much facilitated by the great and extraordinary neglect of keeping watch at night, which is still the characteristic of eastern military or predatory operations, and of which there are most remarkable examples in Scripture.

By the usage of the East, all the spoil that had been recovered belonged to him by whom it had been recaptured, while the persons who had been rescued returned to their former condition. Accordingly, the kings of the plundered towns, who met their deliverer on his returning march, proposed to Abraham, through the king of Sodom, that he should retain the goods, and return the persons to them. But the truly great patriarch, whose disinterestedness in this respect can only be appreciated by those who have studied the class of sentiments which belong to the condition of life in which he moved, declared that not a particle of all this vast spoil should remain with him; and to preclude all remonstrance, he said that he had already taken a most solemn oath to that effect: 'I have lifted up mine hand (in the act of taking an oath) to the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not take from a thread even to a shoe latchet, and that I will not take anything that is thine.' And why not? what was the special motive that influenced him? It was the becoming spirit of independence. He did not conceal it. It was, he said, 'Lest thou shouldest say, "I have made Abraham rich.” he could not endure, at least not from strangers with whom his relations were not peculiarly amicable, whose character was indeed objectionable, and whom he had served merely for the sake of Lot.

" This

This transaction must, however, have greatly enhanced the credit and influence of Abraham in the land of his sojourning; and it doubtless materially contributed to procure for him that respect and consideration with which we subsequently find him treated by the native chiefs and princes of the country.

A few points in this chapter are worthy of more special note in these days, as showing the minute historical and geographical knowledge of the sacred writer. It seems highly probable' that the

narrative was originally written by Abraham, for he was personally acquainted both with that region of Central Asia from which the invaders came, and with the country which they ravaged.

A few years ago, Mr Loftus exhumed from the desolate mounds which now mark the site of Ur of the Chaldees, an inscribed tablet containing a list of the rulers of Chaldæa; and in that list is the name of Chedorlaomer, one of the four kings here mentioned.

The route of the invading force is traced with singular exactness of detail. They first attacked the 'Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim,' situated among the mountains of Bashan; then they marched southward upon the Zuzims and Emims, who inhabited the high table-land east of the Dead Sea; they next proceeded to Mount Seir (Edom), amid whose wild ravines the Horites originally dwelt; then turning westward, they crossed the great valley of Arabah into the wilderness of Paran. This was the utmost range of the expedition. Wheeling round, they reached the fountain of Kadesh, which at that period appears to have been regarded as both a sanctuary and an oracle.1 Here they probably rested for a time. Setting out again, they swept the country of the Amalekites, which lay along the southern declivity of the Judæan mountains. Then they marched northward, and defiling through the ravines of the wilderness of Judah, attacked Engedi, which, from its palm groves, was anciently called Hazezon-Tamar. They were now on the borders of the rich plain of Sodom. The inhabitants seeing their danger, made a united effort to oppose the invaders. They were defeated; their cities were captured; and the conquerors, laden with booty, retired slowly up the Jordan valley.

Abraham was encamped at Hebron. A fugitive carried to him the intelligence, probably on the evening of the day of the conflict. He would require a day to collect his 'trained servants,' and at least four to reach Dan, where he overtook the retreating host. He attacked them at night. And he must have followed them during the whole of that night and the next day; for we are told that he 'pursued them unto Hobah, which is upon the left hand (or north) of Damascus,' and which is nearly fifty miles from Dan, on the other side of Anti-Lebanon.

It is a remarkable fact, that one of the most ancient sanctuaries around Damascus is about three miles north of the city, and is called Makam Ibrahim, 'the Station of Abraham.' The story goes

1 The name Kadesh signifies 'holy place;' and En-Mishpat means 'fountain of judgment,' or of 'the oracle.'

that here the patriarch worshipped God on turning back after his great victory.

Seventh Week Fifth Day.

KINGS AND KINGDOMS-MELCHIZEDEK.-GENESIS XIV. 18-20.

SEVERAL kings of Canaan are mentioned in the fourteenth chapter of Genesis. We must not allow ourselves to entertain any large ideas of their power and greatness. In the area of the present Dead Sea alone, which, if it was not even then occupied by a lake, as some suppose it to have been, did not exceed some of our smaller English counties in extent, there were no fewer than five 'kings;' and at even a considerably later period there were thirty-one in that portion of the small country of Canaan which Joshua was enabled to conquer. The fact clearly is, that each of these kings was no other than the head man, sheikh, or chief, of some considerable town and the district belonging thereto. They seem to have been independent of each other in the management of their own affairs; but, as in the case of the kings of the plain, the princes of a particular district appear to have combined in such matters as were of general concernment to them all. Whether, with respect to such outside affairs, they allowed a sort of superiority to one of their number-say the chief of the most important town in the locality-cannot with certainty be stated. But we think that this was the case; not only because it is seen that this is the course which small tribes or communities are led by experience to regard as the best in times of war and trouble, but because there appears, even in this narrative, some faint indication that the king of Sodom was, during this transaction, regarded as the leader of the five kings of the plain. We know also, that at the later period to which we have just referred, and in the same neighbourhood, one of five 'kings' of this description assumed the leadership of the others in a time of danger, and directed the movements of their united force:

Josh. x. Such power was probably only temporary, for we find that under analogous circumstances, among the Syro-Arabian tribes, great and jealous care is taken to exact the entire abdication, on the return of peace, of all the authority of leadership conceded, for the common good, in time of war and trouble. It is, indeed, highly probable that the eventual formation of larger dominions, originated in the successful attempts of such leaders to retain permanently the power thus temporarily entrusted to them.

It may be stated that, even at the present day, the same and the neighbouring countries offer some tolerable analogies to the state of things indicated. Every town and village has its sheikh, by whom almost all its concerns are managed, with the aid and counsel of the other principal inhabitants. If the country is not in a well-organized state, this personage makes war with other towns, and enters into alliance with the wandering tribes that frequent the neighbourhood; and on him devolves the duty of entertaining strangers. He is accountable to the general government; but he is rarely interfered with, so long as he provides the taxes due from his place, and so long as the inhabitants make no complaint against him. Suppose this sheikh independent, instead of subject to a general government, and we have in him, as it seems to us, one whose situation very nearly corresponds to that of the kings of Canaan. In fact, except in the Syro-Arabian provinces of the Turkish empire, these chiefs are called sultans; and we can well remember the surprise which the large ideas attached to this title, as appropriated by us to the grand seignior, created, when we first heard its application to a rough old man, nowise distinguishable in manner, appearance, dress, or mode of living, from the other inhabitants of the place. Now, here is a perfectly analogous instance to the scriptural one, of the same title being applied to the chief of a village, and the lord of an empire. Our own small island once formed many kingdoms; but the kings of the heptarchy were, in regard to extent of dominion, mighty sovereigns compared with the ancient kings of Canaan.

A disorganized society falls back into the same state as an

unorganized society; and when the general government is weak, the local chiefs become almost or wholly independent. Hence we read, in William of Tyre, that, during the Crusades, when King Bohemund laid siege to Arsur, 'several kings' came down from the mountains of Samaria to the plain of Antipatris, bringing with them bread and wine, and dried figs and raisins. These 'kings' were doubtless such as we have described, and such as the ancient kings of Canaan were.

This incident is in itself strikingly analogous to what happened to Abraham; for we are told that Melchizedek, king of Salem, 'brought forth bread and wine' to him, on his victorious return from the slaughter of the kings. The simple fact of the similarity, not only of the act, but of the refreshments offered, is the best answer to the opinion advanced by some of the old Romanists, and lately also by other writers, that the bread and wine' were emblematic of the eucharistic elements. Figs and raisins were probably also included in the one case as in the other; for, in the language of Scripture, 'bread and wine,' as the chief articles of meat and drink, represent all kinds of food.

6

Melchizedek, who brought these presents to Abraham as his troops arrived at or passed near his town, is a remarkable person in Scripture. It is said that 'he was priest of the most high God,' and he bestowed a solemn blessing upon Abraham in the name of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth; and, which is more extraordinary, Abraham gave to him 'tithes (or a tenth) of all.' Who was this Melchizedek, who is honoured with such high titles, and whom Abraham treats with such respect? The question is a large one, upon which volumes have been written. The union, in his person, of the royal and sacerdotal characters, excites no surprise, as this was usual in ancient times. The Jews generally think that he was Shem, for their short chronology of the period would allow him to have lived down to this time. But without now questioning that chronology, it may be asked, how came Shem to be living and reigning here, among people of the Canaanitish race? and if it were Shem, how is it that Abraham, who had