sequence of some irreverent conduct on the part of Ham, or probably of both Ham and Canaan, towards the aged Noah, on a melancholy occasion when the patriarch had become guilty of excess in the drinking of wine, with which God had blessed his labour as a husbandman. The posterity of Ham included (besides the Canaanites) the Philistines and some other Asiatic tribes, and also the Egyptians and other Africans." To Shem we trace the Persians, through Elam, one of his sons; the Syrians through Aram; and probably the Hebrews through Eber. And from Japheth were derived, generally speaking, the nations of Europe, including the Germans through Gomer, the Greeks through Javan, and the Muscovites through Meshech.

The Scriptural genealogy of Ham and Japheth extends only to a few generations; but the account of the posterity of Shem, from whom eventually came the promised Messiah, is more extensive. (Gen. x. 21–31, xi. 10-26; 1 Chron. i. 17, &c.)

ELEMENTARY AND GENERAL QUESTIONS.

44. How did God determine to punish the wickedness of mankind when it had reached its height?

45. Trace the descent of Noah, and describe his character.

46. What measure was divinely prescribed for the preservation of Noah and his family?

47. Of how many persons did that family consist?

48. What living creatures were to be taken into the ark?

49. Mention the materials of the ark, and its dimensions.

50. How did Noah ascertain the subsiding of the waters?

51. Describe the renewal of God's covenant with mankind in the person of Noah. 52. Who were the sons of Noah?

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS.

53. Describe the nature and extent of antediluvian wickedness.

54. Relate the progress of the Deluge; state its extent and duration.

55. Give the date of the Deluge, as commonly received.

56. State the two several conjectures concerning the rainbow as the token of the covenant.

57. Among what people do we find traditions apparently referring to the Deluge? 58. Date the death of Noah, and mention his age.

59. How has the posterity of the sons of Noah been distributed over the world? 60. Which of these posterities is most fully described in Scripture, and why?

* It is a popular error to suppose that all the Africans, as descendants of Ham, were made subject to the curse of servitude. That curse extended to only one branch of Ham's family, the Canaanites; and it was inflicted when that people was subdued by the Israelites, and when the settlers on the northern coast of Africa were brought under the power of the Romans.

CHAPTER V.

NIMROD AND HIS CONQUESTS.-JOB.

(Gen. x. 6-12; xi. 1-9-Job.)

AMONG the posterity of Ham, Nimrod,* a son of Cush, became celebrated, first by his courage and dexterity in the destruction of beasts of prey and other noxious animals, and then by the establishment of dominion over his fellow-men; just as, in the early ages of Greece, distinction was acquired by such heroes as Theseus, Perseus, and Hercules, who came to be regarded as demigods for the services they rendered to society by ridding the country of wild beasts. The exploits of Nimrod appear to have been marked by daring impiety; an instance of which appears in his having promoted the building of a high tower, composed of sun-dried bricks, cemented with bitumen, in the land of Shinar. This tower, designed as a rallying-point, or centre of union, and as a proud trophy of earthly dominion and power, was erected in a spirit of impious independence, and probably with avowed defiance of Heaven. At all events, the intention of the builders was so evil, that the displeasure of the Most High was manifested by His direct interposition for the defeat of their design, which was accomplished by producing such a confusion of their language that they could no longer act in concert for the completion of their work. Thus the building of the tower was stopped, and the place was called Babel, i. e. confusion.

At this Babel, or Babylon, on the Euphrates, Nimrod appears to have founded an empire, which included also the cities of Erech, Accad, and Calneh, the sites of which are somewhat uncertain. After this, he invaded and subdued the more northern country of Asshur, a son of Shem; and here he built Nineveh on the Tigris-or else, as others supposef he drove Asshur out of the land of Shinar, who then established himself at Nineveh.

It has been supposed that the idolatrous worship of the

* Perhaps impious rebel. Some suppose that this was only a term of reproach, not his real name; but he may have adopted it, as glorying in iniquity.

[This, though asserted by Josephus, is doubtful. As stated in Smith's Dict. ii. 544, note, 'The Bible does not connect Nimrod with the building of the tower; for it only asserts that Babel formed one of his capitals.' See also Patrick on Gen. xi. 5.]

Adopting the rendering of Gen. x. 11, which stands in the text of our version. The other view rests mainly upon the reading of that passage given in the margin.

heavenly bodies (Job xxxi. 26-28) sprung up in the early period of the Babylonian empire, having been introduced probably by Nimrod himself; who, it has been said, was regarded by his subjects as having been translated to the constellation Orion. But on these matters Scripture is silent, and we have no other authentic record.-It must be borne in mind that the whole history of the early period of the Babylonian and Assyrian empires is involved in great obscurity-which, however, has been partially removed by the recent discoveries of Botta, Layard, and Rawlinson.

It is pleasant to think that, while wickedness and violence abounded in the earth, there were yet to be found traces of godliness and virtue, such as are presented to our notice in the Book of Job.

The design of this Book* is to show that, notwithstanding the obscure and perplexing nature of the dealings of Almighty God with His people in this life-especially while He suffers them to be overtaken by earthly calamities and afflicted with bodily sufferings, when we might expect a course of prosperity and comfort as the present reward of their integrity and piety-yet the Divine government is really conducted on principles of eternal justice, and, even as regards the distribution of temporal good and evil, the Lord doeth all things well.

The precise time at which Job lived is uncertain; but strong reasons have been adduced for placing his history before that of the Jewish patriarchs. If we adopt this view of the matter, we may say that Job flourished not much earlier than the birth of Abraham (i. e. about B. c. 2,000), and certainly at some period before the departure of the Israelites from Egypt. He lived in the land of Uz; by which some understand Idumea, while others, with more probability, suppose that Uz, here mentioned, is the son of Aram, and grandson of Shem, and that the locality denoted is in the northern part of Arabia Deserta, between Idumea, Palestine, and the Euphrates.

Job, probably the head of his tribe, was an extensive and wealthy agriculturist; and, more than this, he was a godly

*The writer and date of the Book of Job are unknown. Some persons suppose it to have been written by Job himself; others ascribe it to Moses; and others again assign it to a still later period: but as the name of the writer is not given in the book itself, we must be content with regarding this point as uncertain, and not necessary to be known.

[Such an early date is, however, inconsistent with the mention of the Sabeans (Job i. 15), if that tribe took its name from Sheba, the grandson of Abraham, as stated in the Index, and with the explanation of the term 'Shuhite,' given also in the Index under Bildad.']

C

man, a sincere servant of the Most High, 'perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed [i. e. abhorred and shunned] evil. For the trial of this good man's faith and patience, it pleased God that he should be visited with sudden and great temporal calamities, brought about by the agency of Satan, who caused his oxen and asses to be carried off by the Sabeans his sheep to be destroyed by lightning-his camels to be seized by the Chaldeans*-and his seven sons and three daughters to be crushed to death under the ruins of the elder brother's house, which was overthrown by a whirlwind while they were assembled at a family entertainment. After this, Job was afflicted in his own person, being covered with sore boils or inflamed ulcers.†

Under these circumstances, the patriarch at first, in reply to an impatient address of his wife, uttered the language of pious resignation to the will of God. Afterwards, however, he made heavy complaints with reference to his condition, as being so different from what might have been expected in accordance with his character in the sight of God. These complaints he uttered in conversation with his three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite, who came to condole with him under his sufferings, but, in fact, augmented his grief by hastily and unkindly maintaining the position that, according to the recognised dealings of the Most High, his great afflictions must have been drawn down on him by some aggravated but unacknowledged wickedness. Hereupon Elihu, who had silently listened to the whole conversation, vindicated Job from the implied charges of his other friends, but at the same time reproved the patriarch himself for many unbecoming expressions which he had employed in his defence, as savouring too much of a self-justifying spirit.

At length the Lord Himself determined the whole controversy by uttering, out of a whirlwind, the most sublime and decisive assertions of His sovereign power and unfailing righteousness. Job was now deeply affected with a sense of his own unworthiness in the presence of this glorious Being; a fact which was perfectly consistent with his freedom from those great and secretly-cherished sins of which he had been covertly accused by his friends, who were reproved by the Almighty for their uncharitable surmises.

Job was eventually restored to more than his former pros

The tribe which afterwards established an empire in the region of Babylon. + Commonly supposed to be the violent disease called Elephantiasis or black leprosy. (See Job ii. 8. vii. 5, 13-15; xvi. 8, xix. 17, xxx. 17.) Job took a potsherd to scrape himself withal, and he sat down among the ashes, or, according to the Septuagint, on a dunghill.

perity, being put in possession of great wealth, and made the father of seven sons and three daughters, the latter of whom -Jemima (Day), Kezia (Cassia), and Keren-Happuch (Horn of Stibium)* were widely celebrated for their beauty. In this state of affluence and domestic comfort the patriarch lived 140 years; and he died at an advanced age, after having seen his posterity to the fourth generation.

ELEMENTARY AND GENERAL QUESTIONS.

61. Who was Nimrod?

62. Describe his character and exploits.

63. Give the history of the Tower of Babel.

64. What form of idolatry appears to have prevailed during this age?

65. Who was Job, and what was his character?

66. What were the calamities which befel him, and how were they inflicted?

67. What was their design, and what their issue?

68. Give the names of Job's three friends, and of the fourth speaker who joined in the debate.

69. Who put them all to silence, and how?

70. Relate the patriarch's final history.

71. State the names of Job's three daughters who are mentioned at the close of the history, and give their meanings.

ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS.

72. Compare the history of Nimrod with that of some early Grecian heroes. 73. Quote the passage in Job in which allusion is made to the worship of the heavenly bodies.

74. Give the names of some travellers who have lately thrown light on the early history of the Babylonian and Assyrian empires.

75. What is said to have been the apotheosis of Nimrod ?

76. State the design of the Book of Job.

77. Explain the course of Job's conduct under suffering-the reasoning of his friends-and the Divine solution of the whole difficulty which had arisen.

CHAPTER VI.

THE EARLY HISTORY OF ABRAHAM.

(Gen. xi. 27.-xiv.)

We have already seen that, in the course of a few centuries after the Fall, the human race had sunk into a state of general and incurable corruption--the corruption of men who knew God as their creator and moral governor, but in works denied Him; and that, before this corruption became absolutely universal-while yet there was one pious family left upon earthGod sent a deluge for the destruction of the ungodly, preserving alive only Noah and his family, as the stock of a new race *That is, a horn, or, as we should say, a box or pot, of eye-paint, or dye for the edges of the eye-lids.