ALL THE HOST OF THEM] i.e. 'all the contents of heaven and earth.' It used to be conjectured that Hebrew was the primitive language of mankind, but it is now known that that language is only one branch, and that not the oldest, of the Semitic group of languages including Assyrian, Aramaic, Phœnicia... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM THE EAST] RM 'in the east.' The writer is in Palestine. SHINAR] S. Babylonia. HE RESTED ON THE SEVENTH DAY] God ceased (as the word means) from His creative work.... [ Continue Reading ]
BRICK.. SLIME (RM 'bitumen')] These were the regular materials of ancient BabyIonian architecture, as the remains of the oldest cities still show. There was no stone available in these alluvial plains. GOD BLESSED THE SEVENTH DAY AND SANCTIFIED (RV 'hallowed') it] This is adduced in Exodus as the gr... [ Continue Reading ]
A CITY AND A TOWER] The principal building in every ancient city was its temple, and the chief feature of a Babylonian temple was its ziggurat or stage-tower. The remains of these towers are the most prominent of the mounds which mark the sites of ruined cities. The pile of vitrified brick near Baby... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LORD CAME DOWN, etc.] The words are meant to teach that God is concerned in men's doings. But 'it is not to be thought from such modes of expression that human characteristics are intended to be ascribed to the Creator. In any age it is necessary to describe the unknown by the help of the known;... [ Continue Reading ]
US] God is conceived as taking counsel with the angels His attendants: cp. Genesis 3:22.... [ Continue Reading ]
BABEL] as if from _balal,_ 'to confound.' The true etymology, however, is _Bab-ilu,_ 'gate of God.' See on Genesis 4:1. 10-32. The descendants of Shem to Abraham. The formal list here is the continuation of that in Genesis 5, and both belong to the Priestly document. The early period of the world's... [ Continue Reading ]
EBER] the ancestor of the Hebrews. See on Genesis 14:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
For the meaning of ABRAM and SARAI (Genesis 11:29) see on Genesis 17.... [ Continue Reading ]
HARAN] son of Terah. The Jewish Book of Jubilees declares that he was burnt to death, whilst attempting to save some of the images of the gods, when Abraham burnt the house in which they were.... [ Continue Reading ]
HARAN] (the Roman _Carrhœ_) was a city in Mesopotamia. It was an ancient seat of the worship of the moon god Sin. Caravan roads led from Haran to Syria and Palestine. Terah, who had intended to settle in Canaan, remained at Haran, and died there. Genesis 12 tells us how Abraham received the divine c... [ Continue Reading ]
THE DAYS OF TERAH WERE TWO HUNDRED AND FIVE YEARS] According to the Samaritan text Terah was 145 years old when he died. As Terah was 70 at the birth of Abram (Genesis 11:26) and the latter left Haran when he was 75, the Samaritan text confirms the statement in Acts 7:4 that Abram waited till after... [ Continue Reading ]