15 And Canaan begat Sidon his firstborn, and Heth,

16 And the Jebusite, and the Amorite, and the Girgasite,

17 And the Hivite, and the Arkite, and the Sinite,

18 And the Arvadite, and the Zemarite, and the Hamathite; and afterward were the families of the Canaanites spread abroad.

It may be asked, if God's blessing of Noah and his sons was be fruitful and multiply, how comes cursed Canaan to have so great a share in it? Ianswer, divine curses do always work surely, but they do not always work visibly, nor always presently. A person, a family, a nation, may lie under the curse of God, and yet may thrive and prosper in the world. We are apt to think that every cursed person must die the death of Nadab and Abihu, by fire from hea ven;-that every cursed family must go down, with Dathan and Abiram, quick into hell;-that every cursed place must undergo the fate of Sodom. No: there are other ways in which the curse of God works, and which do not make such a noise in the world. Canaan hath many children, but perhaps he hath a

blinded mind, a hardened heart, a seared conscience. His children have large and fruitful possessions, but they are given up unto their own hearts' lust, to walk in their own counsels. Psa. lxxxi. 12. The bridle of restraining grace being removed, they are defiled with all manner of abominations. Lev. xviii. 27. The curse may for a while look like the drunkard's wine when it giveth his colour in the cup, smiling upon the sinner as if there were no danger; but at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Prov. xxiii. 31, 32. Psa. Ixxiii. 12, 18, 19.

19 And the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon, as thou comest to Gerar, unto Gaza; as thou goest, unto Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Admah, and Zeboim, even unto Lasha.

20 These are the sons of Ham, after their families, after their tongues, in their countries, and in their nations.

The boundaries of the land of the Canaanites are here exactly described: the western border from north to south, is from Sidon to Gaza; and the eastern border from south to north, is from Gaza by Sodom to Lasha. And wherefore is this? Why is

the sacred writer so particular in his account of the land possessed by the Canaanites,—that despicable race, while he is seemingly so careless about other great and mighty nations? Certainly the reason is, because the children of Israel were to be so much concerned with them. Canaan's land was to be the Holy Land; and we are, therefore, told the exact bounds and limits of it. 'Twas for the Jews primarily that all the Old Testament was written. 'Twas concerning the Jews and their affairs that most of it was written, and other nations are mentioned only as they had relation to, and correspondence with, the nation of the Jews. God did place the Canaanites, that cursed race, in the land which is here described, because he intended that land for his own people, who as yet were not ready for it. Who then must keep possession? None were so fit as those devoted nations; because whoever should be possessed of that country, must at length be dispossessed. Pertinent hereunto is that passage of the dying song of Moses: When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel; Deut. xxxii. 8; that is, he allotted just so much land to the Canaanites as upon the casting out of them, would be a sufficient portion for the children of Israel. This

gracious care of God for his people, is mentioned the first of those many mercies that he bestowed upon them for exciting them to thankfulness and obedience.

21 Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born.

22 The children of Shem; Elam, and Asshur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram.

23 And the children of Aram; Uz, and Hul, and Gether, and Mash.

24 And Arphaxad begat Salah; and Salah begat Eber.

25 And unto Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg; for in his days was the earth divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.

26 And Joktan begat Almodad, and Sheleph, and Hazarmaveth, and Jerah, 27 And Hadoram, and Uzal, and Diklah,

28 And Obal, and Abimael, and Sheba,

29 And Ophir, and Havilah, and Jobab: all these were the sons of Jok

tan.

30 And their dwelling was from Mesha, as thou goest, unto Sephar a mount of the east.

31 These are the sons of Shem, after their families, after their tongues, in their lands, after their nations.

32 These are the families of the sons of Noah, after their generations, in their nations and by these were the nations divided in the earth after the flood.

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The distinguishing title added to the name of Shem sounds somewhat oddly; the father of all the children of Eber. Why is Shem said to be the father of all the children of Eber rather than of all Arphaxad's, or Salah's, or Peleg's? Because from Eber the nation of the Jews descended. Abraham is styled the Hebrew, Gen. xiv. 13. So that when it is said that Shem was the father of all the children of Eber, it is meant that he was the father of God's professing people; and Moses mentions this as an honour to him. There were many other things that made Shem honourable, which another would have

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