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the comfort to be assured, that he and his should be defended from all future evils. Soon after he was settled here, Abimelech, sensible of the ill usage he had met with from his people, and reflecting upon the extraordinary manner in which God had blessed him, and. considering that perhaps in time he might revenge the injuries they had done him, came with his officers, and made an alliance with him." Esau was about forty years old, and had married two Hittite women, very much to the affliction of his parents. The Hittites bordered upon the Philistines near to Gerar; so that Esau most probably married whilst his father sojourned there. Esau was forty years old, A. M. 2208, and therefore about that time Isaac lived at Gerar.

i

About nineteen years after this, died Syphis the first of that name, a very famous king of Egypt. He was the tenth king of Memphis, after Menes or Mizraim, according to Sir John Marsham's Tables; who supposes him to begin his reign about two hundred and twentytwo years after the death of Mizraim, who died, according to what I have formerly offered, A. M. 1943 ;* and therefore Syphis began his reign A. M. 2164. Syphis, according to Sir John Marsham from Manetho, reigned sixty-three years, and therefore died A. M. 2227; and upon this computation I have supposed that Syphis began his reign about eighty years after Abraham's coming into Egypt, and died about forty

h Gen. xxvi. 26—20.
*Vol. i. b. iv.

+ Ver. 34, 35.

years after Abraham;' for Abraham came into Egypt A. M. 2085 or 2086," and died A. M. 2183." Syphis was the first of the Egyptians who speculated upon religious subjects. According to Damascenus in Eusebius, Abraham and the Egyptian priests had, many disputes and conferences about religion. It may be asked, what disputes could they have upon this subject, if the Egyptians were not at this time become idolaters, as I apprehend they were not ? To this I answer the religion of Abraham, as it differed from that of Noah and his descendants in some points, which depended upon special revelations made to Abraham; must lay a foundation for his having conferences and disputes with the professors of religion in all countries into which he travelled. They knew nothing of the promise made to him, that in his seed all the nations of the earth should be blessed; nor were they apprized, that they ought to worship Him whom Abraham wor shipped, namely, the LORD who appeared to him." Agreeably to this we find an expression in the account we have of the worship of Abraham and his descendants, which we do not meet with any where in the worship of Lot, of Job, or of any other person, who had not received those revelations, which had been made to Abraham, and to his children (Yikra be Shem Jehovah) not called upon the name of the LORD, as

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we falsely translate the place, but invoked, i. e. God, in the name of the LORD, whom he worshipped, and who appeared to him. Now this person I take to be the GoD to whom Jacob prayed, and whom he resolved to worship, when he vowed that the LORD should be his GOD; by which expression may be meant, not that the true God should be his Gon in opposition to false gods; for that had no very remarkable resolution; no wise man ever worshipping false gods, who really knows them to be such; but the LORD who appeared to Abraham, was to be his GoD, in distinction from those who worshipped the true God of heaven, without any notion of this LORD at all. In the same manner we find, that this person was worshipped by Isaac; and he is sometimes called the fear of Isaac, and sometimes the God of Abraham, and God of Isaac; " and Isaac invoked GoD as Abraham did, in the name of this LORD. The several expressions denoting the worship which different persons paid the Deity, are very remarkable in the Old Testament. Many persons are said Kara Jehovah, to invoke Gon, or Kara el Jehovah, to cry unto God; or their worship is described in expressions of much the same import; but Kara be-shem Jehovah' is never used in a religious

s Ver. 8. As rendered in our English version.

'Gen. xxviii. 21.

* Gen. xxvi. 25.

u Gen. xxxi. 42, 53. & in al loc.

The expression Kara be Shem is used Gen. iv. but from the persons there spoken of being called by the name of the sons of GoD, Gen. vi. I imagine the words in that place signify to call by the name. See vol. i. b. 1.

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sense, but of Abraham and his descendants, who invoked in the name of the true Mediator. This was the difference between their religion, and that of the rest of mankind. Other nations, before idolatry was introduced, worshipped the true Gon, but not be Shem Jehovah, in the name of the LORD, who had appeared to Abraham. Now this I take to be the point, which Abraham disputed with the Egyptian priests; whether God was to be worshipped, as they worshipped him, or whether he was to be invoked in the name of Abraham's GoD and LORD. Damascenus remarks that the Egyptians admired Abraham as a very great genius, able to convince and persuade men into his opinions; and we find from Scripture, that the eminence both of Abraham and his descendants made, great impressions upon all nations with whom they conversed. The king of Salem acknowledged Abraham to be an eminent servant of the most high GOD; Abimelech was convinced, that GoD was with him in all he did. And the same confession was made respecting Isaac, in the same country; and Abraham's conversation raised him a great character and reputation in Egypt. For after he was gone from thence, the Egyptians copied after him in the point of circumcision, and introduced human sacrifices; and imitated many rites which they heard that he practised in his

2

a

Euseb. Præp. Evang. 1. 9. c. 18.

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religion; but it does not appear, that he entirely persuaded them to acknowledge his God to be their God. Syphis, a king of the next adjacent conntry to that in which Abraham had sojourned, in a little time turned their thoughts quite another way. He took up the subjects, for which Abraham had been famous, and wrote a book about religion; which carried away his own people and the neighbouring nations into idolatry." And probably he did not oppose the doctrine of Abraham, that Gon was to be invoked in the name of a mediator, but he set up false mediators instead of the true one. For I conclude from the manner of the worshipping Baal in Elijah's time, that men did not at first wander away from the true Gon; but they set up lords many; or false mediators, in whose names they worshipped, and in time they went further, and lost all notion of the true God. Syphis, instead of teaching to invoke GoD in the name of the LORD, who appeared to Abraham, set up the worship of the sun, moon and stars, and taught the Egyptians to invoke in their names; so that they had not one God, and one LORD, which was the ancient true religion; but one god, and lords many, and in time they had gods many too. Baal was a false lord of this sort, and the worshippers of Baal invoked in his name. Elijah called upon the God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel,' invoking GoD in or by his name. The worshippers of

d

Maraham. Can. Chron. p. 54.

1 Kings xviii.

Ver. 21 and 22.

1 Kings xviii. 36.

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