Haley Bible Handbook Introduction       INDEX: The Creation Hymn,   Genesis 1:1-2:3 Jesus Was There at the Creation, John 1:1; John 17:5, 24 Seventh Day,   Genesis 2:1-3 The Fall of Man,   Genesis 3. Cain and Abel,   Genesis 4. The Book of the Generations of Adam,   Genesis 5:1 to 6:8 Pre-Flood Wickedness,   Genesis 6:1-8. The Animals,   Genesis 6:19 to 7:5. The Flood,   Genesis 7:6 to 8:19. The Rainbow,   Genesis 8:20 to 9:17. The Generations of the Sons of Noah,   Genesis 10:1 to 11:9 From The Flood To Abraham,   Genesis 11. The Call Of Abraham,   Genesis 12. Abraham and Lot Separate,   Genesis 13. Abraham Defeats Babylonian Kings,   Genesis 14. God's Promises to Abraham Renewed,   Genesis 15. God's Promises to Abraham Renewed: Cont.,   Genesis 16. God's Promises to Abraham Renewed: Cont.,   Genesis 17. Sodom and Gomorrah,Genesis 18., Sodom and Gomorrah, Cont.,   Genesis 19. Sarah and Ablmelech,   Genesis 20:1:f. Birth of Isaac,   Genesis 21. Abraham Offers Isaac,   Genesis 22. Sarah's Death,   Genesis 23. Betrothal of Isaac and Rebekah, Chapter 24. Abraham's Death,   Genesis 25:1-11. Isaac's Sojourn among the Philistines,   Genesis 26. Jacob Obtains His Father's Blessing,   Genesis 27. Jacob's Vision at Bethel,   Genesis 28. Jacob's Sojourn in Haran,   Genesis 29. Jacob's Sojourn in Haran,   Genesis 30.. Jacob's Return to Canaan,   Genesis 31. Jacob's Return to Canaan,   Genesis 32. Jacob's Return to Canaan,   Genesis 33. Dinah Avenged By Simeon and Levi, Gensis 34.. God Renews the Covenant at Bethel,   Genesis 35. The Generations of Esau,   Genesis 36. The Generations of Jacob,   Genesis 37:2 to 50:26 Judah's Children,   Genesis 38. Joseph Imprisoned,   Genesis 39. Joseph Made Ruler of Egypt,   Genesis 40, Joseph Made Ruler of Egypt,   Genesis 41 Joseph Makes Himself Known,   Genesis 42 Joseph Makes Himself Known, Cont.,   Genesis 43 Joseph Makes Himself Known, Cont.,   Genesis 44 Joseph Makes Himself Known, Cont.,   Genesis 45 Jacob's Blessing and Prophecy,   Genesis 48. Jacob's Blessing and Prophecy 49. Deaths of Jacob and Joseph,   Genesis 50. ___________________

Additional Archaeological Discoveries, Maps & Figures     INDEX: The Euphrates Valley Beginning of Archaeological Interest The Behistun Rock, Key to Babylonian Language [Fig. 1, The Behistun Rock]. [Map. 15; Babylonia]. Was Early Writing Unknown. Ante-Diluvian Origin of Writing Ante-Diluvian Books [Fig. 2 Pre-Flood Inscriptions] Pictographic Writing Original Extent of Writing Cuneiform Writing Alphabetic Writing Writing Material Used Pre-Abrhamic Books Annipadda's Fountation Tablet [Map. 16. Location of Nippur] [Fig. 4. Foundation Tablet]. Stele of Ur-Nammur [Fig. 5. Ur-Nina; Fig 6. Sargon's Daughter]. [Fig. 7. Stele of Eannatum]. Books and Libraries of Primitive Babylonia. Accad, of Nimrod's Cities Lagash, called Tello, Shirpuria. Nippur, called Nuffar, Calneh. [Fig. 9. Nippur.] Jemdet Nasr, a Pre-Flood City Weld Dynastic Prism. [Fig. 10. Weld Prism]. [Map. 17. Showing Larsa, N or Ur]. Books of Abraham's Day. Hammurabi's Code. [Fig. 11. Hammurabi's Code]. [Fig. 12. School Room, Ur]. Libraries in Abraham's Day. A School of Abraham's day. Abraham and The Sacred Writings. Literary Activity in Ancient Egypt. The Tell-el-Amarna Tablets. [Fig. 14. Hatshepsut's Obelisk.] [Fig. 15. A Scribe.] Writing In Palestine and Bordars. Writing In Shechem. Earliest Alphabetic Script. Writing in Gezer. Writing in Beth-shemesh. Writing in Lachish. Writing in Ras Shamra (Ugarit). Writing at Boghaz Keui. Writing at Thus. Sumerian Limestone Plaque, 2500BC Why? All These Writings but Not of Scripture. [Map. 19. Showing Locations of above Writings. Authorship of Pentateuch - Traditional View The Modern Cridical View - "J," "D," "E," "P." What Saith Archaeology? This Much Is Certain: Pentateuch - What Languate Writen. Writing Summed Up. ___________________________ Referenced images and maps.

The "Creation Hymn," ~  Genesis 1:1-2:3

A poetic description, in measured, majestic movement, of the successive steps of creation, cast in the mold of the oft-recurring Biblical "seven". In all literature, scientific or otherwise, there is no more a sublime account of the Origin of Things.

Who wrote the "Creation Hymn"? Used by Moses, but written, no doubt, long before, perchance by Abraham, or Noah, or Enoch, or Adam. Writing was in common use ages before the days of Moses. Some of God's "commandments, statutes, and laws" were in existence in the days of Abraham, 600 years before the days of Moses, Genesis 26:5.

How did the writer know what happened before man appeared? No

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doubt God "revealed to him the remote past in much the same manner is later the distant future was made known to the prophets."

Who knows but what God himself may have' taught this hymn, or the substance of it, to Adam himself? And it may have been recited by word of mouth, around the family circle, or sung as a ritual in primitive worship (hymns constituted a large part of the very earliest forms of literature), generation after generation, till writing was invented, God himself guarding its transmission, till finally, under the master mind of Moses, it took its place as the Opening Utterance of the Divine Book of the Ages.

If the Bible is GOD'S Word, as we believe it to be, and if God knew from the beginning that He was going to use the Bible as a main instrument in the Redemption of Man, why should it be a surprise or so difficult to believe that God himself, co-eval with His creation of man, gave to man the germ and nucleus of that Word?

Genesis 1:1. Creation of the Universe

"In the Beginning" GOD Created the Universe: Absolute Creation.

What follows, in the "Seven Days", describes the Forming, in various ways, of substance already created, as related to the Earth, in preparation of the Earth's Surface for the creation and abode of Man. The creation of Man, according to Biblical chronology, was about 4000 B C. But the creation of the Universe may have been countless ages before, back in the depths of the infinitely remote past, before time was.

Jesus was there, and had a hand in it,   John 1:1-3;   17:5,24.

Who Made God?

Every child asks this question. And no one can answer it. There are some things beyond us. We cannot conceive of the Beginning of Time, nor the End of Time, nor the Boundaries of Space. The world has been in existence Always, never having had a Beginning; or, it was Made out of Nothing; one, or the other; yet we can conceive of neither. This we do know: the highest of all things within reach of our thinking is Personality, Mind, Intelligence. Where did it come from? Could the Inanimate create Intelligence? In FAITH we accept, as the Ultimate in our thinking, a Power higher than ourselves, GOD, in hope that some day, in the beyond, we shall understand the mysteries of existence.

The Universe which God Created

Astronomers estimate that the Milky Way, the Galaxy to which our earth and solar system belong, contains over 30,000,000,000 suns, many of them immensely larger than our sun, which is a million and a half times larger than the earth. The Milky Way is shaped like a thin watch, its diameter from rim to rim being 200,000 light-years: a light-year is the distance that light travels in a year at the rate of 186,000 miles per second. And there are, at least, 100,000 Galaxies like the Milky Way, some of them millions of light-years apart. And all this may be only a tiny speck in what is beyond in the infinite, endless stretch of space.

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Chapters Genesis 1:2 to 2:3. The "Seven Days"

Whether they were days of 24 hours, or long successive periods, or interludes between periods, we do not know. The word "day" has variable meanings. In Genesis 1:5, the word "day" is used as a term for Light. In Genesis 1:8, 13, it seems to mean a day of 24 hours. In Genesis 1:14, 16, it seems to mean a 12-hour day. In Genesis 2:4, it seems to cover the whole period of creation. In such passages as Joel 2:18, Acts 2:20, John 16:23, "that day" seems to mean the whole Christian era. In such passages as 2 Timothy 1:12, it seems to refer to the era beyond the Lord's Second Coming. And in Psalm 90:4 and 2 Peter 3:8, "one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." So perhaps it would be better not to be too dogmatic as to the duration of the Six Days of Creation.

But whatever their duration, let us remember that each day's work took shape as a result of the Fiat of GOD. This chapter is not a treatise on science, but is more like a poem, or hymn. Yet its harmony with present biological and zoological knowledge is most amazing.

First Day, Genesis 1:2-5

Light. Light must have been included in the "heavens and earth" that were created in the "beginning." But the earth's surface must have been still in darkness, because' the cooling earth crust, a seething desolate mass, covered with boiling waters, must have sent up dense layers of mists and gases that completely shut out the sun's light. Light, and the Succession of Day and Night, were established on the Earth's Surface when the cooling processes had diminished the density of the fog sufficiently for Light to penetrate. However, the Sun itself did not become Visible till the Fourth Day.

Second Day, Genesis 1 :6-8

The Firmament, called "Heaven," here means the Atmosphere, or Layer of Air, between the water-covered earth and the clouds above, made possible by the further cooling of the earth's waters, the earth's surface, however, still being warm enough to make clouds that hid the Sun.

Third Day, Genesis 1:9-13

Land and Vegetation. The earth's surface, till now, it seems, had been wholly covered with water, because the continual breaking of the newly-formed thin crust must have kept the earth's surface smooth, as a liquid ball. But the crust, as it became cooler and thicker, and more or less immovable, began to buckle up, and islands and continents began to appear. No rains as yet; but dense mists watered the newly-formed land, which was still warm by its own heat. A tropical climate everywhere; and Vegetation must have grown rapidly and in gigantic proportions, which under countless alternate submergences and upheavals, produced our present day coal beds.

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Fourth Day, Genesis 1:14-19

Sun, Moon, Stars. They must have been created "in the beginning."
On the "first day" their light must have penetrated the earth's mists, Genesis 1:3, while they themselves were not visible. But now, due to the lessened density of the clouds, as a result of the further cooling of the earth, they became Visible on earth. Seasons came when the earth's surface ceased to receive heat from within, and became dependent on the Sun as its only source of heat. At that time geological processes must have slowed down almost to a stand-still.

Fifth Day, Genesis 1:26-25

Sea Animals and Birds. Notice the progression: 1st and 2nd days, Inanimate things; 3rd day, Vegetable Life; 5th day, Animal Life.

Sixth Day Genesis 1:24-31

Land Animals and MAN. The earth at last ready for Man's abode, God made Man in HIS OWN IMAGE, and gave him dominion over the earth and all its creatures. God must have been very well satisfied with his work; for He saw everything that He had made, and it was "very good," Genesis 1:4,10,12,18,21,25,31. But soon the picture darkened. God must have known beforehand that it would, and must have regarded his whole work of the creation of man as but a step toward the glorious world that will yet issue from it, as told in the closing chapters of Revelation.

• Bible History: Old Testament
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee
• Bible Exposition Commentary
• Bible Handbook by Haley

"Generations of the Heavens and Earth,"Genesis 2:4-4:26

Sometimes called the "Second Account" of Creation [See Page 58]. It starts with a reference to the desolate condition of the earth, Genesis 2:5,6, which corresponds to the early part of the "third day" in the "first account", Genesis 1:9,10; then gives some details omitted from the first account; and then proceeds with the story of Man's Fall. It is supplemental, not contradictory. Added details are not contradictions.

Who was the original author of this document? It carries the story down to the 6th generation of Cain's descendants, Genesis 4:17-22, and closes while Adam was still alive (he lived to the 8th generation of Seth's descendants, Genesis 5:4-25. So everything in it happened in Adam's lifetime. If writing was not invented while Adam was yet alive, may it not be that Adam told these things over and over in his family circle, so that at least their substance took a sort of fixed form till writing was invented? May it not be that Moses recorded the story of Man's Fall, in the main, in the very words in which Adam himself had told it?

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Genesis 2:4-17. The Garden of Eden

In chapter 1, the Creator is called "God" (Elohim), the generic name of the Supreme Being. Here it is "The Lord God" (Jehovah Elohim), His personal name: the first step in a long process of God's revelation of Himself.

"No Rain, but a Mist," Genesis 5, ch. 6.

This must mean that, for a while, before there was any Rain, the earth was watered by heavy fogs, because the earth's surface was yet so warm, and the consequent vapors so dense, that the cooling raindrops on the far outer fringes of the clouds would turn to vapor again before they reached the earth.
"The Lord God planted a Garden," Genesis 2:8.

For Location, see next two pages.

"The Tree of Life," Genesis 9; 3:23, may have been an actual food of Immortality, indicating that our Immortality is dependent on something outside ourselves. This Tree will again be accessible to those who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, Revelation 2:7; 22:2,14.
"The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil," Genesis 2:9,17, was "good for food," "a delight to the eyes," and "to be desired to make one wise," Genesis 3:6. Whatever the exact nature of this Tree, literal, figurative, or symbolic, the essence of Adam and Eve's sin, in part, at least, was this: the Transference of the Control of their lives from God to Themselves. God had, in substance, told them they could do Anything they wanted to, EXCEPT that One Thing. It was a Test of their Obedience. As long as they refrained, God was their Master. When, in spite of God's command, they did that One Thing, they made Themselves their Own Master. Is not that the Essence of Human Sin? assuming to run our lives to suit Our- selves? From the beginning God designed Man to LIVE FOREVER, the one condition being Obedience to God. Man failed. Then began the long, slow process of Redemption, by a Saviour, through Whom Man may regain his lost estate. Only in Absolute Obedience is Absolute Life.

Genesis 2:18-25. The Creation of Woman

It had already been stated in Genesis 1:27 that Man was created "Male and Female." Here the manner of Woman's creation is more fully told. And here, at the inception of the human race, at the outset of Sacred Writ, is ordained the divine origin and sanctity of Marriage: One Man and One Woman, One Flesh, Genesis 2:24.

Scripture represents Marriage as an earthly counterpart of the relation between Christ and the Church, Ephesians 5:25-32; Revelation 19:7; 21:2,9. The Church is called the "Bride" of Christ. Adam's bride was made from his side, while he was asleep, Genesis 2:21,22. This may be a primeval picture of the Church, the Bride of Christ, being made out of the "blood and water" that came from Christ's side, while He was in "sleep" on the Cross, John 19:34; 1 John 5:6,8.

"Naked, and Not Ashamed," Genesis 2:25. It may be that they were enswathed in the ethereal Light of God, as Jesus was when he was Transfigured, Mark 9:3; and which vanished on the entrance of Sin, and which will one day again clothe the Redeemed, Revelation 3:4; 21:23. Of all God's creatures, as far as we know, Man alone wears Clothing, a badge of our sinful nature, and a mute testimony to primeval truth.

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Location of the Garden of Eden

It was on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, at their junction with the Pishon and Gihon, Genesis 2:10-14. The Pishon and Gihon have not been identified. The Euphrates and Tigris rise in the Caucasus mountain region of southwest Asia, flow southeastward, and empty into the Persian Gulf, which is an inlet of the Indian Ocean, see map page 65.

Thus man may be said to have been created, and placed on the earth, at about the center of the earth's surface; for this Caucasus-Euphrates region is the approximate center of the Eastern Hemisphere, which is the larger of the two Hemispheres, see Black Square on Map 1, page 24.

Ethnologists quite generally consider this region to have been the original home of all the present races of men. It was the region from whence came the ox, goat, sheep, horse, pig, dog, and most domestic animals. Here too originated the apple, peach, pear, plum, cherry, quince, mulberry, gooseberry, vine, olive, fig, date, almond, wheat, barley, oats, pea, bean, flax, spinach, radish, onion, and most of our fruits and vegetables. The cradle of the human race.

Babylonia

While there are some who think that the Armenian Highlands, on the headwaters of the Euphrates and Tigris, which may not have been as high above sea level as now, see map on page 73, might possibly have been the particular site of the Garden of Eden, the traditional and generally accepted site of the Garden of Eden, is Babylonia, near the mouth of the Euphrates. "Edin" was the ancient name of the Babylonian plain.

At present the Euphrates and Tigris unite about 100 miles above the Persian Gulf. In Abraham's day the Gulf extended inland as far as Ur, and the two rivers entered the Gulf by separate streams, as indicated by the Dotted lines on the map on next page. The whole Babylonian plain was made by alluvial deposit of these two rivers. The river beds changed their courses often.

In Adam's time, possibly, the two rivers may have united for a short distance, and divided again, before entering the Gulf; the Garden being on the united stream between the junction and separation of the rivers, thus making four branches, or "heads," Genesis 2:10; the two rivers continuing as the east and west coast of the Gulf, and called Gihon and Pishon. In ancient inscriptions the Persian Gulf was called a "river". Its tides, rising 9 ft, would back up these streams, making them appear as "heads."

ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Eridu, Traditional Garden of Eden
The particular spot which tradition has fixed as the site of the Garden of Eden is a group of mounds, 12 miles south of Ur, known as Eridu (Abu Sharem). It was the home of "Adapa", the Babylonian Adam, see page 67. The Weld Prism says the first two kings in history reigned at Eridu, see pages 70, 71.

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Ancient Babylonian inscriptions say, "Near Eridu was a garden, in which was a mysterious sacred tree, a tree of life, planted by the gods, whose roots were deep, while its branches reached to heaven, protected by guardian spirits, and no man enters into the midst of it."

The ruins of Eridu were excavated by Hall and Thompson, of the British Museum, 1918-19. They found indications that it had been a prosperous and cultured city, revered as the original home of man.

The Eridu Region

The region around Eridu. excavations have revealed, was densely populated in the earliest known ages of history, and was for centuries dominating center of the world, a region where many of the oldest and most valuable inscriptions have been found.

Ur, the home of Abraham, see page 86, was only 12 miles from Eridu.
Fara, traditional home of Noah, see page 79, was 70 miles away.
'Obeid (Al 'Ubaid), where the oldest known historical document was found, see page 46, was only 15 miles from Eridu.
Lagash, where immense primitive libraries were found, see page 85, was only 60 miles from Eridu.
Nippur, another library center, see page 48, was 100 miles from Eridu.
Erech, one of Nimrod's cities, see page 85, was 50 miles from Eridu.
Larsa, where Weld Prism was found, was about 40 miles from Eridu
Babylon was only 150 miles from Eridu.

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• Bible History: Old Testament
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee
• Bible Exposition Commentary
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 3:1f. The Fall of Man

It was effected through the subtlety and guile of the Serpent. The Serpent is represented as speaking as of himself. But later Scripture indicates that it was Satan speaking through the Serpent, 2 Corinthians 11:3,14: Revelation 12:9; 20:2. Adam and Eve, at the time, were alone; no companion; except Animals, with whom they appeared to be quite friendly, Genesis 2:19,20. Some have thought that originally the Serpent stood erect, and was very beautiful, and by nature best fitted to be the tool of Satan. He inveigled Adam and Eve into Disobedience of their Creator. The dreadful work .was done. And the pall of Sin and Gloom and Toil and Pain and Death fell upon a world which God had made so beautiful and "very good," Genesis 1:31. Disobedience, Sin, Death.

Why Did God Make Man So That He could Sin?

Well, is there any other way He could have made him, except as a machine, or an animal guided only by instinct? Could there be a moral creature without the power to Choose? FREEDOM is God's gift to man: Freedom to think, Freedom to choose, Freedom of conscience: even though man uses his freedom to reject and Disobey his God.

In a certain train wreck, the engineer, who could have saved his life by Jumping, stuck to his post, and thereby saved the passengers, but lost his own life. They erected a monument. Not to the Train, for it did only what its machinery Forced it to do, but to the Engineer, who, of his own volition, Chose to give his life, to save the passengers. What virtue is there in obeying God, if, in our Nature there is no inclination to do other-wise? But if, of our Own Choice, and against the steady urge of our Nature, we obey God, there is character in that.

But Did Not God Foreknow that Man Would Sin?

Yes; and He foreknew the fearful consequences; and He also foreknew the Ultimate Outcome. We suffer and suffer, and wonder and wonder, why God has made such a world. But one day, after all has come to Final Fruition, our suffering will be over, and our wonderment will cease, and, with the Redeemed of all the ages, we will Join in never-ending Hallelujahs of Praise to God for Creating us as He did, and for leading us on to Life, Joy, and Glory, in the Endless Ages of Eternity, Revelation 19:1-8.

Effect of Sin on Nature

Here, in the opening pages of the Bible, we have a primeval explanation of nature as it is today: common hatred of snakes, Genesis 3:14,15; pain in child-birth, Genesis 3:15; and the earth's spontaneous production of useless weeds, while food-bearing vegetation has to be toilsomely cultivated, Genesis 3:17-19: as, also, the basis of the Sabbath, Genesis 2:2,3; and of Marriage, Genesis 2:24; and Foregleams of Christ, in the Seed of the Woman, Genesis 3:15, and in Sacrifice and Atonement, Genesis 4:4.

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"The Seed of the Woman", Genesis 3:15

Here, immediately after the Fall of Man, is God's prophecy and assurance that His Creation of Man would yet prove to be successful, through the "Seed of the Woman." This is the Bible's first hint of a Coming Redeemer. The use of "He", Genesis 3:15, shows that One Person is meant. There has been only ONE descendant of Eve who was born of Woman without being begotten of Man. Here, right at the start of the Bible story, is this primeval fore-gleam of Christ; and, as the pages pass, hints, for-gleams, glimpses, pictures, and plain statements, become clearer and more abundant, so that, as we come to the end of the Old Testament, there has been drawn a fairly complete picture of Christ.

"The Mother of All Living," Genesis 3:20.
On the Unity of the race in Adam is based the Atonement of Christ. One man's sin brought Death. One Man's Death brought Redemption from Sin, Romans 5:12-19.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES:

Babylonian Traditions of the Fall of Man.

Early Babylonian inscriptions abound in references to a "tree of life", from which man was driven, by the influence of an evil spirit personified in a serpent, and to which he was prevented from returning by guardian cherubs.

Among these tablets there is a story of "Adapa", so strikingly parallel, in some particulars, to the Biblical story of Adam, that he is called the Babylonian Adam.—"Adapa, the seed of mankind," — "the wise man of Eridu," — "blameless," — then he "offended the gods," — "through knowledge," — then he "became mortal," — "food of life he ate not," — "sickness he imposed on the people," — the gods said, "he shall not rest," — "they clothed him with a mourning garment." See Price's "Monuments and the Old Testament."

See Bible/World History.

There are two ancient Seals, figures 16 and 17, which seem to portray in picture exactly what Genesis says in words:

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The "Temptation" Seal, Fig 16, found among ancient Babylonian tablets. now in the British Museum, seems definitely to refer to the Garden of Eden story. In the center is a Tree; on the right, a Man; on the left, a Woman, plucking Fruit; behind the Woman, a Serpent, standing erect, as if whispering to her.

The "Adam and Eve" Seal, Fig 17, found, 1932, by Dr E. A. Speiser, of the University Museum of Pennsylvania, near the bottom of the Tepe Gawra Mound, 12 miles north of Nineveh. He dated the Seal at about 3500 B.C., and called it "strongly suggestive of the Adam and Eve story": a naked man and a naked woman, walking as if utterly down-cast and broken-hearted, followed by a serpent. The seal is about an inch in diameter, engraved on stone. It is now in the University Museum at Philadelphia.

Significance of These Primitive Inscriptions.

These old records, carved on stone and clay, at the very dawn of history, in the original home of the human race, preserved under the dust of the ages, and now at last brought to light by the spade of the archaeologist, are very distinct evidence that the main features of the Biblical story of Adam became deeply fixed in the thought of primitive man.

Other Traditions of the Fall of Man

Persian: our first parents, innocent, virtuous, and happy, lived in a Garden, where there was a Tree of Immortality, till an evil spirit in the form of a Serpent appeared. They may have inherited this tradition from Japheth, even as the Hebrews got theirs from Shem.

Hindoo: in the first age man was free from evil and disease, had all his wishes, and lived long.

Greek; the first men, in the golden age, were naked, free from evil and trouble, enjoyed uninterrupted communion with the gods, and the earth yielded her fruits spontaneously.

Chinese: had a tradition of a happy age, when men had an abundance of food, surrounded by peaceful animals.

Mongolians and Tibetans: had similar traditions.

Teutons: the primeval race enjoyed a life of perpetual festivity.

All Barbarous Races: have traditions of a more civilized state.

The original story of the Garden of Eden was. no doubt, told by Adam to Methuselah, and by Methuselah to Noah, and by Noah to his sons; and in the national cultures that followed it became variously and grossly modified. Are not these traditions evidence of an original basis of fact?

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• Bible History: Old Testament
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee
• Bible Exposition Commentary
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 4:1f. Cain and Abel

Assuming that Adam and Eve were created full-grown, Cain, when he killed Abel, must have been about 129 years old; for Seth was born soon after, Genesis 4:25, at which time Adam was 130, Genesis 5:3.

Abel's Sacrifice, Genesis 4:4, was acceptable, because he was righteous, 1 John 3:12, and because it was offered in faith, Hebrews 11:4. On the entrance of Sin, it seems, God had ordained such sacrifice. It appears to have been a sort of primeval picture of the Atoning Death of Christ. Cain's Wife, Genesis 4:17, must have been his Sister, for Eve was the "mother of all living," Genesis 3:20. Adam had unnamed sons and daughters, Genesis 5:4; tradition says, 33 sons and 27 daughters.

Who was there for Cain to fear? Genesis 4:14.

In the 130 years from Adam's creation to Abel's murder, a good many generations had arisen, with a total population probably of many thousands.

Cain's Sign, Genesis 4:15. Whatever it was, the people must have understood what it meant. This may have been the origin of writing: the mark stood for an Idea: and, soon, different marks for different ideas.

Cain's City, Genesis 4:17, somewhere east of Eden, was probably only a village of rude huts, with a wall for defense, to serve as a sort of headquarters for his outcast offspring.

Polygamy, Genesis 4:19, soon followed murder, in Cain's family. God had ordained, at the start, that One man and One woman live together in marriage, Genesis 2:24. But man soon managed otherwise.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Early Use of Metals
While Adam was yet living his descendants learned the use of copper and iron, and invented musical instruments, Genesis 4:21,22.

Until recently the use of iron was thought to have been unknown previous to the 12th century B.C. The terms which historians and archaeologists have used to denote the successive steps in the advance of civilization are:

Palaeolithic: Early Stone Age; used unshaped stones.
Neolithic; Late Stone Age; used shaped stones, bone, wood.

Chalcolithic: Copper-Stone; transition from stone to metal.

Bronze Age: 2500-1200 B C.

Iron Age: 1200 B.C. onward.

In 1933 Dr. H. E. Frankfort, of the Oriental Institute, discovered, in the ruins of Asmar , about 100 miles northeast of Babylon, an Iron blade which had been made about 2700 B C; thus pushing back the known use of iron some 1,500 years.

Primitive inscriptions have revealed that Babylonia has never been inhabited with people unacquainted with the use of metals. Copper instruments have been found in the ruins of a number of pre-Flood cities.

The Weld Prism , which gives the names of the ten long-lived kings who reigned before the Flood, says that the 3rd, 5th, and 6th reigned at a place called "Badgurgurru." This word means "city of workers in bronze." It may be a tradition of Cain's city, Genesis 4:17.

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• Bible History: Old Testament
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee
• Bible Exposition Commentary
• Bible Handbook by Haley

"The Book of the Generations of Adam," Genesis 5:1 to 6:8

The 3rd document composing the book of Genesis, see page 58. It carries the story to the 500th year of Noah's life, Genesis 5:32. It may have been started by Adam, continued by Enoch and Methuselah, and completed by Noah. Copies of this and the two previous documents may have been made by Noah on clay tablets, and buried, as the tradition says, page 44, at Sippar. Copies may have been taken into the Ark.

Genesis 5. Genealogy from Adam to Noah

Their ages are listed as follows:
Adam, 930 years.
Seth, 912 years.
Enosh, 905 years.
Kenan, 910 years.
Mahalalel, 895 years.
Jared, 962 years.
Enoch, 365 years.
Methuselah, 969 years.
Lamech, 777 years.
Noah, 950 years.

The Great Age to which they lived is ordinarily explained on the theory that Sin had only begun its malign influence on the race, which had descended from a nature originally Immortal. Some think that the names are of dynastic epochs, instead of individuals. Others think that, at that time, Months were regarded as Years. Modern critics, of course, call it Legend.

The figures in this chapter, with Genesis 6:6, indicate that there were 1656 years. between the Creation of Man and the Flood. Some think that, inasmuch as this genealogy, and that in Genesis 11:1f, have each just 10 generations, they may be abbreviated, as that of Jesus in Matthew 1:1f. But the formula, "lived — years, and begat —", is against such a theory.

Enoch, Genesis 5:21-24

He was the Best of them. In a society of unspeakable wickedness, he "walked with God." Born 622 years after the creation of Adam, he was contemporary with Adam 308 years. "God took him" 69 years before the birth of Noah, while he was only 365.

The one other to be thus Translated, without having to die, was Elijah, 2 Kings 2:1f: Enoch and Elijah, perhaps, being intended of God to be a sort of fore-picture of the happy fate of the saints who will still be in the flesh when the Lord Returns, 1 Thessalonians 4:17.

Arabs had a legend that it was Enoch who invented Writing. The New Testament refers to a Prophecy of Enoch, Jude 14.

Methuselah, Genesis 5:25-27
He was the Oldest of the ten, 969 years, son of Enoch. His life overlapped that of Adam by 243 years, and that of Shem by 98 years, thus forming a connecting link between the Garden of Eden and the Post-Flood world. He died the year of the Flood.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Primeval Longevity [Large PDF]
Berosus, a Babylonian historian of 300 B C, basing his history on archives in the Temple of Marduk, copied from primitive inscriptions, many of which have been found, named 10 long-lived kings who reigned before

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the Flood, each reigning from 10,000 to 60,000 years, as: Aloros, Alaparos, Amelon, Ammenon, Megalaros, Daonos, Eudorachos, Amenpsinos, Otiartes, Xisuthros. "In the time of Xisuthros," says Berosus, "the Great Deluge occurred."

The Weld Prism and Nippur Tablets, see pages 48,49, assigning thousands of years to each reign, as Berosus did, name the Pre-Flood kings as:

"Then the Flood overthrew the land."

These must be the same kings as those named by Berosus, known by different names after the Confusion of Tongues at Babel. The tablets that give these names were written after the Historic period began. It seems that the ancients, in speaking of their PRE-Historic times, fell into the same temptations that our moderns do, of exaggerating to vast dimensions the chronology of their primeval world.

Besides the Babylonians: Persians, Egyptians, Hindoos, Greeks, and others had traditions of the great longevity of earth's earliest inhabitants. Where could such traditions come from, except from the fact that the first men did actually live long?

ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Excavations in Pre-Flood Cities

The cities named, at the top of this page, as the homes of Pre-Flood kings, have been identified, except Badgurgurru. Excavations in their ruins, and the ruins of other Pre-Flood cities, have brought to light many features of Ante-Diluvian life, and have made very real to us the world of the first few chapters of Genesis.

Among the Pre-Flood cities excavated are: Eridu, Obeid, Erech, Susa, Tepe Gawra, Ur, Kish, Fara (Shuruppak), Sippar (Accad), Larsa, Jemdet Nasr. in their ruins archaeologists have gotten very close to the beginnings of settled life in Babylonia.

Among the relics of Pre-Flood peoples found in these ruins are such things as painted pottery, flint implements, tools of obsidian (volcanic glass), turquoise vases, copper axes, copper mirrors, hoes, sickles, various implements of stone, flint, quartz, fish hooks, models of boats, an under- ground kiln and specimens of most beautiful vitrified pottery, cosmetics which pre-historic women used for darkening their eyebrows and eyelids, brick ruins of temples painted red or covered with plaster, pottery artistically painted in intricate geometric patterns and figures of birds, ever a chariot, and architectural accomplishments that indicate an "astonishingly advanced civilization."

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• Bible History: Old Testament
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee
• Bible Exposition Commentary
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 6:1-8. Pre-Flood Wickedness

The "sons of God", Genesis 6:2, are thought to have been, either fallen angels, to which there may be reference in 2 Peter 2:4 and Jude 1:6, or, leaders in Sethite families who intermarried with godless descendants of Cain. These abnormal marriages, whatever they were, filled the earth with corruption and violence.

Jesus regarded the Flood as an Historical Fact, and likened the time of His Coming Again to the days of Noah, Matthew 24:37-39. What is going on in the world, at the present time, makes us wonder, if, even now, those days may be returning.

The "120 years," Genesis 6:3, seem to refer to the respite to the Flood. Or, it may mean the reduced span of life, from that referred to in Genesis 5:1f.

"The Generations of Noah," Genesis 6:9 to 9:28

The 4th document composing the book of Genesis, see page 58. It contains the story of the Flood, as told, and perhaps recorded, by Noah, and handed on by Shem to Abraham.

Genesis 6:9-18. Noah and the Ark

The Ark was about 450 ft long, 75 ft wide, 45 ft high. It had three decks, divided into compartments, with a window course around the top. Some have calculated that it had a displacement of about 40,000 tons. It must have been very much the same size and proportion as ocean ships of today. Living on the banks of a great river, boat building was one of man's earliest accomplishments. Cuneiform tablets indicate that at the dawn of history the inhabitants of Babylonia engaged in river and sea traffic. Noah's home, according to Babylonian tradition, was at Fara, on the Euphrates, about 70 miles northwest from the site of the Garden of Eden. So boat-building and river traffic must have been familiar to Noah from childhood.

• Bible History: Old Testament
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee
• Bible Exposition Commentary
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 6:19 to 7:5. The Animals

In Genesis 6:19-21 and 7:2, it is explained that Seven pairs of Clean animals, but only One pair of each of the others, were to be taken into the Ark. Some have calculated that there was room in the Ark for 7000 species of animals. In gathering the animals, they may have selected the very young. Then, too, we are told, that sometimes wild animals seem to have a presentiment of an impending catastrophe, and become tame.

It was a gigantic task to build the Ark, gather the animals, and store the necessary food. Noah and his three sons could not have done it alone. Being grandson of Methuselah, and great grandson of Enoch, he may, as the Babylonian tradition says, have been a City-King; and may have employed thousands of men in the work. And he may have been the best part of 120 years doing it, Genesis 6:3. And was undoubtedly the subject of unceasing ridicule, but undaunted in his faith, 2 Peter 2:5; Hebrews 11:7.

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Genesis 7:6 to 8:19. The Flood

"The fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened," Genesis 7:11. The Euphrates Valley might almost be called the Isthmus of the Eastern Hemisphere, where the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean approach each other, and almost divide Africa on the south from Europe and Asia on the north. The Armenian Mountain country is almost like an island system, with the Caspian and Black Seas on the north, the Mediterranean on the west, and the Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean on the south. A cataclysmic subsidence of the region would cause the waters to pour in from these seas, as rain poured down from above.

Extent of the Flood

"All the high mountains that were under the whole heavens were covered. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth," Genesis 7:19,21. This doubtless, is the very language in which Shem related, or wrote, the story of the Flood to his children and grandchildren. He told it as he saw it. Are we to interpret his language according to his own geography? or present day geography? The whole race, except Noah and his family, were destroyed. To destroy the race it was necessary for the Flood to cover only so much of the earth as was inhabited. Accepting the Bible account as it is, there had been only TEN generations from Adam, the first man.
How could ONE family, in TEN generations, with primitive modes of travel, populate the whole earth? Most likely the race had not spread far outside the Euphrates basin. Howbeit, some think that the Flood did actually cover the whole earth, as we now know the earth, identifying it with the last great change in land levels at the close of the Glacial Epoch. >

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Time in the Ark

Noah went into the Ark 7 days before it began to rain, Genesis 7:4,10. It began to rain 17th day of 2nd month of Noah's 600th year, Genesis 7:11. Rained 40 days, Genesis 7:12. Waters prevailed 150 days, Genesis 7:24; 8:3. Ark rested 17th day of 7th month, Genesis 8:4. Mountain tops became visible 1st day of 10th month, Genesis 8:5. Removed Ark's Covering 1st day of 1st month of Noah's 601st year, Genesis 8:13. Went out of Ark 27th day of 2nd month, Genesis 8:14-19. In the Ark 1 year 17 days: 5 months floating, 7 months on mountain.

Mount Ararat

After floating some 500 miles or more from where it had started, the Ark rested on a peak in the mountains of Armenia, called Ararat, see Map page 80, about 200 miles north of Nineveh. Mt Ararat is 17,000 feet high. At its foot is a city called Naxuana, or Nakhichevan, which claims the tomb of Noah. The name means, "Here Noah settled."

• Bible History: Old Testament;  Ch. 09.
• Key Word Commentary;  Ch. 09.
• Bible Background Commentary;  Ch. 09.
• Wesley's Commentary;  Ch. 09.
• J. Vernon McGee;  Ch. 09.
• Bible Exposition Commentary;  Ch. 09.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 8:20

Genesis 8:20 to 9:17. The Rainbow

If, as some geologists think, there were frequent floods before the Great Deluge, on account of frequent changes in land levels, with a warmer climate and consequent density of moisture in the atmosphere, it may be that this great geologic change resulted in a clarified air that made the Rainbow clearly visible. And God designated it as the Sign of His Covenant with mankind that there would not be another Flood, Genesis 9:8-17.

The earth's next destruction will be by Fire, 2 Peter 3:7.

Genesis 9:18-28. Noah's Prophecy, Genesis 9:25-27

Descendants of Ham to be servant races; Shemites to preserve the knowledge of the True God; Japhetic races to have largest portion of the world, and to supplant Semitic races as teachers of God. It was fulfilled when the Israelites took Canaan, the Greeks took Sidon, and Rome conquered Carthage; and ever since Japhetic races have dominated the world, and have been converted to the God of Shem, while Semitic races have occupied a place of comparative insignificance; and Hamitic races a place of servitude. An amazing forecast of history.

Reported Discovery of Noah's Ark

It has been announced in a number of publications that certain Russian aviators, just prior to the Bolshevik Revolution, claimed to have seer the hulk of a gigantic ship high up in the inaccessible glacier fastnesses of Mt Ararat; and that they reported their find to the Russian Government. Whereupon the Czar sent an expedition, which found the ship and took measurements, drawings and photographs. Just then the Czarisi Government was overthrown by the atheistic Bolsheviks, and these report; were never made public. Let us hope it may soon be investigated.

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Babylonian Tradition of the Flood

Archives of the Temple of Marduk, in Babylon, as related by Berosus, 300 B.C. , contained this story: Xisuthros, a king, was warned by one of the gods to build a ship, and take into it his friends and relatives and all different kinds of animals, with all necessary food. Whereupon he built an immense ship, which was stranded in Armenia. Upon subsidence of the Flood, he sent out birds; the third time, they returned not. He came out, builded an altar, and offered up sacrifice. A more ancient version of the tradition is contained in the Flood Tablets found, 1872, by George Smith, at Nineveh, see next page.

Other Traditions

Egyptians had a legend that the gods at one time purified the earth by a great Flood, from which only a few shepherds escaped in a mountain.

Greek tradition: Deucalion, warned that the gods were going to bring a flood upon the earth, for its great wickedness, built an ark, which rested on Mt Parnassus. A dove was sent out twice.

Hindu tradition: Manu, warned, built a ship, in which he alone escaped from a Deluge which destroyed all creatures.

Chinese tradition: Fa-He, founder of Chinese civilization, is represented as having escaped from a Flood sent because man had rebelled against heaven, with his wife, 3 sons and 3 daughters.

England: Druids had a legend that the world had been re-peopled from a righteous patriarch who had been saved in a strong ship from a Flood sent by the Supreme Being to destroy man for his wickedness.

Polynesians have stories of a Flood from which 8 escaped in a canoe.

Mexicans: One man, his wife and children, were saved in a ship from a Flood which overwhelmed the earth.

Peruvians: One man and one woman were saved in a box that floated on the flood waters.

American Indians: Various legends, in which 1, 3, or 8 persons were saved in a Boat above the waters on a high mountain.

Greenland: The earth once tilted over, and all men were drowned, except one man and one woman, who re-peopled the earth.

See International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.

Universality of the Tradition

Babylonians, Assyrians, Egyptians, Persians, Hindus, Greeks, Chinese, Phrygians, Fiji Islanders, Esquimaux, Aboriginal Americans, Indians, Brazilians, Peruvians, and indeed every branch of the whole human race, Semitic, Aryan, Turanian,—have traditions of a Great Deluge that destroyed all mankind, except one family, and which impressed itself indelibly on the memory of the ancestors of all these races before the) separated. "All these myths are intelligible only on the supposition that some such event did actually occur. Such a universal belief, not surprising from some instinctive principle of our nature, must be based on an Historical Fact."

See Archaeological confirmation, next page.

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ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: The Flood Tablets
George Smith, of the British Museum, found, 1872, in tablets from the Library of Assur-banipal at Nineveh, accounts of the Flood curiously parallel to the Bible account, which had been copied from tablets dating back to the First Dynasty of Ur, a period about midway between the Flood and Abraham. Later, many of these ancient tablets were found. In these tablets these expressions repeatedly appear: "The Flood", "the age before the Flood," "the inscriptions of the time before the Flood." The clay prism, which gives the names of the 10 long-lived pre-Flood kings, says, after the 10th name: "Then the Flood overthrew the land."

Babylonian Noah's Own Story of the Flood

It is a part of what is called the Gilgamesh Epic.
Gilgamesh was the 5th king of the Erech dynasty, which was one of the first dynasties after the Flood. This Epic gives the story of his adventures, one of which was a visit to the island abode of Utnapishtim, the Babylonian Noah, in search of the secret of eternal life, which Utnapishtim was supposed to possess. This visit is depicted on a seal, Fig 18, found recently at Tell Billa near Nineveh, shown below. In his reply to Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim (Noah) relates the story of the Flood and his escape from it. His story is contained on many different tablets, with variations. In substance, and in brief, it is as follows: "The assembly of the gods decided to send a Deluge. They said, On the sinner let his sin rest. 0' man of Shuruppak, build a ship, save your life. Construct it with six stories, each with seven parts, Smear it with bitumen inside and outside. Launch it upon the ocean, Take into the ship seed of life of every kind, 1 built it. With ail that I had 1 loaded it, with silver, gold, and all living things that I had. 1 embarked upon the ship with my family and kindred. I closed the door. The appointed time arrived. I observed the appearance of the day. It was terrible. All light was turned to darkness. The rains poured down. The storm raged; like a battle charge on mankind. The boat trembled. The gods wept. I looked out upon the sea. All mankind was turned to clay, like logs floating about. The tempest ceased. The flood was over.

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The ship grounded on Mt Nazir. On the seventh day I sent out a dove; it returned. I sent out a swallow; it returned. I sent out a raven; it alighted, it waded about; it croaked; it did not return. I disembarked. I appointed a sacrifice. The gods smelled the sweet savor. They said, Let it be done no more. They said, In former times Utnapishtim was a man; now let him be like us immortal; and let him dwell afar off, at the mouth of the rivers."

ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: The Flood Deposit at Ur

These traditions of the Flood, though mixed with polytheism and some evident myth, show that the Flood had become a fixed fact in the memory of the early inhabitants of Babylonia. And now, within the last few years, an Actual Layer of Mud, evidently deposited by the Flood, has been found in three separate places: Ur, which was 12 miles from the traditional site of the Garden of Eden; at Fara, traditional home of Noah, 60 miles further up the river; and at Kish, a suburb of Babylon, 100 miles still further up the river; and, possibly, also at a fourth place, Nineveh, 300 miles still further up the river, see page 79.

At Ur, city of Abraham, the Joint Expedition of the University Museum of Pennsylvania and the British Museum, under the leadership of Dr. C. L. Woolley, found, 1929, near the bottom of the Ur mounds, underneath several strata of human occupation, a great bed of solid water-laid clay 8 ft thick without admixture of human relic, with yet the ruins of another city buried beneath it. Dr. Woolley said that 8 ft of sediment implied a very great depth and a long period of water, that it could not have been put there by any ordinary overflow of the rivers, but only by some such vast inundation as the Biblical Flood. The civilization underneath the flood layer was so different from that above it that it indicated to Dr Woolley "a sudden and terrific break in the continuity of history." See Woolley's "Ur of the Chaldees."

For more about Ur Excavations, see pages 86,87, of Haley's Handbook.

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ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: The Flood Deposit at Kish

Kish (Ukheimer, EI-Ohemer, Uhaimir), on the east edge of Babylon, on a bed of the Euphrates which is now dry, was said, on the tablets, to have been the first city re-built after the Flood, on the same site.

The Field Museum-Oxford University Joint Expedition, under the direction of Dr Stephen Langdon, found, 1928-29, a bed of clean water-laid clay, in the lower strata of the ruins of Kish, 5 ft thick, indicating a flood of vast proportions. In the center of Fig 21 the flood layer is located just above the wall ruins. It contained no objects of any kind. Dr Langdon suggested that it may have been the Flood mentioned in the Bible. Underneath it the relics represented an entirely different type of culture. Among the relics found was a four-wheeled Chariot, the wheels made of wood and copper nails, with the skeletons of the animals that drew it lying between the shafts,

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ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: The flood Deposit at Fara

Fara (Shuruppak, Sukkurru), home of the Babylonian Noah, about half way between Babylon and Ur. Once on the Euphrates, now 40 miles to the east. A low-lying group of mounds, beaten by the sands of the desert. Excavated, 1931, by Dr Eric Schmidt, of the University Museum of Pennsylvania. He found the remains of three cities: the top one, contemporaneous with the 3rd Ur dynasty, see page 85; the middle city, Early Sumerian; and the bottom city, Pre-Flood.

The Flood Layer was between the middle city and the bottom city. It consisted of yellow dirt, a mixture of sand and clay, definitely alluvial, water-laid, solid earth, without relics of human occupation, as illustrated in Fig. 24. Underneath the flood deposit was a layer of charcoal and ashes, a dark colored culture refuse which may have been wall remains, painted pottery, skeletons, cylinder seals, stamp seals, pots, pans, and vessels, with an appearance that indicated that the population had "hastily deserted their homes, leaving their belongings behind." Fig. 23 shows Dr. Schmidt's men digging underneath the flood deposit. See "University Museum Journal", September, 1931.

At Nineveh Also?
In "Annals of Archaeology and Anthropology", Vol XX, ps 134-35, PI 73, M. E. L. Mallowan, director of the British Museum Excavations at Nineveh, 1932-33, describing the sinking of a pit in the Great Mound, through 90 ft from the top to virgin soil, states that 70 ft of the 90 represented five pre-historic strata of occupation, and that about half-way down, between the 2nd and 3rd strata from the bottom, there was a stratum some 8 ft thick consisting of alternate layers of viscous mud and riverine sand with 13 distinct rises in level, which in his opinion, indicated a series of severe pluvial seasons. There was a distinct difference between the pottery under the wet layer, and that above it. Could this be a deposit of the Great Flood?

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• Bible History: Old Testament
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee
• Bible Exposition Commentary
• Bible Handbook by Haley

"The Generations of the Sons of Noah," Genesis 10:1 to 11:9

The 5th document composing the book of Genesis, see page 58, prepared, probably, by Shem, and handed on by him to Abraham: Shem lived from 98 years before Flood till 150 years after birth of Abraham, Genesis 11:10.

Genesis 10:1f. Nations Descended from Noah

Noah's family disembarked from the Ark at Mt Ararat, near the head-waters of the Euphrates river. Then, it seems, they migrated back, 500 miles, southeastward, and settled in Babylonia, their Pre-Flood home. Then, 100 years later, Genesis 10:25, were scattered by the Confusion of Tongues.

Descendants of Japheth, North Zone of Nations, Genesis 10:2-5

Japhethites went Northward, and settled in regions around the Black and Caspian Seas; and became progenitors of the great Caucasian races of Europe and Asia. Greeks had a tradition that "lapetos" (Japheth?) was father of the human race.

Descendants of Ham, South Zone of Nations, Genesis 10:6-20

Hamites went Southward. The names given seem to indicate South and Central Arabia, Egypt, the East Shore of the Mediterranean, and the East Coast of Africa. Canaan, son of Ham, and his descendants, settled, and gave their name to, the land which later became the home land of the Jews. Egypt was called the "Land of Ham". Ham himself may have led the migration to Egypt. "Khen", an Egyptian god, was Egyptian equivalent of the Hebrew word "Ham." Egypt was called "Mizraim," the narru of Ham's son. Nimrod was a Hamite .

Descendants of Shem, Central Zone of Nations, Genesis 10:21-31.

Shemites included Jews, Assyrians, Syrians, Elamites, in north Euphrate Valley and its borders, see page 83. "Jobab", 29, may have been Jot

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Nimrod, Genesis 10:8-12

Nimrod was the most outstanding leader in the -400 years between the Flood and Abraham. Grandson of Ham, Genesis 10:8, born soon after the Flood, judging by the ages mentioned in Genesis 11:10-16, he may have lived through the whole period. He was a very enterprising man.

His fame as a "mighty hunter," Genesis 10:9, meant that he was protector of the people at a time when wild animals were a continual menace, in early Babylonian seals and reliefs there is often represented a king in victorious combat with a lion. This may be a tradition of Nimrod.

In his ambition to control the rapidly multiplying and spreading race, he seems to have been leader in the Tower of Babel enterprise, Genesis 10:10; 11:9. And, after the Confusion of Tongues, and Dispersion of the People, Nimrod seems to have, later, resumed work on Babylon. Then he built three nearby cities, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, and consolidated them into one kingdom under his own rule. Cities and kingdoms were then very small; but this was the beginning of Imperialism.

Babylonia was long known as the "Land of Nimrod." He was afterward deified, as god of Babylon, his name being identical with "Merodach."

Still ambitious to control the ever-spreading race, Nimrod went 300 miles further north, and founded Nineveh (though one version says it was Asshur) and three nearby cities, Rehoboth, Calah, and Resen. This constituted Nimrod's northern kingdom. For many centuries afterward, these two cities, Babylon and Nineveh, founded by Nimrod, were the Leading Cities of the World. Some would identify Nimrod with Gilgamesh, 5th king of the Erech dynasty, see page 76, and page 85.

Cuneiform inscriptions state that Nineveh was colonized from Babylon; which is an archaeological confirmation of Genesis 10:11.

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• Bible History: Old Testament
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee
• Bible Exposition Commentary
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 11. FROM THE FLOOD TO ABRAHAM

Tower of Babel and Confusion of Tongues, Genesis 11:1-9.

The Confusion of Tongues occurred in the 4th generation after the Flood, about the time of the birth of Peleg, Genesis 10:25, which was 101 years after the Flood, and 326 years before the Call of Abraham, Genesis 11:10-26. It was 'God's method of dispersing the race to its task of subduing the earth. It may, in part, account for the variety of gods, and also for the variety of names of Pre-Flood persons.

Work on the Tower of Babel was stopped temporarily; but was soon resumed by those who remained in Babylonia; and the Tower became the center around which Babylon was built. It became a pattern for similar towers in other Babylonian cities, and may have suggested the form of the Pyramids which soon began to rise in Egypt.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Site of the Tower of Babel

The traditional Tower of Babel is at Borsippa, 10 miles southwest from the center of Babylon. Sir Henry Rawlinson found in a foundation corner in Borsippa a cylinder with this inscription: "The tower of Borsippa, which a former king erected, and completed to a height of 42 cubits, whose summit he did not finish, fell to ruins in ancient times. There was no proper care of its gutters for 1he water; rain and storms had washed away its brick, and the tiles of its roof were broken. The great god Marduk urged me to restore it. I did not alter its site, or change its foundation walls. At a favorable time I renewed its brick work and its roofing tiles, and I wrote my name on the cornices of the edifice. I built it anew as it had been ages before; I erected its pinnacle as it was in remote days." This seems like a tradition of the unfinished tower of Babel. Fig. 25.

It is commonly thought by archaeologists that more likely the actual site was in the center of Babylon, identified with the ruins just north of the Marduk Temple, Map 50, page 303. G. Smith found an ancient tablet reading: "The building of this illustrious tower offended the gods. In a night they threw down what they had built. They scattered them

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abroad, and made strange their speech. Their progress they impeded .They wept hot tears for Babylon." This seems like a tradition of Babel. It is now an immense hole 330 ft square, Fig. 26, which has been used as a quarry from which to take bricks. When standing it consisted of a number of successive platforms one on top of another, each smaller than the one below, a sanctuary to Marduk on the top.

"The Generations of Shem," Genesis 11:10-26

The 6th document [See Page 58.] composing the book of Genesis, In Genesis 10:21-31, Shem's descendants are named in a more general way. Here the line is carried straight from Shem to Abraham, covering 10 generations, 427 years. Shem himself may have recorded this entire genealogy, for his life spanned the period covered by it. Below is a table showing the ages from Adam to the Flood, as given in Genesis 5:1f, see page 70, and page 71; and from the Flood to Abraham, as given here in Genesis 11.

According to these figures:

It was 1656 years from Adam to the Flood: 427 years from Flood to Abraham.

Adam's life overlapped Methuselah by 243 years.

Methuselah's life overlapped Noah by 600 years; and Shem by 98 years.

There were only 126 years between death of Adam and birth of Noah.
Noah lived 350 years after the Flood; died 2 years before birth of Abraham.
Shem lived from 98 years before Flood till 502 years after Flood.
Shem lived till 75 years after Abraham entered Canaan.
Adam was alive at birth of great-great-great-great-great grandchildren.
Noah lived to 9th generation of his own descendants.
In column at right, all but Peleg and Nahor were alive at birth of Abraham.
In such a period of longevity, population increased very rapidly.
Before Flood they lived to great age. Prom then on, a gradual reduction.

"The Generations of Terah," Genesis 11:27 to 25:11

The 7th document composing the book of Genesis, see page 58 . The story of Abraham, recorded, probably, by Abraham and Isaac.

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CHAPTER 11. FROM THE FLOOD TO ABRAHAM, Cont.

This Period In Babylonian History

Ancient Babylonian inscriptions, after naming 10 Pre-Flood kings, add "Then the Flood overthrew the land,"

Then, for the period between the Flood and Hammurabi, a contemporary of Abraham, 100 kings, of 20 different cities, or dynasties, are named.

On the tablets, for the early part of this period, there is a sudden reduction in the length of reigns, from enormous to reasonable figures marking the dividing line between "Historic," that is, records made of Contemporaneous Events, and "Pre-Historic," that is, records of Earlier Events made from Oral Tradition, or made in cuneiform script from earlier pictographic script which had not been deciphered or was mis-read.

City-Kingdoms

At the opening of the historic period there were settlements at Kith, Lagash, Erech, Ur, Eridu, Nippur, Accad, Babylon, Larsa, Fara, and other places. These were small fortified cities, each ruled by a king or priest-king. They were in constant conflict with one another. Sometimes one city would gain control over others thus making a small empire. This domination would last for a while, and then dissolve, or pass to some other city or cities. These kings recorded their exploits on clay tablets, thousands of which have been dug up in recent years. The tablets, how-ever, do not indicate to what extent the city-dynasties were contemporaneous, consecutive, or overlapping. So the chronology of the period is very uncertain.

The Principal Dynasties, according to these tablets, ruling in Babylonia, between the Flood and the days of Abraham, are named on next page. Notice: these centers of population were still clustered around Eridu, traditional Garden of Eden, and Fara, traditional home of Noah.

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Kish Dynasty

Called on the tablets the First Dynasty after the Flood. Kish was a suburb of Babylon, near the site of the Tower of Babel, earliest great Post-Flood city, main capital of Babylonia in the period immediately following the Flood. See further page 78. It was here that Dr. Langdon found remains of the Flood deposit.

Lagash Dynasty

Lagash was capital of the first Sumerian, or Hamitic, kingdom, after the Flood, in South Babylonia, as Kish was capital of the first Semitic kingdom, in North Babylonia; about 100 miles apart. One of Lagash's kings, Eannatum, brought all Babylonia under his control, and extended his dominion over the Elamites up in the eastern plateau. Lagash was a library center, excavated by Sarzec, 1877-1901,

Erech Dynasty

Erech, also called Uruk, or Warka, one of Nimrod's cities, was only 50 miles from traditional Garden of Eden. One of its kings was Gilgamesh, . Another was Lugalziggissi, who was the first king to reach the Mediterranean, generations before Abraham made the journey, and called himself "Lord of the World." Erech was excavated by Koldewey, 1913, and Noldeke and Jordan, 1928-33. They found it to be one of earth's oldest cities, with 18 distinct pre-historic layers. It was the chief seat of Ishtar worship, where prostitution was compulsory.

Accad Dynasty

Accad, also called Sippar, another of Nimrod's cities, and another famous library center, , was about 100 miles northwest from Noah's traditional home, Fara. It produced SARGON I, most famous warrior of pre-Abrahamic times, who ruled from Elam to Mt Sinai, and called himself "King of the Four Quarters of the World." He was a great conqueror, builder, and promoter of learning. He founded a great library. He is thought to have been about contemporary with Cheops, builder of the Great Pyramid in Egypt.

Ur Dynasties

Only 12 miles from Eridu, traditional Garden of Eden, Ur, for a while, after the Flood, was outstripped by other nearby cities. But by the time of Abraham it had grown to be the leading city of the world, see next two pages. Under two of its most famous kings, Ur-engur and Dungi, Ui ruled from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean.

Babylon Dynasty

About the time of Abraham's migration to Canaan, 2000 B C, Babylon under Hammurabi, came into supremacy. Hammurabi, a great warrior who built temples, dug canals, and compiled a legal code, is commonly identified with "Amraphel" of Genesis 14:1.

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Genesis 11. FROM THE FLOOD TO ABRAHAM, Cont.

This Period in Babylonian History

Excavations in Ur, the City of Abraham

Ur, also called Mugheir, and Mugayyar, was once a seaport, on the Persian Gulf, at the mouth of the Euphrates river, 12 miles from Eridu, traditional site of the Garden of Eden,
A Pre-Flood city; destroyed by the Flood; and re-built. Just preceding the time ofAbraham, it was the most magnificent city in all the world; a center of manufacture, farming, and shipping, in a land of fabulous fertility and wealth, with caravans going in every direction to distant lands, and ships sailing from the docks of Ur down the Persian Gulf with cargoes of copper and hard stone. Then, about the time of Abraham, it was eclipsed by Babylon; but remained an important city on down to the Persian period; by which time the Gulf had receded, and the Euphrates had changed its course, running 10 miles to the east; and Ur was abandoned to be buried by the sandstorms of the desert.

The Ruins of Ur, a number of cities, one upon another, Abraham's city near the bottom, consist of a tall mound, surrounded by lower subsidiary mounds, covering an area about 2 miles long northwest and south-east, and about ½ mile wide. Remnants of a surrounding wall, 70 ft thick, 80 ft high, have been traced for 2 ½ miles. The Sacred Area, occupied by Temples and Palaces, was surrounded by an inner wall, 400 yards long, 200 yards wide.

The University Museum of Pennsylvania and the British Museum, in a Joint Expedition, under leadership of C. L. Woolley, for 12 seasons, 1922-34, each season lasting 4 or 5 winter months, with some 200 workmen each season, quite thoroughly explored the secrets of these ruins.

The Ziggurar, or Temple-Tower, patterned after the Tower of Babel, is now the tallest mound, and in Abraham's day was the most conspicuous building in the city. It was last re-built, by Nabonidus, in the 6th century B C, on the ruins of the Temple that had stood in Abraham's time, which itself, in turn, had been re-built over the foundations (which still remain) of one that had stood there in pre-historic times. The Tower, as Abraham saw it, was square, terraced, built of solid brick, the successive terraces planted with trees and shrubbery; at the top a sanctuary to the Moon-God.

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Note: Startling evidence for Noah's Flood; Footprints and sand ‘dunes' in a Grand Canyon sandstone!

The Temples. The two main Temples were those of the Moon-God, Nannar, and the Moon- Goddess, Ningal; in their glory in Abraham's day; a vast complex of shrines, small rooms, living quarters for the priests, priestesses, and attendants: deities Abraham's father worshiped.

The Royal Tombs.
One of the most amazing discoveries was the rich treasures of the tombs of Queen Shubad, Mes-kalam-dug, and an unnamed King, in the lower levels of the Cemetery, Fig. 28, of a time about midway between Abraham and the Flood. With the bones of the Queen were found a golden crown, head-dress, a great profusion of beads, necklaces, and ornaments of gold, silver, and semi-precious stones, cups, plates, saucers, toilet boxes, paint cups, a golden harp; the bones of 40 court servants who had been sacrificed at the burial of the Queen, with an endless variety of copper, bronze, stone and flint implements, to serve the Queen in the next world; the remains of a chariot with the bones of the animals that drew it. These may now be seen in the University Museum at Philadelphia. They bear witness to a very high degree of skill, thus early; and also to the practice of human sacrifice, and belief in a future life.

A Residence Section, of Abraham's time, was uncovered, homes, shops, schools, and chapels, with thousands of tablets, business documents, contracts, receipts, hymns, liturgies, etc. The very streets on which Abraham walked may now be seen, Fig, 29. The houses were built of brick, two-story, flush with the street, court on inside.

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FROM THE FLOOD TO ABRAHAM, Cont.

This Period in Egyptian History

While the Bible story starts in Babylonia it soon shifts to Egypt, which ever afterward looms large in the Old Testament.

Egypt was founded, soon after the Flood, by Mizraim son of Ham. It was called the "Land of Ham."

While civilization was developing in Babylonia under Nimrod, Sargon, and Hammurabi, it made greater strides in Egypt under the first 12 Dynasties, which covered the period between the Flood and Abraham.

Manetho's 31 Dynasties. Manetho, an Egyptian, about 250 B C, wrote a history of Egypt, which he arranged under 31 dynasties, from Menes, first historical king, to the Greek conquest by Alexander the Great, 332 B C; and to this day ancient Egyptian history is commonly spoken of in terms of these 31 dynasties; and in the main their correctness has been corroborated by archaeological findings.

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At first Egypt was composed ot a number of family groups, or small tribes, each called a "kingdom." They had their "pre-historic" period, that is, a period before written records were made of contemporaneous events: with traditions of primeval long-lived gods, demi-gods, and kings. They knew the use of gold, silver, copper, lead, and flint. They had the elements of writing. They made boats and ships.

The Three Great Epochs of Egyptian History Were:

The Old Kingdom: Dynasties 3 to 6. Era of Pyramid Building. Variously placed at between 4000 B C and 2000 B C, most commonly at about 2700 B C or 2400 B.C.

The Middle Kingdom: Dynasties 11 and 12. Era of Canal Building. A period of Great Prosperity. About 2000 B C. Time of Abraham.
The Empire Period: Dynasties 18 and 19. 1600-1200 B C. The First World Empire. Ruled from Ethiopia to the Euphrates. This was the time of Israel's Sojourn in Egypt.

Egyptian Chronology is fairly well established back to 1600 B C; but beyond that it is very uncertain. Thus, Menes, the first historical king, is dated, by Egyptologists, variously as follows: Petrie, 5500 BC; Mariette, 5000; Brugsch, 4500; Chabas, 4000; Lepsius, 3900; Bunsen, 3600; Hall, 3500; Breasted, 3400; Barton, 3400; Meyer, 3300; Scharff, 3000; Poole, 2700; G. Rawlinson, 2450; Wilkinson, 2320; Sharpe, 2000. Thus, it may be seen, Petrie and Breasted, two of the most famous Egyptologists, differ by more than 2000 years as to the beginning point of Egyptian history. These same two men differ by 1000 years on the date of the pyramids, and 700 years on Hyksos period. Present tendency is to lower the dates, both of Egyptian and Babylonian chronology, placing the Great Pyramid at 2400 or 2500 B C.

Bible Chronology and Egyptian Chronology. Egyptians had traditions of the Flood back in the Pre-Historic period. The Pyramid civilization developed after the Flood. Sufficient time for considerable increase in population from Noah's family had to elapse. The Bible text seems to place the Flood about 2400 B C; while the general average among Egyptologists for the beginning of the Egyptian Historical period is about 3000 B C (see above) ; thus placing 600 years Before the Flood events which must have come considerable time After the Flood. This seems like a conflict between Egyptian chronology and Bible chronology. But it may be noted, from the paragraph on Egyptian chronology, above, that some Egyptologists bring the beginning of the Egyptian historical period down to this side of 2400 B C; and it must be remembered that the Septuagint and Samaritan Pentateuch push the Bible date for the Flood back of 3000 B C, see under "Chronology", pages 32. 33. So. it is only some of the Egyptian chronological systems that are in conflict with some of the Biblical chronological systems; others are in perfect harmony.

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FROM THE FLOOD TO ABRAHAM, Cont.

This Period in Egyptian History

1st Dynasty. Menes

(Mena), first historical king, consolidated various tribes, and united Upper and Lower Egypt. Conquered Sinai and worked its turquois mines. His name is identified by some scholars with Mizraim, the son of Ham. He may have been about contemporary with Nimrod; while Nimrod was laying the foundations of Imperialism among the small states of Babylonia, Menes was doing the same in Egypt. His tomb has been found at Abydos, and in it a vase of green glaze with his name. This dynasty had 9 kings.

2nd Dynasty. 9 kings.

Semitic names indicate intercourse with Babylon, Mines of Sinai were worked.

3rd Dynasty. 5 kings.

Kept up mining at Sinai. Built ships 160 ft long for Mediterranean trade; made sea-voyage to Lebanon. Beginning of Pyramid Era. Zozer built the "Step-Pyramid," at Sakkarah, 2 miles west of Memphis, with 6 receding stages, somewhat after the manner of Babylonian Temple-Towers, Snefru (Seneferu), next, imitated Zozer, but filled in the terraced stages, making smooth slopes, the first real pyramid, at Meydum, nearby.

4th Dynasty. 7 kings.

Zenith of Pyramid Era. The Three Great Pyramids: of Cheops (Khufu), Khafre (Cephren), Menkure (Menkaura), at Gizeh, 8 miles west of Cairo. The largest was that of Cheops, one of Egypt's greatest rulers. Next was Khafre's, in connection with which he had the Sphinx carved out with a portrait of himself. Menkure's mummy was found in his pyramid.

5th Dynasty. 9 kings.

Mining kept up in Sinai. Trading expeditions on the Mediterranean, to Phoenicia, Syria, and Ophir. The Egyptians had a strong belief in the future life. On the west side of the pyramid of Queen Khent-Kawes, of the 5th dynasty, a boat has been discovered, 1 10 ft long, IS ft wide, which she had cut deep in the rock, to transport her sou! to the other world. The tombs of the Pharaohs were well stocked with the treasures of this world which they thought they were taking with them to the other world.

6th Dynasty. 6 kings.

End of Old Kingdom. Pepi II, 5th king, reigned 90 years; longest reign in history.

7th, 8th, 9th, 10th Dynasties. 20 kings.

Period of disintegration; many contending kingdoms.

11th Dynasty. 7 kings.

Beginning of Great Middle Kingdom, which lasted through 12th dynasty.

12th Dynasty. 8 kings.

Amenemhet III built the Temple of Serabit in Sinai where Petrie recently found the oldest alphabetic writing in the world. There was frequent intercourse with Syria. A canal was built from the Nile to the Red Sea. Senusert I built the Obelisk of On which is still standing. Senusert II is commonly thought to have been the Pharaoh when Abraham visited Egypt.

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Egyptian Pyramids, unlike Babylonian Temple Towers, which were built with shrines at the top on which to worship the gods, were merely Tombs, to perpetuate the glory of the Pharaohs who built them. Beginning in the 1st dynasty, the Pyramid craze reached its zenith in the 4th dynasty.

The Great Pyramid of Cheops. Grandest monument of the ages. Covered 13 acres. 768 ft square (now 750), 482 ft. high (now -450). Estimated to have contained 2,300,000 stones of an average thickness of 3 ft each, and an average weight of 2 ½ tons. Built of successive coats of rough-hewn blocks of limestone, the outer coat made smooth by exquisitely carved and close-fitting blocks of granite. These outer blocks have been removed and used in the building of Cairo. In the middle of the north side there is a passage, 3 ft wide, 4 ft high, which leads into a chamber cut in solid rock, 100 ft under ground level and exactly 600 ft under the apex; two other chambers halfway between this and the apex, with pictures and sculptures depicting the king's exploits. The mummy of Cheops was not there.

How Built. The stones were cut, with stone and copper instruments only, from a quarry 12 miles to the east, floated across the Nile during inundations, and then drawn up long sloping construction ramps of earth by endless gangs of men tugging at ropes, raised and brought into place by means of wedges driven alternately on one side and then the other of platforms with cradle-like bottoms. It is said to have required 100,000 men 10 years to build the causeway, and another 20 years to build the pyramid itself; all in forced labor; working classes and slaves, driver under the pitiless lash of the taskmaster.

Significance. The amazing thing about the Pyramids is that they were built right at the dawn of history. Sir Flinders Petrie calls the Pyramid of Cheops "the greatest and most accurate structure the world has ever seen." The Encyclopedia Britannica says, "The brain power to which it testifies is as great as that of any modern man."

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• Bible History: Old Testament
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee
• Bible Exposition Commentary
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 12. THE CALL OF ABRAHAM

Here starts the story of Redemption. It had been hinted at in the Garden of Eden, Genesis 3:15. Now, 2000 years after the Creation and Fall of Man, 400 years after the Flood, in a work lapsed into Idolatry and Wickedness, God called Abraham to become the founder of a movement having for its object the RECLAMATION and REDEMPTION of Mankind.

In that pioneer age of the earth, while nations were still not much more than tribal communities, prospecting and settling the more favored lands, Abraham, a righteous man, a believer in God, not an Idolater, one of the few still holding to the tradition of primitive Monotheism, was promised of God that his descendants:

1. Should inherit the land of Canaan.

2. They should become a Great Nation.

3. And that through them ALL NATIONS SHOULD BE BLESSED.

This promise, Genesis 12:2,3; 22:18, is the foundation thought of which the whole Bible is a development.

• God first called Abraham in Ur, Acts 7:2-4;

• In Genesis 11:31.

• Again in Haran, Genesis 12:1-4.

• Again in Shechem, Genesis 12:7.

• Again in Bethel, Genesis 13:14-17.

And twice in Hebron,

• 1st in Genesis 15:5,18;

• and 2nd in Genesis 17:1-8.

• The promise was repeated to Isaac, Genesis 26:3,4.

And twice to Jacob,

• 1st in Genesis 28:1 3,14; 35:11,12;

• and 2nd in Genesis 46:3,4.

Abraham

It seems, from Genesis 11:26,32; 12:4; Acts 7:2-4, that Abraham was born when his father was 130 years old, and was not the first-born, as might be inferred from Genesis 11:6. He was 75 when he entered Canaan. About 80 when he rescued Lot and met Melchizedek. 86 when Ishmael was born. 99 when Sodom was destroyed. 100 when Isaac was born. 137 when Sarah died. 160 when Jacob was born. He died at 175, which was 115 years before Jacob's migration to Egypt.

The Development of Idolatry

Abraham was not an Idolater. But he lived in a world of Idolatry. In the beginning man had but ONE God; and, in the Garden of Eden, had lived in rather intimate communion with God. But, with his sin and

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banishment, man lost his primeval knowledge of God; and, groping in his darkness for a solution of the mysteries of existence, he came to worship the powers of Nature which seemed to him to be the sources of life. Sex, because it was the means through which life came, played a very important part in early Babylonian religion. Cuneiform Inscriptions have revealed that a large part of their liturgies were descriptions of sexual intercourse between gods and goddesses, through which, they thought, all things came into being. Then, too, the Sun and Rain and various forces of nature were Deified, because on them depended the life of the world. And Kings also, because they had power, came to be deified. Many cities and nations had for their chief god their founder: as Asshur, father of the Assyrians, became the chief god of the Assyrians; and Marduk (Nimrod), founder of Babylon, became chief god of Babylon. And, to make their gods more real, images were made to represent the gods; and then the images themselves came to be worshipped as gods. Thus, man took his nosedive from Original Monotheism into the abyss of innumerable polytheistic idolatrous cultures, some of which, in their practices, were unspeakably vile and abominable.

The Idolatry of Abraham's Day

Ur was in Babylonia; and Babylonians had many gods and goddesses. They were worshipers of fire, the sun, moon, stars, and various forces of nature. Nimrod, who had exalted himself against God in building the Tower of Babel, was ever afterwards recognized as the chief Babylonian deity. Marduk was the common form of his name; later became identical with Bel. Shamash was the name of the sun-god. Sin, the moon-god, was the principal deity of Ur, Abraham's city. Sin's wife was called Ningal, the moon-goddess of Ur. She had many names, and was worshiped in every city as the Mother-Goddess. Nina was one of her names, from which the city of Nineveh was named. Her commonest name in Babylonia was Ishtar. She was the deification of the sex passion; her worship required licentiousness; sacred prostitution in connection with her sanctuaries was a universal custom among the women of Babylonia. In connection with her temples were charming retreats or chambers where her priestesses entertained male worshipers in disgraceful ceremonies. In addition to these prostitute priestesses, every maid, wife or widow had to officiate at least once in her lifetime in these rites.

Abraham Believed in One God

His countrymen were Idolaters. His father was an Idolater, Joshua 24:2.
There are legends of his being persecuted as a child for refusal to worship Idols. How did Abraham know about God? No doubt, by direct revelation from God. And moreover, taking the figures in chapters 5 and 11 as they are, Noah's life extended to the birth of Abraham; and Noah's life was overlapped by Methuselah by 600 years, while Methuselah's life was overlapped by Adam for 243 years. So Abraham could have learned directly from Shem Noah's account of the Flood and Methuselah's account of Adam and the Garden of Eden.

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Abraham's Entrance into Canaan, Genesis 12:4-9

Haran, about 600 miles northwest from Ur, 400 miles northeast from Canaan, was Abraham's first stopping place. He had set out from Ur, in search of a land where he could build a nation free from Idolatry, not knowing whither he was going, Hebrews 11:8. But Haran was already a well settled region, with roads to Babylon, Assyria, Syria, Asia Minor, and Egypt, along which caravans and armies constantly marched. And the people were Idolaters, worshipers of the Moon god of Ur. So, after the death of his father Terah, Abraham, under the call of God, moved on in search of a more sparsely settled land.

Shechem, Abraham's first stopping place in Canaan, in the very center of the land, was in a vale of surpassing beauty, between Mt Ebal and Mt Gerizim. Here Abraham builded an altar to God, but soon moved on south in further exploration of the land.

Bethel, 20 miles south of Shechem, 10 miles north of Jerusalem, was Abraham's next stopping place. It was one of the highest points in Canaan, with a magnificent view in every direction. Abraham was following along the top of the mountain range, probably, because the Jordan Valley on the east, and the Sea Coast Plain on the west, were already pretty well settled. In Bethel, too, he builded an altar, as he did later at Hebron, and as he had done at Shechem, not only as an acknowledgment to God, but also as a publication of his Faith to the people among whom he had come to live. He must have liked Bethel; for that is where he settled when he returned from Egypt, till he and Lot separated.

Abraham's Sojourn in Egypt, Genesis 12:10-20

As he journeyed on south from Bethel, he must have passed close to Jerusalem; and, if Melchizedek was Shem, Abraham may have called on him, for he must have known him back in Babyionia. On account of famine, Abraham journeyed on through the south land into Egypt, to sojourn there till the famine was over. It came near to getting him into trouble. His wife Sarah was beautiful; and powerful princes had a practice of confiscating beautiful women for themselves; and killing their husbands. Abraham had the same trouble later with Abimelech, the Philistine prince, Genesis 20:1f, His cautious subterfuge of calling Sarah his "sister" was not exactly a lie. She was his half-sister, 20:12. Marriages between near relatives was common in early ages, till the growth of families offered wider selection.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Abraham's Visit to Egypt
On the tomb of Senusert II, of the 12th dynasty, at Benihassen, who is thought to have been the Pharaoh at that time, there is a sculpture depicting a visit of Asiatic Semitic traders to his court, as if it were an event of some importance. This may, possibly, have been a record of Abraham's visit to Egypt.

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• Bible History: Old Testament
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee
• Bible Exposition Commentary
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 13:1f. Abraham and Lot Separate

Lot was Abraham's nephew. They had been together since they had left Ur years before. But now their flocks and herds and tents had become so extensive, and their herdsmen so quarrelsome over pasture lands, that it seemed best to separate. Abraham magnanimously gave Lot his choice of all the land. Lot foolishly chose the Plain of Sodom. Then Abraham chose Hebron, which was henceforth his settled home.

• Bible History: Old Testament
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee
• Bible Exposition Commentary
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 14:1f. Abraham Defeats Babylonian Kings

This was to rescue Lot. Abraham must have been something of a military genius. With 318 men of his own, and some help from confederate neighbors, by a midnight surprise attack, he discomfited these four famous Babylonian kings. Armies then were small. The total population of the world was few and scattered. Kings were tribal princes. Abraham was a sort of king, perhaps the head of a clan a thousand or more.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Hammurabi
"Amraphel", 1, is commonly identified as Hammurabi, most famous of early Babylonian kings, the discovery of whose celebrated Code of Laws has made his name a household word. Abraham may have known him personally when he was in Ur. Hammurabi's "Code of Laws" is a voice from the dust of Abraham's world.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: The "Way of the Kings," Genesis 14:5,6

The places, named in Genesis 14:5,6, by way of which the four Eastern kings came against Sodom, were so far east of the ordinary trade route, that Albright said that he once considered it an indication of the legendary character of the 14th chapter of Genesis; but, in 1929, he discovered a line of great mounds, in Hauran and along the east border of Gilead and Moab, of cities that flourished about 2000 B C, indicating that it was a well-settled country, and on the direct trade route between Damascus and the gold, copper, and manganese regions of Edom and Sinai.

Melchizedek, Genesis 14:18-20

Priest-King of Salem (Jerusalem). Hebrew tradition says that he was Shem, survivor of the Flood, who was still alive, earth's oldest living man, priest, in the patriarchal age, of the whole race. If so, it is a hint that, thus early, right after the Flood, God chose Jerusalem to be the scene of Human Redemption. Some think that Melchizedek was an Angel; some, an Incarnation of God; some, the Messiah. Whoever he was, he was a picture and type of Christ, Psalm 110:1f; Hebrews 5, 6, & 7.

• Bible History: Old Testament;  Ch. 16;  Ch. 17.
• Key Word Commentary.;  Ch. 16;  Ch. 17.
• Bible Background Commentary;  Ch. 16;  Ch. 17.
• Wesley's Commentary.;  Ch. 16;  Ch. 17.
• J. Vernon McGee; Ch. 16;  Ch. 17.
• Bible Exposition Commentary;  Ch. 16;  Ch. 17.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis chapters 15, -16, -17. God's Promises to Abraham Renewed

With the explanation that, before his seed should inherit Canaan, they would spend 400 years in a foreign land, Genesis 15:13, meaning Egypt. Then, when Abraham was 100, and Sarah 90, Isaac was promised; and the Covenant of Circumcision instituted, as a mark of God's chosen nation.

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• Bible History: Old Testament;  Ch. 19.
• Key Word Commentary;  Ch. 19.
• Bible Background Commentary;  Ch. 19.
• Wesley's Commentary;  Ch. 19.
• J. Vernon McGee;  Ch. 19.
• Bible Exposition Commentary;  Ch. 19.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis chapters 18, -19. Sodom and Gomorrah

These cesspools of iniquity were only a few miles from Hebron, the home of Abraham, and from Jerusalem, the home of Melchizedek; yet so vile, they smelt to heaven. It had been only 400 years since the Flood almost within the memory of men then living. Yet men had forgotten the lesson of that cataclysmic destruction of the race. And God "rained fire and brimstone" on these two cities, to refresh men's memories, and to warn of the wrath of God that is in store for the wickedness of men and, perhaps, to serve as a token of the earth's final doom in a holocaust of fire, 2 Peter 2:5,6; 3:7,10.

Jesus likened the time of His Return to the days of Sodom, Luke 17:26-32; as he did also to the days of the Flood. Both were periods of unspeakable wickedness. Today, on a scale never before known in history with greed, brutality, beastliness, and criminal instincts, in the very devils of hell who rule in the high places of earth, it does not require much imagination to see the end toward which we are heading, however much good men and statesmen may try to avert it. Unless there comes a world-movement of Repentance, the Day of Doom may not be far off.

Location of Sodom and Gomorrah

Either the north end or south end of the Dead Sea. "Sodom'* (Usdom) is the name of the mountain at the southwest corner. There was persistent ancient tradition that great topographical changes took place around the south end of the Dead Sea when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed. Ancient writers generally thought that the sites of the two cities were buried beneath the waters of the Dead Sea.

The Dead Sea

The Dead Sea is about 40 miles long by 10 miles wide. The north end is very deep, in some places 1000 ft. The south third is nowhere deeper than 15 ft, and in most places less than 10 ft. The water level is higher now than in Abraham's time, because of silting up by the Jordan and other streams, with no outlet. What is now the south third of the Dead Sea was then a plain.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE:

In 1924, Drs. W. F. Albright and M. G. Kyle, directing a joint Expedition of the American Schools and Xenia Seminary, found, at the south-east corner of the Dead Sea, five Oases, made by fresh water streams, and, centrally located to them, on a plain 500 ft above the level of the Dead Sea, at a place called Bab-ed-Dra, the remains of a great fortified enclosure, evidently a "high place" for religious festivals. There were great quantities of potsherds, flints, and other remains of a period dating between 2500 B C and 2000 B C; and evidence that the population ended abruptly about 2000 B C. This evidence that the region was densely

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populated and prosperous indicates that it must have been very fertile, "like the garden of God." That the population ceased abruptly, and that it has been a region of unmixed desolation ever since, seems to indicate that the district was destroyed by some great cataclysm which changed the soil and climate.

The opinion of Albright and Kyle, and most present day archaeologists, is that Sodom and Gomorrah were located on these oases, further down the streams, and that the site is now covered by the Dead Sea.

The "Slime Pits" and "Brimstone," See: Genesis 14:10;

And Genesis 19:24

"Slime" was bitumen, asphalt, pitch, a lustrous black petroleum product, which melts and burns. There are vast beds of it on both sides of the Dead Sea, more abundant at the south end, and great masses of it at the bottom. Considerable quantities of it have risen to the surface during earthquakes.

"Brimstone." Kyle said that under Mt Usdom there is a stratum of salt 150 ft thick; and above it a stratum of marl mingled with free sulphur; and that at the proper time God kindled the gases; a great explosion took place; the salt and the sulphur were thrown into the heaven red hot, so that it did literally rain fire and brimstone from heaven. Lot's wife was encrusted with salt. There are many pillars of salt at the south end of the Dead Sea which have borne the name of "Lot's Wife." Indeed everything about the region seems to dovetail exactly with the Biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah.

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• Bible History: Old Testament.
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary.
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee.
• Bible Exposition Commentary.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 20:1:f. Sarah and Ablmelech

Though Hebron was his main home, Abraham, from time to time, moved about from place to place, in search of pasture for his herds and flocks. In Gerar, a Philistine city, some 40 miles west of Hebron, near the sea coast, he had another experience like that with Pharaoh, Genesis 12:10-20. Sarah must have been extremely beautiful, to thus attract the attention of kings, especially considering her age. Isaac and Rebekah had a similar experience with a later Abimelech, in the same city, Genesis 26:1f.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Patriarchal Cities

In many of the towns named in connection with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: such as Shechem, Bethel, Ai, Jerusalem, Gerar, Dothan: Albright and Garstang have found, in the bottom levels of their ruins, sherds of about 2000 B C, evidence that the towns were actually existing then.

• Bible History: Old Testament.
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary.
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee.
• Bible Exposition Commentary.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 21:1f. Birth of Isaac

Ishmael, at the time, was about 15 years old, Genesis 21:5,8; 16:16. Paul used the story of these two children as an allegory of the Mosaic and Christian Covenants, Galatians 4:21-31.

Beersheba, Genesis 21:30,31, where Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, dwelt much of the time, was at the southernmost border of Canaan, some 20 miles south-west, of Hebron, 150 miles from Egypt. It was a place of "seven wells." Wells in a semi-desert country like that were priceless possessions. The self-same wells are still there.

- Page 98 -

• Bible History: Old Testament.
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary.
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee.
• Bible Exposition Commentary.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 22:1f. Abraham Offers Isaac

"God enjoined it only to forbid it." It was a test of Abraham's faith. God had promised that Isaac should be the father of nations, Genesis 17:16. Yet here God commands that Isaac be slain before he had any children. Somehow Abraham believed that God would bring him back to life, Hebrews 11:19. We do not know in what manner God made known the command to Abraham. But that it was the voice of God Abraham could not have doubted; for surely he would not have set out to perform a task so cruel and revolting without being absolutely certain that God had directly and definitely commanded it. The theory that Abraham, influenced by Canaanitish practice of child sacrifice, merely imagined that he ought to sacrifice Isaac, is on its face absurd. The idea originated with God, not with Abraham.

The Offering of Isaac was a Picture-Prophecy of the Death of Christ. A Father offering his Son. The Son Dead for Three Days (in Abraham's mind, Genesis 22:4). A Substitution. An Actual Sacrifice. And it was on Mt Moriah, the very same place where, 2000 years later God's Own Son was Offered. Thus, it was a Shadow, in the birth of the Hebrew nation, of the Grand Event the nation was bom to bring about.

• Bible History: Old Testament.
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary.
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee.
• Bible Exposition Commentary.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 23:1f. Sarah's Death

The Cave of Mechpelah, where Sarah was buried, is on the west slope of Hebron, in a mosque, under Mohammedan control, who permit no Christian to enter. In 1862 the Prince of Wales, by special permit or the Sultan, entered. He saw stone tombs of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebekah, and Leah; and a circular opening into a cavern below, which was supposed to be the real Cave of Machpelah, and which was said to lave been un-entered for 600 years.

- Page 99 -

• Bible History: Old Testament.
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary.
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee.
• Bible Exposition Commentary.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Chapter 24. Betrothal of Isaac and Rebekah

Rebekah was Isaac's second cousin. Abraham's purpose in sending back to his own people for a wife for Isaac was to keep his posterity free from Idolatry. If Isaac had married a Canaanitish girl, how different the whole history of Israel might have been. What a lesson for young people in the matter of choosing a mate.

• Bible History: Old Testament.
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary.
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee.
• Bible Exposition Commentary.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 25:1-11. Abraham's Death

Sarah had died at the age of 127, at which time Abraham was 137. He lived for 38 years after that, in which time he married Keturah. She bore him six sons, of whom came the Midianites. and other neighboring peoples. It was a Midianite woman that Moses married, 500 years later, Exodus 2:16-21. On the whole, Abraham was the "greatest, purest, and most venerable of the patriarchs, revered by Jews, Mohammedans, and Christians." "Friend of God." "Father of the Faithful." Generous. Unselfish, A Superb Character, with Unbounded Trust in God. And that, in "the vicinity and atmosphere of Sodom and Gomorrah.

"The Generations of Ishmael," Geneis 25:12-18

The 8th document composing the book of Genesis, see page 58. Ishmael was Abraham's son by Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian handmaid, Genesis 16:1f. Ishmaeiites made Arabia their home, and became known generally as Arabians. Thus, Abraham was the father of the present Arab world, The rivalry between Isaac and Ishmael has persisted through the centuries in the antagonisms between Jews and Arabs. Arabia is a great peninsula, 1500 miles long, 800 miles wide, about 150 times the size of Palestine, . It is mostly desert with scattered oases, sparsely inhabited by nomadic tribes. It once had more rainfall than now, and was more thickly populated. Climatic variations lessened the rainfall, and stream beds dried up.

"The Generations of Isaac," Genesis 25:19 to 35:29

The 9th document [See Page 58.]composing the book of Genesis. The story of Isaac and Jacob, handed on by Jacob to his sons.

Genesis 25:19-34. Birth of Jacob and Esau

Esau, the first-born, was Isaac's natural heir, and inheritor of the Abrahamic Promises. But God, knowing, before they were born, the qualities of the two men, chose Jacob to be transmitter of the precious heritage which He hinted to their mother, Genesis 25:23; and she, from childhood, taught it to Jacob; which was the background of Jacob's deal with Esau, Genesis 25:31.

In the Line of Promise, all Abraham's sons were eliminated, except Isaac. Of Isaac's sons, Esau was eliminated from the line, and Jacob only chosen. With Jacob the eliminating process stopped; and all of Jacob's descendants were to be included as the Chosen Nation.

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• Bible History: Old Testament.
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary.
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee.
• Bible Exposition Commentary.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Chapter 26. Isaac's Sojourn among the Philistines

Not much is told of Isaac's life, beyond this incident of Abimelech and Rebekah, and the strife over wells. He had inherited the bulk of his father's extensive flocks and herds; was prosperous and rich; peaceable; and his life uneventful.

Isaac was born when Abraham was 100, and Sarah 90. He was 37 when his mother died. 40 when he married. 60 when Jacob was born. 75 when Abraham died. 137 ? when Jacob fled. 150 ? when Joseph was born. 157 ? when Jacob returned. 167 when Joseph was sold. He died at 180, the year that Joseph became ruler of Egypt.

Abraham lived 175 years. Isaac, 180. Jacob, 147. Joseph, 110

IMPORTANT: God's "Commandments, Statutes, and Laws," Genesis 26:5.
This looks very much like Biblical evidence that the beginnings of God's Written Word were already existent in Abraham's day.

• Bible History: Old Testament.
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary.
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee.
• Bible Exposition Commentary.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 27:1f. Jacob Obtains His Father's Blessing

He had already bought 1he Birthright from Esau, Genesis 25:31-34. It was now necessary to get his father to validate the transfer. This he accomplished by deception. In evaluating the moral quality of Jacob's act, a number of things need to be considered. Genesis 27:1. His mother put him up to it. Genesis 27:2. He earnestly desired the Birthright, which was in itself commendable, even though he used questionable means to procure it; for the Birthright meant channel of God's wondrous promise of blessing to the whole world. Genesis 27:3. He probably could have obtained it in no other way. Genesis 27:4. Esau cared nothing for it. Genesis 27:5. Jacob paid dearly for his fraud, see under Genesis 29. 6. God Himself, laying the foundation of gigantic world plans, Romans 9,10-13, made the choice before the boys were born, Genesis 25:23.

Isaac's Predictions, Genesis 27:29,40.
God must have put these words into Isaac's mouth; for they did come true in a most amazing way. Jacob's descendants did attain a dominant position among the nations; and in time produced Christ, through Whom they are marching onward to universal empire. Esau's descendants, the Edomites, were subservient to Israel; and in time, they did throw off Israel's yoke, 2 Kings 8:20-22; and, they have disappeared from history.

• Bible History: Old Testament.
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary.
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee.
• Bible Exposition Commentary.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 28:1f. Jacob's Vision at Bethel

The transfer of the Birthright from Esau to Jacob had been validated by Isaac. It is now validated in Heaven, God Himself giving assurance to Jacob that henceforth he is to be the recognized vehicle of the Promises. The Ladder was a hint that the Promises would somehow culminate in something that would bridge Heaven and Earth. Jesus said that HE was the Ladder, John 1:51.

Jacob is thought to have been 77 at this time. He was 15 when Abraham died. Was 84 when he married. 90 when Joseph was born. 98 when he returned to Canaan. About 100 when Benjamin was born. 120 when Isaac died. 130 when he went to Egypt. 147 when he died.

His first 77 years were spent in Canaan. The next 20 in Haran. Then 33 in Canaan. The last 17 in Egypt.

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• Bible History: Old Testament; BH Ch. P30.
• Key Word Commentary; KWC Ch. 30.
• Bible Background Commentary; BBC Ch. 30.
• Wesley's Commentary; WES Ch. 30.
• J. Vernon McGee; JVM Ch. 30.
• Bible Exposition Commentary; BEC Ch. 30.
• Bible Handbook by Haley.

Genesis chapters 29, -30. Jacob's Sojourn in Haran

Haran was some 400 miles northeast of Canaan. It was the place where Jacob's mother, Rebekah, had been raised, and from which his grand-father Abraham had migrated years before. Laban was Jacob's uncle. Jacob was there 20 years. They were years of hardship and suffering. A wife, whom he did not want, was forced on him by deceit, just as he had gotten his father's blessing by deceit. He had begun to reap exactly what he had sown. His harvest was full and abundant, Galatians 6:7.

Jacob's Family

• He had two wives and two concubines, whom, except one, he did not want, and who were forced on him by unhappy circumstances. Of these, 12 sons were born.
• Of Lea: Reuben, Simeon, Levi. Judah, fssachar, Zebuiun.
• Of Rachel: Joseph, Benjamin.
• Of Zilpah, Lean's handmaid: Gad, Asher.
• Of Bilhah, Rachel's handmaid: Dan, Naphtali.

This polygamous family, with many shameful things to their credit, was accepted of God, as a whole, to be the beginning of the Twelve Tribes which became the Messianic Nation, chosen of God to bring the Saviour into the world. This shows:

1. That God uses human beings as they are, to serve His purposes, and, so to speak, does the best He can with the material He has to work with.

2. It is no indication that every one that God thus uses will be eternally saved. One may be useful in serving God's plans in this world, and yet fail to qualify for the eternal world in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men for final disposition, Romans 2:12-16.

3. It is a testimony to the Truthfulness of Bible writers. No other book in the world narrates with such utter candor the weaknesses of its heroes, and things so contrary to ideals which it aims to promote.

• Bible History: Old Testament;  Ch. 32;  Ch. 33.
• Key Word Commentary;  Ch. 32;  Ch. 33.
• Bible Background Commentary;  ;  Ch. 32; Ch. 33.
• Wesley's Commentary;  Ch. 32;  Ch. 33.
• J. Vernon McGee;  Ch. 32;  Ch. 33.
• Bible Exposition Commentary; Ch. 32;  Ch. 33.
• Bible Handbook by Haley.

Genesis 31, -32, -33. Jacob's Return to Canaan

He had left Canaan 20 years before, alone and empty-handed. Now, he was returning, a tribal prince, rich in flocks, herds, and' servants. God had kept His promise 1o Jacob, Genesis 28:15, even though Jacob had had trouble a plenty. Jacob's parting with Laban, Genesis 31:49, originated the beautiful Mizpah benediction, now so widely used, "The Lord watch between me and thee, while we are absent one from another,"

Angels, on Jacob's departure from Canaan, had wished him Godspeed, Genesis 28:12. Now, on his return, Angels welcome him home, Genesis 32:1.

Isaac was still living. Abraham had been dead about 100 years. Jacob was now entering into his inheritance in the Promised Land of Canaan, God had been with him thus far, through all his troubled life. He fell he needed God more than ever, Genesis 32:24-30, Esau had vowed to kill him, Genesis 27:41. Jacob was still afraid. They met, and separated, in peace.

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• Bible History: Old Testament.
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary.
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee.
• Bible Exposition Commentary.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Gensis 34. Dinah Avenged By Simeon and Levi

Shechem was Jacob's first stopping place in Canaan, on his return. There he bought a parcel of ground, and erected an altar to God, as if planning to make it his home, temporarily at least. But the bloody act of Simeon and Levi made him odious to his neighbors. And soon he moved on to Bethel, just as Abraham had done years before.

• Bible History: Old Testament.
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary.
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee.
• Bible Exposition Commentary.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 35. God Renews the Covenant at Bethel

Bethel was the place where, 20 years before, in his flight from Canaan. Jacob had seen the Heavenly Ladder, and God had made him heir to the Abrahamic Promises. Now God re-assures him that those Promises shall be fulfilled. Then Jacob moved on to Hebron, the home of Abraham and Isaac. There he sojourned about 30 years, till his migration to Egypt.

• Bible History: Old Testament.
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary.
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee.
• Bible Exposition Commentary.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

"The Generations of Esau," Genesis 36:1f.

The 10th document [See Page 58.] composing the book of Genesis, . A brief account of the origin of the Edomites.

Esau, in personal character, was "profane," irreligious; "despised" his birthright: nothing to him to be the channel of God's blessing to the world: his appetite was his interest. Jacob was no angel, but, compared to Esau, he was immensely more fit to be the father of God's Messianic Nation.

Edomites and the Land of Edom. .

Amalekites, Genesis 36:12, were a branch of Esau's descendants.
They were a wandering tribe, centering mainly about Kadesh, in the north part of the Sinai peninsula, but roaming in wide circles, even into Judah and far to the east. They were the first to attack Israel on their departure from Egypt; and were oppressors of Israel in the time of the Judges,

"Jobab," Genesis 36:34, is thought by some, possibly, to have been "Job" of the book of Job.

"Eliphaz" and "Teman", Genesis 36:10, 11, are named in the book of Job. This chapter may supply the setting for the book of Job.

• Bible History: Old Testament.
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary.
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee.
• Bible Exposition Commentary.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

"The Generations of Jacob," Genesis 37:2 to 50:26

The 11th, and last, document, [See Page 58.] composing the book of Genesis. The story of Joseph, and Israel's Migration to Egypt; incorporated, no doubt, with family records they had received from Abraham; and sacredly guarded through the years of their sojourn in Egypt.

Genesis 37. Joseph Sold into Egypt

The "coat of many colors," Genesis 37:3, was a badge of favoritism, possibly indicating Jacob's intention to make Joseph heir to the Birthright.

Reuben, Jacob's first-born, was natural heir to the Birthright; but he was disavowed because of his illicit relation with one of his father's concubines, Genesis 35:22; 49:3,4; 1 Chronicles 5:1,2. Simeon and Levi, second and third in line of succession, Genesis 29:31-35, were passed over because of their crime of violence at Shechem, Genesis 34:25-30; 49:5-7. Judah, the 4th son, was next in line; and, probably, it may have been generally expected, in family circles, that the Birthright would fall to him.

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But Joseph, though Jacob's 11th son, was Rachel's first-born. Rachel was Jacob's best-loved wife; and Joseph was his favorite son, Genesis 37:3. So the "coat" looked suspicious. And Joseph's dreams of his own ascendancy, Genesis 37:5-10, aggravated the situation.

Thus, Judah and Joseph appear to have been rivals for the Birthright. This may explain Judah's active part in selling Joseph into slavery, Genesis 37:26,27. The rivalry between Judah and Joseph passed to their descendants. The tribes of Judah and Ephraim (Joseph's son) were continual contenders for supremacy. Judah took the lead under David and Solomon. Then, under the leadership of Ephraim, Ten Tribes seceded.

• Bible History: Old Testament.
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary.
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee.
• Bible Exposition Commentary.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 38:1f. Judah's Children

This chapter is inserted, probably, because Judah was progenitor of the Messiah; and it was in accord with Old Testament purpose to preserve family registers all along the line of succession, even though they contained some things not very praiseworthy.

• Bible History: Old Testament.
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary.
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee.
• Bible Exposition Commentary.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 39:1f. Joseph Imprisoned

Joseph was of unblemished character, unusually handsome, with an exceptional gift for leadership, and ability to make the best of every unpleasant situation. He was born in Haran, 75 years after the death of Abraham, 30 years before the death of Isaac, when his father was about 90, and 8 years before they returned to Canaan. At 17 was sold into Egypt. 13 years in Potiphar's house, and in prison. At 30 became ruler of Egypt. Died at 110.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTE: Joseph and Potiphar's Wife
The "Tale of Two Brothers," on an ancient papyrus now in the British Museum, written in the reign of Seti II, shortly after the Exodus, has such close resemblance to the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife that the editor of the English edition of Brugsch's "History of Egypt" surmised that it must have been worked up from the incident, which must have been recorded in the annals of the Egyptian court: A married man sends his younger brother, who was unmarried, and to whom he had entrusted everything about his place, to his home, to bring some seed corn. The wife tempts him. He refuses. She, angered, reports to her husband that he had tried to force her. The husband plans to kill him. He flees; and later becomes king of Egypt.

• Bible History: Old Testament;  Ch. 41..
• Key Word Commentary; ;  Ch. 41..
• Bible Background Commentary;  ; Ch. 41..
• Wesley's Commentary;  ; Ch. 41..
• J. Vernon McGee; ;  Ch. 41..
• Bible Exposition Commentary;  Ch. 41..
• Bible Handbook by Haley.

Genesis 40, -41. Joseph Made Ruler of Egypt

Joseph married a daughter of the priest of On; and, though he had a heathen wife, and ruled a heathen kingdom, and resided in a center of vile Idolatry, he maintained his childhood faith in the God of his fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

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ARCHAEOLOGICAL NOTES:
Joseph's Palace in On. Sir Flinders Petrie, 1912, discovered ruins of a palace thought to have been that of Joseph. Tradition says it was On, where Joseph and Mary and Jesus resided while in Egypt, .

The Seven Years' Famine. Brugsch, in his "Egypt under the Pharaohs", tells of an inscription which he calls a "very remarkable and luminous confirmation" of this. In a family rock-cut tomb of a certain Baba, governor of the city of EI-Kab, south of Thebes, erected in the 17th dynasty, which was contemporary with the 16th dynasty in the north, under which Joseph ruled, there is an inscription in which Baba claims to have done for his city what the Bible says Joseph did for all Egypt: "I collected corn, as a friend of the harvest god. And when a famine arose, lasting many years, I distributed corn to the city, each year of the famine." Brugsch says: "Since famines in Egypt are of the very greatest rarity, and since Baba lived aoout the same time as Joseph, there remains but one fair inference: that the 'many years of famine' in the days of Baba are the 'seven years of famine' under Joseph."

• Bible History: Old Testament; Ch. 43; Ch. 44;; Ch. 45.
• Key Word Commentary; Ch. 43; Ch. 44; Ch. 45.
• Bible Background Commentary; Ch. 43; Ch. 44; Ch. 45.
• Wesley's Commentary; Ch. 43; Ch. 44; Ch. 45.
• J. Vernon McGee; Ch. 43;Ch. 44; Ch. 45.
• Bible Exposition Commentary; Ch. 43;; Ch. 44; Ch. 45.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 42   -43  -44  -45.

Joseph Makes Himself Known

"'This has been called one of the most beautiful stories in all literature. The most touching incident in the story is where Judah, who, years before, had been leader in selling Joseph into slavery, Genesis 37:26, now offers to become hostage for Benjamin, Genesis 44:18-34; which, in measure, atones for his former criminal instincts.

Genesis 46

Genesis 47. Jacob and His Family Settle in Egypt Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob probably thought they would grow into possession of Canaan by natural increase. But God planned otherwise, designing that Israel should be nurtured, for a while, in Egypt, which was the most advanced civilization of that day. As Jacob passed out of Canaan, God gave him assurance that his descendants would return, Genesis 46:3,4.

• Bible History: Old Testament;  Ch. 49.
• Key Word Commentary;  Ch. 49.
• Bible Background Commentary;  Ch. 49.
• Wesley's Commentary;  Ch. 49.
• J. Vernon McGee;  Ch. 49.
• Bible Exposition Commentary;  Ch. 49.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 48, 49. Jacob's Blessing and Prophecy

Jacob seems to have split the Birthright, designating Judah as channel of Messianic Promise, Genesis 49:10; yet pronouncing exceptional national prestige on Joseph's son Ephraim, Genesis 48:19-22; 49:22-26; 1 Chronicles 5:1,2. Jacob's Prophecy about the Twelve Tribes, to quite a remarkable degree, parallels the subsequent history of the Tribes. "Shiloh," 10, is commonly taken to be a name for the Messiah. The tribe of Judah produced David; and David's family produced Christ.

• Bible History: Old Testament.
• Key Word Commentary.
• Bible Background Commentary.
• Wesley's Commentary.
• J. Vernon McGee.
• Bible Exposition Commentary.
• Bible Handbook by Haley

Genesis 50:1f. Deaths of Jacob and Joseph

Jacob's body was taken back to Hebron for burial. And Joseph exacted an oath, as he was dying, of his brothers, that, when Israel returned to Canaan, they would carry his bones with them. This belief that Canaan would yet be their homeland was not forgotten; and, 400 years later, when they set out for Canaan, they took Joseph's bones along. Exodus 13:19.

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The Number SEVEN

The Levitical System of Holy Seasons was built on a Cycle of 7's:

Every 7th day a Sabbath. .
Every 7th year a Sabbatic year.
Every 7th Sabbatic year was followed by a Jubilee year.
Every 7th month was especially holy, having 3 feasts.
There were 7 weeks between Passover and Pentecost.
Passover Feast lasted 7 days.
Tabernacles Feast lasted 7 days.
At Passover 14 lambs (twice 7) were offered daily.
At Tabernacles 14 lambs (twice 7), daily, and 70 bullocks.
At Pentecost 7 lambs were offered.

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See further page 612.

REVELATION 1:4-8.

Greeting to the Seven Churches

Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea.
These Seven Cities, connected by a great triangular highway, are named in their geographical order, beginning with Ephesus, thence north about 100 miles to Pergamum, and thence southeast to Laodicea, which was about 100 miles east of Ephesus.

"Asia", Genesis Genesis 1:4, was a Roman Province in the west part of what we know as Asia Minor, now a part of Turkey. Ephesus was its chief city. Pergamum was its Political Capital.

There were many churches in "Asia." These, called "The Seven Churches", must have been main centers in their respective districts, key cities in John's pastoral care of the region.

Only Ephesus figures elsewhere in N T history. Thyatira is mentioned as the home of Lydia, Acts 16:14. Laodicea had had a letter from Paul, Colossians 4:13-16, now lost. The other four churches, not elsewhere mentioned in the N T, were probably offshoots from Paul's work in Ephesus.

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Nippur
Also called Nuffar, Calneh. 50 miles southeast of Babylon. One of Nimrod's cities. Excavated by the University of Pennsylvania, under Peters, Haynes and Hilprecht, at intervals between 1888 and 1900, who found 50,000 tablets with inscriptions made in the 3rd millennium B C, among them one library of 20,OO0 volumes; archives of kings; schools with large reference cylinders mounted on revolving stands, dictionaries, cyclopaedias, complete works on law, science, (Courtesy Museum of religion and literature. Fig. 9 is a ruin where vast libraries were found.

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[Fig. 10]Jemdet Nasr A Pre-Flood City, [CLICK FOR VIDEO] . . . 25 miles north-east of Babylon. Destroyed by fire about 3500 B C, and never re-built. Excavated, 1926, by the Field Museum-Oxford University Expedition.

Here Dr. Langdon found Pictographic inscriptions which indicated to him Original Monotheism, see page 62.

Weld Dynastic Prism
First known Outline of World History. Written 2170 B C, by a scribe who signed his name Nur-Ninsubur, at the close of the Isin dynasty, giving an entire list of kings from the beginning of the race to his own time, including the 10 long-lived Pre-Flood kings. It is a fine prism of baked clay. Was secured by the Weld-Blundell Expedition, 1922, at Larsa, just a few miles north of Ur.

It is now in the Ashmolean -Museum at Oxford. It was in existence over 100 years before the time of Abraham, just a few miles from Abrahams home.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL DISCOVERIES

From here on Notes on Archaeological Discoveries will appear in connection with Biblical Chapters on which they bear. There are over a hundred Archaeological Discoveries mentioned in Haley's Handbook

Many of these Archaeological Discoveries, made in recent years by those who have been digging in the ruins of Biblical cities, are records plainer than if written in a book. These records coincide exactly with Biblical narratives. Piece by piece the Old Testament is being confirmed, supplemented and illustrated. Even those things which seemed most like a myth are being shown to have been factual.

Editor's NOTE: And just think, this book is dated – written orriganaly in 1924 of which over 10,000 copies were sold. Over and over the book was re-published and in 1956 (Year of this publication) there were over 50,000 copies. It is this writer's understanding that there is a newer updated edition available, not quite as firm, but selling as well and better than those that went before. I would not give up my copy of the original for any money in the world. As this electronic version now being prepared one is able to link to all those statements here in quoted and quickly see that everything Dr. Haley put down here is accurate and even more evidence backs up everything he wrote. God bless Dr. Haley! Please get your copy today! -

Narratives that are susceptible to proof are being proved. Does not that enhance the trustworthiness of the Bible as a whole? And make it easier for us to rely on ALL that the Bible says? Even its wondrous promises, both for this life, and that to come.

The most important single statement in the Bible is that CHRIST ROSE FROM THE DEAD. This is the thing for which the whole Bible was written, apart from which it would mean nothing. It is the thing that gives meaning to life, apart from which life would mean nothing. ..It is the basis of our hope of Resurrection and Eternal Life.

Is it not comforting to know that the book which is built around this event is being proved to be a consistently historical book? And thus make our "assurance doubly sure" that this MOST IMPORTANT EVENT of the ages is an ACTUAL FACT.

Matthew 2:13-15. Flight to Egypt

Even this incident did n't escape God's unfailing eye in the long line of prophecies anticipatory of the Messiah, Matthew 2:15, Hosea 11:1. The angel, Matthew 2:13, who directed their flight to Egypt probably was Gabriel, to whom God had entrusted the care of the Infant Child; see under Luke 2:8-20.

The stay in Egypt was short, probably only a year or two, for Herod soon died, and it was safe to return. See Chronology of Jesus' Childhood under Luke 2:39.

The place in Egypt at which Joseph and Mary and the Child resided is not named. Tradition says it was On, also called Heliopolis. This was the same place from which another Joseph had ruled Egypt long centuries before (Genesis 41:45). An Obelisk, erected in the days of Abraham, still standing, marks the ruins.

Numbers 2:16-18. Slaughter of the Children Strange that one who believed in the coming of the Christ, (Matthew 2:4), could have been conceited enough and stupid enough to think that he could thwart His Coming.

Herod

The Herods were an Edomite line of kings, who, under the Roman government, got control of Judea shortly before the appearance of Christ. Herod the Great, 37-3 B C, got his throne, and kept it, by crimes of unspeakable brutality, murdering even his wife and two sons. He was cruel, cunning, cold-blooded. It was he who slew the children of Bethlehem in an effort to kill Christ.

His son, Herod Antipas, some 33 years later, killed John the Baptist, Mark 6:14-29, and mocked Christ, Luke 23:7-12.

His grandson, Herod Agrippa I, 14 years still later, killed James the Apostle, Acts 12:1-2.

His great grandson, Herod Agrippa II, 16 years still later, was the king before whom Paul was tried. Acts 25:13-26:32.

Numbers 2:19-21. Return from Egypt

This, too, was directed by the angel. It seems, from Matthew 2:22, that Joseph was planning to return to Bethlehem. Probably he had already planned to make that, the ancestral city of David, their permanent residence, as the proper place in which to rear the child Messiah. But God planned differently, and sent them back to their Galilean home.

Jesus' Names

The Old Testament had foretold the coming of a great and wonderful king in the family line of David who would rule and bless the whole world. This king had been named long before he appeared, "THE MESSIAH" (Hebrew), or "THE CHRIST" (Greek). Both words mean the same, "Anointed": the "One Anointed" of God to do the world work of which the prophets had spoken. "Jesus" was his personal name. "The Messiah", or "The Christ", the name of the office he came to assume.

MATTHEW

Numbers 2:22-23. Return to Nazareth

Matthew makes no mention of Nazareth having been the home of Joseph and Mary. We learn that from Luke.

The thing that Matthew specially points out is that it was in fulfillment of prophecy.

The prophecy that Matthew here refers to is thought to be Isaiah 11:1, where the Messiah is called "The Branch"; also Jeremiah 23:5; Zecharian 3:8. The Hebrew word for "Branch" is very similar to "Nazareth". It is a play on words. Jesus was a "Nazarene" in a double sense.

Since Matthew uses Old Testament quotations so abundantly, exhibiting his inclination to dovetail the incidents and features of Christ's life into prophetic forecasts, here is a good place to give a list of the Old Testament prophecies which are quoted in the four Gospels, particularly Matthew, as referring to Christ. Most of them are quite clear as referring to the Messiah. A few of them we might not have so construed, except they had been thus quoted by inspired writers. For ourselves, however, we are entirely satisfied with N T interpretations of Old Testament passages. They register God's intended meaning in those passages,

Old Testament PROPHECIES OF CHRIST QUOTED IN THE GOSPELS

That he was to be of David's Family, Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 1:69,70; 20.:42-44; John 7:42; 2 Samuel 7:12-16; Psalm 89:3-4; 110:1; 132:11; Isaiah 9:6-7.

That he would be Born of a Virgin, Matthew 1:23. Isaiah 7:14.

That he would be Born in Bethlehem, Matthew 2:6; John 7:42; Micah 5:2.

That he would Sojourn in Egypt, Matthew 2:15; Hosea 11:1.

That he would Live in Galileo, Matthew 4:15; Isaiah 9:1-2.

At Nazareth, Matthew 2:23; Isaiah 11:1.

That his coming would be announced by an Elijah-like Herald, Matthew 3:3; 11:10-14; Mark 1:2-3; Luke 3:4-6; 7:27; John 1:23; Isaiah 40:3-5; Malachi 3:1 4:5.

That his coming would be the occasion of a Massacre of Bethlehem's Children, Matthew 2:18; Genesis 35:19-20; 48:7; Jeremiah 31:15.

That he would Proclaim a Jubilee to the World, Luke 4:18-19; Isaiah 58:6; 61:1.

That his mission would be to Gentiles, Matthew 12:18-21; Isaiah 42:1-4.

That his Ministry would be one of Healing, Matthew 8:17; Isaiah 53:4.

Referenced images and maps.

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The Pennsylvania Sumerian Dictionary Project

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