), 2 or the foremost, that whence anything advancing proceeds.
If waters are spoken
j?yn of, w$r\ may mean either caput fontis p jn, Arab, ra s el-ain, is the name given it

movement of the representation downwards, does i?s*i mean either the upmost,

or
to

caput fluvii. the starting-point of a spring, whence

brook.

flows onwards as a
of

Many

localities get their

names because the source

e.g.

some

river begins

in

their

neighbourhood,

the

famous
with

Mesopotamian town Has el-ain

the remarkable

(in Steph. Byz. Resainct),

(jJUO-

much sung

of four sources of the

Chaboras

can hardly understand

;

DWI

in

our passage

thus of py ^fcO, beginnings of rivers the notion would then that the stream of Paradise flowed on subterraneously, be,

and broke
as D iru

forth farther on in four springs,

whence proceeded
of D^fcO

four other rivers.

We

must on the contrary conceive

ndri (Fr. Delitzsch, Paradies, p. 98). "wi, Assyr. res Arab, ras en-nahr is also said of the place where a river
off

branches

from another, as

"

e.g.

there

is

in the G-uta of
is

Damascus an important
southern Hdrus;
1

river called Hdrus,

which

divided

near the village Hold into two rivers, the northern and the
the place where
the

two

rivers go forth

in historical connection continuance in the past, but frequently also only what happened while something 1 Sam. ii. 19. else was happening, e.g. Ex. xxxiii. 7 In the latter case it answers to the Latin impf. as an expression of the synchronistic.
e.g.
ii.

The Hebrew impf. denotes

6,

xxix.

2,

So by

Orelli,

Synonyma der

Zeit

und Ewigkeit,

p. 14.

GENESIS

II.

11,

12.

125

from the one

stein).

is

called

^\

yi>*j,

capita

fluviorum"

(Wetz-

Hence the meaning here

i.e.

is

that the stream, which rose

in

Eden and flowed through

size

Paradise,

became

at its exit there

from rerpaK6(f)a\o^,

separated into

four tributary rivers.

The considerable
for
"if

of the
i.e.

branch

may

be hence inferred

from the

from what remained of the stream

others could be formed,

^=J^>

after the watering of Paradise, four

the stream must have been very large, the garden of great for we have to imagine, that extent, and its flora wonderful
;

the IJirnx nip^n

wa s

not effected, as

it

is

by the stream simply flowing through

divided into

with us in a park, it, but by its being

many

rivulets,
to

might from time

garden,
is

and thus led everywhere, that it time overflow the whole surface of the

mode

of irrigation

which

is

called tof (uJjk),

and

found in

its

greatest perfection in the

Gutd"

(Wetzstein).

Two

of the rivers

formed from the fed (overflow

of water) of this

stream of Paradise are unquestionably the Tigris and Euphrates;

the two others which are

named

first

are enigmatical.

Accord

ing to the traditional view, one is the Nile, the other an Indian river. The first branch river, vv. 11, 12: The name

of the one ivas Pison

it is

that which flows

;

around

the whole

land of Havilah, ivhere

fine:
there is bdellium

is

gold

and

the gold
stone.

of that land is

and
one

the
is,

"Sohain

We
the

translate

not

the

name
;

of the

but
is

iuas, like iv. 19, xxviii. 19,

and frequently
waters as
it

the narrator

describing

network

of

encircled the outer world

at

from Paradise.

But

when he
fiB^a

continues snbn Kin, he

once identifies the four

rivers with such as still existed.

No

such name of a river as

occurs elsewhere, hence

we

are reduced to conjecture and

inference from the description. But we remark beforehand, that whatever may be the inference drawn from names and

such a state of things as will answer to the The Tigris and picture cannot in reality be pointed out.
description,

Euphrates neither one parent stream

rise
;

from one source nor branch

off

from

hence a

common

starting-point of these

126

GENESIS

II.

11,

12.

two, together with two other rivers,

is

utterly undiscoverable,

and the

effort to point

out the four rivers in four that are in

the closest possible approximation to each other cannot lead

to their full identification.

The prevailing view

of ancient

expositors was that Pison (Phison) was an Indian river. For the notion of the Midrasli, repeated by Saadia, Kashi, and also by the Arabian Samarit., that Pison was the Nile,

because
facture

JIB*Q

points to jn^a, the

raw material
|lB>a),

in

the

manu

of linen (see Arucli

under

is

out of

question.

Josephus, the Fathers and the Byzantines see in Pison the Ganges (TdyjTj^), and in Gihon the Nile, in opposition to

which Kosmas Indikopleustes thinks both were Indian

and takes

rivers,

T^v

for

the alliterative
is

Qeiauiv for the Indus, which

able
(Dillm.

Ganges and beyond comparison more prob

of the

name

Eiehm and
far

others),

since

this

chief

river

of

Western India lay

more within the ancient horizon than

the Ganges did. ji^a, according to its meaning, corresponds sur prisingly with the Hyphasis, with which Haneberg compares it.

For

as pt^D

comes from

c^Q, to

gallop, to rush

wildly, so

is

Hyphasis equivalent to vipdsa, the unfettered (Lassen, Pentapotamia Indica, p. 9). The Hyphasis however, though containing gold, is yet far less renowned as a gold river in a gold country
than the Indus (Sindhu), the sacred river of the Vedas, which
unites
in
itself

the

five

rivers

of

the
inn

five
is

river

country

(Pendschab).
nn-jn

The

land

D^I^K

as the special abode of gold,

adds, of excellent gold.

to

by and indeed, as I2a The Khateph-Pathach of irm serves

nj

called

designated

pHi",

enhance the pronunciation of the sibilant like IHD^ rnfe^ etc., on the feminine Kin, which is written Nin^ as
ris>p.,

Keri perpetuum, and which we here meet with for the first time see the Introd. p. 42, and my article on it in Luthardt s
;

Zeitschrift,

1880,

p.

393

sqq.

The

description suits India,

and

especially the river-watered region of the upper Indus,

Here was the abode of the goldthe renowned gold country. Indians of of the Darda (Darada) of Herodotus, bringing Strabo and Megasthenes, Arrian, Pliny, of the ants who threw

GENESIS
their hills iu a soil
district

II.

11, 12.

127
The abundance
of

up

abounding in

gold.

this

in golden-sanded rivers, in

auriferous earth, in

been brilliantly confirmed. gold-diggings, has lately fi^OT P.*? seems to signify the land of sandy soil
$>in,

Hence
(from

the sand as driven about by the wind), and especially of Jer. i. translates it by pnjTi, i.e. India golden sand the Targ.
;
;

but

it

is

by no means India alone that

is

so called;

for the

latter the

name

rn n is

Hondu)

first

occurs in the book of

distant

Egther

Havilah

the

name

of

south-eastern

country inhabited by Ishmael and Amalek, with which an India (see the article tiquity combined what it knew of Hither

Eiehm s HIV.). When it is said of Pison that it the whole land of Havilah, this does not necessarily compasses
"Eden"

in

mean, that

it

surrounds
Ps.

it

like
of

an island,
a

for

mo

is

also said,

Num.

4, 6, crescent-shaped movement. as the second gold esteemed in times ancient Arabia was

xxi.

xxvi.

country, but

the

combination

of

the Pison with the South

of

Arabian rivers Bail and Bisa, and

Havilah with Chaulan

Arabia (1875),

in his Ancient Geography of rjL-u), attempted by Sprengen is devoid of all probability, npia is named as

a second product of Havilah.

The word occurs again only

where neither the name of a precious stone (per haps r6-Q =vaidurja, according to Garbe, Die indischcn Mincralien, 1882, the stone which we call cat s-eye) nor of a pearl

Xum.

xi.

7,

is suitable,

ninn

is

/3SeXXa, bdellium bdella (see Saalfeld

undoubtedly the same word as /3$e\\iov s Thesaurus Italogrcecus,

1884), and this

certain

is

the

name

of the aromatic

gummy

resin of

Amyrides

(balm-trees), such as the Indian Amyris

Commifera Roxburgh and Amyris Agallocha (see Geiger, Pharmac. Botanik, 2nd ed. p. 1215 sq.). The Indian root-

word (Lassen maddlaka, musk-scented, otherwise Lagarde, Gesammdte Abh. p. 20, No. 39) is not yet certain; the Arab.
:

i_?U
with

is

word dependent on a name of Bdellium commencing (comp. Pliny, xii. 35 gummi alii Irochon appellant, alii
a
:

malacham, alii maldacon). That bdellium was chiefly received from India is testified by Dioskorides and Pliny (Lassen,

128
Indisclie

GENESIS

II.

13.

AK.

i.

339).

It is also the chief

to

mine

of the

Soham
o

stone, for Dnt?

means according
also,

LXX.
it

Ex. xxviii. 20, xxix.,

translates o
\i6o<$

and indeed our passage Trpdcnvos, and according

according to

where

to the

Targums

Syr. Saad. the beryl,

Aq. Symm. Theod. the onyx, according to Aq. in our passage the sardonyx, and according to LXX. Ex. xxv. 7, xxxv. 9, the sardis, both which stones are
xxviii. 1 6,

LXX. Job

same species as the onyx. India was a chief treasury of the sardis, onyx, and sardonyx (see v. Veltheim, Ueber die Onyx-G-ebirge des Ctesias, 1797; Lassen, AK. iii. 12), and
of the
also of the beryl, of
alibi repertos.

which Pliny says

is

India

eos gignit
"

raro

Sprenger explains the name as the

the

stone of
district,

Socheim

"

(^j^^), which

name

of a

Jemanic
is

producing a specially fine onyx, but this

article in Dn$n, an(j

opposed by the

rom

js

ai so improbable.

Eodiger
but this
is

compares with the name the Arab.

^L, pcdlidus ;

no word

of

colour,

but means thin and dried up by heat.

river, ver. 1 3
it

The second branch

river

was Gihon

that is
jirPa,

OuL
from

The name

And the name of the second which compasses the whole land of from ma (n\a), to break forth (like pT3,
:

Tia T3), is so appropriate a

name

for a river, that several

are so called.

Gaihun

is

the Semitic
in Asia

name

of the Oxus,

and

Gaihcln of the

Pyramus

Minor and

Cilicia (see the

explanation of both names in the Geographical Lexicon Merdsid, edited by Juynboll) the Araxes is also, according
;

to

Brugsch, Persische Reise, i. 145 sq., called Gehun by the On this account he combines the Gihon of Paradise Persians.
Araxes, and

with the
(Herod,
iv.

Phison

with

the

4>ao-?

37

sq., 45), whence, as also Kurtz,

KoA/^o? Bunsen, and

others assume, rfrin

would be Kolchis and

eta the Asiatic

This view obtains a support in the Armenian tradition, that the lovely oasis of Ordubdd beyond Gulfa on the left bank of the Aras is a residue of the garden of Eden.
Kocraaia.

Other transmitted popular opinions, however, place Paradise elsewhere, and the otherwise interesting combination is

GENESIS

II. 13.

129

decidedly opposed by the circumstance, that though Havilah is an extensible geographical notion, without fixed outlines, it so far northwards between the Black and must not be sought O

There is far more weight in the ancient and Caspian Seas. advocated view, that pn^ is the name of the Nile powerfully

which winds about tto = ^Ethiopia and especially Meroe. The objection, that the Nile is in the Old Testament called by other
For such names as names, is not to the point. cannot be taken into consideration, but by the side of
,and solely the
v.
"ifr,

"inj,

DJ,

pm

only
1

name

"NIW*

(=

2ipis, according to Dionys. Perieg.

223, comp. Pliny, v. 9, the native name of the Upper Nile). This very name is however rendered TTJOOV by LXX. Jer. ii. 18,

and that
"Wisd.

T^v
27

was accessible from the Nile

(o
e/cffratv&v
&>?

is
&>?

seen from
TIJCDV
co?

xxiv.

<w?

TraiSeiav,

ev

rjfjLepais

rpvyrjTOv),

where

GO?

<<W9,

the parallel of
T)&r:D

T^cov,
i.e.

rests

on a mistaken translation of

pte/? or

"ti^?),

is

as the Nile.

Kewv

too, registered

in the Coptic Glossaries

(Journal Asiatique, 1846, p. 493 sq.) as a name of the Nile, That the Nile was must be also noticed in this connection.
so called in its upper course is
:

which paraphrases prpJi *)1pDy, land of psiD (for which the Arabic

shown by the Samar. Targum, which flows about the whole

translation,

edited

by

Kuenen, gives the ^^sa^, which flows about the land of Sudan).
This fppoy needs no emendation, as M. Heidenheim (Samar. Genesis, 1884, p. 76) thinks; the Goschop, which surrounds in

a spiral-shaped course the Abyssinian Kaffa near the sources of the White Nile (baJir el-dbjad), and is therefore taken for

one of the original sources of the Nile (see Eitter, Ein Slick in das Nil-Quelland, p. 31 sqq.), is intended. In the A vesta

and Bundehesch

also

one

river,

in

which the stream

of

earth,

Paradise descending from heaven communicates itself to the is the eastward flowing Indus (Veh-rud), the other the
1 as ShiBrugsch in the March number of the German Review regards Hur, watercourse of the Horus, Hebraized, and thinks that the eastern frontier channel of Egypt on the lower course of the Pelusian arm of the Nile was so called.
T)!TK>

130

GENESIS

II.

14.

westward flowing Nile (Ary-rot\ or rather the Araxes (^ Herod, i. 202) and the Nile together. For the Nile was
regarded as the

Rayha

(Vedic, Rasa)

= Araxes, flowing

on

subterraneously, and

reappearing in Egypt.

According to
seas.

the ancient view, the Nile comes from Asia into Africa, the

Persian Gulf and the

Eed Sea being considered inland

its

Inspiration does not in things natural raise

subject above

the state of contemporary information, and

astonished
to

we need

not be
exhibits
state

find

that

the

picture
of

of

Paradise

some

of

the

incompleteness

the

most ancient

of

geographical knowledge. Every course of the Nile in Egypt was from

Israelite

knew indeed

that the

south to north, but

antiquity had only uncertain conjectures as to the

mouth
it,

of

the river, the Egyptian priests

knew nothing

of

and in

Egypt Herodotus could not learn anything even tolerably Alexander the Great was during his probable about it.
sojourn in India the subject of a strange delusion concerning
the sources of the Nile (see Geiger, Alexandri M. Historiarum
Scriptores, p. 1 1 8 sq.);

Hekataos

too,

the most ancient of Grecian

:

he transposes the geographers, launches forth into fables origin of the Nile beyond Africa, and does this with a refer
ence to the Argonauts, whose ship the old Hellenic tradition makes to come back into the Mediterranean Sea through the Nile (see Ebers, ^%. und die Eb. Moses, p. 31 comp.
;

Hecatcei Fragmenta, ed.

does

Pomponius Mela

teach,

Klausen, pp. 119-121). Similarly that the Nile rises in the

Antichthon (the land lying opposite to our inhabited part of the earth), which is separated from us by the sea, flows on under
the bed of the ocean, and at last
arrives at
the
1

The third branch

river

river,
:

14a:
is

And
it

Upper Egypt. name of the third

to

was Hiddekel

that

that floweth

the

east

of

Assyria.

The
4,
is

Tigris,

Dan.
1

x.

named again in the Old Testament only The original name of the river is meant.

See the article of Letronne on the situation of Paradise (especially on the subterranean course of the rivers) in Alex. v. Humboldt s Kritischen Unters.
ilber die hist.

Entwickelung der geogr. Kenntnisse von der Neuen Welt,

vol.

ii.

1852, p. 82 sqq.

GENESIS

II.

14.

131

Accado-Sumerian,

i.e.

belonging to the language of the non-

Semitic original inhabitants of North and South Babylonia, viz. Idigna (see on the meaning, Friedr. Delitzsch, Paradies,
p. 1*71),

whence the Assyrian

Idiklat,

which the Hebrew has

so

assimilated

that

the

name sounds

by changing the weakly aspirated id into in like in, acutus, and ?P, celer, and
In the Bundehesch
it is

also like P7Q, aculeus.

Dagrad, in the

Pehlvi rnn, and in the inscriptions of Darius Tirjrd, which, according to ancient testimony, means both the arrow and
the river of arrow-like swiftness, the
(tir],

modern Persian
it,

too

ij

which has been abbreviated from

and

is

just such an

Eranian popular etymological assimilation of a foreign word as ^pnn is of a Hebrew one, combines both these meanings.

Other forms of the name,

(in ancient
x"

e.g.

Aram. npW, Pehlv.

mn,

Arab.

Arabic always without article and

diptotori),

are
or

on the other hand only phonetic changes, with which no idea image is combined, as in those others which denote a stream
In what sense however
?

bursting from the mountains with fearful rapidity, and con

tinually altering its bed.
is it

said

that the Hiddekel flows ll$K npl?

Most moderns (Knobel,

:

in front of Keil, Schrader, Dillmann, Fr. Delitzsch) translate Assur, for from the West Asiatic standpoint of the narrator the three chief cities of the Assyrian empire lay east of the
Tigris
;

Nineveh and Kelach

:

Sarrukin farther landward

close to its left bank, and Durhence the Tigris flowed in a

westerly direction from this

centre of the

Assyrian world-

power and formed the front of the land of Assur, which lay to the east of it, and of which it thus formed the western
boundary.

The I^XX., which here and

at iv.

16 translates

noip by
lation.

fcarevavrt,,

may be appealed

to in favour of this trans

But

it

is

very improbable that ncnp anywhere means

the front of a thing, and not on the contrary everywhere, both here and iv. 16, as well as 1 Sam. xiii. 5, Ezek. xxxix. 11,
that

which

is

the front to any one going eastward,

i.e.

the
:

eastern

region.

The proposed rendering

of

Pressel

too

132
towards the eastern
;

GENESIS

II.

14.

side,

which from

it

onwards forms Assyria,

cannot be accepted for ntnp does not mean the east side of The Targums a thing, but the eastward direction from it.
translate
if
it
:

eastwards from Assyria, and

WK
it

riEHp cannot,

even

were an incompatible statement, be otherwise under In fact, the Tigris bisected the Assyrian region, so stood.
that
it

might equally be said of

it,

that

flowed TI^K HDlp as

11W
now

nyTO.

The

oldest capital of the empire, called Assur,

buried under the hill Kalah-Shergat, lay on the west bank of the Tigris, and the plain of ancient Assyrian ruins

extends from the western bank of the Tigris to the neighbour hood of Chaboras the centre of gravity of the Assyrian power
;

in general lay west of the Tigris towards Mesopotamia, and

if

we

take II^K more in a geographical than in a political sense, so as to make it as Tucli after Huet agrees comprise the
aggregate of the lands of the
distinguished from Babylonia,

Upper Euphrates and Tigris (as we may say with perfect

"ijttB>),

accuracy that this Assyria, as to its main body, has the The fourth branch-river, 14&: And the Tigris on the east.

The Euphrates is meant. Its fourth river ivas the Phrcith. name, like that of the Tigris, is radically Accado-Sumerian,
viz.

Pura,

i.e.

stream,

fully

written

Pura-nunu,

i.e.

great
of the
"injn.

stream, quite

corresponding with the

Hebrew name

Euphrates in: (Isa. vii. 20; Micah vii. 12), nn:n, h*un This original name is in Semiticized Babylonio - Assyrian Pur at, Heb. rna (Paradics, p. 169 sq.), as derived from

ma

the fruit-bearing,

or,

according to Bechoroth
*j

555, the

abounding in water, Arab. Furat, as from c^i, to be loose, soft, mild (especially of water), for the Euphrates with relation
to the Tigris
is,

as Philo, Qucest. in G-enesin, says, mitior et

salubrior magisque nutritorius.

The Greek form

of the

name

Ev^pdrr)?, with eu sounding like commendation, resembles What the narrator says con the ancient Persian Ufrdtu. cerning this fourth river
is

strikingly brief, because there

was

no need of any more particular designation of what was so

GENESIS
universally known, and the

II.

14.

133
of

memory

which

is

entwined in

the

name

of all

E* "}^
1

(=

Transeuphratenses).

The western

Euphrates

(Frat-sii)

gorge valley of

upon the Domlu-Dagh, a summit the eastern the Giaur Dagh near Erzerum
rises
;

Euphrates (Murad) upon Tschir-Geduk, one of the ridges of but the Tigris the Ala-Dagh in the Pashalic of Bajazid
;

northward
sides

of

Diarbekr in the highlands, surrounded on three

the

by the course of

sources indeed of the Tigris

Upper Euphrates. are only 2000 paces

The main
distant

from
and

the

bank of the Euphrates, but the notion that the

Tigris

Euphrates were originally only ramifications from one mother stream, is inconsistent with the present condition of the land.

We

shall be obliged to admit, that with the

all certain

disappearance of

Paradise

knowledge
is

of the four rivers lias been lost,

and that the narrator

reproducing the tradition which regarded

the Indus, Nile, Tigris, and Euphrates, the four largest and

most beneficial streams of the ancient horizon, as hand-posts pointing backwards to the lost Paradise, as disjecta membra of
the no longer existent single stream of Paradise.

A traditional
(i.e.

saying of

Mohammed

is

of similar import

"

The Saihdn

the 2dpos or IFapo?) and the

Gailidn and the Nile and the

s

Frat

these all belong to the streams of Paradise (Arnold

p.

Chrcstom. arabica,

23)

and a

like idea finds

expression in

Ganga which fell from heaven upon Mount Meru near the city of Brahma, flows through the
certain Puranas, viz. that the

earth in four arms.

We
to

have now only to sketch two more views which try make the picture of the five rivers more conceivable and
so far

admissible,

as

this

may
"

be

done

by bringing the
with
in the

Pison

and Gihon
I.

into

close
art.

connection
Paradies,"

the

Tigris-

Euphrates.
1

Pressel (in the

supplement

We

leave out of consideration Moritz Engel

Losung dcr Paradiesesfrage

(Lpz., Otto Schnlzf, 1885), which places Paradise in the oasis el-Ruhbe in the midst of the Harra eastwards of Hauran, on the eastern side of the terrible

volcanic plateau of es-Safa, and also designates the Hiddekel and Frat as rivers of this oasis ( Wadi d-Garz and es- v Sdm). See Ryssel s notice of the book in the Palastina-Zeitschr. viii. (1885) p. 233 sqq.

134:

GENESIS

II.

14.

to

Herzog

Real-Encycl. and in his

Gescli.

und Gwgraphie
the

der

Urzeit,

1883) seeks
lands
of

for Paradise in the

midst of the western

united
Tigris-

shore

the Shatt

el-ardb,

i.e.

Euphrates, the region in which lies Basra, formerly esteemed

The Tigris by Moslems as one of the four earthly Paradises. and Euphrates join near the town of Korna, and the united
stream flows a distance of 40 leagues to
leagues below
its

mouth.

Eight

empties

itself

Korna the Kerkha (Choaspes), from the east, into it, and twenty leagues farther down the
of the

Karun

(the ^IK

Greeks), two

leagues

farther

book of Daniel, the Eulaos of the on the now quadruple river

begins to divide into two branches, in which it finally flows for a distance of ten leagues to its mouth in the Persian Gulf.
Pressel regards the Shatt el-Arab as the stream out of Eden,

and the Kerkha

el- Arab.

= Gihon,
"

the
"

Karun

= Pison,

the Tigris and

Euphrates as the four

heads

of the giant-body of the Shatt

hypothesis is built upon the present condition of the South Babylonian Delta, and the junction of
this

But

the

the Tigris and Euphrates into one stream before their reaching sea did not as yet exist in ancient times. Nor is it
consistent with the language of the description in hand.

The

Tigris and Euphrates uniting into one stream, and the Kerkha and Karun flowing into this double stream, cannot be called

D^fcO of that one, and are not D

since,

Wi

into

which

it

divides,

on the contrary,
II. It is

it

arises

itself

from the union of the

four rivers.

more conceivable that Pison and Gihon

off

should have branched

from the Euphrates, and

it is

accord
lag das

ing to this supposition that Friedr. Delitzsch, in his

Paradies,
structs

Wo

1881 (comp.

Sayce, Alte Denkmaler,

its

p.

24), recon

the picture of the one river with

;

four branches.

According to 8 a, Paradise lay aipD

so was a Judean, or at
least

the Jahvist
;

who

tells

us

a Palestinian

but eastwards

from Caanan, and separated from it by the great desert, lies Babylon, not Armenia, for which we should have expected pavD
instead
of Dlpfc
(mtiDD).

The stream out

;

of

Eden

is

the

Euphrates in its upper course

&din and seru are Babylonian

GENESIS

II.

14.

135

synonyms
Jordan
is

for depression, lowland, plain.

called gor, so is zor still the

As the valley name of the great

of the

valley

through which the Tigris and Euphrates flow into the Persian Gulf. Accordingly Eden is the lowland of the twin streams

and the garden in Eden, the district near Babylon, so renowned from of old for its Paradisaic beauty, and called by both Babylonians and Assyrians Kar-Dunids, i.e. garden of the god

Dumas.

The stream that waters

this

garden

of

God

is

the

Euphrates, and in a certain sense the Euphrates-Tigris, since the Euphrates at its entrance into the plain of Babylon flows on a
higher level than the Tigris, and is blended as it were into one stream with it by many rills flowing in its direction. Below7 Babylon this large body of water divides into four
great

water-ways, by which

it

is

led

southwards into the

whole country.

The

first

branch-river, the Pisdnu (the Babyis

lonio-Assyrian word for water reservoir),

great channel of the Euphrates,

Pallakopas, the

by whose southern course lay

its
is

Ur

of the Chaldees.

r6 in

is

the great desert contiguous to

right bank.

The second branch, the Gulidnu,

the next largest

channel of the Euphrates, the so-called Nile channel (Shatt

en-N tl), formerly a deep, broad, navigable

mid-Babylon in the form of an arch, proper, as the land of the Kassu
Sprache der Kossiier, 1884), the
t^o
is

river surrounding

(see Friedr. Delitzsch,

Northern Babylon Die

name

of

which stands in an

The pro ducts of the country, mentioned ver. 11 sq., do not oppose this combination. Tiglath-Pileser II. says concerning one of his campaigns in the year *731, that he received as tribute
as yet unexplained connection with Ethiopia-Egypt.

from Merodach Baladan Jmrdsa epir mdtisu ana ma dS, gold of his country in great There was also Bdellium quantity.
in Babylon, and this
Israelites could
v

was the nearest land from which the

(fern, of

become well acquainted with

The stone

Soham, Babyl. sdmtu

(Num. xi. 7). sdmu\ was a chief

it

product of the province of Melulilm or of the Kassu-country, so rich in precious stones. We do not consider it impossible
1

Sippar lay, as a clay tablet states, in the land of Edinn.

136
that Fr. Delitzsch
s

GENESIS

II.

15.

view may receive further confirmation

Friedr.
7, that
it

from the monuments.

Theol LZ. 1882, No.

Philippi
is

objection, in

the

no
;

less

Utopian than that

not to the point for though the picture thus obtained does not answer the requirements of scientific
is rejected, is

which

hydrography,

it

contains nothing impracticably fantastic.

is

Of
that

Dillmann

objections, one only

fig

at first striking, viz. 7) is excluded

1

the region of

cultivation (Gen.

iii.

from the

lower course of the Euphrates and Tigris. For that it could never enter into the mind of a Jew to regard Babylonia as
the primitive seat of mankind, and the environs of Babel as at

one time the garden of God,

is

contradicted

and especially by Bcchoroth 55&,

stream out of Eden, &OPJJD ma,
(therefore
its
is

by Beraclwth 39a, according to which the

Pijut

it

is the Euphrates at its rise In the Talmud, Midrash and upper course). everywhere assumed that the unnamed mother it

stream, the trunk as

were of the
this
is

four,

was continued in the

fourth branch,

and that

indicated by the brevity of

expression in ver. 14.

The narrator having developed Sa, and the planting of Paradise, and more particularly described its situation, now
developes 85, and describes the placing of
associated with
the

man and

the beings
took

him

therein, ver. 1 5

And Jahvch Elohim

man, and placed him in the garden of Eden, to dress it, and to keep it. The verb H13 has two Hiphil forms, one of which, rwn, means to bring to rest, to quiet, the other rpsn (comp. the
half passive in Zech.
to
this,
v.

11), to settle, to leave. in

According
of
;

man was

not

made

Paradise, but

made out
this

the earth somewhere else, and then transported into Paradise

and indeed
1

"?:

H??;

to dress
>

and

to

keep

garden of

Babylonian
the
2

Sprenger, Babylonien, das reichste Land der Vorzeit 18S6, p. 244, says, that Tittu = tintu, figs were not so good as those of Asia Minor and Syria.

name

of the

fig, is

common Babylonian

word.

See Genesis rabba, ch. xxvi. ; Lev. rabba, ch. xxii. ; Tanchuma on iSmm. xxviii. 2, and Kalir in Baer xxi. end.
p. 653, in itself the waters of the Pison

Num.
s

rabba, ch.

Jisrael,

rmm

W TW

Siddur Abodath

ISptfl

mam,

i.e.

the Euphrates included

and Gihon.

GENESIS

II.

16,

17.

137

God.

|3,

elsewhere masc.,

is

here treated as an ideal feminine.

"

Hupfeld thinks that the narrator adds this

order of things in
sees
in
it

from the present

momentary

self-forgetfulness."

Budde

also

a disturbing addition by the embellisher

of the
;

original history of Paradise

"

man was
tilled

in Paradise for

which was analysed by him for happy enjoyment, not for work and

care-taking."

The world
it

be

and tended,
is

was however designed to runs wild without man, who can and
of nature

ought
palms)
it

(as

shown,
it

to

make

for example, by corn, vines and date more useful and habitable, and to ennoble
"
"

by taking an

interest in

it.

Besides,

happy enjoyment
life

is

impossible either in
laziness.

heaven or earth in a

of contemplative
itself

As
as

in

ii.

13

work
It

is

ennobled by creation
it is

being called a nnfcto, so here in the Jahvist

made
that

to

appear

Paradisaic.

is

however

intelligible

the

horticulture here committed

agriculture, as

to
of

the

garden

man God

differed

differed

from subsequent from ordinary

more from the ground which was cursed. No creature can be happy without a calling. Paradise was
ground, and
still

the centre whence

man s dominion
up
at,

over the earth and the

drawing

in

and

lifting

of the natural into the region of the

spiritual thereby

aimed

was

to

make

its

beginning.

This

his nearest

duty has both a positive

(ad colcndurti)
follows

and a

negative side (ad custodiendum). infer that the meaning of pnDB^l

From what
is

we may

not restricted to keeping

the garden from running wild, or from injury by animals. He was also to keep it by withstanding the power of tempta

which was threatening to destroy him and Paradise with In Paradise itself was not only the tree of life, but him.
tion,

also the tree of the

knowledge what man was threatened with

learn, vv. 16,

of good

and

evil (ver. 9),

and

in respect of the latter

we now

17

And

Jahvch EloJiim commanded the man, garden thou

saying

Of

every tree

of the

the tree of the knowledge of

good on the day of thy eating thereof thou shalt die. The verb Httf with to command which account this on signifies strictly,
$>y

mayest freely cat, lut of and evil thou may est not eat, for

138
construction
first
is

GENESIS

IT.

16, 17.

usual in prohibitions (see the Lexicon).

;

The

tash (the pausal form) has a potential meaning the inf. The second ?3Nh intensivus strengthens the notion of option.
(the extra-pausal form) has the jussive sense
;

with yh

it is,

as

in the Decalogue, the expression of strict prohibition.

of ^3X is

The

inf.

sometimes found as ^K, sometimes as ^bis, with the prefix 2 (Num. xxvi. 10), and always with an added suffix, as
^bx.

The
is

niDri inf. intens. before

strengthens the certainty of

for the test of

what
the

threatened.

All

is

now prepared
is

man s
life,

freedom.

The

tree of

name

of its destination,

knowledge and

bears, like the

tree of

therefore not called the

this tree to

tree of death.

Men

were by means of
evil,

attain to
ills

the knowledge of good arid

resulting from them
tree is perverted
(Isa.

including the blessings and

sq.).

iii.

10

The

final

purpose of this

when

it

is

asserted that jni niD are natural

properties and not moral distinctions, and that therefore njH

jni 311D is culture as

the knowledge of the agreeable and the

disagreeable, of the profitable

jni

and the harmful

and

also

when

31B is

said,
1

as

for everything.

by For how

others, to

be a proverbial expression then could the partaking of it be

If Jahveli grudged men culture, He would be like the gods in Herodotus. malevolence ((f>0ovos), governed by What is in question is not an advance from childish ignorance

forbidden

to

culture,

but from childlike innocence to moral decision,

The two
of good

trees

were both

trees of blessing, for the

knowledge
vii.

and

evil is the characteristic of intellectual maturity,

vrjTnoTr]^,

of moral full age, in contrast to

Isa.

15

sq.

Heb.
to

v.

14.

As

the tree of
life,

life

man
so

the means of

as

was by eating thereof to be the reward of his standing the

to

test,

was the

tree

of

knowledge
of the right

eating thereof the

1

means

be by avoiding the use of freedom. God

mean

Certainly this expression may, in negative sentences like xxiv. 50, xxxi. 24, absolutely nothing," arid in positive ones like 2 Sam. xiv. 17, comp. 20,
"
"

"absolutely

everything

under which everything

is

but even then always as an expression of contrasts, These contrasts may be used in a comprised.

physical, a purely intellectual, or an ethical sense, according to the object and connection of what is being related.

GENESIS

II.

18.

139
did only that which

was not thereby a tempter

could not be omitted,
if

to

evil,

He

man was
Only
in

to

attain to moral decision

with respect to God.

being implies that this

communion with God does

;

the creature attain ideal perfection

but the idea of a personal

in free

communion should be union

love, that therefore power and occasion must be given to man Hence the primseval njVD to decide either for or against God.

gave man occasion to advance by his free avoidance of evil from the potential good implanted in him to actual good, and

from his

innate

liberum

arbitriuin

to

libertas

arbitrii,

i.e.

positive freedom

in other words, from the freedom of choice

implanted in his nature to freedom of power independently The result, according as the test of freedom falls acquired.

way or the other, is either completeness of communion with God or separation from Him, happiness or unhappiness, In this history everything turns, not upon life or death.
out one
the

externalism

of

what

is

related,

which have assumed

this form.

but upon the realities The question however as to

for the

whether death, which was threatened

tree of
is

eating of the

thought of as the direct penal con knowledge, of disobedience, or as indirectly such by means of sequence
the nature of the tree of knowledge, cannot certainly be set
aside.

We

shall

have

to

admit, that as

the

tree

of

life

possessed in a sacramental manner, so to speak, the

power of

immortality, so also did the tree of knowledge the power of death not however like a poisonous tree, as e.g. the Upas, but
;

in virtue of the Divine choice said

rviEfi,

and appointment.

Hence

it is

not

npw

deatli will

not be a judicial execution,

but a consequence involved in the nature of the transgression. The narrator cannot directly proceed to the conduct of the

man

with respect to God, for

as

man
being,

did not transgress the

Divine

command woman, now to be

:

single

and the

creation

of

related, intervenes

between the command

and the transgression. In ver. 18 we have the resolve of the Creator Then Jahveli Eloliim said, It is not good that

man

should

~be

alone

will

make him a

help meet for him.

140

AGENESIS

II.

19, 20.

help (Tob. viii. 6, @or)6ov cmjpLj^a), i.e. a being who might be his helpmate, and indeed such an one as should be his
counterpart, the reflection of himself, one in

whom
is

he

may

recognise himself.

1JJ2,

only here in the Bible,

a customary

post-biblical expression for anything correlative

and

parallel.

The Divine words

that

are not

I will

make him one

"itJJ,

like to

him,

adjutorium, is not intended of one ad procreandos liberos (Augustine, de Genesi ad

he

may

propagate

himself.

lit. ix.

3), but,

according to the connection, of a helpmate for the

fulfilment of his calling, which, as 15& shows,

was the

tilling

To be alone, to remain alone, and keeping of Paradise. would not be good for him only in society could he fulfil his For this he needed the assistance of one who vocation.
;

should be his equal, or rather what

to 3

in distinction

from

into denotes, one who by relative difference and

essential

The preparation equality should be his fitting complement. for realizing the Divine purpose, vv. 19, 20 And JahveJi
:

Eloliim formed out of the ground every wild beast of the

field,

and
to

every fowl

of the

heaven,
it
:

sec

what he would

call

and brought them to and whatever the man

its

the

man,

called it }

the living creature,

was

to

lie

name.

And

the
to

names
beast

to all cattle,

and

to the

fowl of heaven,

and

gave wild every

man

of the field
fuss

Much
this

and for a man he found no fitting help. has been made about the contradiction between
:

and the former account of

creation.

In the former the

creation of animals precedes that of man, in this the creation

man that of animals. But could this narrator really mean that the environment of man was till now exclusively a vegetable and a mineral one ? And if his meaning had that animals were first now been, created, he would not have
of
left

water

animals

and

reptiles

unmentioned, whereas he

The animal speaks only of wild beasts, cattle and birds. creation appears here under a peculiar point of view, which the narrator certainly did not regard as its motive in general.
It
is

the

first

step towards the creation of

is

woman,

for the for

matter in question

an associate, his equal in dignity,

GENESIS

II.

IP, 20.

141
"^

man formed
S
:

nuDINrrp.

On
.

this

account

.1

will

have

to be

understood as the foundation, recurring to what is past, for et cum formasset adduxit. et adduxit et formamt **? !
.

This
the

is

possible as far as style

is

concerned, and suitable to

(e.g.

scriptural
ii.

mode

of writing history
;

Isa.

xxxvii.
p.

Jonah

always introduce the successive frequently goes back to the cause, and is thus like the Hebrew i consec., an expression
<_J

4; Zech. vii. 2 2nd ed.). The Arabic

in

comp. Hitzig on Jeremiah,

also

288,

does not

time, but

for

consequent connection looking either backwards or This backward regard is moreover brought about forwards. with a certain necessity, by the fact that this second narra
a
tive

has

man
is

for

its

centre,
line,

and not
for its

like

the

first,

which

relates

in a

continuous

end and climax.

The
19

chief matter

that God, after having created beasts, brought that he might

i^,

them
in

to

Adam

name them,
masculine.

njn

t^a^

is

apposition to

^S3 being, as in enumerations (see

Num.
is

xxxi. 38, w%) intf), regarded as

The addition

defended by

strange in itself and also in the position of the words, but LXX. real irav o eav e/caXeaev avro ASa^
:

tyvxfjv ^ojaav.

animals and of

The purpose of the bringing together of the naming them was, that the desire for a being
like

who should be

himself and

aroused in the man.

He
is

complete him, might be found however none such among

the animals D^Kp for a being such as

man

is.

DIN

is

not as

yet a proper name, but

qualitatively
fitted
:

used without an article because

the

He
his

found

among
if

animals
because

no
his

creature

to

be

helpmate,

only

language
result

remained without response on their part. was arrived at while he was naming them.

For

this

No

Divine com

upon him to do this. He sees the animals, conceives notions of what they are and appear like, and such notions, which are in themselves already inward words, become

mand

is

laid

involuntarily uttered names, which he gives to the animals,

and through which he places the impersonal creatures

the
first

in

intellectual relation

to himself the personal

being.

142

GENESIS

II.

21, 22.

The narrative presupposes man s power of speech, for it makes God speak to man, ii. 16, and man understand Him. Now, however his power of speech obtains external realization, it
is

only a portion of the genesis of speech which is here related. As the man in naming the animals finds none among them

desire for

adapted to his exalted position and requirements, and the human intercourse and assistance has become active
is

within him, he

placed in a condition in which the creation of such a being can proceed, 2la: Then Jahveh Eloliim caused

sleep to fall

upon

the

man, and
;

lie

slept.

The man had

all

to be

placed in the condition of sleep

to us is

because as

creation external

withdrawn from our perception,

so too

must

all crea

tive operations of

us be effected in the region of into our consciousness until and not come unconsciousness,

God upon

All the Greek words which signify they are accomplished. are used Greek translators for npipri (from DT% deep sleep by
to stuff;

^,v

to

shut, to close);

Aquila Karac^opd,

Symm.
be

icdpos,

Greek

Veil. KWJJLO,,

LXX.

e/co-Tao-is,

from

eKcrrrjvai, to

removed from the actuality of waking life and placed in a state of mere passivity (the opposite of ow^povetv and <yeveo-6ai
ev eavrw).

In the present case

to

this

mere passivity does not

of

contribute

susceptibility
;

to

impressions

the

super-

sensuous world

it

is

no ecstatic sleep
is

(like

the so-called

trance of somnambulists) that

intended, but natural though

of

Divinely effected
follows in 21ft,
the flesh in its

sleep.
:

The process

creating

woman

And He took one of his ribs, and closed up stead. And Jahveh Elohim built the rib, which
22
into

He had
the

taken

man.

from the man, The woman is e

St.

a woman, and brought her

to

dvbpos, and not the man of the

Cor.
xi.

woman, says

Paul,

8.

Her production
run
;

is

designated neither by &TQ nor made from nothing nor from

iy, but

by

she

is

neither

the dust of the earth, but from

the

from his spiritual and material nature, and For it is the pre-eminence of already organized substance. mankind above the animals, to have come into existence, not
first

man,

i.e.

GENESIS
as a pair

II.

23.

143
This pre-eminence

and

species,

but as a person.

and the unity of

forfeited if the

origin of the

human

race in general

would be

woman had not sprung from the one first man. But now all men without distinction are as our old poets say Ein Gesippe, Von des ersten Adams Rippe. jfef, from y^*, to bend sidewards, signifies as a part of the human body, the rib placed
:

at the side

breast bone.

and bending forwards and backwards towards the The rib which was used for the building of the

Man has consequently a supernumerary one. twelve ribs a thirteenth above the first or below the last only occurs as an anomaly. Thomas of Aquinas remarks in the
woman was
;

spirit of the narrative

Costa ilia fuit de pcrfectione Adcc, non

prout erat
It

individuum gtuoddam, sed prout erat principium spccici. as the Targ. Jems, conceives, the thirteenth upper rib of was,
;

the right side

thereof,
i.e.

but that

God

closed

up the

flesh in

the place

filled
S,

up the
on
the

hole

with
flesh,

flesh, leads to another

notion.

"if

Heb. and Aram,

Arab, skin, from

1^:3, to

streak

something

surface,

means properly

materiel

attractabilis ;

the palpable exterior of animated beings, and

especially that
called.

which manifests the distinction of

j

sex,

is

so

wri, is locum cjus, and has therefore the

the nominal
a myth,
it

not f^nnpi, from the extensive plural 5^nri not intended to mean, like the latter, loco cju,s, but
Jinn,
suffix,

from

which expresses the

accusative and not the genitive relation, the verbal instead of

suffix.

If

what

is

related
fact.

is,

externally regarded,
Elohistic account

yet covers a kernel of

that

The

also indicates

mankind was

originally

created as one.

Man s
of

existence in a union of the as yet unseparated contrasts

male and female preceded the sexual differentiation of man kind, and his glorified condition in another world will corre
spond with
this first beginning,

Mark
:

xii.

25

Luke
is

xx.

35

sq.

The exclamation
him, ver. 2 3
bones,
:

man when Then the man said

of the

the

woman
is

brought to
bone of

This

now

my
this

and flesh of my flesh;

this shall le called

Woman, for

was taken from man. When reviewing the animals the man found himself again and again disappointed, he fell asleep

144

GENESIS

II.

23.

longing for a companion his desire was now suddenly ful All three nsf point to the woman, on whom his eye filled. and admiringly rested with the whole power of first gladly
;

love.

If

Dysn DNT

is

taken

according

to

the

accusative

connection, the sentence would want the subj. &on, or a predicate

like

v
is

fro

Nor
Ojjsn

or WiJ, hence nsr is the subject of the sentence 23a. the n^T needed for the idea this time, by this time
:

has even without nxf the meaning this time, pregnantly

at last

now
Ex. Ex.

(tandem aliquando), xxix.

flNT? is like

34
1,

sq.,

xxx. 20, xlvi.

30
1

ix. vii.

27.

Job xxxvii.

while on the other hand

23 has

in pause with fore-tone in thought

DB>,

Kametz

nsfr.

To K }^

must be supplied

xxxv. 10, as in

Isa. Ixii. 4, 12.

Instead of nnjp^ we have nnjg without Dagesh, and with d as an echo of the u instead of simple vocal Sheva, like ^^P, Isa. ix. 3.

The expression

is

a Tristich, whose close returns retrogressively

to its beginning.

The poetry

of love

is

found here in

its first

origin, and gives poetical movement and flight to the words of the man. Perhaps (for it is neither necessary nor certain) the narrator regarded n$K as not only the logical, but also the

Adam however did not speak etymological feminine of t^N. Hebrew, nor is scientific etymology our subject, but in nsA
BKD woman is
Ul
"3

nc^K

fcnp

the
as

acknowledged

thought finds expression, that the an offshoot of the man, as coming

into existence after him, but of like nature with him,

and

is

to

be named accordingly. For n$s is etymologically related to as not to fc^tf, (according Jerome) virago is to vir, and (accord 1. Because t^N is not con ing to Luther) Mcinnin to Mann

from

(which means igncs, from but the ^W, CWK, TJJ=tty, long i pointing to a middle vowel stem, probably tn&* (whence SPBfcnn, Isa. xlvi. 8,
tracted from
tt>JX,

its

plural being not D

11

Bte), like

and the proper name BWrpJ,

dialects show, the

to be strong.
is

2.

Because, as the

&

of ns?N

as the

&

of {^K

for the

Aramaico

not of the same phonetic value - Arabic equivalents are

""*""*

Nnri^ IZAj]

.Ju^j hence nt^x

comes from a stem

t^jN

whose
"

is

of equal value with c^,

and

for

which the meaning

to

GENESIS
be
X

II.

24.

145

soft,
^^.

tender,"

must be assumed,

meaning which the Arab.

(J^j\
viz. to

perhaps has, but as a denom. and hence more generally, be weak,

frail.

Thus n$N and

Efos, iv. 26,

come from
follows a

a like verbal stem and fundamental notion (see Fr. Delitzsch,

Prolcf/.

160-164, and comp. on

24
Therefore shall a
his wife,

iv.

26).

Now

statement turning upon marriage as the deepest and closest

union, ver.
mother,
:

man

leave his father

and

his

and
The

cleave to

and

they shall le one flesh.

Is

this a reflection

man

New
word

by the narrator, or are these the words of the Testament Scriptures, which quote this
of God, Matt. xix.
is

verse as the

sq.,

do not decide the

as being a

question

the statement

the word of

God
\3~*?y

com

ponent
x. 9,

part of the inspired Scriptures.

The narrator s custom

in

of interweaving remarks beginning with

the history,

his

xxvL 33, xxxii. 33, speaks for own. Such remarks are however

its

being a reflection of

of an archaeological kind,

and in their position within the

ver.

historical statement, while

24

is

on the contrary a reflection concerning a thing

creation of

future, and, since the history of the

woman

does

not close
nection.
of

till

ver. 25,

On

this

an interruption to the historical con account we view ver. 24 as a continuation

That he perceives the
is

Adam s

speech.

woman

to

have

been taken out of himself,

the natural consequence of her

But he also predictively reads in proceeding from his being. her countenance the nature of marriage, he penetrates the Divine idea realized in the creation of woman. The future
2fjP too,

with the preterite ruled by

it,

speaks for the words

being the continuation of

relation in presence of
relation, as
e/!?

Adam s

exclamation.
filial

Marriage

is

which even the

declares, of

relation recedes, a

crdpica

JULICLV

most intimate, personal,

to

spiritual

and corporeal association, and

to designate

say this

is at

the

same time
designed

monogamy

as the natural

and God-

form

of

this
v.,

according to

Eph.

relation. Supermundane facts are, shadowed forth in this mystery. The

creation of the

woman

too

is

typical

Sicut dormiente

Adamo

146
fit

GENESIS

III.

Eva de

latere,

sic

mortuo Christo lancea percutitur

ecclesia.

latus,

ut profluant sacramenta, quilus formetur

State

of

innocence of the

they were loth naked, The formation the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. D^vij^ with the euphonically doubled D and the incorrectly
first pair, ver.

25

And

retained mater
as
?"13,

lectionis, is plur. of Ehy, of

the same formation

from

nny, .^c, to peel, to expose, in opposition to

iii.

which

Bft^y,

iii.

7, plur. of the sing. D Ty,

10

sq.,

seems to be derived
327a).

from

-ny related to *ny,

"

my,

r to strip (comp. Stade,

,
"

we might also, in con they were not ashamed with the translate formity they were not ashamed meaning, before each other. Hoelem. rightly refers to xlii. 1, where
Instead of
:

n&nnn means not to stare at themselves, but to stare at one

another; comp. on Ps.
(with
xli.

8,

and on the root notion of BTQ

vi.

W=^J,

n),

perturlari, on Ps.

11.

Shame

is

the

overpowering with oneself are disturbed.

feeling that inward

harmony and satisfaction They were not ashamed of their

nakedness

and

guilt.

and why not ? Shame is the correlative of sin had no to fear that the body would reason They
them.
Their internal condition was holy, their

show

sin in

external excellent, though their holiness was only of the kind

belonging to the unclouded innocence of childhood, and their excellence was not as yet glory. It was however a pure and which been followed by a like have bright beginning, might

but progressive development.

THE FALL OF THE FIRST CHEATED HUMAN BEINGS,

CH.

III.

The second part

the history of the

of the

so-called

Jahveh-Elohim document,
his
fall,

trial of

man s freedom and

now follows.
service

The man has now

around him a
delight.

his vocation, beside

him an
for

associate therein,
his

flora

and fauna created

!

and

What

a
!

blissful beginning

Divine blessings Among one behind which death is lurking, and

how overflowing with the trees of Paradise there is but

this

one

is

forbidden to

GENESIS

III.

1.

147
power of death, but

man, that he may not

it

fall

a prey to the

It was possible for man to by obedience to God. conquer remain in the happy condition in which he was created, and

to establish it
will.

But

it

by the submission of his own to the Divine was also possible that this subordination to God

as

such should be

entirely of his

own

repulsive to him, and that he should accord rebelliously assert his ego against
it

was possible in the third place, that, tempted from without by an already existing power of evil, he should lose sight of the Divine will and, seduced by the
the Divine.

And

charm
was

of the

forbidden, should fall into disobedience.

This
latter,

last possibility, the

comparatively

less

evil of the

two

tempted from without, and by whom ? The object of the temptation was found in the vegetable, the tempter came from the animal world, la : And the serpent
realized.

He was

made.

was wise above every beast of the field which Jahveh EloJiim had The adj. DViy, callidus, is, like nudus, formed from a
D""W,

concerning whose root-meaning on this side nothing The serpent satisfactory can be said (see Gesen. Lex. 10th ed.).

stem

D"iy,

is

called wise
is

(0poz/tyM>g,

Matt.

x.

16) in a sense by which

nD"iy

praise

accorded to

it.

n^rjn

and

appear in Prov.

viii.

12

as associates.

The name P nj however (Arab. jjuJ^,

from
its

E?n, of

reptiles in general) is taken

present nature (from BTU,

of mischief (Arab, nahs,

related to wrb, to hiss),

and reminds

against which the Assyrian nahsu,

of the notion

omen

to

by means of a setting apart faustum omen, means fortune). The

comparison

prce omnibus animalibus

arm

quce, etc.,

assumes

that there are not two creative principles, but that all beings have the one God for their Creator. The question of the
serpent,
so

Vb

And

he

said

unto
:

the

woman,
not
eat

Is

it

really
the

that

Elohim hath
garden
? !

said

Ye

shall

of

all

trees

of the

It is a half -interrogatory, half -excla

matory expression of astonishment, similar to xviii. 13 (DjfcK *in) and 1 Sam. xxii. 7 (M for wn as here *|N for
;

*lKn),

but peculiar because in this

*]N,

which elsewhere

148
has

GENESIS

III.

1.

mostly the culminative signification quanta magis, P)S represents a whole sentence etiamne (verumne) est quod, like
:

Euth

ii.

21,^3

233

= accedit

quod.

Has Elohim

really

asks

forbidden you garden ? Instead of DTitan n the serpent says only av6; the com bination of the two Divine names subserving indeed a didactic
the serpent

all use of the trees of the

purpose only in the historical style of the narrator. the mouth of man God is not called DTiStt? n, nor is
n
till

Even

in

He

called

after

the promise interwoven in the sentence of the

serpent was given.

is

The astonishment expressed by the serpent

mistrust towards
so
far

aimed

at

inspiring

God

he speaks as

though God had gone

the faculty of speech

as

to

say, that they might not

eat of any of the trees of the garden.

?

Had

then the serpent

If

we

regard the narrative as history

clothed in figure (and to a certain extent

if it is

we may let

this pass,

and

not,

held to be really a history of the all-decisive first sin, with Eeuss, as a representation of the genesis of sin
therefore a

in general, and

myth

question of astonishment is serpent stands on a level with the talking of animals in fables.

proper sense), this obviated, and the talking of the

in

the

In no case

is

the position of the narrator with regard to the

He is consciously reproducing a matter of this mythic kind. tradition which, transmitted to the nations from the original
home
of

the

human

race,

underwent

among them
it

trans

formations

of all

kinds.

He

reproduces
spirit of

in

the fashion

which stood the criticism of the

revelation.

Trans

posing ourselves into the mind of the narrator, \ve have to ask: Did he then conceive of the animals of Paradise as
capable of speech
?

By no means; man

only, into

whom,

ii.

7,

God

regarded by him as a personal being, and therefore as capable of speech. Let it not be however forgotten that the deepest conceivable wicked
directly breathed the breath of
life, is

ness

speaking from the mouth of the serpent, when it is It is not more seeking to make men mistrustful of God.
is
it

surprising that the serpent should speak, than that

should
is

speak such thorough wickedness.

That

it

should speak

GENESIS
miracle, though only a

III. 1.

149

phenomenal

one.

And

that

it

should

such thorough wickedness comes from its being the Hence instrument of a higher and deeply fallen being. For it is contrary its speaking is a demoniacal miracle.
utter

the impression made by la to consider it as the inten tion of the narrator to have the serpent regarded as a
to

An animal is mythical symbol or a deceptive phantom. not of its animal own but an accord, but intended, speaking as made the instrument of itself by the evil principle. By
the evil principle

we understand

the evil which had before

the
is

fall

of

man

penetrated the world of spirits, and which

subsequently spoken of as Satan and his angels. days work, ch. i., concludes with the seal nso 21 to

The
roni.

six
It

was in view of man

that,

as ch.

ii.

relates,

the flora and

fauna which was to form bis environment were called into

being.

That Satan would seek

;

to

ruin this good creation

might be expected the shelter of Paradise and the trial of man s freedom were designed to make him contribute by
obedience to

God

to the

triumph of good over

evil.

It is also

evident

why

Satan should seek to tempt

man

to partake of

the forbidden fruit of the tree

of knowledge.

He

desired

that man should open the prison of death, and thereby deliver The narrator confines him, even Satan, from his bondage. himself to the external appearance of what took place, with

out lifting the veil from the reality behind it. Elsewhere too the Old Testament speaks but very sparingly of the

demoniacal; and
in

it is

characteristic that the very

s

same

narrator,

Num.

xxii.,

where Balaam

ass speaks as the serpent does

is

here,

and where the secret causality

of the miracle.
?

a purely Divine one,

mentions the author

Or was what he narrates

of Old Testament

veiled to the narrator himself

believers

The horizon

was narrowed

after the preparation for

redemption

entered within the limits of nationality. Besides, it is a law of the history of redemption, that the kingdom of grace and
the kingdom of darkness should be only gradually and in mutual relation unveiled to each other. It is in the Book of

150

GENESIS

III.

1.

Wisdom
himself

ii.

23

sq.

that

we

are

first

told that

it

was the
it

devil

who tempted man

in the serpent.

But

was not

merely the Alexandrians, but also the Palestinians, who judged and the fact thus, when they called the devil P^lipn t^ nan
of the temptation of Jesus,

when

the tempter encountered the

second

Adam
xi.

in direct personality,

makes

it

quite certain that

viii.

the serpent and Satan are in some 2 Cor.

3 (comp.

way identical, John

xii.

44

14); Eom. xvi. 20; Eev.

9,

xx.

2.

Granting even that the trees of Paradise and the serpent were mere symbols, this much is still left, that man fell away

from that

first

good development which was implanted in him

if

through the temptation of Satan,

this is given up, there

remains instead of Christianity as the religion of redemption, nothing but a rationalistic Deism, which excludes the super
natural.
It is said

that

the

serpent

is

an emblem of the
is it

seductive charm of the earthly.

that
is

But why

just the serpent

it

chosen for the purpose

to antiquity,

and

still

appeared appears to the natural man, as an un

it is
;

Why,

but because

canny being.
/j,aTiK(t)Tarov

In Sanchuniathon
TrdvTcov
it

called TO

ov TO irvevto

TWV

epTrertov

according

popular

no ordinary creature, but a Ginn; among the Eomans too anguis was an image of- the genius, and in TTvdcov serpent and daemon are united, just as in Heb. also
Arabic faith
is

BTU

is

homonym

for

serpent and witchcraft.

The serpent

was regarded as a ghostly instrument, not only of ruin, but also of blessing and healing, and it is on this view that its
adoration as an dyaOoSalpcov, of which an Israelite trace also
is

found in
1

Num.

xxi.
if

founded.

Hence, even

comp. 2 Kings xviii. 4, is the form of the narrative is regarded

sq.,

x The ^Sii^P Spi^

its celestial

"flying serpent,"

in the natural world, Isa. xiv. 29, has

s The former is au counterpart in the D^SSiytt D n^, Isa. vi. 2. emblem of the Messiah, who as with a fiery poisonous bite kills the worldpower, which is destructive to the people of God. The heavenly seraph on the

The seraph, (Isa. vi. 6 sq. ) burns away the sin which destroys man. up by Moses as an antidote to the slaying D^tW (Num. xxi. 6), is an image of a more exalted seraph, who slays not the sinner, but the sin and the ruin effected thereby, and is therefore a serpent as uyettiSaipuv.
lifted

other hand

GENESIS

III.

1.

151

as mythic or symbolic, the serpent to represent an earthly

was pre-eminently adapted

with a mysterious

power

of seduction

background.
tion in its
fall

And

this mysterious

onward course

discloses, the evil

background is, as revela which before the

The already invaded the world of spirits. ancient Persian tradition is that which has remained most
of
faithful to

man had

the original meaning of the scriptural tradition.

is

The serpent (DaJmlca) Ahriman destroys the

vatiga)
;

the

first

creature

by means of

whom

first

created land of

Ormuzd (Airjanaun

it

has
is

"

three jaws, three heads, six eyes and a thousand

called the powerful devilish monster, the
is

senses,"

and

godly one

who
is

destructive to all beings

(DMZ.

xxxvi. 571).

Ahriman

represented as appearing in serpent form, and is The Trita of the Vedic legend, himself called the serpent.

who

falls

in

conflict

with the serpent

counterpart
great heroes,
"

in

the Persian in

6^9), has its Thraetona, one of its three

(alii

dahaka),
the

who slays the destroying serpent (Zend, aslii made by Ahriman for the ruin of the world
"

serpent,

the

enemy

of

all

good,

according to

belief, destroyed peace, annihilated Paradise, overthrew

Aryan Jima
is,

(DschemscJiid), the noble

sovereign of the golden age,

who

as Eoth, Muir, Spiegel

"the

have shown, one with the Indian Jama,

according to Atharveda, xviii. 3. 14. The Babylonio-Assyrian tradition too stands in unmistakable
first
died,"

man who

In it the connection with the scriptural history of the fall. from the is called as a beast Ti dmat, and as abyss serpent
the
treads
being.
this

enemy him

KCL-T

e%.

aibu.

Merodach goes
kills

forth against him,

is

in the dust
biblical

and

him.

He

thus a dsemoniac

If the

account had placed in the stead of

serpent of natural history as a symbol of and the charms of sense, it would have imparted sensuality a moral shallowness to the national legends, while in truth
serpent, the

the scriptural reproduction of such national popular legends has stripped them of their mythological tinsel, and reduced them to the gerin of the genuine and simple state of the
case.

152

GENESIS

III. 2, 3.

The whole depth of Satan s wickedness is disclosed in the It is impossible that we should con words of the serpent. ceive too highly of the rank assigned to this spirit among the
heavenly
spirits

and

in

creation in

general.

His rebellion

against God,

put himself in His place, his acquirement of the sovereignty of this world through the fall of man, can only be explained as the abuse of
his efforts to supplant to

Him

and

an exceptionally high place of power bestowed upon him by His subtilty is shown in his application to the woman God.
as

the weaker, and by the

manner

in

which he begins
as general,

his

temptation by representing in apparently inoffensive ignorance

the barrier which

God had drawn round man

felt.

and

thus making

it

sensibly

The answer
to the serpent,

of the

woman,

vv. 2

and 3

And
is

the

woman

said

We may

eat of the

fruit of the
wliicli

trees

of the garden,

in the midst of the

it,

and of the fruit of the tree garden, Elohim has said : You
lest

shall not eat of

is

nor touch

it,

you

die.

The pausal
first

<>5K3

^ruK BY?N, but certainly not equivalent to

:

of all a

potential

we may

eat of

it,

and are

also doing so.

The
it is
:

of

nspi does not answer to the Latin

so used in a
of the

de,

Greek

irepi,

only

bad modern Hebrew

style,

but the words

and and

fruit of the tree, etc., stand first as the apodosis

ttfcp,

as for eating of the fruit of the tree, etc.

3a, refers to

the

fruit, or

even, according to Via, to the tree.

The woman

shows herself fully conscious of the Divine prohibition, and of the penalty with which its transgression is threatened. }3 states the consequence by way of warning, and the paragogic
imperfect j^npn has a more energetic sound than irpiDn, Lev. x. 7. The addition to iwn &Cn is mostly understood as a dis
tortion

(Ambrose

dccoloratio] of the prohibition, betraying a

feeling of its harshness

to eat of

and

strictness.

But the command not

the fruit of this tree really involved the

it
;

command

not to touch

besides, of

it

was not touching but eating to

tree finally

which the charms

and, which
is

the

seduced the woman,

the chief matter, the tempter would not have

soil for

immediately found so receptive a

the seed of mistrust

GENESIS

III.

4, 5.

153

seized

It is more probable that the woman, which he was sowing. with alarmed foreboding of what the serpent was
to,

trying to persuade her

sought by this addition to cut

off

The slight attempt to excite mis any further allurements. so far successful that the woman did been had which trust,
his utterance, was now followed by the bold what God had threatened, ver. 4 Then the serpent This denial of Ye shall not surely die. said unto the woman

not

flee

at

denial of

the truth

of

God sounds

as strong as

possible

the brevity

and completeness of the expression make the contradiction The finite verb is strengthened by the inf. intenabsolute. sivus ; the imperfect form for moriemini is energetic, and fc6
does not stand between the infinitive and
the former, which
ix.

finite,

but before
;

is

anomalous and

rare, Ps. xlix. 8

Amos
:

After denying the truth of God, the tempter disputes His love, thus exciting first doubt and then ambition, ver. 5
8.

For Elohim knows, that in

eyes

the

day of your eating

will
131

thereof,

your

will

le

opened,

and you

le

like
is

good and
perf.

evil.

The antecedent
i

Di"2

Elohim, knowing followed by the

sq.
;

conscc.

with
;

apodosis, like

Ex. xxxii. 34, xvi. 6

Tenses,

Prov. xxiv. 29

comp. Driver, Hebrew

translate
it
:

123.

LXX.
et

and

Jerome here

sicut

Dii

scicntcs

malnm, thus leaving

an
adj.

uncertain whether
iii.

l)onum

is

meant

as

to

DTibtf

(for
to)

which

22, comp. 2 Sam. xiv. 17,

may
tion)

be referred
as

or (which is favoured

by the accentua
ye
shall

nrpm, God, ye shall be knowing good and is however the same, whichever the
predicate

second

to

"

be

like

evil."

combination.
of

The meaning The

participation

tempter

promises
sets

man,
the

as

the

reward
of

which

aside

prohibition
like

God,
is

a
to

knowledge

which

shall

make them
grudges

God.

This

make

envy,

which

selfishly

man

the highest good, envy the most

hateful contrast to love, the motive of the prohibition.

is

There

however

in the promised eritus sicut

Dcus an element of
blinding
one.
of

truth

which

makes
to attain

its

falsehood

Man
good

certainly

was

by

this tree to the

knowledge

154
and
evil,

GENESIS

III. 6.

to God.

and so to self-dependence and thereby to likeness But the progress brought to pass by partaking is
the

the exact opposite to the progress which, according to

purpose of God, was to be brought about by abstaining from

partaking.

To

eat contrary to the

command

of

God was

self-

emancipation from the restraint of law, self-elevation to antitheistic

autonomy, self- completion by deciding against God, in one word self-apotheosis, not by direct rebellion against God, but through subjection to the power of sense, 6a : Then the
that:

woman saw
delight
to

the tree

the eyes,

and

that the

was good for food, and that tree was pleasant to

it

was a
on.

look

The

{>

of

JNpp

is

like that of n&OD^, Josh. xxii. 1 0,

;

and indeed

like that of
it is

Song of Sol. i. 3 while in D*D^ Job xxxii. 4, on the other hand an expression of the relation, and not
rmi>,

at the

same time of the end intended.

combined with desire

That which causes a

for possession is here

feeling of delight
called fiJ^R

The reason
is,

for the repetition of the subject YP.^

in the third sentence

that this third sentence gives the sum-

total of the other two.

Hence

it

does not

mean
it

to say that

the tree appeared to her desirable, because

seemed to give

her that of which the serpent held out the prospect, viz. the means of higher knowledge, perhaps because she imagined that it was to his partaking of this fruit that the serpent was indebted
for his superiority to the other beasts in

wisdom.

Then ^3&r\
;

would mean

to

make

intelligent, wise (like Ps. xxxii. 8

Prov.
:

xvi. 23, xxi. 11,

it

appeared to

according to which Gen. ralla, c. 19 and 65 her noan ^DID), or rather (which would better
intelligent, to acquire

suit ipna) to

become

knowledge

(like Ps.

The translation however of the LXX., apalov ii. 10, xciv. 8). rov Karavofjcrai, comes nearer to the apparently summing-up The consequence of the tree character of the third sentence.
appearing to her as one good to the taste and pleasant to the eyes, was that she found it agreeable, and to give herself to its
contemplation.
of thought

For the Hiph.

reflection,

^ajpn, starting

from the notion

and

means
e.g.

attendere, attente contemplari

(with an accus. following,

Deut. xxxii. 29, or a preposition,

GENESIS

III. 6, 7.

155
}*yn

e.g. ?s,

Ps. xli. 2).

In any

case,

?3wr

^n:n means that

She

the tree had not only a charming exterior in her eyes, but
that
it

had
it

also

gained

an attractive

background.
it

looked at

by and thus regarded, it reacted so irresistibly upon her, that lust conceived and immediately brought forth sin, 65: And she took of its fruit, and ate ; and gave to her husband with her,

in the false light

thrown upon

the serpent,

and

he

ate.

The pausal ^?N

and i^xrn have the tone upon

34, Lev.
ix.

the ultimate; the extra-pausal, xxv.

24,

x.

2,

upon the penultimate; comp. below on ver. 12, "To her does not mean added to her (which would husband, rather have been expressed by nfitf, comp. Num. xviii. 1),
fifty,"

but found near her.

preceded
wife in
that of the

He whose existence woman remains at

in the Divine
first

image

passive in the

transaction against God, and then becomes the follower of his

sin.

The woman who was the

first

seduced lost her

lost

human

dignity to the serpent,

and the man next seduced

over and above his manly dignity to the woman.

They

in

whom

that

work

of love, creation, culminated, act as

though

God were mere arbitrariness and malevolence. A beast seduces men made in God s image. The lord of the world and his
helpmate
their natural environment, through a tree which they were to keep and to rule, entangles them, and thus Human sin has to be becomes their and its own ruin.
fall
:

variously labelled, and

it is

in this respect characteristic that

the

fall of

man was

beast and about a tree.

becomes
course,

bestial,

brought to pass by Satan by means of a All sin begins by being sensual, then and finally, if the sinner advances on this

Satanic.

The

first

results

of

sin

are

shame and

avoidance of God, vv. 7-10.

fulfilled
:

the

eyes
;

naked

The promise of the serpent is Then Yer. 7 they gain knowledge, but of what ? of loth were opened, and they knew that they were and they sewed leaves of the fig-tree together and made
:

The verb yT means not merely intellectual but at the same time profound inward experience knowledge,
themselves aprons.
(nosse

cum

affcctu et cffectu}.

njnparn states the act us dircctus of

156

GENESIS

III.

7.

knowledge, and the W]*! that follows the aclus reflexus of Their spirit had broken feeling nakedness to be a shame.

away from
stripped of

the

God

of its origin, their

pervaded by

spirit in union with God,

body was no longer naked sensuousness is

its

innocence,

it

manifests the inward stirrings of

Therefore they sin, and reacts on the soul in temptation. and this now were ashamed, feeling was indeed the con

sequence of
in

sin,

means, like paTrren, to

but also a reaction against it. The verb ion sew together with a needle, or to join
e.g.

some other way,

"ian,

by means

of

string.

The apron

is

to surround, whence the Arab, higr, bosom, n^n, from where the mother holds and embraces her child, nasn, Assyr.

called

tittu

= tintu,

according to the

common

use of the word the

to

ficus carica,

is,

according to Ftirst,

from njN = n3y,

of the

be bent,

as growing crooked.

But the leaves

of

no tough tendrils and are too soft for fig no longer ascertainable is meant by the fig tree of The Musa paradisiaca however is, botanically Paradise. They made themselves aprons of regarded, no fig-tree at all.
Pisang or Banana, to cover the parts where the generative organs, called both in scriptural and
foliage like that of the

common fig have Some kind aprons.

human

language in general the privy members, are situated. 2 These are called nnjf (e.g. ix. 22 sq.) and (e.g. Lev. xv.
"1^3

comp. Ex.
bids

xxviii. 42), because

nakedness and
them.

flesh,

which shame
all

men

to cover, culminate in

Here, where

the

radii of the natural life,

now

stripped of the consecration of

contrast of the natural

the Spirit, meet, as in

its

source, the

and the
its

spiritual,

now

severed from each other, came forth in

greatest sharpness.

But

it is

a wrong inference of recent

writers (Wendt, Lclire von der mensclil. Vollkommenlicit,

p.

1882,
fails,

203, Budde and

others), that

nakedness in

itself

view here presented, under the idea of the Evil is jn from which the tree of knowledge gets its name. disobedience, and the feeling of shame, now excited by naked
according to the
ness,

was only one of its evil consequences. Mankind had now decided against God, yet not

directly,

not

GENESIS

III.

8.

157

unseduced, and not as purely spiritual beings, but as beings composed of spirit and body hence this first sin, notwith
;

immediately shown, exclude their capability of redemption, although redemption is The Creator approaches only a work of free unmerited mercy.
standing

its infinite guilt, did

not, as is

His

fallen

creatures,
the

Then they heard

into

and that not merely as a judge, 8a: sound of Jahveh Eloliim as He walked

^p is found also at garden in the -wind of the day. for the sound which shows 2 Sam. v. 24, 1 Kings xix. 12,
the

that

some one

is

approaching,

^nnp may be
i^rVD,

taken either as in

genitival apposition, or like

Ps. Ixix. 4, as

an accusative
as

of circumstance (according to the

Arab technical term

JU-);

comp. on
this

iv.

10.

Modern

expositors take delight in making

child -like

narrative as childish as possible.

But the

Hithpael sjVwn, spoken of God, does not mean an aimless

walking in security, like Job xxii. 14, in the mouth of the Epicurean, but a majestic walking in the midst of Israel, like &i n nn is the 2 Sam. vii. 6. Dent, xxiii. 15 Lev. xxvi. 12
s
;

time of evening coolness, as

Oi*n fin, xviii. 1, is

the time of

mid-day

heat.

day

are weaker, the

At evening the distracting impressions of the mind is in repose, we feel more alone with

ourselves than at other times, and the feelings of melancholy,

of longing, of isolation, of

home

sickness are awakened.

first

And

thus

it

now came

to pass

that at eventide our

parents
;

began to recover from the intoxication of Satanic deception they grew quieter, they felt their isolation from communion with

God, their separation from the home of their origin, and the approaching darkness made them aware that their inward light

was

extinct.

In this condition they became conscious of the

s footsteps.

sound of God

It

was God

their Creator,

who now

as

God

the Eedeemer was seeking the

lost.

The anthropomorphic

character of the event

must not be

entirely set to the account

of the narrative, it corresponds

with the Paradisaic mode of

God s

intercourse with man, which culminated in the incarna

tion, as the restoration

in Paradise.

God

did not

and completion of the first beginning come down from heaven, but dwelt

158
as yet

GENESIS

III.

8-10.

on

earth.

golden age, in which

God

or the gods

have not yet withdrawn to the distant heaven, but hold direct and intimate intercourse with men, forms the outer rim of most national histories. At the approach of God they were
afraid
;

shame was the

:

first

consequence of

sin,

avoidance of

God

the second, 8&

Then

the

man and

his wife hid themselves

"before

Jahveh Elohim amid

of the garden,

the trees of the garden, properly the

is

wood

which

just such a collective

word

as

fl).

Here Pentateuchal
trees,

diction avoids the plur.

CW

in the sense of

which

it

has in the more modern usage of the language,

and employs it only in the sense of words as plural of the Nsnnn (Kana, 10&) means a temporary concealment product.
occasioned by fear, differing from reproving conscience manifests
"iflpJ,

to hide oneself

(iv.

14).

itself

in this concealment,
it

as well as in their covering their nakedness, while

is at
is

the same time shown that as delusion

folly the
;

is

the cause, so also

man

consequence of sin for though it is impossible that should make himself undiscoverable by God, the sinner
:

Then Jahveh Elohim called Ver. 9 attempts the impossible. unto the man, and said to him, Where art thou ? nb^K is used
in inquiring after the place of an object
for, e.g.

xxxvii. 16,

and nK (=ajjaj,
vi.

as

being sought n$n=hinnaj, according to

Ps. Ixxxix. 5

which

is

the formation

^p ])
why

in inquiring after the place of a person

;

who

is

missing,

xviii. 1 9

Judg.

13;

hence,

where

art thou,

art

thou

not in the place

1

where thou
is

shouldst be looked for and found

are ye, for the first

The question

not where

man

is

the

man
God

/car e f. responsible for the

woman and
is lost

for all

mankind.

seeks him, not because he

He from His knowledge, but from His communion. I in the and was sound / 1 heard ver. answers, garden, Thy
:

afraid, for

I am

naked

and I hid

myself.

The consequence,

NTNJ (from &OJ, with the root notion of trembling), denotes, After the tie of like Hab. iii. 16, the effect of hearing.
loving intercourse
is

broken,

man

disobedient servant towards God.

untrue, but
it

occupies the position of a The answer he gives is not

its

conceals the sin itself behind what was only

GENESIS

III.

11-13.

159

And consequence, disobedience behind the feeling of shame. as the examination continues, both he and the woman avoid
open and penitent confession by excuses for sin. The question Who showed thee that thou wast naked ? to the man, ver. 11, is
:

"iC

Hast thou eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee not to eat ? As njv is combined with a double accusative, e.g. vi. 22, K must be taken accusatively which I commanded thee,
:

viz.

not to eat of

it.

ft?n

suggests confession to the

man

but

instead of frankly owning his sin, he lays the blame upon Then the woman, and indirectly upon God Himself, ver. 12
:

the

man
me

said,

gave

of the

The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she The certainly preferable acces tree, and I ate.

sory from Hisy for

W was

here desirable, even on account of

first

the rhythm.
Tsere,

23

KJ is

the pausal form of the

pers.

with
;

xxvii. 33 while out of pause it is written fcj, both have the tone on the ultima, for a distinction even by

means

of the tone is only found in the impf. cons, (apart from

a recession caused by a word following with the tone on the

first

syllable,

as in

b^,
(tatffll,

2 Sam.
iii.

xii.

21

1 Kings

xiii.

22)
(e.g.

in the second pers.

J3K*},
iii.

l"7a)

and the third

pers.

65; ??^, xxv. 34).

:

the answer, ver. 13

The question to the woman, and Then Jahveh Elohim said to the woman,
done
?

What
serpent
n.T

is

this

thou

hast

And

the

woman

said,

The
or
it

beguiled

me, and 1

makes the question in

The demonstrative nKt such cases more vivid, and gives

ate.
;

certain definite reference

(Ges.

when n^y
;

follows, flNrno

is

usual

37. 1), Ex. xiv. 5

Judg. xv.

11

with other verbs,

nrno, xxvii.

had

laid

serpent.

20; Judg. xviii. 24; 1 Sam. x. 11. The man the blame upon the woman, she lays it upon the KH0n means to deceive, to lead astray, to beguile any

i.e. to represent to him that such and such an evil will not happen to him, 2 Chron. xxxii. 15 Jer. xxxvii. 9 comp.

one,

Qairarav, 2 Cor.
for

xi.

1 Tim.

ii.

14.

It is the right

word
is

what the woman had experienced, but the wrong thing

first

that both did not

of all smite their

own

breasts.

Every

160

GENESIS

III.

14,

15.

we have
The

subsequent human sin looks so like this original sin, because not only inherited the sinful nature of our first

parents, but also the nature of their sin.

judicial

examination
first

is

now
the

followed by the penal

sentences.

The

falls

upon the tempter, vv. 14,

cattle,

15:

And
done
field
the
:

Jahveh Elohim said unto

this,

serpent, Because tJwu hast

thou art cursed above, all

and

every beast of the

upon

thy belly shalt thou go,

and

dust shalt thou eat all

the

And I will put enmity between thee and life. woman, and between her seed and thy seed: it shall bruise, The penal sentence thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
days of thy
"iVtK

begins with ^ as the relative conjunction of the reason. (from vi K, a word imitative of the sound used under

the

indignant experience of insolent behaviour, comp.^.j&,

abhorrere
"

detestari,

*),

similar to Kar-dp-aro^,

"

accursed,"

and then

also

curse," stronger than /pp? (disesteemed, The Semite uses for such extremely depreciated, execrated). formulas of desire the simply assertive form of expression

deserving of

is

The without an optative verb. parative (more cursed than

. .

IP of

the two ^3D

is

not

com

v.

24.

Jina,

belly, is

but selective, like e.g. Judg. ) an old word formed from jm, to bend, like
.

inx from pN.

Lev.

To go upon the

belly

is

to crawl (comp. Sanscr.

are,

uraga, breast-goer

= serpent)

animals of this kind

accord

ing to

xi.

42, unclean.

To

eat dust does not

mean
vii.

the

proper nourishment of the serpent, either here or Isa. Ixv.

(a retrospect at the history of the fall), but, like

25
1 7,

Micah

to lick the dust (comp. Ps. Ixxii. 9

Isa. xlix. 23),

*??)

the involun
of

tary result of writhing in dust.

T?n

means the duration

the

life

of this

serpent as the representative of its species.

is

It is

on the animal that the penal sentence

of life being judicially changed.
as the instrument of

passed,

its

mode
which
1

an

evil will

The cunning animal, had raised itself above

after the Assyr. ardru,

Friedr. Delitzsch on the other hand, Proleg. 101 : to curse = to enchant, which means to curse, arid is also the stem-word of arru

bird-catcher,

and

irritu, sling.

GENESIS

III. 14, 15.

161
(serpens,

God and His

will,

becomes a worm in the dust

is

from
those

serperc, epirew}.

The serpent

the only animal

among

Its punish having bony skeletons that goes upon its belly. ment is analogous to that which our body suffers in conse Both suffer as organum animcc or spiritus quence of sin.

pcccantis.

A
its

beast

is

not in

itself responsible for its actions,

yet

it is

punished when
ix.

man

means, body by 15 sq. for the irrational creation

;

5; Ex. xxi. 28
is

has suffered any harm in life or sq. comp. Lev. xx.

;

destined for man, and

its

is,

when

it

breaks through this barrier of

destination, visited
of the serpent,

with the judgment of God.

ver. 14, is the

The degradation

but the

false relation into

punishment of its exalting itself against God, which it has entered with regard to

man

will also, according to ver. 15, be punished.

having taken, in her encounter with the serpent,

decided the lot of mankind,
race,
is

The woman, the step which

the representative of the whole

relation, not

and divine retribution puts, i.e. establishes and appoints, a merely of mutual inward antipathy, but also (Ps.

cxxxix. 22) of actual feud, between the serpent and the

woman, and not only between the present individuals, but between
their respective descendants.

And who

shall
?

conquer in this
"

war thus made the law

of the
heel."

of subsequent history

He

(the seed

woman)

shall bruise translate,

rji^

thy head, and thou shalt bruise his

For so we

though

it is still

esteemed question

able whether the verb

(Syr. Samar. Saad.

has here the meaning of conterere

inhiare,
it

i.e.

Pers., Ar. Erpen., Gr. Yen., Lth.) or that of of hostile effort (LXX. r which way of taking
f

rjpeli> )

is

also that of Onkelos), or at

in

some manner

whether both meanings are once applicable (Targ. Jer. i. and ii., which

amalgamates, and Jerome

insidiaberis).

who

distributes

them:

conteret
(

We

decide against Kn. Baur,

Ewald

281c)

and Dillmann, and with Hengstenberg, Eodiger, Fiirst, Kalisch, Keil, Kohler, Schultz (comp. Hitzig on Job ix. 17), for the

meaning
t)XP,

conterere; for (1) inhiare,

which

is

the meaning of

of

fp>,

has neither biblical nor post-biblical corroboration as that which occurs only in Judaic Aramaean in the sense of
L

162
"

GENESIS
blow."

III.

14,

15.

to

(2)

The meaning inhiare

endeavour, such as
;

is

inadmissible, because
t?|jO

no verb

of hostile

2"iK

rm

Tfi?
5p"i,

is

combined with a double accusative

accusative of

this construction with the

the person and of the part or

member

(this

always without the article) being peculiar to verbs of hostile action, such as nsn^ xxxvii. 2 1 Judg. xv. 8 ;
ace.
;

second

2 Sam.
xxxiii.

iii.

27;

Ps.

iii.
ii.

8; nn, Deut.

xxii.

26;

pnD, Deut.
(3)
f]1&?

11;

njn, Jer.

16;

Ges.

139,
ix.

note.

has
it is

also the

meaning

conterere in

Job

17

(against

which

used in quite a different sense in Ps. cxxxix. 11, see the comm.), and (derived from V t\w, to rub) is very usual in
Semitic
(e.g.

in Syriac,
jntD

DMZ.

word
the

for N2H,

arid pn$,

xxix. 147).

SJIP

is

the

Targum
down)
1

(from

KS>,

to pound, to rub
"i^n

To Targum word for N3T (comp. Ps. li. 17, Wi J?). this must be added, (4) that the meaning a-wrptpetVj conterere, Eom. xvi. 20, has the actual condition of the sentence here
Pp>

here, and passed preponderantly in its favour. For if both indeed both times (since the first must have the same meaning
as

the second, comp. xlix. 19),

means

"to

use hostile

effort,"

the result

would be the statement devoid

of promise, that

man

will attack the serpent in front,

and the serpent the

merely
of
their

man from
continued
contest

behind
enmity.

graphic

description

There would be no declaration that

result so as

the

would
it

in

the victory

of

man

and even

supposing
that
tin?,

did

a necessary

consequence from

the facts

curse

was

pronounced
one
ordained

upon the
by God

serpent,

and that
it

contest

(Dillmann), be just on the chief matter that nothing would be said. If on the other hand we take t\wr to mean conterere, the
first

was

would

time by trampling, the second by biting,

for

bites
t_g.u/>

are

always
in

bruises

as

well,

and

the

root

related

unites
1

itself

the

meanings comminuere and

f^SP,
xlix. 17, Syr.

mordere,

The name

of the serpent,

NB1BP,

is

on the other hand

derived from

P|SD>

according to calcans.

in its fundamental meaning to rub, viz. the ground = to creep, which the foot is in Assyrian called sepu, as terens, conterens,

GENESIS

III.

14, 15.

163
and
bite,

and

Tvirreiv too
is

are used of both stab

designated by the repetition of a word, one expressing an act as strongly as possible, as a contest of mutual annihilation, and we obtain not merely an intimated

then the contest

but an openly pronounced promise of the final victory of the seed of the woman over the seed of the serpent, a promise

which
expect.

is

curse

upon the serpent

as

peremptory as we
of a final
side,

If the

victory, the whole

words are thus spoken in the sense sentence has a hidden reverse

by
into

which, while including indeed the seed of the serpent,

directed
to

it is

that

serpent which had plunged

mankind

The sentence applies in and with this serpent to misery. More is in question Satan also, whose organ it had become.
than a conflict with a noxious animal,
viz.

the

conflict

of

mankind seduced, but yet not given up by God, with the The serpent creeping on its belly and writhing in seducer.
the

dust makes visible

creatures of Satan,

who

degradation beneath all other by the seduction of mankind filled

the

up the measure of his iniquity; and the spiteful bite on the

heel,

with which in the midst of

its

overthrow
contest of

it

requites the

bruising of its head, symbolizes the

mankind with

the devil, and all

therefore not so

who are etc TOV $ia(36\ov (rrovrjpov)^ and much the seed of the woman as of the serpent,
of

and the decisive victory

to issue.
It is at first

mankind
n^^

in

which

this contest is

promised only that

jnr.

mankind

will gain

this victory, for Kin refers to

But

as the promise of

victory speaks

of victory over

the serpent, from

whom

the

temptation proceeded, and hence directly of victory over the original tempter, over 6 6 0t? o ap^alos (Rev. xii. 9, xx. 2 =. of the Midrash), the inference is obvious, that the jioipn
B>n:

seed of the

woman would
its

also be concentrated

and culminate

in the unity of a person, one in

whom

the antagonism would

be enhanced to
in

the

conflict

extreme tension, the suffering encountered with the tempter increased to the utter

most, and his overthrow completed by utter deprivation of

1

Exactly thus Briggs (Prof, in

New

York)

in Messianic

Prophecy

(1886), p. 76.

1C4
1

GENESIS

III.

14, 15.

It is however a mistake to think that son has precisely power. a single personal meaning. The idea of ton is a circle, and Jesus the Christ or the King Messiah, who, as the Jerus. Targum

declares, will bring final healing of the serpent s

heel, is the centre of this circle, ever

bite in the

more and more increasingly

manifested during the course of the history of redemption. Not till His appearing, who was to destroy the works of the
devil, to
iii.

8, Col.

triumph over the kingdom of the evil one, 1 John ii. 15, Heb. ii. 14 sq., and to be the jon of the golden
liii.,

Passional, Isa.
of

was
to

it

made

quite clear that

One was Satan

be bruised under the feet of

by the victory all, Eom.

xvi. 20.

What was

then brought to light had been already

preform atively given in this primal promise, this Protevangel. Since jnf may just as well be understood individually as
^collectively (comp. iv. 25, xxi.

12

sq.

Gal.

iii.

16),

and

it is

not

said that

it

shall be

given to the

man

to beget,

but to the
s

woman

to

bring forth, that which shall bruise the serpent

is
it

head, the prophecy

its fulfilment.

designed by

its

form also

to

concur with

For

was necessary that

Christ, to avoid first

jnt,

conquering in Himself the seed of the serpent, should be nE?K

7ei>o/zez/o9

e/c

yvvaiKos, in a miraculously exclusive manner, a

heavenly
This
first

gift of

grace deposited in the

is

womb

of a

woman.

prophecy of redemption
indefinite
;

and most

it

is

also,

not only the most general when regarded in the light of

2

its fulfilment,
"

the most comprehensive and the most profound.

General, indefinite, obscure as the prima3val age to which

"

it

marvellously and sacredly belongs," on the threshold of the lost Paradise like an awe-inspiring and the Son sphinx before the ruins of a mysterious temple
says Drechsler,
it

lies

"

1 To the seed of the woman, not to the woman ipsa, according to the reading of the Vulgate, which Bellarmine and Passaglia, the champions of the doctrine of the immaculata conceptio, unscrupulously defend.

Hie

sol consolationis oritur, says p.

tologie, 1882,

71.

The ancient synagogue

:

interpretation of the Protevangel

Luther concerning it see Bohl, Chrisagrees with the ecclesiastical the son of Pharez, Ruth iv. 18, i.e. the
;

Messiah, shall restore the good state of the universe which is disturbed by the fall of man; see Bereshith rabba, ch. xii. Bamidbar rabba, ch. xiii., and Targum Jer. i. on Gen. iii. 15.
;

GENESIS
of the Virgin

III.

1C.

165
to solve

was the

first

we add

by

fulfilling it

the enigma of this

sphinx, which had been too

difficult for all

the saints and prophets.

The obverse
curse

side

of

the

sentence upon the serpent

for

is

upon him, the reverse a promise

sentence

mankind.

Before

the penal

upon man

is

pronounced, the mercy of

into hope for the

God
who,

fashions the curse

upon the tempter

tempted.
first

And now
said

follows the passing of sentence

ver.

tempted, became herself a tempter,

upon her 16: To the

woman He

I will greatly multiply iliy sorrow and thy : shalt thou bring forth children, and thy sorrow with conception;
desire shall be to thy husband,

and he

shall rule over thee.

The

inf.

intens.

is,

Ges.

the adverbially employed ninr^ Hk G xvi. 10, xxii. 17. note n:nn, 15, 75, Frequency

in distinction from

of conception being

no punishment, but on the contrary the

1

presupposition of the blessing of children, the sorrows connected with a hendiadys

:

"HiTi? !

"H^-^V

is, if

not

thy conception

(Samar.),

still

to

be understood as a placing in juxtaposition

;

of the general

and a particular
its

thy sorrow, and especially thy

for
IV"in
1

conception

with

sorrows

conception

(H" "]^,

inflected
"nn

^(!, from ^~!?, for a chief form

does not exist)
is

hirrdn, from a

= mn,
|U>*y,

not here regarded as motherhood, but as the

wearisome bearing of the fruit of the body. POT (= as P n ? = iV^ with the fore-tone, like i^an, jh3T, inn, from
T

3W, c-^ocj torquere, Idborare) is meant more generally of the troubles combined with the female constitution, apart from
conception.

The sentence
the

judicially transforms the original

condition
of

woman
the

has
of

transgressed
earthly
life

against the

will
is

God

for
for

sake

punished

this

by

her

sexual
s

she enjoyment, involved being

will

in

miseries of

all

kinds.

God

original
it

was

that

she

should become

mother,

but

was a punishment that

she should henceforth bring forth children OT3 (comp. 3$J3 in the derivation of the proper name F 3 Chron. iv. 9), i.e. .V-, 1
in the midst of pains,

of the

child.

which would threaten her life and that The God-offending independence with which

166
the

GENESIS

III.

17-19.

woman

acts in her encounter with the

sinfully overcomes her

husband
she

is

tempter and then punished in what is next

is

declared to her.

Her reward
desire

for

this

the almost morbid

and

continual

should

experience

towards

the

man

in spite of the perils

and pains of child-birth (DMZ.

xxxix.

606

sq.),

that natural attraction which will not let her

from him, that weak dependence which impels her to lean upon the man, and to let herself be sheltered
free herself

and completed by him.

nptfln

seems related to the Arab.

sauk, longing, desire, properly attachment; but though

w some

times remains also in the Arab,

derivation
consistent with
is

the

consonants
to impel,

offered

jiLs

xxiv. 667), a of transmutation prevailing as does also pv to urge, means,

^i (DMZ.

whence
i.e.

npv^Ti

(here

and

iv.

Sol.

Song

vii.

10),
1

impulse,

the emotion or passion which urges to anything.

The woman

will henceforth involuntarily follow the leading of

the man, and be subject even against her will to his dominion.

The subordination
the beginning
wills in
;

of the

but
is

woman to the man was intended from now that the harmony of their mutual
becomes sub
as

God

destroyed, this subordination

master, and the woman jection. That slavish is bound externally and internally to obey. man of the to which was woman the customary subjection
in the ancient world,

The man may command

and

still

is

so

in the East,

and which

revealed religion has gradually

sistent

made more
is

tolerable

and con

with her

sentence on the

human man now

dignity,

the result of

sin.

The

follows, vers.

17-19

And

to

Adam
and

He

said: Because tJwu hast hearkened to the voice of

tree, ichich

tliy wife,

hast eaten of the

I had commanded
days of thy
thce ;

thee,

saying,
;

Thou

shalt not eat of it: cursed is the shalt thou cat

thistles shall it

ground for thy sake

life ;

in sorrow

of

it

all the

and

thorns

and

"bring

forth

to

and thou

shalt eat the herb

of the field.

In

the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, until

thou returnest

to

for dust thou art, LXX. 3 *ffvfoQ* trav,

1

ground, for out of it wast thou taken ; and unto dust thou shalt return. Here for
the
as
if it

had been

"jmiKTl

(comp.

LXX.

Sam.

vii.

17

GENESIS
the

III.

17-19.

167
iv.

first

time, as subsequently ver.

21,

25,

v. 1,

tns

is

used as

a proper name, for at

ii.

i.

26,

ii.

5,

the article

was

inadmissible, and at
it

20

it

was purposely omitted; but here

would be quite arbitrary to punctuate D*jwfo instead of The prominent importance of this third sentence, Dish.
as

which includes the woman

Adam s

helpmate,

is

shown by

the solemn form in which the reasons for the decision are

previously stated.
prodosis with
its

On

?3Kfrj

(and thou hast eaten) in the

tone syllable,

two Pashtas, the first of which marks the The first part of the see above on ver. 12.
the

sentence

affects

labour

and

self-maintenance

of

man.

The curse

of sin consists first of all in the

circumstance that
life

the ground, far from producing the necessaries of

facility

with the

and abundance of Paradise, now requires wearisome In place of the garden exertion, and often renders this vain. planted by God, the field, where the seed sown encounters
weeds
of all kinds to

which threaten
"VQJJ

to

(fruit appointed where usual of the motive for good, stands here as at viii. 2 1 of the motive to punish, pyy as already remarked, Pesachim

man.

= effect and consequence), else

p.

choke and destroy

it,

is

118a
fuller

(see

Goldziher, Mytlios lei den Hebrdern,

1VV,

43

sq.), is

and stronger than

16,

used of birth-labour.
12,

The
of

form napaxh has here, as Ezek.

"

iv.

Khateph

instead

The suffix simple Sheva, according to the rule of Ben-Asher. the refers to earth as at i. Isa. 7, P ?, being, synecdochiI iP T! PP are a cally put for the produce of the earth. pair of
i I

"JN

words, occurring only here and Hos. x. 8, for which Isaiah

gives
rPB>j

nw.

The herb

of the field

and bread (obtained

from bread-corn, Job

xxviii. 5; Ps. civ.

14) are the contrast to

the flowers of the garden and their fruits. Sweat is called nyt, not from JW, concutere, in which case it would be written
njPT,

like

na<K,

rn^

but as the synonymous

like

JJP,

Ezek. xliv. 18,

shows, from

TSK

is

^J., manare, purposely used in conjunction

yp,

njn from

JTT, njty
it

from \y\
of

with

instead

TJ.S, because the face of one breathless and panting is intended. Moses qui Irevitati studet remarks Calvin suo more pro com-

168

GENESIS

III.

17-19.

muni
ut
siib

mdcji captu attingere contcntus fait quod magis apparuit,

uno exemplo discamus, hominis

vitio

inversum fuisse totum

is,

naturce ordincm.

The curse upon arable land

as other passages

of Scripture show, only a portion of the SouXe/a rrjs fyOopas, to

which the natural world has since been subjected, Rom. viii. 18 sqq. All nature stands, as a matter of fact, in the closest
actual relation to man,
is

who

is,

in virtue of his personality,

which

at once spiritual

All that affects

and material, the link between it and God. man affects at the same time that world of

nature which was ordained for

himself.

having world of nature became like him,

Man

fallen

common development with from communion with God, the

its

appointed head, subject

and needed as he did redemption and restoration to its lost condition and high destination. recover Man, and
to vanity,

with him nature,

will,

length attain to the eXevOepia TT}?

free

though by a long and indirect path, at 0^779 (Rom. viii. 21), ^.e. be
fallen

and

glorified.

Meanwhile the curse which has

the world has a reverse side of blessing for man.

is

upon The curse

not peremptory but pedagogic. Nature in the resistance which she offers to man, and in the harm which she inflicts

on him,

is not only the faithful executrix of the Divine wrath, but also his instructress in the discretion which strictly and

seriously opposes his pretensions

to

absolutism.

Labour in

the sweat of the brow

is

a salutary means of discipline to

awaken
the
fall

aspirations after heaven.

re/cva
ii.

Though men became through

3, still

0/07%, Eph.

ii.

-reicva,

2 Pet.

14;

they are, as

they are not Kardpas Bernard of Clairvaux says,

are,

filii irce,

but not

filii furoris.

The penal sentences

amarce ex dulci

accord
Dei.

ing to

Gregory the Great,

sagittce,

manu

This applies also in truth to the setting in force of the threat

of

death,

of death
earth,
to

though what God purposes for man by means and after death must remain hidden. A return to
dust,

which applies

to

the

woman

also,
is

as
to

taken
be the
Eccles.

from man, and so indirectly from the earth,

painful issue of existence.
iii.

Instead of
is

"iByrr?K

ni^,
}

20,

comp.

xii.

7,

it

here said

"sy

px

m^

like

Job

GENESIS
xxxiv. 15,

III.

20.

169

"isy^V

31P,

return

to,

i.e.

tovny
has in
to

2W,
all

in pulvcrem redigere,
:

become again dust (comp. The Samar. Ps. xc. 3).

i.e.

three texts
of
is,

to

thy dust,

thou shalt return

.

the

dust
that

inp is^

thy origin (comp. CPQjrta, P s civ. 29, to the nonx from which he was taken,
of death,
ii.

Ps. cxlvi. 4).

The threat
it

17,
it

was not now but

nwrj.

Hence
whose

is

no contradiction

to

that death did not

enter as an instantaneous act, but as an instantaneously begun

process,
final

issue

is

here proclaimed to man.

Men

died

when they fell away to sin, as, according to Hos. xiii. 1, Ephraim died when he fell away to Baal. Their life is hence
forth

the slow yet certain maturing of that germ of death

Man by sin withdrew himself from which they bear within. communion with God, and his nature from the sway of the
spirit,

and is now a natural structure exposed to the coming and departing of natural life around him, and finally to His path, which was to tend upwards, is now dissolution.
to lead

downwards

into the darkness of the grave

if

and Hades.

He

can only attain to immortality,

of
life,

his

communion with
to
this
is

God, the source

unto blood with

is

restored.
It is the

The way

indicated in the Protevangel.

evil,

way

of conflict even

and

of faith in the

promise of God.
called

Adam s
name of
living.

first

act of faith, ver.

20

And Adam

the

his icife

Chawwa

for she became the mother of all

This verse, says Budde, has for a long time (i.e. since been But acknowledged to be a later interpolation. Ewald) even supposing that it had not originally stood in this connec
tion, it
is
still

an integral member of the structure we are

considering. The woman has acquired a new importance for the man by means of the promise directly and indirectly inter

mingled with the Divine penal sentences.

The

creative promise

of the propagation of the race is not to be abolished

by the

fall,

but on the contrary to subserve the deliverance of man, the

victory over the

power

of evil being

promised to the seed of the

woman.
he
is

Consequently, in the presence of the death with

which

threatened, the

woman

has become to

Adam

the pledges of

1*70

GENESIS

III.

21.

both the continuance and the victory of the race.

fore

It is there

faith, an embracing of the promise interwoven in This the decree of wrath, that he calls his wife s name njn.

an act of

rnn = njn

(according

to

the

formations njn

rny)

means
34),

life,
i.e.

LXX.

fa)?},

not

preserver

(comp.

njn,

xix.

32,

0)0701/05, for the rejection of propagator of life, Symm. in the part, of Piel, is unusual, and only occurs in the the part, of Pual, and perhaps in the part. Pil. of verbs ,.
,

The woman
the
life

is

called

life,

as a fountain of life from

is

which

of the

human

race

continually renewed, just as

Noah,

nJ, is
i"ijn

called rest as the bringer of rest (Kohler).

The

is not a name like the God-given one ryvvri=genitrix and femina, which Corssen derives from feo (fuo, Curtius

name

$uo>),

fwmfe-lare, to suckle, but a proper name which, as mnenwsynon

gratice promisscv (Melanchthon), declares the special importance
of

this first of
it is

women

to

the

human

race

and

its

history.
:

Hence

explained retrospectively from

1
;

its

fulfilment

for

she became n-TS DK, a mother (ancestress) of every individual in

whom

the race lives on

is,

the

life

of the race

which proceeded

from her

in the midst of the death of individuals, ever re-

originating,
this

name

of faith

and fulfilment has thus sealed the meaning of and hope. Adam s act of faith is followed
on the part of God,
not
ver. 2 1
:

by an
them.
(Trg.);

act of grace

And
and

Jaliveli

Eloliim

made for
")ty

Adam and
does

his wife coats of skins,

clothed

ni:n3

mean

coats

ad cutem velandam

LXX.

correctly has ^ircGi/a? Sepftartvovs, coats

"ity

made
52
;

of skins of beasts, like

nfaro
jro,
is

v3, leathern utensils, Lev.

nforjS,

xiii.

the connective form of

xirwves, perhaps from

of like

to cover, like

meaning with Heb. and Assyr. DfD, Ethiop. Jcadana, toga from tegere, in which case the Aram. JJV3,
flax,

Arab.
^US",

The Thorah
1

must be a secondary denominative formation. 2 says the Talmud Sota 14a with reference to our
emma
hejdu,
i.e.

Hence men

are called in -/Ethiop. egudla *j ^

TJ

DK ^3-

The Arab.

,b.Si cotton, Span, alyodon, mid. high Germ, cottun, Eng.

cotton,

whence our kattun

cotton

stuff, is

not akin to

it.

GENESIS

III.

22, 23.

171

begins and ends with passage and Deut. xxxiv. 6 That God should DHDn, manifestations of kindly interest.

(in

some

sort of indirect

manner

comp. xxxvii. 3) Himself provide

it is

for the covering of nakedness, is a proof both that

really

a thing to be ashamed of, and at the same time that He will But this clothing not cast man off, low as he has fallen. reaches its highest significance in the fact that a life must
suffer the violence of

death to furnish

it

for

man.

In conse

sin, men were in need of a covering to hide their quence Ashamed of this, they made an attempt, but an nakedness. insufficient and inappropriate one, to cover it. Now God

of

Himself provides them with a covering made from the skin of

slain animals,
i.e.

at the cost of innocent lives, at the

expense

of innocently shed blood.

The whole work

clothing
is

of salvation

was
at

herein prefigured.
the

This

foundation
to

laid

beginning, which prophetically

points

the

middle

of the

history of salvation, the clothing with the righteous

its

ness of the God-man, and to

end, the clothing with the

glorified resurrection body in the likeness of the

God-man.

Removal

of the

first

created pair from Paradise, vv. 22,

:

23

And
ns, to

Jahveh Eloliim said

Behold, the

man

is

"become

as one of

forth
ever
to till

know good and evil ; and now, that he may not streteh his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and live for
Jahveh Eloliim sent him forth out of The th$ ground whence he was taken.
so

the

garden Eden,
"

suffix of 131DD (as

written by the Jews of Tiberias

WE, which may mean

mode
is

of

him

"

and

"

of

us,"

while the Babylonian

of writing

on

the contrary distinguishes 13BD from wrs) Onk. and the Samar. understand it (a se

= independent,

not singular, as
free),
;

but plural, as in DHD nns, 1 Kings xix. 2 and elsewhere the connective form occurring elsewhere also in closely connected
speech like
is

xlviii.

19, need seem the less strange, since

virtual

genitive (unus

nostrum).
as
i.

The plural
26,
;

is

UDD com

municative,

God comprises Himself,

xi.

7,

with the

with the seraphim here indeed there follows immediately, ver. 24. thp. mention of other such
D
s

r6tt

^2

as, Isa. vi. 8,

172

GENESIS

III.

22, 23.

What the serpent promised to man has heavenly beings. indeed to a certain extent come to pass. Man now finds
himself in a state of decided moral determination, such as belongs to

God and

But he has attained

the families of angels who surround Him. it by having decided against God and

not owned his limitation by God the all-limiting, but made In saying this, it is presupposed that himself autonomous. this first act of self-decision was such, not only for the first

human

pair,

but also for the

whole

human

race,

and

as

history and experience confirm, of decisive influence upon their nature and lot. The resolve of God follows, as in
iv.
|B

11,

with a conclusive

nriyi.

Its

motive

is

before

what

is

to

be

avoided.

But instead

given by of the

^!??^1>

which we

expect,

the principal

sentence proceeds

unconnectedly to the execution of the purpose with similar 2 Chron. haste, as at iv. 8, xv. 9 sq. Josh. ix. 2 1 Jonah ii. 1 1
; ; ;

xxxii. 24,

i.

sq.
ix.

also Isa. xlviii.

;

11

and in the

New

Testa

ment, Matt.

Acts

i.

sq.,

all

similar passages in

which the expected progress of the discourse is overtaken. Man is, as rfe states, sent away from Paradise, and that
forcibly,
i.e.

he

is

turned out,
of

lest

sume
for
life

to

take

also

the tree
:

of

he should wickedly pre life and live (T ], here

1

perfect of the consequence

ever.

et

vivat

comp.

^
1

mxit, v.

5)

There was
a

for this is

the meaning of the tree of

in Paradise

sacramental means of transferring

life.

man
the

without death to a higher stage of physical

participation of this food of immortality,
of

From

which men would

only

partake

to

their

own judgment, they were now

The obvious
eaten of
it
:

excluded, and, so

to

speak, excommunicated.

question, according to Budcle

What
?

if is

men had

before sinning or immediately after

as

one of over curiosity,

are

fact
1

such questions with reference to futuribilia. In not of Nor had been had eaten it. said anything they
all

The author of Proverbs says of wisdom, that it is such a D^H f*J7, Prov. 16-18 that wisdom which, according to ch. viii., was with God before He made the world and by which He made the world comp. John vi. 48.
iii.
; ;

GENESIS

III. 2-1.

173
The enjoyment of it was involved

them concerning the tree was without their knowing it

to

of

life.

for this object

in the trial of their freedom

their standing

the

test.

But

reserved as the recompense of in the condition in which he

now found
ndscriptus.

himself there was no other

way

to life

for

man
glebce

but that of hardship and tribulation.

He was now

He must

till

the earth in which he will after a

soil

short span decay.

In the

which he turns over with

his

spade, he has before his eyes both his origin and his future. His driving out and the impediment to his return, ver. 24

And He

drove out the man,

and He
the

stationed at the east of the

garden of Eden the cherubim and to keep the way of the tree of life.

flame of a whirling sword, In place of ^fWJ, which

has the meaning of sending away, and only according to the as the connection that of forcible removal, we have here

PW

have

stronger and less ambiguous expulit (comp. Ex. xi. and not the the cherubim translated
"

1).

We
as of

"

"

cherubs,"

because the idea, not so

much

of

an external plurality

a unity including in itself a plurality, as in DTibtf (of God) and also in D^ain, seems here combined with the plural
N

ni3.
as,

just

The cherubim here appear as the guard of Paradise, according to the Indian and Old Persian notion, higher

Soma (Haoma), which makes those who partake of it immortal. 1 More obvious still is the comparison with the griffins, who guard the gold of the north (Herodot. iv. 13, 27 comp. iii. 116), and whose name ypvTres is similar in sound to that of the
beings are placed to keep watch over the
;

cherubs.

The cherub
;

also resembles

the griffin in another

in Ps. xviii. 1 0, Jahveh floats along ans"?^, the cherub here appearing as His vehicle, just as in Ezekiel s Mercabah vision it forms the main portion of the chariot which bears the throne of God (temptingly suggesting the

function

comparison 2ro=M-|,

ps

civ.

3).

In

the Prometheus too

flying TOV

of Aeschylus (ver. 286, comp. 395),

1

Oceanus comes
and

The Soma, which furnishes the drink

of the gods

is itself deified, is,

botanically regarded, the asdepias acidia.

174

GENESIS

III. 21.

TrrepvjwKrj TOV$ OIWVQV (a griffin, according to Plutarch

and

Eustathius),

yM^y

o-ro^tcov

arep evOvvwv.
as Ps.

It

is

true that

there
xix. 1)

is

no passage
the cherub

so

suggestive

xviii.

10

(corap.

for the conception of the cherubic figure.

According

to

this,

appears

as the

storm-cloud, in

which God the Thunderer appears,

mythically
notione

mythically incorporated as the

serpent
-

seraphim are
lightning

the

incorporated

shaped

(Eiehm, De
lei

Cherubum
in

Goldziher, Mytlms
"

den Hebrciern,
Cherubim,"

On

the Seraphim and

syinbolica, 1864; 224 p. sq. Cheyne, his Comm. on Isaiah ;

;

Friedr.

Delitzsch, Paradies, p. 154,

to

and elsewhere).
of the

Ezekiel

gives

cherubic image testimony heathen mythology in his lamentation for the king of Tyre, xxviii. 11 sqq., by combining the mountain of God

the connection

with

and the garden of God, and making the cherub appear the guardian of God s holy mountain walking in the midst
fiery stones,

as of

which are conceived of

a

as a
of

pavement
Divine

or (accord

ing

to

Eiehm)

circumvallation

the

dwelling.

But the cherub, though a creation of Semitic heathenism, which deified the powers of nature, underwent a thorough
change of form and significance when revealed religion admitted it into the sphere of its contemplation. (1) Its form is different, for the cherub nowhere appears entirely in
the shape of a bird or entirely in that of a beast, like the

Babylonio-Assyrian. winged bull-god, for whose name alpu Lenormant has discovered the synonym kirubu (the stem-word
of

which

is

considered by Fr. Delitzsch, Paradies,

p.

184, to

be the verb kardbu, to be great, powerful). Of the cherubs of the ark of the covenant in the Priest-codex (indirectly attested

Sam. iv. 4 2 Sam. vi. 2), nothing further is us than the direction of their faces and wings. told They
besides only 1
;

were, according to
also

all

appearance, of

human

form, which

is

corroborated
s

by the

two standing
vi.
is

colossal

cherubs of

Solomon

temple (1 Kings

of Ezekiel on the other

hand

The cherubic form 23-28). new and peculiar it cannot

;

be used either to give an idea of the cherubim of the ark of

GENESIS
the covenant nor
of those
at

III.

24.

175
The

the gate of Paradise.

cherubs of the Mercabah vision are forms compounded of a

man, a
cherub,

lion,

a bull, and an eagle, for which

lion

is

said, x.

14

perhaps eagle. thought of as the fundamental element for kiriibu. Different again would answer to alpu *ttK>=:rro of the New Testament the is Apocalypse iv. 7, representation
the bull,
"litJJ,

man,

and

This

shows

that

is

developed from that of Ezekiel, and in which the faces of

a lion, an ox, a

man and an

eagle are distributed to four

s
}

heavenly living beings name of cherub does not make

of

(c3a = ni n
its

in Ezek., for

which the
each

appearance

till ix. 3),

which has

six wings.
;

of similar beings
to

The similar names convey the notion but their nature and appearance are, as

world, beyond human apprehension, belonging while their artistic representations and visionary renderings

another

being dissimilar, are therefore only symbolic. To this must be added, (2) that revealed religion, proceeding upon the view
that there
of
is

a heaven, where

God

is

surrounded by the sons

God

(angels)

and other superhuman beings, who unite in

themselves the special excellences of the highest stages of created life, has lowered the cherubs, as well as other powers
of

nature

(SwdfAeis )

deified

by heathenism,

to

powers sub

ordinate to

God

the Lord of hosts (/cvpios rcov

Swu^ewv).

The n^nta
His
of

"03

serve

God

as

D^te, and

these nvn too servo

self-attestation.
is

Him who

They belong to the nearest surrounding enthroned in heaven, are His bearers when He
His presence against
all
it.

reveals Himself in His glory in the world, are the guardians

of the place of

that

is

incongruous,

and without the right

Consequently the cherubs of the Bible are to be regarded by us neither as incorporate natural phenomena nor as purely subjective
creations
of

of approaching

the

imagination, but

as

actual

supersensuous

heavenly

beings.

Their

sensible

representation

however,

which varies according

is

subject

to

which they appear, the influence of mythological tradition, from

to the function in religion

which revealed

derives

also

sundry

traits

of

its

176
figures

GENESIS
of
its

IV.

l.

imagery and its symbolical visions. Beside the cherubim, stationed on the threshold of Paradise, is mentioned the flame (B[v, from DHp, related with DJ, to
speech,

consume,

burn, and

scorch

comp.
its

i"

???,

n ??, with

u-^ix-,

lambere) of the sword, with

threatening circular motion.

"

The blade
of sword

of the

sword

is

a flame (comp. Nah.

").

iii.

3,

flame
it

was
xxii.

in

and lightning of lance the hand of the cherubim as

it is

We

are not told that

in that of the angel,

Num.
an

23, but

conceived

of,

as

in Isa. xxxiv. 5, as
(Schriffbewis,
i.
"

independent penal power.

aptly compares the
in Ezekiel s vision,
"

V.

Hofmann

fire like

the appearance of torches

365) which

i.

13, goes up and

down among

the four nvn.

THE BEGINNINGS OF HISTORY OUT OF PARADISE,

CH. IV.

Adam and Eve

are

now

out of Paradise.

They were driven

Not eastwards, and therefore had it to the west of them. where the sun rose, but where it vanished, was the place of
their

former communion with God. Every sunset would remind them of what they had lost (v. Hofm.). Still Paradise and the tree of life were not destroyed and hence the hope
;

of recovering

what they had

forfeited

was not cut

off

from

them.

the family.
triad of

The history of the first pair now extends to the history of The duality of man and wife now grows into the
man, wife and child, and to the connubial are added parental and fraternal ties and that of kinship, and
a variety of

the

these give rise to

new
of

ethical
sin

relations.

At
the

the

same time the two contrasts

all

and
till

faith

in

promise, which henceforth rule

history

the end pledged

by

iii.

15, are developed.

first

The
wife

seed of the

woman,

ver. 1

And

the

Chawwa ; and
JH*l,

she conceived,

and

bare Cain,

man knew his and said, I

we
used in the

have produced a

man

with Jahveh.

From

the fact that

is

have not here

Eashi infers that the verb

pluperfect sense, which Heidenheim confirms

by comparison

GENESIS

IV.

I.

177

with

xxii.

2 Kings

viii. 1.

In these passages however the

con-sec.}

perfect precedes the chief historical tense (imperf.

as

an accessory
as a basis.
xxi. 1,

fact,

which describes the circumstances and

is

acts

The case

the

same

as with

*ips, visitavit,

in

and not

as with TON,
it

which means promiserat, in the

same
JHJ,

verse.

Hence
is

that

what
If

cannot be syntactically inferred from stated had taken place in the Paradisaic

epoch.

more probable that the narrator intends

viz.

regarded also according to the matter, it is far to say the contrary,

till

that procreation did not begin

till

now

that

man was

out

now that mankind having come to a moral advanced from a state of childhood to the had decision, they maturity which is the prerequisite for the consummation of The work of procreation is common both to man marriage.
of Paradise,

and

to animals,

but jm never occurs in this sense of the animals,

latter is a necessary

for that

which in the
is

process

in the

case

of

man

a free act for

if

and purely sensual which he is

which

morally responsible, and one which,

level of the
brutes, is
is

he has not sunk to the

rises

produced by

love,

to the

supersensuous and

consecrated thereby.

When Eve
W)\>.

saw

her first-born son, she exclaimed (for so is the occasion and The verb meaning of naming him related) rrnN WX
HJp combines the
(condcre)

notions
;

of

and acquirere
is

for

KTL^LV and /craaOai, procreare only the owner s own work or

I have produced, translate But both are implied in Ti^p.
:

production
possession.
or I
is

his true

property and not a merely accidental

Hence we may here

for

have got

my own
of the

for

HN here the sign

impression
is

accusative or a preposition
is

The

first

that

n"nx

an explanatory appositionto
riN

t^N, for a
first is
iv.
1.

second accusative with

e.y. vi.

more nearly defining a

34;
:

often found,

10, xxvi.

Isa. vii.

17; Ezek.

Accordingly Umbreit explains

have obtained a

man, Jahveh, i.e. I have gained a man, through whom I have become a mother, Jahveh Himself, whose power and goodness
have helped
explained,

me

herein.

But since the name pp

is

to

be
is

it is

not Jahveh, but the new-born child, which

178
the object obtained.

GENESIS

IV.

1.

It is impossible however that the words should be so understood as to make her regard herself as

Deipara, as

is

tion of the passage in papers of

done by Korer, following Luther s own explana 1543 and 1545, and in his

edition of the Bible of

1546, where he adopts the meaning, I have the man, the LOKD, and by several moderns (Philippi, Im Boehl, Hoelem. in the Neuen Bibdstudien, 1866).
possible, for the primitive promise does not yet declare that

God and man in one Eve could have such a meaning, her knowledge would exceed even that of Mary. The im
the conqueror of the tempter shall be
person, and
if

the words of

pression nevertheless that /rrriK

strong, that the Jerus.

is

a second accusative
:

is so

Targum
;

translates

have obtained a

man, the angel of Jahveh but the angel of God does not appear in history and consciousness till patriarchal times. In conformity with both time and matter it may be explained:
I

child

have obtained a man, i.e. a male individual, hence a manand therewith Jahveh, viz. communion with Him, since

has so wonderfully favoured me. But rup with God as object is not biblical, and why should not nx be a preposi It is true that we have no other example of tion ? rrntf,
"

He

with
l

Jahveh,"

but DTP&TD); occurs only 1 Sam. xiv. 45

and

inj*

n
>

xxxix.

the possibility of this form.

translated

and elsewhere, proves, if it were necessary, Ancient translators who have

have

all

by Sid (LXX.), per (Jer.), tnijrip (Onk), |B (Samar.), understood ntf of God as helper and giver, as it also

appears in the Babylonian proper name Itti-MarduJc-banu, i.e. begotten with Merodach. According to this, the correction

nNE

for n&5,

though convenient,
of

is

not necessary.

The choice

God (comp. on the contrary, 25&) is not without significance. Eve by this first birth, this issue of the as yet unknown and mysterious process of pregnancy and of the
of the

name

pains of parturition, was transported as by a great marvel into a state of joyous astonishment, and her joy was greatly exalted by the circumstance that the promise of Jahveh concerning
the seed of the

woman seemed

to

her to be thus

fulfilled.

GENESIS

IV. 2-4.

179
acquisition (with the

According to
to set

this,
;

the
it is

name
prepare
IJJf.

r.2

means
pp,

help of Jahveh)

formed from

^U

(related with po),

up, establish,

(especially

forge),

which

is

of

similar root with rup,

The

birth

of
:

Abel

and

the

different

vocations

of the

brothers, ver. 2

And

she

lore

tiller of the ground. Hebel was a keeper of sheep, second child, a brother of Cain, but not a twin brother

again Ms and Cain a

brother Hebel.

And

(Eeuss), though inn}

received the

him

not repeated (coinp. xxx. 10, 12, 21), is not designated as one given from the beginning. Since Oppert the word has on the
is

name

[},

which

Assyriological side been compared with the Assyr. ablu (constr.

ctbal),

which means son

but

if

the

name meant nothing

else, it

would have suited the

as the

first-born as the first child of

it

man, while

name

of the second
it

would be without
is

significance,

As

found in Hebrew,

means nothingness, and

the expression of

disappointed hope, whether as declaring the vanity, the nothing ness of human life in general apart from God and His promise, or the nothingness of this man whose life was to last but as a

breath

quickly as a breath.
fNV (Assyr. senu
J

Job vii. 16), to pass away as The brothers when grown up divide between them the labour most necessary for their subsistence.
(/![},

like

Ps. xxxix. 6,

from the verb

ftf,

sadnu, to be gentle, yield

n

ing

is )

the collective appellation of tame small cattle, of sheep

and

goats.

The farmer
In
iii.

is

called

?^

1? V, as in the Latin
to agriculture,

agricola.

17

sq.

God

directed

man

and

the clothing of

man

with skins of animals by God, consecrated

the rearing of cattle, the purpose of which was the obtaining of milk. For milk is indeed animal nourishment, but not nourish

ment obtained by the destruction

of

animal

life.

Whether and
The

how
of

far the different dispositions of the brothers co-operated in

their choice of a calling

must remain undecided.

4
:

offerings

pass after the some that Cain the time, lapse of brought of fruit of the ground an offering to Jahveh. And Hcbcl also brought on his part of
3,
it

the brothers, vv.

And

came

to

FrieiTr. Dclitzscli,

Helreiv Language,,

p.

46

f.

180

GENESIS

IV.

4,

5.

With fat thereof the author transports us into the midst of the vocations of the two men ppo, from the end onwards, like viii. 6, and
the firstlings of his flock,

and of

the

D ^, like
11

xl. 4,

comp.

Num.

ix.

end of an

indefinite, a long

22, a long time, hence after the not from nro won, time.

^^P,

which

is

no

sacrificial

word, but from me,

.Lc,

to present, is

an all-comprising appellation of sacrifice (here, as e.g. Judg. vi. 18, 1 Sam. ii. 17, of a bloody sacrifice also), which has as the
ultimate basis of
its

notion the sacratio and

dblatio,

and

is

there
first
first-

fore first lepelov, then Soopov or irpoo-fpopd.

^"133

means the
D"n}33i

lings of animals, as
fruits.

B^b? does first-born sons, and

of their

The
16
;

of |H5?n*W unites the particular to the general,

like

iii.

and indeed

Mjn.

For the i raphatum

with Tsere marks fmbnoi as a defectively written plural, like the sing, is kUb Nan. ii. 8, and like the frequent Dr6fc
X>H

(from c^JisU, to scrape

off,

to loosen, to cover

by redeeming),

to

be well distinguished from 2?n, kalal), milk (from in, L_^U-, But whether D^bn here means pieces of to draw, to milk).
fat or the fattest

animals, and therefore that the offering of

offering, is

Abel has the character of the shelamim or whole

already disputed in Scbacliim 116a.
It

cannot however be

proved that DU^n

offered to

may mean

fattest

animals (Keil).

We

have

therefore to admit, with E. Eliezer in the Talmud, that

Abel

That the the fat of the firstlings of his flock. not brothers offered by the direction of God is said, and it is

God

without Scripture proof to refer the sacrifice, as do Thiersch and The very name nmo bears not Goethe, to Divine institution.

upon
it

obligation but spontaneity

first to

and the circumstance that

Cain was the

is

make an
of

offering leads us to infer that

not the fulfilment

a Divine

command; but an

act

resulting from a
is

more

or less pure feeling of

here in question.
:

The

different reception of the

dependence which two offer

offering
:

ings, 4&, 5

And

Jahveh looked upon Held and his

and upon Cain and his offering He did not look. As it is not said that Abel himself kindled his offering, it appears that

GENESIS

IV. 5-7.

181

the visible sign of look of favour (comp. the look from the Ex. xiv. 24) consisted in the kindling pillar of fire and cloud,

by miraculous
1

fire

of
;

Abel

offering

(as
;

in Judg.

vi.

21

Kings

xviii.

38

Chrcm. xxi. 26
:

Chron.

vii.

1-3).

But eo?. Theodotion translates plainly KOI eveTrvpiaev 6 the narrator does not say this, and certainly does not mean
but scrupulously abstains from all confusion of periods. But what is the reason that the Lord accepts Abel s offering
it,

and not Cain

Both were

offering in accordance with their

But Abel brings the firstlings of callings and possessions. his flock, and of these the fat pieces, thus depriving himself Cain on the other in God s honour of the first and the best.

hand brings
posely, not

of the fruit of the

iJ"iD*i),

ground (n&"J&?n, perhaps pur and therefore the first and the best. It is
themselves in their externalism, but the

not however the

gifts

inward disposition persons therein manifested, which The narrative designedly determines the conduct of God.
of the

keeps the persons and the offerings apart.

The

offering of

Abel was the expression

to
its root, says, xi. 4, it

of heartfelt gratitude, or as the Epistle

the Hebrews, designating self-divesting love according to

was the expression

of faith.
if

More than
it

this is not to be derived

its

from the narrative,

we regard

in
of

own

light

and not in the light of the subsequent law

sacrifice

a proceeding of questionable authority.

The im

pression
Ids
JK??5,

upon Cain, 56
fell.

And

Cain burned with anger, and

apoc.

countenance

The impf.

Kal

^}

has,

like

on account of the guttural, a helping Pathach instead of a helping Segol. Furious anger is meant but it is unnecessary
;

here and

Num.

xvi.

15, Jonah
is

iv.

1,

to

supply

tetf.

The

inward heat of passion

manifested by the falling of the

countenance, the gestures of angry brooding, of gloomy moroseness (comp. the Hiph. to cause the countenance to fall, Jer.
t

12 and Job xxix. 24). And Jahvch said unto Cain,

in.

The Divine warning,

vv. 6, 7:
?

Why

dost
?

thou lurn with anger

and why

is

thy countenance fallen

?

Is there not lifting up, if

is

thou docst well

And

if tlwu doesl not well, sin

a croucher at

182
the door.
it.

GENESIS

IV.

G,

7.

And

unto thee

is its desire, l)ut

thou sJwuldst rule over

seeks by private remonstrance to bring him to his senses concerning the danger that threatens him. The question,

God

ver. 6, is

and
In

to the roots there

put to him to direct his attention to his own heart, to be found of his distorted gestures.

is drawn back to the penultima of mn, but as always in the simple verb without a following Dagesh, In ver. 7 there are only two more explanations conjunctum. to be considered besides that given by our translation. 1.
"i{?

rnn the tone

Arnheim

and Kamphausen

Is not sin at the door,

whether

thou bringest better offerings or not ? But ris^ has not in itself the meaning qffetre, it can only acquire this sense by the
addition of some more particular definition, as in Ezek. xx. 31.
2.

DN^ may, according

to the phrase D JS Ktw, be understood,

N

to accept the

countenance or person of any one, to make one

self acceptable (xix. 21, xxxii. 21,

and elsewhere; comp.

n&tt?,

Prov. xviii. 5)

if

thou doest well, does not a favourable recep

tion 011 the part of

I, i.e.

God

take place? as

Ephrem

glosses

it:

Ax*-^
is

(then) accept and receive thee.

it

But wherever

nNE>

used

without an addition,

means neither oNatio nor

but
:

acceptio, still

less remissio peccati (Onkelos),

"pD

elatio

and the reverse

if

of 1^3

leads to this meaning, thus

lift

mayst thou not

thou doest

well
is

up thy countenance

reflected in

courage, which a cheerful, willingly raised countenance. The

rrt^n produces

Hiph. :TDM, as intrinsically transitive, means lene agere (facere), which may however be equally said of inward good disposition
as of external good
action.

That Cain was angry with his

brother because of the favourable reception of his offering was the point in which he did evil, and this secret evil-doing, known

riNtsn

only to God, predisposed him to an external open act of sin. being fern., Y2 is conceived of as substantival: Sin is
beast, of prey,

thought of as a
as a lion,
1

and indeed (comp.

called er-rdbid or
:

1 Pet. v. 8)

which in Arabic

is

cr-rabldd.

LXX.

translates as

though the reading were

f*h~]

DXDn

Hfl^p; see on the

text, A. Fiirst

bias towards the ceremonial

law shown by this twisting of the

in

DMZ.

xxxv. 134-138.

GENESIS

IV.

8.

183
evil within, there
is
"but

When man

has once

made room

for

one step from inward to outward evil-doing: the sinful act crouches greedily like a beast of prey at the door of his heart

he shall step out and fall a victim to it. In the concluding words te refers to the croucher, by which figure sin, as impelling to its own incorporation in an outward act, is represented.
till

We

certainly expect that

God should

rather require of Cain

that he should suppress the passion fermenting within

him

but the ruling over sin demanded from him consists in keeping closed the door which still forms a barrier between the illfeeling

and the criminal

act,

down
crime.

sinful thoughts lest

and in thus struggling to keep he should be driven by them into

far possible

Moral

self-control is so
fall.

to

the natural

man
it

even since the

first

The
came

murder,

ver. 8

And

Cain said

to his

brother

and

to pass,

that as they were in the field,

Cain

rose

up

against Hcbel his brother,

and

slew him.
"

What
it,"

did he say to

him

Tuch, Baumgarten, Dr. supply

is

referring to
"IDN

what

preceded, which
followed,
xliv.

syntactically possible, for

is

sometimes

16,

not by direct speech, but by a mere ace., xx. 3, and this ace. has sometimes to be supplied,
;

Ex. xix. 25
talked
his act

2 Cliron. xxxii. 24.

But Cain would not have

much about
to

that voice of
its

God
is

in his conscience, nay,

shows that he crushed

impression.

What
ID^
1

then did

he say

Abel

This question

escaped by reading, with

-in^oi,
!

he lay in wait (like 2 Sam. xi. 16 Job xiv. a comp. 16) happy con have here however a like jecture, if one were needed.
instead of
:

Bb ttcher, Knobel, Olshausen,

;

We
:

phenomenon with iii. 22 sq. the what Cain said, forthwith informs us
execution.

narrator, hastening past

of its being carried into

What
2,
its

Cain said

is,

like

what Solomon

said,

2 Chron.

i.

and what Isaiah

results.

said, 2 Cliron. xxxii.

24, to be
Sol.

perceived from

He
is

said ni&n n ?r;}

(comp.

Song vii. 11), as the ellipsis I. and II., Samar. in all three

supplied by

LXX.
It.

Targ. Jer.

texts, Syr.

Aq.

Jerome.
fallen

We
out

need not suppose that the words

rwn

ro^ have

18-4

GENESIS

IV.

I).

by mistake (Dillmatm), perhaps by the eye wandering

succeeding

to the

member

of the sentence terminating in rntpn,

and

so per 6fjLoioTe\VTov (Schrader).

The

invitation to

go out

into the field

was the foundation of

his plan of murder.

(t>K,

There
scnsu
to the

in the solitude of the field he rose against Abel

hostili,

in virtue of the connection), and struck

is
j"in,

him

ground (which
is

of bop).
first sin

the root meaning of as to cut in pieces Human sin made a gigantic advance in this act.
sense,
;

The

was caused by the charms of

and in con
diabolical

sequence of a cunningly planned temptation

now

hatred and brutal barbarity unite and bring forth murder. Men now for the first time bury their dead, and this first dead

man

is

the
is

first

martyr, and his brother

is

his murderer.
itself

chasm

now

established within

humanity

between two

kinds of seed, one

placing himself on the side of the seed of the woman, the other upon that of the seed of the serpent.
is

man

Cain

the representative of the class of

men which

is e/c

rov

irovripov (1

John

iii.

Church, which is He unto blood.

12), and Abel the representative of the hated by the world and persecuted even
also a type of the righteous

is

Son

of the

Virgin, whose blood, shed by His own brethren

after the flesh,

speaketh better things than that of Abel, by crying, not for JSTow follows, vv. 9-12, the vengeance, but for pardon.
Before sentence is passed he punishment of the fratricide. And Jahveh said to Cain, is tried and convicted, ver. 9
:

Where

is

Hcbcl thy brother

keeper
?

And
:

he said,

I know

not.

Am

I my
thou
in
?

brothers

He now
former

asks

As God asked Adam, Where art Where is thy brother \ As Cain

interested
as

the

case

man,
tive
it

so here in one

He man

Himself in

the

fallen

compared
1

to the other.

is,

especially in indignant threatening questions, the usual connec

form of

"

(Deut. xxxii.
n,

here stands before

Sam. xxvi. 16; Jer. v. 7) before which however nK also occurs,

37

xix. 5, xxii. 7.

Cain

answer shows what

fall of

terrible progress
;

sin

had made since the

our

first

parents

in their case

there was timid anxious flight and excuses, here a bold lie

GENESIS

IV. 10, 11.

185
vain, ver.

and unloving

defiance.

But denial was

?-

10

And
Hood
y

He
rrL
M

said

crying
y
;

to

What hast thou done me from the ground !

into
is

the voice of thy brothers

In

iii.

1 3 it

was

said

nsrn
is

here, because

no with a following dagessata of

37. 1),
n-frj;

n, n,

changed with ^ip

genitive,

np (Ges. an interjectional one.

Iii.

no.

The

sentence

^ip

(followed

by a mere
G,

Isa.

8,

Zech.

xi.

3,

and sometimes with the

addition of some other attribute, 1

Sol.

Kings

i.

41, xiv.

comp.

Song

ii.

8, Jer.

x.

22, which

may

be understood geni-

an apposition, or accusatively as a definition of the condition, like "^nriD, iii. 8) is spoken with an accent of
tivally as

exclamation
1

Voice

Hark

Attraction after the scheme,

Sam.

ii.

only so

4, and perhaps also Job xxix. 10, is present here far as what is predicated refers not so much to the

sound, but to the more important notion of that which gives

it

forth

voice of thy brother

blood, of one crying, or

plur.

of

blood crying (while crying).

The

DW

is

the plur. of the

distinc product (Dietrich, Abhandlung, p. tion from D1, not the blood circulating in the body, but that which is flowing, or has flowed out from it (Lev. xx. 18 and

40), and means, in

and which has mostly been shed by violence. 1 Blood murderously shed demands Divine vengeance by an inward
xii.),

necessity

Clamat ad cesium vox sanguinis.

Heb.

xi. 4,

Abel

is still

speaking after his death,

According to and is hence

undestroyed and

living.

The

sin

which he denied being now

is

brought before the eyes of Cain, sentence

ver. 1 1
:

passed upon him,

And now
mouth

cursed art thou

receive
is

from

the

ground, which hath

opened hand.
is
"

its

to

the

The conclusion

drawn

Hood of thy Ir other from thy as at iii. 22 with nruri. It

questionable whether no iNrrpp

means
relative

"

from the earth

sentence

"

or
to

away from the

earth."

The

seems
is

suggest the former, according to which the ground

to

be

The Talmud (Mishna Sanhedrin iv. 5) concludes from iJOl, that whoever commits a murder is answerable, not only for the blood of him whom he has his blood and slain, but also for that of the descendants he might have had
1
:

VJTIJPT

tn

(the blood of his

OV^KTU, comp.

Gal.

iii.

16).

186

GENESIS

IV. 12, 13.

the means of carrying

others).

the curse

into

execution (Keil and

But

in view of the climax in

which
s

ver.

12

issues,

and the echo of the sentence from Cain

latter is

own mouth,
The

the

more obvious

(Gerl. Kalisch and others).

still

relative

sentence would then

retain its signification as stating the

still

motive, and the earth would

remain the instrument of

execution

that part of the earth which has been compelled

to drink in the innocent blood is henceforth of blood-guiltiness

under the curse

21) and

(Num. xxxv. 33

comp.

Isa. xxvi.

drives

away
it

the murderer, being smitten with barrenness and

refusing to reward his labour, ver. 12:

When
to

tJwu
its

tillest

the

ground,
Unsettled
*)Dh

shall

not

continue

to

yield

thee

strength.

and fugitive
is

shalt thou be

upon

earth.

The jussive
viii.

(here

in the apodosis of the conditional prodosis, Ges.

128. 2)
x.

followed, as at
iii.

vii.

10 (comp. 12), Ex.

inf.,

25,

28

sq.,

Dent.

26,

nb, strength, is here, as at

by Job

the simple

instead of by nr&.

xxxi. 39, Prov. v. 10, equivalent

to the result of strength, the

of the first sin affected

produce of

fertility.
first

The curse

the ground in the

place and

man

only indirectly

here,

where

sin has reached the height of

first

Satanic murder, the curse

himself.

affects

of all

the

murderer
of

But

it

is

not the

curse of condemnation, but

is

banishment, for even the murderer

the

not at once given up by

grace of God.

1JJ V*,

a similar pair of Avoids, Avith an

"I33J

alliterative

freely

translated

kind of rhyme, to p, Isa. xix. 22, (nivwv KOI Tpe^wv by LXX., and

is

too

more

successfully

by Jerome, vagus and profurjus.

;

yj

means

unsettled,

though without change of place place for another, used especially

nest, Isa. xvi. 2
;

13,

changing one of a bird driven from its

restlessly

Prov. xxvii. 8

Ps. xi. 1.

Alleviation of the curse

by a guarantee
exchanged
for
is

of

life,

vv.

13-15.
13
:

Cain

defiance

is to

no\v

despair,

ver.

And

Cain said
K550

Jahveh,

My

guilt

great beyond hearing.

The verb

(Ex. xxxiv. 7),

v.

means both taking away, i.e. the forgiveness and bearing, i.e. the expiation of sin (Num.
translators

31).

Ancient

give

for

the

most part the

GENESIS

IV.

14.

187
:

former meaning (LXX., Onkelos, Jerome qiiam ut vcniam has while mcrear), but then we should expect K^nD,
Kib>|

the

speaker

for

its

subject,

and

is

said

for

^b Slp,

for

the

generalization
<j)peiv

of

the

thought.

would correspond with it. of forgiveness of which Cain despairs, but the possibility of time the bearing the burden of sin, which is at the same
burden of punishment,
hast driven
is

The Greek pel&v 3) Mare That it is not the possibility

from and I must hide from Thy face, and I am to will come fugitive upon the earth, and then it
finds

me

out

the

confirmed by ver. 14: Behold, Thou ground and soil on which I dwelt,
le unsettled
to pass,

and

whoever

me will

slay me.

The curse

of

Jahveh has banished Cain

from that part of the earth s surface (^3 75JD) on which he had hitherto dwelt, and he will thus be obliged to hide
himself far away from the face of the Lord, which is turned towards men in Eden, but cannot bear the sight of him, the
murderer.

And

thus

wandering about on the wide earth

first

It is thus that the (H^s), he will be exposed to murder. him has let God murderer, though experience mercy

instead

of justice,

bears

testimony to
the
life

that
viz.,

law
of

which

is

being forfeited by bloodBut whom did Cain think of meeting beyond guiltiness. Eden ? Knobel thinks that acquaintance with some primi
tive
is

human nature, engraven and especially of man s own

in

law,

retribution,

race

of

man
as

in Eastern

Asia besides the

feared
to

Caucasian
recognised
this

here

shown.

But
a

if

Cain

be
not

beyond Eden
suppose that
existed
?

known murderer, only one human family,

does

pre

the family of

Adam,

Blood-vengeance was not indeed as yet a custom,

the most primitive form of the capital punishment

but

it is

of the murderer.
fear for his life

family should be increased, and it was the equally natural consequence of his evil con science, that the earth should seem to him already full of
father
s

Hence when his

it

was but natural that Cain should

avengers.

The answer

he

feared, while

He

the possibility of what neither kills Cain Himself, nor will suffer
of

God assumes

188
any other
to
kill

GENESIS

IV. 15.

him,

15

And
it

JaJivck

said

to

him,

Therefore whoever Idlleth Cain,

shall be avenged sevenfold.

LXX.
i.e.

Tra?

ajroKTeivas
for

Kdlv
(pay

eirra eK^LKovfJieva irapakvcrei,

for)

he shall answer
septein

seven punishable
(see
is

trans
ep.

gressions,

vindictas

exsolvet

Jerome,

ad

Damasum,
as the

cxxv.).
Djjn,

The verb eKbucelaOai

just as equivocal
(ver.

which may mean either vindicari or puniri, Ex. xxi. 20 sq. but and this seems

Hophal

to

24) have

occasioned the paraphrase of the

LXX.

puniri, not with the

subject of the person, but of the crime.

Hence

it

must either

be explained (as by Tuch) according to ver. 24: if any one kills Cain, he (Cain) shall be avenged sevenfold, or it shall be In both cases ^o begins (as at avenged (punished) sevenfold.
:

1
si

Sam.

13) a virtually hypothetical prodosis (quicunque =. quispiam), and in both (as e.g. also at ix. 6) a change of the
ii.

subject takes place.

that

We

prefer however the latter

for the

thought, punishment committed on Cain, has more to recommend it than that He will avenge Cain. The promise is followed by its guarantee, 15&: And Jahveh made a sign for Cain, that whoever found

God

will visit with

the murder

him might

not kill him.

to

It is a question

whether

this
:

means

He

imparted a sign
sign,
i.e.

him a

him, impressed it on him, or He gave assured him of his inviolability by some

external

occurrence.

The Midrash

(Bereshith rdbba,

c.

22)

already hesitates

between the two.

E. Jehudah thinks that

God made

the sun shine forth suddenly; E. Nehemiah, that

He

caused the leprosy to break out on Cain s forehead, so that it might be seen that he was already sufficiently punished. When it is considered that niK D or nitf jw has elsewhere
s
b>

(Ex.

x.

1 sq.) the

same meaning

as nix

nfc

y and rnx

;nj,

some

marvel or token given as a guarantee seems to be intended. When on the other hand men call to mind that a momentary
pledge of God s promise affecting only himself would have been of no use to Cain, but that what he needed was some
lasting indication of the inviolability of his person to others,

the view

is

again pressed upon us as in agreement with the

GENESIS

IV. 16, 17.

189

circumstances,

upon
bility

his
;

that God impressed upon his body, perhaps brow (comp. Ezek. ix. 4), the characteristic of inviola more freely yet not incorrectly that he imparted to
:

his personality a

power

of impression capable
life.

of disarming

those

who were

laying snares for his

The use
is

of ?

1
D"

^,

11, explained by commodi being indispensable besides, ppn would not be free from ambiguity, for 3 JYiK D^, Isa. Ixvi. 19, does not

Ex.

iv.
!?

is similar.

That

l?i?3 is

not said,

the

mean
one.

to give a sign to some to make a sign on some, but With the inf. after V!&?f (like Ezek. xx. 1 5), the object here
: :

stands before the subject (Ges.

agreeable as to style.

133.

3),

which seemed more

farther than to

Thus God went no

banish Cain from the neighbourhood of His presence here below. He favoured him with the prolongation of his day of grace,

because he acknowledged sin as

deserved consequence, and that

sin,

all

and punishment as its might have in Cain the

punishment of murder before their eyes as a warning and To this must be added, that the continuance of the example.

human
Cain

race as

yet

required that the lives of individuals

should be spared.
s

new

abode, ver. 16
settled

And
like

Cain went out from

the

place of Jahveh, and Eden. He went out

in the land of Nod, on the cast of

i.e.

n \JBpO,

Jonah

i.

3,

from the place

time was wont

where Jahveh had appeared

to

to him,

and

at that

appear to

men

in general.

The

situation of the country in

;

which he settled cannot be more particularly defined (see on ii. 14) directs us to Eastern Asia, for the
east side.
"ria

n^i?
is

"front"

the

The name means flight and misery (elend, old German that a elilcnti, another, is, high strange land). Van Bohlen, who is followed by Colenso, conjectures that
it

was Northern India

J^j

a proverbially fertile Indian mountain.

ver.
bare,

and the Arabic reading really makes Cain s immediate

Cain knew his
wife,

offspring,
ceived,

17

And

and

she

con

and

and

called

the

name of

Chanokh, and he became the builder of a town, the town after the name of his son
his wife
?

Chanokh.

Whence had Cain

Did he

find in the

190
land of

GENESIS

IV. 17.

Nod human
is

beings of both sexes

Impossible, for the

actual unity of the

human

race

is

a fundamental doctrine of

never broken through, and intends the descendants of Adam to be regarded as the entire human race.
Scripture which

In any case we must regard Cain s wife as a daughter of Adam In saying this however free play is left to the imagina (v. 4). tion, and the narrative appears without disguise to be but a
fragment of some
his sister
justifiable reproach of

connected history. It is a quite un Karl Hase, that Cain s marriage with If the involves the origin of mankind in incest.
lost

human

be propagated from a single pair, such The notion of closely related marriages were unavoidable. incest was originally limited to the reciprocal relation of
race
to

was

parents

and

children,

and

afterwards
as

extended
the

(but

not
of

everywhere
to
its

equally)

in

proportion

possibility

conjugal connections was diversified.

essential
definition
(ii.

24

For marriage, according sq.), was to be a new

generic and
off

social beginning, accompanied with a breaking from the Toledoth from which the husband and wife

originated.

Cain

called

his
to

son

"^n

(from

"pn,

denom.
imbuere),

from

?jn

^n,

palate,

moisten
;

the

palate,

dedication, opening, beginning

the

same name

Le
"pin

lieu

cst

and he then gives the town devenu une pcrsonne, remarks

Eeuss.

A
:

town

ancient geography,

it

being no longer to be identified in might with apparently greater justice

La pcrsonne est devemie un lieu. But elsewhere too name has been borne by the first-born (v. 18, xlvi. 9, but not xxv. 4). Budde thinks to restore the original text run \Ti, he TOPI 1DBO n^n D^ topi by reading (viz. and became a town called the name of the builder, Chanokh) But vy ron NTi suits Cain. city after his own name, Chanokh. For whether Ty means a watch or anything else (Accadian
be said
this
:

"W

urn, Assyrian

m),

it is still

which

is

self -protection.

a dwelling-place, the purpose of A considerable time may have

elapsed between the settlement in the eastern country and

the building of the
city.

The sentence did not

state that

GENESIS

IV.

18.

191
rrnn only speaks of an

Cain was to be
indefinite future

1:1 y: all
;

his

life, its

besides,

something of the character of the

sentence pronounced adhered, as its name implies, to the It is said that the discrepancy settlement in the land of li:. is fundamental, and ex between iv. 16525 and iv.

115
to

cludes

the notion of only one narrator.

of the country, TO, refer
"1:1

But does not the

?

name

yi

And

is

not the
of

building of a city,
consistent with

which presupposes a large number

s

Cain

fear,

155, of

meeting

men

far

men, from

We shall meet with yet Eden, and being attacked by them. other mutual allusions which speak against the notion of two documents. Besides, it should be noted that 175 does not
state that

when Cain was

to

in the act of building a city a son

him, but in conformity with the syntax, xxi. 205, Judg. xvi. 21, 2 Kings xv. 5, 2 Chron. ix. 26, that Cain became it is the fact of an advance in civilisation cediftcans urbem

was

bom

which

is

thus registered.

If the building of the city had, as

Budde
been

thinks,

Chanokh

for its subject, nil rrn Kin

must have

Cain together with his son and his wife formed a family, a household, and for this his household Cain now builds
said.

No

a house, and indeed, as

Ty

(syn.

^3,

.
.<,

a fenced -in

place)
i.e.

denotes, a complex of houses.

of

His son and his town,

this

He called the beginning son by whom he became the head of a family, and the city by which he exchanged his unsettled and fugitive life for a
a town, receive the same name.

permanent abode,
ver.

71311.

The son and the

city

were together

the beginning of a

18

And
:

of Cain, epoch. unto ChanoJch was lorn Irad: and Irad begat

new

The descendants

Mccliujael

and

Mcclinjael
ace. of

Icgat

Methusatl
is

and Mclkusael

Icgat Lemecli.

The

the object

combined with the

passive (here with the Niplml&s x. 2 5 with the Pual\ a frequent construction throughout the Pentateuch, Ges. 143. la. And
"yj

is here used three times with the meaning to beget, yevvav, characteristic of the Jahvistic style. The Elohistic style uses instead T^ n which was in the more modern of the
,

epoch

192

GENESIS

IV. 18.

language the customary though not the exclusive expression

(comp. IH^P, parentes
avrrjv,
ejus,

Zech.

xiii.

rr&pn, 6

yevvijcras

Dan.

Job

xxxviii.

and the exchange of the HipJi. and Kal, 28 sq.). In the circumstance that the genealogy
xi. 6,
v.,

of Cain precedes that of Seth, ch.

we meet with one

For in the

of

the principles of arrangement of Genesis.

the nations, ch.
x.,

roll of

the

lists

of the

Japhethites and Hamites

precede that of the Shemites, the line of the promise being never carried on till that which does not belong to it is
finished
off.

It is striking that the

names

713 n

and

*pi?

should

recur in the Sethitic genealogy, and that the names pip and TP in the latter should correspond with pp and *wy in the
Cainitic,

and fofeno and n^nio with Sj^ino and tawio.

i.

Butt-

mann

in his Mytlwlogus (vol.

1828, 2nd

ed.

1865) founds

thereon the assertion, that the two registers originally had the same object, viz. that of exhibiting the first beginnings of
the

human race, which the one derives from an ancestor named Seth, the other from Cain. This is confirmed by
Tuch, Bottich., Hupf., Schrader, Eeuss, Dillm., Kuenen.

The

genealogy in ch. ix., says Budde, did not originally reach back beyond Cain, Israel therein gave expression to their descent from Cain it was Q who first made the generic term
;

Adam does not belong to the DISH into a proper name. national consciousness, but to the system. But it is a castle
in the air to
its

make out

that the Israelite nation ever traced

to say that

descent to Cain.
of the
first

And

Adam,

as the proper

an arbitrary expedient for doing away with the dualism of the two lines by a forced heading. We assume with greater justice, that
after invention, is

name

man, was an

together with the genealogy, iv. 16-22, which terminates in Lemech and his three sons, there was in the Jehovistic book
another, which
starting

from

Adam

terminated in

Noah and

his three sons, the place of

(from Q). both lines

The

similarity

of

which has been taken by ch. v. sound between the names in

effort of

may

be explained by the

the tradition to
;

make apparent

the parallelism of the

two

lines

not withstand-

GENESIS

IV. 18.

193
are

ing their ethic diversity, *pb and sounds in both, and it is just these so

"p:n

the only identical

are

named persons who

guarded by the description given of

of
1

them from the suspicion

original identity.

It

is

that

in

everything relating

to

moreover quite comprehensible the form of speech of these

primitive histories there would be a freer treatment, and there

fore
first

a greater vacillation of tradition. progenitors of our race were not

The names

of these

indeed Hebrew nor

any Semitic language, but belonged to a tongue the know The ledge of which has vanished from post-diluvian ages. for an to used names is these attempt repro present wording
duce them in a manner intelligible to the then contemporary world, and it may be regarded as an indication of an actual
relation

between

the

original

and the

now

hebraistically

written words, that nothing of symbolical invention can be detected in the names as they at present stand. TVy defies

uven a probable interpretation Lagarde (Orientalia ii.) con siders FaiSaB of the LXX. the authentic form of the name,
;

which he ranks with j^

but no satisfactory meaning

is

to

be obtained either from this verb, which generally means, to suffer from plague-sores, or from Tiy, to be fleet (whence
"ii"W,

wild

ass), or

from

4.2, to shoot

up

or to be hard,
"T^V,

form remains peculiar. With the reading some extent be compared if the reading "TO
;

and the

may

tc>

preferred,

the more

?, ^V, to which corresponding nominal form 18 be Olsk. la, refers, may Lagarde, anf -N^np compared.
1

TJ"

or

-^jnp (with

Joel

redundans) would, according to the Hebrew

ls^, mean the wiped off (purified ?) of God; according to the Aram. KPIE (with the smitten of God neither is satis^ ),
nnD,
:

factory
is

Budde s

reading,
is

V.
more

or

V*n, God
of

gives

life,

tempting.

7KpinD

easy

explanation,

which

means
1

either a suppliant, or according to the Assyrian

ii.

midnother

Lagarde in Orientalia,
that
in

33-38, endeavours to prove from

also

LXX. and
^fcC inD,

ancient translations
for

H^C iriD

stood

originally

for

and

^inD

the Cainitic

list, c. iv.

194
sa-ili,

GENESIS
a

IV. 19-21.

man

of God.

There

is

the less to be said about f\$.

in any case a

Budde thinks
conclusion.

that this

name has
"

meaning

of

violence; but the Arabic cX*l,

In

ch. v.

does not justify this the ninth from Adam in the line of
to
knead,"

Seth, here the seventh

from

Adam

in

the line of Cain,

is

so

In him the Cainitic tendency comes to a climax. Commencement of polygamy, ver. 19 And Lemcch took to

named.

himself two wives

the

name of

the second luas

name of the Zillah. The

first

one was

Adah, and
says

the

narrator

Budde

does not intend to depict this

transgression
;

appearance of bigamy as a Jacob also had two wives. But he surely

as

does intend
to be the

it

certainly as he declared

monogamy,

ii.

24,

fundamental law of marriage at the creation. The of first Lemech was the to the step bigamy perversion of And among the Israelites and their this fundamental law.
ancestors polygamy, though tolerated, did not belie
as
its

nature

an act contrary to and alienating from God. Instead of nnxn and Ex. here i. we elsewhere find also rvjtfn, 15,
. .

nntfn

nnsn, Deut. xxi. 15

Ex. xxxvi. 10,

etc.

The names

of

the two

ASd
Hera.

is,

women, however explained, have according to Hesychius, the name

first

a sensuous sound.
of

the Babylonian
:

The

son of Adah, ver. 20

And Adah bare Jdbal

and with
cattle.

he

was

the

father of those dwelling in tents,

is

Jdbal

(pronounced Iw/3?j\ by the LXX.)

the founder of nomadic

shepherd

life as

a wandering

mode

of living,

which was now

more decidedly than hitherto (iv. 2) separated from agriculture. Live stock had also been extended beyond }N to greater and smaller breeding cattle, and was called fUj?p (properly acqui
sition,

possession, viz. peculium, like

the Arab.
ace.

JU, DMZ.
means not
is

xxviii, 581).

The verb 3^, which with the

to dwell

only to dwell in, but also

with something,

here

per zeugma the governing word of rupD also, tent and cattle being comprised together as moveable property (comp. the The verbs possidere and bcsitzen, similar to 3^ thus used).

second son of Adah, ver. 21

And

the

name

of his brother was

Jubal: he was the father of

all that

handle the cither and pipe.

GENESIS
Instrumental music had
its

IV. 22.

195

beginning with Jubal. According to this verse the oldest stringed instrument is "to, the cither (Kivvpa
or KiOdpa), probably from
"133,

to creak, to rustle.
"

Dillmann s
rests

comparison of the

Aram.
s
;

N")J3,

ostensibly

hemp,"

upon a

mistake of Castelli
ISTebek,
1

it is

not

hemp which

is

so called, but the

229).

Zizyphus Lotus (Imm. Low, Aram. Pflanzennamcn, No. (Ps. cl. 4, OT), according to the formation bw&, is

:W

the pipe used to accompany love-songs (for the derivation from

33y is

commended by the circumstance that the history of Lemech breathes elsewhere also of sensual love), and indeed the the avpiyt;, invented, according to Grecian mythology, by Pan
;

fistula
for the

(avena)

silvestris

of the Latin poets, not the bagpipe,

name

of which, a-v^wvia, the book of Daniel furnishes

the earliest authority.

The children

of Zillah, ver.

22:

And

Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain,

wlw hammered

every hind of

cutting instrument of copper

and iron; and

the sister of
/cal
rjv

Tubalatyvpo;

cain

Naamah.

The

translation of the

LXX.,

KOTTO? ^aX/ceu? ^aX/cov KOL (TiStfpov, requires

no other text

it

Budde however disguises the inconvenient ^3 by ^aX:eu<?. of teal rjv out declares the ^3 to be picks (KpupoKotros, -pb TPl,
the ^3 of the preceding ver. 21 which has crept in here, and

from these two hypotheses draws the conclusion that this TP1 was the original introduction of the song, which Ul
"pb

ascribed the invention of forged weapons not to Tubal-cain

but to Lemech.

Then nothing would be told of Tubal-cain but the bare name, while the narrator evidently means to
bring forward in the three sons of Lemech s double marriage the inventors and founders of three new kinds of employ

ment.

It

cannot be safely assumed that he wrote

B>B^,

"as

irn sin

a third time also, but perhaps &Vp (from ^.k!, to strike with the flat side of a thing, whence the Arab, miltas, large

hammer 2 )
1

is

a gloss on
in

^ ih which being
%
>

received into the

Comp.

my Ein Tag

Capernaum

(3rd ed. 1886), p. 134 sq.

Jewish lexicographers explain

^DP by *nn

on which account
(Ss>-\

it

in the philosophical diction of the ^liddle Ages transferred to the polish refinement of the mind see xxxvii. 488.
is
;

and

DMZ.

196

GENESIS

IV. 22.

text expelled the original (&nn io)

^X

(Olsh.),

while cnn has

from the original ^apaaa-wv (B^.n or tsnn) now become the neuter ^apaaaov. We do not here read that stone imple ments preceded the metal implements of the ferrea cctas as
described by Greece-Roman
poets, but
is
;

it

is

significant that

copper should precede iron; the former

called n^nj, apparently

from

its

bright polish, from eru

DT!

the latter /na, from

m,

metal being named according to the implements fashioned from it, especially the spear with, its iron mount
to pierce, the

ing and point (comp. the Arabic

to sharpen, to point).

name

of iron,

Ewald

sees in the three sons of

Lemech
Vigas

the representatives of
(craftsmen),
(warriors).

the three
(artists

Aryan

castes

the

Brahmanas
added

and scholars) and Ksatrijas

first

In fact we here see for the

time the teaching

and the
his

military,

to the labouring class.

^ perhaps
W.
and OT,
s

gets
Jer.
;

name from
i.e.

the wandering (comp.

DJD

xvii. 8),

the slow going to and fro and onwards of shepherds

2V (according to the formation "^D, cage, Ezek. xix. 9), from the loud playing of instruments, for ??v (Vn ) means alarm and alarm horn, and jubaba is the Peshito word for nyiin,
the sound of horns and blare of trumpets.
1

W*

pi?

??

r
>n

(written

by the Orientals)

is

compounded with

^:, which

denotes the smith, and 2 Sam. xxi. 16 the spear as a weapon

forged

the infinitival noun, concretely used of pp, related according to the usual view to pp, to erect, to prepare, to form, but perhaps to a word imitative of the
;

by the smith

it

is

sound produced by the stroke of the hammer (comp.

with tj^i, lute player),
(in current
teifi recalls

|p t ip,

nj

jp,

the Persian tuMl, tupdl

according to which,

Turkish also tuwal\ which means iron shavings, but contrary to the Hebrew order of the
it

words, liodiger explains

scoriarum fabcr.

May

not the

1 are derived The meanings to wander, to flow, to rejoice, for the verb = Assyr. abdlu, to lead, would by Friedr. Delitzsch, Proleg. pp. 122-125.
l

also furnish a fitting

root-meaning

for Jabal.

GENESIS

IV. 23, 21.

107
be

names
scale

of Lemecli of

three

sons, bn% bav, bain,

perhaps a

noun forms from the same verbal stern ? Ewald goes still farther, and assumes that though pp is added only
to the third

name,

all

three were so

named

as descendants of

should then have to compare ^1*1, fruit produc tion (from ta\ Assyr. abdlu, Kal in the sense of the Hiph. It may be only by ^3in, whence perhaps also allu, son).
Cain.

We

mere chance that the name of Apollo is symphonious with the first two names, and that of Vulcan with the third, while at
the

same time the name

of Lemecli

daughter, n p^,

is

of like

signification with Venus, whose name in Sanscrit is derived The heathen gods are not from vanas delight, gracefulness.
y

merely but some of them also deified

nothing which in
histories in the
itself

deified natural objects (Goldziher, Grill, Leop. Einstein),

human

beings

and there

is

need astonish us to find roots of their

worldly-minded house of Cain. The scriptural account however shows the roots of crafts and arts found in
it.

The progress
it.

of civilisation has never kept equal pacu

It overtakes the latter
it

with that of

religion.

and sometimes

even opposes
acquisition
after

Nevertheless

has

its

just claims,

and every
last,

made by

natural secular development will at

undergoing a process of purification and transfiguration, become the property of the kingdom of God. This applies

especially to music, that daughter of

heaven which has come

down

to earth.
first

The

song, Lemecli s boastful defiance

newly -invented

by reason of the And weapon of vengeance, vv. 23, 24

:

Lemccli said unto his wires

Adah and

Zillah, hear

my

voice;

Ye wives of Lemech, hearken unto

Surely I slay men for my wound, And young men for my scar.

my

speech

For Cain

is

avenged sevenfold,
seventy

And Lemech

and

seven times.

Lemech

is

praising the invention of Tubal-cain.

This significa

tion of the words of

Lemech was

first

penetrated by

Hamann

198

GENESIS

IV. 23, 24.

(Werke, ii. 390) and Herder (Vom Geist der Elrciisclicn Poesie, Gaunter (The Poetry of the Pentateuch, pt. i. Discourse x.).

81) cannot make the fact that Lemech s words are addressed to his wives agree with this. But their very safety

1839,

i.

p.

depended on Lemech s capability of using arms, and the metal weapon, to which this lyric effusion applies, was the invention
of the son of Zillah.

Ephrem, Jerome and others agree

in read

ing out of

Lemech

words, according to Jewish tradition, that,

seduced by Tubal-cain, he had slain his ancestor Cain (C^K), and then in his displeasure thereat had killed this his own son
but a foolish Haggadah picked out of the words. Such a fantastic way of treating history is avoided by taking
(i^).
1

It is

*3

hypothetically, and with Nagelsbach

:

making the periods

times.

to

be

If I

have

slain a

man

then

if

Cain was avenged seven

fold,

Lemech would be avenged seventy-seven

But

this gives

an intolerably clumsy construction, in which the

requisite
xxii.

prominence of the apodosis is absent (comp. Ex. We do 22, 23), and moreover an involved meaning. not expect the thought that Lemech, having committed a
murder, will better protect himself against blood-vengeance than Cain was to be protected by God, but that he will pay

back every attack by slaying him who makes

it,

and will by
of

own power make by God s promise. ^

his

himself more inviolable than Cain was

either justifies the
(for,

summons

23a by

the importance of the matter

because), or gives forth the

substance of what

is

to

be heard (that

= on,

faded into an untranslatable

affirmative
iv.

on
as

recitativum), or

subsequently it has an
(Ex.

meaning
Isa,
fi)nn

confirmative
vii.

of

what

preceded

25

comp.
s

9),

we have

translated

above.
;

Certainly

but

in

the
it

we
act
1

take

seems to state an externally completed fact absence of certain knowledge concerning this, an as a perfect of certainty, which states
already
as to

completed

the

consciousness,

but

not

See the explanation of the whole song, according to this Haggadah, in the Judseo-Polish so-called Weiber-Chumrnasch, translated into English by P. J. Hershon (London 1885) (Commentars ilber die Genesis fur Ungelehrte), p.

37 sq.

GENESIS

IV. 23, 24.

190
confident-ice

as yet externally accomplished of

(comp. the prcet.

of
,

prayer

and the
Beside

prcet.

126.

4).

W$ we

propheticum have ^.?.

to

prediction,

Ges.

<t

the

young man,
:

which Buckle mistakenly declares

be inadmissible

the

young men
so
iv.

of

Eehoboam
x.

are

called

are the pages at the royal court,

DH^, 1 Kings xiL, Dan. i. 4 in Eccles.

;

13,
to
;

"6j

(like

nyj,

1C)
of

is

a
is
iii.

young man
as

in

con
(Job
i.e.

trast
ix.
it

|pr.

The
"J?3^,

suffix

^A
Nah.

usual

passive

17

comp.

Jer. x. 19;
inflicted

19 and elsewhere),

means the wound

;

inflicts

while on the other hand in

on some one, not the wound he rrrian there is no (n"von)

question of the objective or subjective meaning of the suffix, with a suffix it always means the scar which one has on
himself, Ps. xxxviii.
5
;

Isa.

liii.

5.

The preposition
is

{j

ex

presses both times, as in Lev. xix. 28, the causal relation, the

external occasion.

The meaning
;

of

W^V] D^jn^

determined

according to

QTO3&

it is

multiplicatively meant,

and does not

is

denote

70x7

(Kamphausen), but 77 times, which

also the

sense of the e/SSo/^/coz Ta/a? evrra of the

xviii.

LXX.

(comp. Matt,

Elsewhere 22) and of the septuayies scpties of Jerome. seven times is called P?^ (with the DTO3 understood), Prov.

xxiv.

16

here the numeral stands in

its

primitive form, and

only becomes multiplicative through the connection of thought here see the beginnings of music followed (Ew. 269&).

We

by the beginning of

its

sister

art

poetry.

It is true that

Lemech did not speak Hebrew, but the song nevertheless exhibits in this Hebrew reproduction the genesis of poetry.
began with lyric poetry as a primitive and powerful pour In this ing forth of strong emotions in a rhythmical form. we meet with all the characteristics of subsequent poetry song
It

in

their

first

beginnings:
rise

viz.
;

1.

Rhythm,

i.e.

the

regular

succession
1

of

and

fall

2.

consonance,

i.e.

the similar
:

Chas. Aug. Briggs finds stropliic viz. in the poetry already in chs. i.-iii. Elohistic account of creation a poem in six rising strophes with pentametric lines, in the Jabvistic history of Paradise a poem in ten fourteen -lined strophes.

But Q and both write prose and not even poetically, but only here prose with a poetic elevation and colouring.

JE

and theie

200

GENESIS

IV. 23, 21.

ending of coinciding members of the verse, which in older Semitic poetry was not developed beyond the rhyme of
inflexion
;

3.

parallelism in the arrangement of the thoughts,

a fundamental property especially of

Hebrew

poetry, which

may
verse

be compared to the rhythmic systole and diastole of the

to

heart, or
;

the regular vibration of the two halves of the

4.

the construction of the strophes, for the Song of

to the

Lemech must not be judged according

verses into
ticlis,

two Masoretic
of three dis-

which

it

is

divided.

It

consists

the distich being the simplest and primitive

;

form

of

the

strophe

5.

the

more elevated diction shown by the

choice both of rarer forms, such as i^P^ for

(like feni?, call,

TOE^
i.

Isa. xxxii. 9

Ex.

ii.

20, for jaop, Faith

kdaUn
are not

for nj^bjp),

and of expressions
is

like pTsn

20; comp. Syr. and n which

7?^>

worn out

in familiar language.

With regard
is

to the

matter of the song, Budde

the
in

persuaded that simply the use of

new

invention for

its

lawful purpose

brought to notice,
it is said,

truth however that Titanic arrogance of which

i.

Hab.
1

11, that

its

might

is

its

god, and Job

xii.

6,

that

it

trings its

god, viz.
in his

the sword, in

its

hand,

is

expressed therein.

The sword

hand counts
of

for

more with Lemech than a

murder

threat in the

mouth

God, and he breathes out

although Cain his ancestor had fallen under the curse on account of it. The Cainitic development starts from murder and culminates in that murderous lust of war, in which the

ascendancy of the animal instinct in human nature manifests itself. It is said that iv. 1-16 and 17-24 do not har
monize.
killeth

But the

retrospect of

Lemech

"

song

to

whoso

Cain, it shall be avenged sevenfold," loa, binds the two supposed discrepant pieces of history in close connection. The unity here is missed, while in the two genealogies, on the
contrary, the Cainitic
is

and the Sethitic of

tables are

ch. v.,

an original unity

invented.

The two
The

distinct,

being of different

however characteristically and consciously pursuing a length

with
its

different object.

Cainitic,

where the worldly tendency of

this line culminates,

seven members, stops while the

GENESIS

IV. 25.

201
has
in

Si-tliitic

in

cli.

v.

with

its

ten members

view the

transition

and according

from primitive history to the history of the Flood, to iv. 25 sq. a fundamentally different tendency
fall

prevails in this line.

The same narrator who described the

murder
a
of

of

man and

the

wife, ver.
son,

Abel now continues the history of Adam and his 25 And Adam kneiv his wife, again; and she bare
:

and

called his

name

Seth

another seed for Hebel, because Cain

D

for Elohim has appointed me Instead of slew him.

of

l??, ver.

1,

where the history

man

after

the expulsion
1

from Paradise begins, we here read the proper name CHN. Even if this Tiy were Tiy refers to the two preceding births.
absent, as in the

LXX.,

SH*}

would not be enough

to justify

the conclusion, that according to the original text Seth was the
first

son of

man
is

(Buckle).

As

at

Sam.

i.

19 the sub
barren

ject treated of is the

ness, so here
it

blessing of children after long

the blessing of children after the parents

to

had
nw
;

lost Abel,

and

a certain extent Cain also.

to

The name

the according explanation, ni?=JW but a be authenticated. cannot passive appointed,

seems,

this

to

mean

nir

viz. of

considered as a participle (like fiD) signifies the appointer, the a new beginning, or as a substantive (like IN)
:

settlement in the sense of foundation

(com p. n^,
xxvi.

pillar),

and

indeed a
(not

new

foundation.
as at

is

followed by an oratio directa

(comp.
|3,

ooliqua),

xxxiii.

31

7).

The
;

metheg
ix.

in
"

20.

yHJ? is a sign Another seed

1

of the long a, as
is

at xxxv.

27

Job

"

equal to

another descendant, as

D^EON

jnt,

Sam.
ii.

i.

11,

means

male

descendant,

and

DT&N

jnr,

Mai.

15, a descendant according to the promise.

Parents

have

already

posterity

in

one

descendant,

jnr

"Tliis Q1X as a proper name, remarks Biulde, cannot proceed from the same hand which wrote the Paradisaic history and iv. Mere cobwebs DTtfn and DIN are related to each other as DTI^NH and DTlipN ; the former means o civfyuvo;, the latter civfyufos as a proper name. It is J who in iv. 1-16
1."

continues the history of primitive mankind the different colouring of iv. 17-24 is explained by assuming that he here draws from a different source, and at
;

iv.

25

sq. recurs to

the track of his

own

narrative.

202
is

GENESIS
the

IV. 26.

not always
fa"jn

singular comprehension

of

many.
the

The

words PP
but
13 is,

D are no

accessory remark

of

narrator,

as at 2
rinn,

Sam.

xix. 22,

preceding

equal to

nnri,

Zeph. Deut.
"o

ii.

10, in virtue of the

iv.

37

Prov.

i.

29.

Budde

remark

to a patched-on historical ^-in even syntactically refuted. The reason for Seth s God is found mother here calling D^nbtf by Dillmann to be,
s

degradation of pp

is

that he

into the

who meant mouth of

to bring in

Eve.

265 could not well put mrp But why not ? Dillmann himself

understands

266 of the solemn worship of Jahveh, which

men who joined together for such a purpose Hence it would not seem strange to find knew Him. already the word nirp here (comp. iv. 1). Seth, who continues the line of promise, was indeed a gift of the God of the promise. But the fact that Eve here calls God D^r6tf, shows that the
presupposed that
idea preponderant in her consciousness was that of the creative

power, which had renewed the hope that had blossomed in Abel and been destroyed by Cain Abel had died childless,
:

but in Seth the line of promise, from which Cain had wilfully

broken

off. is

actually continued, ver

26

And
then

Seth, to
to
ci,

him
Ges.

was lorn a

son,

and he

called his

name Ends ;
NirrD^

declare the

name of
121.
3.

Jalivcli icas

leyun.
is

On

etiam

see

Similar perhaps
14.

the Nirrcjs (even his) of Elisha,

(related to the Arab.
like
<j^j!)

2 Kings

ii.

The verb

fc^K

means
also

to be, or to

(comp. acrOeveia,
is

become weak, frail, sickness), whence the

the

the Assyr. en&su

adj. ensu,

weak.

This
as

undoubtedly

meaning of ^ foK,

to

whom

personage of primitive history Gajomeret of the Persian

myth

(who became king in

signifies

mortal

life,

and whose name, gaja maratan, And whatever the derivacorresponds.

Firdosi),
"IHX

The Mirtrash frequently remarks that Esther in DIpEJO (Esth. iv. 14) "that seed" (JDf VYI&O, viz. King Messiah (see Levy under St. Paul too, in Gal. iii. 16, takes his stand upon Jewish thought and jnj).
has in view
diction, according to

which

y~if

may mean an

individual,

who

represents the

posterity of one hitherto childless.

GENESIS
tion of
C iJK,
f

IV. 26.

203
to

it

designates, according

the

usage of

the

language,

man on

the
viii.

side
5,
ciii.

of

his impotence, frailty,

vii.

and

mortality; see Ps.

Ps. xc. 3,

15; Job

1,

17, especially
called t^ns, in

where the departing generation distinction from that which comes into its

is

place,

and

Isa.

li.

12, where the enemies of God and the persecutors of His Church are said, in contrast to their supposed power, greatness,

and imperishableness,
1

to

p&srrfD.

TN is generally

be HIDJ Ptttf, as at Ps. x. 18, pus. used to refer to some elevating and

joyful

that
7
;

Even on this account it is improbable should be intended as passive of Hiph., Ezek. xxxix. and here is related what Jerome cites as a Jewish view
occurrence.
?rrcn

(as does also in

accordance with the Midrush, Targ.

Jer.,

comp.

Abulwalid

npp"i,

and Effodi

GframmatiJc, p. 154), quod tune

primum
idola.

in nomine

Domini

But even

in similitudine ejus fabricata sint the construction &ripb would in this

et
i>nin

sense be a monstrosity.

The LXX.

effaces the TK
?ip%ev

and reads
(ijp^aro)

^mn
gives

nr,

ovros rf^irLaev, for

which euro?

^D\} n j,

would alone be

linguistically possible.

Aq. correctly

Tore tfpxfy, and Gr. Ven. Tore rjp/craL It was then begun to call with or by means of the name of Jahveh, i.e.
(the obj. being conceived of as the means, Ges.

138, marginal
to

While

{}*&{,

with

its

plural

D^tf,

points Lack to the verb

to

{jriK,

be

strong,

H$K

(the

of

which

has. according

the Aram.

NnfiN, Arab.

..jj

the value of n, CL?), from the verb

OK = 1*^01,

designates the

woman

as ffKiuos affhviffrspov.

From
with

this

same verb seem to be derived, not only tH3N,

plural

but also

;iN,

yu.3^

its

D^K

(D^

as plur.

of the wife

is

different),

^uJl,

Assyr. nisu, plur.

niM (male

beings) and the like.

The

verb

iMJ\>

to cling to, to be sociable, also offers itself for the ins used of the
far less suspicion

male relation and of male names in general, and this excites <*3.

of being a denominative than the Arab.

L^-J
p.

>

soft (perhaps peculiar to the

see Friedr. Delitzsch, Frolvy. ; Busxpsalmen, p. 20.

female kind)

162

comp. Zimmern, Balyl.

204

GENESIS

IV. 2G.

remark), to call upon Him, viz. by prayer (cornp. Zeph. iii. 9 Zech. xiii. 9), and by proclaiming Him (Ps. cv. 1 Jer. x. 25
;

comp. Ex. xxxiii. 19, xxxiv.

the
first

5,

with xxxv. 30).

8,
xiii.

We have here

link of the chain,

xii.

4, xxi. 33, xxvi. 25.

These continuations of the beginning here related show, that the meaning of the narrator is not, that then began the appel
lation
of

God by

the

name Jahveh, which

:

gives Reuss the

se

opportunity for making the cavilling remark en cela I auteur contredit lui-meme, but that then began the formal and

solemn common worship of God, the proclaiming (preaching) Church, hence the Church form of confessing the God of
salvation (see Kohler, Bill.
Geschichte,
i.

51

sq.).

Certainly
of

there

is

no lack of connection between the feeling

it

the

nothingness of the earthly expressed in the

the fact that

name Enosh, and

had

its

was just now that the worship of the Church commencement.

II.

THE TOLEDOTH OF ADAM, V.-YL

THE GENEALOGY FROM ADAM TO NOAH,
(Parallel, 1 Clirou.
i.

8.

CII.

V.

1-4.)

THE Toledoth
first

heaven and the earth are followed by the second main division of Genesis, the Toledoth of Adam, and
of the

by the genealogical table of the ten generations from Adam to Noah, to which this title more especially refers, the
beginning of that genealogical chain running through Genesis,
the final link of which
section
is

is

Elohistic (by

formed by the tribes of Israel. The The view and mode of representa ).
of

tion of the history of creation, that genealogy

earth,

heaven and

are here continued; in one passage only, v. 29, is found a retrospective reference to the Jahveh-Elohim section, In a rapid survey and and we there have mrr and not D\-6tf. so-to-speak in ten strophes, are the first ten patriarchs of the
earliest period of history

of the series is as

however

left

brought before us the tenth member incomplete, because Noah belongs

;

much

to the

post-diluvian as to the ante-diluvian world.

In the

roll of the Cainites,

the contents of which had regard to

the history of secular culture, no computation of years

given.

was

Here they begin

to

form the indispensable scaffolding of

the history of redemption, the continuation of

which

is

secured

through Seth the substitute of Abel.

carry on the
in the case of

the years of each patriarch to the birth of the son

The narrator computes who was to

Cain

line of promise (of Seth therefore, not of

Adam), next those of the remainder of his life, and then adds these two-year marks together with ^"^ vrm (for which we have, vv. 23, 31, and ix. 29/iTV).

206

THE TOLEDOTH OF ADAM.

of

The year marks

years from
the Deluge, the

birth added together

of

birth

Shem
in
ch.

to

the

with the 100 commencement of

in the
xi.

make 1656
differ

years.

The numbers
v.

LXX.
to

and Samar.

both

and

ch.

(Shem

The Septuaginfc Terah) from the Hebrew (see the table). reckons from Adam to the Delude 2242 (according V O O to another reading 2262) years, the Samaritan (with which
the

book

of

Jubilees

or

Aerrrr)

Tevecris,

preserved

in

and partially in Latin, and edited by Dillmann and Ronsch, agrees) 1307 years. The computation of the LXX. was long regarded as authentic by both the Hellenistic Jews and the ancient Church, whence it was transferred to
JEthiopic

Moslem

authors

it is

advocated in the

and maintained
lation,
text.

its

credit,

martyrology, although Jerome in his trans

to the

Eoman

which became the Church one, keeps

Hebrew

Beda caused

offence

when

in his works, de

temporibus

and de tcmporum

Hebrew

text,

he preferred the numbers of the he could appeal to both Jerome and although
ratione,

Augustine

(Civ.

xv.

13)

in

their

favour.

Among

older

Protestant investigators, Ludw. Cappellus and Is. Yossius defended the numbers of the LXX., the former against J. Buxtorf, jun., the latter against Geo. Horn. The Hebrew text

subsequently found

its

most learned

advocate

in

J.

D.

Michaelis, in his treatises, de Clironologia Mosis ante diluvium

and a diluvio ad Abraliamum, 1763-68, and recently in Ed. In England on the Preuss, Zeitrcclmung dcr LXX. 1859.
other hand the authenticity of the Septuagint figures found
zealous defenders in Jackson, Russell, Geo. Rawlinson (in his
" "

ten articles on

Early Civilisation

in the Leisure Hour, 1876),

and

lastly in

Budd, The Modern Hebrew Numbers, London 1880.

The
is to

question,

how

the variation in the three computations

be accounted

for, is still

undecided.

Gesenius and others

explain the differences of the Samaritan as resulting from an effort for a symmetrical decrease in the length of life Gehringer (Tiibinger Programm, 1842), from accidental
;

errors in reading

and writing

in the years

of

Methuselah

DIFFERENCES.

207

and Lemech.
plained
p.

The
and

variations of the

LXX. have
die

been ex

by Bockh
sqq.) sqq.)

(Manetlio

und

Hundssternperiode,

p.

470 357

Niebuhr
effort

(Geschichte

Assurs und Babels

from an

to synchronize

the biblical and

The attempt Egyptian chronologies. under violent expedients (see Eosch s

in

of
art.

Niebuhr labours
"

Zeitrechnung,"

Herzog
sees

RE.}

that of

Bockh

is

far the

more seductive.

He

in the

2242

years to the Deluge of the

LXX.

reduction of nineteen dog-star periods of the previous

of Egypt,
this
i.e.

history

of

27,759 years

reduction giving

many months of 29-J days, S18,890i days = 2242 Julian years.

to as
justifiable,

The LXX. might esteem such a reduction

because

ancient tradition testifies to computation by years of a

month

each in the primitive times of Egypt. Eusebius also reduces the years of the Egyptian history of Menes to months he
;

reckons however, not 27,759, but 24,900.

But how
the

is

the reckoning of the period at

1656

years in

Hebrew

text to be

of the

DMZ.
to

Bertheau (Jaliresbericlit explained ? it thinks is on the assumption, founded 1845)

that the average length of

human
the

amounted

160

years, in

life during the first period second to 120 years, and

that subsequently the

1600

solar years

became 1656 lunar

years of
is

355 days

each.

But

in

none

of the three recensions

the
it

first
is

period reckoned at 1600 and the second at 1200;

and

a very precarious expedient to assume that these

were the original rates. Besides, the Israelites never computed lunar mere but years, by only by lunar years compensated for

by the intercalation measure of time was

of

solar

years,

so

that

the prevailing

really the solar year.

The hypothesis

of Lagarde, according to

which the com

putation of the extant

Hebrew

text

was shortened by about

of depriving Christians of the proof that the Messiah really appeared in the year of the world 5500, has been convincingly refuted

1000

years in

polemical interest, viz. that

by Kuenen in a treatise published in French under the title, Lcs Orif/incs du Texte Masortthigue, 1875. Certainly Chris-

208

THE TOLEDOTII OF ADAM.

tian clironographers reckon

6000

years of prechristian history

it

(Chronicon Paschale, ii. p. 117, ed. Bonn), or more accurately : was assumed that after the completion of the fifth millen
Christ appeared in the sixth, His birth being placed in

nium

the year

5000, or more accurately in the year 5500

after

the creation of the world (see Byssel, Georg der Bischof der
Arctber, p. 46).

But the Jews would have been caught

in

their

own

ancient Elijah tradition,

net by any such curtailment. For according to the 1 the advent of the Messiah was to
after

be

expected

2000

years
of

inn

and
world

year Talmudists are conscious that this term has been long ex ceeded without His appearing. According to the computa
;

therefore

after

the

the

2000 years min, 4000 and the

tion

of the text of the

falls

Hebrew
in

Bible, the

advent of Christ
(according to

really

pretty nearly
Calvisius,

the
;

year 4000
according
to

Scaliger

and

3950

Kepler

and

Petavius,

3984; The low figure

Flood, viz.

according to Usher,

of the period elapsing

4004). between

Adam and
is

the

1307
of

in the

Samaritan version,

from an

historical

point

view the most incredible, and yet the

view that these are the original figures has now obtained

renowned advocates.
clearly, or to

decline of the duration of life

But the circumstance that the gradual is here brought forward more speak correctly, comparatively more so, testifies
Bertheau in his
article ch. v.

rather to tendency than originality.

on the numbers in Genesis,

deutsclie

xi., fur 657 sqq., has directed attention The amounts of the duration of to a surprising phenomenon. to have been obtained life seem by means of adding together

and

in the Jahrlb.

Thcologie, xxiii. p.

the numbers of the years of generation.

of

Thus the 930 years

from adding together the 105 years of Seth, the 90 of Enoch, 70 of Kenan, 65 of Mahalalel, 500 of
life

Adam s

result

Noah, with the 100

are given
1

to the

Flood.

by reckoning up
essay,
"Der

the

And Henoch s 365 years 130 years of Adam, the 70

Denkspruch der
Reformatoren,"

See

my

eschatologisclie

in

the Ally. Ev. Luth.

KZ.

1884, pp. 6-8.

THE SAMARITAN AND HEBREW COMPUTATION.

of

209

Kenan, 65 of Mahalalel, with the 100 to the Flood. Both these periods coincide equally in the Hebrew and in

the Samaritan text, but the

attained

910 years

of

Kenan can only be

by the addition of the year-marks of generation of Before however we regard the year-marks of the Samaritan.
life

as

the

sum -total

of

so

unintelligent

and

nonsensical

an addition, we would see in the possibility discovered by And that it is such is Bertheau a curious trick of accident.
indeed evident from the fact that the 365 years of Henocli
s

life, though an undoubted tradition, may yet also be obtained The Hebrew text reckons 349 by such an addition sum.

years more from

Adam

to the

Deluge than the Samaritan.

Certainly the motive of this increase might be the assumption

that two- thirds of the

4000 years of the world, i.e. 2666, between of the world and the the commencement elapsed And when we consider the division departure from Egypt.
of this plus of

349

years

the

periods

when

among the year-marks furnished by Jared, Methuselah, and Lemech begat, a

conclusion more favourable to the originality of the Samaritan

text

may

be drawn.

authenticity of

To these proofs from probability of the the Samaritan computation by Bertheau and

Dillmann, another has been added by Budde in his work on Biblical Primceval History, 1883. He starts from the view
that the ten antediluvian patriarchs,
to the Cainites, all

who now, when opposed

however
is

appear as saints (which

not the

contrary being proved by the sole deliverance of Noah), were originally divided into a godly and an ungodly half Mahalalel closing the godly half, while with Jared, whose name means decline, begins that decay of morals out of which
;

case, the

Henoch was removed.

The Samaritan

gives the most faithful

it is

representation of this downfall.

In the Hebrew text

only Methuselah who attains to the year of the Deluge (which according to the inconsiderate division of the year-marks of generation in the LXX. he survives by about fourteen years).

In the Samaritan, on the other hand, the year of the Deluge, viz. 1307, is the death year alike of Jared, Methuselah, and

210
Lemecli.

THE TOLEDOTH OF ADAM.

It does not necessarily follow that they are to be
;

thought of as perishing in the Flood this form of the chronological table

still it is

probable that

is

designed to represent

how

the Sethitic line at last

fell

in their representatives into

moral corruption and incurred the judgment of the Flood.

Budde thinks that the Hebrew

Adam

Flood) purpose of making Methuselah alone survive

to the

of the

text changed the 1307 (from Samaritan into 1656 for the
till

the year of

that the 1656 the Deluge, and the others all die previously from which derived the 1657 according to the years are he Samaritan elapsed from Adam to the death of Noah
;
;

thinks he can also explain the subtraction of the one year.

But
as

all

these are mere possibilities.

of the

What

is

here regarded
contrary be

the

intention

Hebrew may on

the

considered as the intention of the Samaritan.

certain, viz. that the

One thing

is

increase of the year-marks in the

LXX.

presupposes the shorter rates of the Hebrew and Samaritan. But if we further ask whether the authentic, i.e. the original

computation in the text of the

Pentateuch,
it

is

that

of

the

Hebrew

or that of the Samaritan,

must be remembered that

;

the figures in both are based

since the Samaritan also
in favour of the

upon arithmetical reflection and can make no higher claim, it speaks

its

Hebrew, that

1656

years show themselves

to be the product of

For an intelligent systematic chronology. if 1656 years elapsed between Adam and the Deluge, there will be found, on following the Hebrew chronology on to the
exodus,

2666

years,

and these

are, as

Alfred von Gutschmid

Hence the number perceives, two -thirds of 4000 years. 1656 comes from a system which, according to the beforementioned Elijah tradition, reckoned the duration of the
world to the son
D^iy,

the time of Messiah, at

4000

years

(i.e.

100 each), and made two-thirds of this entire duration of the world to have elapsed when the exodus
generations of

40 years

and the giving of the law laid the foundation of a new period. If one of the three numbers from Adam to the Flood, 1656
(Heb.),

1307

(Sam.),

and 2242 (LXX.), can be regarded as

THE ENORMOUS LENGTH OF

LIFE.

211
is,

anything more than an arbitrary product,

also

it

as

Noldeke

judges
;

Hebrew
that the

and

(Untersuchungcn, p. 112), the 1656 of the I agree with Ed. Konig ("Beitrtige zur biblischen
in Luthardt
s Zeitschrift,

Chronologic,

i.,"

1883,

p.

281

sqq.),

Hebrew has preserved

the most ancient and original

in this computation, while the Samaritan and LXX. exhibit It is text. respect secondary phases of the Old Testament

worthy of remark that the Babylonians, according to Berosos, reckon 120 Sare (crapo?, i.e. chief number, from the Accad. = 3600) = 432,000 years, from Aloros to sar, many, mass
Xisuthros
;

and

that, as Jul.

Oppert has shown in the

article

on the dates of Genesis in the Gutting. Anzcigen, 1877, No. 10, this 432,000 has with the 1656 years of the Hebrew the

common

divisor 72.

But the question as to the motives for distributing these 1656 years just as has been done among the ten antediluvian
patriarchs, has hitherto defied all ingenuity.

What

cannot be

understood as the work of reflection proves itself to be tradi What then is our position with respect to the state tion.

ments of prolonged

life,

which reach from 777

to

969 years

Every attempt
vain.

to reduce the years to shorter periods has been

Byzantine monks, Anianos and Panodoros, and in recent times Hensler, Bask, Lesueur, tried this expedient.

Two

The

reckoned the year at three months, the latter at one month, the third (Revue archdologique, 1858) at Chaldee Sossi of sixty days. But such reductions are incompatible with
first

the text as

it

now

stands

the statements

of

the

years

of

generation in the cases of Mahalalel and

Henoch make them

impossible, while the total amount of the period from to the Elood, which certainly is not put too high at
years,
is

Adam
1656

intolerably dwindled.

On
of in

the other hand, so long a duration of

cli.

v.

life as is spoken cannot be conceived, of either historic or present

1 The Babylonian 432,000 years also dwindle, when viewed as the days of a an improbable amount which does not even year of 360 days, to 1200 years, reach the 1307 of the Samaritan.

212

THE TOLEDOTH OF ADAM.

nature.

human

attains the age of 100,

In the present time only one out of 100,000 and only one out of 500 that of 90.

uncommon

According to Alex. Becker however, a lifetime of 150 is not in the snow mountains of South Dagestan, nor, to Riley, Prince Piickler, and others, one of 200 in according
the Arabian deserts of Africa.

In primeval times however a

longer lifetime than even

The

state of integrity

200 years must be esteemed possible. says Zockler in his Lehre vom Urstande
was succeeded by a stage
of transition,

der McnschJieit,

1879

during which death, the

result of sin, but slowly

overcame

the resistance offered by the strong physical organization of At all events the climate, weather, and primitive mankind.
other natural conditions were different from those of the post

diluvian world, while

life

more equable
viz.

course.

was much simpler and flowed on in a And what was already probable in itself,

should then live longer than they do at present, is testified by the unanimous voice of popular legends. Accord in to lasted childhood the silver Hesiod, 130, age ing Epy.
that

men

130

years,

which presupposes a lifetime

of

1000

years in the

2 Isaiah Ixv. 20-22, predicts the restoration of golden age. such length of life in the latter days. Josephus (Ant. i. 3. 9,

repeated in Chaldee,

Eusebius, Prccp.

ix.

15)

appeals

Phoenician

and

other

ancient

Egyptian, testimony for the

to

gradual shortening of human life from 1000 years. Hence the enormous length of life seems comparatively less
strange than the lateness of the
first

births.

Noah
is

does not

become a father

till

his

500th

year.
for

It

here certain

that the letter conceals

is

some enigma,

such long celibacy

a father at

not connected with his piety,

Henoch becoming
in

65.

And

if

we

further keep in view the relation of the years

life,

of generation to the length of

Adam 130 and

in

939, in

Enosh 90 and 905,

in Jared

162 and 962,

Henoch 65 and
is is

365

(the

number

of days in a solar year), the consideration

pressed upon us that a computation which

reflection here takes

the result of

the place of deficient special tradition.

From

this

we may

further infer that the

numbers 930, 912,

THE CAINITIC AND

905,

SETI1ITIC GENEALOGIES.

213

etc.,

designate epochs of antediluvian history which are

their chief representatives,
is

named

after

and that the period

life

of these

epochs

allotted

to

the individual
it

of

these

chief representatives, as

though

had

extended over the

whole period.

The

Cainitic

and

Setliitic

tables

may

originally have been

one which contained the descendants of Adam, through Cain and Seth, side by side. The names in the two lines were not
originally

Hebrew,

they were therefore linguistically trans

formed by tradition,
of the
it

and much that

is

striking in the relation

names
also,

in the one to those in the other

may

(although

can

as
of

we saw
the

at iv. 18, be differently explained) be

the

result

separation
s

of

the

one

table

into

two.

Moderns,

since

Buttmann

Mythologies,

think

otherwise,

especially Budde, according to

whom

the original table of the

of

Cainites and that of the Sethites,

are

which was a modification

two independent attempts to deduce primitive mankind it, from Adam, whose eldest son was according to the one Cain,
according to the other Seth.

The
up
in

fratricide was,

he thinks, a

mere
of

fiction, or else picked

some out-of-the-way corner

purpose of finding a
Setliitic

Hebrew
for

tradition,
first

perhaps originally a Canaanite legend,

which was
place
of
i.e.

inserted

by

for the

the

Cainitic

table of

and the

table

in one

and the same work.

In the fundamental work,

which furnishes the scaffolding of the present Genesis, there was no Cainitic table, and nothing about Cain and Abel,
in Q,

but a mere register of the Sethites which has been garnished 2 from that of J It is therefore a fiction, with a tendency, which gave to Cain and Seth a third brother Abel, and
.

invented the fratricide and banishment of Cain.

however greater confidence in the truthfulness of the extant Mosaic picture of primitive history than in this all-knowing hypercriticism, which tears the stones out of posi
feel

We

tion
1

and mixes them promiscuously

to

form from them a new

See

The Babylonian names

of the ten primitive kings are quite diftVrent.

Friedr. Delitzsch, Faradies, p. 149.

214
edifice of hypotheses,

GENESIS

V. 1-3.

which

reflects all

honour upon
of the

its

pene

tration,
Title,

but
v.

offers all the greater insult to

the biblical history.

generations

la

This

is

the

look

of

designate any completed writing, even a document consisting of only a few leaves or of a single one,
"iBp

Adam,

may

such

as,

e.g.,

a writing of divorcement, Deut. xxiv. 1

;

or a

or a written memorial, Ex. deed of purchase, Jer. xxxii. 11 xvii. 14 Gr. Ven. correctly renders Isa. xxx. 8. avrr] rj
;
:

(3i/3\os

but like LXX., Luther erroneously yevvtfo-ecDv takes DIN as a generic instead of a proper name. What follows
;

T&V

is

not meant to be

a regressive genealogy (as St.

Matthew
but a

applies the /3//5\o? yeveo-ews of the

progressive.

LXX.
in
is

ii.

4, v. 1),

Nevertheless,

for

the

purpose

of

placing the
in

continuation of the beginning

made

Adam

the
:

right

light, the origin of this beginning itself

recalled, Vo

In

the

day that Elohim created Adam, In ii. 4 and Num. Elohim.

belongs to the title
;

He made him
iii.
1
,

in the likeness of
Bi^a

what follows with

here

it

appears, as at vi. 9, as the begin

:

ning of a

new
ii.

sentence.
etc.,

Schrader construes

On

the day that

be,

God
like

created
i.

Adam,

He

blessed

them

but this would

1-3,

47,

an objectionable and clumsy period.

is

The
17.

construction of the sentence 15

like

Num.

iii.

13,

viii.
i.

Ver. 2 continues in a succession of short sentences like

27

Male and female created He them

called
created.

and He

blessed them,

and

their

name
is

There

(man), in the day when they were here another repetition of what was alluded
ii.,

Adam

to

i.

27, and related in detail in ch.

till

viz.

that

man was
That
it

first

created as one, and not paired

afterwards.

was
be

God Himself who

called

the

first

created pair DIN

may

regarded as referring back to i. 26, where God speaks before hand of the being with whom He is about to conclude the
series of

His creations as DIN-

It is in the

nature of the

name of the first created was a generic name, which afterwards became his proper name. The birth of Seth, And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, then he vcr. 3
matter that the
:

in his likeness after his image

and

called his

name

Seth.

GENESIS
"

V.

4,

5.

215
accurate and
in thought
fa

After ^i s ! (from the Hiph.

customary than

nf>\

ch. iv.)

^ n which is more we have to supply

l<l

because he desires to state (a son), which the narrator omits, in a general manner that Adam transmitted his human nature
in his

own

image.
i.

The expression
"

in his likeness, after his

"),

image (comp.
the

26,

in our image, after our likeness

means

to say that the nature of the begotten

corresponded to that of

begetter,

which

the

and indeed in that present precise condition self - decision that had meantime taken place
likeness of

involved.
it

The
the

Adam

is

not opposed

to,

thougli

differs from, the absolute directness of the likeness of God.

Adam, not

mother

(iv.

25), here

appears

as

the name-

giver, the validity of the name depending indeed upon his It is as clear as day, says acquiescence and confirmation.

Eudde, that the generation of Seth must be regarded as This cannot be inferred the first human generation.
from the
such a
fact
Tiy

that there

is

no

Tiy after

nbw>

for after iv.

25

was needed, but would be here out of place. Certainly Seth becomes the first human child, if we pre
that

suppose

the

author of this table

of

Sethites

either

knew

know nothing of iv. 25 and what is We may regard this as a matter of indif connected with it. ference, for the sources J and Q have not become canonical,
or

desired to

and in their combination the

deficit

of the one

is

historically

and unhesitatingly met by the plus of the other. mainder of Adam s lifetime and total amount of
vv. 4, 5
to eight
:

The

re

his years,

And

the

days of

Adam,

after

lie

legal Seth,

amounted

hundred

years,

and

he begat sons

and
to

daughters.

And
we
to
e.g.
;

all

the

days that
for

Adam

lived

amounted

nine hundred and

thirty years,

and he
here

died.

With

regard to the syntax

remark
s

and onwards, that (1) the numbers 2

plural,

10 are followed by the object numbered in the D r^ trbn, the higher numbers by the sing., e.g.

D%
njtt>

KW

65

is

expressed, ver. 21,

by

rut?

D^WI wsn,
;

ver.

15 more par
precede
the

ticularly

by

TO DWi

wyy

Eton
;

(2) the

units

tens and both the hundreds

we

also

say five and sixty, but

216
not
thirty

GENESIS

V. G

20.

and a hundred, as e.g. ver. 3 (3) in the higher compound year marks & ay, or especially nay, is used with the numbers up to ninety-nine, and especially nay with the
; s

hundreds,
nas? is

e.g.

na;y

niKS

c6^1

nay

DW1
is

Eton
;

(4)

because

feminine, the masculine form of the numerals 3-10,

is

\vhich
(5) nay
is

syntactically
(a

the

feminine,
is

combined with

it

n^o

hundred in years)

used interchangeably, and

of like significance with nay nsrp (a century of years).

rrn in the
"

We

have translated the verb

"

summings up by

amount

to

(make up)

it

means

the resulting total.

lived

become, and here the becoming, i.e. Summary of Seth s life, vv. 6-8: And Setli
to
five years,

a hundred and

and

"begat

Ends.

And

Seth

lived, after he ley at Enosh, eight hundred

and

seven years,

and
of

begat sons

and

daughters.

And
:

all the

days of Seth amounted to

he died.

nine hundred
the
life

and

twelve

years,

and

Summary
Kenan,

of Enosh, vv.

9-11
Enosh

And Enosh
lived, after
lie.

lived ninety years,

"begat

and

legat

Kenan.

And

eight

hundred and
all the

fifteen years,

and

legat sons
to

and

daughters.

Add

days of Enosh amounted

died.

nine hundred and jive years,

life

and

he

Summary

of

the

of

Kenan,

vv.

12-14:

And Anel Kenan lived seventy years, and legat Mahalalel. Kenan lived, after he legat Mahalalel, eight hundred and forty
years,

and
of

legat sons
to

amounted

and daughters. And all the days of Kenan nine hundred and ten years, and he died. Sum
life

mary
lived

the

of Mahalalel, vv.
years,

15-17: And Mahalalel

Anel Mahalalel
thirty years,

sixty

and

five

and

legat Jared.

lived, after he legat Jared, eight hundred

and

and

legat

sons
to

and

daughters.

And

all

the

days of Mahalalel

amounted

eight

hundred and

ninety-five years,

and

lie

died.

Summary

of the life of Jared, vv.

years,

18-20: And Jared

legat Henoch.

lived

a hundred and sixty-two

lived, after he legat

and

And

Jared

and
and

daughters.

Henoch, eight hundred years, and legat sons And all the days of Jared were nine hundred

sixty -two years,

and

he died.

One summary

after another

Death always forms ends with nb*^ the pausal form of np sTl. the dark background of even these long lifetimes. All at last,

GENESIS

V. 21-24.

217

from
king

Adam

onwards (Rom.
life

v.

14), fall victims to this reigning

of terrors.

Henoch alone forms an

without dying.

exception, and

is

translated to another

Summary
lived sixty

of the life of
five years,

Henoch, vv. 21-24:

begat Methuselah.

and

and
lie

And And

Hcnocli

Henoch

walked
years,

with

God, after

legat Methuselah,

three

hundred
the

and

begat sons

and
to

daughters.
three

And

the,

sum of
;

days

of Henoch

amounted

hundred and

sixty-five

years.

And Henoch
took him.

walked with God, and he

ver.

u:as not

for Elohim sug

At

22 the question

of astonishment is
after the birth

gested

"Was

he not then godly

till

of his

eldest son

(Btidcle, p.
ct

170

sqq.).

Jerome meets

this question

by inserting

de Lagarde stands in the case of

in

LXX.

mxlt before postqucim gcnuit, as does also the s text. But amlulavit cum Deo itself

Henoch
is

for et

mxit in the other sum

maries; but ver. 21

the
tact

not yet the place, as the narrator has

giving up the TP1 everywhere else
;

to

perceive, for
s

is once exchanged for DTita employed. Budde thinks that the reason for Henoch s removal was

D nbxn, used twice,

perhaps

inserted

from

the

Jahvistic

table

of

Sethites,

where perhaps n ^B!J formed to correspond

(p.

stood for
better

DTltarrntf,

which

trans

with

the

174

sq.).

But

is

not
;

D^KirnK
is

neighbouring DTita rj^nnn defended as pro

n&?

and ceeding from Q by vi. 9 the Old Testament predicated

not

ppinn, of

which

is

in

exclusively

xvii. 1, xxiv. 40, Noah, something different from "priMn, and Deut. xiii. 5 ? Are not DTl^Kn and D^nta similarly
"nnx,

Henoch and

exchanged e.g. Jonah iv. 7 sq. and may not any piece of To writing be mangled by such overstrained ingenuity ? walk with God" means to the narrator the most intimate
;
"

Similarly say of Levi or the priest, as admitted to the greatest nearness to God, and as a teacher of the know

communion and
Mai.
ii.

closest intercourse

with the Deity.

does

ledge

of
s

Henoch

God whose behaviour accorded thereto ViK ?n. intimate communion with God, from which the
:

Enoch-legend inferred his close acquaintance with the secrets

218
of the Deity (Judg. v.

GENESIS

V. 21-24.

14

sq.)

and the world of

spirits,

is,

considering the close relation in which the Bible and antiquity

in general

placed spirits and

stars,

connected also with his

being esteemed, by Eusebius, Prcep. ix. 17, comp. H. E. vii. 32, as the predecessor of Abraham in the knowledge of the stars,

and

with his departure from the world. The used with of the force a verb in the ^JW, perfect, is the expression of a sudden disappearance (comp. xlii. 13, 36 Ges. Thes. p. 82). On a sudden he was gone, Job vii. 8
is

in accordance

consecutive

without sickness, without dying, without burial for Elohim had taken him, i.e. removed him from this visible world and
;

taken

Him

to Himself,

and hence
Kings
16,
ii.

to a higher life (nj?7 } as at the

going up

of Elijah, 2

3, 9,

10

comp. the passages

to

in Ps. Ixxiii.
this).

24, xlix.
that he

which perhaps are allusions

Not

was made a participator of the glory

which awaits the righteous at the resurrection. Christ, who The was the first to rise, was also the first to be glorified.
glorification of

and the translation of

angels would deprive

Henoch would deprive Him of the precedence, Henoch to the heaven of God and the

Him

of the

honour of having opened

to

men

the heaven, in which no Old Testament visions

show

as

yet any holy

human

being.

God

translated

him from

this

world of sin and sorrow without letting him be subject to death ("Wiscl. iv. 10 sq. Heb. xi. 5), therefore by means of
;

1 Cor. xv. 51 sq. eVei/Sim? without e/cSvais (2 Cor. v. 4 1 Thess. iv. 1*7) into a condition which resembled the lost
;
;

Paradise (Irenseus,

c.

Hcer.

iv.

5)

He

thus exempted him

from the law of death or the return to dust, showing thereby, that though He had subjected men to this law, He had not

bound Himself
removal.

to

it.

The
in

Hasisadra (Xisuthros
Similar

= Noah)

Babylonian tradition makes to have experienced such a

heathen

events

myths

are

kindred

images of heavenward aspirations (Nagelsbach, Homerische This wondrous issue of Henoch s life, falling Theol. vii. 32).
in the middle of the time

between

Adam

a preaching of repentance (Ecclus. xliv.

and the Flood, was 16), and to the faithful

GENESIS

V. -25-32.

219
it

an object for the eye of hope

that an

to rest

upon

was in the midst

of the reign of death a finger-post pointing

backwards to show

ascending development of man was possible even without death, and forwards to show that the aspiration after redemption from the dominion of death and Hades would
not remain unsatisfied.

Summary

of

Methuselah

life,

vv.

25-27: And Methuselah lived a hundred and eighty-seven And Methuselah lived, after he legat years, and legal Lemcch. Lcmcch, seven hundred and eighty-two years, and begat sons and
daughters.

And
and

all the

days of Methuselah amounted

years
:

to

nine

hundred
rteritt

sixty-nine

and he
missiles
(

died.

The name
an

might mean
a

man

of

L/), therefore

armed man, but more probably a man

sillu},

of

sprouting (Assyr.
s
life,

scion,

descendant.

with a Jahvistic explanation

Summary of Lemech of the name of Xoah

lived a

inter

woven, vv. 28-32

And

Lemcch

hundred and eighty -

two years, and begat a son, and ccdlcd his name Noah, saying : This same will comfort us from our work and from the toil of our hands, from the ground which Jahveh hath cursed. And

Lcmcch

lived five

hundred and
the

ninety-five years,
the

and

begat sons
to

and

daughters.

And

sum of

days of Lcmcch amounted

:

seven

hundred and seventy-seven years

and
;

he died.

Lemech

the Cainite was full of insolent defiance

Lemech

the Sethite,

on the contrary, has no other joy than in the promised future. When Noah, the tenth from Adam, was born to him, he com
bines with

him the hope

of a final close of the troublous days

which have hitherto prevailed, and in which the curse of sin has borne rule. His words breathe an elevated and joyous and in are frame, consequence euphoniously and poetically
arranged.

The Jahvistic explanation of the name

nj

has

been unjustly found fault with (DMZ. xxiv. 208). Proper names are as a rule meant only as a reminder or a hint
(">?f)

of the thoughts intended

(see

Griinbaum in DMZ.
and

xl.

253).

Besides, the phonetic groups nj

Dm

are both expressions

;

imitative of the sound of breathing again

i.e.

ft?

Qna, to comfort,
is

to cause to

breathe again from something,

of
ft?

here a more

significant

synonym

rvon, to

procure rest (rcspirationem)

220

GENESIS

V. 32.

from anything, Deut. xii. 10 Lsa. xiv. 3 comp. Esth. ix. 10. While in the house of Cain there is rejoicing even to defiance
;

for earthly

over the newly invented alleviations and means of security life, we here perceive a deep sigli over its toil on

account of the Divine wrath.

the

Lemech hopes
final

that his son

is

man who

will introduce a turn for the better.

1

And

he

was not deceived.

a world in

For though the

consolation

was

reserved for the more distant future, yet the transition from

which the curse predominated

to a

world in which

the blessing predominated, and over which the rainbow was

extended as the sign of a new covenant of God with man, a

pledge of the future total abolition of the curse, the future
sole
ver.

At supremacy of love, was accomplished in Noah. 32 a start is made towards completing these Toledoth
:

with the tenth genealogical member

And Noah

was

fice

hundred years old: and he legal Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

to

The chronological method of these historical tables, according which computation is always made (apart from the case of
Seth) from the birth of the first-born to that of the succeed
it

ing first-born, places

beyond doubt that Shem, and not

ch. x., is to

Japheth, as

might appear from

be thought of as the

eldest. The two other sons are named together with the first born without the year of their birth being stated. The five

hundredth year being that of the birth terminus a quo for that of the others.
together, because

of

Shem, and the

are
to

They

named

they bear the

same

relation

the post

diluvian triple-branched

human

race that the twelve sons of

Jacob do

to the

chosen people.
told, the

How
member

long

Noah

lived after

the birth of Shem, and what was the entire duration of his
life, is

not here

tenth

of the Toledoth being

left unfinished,

because

it is

to be independently treated farther

on as
first

rvtan with the history of the Flood inserted.

We

are

however made

acquainted, in a passage of peculiar colour

ing, with the corruption of morals which had set in in the days of Noah.
1

Budde thinks that

cultivation of the vine

7 3 who added it was which began with 2s oah.

v.

29,

with reference to the

GENESIS

V.

221

TABLE TO GENESIS,

GIT. v.

(comp.

ix.

39).

The Antediluvian Patriarchs.

The
brackets in the figures in

LXX. column

are the readings of the

Cod. Alexandrinns.

Heh. Text.

Names

of the

Ten

Adam,
Seth,

Enosh, Kenan,
Jered,

Mahalah l..
.

Henoch,
Methuselah,

Lemech, Noah,

To the Flood.

From Adam

t.t

the Flood,

222

GENESIS

VI.

1,

2.

JUDGMENT CALLED FORTH, THE LONG-SUFFERING OF GOD, AND THE DECREE OF JUDGMENT, VI. 1-8.
The
origin of sin

was related

in

chs.

ii.

and

iii.,

and
is

its

increase in the Cainitic race with which the Sethitic

trasted
in ch.
iv.,

con

and here

its

almost universal sway, which

of the Flood, vv. 1, 2
to
:

inevitably entailed the

it

judgment

And

came

to

pass,

when

men
lorn

began
to

be

many
the

on
sons

the earth,

and
saw

daughters
the

were

them,

that

of God
to

daughters of men, that they were fair, and took In themselves wives of all that they chose. (like xxvi.
""3

8,

xxvii. 1

Deut.

xi.

29),

^3

is

the same as

"^3.

3^J

is dis

tinguished from

niarip,

The

IP of

fetp is

become many is from to multiply. generalizing and partitive, like vii. 22, ix. 10,
as to
7,

xvii. 12,

Dent, xv.

Lev.

iv. 2,

Song
rja

of

Sol.

iii.

which

ever, quascimque, they chose.

E npxn
i.

being everywhere else

7,

the

name

of

the
iii.

angels,

Job

2,

xxxviii.

Ps.

xxix. 1,

Ixxxix. 7, Dan.
is

25, and indeed nomen natural, as Q 3Kp

most obvious to think here of angels. So the LXX. (the text of which fluctuates between ayye\ot, TOV Seov in Philo, de yiyantibus, Eusebius, Augustine, and Ambrose,

nomen

officii,

it is

and the reading viol TOV &eov, which has prevailed since Cyril and Augustine), Philo, ibid.; Josephus, Ant. i. 3. 1
;

A([iiila (viol

TWV Qewv,
;

sive

sanctos)
i.

the

Deos intelligent angelos over D*r6 ^3, like which takes Peshito,
also
:

Jerome

the book of ii. 1 (com p. xxxviii. 7), untranslated which the understands Heuocli, heavenly pYjj, eyprfyopoi the Testament of the Twelve Patriarchs, the Book of Jubilees,

Job

6,

the later Jewish

Haggadah
pt. iv.),

(e.g.

in

Midrash Abchir
of

in Jellinek,

Kleine Midraschim,

and most

the ancient Fathers,

from Justin and Athenagoras

the

to Cyprian and Lactantius, also Methodius, Ambrosius, Sulpicius Severus, and the author of

work

de

singularitate

clericorum.
to
this

Tertullian

explains
v.

1 Cor. xi.

10 by referring
c.

passage (adv. Marc.

18,

de virg. velandis,

7,

comp. the Fragment of Clemens Alex.

GENESIS

VI. 1,

2.

223

p.

980,

eel.

Potter).

Griinbaum has treated on the motley

relating to the intercourse of angels with

collection of

myths

the daughters of men, in

DMZ.

xxxi.

225

sqq.

But could angels have had carnal intercourse with human Simeon b. women? According to Bereshith raliba, c. 26,

Jochai pronounced an anathema upon all who should under stand DTliw ^2 of angels (though the Sohar makes him affirm
himself); Augustine (civ. Dei, xv. 23) advises rather to Jerome reserves his judg relinquish the apocryphal fable
it
;

ment

Cyril of Alexandria reckons this

;

opinion

among
numbers

the

aro7ra)rara

Theodoret
(Quccst.
;

calls

its

advocates
;

e^povrrj-roi, KOI
it

ayav
it

f]\iQioi

in Gen.

47)

Philastrius

among

the heresies

the ancient Protestant interpreters regard

as a Jewish Platonizing fancy.

Hence expedients have always been sought for. Onkelos R Simeon b. Jochai by translates D ntan *:a by N ^3 \D2 ^l as also Ephrem, though he vacillates, by
s

T ?"]f]

NW

filii potentium ; while Targ. Jer., the Samaritan Symm. translations, Saadia, Arabs Erpenii, understand by DTitan ^3,

renders

sons of

men

of

eminent position

(like

by tHKn

rri33,

daughters of people of

fAy ^u, Ps. Ixxxii. 6), and low condition (cornp. DIN,
together with liashi, thus
;

opp. B*K, Ps. xlix. 3).

Spinoza

also,

explains the expression in his

Tractatus tJieologico-politicus

and Herder, Schiller, Phil. Buttmann have given the narra tive an imaginative colouring in accordance herewith. But

men
from

of eminent position are elsewhere distinguished as

D"IN

BN

^3.

Much

rather perhaps

may

n npNn

jn be

under

stood of children of

God

in a spiritual sense.
:

So Jul. Africanus already has ol ajro rov ^r]9 SI/CCLLOI, (see Gelzer, Sextus Jul. Africanus, 1880, p. 62), rejecting the other view, on account of the double reading of the LXX.
with pvBeveraL
vitam
o>?

olpai
:

so also

the

Clement,

llccog.,

accord

ing to the text of Eufins

(i.

homines justi qui any dor um vixerant where the view brought forward in nevertheless 29),
"

the eighth of the homilies concerning the mingling of

fire

angelic

and female blood

"

peeps through

so

too

Adamsbuch,

224
p.

GENESIS
translated

VI.

1, 2.

100

sq.,

by Dillmann from the ^Ethiopic, and

Chronik
(Sethites

Gregor Barliebraus in his Syrische

in opposition to

who,

renouncing marriage, retired to the solitude of

Mount Hermon),
found in Bar-

which the old view

of
Fate"

is

still

desanes

"

Book

(in

Cureton

Spicilegium,
all

1885);
it

Cyril Alex., Procopius, Augustine,

who

understand

of

the godly race of Sethites who, according to tradition, dwelt

far

also Luther, after Lyra,

from the Cainites in the neighbourhood of Paradise, as Melanchthon, Calvin, etc.; and among
P.

moderns,

Hengst, Keil, J. 1854), Keerl (Lelirc von der

Lange,

Kampf

(Brief Judci,

Herrlicliheit Gottes,

1863), Veitli

(Anftinge
Solme

dcs Menschengeschleclits, 1865), Scholz (Die

Ehen der

Gottes,

1865),

etc.,

all

these find here the statement,

that as the
distinction

became more widely propagated, the between Sethites and Cainites was obliterated, and
race

human

godly living swallowed up by worldly living. The following reasons however are decisive
ethic

against this

comprehension
towards
(Ex.
iv.

of

the two

notions.

(1)

Though the

notion of the fatherhood of

start

God

does indeed
its

make
ii.

a faint

obtaining beyond

theocratic limitation to
;

Israel
ethical
Ixxiii.

22

Deut. xiv.

1,

xxxii. 5

Hos.

1)

an

and general human significance (see especially Ps. 15, not however Prov. xiv. 26, which must be ex
according to

plained

Prov.

xx.

and the

like),

yet

this

extension

and deepening goes neither in the Old nor the and Disn jn could in N~ew Testament so far, that DTi^n
s
"on

the prosaic style of historic writing

mean

children of
is

God

and daughters
ver. 1
is

of worldly
itself, for

men.
(2)

Such a view
after

here refuted

by the context
of the

DlNn has been used in

it

human
of

race without any secondary meaning,

inconceivable that Dixn ni33 should signify

women
it

belonging

to that portion

mankind which was

race in general.

alienated from God,

and not

to the

human

Hence

seems that
Gottes,
etc.

we must
Neuen

really assume, with Kurtz

("Die

(Die Sohne

1858), Hoelemann
Bibelstudien),

vorsundflutlichen
(Biblical
GescJi.),

Hiinen,"

in

the
(Lea

Kohler

Lenormant

GENESIS
Origines de

VI. 1,

2.

225
others, that a sexual
It

Ristoire,

1880,

c. vii.)

and
is

intercourse

of angels with

women

here related.

was

thus that Jude in his Epistle, ver. 6 sq., in agreement with the book of Henoch, understands the matter; for TOVTOIS,
ver. 7,

refers

of

Sodom, who burnt with

back to angels, the unnatural sin of the men lust towards angels, being com

pared with the unnatural sin of angels, who were in love with women. Schelling rightly finds in the passage, vi. 1-4,
a
peculiarly
in

deep
his
its

mythological tinge
Bibel,

and Dinter justly

"

remarks

Schullehrer
true

that

only

the

scholar

understands

meaning by

comparison of this narrative

nations."

with the legends of other ancient

those
are

Among
by

these are

Gneco-Eoman myths

of the

amours

of the gods

which

branded as the

disgrace

of

heathenism

Christian

apologists.

The Eranian theory, that

a demoniacal corruption

of morals preceded the appearance of Zarathustra,

and that he

dashed

because they had made an evil use of them for wandering on the earth, and especi ally for amatory dealings with earthly women, sounds more serious and nearer to the scriptural account (Jagna, ix. 46).
to pieces the bodies of the angels,

The

most

important

of
2)

the

reasons

asserted

by Keil
"on

(Luth. ZeitscJmft,

1855,
is

for the

ethical

view of the

D^ntan

is,

of actual

n^K np^ everywhere used and lasting marriages. And this is certainly the case
that
J

for the contraction

;

comp. also n& s NBO

(Judg.
xxi.

of the rape of the

women

of

Benjamin
hence

23).

The narrative

as

it

runs would

mean, not merely single acts of intercourse, but lasting and, with respect to the angels (Matt. xxii. 30), unnatural relations
with women,
seduction
to

who

are subjected

their will.

by superior force and crafty To make this to a certain degree

of

conceivable,

we must admit an assumption

human

bodies
of

by angels
angels in

and hence not merely transitory appearances

form, but actual angelic incarnation.

human

Even

Servius however on sEneid,

vi. 13, where gods occupy the place of the sons of God, does not go so far, but seeks to make the matter more conceivable by saying rorporibiis se
:

226

GENESIS

VI.

1,

2.

This leads to something like infundebant potestates supernce. They possession, and here we must let the matter rest.

were daemons who accomplished what

is

here narrated, by

means

men whom they made their instruments, i.e. through demoniacs, who with demoniacal violence drew women within
of

the radius

of their

enchantments and made them subserve

In this we are perhaps the purpose of their sensual lusts. going farther than the narrator, who here reduces to their

germ

of fact

the obscene stories which heathen mythology

delights to depict.

He

is satisfied

with degrading to D
e.g.
-

r6tf

^3

the DTii?K of the heathen myths (as

Plato in the Kratylos,

398a,

says

of

the
l

heroes
rj

as

demi

gods

Traz/re?

BJJTTOV

ryeyovaGiv

epacrOevos
vi.

Oeos

OvijTrjs

rj

Bvrjra
it

$ea?).

The

short section, a

1-4,

is

so peculiar, that

might come from

iv.

separate

source,

perhaps
Cainite

the

same

as

17-24
But

(the

inventions in the
circle of
vi.

race),

with which the

Phoenician
to isolate

myths alone

offers points of contact.

1-4, with Dillmann and others, in such wise as to deny knowledge of the Flood to the original narrator, is arbitrary.

Whether
redactor)

vi.

and who can decide

to
it

1-4 may have been placed here by J or R this point ? we have

(the
still

no right
estranged

charge either the one or the other with having

to effect has

its original meaning. What ingenuity is able been shown by Budde, who, after having excluded as of more recent insertion the tree of life and all connected with

from

it
iii.

from the history of Paradise, places

vi.

3 between
fall,

iii.

2 1 and
is

23

as a penal decree in consequence of the

"

and

of

opinion that

an essential element of the history

vi.

of Paradise

has been preserved as by a miracle in

also
is to
life,

knows nothing
there
is still

of the Flood.

We

(p. 244). think that even

"

His
if vi.

J
3

be understood of the diminution of the duration of

human
1-4

no sufficient reason

why

the narrator of vi.

should not have regarded the disturbance of the boundary between the spiritual and human sphere as a portion of the general and deep corruption which brought about the Deluge.
1

So in Stallbaum, Schanz,

etc.

ipetrfarts is

an old error of transcription.

GENESIS

VI.

3.

227
:

And Jahvcli said My spirit shall : The penal sentence, nn as the not always act in man, for he indeed is also flesh, name of the wind is fern., as the name of the spirit it is It is not the Holy Spirit and His office of double-gendered.
2>a

chastisement which

is

here meant (as Targ.

II.

and

III. para

phrase, and Symm. Grsec. Yen. and Luth. translate), but, the
object of the resolution being the destruction or shortening of
life, the breath of life by which men are animated, which by reason of its Divine origin and kinship and ii. 7, with the Divine nature, or even as merely a Divine gift, is

physical

called ^nn

by God.

This acts in

man
ji"ij

so long as it animates
is

and rules his corporeal nature.

the jussive of

pl=p,

Job

xix. 29, Keri,

Niph.

jnj, in
7,

the meaning of to act (walteri)

rule,

(with the ace. Zech.

also
P"1K,

iii.

to

verwalten),

from which

as elative
is

form

for
;

Assyrian vowelled ddnu with its irnpf. idin, has also the reduplicated But the Heb. jn (p) means walten, dandnu, to be powerful.
this,

verb pi

also

The adwan, may be derived. with the middle together

to act, to rule, not gewaltig sein, to be powerful, so as to let us

translate with
ful

Eiehm

My

spirit shall

not for ever be power

The because of their (the sons of God) error. to be low which in of the Arab, too the jn, (to meaning ^jj, uberwalten, to rule over, might meaning, to have under one
in

men

be referred),

is

alien to the

Hebrew, on which account the

is

explanation humilietur (Ges. Tuch, Ew. Dillm.)

sible,

inadmis

as

is

also

the

explanation hdbitet
is

(LXX.

Jer.

Onk.
of
1

Syr.

Saad.),
1

which

based
11).

with in*
gives a
to
"

(Ps.

Ixxxiv.

upon pi The meaning walten however

*

the

confusion

consistent sense, so

that there
1

is

no need
find the

to

stray

distance, or even, with

. . .

inexplicable."

sense of
ever."

"

now

passage *6, placed as here, has elsewhere the and never (absolutely not)," here of not for
D^>
"

Noldeke,

to

Schrader compares Jer.

xxxvii. 534.

iii.

12

(Ps.

ciii.

9)

and Lam.
t"jj

In

DMZ.

It is there rightly

shown that the verbs

are not

abbreviated Hiphil forms of those in V y, pi and pi having both been in use together down to the time of the Talmud.

228
iii.

GENESIS

VI.

3.

31.

God

will not let

it

His

spirit act in

future.

He

will take

back, so

that

man to an man as an

unlimited

inanimate

natural formation shall

fall

was taken, and the history of

"iba

again to the dust from which he man shall be over. And why ?
it

Kin

D3B>3.

If

sw

is

thus pointed with Kametz

is

the

inf. of

JIJB>,

to stagger hither

and

thither, to go astray (comp.

v.

rw
is

of the intoxication of passion, Prov.

(that of the

19

sq_.)

in their

wandering
flesh,

men

of that time) he

(man

as a species)

i.e.

in such going astray to ungodly lust,

man, the

being who

both spiritual and material, becomes, in opposi tion to his original nature and destiny, entirely flesh. Such is,
is

down
to it

to

Dillmann, the prevailing interpretation.

is
(

But even the

formation B3^2

very precarious, there

I

is

but era

barram), Eccles.

iii.

18.

nothing analogous Less ambiguous

would be
18; Ps.

E^2
14.

or EJ^a, according to the formations, Isa. xxx.

cii.

The

enallage

numeri

is

also objectionable, since

is

the sing, sin here interchanging with the plur. nr^n

e.g.

not, as

at Ps. v. 10, Isa.

notion.
rvn,

an individualizing, but a collective The combination of the letters DJBD with Kin (not
ii.

8,

factus
;

est)

gives the impression of a quoniam, stating a

reason

this is

what might be expected, and the LXX.

(8ia TO

dvai avTov?

o-a/3/ca?)

Targums, Samar., the ancients in general

and Jewish expositors translate accordingly, without being

perplexed by the fact that the vocalization is not in accord ance therewith. Heidenheim, who, in his great unfinished commentary on Genesis of the year 1797, points indeed

0^3, but translates, because he also is flesh, was the first to remark in his edition of the Pentateuch, Mcor Enajim 1818, that an ancient Codex, the Soncinian edit, of 1488, and other
ancients vocalize
correct.
DJt^ a

with Pathach.

And

this

we esteem
Pentateuch

That
less

>="I^N

appears only this once in the

it

need the

astonish us, that

book

of Job, xix. 29.

B>

When
may

used once only in the Dillmann maintains that this

is

relative
to

is

North Palestinian and

it is

later

Hebrew and unknown

the Pentateuch,
view,
vi.

be replied, that according to his

own

1-4

a peculiar section and has a Phoenician

GENESIS

VI. 3.

229
s

tinge,
v. 7,

and then that

this
if

occurs in Deborah

song,

Juclg.

and

is

therefore,

North Palestinian, certainly not

x. 4,

late
is

Hebrew.

Also that apparently the proper

(is) ?),

name ^Kfyp (who

what God
(if it is

Ex.

vi.

22, Lev.

perhaps also

tawi,
it.

iv.

18
is

the same as the Assyr.

"i^s,

mutu
for

sa ilu), contains
K>

^3

the same as
v. 7,

xxxix. 9, 23, and

7,

is

elsewhere
Eccles.
vi.
:

also,
i.

Judg.

Song

Sol.

frequently), in

exchanged an open syllable

i.

B*

(D3tP,

17 and

W,

Judg.

17.

Hence
Kn.
cer

the reason for the penal sentence would run

is

because he also
excluded.

flesh.
:

The reference

of sin to Tin

is

explains

he also as well as other earthly beings.

is

But
is t?aj,

tainly this

incorrect, for
B>aa

where there
is

is

"m

there

and

where there
entirely
"to

is

there also

nn

but only

man
he
is

can become
;

by the
is

spirit losing

its

rule over the flesh

of spirit,

the
prf

carnalized

man

as it

were devoid

is trvevfjia

e^wv (Jude
ot DJ to

19).

Neither, on the other hand,

the reference

the whole sentence, as

:

by Nolde

in the Partikel-Con-

cordanz
tory.

eo

What
(as

quod (he punctuates WB^i) is most obvious is to take sin

i.

eerie ipsz caro, satisfac

DJ together, like

nt DJ, Eccles.

17
Isa.

He
Ixvi.

too on his part,

i.e.

in the retaliative

sense

e.g.

3 sq.)

God

will no longer let

His

spirit act in man, because he too on his part has withdrawn himself from the action of the spirit and is entirely identified with flesh. The notion of flesh is here not merely a physical,

but at the same time an ethical one, like the

adpj;

New

Testament
sensible,

aapKiKos, the

flesh

transitory

extern alism,
If

being but as

so

called, not

as

unspiritualized,

unbridled

sensuousness.

then

God

takes

His nn from man, he

falls, according to Ps. civ. 29, a prey to death.

God

is

there

fore about to inflict

pation, but
suffering,

upon the human race the penalty of extir He does not do this at once, because He is long3b ; And let his days be a hundred and twenty years.
this second half of the penal sentence

Whether we understand
as a diminution of the
1

length of

life,

or as the grant of a

The Babylonian system

of punctuation lias throughout

and

"j^tf.

See

Pinsker, Einhitung, p. xxi.

230

GENESIS

VI.

3.

gracious respite, the expression

is

still

strikingly sparing in

words.

In the

first

case the

man
shall

has henceforth to live

;

meaning is, that the days Wiich shall amount to one hundred and

twenty years

in the

second, that the days he has yet to live

amount to one hundred and twenty years; in the former we miss "W, in the latter niy. The alternative cannot be decided
by the style. It is strange that such expositors as Havernick and Baumgarten should, like Philo and Josephus before then,
understand the saying of a diminution of the length of
to
life, for

make 120

diluvian
age.

maximum is opposed to the fact that patriarchs from Shem to Terah attained to
the

the post

a greater

For our part we also accept the view that J wrote this but that this, vi. 14, paragraph without having Q before him, was originally unconnected with the history of the Flood
(Eeuss), and that the writer

knew nothing

at all of a

Flood

(Dillm.), results in our estimation

hunt
view

for contradictions.
is

And

from a consistently bungling even when the above-mentioned

120 years has still the unquestionable durations of Sarah s life 127 years, of Abraham s 175, Isaac s Moses was 120 years 180, and Jacob s 147 against it.
accepted, the
i. 163, and iii. 23 the to Tartessos, Arganthonios, king according but for the primitive age, to greater part of the ^Ethiopians

old

(Deut. xxxiv. 7

*),

as

was, according to Herodot.

of

which

this

statement at

all

events belongs,

120

years seems

too low a figure for the

maximum

of longevity.

In Jewish

popular language, indeed,

life
;

120 years

are proverbial for a long

see

e.g.

Hebrew

inscription in the church of S. Giuliano

at Venice, of

Gianotti

of

the year 1544, in praise of its restorer Dr. Ravenna, because his skill had been able to

prolong the life of man rw Dnpjn riKEtt inv. both ancient and modern Jewish expositors,
Reggio, Abenezra and Heidenheim, explain
1

Nevertheless
e.g.

Kashi and
years of

this

120

Because Moses was 120 years

old,

and DJKO has the same numerical value

(345) as H^Dj D3KO becomes in the Jewish Midrash (e.g. Lekach tob, p. P) and in Samaritan lays a symbolical name of Moses, see Geiger in xxviii. 489-491 ; oomp. Nestle, ib. xxvii. 509, according to which Trebellius

DMZ.

Pollio in vita Claudii

and Barhebraus ascribe

to

Moses 125 years

of

life.

GENESIS
a respite accorded to

VI.

4.

231
of obviating

men

for

the purpose

by

repentance the judgment of extermination.

that the

It is in this sense

Targums and Luther paraphrase the saying, and that the Midrash, Jerome in his Qucestiones, and Augustine in Civ.
Dei, xv. 24, explain
it.

Among

the most recent expositors,

Abr. Geiger on the Jewish, and Kohler in his Biblischen Gescli. on the Christian side, and now Schrader also, advocate this
view, according to which
cix.

does not refer, as

e.y.

in

Ps.

8, to

the lifetime of a single man, but to that of

i.e.

men

taken together,

of

mankind

at that

era.

hundred and

In the Babylonio-Assyrian twenty years are a double Sosse. 1 sexagesimal system, which preceded the centesimal system,
computations were made by Sosses (sussu

= 60),]Sreres

(600),

and Sares (3600).

also

Bat the
the

figure of the respite

granted

may
of

be

taken

according
is

to

the
for

scriptural

symbolism
of waiting

numbers.
transition, this

40

number

the time

and
In

120 the

tripling of this

number

of the crisis.

time of waiting there arose for the generation of the Flood a viz. says the Midrash on Genesis, section 30
Ti")3,

Noah.

Announcing the threatening judgment, he became, But the call to according to 2 Pet. ii. 5, ^ncaioo-vvT]^ Krjpvt;.
:

repentance of this announcement was without result, ver. 4

The Nephilim arose on the earth in those days ; and also after wards, when the sons of God joined themselves unto the daughters of men, and they lare children to them, those were the Gfiblorim
which were of old, men of renown. The notice, 4 a is of the same kind as xii. 6, xiii. 7 the order of the words is also
",

similar,

but the connection with what precedes

"I

is

wanting.

connecting was however inadmissible, and the narrator does not write vrw, because he wants to give emphatic prominence to the subject O^Sfn. Even Dillmann allows that the narrator
regards the D^B3 as proceeding from the demoniacal cohabi
tations,
1

although

he translates vn, fuerunt.

:

In

sentences

the Babylonian sexagesimal system and its supposed origin, see Cantor, Gesch. der MatJiematik, kap. iii. Die Babylonier, and the article, there made
use
p.
of,

On

of Friedr. Delitzsch

"

Soss, Ner,

Sar,"

in the jEgyptolog. Ztitschr. 1878,

56 sqq.

232

GENESIS

VI.

4.

however of similar construction,

entrance into appearance, then
i.e.

like

vii.

6, x.

15,

7, it

means

why

not here also exstiterunt,

The D^a: are the same as they entered into existence ? the v\lr7)\ol yiyavTs, Judith xvi. 6, who, according to Wisd.
comp. Apollodor. i. 7. 2, fell victims to the Deluge. If yiyas could be combined with Fis, vis (but see Curtius, Etym. No. 128, according to which, coming from
ii.

xiv. 6, 3

Mace.

4,

y/f<?

the

<ya,

to grow, it
tall,

has grown
i?>D

or ^is

comparison one who comp. Lat. ingens), the derivation of ^ai from Assyr. pul, to be strong or powerful (whence abn
as a

means

word

of

pile,

blocks,

squares,
It

and the

proper

name
are

Puluv), would
as

commend
TT or
lit,

itself.

would then be formed

derivations
s

TO

is

from

but

both these

very

uncertain.

On

the other hand, Aquila

"

ol eirwrvirrovT&,

whence Luther
violcnti
itself
et

"

translates
injurii), is

Tyrannen

(in

the

comm. homines
i?aj

also inadmissible, because

cannot of

have

the meaning of hostile attack and surprise.

We

must perhaps
b|M,

take ^23 in the sense of Isa.

xxvi.

18, comp.

abortion

(Miihlau-Volck,
ing,

after Oehler),

and regard D^s:

the fallen
if

like

chance-child
"

= bastard,
"

as designat

as

unnaturally
correctly
also
after
as,

begotten.

In

those

days
the
it

refers,

we have
"

understood ver.
that
"

3&, to

the prediluvian times, and

of

to

the

period
xiii.

allowed

respite,

and not

according to

Num.

33,

might be thought, to the time

is

after the Flood, for

what the
v

spies there relate

cannot determine the conditions of what

;

from hearsay here stated his

torically.
(-IG?N,

">?r

!?~ ?.n.K

like xxx.

38

means atque etiam posted quum Lev. iv. 22), and IN^ is equally past, as
DJ1
is

xxx. 38. T jxhn,

To have carnal intercourse with a woman

euphemistically expressed by ta
xxx.

KU

(to go in unto her), xvi. 2,

3, xxxviii. 8, Deut. xxii. 13, or less euphemistically by Deut. xxv. 5. The apodosis does not begin NU, xix. 31 with Dr6 Vlbjl, in which case TO.5 or n^pni must have been Hence the sense is, that also afterwards, when the said.
*?y
;

sons of

God

associated with the

latter bore children

daughters of men and the unto them (the dcemonian begetters), such

GENESIS

VI.

5,

6.

23

D^
to

came

into existence,

non will then have to be referred

the
narrator,
like
later

these later

bom

beings,

Greek

mythology, distinguishing between a gigantic race and a heroic Three particulars are told us of which followed it. the heroes, the rj^iOewv 76^09 were these later born: (1) They
race

avbpwv, of Homer, II. xii. 23, and of Hesiod s fourth of the five ages of the ancient world, who (2) belonged to the primitive
age,
fiHy,

in

the sense

of

/cocr/z,o?

ap%aios,

Pet.

ii.

5
CP?3:in
;

a separate

member

of the

sentence, on

which account

has Tebir, and D7IVE the

still

stronger separative Tiphchah

(3)

they were

(Xum. The

xvi.

men of renown, i.e. famous in popular 2), much spoken of, 7ro\vdpvX\^roL.

legends

And
and

The motive, ver. 5 judgment, 5-7. Jahveh saw that great was the wickedness of man on earth,
definite decree of
:

that all the images of the thoughts of his heart were only

evil the

whole day.

The character
is

of the picture is as dark

as possible.

The depravity
adj.)
("i^,

designated by nan (Milra, and

great

therefore an
iap nhtrntt
"i^

as

intensely
-

and widespread
viii.

by
con

Jahvistico

Deuteronomic,

21

Deut.

xxxi.

21, of the

forms of thought and will in their

tinual course) as profoundly inward, and pervading the heart

(=
;

vovs, the
;

property of self-consciousness and self-determina

as total,
p~>

2iD 7|X, Ps. Ixxiii. and by jn (opp. to 1 comp. Deut. xxviii. 33 with the same, xvi. 15) as radical by Dvrr?^ per totum diem = omni tempore, as continual and
tion)

by ny^D

habitual.

Eesult of the judicial cognition, ver. 6

And

it

repented Jahveh that

grieved in

He had made man upon earth, and He His heart. The Mph. Dru means to fetch a
feel repentance.

deep breath, to grieve, and especially to

sizes

OTnn,

to pierce oneself, to experience piercing, and, as top ^X

it,

empha

heart-piercing sorrow, sounds even

Just so does Jahveh say, 1 Sam. xv. this we read, 1 Sam. xv. 29 God is not
:

more anthropopathic. 11, TiDna, and soon after

man

that

He

should
the
is,

repent.

On

the

one

hand, what

Clem.
is

Alex,

under

influence of the Stoa asserts, that

God

absolute apathy,

when

rightly understood (see on Hos.

xi. 9),

not untrue

on the

234

GENESIS YL

7.

other, it is not less true, if rightly understood, that

God

feels

repentance when He sees the original design of His love rendered vain, that He feels grief when His holy love is He is the living God, upon whom the sight of rejected.
fallen

man,
it is

of the deeply corrupted world, does not fail to react.

Hence

not with cold indifference that

:

He

resolves
said,

upon

the destruction of the world, ver. 7

destroy

And

Jahveh

I will

man
it

to cattle, to

man, luhom I have made, from the face of the earth, from creeping things, and to birds of the heaven ; for

repenteth
to

me

that

have made them.

The verb nnE,

to

wipe
vii.

out,
4,

blot

out, recurs

in the history of the Flood at

23.

The enumeration

D l&MD

is literally

living beings beginning with the same as at vii. 23, and has more an

of

Elohistic than a Jahvistic tinge.

are exposed to the
for his
.sake

same ruin

and are
is

The unreasoning creatures man, for they were created combined with him in solidarity. But
as
its

the

human

race

not exterminated without

in view.

continuance

being

at the

same time kept

of

For one among mankind

:

was the object

worthy that

divine favour, ver. 8

i.e.

And Noah found

grace in the eyes of Jahveh,

He

should incline

Noah was regarded by God as towards him (jn V |n, inclinare)

in pitying love.
penult.,
Jer.

The tone The

of NSB before |n falls back on the

which does not take place with Merca before Pashta,

2.

xxxi.

historical narrative
it

of Genesis

has

now
this

again arrived at the place where

of

interrupted the Toledoth

verse, v. 32,

Adam,

v.

32.

The overlapping

was Q s,
his

transitional one, ver. 8, is

first

s,

who

here names

Noah

for the

time, here

viz.

where we have extracts from

book

which

are used as the stones of a mosaic.

This ver. 8 intro

duces the history of Noah, which forms an independent section,

and the third main portion of Genesis.

III.

THE TOLEDOTH OF NOAH,

THE
"

VI.

9-IX. 29.
a statement
:

title

promises the

"

generations
is

of

Noah,

i.e.

of the posterity of

which he

the ancestor, or more generally

a statement of the history of

which he
far

is
it

the starting-point

and

centre.

This history, so

as

forms an essential

in other words, of the ways of God element of sacred history with mankind is the history of the nb o, Isa. liv. 9, the

history of the Flood, of that great and long-lasting Flood

which
with

took place during the

life

of Noah.

The narrator
it

tarries

special interest at this event,

like insertion of

and describes

fully with mosaicoffered.

whatever his sources of information

act,

For the Deluge was an

total

both of judgment and salvation, of

It

the very greatest importance on the part of God.

was a

judgment which made a division as deep and wide, and of as violent and universal a nature in the history of mankind, as the final judgment at the end of this world will alone produce.
This act of judgment however
salvation, this sunset the
is

at the of a

same time an

act of

means

new

rising again, a

new

Testament standpoint the Flood beginning. appears as the type of holy baptism, 1 Pet. iii. 21, and of
the
1

From

New

In old high German,

besides

sintfluot,
sin,

original form sinftuot,

compounded with

we have more commonly the not occurring alone, and meaning

always, everywhere complete ; hence sinjluot is equivalent to ummaz flnot (immensum diluvium), by which old high German glosses of the monastery of Rcichenau of the eighth century designate the Noachian Csedmon Deluge.

has/dd,

The designation

spring-flood, for it. just such a popular etymological change of meaning as Sinngrun for singruna, i.e. evergreen pervinca. Luther still writes Sindflut. But on how early Siindflut had already made its appearance in place of

saeftdd, sea-flood, heahflod, high-flood, or viUflod,

Siindflut

is

Sindflut, see

Weigand

Deiitsches

WB., comp. Vilmar

in the Pastoral- Theo-

loyixchen Bluttern, 1861, p. 109 sq., and Glosses to Luther s translation of the Bible in the Theol. LB. of the Ally. KZ. 1862, p. 699 sq.
235

236
life

THE TOLEDOTH OF NOAH.

arising from death, on
to

which account the ancient Church

was wont
Deluge.
servation,

decorate mortuary chapels with pictures of the

for the

Extermination took place

purpose of pre

drowning

for the

purpose of purification, the death

its

of the

human
a

race for the purpose of

new
it

birth.

The old

corrupt earth was buried in the waters of the Flood, that from
this grave

new world might emerge

were
transformed.

thrown back
from
it

to the stage of chaos, that

it

was very nearly might come forth

as

it

To

this

must be added,

that the mountains of Ararat point to Sinai, the covenant of

Elohim, which God there made with the holy seed that had been preserved and with the whole natural world, to the The few and brief nb rja rrivp (com covenant of Jahveh.

mandments

for the sons of

Noah) are the commencement of a

positive Thorah, are in tenor and purpose the foundation and preparation for the Sinaitic law, and at the same time a

prophetic finger-post to point out that as a law binding on the

whole human race preceded

to a

the

law

which

entered

into

national limitations, so will the latter be at last generalized

law

for all
is

mankind.

There

a tendency of

modern

science which, as recently

carried out with systematic consistency by Goldziher, Grill and Jul. Pepper, restamps the primitive histories of Scripture This line has as having originated from naturalistic myths. been struck out with regard to the Flood by Phil. Buttmann.

The names

of Sisuthros

and

Sesostris
of the

he asserts

are nothing

more than reduplicative forms

fore symbolical

name
and

Sothis,

and there

of Sirius (the dog-star),

also of rains

and

floods in general.

Noah moreover, who was

the inventor of

symbol of water, just as Ogyges has a similarity Noah was originally the deity of the of sound with Okeanos, who sent the water, great Flood, it was a later form of the
wine,
is

also a

legend which

made him

its

central point as a

human
"

being.

Schirren (Wanderungen der Neuseelander, 1856), Gerland (in

in and Cheyne (art. Deluge," the Encyclopaedia Britannicct) have advanced still further on
vol. vi.)

Waitz Anthropologie,

CHALDEE ACCOUNT OF THE FLOOD.

this

237

path.

The

oldest cosmogonies

originated, according to

Schirren, from mythical descriptions of the rising of the sun,

and the narrative of the Deluge was originally a mythic picture of his setting. Gerland, on the other hand, and Cheyne, regard The sun and moon are an ether -myth as its foundation.
represented as mountain-tops emerging from the waters, some times as boats which navigate them, sometimes as man and
wife, the only beings (with

perhaps the exception of the

stars,

Cheyne finds this confirmed by the names of the Babylonian Noah and his father, but by reason of an uncertain reading and an erroneous
their children)
interpretation.

who

did not perish in the Flood.

This reduction of the primitive narratives to allegories of natural phenomena is like the reduction of the It is true that history of redemption to moral commonplaces.
to

heathenism, which

deified

the

forces of

nature,
;

natural

observations were transformed into mythic pictures

but

human

history too, like the natural world, surely left its reflection in

the consciousness, and

are nature-myths in
rated, so also

we may hence assume,

that as there

which natural phenomena were incorpo were historic memories transmitted in the form
though mythologically coloured, have still men as their subject. Such a legend is
is

of legends, which,

the fate

of

actual

that of the Deluge, which

in the scriptural account brought

down, by the removal

historical prose.
fanciful,

of

all

mythological

embellishment, to

The Babylonio-Assyrian account is far more and hence more poetical, but like that of the Bible
human, that

so specifically

make

the waters of

Noah

it would be quite as arbitrary to a picture of the ocean of heaven, as

to generalize the victorious Eastern expedition of

Alexander into

a picture of the victory of the sun over mist and darkness.

The Chaldee account of the Mood has been preserved in Armenian in Eusebius Chronicon, according to extracts from
Berosos by Alexander Polyhistor, in Greek in Syncellus we give it here in a free, and in some places abbreviated trans
;

lation, placing together

in important passages the

Armenio-

Latin and the Greek texts.

Ardates, the ninth ruler before

238

THE TOLKDOTH OF NOAH.

the Deluge, was succeeded by his son Xisuthros,

sares.

who

reigned for

was announced in sleep by Kronos, eighteen that the destruction of mankind by a flood would take place
it

To him

on the loth of the month Daesios, and he was commanded to commit to writing and deposit in Sispara (Sipara), the city of
the sun, the beginning, middle and end of all things.
further bidden to build a vessel (cr/ca^o?), to enter
it

He was
with his

belongings and nearest friends, to store it with food and drink, to take in with him all kinds of birds and four-footed beasts,
If asked whither he was all was ready to set out. To to the he was say gods, to beg them to show going, He therefore built a ship, according to the favour to men.
:

and when

Divine command, of 15 stadia long and 2 wide, and, having collected all that was directed, entered it with his wife,
children

and nearest

friends.

When
;

the

Mood came and

immediately ceased (confcstim cessante, Gr. evOews X^a^ro?), Xisuthros sent forth some birds but they finding neither food
nor resting-place, came back to the vessel (irKolov). After some days he again sent forth the birds, and they again When returned to the ship (vavv) with mud on their feet.

however they were sent forth

away.

for

the third time they stayed

that

Then Xisuthros perceived

the land had again

appeared, and took off a portion of the roofing (rwv rov irKoiov patywv /ie/3o Ti), and when he saw that the vessel was stranded

on a mountain, he came out with his wife, daughters and an altar, pilot, prayed upon the earth (Gr. rr]v 7^), erected

and immediately disappeared, together Those who remained in the with those who were with him.
sacrificed to the gods

ship

who went with him

invisible,

waited in expectation, and when Xisuthros and those did not return, they came forth and

sought him, calling him by name.

He however

continued

and a voice resounding downwards from the air exhorted them to the duty of godliness, and declared that

because of his piety he had gone to dwell with the gods, and
that the same honour had been bestowed

daughters and the

pilot.

It

also

told

upon his wife, his them to return to

CUNEIFORM DESCRIPTION OF THE FLOOD.

Babylon
(ut

239
and that

rursum

Babilonem proficiscerentur),

there they were, according to the decree of the gods, to bring

the writings back from Sispara (Sipara), and to deliver

to

them

men, and that the place in which they now found them selves on coming out of the ship was the land of Armenia.

When

they learned this, they sacrificed to the gods and went A portion of the vessel stranded in on foot to Babylon. Armenia is still found upon the Corduenian mountains of

Armenia,

many

fetch thence

asphalt (bitumen), which they

it

have scraped

off

the

ship,

and use

to

ward

off

diseases.

When

they arrived at Babylon they dug out the writings of Sispara (Sipara), founded many cities, erected sanctuaries and
rebuilt

Babylon

(7ra\t,v eiritCTia-ai,

also gives us the

;

Eusebius TTJV Baf3v\wva). Chaldee legend of the Flood according to

the parallels of this portion of the Armenian Abyderius Chronicon are found in his Prcep. ev. ix. 12 comp. Syncellus,
;

Ixx.
is

2-15.

Here

too Sisythros (the

Greek form of the name

here used) sails to Armenia, and has speedily to experi

ence

what he

has

heard

from

God

(KOI

Trapavri/ca

^iv

The sending forth of the birds Kare\diji(3ave ra e/c rov Qeov). on takes place the third day, when the rain has ceased, and
for the

second time after three days more.

Mcolaus Damas-

cenus, in Joseph,

and Euseb., designates a high mountain in Armenia above (the province of) Minyas, which is called
Baris, as the resting-place of the ark.

The cuneiform account

of

the Deluge,

which has been

published most accurately by Paul Haupt (in the Monographic, 1881, and in Schrader s Die Keilinscliriften und das A. T.

1883), coincides with the statement in Berosus in the im

portant point, that Noah,
(sprout of
1

who

is

there called Pir napistim

of

life),

son of the

Ubara-Tutu (meaning servant

Merodach), having proved himself obedient to the deity in the time of the Deluge, was rewarded with removal to the
1 HMsadra, which occurs in the inscriptions, is not as yet warranted as the surname of the hero of the Flood, but is according to all appearance the

equivalent of Si

240

THE TOLEDOTH OF NOAH.

gods (on which account he has the surname ruku : of the Izdubar (Nimrod) there seeks him in the dis distance).
"

tance at the

mouth

of the

river,"

to ask

him how

he,

who

has been smitten with sickness by the goddess Istar, may For the cuneiform account of the Flood dis find healing.

the British

1872 by George Smith among the brick tablets of Museum, and the knowledge of which was trans mitted to the world in the Daily News of December 5, 1872,
covered
is

the

contents of the
of

llth tablet of the Izdubar-epic, an

of
this

episode

the

history

Babylonian

national

hero.

question by relating what he has himself experienced, by the history of his deliverance from the great Flood and of his translation. The Flood here

Hasisadra answers his

appears as the work of the gods Anu, Bel, Adar and Ennugi the god Ea only co-operates in the transaction, while according
to

We

another fragment (interpolated as Col. ii. 36-52), Ea appears to be the originator (see Haupt in Schrader, p. 57). abbreviate the mythologic accessories, though it is just
its

through these that the narrative acquires

colouring,

highly poetic
of
events,

and reproduce merely the

"

succession

beginning with the address

Surripakite, son of Ubara-Tutu,

forsake the house, build a vessel (tilippa), collect

what

living

creatures

you can

get."

The measure

of the length, breadth,

and height of the

Hasisadra fears to
the derision of
into his

vessel are unfortunately no longer legible.

become by the execution of this building the people and the elders, it is however put
to say.

mouth what

He

hides his silver and gold in

the ship, and

brings into it all his family, together with his

servants and relatives, also the cattle of the field (bid sri), the wild beasts of the field (umdm seri), and all that lives.

When

the call resounded

then the sun had brought on the predetermined time, ina Uldti usazn&nu samutu Jcebdti, at
:

evening will the

heavens rain woes

(see

Paradise,

p.

156).

In alarmed expectation of the evening, Hasisadra went into

1

So must Col.

i.

21, as

Haupt subsequently acknowledged he read and

understood.

CUNEIFORM ACCOUNT OF THE FLOOD.

the
ship and closed the
door.

241

him with the Then followed a dark and stormy

entrusted by

Buzurkurgal, the pilot, was direction of the great vessel.

night, a fearful
strife

of

the subject powers of nature, incessant floods of rain come from above, and at the same time, while the earth quakes,
floods

of subterranean

waters come

from beneath, and the

Among men billowy mass rises as high as the heavens. The very each has regard only to his own preservation. are and cower subordinate afraid, ones) together at gods (the
the lattice of heaven (ina kamdti), they lament with Istar the destruction of mankind.

Flood (abubu) and storm (melm)

(sdru

raged for six days and seven nights in a continual tempest At the dawn of the seventh day however the "W).

storm abated, the flood was assuaged, the waters fell. Hasisadra sadly navigated the sea (tdmatci), with the dwelling-places of

with mud, and their corpses driven hither and last a tract of land twelve measures (tdti) high The vessel was rose high above the fearful watery mass. towards land Nisir the mountain there the of (iJ), steering
filled

men

thither.

At

held

it

day which

after being stranded

and did not again let it go. On the seventh he let the dove (summatu] fly out, because it found no resting - place returned the
fast,
;

swallow (sinuntu)

also

though
erected
offered

still

wading in
forth

came back, but the raven (dribu) the water stayed away. Then he
towards
of

gradually

sent

everything

the

four

winds,

an altar
a

upon the
the

summit

the
of

mountain

and

sacrifice,

sweet

savour

which the gods

imbibed with avidity.

resolution to destroy
plished.

men

Only Bel was enraged because his one and all remained unaccom

He was however
to

represented
suffer

appeased by the other gods, who him that it was unjust to let the innocent

with the guilty, and that there were yet other means of punishment, such as wild beasts, famine and pestilence.
he
took
counsel

Then
vessel,

with

himself,

blessed

Hasisadra and his

went up into the wife, and declared that

both should be forthwith together raised to the gods. Q

Then

242
they took
at the

THE TOLEDOTH OF NOAH.

me

says Hasisadra

to

Izdubar

and placed
pi ndrdti).

me

mouth

of the stream a long

way

off (ina

The clay
the great
G-esch.

tablets containing the epic of Izdubar are

from

library

of Asurbanipal,

668-626

(see

Miirdter,

Babyloniens und Assyrians, p. 228), and hence of the epoch when the Assyrian universal empire was approaching
its close

the poem is self-evidently older by far than this its the legend of the Flood, which is woven into it, and record, Much in the older by far than the poet who met with it.
;

description

of

the judgment of the Flood

is

may

be his

own

addition, but the narrative of Berosus

a pledge that he

reproduces the tradition in all essential particulars. At the same time it must be inferred from the fact that this episode
of the

Deluge shows no acquaintance with the hiding and

recovery of the sacred books, that tradition gives to this ancient event a testimony of many voices, though these do not always
agree in all particulars.
ture narrative, in which

And
we
in

this is confirmed
all

by the Scrip
discrepancies,

have, in spite of
its

the

legend

of

the

Flood
being

original

form.

Arid
in

the

Israelitish nation

conscious

of

having come

the

persons

from beyond the Euphrates, the and Tigris will have to be regarded Euphrates as the home of the legend of the Flood, and also indeed as
of
its

ancestors

district of the

the

scene

of the

event

itself.

Wherever we meet among

admitted that
it

ancient nations with a legend of the Deluge homogeneous in

its

chief features,

it

will

have

to be

has arisen,

if

not directly, yet through some kind of medium either more ancient or more recent, from the source of legends found in

Mesopotamia. It must be assumed that the legend of the Deluge, in its wanderings from nation to nation, would experience national
transformations in accordance with the religions and dwellingplaces of these
nations,

and

this

circumstance must not be

Lecture on the Deluge and the abused, as by ancient legend of the Deluge, 1871, to cut through undeniable
Diestel in his
connections.

INDIAN AND GREEK LEGENDS OF THE FLOOD.

243

The

characteristic feature of the Indian legend is the incar

nation (avatdra) of

Brahma

or

Vishnu
which

as a fish (matsja)

Maim
fish
"

fastens the cable of the ship in

he finds himself together

;

with seven Kishis (sacred minstrels) to the horn of the the Himavat where the ship lands has since been called

the

Descent of

Manu

"

or

"

the ship

"

After his deliverance he sacrifices,

mooring (naubandhanani). and in virtue of the bless

Such ing produced by his offering a new race of men arises. It is not as yet are the main features of the Indian legend.
found in the Rigveda, and there are only uncertain traces of It appears however only the more it in the Atharvan.
developed in Catapatha Brdhmana (Weber, Indisclie Studien, 1850, 2), then in Mahdbharata (Bopp, Diluvium, 1829; comp.

Ad. Holtzmann in

DMZ.
(v.
is

xxxviii.

181

sq.),
is

and

in the Puranas,

especially the Matsja-Purana, which

this
its

specially devoted to
i.

Vishnu- Avatara

Bohlen, Altes Indien,

214

sqq.)

most recent form

exhibited in Bhagavata-Purana

(ed.

Burnouf), a very modern performance (Felix Neve, La Tradi This Deluge is identical in tion Indienne du Deluge, 1851).
the main matter and also in several details with the event of the

Babylonian and scriptural accounts like Noah, Manu becomes the medium of a new and purified world, being preserved
;

through the Flood in a vessel which

is

stranded on a mountain.

The Greek legend

its

of

the
is

Ogygian Deluge makes Attica

not in
itself

scene of action.

This

opposed to
district

its

con

nection with the

legend originating Euphrates and Tigris; it tells us however that the destruction of mankind by this Deluge was not universal. It is Nonnus

in the

of the

who

in his Dionysiaka

first
ifidroit

gives

Ogygos (Ogyges) a vessel

xiflipot

v^mro;

ripvuv,

Few

facts of this
it)

kind can however be

(as

Phil.

Buttmann
is

expresses

as certain, as that the Deucalion

Deluge

con

nected with the legend of the Flood. The legend is only sketched in Pindar s 9th Olympic ode: The surface of the
earth

was flooded by the billowy mass until the interposition

244
of

THE TOLEDOTH OF NOAH.

it

Zeus caused

to

appear,

Deucalion
first

descended from Parnassus to found the

a

and Pyrrlia then city and to beget

Then, as

new

race (the stone race after the bronze race).

i.

farther described in Apollodor. Bill.

self

7,

Deucalion saved him

a chest, journeyed nine days and nine nights upon the waters of the flood, and landed on Parnassus, hie ubi Deucalion, as Ovid (Metam. i. 317 sq.) says, nam ccetera,

and

his wife in

texerat cequor,

Cum

consorte tori

Syria the legend was, as connected with a temple in Hierapolis, which was said to have been erected by Deucalion the Scythian (AevicaKiwva TOV ^KvOea), because the Flood had abated there in Syria, and
the waters had subsided into the

In parva rate tectus adhcesit. Lucian (de Dea Syra, c. 12) relates,

was

built.

Phil.

chasm over which the temple Buttmann corrects %Kv9ea for ^iavOea.
really to

The surname seems

Deucalion

have arisen from a misunder

standing of ^Lcndpos, ^laovOpos, EicrovOpo^.

is

At

all

events

the Hellenized Xisuthros-Noah, and the Deucalion

in the circle of

Deluge the Nbachian as adopted

legends, in saying

Hellenic

which the

possibility of the self-experience

of a devastating flood being

blended with reminiscences of the

1 premundane Flood must be admitted. Many features may have been first added, after the scriptural account had become

accessible through the

lines
(i.

120
s

sqq.) to Hellenic circles.

LXX., and thence through the SibylThus e.g. the dove as

the inscription

Deucalion

reconnoitrer of the weather in Plutarch, de sollertia

13.

animalium,
city
of

And
of

Nfl on

coins of the

Apamea

the

epoch

of

the

Emperors Septimus

Severus, Macrinus and Philip

(known

since Falconieri, 1688),

with the representation of the floating ark, from which

itself

Apamea
2

bears the

name

of Ki/Bcoros as its landing-place.

Such

embellishments at least presuppose the existence of a national

This indeed applies also to the Chinese description of the great flood under the Jao, which, though in the first place referable to a native flood, yet exhibits points of contact with the legend of the Deluge which Jones, Klaproth,
1

Emperor

Giitzlaff think not accidental. According to Josephus, Ant. xx. 2. 3, the remains of the Noachian ark were shown also in Kdpfai (pn).

Windschmann,
2

SPURIOUS LEGENDS OF THE FLOOD.

245

It can Phrygian legend of the Flood as their foundation. hardly be decided whether King Avvaicos (NavvaKos) of

Iconium,

who

lived

more than three hundred

years, predicted

the Flood and lamented and prayed for his people, belongs to
its original

form.

He

is

evidently identical with

Enoch

but

comp. Bottcher, de inferis, 242, 251. The circuit within which the legend of the Flood
nated in the ancient world
extent.
is,

was dissemi

when

rightly regarded, of no great

Starting from the region of the Tigris and Euphrates, it spread westwards over Anterior Asia and thence to Greece, and eastwards to the Indians, after they had advanced from

Hindukuh along

the Indus as far as the sea, acquiring every

where fresh national colouring and attaching itself to different We have no longer the means of checking what localities.
Josephus, Ant.
i.

3.

6,

says,

viz.

that

Egyptian, in his history of the Phoenicians,

Hieronymus, the and Mnaseas also

The victory of Pontus over bear testimony to the Deluge. Demarus in the Phoenician mythology (in Sanchuniathon) is
a cosmogonic myth.

Such

also,

in the Bundehesh, one of

is

the most recent sacred books of the Persians,

the thirty

days

rain,

which

purifies the earth from the unclean demoniacal

beings with which

Ahriman had
and the

filled it,

the water being, after

the Flood had done this service, carried

wind

to the

clouds,

salt

up by a heavenly ocean formed from the re

As here in the case of the Persians, so mainder by Ormuzd. too in the Scandinavian and German mythologies, do we
find the

of the Deluge legends o O and the Creation entangled o with each other. The legend of the Flood in the Welsh

Triads,

which
is

is

connected with the outbreak of the lake of

influence of

Llion,

however under the

the

scriptural

account, the

Noah

of the bards being called Neivion.

The

fact that the legend of

is

the Flood did not take root in

accounted for by the circumstance, that the inunda Egypt tion of the land is, in Egyptian notions, not a calamity, but a
benefit.

Nevertheless Brugsch s work, Die neue Wcltordmmg nach Vernichtung dcs siindigcn Mcnscliengcschkclits, 1881, has

246

THE TOLEDOTH OF NOAH.

made us acquainted with an ancient tradition, according to which Ea decreed the destruction of the sin-corrupted world,
and Hathor, as the goddess
into execution
;

of

just as in the

vengeance, carried the decree Babylonian legend Bel decrees

to pass.

the judgment and

Ea

brings

it

The means

of punish

ment

is

however, not a

flood,

the narrative, inscribed by Bibdn

but a slaughter. Nevertheless el Muluk on the wall of a

Seti-catacomb in the Theban valley of the dead, sounds like a transformation of the Izdubar episode into

chamber

of the

Egyptian.
It is surprising to find traditions of the

Flood strikingly

like the ancient ones in their details

among many more modern

of

nations, with

whom we

have but recently become acquainted.

Cuba, the
tribes of the

The Mexicans, the inhabitants of the island Peruvians, the Tamauaki, and almost all the

Upper Orinoco (Humboldt,

dcs alien Continents, pt.
iii.

Reise in den Aquinocticdgegenden

p.

416

sqq.),

the Tahitians, and

other islanders of the Society Archipelago (Wegener, GescJi. i. 153-155), have a legend of a flood by which mankind was

exterminated.

in South America, the only

According to a legend of the Macusi Indians man who survived the Elood re-

peopled the earth by changing stones into men. According to the legend of the Tamaniki on the Orinoco, it was a married
pair,

who threw behind them

flcxuosci),

the fruit of the Miriti-fan-palm

(Mauritia

which
its

lasts

women
vancing
images,

sprang up from

kernels.

under water, and men and That it is not the mere

transformation of what has been heard from the bearers of ad

civilisation, especially missionaries, into these fantastic
is

witnessed by two trustworthy testimonies

1.

That
for

of the missionary Batsch from Eandshi, of

June 24, 1875,

the

legends of the Kolhs,

who speak

the

Munda

language.
after sing-

The Munda-kolhs

relate that

men became wicked

;

that they would neither longa (the wash themselves nor work, but only dance and drink. Then carne a flood from sengel-daa (i.e. fire-water) and drowned them
all.

sun-god) had created them

Only a brother and a

sister

hid themselves in a

tiril

THE FLOOD NOT UNIVERSAL.

(ebony)
tree,

247
two human

and so were saved.

From

these

beings, they say,

came

all

men, who were afterwards divided

into different castes, according to their different employments.

2.

That

of the missionary superintendent C.

Hugo Halm

for

He the legend of the south-west African Herero or Damara. himself communicated to me this legend, with the assurance
that
it

was

original, for

that no white

man and no

Christian

had come in contact with the Herero before himself.

These

people relate that an inconceivably long time ago the great ancients (ovakuru ovanene) up in heaven were angry with

men, and therefore caused heaven to fall, i.e. a flood of rain to rush down upon them (for the heaven fell, eyuru ra u, is the

same

as it rained terribly), while

moderate rain

onibura
killed.

mai

roko (a storm rained).

is expressed by Almost every man was

The few who were preserved

sacrifice,

killed a black sheep as

an atoning
returned
to

whereupon the great ones

i.e.

of

heaven

heaven,

caused

the flood of

rain to cease.

They
it

are

still

there above, and are keeping firm the vault of

heaven.

Beforo the falling of heaven, men were able to enter where earth and sky meet, but since then this has been

impossible.

one eye and one

At the boundary there now dwell giants with ear, a jointless arm and leg, who pull down

by the leg every one who attempts to get up into heaven. To find in such echoes of the legend of the Flood in the
most distant parts of the earth, a confirmation of the notion that the whole world was overflowed by the waters of the
out of question (see Zockler s article on the rela tion of the ancient legends of a flood to the scriptural account

Deluge

is

in the Jahrl.

fur deutsche

Theologie, xv.

1870).

Dillmann, on

the other hand, justly remarks, that these various nations were
at the time of the

their

subsequent abodes,

the earth,

Deluge certainly not yet in possession of and that they did not grow out of but immigrated from elsewhere. We may however
sinful

regard this consentient narrative of a Flood sent as a judg

ment upon

mankind
race.

as a confirmation of the historical

unity of the

human

248

THE TOLEDOTH OF NOAH.

universal Deluge, covering at the same time the whole
its

earth to

highest mountain peaks,

is

physically and geologi

cally inconceivable,

inconceivable

an atmospheric deposit

taking place simultaneously upon both hemispheres, incon ceivable the creation of the mass of water needed for such a

watery covering of the whole globe, inconceivable the continued existence of the world of water animals in the intermingling

and fresh water by the Flood. For the accomplishment of these inconceivabilities, recourse must be had to miracles of
of salt

omnipotence, concerning which the narrative

is

entirely silent,

and which would be not merely unprecedented in Scripture

history,
of a miracle.

but also in direct opposition to the scriptural notion For the credible miracle invariably subserves
;

some great object in the history of redemption but what could have been the object of flooding those parts of the
world which were as yet untrodden, by the foot of man, and moreover of flooding even the summit of the Himalayas and
Cordilleras, while shoreless water the height, or something above the height, of a man would certainly suffice to kill men and land animals ? We shall see in the course of our exposi

tion that

it is

not at

all

the meaning of the narrator, that the

i.

earth was thus plunged back into the condition of the Dinn,
in

2,

which
its

it

had been enveloped

relief of hills

as

it

were

but as yet with

out

subsequent

and valleys

by the primaeval
the creation, but

waters.

The Deluge was no

correction of
all,

of the world created once for

especially of the world of

men, and of the animals associated with him for his service and pleasure. The object of the Flood was the establishment
of a

new and

better race of

men by means
It

of the extermination

of the incorrigible old race.

was

sufficient for the effecting

of a radical cure that the district in

which the race had then

This district of the spread should be placed under water. dissemination of men was also their geographical horizon, it

was

for

them

"

the whole

earth."

The narrator

is

reproducing

an ancient tradition, which must be understood in the spirit of those from whom it proceeded. The circumstances of the

THE TWO INTERWOVEN ACCOUNTS OF THE FLOOD.

249

Edward Suess
portion
of

Deluge have as yet been better represented by no one than by in a geological study of them which forms a
his

great

work, Das Antlitz

der Erde

(printed

separately, 1883).

By combining

the scriptural and

1.

Baby

lonian accounts, he obtains the following results:

That the

event began at the Lower Euphrates, and was combined with an extensive and devastating overflooding of the Mesopotamian

That a considerable earthquake in the region of the Persian Gulf, or running laterally from it, and preceded by
lowlands.
2.

several slighter shocks,

was the chief

occasion.

3.

That prob

ably during the period of the most violent shocks from the Persian Gulf, a cyclone (a whirlwind) set in from the south.

A flood caused merely by rain would have carried the ark from the Lower Euphrates into the sea the earthquake and cyclone were the reason that it was driven from the sea land
;

wards towards the

falls of
it

the river, until

(i.e.

according to the

was stranded on those miocene (midBabylonian account) tertiary) hills which form the northern and north-eastern
boundary of the lowlands
the lesser Zab.
of the Tigris

beyond the mouth of

That the history of the Flood in its present form is com posed of two closely interwoven accounts, is evident to even a
superficial

observation, from the entrance of

Noah with

his

family and the animals into the ark being related, vii. 7-9, and The tone of the language, in then a second time, vii. 13-16a.

which the entrance

is

this

second time related,

:

is

the same

as that of the Elohistic account of the Creation

as is

shown
with
2 1
;

by
s

t^r6x, the classification, beasts, cattle, creeping things

in^ri>,

m c6 and
T,

just like
i.

i.

2 5 sq.

rpD,

winged
passage

fowl, like
it

i.

like

27.

In the
;

first

is

not said
slight

ton, but ntnxrrfe ton

this is

however of but

importance.

It is of

incomparably greater, that

we

here have
is

the distinction of clean and unclean animals, which

not
is

found in the other passage.

the

Moreover, the tone of speech

a mixed one, the redactor having interposed and approximated

first

passage to the second.

From

his not

having however

250
left

THE TOLEDOTH OF NOAH.

out the Jahvistic passage, and introduced the distinction and unclean animals peculiar to it into the Elohistic
it is

of clean
one,

evident that he has proceeded with conservative scrupulosity, and has refrained from hannonistic interferences

which would obscure the

narratives.

peculiarities

of

the two different

Indubitable portions of

any other origin

vii.

is

by which all that has and surrounded, are vi. 9-22, supported

Qs

narrative,

6,

11, 13-16a, 18-21, 24,

viii.

1-5, with perhaps the

exception of 26 (7
style of this
vii.

Characteristic of the ?), 13a-19, ix. 1-17. besides what has been author, already noted from
">^?"^?

13-16a, are
sq.,

and iBarrta,

vi.

12
vi.

sq.,

17, 19,
ix.

vii.

15
ns
like

21,

viii.

17,

ix.

11,

15-17;
6,

vrni,
;

9,

comp.
7, like

12

nJttp,

vii.

19, like xvii. 2,

20

DOT, eoipso
17,
ix.

(die), vii.
i.

13,

xvii.

23,
vi.

26;

n:rn rna,

viii.

1,

28;

JYna Dj?n,

18,

ix. 9,

11, 17, like xvii. 7, 21.

But

of equal

weight with these favourite expressions, as characteristic of

this writer, are the title rnpifi
rfrtf,

vi. 9,

the preciseness every

where shown in statements

especially

the

dating of

numbers and measures, and the beginning and ending of the

of of

Deluge according
for the sons of
in

to the years

Noah s

life,

the legislation

God s

Noah, with the retrospect of man s being made image, and of his diet having been originally only of a

vegetable kind, the sympathetic prominence given to the token

of the Nbachian, as subsequently to that of the patriarchal

covenant

(ch. xvii.), the preference for

stereotyped expressions,

and the almost strophic arrangement and movement.

Indubitable portions of the narrative of

JE

are

vii.

1-5,

7-9 (with interpositions

of R), 10, 12, 166, 17,

viii.

22

sq. (not 7),

perhaps without exception),

136,

(26

f)

6-12 (perhaps not

20-22.
and

Characteristic of this
niiT,

writer are besides the

Divine name
vii.

the designation of the sexes

subjectiveness by
"W,

by ta?w W**

2,

of

human
t$\>\

viii.

21, comp.

vi.
it

the noun

(that

which

exists or consists),
vii.
?,

and with
comp.

nnD, as the expression of extermination,

4, 23,

vi.

7; the declaration of the respite with

vii. 4,

10; and

THE TWO INTERWOVEN ACCOUNTS OF THE FLOOD.

as to matter
:

251
viii.

the accentuation of inherited sinfulness,

21, comp.

vi.

5; the distinction between clean and unclean

animals, the prominence given to

first

Noah s

sacrificial altar (the

of a series, continued

xii. 8).

The boldness too

of his

anthropomorphic language concerning

this author.

God

is

characteristic of

The

analysis

is

in the

main

established, but here

and there

raises questions, the answers to which will fluctuate according to individual opinion (compare the appendix on the examina

tion of the state of analysis in

my

earlier editions of Genesis).

The observation however

that

we have
unaffected
is

in the

two accounts

different statements, not only

concerning the origin, but also

the duration of the Flood,

is

by

this fluctuation.

In the Jahvistic account, which

catastrophe takes place
7

in forty days

composed of extracts, the and passes away in

is

+ 7 + 7. On

the other hand, in the unabbreviated Elohistic

account, the time from the beginning to the end

incompar

The Flood begins on the 17th day of the ably longer. second month, and the earth is again dry on the 27th day of
the
its

second month, thus making the catastrophe last during

increase and abatement one year and eleven days.

At how

many days
there
is

the year is reckoned cannot be certainly said, as within this account but one statement of the number

of the clays, viz.

viii.

150 days

of continuous increase

(vii.

24,

not yet the place to enter into the computa 3). suffice it to say tion of the year in the Elohistic account that in one account the duration amounts to 61, or at most,
is
if

This

we reckon

a four- times repeated respite of 7 days, to 68

a year, hence at all events to

days, in the other to above

more than a lunar year

brevity
is

of

354

days.

Still

shorter

is

the

duration of the catastrophe in the Babylonian account.

This

already announced in the yevopevov rov KaraKkvcr^ov

It is

KOI evOews \ijj;avTos of Berosus.

corroborated by the

cuneiform episode of the Izdubar epic, where seven days are reckoned for the increase of the Flood, and seven more for the
resting of the vessel

upon the mountain

Nisir.

252

THE TOLEDOTH OF NOAH.

the duration of the Flood

There were therefore three different traditions concerning Q follows a different tradition from
:

JE, unless

on branding Q here as well as within the No tendency, Mosaic legislature as an inventor of history. which would have disposed him to remodel the traditional
insist

we

account,

is

here discernible.

Besides, his narrative has the

advantage over the other, which makes the Flood simply a deluge of rain, that he makes it take place, not merely through
descents from above, but also through the rising of the waters
of the deep in consequence of
this

commotions of the

earth.

To

must be added, that the points of contact with the Baby lonian account, which itself is not harmonious in all its
details, are

divided between

Q and JE.

Hence both accounts

for their root.

have the primitive legend of the Flood

And

Ur

Casdim, or at all events Harran, having been the dwellingof

Israel s

place

ancestors,

we need not assume

and

that the

Israelites

owe

their

knowledge

of the Flood to the Babylonians,

its
"

but

may

refer the legend, both in its Israelite

Baby

lonian form, to a

common

root.

The view that

first

both the

scriptural accounts of the

the captivity,

with

composed during knowledge of the Babylonian legend

"

Deluge were

(Paul Haupt, Sintfluibericht, 1881,

p.

20), in

its

defective

acquaintance with Pentateuch criticism persuades

itself of

the

pre-exilian and preimpossible. Deuteronomic is immoveably established. And even supposing that Q were not pre-exilian, and did not antedate the prophet

That the Jahvistic book

is

Ezekiel,

it

must

still

pictures of ancient times

be granted that he does not catch his from the air, but derives them from

ancient sources.

Kb hler

in his Biblische Geschiclite,

i.

59, thinks that the

Jahvistic fragments give no

sufficient support for ascribing to

this narrator a duration of the

Flood of only sixty-one or a few

the
still

more

days.

But

if

we compare

shorter duration in

The the Babylonian narrative, this is certainly his meaning. historian, whose work Genesis in its present form is, did not
share this opinion, but

made

the selections of

JE

a component

GENESIS
part of

VI.

9.

253
rain appears
as

Qs

narrative, so that the forty days of

only a

co-operating cause
first

the

height,

which the Flood

which
it

attained in the
place.

140 days

of the year in

took

TABLE OF THE HISTORY OF THE FLOOD.

The various Succession of Months.
The Sacred Year.

254
race of mankind, the

GENESIS

VI.

9, 10.

Adam,

so

to

speak,

of post-diluvian

humanity, on which account the hero of the Flood and the

first

man

are frequently confounded.

It

was,

vi. 8,

Jahv., a proof of

God s

favour that

Noah

according to survived the

is

Flood; here the correlative side, his godly life, forward, 9& : Noah was a righteous man, a perfect
his contemporaries.

brought
ni is
viii.

man among
Num.
it is

Noah walked with

God.

The name

repeated three times in ver.

19
;

9, as t&nfe* is five times,

:

the Elohistic style delights in such repetitions

plain,

circumstantial, monumental.

Following the accentuation,

.

we
. .

should not translate

Noah, a righteous man, was perfect

for then the accentuation

would be
is

vrn"D

rrn

D^n

pHtf t^K ro

but p^S has Tebir, which following, hence DVon pH

xii.

a lesser separative than the Tifcha

must be taken

together, like

Job

4 (comp.

xv. 1 2b,

and Heidenheim in
:

his Pentateuch, ru:in

*npDn, on

Num.

xix. 2)

a righteous or properly upright man,

conforming
entirely

strictly to the will of

God, perfect,
*v,

i.e.

wholly and
;

devoted to
;

God (comp.
*jJ,

to be

whole

*b

to

be

entirely devoted

whence
relatively

one devoted

= servant).

He

was not merely

upright in comparison with his from Jewish sources), but entirely so contemporaries (Jerome
in contrast to them.

The
o

plur. rrn, preferred in the priestly

vii.

Thorah

style (comp. on the contrary in,

1,

Jahv.),

means

properly circles

("in

=j^\

periods, intervals of time, here the

generation contemporary with Noah, the Nestor of his age. It is further said of Noah, that he walked with God he was

not merely a servant, but a friend of God, like Enoch,

v.

22,

24

a rare pattern of piety (Ezek. xiv.

v.
:

14, 20

comp. Heb.
three sons,

What was already said, patively, is now repeated, ver. 1

xi. 7).

32, but there only antici-

And Noah

"begat

Shem,
is

Ham, and

Jephcth.

Surrounded by these three

sons,

he

the hero of the

following history.
is

The reason The picture

for the

judgment of the Flood

according to Q,
is

also restated.

of

Noah,

followed by the picture of his age, according

GENESIS

VI. 11-13.

255
the

to the

before

same authority, ver. 11 And God, and the earth was full of
:

earth was corrupt

violence.

The earth

is

here used of

its

inhabitants,
is

men,

at

least chiefly of them.

se (for this

The

imperf. consec. fln^rn

not reflective, corruperat

the author expresses by ID-H-JIN nwn, 12&), but corrupta cst. It was corrupt DTfrNn *3B?, i.e. so as to become an abomination
to 1

God, and to
Chron.
xiii.

call

forth

His judicial interposition (comp.

(ace.

10).

DEH

according to Ges.

138. 3)

is

a&iKia, injustice and injury to the weaker, action which sub stitutes might for right and cares for no higher rule. The And Elohim saw the earth, and, behold, judicial result, ver. 12
:

it

had become

corrupt, for all flesh

""^

had corrupted

his

way upon
in
his

earth.

Perhaps in n ^J^
nxE>

"^

the narrator

may have

mind the
it

niLrruni of i. 31, the contrast

between the earth as

was

at the
is

that nnnsw
is

Notice beginning and as it had now become. 3rd praet., and that the reflective sense of the

excluded by the confirmation which follows, "^jrfe Niphal is the human race and the animal world. The natural way
of
is
life,

according to the limits and rules imposed at creation,

here called TH.

:

mediaeval

rhymed poem on the Deluge

says

Omnis caro

peccaverat
corruperat^

Viam (Vitam) suam

Homo Deum
Lex naturae

reliquerat,

perierat.

JUDGMENT DECREED, AND THE ARK ORDERED AS A MEANS OF

PRESERVATION,
VI. 13-22.

Announcement of judgment, ver. 13 Then Elohim said to Noah The end of all flesh is come before me ; for the earth is become full of violence from them, and, behold, I destroy them
:

(eos)

with the earth.

btf

KH here, and also Esth.

iii.

ix.

11,

means, like

K3, xviii. 21, Ex.

;

9, to

come

to

the

know

ledge of some one

itself

here

it

is

the judgment, which presents

unalterably incurred for the purpose of is not the being carried into execution by His resolve. Pi?,

before

God

as

256

GENESIS

VI. 14.

extremity of self-corruption (comp. TP 1% Ezek. xxi. 30), but the judgment which is to put an end to corruption. B^SD means from them, these beings living in the flesh, as the
effective cause (Ex.
viii.

20).

The

suffix of DJVnpiD

perditurum
is

eos,

refers to these beings,

is

and the

ntf

^n, en me which follows

tjflo

a prep.

There

no need

of either the alteration

(Olsh.

Stade), nor of the much more violent DH DTJWID the text as it stands is more intelligible the
:

"o

(Budde), penal de

upon corrupted upon the earth as the desecrated scene of the moral corruption. The order for the building of the ark Make thee an ark of gopheras the place of reffige, ver. 14
their way, but also
:

struction falls not only

the beings

who have

the ark consisting of cells and pitch it within and without, with pitch. The noun nrirn (perhaps from

wood, tJwu

sJialt

make

mn, a secondary formation from

niN,

to

be

convex without

and hollow within, comp.

DNfi

and DDK, n^n and

m,

nin

and

mx)
also

is

a hollow concave receptacle in various forms, so

ancient
ii.

named
Olffij,

in

Egyptian and Koptic (compare

Oifiis,

07#7, Ex.

3, 5,

LXX.), Targums
to

rn:w?, in the

Koran

tdlmt

LXX.
xi. 7),

(in the history of the Elood)

which according
initial
s

and Syr. tciftwros (Heb. Fleischer arose from rvaT) by the

*

exchange of the
Bezzenberger
(archa).

explosive
i.

(but comp. Aug. Miiller in

Beitrdgen,
of

289); Samar. n^ao, Vulg. area

xiv.

The book
and
de

Wisdom
Damasc.

has

for
r

it

o-^eBta,

Berosus
\dpval;

Nicolaus

in
c.

Josephus
12,
also the

jr\o lov
latter),

and
the

(Lucian,

Dea Syra,
Bcofjua

Sibyllines Sovpdreov

or oZ/co? (with

/a/rtaro?),

the

Arme

nian legend fiapis (ferry vessel, Kopt. bari), the BabylonioThis chest (Kasteri), as Assyrian elippu, ship (Aram. N37K).

Luther

translates, or

ark,

used in Gothic,

old

Vulgate is already and high German, Anglo - Saxon for

which

after the

Noah s
ancient
1

vessel, is

to be

made by Noah
of the

of

"iSJ"

D^JJ is in
signifies, in

Hebrew
the

the

plural

product, and

"Explosive,",

loosing of the closed the like

German scientific term for the letters produced by the mouth accompanied by a slight explosion, such as t, v, and

GENESIS
distinction

VI. 15.

237
123

from

ftf,

wood, in

its

use.

(related

to

Lagarde the Persian yvyird, sulphur, arose from the old Bactrian whukereti} denotes a resinous iirsulphur, as according to

perhaps the stem-wood of rcvTrapLaaos, was from the cuprcssus; the cypress (afterwards 3^3, nnn) used by lightness of its wood and its resistance to corruption
tree (Com/era),

and

is

by Alexander the Great, Arriaii, vii. 19) for ship-building, and by the Egyptians for mummyHe was coffins (ancient Egyptian, teb, chest, sarcophagus).
the

Phoenicians

(as

also

further

to

make

the

ark

O^i? (originally,

according to Olsh.
,

Lagarde, Budde, probably D^p D^p; Philo Armen. loculos loculos)

i.e.

139. 2) so as to consist of separate nests rooms, (Ges. to is And he and divided into such. to be cells, pitch it, iB33 (see on the art. as comprising the species, Ges. 109,
note 16),
is
i.e.

pitch,
NriEi,

and that not properly vegetable

pitch,
G-"

which
(also

called HBT

but mineral pitch or asphalt, Arab.

(Lagarde, Onomastica,
"ion,

.), Aram.

N^s

ii.

95), Assyr. kupru

or iddu, elsewhere

xiv.

10.
"133

-i3 as derived from the

noun

Dillmann regards the verb (comp. Mishna n_J fromnsT)

"1S3

but as the verb

trary to have
of

~iD3

means

to cover,

seems on the con

come from

ISD, in the

meaning covering, means

measurements,
three

covering (comp. Deckfarlen, covering-colour). Appointed ver. 15: And this is how thou shalt make it:

hundred

dibits the length of the ark, fifty dibits its breadth,

and

thirty dibits its height.

The

style is the

same

as at the

preparation of the sacred vessels, Ex. xxv. 10 and onwards.

The cubits

are

ordinary

cubits,

i.e.

(according

to

Mishnic

tradition), six

mahe,
ringer,

is

handbreadths long; n^s, Assyr. ammatu, /Egypt. the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle
iii.

Dent.

11, properly the fore-arm, from cos,

J; hut
\

this

denied by Fried. Delitzsch, who awards to the stemword the meaning, to be broad, spacious. That the cubit is
is

here

reckoned
s closing

at

six

handbreadths

(not

at

seven,

as

in

Ezekiel

visions) is shown by Lepsius investigations concerning the Babylonio- Assyrian measures of length (1877),

258

GENESIS

vr. IG.

according to which the ancient Sumerian cubit was divided

into
6
parts,

the Babylonio-Semitic into 6

hands

=6x5

centimetres the sexagesimal system every 2^Philo remarks that the measurements of the where prevailing. ark were the magnified measurements of a man lying down, who is ten times longer than he is high, and six times longer
fingers

=5

than he

is

broad.

It

was an enormous
c.

colossus,

/a/3a>ro?

aXXo/coro?, as Celsus (Origen,

calls
it,

Celsus, iv.

41) contemptuously

five

times longer and more than twice broader than

temple of Solomon, with a surface of 15,000 square Peter Jansen, cubits, and cubic contents of 450,000 cubits.
the
a

Dutchman,
scale,

built in

1604

a ship
to

of like

proportions on a

reduced
gress,

which was found

s

be

little

indeed

but of extraordinary carrying power. called n*3X or ap, nor elippu, as in

"3

adapted for pro The ark is not

the
it

no

less
;

ancient Babylonian account, which accordingly gives

it

a pilot

was a travelling house closed at the top, its floor a wellcompacted raft; it was not to be rowed, steered or sailed, but The measurements only to float without being overturned.
;

cuneiform narrative according to Alex ander Polyhistor s reproduction of the legend, the vessel of Xisuthros was fifteen bowshots long and two broad, which is The opening for light and internal arrangement, fictitious.
are illegible in the
ver.

16

window

shalt thou

make in

the
it

ark,

and

to

the

amount of a

dibit shalt thou entirely

form

from above; and

a door of the ark shalt thou place in its side ; of a lower storey, a second storey, and a third storey thou shalt make it consisting.
"ins

(here

used as

fern,

like

njj)

does

not
A;,

mean
back),

the

roof
is

(Schult.

Ewald and
viii.

others after the Arab.

which

called ficop,

13, the word

means the
;

lighting, here

an open

space for the

is

called Ji?n

admission of light a window that can be closed viii. 6. Jahv. Wellhausen, with the concurrence
relegates the difficult sentence,
verse, so
it

of

Budde and Eiehm,

}

najoxi

n^pn

to the

end of the

as

to

make

it

refer to the

ark as a whole.

But how did

get thence into the middle

GENESIS
of the]yerse

VI.

17.

251)

not that the opening for light was to be so contrived, that the space of a cubit should be
?

The sense

is

from the roof (Knobel, Keil), for it may be presumed that nft&OS is a measurement referring to the opening for
left

light.

Nor can a

single such opening of a cubit square be

here intended (Jerome, Luth. Tuch), for the animals could

not be housed continually in the dark while

chamber had

light.

We
and

only Noah s must, with Dillm., conceive of the

window
i.e.

as extending along every side of the ark downwards,

roof,

under the
it

this the expression

"

w^ri,

thou shalt

make
Ges.
xvii.

throughout, shalt

indicate.

Nor does
his

make it notr^K mean

to

entirely,

seems chosen to

as far as to a cubit, but as

in

Thesaurus explains by comparison with Josh,

the
proportion,
for light
i.e.

ad ulnam, according
;

at the

rate

of a cubit

hence

an opening
one of

running round

and only interrupted by the

of

rafters of the roof, of the height

its

a cubit.
is

ark

long side walls, the to have a door, arid to contain within three storeys
its

At

side,

i.e.

lying over each other

we need not complete the three plurals with D^p, they are neutrally used (LXX. Ka-rd^aia, iwpo$a /cai Tpiwpocfia). What is next to be expected on the part of And I, behold, I briny the water flood upon the God, ver. 17
;
:

earth, to

destroy all flesh, in which is the breath of

;

life,

from
That
the

lender heaven

everything which
"^

is

on the earth shall

die.

the abbreviated

preponderates in the style of

Q above

original 3JK, is a fact ascertained

a statement of

1 by Driver, and secured by the true proportion against exaggeration. In

the combination

nan

however, the language has always

the
peculiarly formed sentence, Jer.
D)O

(with the exception of

vii.

in

11) one notion, so that either this

:

preferred ^K.

The accentuation connects

is

hasn

apposition instead of
consisting of
a
water,

annexation
or

iiood, waters,

i.e.

the

flood

D B

{>nD

belong

to

each

other

in

genitive
It is
"

relation,

and the
1

article

applies to
"Linguistic

the joint notion.

Affinities of the Eloliist

however
xi.

See his article,

(vol.

of the

Journal of Philoloyy],

p. 224.

260
suggested,
differently

GENESIS

VI. 17.

especially

with

regard

to

vii.

6,

to

ac Sntuate

and

of the ancient

pKfrfe ^3D (Dillm. Budde and

should be DJD
is
still,

to take

DVD as added in explanation

others).

The con
D. Mich.,
of the sea

jecture that

it

instead of D?p (J.

;

and recently Suess) would be welcome

;

ingenious

the mention

to derive the flood

from a landward

overflow of the sea would be to take but a partial view, while if the sea were regarded as a co-operating cause, this would

not have been expressed by a single word. If however we combine D D Vottn (like rumn, the Byssus-coat," Ex.

"

xxviii.

39, xxxix.

27,

and indeed

also

n rvnn jYiKn,

"the

Jahveh
or D

Ark of the covenant," Josh. iii. 17; Ew. 290^), D pxrrby, then the derivation of 7te, which consequently requires some nearer definition or gloss, from ^33 in the
Assyrian

meaning

to

destroy,

ncibultu, corpse (Friedr. Delitzsch,

whence noMu, destruction, Hebrew Language, 67, 143),

of

the same formation as

itself;

Jfl2O

mends
wave

especially since,
11

from JH^ nvnp from rnj, com even supposing the meanings to
Hn, Ps.
xcii.
1

to flow (in

and

to water (^u,

II),

suit

the root ^3,

we
;

do not even then attain to the meaning inunda

while on the other hand, according to the other
catastrophe
as a
rcara-

tion for iuio

derivation, buD denotes some natural calamity or in general, which is more nearly defined by D^D
Xuo-yLto5.

It has

become mamul

in Syriac, but the supposition

that the

Hebrew ^D is formed from the Assyrian dbubu (the usual name of the Flood) is too far-fetched (Haupt in the excursus to Schrader s KAT.}? D^.n mi breath of life, com;
1

The meaning

According to

"Wetzstein,

to water seems to pass over into the meaning to fertilize. p^Q is the month in which the young progenies of the

flock is Lorn, from

pU=XPi

to fertilize,

whence
;

also 72^ designates the

ram
the

as jjj

*)

does the rain as the fertilizing agent

*AJi L^^ij*Ajl means

sheep desire the ram.

2

The

existence

of a

7H" ,

jjj, to flow, to wave,

is

disputed by Friedr.

The different views concerning the origin and Delitzsch, Proleg. pp. 122-125. meaning of the Assyrian name for the Flood, abtibu, are discussed by Haupt in Suess, p. 70 sq., and he confirms his own views in Hebraica, i. 3 (Chicago
1885), p. 180.

GENESIS
prises, like vii. 15,

VI.

18-20.

261
;

human and animal

it

hand,
13,

vii.

22, where

is

comp. on the other used specially of men. y\*, root

life

means the

collapse of death

(like

cU-, the collapse of the

as

stomach).

pS3

has

the

same meaning
is

nmm,

vii.

22

the animal world of the waters

excluded.

The covenant

and

its

obligation, ver.
:

18

And I

will establish

my

covenant

with thce

and tlwu

shall go into the ark, llwu

the

and thy wife and

reading
as
J"P"}21

D s pn is in

and thy children wives of thy children with thee. The the Elohistic style of the same meaning
the former however comprises the

nnn ma

in the Jahvistic;

maintenance as well as the institution of the covenant, the

latter
ch. xv.

only the initiative.

It is

On

the origin of rma, see rem. on

to the

the

name given
to

mutual relation entered

into

by two equals, or advance to the lower.

one in which the higher makes the Into such a covenant relation does

God now

enter with Noah, a relation based upon the gracious condescension which, since sin entered the world, has aimed
at raising

mankind from the

fall.

The covenant

consists in

hand preserving Noah through the Flood, and on the other expecting obedience to His orders. The covenant

God on

the one

will also profit

Noah s

belongings, and he becomes to

them a

mediator of the preservation for the effecting of which as a party to the covenant makes Himself responsible.
see

God

We

from ^ft&M that Noah had only one wife, and had thus remained faithful in marriage also to the will of its institutor.
Preservation
living thing into the

of

the

animals,

vv.

19,

20
sort thee

And

of every
briny

of all flesh, two

to

of

ever?/

shalt
;

tltou

ark,

keep (them) alive with

le.

a male and a
its

female shall they

of the
earth
cattle

Of
its

the

fowl each after

hind,

and

of every creeping thing of the two kind, after of every kind shall come in unto thee, to keep (them) alive. Only here is nn so pointed and not nn, as e.g. Ex. xxi. 35, according to Ileidenheim to
after

kind,

its

distinguish

nrt

as

substantive
article)

The nb rrbsD (without an

an adjective. following upon Tirr^oi shows

as

from

262
itself to

GENESIS

VI. 21.

be a subordinate partition, and therefore equivalent

genitive.
;

to

classifying

The

self-evident

object

is

both

times absent after n*nr6

side the Pentateuch,
e.g.

comp. on xxxvii. 15, 17, and out

Jer. vii. 29.

The provisioning,
food for
thee

ver.

21

And
them.

thou, take unto thce of all kinds of food that is eaten,

to

and

(father it

thce
inf.

and

it

shall be for

and for

The

"??#

always occurs only combined with h of

xii. 9,

the purpose, and except Jer.

of that to
"

always also with the dative

is
"

which the thing named

and ^f?-3
Since
all
"

given to eat (comp. ?bK7,

is

to

eat,"

for food
")

a thing

particular
(Driver).

occasion,

it

is

given

??

for

a
of

given fe^ on a continuance

"

the

scriptural

account

the

Creation

subsequent (which firmly maintained in opposition to Eeusch, Bibel und Natur, 1876, p. 322), the question, how the numerous animals and

excludes

creation

must be

whole year could find room in the ark, is simply unanswerable, if the Flood is regarded as absolutely universal and not as only so far universal as to have carried
their food for a
off the

whole of the then existing race of mankind, as Isaac

Voss, so early as

humanum

periisse,

1659, judges, diluvio quidem totum genus non tamen aquis cataclysmi universum terrce

It is now acknowledged that the alobum fuisse dbrutum. Flood in this latter kind of universality cannot be proved by
fossil

remains, these

all

of the earth s formation.

belonging to the prehistoric epochs The Flood buried only men and a

portion of

the animal world, nor can

we hope
perished,

to

discover

bones

of

the

creatures
of

who then

such

bones

having in the course

soil

centuries undergone in

the upper

the process of decomposition. Besides, the region of the dissemination of the human race was then still a limited one,

and consequently the destruction of the animal world was also ]^"oah a limited one. preserved in the ark the animal world

by which he was surrounded, and

indeed, since fish and the

smaller creeping animals p.P are not spoken of, those animals which were, by means of some nearer relation, within the

range of

his

own knowledge.

Even

if

the

Flood were

GENESIS
regarded, as
versal,

VII. 1-3.

263
as absolutely

by Keerl, Keil and

others,

uni

we

could nevertheless only understand this universality

mean, that no part of the earth was entirely spared, and not that the whole surface of the earth was so inundated that
so to
its

entire animal world

was drowned.

For nothing

is

said after

the Flood of completion by a subsequent creation, nor of any Besides, a miracle preservation of the animals by a miracle.

does indeed

effect

what

is

naturally
of

impossible,

but

still

always by making

the laws

nature subservient by force,

The command carried not by capriciously abolishing them. And Noah did (it), according to all that into effect, ver. 22
:

Elohim commanded, so did he. literally the same as Ex. xl. 1C

In the Elohistic
;

style,
v. 4,

and

comp.

Num.

i.

54,

and

elsewhere, with only the change of the Divine name.

THE DIRECTION TO ENTER, AND THE ENTRANCE INTO THE ARK,

VII. 1-9.

Now
mixed
said to

follows a Jahvistic extract, which

6,

is

however

inter

rupted by the Elohistic ver.

character.

and

is

thence to ver. 9 of a
:

The summons
all

to enter, ver. 1

And

Jahveh

Noah
seen

Go thou and

thy house into the ark } for thcc

have

righteous

before

me

in

this

generation.

This

narrator does not care, like the other, to mention the three

sons of
also

Noah by name, nor does he use the plur. of iH Here Noah appears as the righteous one, whom God has

distinguished above all his contemporaries,

heart recognising in

He who

sees the

him

a righteousness valid before Himself.

P^V

is

an

accusative
:

predicate.

The

preservation

of

the

animals, vv. 2, 3

seven each, the male

Of and and

every clean least thou shalt take to thee

his

female

clean two, the male

seven each, male
the whole earth.

his female.
to

and of cattle that is not Also of the fowl of heaven

and female,

keep seed alive upon the face of

It is the Jalivist himself,

who

in the case of
to

the birds, between

whom we
in

are

not accustomed

make
e.g.

distinctions of sex as

the case of four-footed beasts,

264
cow and
ox, uses

GENESIS

VII. 4,

5.

nr^

"9J

instead of
is

taEW

C^tf.

The

distinc

tion of clean

brought forward with an Instead eye to the thank-offering to be subsequently related. of nxptpn (which is purposely avoided, because the question
not of fitness for eating, but of fitness or unfitness for rn ntp *O N sacrifice) it is said with syntactical correctness
here
is
:
")

and unclean animals

Nin,

with xin
a

last, like

Deut. xx. 15
clause

Kings

ix.

20
as

only
ix,

in

positive

relative
;

does Kin precede,

3.

Whether njn^ nsn& means seven individuals

(Ivnobel,

or seven pairs

Schrader, Dillinann)
of itself
for

is

an old matter of dispute,

D^B>,

nw

njnc>

And by twos. crowd the ark

animals
?

means by sevens, as DTt? 9 a, means what purpose should Noah have had to
seven pairs
of

with

clean

(i.e.

sacrificial)

It

three pairs

more probable that seven heads, and so with one head over, and meant for sacrifice, are
is

intended.
y"].!

^T

?} i- r

For the chief purpose of their preservation was to secure the continuance and dissemination of
(here

the

animals

the

1 iel,

as

at

vi.

19

sq.

the

Hiph.).

Announcement
For in

of the

imminence
cause
it to
l>lot

of the judgment, ver.

yet seven days,

rain upon the earth forty

days and forty nights, and I I have made, from the face of
here, as
at

out everything existing, that

the earth.

The temporal
to

i?

is

Ex.

viii.

19, that of

direction,

the

stated

time of a future limit.

27

sq.

The noun

Dip

1
.

Seven days are a week, VlW, xxix. (with the preformative ja, which is
=ja-Jcvum) means continuance,

also the pref. of the imperf. Qip}

subsistence, and concretely anything subsisting (comp. Syr

&WOP, hypostasis, person, perhaps transposed from NDlpj), always Deut. xi. 6, in the combination Dlp?rrp3 (besides here, vii. 23
;

hence Jahvistico-Deuteronomic). And Noah did according ver. 5

:

to

The preservation effected, all that Jahveh commanded

vi.

him.

This Jahvistic counterpart to

22
v.

is

followed by ver.
:

6,

pointing back to the round numbers of

six

32

And Noah

was

hundred years old and

the flood legan, waters over the earth.

In the 500th year of his life Noah first became a father, in the GO Oth he entered the ark with his sons. The verb rrn has

GENESIS
here as at ver. 10
its

VII. 7-11.

265
The
as at

original meaning, accidit, cxstitit.

:

suffix stands first in 1

both members of the sentence

it is

syntactic scheme for the expression of Kings D VP appears here, 314c^. the contemporaneous, Ew. H??"^
xiv. 17, the

contrary to
tion
to

vi.

17, more decidedly as an explanatory apposi

hln.
in,

Noah went
Of

The entrance accomplished, vv. 7-9 And and his sons and Ids wife, and the wives of
:

Ids sons with him, into

the

ark lefore the u atcrs of the flood.

not clean

clean cattle

and of

cattle that is

and of fowl and

each went in
as

of everything that creeps upon the earth.

Two

Noah in the ark, male and commanded Noah. These are the
unto
origin
D*JB>

female,
three

Elohim had
of

verses

mixed
9 sq.

D^B>

is

related harmonistically to both

vi. 1

and

vii.

2 sq.

the animals were admitted by pairs without

of heads.

regard to the

number

THE FLOOD AND THE PRESERVATION OF NOAH AND HIS FAMILY,

VII.

10-VIIL

14.

purely Jahvistic section begins with ver. 10: And it came to 2iass after the seven days, and the waters of the flood
were upon the earth
the days,

when

this

more accurately about the seventh of respite that had been granted had elapsed.
;
:

Here

too (comp. Josh.

iii.

3) the

two members

of the sentence

stand in co-ordination, which declares that the second coincides

with the

first.

The

precise Elohistic date of the beginning of the

Flood follows in
life,

ver.

11

In

the sixth

in the second month, on the

hundredth year of Noahs seventeenth day of the month, on

the foundations of the or eat deep were broken and heaven were opened. It is a question whether the enumeration of the months begins from Nisan, the month of
this

day

all

the sluices of

the ecclesiastical year nearest to the vernal equinox (Ideler,

Tuch, Lepsius, Friedr. Delitzsch), or from Tishri, the month of

the agricultural or civil year nearest to the autumnal equinox

(Kn. Ew. Dillm.). This latter might also be called the natural year, because seed-time, which begins in Tishri, is a more

2G6
natural

GENESIS

VII. 11.

with Nisan.
area
is

commencement of the year than harvest, which begins The answer will vary accordingly as the spring
xii.

regarded as a Mosaic institution (in virtue of Ex.

2)

or considered (in opposition to the testimony of the

PC)

as one

subsequently adopted under the influence of the Babylonians If the spring (Wellhausen, Prolegomena, 3rd ed. p. 110). jera is an institution of Moses with regard to the ecclesiastical
year, according
xiii. 4, xxiii.

to
is

which the spring month S Qsn cnh (Ex.

the

it is

first month after the sera of the exodus, 15) an obvious assumption that in the history of the Flood the

months were not yet reckoned according to the period of the departure from Egypt, but according to the more ancient
it is for this that we decide with Josephus In the legislation too we here and there perceive that the national year began with Tishri for according

autumnal

tera.

And

and the Talmud.

to Ex. xxiii. 16, xxxiv. 22, the Feast of Tabernacles, or of the

close of harvest, is to be celebrated at the turn or

year.

end of the

And

if

the second

month

is

not the second from Nisan

yoj, (Babyl. Nisdnu, according to Friedr. Delitzsch from nim to break up, to depart, to begin), and so Ijjar, but the second

from Tishri (which, according to Fr. Delitzsch, bears this name as the beginning of the second half of the year), and so Marcheshvan (distorted from the Babyl. arali samna, the eighth month, i.e. from Nisan), the commencement of the Flood will
fall

in the

month hn, which

vi.

is

Marcheshvan, 1 Kings
its

38.
a

Hebrew name This latter month offers,

the
old

of as

name already commencement of

declares,

natural

starting-point for the

the Flood, for the second half of October

is

till

about the middle of November

s

the period of the begin

ning of the early rain (n~n

of the

or

i"nto),

which

fell

near the time

soil

autumnal equinox, and which by moistening the

Ps. xcii. 11)

(^n-Wa,

made

the retailing of the fields practicable.

These reasons are not outweighed by the statement of Alex1

morning (not evening and evening)

calendar.

In the history of the creation also the definition of the days by morning and differs from the subsequent ecclesiastical

GENESIS

VII. 11.

267

ander Polyhistor, that according to the announcement made to Xisuthros, the Flood was to begin on the loth Daesios (Eusebii Chron. col. 1 9, eel. Schoene). Daesios is the Macedonian

month corresponding with the Babyl. Sivan (simdnu), the

Euphrates reaches

third

from Xisan, about our June, in which the overflowing of the

its greatest height (see Piiehm, HW. p. 414), But while the Tigris also overflows its banks somewhat later. this periodical overflowing of the two rivers, in consequence of

the rush of water from the

Armenian high

land,

is

nowhere
and

brought forth in the accounts of the Flood as

factor.

a co-operating

The Flood was, according

to
Q,

to J, the effect of rain,

rain,

accompanied by the and the the of ground rushing of water from the breaking up a phenomenon which characteristically accompanies deep
convulsions of the earth in the alluvial districts of great rivers nin Dinn is especially used of the sea, Isa. li. 10, (Suess).
lying below the level of the land, Ex. xx. 4, Deut.
v.
iv.

was according

besides the

18,

8, including however all the waters that irrigate and fertilize the earth from beneath, xlix. 25, Deut. xxxiii. 13,

Amos
earth

vii.

4,

in

which passages the

Ps. xxiv.
2,

Dinn,
6,

upon which the

viii.

is

founded,
of

cxxxvi.

appears separately.

The

rri^yrp

the

great

deep (comp. Prov.

28

Job

xxxviii.

1G)

are its

assumed subterraneous

centres,

whence

the sea and

all visible

bodies of water are fed.

These subter

while at the same time the

ranean stores of water broke forth through the rent O ground, O ri-HK were The opened.

DWn

noun
of a

rant*

firmly into

it

means something closed by means of another fitting (mx V m) in the first place, a window consisting
:

wooden

lattice

here,

where masses
it is

of

water are kept back

"

by

it,

and pour forth when

Ps.
Ixxviii. 23),
it

heaven,"

is

the doors of opened (comp. used of sluices that can be

The LXX. has KarappdicTai, a word which combines the meanings of waterfalls, trap-doors, and sluices. It was by a co-operation of subterranean and celestial forces, which
closed.

broke through the restraints placed upon the waters on the second and third days of creation, that the Deluge was brought

GENESIS
to pass.
ver.

VII. 12-lfi.

The Jahvistic statement

:

of the duration of the rain,

the earth forty

12

And

the rainfall

came down upon

to
this,

days

and forty

According but comp. on the other hand ver. 24, viii. 2. In the context however, as we have it, we must understand the
nights.
;

the sluices were closed

after forty days

rainfall

Entrance into the with which the catastrophe began. to this same ver. 13: On ark, according Q, day did Noah

(jo,

and Shcm and flam

wife,

and

Ja.pheth,

the

sons

of Noah,
ark.

and Noalis

and

his sons

wives with them,

into the

took place during the seven days According In the present connection N2 must be understood in respite.
to J, the entrance

a pluperfect sense
forty
after

hoc ipso die, viz.

on the

first

day

of

the

the seven

had elapsed,

vii. 4.

Instead

of

avrov.
vv.

(with their husbands), the LXX. has the more significant The animals who went in with Noah, according to Q,

14 16ft: They, and every beast after its kind, and all after their kind, and every creeping thing that crcepctli the earth after its kind, and every fowl after its ki)id upon
cattle

every kind of bird, every kind of winged creature.

And

went

in unto

Noah

into the ark two each of all flesh, in which is

the breath of

life.

And

they that went in, went in male

and

female of every kind of flesh, as Elohim had commanded him. The history is not tired of repeating that the animals were
not forgotten the Divine forbearance in the midst of wrath was manifested upon them also. Here for the first time in
;

the account of the Flood are the wild beasts (njn) also named,

which hitherto
quently
outside

(as

in

Deut. xxviii. 26, xxxii. 24, and

fre
pv??.

the

Pentateuch) W ere
7

included
:

in

Winged animals
"iisy

too are carefully specialized

"lay,

every kind of
*)>*,

to pipe, V ejv, whence to (from nav, Palest. ^i^, kind of combination in borrowed Ezek. ^55 (a chirp), every

xxxix. 4), which will also comprise

e.g.

locusts, in

which sense

Samar. here and elsewhere translates cpy and iiav by It is significantly added kamas (kamasa = fcttl&p, locusts). It is certainly from J, 16&: And Jahveh shut behind him.
the

with intention that the mrv of the original document

is

left

GENESIS
unaltered.

VII. 17-20.

269

This shutting in was an act of condescending kindness, fyiKavOponria, a proof of love on the part of God,

who

is

thus interested in the matter,

ftya, in its first

meanin,

behind him (gone, like &&,

the closed door.

$)ost),

so that he

was secure behind

interweaving of the two documents now describes how the ark floated, kept up in safety upon the waters, while all

An

around every living creature on the solid earth was destroyed. We dispense with the attempt to disentangle the web it said 17& is Elohistically repeated is certain that what is
;

ver. 18,
1*7 a

and that
ver.

it

proceeds Elohistically as far as ver.

21.

and
ver.

22

are doubtful.

But

ver.

23

is

certainly

s,

and

24 Q s.

The description
the flood

is

model of majestic
the earth,
it

simplicity and sublime beauty without any artificial means,

v v. 1 7-2
the waters

And

increased
earth.

and

was forty days upon lifted up the ark, and

waters prevailed,
the

and

floated high

above
greatly
waters.

the

And

the

and

increased
the

upon

the earth,

and

ark went upon the face of

the wlwle

And

the

waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth,

and

all

the higli

mountains that were under

did, the

heaven

were covered.
the

and upwards mountains were covered. The tautologies of the account

Fifteen cubits

waters prevail,

as

it lies

before us portray the fearful

of waters,

bounded expanse
safely

monotony of the un and the place of refuge floating

upon

it,

The
is

forty days are the

though surrounded by the horrors of death. above-named forty days of rain, IND *1N
xvii. 2, 6,

E>

an ancient superlative, which beside

isolate

20, Ex.

i.

7,

Num. If we

xiv. 7, only occurs twice in Ezekiel

the statement, ver.

its

and twice in Kings. of the 19, height to which

it

the Flood rose from

context,

we must,

seems, conceive of

Chimborazo, Davalagiri and all the highest summits of the earth as submerged. But the statement is to be understood in the

same manner

when it is said, Deut. ii. 25, that God is shortly about to spread terror among all the peoples that are under the whole heavens (comp. with the expression, Deut. iv. 1 9
as
;

270
Acts
(as
ii.

GENESIS
5), or

VII. 2L-23.

when, according to
all

xli.

57,
to

"the

whole earth
to

"

we should say
according
to

the world)
x.

came

Egypt

buy
x.

corn,

or

Kings

24, to
St.

Jerusalem to hear the

wisdom

of Solomon, or as

when
is

Paul

says,
yrjv,

Rom.
and
i.

18,
that

that the gospel has sounded et? iraa-av rrjv

8,

the faith of the

Roman Church
is

spoken of ev o\w

ru>

AJOCT/^W.

The statement here made

limited in accordance with

its

date by the fact, that it must be understood according to the extent of the ancient geographical horizon, and in accordance

with the context by ver. 20, in which the fifteen cubits can only be an average statement from a certain standpoint. The
ju-k
its

drew about

fifteen cubits of

water, hence at the time of

stranding the waters which were then beginning to fall still covered the mountain, on which it stranded, to the height of
It

has been asserted that a partial flood, rising fifteen cubits above only moderately high mountains, is But the Flood was not caused only by rain from nonsense.

about fifteen cubits.

above, but at the same time by the influx from beneath

con

sequently the waters could, just where the extermination of

the

numerous population who would have fled to the moun tains was to be effected, stand at such a height, without
reaching a similar height elsewhere or uniformly covering the The narrator has with increasing effect described whole earth.
the Flood as

ascending higher and higher, we now hear how And all everything living was buried beneath it, vv. 21-23
:

flesh that

moved upon

the earth died, of birds

of least

and of

all

small animals that

nostrils
lives

and of cattle and swarm upon the earth,

the
the

and

all

men

all

in ivhose

was
on

breath

of the
died.

inspiration

of

life, all

whatever

dry land,

And He destroyed, everything existing upon the face from man to cattle, to creeping thing and to the
heaven
;

of the earth,

fowl of

the

and

they were destroyed

was

left,

and
"

they that were with

from him

the earth,

in the ark.

and Noah only While the

"

is not all that was under the whole heaven expression Elohistic, but Deuteronomic and therefore Jahvistic (Deut. ii.

25,

iv.

19), the Elohistic style

is

distinguished in ver. 21 by

GENESIS
the

VIII.

1.

271

2,

which

specializes the
viii.

contents, comp.
IIos. iv. 3).

On
7,

17, ix. the other hand, 2

;

whole according to its several 2 Num. iv. 16 (and indeed also

s

*n

nn

n?pE 3, ver. 22, points

back to

word

for

from which place onwards HDBO is the usual the self-conscious human spirit, n:nn too (a synonym
ii.

of n ^_), like Ex. xiv. 21, harmonizes with the Jahvistic tone,

while the partitive ?2, quodcungue, is, as shown by vi. 2, at In ver. 23 the reading is not, least not opposed to it.

Masorah, nw], impf. apoc. Niph. (passive with an accus. of the object), but HD*I, impf. apoc. Kal, whence the form is accentuated as Mild, not like the Niph., Ps. cix.
according
13, comp.
Isa.
xlvii.

to

the

3,

as

Milra.

"^B

n,

to

be

left

over,
x.

especially in catastrophes, xiv.

10, Ex. xiv. 23, Dan.

8,

has here the same meaning as in the subsequent national Isa. iv. 3 or nnst: (parall. comp. i. Zeph. ii. 9, from
;
">{V,

">St?

"info,

8).
:

Duration of the increase of the Flood, according to Q, ver. 24 And the untcrs prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty
days.
Cli.
viii.

1-5

now

relates

the

turn

of the

Flood from

increasing to abating
It is

till

the tops of the mountains were seen.

viii.

beyond doubt that

la, 2a, 35-5, belong to

Q ; nor

is

there any adequate reason for denying

Ib,

him

the authorship of 12, and oa also

but 2b reads like a continuation of

to

vii.

seems
from

be a statement of the gradual abatement entered

J.

Noah, and
the ark,

The turning-point, viii. 1 Then Elohim remembered all the beasts and all the cattle that were with him in
:

and Elohim made a wind

to

pass over the earth, and the

i.e.

waters abated.

God remembered Noah,

did not forget

(like xix. 29, xxx.

22, Ex.

ii.

24, everywhere with the Divine

name

DTita)

He

showed that

He

him (and

his),

and the animals

confined with him.

the waters rose;
to effect their

When

the wrath of the Judge prevailed

now

grace and faithfulness to promise began

work
"pn.

of deliverance,

and the waters abated,

*pL*

related to nnt?,

The wind, which everywhere

in Scripture

appears as the

power

which

elementary appearance of that creative pervades the world of nature, stands first
first

272
as

GENESIS
cause.

VIII. 2-4.

an intermediate

Simultaneous
ver. 2
:

cessation

of

the
of rain

influxes from beneath

the

and above,

And the foundation

closed,

deep,

and

the

sluices

of heaven, were

and

the

from heaven was restrained. Contrasts to vii. lib, 12, and in Continuance of the decrease, ver. 3 And the the same order.
:

waters retreated from the earth in a continual retreat, and decreased

after the lapse of

a hundred and

fifty days.

The gerund
of
increase.

:JvH,

cundo, designates the continuance of the retreat, as at ver. 5

that of

abatement, and

xxvi.

13 that

nxjp

(always with an undageshed p) means from the end of a period onwards, hence after its lapse it is of like meaning with pgp,
;

ver.

6,

iv.

3.

After the lapse of a hundred and

fifty days,

during which the water had, according to vii. 24, increased, it The hundred and fifty days extend from the seven abated.
teenth day of the second month, on which the Flood commenced, to the seventeenth day of the seventh month, on which the ark
stranded, ver. 4
the seventeenth
:

And
is

the

ark rested in the seventh month, on on the mountains of Ararat.

day

of the month, the

The name BTIK

Urartu.

name
of

It is the

name

of a country, like the Assyr. the country to which the sons of of

li.

Sennacherib
xix.

fled after the

is

murder

their

father,

Kings

37, and
;

mentioned, Jer.

27, together with

^Q

(Armenia)

it is

undoubtedly the East- Armenian province of

Araratia in the plain of the Araxes at the foot of Taurus (Jer.

on

contrary translate

Armenian Airarat. The Targums on the ims, the land of the mp, i.e. Korduene (Karduchia), on the left bank of the Upper Tigris as far as to the Zab so do the Syrians (Pesh. on viii. 4, Isa. xxxvii. 38, and
Isa. xxxvii. 38),
;

Ephrern) and the Moslems, who designate Gebel Gudi south west of Van-See as the landing-place of Noah. Berosus too,
in Joseph. Ant.
i.

3.

6,

Eusebius and Epiphanius name the

Gordyaian mountains.
differently.

The Babylonian legend again speaks

this,

According to

Hasisadra

vessel

stranded

upon the mountain Nisir, which, like IDTIK nn, is the same as mountain in the land of Nisir and this, according to an
;

inscription of Asurnasirpal,

must be sought

east of the Tigris

GENESIS

VIII.

4.

2/3
locality

beyond the lower Zab.

are
interesting, the

Both these statements of

the

former of

land

of

Kardu, nearly

dcs

the present Boktan (see Noldeke, Untersucliungen zur Kritik A. T. p. 150); the latter, which regards the mountain
(according
to

Xisir

Suess,

p.

27, one of the spurs

1

of the

Tigris lowland) as the

mountain where the ark landed.

Eastern

The
the

Scripture tradition leads to

Armenia.

"

Upon

mountains
plural, xix.

of

Ararat

"

is,

according to
7,

a similar use of the

29, Judg.

xii.

the same as upon one of the

mountains

of this country.

It is not necessary, but still very

obvious, to think of the Ararat chain rising in two high peaks

above the plain of the Araxes.

this chain, for the

Tradition also

adheres to

place

of
i.

descent from the ark was called,

3. 5, aTroftarripiov
;

according to Joseph. Ant. primus dcscensus, is the

and

this,

viz.

signification

of

.Nachitshevan

(in

Ptolema3us Naxuana), the ancient city on the east side of are however Ararat, on the north bank of the Araxes.

We

by no means led

ark rested upon the suppose small plateau covered with perpetual snow of the so-called Great Ararat, 16,000 feet high. For this plateau has from all
to

that

the

sides of its brink so precipitous a declivity, that the descent

Not

would have been impossible to the inhabitants of the ark. till recent times, and very seldom, has this summit been

reached (1829 by Parrot,

1876 by

Bryce), over a field of

snow extending 3000

called
Little

feet

downwards.

being melts in the middle of summer, but

steeply
gigantic
in

Ararat, this

4000

feet
it

The other peak is lower; its snow

all

rises

the

more

the

form

of

cone.

mountain -cone a smaller

From this nevertheless comb -like range of heights

its

extends towards the eastern declivity of Great Ararat with

1

in Celiina, in the neighbour hood of the subsequent Aparnea-Kibotos, the landing-place of the ark (xipuro;}, and the translation of BVIX by 2H31D, Ceylon in the Samar. Targum, are
.

The Phrygian

legend, which makes a mountain

seems however to be a recent gloss instead of the original tmn, which Petermann and Heidenheim have accepted in The Book of opposition to Briill, whose text is that of the London Polyglot. Jubilees, Epiphanius and others call the mountain where the ark landed
left
n"n3~lD

out of consideration.

274
silvery head.
1

GENESIS

VIII. 5-7.

The ark may have

;

rested

somewhere on

this

range of heights

the account does not oblige us to think of a

high summit as its place of landing, nay, a comparatively low one results from the circumstance that in scarcely 2-J months
after the

stranding the tops

of the

mountains were

visible,

the water having hence sunk about 20 feet, account puts down only about five months for the remaining

and that the

period
ver. 5
:

of

drying up.
the

Appearance

of

the

mountain -tops,

And

waters were in continual decrease until the

the

tenth
the

month ; in
of the

tenth month, on
lucre

the first

tops
l

mountains

visible.

of the month, Instead of B ?^ ^

11

D nph (tcmpus durans) we have vn with two inf. abs. they were found in a condition of continuous decrease, E\v.
:

2805.

Jahvistic
birds.

section follows

intelligence sought

patching

The

first

outlook, ver.

And

it

by des came to

pass after the lapse of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made. Though, analytically regarded,
this
;
">

cannot point back to vi. 16, yet it is more probable that K refers to p?n (from ^n, to bore, to break through) than to

nnnn.
it

The raven,

ver.

And

he sent forth the raven,

till

and

went forth, going forth, and returning)

the

drying up of

the waters

from

the earth.

Perhaps a fragment of Q s account

;

of the sending forth of the birds (Paradies, p. 157 sq.) but then and D nnx must have been an editorial insertion.
"iiy

In the Babylonian account Hasisadra sends forth at the dawn of the seventh day, first a dove (summata), then a swallow both of which return, and thirdly a raven (driba), which, wading in the water near the ship, does not however
(sinuntcc),

come

into

it

again.

The

article of

^ yn

is

comprehensive of

1 The Armenians call Little Ararat sis and Great Ararat masis, whence it seems that great, the meaning of meds, is contained in ma. Both mountains have acquired the name Ararat simply by the transference to them of the name of the country (LXX. Gen. viii. 4, TO. op* TO. Apocpur less ambiguously Jer. monies Armenia). Moses v. Chorene, i. 15, explains Airarat = Arajieraf,
; :
"

Plain of

King

Ara,"

as at

i.

he brings Masis into improbable combination

with one King Amasia.

GKNESIS
the
1

VIII. 8-11.

275
Kings
xx.

species,

like

Sam.

xvii.

34,

36,

the

individual being distinguished as the representative of the but from species, not from other individuals of the same,

animals of other species.

therefore disfigured
etjrediclatur

By 3im
is

tfi^r

(not understood

and
Jer.
:

by an inserted OVK by
revertelatur}

LXX.
it

Syr.

d non

meant, that
to the
till

was now

lost in the distance

and now returned

neighbourhood of

complete

the ark, without however re-entering it, after the formation rfa )
1

the drying up was

(J"it?^

for the solid ground,

always drying to a greater distance down from the mountaintops, afforded it a resting place, and it found abundant

nourishment from the corpses floating upon the waters.

Noah

had purposely sent forth the neither delicate nor fastidious First trial with its remaining away was a good sign. bird
;

the dove, vv.

to

8,

And

he sent fortli the dove

from him,

see if the

waters had run off

from

the face of the ground.

the
sole of her water was still

And
foot,

the

dove
she

found no
returned
to

resting-place for
the

and

ark, for

the

upon

the face of the whole earth,

and Noah
to

stretched fortli Ids

hand, and caught her, and took her

description
is
iii.

him
of

into the ark.

The
Ezek.
its

tender,
13).

and speaks in human fashion of the

This
is

dove (Josh.
vii.

bird

the

valleys,

16, which were

not as yet dry, and one that makes

14, which It refuge that was snug and dry.
ii.

nest in the clefts of the rock, Song Sol.

offered

as yet
is

no place

of

told

with sympathetic observation of every movement, how Noah took in the timid bird when she sought for refuge. He then waited another seven days (hence the first sending forth of
the dove took place seven days after the sending forth of the
raven),
lie

and

let

the dove out a second time, vv. 10, 11

to

And

waited yet seven other days, and continued

of the ark.

send forth
at eventide,

the dove out

And

the dove

came

to

him

and,

lo,

a newly plucked leaf of an

that the w-aters
pj

olive

tree

in her mouth.
the earth.

Then Noah knew To wait

is

had subsided from

i>rnJ

elsewhere called ?n
to writhe),
to

^n

bin,

JU-,

here once ^nn (from ^nin, suffer pain, to wait painfully

3

276
Olsb. Dillm. correct,

GENESIS

VIII. 12-14.

it is certainly more probable that the twice occurring Niphal in ver. 12 should exchange with the preceding customary Piel, than with the elsewhere uncor
;

PfH

roborated Hiph.

Not

at

once, but late in the evening, did

the dove return with an olive

leaf in her mouth, not one on about the but one just plucked, and there waters, floating fore fresh dcccrptus, passes over into the meaning recens,
;
*)"}?,

Arab,

tarif,

fresh,

piquant,

fine

(from

tarufa, to

be fresh,

properly fresh plucked).

The

olive-tree has this in

common

with the laurel, that

it

leaf is the first sign of life

grows even under water, hence an olive from the earth which is rising again

from her watery grave. The dove returned, and that as an an olive leaf and an olive branch have since been evangelist
;

the

emblems

of peace

olive leaf,

2?.Sf

and salvation, and her bringing back an has nyb, perhaps been already interpreted by
7,

the

prophet Zechariah, xiv.

as

an eschatological image.

Sicut circa vesperam, says

raino olivce (so

John Gerhard, columla venit cum the Vulgate translates) ad arcam sic Spiritus
:

Sanctus circa
ecclesiam.

mundi vesperam doctrinam evangdii

trial

detulit
lie

ad

Third

with the dove,

ver. 1 2

And
is

waited

yet seven other

days,
to

and

sent forth the dove,

and

she did not

continue
of the

to

return

him

again.
5,

The form 3fW

from bn\
p

the impf.
*]D; is

Niplud
to

bnfo,

Ezek. xix.

The Kal
p?i n
,

more
more.
are

fitting

the animal than the Hiph.

10&, which

expresses a deliberate voluntary act.

The dove returns no

This too
free
of

is

good news, valleys as well as mountains

Q, vv.

now

from water.
the

Date

end of the Flood from

cepted) and 14:

first

And

it

year, in

the first

came to pass in month, on the first of the month, the

the six

13 (13& exhundred and

waters were dried

covering

of the

up from the earth, then Noah removed ark and looked, and, behold, the face of

the

the

ground was
seventh

dried.

And

in the second month, on the twenty-

day of the month, the earth was quite dry. The verb 3}n here means dried, K^J, quite dried up the latter appears as the consequence of the former, Jer. 1. 38 and Job xiv. 11,
:

GENESIS
with the borrowed passage,
the
first

VIII. 13, 14.

277

Isa. xix. 5.

month the

earth

was

free

On the first day of from water, and on the

The twenty-seventh day of the second month quite dry. Flood began on the seventeenth day of the second month,
hence a
full
?

year and ten days had elapsed.

But what kind

(in

of a year

An

actual

solar

year

of

numbers), or an approximative solar

365 days year of 360

round

days, or a

If it were a lunar year of 354 days (in round numbers)? lunar year, the months would be of 29 and 30 days alter

an approximative solar year, they would be of 3 days throughout; if it were an actual solar year, the compu tation of the months is questionable, but the case is the same
nately
;

if

year of 360 days; some way of reconciling the amount of the twelve months determined by the phases of
as

in

the

the

moon with

the actual solar year must have taken place.

These questions, and

many more

(see Ideler, Chronol.

i.

479),

are susceptible of different answers, because though the

com

mencement and termination

(the second

of the full year are indeed

named

month

of the

one and the second month of the

next year), the number of the days of which this full year consisted is not stated out of account the for, leaving
;

Jahvistic

numbers 40

+ 7 + 7 + 7,
From

only 150 of the days are

expressly enumerated.

a harmonistic standpoint

we

may, with Silberschlag (Chronologic der Wdt, p. 11 sqq.), count 150 + 73 + 40 + 21 + 34 + 57 375 days, and thence

conclude that the year of the Flood was an actual solar year. This was already the view of the Syrians, e.g. Ephrem. But

from an analytical standpoint we have to deal with Q with out regard to the numbers of J. It is safest to start from the
determining meaning of the 150 days
(viii.

24)
of

=5

months.

days being no merely round number, whence it results that the year of the Flood was an So cjj. des Vignoles approximative solar year of 360 days. in his Chronologic de Vhistoire saintc, and Court de Gebelin in
expressly stated,
vii.

The beginning and ending

11,

of this

number
will be

viii. 4,

150

his

Monde

primitif.

The ancient Indian (according

to

the

278

GENESIS vnr.

is,

u.

Eigveda), the ancient Persian and ancient Egyptian year was such a year of 360 days. The Parsi-Calendar equalizes it

with the actual solar year by five intercalary days at the end of the year, and an intercalary month at the end of every
1

24 years (DMZ. xxxvi. 59, xxxiv. 710).

five

In Egypt too the

supplementary days (ejrayobut so that after a long period there was a moveable year, the New-year s day (1 Thot) of which did not again July 20, as that of the rising of happen on the same day
fjLevai),

agreement was restored by

the Sothis or day-star

also

till

after a period of

1461

years.

In

computation was made by months of 30 days: Babylon arlm the month being ideogrammatically written with the

number 30

in the middle.

Nothing however

is

said of inter

calary days (iTraryopevai), but we are told of an intercalary month, which was from time to time inserted (comp. Lotz,

Historia Sdbbati,
(Uliiln), as

p.

38) after Adar (Aduru\ or also after Elul

a compensation, whether for the

360 days

or for

the

354

of the lunar year.

In the computation of the year

of the Flood

pensation.

we must have no regard to such intercalary com If we leave out of consideration the identity of
5 months,
it

150 days with

raised

might appear as a lunar year,

= 365). (354-f- 11
putation
increased
historical

by

the

addition
If,

year on the other hand, we make the com

of

10/11

days

to

solar

150 days

=5

months the

rule,

the

360 days
see in the

are

by number 370.

the addition of 10 to the indifferent and purely

Ew. Schrader, Dillm.

150

days the remnant of a discrepant tradition, according to which

the Flood lasted
trace is also

150

150

=4 x

75 days,

of

which another

shown

in the date of the first stage of the abate

ment,

viz.

the seventeenth day of the seventh

first

stranding) and the

day

of the tenth

month (the month (emergence of

the mountain- tops), which seems to be reckoned as a period of

3

x 30

15

= 75

days.

GENESIS

VIII. 15-10.

2*79

THE GOING OUT OF THE ARK, XOAH

PROMISE OF JAIIVEH,

S SACRIFICE,

AXD THE

VIII. 15

SQQ.

Noah having landed on one

to

of the

mountains of Ararat,

receives directions to leave the place of refuge, vv.

:

15-17:

Then Elohim spoke Noah, saying Go forth out of the ark, thou and thy wife and thy sons and sons wives with thee. Ei ery living thing that is with thee, of all flesh of birds and of
cattle

and of

every creeping thing that crcepeth

;

upon

the earth,

bring forth with thee

and

they

may swarm upon

earth,

and

be

$X corresponds with fruitful and multiply upon the earth. IS, and still more in the present connection with K3, ns^i, y
i-

vii.

1.
i.

How

extensive
;

is

the notion of njn has been already

it

shown,
lor
x.

24, 28, 30

here

stands
prep, a

first
is,

as

a general term
21,
ix. 2,

the animal world.

The

as

at vii.

15,

16,

subdividing,

though

only in
close
is
it is

a rhetorical, not a
said xsin, all these

strictly logical

manner.

At the

animals with thee.

xix.

The Chethiv

to

be

read

KVin,

like

12

the Keri, although the verb in Ethiopia originally

1,

presents
for
"i^

substitutes for reasons

unknown

to us

N>*?n,

like

l^n

in,

Ps. v. 9, comp. the similar forms with audible Jod,

Prov.

iv.

25

Hos.

vii.

12

1 Chron.

xii.

2.

God

at once

renews with words mighty to bless, to the animals who are to be brought out of the ark, their creative destination, and
then the exit
is

related with glad fulness of words, vv. 18, 19:

his sons

Then went forth Noah and

wives with him.
every bird,

and

his wife

and

his sons

Every living thing, every creeping tiling, and everything that movclh upon the earth, after their
Everything in vv. 17-19
rpn.

families, went forth out of the ark.

bears the

mark

of Q, to

which

also belongs the

ness of the notions of both wcr\ and

are

comprehensive His classifications

Instead of EHp.W, i. 21, he here barely translateable. once uses the more select and solemn DrwinBtpp^. Ancient
translators

have no feeling for

of J.

this

change.

The narrative

goes on in the words

The

Jahvist,

who

related

the

sacrifices of the first pair of brothers,

here tells of the begin-

280
ning of post-diluvian
altar to Jahveh,

GENESIS

VIII. 20-22.

sacrifice, ver.

20:

And Noah
and of
the

built
all

an

and

took of all clean cattle

-

clean

birds
is

and

offered up burnt

offerings

the

first

time

that

an

altar

is

upon mentioned
;

altar.

This

in

Holy
fcOnn

Scripture,

and that the

offering is called rfry

instead of
to

nru,
in

iv. 3,

we

here read r6y

is,

fire,

that

to

rhyr\ (from rf?y, be reduced to ascending vapour, Judg.

be consumed

xx.

40;

Jer. xxxviii.

35; comp. Amos

altaria from

iv.

10).

The

altar,

though not
elevated

named

like

the height, but as

place where an offering

was

slain, is
it

to be thought of as an
?*pj!?,

place

Ezekiel

calls

symbolically

God

height, as the sacrificial hearth /W~}$ t the burning-place of God,

from mx, to burn (see Ges. Lex. 10th ed.). The Mesha inscrip tion has for it btriN, plur. which Smend-Socin translates
^>&OX,
"

Altaraufsatz" (place of fire

?).

The reason why the

sacrifice

is now sent up upon one of the high places of earth in flame and vapour towards heaven is, as Hofmann has shown, that The the visible presence of Jahveh has forsaken the world.

who prays and sacrifices is no longer directed towards the west, where the cherubic presence of God marked the place of the lost Paradise, but towards heaven there
look of one
;

is

the throne of Jahveh, whence, according to Ps. xxix. 10,

inflicted the

He

judgment of the Flood.

The clean animals

are here eatable, though all were not so according to subse

nor must those used on this quent laws concerning food occasion be limited to such as were, according to later laws,
;

sacrificial. Acceptance of Noah s sacrifice, vv. 21, 22: And Jahveh smelt the odour of pacification, and Jahveh said to his

heart:

will

not proceed to
sake
;

inflict

again a curse upon the

f/round for
is evil

man s
I

for the imagination of the

human

heart

from

youth,

and I

will not proceed to smite again every

living thing, as

have done.

seed-time

and

harvest, cold

During all the days of the earth, and heat, summer and winter, day

and
1

night, shall not cease.

What

is

called in

Greek

/cvio-aa, is

in the Bible called odour (scent) of pacification, nrro, after the

See ray essay,
"

Der Blick gen

Himmel," in

the

New

Christoterpe, 1882.

GENESIS
formation P~^, from
to favour.

VIII. 21, 22.

281

nnfo, to pacify, to appease wrath and turn it In the cuneiform account of the Flood the parallel
"

passage runs

The gods sucked in the

scent, the gods

sucked

in the well- smelling scent (irisa taba)\ the gods gathered like
flies

over the

sacrificer."

The

scriptural

expression

also

is

Jahveh accepted anthropomorphic, but more worthy of God. with favour the thankfulness and desires of the rescued mani
fested in the
heart,
i.e.

heavenward streaming
that

sacrifices,

saying to His

(like xxiv. 45, comp. xxvii. 41) to

FP

or in

Himself
never
1

(Targums,
again
to

WDa),
so

He was
a

graciously resolved

inflict

universal

judgment upon
it,

mankind.

Human
to

sinfulness

which had incurred

vi. 5,

is

henceforth

have no similar consequence, because it is now the common inheritance of mankind, and decidedly influences the individual
even before his entrance upon the riper age of fully conscious a time of patience, d,vo%q, is now to begin, self-determination,
iii. 16, God taking pleasure in the desire for salvation manifested in the sacrifice of those who had been preserved from All the days of the earth," i.e. during the whole the Flood.

liom.

"

further course of time, hence to the end of earthly history, the

regular interchange of seasons and times

is to suffer

no such

interruption as had taken place

first

through the Flood.

JHT,

The
do not

three pairs of words,

i"^]

Dhj np,

*ph;

p.p.,

Jewish expositors insist (see Eashi), six seasons of two months each (a division of the year which is found in the
signify, as

Vedas), but divide the year into two

halves, as

among

the

ancient Greeks into Qepos and

:

^eL/jicov,

in Hesiod, a/^ro?
its

and
(Jer.

The rainy wintry

(art.
2

season, *ph with

iii.

cold

"ip

According to Buckle

on Gen.

17, v. 29, viii. 21, in Static s Zdtsclir.

viii.

1886, p. 30sqq.), it is J history of Paradise related

who
by

fashioned

21 after

iii.

17,

excluding the

own
is

replacing his history of the Fall by^iis history of the Flood, although regarding the Flood as nolXnVIK
t>i?j?

J\ and

quite inappropriate, because a curse always implies some spiritual power which permanently influences the nature and conditions of that which is
affected.

in the decree

Budde
is

is

however an exaggerated acuteness which recognises no n^p and its execution. On the other hand, in the right when he says that Riehm in Stud. u. Kritil; 18S5, p. 780,
It is

of punishment, vi. 13,

mistaken in referring C|pK

fr6

back to

iii.

17.

282
xxxvi. 22) and
its

GENESIS
field

IX.

1,

2.

tillage,

Jnj (or tt^n, Ex.

xxxiv. 21
<*-

Prov. xx. 4),

n"}i\

Neh.

vii.

made possible by the 24 Ezra ii. 18), and

;

early rain

(T"]?,

MJ^ =

the dry season of summer,

its

jJ from kli
xviii.

to

be burning hot), with

"^i?

heat, Dh (Isa.

4),

and

its

harvest,

(Jer. viii. 20).

iii.

halved, as in Ps. Ixxiv.

17

Amos
;

15

Zech. xiv.

The year is The 8.

first

LXX.

translates spm, KOI eap

*ph means indeed the

half

of the agricultural year (see on

Job xxix.
is

4),

on which account
it

the notion of the premature

combined with
is

(Talm. tpn,

opposed to bas, to be

late),

but spring

called

^?K

(comp.

Himyar. fpn, harvest,

too

Km,

spring,

DMZ.

xxx. 324).

The fourth
for this

pair promises the regular succession of

day and night,

had been disturbed during the Flood, the earth being The order of nature thus enveloped in cloudy darkness.
ratified

anew
Jer.

is

a subject of praise for

poetry,

xxxi.

35

sq.,

xxxiii.

20,

prophecy and lyric 25 sq. Ps. Ixxxiv.

;

16

sq.

The double ^DS SO

has,

according

to

Isa.

liv.

9,

the

force of an oath.

THE FOUNDATION OF A

NEW ORDER

OF THINGS,

IX. 1-7.

Natural relations being now secured by promise against such a catastrophe as that experienced by means of the
Flood,

given

new physical, to human life.

ethical

and judicial

foundations

are

The

fundamental conditions of the

increase
first

and preservation of the human race are however renewed, and first of all the creative blessing of propaga
:

tion, ix. 1

And Elohim
:

Messed

Noah and
s

his sons,
fill

and said
the
earth.

unto

them

Be fruitful, and multiply, and

of
is
i.

repetition

28.

Next,
:

man
let

vocation of power over

the

the animals
terror of

renewed

And

fear of you and the

you go forth upon

all that
to

foid of heaven, of
of the sea
Djpnrn
;

of the earth and every moves on the (/round and of all fish
every least

your hand they are given.

:

The
you

suffixes

of

D3S^D

are obj.

fear

and

terror before

(comp. xvi. 5,

GENESIS
xxvii. 13,

IX.

3,

4.

283
nn,

1.

4; Mai.

i.

6),

0??n
xii.

f rom

Job
i

xli.

25 (comp.

the comparative form, Eccles.

5),

with

instead of a in a

The dominion of man over the doubly closed syllable. animals has no longer its original and inoffensive character, he must now bring them into subjection by i. 28, ii. 19 sq.
:

exerting himself to
of
i>33

make them
is
3,

serviceable.

Budde

takes the 2
it is

as that

which

usual after notions of dominion,

see on
vii.

how

ever the specifying

are

21

the remaining animals

ranged under the two main divisions of the animal world rvn and tpy, the language disregarding the actual state
All are given into the hand of man,

of circumstances.
is

who

to

have and to maintain the upper hand in the now un

avoidable conflict.

And

because

the Paradisaic fertility of

the earth and the childlike inoffensiveness of the former quiet

life

have
:

now

ceased, the eating of flesh

is

also

permitted,

ver. 3

Ecery moving

thing that liveth,

let it be to

you for food,

as the green herb

have given you

all.

Certainly

men had

already eaten not merely vegetable food and milk, but flesh
also
;

this

authorized to do

they had done however arbitrarily, they are now it by Divine announcement, ob refers back

to the original authorization,!. 29.

thing whatever), see there also.

On WJ and On riror herbce,

^3"HS

(every
i.

see on

30.

The

^]K

which follows

(originally affirmative, then frequently, as

at vii. 23, restrictive,

sometimes
i.

also, as here,

comp. Lev.
as

xi. 4,

Ps. Ixviii.

7,

Zech.

6,

exceptive

or

contrastive,

more

frequently pN) introduces a limitation of that participation

of flesh
its blood,

which

is

now

shall ye not eat.

But flesh in its life, permitted, ver. 4 The 3 is the Beth of association,
:

and ten

is

in apposition to te 333. blood,

is still

Flesh while combined with

its life, i.e. its

forbidden, according to the

still

word

ing of the prohibition the flesh of a

living unslaughtered

and consequently a not yet bloodless animal

off,

*nn~p? iris, according to

Abyssinians e.g. the hind quarter of the cow they are driving, and esteem fresh raw flesh with the muscular contortions still visible as the

(viz. pieces cut the synagogal expression), as the will under circumstances cut out a piece from

284

GENESIS

IX.

4.

greatest of dainties (com p. the article

"

Abessinische Bcafsteaks

aus

lebenden
sq.).

Ochsen

geschnitten,"

406

Every

partaking of blood,

in Ausland, 1868, p. and therefore of the still

bleeding flesh of a slaughtered animal, is however at the same time forbidden, 1 for the reason IDI itPBDl gives the command,
of universal application to every kind of eating with the blood
flesh in
:

which there
is

is

still

blood
xii.

is

not to be eaten, because

or, as

the blood

the

life,

Deut.
is

23,

may

be also

said,

because the
accurately,

life
is

of all flesh

the blood, Lev. xvii. 14, or more

in the blood, Lev. xvii. 11.

Blood and

life

are one,

inasmuch
;

as they are in one another in a relation of

is

intercalation
before
all

the blood

not the same as the

life,

but

it is

other

constituents of the animal corporeality the

life,

manifestation, material and vehicle of that

which per
direct one

vades, fashions and continuously regenerates the corporeality.

This relation of the

life

to the

blood, a far
is

more
and

than to the flesh

latter), is

(for the blood

the

medium
it?aj

of life to the
icn,

indicated by the juxtaposition of

for

which

at the

same time suggests the reason

which even
a
as

this

prohibition of
life
is

the blood, viz. a sacred reverence for that principle of

flowing in the blood,

that of the animal

derived from God,

life.

who bestows

participation in His all-

is due to the life of animating a even beast, and not the prevention of a brutalization of human life, which might be feared by its too near contact

This respect, which

For the the ground of the prohibition. latter motive finds no expression in the Old Testament, and
with brute
life, is

is

in contradiction with the

use of animal blood in Divine

is

worship.
in the
iii.

This prohibition of blood

repeated seven times

xix.

Mosaic
vii.

legislation
xvii.

besides

Lev.

26,

viz.

Lev.

17,

25-27,

10-14,

Deut.

xii.

16, 23, 24,

and gives as a further reason, Lev. xvii. 11, that the blood is an atonement, ^ 233, by reason of the life that is in
xv. 23,
Jewish tradition does not hold this view it enumerates seven Noachian of which six had been binding from Adam onwards. After the Flood the prohibition of the membrum de vivo was added see Gust. Marx, Totung Unglaulnger nach talm. ralb. Reclit (1885), pp. 28-30.
:

commandments,

GENESIS

IX.

5.

285
away with the types

it.

This motive for the prohibition

sacrifice,

fell

and shadows of the law of

though Testament.
29, xxi.
it

but the other continues,

is

not binding with the legal force of the Old

In the four apostolical prohibitions, Acts xv. 20,

Const,
apost.
vi.

25 (comp.

13), that

of blood

is

blood of slaughtered animals split in two, both the

thing strangled, and
in
nf>33)

therefore

its

and every and blood not shed ( n

?"!9

conformity with the Mosaic law forbidden. being of 4a. With ?]K1 a second exception appears beside the

The

killing of beasts for food is freely granted, yet blood is to

life

be avoided, and on the other hand the

able, ver. 5
:

of

man

is

inviol

And

yet

your Hood according

to

each of your souh

will

I require, from
the the life

the

hand of
the If
:

every least will

I require

it,

and

from 1 require

hand of man, from

of man.

hand of
the b

every ones brother will of D37lt$M7 were dat.

commodi, like Deut. iv. 15 Kn.), it would stand after

sion

for

defence to your souls (Tucli,

If it

&*?}$.

were the

b of posses

(LXX.
;

Syr. Jer.
N.

and most
if

interpreters),

we should expect
"

DSWS^

"ii?

And

your own blood," have been said.

your blood, were intended (Buckle), D3WSJ DT would It best corresponds with the Elohistic
:

a pregnant expression of

diction to take n in a distributive sense

your blood,
in

to

whose

soever

life it
:

may

belong.

The verb

em

a judicial sense

means

require again from any one something which he has destroyed, and so to demand compensation, satisfaction
to
for
it

(whence exactly:

to

avenge, Ps.

ix.

13

Chron.

xxiv. 22), with TO, Ezek. xxxiii. G, xxxiv. 2 Sam. iv. 11;
Ps. xxii. 21.

10 (synon.

WV
God

tm, Deut.
will

xviii. 19),

comp.

T&

W$z,

of animals,

avenge the death of

man

(1)

on the

animal, which has thus broken through the bounds of its Godordained relation to man. Man naturally extirpates such beasts
as are dangerous to

guilty of the death of a

human life, the man here

of

destruction of every animal

receives Divine sanction as

a judicial procedure (comp. Ex. xxi.

28

sq.).

(2)

God

will

man, who has thereby avenge the broken relation existing between all criminally brotherly
the

death

man on

the

286
men.
tt"S

GENESIS

IX.

6.

is

followed by an appositional Vnx, after the same

xli.

fashion as xv. 10,

12,

xlii.

35

Num.

xvii. 17.

The noun

standing in the case of genitive annexation in the second place

stands emphatically
occupies the
first
:

first,

and that which in such a relation

place follows with a suffix referring to the

word before same

from the hand of every man, of his brother, is the the same as from the hand of the brother of every man
;

state of things occurs Zech.

vii.

10.

(Imagine not evil

against one

who

stands in brotherly relation to any of you.)

Transference of vengeance on the murderer to

ver. 6
:

men

themselves,
be shed:

Whoso

sheds

man s

Hood,

~by

men

shall his

Uood

for in the image of Eloliim

first

made He man.

We

have here the

trace of the appointment of a magistracy as the executor

of the requirements of the moral

hence as the representative

it is

of

God

government of the world, and (see on Ps. Ixxxii. 6) and

;

very important to note that as in the Old Testament the

are in the
first

rights of the priesthood

of all Israel,

place the attributes

of the

and as
are

in
in

the

New
first

Testament the rights

place

spiritual

office

the

the

attributes of the

entire Church, so here too the attributes of political authority

appear in the first place as the attributes of mankind nnxn (found non-Hebraic by over-hasty criticism) means through men, as elsewhere also the personal causa efficiens is expressed
;

by the passive with xiv. 4 comp. ib. i.

;

3,

Num.

xxxvi. 2; Job xxvii. 15; Ho?.

7.

Men

themselves are thus placed,

as a holy

Yehm, against deeds of bloody violence, so far as these come to their knowledge and not merely to the know

ledge of the Omniscient.

As punishment by death
vns
t^tf

is

not here
?N3

transferred to the nearest relative of a

Q^n,

murdered man as

Num.
is

xxxv.

19

(for

does not

mean

man

his

brother

= his

which
rules
title
1

not the so-called blood-vengeance here instituted, though this, especially within the
relative), it is

in this

and limits sanctioned by the Mosaic law, has its legal The form in which the Noachian command.
of this

Comp. the investigation

mode

of

speech in Budde,

Urgesch.

283-289.

GENESIS
to

IX. 7-11.

287
by

punishment
the
of

is

be carried out

is

as yet left undefined

it

command, which merely places

generally in the

hand

men and
fine,

money
of

from them, without allowing of a The murderer is to suffer that as compensation.

requires
it

which he has

inflicted

for

murder
a

is

not only the extreme

the
inviolable

unbrotherliness, but also

crime

against

majesty of the Divine image, which even after the Fall is fundamentally the character indelelilis of mankind and of each
individual.

In the sentence which gives the reason,

sq.
;

6&, the

main notion

is genitive by attraction, like xiv. 1 Ixxxv. 12, 14; comp. on the other hand, Hos. i.
iii.

Ps. Ixv.

2.

R. Akiba

in Abotli

14 takes
and

D^SU by itself: in the image Elohirn

v.

made man.

Conclusion of the Noachian Thorah,

7:

And

you, be fruitful,

multiply, swarm upon earth, and multiply The foundations of the new beginning of history upon it. now laid, the Divine blessing with which the whole being
is

rounded

off is repeated.

THE TOKEN OF THE COVENANT IN THE CLOUDS,

IX. 8-17.

The Elohistic passage,

ix.

1-7,

is

here continued without

"OKI,

interruption in a second Elohistic passage, beginning with

which corresponds with the E^l of 7. The covenant-promise and covenant-pledge of God accompany the precepts to the newly blessed human
with mankind
world, vv. 8-1 1
race.

Elohiin will establish His covenant

him, saying:

whom He has preserved, and with the animal And Elohim spake to Noah, and to his sons with, And I, I establish my covenant with you, and
:

"behold,

with your seed after you

you, of fowl, of cattle,

and with

every living soul that is with

and of

every least of the earth with you,

of all that

go out of the ark, according to every least (je nacli

allem Getier) of the earth. And 1 will establish my covenant with you, and all flesh shall not le any more cut off ly the
waters of the flood,
destroy the earth.

and
In

there shall

vi.

not le any more a flood to 18 the establishment of the covenant

life

was

valid for the preservation of

in the

midst of the

288

GENESIS

IX. 12-16.

Flood, here for the prosperous continuance of the preserved races of men and animals. On \JNI_ (with a particip.
""jun

following as an expression of the fut. instans}, see

vi.

17.

The

covenant relation, of which Paul preached at Lystra, includes the animal world also, which sympathetically shares in the joy

and sorrow of man, who is, as it were, the heart of the world. In ver. 10 the classifying prepositions are again heaped up (which alone is a certain sign of Q) in an almost untranslateable

manner

first 3,

of the parts of
i.e.

which the whole

consists,

then

general under which the particular is summed up, and thereupon ? of the whole notion, according to which the particular comprehended therein is

p, of the genus ex quo,

of the

determined (comp. ver. 5, xxiii. 10 Ex. xxvii. 3, 19 Ezek No animated being living in a body of Ezra i. 5). xliv. 9 man nor neither flesh, animal, shall henceforth be cut off ^p
;

ten, by

water of the (recurring) Flood. The LXX. translate the for with the airo, p rightly by passive it does not designate the subject, as VTTO does, as self-active, but as
the
that from which the action proceeds (comp. Obad. ver. 9, ?gj30
in consequence of the slaughter, but also Ps.
;

xxxvii.

23,

."!

in the Latin ab (from avro) the distinction is from Jahveh) given up, nor is it carefully observed in the more recent style of The token of the covenant, vv. 12-16 the Semitic languages.
:

And am about
which
the
is

Eloldm said
to

This

is

the

token of the covenant wliicli

I
in

make between me and you and

to eternal generations.
it

every living creature

with you,

My

low have

I set

cloud,

and

shall serve

me and

the earth.

And

cloud upon the earth,

for a token of the covenant betiveen shall come to pass, when I briny a And the low shall le seen in the cloud.
it

will

remember

my

covenant, which is between

me and you and

shall be in the

every living soul of all flesh,

and

the waters shall not henceforth

become a flood
cloud,

to

destroy all flesh.

And

the

bow

and I

will look

upon

it,

to

remember an eternal covenant

which is upon rainbow which was
1).

between
the

Mohim and
With

every living soul of all flesh

earth.

riNf

God

points to the

then visible or just becoming so (comp. on Job xxxvii.

GENESIS

IX. 17.

289

A
of

sign, especially

such an one as becomes a sensible pledge

what

is invisible or future, is called nix

aiuajat, djat
|nb

(tJ\}>

from mx,

to

mark,

Num.

xxxiv. 10.

What

follows,

J&pB>K,

shows that n^x must be referred

;

to the

covenant, not to the

time extending token (comp. xvii. 2) The over generation after generation into the immeasurable. bow is called ntPp, with a feminine termination, as the Arab.
D?ty flVl is a period of

shows (from (jwljs, fut. o., to bend, to curve), and the cloud in which God sets the bow C^nj, of the just now fundamentally accomplished fact) is called Jjy, as that which
kaiis

meets the eye of him who looks up (comp. ancient Arab, anan, object, and njy, to reply), from which |3y, 14a, is denominated
ve(f)e\as
is

dyelpeiv.

continued in
see

^"pjl.

The apodosis begins with nnx-ipl, 14&, and 3P 166, defines the purpose: God
"

will

the

bow,

an

intentional

looking

is

meant,

that

He may remember
earthly beings,
viz.

the eternal covenant between

those remaining after

God and
This

the Flood.

passage
ver. 7
:

is

rounded

off in ver. 17, just as

the former one was in

is

And Elohim
I
the earth.
"iparrte,

said unto

Noah

This

the token
all flesh

of the

covenant, which
is

have established between

"^5~?3

me and

which

upon

is

here repeated for the twelfth, or

vi.

including

vii.
"

15, for the thirteenth time since

12,

The bow that is in the cloud in the day and always in Q. of rain" is mentioned again within the Old Testament only
at Ezek.
i.

28 (comp. Apoc.
Ecclus.
xliii.

iv.

3,

x.
1.

1).
7.

It is
It
is

beautifully

described,

phenomenon
Ecclus.
xliii.

that

may
and
is

comp. be accounted

12,

indeed

a
;

for

by natural laws
of

but the laws of nature

are truly the

it is

appointment

God,

11

sq.,

law that the rainbow

shall continue.

And

is

conformity to natural a pledge that the order of nature there not to every law of nature a
just in
its

background pointing to the mysteries and will ? The label of the rainbow

of
is

the Divine nature

sufficiently legible.

Shining upon a dark ground which just before broke forth in lightning, it represents the victory of the light of love over
the fiery darkness of wrath.

Originating from the effect of T

290

GENESIS

IX. 18.

the sun upon a dark cloud,

it

typifies

heavenly to pervade the earthly.

the willingness of the Stretched between heaven

and

earth, it is as a
it

bond of peace between both, and, spanning

says

the horizon,

points to the all-embracing universality of the

Divine
the

mercy.

Involuntarily
of

Tuch

the

idea

0f

interposition

the

two worlds attaches

itself to

the

coloured

bow

resting at both ends firmly on the earth.

NOAH

BLESSING AND CURSE, WITH THE CONCLUSION OF THE

TOLEDOTH,

IX. 18-27.

The two Elohistic

are
ix.

sections of legal tenor,

ix.

1-7, 8-17,

now
that

followed by a Jahvistic section of prophetic tenor,

18-27.

The time immediately succeeding the Flood

immediately
succeeding
the
Creation, a

is,

like

time of

decision entailing
fate of

momentous

results.

Then was decided the

;

mankind, now the

fate of nations

and both,

as is else

where the case in primitive times, by apparently

of

trivial

and

commonplace occurrences. Hitherto J, Noah and the Flood has come down

so far as his history

to
us, has

not

men
of

tioned the sons of

less

Noah by name.
the
repetition,

Hence we need be the

18a:

astonished

at

And

the

sons

Noah, who went forth out of the ark, were Shem, The three are named in the same order, Jcpheth.
farther on
age, for
;

Ham
v.

and

32, and

this does not correspond

is,

with their succession in

(see

Shem

according to x. 21
to

there), the

eldest,

and Ham, according

youngest.

the
in
his

narrative

here

following, the

Ed.

Konig

Latin

dissertations

on the
the

linguistic proof of Biblical

Criticism,

1879,

p. 20, finds

reason for the transposition to be, that

relation than

Ham
;

stood in closer

Japheth

to the first-born

but perhaps Japheth

a more rhythmical

stands last only because his

name formed

conclusion to the triumvirate which had become proverbial.

At 185

it is

remarked in preparation
:

for the intelligibility of

what follows

And Ham
as

is

the father of of

Canaan.
the

This

is

now mostly regarded

an addition

redactor,

the

GENESIS
inference being

IX. 19.

291
upon was

drawn from the

fact of the curse falling

Canaan, that in the original version of the narrative

it

Canaan who transgressed against Noah (Dillm. and Some go farther, and maintain that, according to the

others).

original

wording, not Shern, Ham and Japheth, but Shem, Japheth and Canaan were the three sons of Noah (Wellh.) whence Budde,
;

by means of

critical operations

which go beyond our horizon,

"

obtains the result, that

originally after xi. 9,

the

narrative
:

and began

And

there

here following stood went out also from

Babel,
sons,

Noah

the son of Jabal, he, and his wife, and his three

Shem, Japheth and Canaan, and he went to the Syrian he thinks wrote Mesopotamia, and remained there." Thus

1
,

who, as Wellh. and Kuen. also assume, knew nothing

of a

flood.

here a specimen of what analysis, competitively On the other hand the suspicion is carried out, can effect.
suggested, that R,

We see

when

assigning

its

present position to the

narrative,

made

Ham

the transgressor instead of Canaan, for

still

the sake of placing the narrative in

to

more varied
follows.

relation

the genealogy of
is

the nations which

justification
if
:

This sus

picion

however without
is,

the relation of the

offender, close

narrative to ch. x.

even

Canaan were the

enough, and such distortion of the tradition would be purely

arbitrary. to

Besides, we cannot imagine E so thoughtless as not have taken into account the reason why Noah, because of

the offender
is

Ham,

inflicted a curse

on Canaan his son.

What

affords

happened a considerable time after the Flood, and no superficial view of the moral state of that tripartite world of nations which descended from the three sons of Noah
related

for, as ver.

19 says
x.

These three are the sons of

i.e.

Noah

and from
xviii.

these

was dispersed

the whole earth,

xi. 1,

the whole population of

e.g.

the earth, like

25,

and as elsewhere,

Judg.
is

30,

the population of the country.

The formation

nyaj

lightened

from nyw, as rcaj is from WS3, Isa. xxxiii. 3, a metaplastic formation from psa=pa (Kal, xi. 4, Niph. x. 18, Hiph. xi. 9), not from paa, for T?J also, 1 Sam. xiii. 11, is the Niph. of
pfB, Ges.

67, note

11.

External occasion of the decisive

292
occurrence, ver.

GENESIS

IX. 20, 21.

20

And Noah
Noah began

the

husbandman began and

Ps.

planted a vineyard.
cxiii.

Hengst. Kn. Tuch (comp. Hitz. on

:

9)

translate

to

be a husbandman (an
it is

agriculturist),

which

is

incorrect as to matter, since

not the

cultivation of the field, but that of the vine,

as

which

is

spoken of

Ew. compares 1 Sam. iii. 2 (comp. also the usual expression D^nrnip ^CT^, they began to be subsequent But though ?nn with a predicate following (without angry).
a novelty
;

Wr6)
tion

is

possible,

yet this explanation

st.

is

already doubtful,

because only in rare instances of the

constr.

does the defini

by the

article

attach exclusively to the second

member
xii.
. .

of the phrase, xvi. 7, xlviii.

19

Judg.
Ges.

xiii.

2 Sam.

30

Ps. cxiii. 9.

Hence we have

to take together

VBI

prw,

which

According to 1 this narrative the cultivation of the vine comes from Armenia
is

the same as

$M?

^rP1 f

142.

3.

and truly

this

and the whole

of the eastern part of

Pontus
its

is

the native place of the vine, for which, in regard of

stem

and curling tendrils, there could be no name more graphic on the other than j?f!, from VB!i=ED, to curve, while
&"]3,

hand, means in

itself

only the
1).

hill

and then the vine

hill,

vineyard

(see

on

Isa. v.

Tradition designates

the hill
facili

in the north-west,
tates
its

which leans on Great Ararat and

as

ascent,

the

place

of

Noah s

vine

planting.

Egyptian mythology refers the cultivation of the vine to the to Dionysos, Persian to Dshemshid Osiris, Greek
;

statement of the Jahvist, in which

is

continued the series of

iv., is

the beginnings of civilisation given in ch.

historical

of a purely
:

nature.
the

Noah s

transgression, ver.

21

And

he

and was drunk, and uncovered himself in the midst of his tent. Wine, which was subsequently used for the purpose of public worship, had as wall as other
drank of
wine,

inventions a beginning defiled with

sin.

He who

kept his

ground against the waters of the great Flood succumbs to

1 The village Arguri (i.e. plantatio vitis, from uri, the vine plant), destroyed 1840 by an eruption of Ararat, commonly pronounced Agurri, stood upon the spot stated by tradition to be that of the Noachian D"G-

GENESIS
wine.
his tent
for itaff).

IX. 22-24.

293
of,

He
n
(

lies

half-naked, not indeed outside

but within

^"}^,

The

another writing, as at xii. 8, xiii. 3, xxxv. 21, And insulting behaviour of Ham, ver. 22
:

Ham,
and

the father of

Canaan, saw

the nakedness of his father

told it to his two brothers without.

He
tries

not only looks in

without instantly drawing back, but

scornful merriment.
is

without delicacy

and without the piety due to his father, to induce others to

join in his
feeling
It is

a carnal and animal

which
is

here manifested, similar to that upon which

ch.
ii.

woe

pronounced by Habakkuk,

15.

Contrary

behaviour of Japheth and Shem, ver.

23

And Shem and

upon loth
the
their

Jepheth took the upper garment, and laid

shoulders

it

and went backwards and

covered

nakedness of
they did not
said,

their father,

and

their faces were backwards,

nj51
is

and

see the nakedness of their father.

purposely

and
at

not
vii.

*nj?>!

Shem was

the chief personage, as

Noah was

7, and the impulse and direction proceeded from him. But Japheth was in accordance with him; the narrative

emphasizes as strongly as possible the

common

act

of the

two brothers, in which reverence, modesty and wisdom vied is with each other in putting an end to the scandal.
*""$?

the upper garment which the father had thrown off instead
of using it for a covering,

Ex.

xxii.
1

26
js

Deut. xxiv. 13
ii^ e

n
(

<^). :

D3^ forms

no

plural.

n^T

*?

formation

with

Noah s recovery from intoxication, ^THP, Mai. iii. 14. And Noah awaked from his wine, and knew what his ver. 24
:

youngest son
of pp
11

had done

to

him.

The accented a

of Y\?\ (impf.

is

shortened in

fi?.^

into an unaccented

Wine
is

is

here equivalent to the effect of wine

1

taken = drunkenness,
because
|t?ij

as

Sam.

i.

14, xxv. 37.

|Bj3n foa ( no t fbjsn,

the

usual form with separative accents, and especially with pausal

ones)

means, according to
son,

Sam.

xvii.

14,

xvi.
it

11,
is

his

youngest unanswerable
"

for
"

it

is

a fallacy

to

assert that

the

result of the succession, Japheth,

Ham
x.,

and

Shem
as

in ch.

x.,

that

Ham
states

is

the middle of the three, because,

this

Dillra.

himself

in the introduction to ch.

294

GENESIS

IX. 25.

order was required by the method adopted in Genesis of pro

two are spoken

i.

ceeding from the most remote to the nearer and nearest. When of, fDpn (rutopn) may be just as well translated
the younger as the youngest, xxvii. 15, xxix. 16, 18, comp.
16
;

but where several are spoken

all

of, it

means the minor

and
if

natu in relation to

the

rest.

If this is correct,

we

may
of

take x.
as

Ham,

where Canaan appears as the youngest son an illustration, the sin committed against his
6,

venerable and

grey-headed father by Noah s youngest son was visited upon the youngest son of the latter. It is

however questionable whether the descendants of Ham are there mentioned according to their ages moreover the
;

genealogy in ch. x. son of

is

one not of families but of nations.

It is sufficient for the

law of retribution that Canaan was a

Ham, and

that according to the glance into the future

which was granted to Noah, the low and mean disposition which Ham, in contradistinction to his two brothers, mani
fested towards his father,

was

visited in the relation of his

:

son to the descendants of his brother, ver. 25 Cursed

be

And

Tie

said,

brethren,

Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be to his i.e. the most conspicuous and lowest of servants

of princes," Num. iii. 32), deeply humbled in with his ominous name (comp. y^D, Judg. iv. 23 conformity With regard to the fulfilment, he Deut. ix. 3 Neh. ix. 24).

(comp.

"prince

became the servant

of

Shem when

Israel extirpated

some

of

the Phoenicians of the interior and subdued others,

jected
1

and sub
ix.

them
ix.

to

the lowest menial

services,

Josh.

23,

the sq.; Kings Greeks and Komans overthrew Tyre and Carthage, after the Phoenician coast and colonial power had already been broken
of Japheth,

20

and the servant

when

by the Assyrians, Chaldseans and

to feel
this

Persians.

Hannibal came

curse

when he beheld

the head of Asdrubal

thrown over the Punic intrenchments by the Eomans, and The third Punic exclaimed Agnosco fortunam Carthaginis.
:

War (149-146)
and the

ended in the
of the

total demolition

of

infliction

curse

upon

its

site.

Carthage In 439 it

GENESIS

IX. 26,

-27.

295

became the

capital of the

kingdom of the Vandals, and the

Phoenician people utterly disappeared from the roll of nations. The curse did not however fall upon Ham in all his posterity,

and thus
advocates.

afford
It

semblance
not
fall

of right

to

the pro

slavery

a land ex e.g. upon Mizraim, and a model of thousand years tremely prosperous for a And even to the posterity of Canaan Hamitic civilisation.
did

the curse only applied in the foreknowledge that the sin of

their ancestor

(comp. ch.
is

xix.

would be the type of their own moral condition The Deut. xii. 31). Lev. xviii. and xx.
;

no sentence of condemnation excluding the posterity saying of Canaan from salvation the blessing of all nations in the
;

seed of the patriarch includes the Hamites also, and especially

it

and though vassalage is indeed a national misfortune, a means of blessing to a people, at least to those become may and the Canaanite woman in the New Testa Eahab like who,
;

Canaan

ment, do not participate in the national

its

sin.

Punishment in

proper sense

(Deut. xxiv.

16

according teaching of Scripture 2 6 xiv. Ezek. xviii.), suffered comp. Kings

is,
;

to the

by each individual only on account

ing begin with a fresh
be

of his

own

sin.

After the curse upon Canaan, the two declarations of bless

"iDfcOl,

vv. 26,
let

27

And
let

he said: Blessed
their

Jahveh the God of Shem, and

of Shem, and

Canaan and

be

servant.

Elohim
tents
is

give large extension to Jepheth,

let

him

dwell in the

Canaan

be their servant.

In both instances

the curse of Canaan repeated as a kind of refrain, like a ceterum censeo ; it is the dark foil to the blessing of Shern and

to? occurs indeed some Japheth, to whom the two to? refer, times (e.g. Isa. xliv. 15) as an imitated h (lahu) (Ges. 103. 2),

here however

it has the presumption of being of like meaning with l^sp. The Berachah of Shem becomes a Berachah of Jahveh. In view of the blessing of which Shem is to partake,

Noah praises Jahveh, from whom this blessing proceeds, nay, who is Himself this blessing. Does a mutual relation between
the blessing and the
also
?

Perhaps

so,

name of for God

the person blessed take place here

in the sphere of

His manifesta-

296
tion in act is called
close
is
:

GENESIS

IX. 26, 27.

He who makes
is

Himself a name, and so

that

the

connection of
self-testimony

God and His name,

called (Isa.

God
n

in
DB>.

His

historical

xxx.

27)

Jahveh makes Himself a name in becoming the God of Shem, and thus entwines His name with that of Shem,
which means the name.
Distich swells
to

In the blessing of Japheth

the

The blessing is here clearly connected with both the sound and meaning of the name.
a Tristich.

The

Hipli. nrian,

like ^rnn, Targ.

tion,

"n?*?,

from nna, to be wide, to be open, may mean, introduction into an unrestrained posi

but here, where the status quo is not restraint and loss of liberty, but isolation and limitation, it has the meaning of
spacious
also

extension

(LXX.
?,

TrKa-rvvai,
xii.

Jer.

dilatet),

like

construed with

Job
like

23.

traced

back to nna,

is

the

The proper name proper names T]N and

D^fy a reduction
of

from

rn~i

and

nnio,

and the nom.

cons.

appell. segol.

from HDpn

(impf.
is

Dni).

The name

God
of

is

here

changed

He

called mrr, as the

God

of salvation, the
is

God

of positive

revelation,

and as such
is

He

the

God

Shem.

On

the other
is

hand He

called,

with reference to Japheth,

&*P$, which

the more general

name

of

God, especially as
to

the Creator of the world.

For Japheth stands in a relation

chiefly brought about by the light of nature, and delights in the exercise of the natural powers with which man is

God

endowed.

His tendency

is

an outward one, because the

natural powers find their sphere of action and their material in

the outer world.

The

blessing of Japheth consists (1) in his

extension over a wide region of lands, and (2) in his coming to dwell in the tents of Shem. For DD not DTlbfet, is the subject
S
,

of |3^..

Philo (Opp.
:

i.

402) makes God the

ra
TTJ?

subject,
ITT!

though

hesitatingly
ava(f>epeT(U.

IVw?

/mevToi,

eu^r)9

ical

rov IctfaO

The Fathers unanimously

dilatans laplwt
to
et

explain, like Irenaeus

(iii.

5. 3)

constituens
its

eum

in

domo Sem.
is

The reference
1

God has

this in
c.

favour, that p&?

the

The Midrash

(BeresTiith rabba,

36) expresses this in the formula

Shem

for the Tallith (the covering for prayer),

Japheth

for the Pallium.

GENESIS

IX. 26, 27.

297

special

word

for

God

gracious presence in Israel (Onkelos:

n^n^a^ ^^1; comp.

blessing of

ecncrjvwcre,
its

John

i.

14),

and that thus the

Shem

reaches

climax in

God s taking up His

dwelling with him.

latest
p.

Against this reference however, whose

advocate
sq.,
is

82

may

is Briggs in his Messianic Prophecy (1886), be adduced the following reasons: (1) that as

Shem

the subject of the blessing, ver. 26, so also will Japheth

;

be the subject of the blessing, ver. 27 (2) that is already contained in with Shem presence
(3) that the

D^"

God s gracious TOK n Tjna

God
us

of

Shem,
not
infer

as distinguished

from the God of

that the plural

Japheth,
^n&jsi

is

called,

DTi;>tf,

but m.T

(4)

leads

to

collective

idea as

the

subject,

and the more

in

so,

that the statement that

of Israel
is

God would dwell

unconfirmed,
;

the

^Sns

(ni33B>D)

elsewhere

because at variance with the unity of the place of worship (5) that just in the circumstance that Japheth will have
free

hospitable access to Shem, whose

God

is

Jahveh, and
cxxxiii.

will dwell with him in brotherly fashion in

(Ps.

1)

common

tents, will

the delicate

filial

action jointly per

final

formed by Shem and Japheth find its corresponding blessing (Hengst. Tuch, Ew. Baur, Keil and others).
the
:

For

same reason we cannot explain let him dwell in the tents of renown (Ges. de Wette, Kn. Anger, Schrader), for
the contemplated mutual reference of the blessing of Japheth

and Shem
that DB*

thereby destroyed, and it is besides improbable should be at the one time a proper and the other a
is

common
gation

noun.

Xor

for the

same reasons can

c.

this dwelling

be referred, as by Justin,
of

dial.

Tryph.

c.

83, to

the subju
that

Palestine

by the Romans
in

the

statement

Japheth was to

conqueror 10) would cast a gloom entirely without a cause upon the blessing of Shem. Dillm. finds in it a pro
(comp. 1 Chron.
v.

settle as a

the tents of

Shem

phecy of the reception of Japhethic nations into the alliance of the old Semitic kingdoms, a reception which has become of
great importance for the
of the prophecy
is Israel,

kingdom
and
it

of God.

The aim however

must hence be understood

298

GENESIS

IX. 28.

according to such subsequent prophecies as Isa. xix. 24 sq., Ps. xlvii. 10, of the entrance of Japheth into the kingdom of

God, which

Shem
is

is

with Shein (Targ. Jer.). To dwell thus with The fulfilment the honour and blessing of Japheth.
is
:

palpable

the

language of

the

New

Testament

is

the

Javan dwelling in the tents of Shem, the gospel is the proclamation of salvation translated from Semitic into
speech of
Japhethic,

and

Gentile

Christians

are

for

the

most

part
also

Japhethites dwelling in the tents of

takes
this

Shem.
pB",

The Talmud

Japheth as

the subject

of

for it

deduces from

blessing (Megilla, Qb ; Jer. Megilla, i. 9) the justifica tion of the use of the Greek tongue in public worship, which tongue it calls na*"^ iniQSS the most beautiful pos
"

session

of

Japheth"

(comp. n^&J, Bereshith raUba,

c.

39,

applied to
is

Aquila formed from

is

as the translator), as
riTJ,

riD3

ns>,

which presupposes that na.1 n\w are from stems fc. Thus
of servitude

Shem

the most blessed.

Canaan has the curse

three times pronounced upon him.

Shem
it

receives a spiritual,

Japheth a temporal blessing, and with

ticipation

the prospect of par

in

the

spiritual
left

blessing

of

Shem.

The

rest

of

Ham s

descendants are

out

of consideration, the subse

quent promise of blessing to the nations in the seed of the

patriarch including
of sacred history.

them
If

also.

Shem

is

henceforth the centre

God

hereafter provides Himself with

a family of salvation, and out of these with a people of salva

tion, this will

take place

among
sq.,
:

Now

follows, ver.

28

the posterity of Shem. an Elohistic conclusion

corre

sponding with the title, vi. 9 three hundred and fifty years.

And Noah lived after the flood And the sum of all the days of
31
;

Noah amounted
The
comp.
Isa. Ixiv.

to

nine hundred and fifty years, and he died.

sing, of the predicate here stands with ^3, as at v. 23,

10

Prov. xvi.

2.

With

the death of Noah,

v., is

the tenth generation of the genealogical table, ch.

pleted,

com
his

and

at the

same time
vi.

his
9.

history and that of

nearest

descendants from

Separate

nnWl

are

now

devoted to the posterity of his sons.

IV.

THE TOLEDOTH OF THE SONS OF NOAH,

X.

1-XL

9.

THESE Toledoth give a survey

relate
logical

of the population of the post

diluvian world by the descendants of the sons of Noah.

They

not so

much

to families as to nations, are less genea

than ethnological, give not a family but a national pedigree, a catalogue of the nations descending from the three
This
is

primitive ancestors of post-diluvian mankind.

so

com

posed, that sons and grandsons of these three are entered as

the ancestors of homogeneous nations, but frequently also the nations themselves as the descendants of the three. It is self-

evident that where the names are plurals, like B ns, nations and not individuals are intended. But also where the names
are singular, like
"1E3,

it is

questionable whether they are used

in a collective or an individual sense.

Apart from

"n&J,

and

perhaps those direct descendants of Shem, ver. 24

sq.,

whose
Shem,
of the

names
xi. 1

are

marked

as personal

names by the Toledoth

of

sqq., it is in the case of this table of nations

a matter of

indifference whether the

names were the proper names

actual ancestors, or whether the nations in question regarded themselves as proceeding from ancestors so called, as the Greeks
e.g.

did from Pelasgos, Hellen,

composer of this table

to nations, for

who

etc., or whether it is only the thus gives names in the singular

stocks

the purpose of organically arranging them as from the same root, in this sketch of the history of

their origin.

For he

is

following the notions and procedure

of antiquity,
historical

which does not distinguish between the ideal and units from which nations are developed, between
so-called

actual

and

eponymous

ancestors.

300

THE TOLEDOTH OF THE SONS OF NOAH.

of Hither

There are found elsewhere also among the civilised nations and Farther Asia, registers of nations and countries.

The knowledge of countries and nations obtained by the Egyptians was in consequence of both their commercial and
military expeditions of large extent, and already began to be
fixed in
1

cartographic attempts.

The cuneiform memorials,

in

which the Babylonian and Assyrian monarchs relate their campaigns, are copious mines of the oldest chorographical and
ethnological knowledge, and
also

among the brick

tablets are found

independent beginnings of both topography

and geography.
in

But these surveys subserve national and mostly political terests, and are nowhere the result of a hearty interest

in

mankind beyond the nation and region

that produced them.

Besides, w^here they purpose to be universal, they either lose

themselves in the fabulous, like the sections descriptive of the

earth in the epic

poems and

certain Puranas of the Indians,

or notwithstanding their start, they return directly to their

own

people

heroic

and the neighbouring lands, like the Eranian legend, which after relating that Thraetona divided

the world

among

his

three sons, keeps to

the fate of the

Eranians, the descendants of Erag, one of the three.

is

Nowhere

found a survey of the connection of nations that can be com pared with the ethnological table of the Bible, nowhere one so
universal in proportion to
least
its

horizon,

and so all-comprising,

at

with regard to

its

purpose.

Eor the idea of the people

of

God

implies that they have to regard all nations as future

partakers with

them

of the

same

salvation,

and

to

embrace

them with an interest of hopeful love unheard of elsewhere in The invisible foliage of hope is entwined the ancient world.
round the dry branches of
this register of nations, the

hope

that the widely diverging paths of the nations will at last

meet

at a goal appointed
of

by the God of
redemption
is,

revelation.

It is just

here, where the history

in consequence of the

1 See Dliinichen, Flotte einer cegyptischen Konigin aus dem 17 Jahrh. vor unserer Zeitrechnung, 1868 and H. Brandos, Ueber die geographischen Kenntnisse der alien ^Egypter, 1870.
;

THE GENEALOGICAL TREE OF THE NATIONS.

blessing promised to

301

Shem, on the road

is

to the

origin of that

nation to which

it

specially devoted, that this universal

the fact that the limitation of salvation

future unlimited freedom.

survey serves as a significant finger-post to direct attention to is but a means to its

The survey

is

and the execution do not quite

ledge of
races,

not indeed absolutely universal the purpose coincide, the latter finding its
;

limitation in the very limited state of the geographical

know
five

the

period.

If,

with Blumenbach, we reckon

the

Caucasian,

Mongolian,

Ethiopian, the nations in this

Malayan, American, and genealogy do not extend beyond

the
coasts

the

Caucasian race, the inhabitants of

of

the

Mediterranean Sea and as far eastwards as Central Asia.

vnn,

The

Indians (Esth.

i.

1),

and &TP, Chinese

(Isa. xlix. 12), are

omitted, Ethiopia (Vi3, also

Egyptian brought forward, but the Negroes (^Egypt. nehesu) are left out of consideration. Nor do we get any information considering the origin of the
Amalekites, nor of the Kephaim,

Teas) is

Emim, Zuzim and

the original
lie

inhabitants of Palestine in general, although they did not

beyond the horizon of the author

the spirit of revelation to

for it is not the

manner
its

of

advance one

whom

it

makes

instru

ment

to a

knowledge

of things natural

what was

at the time possible.

The

silence of the

beyond the measure of document

concerning the descent of these nations, and especially of the Palestinian aborigines, might seem to favour the polygenistic
theory.

But the tendency

it.

of

the

document

is

decidedly

opposed to

It

starts

origin of the

human

from the assumption of the single race, and seeks to show how, after the

Deluge had almost entirely extirpated mankind, the new population of the earth proceeded entirely from the one
family of Noah.

The

races of

man

are in fact not different

species of one genus, but different varieties of one species, as

by the congruence of physiological and pathological phenomena in all men, by identity of anatomical structure, mental powers and features, by the same duration of life, by
testified

equal liability to sicknesses, by the same normal temperature

302
of

THE TOLEDOTH OF THE SONS OF NOAH.

body and the same average pulse, the same form of sper matozoa, the same period of gestation, and by unlimited
fertility in

the intermixture of
natural

all

races.

But

this

specific

identity

of

constitution

does

not suffice

to

prove

historic unity of origin.

We

believe in this historic unity on

the ground of Scripture testimony, but are not in a condition The formation of races lies absolutely beyond to prove it. the power of our historic knowledge. can point to the

We

intermingling of existing races, but not to the origin of these

races

themselves,

whose

characteristic

distinctions

extend

beyond colour and hair to even the formation of the skeleton,

especially of the skull.

the place

of

the
is

But polygenism puts no solution in The descent of man from the enigma.
fantastic salto mortale,

anthropoid apes

and remains a

and

the assumption that this development has been repeated in

parts of the earth

most remote from each

is

other,

demands from
parallel.

us belief in a miracle of chance which

without

In this ethnological table the three sons of Noah follow each other, not according to their births Shem, Japheth, Ham, nor according to the usual formula Shem, Ham,
:
:

Japheth, but Japheth and Ham precede, and Shem comes The reason for this is not, that of the two sons who last.
received
register,

blessing,
it is

one

might begin, the other close the

first to

but that

the method pursued in Genesis,

get rid of the collateral lines, in order afterwards to go on

Ham comes after with the main line without interruption. he is the not because merely younger, but because Japheth
through Canaan, Mizraim and Gush he borders more closely for even within the three on Israel than Japheth does,
groups of nations the influence of this favourite progress from the more distant to the nearer prevails.

The view that the three sons

groups of nations
as

of

Noah

represent three

distinguished by the colour of the skin,

divide the nations into

the Egyptians

copper -coloured,

yellow, black and light-coloured (see

Geo. Ebers. in

DMZ.
is

xxxi. 449), obtains a support only in the

name

on.

Ham

ANALYSIS OF THE ETHNOGRAPHICAL TABLE.

the ancestor
of the

303
and his

nations of the southern zone,

name might thus

designate the dark-coloured, though, accord

on means hot and Din black ing to the usage of the language,
(according to Eupolemus, %ov^

= Greek

acr/3oA,o9, soot,

which

cannot be proved).
ns
11

But
QK>,

if

we go on and
*}&,

explain naj (from

as the white,

and

red (Hitzig in

DMZ.

ix.

deep red, as the 748), we shall only lose our way in

by comparing

barren hypotheses.

But neither

are languages the grounds of

division in this register of nations.

How

inadmissible

it is

to

divide languages, according to the three groups of nations, into

Japhethic, Hamitic and Semitic, has been already shown by Joh. Geo. Mliller in his works: Who are the Semites? 1860,

and The Semites in

their Relation to
is,

Hamites and Japhethites,

jjtta

1872.

In fact the Hebrew

"

as

naj? (Isa.

xix.

18), a

Hamitic language.
nations,"

Ebers in

The dissemination and intermixture of says Lepsius in his Nubian Grammar (comp. also DMZ. xxxv. 209), "goes its way, and that of lan

guages, though continually conditioned

by the former,
not
the

its

often

quite

different

way.

Languages

are

individual
;

production of nations and the direct expressions of their spirit they often dissociate themselves from their originators, pass
over to foreign nations and races,
or
die
out,

while their
in

former vehicles live on, speaking quite other languages

short,

they live a

more

or less independent

life,

which there

should be investigated independently of the Hence we ethnological substratum to which it has adhered." cannot without further proof infer similar or kindred lan
fore

may and

The author of the ethno guages from kindred genealogies. logical table is fully conscious of variety of languages within the three groups, and brings this forward in the case of each,
vv.

Hence the three groups are not formed 5, 20, 31. according to community of language, but rather according to community of geographical position. Certainly the geo
graphical point of view has a determining influence within the three groups, but it is only the case in a general manner
that Japheth comprises the northern,

Ham

the southern,

and

304

THE TOLEDOTH OF THE SONS OF NOAH.

the central countries

Shem

Canaan the Hamite

e.g.

dwells

in the central, not the southern region. of view

The

historical point

must therefore be added

to

the geographical

the

external and internal arrangement of the groups reproduces

traditional
brilliant racial
relations,

and has

already

received

such

confirmation from continued historical and

monu

mental investigations, that H. Eawlinson is fully justified in the most authentic record that we regarding this table as
"

possess for the affiliation of

nations."

These remarks apply to the ethnological table on the whole, without analysis making any difference. It has hitherto been
agreed, that from the Elohistic table, introduced
n:~ J3 rn^in ntal, the passage

by the

title

Assyrian kingdom, Proceeding on this

entire

x.

about Nimrod and the Babylonio812, must be separated as Jahvistic.

has been further shown that the

basis, it
is

Elohistic
one,

table

interwoven with extracts from

characteristics
nssl-i
"H*??),

Jahvistic

amongst whose

of

style

are

1^

(instead of T^in), paj (instead of

as a statement

and the opening 1?) DBTO, 1?J (instead of Dl? OS, etc.), and whose manner of introduction may be per ceived from ix. 18a, 19. The severance of the two constituent
of direction,
"13JJ7I

parts,

as

carried

out

by Wellhausen

(Jdhrb.

xxi.

(1876)

pp.
is

395-397) and Dillmann, with

which
opinion
is is

the concurrence of Kuenen,

convincing, except in certain unimportant particulars, con

cerning

but

conjecture.
is

The Elohistic
of the following

ethnological table
portions,

complete, and
(Japheth),

vv.

1-5

6-7,

composed 20 (Ham), 22-23,

extracts

31

(Shem),

32

(conclusion).

The Jahvistic
;

furnish
that

nothing

concerning
itself to

Japheth

they

contained

nothing

commended
ment), 21,

the redactor of Genesis for independent

the original

insertion; vv.

8-19 (Hamites without

commence
xi.

2530
Ver.
so,

(Shemites apparently complete), are certainly

is

from JE.
12, 14);

24

a parenthesis of the redactor (from

according to Dillmann, but with questionable

correctness, is ver. 9.
,

Whether the
is

relative clause in ver. 14,

original or of subsequent insertion, is

ANALYSIS OF THE ETHNOGEAPHICAL TABLE.

305
the

questionable.

The

discrepant

statements

concerning

descent of nfyn and

KW,

ver. 7 (Eloh.),

and

ver.

28

sq. (Jahv.),

were allowed to remain by the redactor without his finding

in

them any irreconcilable contradiction. The catalogue contains in its Elohistic portion
its
is left

thirty-four
if

names, and in
Nirnrod
S3E>

Jahvistic thirty-six in addition to these,

out of account, and the Cushite and Joktanite,

all.

and n^in, counted as each two, hence seventy in

If
it

the Elohistic catalogue gave this number,

we might

regard

But whether the whole as designed. fashioned with such an end in view is uncertain.
1

in its final form

was

The Jewish
11

notion that the nations of the world were divided into D

niElN,
is

^^

For hardly as old as the composition of Genesis. even supposing that this took place at the time of the exile or
the restoration, this would be an ancient time, to which the
in

Haggadah
reach back.

the

Talmud, Midrash and Targum does not

themselves which- are interwoven in the

The

traditions

table from at least

two sources
a

certify their hoar antiquity.

Da
of

Goeje,

who

in

Dutch

Genesis (1870) sought to graphic reflection of the last years of Cyrus or the

on the tenth chapter prove that it was an ethno

article
first

of

If it had not Cambyses, comes a great deal too far down. been drawn up till so late a date, we should find Tyre, iV,

which

after the times of

Sidon, and
to

Persia

(ens,

David and Solomon began to surpass ^ona), which after Cyrus attained
It
is

world -wide importance, mentioned.

also

worthy

of
3D,

remark that the Arabian name

mentioned
Jer.
li.

(^,

D-nny, D Winj^ and

27, between Ararat and Ashkenaz, do

that

not occur.
Palestine,
left

The

fact

Amalek and

the

aborigines

of

who had

at the time vacated the stage of history, are

earlier

out of account, does not lead

If

kings.
1

down later than the we compare such tableaux of the nations

Jer.

as

are

It is

found in the Targ.

on Gen.

xi. 8

(^*O?pV pj/^t^)

an(l elsewhere.
vii.

The seventy languages

correspond with
it.

in the

Talmudic Halachah, Sanhedrin 17a, Sota

5,

306

THE TOLEDOTII OF THE SONS OF NO ATI.

and
xxxii.

given, Jer. xxv., Ezek. xxvii.

17

sqq.,

Gen.

x. gives

us an impression of independence and high antiquity.

From

Ezek. xxvii. however (the mart of Tyre) it is far more probable that the Phoenicians (Ew. Tuch, Kn. Kiepert, Dillmann) rather than the Egyptians (so e.g. Eitter in his G-esch. der

ethnology here Egyptian ethnology did not extend so far north preserved. nor so near to Arabia as Dillm., after Chabas, remarks.

Erdkunde, 1861) were the

medium

of

the

The
Ant.
i.

first

expositor of the ethnological table

is

Josephus,

6.

He
2.

is

the authority of Jerome in his Qucestiones

their turn

Hebraicce,

which in

Etym.

ix.

139.

have been copied by Isidorus, Other ancient Greek and Latin surveys
fall

of nations

and countries

back, with reference to the ethno

logical table, partly

the Chronicle of

upon Hippolytus of Portus, partly upon Julius Africanus. The knowledge of countries
is,

in all these labours, from Josephus onwards,

in his

as Mlillenhoff

work on the map of the world and chorohas shown graphy of the Emperor Augustus, 1856, derived from the wall-

map of the command of

also

orlis

terrarum,

prepared

by Agrippa

at

the

of the Polla

emperor, exposed to view in the Portico and multiplied in various manners, and which shows itself to be the original and model of the rough
this

and scanty maps of the Middle Ages.

Phaleg
et

Samuel Bochart s

Canaan,

1646,
treat

is

geography not yet quite antiquated

this

repertorium of Scripture the first four vols. of

;

work (Phaleg)
ethnographical

de

divisione gentium,

and explain

the

table

from the

narratives of antiquity.

Further stages of continued investigation are marked by J. D. Michaelis Spicilegium geograpliice Hebrceorum exterce (2 pts.

1*769,1780,4); Knobel
;

work, Die

Tolkertafel der Genesis,

1850 Kiepert article northern countries in the

s

on the geographical position of the

phonikisch
-

hebraischen

Urkunde,

1859

de Lagarde

discussion of

the names in the ethno

graphical table in Ges. Abhandlungen,

1866;
p.

that of Friedr.

Delitzsch in
1

Wo

lag das Paradies?

1881,

244

sqq.; Dill-

See his biography by Ed. Reuss in the Revue theologique, 1854, pp. 129-156.

GENESIS

X. 1-5.

307

mann s
that of

exposition

of

the

edition of

Knobel

revised

ethnographical table in his new Commentary on Genesis, 1882, 86

;

Schrader in the 2nd ed. of his Die Keilinschriften und der A. T. 1883 Ed. Meyer s Gesch. des Altertums, vol. i.
;

(containing the history of the East

down

to the foundation of

the Persian monarchy) 1884, and also the ethnographic articles

in

Kiehm

Handworterluch des

libl.

Altertums, and the Calwer

Bibellexikon, edited

by

P. Zeller.

THE ETHNOGRAPHICAL TABLE, OR THE THREE GROUPS OF THE

NOACHID.E, CH. X.
(Parallel

with

Chron.
:

i.

4-28.)

Title
the sons

and connection,
of Noah; Shem,

ver. 1

And

these are the

Toledoth of

Ham

sons born after the flood.

and Jepheth : and to them were The connection by a consecutive

denied
that

impf.

is

striking

it

cannot be

la has

the

appearance of having originally stood after ix. 19#.

First part
:

the Japhethites,

v.

2-5

Sons of Jepheth are

Gomer and Magog and Madai and Javan and Tubed and And sons of Gomer are AsJcenaz and Mesech and Tiras.

And sons of Javan; Elisah and Eiphath and Togarmah. Kittim and From these the islands of the Dodanim. Tarsis,
nations
to his

separated

themselves
to

in their

lands

each according

language, according

their families, after each of their

nations.

The enumeration
For by Japheth
who,

of the Japhethites begins

"i3,

from the

far

north.

s first son,

is

meant the Kipnepioi

Od. xi. 14, dwell in

(Kifjiepioi),

according to

sunless obscurity.
as the
tenelrce

Homer, The north was esteemed by the ancients

light

region without

or

warmth,

hence

Cimmerian

has ever been a proverbial expression for profound The ethnology of the ancients did not reach very darkness.
far

northwards

the

Euxinus and the Mseotis

Tanais (Don)
given
to
;

Kimmerians lay north of the Pontus (sea of Azov), and west of the
(*.]>),

the

name Krim

which was afterwards

a
"

the

Tauiic

Chersonesus,

is

memorial of the

308

GENESIS

X. 2-5.

Kimmerians in the subsequent which has remained to the present

Scythia"

(Herod,

iv.

12),

day.

For the Kimmerians

were driven from these their settlements on the northern coast

of the Black Sea by the Scythians, they then passed over the

Tyras (Dnjestr), and farther over the Danube into Thrace. Thence about 700 B.C., in conjunction with the Thracians, they

invaded Asia Minor, overran Lydia about 650, and then attacked the Greek cities of the coast until the Lydian king Alyattes succeeded in driving them out of Asia (Herod, i. 16).
It

that

was with the Kimmerians, who had returned from Thrace, Asarhaddon came in collision about 675 and gained, in
Gyges of
"i3

alliance with Asurbanipal, a great victory over the

the Lydia about 662 (see Ed. Meyer, Gescli. i. 546) mentioned by Ezek. xxviii. 6 as confederates of Gog, Assyr. Gimir with the gentil. Gimarda (according to another reading
Gimirai).

The Armenians
ii.

call

the

Cappadocians
is

Gamirkh
designated

(Moses Chor.

8 0, where Caesarea of Cappadocia

as situate in the land of Gamirkh),

Tofjiapels is the ancient

and Josephus thinks that

both asser

name

of the Galatians

tions being occasioned

by the

victorious Asiatic expeditions of

the Kimmerians.

Nothing

certain can be said respecting their

national character and language.

Ed. Meyer regards the latter as well as that of the Scythians as Iranian. Greek authors identified the Kimmerians with the Cimbri already (Diod. Sic. v. 32 2 2. Strabo, vii. sq.), after whom the British district
;

Wales

is

called Cambria.

But the Cimbri

are a Celtic race,

which has not yet died out, 1 while the Kimmerians have disappeared and left no trace behind except a few geographical
names.
1

We

now

proceed to the three sons of Gomer.

The

See Battler s introduction to his Grammar of the Kymrseg (Kel to-Welsh), 1886, in which the 1EJ of the table is explained as by us ; and it is at the same time remarked, that the Kymry themselves like to designate their as

language

Gomerseg.
Tutor).
2

Hence

Sattler gives his

Grammar

the

title,

y Gomerydd (Gomeric
(in Epirus)

The spreading
is

of the

Kimmerians
;

as far as Thesprotia

and

Campania

in itself uncertain

see de Belloguet,

Ethnogtnie, gauloise, ed.

monument

Maury, 1875, and at the end of this commentary the Excursus on an enigmatical in the catacombs of Naples.

GENESIS

X. 2-5.

309
the

first

is

133^8, the ancestor of the population, settled ou

of

Propontis,

Phrygia (where
is

is

the

Ascanian

lake

near

Kelana), Bithynia (where

the Ascanian lake near NicaBa,

v.

and an Ascanium /lumen, Pliny, H. N.

Ascanios
of
is

in

Homer
hero

the

name

of a Phrygian,
xii.

40) and Mysia. and elsewhere

comp.
xiv.
5.

a Mysian

(see

Strabo,

4.

29).

We
iv.

also

meet with the Ascanian name as that

v.

of a
(ib.

Phrygian
v.
(ib.

district (Plin.

40), as the

name

of islands

38,

23), as the

name

of a harbour in
:

^Eolian Moesia

v. 3 2).

We
^,

are not able to say

p.

the Ascanians are the

Phrygians (Ed. Meyer,

300)
27,

still

their being

named

after

T$

and

Jer.

lii.

certainly

leads

from Western
1

Armenia
Lagarde

to Phrygia

rather
Abli.

than
p.

to

Bithynia and Mysia.

254) calls attention to the fact, that Asken is an Armenian proper name, and az an Armenian patronymic termination. The Talmud and Targurns
(Gesammelte

vaguely explain

T33GPK

by

JODN. to

Medieval Jewish Knobel

is

tradition

however gives
that the

this

name

German
in

tribe that

Germany. came from Asia

really thinks

so called as
(Gesch.

an
der

Ask-race,

opposition

to

which Jak. Grimm

ed.) compares the

deutschen Sprache, p. 572,

2nd

German

tribal

legend of

Mannus and

his three sons, Iscus (Ask,

Inus and Hermino.

(LXX.
Sixt.
is

The

second

son

of

Gomer

is

picfraO,

AB
;

epeifyaO).

The most obvious com

with the PITTCUOI (PtTrate??), the inhabitants of the parison PiTrala (PiTraia) oprj but what mountain chain it was that

was transposed by the ancients

to the shore of the northern

ocean, the ancient geographers themselves are unable to tell

us with any certainty. According to Pliny, //. N. iv. 24, the Tanaics (Don) comes down thence the Carpathians are by no means so called (Kn.), we have rather to think of the Ural
;

is left in obscurity. Lagarde and Dillm. therefore prefer to compare the Bithynian district PijjSavria on the Thracian Bosphorus (Straits of Constanti-

(Schafarik)

thus the situation

Asarhaddon names among the

see Friedr. Delitzsch

allies of
s

the land of
Daniel,

Mannda

(i3Jp),

the land

of

ASyiha;

on Baer

p. ix.

310
nople,

GENESIS

X. 2-5.

which unite the

Propontis
little

and

Pontus)

but

this

derives its
it lies,

name from

the

river Pfjfias (Prjcro?)

settled in
it.

on which

and not from a

1 Chron.
i.

tribe
6,
is

who
ria*^

The Masoretic
the people

reading,

which gives us no further

is

assistance.

The

third

son

of

Gomer

HDiJn

descending from him is called nrruin iva, Ezek. xxvii. 14, where they are named after Javan, Tubal and Meshech as
bringing horses and mules to the mart of Tyre; and xxxviii. 6, where it appears after Gomer as a component of the army of

Gog.
as

The Armenians regarded Thorgom, the father of Haik, l and even granting that the form of the their ancestor
;

opjafjud (with Ooyappd) (Lagarde and Noldeke in DMZ. xxxiii. 324), still the Armenian tradition is confirmed by Tilgarimmu being in

name Thorgom was

occasioned by

of the

LXX.

the cuneiform inscriptions the

name

of a fortified

town in the

of
to

subsequent district of Melitene, on the south-western boundary Armenia (Pamdies, p. 246). Apart from this, we are led

Western Armenia

for

nurun in distinction from

^p and

^73*?.

Whether

the form Tilgarimmu instead of

assimilation, or is

Togorimmu

depends upon Assyrian must be left unsettled, as must also the question whether the

the original one,

name

of the Thessalian

"Appevos

2 (Arm. Armenak, son of Haik),

which, according to Strabo, xi. of Armenia, is concealed in the

is

4. 8,

gave

its

name

to the land

Armah
and

of Togarmah.
also of

Armenos
;

the

name

of a

town

in Thessaly,

one in Phrygia
of the

and the modern Pindusvlachi, the descendants

Thracian
tribes, still call

Macedono-

themselves

Armeng

the Armenians,

like the Phrygians, having really settled in

Europe before they

did so in Asia.

The second son

and
1 Chron.
i.

of Japheth

is Jfao.

The name, besides here

6.

5,

occurs only Ezek. xxxviii. 2 and xxxix.

The land
1

of Gog, the ruler over Eosh,

:

Meshech and Tubal,

in

But the Armenian says

)
;

am Hai

(a

(plur.
2

the country
is
:

is

called Haiastan.

descendant of Hailc], we are Haikh They do not call themselves after

Thorgom.

The pedigree
i.

Japheth, Gamer, Tiras, Thorgom, Haik,

Armenak (Moses

v.

Chorene,

5.)

GENESIS

X. 2-5.

311

whose army, with which he invades the Holy Land, are found among other nations, Gomer and Beth-Togarmah, is there called
by
this

name

(xxxviii.

6).

How

the

prefix

ma

in

JMO

is

related to ju (comp. the

name

Pvyrjs and

Gagu

of the cunei

form inscriptions, Paradies, p. 247) is as hard to say as how Masis (Great Ararat) is related to Sis (Little Ararat), MaKeria
to

DTD

(1

Mace.

i.

1, viii. 5),

Maaorayerai, to Terat, and the

like.

Mordtmann,

in his attempt to decipher the

Armenian
this

cuneiform inscriptions, thinks he

country for
be,

there

finds

the meaning

ma (DMZ.

xxvi.

661).

But however
1

may

MQ

shows

itself to be, as

already stated

by Josephus and

Jerome, and as since Bochart universally accepted, a Hebrew

common noun

for

that

many-branched

nomadic nation of

northern Asia, called by the Persians Saka (2a/cai), and by the Greeks Scythians. Their irruption into Hither Asia, in

which they
Egypt,
is

also

made

inroads into Palestine and threatened

i.

related

by Herodotus,

103-106, and was very

by
464).

probably the model of that picture of the future sketched

Ezekiel in chs. xxxviii. and xxxix. (Dillm., Ed. Meyer,

Whether the name Gog

Caucasian races
is

is

connected with the dialectic form

of the Persian kuh, mountain-chain,

which in the mouth

of

of like pronunciation,

must be

left unsettled.

Bergmann
ma-ghov

(Les Scythes,

population of Thiulet call the high northern

(yna-gogli),

1858) remarks that the Caucasian mountain chain

(gogJi).

and the nearer and lower gov

genealogical

The
of

table does

not

enter into the

ramification

Magog.

The

third son of Japhet

is

H?.

This

is

the

name

of the

people, and then of the land of the Medes, in the cuneiform inscriptions mat Maddda, with the settled epithet of the distant

Paradies, p. 247, according to which the name seems have to originally adhered to the north-eastern country with the capital Ehaga (Rhagae). In extra-Pentateuchal literature,
(rufcuti),

first

appears in the book of Kings, in Jeremiah, and in

1 Nordtmann, above, forms an exception. By J1JD he understands Armenia, and by nD")jn, Thorgenland= country of the Turks, DMZ. xxvi. 622.

312

GENESIS X.
first

2-5.

2 Isaiah, and D^S, Persia, name ^TO on a

together.

in Ezekiel

Esther and Daniel

of Japheth is |, the people and land of the lonians (Idoves, laFoves ), on the coast of Asia Minor west of

The fourth son

of the

They were the earliest developed portion Greek nation (Ernst Curtius, Ueber die lonier vor der ionisclun Wanderung, 1885). In these lonians, who were
Joel
iii.

Karia and Lydia.

pirates,

and carried on a slave trade (Annalen Sargons, xxi. 6 Ezek. xxvii. 13), the Greek people first entered
;

within the horizon of the Phoenicians, Assyrians, and Israelites. Subsequently (Zech. ix. 1 3 and in the book of Daniel) Javan became throughout the East, as far as India, the collective

name per
The
6&)/3eX

synecdochen

of

the Greeks (see Stade,

De populo
(LXX.
78),

Javan, 1880).
fifth
/cal

and sixth sons

of

Japheth are

W&i
(iii.

i>?n

MOO-OX), the Moschi and Tibareni, as settled since

Bochart.

They

are also paired in Herodotus

94,

vii.

and four times in Ezekiel.

The Tibareni dwelt

east of Ther-

niodon in Pontus, the Moschi between the sources of the

The cuneiform histories of the wars show Phasis and Cyrus. however that both peoples originally settled farther south
wards, in about

an

even

line

with

Cilicia

(see

Schrader,
sq.).

KAT\

82-84, and
to
(v.

Friedr. Delitzsch, Parodies,

250

The seventh son

convenient

of Japheth is ETFI. It would be very understand by this the Thracians, whom

Herodotus

3) calls the greatest nation after the

is

Indians

but the name

phonetically too far

(Tyrrheni),

removed from DTD.

which
Nold. and
is

The
Dillm.
of

name

of the

Tyrseni

here understand, corresponds in sound.

the Etrurians,
tion

This

the

name

who

are regarded as Pelasgi, but their

v.

immigra

219) is only a legend without me more probable that the people of the country north-west of the Pontus Euxinus, through which the Tyras (Dnjestr) flows, i.e. the Tyragetse or
Scythians
dwelling

from Lydia (Strabo, It seems to foundation.

on

the
of

Tyras, the

are

intended.
of

It

was

among

those

Scythians

district

the

Tyras that

GENESIS

X. 2-5.

313
of the Thracians
e.g.

Herodotus found customs similar to those

(iv.

104), the remains of whose

language,

Ppla,

plant,

Sanscrit miki, point to an

Ethnographic Kleinasiens, We have taken the sons of

the
sons
(

Aryan origin (Fliegier, 1875, pp. 5-12).

Beitrage zur

Gomer
ver.
4.

together with himself,

of

Javan

follow

in

The

first

is

Eleusis

.EXeuo-/?) is out of question, being

no country or
in
r

race,

but a town.
enumeration,

Hellas
if it
i.e.

EXXa?) would be welcome

this

Magna
of Elis

Grsecia,
(

might be understood of rj ^eya^ E\\as, Lower Italy. The west Peloponnesian land
nearer in sound, and
("EXtcrcra)

HXt?)
river

is

it is

a curious chance
flow

that

*E\ia-a

should

through

it.

According

to this, the purple brought to 7)

the market of Tyre

(Ezek. xxvii.
Plitts,

EE.

iv.

would be Peloponnesio - Laconian (HerzogBut the purple with which Tyre 490).
8

adorned herself came from n^V*?

N, and

hence the ancient

;

view (Joseph. Jer.), that n^ ta means the JEolians (AldKeu?) and the Elisa-islands, al Alo\i$6<s (1/770-01), remains the most
probable,
inclusion

although this Hebraiziag of the name, with the is abnormal. of the nominative termination eZ?,
is

Javan

second son

t^cnn.

As abnormal
(Tvpprjvoi),

as

would

be t^Bnn

= Tvpa^voL

the
i.

name
the
is

of

the

Etruscans,
tions,

who

according to Dionys. Halic.

30 and

inscrip

called

themselves Paaevai.

This

is

opinion of

Knobel, though he does not deny that B*Khn

Baetis

elsewhere

Tartessus, the capital of Tartessis or Tartessia on the Tartessus

in tin

= Guadalquivir,

a Spanish province abounding

is

and

silver.

Here however, where Tarshish

called a

son of Javan,

we must remember

that before the Phoenicians

took advantage of the mines of Tartessus, Phokoeans from the Hellenic land of Phokis had settled there (Herod, i. 168). Tarsus in Cilicia is out of question it arose long after the
;

period which the

coins and
1

table represents,
1

and

is

written
the

pn upon
place

inscriptions.
lies far

ria

is

named
;

in

third

That Tarshish had been directed

to go to

westward is shown by the flight of Jonah when he Nineveh (Jonah i. 3) and that the journey to

314

GENESIS

X. 2-5.

among
the

the descendants of Javan.

of the

These are the Cypriotes,

near the

inhabitants

island of Cyprus, situated

Palestine-Syrian coast of the Mediterranean, with KLTLOV its

chief town.

This island

is

called prv (pnx) in Assyrian

and

native inscriptions.

It is

by no means Cyprus

as colonized

by the Phoenicians that is here intended by the genealogist, but whether Hellenic or Carian pre-Hellenic Cyprus cannot In the fourth place are mentioned as descendants be decided.

The reading ^"p, 1 Chron. i. 7, in accord Javan &?i\ ance with which Dillm. understands the inhabitants of Ehodes
of

and of the islands

be relied on as

of the

Ha**!

for

JEgean Sea generally, is as nan, which we noticed at

little to

ver.

3.

Following the
D
^TH>

Targ. Jer.

we

regard D^p/i as softened from

the

name

of the race, Illyrian according to Strabo

and

Appian, Thracian according to Dio Cassius, inhabiting the not Dodoni, for though Awbavr) Trojan district of Aapbavia
or Ao&btovia occurs in JEschylus,

the

name

of the province in

of the valley of

Prom. 828, and Skylax, as which lay upon a projecting hill Tsharakovista an ancient oracle discovered

by Carapanos, it has not given a name to any race of people. The text of the concluding formula requires some insertion
which
of the
isles
is
JV

missing (Ew. Dillm.), since what ver. 5 says partly From these the \n, is partly meant of all the r\& ^:n
:

of the nations separated themselves.

after
to
is

[This did the sons of

to

Jcpheth]

their

lands,

each

according

his

language,

according
tion TIBD

their families, after their nations.

The separa
stock for

meant

of severance from the

common

the formation of independent powers, and indeed of maritime

being everywhere in the Old Testament the European insular world. Hence npxp can only refer to the while on the other hand everything from DfiinKa J2 jv
powers, D^sn
V.^
S
;

onwards

refers to all the Japhethites, as

all

ver.

20 does

to all

the Hamites, and ver. 31 to

the Semites.
If the

Second part: the Hamites, vv. 6-20.

name EH has

Tarshish was regarded as a voyage on the open sea, is shown in the translation of JTWK by v-kola. IcttMffrns, by LXX. and Jerome.

SWlD

GENESIS
a
to

X.

6,

7.

315
it

meaning alluding

the Hamitic nations,

points to the

south tropical zone of which they are natives. Chemi, the their called the which ancient name by Egyptians country
(the

mother country of chemistry,

s

i.e.

the philosopher
a

stone Jcimija,

DMZ.

the art of discovering xxx. 11, xxxvi. 534sqq.),

Osir.
c.

name which, according to Plutarch (de Iside et means the pupil of the eye as well as the land
so
it

33),

of the Nile,

called because of

the strikingly dark ashy colour given

Nile, is entirely
Ps. cv.

by the deposition of the mud of the The appellation &n p.?, out of question.
cvi.

23, 27,

22,
Q,

may
:

be an allusion to

it.

by

form the commencement in

The Hamites, registered And sons vv. 6 and 7

:

of Ifam

Cus and Mizraim and Phut and Canaan.

:

And

sons of Cus Seba and Havilah and Sabtah and Ra mah And sons of Ramah v Scbah and Deddn. and Sabteca.
:

Ham s

first

son

is

c^3.

This

is

the

name

of the people

dwelling south of Egypt, in Nubia towards Abyssinia, and for AWioires in called Ethiopians in the narrower sense
;

general are all sun-burnt, the nation to

i.e.

dark-skinned people.

They

are

whom
its

belonged the priest-state Meroe, the

Nuba

kingdom
Anfange

in the time of the Ptolemies,

capital

and

also the

Axumitic

kingdom with
dcs

Tigre (see Dillmann, In Egyptian Kas or Kd (often with the epithet ^est the miserable) is from the monu ments of the 12th Dynasty onwards the name of all dark

Axum

in

axum.

Reiches,

1879).

southern nations
special

this frequently interchanges

with Nehesu, the

name

of the negroes.

The

vocalization
It

Kus

is

also

usual in the Achaemenidean

inscriptions.

must not be

assumed that the Asiatic

on cuneiform inscriptions a in the Kassu, people dwelling Zagros mountains between Babylonia and Media, who for a long period maintained
Cosssei,

a
to

supremacy over
the African
Asiatic Cosssea

Babylon, stand in a secondary relation

Cushites.
is

The view that

at

ii.

13, x. 8,
is

the

to

be understood, and that this

mistakenly confounded with the African Gush (Schr. Homm. ; comp. Friedr. Delitzsch, Die Sprache der Kossaer, 1884,

316
p.

GENESIS

X.

6, 7.

61), imputes to the Bible, without adducing

any

proof, a

most improbable confusion.

Ham s

second son

is

D^V?, the

name

of the country

which

reaches, according to Ezek. xxix. 10, xxx. 6, from the north

eastern fort of Migdol to the cataract and border

town Syene

refer to

The dual does not (Asudn), near the Cushite boundary. the two mountain chains (the Arabian and Libyan)

which bound the valley of the Nile, but to the two halves into which the country was not only politically, but also
physically divided, to

Upper and Lower Egypt, whence the Pharaonic kings were called lords of the upper and lower The dual is based upon a countries, or of the two countries.
chief form
"">

(for

which we have ito,

this

Isa. xix. 6, xxxvii.

25
for

Micah
or

vii.

"IS

"ito

cannot be the native name of Egypt, (corresponding with the two Assyrian names
1 2)
;

Misir
p.

and
sqq.)
still

Musur
is

of

the

cuneiform inscription,
of all

Paradies,

308

a Semitic word for enclosure or fortification;

first
it

and we

favour Ebers view, that

was Lower

Egypt
This

that was so called, as a country protected on the east

by a long girdle of fortresses from Pelusium to the Klysma. name was subsequently dualized with an obliteration of its fundamental meaning, yet with so strong an after
effect of
its

original

impress of Lower Egypt, that Upper

D nsio, Isa.
xi.

Egypt

is

specially

named along with

a

11

Jer.

xliv. 15.

Ham s

third

son, BIS, gives

name

to

the

people

who

beside here and the parallel passage in Chronicles are also

mentioned by
to

Nahum

(iii.

9),

Jeremiah

(xlvi. 9)

and Ezekiel

(xxvii. 10, xxx. 5, xxxviii. 5).

The name has no reference

for a

the ancient Egyptian word

bow,

pltet (pet),

and the

group of nine tribes denoted by nine bows (Zeitschr. fiir ceg. Nor does the Sprache u. AltertumsJcunde, 1865, p. 25). of Arabia as a name (Ebers), answer Egyptian name Punt,
;

Arabia furnished mercenary troops to the Egyptian iii. Nah. 9, Jer. xlvi. 9, Ezek. xxx. 5, is unknown army, arid improbable besides, Punt, whither the naval expedition,
for that
;

GENESIS

X.

6,

7.

31*7

with which Dumichen has made us acquainted, steered,

is

the

land of frankincense lying east of Egypt (the Somali coast, with the south coast of Arabia opposite it). &OVTIJS is,
according to Joseph. Ant.
inhabitants, he
as
i.

6.

2,

the founder of Libya, whose

tells us, are called

:

&OVTOL

he further remarks,

sens

Jerome copies from him Mauritania fluvius usque in prcePhut dicitur omnisque circa cum regio Phutensis. This

river is also witnessed to

Pliny

(v.

1,

13

by Ptolemy (iv. 1, 3 $6ov6) and Fut), and it agrees with the statements of
:

Josephus, that Phaiat (interchanging with Lube)

is

the Coptic
Dis out

name
side
iii.

of Libya,

and that the LXX. always reproduce

table
is

the
9

ethnological

by Aifives.
its

Nevertheless Nah.

shows that DID

not equivalent with

DW

DID is a

district situated in Libya,

and

name was used

synecdochi-

cally for the

whole of Libya.
of

fourth son, |W3, sounds as though it denoted a people of the low country, and a people inhabiting the low land on the Mediterranean coast between Bhinokolura

The name

Ham s

and Berytus are actually so called, then also those in the low land on western Jordan, as far up as the lake of Gennesaret, and hence in a wider sense the land west of Jordan and
its

Phoenician population.
their

The Phoenicians themselves

called

eponymous

hero,

who was

regarded

as

the

brother of
i.

"Oo-^t?

(^Ta-ipis)

(Sanchoniathon in Eus. Prcep.

10.

26),
it

heard

Xva, and themselves Xvaoi, or, as Augustine from the mouths of Punic peasants, Chanani. Here

in the table
(in

Canaan
ix.

is

the brother of Mizraim.

Eupolemus

too

Eus. Prccp.

17) brings, according to a supposed Baby

lonian legend, Xou/i., Mea-paeljj, and Xavadv into genealogical connection. The people did not give themselves the name of
Phoenicians, they were called
of
for

Qoivuces, as dwelling in a land

dates from Phoenicia palm trees, Europe (Hermipp in Athen. i. 49 QoivUrj Trape^eu KapTrov <otWo?) while, on the other hand, Pceni (Puni) may be connected

received

with 0ou/tf, redness, and fotvos,

of the
skin.

red,

and
the

refer to

the colour

The immigration

of

Canaan ites from the

318
1

GENESIS

X.

6,

7.

the Indian Ocean, and especially the Erythraean Sea (i.e. Persian Gulf), that home of the Hamitic nations, is testified
to

by Herodotus
(xviii.
first

(i.

1, vii.

89), Strabo
after

and Dionysius Perieg

Justin

they

leaving their native place inhabited Assyrium stagnum (perhaps the marsh land
that

3) adds

on the Lower Euphrates) before turning towards the Mediter ranean coasts and founding Sidon. The credibility of this
testimony
is

Gutschmid, Dillm. Konig (Lehrgeb.

acknowledged by Bertheau, Ew. Kn. Lassen, v. In vain has Movers 4).

(Phcen. ii. 38-60) cast a doubt upon it; Lepsius, in his Nubian Grammar, has shown the important connection with the history of civilisation in which this credibly attested fact

stands (comp.

DMZ.

xxxv. 213-216).

During

their progress

from east

to west the Canaanites

would

find time

tunity for appropriating the Semitic language.

and oppor We have no

right to charge the genealogical statements of the table witli

falsehood,

and perhaps even

to

say,

with Sprenger, in his

this table

Geography of Arabia, that it is the calumny of the compiler of which ascribed the Canaanites to the Hamitic race.
In
ver.

7 follow the

sons

of

Gush, and

first

Kjp,
:

LXX.

2a{3a, Jerome, Sdba.

With Josephus

the equation

Saba
of

Meroe

(the

name

of

which he dates from the time

i.

Cam-

byses), is a self-evident matter (comp. Ant.

6.

2 with

ii.

10. 2).

Meroe

is

the capital of the ancient priest-state, which was

temporarily governed by queens, upon the island enclosed by

the Nile and its

two branches, the Astapus (Blue Nile) and

i.

Astaboras (Atbara-Takazze), Diod.

1

33.

Under Tirhakah,

Gulf,
is

The question whence the Indian which Herodotus treats as a part

6a\uffff<t
y

Sea, the Persian Gulf, and the Arabian of the great Red Sea, derive the name of

is not yet decided. According to Ebers (DMZ. xxxv. 215), it from the red- skinned Puna (the ancestral nation of the Phoenicians), who Wetzstein once told me that as EpvtpuTot gave the name to the sea.

Epufyii

>

s-

6a.\a.irftx,

was a translation resting upon a misunderstanding of

for so was properly called that part of the Indian Ocean which washes the southern coast of Arabia. There, probably in the mountain -land of Hadramaut, where there are two harvests in the year, was the proper starting- place of the

nations of Semitic speech. form of the Semitic;

Perhaps the Ehkili represents the relatively oldest

GENESIS

X.

6,

7.

319
(inscr.

king of the Ethiopian (xxvi.) dynasty, Napata

house, and near to this lay another

Nep!) on

the hill of Baikal became the centre of the Ethiopian ruling-

Meroe

(inscr.

Merua\ which
ii.

Tirhakah had royally endowed.

situated to the south-east of
it,

It is this

Meroe, not the one

which Herodotus means,

29;

he heard

it

called

"the

metropolis of the rest of the

Ethiopians."

That either one or the other Meroe bore the native name of

Saba we are not indeed able to confirm.

that

Hence

it is

possible

some other N2D in Nubia, lying

farther eastward, received

the

name

of the branch of the Ethiopian people here intended.

Strabo, xvi. 8,

and, xvi.
called

and a port of Saba, 10, a considerable town, 2aj3a, which is however

ostiary

names a Sabaitic

2a{3aT by Ptolemy, situated near Berenice.

Among

the sons of Gush iy^n takes the second place.

Having with

N3D arrived at about Massaua, the tribe of the AftaXlTat, (Ava\lrai\ on the AvaXlrr)? /coX-Tro? (sinus Abcditu, Plin.
vi.

34), in the

town Abala (according

sequence.
It
is

to

Juba

in Plin. vi. 35),

south of the straits of Bab-el-mandeb, offers itself for n^in in

close

geographical

an acknowledged fact

(DMZ. xxxv. 213) that migrations and returns of Cushites and Arabians took place there and over the Arabian Gulf. Pliny (vi. 3 4) relates of Juba adcolas Nili a Syene non JEthiopum populos,
:

sed

ad Meroen. Thus the genealogical statement, ver. 29, does not stand in exclusive contradiction to
esse dicit usqiie

Arabum

the Elohistic statement here.

The

third son of

Gush

This

name

leads us from the African coast to the south coast

where the Chatromotitae (Atramitae), whose capital was Zdftfiada (SdpftaTa, 2d{3ara, Sabota), had settled far to
of Arabia,

the east of the Homeritaa.

It lay according

to

Ptolemy

east

ward

of the Sabseans (Himjarites), according to the Periplus, northward of the coast town Kane that it had
;

Pliny says

sixty temples,
to

and was a mart

it is

for

frankincense.

According

DMZ.

xix.

252-255,

the

j\jjb, of

Arabian geographers,
situate
of

the

mn^

of the Himjaritic inscriptions

on the road

from Hadramaut to Higaz.

The fourth son

Gush

320

GENESIS
together with

X.

6,

named

&o^ by Ezekiel (xxvii. 22) as bringing and gold to the mart of Tyre, LXX. Such is the name of a seaport (in Gen. and Chron.) Pe^/pa. town on the Arabian shore of the Persian Gulf; in Ptol.
spices, precious stones
vi.

The Steph. Byz. PTJ^/JLO,. Hellenizing accords with nojn, and the reason that the town
7.

14,

Pey/jia,

Peya/jia

in

at

the boundary of

Oman and

Bahrein

is

now

called
f^;>

the Arabianized Hhegma. Dillm. however calls attention to a Sabaaan nttsn authenticated on inscriptions

may

be that this

is

by Hale vy (DMZ. xxx. 122), with the

of Marib, the

situation of which, north

Pa^avliai named by
is

Strabo, xvi. 4. 24, agree.

Unfortunately Strabo

the only witness to these Eammanitse.

:

The
is

fifth

son of Gush

Jornp.

To the present time there

is

nothing further

known than what

said

by Bochart, that

the Ichthyophagi of the coast

f

town Sa^vBaKr] in Caramania, of eastward the Persian There Gulf, are intended. dwelling

now
there

follow two sons of

Ea ma

JTTC NJB*.

In

ver.

2 7 and
;

xxv. 3, Arabian tribes of Semitic descent are so called

is

but

no
one

reason
as
of

for

stock

of

another

denying a more ancient Cushite Arabian commercial people.

Wetzstein acknowledges the historical nature and consistency of both genealogical statements, and has even tried to show
in Ex.
c. i. to the 2nd Dedan who conducted

ed. of

my

Isaiah, that the

Sheba and

arid

Ethiopia on

the caravan transport between Egypt the one side, and the lands of Tigris and

Euphrates on the other, were the Cushites, who as he thinks dwelt within the Troglodytice southwards from Berenice. We
cannot indeed infer from the fact alone that the wares with
which, according to Ezek. xxvii. 15, 20, comp. xxxviii. 13, they traded are especially Ethiopian articles of export, that

they belonged to the Cushite race, but this fact does not Since however the ex exhaust the proof there furnished.
planation of

Ka ma by no means

leads over Arabia back

wards towards north-eastern Africa, it is improbable that the genealogist conceived of the two nations that sprung from

GENESIS

X. 8-10.

321
of a
to

him

as

north-east
of

African.

The view

Cushite foun

dation

their

racial

peculiarity seemed

him

justified
to

without

such

localization.

The
as

right

place

however

discuss these

two peoples

Arabian will occur at

ver. 28,

xxv.

3.

The

Elohistic

register

of

the

Hamites now receives

its

continuation in a Jahvistic glance

is

extract,

which even

at the first

characterized as

such

by the Divine

name

nirv

The names of the being used just where we expect DTi^N. Hamites so far have been names of nations; the Hamite of the extract, vv. 8-12, is a person of world-wide importance,
vv.

8-10
it

And
:

Gush begat Nimrod, he began

to be

a mighty

one on earth.

He was a mighty

hunter before Jahveh, there

fore

is

said

And
is

the

Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before Jahveh. beginning of his kingdom was Babel and Erech and
the

Accad and Calneh in

also

land of Shinar.

The Jahvistic pen

manifested by 1^, instead of the more definite

xxiii.

T^n

(DMZ.

622

sq.).

The name

*no?, besides here, occurs

"

only Micah

v. 5,

The view

of

where Assyria is called the Land of Nimrod." Oppert, that Nimrodki (i.e. Nimrod with the

local determinative ki)

was an ancient name

is

of

Elam, does not

commend

itself.

Neither

Nimrod (LXX.

NeftpooS) the per

sun (Sayce), but a hero in the flesh, though one encompassed with legends the name, found apparently with the preformative na, has not yet been
sonification of a country towards the
;

discovered in

inscriptions.

The name

of

the

hero

of the

Baby lonio- Assyrian national epos, who undoubtedly answers to the scriptural Nimrod, is commonly though not certainly Nu- Marad, the read Izdubar. The conjecture that YIBJ

man

(hero),

from
all

Marad, because the

others
as
his,
is

god

whom
of

Izdubar

invokes above

the
;

god

the

midsq.), is

KAT. 92 Babylonian town Marad (Paradies, p. 220 1 Nimrod s insertion here in the table interesting.
1

rests,

Another conjecture has been advanced by P. ITaupt in his English notice

"

Kossaer," viz. that in T~IEO is involved the name of the Cossaean god of war and hunting, Maraddas. The Arabians explain the name

of Friedr. Delitzsch s

322

GENESIS X.

8-10.

according to Schrader and others, upon the confusion of the

Egypto-Nubian Kes, tro, with the Babylonian Kal (Kassu}. But still more ancient than the Nubian t^ lD is the ^ 13 settled
on the
Erythrsean
Sea,

and especially the

Persian

Gulf,

which thence peopled Southern Arabia and North-Eastern Africa, and everywhere disseminated a culture resembling the
Egyptian, with which it also, as the Cannes myth says, enriched Babylonia (see Lepsius Nubian Grammar, and Geo.

Ebers in

DMZ.

xxxv.

213-216).

Hitherto

it

was even

thought that the Ethiopian type could be recognised in the

features of Izdubar (Paradies, note 22), while

now he

is

placed

as a Cossaean out of all connection with the

Hamitic Gush.

But there

are circumstances enough, to

e.g.

warn us against any pre

mature judgment, such

neither

as that

it

has not yet been possible

to assign their ethnological place to the Cossaei, their language

being

Surnerian
;

nor

Elamite

or

Median

(Friedr.

Delitzsch, Kossaer,
called

1884) that two Babylonian provinces are Meluclia and MaJcan, which are elsewhere the names
;

and Egypt (Paradies, pp. 56, 129-131) that the Greek legend of Cepheus and Memnon brings into mani
of -Ethiopia

fold

mutual
1

relations Africano-Ethiopian
Till

and Central-Asian
with
Ideler,

matters.

further

notice
to

we

adhere,

Letronne,
exists

Lepsius, Brugsch,

the view that a connection

between the oldest Babylonian and the oldest Egyptian

civilisation.

The authors
20
sq.,

of

new
20.
~>i23,

industries are

also intro

duced,

iv.

with iTn
iv.

Kin,

and ^nn Kin

recalls the

new

beginnings related
arose with

26,

ix.

The new tendency which

i.e.

Nimrod was

that of a

of a

man

in power,

who

mighty in SH\ xxv. 27), a great hunter (1JV is a word hunting (comp. is taken which first appears Jer. xvi. 1 6). As the added n
Ttf""ii3ji,
T>*

by courage, energy and in subjection. He was

terror keeps the surrounding country in the first place a

"ODp

by

43.

U) |,
and

the powerful, the bold, the stedfast

.

the noun-form would be like

See

Hellanikos

in

Steph.

Byz.

s.v.

x.a)3u,7oi,

and

J.

Lowenherz,

die

der altUassischen Kunst, 1861.

GENESIS

X. 8-10.

for anything proverbial is intro from the popular mouth i x. 12 1 Sam. like duced by ja-fy, comp. Num. xxi. 27 it does not mean contra Dominum, as the Latin versions
;

understand the evavriov of the

LXX.

in a

manner

hostile to

and defiant

of Jehovah, for

which

*JB"?JJ

(Isa. Ixv. 3)

would

be expected rather than

according
pfifc

3Bp

to

Jehovah
can

will

(Luke xv. 18, evd>Tnov\ nor, and pleasure, which neither

signify,

by themselves adjunct to Txnnj, which raises Jonah iii. 3, and D*rfo6,

nor
TO>

W3

but

it

is

an

this

to

ideality
vii.

(comp.
20),
or,

@eo>,

Acts

like

e.g.

Chron.

xii.

22, makes
Dillm.).

it

superlative (Perizon.
chief

Bocliart,

Eosenm. Kn.

Jahveh Himself, the

regarded him
as a

and

infallible appraiser of all things,

hunt

ing hero, and did not

hunting of

know his equal on earth. It is not the of beasts, the opposite of the peaceful but men, is intended. that The constellation Orion (in shepherd life,
is

the Bible ^D3)

by

astrologers called Algebar

(Algebra) in

the same sense.

intended,

And

because the hunting

of

animals

is

the

continuation

toppp JW&O

nni

seems

extra

ordinary, and suggests the view that ver. 9 is an insertion which destroys the connection existing when vv. 8 and 10
are combined, as

by Dillmann.

But

it is

just in the union of

the passions for the chase and for

war that

Mmrod

is

the

prototype of the Babylonio- Assyrian kings,

of

Izdubar, the mighty hero of the subdued the country from the Persian Gulf to the Armenian mountains, and raised himself so highly in the estimation of

the native legend chase and of war, who

the gods, that Istar the sovereign of

to

Warka desired, but in

its

vain,

have him

for

her husband,

is

here divested of
to

mytho
not the

logical

accessories
facts.

and brought down

the narrative has

the plain prose of

simple

What
Nimrod
state.

in

view

is

greatness of

as a hunter, but his importance as the

founder of a
first

monarch.

Four towns,

The hunter without an equal was also the of which Babel is the first, were
the temporal

the JT^frO of his kingdom, which does not here, as in Jer.

xxvi. 1, signify so

much

commencement

as the

324
first

GENESIS
part, the

X. 8-10.

component

primitive condition.

The name

of

the country,
vii.

"1W,

occurs, besides Gen. x. xi. xiv., only Josh,

;

2 1 (mantle from Shinar)

;

Isa. xi.

11

(as

a land of the
;

dispersion)

Zech.

v.

1 1 (as a

land of traders)
It is the

Dan.
as

i.

2 (as

the land of Nebuchadnezzar).

same word
in

sumSr in

the self-appellation of the Babylonian and also of the Assyrian

kings, as
"

Kings of Sumer and

Accad,"

which combination

"i]Wt?

Sumer means North and Accad South Babylonia. The form answers to the native form hunger, which interchanges

with sumSr, as dingdr, god, does with dimer (Parodies, 198). In its biblical use *)yw has been generalized into the collective name of Babylonia (of the Irak el-* arabi, exclusive of Meso
1

potamia).

The

first

of the four towns,

when we come
The
situation

to the

separation
Gr.

of languages
is

^3, will be spoken of and nations.

of ?pK,

Op ^orj,

Babylonian ruins,
This Erech or
Erech, like
the

Warka, on the left Uruk (whence K^SHN, Ezra

shown by the South bank of the Euphrates.

iv.

9,

those

of
i.e.

Assurb. Sm.

2500:

arkaiti,

she
in
"f?K

of

Erech,

Goddess

Nana), Sumerian

Unug, was

the

Persian

has till now period the sacred necropolis of Chaldea. been authenticated by the inscriptions only as the name of a
province
;

as a

town however

it

has

been

identified

with

Agade, which together with Sipar formed the double town of Sepharvaim, north of Babel, on the left bank of the Euphrates
(Paradies, 198).

Dr. Herm. Hilprecht has the

I.,

now

discovered
of

Accad

as

also

name
first

of

town in an

inscription

Nebuchadnezzar
there said, Col.
lit

published by

him

in

1883.

It is

ii.

z.

50

Sin u Belit alu Ak-ka-di ildni sa

(i.e.

Haitian,

i.e.

Sin and the mistress of the town Accad

i.e.

the Goddess Anunitum,

Istar as the
2

goddess of the house of Habbari.

1

morning star), the fwpa here and Amos vi. 2

See Tiele,

Perhaps however this

is

Babylonisch-assyr. Gesch. (1886)

2

the original geographical meaning. i. 72 sq.

9

in accordance with which Ephrem regards The Syriac wrongly reads j^D this second town of Nimrod as Achar = Nisibis the Nisibian dialect is also
>

?
|

called the Acharian.

GENESIS
not yet

X.

11,

12.

325
(see

is

made

certain

by inscriptions

on the writing,
;
h/>?,

Baer s
"33,

Genesis, p.

79, note, and Duodecim, p. 70)

Isa. x. 9,

Ezek. xxvii. 23, according to

Targums

ii.

iii.

Euseb. Jer.

is

Ktesiphon, north-east of Babylon on the

left

bank

of the

to Pliny, vi. 30, Tigris, which, according

was founded by the the town XaXa, with Parthians in Chalonitis (XdXcovlris Isid. mans. Parth. 3), perhaps Kulunu on inscriptions (Paradies,
225).

These four towns formed the foundation of Nimrod

kingdom, which did not however but extended over Assyria, vv. 11, 12
he went out towards Assur

continue limited to Babylonia,

:

From

the

same land

and

built

Nineveh and Rehoboth

Ir and Kelach.
this the great city.

And

Resen between Nineveh and Kelach

"WK,

Whether

lla,

is

the subject

(LXX.
ii.)

Jos.
is

Onk. Syr.

Jer.

Saad. Ven. Luth.) or a locative (Targ.

:

at present scarcely a question

it is

equal to fnMSte (Tuch,

for

By.

Kn.

Hofm. Dillm.

and the

Assyriologists),

nwi

VD!>,

10a, points in

anticipation to the extension of the

sufficient force is not

kingdom, and requires a single ruler;

given to
the

nwi,
of

if

the four cities

mean

the fundamental

commencement
from another,

the

not

kingdom of Nimrod, as distinguished Nimrod s. Besides, tradition knows of

of a nation,

Assur as the name

a kingdom, and
specially

and not
it

of

founder of

mythology
national

knows
deity

as

the
to

name
the

of

Assyrian

foreign

lonians (Paradies, pp.

252-254).

To

this

Baby must be added,

that

the motherland of

Babylon is indeed and power Assyria, Babylonian having advanced northwards towards Assyria, the country on Assur was at first an offshoot the upper course of the Tigris.

Micah

calls

Assyria TIJM

pK

(v. 5).

culture

of Babel,

and did not

It
is

till

afterwards become an independent

that
to

kingdom.
is

intentionally

the

narrator

does

not

continue with

N.V.^,

he

means

bring

forward what

he

relating as a fresh start in

on.

which the Shinar foundation

was carried
for
rryitste,

In

Hos.

vii.

11 likewise we
for
1

find
;

"fi$K

and, Deut. xxviii.

68,

of direction without all is

still

D^yp n^l? ? more frequent than with

the ace.
ah.

326
The
6,

GENESIS
of

X.

11, 12.

first

Mmrod s
of

cities

upon Assyrian

soil

is

n^a with

like

ruip

(comp. Dillm. jEth.

this
final

Gramm.
being

127c), but with

out the
writes

cause

sound

evident;

LXX.

we have classically r\ Ntz/o?), (for and on inscriptions the name reads as Nina or Ninua, com pounded (if Sumerian) from Ni and nd w hich seems to mean
Nivevi

which

place of rest (Paradies, 260), so that

rro

might have been

written with

Hebraized with reference to

HJ3,

mj.

It is
is

devoid of significance, that the

name

etymologically the
of the fish

ideogram of the dwelling and therein the ideogram

(Assyr. nun)
1

this is writing after the

manner

of the rebus or

Nineveh are marked by the village logogriph. on the left bank of the Tigris, opposite Mosul, Kujundshik north of the Chausar, which there empties itself into the Tigris,
of

The ruins

and by the hill Nebi Junus, situate south of the Chausar. Hence the town was cut through by the Chausar, the royal The name of the second palaces lying on both its banks.
town,
"^y

nmrp,

means the broad place

of a

town

in

which

it

the suburb of the city proper, probably (Parad. issues, 261) the north-eastern suburb of Nineveh, the rebit Nina
i.e.

have more lying towards the mountains (Asarh. i. 53). accurate information concerning the third city, rfe, according
to the inscriptions Calhu, built

We

by Shalmanassar

I.,

and restored

by tween the Tigris and the great Zab which flows into the Tigris, where now are found the village and hill of Nimrud. It differs
from npn, 2 Kings
xvii. 6

from

its

ruins

Asurnasirpal, situate in the sharp angle be

and 1 Chron.

v.

26, the Assyrian

settlement of Israelite exiles, and from

^n = Cilicia (DMZ.
vi.

1861,

p.

626

sq.).

Whether KaXa^vrj, the Assyrian pro

1.

vince mentioned by Strabo, xvi.

1. 2, is

1,

KaXaKivrj in Ptol.

to

be connected with

rfe)

or with r6n,

must be
jcn,

left

un

determined.

On

the situation of the fourth city,

It lay

the text

gives direct information.

1

between Nineveh and Kelach,

e.g.

HaleVy

comparison of the Rabbinic Htt^H {1&, as

is

pDD

110, Mil of

the poor- ^11 n (mustard), (1838), pp. 237-240.

here in place

see Wisse.nc.haft, Kunst, Judentlium

GENESIS

X.

13,

1-1.

327
between Nimrud and

therefore on the east side of the Tigris

Kujundschik, and the name (mistaken by

LXX.
s.

Ven.

for

pi)

seems to be distorted from rSs-eni

literature

*^\ ^^); monumental

town.
to this
s

in the lurch concerning this All the less can the statement "frian "W *^n apply
still

however leaves us

forgotten

Kesen.

Nor
for

is

the

matter
sq.),

mended by
Nineveh
stands, 11&,

Hitzig

transposition

(Daniel, p.

106

"and

between Kelach and

just where
it is

Besen,"

Nineveh already

regarded as proved that the closing remark refers to the four cities taken together the four by reason of their wide extension lay near to each
expected.
It

may now be

other and gave the impression of a great district, a combined

The narrator was writing at a time when this and palaces was not yet called per great it as was after Sanherib, and on the other synecdochen Nineveh hand at a time when Asshur, which preceded the capitals
Tetrapolis.
district of towers

Nineveh

and

Kelach, and

was the

oldest

capital

of

the

kingdom
It
is

situated on the right

bank
was

of the Trigis

southward of

the triangle of the Tigris-Zab,

also

entirely in the background.

worthy of remark that the northern town Dur Sarruken, which together with the four forms a Pentapolis, is left unmentioned it bears the name of its builder Sargon I.
;

(KAT. 405), whose

year 722.

accession to the government falls in the

Nimrod

represents, not a single people, but a great empire

now

follow, vv.

13,

14, the

descendants

of Mizraim,

who

already

by the
:

plural form of their

begat the

names announce themselves

as nations

And Mizraim

Ludim and

the the

*Anamim
Pathrusim

and

the

Lehabim and

the

Naphtuchim and

and

the Casluchim,

whence went forth the Philistines and the

D*l

Caphtorim.
(Ezek. xxvii.
(Ezek. xxx. 5

The

(Chr.

Chethib

D"1"6)

are mentioned

10) as an element of the army of Tyre, and

;

Jer. xlvi. 9) of the

evidently a warlike people

Jer. ibid.
;

Isa. Ixvi. 19.

army of Egypt they were whose chief weapon was the bow, We do not however know what people
;

328
is

GENESIS

X.

13,

14.

intended

according to Movers, the old Berber stock of the

Lewata

settled

on the Syrtes

according to Kn., the Egyp-

tianized portion of the Semitic

Lud

settled in North-Eastern

Egypt (225); according to Ebers, the original stock of the Egyptians who were called Hutu (Lutu\ which means men in
general (see Jesaia, 3rd ed.
tures.
p.

690),

all

unsatisfactory conjec

The

&W

also are still undiscovered.

LXX.

transposes

the word into

Eve/jLerieifj,,

which accords in sound with the

Egyptian emhit, north, whence Kn. understands the inhabit Ebers on the contrary explains the name ants of the Delta.
according to the Egyptian an-aamu, wandering neat-herds, and understands them as a portion of an Asiatic nomadic people

who

settled in the

marshes on the bucolic arm of the Nile and

DUPl?

elsewhere.
table,

The name
is

occurs only in the ethnographic

iii.

but

certainly only another form for D^IP, Nan.

9,

2 Chron.
in

xii. 3, xvi.

Dan.

xi.

43 = Libyans, who

are called

Egyptian Temliu (Tehennu), but also Lcbu (Lulu), perhaps as inhabitants of a dry land (com p. Kopt. libe, thirst, and
the

name

of the

stony deserts &$

^).

The ^nnsj

are,

according to the interesting explanation of Kn. and Eb., the inhabitants of middle (Memphitic) Egypt, as ol (no) TOV
<&6a

of Ptali or Hephaestos,

whose Egyptian name

is

also

paraphrased in Phoenician nna.

D^p-ins,
i.e.

With

these

are fitly joined

the inhabitants of D ina =pet-rs, the land of the south,

Upper Egypt (Isa. xi. 11, and twice in both Jeremiah and Ezekiel). The explanation pa-Hathor (DMZ. xxx. 404), which leaves the D unexplained, is mistaken rSs means the
of
;

south,

and na

is

equivalent to

LDD

in the

name

Potiphar.

The

rp3
this

are the sixth

Misraite tribe.

into Xaapodvieifj,

The LXX. transposes (Complut. Xao-X&we/yu,), with which

Since Bochart the Casluchim have nothing can be done. been regarded as the Colchians on the eastern coast of the

Euxine, but whence the D in the name

reply

Stark, Ebers,

Kn.

by the expedient that the Colchians

originally settled on

GENESIS

X.

13, 14.

329

which may be explained in Coptic by Kas-Ukh, Hill of drought, and that thus the D^nbos are the

mons

Casius, the

name

of

inhabitants of Kacnwris, the dry salt region of the Egyptian

Mediterranean

coast,

from the eastern limit of the overflow of

the Nile to the southern boundary of Palestine,

who

subse

quently migrated to the

Black Sea.

Certainly the Colchians

were, according to the unanimous testimony of the ancients, esteemed as JEgyptiorum antiqua sdboles (Ammian, xxii. 8

comp. Avienus,
(see Alfred

v. 8*73 sq.

Colchus feraci Exid ab

jtSSgypto).

It is not quite probable that

they originally inhabited Casiotis

Lit. Centralttatt,

von Gutschmied in the

but Targ. Jer.
ii.

1869,

Col.

107
i.e.

sq.)

also translates DTitaa

by \siDD^D,

of Pentaschoinos(ri), TlevTacr^oimTai, inhabitants of the town in the extreme north-east of Egypt, distant five G-^OLVOL from

which Targ, Jer. i. has B^1B!MB, i-e. TLevTairoKlraL, inhabitants of the five town land, i.e. of CyrenCasius
;

in opposition to

aica.

Hyde

Clark thinks he has discovered that a Caucasian

language, the Ude, strikingly resembles the Basmurian dialect The Dnnaa also are by some transposed to of the Coptic.

Egypt, because they are called descendants of Misraim. Saadia understands it of the inhabitants of Dimjati (Damietta),
Dietrich (Merx Archiv,
iii.

313

sqq.) of the inhabitants of the

region of Buto and the island Chemmis, not far from the Sebennytic mouth of the Nile, explaining the name kah-pet-Hdr,
i.e.

the

district

belonging to
s

Hor

(Apollo)

but then the

initial
is

n of the god

name would have

Still

disappeared, which

not a recommendation.
as

less

are the

Cappadocians

intended,

was inconsiderately inferred by the ancients (LXX. Deut. ii. 23 Amos ix. 7 Targums, Syr. Jerome), from
;
;

the similarity of sound of the SD

Hebrew always written with p. found together, though in a different order, in Capreatce, comp. by Kriicke (VolJcertafel, 1837); but this is, according to
"iinso

Cappadocia The consonants of

;

besides,

is

in

are

Plin.

v.

33, the
tribe.

name

of

an otherwise absolutely unknown

still
;

Asiatic

The most probable conjecture

is

that

are the Cretes (Kpfjres, anciently KovpTJres)

for (1) ac-

330
cording to Deut.
ii.

GENESIS

X. 15-19.

23,

Amos

ix. 4, Jer. xlvii. 4,

the Philistines

and these are called, 1 Sam. xxx. 14, migrated from Zeph. ii. 5, Ezek. xxv. 16, BW?, which surely means Cretes.
"tfnM

(2) Extra-biblical information

also connects Egypt, Crete

and

Philistia

myth

in Diodor. Sic. Ixvii.

70 says that Ammon,

;

being attacked by Saturn and the Titans, fled to Crete

is,

Mivwa
of a

according to

Steph. Byz., an ancient name

of

Gaza, and

was, according to

Strabo, Ptolem. Plin., also the

is

name

Cretan town.

So too

QciXdcrapva, the

name

of a seaport

town

011

the north-west coast of Crete, which has a similarity

of sound with the

name

of the Philistines.

It is also

of notice that Tacitus, Hist. v. 2, confusing the

worthy Jews with

the

Palestinians

= Philistines,

from Crete.
clause,
its

According to

DW^a

D^D

makes the former immigrate what has been said, the relative
seems
to

%
"iE\s ,

have been removed from

right place after D*nnS3.

The chronicler and the ancient

translators,

and

it

however, already read it in its present position, must be esteemed possible that the Philistines were

as to their origin

the

southern

coastland

an Egypto-Casluchian colony, who occupied below Gaza, subsequently received

ii.

additions from Crete, and then, according to Deut.

23, en

larged their district by destroying the

entirely, Josh.
xiii.

Avvim

(though not

3)

who had
It

settled in the plain west of

the hill country of Judah.

may

be a reminiscence of this

twofold descent which has been preserved in the distinction on the one side, and rna or on the other. of D^nt^S or

WS

"HS

The

relative

clause in itself declares only the local, not the

i.

genealogical origin (comp. ver. 11; Nah.

11).

The

latter

however, and hence the Hamitico-Egyptian descent of the Philistines, seems to be also intended, for we cannot assume
that the ethnographical table would leave the Philistines as

Now

follow the descendants of Canaan, the last named,

ver. 6, of the

sons of

Ham,

vv.

15-19: And Canaan

begat
the

Sidon and Cheth.

Giryashite.

And

the Jebusite

and

the

Emorite and

And

the Chivite

and

the ArJcite

and

the

Slnitc.

GENESIS

X. 15-19.

331
the

And

the

Arvaditc and the Semarite, and

Hamdthite

and

afterwards, were the families, of the Canaanite spread abroad. And the border of the Canaanite extended from Sidon towards

Gcrdr as far as Azza, towards Sodom and Amor a and Admah At the head of the names of and Seboim as far as Lesd
.

the eleven stands

xviii. 3,

PV

as

the first-born.
built

According

to Justin,

Sidon was the

to

first city

by the Phoenicians,

who
tells

had extended
us,

the Mediterranean, and named, as he

a piscium

ubertate, rather

called

themselves,

from

this

The Phoenicians a piscatu, TV. their mother town, Q OITX.

it

Whether
xi. 8, is

the additional
a

name nsn which

attribute
is

bears, Josh. xix. 28,

distinguishing

questionable, since

in

Sank.

38 a Great Sidon (Sidunu rdbu), an epithet denoting superiority, and a Little Sidon (Sidunu sihni), are distinguished
ii.

(KAT.
one

103).

^isScov,

Homer, in the Iliad and Odyssey, knows only and not yet Tyre, 1 which in the time of David
Tyre
is left
it

already begins to obscure the splendour of Sidon.

out of the table, because

was

of only secondary importance

"

with respect to Sidon. Merx (BL. art. nn to ing de Goeje, regards the names
ver. 19, as a later insertion,

Volkertafel
"),

follow

^.nn,

with the whole of

the Canaanites
i.e.

is

because the geographical order of interrupted by the five names, and no ft bj,
is

extension by means of colonization,

told of these Pales

tinian stocks.
side
of
I

But

rin

at least

should not be absent by the

its

TV.

For as Sidon gives

rin
;

name

to

the

entire

Phoenician nation, so too does

to the

whole land west of

Jordan, which

is called (Josh. i. 4 comp. Judg. i. 26) DW1H px. In Egyptian literature the Cheta appear as a powerful and

warlike people, dwelling as far up as the Orontes, and in Assyrian mat HattS (Haiti) is the country and kingdom whose
capital
is

Carchemish, but the

name extends thence

to

all

the countries on

the other side of the Euphrates, between the wilderness and the Mediterranean (Paradies 269-273). 1 Prolms indeed remarks on Virgil s Georgics, ii. 115 Tyrum Sarram appellatam esse Homerus docet, quern etiam Ennius sequitur cum dicit Pcenos Sarra oriundos. Sarra is the old form of name for Tyrus in Ennius and Plautus, but where did it occur in Homer ?
,
:

332
Hence we
see

GENESIS
that

X. 15-19.

the

Hethites were a great

and mighty

people which had branched off as far as to the west of Jordan, while the root and stem of their power lay between The book of Kings knows the Euphrates and Orontes.
of D^nn *ate beside kings of
i.

Aram,

Kings

x.

29

(2
6,

Chron.

17),

and kings

of

Mizraim,

Kings
in

vii.

and in

the patriarchal history the nn

"03

Hebron appears

the

possession of

There is no perceptible reason for (Gen. xxiii.). of the settlement of Hethites in truth historical the denying Palestine (Ed. Meyer, 176, note), since wherever, as in Gen.
xv.

19-21,
are

ten, or Deut. vii. 1, seven, or as in

Ex.

iii.

8,

17,

xxiii.

33, Deut. xx. 17, six nations of Canaan are enumerated,

^inn

always mentioned

first

of

all,

or in the

second or

fourth place, all sources agreeing that the Canaanite popula The tion of the West Jordan country was partly Hethite.

enumeration of the eleven

}y:s ^:3

here in the

table is so

peculiar with respect to xv. 19-21 and the other enumera tions, that it is an unjustifiable violence to reject all the other

p^ and nn (Ed. Meyer), or even only the five nn is followed by a from nn to vnn (Merx) as interpolated, the clan settled in Canaanite of third branch Canaan, p^n,
names except
and about Jebus, the ancient name of Jerusalem, 1 Chron. xi. 4, to which belonged Aravna (Oman), as well as Uriah
the
Hethite, the

husband of Bathsheba.
nor Emorites
are

neither Jebusites

Fourthly, missing in any of the

three registers of the Canaanite tribes.

The Emorites, whose

name may
Isa.
xvii.

on the mountain-top (see on and powerful of the most warlike were the 9), Canaanite tribes, and not only established themselves on this
signify the dwellers

side

of the

Jordan, from

Mount Ephraim

southwards, but

founded in Mosaic times two new kingdoms beyond Jordan Their language, whose capitals were Ashtaroth and Heshbon.
according to Deut.
Sidonians.
iii.

9, differed dialectically left

from that of the

six nations are

Fifthly,

*$JW,

out

when only

enumerated, were, according to Josh. xxiv. 11, apparently

on the

west side of Jordan, while according to the reading of Origen,

GENESIS
Matt.

X. 15-19.

333

viii.

east side.

28 (repyea-yv&v), they were, on the contrary, on the Sixthly, ^nri, according to Ew. the inland Canaanites
in

living

(riin)

principality in

town communities, who, ch. xxxiv., formed a Sichem, and according to Josh. ix. 11, xi. 19,
xi.

a republic in Gibeon, and dwelt also (Josh.

in

Judg.
D

iii.

3)

Hermon and Lebanon.

That V$n,

^ipn,

^bnjpn,

Kfin,

enumerated among the tribes at xv. 19-21, should here, where the genealogy of Canaan is given, be omitted is not
surprising,

though

it

certainly

is

so that T)Bn,

who

there and

everywhere
it is

else are

numbered with them,

is less

are missing.

Perhaps

because the

name

that of a tribe than of the rural

dwellers in country towns (comp.

^i?"!^,

?>

Deut.

iii.

5).

Seventhly,
Assyr.
t

the inhabitants of

"Ap/cr)

(^Apicai,

"Ap/ca),

Arkd

(Paradies, 282),

Aram.
the

ItoSn NJTIN (Beresliitli

Babba7i

c.

xxxvii.

and

elsewhere),

birthplace of
first

the

Emperor Alexander

Sever us, and a strong fortress

1138, now

Tell

Arka

(see

conquered by the Crusaders Robinson Smith s second journey,

1852). Eighthly, Wri, the inhabitants of the strong town of Sin in the neighbourhood of Arka, of which Marino Sanuto
says: de castro
"Dorf Syn"
"

Arachas ad dimidiam leucam

est

oppidum

Sin, the

Breydenbach Sianu on the sea-coast" (Paradies, 282), LXX. rov ^Aaevvalov, compare the hill fortress ^ivva in Lebanon, Strabo, xvi. 2. 18. In the prediction of the return of the dispersed of
Assyrian
Israel, Isa. xlix. 12, these

of

(1483), perhaps identical with the

Smites are too near to be intended.

ApdSiov, the people of
*ApaBo<s,

Ninthly, nnNii,
"1V1K,

LXX.

TOV

Assyrian Arvada, Aruada, according to Ezek.

as

xxvii., in

demand

seamen and

soldiers.

Tiglath Pileser
sails

to 1 E. 28, 2 a, enters

Aradian ships and

I., according out into the

great sea.

Arados lay upon a small rocky island (now Eudd) on the Syrian coast opposite to Antarados (Antartus, Tortosa).
Strabo,
xvi.
2.

12,

calls

this

maritime

town

of

Arados

Kdpvos (Kapvrf), and describes this island of Arados, xvi. 2. 13 sq. It was taken by Tutmes III., and again by Ramses
II.

Strabo

notification,

said, the

town,"

Fugitives from Sidon built, it is does not testify against its great antiquity.
"

334
t|

GENESIS

X. 15-19.

Tenthly,

")9^

LXX.

TOV ^afjbapaiov, inhabiters of the strong

town

of Simyra, south of Arados, north of Tripolis, Assyrian

Simirra, chiefly remarkable as the northern boundary of the Lebanon. n?, the inhabitants of Hamdth Eleventhly,
Assyr. Amattu (Paradies, 2*75 279), Egyptian Hemtu, who formed an independent monarchy, extending over the
(*U>-),

middle and upper valley of the Orontes and a portion of the In the Seleucidsean era it received the Mediterranean coast.

name

ETntydveia, but has maintained its ancient name, Of transposed into A/iaOr) by Josephus, to the present time.
of

those descendants of Canaan

we
SJ,

are told, 18&, that they were

afterwards spread abroad

ft

Canaan,

i.e.

the land west of Jordan.

meaning they extended over The author leaves out

of consideration the

Ammonito-Moabite

soil,

Amorite kingdoms upon Bataneean and and fixing the limits of the district
Arados,

of extension in ver. 19, takes Sidon as the extreme northern

point,

although

Arka,

Hamath

lie

beyond

Sidon
to

farther

and

farther

northwards.

He

confines

himself

stating that

the subsequent

Holy

Land, of

which Lebanon

formed the northern boundary, was peopled by the descendants He first draws a line from north-west to south of Canaan.
west, and thence crosses over to the south-east.

points are Sidon (N.W.),

to serve as

Gaza (S.W.),

The boundary Lesha (S.E.), and between,

marks of

direction,

Gerar lying farther south than

Gaza (see xx. 1), and the four cities Sodom, Gomorrah, Adrnah and Zeboiin lying towards the south-east (see xiv. 2).
1^3
thy coming, like ver. 30, xiii. 10, xxv. 18, elsewhere also IKl-ny, xix. 22, 2 Sam. v. 25, 1 Kings xviii. 46, and $&, Num.
:

is

an

adverbial

accusative

in

the

direction

of

The author transports himself back to the time when those four cities of the Pentapolis had not yet been swallowed
xiii.

up, they together represent the plain of the Salt Sea.

As

the

extreme south-eastern point however he

Jfi??,

names
Salt
<l|

(here
Sea,
,

only)

lying

still

farther

south-east

of

the

which

according to undoubted tradition (Targ. Jer.

in
Qucestiones,
p.

7^

and Jerome
Ka\\i>ppoij

17,

ed.

Lagarde)

is

that

GENESIS

X. 20, 21.

335

(Ka\\iporj) in the Wadi Zerka Ma in, where at the foot of a barren hill small streams of sulphuretted water of the

temperature of 70
fissures
(this

E. pour forth from a hundred rents and

was the

bath

which Herod
bell.

visited

without
33.
5).

result, shortly before his

death, Joseph,

jud.

i.

Wellhausen requires

for

W^,

as designating the north-eastern

But the preceding boundary, H|6 or E^!?, to Laiish (Dan). 1n bids us seek for yvh in a south-eastern direction, and
besides,

Judg. xviii. 7. Close of the Elohistic catalogue of the Hamites, ver. 20

T,

forms the locative n

These are the sons of

their tongues,

Ham

according

to families,

according

to

after

their

countries,

after

their nations.

The

conclusion to ver. 6
the text

now
21
all

sq. (comp. the close, ver. 5), including, as the Jahvistic extracts, vv. 8-19. exists,

Third part: the

tion,

Shemites, vv.
to

2131.
born,
elder

Jahvistic transi
to

ver.

And

Shem was

him
iv.

also,

the

father of NirrDS stands here quite regularly for ^~B3, as at

the

sons of Eber, the

brother of Jepheth.

26.

Shem
sense,

bears the honourable addition to his name, father of all the

"ny

^3,

i.e.

not merely of the

^"!?y

in the narrower

xl.

15, but of the whole 24.

1

Hebrew stratum
particular

of peoples,

Num.
s

xx iv.

The second more

designation,

nx

^inart nai, is

of

Shem

Ham,
tion

certainly occasioned by the fact that the genealogy here takes the last place after that of Japheth and thus giving Shem the appearance of being the younger

in respect of Japheth.

LXX. Symrn. Ven. Luth., the accentua and both ancient and modern expositors (most recently
:

Kohler) actually construe brother of Japheth the great, i.e. This is however contrary to the prevailing syntax the elder. in DMZ. xxxviii. 486 sq.), according to which Nestle (see
1 .According to Wetzstein, "Oy was a collective word of colour, denoting the dark- coloured ; for the Arabian of Aden, Hadramaut and other places in the extreme south, diii ers from the negro in very little else than his nobler counte

nance.
i.e.

Syrian proverb
if

says:
ill-use you.

the dark-faced,

they arc not ill-uoed,

GENESIS

X.

22.

to the genitive);

belongs to the leading idea (and not like Tp, Jer. xxxii. *7, besides which ivun cannot perse mean major

natu (maximus), and Japheth as the elder brother must have been Designated Pnjn ro~i (comp. on the other hand,
xliv.

12;

Sam.

xvii.

14).

Shem

is

to

both the Jahvist

and the Elohist, ver. 32, the first-born of Noah, the round number five hundred in the latter passage being more
particularly fixed
of the

by

xi.

10

as 502.

The

Elohistic catalogue
:

Shemites, ver. 22

sq.

Sons of Shem, ver. 22

Sons

of Shem are Mam and Aslur and Arpaclisad and Lud and Aram. These five, as descended from Shem, are considered
as a

group of nations similar in

origin,

and hence, though not

necessarily, similar in language.

from east to west,

The enumeration proceeds from the geographically and historically

nearer.

more remote
Accad. elama

to the

In the

first

s place stands D? #,

(high-lying, highland), Assyr. elamtu (perhaps

conceived of together with oby, to be high, remarkable, Arab.

Ac, to perceive, to know)

the

name

of Susiana,
it

1
i.e.

of the

great plain and mountainous district enclosing

on the north

bounded on the north by Persia, in ancient Persian whence Chuzistan, or airjama, arjama, whence Iran, uvaga, of Turan the kings of Susiana call themselves the opposite
and
east,
;

kings
321).

of

Ansan, which is translated by elamtu (Paradies, The Kossaeans, whose language was at the time still
were natives
is

indefinable,

of the

mountainous

districts

in the

plain however, which

and Eulaos (Karun), Shemites had

watered by the Choaspes (Kerkha) settled from ancient times.

it,

Elam

is

followed by

"i}$tf

lying north-west of

and signifying
of the

here the people, as at lla the country.

The extent

ferent times.

Assyrian kingdom varied under different rulers and at dif Assyria proper, within the more comprehensive
political limits (Strabo xvi. 1. 1), is

and varying

the district

about twenty-five miles long between the southern spurs of

1

See Nbldeke

s article,

"

Greek names of
8.

Susiana,"

in the Report of the

Gottingen Scientific Society, 1874, No.

GENESIS

X. 22.

337
;

the Armenio-Median mountains (the Zagros) and the Tigris

Arovpta, with

the

capital

Nlvo? and

A&iafirjvrj

between

Lykos and Kapros (great and little Zab), are parts of the old Assyrian mother -country, which was called non Semitically A-usar and Seiniticized Asshur, while Ashur is the name of the
national god, and as such signifies the dispenser of blessing, the
all-beneficent.

derived

had

his

Whether Asshur, the oldest city of the kingdom, name from the god (Schrader), or whether the god its name from the city as its personification or genius, is

doubtful.

Shem s

third son

is

T^btns, the people of the north

Assyrian ^AppaTra^lr^, as Bochart already discerned, without

The situaanything better having been placed in its stead. tioxi answers to the place in the catalogue, and the names
concur,
*JB>,

fara, being an Armenian termination (Lagarde,

;

Symmicta, i. 54 comp. Noldeke in the DMZ. xxxiii. 149) the cuneiform Arrapha (according perhaps to a more etymological writing Arablici), the Kurdish Alldk, the old Armenians Albacli
;

(Paradies, 125) correspond with

of the

it.

The second

half indeed
it

word looks

like the

name

of the

Chaldees, whence

has since Schlozer been explained leo-aiK, boundary (after the

Arab.

uJ/

to

bound) of the Chaldees, or otherwise as

i^D"is,

highland of the Chaldees. But the people dwelling in the Zagros mountain-chain have indeed as such been called Kossaeans
Sh (Kassu), but never D iO

people of the

this name adhering always to the low land, who certainly were sometimes subjugated
;

and ruled by the people of the mountains.

The fourth place

It is unnecessary
o-

among the
to follow

sons of Shern

is

occupied by li.

with Kn. the Arabian legend, which makes

JjJ

or

j^j!

the ancient

Arabian stock

(so

that

Amlik

is

son

or

brother of this Laud) T& are the Lydians, though not yet in the subsequent limitation of the country of that name in

Asia Minor.
well
-

They

are

named here with good

between the

cause, for

testified

connection existed

Lydian and

Assyrian royal houses and the Lydian and Assyrian worship

338

GENESIS

X. 23.

of the sun (see Baer on Herod,

i.

7).

The Semitic

origin cannot

West, southward of Mount Taurus, is as especially Semitic as the East is Japhethic (Aryan). The Lydian language was not indeed a so-called Semitic one, but

seem

surprising, for the

this does not

speak against the Semitic origin of the people Lassen also (see Wilh. Hupfeld, JExerc. Herodotece, iii. p. 9).
x.

(DMZ.
but

382

sqq.)

numbers the Lydians among the Shemites,

this

incorrectly

infers

from remains of the language

father of the understanding
!),

(e.g. d{3arc\,r)s,

= priest

Jjb ^A

which
fjLoipa,

on

the

contrary

sound
;

Aryan

(e.g.

Trapa^vrj

Sanscr.

prdmana, a measure

Lagarde (in Ges. AbJi.} element in the Lydio-Maeonian people.

of

farmana, law). distinguishes an Iranian and a Semitic

old Persian

The

last

of the sons

Shem is D^x, the far-stretching people who dwelt in Syria and Mesopotamia as far
according to Strabo,
xiii.

of the Aramaeans,
as to Armenia, and,

4. 6, originally settled in Cilicia also.

7,

According to
district

Amos ix. of the river Kur

comp.

i.

5,

they migrated from the

(Cyrus) in North Armenia to their more

southerly abodes.

In the cuneiform monuments the Arumu,

to the borders of

Arimu, Aramu reach

signifies highland.

Elam, the name of which

D"iN

too (with only a tone-long a) comes,

D"iK,

though not from Dn, yet from

whence

|i"!N,

and might
designate

mean highland

(Paradies,

258)

the

name would then

the people according to this original North- Armenian dwelling1 With ver. 23, the Elohist now gives the place.
D"JN

^,

nations that branched off from Aram.

this is

And

first

py.
;

That
while

an Aramaean stock
it

is

corroborated also by xxii. 2 1

on the other hand

remains uncertain whether from the Horite

py, xxxvi. 38, an old blending of Seirites (Edomites) with the

Aramaean py, which certainly must, according

1
"

to

Lam.

iv.

21,
in

Comp. Noldeke,
xxv. 113 sqq.

On the Names
signifies

of the

Aramaean Nation and

Language,"

DMZ.
2

Not
;

= i^ *.
figures
<rriv

(which

exchange, compensation for one

.

who has

died

away see ibn-Aram

Ouros xri^ti

Jellinek in Konteres hamaggid, 1878, p. 28), but

among

-e^e. the ancestors of Damascus (in Joseph. Ant. L

xcti

An A us
6.

Txav7TJV

GENESIS

X. 24.

339

have subsequently taken place, is to be inferred. Wetzstein in his Commentary on Job has shown it to be probable that

pv

is

the old

name

of the

Damascenian Aram, which extended

far southwards towards the East Jordan land, and northwards

in the direction of the Euphrates, about half-way to

(see

Tadmor
1, of

on

this point Friedr. Delitzsch, in vol. iL,

No.

the
Jer.

xlix.

fur Keilschriftforsclmng}. 23-27, coincides with the handing of the cup of fury to pyn pK ^-^3, xxv. 20. The tradition which transposes the scene of the book of Job to ancient Batansean soil in the Nukra, the most fertile part of the Hauran plain, seems to be really
Zeitschrift

The prophecy p^mb,

well founded.

By

^n, the

second son of Aram, has been

Pliri.

hitherto for the most part understood the Hylatce of

v.

19,

i.e.

the inhabitants of

the

Hule valley (Ov\d6a

in

Joseph. Ant. xv. 10. the narrower sense)

frequently

3), between Palestine and Ccelesyria (in but the cuneiform inscriptions more

name
is

a country Hull a

district of sandhills) in

(perhaps so called as a connection with the mountainous land

0/009,

Kasjar.

This

however TO Maaiov

the south-eastern
Tigris above

part of the Taurus chain lying on the

Nisibis
;

Upper
xxxiii.

the

Mygdonius
Arab.

at Nisibis is called after it in Syrian

the

Mas

river,

^wU^ (DMZ.
:]>

328).

Un

in Chron.), here named doubtedly by Pb (wrongly written in the fourth place among the descendants of Aram, is meant

the people of this

lation

Mount Mash, and hence by

satisfies,

inn the

popu

of the

adjacent Hulia.

Concerning ina nothing that

commends
explains
it

itself,

not to say
its

according to
of the

can be said. Josephus sound of the BatcrpLavoi Kn.

;

compares the J\.

races

Arabic legend, the ancestor of the

j^j and
Eber.

jjyujjc*-.

The descendants

of
v

Shem through

Arpachshad,
begat

ver.

Arpachsad begat Selah, and ^Sdah Jahvistic in form, and though a parenthesis

24:

And

derived from the Toledoth of

considered
one, since ver.

Shem

in ch.

xi.,

yet a wellof descent

21 leaves the relation

For the

between Eber and Shem uncertain.

rest,

Peleg

is

340
the
to

GENESIS

X.

26.

son of Eber according to both sources, ver. 2 5

And

Eler were two sons born, the name of the one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided, and the name of his brother was Joktdn. On the construction of the Passive with
the

Ace.

of

the

object,

comp.

iv.

18.

T^

j^?? is

said,

according to Keerl, of the division of the earth into several continents according to Ewald, of the division of the earth by
;

Eber, as chief over existing mankind,

it.

among

those living on

We

would rather think, with Wetzstein, of a separation

different directions
;

by migration in

but that leads to the

dispersion according to languages, related xi.

19,

for

which

the appropriate word

is J^aa,

comp. Ps.

Iv.

9,

and the usual

post-Biblical appellation of that generation,

"in.

and thus of the

Hence ptfn is, as at contemporaries of Peleg, as ^ann The explanation ix. 19, xi. 1, the population of the earth.
given of the
ftpi?J

also is a
is

name stamps 3?a as the name of personal name he is the same person
;

a
as

person.
^Iks^Jf,

the primitive Arabian tribes, from which the extinct and subsequent, i.e. the most ancient

who

esteemed the ancestor of

all

and the more recent Abrahamidic population

distinguished,
"ny

of Arabia, are

might rather be a personification of the

land beyond,
5.

i.e.

3).

Now

follows the enumeration

the trans-Euphratic region (Konig, Lehrgeb. of thirteen sons of

Joktan, vv. 26-29, of which some

some
such.

of countries

at least in

may be names of some may be pointed

in arms)
;

tribes,

out as

The

first

syllable

"nfo

seems to be the Arabic

;

article, as

in E ippK (levy,

men

the article

*?$

how

ever

is

North Arabian, not Sabsean

xxxvii.

ta

may also
1).

be the Divine

name (DMZ.
of
xi.

18

Ges.

35, note

^
known

is

Selef

the Arab,

genealogies,
;

the grandson
is

of

Himjar (DMZ.
of a district of
vi. 7.

153155)

michldf Selef

also the

name

Jemen, perhaps the abode of the ZaXaTrijvoi, Ptolem.

23,

whom
name

Bochart already compares.

of a district (Himyar.
niD"in,

rviD"isn

is

as the

in written Arabic

^*.* ^^

GENESIS

X. 27.

341
miles

^v

1^).

The

valley, forty -five

long,

which

stretches

between

the tracts

of

Mareb and Mahra beyond

hilly

the

desert

el-Abkaf

towards the

sand

coast of

the

Indian Ocean, with the capitals

ancient
seaport

Sibam and Terim and the

the

J^o

(different

from

inland

jUk

near

San a in Jemen, the

Saphar
court
of

capital of the Himyaritic

kingdom, the
fore

Ptolemy).

The name Hadramaut means

by reason
of
its

of

death, certainly not

unhealthy
called

climate, but because a hot sulphur spring of the

Wadi

Bir Barhut was regarded as flowing from the realm of the

dead

Fresnel combines

with
of

it

the

Stygis

aquoe fons
<

in

Ptolemy.

The inhabitants

Hadramaut

are called

probably the Xarpa/jiwrLrai, one of the four chief tribes of 1 Southern Arabia, according to Strabo, xvi. 4. 2. The tribal

name n^

is

of

the same

meaning

as

wark, the old South

;

Arabic and old Ethiopian name of the moon

tribes take their

several
_^Jill

Arab
upon

name from

the

moon

the tribe

mountains of Zafar, and the tribes J1& and ,jj in Dnnn sounds like ASpaiu-rai ( ATpapiTai) in Ptolem. Higaz.
the

Uranios Plin. (Juba), unless on the other hand this name coincides with that of the inhabitants of Hadramaut (comp.
Blau,

DMZ.

xxii.

658, and Sprenger,

i.

95).

D. H. Mliller

(Burgen- uncl Schlosser Siidarabicns,

fortress
j*

360

sq.)

compares the
to

west of San

a.

2J1K

(LXX. Altj\ according

which Samar. ^PN) is the Himyaritic royal town in the west of South Arabia (comp. Ezek. xxvii. 19, where .we should
probably read
in

^P), which

since the Abyssinian occupation

UJu>.

century after Christ obtained the name Dillm. remarks that in the sixth century Auzalians were

the

sixth

still

mentioned as a people in Arabia Felix in Assem.

1

i.

360
illustr.

sq.

See Maqrizii de valle

Hadhramaut Lildlus

arabice

ed.

et

Noskowyj, Bonn 18G6.

by

342
The name

GENESIS

X. 28, 29.

i"6?n

points to the date-palm and

its fruit.

Equally
;

unknown is bty (Chron. faty LXX. Eud\ Taipak] Abil is the name of one of the oldest tribes among the Arabians,
the old Arabic verb
Jj<.

means

to be

corpulent.

Equally
Abi-ma-el
of

enigmatical
(see

is

D^K, a name
86),

to be analysed into

DMZ.

xxxi.

and formed
18);
if

like

the

"inymtt

the

inscriptions

(DMZ.
tribal

xxxvii.

^o

were to be taken
in

together, the

name d)JU

^j\

(JT)

Hadramaut
ver.

might be

compared.

K1W means here (comp.

(Arab, ^bwj,

7)

the

South Arabian

Sabaeans

inscriptions

&OE>

and

once &axp), with the town Saba, the capital of the Sabsean
ruler (the so-called
i

Tubba written
,

jnn), the identity of

of

which

with Mareb

(c

^U,

the

Mapia^a

Ptolem., Mapia/Sa or

Mapij3a
rwiD,
ib.

of

Strabo, in Plin. in the

Monum. Ancyr.
xxx.

Mariba,
or
also

on inscriptions mio, Marjab,

is

DMZ.

320323,

The 689) geographers. were a and civilised Sabseans powerful people, natives equally of South-eastern Africa and Southern Arabia. It is evident
testified

by Arabic

that a Cushitic

(x. 7),

a Joktanidic (here) and an Abrahainidic

to Genesis.

(xxv. 3) Sheba are

known

Next

follows

"iBis,

the

gold of which

is

so proverbial in the
2iiT

Old Testament, that the

word

itself

even without

was the eastern goal of

sandal

means the very finest gold. It the fleet of Hiram and Solomon, which
x.

brought thence after a three years voyage (1 Kings

22) gold,

is the 11) with this that use of insisting, Dillm., Ophir must be a district of the southern or south-eastern coast of South Arabia ?

wood

(1

Kings

x.

arid other rarities.

What

Antiquity knows nothing of an Arabian Ophir, neither can a trace of the name be discovered in South Arabia for the
;

South Arabic designation of red gold by

qfir

(qfir),

whence

ajrvpov, accepted by Sprenger, cannot be proved, and the el-Ofir in Oman compared by Seetzen is

was

Hellenized

GENESIS
written .*!!.

X. 29.

M3
must
really

On
Its

the otlier hand, Sofala, on the south-east

coast of Africa, opposite Madagascar,

consideration.

come under
in
his

inhabitants, as

related

by Lopez

journey
gold

to

India, boasted that the Israelites formerly fetched

Not much weight must from them every third year. however be attached to this, as they probably had it by
;

hearsay from the Portuguese

quantities in Sofala

but that gold

is

obtained in large

and Manica we know from Livingstone Karl Mauch found there in (Missionary Journey, ii. 297). in Caffreland in North 1871, Zimbabye (Portug. Zimbaboe),
its

upon a granite hill 150 feet high, and at ruins, which seemed to indicate some kind
there

foot,

extensive

of factory erected
is

by a foreign
it

people.

The combination with Sofala

strikingly favoured

by the transcription of TBIK by the LXX.

;

In our passage
elsewhere
before w.
it

has Ovfaip (Joseph. Ant. i. 6. 4, 0(f 6/^179) writes the name 2a)(f)ip, or otherwise with a
2w<j)a\d

But

for

T>BIS

does not occur in the LXX.,

a
prefixed

and

its
Sa><f>ip

(perhaps
is

with

Egyptian

sa,

district = sa-oftr)

referred

by the

ancients, not

to Africa

but to India.

known *

to

The South African Sofala is absolutely un the ancients, and even to the Arabic geographers
It is India that is called in Coptic

of the thirteenth century.

Sophir.

Hence the Arab,

translates Ophir

by

el-

Hind ; and
<2U~.-

Abulfeda says that India as well as Nigritia has its (the Arabic Sophira), and that this (more accurately ar^lL*) is the name of an emporium on the Indian coast (see Ges. Tlies.^.

And

indeed Ptolemy, vii. 1. 6, mentions a 2ov7rdpa on the western coast of India which is one and the same with
2ov7T7rapa (OvTnrapa) of
1

the

Periplus

maris

Erytlir.

52.

Lieblein (Handel u. Schiffahrt aufdem rothen Meer in alien Zeiten, 1886, 142 sqq.) seeks for Ophir far to the north upon the Abyssinian coast, com bining Ophir with Afer, as the people called in Abyssinian Adal ( ASoz/xrVa/), in Arabic Daniktt, call themselves. Merensky, too (Beitrdge zur Kenntniss SudAfrikas, 1875, and "Das Ophir Salomo s und die Entdeckung von Goldfeldern
p.

in Sadost-Afrika," in the Sonntags-Beilaye of the Kreuz-Zeitung, 1887, Nos. 5, 6), combines in this manner Ophir and Africa, and is inclined to

explain

many

Jewish peculiarities of the

intercourse of

Caffres,

among whom he

lived fifteen years,

by the

Solomon

people with the native women.

344

GENESIS

X. 29.

V. Baer (Historische Fragen mit Hulfe der Natnrwissenschaften

beantwortet,

Petersburg
is

1873)

finally

arrives
of the

at

the result

that

Ophir

the

Xpvaij Xepaovrjaos

ancients, the

island of

Indian and Chinese

p.

Malakka (Chryse) forming a partition between the seas, as Cameron in the Transactions, 1873,
that Ophir
viii.

267

sq.,

is

Taprobane (Ceylon)

Josephus how
<y>)

ever, Ant.

6. 4,

says,

Safaipa
2.

is

the Xpvcrij

of India,

the Xpvaf)
situated

xwpa

of

Ptol. viii.

westward

of

the

17, the Indian gold land Ganges in the territory watered

by the Xaxfirjv (Ant. i. 6. 4), and therefore by the Indus. Hence Lassen s and Eitter s view, that Ophir is the coast land at the mouths of the Indus, the nearest Indian coast for the
Phoenicians,
is still

that which

commends

itself.

Here dwelt

the people of Abliira,

who were
and
of

proverbial for their disregard of

what was most

"

precious,

whom
1

Pantschatantra, ver. 88,

sell

says

In the land of Abhira, the shepherds

moonand
were

crystal for three cowrie shells.

The

fact that in later

post biblical times Abyssinia summed up under the general

-

and Southern Arabia

name

of

India (DMZ. xxxiv.

of India

743)

is

not to the purpose.

Here the western coast

is really meant, and hence we must, with Josephus, assume a dissemination of the Joktanites as far as India, although in

ver.

30

this

passing beyond Arabia

is

as

much

left

out of

notice as, in ver.

19, are the passing beyond Sidon in the

north and Jordan in the west,

of diffusion
is

when
is

the

Canaanite district
f

defined.

Ophir

followed by nj*in which

We
the

already occurred at ver. 7, and was there referred to BTO. do not believe that this name is a corruption of Kampila,

name

of the

where gold is one side however

Darada country in North- Western India, more abundant than in India and Iran. On the
it is

certain that an Arabian n^in

is

proved

by xxv. 18; 1 Sam. xv. 7. Mebuhr (Arabien, p. 342) mentions a Huweila lying on the coast in Bahrein, which corresponds in
1

On

the

many

to record, see the abstract,

hypotheses concerning Ophir, which it would be useless here Ophir und Tarsus," by Zockler in the Beweis des
"

Glaubens, 1874,

p.

557

sqq[.

GENESIS

X.

30.

345

sound, while Sprenger

is

combination with the Yamanic

^^
whom

phonetically

forbidden.

On

the

other

side

an Indian

<Dj^,

situate in the region of the Indus, is

if

made probable by
neighbours of the

ii.

11,

PBQ

there

is

the Indus.

The Xav\oTaloL,

Eratosthenes in Strabo, xvi. 4.

2, calls the

Nabataeans, dwell too far to the north-west above the Arabian

Gulf for the Arabian Havilah.

ascertained.
ver.

Concerning

ini

nothing

is

yet

Eange

of the dissemination

of the Joktanites,

30: And

their diuelling -place readied

SepJiar, towards the

mountains of

the east.

from Mesa towards 23&, and K D

;
B>0,

must be
other

distinguished.
says,

when he

Josephus confuses them with each Ant. i. 6. 4 Mrjo-as Se (KTI&I)

:

Mijcravaiovs

"Srrao-Lvov

Xdpa
is

ev

T06?

vvv fcakelrcu.

For
the

^Tracrlvov (TIacrivov) Xdpaj;

the present

Moammera on

Schatt el- Arab

Karum

falls

(the united Euphrates and Tigris), where the and this would make Nfto the South into it
;

1 Medjvrj, in which lay also an Apamea. Babylonian The north - west corner of the Persian Gulf forms a more

district

appropriate starting-point for the demarcation of the abode of the Joktanites than the Syro-Arabian desert, which is called
in Assyrian

mat Mas

(Paradies,

better corresponds with the

242 sq.), and which certainly name &n than with NBJo. Hence
7
V>,

we
the

identify Kt$? with

as

^wx*

and

if

lap were the

same
"

Sdirfyapa, 2a(j)dp of Ptol. Plin. and the Periplus,

capital of the Homeritic

and Sabcean

people,"

this

would

give a fitting south-west point.

But

this

name

is

in Arab.

j\&, which cannot be rendered in Hebrew by lap, a word which perhaps means coast or boundary (DMZ. xxiii. 638); in Greek
also

Tdfapov would be more

is

suitable.

It is nevertheless
is

probable that lap

a south
-

west point whence a line

;

drawn towards the south

mountain
1

east

for nnpn
"in

"in

js

certainly the
i.

of frankincense

rWD^n

in

Aben Ezra on Gen.

;

Mesene and Apamea often occur in the Talmud see Neubauer, Gtographie du Talmud, pp. 325, 329, 382, and Gratz, Mesene und seine judischeBev&lkerung,
1879.

346
11),

GENESIS

X. 31-XI.

more

strictly,

the

eastern coast of Arabia, the

imposing promontory of the south Has Sagar, on the other side of

which

lies

the region of frankincense so famed

by the ancients
list

(Sprenger,

128, comp. 111).

of the
to their

Here follows the Elohistic conclusion of the

Shemites, ver. 3 1
:

These are the sons of

Slum according

families, according to their tongues, after their lands, according

to their nations.

Then the
32
:

Elohistic conclusion of the whole

genealogical trilogy, ver.

These are the families of the sons

;

of Noah
these

according

to their

generations, after their nations

and of

were the nations divided upon the earth after the flood.

THE CONFUSION OF TONGUES AND THE SEPARATION OF

NATIONS,
XI. 1-9.

Nothing in

this section points to Q, while ver. 6 sq. is in all

iii.

respects so similar to

22

sq.,

that this already indicates

la,

J
x.,

as the narrator (comp. besides

pxrrta

p^,

4fr,

and

ps*l,

Sa,

with

ix. ix.

19,

x.

18).

But both

narrators having in ch.

comp.

19, explained the ramification of the post-diluvian

human

family into three

groups

of

nations

in

purely

genealogical manner, and carried them back to their descent from the three sons of Noah, the question arises, whether and

how

the explanation

which here

follows,

and according

to

which a judicial interposition of

origination of nations,
tion of their origin.
is

God gave
lies

the impulse to the

compatible with the former explana

in x. 25, according to

The answer

which

the dispersion of the population of the earth

(i.e.

had

its

beginning in the days of Peleg

14, 16, in the fifth generation after the Flood).

sion,
i"

according to xi. 10, 12, This disper

called

from
"
"

which

this

generation

is

by the Jews

?^?

is
"i,

more than an

allusion to various abodes remote

from each other.

the time of Peleg

Even supposing
all

that the Noachidse had from

divided from each other, the separate

groups would not thereby have

become

different

nations.

GENESIS

XI.

1.

347

They would by mecans of their oneness of language, and of the opinion and feeling which is impressed on language, have
continued to be one united
nationalities
is,

human
of

family.

For the root

that

of

in

the

view

Scripture,

common
external

characteristic

of

internal,

and

thence

resulting
in

definiteness

which

finds

its

special expression

language.

Schilling calls the question,

how
is

nations originated, a great

to

enigma,
that
as

an

enigma
is

supposed

be

solved
of

by

saying,
to
;

natural

affection

the
of

bond
to

union

the

family, so

law the
i.e.

bond

union

the nation

and

that unity of law,

the form of government and legislation,

constitutes a nation.

But

this is

only to explain the origin

of the nation, not that of the nations, not

split the

what

it

was that
becoming

human

family into nations instead of their

It was, as the

account here following ch. x. a Divine teaches, by interposition that the one human family ceased to be one, and was more and more separated in thought
a single nation.

and
and

aspirations
locally.

in

different

directions,

both

linguistically

Thus the Divine impulse

xi.

to the

origination of

the nations, related

1-9,
it

is is

genealogic deduction, and

that the extracts

not opposed to the preceding not even necessary to assume

x.

from
xi.

in
9

8,

10-12, must
It
is

originally

have stood after

because

(Dillm.).

not necessary,

J might

first

give a survey of the world of nations

derived from the three sons of Noah, in order thus to relate

by way of supplement how it came to pass that genealogical became ethnological distinctions. It was by the abolition of
unity of language, that the unity of the family became the That the narrative which follows multiplicity of the nations. has in view such a completion of the ethnographical table is at once shown, ver. 1 And the whole earth was one language,
:

Kaulen (Die Sprachverwirrung zu Bald, 1861) rightly refers nsb to the grammatical, and .?1 to the lexical element language in general (wordthe
c<n

and one and

same words.

formation, syntax, pronunciation) and in particular (the names of things) was the same. The form of sentence the whole
:

348

GENESIS XL
is

2, 3.

earth was one language,

lute

similar to Isa. v. 1 2

their feast is
is
:

and harp
its
it

that in which the subject gains appearance

made

predicate.

Migration

of certain ISToachidae, ver. 2

that

And

came

to pass, as

they journeyed eastwards,

they

found a plain in the land of Sinar, and settled there. verb JJD3 means to go forth (Assyr. nisu), to go on,
farther.

The
to go

unmentioned, for DnjSB does not mean in the usage of the language from the east (Kaul), but eastwards, ii. 8, xiii. 11, and indeed so that,
is

The place

of departure

left

as in

D*ij5

"03,

xxix. 1, the east from a Palestinian standpoint

is

intended.

It is

moreover probable from

first

J also

(see

on

ix.

20)

that the land of Ararat was the

post-diluvian dwelling-

place of men.

Then

as subsequently the migration of nations

of great rivers
;

was wont

to follow the valleys

hence these

Noachidse, following the course of the Tigris and Euphrates from the high land of Armenia, arrived in the nyjps, the plain
the Tigris and Euphrates, which approach each

westward of the spurs of the Median mountains watered by other more

nearly.
"W?^,

and more
Babylonian

Sumer,

is

in

the

title

of

the

kings

South

Babylon
here
called.

(as

distinguished
as
at
x.

from
the

Accad
whole
says of

=
of

North

Babylon),
is

as

well

10

Babylon
:

so

Herodotus
;

Babylon and Midrash (see Aruch under

the valley of the world.
fertile

fceerai Iv 7reS/w /LteyaXw

178, 193) (i. and in the Talmud

called D^iy fe
1D1T,

Dt I.) it

is

In this well-watered paradisaically

vale they settled, and here they

:

made

preparations for
:

the erection of buildings, ver. 3

And

they said one to another

Come

on,

we

will

make

l>ricks,

and

l)urn to burning.

And

~brick

served them for stone,

and asphalt
allow,
!

served them for mortar.

The

imperat. of nrp

is 2n, give,

and with the intentional ah

!

answers to the encouraging up come on (comp. Latin cedo = ce-dato, cette = cedate) njn has the tone on the penult., ton on
;

the

ult. ;

nevertheless the tone of nnn can under some circum

stances (before N, xxix.

ton to the penult, (before

21) move to the ult., and that of words of one syllable, Job vi. 22).
libintu, as

Brick

is

called nja?, Assyr. libittu

bleached in the

GENESIS

XI. 4.

349
flat

sun, but perhaps as formed of clay

by

pressing, since the

Babylonio-Assyrian does not know the colour- word pp to be white, but has for it the meaning to press flat (Paradies, 145).

They did not however use brick

burned
it

in this

rough

state,

but

to

adurere}, bricks in the proper sense, the opposite to the so-called air-

i.e.

burning (cpj? is here not comburere but they burned the shapen clay to irKivQoi oirral,
a

dried bricks of mingled clay and straw, Ex.

i.

14 and

v.

these burned bricks served

them
the

in the reckless but all the

more clayey

alluvial land in

place of quarried
"ifch,

stones.

And
"rtpn^

cement they used, not clay, but = amar hamar. The building was, as asphalt, Assyr.
for

mortar or

Diodor.

ii.

says

o\vj

ef ao-(f)d\rov KCU Tr\iv6ov

7re</>tXo-

re-^rjfjievrj.

Hccc, says Trojus

Pompejus

in Justin,

i.

2,

of

Semiramis, Babylona condidit

murumque
locis

urbi cocto later e cir-

cumdedit, arence vice (instead of lime, Kovias) bitumine interstrata, quce

passim invenitur et e terra exaestuat. scriptural statement does not exclude the use of air-dried bricks and ordinary mortar, it only gives special
illis

materia in

The

prominence to the new manner of building as calculated to last for ever. For, ver. 4 They said, Come on, we will build
:

us a city

and a tower with

its

top in the heavens,

and we

will

make us a name, that we The imperf. whole earth.

tive (see Ges.

be

not scattered over the face of the

ftna

and npjw are as much cohorta-

3. In general of the the tower of Babel is spoken of, but it building only is a city with a tower that is here in The words question.

75. 6) as that with ah in ver.

DWn
its

t$N

fl

may
s)

(the

tower

be directly governed by n32J we will build top up to heaven; but perhaps we are to
:
:

conceive of them as a nominal sentence

et

fastigium ejus

sit

ad cesium

the 3

is

that of contact, as in 2

that unless they create for themselves

Jtt3. They some strong point

fear
for
;

a centre and support, they shall

be scattered on

all

sides

pa

(properly diffundi} has here the pregnant sense of a local

separation combined with loss of all connection.

The usual

meaning

of

DP 6

nb>y,

to

make

oneself renowned, famous, does

350

GENESIS XL

5,

6.

not well suit the negative object sentence with

to require

}S,

QtJ*

seems

here a more

concrete

sense, /and the

word has

originally
Ps.
(2
Dt^
viii.

such

1), visible
viii.

an one, meaning some thing lofty (see on from a distance, especially a monument
;

Sam.
"6

13

Isa.

Iv.

13,

Ivi.

5).
its

Hence the reading

original full
ix.

i"TO

means
12
;

here, according
Jer.

to

value

(Isa.

Ixiii.

xxxii.

Neh.

10;

comp. DIP,

2 Sam.

vii.

23), to set

up

monument

in one s honour,

and

then, to acquire an honourable name.

In

this passage it is the

tower

itself as

high as

heaven in which the builders desire

to

find a unifying support, a

name comprising them

all,

that
in
to

may not be lost in opposite directions (comp. Eedslob DMZ. xxvi. 754). The town with this magnificent tower is
they

be a centre which shall do honour to them

against

all,

and secure them

the

dissolution

of

their

unity.

The unity which

bound together the human family had been the acknowledgment and worship of one God, one and the
heretofore had

same

therefrom.
it

and the mode of thought and action resulting This unity does not suffice them, they exchange for an external self-made and therefore ungodly unity,
religion,

from which the

dispersion,

which

it

was

to

prevent, pro
affairs
to

ceeds as a punishment.

Cognition of the
5
:

state of

on the
see

part
city

of

God,
the

ver.

Then Jahveh came down

children

the

and

tower which the

of
xii.

of

men had
20,

built.

The coming down

Jahveh

(TV, as at Ex. xix.

xxxiv. 5;

Num.

xi.

25,

5; comp. also the going up of

Elohim,

xvii.

22, xxxv.

13) means the self manifestation

of the Omnipresent for and in acts of power,

which break
Perf.

through the course of nature and history.

meant,
according
to
86,

The

wa

is

of

the

commenced and

in

part

already executed building.

ver.
1
"

And
14,

Jahveh said

Eesult of the judicial inquiry, Behold, one people, and they have
11

of ten niT") of God, says the Midrash Pirlce of R. one in Paradise, one at the time of the confusion of tongues, one at Sodom, one in the bush, one on Sinai, two at the cleaving of the rock, two in the tabernacle, and one in the last day." The Theophany in Paradise is
Eliezer,
c.

Holy Scripture knows

purposely not designated a PITT-

GENESIS XL
all one

6-8.

351
to

speech,

and

this is their

beginning

do (the beginning

of their doing or

undertaking), then there will not be with-

holden
to

undertake.

from them (unattainable by them) all that they purpose In the en populus unus et oratio una omnibus
xl. 7, xlii. 5,

cy has as supra-national a sense as at Isa.

it

where

means

all

mankind (Acts
and tower.

xvii. 26).

HT refers to

of the city

D;pnn

has, like pftnn,

the building n instead of n

in the second syllable before the tone of the stem beginning

with a strong guttural

TiiTyn.
xlv. 8).

so too do

we

say and write

"fti"^,

An

inference
is

is

drawn by

nnjn (like xx. 7, xxvii. 8,

nyaj,

ix.

19, from

lightened from Er, like nbj, 7 a, from n^hj, and The partly 67, note 11. nsaj, Ges.

finished building

shows what association can

of
this

do.

Sin has

taken

possession

association,
is

it

must

therefore be

not merely the demand of destroyed. righteous retribution, but at the same time a wise educational
This destruction

arrangement
lead.

designed

to

check the

fearful generality

and

depth of the apostasy, to

Judicial resolve,
there

which such spurious unity would ver. 7 Come on, we will go down,
:

and

confound

their language, so that they do not

under

stand one the language of the other.

In

ver. 5 it

was

said Til,

here nni^ Jahveh comprising the angels with Himself, as at 1 iii. 22 and i. 26, but here as ministers of His penal justice. is equivalent t)^ points to the self-made point of unity.
"1G?&$

to

ita

ut,

like

xiii.

16;

Deut.

iv.

40;
:

Ges.

127.

3a.

Execution

of the judicial resolve, ver. 8

Then Jahveh

scattered

them from thence upon the face of the whole earth, and they Instead of continuing Then Jahveh left off to build the city. confounded their language, the narrator declares at once the
:

result of the confusion of tongues.

by

This was brought to pass the discord of minds which, because their thoughts and

aspirations were parted asunder in the

most opposite

directions,

were unable any longer LXX. translates xa,}

1
"Start

to

understand or make themselves

ffvyfciwfx.w

Ka.ra.$u.v<ris

the Jewish statement

(Bereshith ralba, c. 38, and elsewhere) that LXX. changed the plural into the The Midrash Lekach tab (ed. Buber, 1880) takes singular is not confirmed. the plural as plur. majestatis.

352

GENESIS

XI.

9.

understood by one another, such disharmony of thought and

speech resulting in local separation and cessation from the common undertaking. It cannot however be meant that the
confusion of languages attacked individuals in their relations For in this way a formation of different to each other.
national

languages would not have been arrived

at.

The
which

human
in

family was shattered

into single hostile groups,

consequence of their internal separation

now

separated
ver.

externally.

Memorial character of the name Babel,

Therefore

its

name was

called Babel,
earth,

the language of the whole

and

for there Jahveh confounded thence did Jahveh scatter

is
;

the face of the whole earth. The verb N^iJ with most the ceived general subject, like xvi. 14

them over

con

Deut.
city

xv. 2; Josh.

vii.

26;

Isa.

ix.

5; Ges.

137.

3.

The

was

called

?3?>

confusion, from

^3 V

ta,

with the fundamental

b3 =

notion of the loosening of the coherence of a thing, so that as Mte 158c. MM, nlBBte == nlBBBB, eta, Ew.
W>3,

The name Babel was

judgment
opposed
to

a significant retrospect of the Divine interwoven in the origin of the world-city, and of
it.

that tendency to anti-godly unity peculiar to

this that the

It is not else in the

name meant something

mind
CLTTO

of the

world-city.

rov Br]\ov, and so,

The EtymoL magnum derives it according to Mas udi, do Persian and

of the inscriptions
^3,

Nabatasan scholars.

The writing
is

however
but of

shows that the name

composed, not of 32 and

and

?$, ilu,

the general Divine name.

It is correctly written (as

Bdbi-ilu, always in the Acheemenidean inscriptions) Bdbilu 1 old Persian Babirus (Bdbairus), Accadian KA-DINGIRA, gate

of

God

(Paradies, p.
of

213)

23 (shortened to 3)

is

an appella

tion

of the seat

government reaching from the hoariest

day

antiquity to the present

(DMZ.

xxxiii.

114

sq.).

God s

judicial

interposition

consisted,

according

to

the

scriptural account, in the destruction of unity of

1

language,

In the Indian Pali legend the name is BaWru. The legend says that a crow was there worshipped, and that when a peacock was brought thither it was set in the ylace of the crow.

GENESIS XL
not in the destruction
impossible that ruins
the
site,

9.

353
Hence
it

of

the

buildings.

is

not

of the

building,

or at least traces of

among
right

And in effect there is should have been preserved. 1 the ruins of Babylon, and indeed of Borsippa, on the
of the Euphrates,

bank

a pyramidal

mound

of ruins,

consisting of a far-reaching base of about 60 feet high and above 2000 in circumference, a cone-shaped mass 200 feet

high piled upon

entirely

it,

formed of

and a tower-like top of 35 feet high bricks, which admit no kind of vegetation,
This pyramid of ruins
is it

with the exception of dry lichens.

called BITS

Nimrud (Nimrod s

Tower).

The Arabs regard

fire

as the Babylonian tower destroyed

by

from heaven.

And

the black scorified and

vitrified

masses which have fallen

down from the height and lie about in heaps at the foot favour the notion. So much may at least be true, that this
is

the locality of the tower of Babel.

the temple of Bel, described Herod,

This pyramid of ruins

i.

is

181.

It is ancient

Babylonian, for it
nezzar,

was not
it
it

built,

but restored, by Nebuchad

in

who

placed upon

the tower-like top of the upper

in the
inscription,

most

storey.
it,

He
the
"

calls

which he
Earth,"

boasts of

and the

"

Temple
of

of the

Temple Seven Lamps

of the

Foundation of the
of the

Earth

"

(Schrader,

KAT. 121-127).
Eawlinson
seven
pitch

With
brick
colours.

this

agrees the discovery by

of
first

Henry

building

planetary

The
of

seven storeys with the storey blackened with

-

Saturn,

the

second
storey

Jupiter, the
originally gilt

third

red

= Mars,

orange coloured the fourth

sixth

bricks

certainly

= the

Sun, the

fifth,

and seventh storeys

had the colour of Venus, Mercury and the Moon (apparently light-yellow, blue and silver), but so fallen to ruins that
neither
size

nor

colour could any longer be discerned (see

x.).

Smith
There
1

Chald. Genesis, ch.

From Herod,

i.

98 we learn
and

that the ramparts of Ecbatana showed the same seven colours.

is

yet another
c.

mound
l

of ruins

upon the

soil

site

In Ber&sUth rabba,

38,
;

fusion of tongues as

S)

PjID^U

is explained with reference to the con D elsewhere differently.

lp

354

GENESIS

XI.

9.

of ancient Babylon, viz. that

which

is

called Babil

this of

is

the

most northerly, and situate within the

city.

circuit

the

ancient

Eassam

conjectures that these are the ruins of

the hanging gardens constructed by Nebuchadnezzar (Miirdter,

p.

250).

Independent non-Israelite reminiscences of the confusion of For tongues are up to the present time not yet pointed out.
the Sibyl-myth, communicated by Joseph. Ant.
as
i.

4. 3,
i.

known
4 and

such also by Alex. Polyhistor (Euseb.

is

Chron.

elsewhere),

certainly a

recast of the
relates
(i.

scriptural narrative.

Moses
with
it,

Chorenazi
e

indeed

6)

matters

connected
Berosiana.

delect a

meet ceterisque ver adore Sibylla

Richter has admitted the narrative into his Berosi guce supersunt, pp. 21-23, and cuneiform fragments are in existence

from which we
Assyrian
national

infer,

though only conjecturally, a Babylonioof

counterpart

the

scriptural

narrative.
its

The

languages

nature, incomparably
rence.

Each

of

are, assuming more important remains of the occur these languages is indeed the product and

themselves

historical

expression of the mental arid physical nature

to

of the people

which

it

originally

belonged.

But

as

Divine creative

words commence and cause the possibility of the natural developments of all things within and beyond the six days*

work
was a

of creation, so too, according to the Scripture narrative,

judicial act of Divine power, the

momentary and mighty

impulse of the natural development of languages.

An

act

which did not indeed shatter the one primitive language into
complete separate languages, but into the beginnings of many, which from that time forth continued to advance The one primitive language would towards completeness.

many

not indeed have remained in a state of stagnating immobility even if this miraculous Divine interposition had not taken
place.

In virtue of the abundance

it

of

human

gifts

and

would have passed through a process of continuous powers, But when self-enrichment, refinement and diversification.
the linguistic unity of

mankind was

lost,

together with the

GENESIS
unity of

XI.

9.

355
up devoid
of

tlieir religious

consciousness, a splitting

unity and a falling into fragments devoid of combination, took The primitive language left the place of diversity in unity.

behind

a stronger or weaker effect in the languages, which but as arose together with the nations and national religions
it
;

for
is

itself, it

died the death from which comparative philology

of

Whether anything of its it. in the background of be discerned may or is a the most ancient languages not, question which may
incapable

awakening
still

concrete form

be answered in the negative or affirmative without detracting from the historical nature of what is related Gen. xi. 1-9.
If it

must be answered

in the negative, this

to
xi.

is

conceivable

from the circumstance, that according

divergency

preponderated in the separate languages now originating, and that the common element which the developing nations took with them into other lands was either so overgrown, as
civilisation

advanced, as to be quite undiscernible, or entirely And if kindred elements are found in groups disappeared.
languages otherwise fundamentally differing, this must not without further investigation be referred to an actual
of

primitive unity.

All languages are indeed the work of the

human mind,
is

the works and acts of which with an essentially

equal organ of speech are everywhere analogous.

of kindred nature

Much

that

may be explained by the fact, that there are languages which in the absence of mutual association stand at the same stage of development and are allied to each
other

by unity of

character,

while

other

kindred features

are imparted

by the intercourse and commerce of nations. Chance too produces similarities of sound by which superficial knowledge is misled to combine what is unconnected and The one original language is dead, fundamentally different. but not without hope of resurrection in the one final language.

prelude to this was the fy\wo-(rais \a\eiv of the Pente costal Church. The unity of the original beginning lies outside the science of language, and all the experiments of
Pasilalia

(Volapuk) in anticipation of the unity of the end

356
are but labour lost.

GENESIS

XI.

9.

It is in another

manner

that the science

of language serves to prepare the

way

for that end.

Since

philology has,
all

under the sway of Christianity, which embraces nations in love, become a scientific task taken up by
of

loving hands, the walls of partition erected by the Babylonian confusion

tongues
in

have

lost

their

impenetrability

and

ruggedness, and a foreign language has gained a power of

attraction

great

proportion

to

its

former repulsion

repulsion which placed the

people

who spoke

it

among

barbarians, as rather stammering and lisping

like

than speaking

human

beings.

Y.

THE TOLEDOTH OF SHEM,

(Parallel passage, 1 Chron.
i.

XI. 10-26.

24-27.)

1-9, giving more detailed infor mation of the fact noted at x. 25, is now followed by an

THE

Jahvistic section,

xi.

Elohistic

one, belonging
its fifth

to

the

scaffolding

of

Genesis and

forming

main

division.

of the genealogical

main

line, ch. v.,

The tenth member (Noah) was concluded ix. 28 sq.,

the lines collaterally descending from

Shem and

his brothers

were treated of in
v.

ch. x., as
ix.

we were

led to expect

by the

32, sq. previous remarks, ance with the constant historiographic method of Genesis, the

18

Now

follows, in accord

continuation of the main line which

has in view Abraham,

xi.

and in him

Israel.

The genealogy,
that
it

10-26, has
as the

this in

common with
three
sons,

ch.

v.,

ends in Terah as the father of

as

the

former ends in
also

Noah

father

of

three sons.

Both

compute the years to and from the

is not in xi. 10-26, as in whole duration of the life of the

birth of the first-born; but there

ch. v., a

summing up

of the

fathers

by adding together the years before this birth and the remaining years, which also is by no means necessary for
continuing
the thread
of the

chronology.

The Samaritan
this
of

version nevertheless

makes the two

because
this

tables uniform in

addition

also.
life

And
is

reckoning
several

up

the

duration of

omitted, the eight times repeated stereo

also left
out, the

type nbjl of ch.

v. is

members

of

the table each ending with the formula, repeated also ch. v., rimi D^a ftfa. This is here repeated eight times, for the

concluding

member

(Terah)

is

left

here

as

there

(Noah)

358
uncompleted.
only nine.
If indeed the
after

THE TOLEDOTH OF SHEM.

Here however we have, not ten members, but

LXX. had

the original text

when

it

inserted
11

Arpachshad, both here and at x. 22, 24, a Kalvav (= IJ in ch. v., the son of Enosh, the father of Mahalalel) with the
!?.

year of birth 130, this genealogy of Sheni would, like that of Adam, consist of ten members. Demetrius in Euseb. Prcep.
ix.

21, the

Book

of Jubilees

and Luke

iii.

16 herein follow the

LXX., and Berth. Ew. Dillra. and others believe in the genuine ness of this Kenan. But (1) since he is here the fourth from
Noah, as
v.

may
from

be suspected

12 the fourth from Adam, his transference thence and (2) there is significance in Abram but
;

not in Terah being the tenth from Shem, as

Adam

for in

Abram

as in

Noah

Noah is the tenth new beginning is

i.

matured, and there

the new.

is

a decided separation between the old and

The

abstract of the chronicler, 1 Chron.

of

24-27,

knows nothing

Kenan and counts Abram

Xa\Saioi$
rt? TJV

as the tenth.

Mera
i.

TOV KaraK\vo-/jLov
SefcaTr)
/cal

says also Berosus (in Joseph. Ant.

Siicaios

7. 2)

yevea Trapa

avrjp

ra ovpdvia euTreipos. This suits the Abraham Hence the acute Sextus Julius of the Bible and the legend.
Kol fieyas

Africanus

(see Gelzer s Monograph, p. 89) already and even a Calovius, notwithstanding Luke Kawav,

rejects
iii.

36,

passes

upon him the sentence

expimyendus

est.

He was

invented for the sake of making the tables in chs. v. and xi. uniform, and not for the sake of the 130 years which he con
tributes to the enlargement of the chronological

network

for

in the

years, which according to the Hebrew text elapsed from the Flood, or more strictly from the birth

LXX.

the

365

of Arpachshad, to

the migration

of

Abram,

are

raised

to

the Book of Jubilees, which reckons 642 years, and the Samaritan, which reckons 1015 (see the following table), stand
;

1245

midway.
and

Bertheau,

who
xi.

in ch. v. decided for the text of the

Samaritan, here in ch.

at least the age

regards that of the

of

Hebrew
birth

as original,

70

Terah

at

Abram s

and the age

75 of Abram

at the migration as traditional.

It cannot be

GENESIS XL
denied that here, as at ch.
us,

10, 11.

359

v.,

different calculations are before

which remain

irreconcilable,

so that a settled

primeval

chronology, which can claim belief on the ground of authority, is out of question. however give the preference, both

We

here and ch.

v.,

to the

Hebrew

text, for in it ch. xi.,

with

its

365

years,

forms an integral

member

of

the

2666
If

years
of

reckoned from

Adam

to the exodus,

which represent
years.

an

assumed duration of the world of

4000

we

take a

survey of the striking synchronistic relations which result from the long duration of the lives of Noah, Sbem and

Arpachshad,

e.g.

that

Shem

lived to witness the birth of all

the following eight patriarchs, the birth of Abraham, the birth

of Isaac, nay, even of

survived the birth of

Esau and Jacob, and that Eber also Abraham some years the question arises,
;

whether the dates were really set down with a consciousness of these consequences, and the conjecture is forced upon us,
that the whole

down

to

Abram

is

sum computed for the post-diluvian period divided among the individual patriarchs as

representatives of the epochs of this period, in which case indeed the points of view and reasons of this manner of division are not fully perceptible. In general, it is assumed that the duration of life from Shem to Terah diminished, and
that in proportion as this took place marriage
it

was hastened:

length of

Peleg (cornp. x. 25) the about two hundred years. But these points of view do not suffice for comprehending the
is

also

explicable that just at

life

had

fallen to

motley jumble of numbers, which for the most part betray no kind of purpose or design.

Shem s son Arpachshad, vv. 10, 11 of Shem Shem ivas one hundred years
:

These are the generations

old,

and

he begat Arpach-

sad two years after the flood.

And Shem
and
begat sons

lived after he begat

Arpachsad

five

hundred

years,

and

daughters.
year,

If

Noah

begat Shem, as

v.

32

says, in his

500th

Shem

as

his first-born

was in the second year after the Flood (which the Talmud and Midrash, misled by x. 21, mistake), not one
hundred, but one hundred and two years
old, since the

Flood

360
took place
v.
(vii.

GENESIS

XI. 12-15.

11) in Noah
for

600th
(see

year.
x.

Hence 500

is

at
is

32 a round number

502

on

21), or -j^l there

to be strictly understood of beginning of origin, not of birth.

Noah, when he begat Shem, had completed the 500th year of his life, and Shem was born towards the close of his 501st
If

year,

it is

also comprehensible that the latter had,

two years

after the commencement, not cessation, of the Flood, passed the

that

Oth year of his life (Bengel, Kn. Dillm.). It is self-intelligible could not be at once continued with after the title.
""rn

At

v.

1-5

also,

before the imperfects consecutive appear, a

is

circumstantial perfect

started with.
s

That Arpachshad

is

here designated as

Shem

first-born is not in

contradiction

with

x.

22, where the descendants of

Shem

are introduced,

not according to succession of birth, but from a geographieoShelah the son of Arpachshad, historical point of view.
vv. 12,
"Sclah.

13 And Arpaclisad lived thirty-five years, and begat And Arpaclisad lived after he begat "Selahfour hundred
:

and

three years,

and

begat sons

and

daughters.

In

ver. 12,

and

in the tone set at ver.

again also in ver. 14, a circumstantial perfect is begun with 10 it is not till ver. 16 onwards that
;

the beginning with

ch. v., is

resumed.

according to the scheme usual from The name n r ty means, with reference to its
:

W,

fundamental notion
impulse, and
to plants
:

a departure in consequence of a given

applied to

water: a flowing forth (Neh.

:

iii.

15),

a sprouting, to implements

a shooting

applied to

persons,

it

Shelah, vv.

would signify a sending away. Eber the son of 14-15: And "Selah lived thirty years, and begat *Eber.
lived after he begat *Eber

And
years,

"Selah

four hundred and

three

daughters. Arpachshad having given a country at the southern extremity of the high land of Armenia (x. 20), and Eber to a whole group of nations

and

begat sons

and

name

to

(x.

21, comp.

Num.

xxiv. 24), Shelah too seems to

signification.
Still

have a

more than individual

no

tribe or locality

can be pointed out to which the name rw adheres. Hence Bunsen take this as name a Buttmann, Ewald, proper figure So too Knobel (Volkertafel, p. 169) of national facts. The
"

GENESIS

XI. 10-19.

361

name

rf>G?

contains the allusion to the fact that in the earliest

times people migrated from iBbaiK, the Chaldoean ancestral states the region in which they seat, and the name -ay is a frequent designation for viz. settled, Mesopotamia,
"iny

"inan

of the country on the other side of the Euphrates

(e.g.

Josh.

Mesopotamia is so called from a Pales sq., in ^ s earliest historical sense tinian standpoint, while would designate the passing over the Tigris. The general
xxiv. 2
sq.)."
"OJJ

14

(Paradies, p. 262), is here, where to the great net of the two rivers, us close IBbBiN transports Nor does ^"]?V (niT^V) signify i n general those probable.

sense

"advance migration"

who

migrate, but those

as

who

transmigrate.
Israel,

The name

B^V
"uy,

however

an ethnographic name of

which would accord

ing to the original

signify

meaning of the name of their ancestor, those who came over the Tigris, has in the subsequent
:

usage of the language evidently the meaning those who came 1 over the river, i.e. the Euphrates, not (see on xiv. 13) those who came over Jordan (Wellh. Reuss, Stade). Peleg the son of
Eber, vv. 16, 17
Pelcg.
:

And
begat
is

Eber

lived thirty-four years,

and

begat

And

JEbcr lived after he begat Peleg

four hundred and

thirty years,

and

sons

and

daughters.

The name

J^a

means
x.

division,

25.

explained in this sense by the Jahvist, Whether the name of the Mesopotamia!! town $d\ya

and

($d\iy(i), situated

where the Chaboras flows into the Euphrates,

it is

has any kind of connection with

of Peleg, vv. 18,

uncertain.

Eeu

the son
begat

19

And

Pelcg lived thirty years,

and

P^H.

And

Pelcg lived after he begat

Reu

two hundred and

nine years, and begat sons and daughters.

(Edessa) has nothing to do with

The name Urhoi

Edessa

(LXX. Pajav, comp.

;

Payovfa = ^IJH, friendship

Ocrporjvrj, or,

of

God, friend of God)

has been so called from the time

when

it

was the

capital of

which
for

is

more probable, the name arose from

is

Ka\\-Lpp6rj,

Edessa

also

called

^Avno^eta

77

eVl

Ka\tppoy
1

(afonte nominata, Plin. v. 24).

Bereshith
rabla,
as
it is
c.

Sprenger strays even

Comp.
J16J92

xlii.

rPKp,

i-e.

correctly glossed

"inun

"131?

^3

362
/

GENESIS XL
G.*

20-26.

as

far

as

y*s.j
:

on the Shammar.

Serug the son of Re

u,

vv. 20,

21

And Re ft

lived thirty -two years,

and

begat Serug.

And Reu
years,

lived after he

begat Serug two

hundred and seven

JVii?

(comp. Arab, sirdg, lamp) has adhered to the Mesopotamian province and town of Sarug, a day s journey north of Harran the town
daughters.
;

and

begat sons

and

The name

according to its Greek name, BaTvai, of Osroene. Nahor the son of Serug, vv. 22, 23 And Serug lived thirty
of Sarug
is,
:

years,

and

begat Nahor.

And

Serug lived after he begat

Nahor

two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

of

The nations
sqq.
;

whom Nahor

is

the ancestor are registered xxii. 2

but no people, country, or place carrying on his name can be Terah the son of Nahor, vv. 24, 25 And pointed out.
:

Nahor
Nahor

lived

twenty

nine

years,

and

begat

Terah.

And

begat Terah one hundred and nineteen The name rnn is perhaps years, and begat sons and daughters. the same word with the Babylonio- Assyrian name of the
lived after he

antelope, turdhu, Syr. taruha, Arab, arh, urhi.

Kn. combines
of

with

it

(LXX.

Sap pa) the town

Tharrana southwards
xi. d.

Edessa upon Tabula Pentingeriana,

notes a
sons of Terah, ver.

Friedr. Delitzsch
Til-sa-turhi.

Mesopotamian name of a town 26 And Terah lived

:

The

seventy years,

and

The genealogy consisting begat Abram, Nahor and Haran. it points to Abram, just of nine members closes with Terah The date here, as there, designates as v. 32 does to Shem.
;

the first-named as the first-born.

The

birth years of

Nahor

are, like those of Ham and Japheth, without import This ance for the chronological progress of the history. genealogy closes with the ninth member, because the following

and Haran

nnhn were
whose
but
his

not to be entitled

D"DK

rm^in, but

mn nnhn

for the

chief personage of the section

is

Abram, the descendant of Terah,

for its title, not

historical importance consists in his being the father of

Abraham.
D"QK

If the section
rr6in,

had had

mn

rni>in,

we should expect
while the

the history of
of

descendants,

history

Abraham in Abraham is on the

contrary essentially his own.

GENESIS XL

10

SQQ.

363

TABLE TO GENESIS XL 10
The Post-diluvian Patriarchs
The bracketed
figures in the

SQQ. (comp.
to the

xii. 4).

Ancestor of Israel.

LXX.

are the readings of the Cod. Alexandrinus.

Only the Samarit. text sums

up the durations of

life.

VI.

THE TOLEDOTH OF TEEAH, XL 27-XXV.

THERE

11.

is nothing omitted between xi. 26 and xi. 27. Hence the general anticipatory statement of xi. 26 and the details of what is there alluded to, beginning xi. 27, join

closely with

each other.

This shows us that the previous

history of Israel in

consisted entirely of a series of nnhn,

and yet trenching upon each other. Within this framework however the genealogy passed into historical narra
rounded
off

tive

wherever material was at hand and the scope of the

it.

work induced
this

Now

that the author has arrived at

Abram,

material begins to be more abundant.

nT>to

The

title

nl

n l^

down
Isaac.

to

whole following history of Abraham, the new sections of the Toledoth of Ishrnael and
belongs to the
a good portion of the historical matter in these

Hence

Toledoth

certainly belongs
all

whole, for extracts from

but as certainly not the sources, of which Genesis consists,

to
Q,

are inlaid in the panelling of the Toledoth.

It

was however

regarded as
xi.

settled
xi.

27, and

not only the verse, with the title, 32, which finishes off Terah as a member of
that

the genealogy, belong to him, but also that all between these

two verses
to such

is Elohistic (e.g. by Kayser, Urgesch. p. 12), until Wellh. and Dillm. here also carried on the unravelling process

an extent as to leave only vv. 27, 31, 32 to Q as his in certain property, with some hesitation as to D^IBO
")1N

ver. 31.

For the view that Ur of the Chaldees as Abram

starting-point does not belong to the oldest form of tradition, and was first inserted by (the redactor) both here in

Elohistic and, xv. 7

nection, is

and indeed
364

xi.

2S&, in Jahvistic

con

more and more gaining ground.

There are however,

GENESIS
as

XI. 27, 28.

365

expunging a funda In mental assumption of the previous history of Israel. ver. 2 7 we again find ourselves on the soil of purely domestic
shall see,
for thus

we

no valid grounds

history,

and learn what happened in the family of Terah, Abram s father, down to the migration to Harran in Mesopo
tamia.

The three sons

of Terah, ver.

27

And

these are the

generations of Terali: Terah begat

Air am, Nalior and Haran, and

important to the sacred

Haran
history

legat Lot.
:

Each

of the three is

Abram
as the

as the ancestor of Israel,

Nahor by reason
D"QN

of

his female descendants,

who

enter into the line of the promise,

Haran

father of Lot.

The name

appears also

elsewhere in
Schrader,
art.

the Babylouio- Assyrian form

"

Ur,"

in

Eiehm s HW.).

Abu rainu (see We know as little

why Terah gave his first-born this name, as why he gave the the snorter, and the third that of fjn, the second that of
"rtnj,

miner.

The in contained
it

in this third

name does not

justify

the inference that

r

was

originally

meant

of a tribe or country.

(GescJi. 325, Proleg. 330) arbitrarily con an etymologically different word. The tie which united Terah and his family to their home was loosened by an

p n, with which Wellh.

it,

founds

is

early death, ver. 2 8

And Haran

died in the lifetime of Terah

his father in the land of his birth, in

Ur Casdim.

He

died
it,

*JB"^

of his father, so that the latter could

and must behold

hence

while he was yet alive (comp. Num. iii. 4; Deut. xxi. 16). That Haran died in the land of his birth was the more worthy
of note, because Terah his father afterwards died in Harran.

The
is

land of Haran
designated as
lates
x<apa

s birth,

and consequently of Terah

It is

dwelling,

D*ii5>3

nix.

T&v XaXSalwv, 1 in the history of Abrarn as the name of a The synagogal city. and ecclesiastical legend (see Beer, Das Lebcn Abrahams nach

not surprising that LXX. trans since it occurs nowhere else than

An/assung der jud.

Sage,

1859) read out

of the TIN, that

Abraham
1

was, as a confessor of the one true

this,
T?,-

God and
i.

a denier
7.

According to

Nicolaus Dainasc.

says, in Joseph. Ant.

*.t<yop.ivn S}

2,

that

Abraham came

yv s vvip EafivXuvo; x/.Sa/w

i.e.

from the land

of the Chaldees, reaching from of Ethiopia as n lv\p AlyvxTovin

and around Babylon.

Thucydides,
ii.

Comp. the designation

48.

366
of the gods of

GENESIS

XI. 28.

Mmrod,
ix.

cast into the

fire,

preserved by God; and

translated,

in

accordance

with

and miraculously this, Jerome

Chaldceorum.

Neh.

7,

eduxisti

eum

de

igne

Since J. D. Michaelis and Schlozer the TIN of Terah has been

-^
supposed to be discovered in the castle of Ur (Persian U^,
castle) lying

north of Hatra, mentioned by

within the Persian boundaries, six days journey Ammianus Marcellinus, xxv. 8.

But

this castle,

mentioned nowhere
is

else,

was

first

built

by the

Persians or Parthians, and

hence already out of question.

The Syrian Church flattered itself that Edessa was the native place of Abraham, but Urfa, UrJwi (Arab. er-Ruha) have as names of Edessa nothing to do with TIN (see on xi. 1 8), and
as little with

Uruk

or
is

Warka (Vaux
T}^, *Op%ov.

after

H. Ptawlinson

former view), for this

is

This last combination

appellation, since
it

however

correct, so

far at

least as the
i.e.

seeks for
also

Ur
i.

in the
8)

Chaldsean land,
1

here as elsewhere

(e.g.

Ezek.

Babylonia, situate

southward from Assyria

of the

towards the Persian Gulf.

in

That the ancestral home

Babylon can the less surprise us, since the patriarchs was primitive histories which we read in Genesis are in nearer
and

more

manifold

contact

with

the

traditions

of

the

Babylonians and Assyrians than with those of any other And if indeed a city Ur can be pointed out in nation.

Babylonia proper (Sumer or TjttG?), and one which had also been famous as a seat of government and civilisation, we
should rejoice at so brilliant a confirmation of the scriptural attach credit indeed to the extra - biblical narrative.

We

information, that the Canaanites migrated from the Persian

Gulf to the land of the Jordan

firmation as
is

and yet

this lacks such

con

afforded by the discovery of the site of the city

of Ur, together

with

many remains
538
B.C.
it

dating from the time of

its

existence (from. Nabonid

1

downwards), in the
mistakenly transposes

mound
to the

This applies to the Talmud, though

Ur

neighbourhood of Cuthah (u^ij ifl} ) 91a: "The small side (not the small
Casdim."

north-eastwards of Babylon, Bathra

ford,

DMZ.

xxxix. 6) of

TTD

is

Ur

GENESIS
of ruins, el-MugTieir*
little

XI. 28.

367
of the Euphrates, a

upon the

right

bank

southwards of the 31st degree of latitude. Here resided the most ancient Babylonian kings here existed a very ancient
;

temple
2

of

the

moon of

god, restored

by the

last

Babylonian
the

king; the disposal

3

here was a double water-way to north and south at

traffic,

viz.

the

Euphrates

and

great

canal Pallakopas, which united North Babylonia directly with

signifies perhaps South Babylonian, and equal to the North Babylonian The genitival definition D^.f 3 is intended to Vru (Heb.
;

the sea.
it is

It is not yet

determined what Ur

"W).

designate the city as Babylonian, and

appropriate, since

is

also sensu strictiori

it is

the Assyr.

mat Kaldi, where

dis

tinguished from Rardunids, is a name of South Babylonia Dillmann alleges as a reason for (chief district Bit-JaMn).
suspecting the antiquity and historical nature of the
that

D^KO
"

"iis,

the Chaldseans
s
time."

D Hbo
as

first

occur in

the

Bible

after

Habakkuk mentions and describes who elsewhere shows him them, why self well acquainted with what is Babylonian, know of them ? Already in inscriptions of Eammannirari III., 810-781, and
Jeremiah

But

should

riot

the Jahvist,

therefore long before the complication of

Israel arid

Judah

with Assyria,
1

Babylonia as a whole
o
/

is

called

mat Kaldi
it
is

This writing suggests the thought of

.JA4J
i.e.

JL<>

red chalk, but

now

written
city"

i,

built with pitch (asphalt) (Paradies, p. 227),

"the

asphalt

(Schrader). It is in striking agreement with this, that according to

ix. 17),

Eupolemus

Euseb. Prwp.
Kafixpivn
;

who wrote
j*!>\>

after 150 B.C., Qlpln

Xx^a/v was
name

(in also called

j*

(comp.

to be hoary) is

the Arabic

of the

moon.

Boscawen in his article, "Historical Evidences of the Migration of Abraham," 1886, shows that a very ancient mutual intercourse existed between Ur and Harran as the chief seats of the worship of the moon. 3 Hommel, in a German essay published in London, Aug. 1886, remarks that Hebrew nomads could easily make a temporary settlement just in or near Ur, the only ancient Babylonian city on the western bank of the Euphrates, on the borders of the Arabian desert inhabited by nomnds. In the cities east of the Euphrates, on the contrary, they would soon have been identified with the

Comp. however Schrader,

KAT.

130.

"

stationary population of

Babylonia."

368
(Paradies, 200,

GENESIS

XI. 29.

KAT. 131) Kasdi

;

is

the Babylonian form of

the name, and Kaldi (by a

altur for
historical
astur,

similar change of sound, as in

I of

wrote)

is

the Assyrian.
7, that

If

the older

work
")1N,

(JE)

testifies, xv.

Abram came

out of DHfco

the like statement in the more recent one of

Q cannot be
both,

surprising.

Dillmann

feels

the want of any

reconciliation in the preceding accounts for the statement in

and thinks that

dates the migration of

Abram
xv. 7,

into

Canaan from Harran

this is the case only

as the dwelling-place of his family.

if

But
and
sqq.

we deny
of

to

him DHbD

"ilKD,

do

away with the

lines

connection

given

xi.

26

Schrader rightly regards (KAT. 133) the departure of Abram from Ur of South Babylonia as historically accredited by the concurrence of Q and J (comp. Neh. ix. 7) and Kittel Die
;
("

Herkunft der Hebraer nach dem A.

tenib.

T.,"

in the Stud, aus

Wurt-

Jahrg.

vii.

1886), though he finds the equation:

"

Ur

Mugheir and comprehension of the biblical sources, revolts against the

assumption that D^ba TIN
voluntary interpolation of
that
or
is
JK,

Casdirn

Uru

worthless

"

for

the

connection

in the text of both narratives a

and prefers

to persuade himself

J and
-

thought of this Chaldsean

1

Ur
is

as situated north

north

west of Charran.

ancestral

home

of

agreed that the the patriarchal family lay not in north

it

Hence

western Mesopotamia, but in Chaldsea proper.

the family of Terah, ver.
themselves wives
; the

Marriages in
took
the

29
of

And Abram and Nahor

wife was Sarai, and

name

Abr arris

Nahor s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the We do not learn that Sarai father of Milcah and of Iscah. was the daughter of Terah till we are subsequently told
of
so,

name

3 la;

perhaps
it

tons
it

originally

stood

after

"H^,

and

intelligible without expunged xx. 12. She was Abram s half-sister, of the same father, but not of the same mother. 2 Nahor married in Milcah his

because

was not properly

V. Baudissin also transfers

it

to

Northern Mesopotamia (Theol LZ. 1880,

Col. 379).
2 In such marriages with sisters among the Shemites are still to be seen, according to the researches of the Dutchman -Wilken and the Scotchman Rob.

GENESIS
brother
daughter, both

XI. 30, 31.

369

marriages being according to sub not according to contemporary but law, sequent that Milcah is mentioned It is evident opinion, incestuous.
s

Jewish

because Eebecca the wife of Isaac was descended from her.

Hence
and

it

is

needless to
are

xxii.

20-24
1

show (Wellh. Dillm.) that ver. 29 The verse indeed from the same peri.
to Iscah there is

prepares also for xvii. 15, while

reference.

no further
(so

Was

she Lot

sister

and perhaps

his wife

Ew.), and hence the ancestress of the

Sarai
s

Ammonites and Moabites?

:

childlessness

is
;

already expressly dwelt on, ver. 30

she

And Sarai was

this statement

barren

had no

child.

Wellh. Dillm. think

it is

premature in

this place,

but

not so

for it

states that

Abram was

childless

by way of Harran to Canaan. and 1PJ, (from 23 the reading vacillates between vi. T lifl = Abram had not of God to The call yet gone forth ^J). when his transference from Chaldaea to Canaan was already
"PJ

when he migrated from Ur 1PJ is awa^ yeyp., for in 2 Sam.

being

prepared

for

by
his

God
son,

providence,
the

ver.

31

And
his

Terah took

Abram

and Lot

son of

Haran,
wife,

grandson, and Sarai

they went with them

his

daughter-in-law,

Abram s

and

Canaan, and they no way of satisfactorily dealing with the QflN W?. translate, with Knobel they went with each other, is
is
s
:

from Ur Casdim, to go to the land of came to Harran, and settled there. There
.l.

To
for

bidden

by the

fact

that

the

suffix

may

indeed have

a
:

If it is explained reflexive, but not a reciprocal meaning. Terah and Abram with Lot and Sarai (Eashi), or vice versa

Lot and Sarai with Terah and

ceived
Smith

Abram

(Keil),

it

cannot be per

why

they who departed are thus halved.

And

if

the

(see

Noldeke in

DMZ.

xl.

prevailing

among them, and according

148 sqq.), traces of the matriarch ate once to which only descent from the same
for

mother was, as blood-relationship proper, valid

rights.
1

matrimonial and hereditary

We

much

is certain,

dispense with determining the meaning of the two names, but this = to counsel (whence that iisbo decidedly comes from
"]^D

the king as counsellor

to behold.
>,

and

decider, J*jj}% has his name),

HSD

11

from

H3D

or

370
DriK is referred to the

GENESIS

XI. 31.

to

unmentioned members of the family, or the bond-servants (xii. 5) of those mentioned, or if on the

other hand these are

made
The

the subject, and DHN referred to

the four, no cause

is

stated

and therefore no
text
is

justification

afforded for so doing.

Schrad. Dillrn.),

probably corrupt (Olsh. and originally was DJRS K*l and he, Terah,
:

went with them

forth

(Syr.),
Jer.),

(LXX. Sam.
of IN^I,

or cmx x$*\ he, Terah, led them which is the more suitable, since
:

the
also to

which has got into the wrong

place, is
set

thus
as

explained.

Then

too

is

the

question

at

rest

whether Nahor (whose name the Samar. inserts) went with them. He did not go with them, but started after
wards, for
the

extreme point of

this

and there we afterwards

find (comp.

journey was Harran, xxvii. 43 with xxiv.

of

10) Bethuel and Laban, the son

and grandson

Nahor.

The migration

of the Terahites

may

be connected with that

northward tending movement of nations from the Persian Sea (DMZ. xxvii. 419), to which belongs also the emigration of
the Canaanites (see on x. 6). The narrative however mani fests here no interest in the history of the nations, but only

an interest in individuals concerned in the history of redemp tion. Harran (Heb. with compensatory lengthening pjn, Arab.
3^
/oUs-j

Xappav
is

Trjs Meo-oTroTajjilas

in Joseph.

Har-ra-nu on

inscriptions)

the place where the great roads divide, con

(pn,

veniently

situated for trade

from

"in,

to

be narrow,
It

like the English strait)

in North-western Mesopotamia.

was praised by Josh. (Ant. xx. 2. 3) as fertile, especially in Amomum, and its site is still marked by ruins south east of Edessa (Orfa). It is the Kdppai, Carrce, in whose
neighbourhood Crassus and Caracalla met with their ruin in
their expeditions against the Parthians,

and

it

subsequently

formed the border-town of the

Grseco-Byzantine

kingdom,

the walls of which were rebuilt by Justinian. It was the chief seat of the Sabians or Harranians (described by Chwolson,

1856),

who

possessed there a sanctuary dedicated to the moon-

GENESIS

XI. 32.

371

god,
ver.

which they traced back to Abraham. Here Terah died, 32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years,
:

and Terah died in Harran.

went
forth to

When

the direction subsequently

Abram,

xii. 1,

to go to the land that

God would
into reality
years.

taken place.

show him, the death of Terah appears The Samar. changes this appearance
to

have meanwhile

by diminishing the duration of Terah

the

s life to
;

145
if

In

Hebrew

text

however

it is

200 years

and

Terah was

70 when he begat Abram (xi. 26), and the latter left Harran at the age of 75 (xii. 4), Terah was then 145 years old, and
if

he lived

to

Jerome

tries to

make

be 205, survived the separation 60 years. use of the expedient of dating the 75

years of Abram, not from his birth, but from his preservation from the furnace, this being, as it were, his new birth. Others

Meusel s Kirchliches HL.), by making Abram, in opposi tion to ver. 26, the youngest son of Terah, and born in his
(e.g.

130th
not,

year.

But the

difficulty so violently got

all.

rid of does

on due consideration, exist at

s

The reason that

to be found in

Terah
the

death

is

related before

Abram s

call, is

custom observed in Genesis, of entirely setting aside secondary individuals and matters for the sake of being able
devote
uninterrupted attention to the chief person and

to

importance with respect to the history of redemption is absorbed in his being the father of Abram, and dies out from the time that the new beginning,
chief

matter.

For Terah

to

which Abraham

is

appointed, comes
vii.

upon the

scene.
i.

In

the speech of Stephen, Acts

(as also
is

in Philo,

461,

Mang.), the succession of the narrative

sion of events.

taken for the succes

The patriarchal history begins with

the

ch. xii.

The

result of

the separation of languages was the origin of nations, and at

same time the

the

origin

of

heathenism.
also,

Idolatry

took

possession of

line of

Sheni
14.

Terahites, Josh.

xxiv.

2,

It

and especially of the was shown that neither

the remembrance of the primitive revelation which they took with them at the dispersion, nor the law written in their hearts,

372
was capable
ledge of God.

GENESIS

XI. 32.

of securing the continuance of the true

know

would prevent mankind from becoming it must separate one man, who has the and love of God, and make him and his preserved knowledge race the depositaries of the pure knowledge of God and of His
If grace

entirely a massa perdita,

This one was Abraham, the of redemptive revelation. Isa. li. 2, Mai. ii. 15, who is called to be the pia ayia of
"inN

Israel, the

mediator nation for mankind.

What was

needed

on the part of Abraham, if he was to receive into himself the fundamental new beginning, and to be serviceable to it,

was above

all

things faith, and he became in effect the

man

of world-conquering faith, as Isaac

was the man

of

quietly

enduring
Isaac

faith,

and Jacob the man

of wrestling faith.

He

stands typically at the head of the patriarchal triad, for in

Abraham s

loving endurance, and in Jacob

Abraham s

In Abraham faith shows hopeful wrestling, are but repeated. itself in the whole plenipotence of its individual elements,
hence Trar^p TTOLVTWV TWV Trio-revovTwv, the ancestor of Israel and the model of all believers.

and he

is

The

life

of

Abraham

is

comprised
xi.

under

the

title

nta

mn

rvnbin,

and reaches from

22

to xxv. 18.

When

Ewald,

not recognising the decadal plan of Genesis, asserts (Jahrb. iv. p. 40) that a title concerning Abraham corresponding to
the titles concerning Isaac, xxv. 19, and Jacob, xxxvii. 2,
is

missing after ch.

there
title
is

xi.,

and when Hupfeld

to
"

(Quellen, p. 18) thinks

no other answer

the question,

why

there

is

no

DrrQK nr6in nta, than that

explained,"

this deficiency

may

at all

events be

this rests

upon a misconception

of the

true sense of the formula.

The nrtan

of Terah intend to give

the history of Abraham, and they make us expect it, because the importance of Terah in the history of redemption consists
in his being the father of

given according to
in

God s

Abraham, and because the impulse, providence (xi. 31) by him, goes on

The history which commences from him is The experiences of Abraham form concentrated in Abraham. the essential and central contents of the Toledoth of Terah,
Abraham.

GENESIS XL

32.

373

which

close

as

genealogically at xxv.

1-10

as

they

begin

genealogically at xi.
It is of

27-32.

between

this

commencement and

close that the history

Abraham

advances in four periods, the

commencements

of

which form the most prominent events in the life of Abraham, and are very important occurrences in the history of redemp
tion.

The

first

period, chs. xii.-xiv., begins with the call of

Abraham and
of

second, chs. xv.-xvi.,

Abraham s

the for the land of promise with the promise of an heir and the sealing the third, chs. xvii.-xxi., faith by a covenant
his

departure

with the change of his name and the institution of the sign of the covenant; the fourth, chs. xxii.-xxv. 11, with the great
trial of

Abraham s
after

faith

to

him

he had proved

and the confirmation of the promises The grounds of this faithful.

;

division are furnished

by the facts of the history the first and fourth parts are also marked off, for the purpose of
attention to them,
1, xxii. 1.
is

calling

by externally similar commence

ments, xv.

The Toledoth frame

whole

by

Q
by

(A).
this

Chs. xvii. and xxii. are

writer,
xix.

and

larger

sections

29

is

an

example of a certainly recognisable fragment from this source. The redactor (fi) had Q and had JE before him, and these

two

last, as it

seems, already combined into a single whole.

of the history of

The main portion

sections
so.

Abraham, which

is

worked

into the Elohistic frame, is derived from

xii.

(C), at

least the

18,

9-20,

chs. xviii.

xix., ch. xxiv., certainly are

(Qudlen, p. 168), ch. xx. (Abraham in Gerar), together with xxi. 22 sqq. (the treaty with Abimelech), has been regarded as the first certainly recognisable portion
of the

Since Hupf.

second Elohist.

For the
witli

rest,

the analysis into J, E,

and

must be content
of

not going beyond bare pro

of the patriarchs in general

bability.

The history

Abraham and
who

gives an impression of being an account of actual persons with

distinct individuality

lived on in the national tradition,

and of personal experiences consistent with the circumstances

374
of the times,

GENESIS XL

32.

and never appearing by their

incredibility

and

want

of moderation to be a poetic recasting of perceptions and

thoughts into histories. According to Goldziher (Der Mythos bei den Hebraern, 1876), Abram is the starry heavens, and the
"

smiling one (pny)

or as
it

whom

the exalted father intended to slay,

day, or
its

is the smiling the precisely, smiling evening sky, which in struggle with the night sky comes off the loser and is

may

have originally run, actually slew,

more

defeated."

The

utterly

unfounded

expedient of

an actual

slaying, which alone makes this explanation by a nature-myth A pendant is possible, should be taken into consideration.

furnished

by

Grill s

(Die

Erzvater

der Menschheit,

1875)
"

explanation of the death of the other spies while Joshua and Caleb remained alive. In this history," he says, the
"

original

myth seems

to

ance of the stars at

have described the speedy disappear the break of day and the contempora
;

neous and certain rising of the cool morning breeze Caleb is one of the two dogs comprising the duality of the morning

and evening

breezes."

Grill

is

distinguished from Goldziher

by

his ascribing Sanscrit as their

mother tongue
in

to the primi

tive

Hebrew

people,

and

seeing

the

histories
also,

of

the

patriarchs, nay, even in those of the

Judges

transformed

Popper (Der Ur sprung des Monotlieismus, 1879) treads another path in an essentially similar spirit. Abram is to him Heaven, which was reverenced by the most
Sanscrit myths.
Jul.

ancient

Semites,

their

oldest

deity

like

Djaus-pitar,

the

heaven -father of the ancient Indians.

Mekka,

Dozy
Isa.

(Israeliten zu
li.

prove that

1864) moreover turns to account Abram was originally an object

sq.

to

of worship

and

indeed a stone fetish like the

Ka ba,

the black stone of Mecca,

and Sara consequently the cave in which it lay. Hitzig (Gescli. i. 41 sq.) thinks that because Abram sojourned in Egypt his name ought to be explained from the Koptic ape,
head, top, Latin apex, and the Kopt. romi,

man

he

is

the

man who was

for a

new development.

invented for the purpose of having a beginning All these are wild imaginations, on

GENESIS

XI. 32.

375

whose adornment much learning has been squandered, but which are utterly devoid of any exact
its

scientific proof.

It is indeed possible that the history of the

patriarchs in

present form may be in part the product of some legendary or even mythic formation. But before we can acknowledge

the possible as the actual,

we require proofs that legend has here as there independently given shape to originally historical material, or that myth has historically incorporated certain

ideas or abstractions.

Many names

of tribal ancestors in the

genealogies in Genesis being without doubt only ideal

real unities, it

and not

must be allowed

to be possible that

Abraham

should also be such an eponymous hero. In this sense it is that Stade asserts (Gesch. 127 sq.) that Abraham, Isaac,

Jacob and Joseph are tribal heroes, Jacob and Joseph also names of tribes and further, that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
;

were worshipped at renowned sanctuaries, among which that of Abraham was the least famous. Also, that the Israelites

from the Canaanites the heroic figure honoured and celebrated in these places, or localized a Hebrew one
either derived

there

but in either case a pre-Egyptian sojourn of Israelite

Jordan is out of question, and a sojourn of Israel in Egypt previous to their migration in the first place to the country east of Jordan cannot be admitted.
families in the land west of

To prove the share which the myth has in the history which has come down to us, he himself constructs a mythic history of most peculiar invention, built up upon the most daring denials.
For him the patriarchal preliminary stage of the Mosaic religion has no existence. The epoch-making act of Moses was the
introduction of the worship of Jahveh as a tribal god, and this he derived from the Arabian Kenites. fancy picture upon

such a tabula rasa

is

not history saved but history ruined.

How much

interesting, are the results at

more moderate, and therefore much more which Dillmann arrives, though
"

he starts from the

narratives
strictly

now

self-intelligible

premiss,"

that the

so

concerning the patriarchs belong not to history For and called, but to the region of legend.

376
this

GENESIS

XII. 1-9.

there

he places foremost among the tokens of the legendary is no single nation on earth to whom their true ancestor

can be historically assigned, and nations in general are not formed after the manner of a family, but grow together from
all

sorts

of materials (comp. also Popper, ibid. p. 110,

and

This must be conceded, but the nation appointed elsewhere). to be the vehicle and mediator of the revealed religion is, as
is
(e.g.

emphasized

throughout the Old Testament Scriptures Deut. xxxii. 6), no mere formation of nature, and the

unique is just what might be expected in the manner in which this nation originated, assuming indeed that a sphere
of grace above that of nature,

and therefore a sphere of the

that of natural law,
of the
is

supernatural government

of

God above

is Besides, acknowledged. migration already more than a mere fact of family history (see on xi. 31). And a shepherd-prince like Abraham, who can bring into the

the

Terahites

field

hundreds of bondmen regarded as incorporated into his family, is even on that account developing into a tribe.
It
is

in

this

manner

at least

that

many prominent
originated from

tribes

among the South-African Bantus have

chief,

some

and in conjunction with him. And the family of Jacob which settled in Egypt, which as a consanguineous kindred

numbered only seventy

merely from
of grace
itself alone,

souls,

grew there into a nation, not

all

but by the reception of

sorts

of

foreign materials.
is

Nature and grace co-operated.

is,

If the factor
ix.

deducted, Israel

according to

Amos
like

7,

Ezek.

xvi. 3, in its origin

and composition a nation

any

other.

THE CALL OF ABRAHAM, AND HIS ENTRANCE INTO THE LAND OF

PROMISE,
XII. 1-9.

This

first

portion

of the

first

section

of

Abraham s

life

which gave a new direction to his life when well-stricken in years, and began to make it a fundamental
relates the event

component in the history of redemption.

It is derived

from

GENESIS but completed in

ver. 1
:

XII.

1.

377
hears the voice of
Get thee out
into the

J,

4,

5,

from Q.
to

God,

And

Jahveh said

Abram Abram
:

from
land

thy country and thy home and thy father s house, We must not conceive of that I will show thee.
of

this speaking

God

to

Abraham
in

as external

he heard the voice of God

within him,

New

inmost depth of his soul, which the Testament calls Trvev/jia rov voos, and to which man
the
retire
if

must ever

he would hear the voice of God.

The

scene of this chiefly internal occurrence was, according to the

meaning of the Toledoth of Terah, as we now have them, Harran (4&, xi. 316) but the speech of Stephen (Acts vii. 2), and many expositors who are not influenced by it (e.y. Kirnchi), assume that the narrative reaches back to the time
;

when

the family of
to

Abram

still

dwelt in
(xv.

according

the

prevailing view

Ur Casdim, and Neh. ix. 7) the

On the other Divine intervention certainly dates thence. hand there is of late an inclination to entirely expunge nix
DHBO from the previous
favoured
enjoined
history of Israel.
1

This

is

apparently
is

by the
to

circumstance

that

Abram, who
ch.

here

leave

pK

and rr6l, in
as
is,

xxiv.
1"iN,

designates
ver. 4,

Mesopotamia (Harran) not only also as irni?1D ptf, ver. 7, which

3, 13,

Wl^lDI

but

according also to xxxi.

one and the same.

If the

really states himself, xxiv. 7,

words are pressed, Abraham to have been born in Harran

Reggio harmonizes the apparently discrepant statements by assuming that the family of Terah made only a temporary
sojourn in

Ur Casdim, but

that their proper dwelling-place,

D^iyo, Josh. xxiv. 2,

was Mesopotamia.
that
of a

Perhaps the follow

ing

is

a better expedient, viz.

while im^lD
birth, as

px

in

its

strict
xi.

sense

means the land

man s

undoubtedly,
like

28, im^iEl i!HN does a

man s

country and birthplace,

the country and

xxxii. 9, but that both

expressions then denote in a general

i.e.

way
1
"

the native land and home,

place,

Babylonia
migrated."

Ed. Meyer however says in the Deutschen Rundscliau, 1887, 4, p. 35 is esteemed by the Hebrews as the home from which their ancestors
:

378

GENESIS

XII.

2,

3.

where dwell the father and dependants of the speaker, and where he has himself taken root, though his cradle may not
have stood
there.

Harran was a second home

to

Abram by

reason of the settlement of his family there, though he was not himself born in the place. LXX. (Acts vii. 2) translate
^rnpifttt^ real

T?}?

avyyeveias &ov
6,

relationship, Esth.

viii.

may
6,

but though m^IlD, bloodmean, as at Esth. ii. 10, 20,

;

descent,

and Gen.

xlviii.

posterity,

it

yet has

bination with *]V)KD a local sense

(birth-place,

com The home).

in as yet left

land which Jahveh has in mind for

indefinite.

Abram

is

The pilgrimage which he is to enter upon is a work of faith, which, renouncing self and every creature, obeys the Divine impulse and direction. With this obedience is
combined the fulfilment
of great promises, ver. 2
:

And I will

make of thee a great nation and bless thee and make thy name The Divine address advances great, and be tJwu a blessing.
from simple futures through the cohortative to the imperative, as the strongest expression of the Divine purpose of grace
vehjeh berachah is a recapitulatory inference from the preceding

promises

he becomes a blessing in himself and to others, in that God blesses him and makes his name great, so that he
:

is

universally acknowledged and esteemed as blessed (Zech.

viii.

13

comp.

Isa. xix. 24).

The verse divider stands

himself

in

the right place.

Abram becomes
blessing
it is

a source of blessing, from

is

whom

the

blessing with

which he

filled

flows

onwards.
universal
others
is

The personal
purpose.
told, ver.

How
3
:

to

imparted to him has a go forth from Abram to

And I

will bless

them that

bless

thee,

and

curse

him

that despiseth thee,

themselves.

and in

thee shall all families

of the earth
13, propter

bless
it

The Targums
te

falsely translate

te ;

means in

cause, but

mediatorship.

=per Abram

te, not merely secondary becomes a mediator of

blessings for those in his neighbourhood, in that they, while

acknowledging him as blessed of God, are themselves blessed, and for those remote in time or place, in that the report of

Abram

blessing

impels them to desire to share

it.

??j?

GENESIS

XII.

3.

379
for the
iii.

was the more appropriate word blasphemous cursing of men, TIK (on which see rem. on
(prop,
vilipendere)
for the judicial infliction of a curse

14)

on the part of God.

And

how

it, that they who bless are spoken of in the who and curse only in the singular They who plural, they curse are only individuals who isolate themselves from that

significant is

humanity which
the patriarch
is

is

destined to inherit the blessing.

In 3&

the development of the mediatorship of blessing awarded to

continued.
is

The thought here expressed being

however, the Nipli.

understood, already intimated in ver. 2,

we cannot
meaning
:

agree with Kautzsch and Kohler, that the reflexive

they shall bless themselves in (with) thee, produces

a tautology.

The

series of these

promises which

is

Jahvistic

throughout is: xii. 3, xviii. 18, xxii. 18, xxvi. 4, xxviii. 14. In these parallels to our passage we have in the place of ^,

now

*I_Jf]!3,

now

^"j^i

and in the place of the thrice

repeated Niphal ^"!^1, the Hithpael tt^nrn twice, xxii. 18, The change shows that the Niphal is meant to be xxvi. 4.

taken in a reflexive sense, though Kimchi (and also Aben Ezra) thinks he must take the Hithpa. reflexively and the Niph. passively, but only because, as Efodi (1403) justly points out,

he misconceives the originally reflexive nature of the Nipli. an unambiguous passive Since the language possesses in
"Jpja

of

^2, e.g. Num. xxii. 6, Ps. xxxvii. 22, the Niph. occurring only in this promise will be the synonym of the Hitlipa. with
which
it

is

exchanged.

The evevko^drjaovrai

of the

LXX.

adopted in the New Testament (comp. Wisd. xliv. 21) does not decide the question. The Hithpa. has the meaning of an of the It means to wish operation subject upon itself.
oneself a blessing, Deut.
xxix.

19, with

3,

to

wish
:

oneself
Isa.

the

blessing which

proceeds

from

any

one

mrra,

which any one possesses, xlviii. 20, or which any one possesses and causes, Ps. Ixxii. 17 (compare the passages in an opposite sense, Ps. cii. 9 Isa. Ixv. 15 Jer. xxix. 22). We accordingly explain
Ixv. 16, Jer. iv. 2, or

both at once

viz.

the Niph. also

God

will bless those

whom Abraham

blesses,

380
and
it

GENESIS
shall

XII.

4,

5.

come

to pass that at last all the to

families of the

earth

shall wish
is

and seek

participate in the blessing of

is

which he

the vehicle, which

actually blessed

the same as to say that

they shall be
bless

in him.

For that God will

those

who

recognise

Abram

as blessed

and

rejoice in
voti
et

his blessing, immediately precedes,

desiderii

and the

lenedictio

and the

lenedictio rei et effectus are

always according

to the order of salvation involved

in each other.

The seed
to Isa.

of the patriarchs
xix. 24, Zech.

is

Israel (Ps. cv. 6),

which according
2, is

viii.

13, comp. Jer.

it

iv.

to

be a blessing

for the

whole earth, but

Ixxii.

reaches

its

climax in Messiah the

is

King, Ps.

17

Jesus the Christ

iii.

the aim of both the

iii.

seed of the patriarch, Gal.

16, and of the woman,

faith, ver.

15.

The

first

act of

Abram s

obedient

And Abram

commanded him, and Lot went with him, and Abram was seventy -five years old when he departed from Harran. Here is at once seen the true nature of Abram, which makes him the father of all believers. Jahveh has
went, as JaJiveh

commanded, he
His guidance.

replies

by the obedience of
directions,
is

faith,

he acts

blindly according to

God s

commending

himself to

His age

so

exactly stated, because of the

new

period in the history of salvation which dates from this

point.
ver. 5
:

more exact statement of those who went with him, And Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother s
all

son,

and

their property

which they had made their own

to

and
go

the souls they

had

gotten in Harran, and they departed

to the

to

the

land of Canaan, and came

of expression is quite like

land of Canaan.

The mode

xlvi. 6,

like xxxvi. 6

(comp. n^jj, xxxi. 1).

1

The

and especially living and personal

are distinguished from the dead and material possessions

K B3

by

the denominative sjbn (to acquire) is found in $B3 means the persons Testament the Old exclusively in Q.

and

&W,

of the slaves (comp. Lev. xxii.

1

11

Ezek. xxvii. 13)

V]i

the slave
i

Paul Haupt combines this word, Ass. rukusu, with

(X$3")),

n the

assumed original meaning riding animal, and in property consisting of such (Hebraka, 1887, p. 110).

GENESIS
in the Israelite view

XII.

6.

381
the Ulpianic servus vcl
is
D"JK,

is

more than

res,

animal aliud could not be said, for the slave too

xvi. 32.

Num.

while Terah,

Abram and who at

those
first

who

followed

him went

to

Canaan,

also intended to

accompany them,
ver. 6
:

remained behind in Harran.

Entrance into Canaan,

And Abram
as

far as the Terebinth of Moreh,

went through the land as far as the place of Sichem, and the Canaanite -was then

in the land.

Without knowing that Canaan was the land

it

intended by Jahveh, he passed through

the subsequent Sichem (xxxiv.
therefore not like the Arab,
2)
(C3K>

to

the quarter of
iii.

Dipp, like Ex.

8, J,

makdm, holy
ix.

place),

on which

account Eupolemus
IITTO

says (in Eus.

17), %evio-07JvaL avrov

as far as to the tere

TToXeco? lepov

Apyapifyv, and indeed

binth, or according to Deut. xi. 30, the terebinths, of

Moreh,

where he

rested.

The LXX. has

for ^N, xiv. 6, n^K, xxxv. 4,

,

and

i^N,

Josh. xxiv.

26, repefiwOo?

and

for

pta (without

difference of vocalization), Spvs, oak (like Syr. Saad.), for

which

may

be cited that Josh. xix. 33, Judg.

iv.

11, interchange l^K

and P^, but against

the same tree
as,

it, that |vK, Judg. ix. 6, certainly denotes Now xxxv. 4, n?K, and Josh. xxiv. 26, r&K.

the meaning oak being secured to terebinth to n?N by Isa. the

^

Ji?K

by

IjJfr

TOK, and also

vi. 13, we range |vK and meaning K with nta as three names of the terebinth, and n?N with

$>*?

as

two names

of the oak

hence the vocalization in one of

ix.

each of the two passages, Josh. xxiv. 26, Judg.

Josh.
xix.

6,

and
the
of

33, Judg.
itself

iv.

11,

is

inaccurate.

Perhaps
tin,

appellation
basalt

vacillated

(like

that

of

lead and

evergreen oak species of Asia and North Africa and the terebinths resemble each other in

and

iron), for the native

the greyish green of their foliage and in their furrowed dark

grey barks, and the appellations r6x, pta V bx, JT (comp. both trees in respect of their strong trunks and J^.) suit

hard wood.

In Aramaic

IJ^K

has become the word for a tree

in general, as Spvs also is

TTCLV

said to have originally designated

v\ov
in

Kal the

SevSpov,

and has

returned

to

this

general

meaning

Gothic,

Anglo

Saxon, Old Northern and

382
English
(tree)?

GENESIS

XII.

7,

8.

The remark,

6&,

means

to

say,

that the

country, and indeed the inland part, was not without owners Hence Abram was wandering about in it and inhabitants.
as a stranger,

and could not as yet

call a foot s-breadth of it

his own.

The

points
it

to

a subsequent alteration of this

to pass in the

state of things.

That

had come

time of the
result

narrator does not, though

probable, necessarily

from

the TN

this probability

the fact that all

is

however becomes a certainty through the three sources from which the Pentateuch

compiled belong to the period after the taking possession The land was in the possession of the Canaanites, but Abram was in spirit to see in it his inheritance, ver. 7
of the land.
:

And Jahveh appeared to Abram, and said: To thy seed will I give this land ; and there he built an altar to Jahveh, who
appeared unto him.
This
is,

apart

from

iii.

8,

the

first first

Theophany
time
is

related in

Holy

Scripture.

Here

for

the

the revelation of
visible.

Himself

God accompanied by His rendering This word of God at the terebinth of

s legal

Moreh

is

the

first

foundation of Israel
forth

right to Canaan.

From

that time

Abram knew

that

Canaan was the

Promised Land, and he erected upon the soil, hallowed by the appearing and promise of God, an altar as a memorial con
secrated to

him

(see the art.

"

Altar

"

in

Biehm s HW.\
;

He

could not however remain at this place of revelation

the great

household and quantity of cattle for which the nomadic chief

had

to provide required change of settlement, ver. 8

And
and
built

he went forth

from
to

thence to the

mountain

east of Bethel

pitched his tent, Bethel on the west

there

and Ai on

the east,

and

an

altar

Jahveh and preached

The expression
with
JJB?1

PV?1, he

made

the name of Jahveh. a start, started again, occurs

r6nK for i^nx is the only here and xxvi. 22. older manner of writing the suffix contracted from ahu.
1

much

He

In the Targums (Samar. Jer.)

jl^tf

(^N,

xiv.

6) is, like
"

^jD

in

names of

places, translated

by

"i^JO

(plain); see Dillmann,

On Baal with

the feminine

article (n BaX)," p. 19 of the separate impression of this Academical Discourse taken from, the collection of the Discourses of the Royal Prussian Academy of

Sciences.

GENESIS

XII. 9-20.

383

pitched so that Bethel (the subsequently so-called ?$W3 every where, according to the Masorah, as e.g. in the ancient French

Codex in the Leipsic town library, to be written as one word) lay on the west and Ai on the east, for Bethel and Ai are
neighbouring places, Ezra
f

ii.

28

the former, the present Betin,

lay east of

Ai, the latter therefore in the neighbourhood of

the present

large

village

of

Der Diwdn (Badeker,

p.

216).

Having hallowed this resting-place also by the erection of an

altar,

and by here in the silence of the mountain solemnly calling upon and proclaiming the name of Jahveh, i.e. (see on
26) performing Divine worship, he continued his wander

iv.

ings, ver. 9

towards the

And Abram departed, going farther and farther south. He continued to go southward, viz. to the
:
3>

south of Canaan lying towards Arabia Petrsea (see xx. 1). "The (dryness, drought) for employment of the word
south
is,

like that of DJ for west, a purely Palestinian usage

;

of language" (Dillin.

comp. Vatke, Einl. 387).

SARAI S PRESERVATION IN EGYPT,

XII. 10-20.

The
to

call of Abraham is now followed by a matter redounding God s honour but to Abram s dishonour. Genesis contains

three narratives of the kind.

Sarai

was twice

(chs. xii., xx.)

and Eebecca once

compromised by the patriarchs, conscious of the attraction which the charms of their wives
(ch. xxvi.)

would exercise upon the heathen sovereigns, letting them pass for their sisters. God however interposed, and did not suffer
the degradation, by which these
their

women would have

in
xii.

forfeited

destination to

become the ancestresses of the chosen

race, to take place.

The narrator

and xxvi.

is J,

thus convinced that an occurrence similar to that with

who is Abram

and Sarai took place in the case of Isaac and Eebecca. On the other hand, the style of statement in ch. xx. is unmistakeably
that of the older Elohist

(E\ and the supposition

is

suggested that the two preservations of Sarai are two different

384

GENESIS

XII. 10-13.

forms of tradition of one and the same occurrence.

ch. xii. Sarai is
still

Here

in

an age at which her abduction would be indeed strange but not inconceivable but in ch. xx. she had reached, according to the connection in which the story
of
;

stands, her

90th

year,

and exceeded the period

of

suscepti

bility for sexual affection.

Hence

ch. xx.

may

originally

have

occupied a different position in the life of Abram. On the contrary, it cannot be inferred, at least with certainty, that
ch. xii. originally stood after

the departure of Lot related in

ch.

xiii.,

from the

fact that the latter is not

mentioned,

xii.
xii.

10
8

sq.,

as the
xiii.

companion
is

of

Abram, and that in both

and
xiii.

3 the scene
it

the district of Bethel, for not before ch.

D"j:i&rnK
!ji?il.

was

necessary to say that he was

It is

enough

for us to

know, that the three

stories are three traditions fur

for

nished by ancient sources, that the redactor deserves our thanks not suppressing one in favour of another, and that all
the disturbance of

three display the Divine grace and faithfulness, which renders

its

plan of salvation by

human weakness
accomplishment.

and

sin harmless, nay,

faith
is

even serviceable to

its

The
of

God

which Abram evinced by obeying the injunction God seems to take away quickly put to the test.

again what
in the land,

He had just

given, ver.

10
to

And

there
to

was a famine
sojourn there,
(2JH, so called

and Abram went down

for the famine was sore in the land.

Egypt famine

from extent and emptiness, the opposite of the plenus venter related with am), the first occurring in the patriarchal history,
xxvi. 1, constrains
to

him and

to

him immediately down to Egypt for go

to leave the

land promised

fear of starvation (T]J, the

standing word for the journey from the hilly district of Canaan
to Egypt, the land of the Nile valley, as n?y is of the

journey

back

to Canaan), to tarry there for a time

(113,

to sojourn as a

under protection of government). Previous And it came to pass, when he with Sarai, vv. 1113 agreement he said to Sarai his wife : Behold now, was near to enter Egypt,
guest, or a resident
:

I know
come
to

that thou art

a woman fair
Egyptians

to look

upon

and
:

it

shall

pass when

the

see ihee,

and

shall think

this is

GENESIS
his wife, they will kill

XII.

1113.

385
Say,

me and
that

leave

tliee alive.

that tliou art

sake,

my

sister,

it

may

be

well with

tion

and that my sold may live because of thce. NU7 I npn must be judged of according to Ges.

I pray tkce, me for thy The combina

142.
2.

Abram, about to enter Egypt, settles with Sarai, as had been,

according to xx. 13, agreed upon between

them

before their

Canaan, that she, who was his half-sister (see ou xi. 29), should say she was his sister (or. obliqua without Ges. 155. 4c), lest he should be killed for the sake of the
departure for

more
upon.

easily seizing

upon

her, his wife,

who was

fair to

look

The

style of
<vJ2

Deuteronomic

J is here recognisable by the Jahvisticoand the exclusively Jahvistic N3~n3n, 111,

with which the premiss of the request urged by a twofold S3 The pcrf. conscc. njrn is the first stroke of the opens, ver. 13.
apodosis,
1

Sam.

which begins with i^ni, 23 xvi. Amos vii. 2.

;

]ik e

xxx. 41, xxxviii.

as

xvii.

17, comp.

xii.

lived to be 127,

xiii.

appears from 4, was then 65 years old; but as she 1, she was still in middle life, and not
Sarai,

having been weakened by child-bearing, her beauty had not moreover the Egyptian women, although yet faded away the monumental paintings give them a paler red than the
;

Shemitess.

men, were by no means of so fair a complexion as the Asiatic The moral corruption which Abram, ver. 12,
is

assumes in Egypt
that she wife s
is

also

acknowledged elsewhere.
is

He
s

hopes
saying

not only for safety, but for prosperity, from Sarai

his sister.

Hence he

inclined to sacrifice his

to

conjugal honour and

fidelity

his

self-preservation

and maintenance,
obliged to do
calls
so.

at all events

On

he prepares himself for beingthis account Faustus the Manichrean

him famosissimus nundinator.

:

Augustine

(c.

Faustum,
;

xxii. 3) replies

Indicavit sororcm, non neyavit uxorem

dixit

tacuit

aliquid
for

vcri,

non

him that he

is able,

aliquid falsi. not untruly, to

But

it

is

no excuse
ninj
;

call Sarai his

he

acts shrewdly, but through

weakness of faith immorally.

We

now

further learn that the Egyptians were really captivated

s

by Sarai

beauty,

for

she

went unveiled,

as

did also the

386

GENESIS

XII.

16.

Egyptian women down to the time of the Persian dominion, and that she was taken to Pharaoh s harem, vv. 14, 15 And
:

it

came

to

pass when

Abram was

come into Egypt, that the

fair.
to

Egyptians saw the woman that she was very princes of Pharaoh saw her and praised her
the

And

the

woman was

taken into Pharaoh s house.

Pharaoh, and Such pandering

;

on the part of courtiers is old and universal Ebers relates The royal name tin example from the Papyrus d Orbeney. njns is, since de Eouge, explained as the great house =pher-do
(pcr-tio)
;

and according to Horapollo,

avrov,
,

i.

62, 6

^>t9

tcai oZ/co?

is

actually the

hieroglyph of the

But Josephus and Eusebius are not wrong when they say that the name means o ffacri Xevs. Ouro really means the king, then the kingwhich has been confirmed.
serpent
51

(o /SacrtXiWo?),

the inseparable royal attribute

of

and in

more recent period

the language the Pharaonic

name

seems (comp. Schwartze, Koptische Gramm. p. 240) to have been understood exactly as the name of the king pi-ouro
(ph-ouro),

according
JHja

to

which
v.

it

is

also

Hebraized

with

reference to

(Judg.

duke, or he
calls

who

stands at the

head of the people).

<>apaa)07]$,

Josephus

the Pharaoh of

Abram

Artapanos in Euseb. Prcep. ix. 18, (frapeOcovys. That which Abram aimed at now takes place, ver. 16 And he
:

treated

Abram

well for her sake,

slaves

and

he

had

sheep

and oxen

and

and female slaves, and she-asses and Pdch presents are made him, which he receives camels. without objection, thereby increasing his fault. The male and
asses,

and male

female

slaves

do not stand in the place suitable to them.

Horses are not mentioned, nor do they appear on monuments till the time of the The camel however (ancient Hyksos.

Egyp. Immdar, kamaal, Coptic camoul, camaul), is nowhere represented upon Egyptian monuments, nor even mentioned in
ancient records (see JBg. Zeitschr.

1864,
is

p. 21), so
1

that the

mention of camels in this passage

1

surprising.

Sheep on

and camels in Egypt and on the monuments, see Brugsch, Wande.rungnachdenNatronkldstern, 1855, p. 43 sq. Dietirj. Graberwelt, 1868,
horses
;

On

GENESIS
the contrary are

XII.

1720.

387
of

already

found on the monuments

still

the

twelfth dynasty, and

asses were

earlier

bred in herds.

The

asses of

strongest.

Egypt were proverbially the largest, finest and It was a rich and costly present that was thus

Jahveh now bestowed upon the brother of the fair Asiatic. the woman thus and saves compromised, who was interposes destined to become the mother of the son of promise,
vv.

17-19

And

Jahveh plagued Pharaoh and his house with

(/real plagues because of Sarai,

Alram s

wife.

And Pharaoh
me?

called

Al ram and
thou not

said:
vie

What
that
sister ?

hast thou done unto

?

Why
saiclst

didst

tell

she icas thy wife

Why
me
to

thou

to

me

She

is

my
it

and I
her

took her to

wife
J?3i

now

then behold

thy

loife, is

take

and

go.

The verb

appears here, where

construed according to the schema

etymologicum, as denominative, but according to 2

such

is

not the case.

Antiquity was

religious,
his,

Kings xv. 5 hence Pharaoh

sees in the scourges inflicted

of the last increase of his

on him and

the consequences

female court.

He may

have ques

tioned Sarai
deceive

herself,

him

as to the fact of her being

and she have been no longer able to Abram/s wife. He

gives her back to

to a distance, ver.

him with reproaches, and has him conveyed 20 And Pharaoh charged men concerning
:

him, and
him.

tltcy escorted

him and

his wife
is

and

all that belonged to

No
;

insulting

transport

here
to

intended

by

rife,

appease the wrath of irpoTrefATrew at the same to send time but the cause of it God, certainly out of his sight. Abram might have excused himself, but is

Pharaoh desired indeed

and thereby himself. The story

silent,

with
itself

shame

and

penitence

condemns

thus carries into effect the strictest

Prophecy shows no anxiety in acknowledging such transgressions on the part of the patriarchs, Isa. xliii. 27, The fact however is related to us, not so much for xlviii. 8.
moral verdict.

Abram

dishonour as for God

glory,

who, as he called the

p. 14, and Ebevs art. "yKgypten" in Richm s JIW., according to \vhicli the camel was liardly introduced into Egypt before the close of the third century

before Christ.
of

Pietschmann, in opposition to Wiedemann, accuses the author

ix. 3

Oen.

xii.

16 and Ex.

of ignorance.

388

GENESIS

XIII. 1-4.

ancestor of Israel out of heathenism, so also protected the

ancestress of
Israel in the

hands of the heathen from the

desecration of that body, from

to

which the sacred nation was

proceed (Ps.

side

by

side

Thus this second portion stands cv. 13-15). with the first the same grace which there
;

prevents

Abraham here

protects Sarai.

ABRAM
Ch.
xiii.,

SEPARATION FROM LOT, GIL xm.

portion
of

the

third

the

first

section,

relates

Abram s
the

self-denying, peaceable behaviour towards Lot, and

definite

more

future possession of the land.

and repeated promise made him of the The narrator is J, he is to

the
reference
to

be

recognised by

the

Paradisaic

history,

by the promise of descendants as innumerable as the dust of the earth, vv. 14-17, comp. xxviii. 14, and by the notification of a solemn act of worship at the resting-place of
10&,

the journey, 45.

We
s

the history of Sarai

of

could not agree to the inference that preservation originally stood after that

the separation of Abraham and Lot, and hence the close connection of ch. xiii. with xii. 10 sqq. also speaks for its

belonging to

J.

The mention
xiii.

of Lot,

which there would have

on, necessary.

been useless, was here,

that vv. 6,

and farther

But

lib, 12 are passages inserted from Q may be

is

regarded as proved since Hupfeld (Quellen, pp. 21-24); this placed beyond doubt by comparing xxxvi. 7 and xix. 9.

These two verses and a half might be removed without damage

to the connection.

WD^
x. 2,

"ife

also is in the style of Q,

this expression,

comp.

Ex. xvii. 1;

Num.

12;

so very appro

priate after ver. 2,

of J.

may have been

his wife

inserted from
:

Abram
to

leaves Egypt, vv.

lie

1-4

Q in the text And Airam went up

that

out of Egypt,

and

and

all

was

his,

and Lot
the south

with him,
cattle, silver

the

south land.

And Abram
tent

ivas very rich in

and

gold.

And

he went in journeys

from

land even

to Bethel, to the

place where his

had

stood at the
altar,

beginning between Bethel and

i.

To

the place of the

GENESIS

XIII. 1-7.

0y

which he

preached there the name of Jahvch. Accompanied as formerly by Lot (xii. 5), he goes up again from the Nile valley to the neighbouring south of Canaan, much encumbered, rich in cattle (the article
built there at first.
is

And Abram

109, note 1), silver comprehensive of the species, Ges. and gold (pccus and pecunia, though not yet coined), and from
the

Negeb he went on
i.e.

"

VjHMDp,

according to

(in) his settings

by was able and saw

out,"

stations (halting-places in military diction), as he

fit

a line of connection

i drawing from the point of departure to that at which he aimed), and indeed as far as the district between Bethel and Ai, where he had built an altar (the second),
("W

as far as Bethel

with the

.xii.

4, at

his first sojourn.

Here in the mountain

to

solitude,

which had

become

clear

him,

he

again

performed

as

The relative formerly a solemn act of family worship. sentence is not continued with but the- repetition of
N"J?*->

the subject calls attention to the beginning of a

the series,
iv.

new

sentence

26,
s

xii.

8, is

here continued.

The reason and

Lot
also,
tents.

occasion of Lot
travelling

separation, vv.

5-7:

And

who was

ith

Abraham, had

sheep

and oxen and

And

the

land could not bear them that they should dwell

together, for

their

property was become great, and they could not dwell together.
there

And
the

was

strife between the herdmcn of

s

Abram s

cattle

and

herd-men of Lot

cattle.

And
In D

the
bnfc

Canaanite and
(for

the Pherizzite

dwelt then in the land.

D^ng, according to Ges.

93.

6.

3) are included also the people dwelling in the tents

(Arab. J^).
for

The land did not

cattle,

afford sufficient

nourishment

so

much

people.
Isa.
ix.

nor space for the free movement of the N^J, ver. 6, is masculine in form before P.??, like Ver. 6 is 18, Ixvi. 8; Zech. xiv. 10; Ps. cv. 30.
ii.

recurrently constructed like

sion
is

2, vi. 9,

xxxv. 12

the expres

like xxxvi. 7.

Hence there
;

arose a strife between the

herdmen

they not only straitened each other, but were also straitened by the Canaanite and Perizzite a remark needed for illustrating the then possessing the land
of
for

Abram and Lot

390
state of affairs.

GENESIS

XIII. 8-12.

*W.fin sufficed for the

xii. 6,

mention of the popula

!?

tion of the country at

(see

here as well as at xxxiv. 30 T)?

on

x.

16

sq.)

is

added.
to

vv. 8, 9:

And Airam
thee,

said

Abram s proposals Lot: Ipray thee let there

for
be

peace,
strife

no

between

me and

and

between

my herdmen and
:

thy herdmen,
?

for we are brother men.

Separate thyself,
to the

Is not the whole land open to thee

I pray
if

right

and

thee, from me if to the left, I will turn The to the rigid, I will turn to the left.
is

combination E^ns D twx

appositional,

like

Num.

xxii.

14.
of

Not only a brother, but a brother s brothers) and any near relative is
Since then
to
strife

son, a cousin (a child

called

ntf.

Abram and

Lot were really as the son and grandson of Terah in brotherly

relationship.

between them was unbecoming,

rule,

Abram, according divide ut maneat amicitia (Ambrose), proposes

:i

the unpleasant but well -proved

to
his

nephew

peaceful solution of the inconvenient circumstances (yVP,

like Ex. x. 28),

and

in

an unselfish and peaceable

spirit offers

him that
elder,
*p3B?,"

priority of choice

which was
"

clue

to

himself, the

the uncle, and the leader.

Is

not the whole land

xx.

means:
xiv.

is

it

not at thy disposal,

viii.

15,

xlvii.

0;
ace.
Isa.

2 Chron.

6; Cant.
x.

12.
15.
.
. .

fobfcn

and

iW

are
like

of direction, like

11,
.
-

xii.

p?
j

i?

and ^NOtrn,

xxx. 21, elsewhere T XO^n, TD&71

.

are j iust such local deno-

initiatives as the originally equivalent in

,-s.^-s.

meaning

^?\

to go

to

Jem en

*lil, to go to Syria.

Lot immediately agrees to the separation and chooses for himself the best part of the country, but does so to his And Lot lifted up great and almost utter ruin, vv. 10-12
:

his eyes

and

beheld the whole circuit of the Jordan, that

it

was

well watered land throughout, before

Gomorrah, resembling
as

the

Jahvch destroyed Sodom and garden of Jahveh, the land of Egypt,

far

as to Zoar.

And

Lot chose for himself the whole circuit

eastwards,

of the Jordan,
one

and Lot departed

and

they separated

from

the other.

Abram

occupied the land of

Canaan, and

GENESIS
Lot occupied the
tent
cities

XIII. 10-13.

391

of the district of Jordan and pitched hi*

n ??

toward Sodom.
iii.

Matt.
"13311

5,

77

(12&, like

Kings vii. 46, LXX. Trepl^wpo^ rov lopSdvov), or more frequently xix. 29), was borne by the territory lying on

The name ft^n

(1

both sides of the Jordan, the valley several leagues broad of Kinnereth or of the lake of Gennesaret down to the valley then

known

as the valley of Siddim, in

which

is set

the bed of the

and which as n ?"J^ Jordan (now jjd\, depression, lowland,

comprises
valley,
its

continuation as far as the ^Elanitic Gulf).

its

This

which with

bare

plains, its

heights like sand-hills,

and the rankly luxuriant shrubs which hide the Jordan, now gives a melancholy and sombre impression, was then, at least
so far as its southern part reaching

down
of

to

Zoar

(""9^3,

versus,

like

x.

19)

is

concerned, by reason
existing abundance

its

almost tropical
as

climate and

still

of

water,

pleasant

and
li.

fertile,

n ]^ }

LXX.
vN

&><?

6 TrapdSeLcros TOV

Seov.

In

Isa.

3, the garden of Jahveh, once situate

sq.,
D>!

in Eden,

and in

Ezek. xxxi.

|3,

is,

as

is.

evident from xxviii. 13, the

garden of
world.

of the primaeval derived is followed by one thence The ideal comparison more perceptible derived from the present, just as the reverse

God

in Eden,

and hence the Paradise

order

is

observed Ezek. xiv. 14, where a hero of the past and

one of the present

The is followed by a legendary one. accentuation nicely inclines the definition of time towards both comparisons, it hovers in the midst and shows itself
to

to

The expression is .similar be a more recent explanation. xix. 29ft). The statement of direction, rDtfa, fixes
"1J&

the southern boundary of the famous district.

reads
p.

The Syriac

(Tanis),

and Trmnbull (Quarterly Statement, 1880,

251) conjectures that -ij;s is the name of the eastern In vv. 11, 12 border-land of Lower Egypt but comp. x. 19. ny (comp. xix. 29) is from Q. The text from vn3i to
;
">23n

in
xi.

J
2),

only

furnished

Lot

departed

eastwards

(^p,

like

and pitched

his tent
to prepare
is

(now
follow,

here,

now

there) as far as

Sodom.
tion of

And now

for the
it

history of the destruc

is

Sodom which

to

remarked,

ver.

13:

392

GENESIS
the inhabitants of

XIII. 13-18.

And

Sodom were

wicked,
i.e.

and
His

sinners against
eyes, but
?,

Jahveh

exceedingly.
;

Not
li.

to Jahveh,

in

like

xx. 6, xxxix. 9
radical sins of

Ps.

6.

Ezekiel enumerates, xvi. 49, four

is

rence, ch.

Sodom, and among them xix., shows that sins of the

ch. xiv.)

flesh

luxury the occur were especially

;

current
fertility

among them,
(shown by

the heat of the climate, the luxuriant

the country all

favouring moral

and the numerous population of While Lot degeneration.

exposes himself to the danger of dwelling in such cities, the inland country of Canaan proper between Jordan and the

Mediterranean

is left

to

Abram without

his interference.

Lot

now

forms of his

own

choice a lateral branch separated from

the race of the promise.

Abram

is

alone,

and

it is

to him, the

renewed, vv. 14-18:

separation

This is now one (Ezek. xxxiii. 24), that the promise applies. And Jahveh said to Abram, after Lot s

from him:
For
to

place wliere thou art

up now thine eyes and look from the northward and southward and eastward
Lift
the whole

and westward.

land which tlwu

seest, to thee

will

give

it

and

thy seed for ever.

And
man

like the dust

of the earth, so that if a

1 will make thy seed can number the dust

Up, go through
it thee.

of the

earth, thy seed also

may
it

be
is,

numbered.

the land, long

and broad
n
"IE^I

as
or

for

will give

We
:

expect
places

D~QK"ta

n IDS D^3N tal, the existing order

the

determining

subjects

opposite

each other

Lot
Ps.

chooses for himself, Jahveh

xlvii. 5).
its

chooses for

Abram

(comp.

By Divine dispensation he has won Canaan anew, this is the possession is now anew confirmed to him
among
1, 7,

third
(xii.

the eight revelations of

God

in the life of

Abram

xiii.

14, xv. 1, xvii. 1, xviii. 1, xxi.

22,

xxii. 2),

and one
of

of the four revelations in

God.

To him and

to

his

word without an appearance posterity, which as yet has

neither present nor prospective existence, will

God

give for an

everlasting possession this land lying round about the heights

of Bethel in
its

eastwards
Judg.

?1P..,

whole extent, northwards and southwards, always with Tsere, as only besides H^l^
n^!i?, ver.

iv. 9,

with

10, like finnan, xix. 6) and west-

(IKNESIS XIII.

111.

393
his seed like the dust

wards

(like xxviii. 14).

He
14
;

will

make

of the earth (like xxviii.

passages,

Num.
like

xxiii.

comp. with these two Jalivistic 10, the thing promised as it were in
be counted (ut
si

miniature) as
cct. t
"IPS,

little to

quis pulvcrem tcrrco

xi. 7, xxii. 14, xxiv. 3,

not: quern pulverem, in

which case
to

irtoi?

would follow without

at his

pxn

naynx).

He

is

walk through the land

will, joyful

through

faith,

in the consciousness of the claim

awarded him.

The promise
of

already sounds

fuller,

more developed, and more capable

first

appropriation than in the

ver.

portion.
tent,

A brain s
and

settlement,

19

And Abram

moved his

and came and dwelt

built

under the

Mamre -Terebinths

in Hebron,

there

an

In conformity with the invitation, he pitched his tent here and there in the land, ever drawing nearer to his provisional goal (as Nhjl seems to state), until he settled more permanently in the grove of Terebinths
altar in honour of Jahveh.
ver. 17,

at

comp. xiv. 24), in the district of the ancient Hebron (Num. xiii. 22), where he built an altar
(xiv. 13,
xviii. 1,

Mamre

to the Lord, the third since

his

entrance into Canaan

(xii.

7, 8), and proclaimed and called upon the name of the God who had anew acknowledged him. Altar and sacrifice nowhere

appear in combination except at

history, the period ante Icgein.

xxii.

9 in the

patriarchal

This consecrated place became the firm point whence the promise of the possession of the Here did the patriarchal family dwell land was realized.
longest and most willingly, and here did they bury their dead.

For the cave of Machpelah, of which we shall hear ch. xxiii., ? (for which Q, xxiii. 17, xxxv. 27 lay opposite the
"J^K

and elsewhere has simply fcOEp), and both belonged to Hebron itself, which in ancient times extended farther than now, and
was indeed no
least to the
to
hill-city properly

so called, but stretched at

Eumeidi-mount.

Tradition has transposed

Mamre

the height of

Edmet el-Chalil

There stood an ancient

terebinth,

which was, under Constantine, enclosed within the

walls of a splendid Basilica.

The

ruins of this Basilica are to

be distinguished from the foundation walls of a more ancient

394

GENESIS XIV.

heathen temple visible on the north-west, for these enormous indestructible walls and masses of hewn stone are devoid of

any token of ecclesiastical architecture and nearest Surroundings of Hebron/

of Abraham."
of

"

(see Eosen,

The Vale
sqq.).

DMZ.
lies

xii.
"

477

Tradition designates the ruins of the Basilica as

the house

But Karnet el-Chalil

which
is

some miles north

Hebron

itself,

concerning the situation of

Mamre and

incompatible with the statements the cave of Machpelah.

ABKAM AS A HERO

IN

THE SERVICE OF PHILANTHROPY AND HIS

XIV.

MEETING WITH MELCHIZEDEK, CH.

The peaceful history of ch. xiii., which made us acquainted with the pacific disposition of Abram, is now followed by the This history of a war, the first met with in Holy Scripture.
first

war

is

war

of conquest,
;

waged

for the subjugation of

-

foreign nations

and States

the world

empire,

which sub
is

sequently made

Israel also the

aim

of its conquering power,

here already in course of development.

So

far as

we have

already become acquainted with Abram, he has shown himself

obedient, thankful, unselfish, submitting to Divine guidance,
and,

when he has

offended by acting independently, penitently

returning to his former attitude.

virtue of

We

here see his

self,

faith, in

which he obtains the victory over

gathering itself

up

in

God and breaking

The leader
aiding
all
;

forth in an act of love that overcomes

of flocks appears as a leader of

the world.
appears,

war

kings against kings, in a greatness the three dignities, the prophetic, and which are separated in the times of the priestly royal,
surpassing them
for

while

law, are

still

united in the patriarchs.

It is

by means

of
is

the progress of

Abram

biography that one typical image

connected with another, for ch. xiv. presupposes the separation of Lot from Abram, stands in a connection of sequence with it, and is thus not merely its ethical counterpart, but also its
historical continuation.

GENESIS XIV.
This
fourteenth
historical

395
abundance of
else

chapter,

with

its

un

known

and geographical
it

detail, is as

unique in the

connection in which
of Abimelech)
is

is

found, as Judg. ix. (on the

history of
related

in the

the Judges.
here,
this to

kingdom But even

ch.

apart

from

particulars

only

xiv.

furnishes

a completion

of

special

kind

the

picture

afforded of

the patriarch by

what

else is

related of
is

him.

This leads to

and

we

can

some special source for what understand how Knobel at

the conjecture, that the

here related,
fourteenth
"SD

this

chapter hit

upon

n niftrte

(the

war-book as he briefly calls it) of Num. xxi. 14 was the document from which the narrator derived this history. He
esteems the Jahvist to be the narrator, and we regard this as more correct than to say that it is the older Elohist, who
reproduces
latter

this

history

from an ancient source.

For

this

by Dillmann, proceeds from the arbitrary assumption, that the meeting with Melchizedek, vv. 17-20, is a more recent addition worked into the history.
opinion, advocated
it bears the stamp of equal antiquity, forms the climax and focus of the whole, and contains nothing that tells against its being an essential element of it. When Dillmann infers

For

from the glorification of Salem, i.e. Jerusalem, as the scene of the interview between Abrain and the venerable priest,
that the narrator

must have been a Judcean,

it

may
if

be replied,

that according to his view

is

(>/)

as distinguished

from
vv.

(E)

Juchean book of history. But are not to be lopped off, then the Divine name
to be a

shown
22

17-20

nirp,

which in

ver.

is

in relation to

19

sq. too characteristic to pass for

an insertion, excludes B. 1
also

In favour of

Cs

authorship

is

the close connection of this history with the preceding,

especially

with the Jahvistic fundamental component,

It
is

xiii.

12
1

sq.

also

C who

calls

Abram s

dwelling-place in

Sufficient proofs of

indeed lacking (Kuenen, Einl. 8, note 8). not a commencement, but a continuation, it
ch. xx. is to be
e.ff.

any kind of extract from E (B} previous to ch. xx. are Uut ch. xx. showing itself to be,
is

a priori probable that previous to

perhaps entered in /, like

found matter derived from

E and

xv.

2.

396
Heliron K-IBD
xiii.

GENESIS XIV.

^bx

(not simply K-IDB, like

like the

18,

xviii. 1,
s

and who

13, comp. Deuteronomist knows of

to

Q), xiv.

nDIK and D nv as towns belonging

2, 8, x.

the Pentapolis, xiv.

8.

may

comp. 19; Dent. xxix. 22, comp. Hos. xi. also be recognised by I^Vn as a surname of

He

Abram

(comp. xxxix.

naming the
xxxiv.
lead to
1).

Deut. xv. 12 and elsewhere), and by his border town pj without addition (like Deut.
;

17

Nor does

1^3,

xiv.

24, comp.
B"0"[

xli.

16,

safely

B;

see the Introd. to ch. xli.

too,

which

(Q),

works of the most recent period of the language, is certainly fond of using, is no specific token of a source, but is found also in the promise, xv. 14, recorded by C or
like all the
2>,

but by no means by A, expressing as

able
property,

it

does a notion (moveD^tptaft)

is

substance,

post-biblical
;

for

which
ca~i

biblical

language has no other word

exclusively

it

only the verb

that
8,

is

s.

The explanations
r

of names, vv. 2, 7,

17,

show that the

original passage has been gone through

by a more recent hand, w ho may here and there have also adjusted the language to what was subsequently common usage.

Among

critics of the old school, ch. xiv.

won

so

much

respect

from Ewald, that he was inclined to regard it as a fragment of an ancient Canaanite historical work. Tuch s classical
article also

on this history in DMZ.i. 161 sqq., the conviction, that we have here a historical
speaks for
itself
;

is

pervaded by

memoir which

he, like

Ewald, regards Salem as the Salumias

of the

Jordan valley lying beyond Scythopolis. Hupfeld, without entering into any criticism on what is related, con siders ch. xiv. as an indivisible whole taken from the Jahvistic
work.

when he
xviii.

Hitzig however goes to the extreme of depreciation sees in the expedition of Chedorlaomer, which

takes place in a fourteenth year, an adumbration of 2 Kings

13, thrown back into past times, and explains ch. xiv. in

general as a more recent legend, which could not have been

fashioned into

its present form till after Salem was hallowed There is but the by presence of Jahveh (G-escli. i. 44 sq.).

a fluctuating boundary between a legend of this kind and

GENESIS XIV.

397

literary fiction

with a tendency.
at

Noldeke (Uhtersuchungen,
the
history,
ch.
xiv.,
is

1869)

arrives

the

result,

that

throughout the spontaneous creation of its narrator, and the Ed. Meyer person of Melchizedek a magnificent invention.
(Gesch.
self in a far

136) is of the same opinion, only he expresses him Eeuss receives from more depreciatory manner.

the whole the impression d

paralole.
first

un enseignement
criticism,

Modern Pentateuch

sous la forme dc which received its

as

impulse from Eeuss, considers ch.

xiv.

one of the

most recent portions of Genesis, not inserted till its latest edition, and to which may be applied the epithets awarded
to

Melchizedek, aTrdrwp a^rjiwp ayeva\.oyrjro^ (Wellhausen,

Composition dc Hexatcuchs, i. 415; Gesckichte Israels, 1878, Ed. Meyer draws from it the further conclusion, p. 362).
that the particulars of the narrative are utterly unhistorical, but also that the names of some of the kings being authen
ticated

by cuneiform
accurate

inscriptions, the

Babylon
of

knowledge

of

the

author had acquired in most ancient history

the

country, and induced

by some unknown motive has

interwoven Abram into the history of Kudurlagamar (GcscJi. des Altertums, i. 1884, 136) while Hommel in an essay, Die
;

ctltbcibyl.

Schrifldenkmdler als Zeugen fur die liblische WaJirJieit, finds the political situation into which ch. xiv. transposes us, aus dem Leib geschnitten" with regard to Babylonian cir as
"

cumstances after the Elamite conquest.

the deutschen Jahrb. xiv.
p.

As
is

Diestel already in

345, so too

Dillmann in favour
and the power
of

of the historical character of the expedition

the ancient Elamite

kingdom which extended

is

to the Arabali.

The

central point of the question

the person of Abraham.

Dillmann, because he does not agree with the dissolution of

the patriarchal legend into cloud and vapour, also judges more
justly and moderately concerning
J3ut

what

is

related

in
p.

ch. xiv.

when, as by Wellhausen (Prolegomena, 1883,

337

sq.),

the historical nature of the person of

an inclination

shown

to

regard

Abraham is denied, and him as the spontaneous

creation of arbitrary

invention, the historical nature of the

398

GENESIS XIV.

l,

2.

scenery in which ch. xiv. places him is of no further con The cuneiform authentication proves indeed that sequence. the proper names "JTHN, "iota and loy^na, that the figures and
colouring of the scenery, are not caught at
verification of such particulars is without
if

random

but the

any

religious interest,
of

Abraham

the ancestor of
is

Israel,

who migrated from Ur

flesh

Chaldea to Canaan,
blood.

mere phantom and not

and

And it came to pass in the days of AmrapJiel king of Sinar, Ariodi king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomcr king of Elam, and Tid al king of Goiim. thus begins the narrator, ver. 1 and then taking
;

the four thus mentioned genitivally, as also the nominative

subjects
to

the following
:

verb (see on

ix.

6&,

comp.

Acts

xiv. 2), continues, ver. 2

They made war with Bcra king of

^ Sodom, and with Birsa king of Gomorrah, Sin ah king of v Admah, and Sem6ber king of Zelo im, and the king of Bela,

which

is

Zoar.

l|

rn

is

followed by the fact aimed at in the

i.

perfect, like Ex. xii. 41, 51, xvi. 27, Dent.

3,

without the

perfect being followed, as at

xl.

1,

by the
of
xi.

historical tense,

and
fact

thereby
(Driver,

reduced
78).

to

the
">>Tv

expression
,

an
2
;

accessory

On

Sumcr, see

Lenormant (La

lang uc primitive de la Clialdee, 1875) explains the name ^STBN (with an accented ultima, like P33 %")?) a s Sumerian, but it is
5

from Amarmiiballit, i.e. Amar = Sin (the moonhe was at that time the town-king of god), preserves alive is also shown by inscriptions to be Babel (Honiniel).
contracted
;
11

"P

"!**

cri-aku,

i.e.

servant of the moon-god

a son of the Elamite

king Kudur-Mabuk (softened in Hebrew into a segolate form), whom his father made viceroy of Larsam (Friedr. Delitzsch on

Baer

Daniel,

p.

Kosscier, p. 09).

This Larsam (Paradies,

v p. 223), whose town divinity was Samas, the present Senkara, a short distance north-westward of Ur, seems to be meant

having, as Eawlinson first perceived and George by further Smith confirmed, shifted into iota. The name ^frm
"!p^,
D"6tf

(written,
1

according to Chullin 64&, as two words,

See

my

preface to Baer

s ed.

of the five Megilloth (1886), p.

o.

GENESIS XIV.
as

3.

by
the

Orientals)

contains,

has

been settled since Oppert,

;

name

of

the

Susianian deity LagFimar

Kudur-Mabuk

and Kudur-Lagamara are Elymaic kings, who in very ancient

times
reigned
also

over

KAT. 2nd
"

ed. p. 316&).

subjugated Babylonia (Schrader, Eri-Aku, king of Larsam, is called

on inscriptions sou of Kudur-Mabuk, and the latter is called Lord of the Western land," which especially means Palestine.
Instead of ^nn, the

LXX.

has

i>jnn,

&apjd\

Lenormant

as tur-gal (great son).

;

D?i3 is

explained by singular, as the name

of a country of

Lenormant understands by it the Semitic races Northern Mesopotamia, and thinks that this B ia has been

corrupted from the national appellation Guti with the countrydeterminative KI found on inscriptions (see on the other hand
Paradics, p.

233

sq.).

The four names

to
s

of the
"

kings of the

Pentapolis mean, according

serpent
s

tooth,

and scorpion

value

of

a poor witticism.

blasphemer, rogue, this has only the but poison That the names jns and V^ns
Hitzig,
;
"

accord in sound with jn and yvh might, instead of being used

against their historical nature, be explained,
sary, as a phonetic variation (comp.
>K3B
>

if it

were neces

Isa. vii. G).

The

fact that the narrator leaves the fifth king, the king of Bela,

unnamed, shows that what he does not know he

invent.
fcOn

will not

in the comparison,

^3=1^^

is

one of the eleven

It is not strange

KTi occurring as Chethib in the Pentateuch.

to find five kings in so limited a space.

Each more important

its

Canaanitish town had, as the book of Joshua shows,

king

the Phoenicians were fond of organizing themselves into small

Thus four, independent kingdoms, united only by alliance. and indeed incomparably more powerful kings, took the field All these marched against five at the Lower Jordan, ver. 3
:

together

towards

the

valley of Siddim,
also,
e.g.

this

is

the
3,

Salt Sea.
"

The verb -on means elsewhere

into
alliance,"

Ex. xxvi.

to enter

and acquires

here,
of

like Josh. x. 6), the

meaning

by means of (adversus, combined hostile movement

is

towards an object of attack.

glossed id
est

This

D^frn
:

ppj^

which

is

mare salsum, more accurately

the fertile valley

400

GENESIS XIV.

4.

in which the plain of the Jordan

is

continued, and which

subsequently became the Salt

translate:
field-valley,

Sea.

Onk.
Jer.

Sam. Aq. Saad.

:

Symm. Theod.
Jer.
:

forest

valley

rrjv garden -valley, lime and salt). (pdpayya TTJV dXvKijv (perhaps confusing In Assyr. siddS means a district, and especially a district on a
TB>,

(akawv, not a\&v), Targ.

LXX.

river s

bank

(Assyr. LesestucJce,
it

3rd

ed.

p.

146), whence
bank."

we

may

explain

as

"Valley

of the river s

Occasion
five)

of the expedition, ver. served Chedoiiaomcr,

Twelve years had they (the

the

and in

thirteenth year

they rebelled.
;

In ver. 1 the kings are named in alphabetical order we see here however that it was Kurdurlagamar who was properly the ruler, Jndg. iii. 8, of the "Western Land" (Schrader, KAT. 136),

and who undertook the war.

As

Israel

had

in the early period

of the Judges been subject for eight years to a

ruler,

Judg.
of

iii.

dominion

Mesopotamian was the Pentapolis twelve years under the an Elamite sovereign, who had taken possession
8, so
s

of the district of the five towns, here placed in the foreground

because of Lot

captivity,

and of the surrounding

i.e.

countries.

The

possession of the Arabah,

to the north

of the great

deep-sunken valley

and south

of the

Dead

Sea,
"

a conqueror of

Upper

Asia, because

was of great value to this was the road traced

out by nature itself, which, starting from the Elanitic Gulf, and cutting through the great wilderness watered by the Mle and Euphrates, was the means of intercourse between Arabia

and Damascus, and because

at

no great distance from the

south-west border of Canaan, and near to the Idumean

moun
from

tains, is found the point of intersection of the roads that lead

from the coast of the Mediterranean

to

Arabia, and

Middle Egypt
subjection,

to

Canaan
kings
;

"

(Tuch).

After a
in
is

twelve years
year

the

five

revolted
rnfeT

the

thirteenth

from their oppressor

^M

BW

the ace. of time, gene

rally of the duration of time, here of the point of time for

njp

rntejrB$B>:n,

as the Samar. reading

is,

or

rroy-fi^ rura.

The army of the four kings marched along the great road from Damascus and rapidly advanced to the banks of the Jordan,

GENESIS XIV.
ver. 5

5,

G.

401
and
in in

And

in the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer came,

the

kings

that

were with him,

and smote

the

Repliaim
the

Asteroth-Karnaini, and the

the

Zuzim in Ham, and

Emim

plain of Kiriathaiim.
Eephaites
(so
first

city of the
*-

Ashteroth-Karnaim, the ancient called according to Schrader from

smitten.
It

to be high), j,

was

was named

after the

nnrCT, worshipped under the image of a horned bull s head, and therefore even then not as the morning star, but as the
It is moon-goddess, and was subsequently the capital of Og. Wetzstein with identified Bostra as n~irTO3, by mistakenly

Josh. xxi. 27, whose ruins, Tell

in

Astera",

have been discovered

Edrei.
1

Han ran, If
fall

leagues

from

the

ancient

The
(for

next to

was the town

of the

Zuzim, called
an,

Ham

which
later

Jer. in the Qucestiones has

Eabbah
ii.

of

the Ammonites, the

and

per heth*), perhaps the = D^TOT, thence B

Deut.
the

20, in

Emim

(^P*^, elsewhere ^DN) in the plain

neighbourhood of the Jabbok; then with a

(niB>

firm Kametz, and as ver.

a

17 shows,

also

a firm

instead of

= ai)

of Kirjathaiim, discovered according to Eus.

and

Jer.

four leagues west of Medeba, under the

name

Kurejdt.

The

Pentapolis was now first of all compassed, and the eastern border of the mountain followed, where the army encountered
the Horites, ver. G
:

And

(they smote)
is

the

Horites in their

Mount Seir unto El Pdran, which

by the wilderness.

Ed.

Meyer

(Gcsch.

Zuzirn and

Emim

130) never

asserts that the tribes of the Eephaites,

existed.

But what of the Horites

For the existence of these primitive inhabitants of the land

of
ii.

Edom being incontestably witnessed

to (xxxvi. 2

sqq.

Deut.

12, 22), the three others will be no merely airy forms, especially as they are so accurately defined according to their

dwelling-places.

The termination
"

of

E"nnii

is

a suffix

the
fol

interrupted genitive combination,

their

mountain of

Seir,"

lows the scheme npy Tp-Q, Lev. xxvi. 42 (see Psalmen, 4th
1

ed.

On

rnifitt

y (plur. cminentke) and J-prCT

Assyr. i&lar, istaritu, sec

DMZ.

xxiv. 650, and Zimmern, BalyL Busspsalmen (1885), p]\ 38-40. wlio approves unite (foi>ulare). of Schlottmann s derivation from y, to
"i^

2 c

402
p.

GENESIS XIV.

7.

203).

These ancient inhabitants of the Arabah, with their

eastern mountains

and western

desert,

seem

to

have stood in the

Asiatic oppressor.
its

same

relation as the Pentapolis to the

Upper

The
in

object

of

the
"i^K

expedition
j"iK3

is
i.e.

perceived by
El- (Ailthe
xxi.
)

farthest

point,

la ian-^

^N,

Pdran, situate

front

of the wilderness, viz. at

of

eastern entrance of
21).

the

wilderness

Pharan

(see

on

Such

is

the

name

called Ailanitic Gulf, as of strategic

here given to Ailat on the northern bend of the soand regarded down to the Middle Ages

history

of

and commercial importance (see Quatremere s this town in the Journal Asiatique, 1835, pp.
Jer.

44-53).
to

The Targums, Sam.

i^N,

the Arabic translators,

xii.

Luth. translate

plain (see the note on

6), in

opposition

Syr. Aq. Symm. and certainly the changing Hebrew and Greek forms of the
1

which

Theod. take ^K as the name of a tree;

name

njXj

fl?

^,

Hv^

Al\cov, Al\ava,"E\ava, Al\avov, speak

tJy*N, Isa.

for the
i.

meaning terebinth or (as collective sing, to

20 and elsewhere) terebinth wood. Arabian geographers modern travellers, speak only of palm-woods in the neighbourhood of Ailat perhaps &*?$ ( D ^*?) was in
indeed, as well as
;

connection with the ancient cultivation of trees an ancient

Ex. xv. 27). Having now arrived at the extreme southern point of the plan of their campaign, the confederates turned round, ver. 7 And they * turned and came to En Mispat, ivhich is Kades, and smote all

name

of the

^"Jlpn,

palm

(see

the country of the Amalekites,

and

also

the

Emorites that dwelt

in Hazazon Tamar.

which
the

as

The name BS^ p fy, well of decision, we here learn was formerly borne by the Kadesh of

Mosaic history, shows that the sanctity of an ancient Robinson identified Kadesh with Ain oracle adhered to it.
el-

Weibe, the chief watering-place of the Arabs in the Edomite

mountains lying west of the Arabah. Ain Kudeis, on the western declivity of the Azazime plateau, seems preferable.
See Trumbull,
"A

visit

to

Ain Qadis, the supposed

site

of

1 See A. Halimann, The Date-palm, its Name and its Veneration by the Ancient World. An essay in the Bonptandia, 1859, Nos. 15, 16.

GENESIS XIV.
in the

8,

<J.

403

Kadesh-Barnea,"

Quarterly Statement, 1881, and his

: its Importance and Probable Wetzstein thinks he has discovered

illustrated work,
Site,
it

Kadesh-Barnea

New

York, 1884.
s

journey south of Hebron within the wilder ness, which terminates at the Sin-Walle hut this Kadus, testi
in Kddus, a day
;

by Makdisi, would be too near to the southern border Holy Land, not to mention other objections (see Kohler,
fied
i.

of the
Gescli.

117

sq_.).

confederates

"

Arrived at Kadesh through the wilderness, the smote all the country of the Amalekites," i.e.

the portion of this wild and dangerous primitive people (see on xxxvi. 12) settled in the northern part of the Till west

ward
object

of Kadesh,
of
-

the

whose subjugation was demanded by the undertaking, and likewise the Emorites in
This
"ilpfi

Hazdzon
xx.
2,

Tamar.

P& n

is,

according to
of

2 Chron.
;

Engedi

on

the

western
v.

side

the

Dead Sea

Engaddum

says Pliny, H. N.

17

oppidum

fuit secunfiwn,

dum

al>

Hicrosolymisfertilitate palmetorumque nemoribus.

is

aniputatio,

the

name

for the

artificial

fertilization

of the

female date-palm by the insertion of a cut-off stalk laden with male flowers into the flower sheath of the female. Hence the

name
xlvii.

is

the equivalent for

palm

cultivation.

Knobel com
">&n,

bines Hazazon Tamar, not with Engedi, but with

19,
to
xlviii.

Ezek

28, Thamaro, Thamara, on the road from

Hebron
But
this

Aila, because,

he says, Engedi was too

outweigh
the
also

far north

reason

does not

chronicler.

The

confederates

having

testimony of the smitten the

Amorites,
district

who awaited their attack in the impassable rocky still Ain Gedi, turned thence to Gor to called
:

chastise the revolted Pentapolis, vv. 8, 9

the king

And

there

went out

of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zebo im and the king of Bcla which is Zoar, and set the battle in array against them in the valley
,

of Siddim.

Against Chedorlaomer king of Elam and Tid al

king of Goiim and Amraphel king of Shinar and Arivcli king

1

the

See Theob. Fisclicr, Die Dattdpalme, 1881, and Nuldeke on this work in GGA. 1881, p. 1222 sqq.

404
of Ellasar

GENESIS XIV.

10-12.

four kings against

the fixe.

The names
,

of the

four kings are here given in like copulation as at ver. 1 but in

reverse order.
tion,

The

closing words are intended

to call atten

by way of an exclamation (comp. John vi. 71), to the Overthrow of the Pentapolitans, unequal and decisive battle.
ver.

10

And

the valley of

Siddim was full of bitumen

springs,

and

the kings of
the

Sodom and Gomorrah fled and

to

fell into them,

"jta

and

rest fled

the

mountains.

Originally ^D1 DID

my

(LXX. The king of Sodom being

Samar.) certainly stood instead of

still

mw
it

DID
is

"|ta.

alive at ver. 17,

not so

much the persons of the kings themselves as their followers who are intended. The two kings were the most important. With their flight the overthrow was decisive. The troops for
the most part sank in the numerous excavations which, at the

time when the Siddim valley was not yet swallowed up by the Salt Sea, were still to be seen, and from which naphtha or
earth-oil,
i.e.

fluid asphalt or

bitumen, flowed.

pits are

now

covered by the waters of

These asphalt the Salt Sea; but on the

occasion of earthquakes enormous pieces of pure asphalt (the

Middle Ages) make their appearance on the surface torn from the bed of the sea elsewhere they would sink, but here the salt and even
"

Jews

-pitch,"

so highly appreciated in the

bituminous water, by reason of

bears

its

greater
s

specific gravity,

them up (Furrer

in

Sclienkel
">N3,

BL.}.

The custom

of

the language distinguishes

well-spring, from -is 3, nte, pit, The and especially rain-water pit (see Hitzig on Jer. vi. 7). combination (ftpeara $peara (aafyaXrov), as the LXX. may
originally

have run,
4
;

is

a co-ordination like Deut. xvi.

20

Joel
Ps.

iv.

Ixviii.

comp. the genitival subordination, Job xx. 1 7 Those Pentapolitans who escaped death 34.
;

by the sword or by sinking, escaped rnn, towards the mountain ( harrah instead of the more usual n i.e. to
"[^),

the defiles of the Moabite mountains.

The
:

victorious

army

returned laden with prey, vv. 11, 12

yoods of

And

they took all the

Sodom and Gomorrah, and

and

departed.

And

they

took

of provision, Lot and Ids yoods, Abrams

all their store

GENESIS XIV.
brother*
victors,

13, 14.

405
in

son,

and
the

departed,

and

he

dwelt

Sodom.

The
the re-

for

sake of

chastising and weakening

subjugated kings, plundered the two most important towns,

and Abram
captive.

nephew who dwelt The text of ver. 12

s

in

Sodom was thus taken

fallen

has

into

disorder.

The apposition
tory

should

come

after

E^,
this

sentence
the

before 13^1.
of

With
and

explana booty they retired

and the

along

valley

the

Jordan/ vv. 13,

told it

14

And

there

came one that had

escaped,
the

and he dwelt under

the brother of Eskol

terebinths
the brother

of

to Abram the Ibri; Mamre the Emorite,

and

confederates of

Abram.

Abram

of heard

Ancr, and
that his

these

lucre

brother

was

taken captive, and he led forth his men trained to arms, who were born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued

Abram is called "TO?, not as the man from far as Dan. Jordan (Stade, Ed. Meyer), but as one who migrated "^n from the other side of the Euphrates, LXX. o Trepdrrj^, Aq. 07211 (comp. Trepairrjs, Jer. Transeuphratensis (see on xi. 6).
as
"

*n>*),

Ezek. xxiv. 2G
2
\

sq.,

xxxiii.

21
him,

sq.)

answers

to

the Arabic
those

which
f

also

signifies

or

collectively

who

escaped.

The expression,

(comp.

rp

7^3,

v_p, means the confederates Baal of the covenant, Judg. ix. 4 Baal as the
;

rvnn

god of the covenant, ibid. ix. 46), different from iii. 25), which means those standing in similar
relation.

mn

(Acts covenant
"03

HN has here, as the repetition

l|

nNl_

shows, the vague

sense of a near relative.

three.
its

bn\ refers, as ver.

24 shows,

to all

To save

Lot,

Abram drew
;

forth (like the

sword from

scabbard, Ex. xv. 9

Lev. xxvi. 33, or the spear from the

Sovpo^otcr), Ps. xxxv. 3)

318 P^D,
purchased

of his

men
S

dedicated or
5

trained (to the profession of arms), viz. irpn

in his house,
i.e.

T^

(slaves)

born

not

first

(xii. 5, xvii.

12, 23).

The

LXX.
1

translates

rjpt0p,r]cre after the

reading P^l (Samar.), he

eastern coast of the

Comp. on the contrary the Excursus on Zoar in Gene-six, p. 565: "The Dead Sea has never had a road on Seetzen s caprice .scrambling forwards to come there, see Burckhardt s Syrien, p. 661."
; :

406
carefully mustered.
itself

GENESIS XIV.

15, 16.

(Black)

slaves

bom

within the tribe

a

are

still

regarded for their attachment and bravery as

/ /

the stay and prop of the tribe, and are called

<u^Jo,

they
these

who surrender

their lives as a

ransom

(frl?).

With

troops he surprised the army which had already reached Dan And lie at the north - eastern border of Canaan, ver. 1 5
:

divided himself against them smote them

l>y

night, he

and

his servants,
is

and

and pursued them

to

Hobah, ivhich

on the north of

Damascus.

He

surprised the army, intoxicated with success

its rear,
it

and expecting no enemy on detachments, and pursued

near,
ver.

by

night,

and in separate
lies

to

Hobah, which

very

and northward
16
:

of

Damascus.

Recovery of the booty,

And

he brought back all the goods,

and

also

Lot his

brother

and

his goods brought he back,

and

the

women

also,

and

the people.

That a large army, suddenly surprised by a small

flight
is

band, can be put to

shown,

e.g.,

by the history

of

Gideon (Judg.
not be

vii.)

besides, the host

regarded

as

the entire army.

encamped at Dan need The reason why pj,

this
;

which was formerly called t?v or DKv, and did not receive

name
Judg.

till

after its

xviii. 29), is

conquest by the Danites (Josh. xix. 47 thus named without further comment in a

narrative elsewhere so free from anticipations,

must

certainly

be that the gloss has in this instance supplanted the name For what other Dan could here be intended than glossed.
this north-eastern border city?

When

Joseph. Ant.

i.

10. 1,
Tnyyij,

says

ovrws

77

erepa

TOV

lopSdvov Trpoaajopeverat

thus
is

much

is true,

that one of the three sources of the Jordan

now Tell el-Kadi (which^is the same as another at Paneas and rjL ?*?), (Ban/ids)* a third at Hasbeia the first is now called el-Lcdddn, and regarded as the main
actually at Dan,
1

source of the Jordan (Socin Bddeker, p. 279). The most ancient Jewish glosses also point to the neighbourhood of the Here springs forth from a cave now almost filled up with rubbish the
1

source of the Jordan, as the Sebene-Suh, a source of the Tigris (Assyr. r$s eni sa ndr Diklat], does from a grotto on the road to Erzeroum (see Schrader on the Cuneiform inscriptions of this grotto, 1885).

GENESIS XIV.
sources of the Jordan, by explaining
|ynD|TT
xi.

17.

407
T

P by

D"E3

(Paneas) or

p
:

(CcTsarea Philippi)

comp. Btirchardus, de Monte Sion,

12

Dan

qucc

Occsarea Philippi.

Banias) dicitur sive (i.e. There was also somewhere a jJP fi, 2 Sam.
it

nunc Belenas

xxiv. 6

but to understand
it

as this
is

when

the addition

fjr

is

absent, and to place

justified.

accordingly,

both unnecessary and un

Nor can

a second more north-westerly Ccelesyrian

Dan-Laiish-Leshem (Keggio, Schultz and others) be admitted, for the valley Beth-Rehol, named from the well En rahub, the most
important in the land of Suet, refers, Judg. xviii. 28, not to the whole of Ccelesyria, but to the most southerly portion of this
vale-land (Uu!l)
far

beyond the Leontes.

to to

There lay Eehob, not

xiii.

from the road

Hamath, Num.

21.

But the

fugitives purposing go, not to Hamath, but to Mesopo tamia, would therefore O so round the southern base of Hermon
to

come eastward from the Antilibanus and past Damascus

Salutation of the victors

to the great Syrian desert.

Then went out

the king of

by the king of Sodom, ver. 1 7 Sodom to meet him after his return
:

from

the conquest of Chedorla* omcr and of the Idnys that were with him, in the valley of \Sdwch, which is the king s vale. Certainly the king s vale where Absalom erected a pillar for himself,

Sam.

xviii.

18.

According

to Joseph.

Ant.

vii.

10. 3, this

pillar was two stadia from Jerusalem, which would apparently make the lung s vale the same as the vale of

marble

Kedron.

bridge of the

The pyramidal - shaped monument at the lower Kidron, which is called Absalom s, does not

indeed look like an ancient Israelite one, and

thought that

Absalom erected

his pillar

it might be on his own estate in

Baal Hazor, which seems to be designated (2 Sam. xiii. 23) by D^DX Dy, as near to the Ephraimitic border, and therefore
as a Benjamite locality.

The circumstance however

ver.

that the

incident with Melchizedek king of Salem falls between the

encounter, ver.

17,

and Abram

transaction,

21

sqq.,

with the king of Sodom, speaks in favour of the situation of

408
the king
s

GENESIS XIV.
vale
in

17.

neighbourhood of Jerusalem. It is indeed questionable, whether the Salem of Melchizedek is Jerusalem there is a village of Salim, which may be observed
"being
;

the

on the road from Mlbulus (Sichem) to Beisan after a ride of 50 German miles (Badeker, p. 231), a Salim in the plain of
Jezreel,

between which village

a

and the village

of

Selafe

stretches
^!a\r]iui }

small

valley

(ibid.

Judith

iv. 4,

and according

241), probably to the Onom. of Eusebius

8

the

av\&v
south

revised
of

by

Jer.

a Salumias, lying

Roman
xxviii.

miles

Scythopolis

(comp.

Dlb^,

DMZ.
(see

146), which
"

Jerome mistakenly
in

identifies

Miihlau,

art.

Aenon,"

Eiehm s HW^) with

his days

the ^aXe///, of

John the

Baptist,

and
the

where in
of

were shown the ruins of the supposed palace

for

Melchizedek.
of

opinion

Overwhelming reasons decide Josephus, that Salem was Jerusalem.

ix.

We may

conceive with Eupolemus in Eusebius, Prcep.

ever, following

1 7

(who how

meeting

with

Ap<yapL%tv^,

perhaps the Samaritan view, transposes the Melchizedek to the neighbourhood of the that Abram had gone through Samaria on his

way home
or that he

to

Hebron, intending to dismiss

at

some convenient

place the captives with the booty to their south-eastern home,

Sodom, In either case Jerusalem was not too

the king of

to take

was following the valley of the Jordan towards back the captives and the booty himself (Tuch).
far out

of the road for

Sodom

to

go to

meet him from the

south-east,

and

Melchizedek on hearing the report which would precede him of Abram s return as conqueror, to hasten to salute him from
Jerusalem on the opposite side. In that case D^, Ps. Ixxvi. 3, would not have become the poetical name of the city when
it

had not been

its

more ancient
ex. is

one.

The reference too

to

Melchizedek in Ps.

explained by the city of the king

dom
the

of promise and the city of Melchizedek being one and same. It is just because the existence of Jerusalem

reaches back to such hoar antiquity that the gates of the

1

See Ginsburg

s article

on the monument of Absalom in the journal

1872, p. 256.

GENESIS XIV.
fortress

18-20.

409
Ps.

of Zion

are called QiJJ

.

nn?,

xxiv.

7.

Extant

Jewish tradition in the Targums, the Midrash, the Scpher hojashar, esteems the Salem of Melchizedek as indisputably
identical

with
in

Jerusalem.

Finally,

the
of

name pwapo,
pl^pi lK,
"king

as

similar

sound
Josh,
x,

with
1,

the

name

of

Jerusalem,"

favours this view.

of

The meeting with the priest-king

lie

Salem, ver. 18

And
and

Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread

and

wine,

Most High God. J^Jf ?&? as a proper but i^Sy in other usage also rejects the article. According to Sanchuniathon in Euseb. Prcep. i. 10, the Phoenicians called God the progenitor of Uranus and
the priest of the

was

name has no

article

Gaia *E\iovv

v^icrTos\ while, on the other hand, Elonim

ve-Elonoth of Hanno the Carthaginian in the Pcenulus of Plautus has nothing to do with jv^y, but means, as the epitaph of Eshmunazar shows, gods and goddesses." jvby as used
"

here by Melchizedek,

if it

does not
for

mean

the absolutely One,

is

is

yet no mere comparative

Him who

higher than others,

but the Highest, therefore the God of gods. He brings forth bread and wine from his capital to refresh and honour the
returning and courageous deliverer. Those who were delivered were indeed his fellow - countrymen. With gratitude to

Abraham he combines thankfulness him the instrument of such mercy,

blessed

to

God, who had made

19,

vv.

20

And

he

him, and said

Messed
be

Abraham

of the

Mod

Iliali
;

God,

The Creator of heaven and earth And blessed be the Most High God,

Who
The form

hath delivered thine oppressor into thy hand

is

of this double berachah

iiyV ?N,

throughout poetic

in

it

we have

at least
nip,

for

Israelites,

a poetic sound, Ps.

^"}.^

Ixxviii. 35, Ivii. 3;

used here only for

or nbfy, is

more

significant than either, denoting Him whose $i?, creature and property, the world is Tiy for T^.K, and $p an exclusively
;

poetical

word

(to

give, here

to deliver up, Hos. xi. 8, in a

:

connection referring back to Gen. xiv. or Deut. xxix. 22

to

410
give

GENESIS XIV.

21-24.

up

Prov.

iv.

to present).

The language
i.

of

Canaan

(Isa. xix. 18),

is

which

is

appointed to be the sacred language,

in these STTWIKIQI ev^aL (Philo, Opp.

533) already being

of

transformed into a vessel of honour.

The language

him

on

whom

a curse was inflicted appears here as the language

of the blessing of

him who was

blessed.

Abram

thus blessed
:

by Melchizedek in his turn does him homage, ver. 205 And Tie gave him the tenth of all. In acknowledgment of his priesthood he gives him the tenth of all, i.e. the tenth of all
the goods recovered from the enemy, which as separated from the whole is as representing the whole God s portion in the

person of His
self

priest.

On
:

the other hand, he refuses for

vv.

him
and
of

any share
to

in

the booty,

21-24: And
the souls
to

the

king of

Sodom said
Sodom

Abram

Give

me

(the persons),

keep the goods for thyself.

:

But Abram said

the king

my hand to Jahveh, the Most High the Creator heaven and earth If I from a thread to a God, of shoe latchct, if I take anything that is thine lest thou shoiddest
have lifted up
:

say

I have made Abram

and

rich.

Nothing for me

only ivhat the

servants have eaten,

the portion of the

let

men

that went with

me

Ancr, Eskol, and Mamre,

them take their portions.

He
it

swears with uplifted hand (T D nn, while on the contrary is always T K^J when it is God who swears), a very
gesture of the so-called corporal oath.
of

ancient
first

This

is

the

mention

an oath by God
Sin

oaths

have become a
interchange
of

necessity

since.

has

destroyed

the

absolutely unshaken confidence between man and man and between God and man. The negative oath begins with DK,.

supplementary sentence may such To jv6y b 155. 2/. and such a thing happen me, Ges. he adds mrp, designating Him who had revealed Himself to

with an

ellipsis

of the

to

him

as the

God

of salvation, as the
("W

Most High God.

IP,

Neither

a thread nor a shoe-latchet

...

both

and
;

also,

Deut. xxix. 10

Isa. xxii.

24

comp. Ecclus. xlvi.

&**
:

17
.

here,
.

by

reason of the negative oath implied in

i.e.

neither

nor),

he will not accept even the most worthless fragment of

GENESIS XIV.

21-24.

411
No,

the booty, nor let himself be enriched in this manner.

he will take nothing (^ifa from

as

5>3=f

3,

and

like xli. 16,

an adv. whereby we reject anything, properly let it not come, or if it comes to me) he only requests that the three companions who have marched with him may be remembered.
:
;

We
of

here

first

learn of the accession of these men, and perhaps

their people, to

the

narrative

adheres to

318 born in Abram s house. The Abram and to what is to his honour.

That he will take nothing on this occasion, while he allowed himself to be so abundantly gifted by Pharaoh, shows him, as Hasse remarks, inwardly more elevated and advanced than
"

in the days of his self-incurred humiliation in

Egypt."

What
from the
tion

has just occurred

is

both a prelude and prefiguration

will

of the fact, that the seed of

conflict

Abraham

come

forth victorious

with the world-power for their

others.

and that of
as

It is just

own salva has Abram when now,

as helpful to them,

shown himself

much

raised above

men

that the mysterious figure of Melchizedek comes forth from

a hidden background without any intervention, as without

it

he again disappears a figure seen for a moment significant for ever. This Melchizedek, of whom we know neither the

whence nor the whither,

is

in the midst of heathen surround

ings a vehicle of the pre-heathen faith, a servant of the

Most
not

High God, a king who

merely as a king,
for

exercises

the

priestly

office

or as

a father of a family does as such,

too

in this

sense

according to
office

was N^ J and priest, but who ancient Phoenician custom unites in himself the

Abram
that
is,

of king with

of
|nb.

priest,

called, as

Abram never
to

By

hence expressly this priest-king, who has no

is

and

authority to point
Israel, of

from descent and law, the ancestor of

Levi and of Aaron, the father of the nation of the

promise, of the priesthood and of the Law, allows himself to be

blessed.

And

not only

so,
is

but Abram, in

whom
is

is

comprised
to this

that priestly race

which

to receive the tenth, gives

priest-king the tenth of

all

the spoil.

There

a royal priest

hood outside the law

predicted by this typical history, as

412
the Epistle to the

(1ENESIS XIV. 21-24.

Hebrews explains
to

to

which even Abram

and his seed must bow,

;

whom

even the Levitical priest

hood must do homage for just where Abraham appears at the most ideal elevation, Melchizedek stands beside and
towers above him.

Melchizedek

is

like the

setting sun of

the primitive revelation

made

to

men

before their separation

into nations, the last rays of

which shine upon the patriarch,

is in process of coming. 1 This sun sets to rise again in antitype in Jesus Christ, when the preparatory epoch of Israel shall have passed. In the

from

whom

the true light of the world

light

of

this

antitype the

typical

significance.

Melchizedek acquire a They foreshadow the gifts which the

gifts

of

exalted heavenly Priest-King brings in love for the refresh

ment
1

of those

who

are of the faith of

Abraham.
who
as the

The Zend
109).

Zarathustra
xl.

religion also expects a future ruler, shall unite in himself the royal and

antitype of

priestly

ofiiccs

(DMZ.

END OF VOLUME

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History of the Preservation of the New Testament Writings History BOOK IV. History of the Circulation of the New Testament Writings History of the Versions. BOOK V. History of the Theological Use of the New Testament Writings History of Exegesis. It would be hard to name any single volume which contains so much that is helpful to the student of the New Testament. Considering that so much ground is covered, the fulness and accuracy of the information given are remarkable. Professor Keuss s work is not that of a compiler, but of an original thinker, who throughout this encyclopasdic volume depends much more on his own research than on the labours of his . The translation is thoroughly well done, accurate, and full of life. . predecessors.
III.

of the Text.

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most valuable volumes of Messrs. Clark s valuable publications. ... Its usefulness is attested by undiminished vitality. His method is admirable, and he unites German exhaustiveness with French lucidity and brilliancy of expression. The sketch of the great exegetic epochs, their chief characteristics, and the critical estimates of the most eminent writers, is given by the author with a compression and a mastery that have never been surpassed. Archdeacon FARRAR.

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PROFESSOR OF THEOLOGY, BASEL. J. S. BANKS, Headingley College, Leeds. valuable contribution to the methodology of Scripture interpretation. British Quarterly Review. Cannot fail to be regarded as a standard work upon the subject of Old Testament Sword and Trowel. prophecy.

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THE RELIGIOUS HISTORY OF ISRAEL.

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