copy /.
THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH.
y
The
Veracity of the Hexateuch
A Defence of the
Historic Character of the First
Six Books of the Bible
^
Samuel Colcord Bartlett, D.D., LL. D.
Ex- President of Dartmouth College
Fleming H. Revell Company-
Chicago New York Toronto
Publishers of Evangelical Literature
Copyright i8qt, by
Fleming H. Revell Comjiany
To
Aly jFormer Pupils
At
Westei-n Resei-ve College
Chicago Theological Seinitiary
And Daritnouth College
This Witness to THE TRUTH
Is Affectionately
Dedicated
PREFACE
Conservative discussions of the Hexateuch
have not of late been much in vogue. We have been
abundantly notified that modern scholarship is on
the other side. However this may be, the recent
movement of Homeric scholarship is significant.
The reign of Wolf began in 1795, and for much of
the intervening century the "scholar" has been con-
strained to accept the Homerid^ and a compilation
of rhapsodies from nameless independent authors.
But since the labors of Schliemann and Dorpfeld,
even Germany is beginning with some unanimity,
we are told, to give us back one Homer, one Iliad,
and an actual Trojan war. Perhaps the time has
come to say something for Moses and Joshua. Evi-
dently a volume of the right kind in behalf of the,
views that were universally held for two or three
thousand years is still in order.
Such a volume for general use needs to be suffi-
ciently compact to invite a reading, sufficiently clear
to be readily followed, broad enough in its scope to
recognize the various aspects of the case, and in its
statements to rest on trustworthy authorities, while
not overweighed with wearisome and repellent de-
tails. To meet all these requirements is no easy
undertaking. The literature of the subject is almost
hopelessly vast, and is constantly increasing. ^ The
conflict on some important points still continues.
PREFACE
The work of archaeological research, remarkable as
it has lately been, and pointing steadily and decis-
ively in one direction, is yet progressive and in-
complete. Its further results must be patiently
aw^aited rather than predicted. But w^hile occasional
new perplexities may be looked for, and minor
modifications of fact and opinion may be expected,
there is little reason to anticipate any reversal of
the main historic results already established by con-
current evidence from so many different sources.
No one can be more sensible of the difficulty of
meeting the requirements above indicated than the
present writer, and he by no means claims to have
accomplished it. For a long course of years, how-
ever, he has followed the discussion, examining all
available materials for the solution of the question,
while waiting for the light that was to come from
further discoveries. But the process of research is
a stream that never ceases to flow on ; and the call
for some practical showing of its combined results
up to the present time seems to be urgent.
For the gravity of the real issue is beginning to
be more generally understood. It is not chiefly a
question of authorship and mode of composition,
nor of minor inexactness or "inerrancy," which has
come to the front, but of the fundamental veracity
of the Old Testament from the beginning of it.
Direct and open denials, and charges of being "un-
historical," "fictitious," and "false," have hitherto
been more abundant in Germany. But they have
made their way into England ; and in this country
PREFACE vii
we have begun to hear the same things, usually,
though not always, in more decorous language, yet
in unexpected quarters.
Meanwhile the religious community are enter-
tained with assurances of the new light and im-
pressiveness thus brought to the sacred volume, and
that its "inspired authority," in the words of Dr.
Driver, is not impaired. But when we are informed
by the same writer that we have but "traditions
modified and colored by the associations of the age
in which the author lived, "and that the author used
his "freedom in placing speeches in the mouths" of
the several characters, such as "he deemed to be
consonant"; when we are told by other writers,
English and American, that the early chapters of
Genesis are a "myth," and that we have "not the
history of Abraham and Jacob, of Moses and
Joshua," but of "religious ideas," that the account
of the conquest of Palestine is "essentially false,"
and the like, what becomes of the " inspired author-
ity" and the religious lessons of such a book?
Many, no doubt, are induced to give a general
assent to the positions taken by this class of writers
by the constant and confident assurance that they
are approved and accepted facts. They have not
been able to sift the elaborate and wearisome dis-
cussions for themselves, and they fail to recognize,
beneath these bold pretensions, the unfounded as-
sumptions, the unwarranted methods and inferences,
and the ultimate incompatibility of the conclusions
with confidence in the Scriptures. The New Tes-
viii PREFACE
lament, also, is so related to the Old, as the basis
on which in an important sense it is built, that the
attack on the truthfulness of the Hexateuch is a
flank movement on the Gospels and the Epistles.
In some quarters it seems to have been made a
substitute for a direct assault. Slowly and surely
foiled and driven back in the attempt to detrude the
date of the Gospels far down in the second century,
by such newty discovered obstacles as the Diates-
seron, the Didache, the Greek text of Barnabas,
the Apology of Aristides, the "Gospel of Peter,"
the identifying of Hippolytus containing the witness
of Basilides, and the like, they have transferred the
attack to a region where collateral evidence is more
difficult of attainment. But the good providence
of God has been doing much within a few years
past to cast light on those far distant periods, until
the time has come when explorers in oriental lands
are placing facts against speculations. The specu-
lators do not seem to be fully aware of it.
Meanwhile this agitation tends to produce un-
easiness and embarrassment in the minds of many
Christians, and unsettlement in the views of many
who are not Christians. The object of the present
volume is to relieve these difficulties, presenting
some of the reasons for holding fast the belief of
the ages in the historic truthfulness of the Hex-
ateuch. The aim has been to do it as compactly
as is consistent with a clear and satisfactory pres-
entation. With this view, considerable matter by
way of illustration and confirmation has been thrown
PREFACE ix
into notes in the appendix, and some accumulated
material withheld.
Direct and positive evidence of fact best disposes
of speculative objections. It is not necessary, nor
vv^ould it be possible w^ithin reasonable compass, to
follow the critical analysis through all its winding
course, inasmuch as it only indirectly and inferen-
tially concerns the question of veracity, would
require many hundred pages, and probably would
find few readers. For the present purpose, if not
for all purposes, it is better dealt with by an ex-
amination of its methods and principles, together
with adequate illustrations, illustrative and repre-
sentative, and some comparison with other literary
procedures and experiences, showing the failure to
stand the experimental test. So far as it comes
under consideration, while the author has had access
to most of the several forms of division of the text,
he has referred chiefly to the comparatively con-
servative representation in Kautzsch's"Die Heilige
Schrift des Alten Testament" (1894). He is not
confident that he has escaped the charge of tedious-
ness in the references and citations he has made.
Those who may wish to follow out this line of the
subject in minute and protracted detail are referred
to the recent volumes of Dr. W. H. Green, which
it has hitherto apparently been found easier to ignore
than to answer.
The questions of fact passing under review in
this discussion are of very wide range, and involve
the investigations and testimony of a host of writers
X PREFACE
and explorers. On all important points the refer-
ences are given, which those familiar with the sub-
ject will recognize as comprising the highest
authorities in their several departments. They are
cited, it will be observed, for their testimony rather
than for their opinions.
One minor point occasions a slight embarrassment.
As to the orthography of many oriental names con-
fusion now reigns. Each modern writer is a law
unto himself. In recent volumes of some prom-
inence we find, for example, six ways of spelling
Thothmes, four each of Rameses, Usertasen, Me-
nephtah, Assurbanipal. Sennacherib is changed to
Sinacherib ; the old English word Jehovah is re-
placed by Jahve, Jahveh, Yahveh, Yahweh, and
Yahwe ; and what all English readers well know
as the Koran has been transformed into the English
anomaly and incompatibility of Qur'an. One can
but take his choice, with the prospect of incon-
sistency when he quotes directly. But it would
seem to be a sound principle of English literature
that when a foreign name has acquired an estab-
lished form and held it since the time of King James'
Version, an English writer is not called to change
it. No perceptible gain would accrue to English
literature or Hebrew scholarship by writing Mosheh
for Moses, or Yehoshua for Joshua.
Attention is called in conclusion to the fact that
the question here discussed is now open to the judg-
ment, not alone of Hebrew scholars, but of intel-
ligent men generally. It has been by modern critics
PREFACE xi
themselves taken off from merely linguistic, and
placed on historic, grounds. If other distinct ad-
missions were wanting, as they are not, the con-
fession is found in the revolution which within a
few years has transferred the so-called document
P, that contains the first chapter of Genesis, from
being the oldest to be the youngest of the main
constituents.
We are now in the midst and at the height of a
great movement against the trustworthiness of the
ancient Scriptures. But already there are signs of
weakening in some portions of the hostile camp,
and in others the very excess and extravagance is a
sign of growing weakness. Many of us have read
of, and some of us have seen, collapses of popular
and even universally accepted movements and
theories, both in literature and science. All students
of history know how manifold and unceasing have
been the efforts to arrest the power and progress of
God's Word ; and it is easy to see that they will
not end so long as men assume as a postulate the
denial of the supernatural, or stumble at the "offense
of the cross." It is unnecessary to arrange terms
of surrender.
Hanover y N, H.^ June, 1897.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER. PAGE.
I. The Case Stated - - - i
II. The Book OF Joshua - - - 13
III. From the Exodus to the Conquest 48
IV. The Residence in Egypt - - 84
V. The Patriarchal History - 109
VI. The Table of the Nations - - 137
VII. The Deluge - ... 131
VIII. Antediluvian Life - - - 178
IX. Antediluvian Occupations - 190
X. The Primitive Condition - - 199
XI. The Temptation and the Fall - 214
XII. The Creation Narrative - 227
XIII. The Sabbath - . - . 261
XIV. The Historic Basis - - - 268
XV. The Literary Problem - - 283
XVI. The Analysis - ... 295
XVII. Unfounded Assumptions - - 311
XVIII. Unsustained Denials - - 322
XIX. Unsustained Denials: The Priest-
hood 337
XX. The Codes 347
Appendix ----- 339
List of Authors - - - 393
Index 399
CHAPTER I
THE CASE STATED
The one important question concerning the Hex-
ateuch, as the five books of Moses and the book of
Joshua are now called, is this : Is it true history ?
All others are subordinate and only constructivel}^
important. It is comparatively unimportant whether
it was the work of various writers, if it be true ; not
a vital question when it was written, or when it re-
ceived its present form, if it be valid history. No
doubt, could it be shown to have been written many
centuries after the events, and without authentic
sources, it loses historic weight. But it must be
remembered that its composite character, if it were
proved, would not carry a determination of its date.
That must be shown by distinct evidence. While
a very late date of composition would impair its
value as a narrative, on the other hand an origin
nearl}^ or quite contemporaneous with the events,
would, in the absence of conflicting accounts and
with the corroboration by such tests as could be
applied, render it thoroughly credible.
Two theories of its origin and character are now
before the public. They are frequently distinguished
as the Traditional and the Critical. Cave terms
them the Journal and the Evolution theories ; Rob-
ertson, the Biblical and the Modern. The latter
uses his terms advisedly, because the account given
1
t THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
in the Hexateuch, and elsewhere assumed in the
Scriptures, as to the law-giving and many earlier
transactions, is denied by the Modern theory, though
in different degrees by different writers.
The Traditional, Biblical or Journal view holds,
as its fundamental point, that the narrative is true
history, although written in popular style and
method, and that these books were substantially^
contemporary with Moses and Joshua respectively.
As stated in careful form by Ellicott, it would recog-
nize Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers as put in
shape by Moses or under his direction, Deuteron-
omy as manifestly completed by a survivor, and
Genesis as compiled by Moses. Joshua is regarded
as compiled by some contemporary under the direc-
tion of Joshua.' It is suggested both by Bishop
Ellicott and Professor Leathes (and others) as prob-
able that in the composition of Genesis the law-
giver made use of primeval documents and contem-
poraneous family records handed down in the line
of Abraham and his ancestry. The existence and
gradual growth of such records is thought by
Leathes to be sustained by such passages as Gen.
v. i; Ex. xvii, 14; xxiv. 7; xxxiv. 27; Num. xxi.
14; xxxiii. 2; Deut. xxxi. 24; Josh. x. 13; xxiv.
26; 2 Sam. i. 18.^ The chief feature of this view
is that it regards the narratives as resting on good
and practically contemporaneous authority. But
they all show marks of having passed through the
hands of editors or revisers.
1 Ellicott, Christus Comprobator, pp. 46-50.
2 Leathes, The Law in the Prophets, pp. v.,vi.
THE CASE STATED S
The Other view, which we will call the Modern
theory, has three prominent features: i, an anal-
ysis of the Hexateuch into the writings of separate
and discernible hands, numbering from eight or
ten to eighteen or twenty ; 2, an assignment of late
dates for all these wTiters, none of them living with-
in less than four or five, some of them not less than
ten centuries, of the events ; 3, a denial more or less
distinct and extensive of the truth of much of the
early narrative, as being tradition "modified or
colored" by the judgment of the writer, or "myth-
ical" and "unhistorical," or as one writer describes
the narrative of the conquest, "essentially false."
The first of these points of itself would be of no
special importance. The second is significant as
leading to the third. The third is vital. It is with
the question of the historic character of the Hexa-
teuch that the present treatise has to do. If that be
established, the other points may be disposed of
more briefly, and the reader referred to other and
more detailed discussions of them.
Meanwhile it may be mentioned as a significant
fact what a reaction has begun in Germany against
the dissection of Homer and the Iliad, and the ex-
tinction of Homer. The anti-Homeric crusade is
older and bolder than the anti-Mosaic. For many
decades scarcely a scholar dared to question it.
But it has had its day. The keen specialist Knoetel
has boldly declared that the "theory which cuts the
Homeric poems into a larger or smaller number of
rhapsodies is unfounded, and such great men and
4 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
scholars as Wolf, Lachmann, Dissen, Bernhardy
and all their followers who undertook the work of
literary dissection were entirely in error. "^ And
his assertion is said to be substantially and generally
accepted. It remains to be seen whether the proc-
ess of dissecting the Scriptures and excluding
Moses may or may not meet a similar fate. Already
the excesses of the movement begin to appear like
a 7'ednctio ad ahsnrdtim of its methods.
The Pentateuch and the book of Joshua are novv^
commonly treated together as the Hexateuch, on
the ground of alleged identity of authorship. His-
torically they are intimately related. The second is
the sequel of the first.
When grave historic treatises present themselves
under such remarkable conditions as do these writ-
ings, by all the laws of historic reasoning it is in-
cumbent, not on those who accept, but on those
who reject, them, to show cause. It is not proposed
to dispense with the prestige and power of this
position, but to indicate it later, in treating directl}^
of the Pentateuch. Meanwhile we will take our
stand on the latest portion of this connected narra-
tive, namely, the book of Joshua, and trace the
course of the history upward to the beginning of
the stream.
This method undoubtedly has its disadvantages.
The transactions in the book of Joshua are not only
remote from direct contact with Egypt and its mon-
3 Knoetel, Homeros, der Blinde von Chios, und Seine Werke, 2 vol., Leip-
zig,i894-5. In Vol ii., pp. x., xi., he characterizes the process, somewhat too
severely, as "carping, chipping and trimming."
THE CASE STATED 5
uments, but they antedate the evidence which of
late years has been coming abundantly from Baby-
lonian and Assyrian discoveries. But though these
last-mentioned testimonies fall below^ the period
now in question, they are not to be overlooked, as
forming an approach to that period, and as bearing
on the general credibility of the Old Testament his-
tory. In them we find not only many striking de-
tails illustrative of the events in the times of the
kings of Israel and Judah, but what is even more
weighty, the explanation of that course of events,
not otherwise easily intelligible. Indeed the ex-
planation thus gained extends back even to the date
of the Exodus, showing the condition and relations
of the great nations at that time, which exposed
Palestine to invasion and suffered its conquest to
take place without hindrance from outside. It has
been well said that "the history of Israel, unspeak-
ably interesting and important as it was in itself,
may now be seen in its true external setting." It
is a fact of the gravest moment that the narrative is
not only confirmed in so many of its test details,
but that it stands so thoroughly clasped and sup-
ported by all its environments. Inasmuch as a full
justification of the statement would involve too long
a digression from the more direct line of inquiry,
the reader is referred to an admirable summary of
the situation by Professor J. F. McCurdy.*
Proceeding to some of the facts in detail men-
tioned in the sacred narrative which are contained
4 See Appendix, note I,
6 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
also in the Assyrian records, there are found in the
latter records six kings of Israel, Omri, Ahab,
Jehu, Menahem, Pekah and Hoshea, and four kings
of Judah, Azariah, Ahaz, Hezekiah and Manasseh ;
also Ben-hadad and Hazael of Damascus, and
Hiram of Tyre. Tiglath-pileser's movement on
Samaria and Syria, Shalmanezer's invasion of Pal-
estine, and Sennacherib's war w^ith Hezekiah have
been read from the Assyrian records. Thus Sen-
nacherib relates how he had captured the strong
cities of the king of Judah (2 Chron. xxxii. i), and
shut up the king in Jerusalem, where he had given
command to strengthen the bulwarks, as the Chron-
icler also states (ver. 5) ; and he specifies the amount
of tribute exacted, namely, thirty talents of gold,
precisely the Scripture number (2 Kings xviii. 14),
although the Assyrian monarch claims five hundred
talents of silver more than are mentioned in the
sacred narrative. Sennacherib's siege of Lachish
(2 Chron. xxxii. 9), whither Hezekiah sent his sub-
mission (2 Kings xviii. 14), is delineated on thirteen
slabs of bas-relief in the palace at Koyunjik, la-
beled with the name of the monarch and the town.°
One of the latest discoveries in regard to him (by
Father Scheil's excavations)^ is a mention of his
murder by his son, as stated in the Scripture, but
not previously known from other sources. The lost
and (by some) doubted Belshazzar has been found in
three contract tablets dated in the fifth, eleventh and
5 Layard's Babylon and Nineveh, p. 154. Records of the Past, i., p. 36.
6 Biblical Science, New York Independent, June 25, 1896.
THE CASE STATED 7
twelfth years of king Nabonidus, and describing him
as "the king's son.'" The Moabite stone, found in
1868, carries us back to about 900 B. C, and pre-
sents to us Mesha king of Moab, otherwise un-
known except in the Scriptures (2 Kings iii. 4),
Omri king of Judah and his son (Ahab), the heavy
tribute exacted from the Moabite king, and at last
his rebellion — all as stated briefly in the book of
Kings. It also mentions Jehovah as Israel's God,
Chemosh as the Moabite deity, and Moab as the
"land of Chemosh," just as in Num. xxi. 29 and
Jer. xlviii. 46 Moab is called the "people of Che-
mosh." The script is that of the ancient Hebrew ; its
vocabulary, with slight exceptions, is that of the
Hebrew, as are its syntax and form of sentence also.
And what is still more important is its evidence of
the power and civilization of Moab at that time,
and those of Israel, its neighbor and superior. Says
Dr. Driver, "The length and finished literary form
of the inscription show that the Moabites in the
tenth century B. C. were not a nation that had re-
cently emerged from barbarism ; and Mesha reveals
himself in it as a monarch capable of organizing
and consolidating his dominions by means similar
to those adopted by contemporary sovereigns in the
kingdoms of Israel and Judah. "^ Another interest-
ing and important inscription, from Jerusalem itself,
is the Siloam inscription discovered so recently as
7 Rscords of the Past, New Series, Vol. iii., p. 124.
8 Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text of Samuel, p xciv. The inscription
has been given to the public abundantly, the best form being the fac-simile
and translation Ijy Smend and Socin, Freiburg, 1886.
8 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
1880. It is cut in the rock sixteen feet from the
Siloam entrance of a rock-cut channel which ex-
tends to the Fountain of the Virgin, a distance of
1, 708 feet. Though the passage winds more or less,
following the softer seams of the rock, and was,
according to the inscription (and appearances also),
excavated from both ends inward, it was so well
directed that when three cubits apart the two bands
of workmen heard each other's picks and came to-
gether. It is regarded for good reasons as dating
from about the time of Hezekiah, and it serves two
historic purposes : It is a general corroboration of
the statement that such water courses (2 Chron.
xxxii. 30) or conduits (2 Kings xx. 20) were actu-
ally made at Jerusalem during those times ; and,
still more importantly, it bears witness to the civili-
zation and progress of the nation, since (i) there
were workmen competent to do such a piece of
engineering, and (2) it presents an inscription of
six lines, in Hebrew like that of the Old Testament,
containing but one word ("excess".^) not found in
the lexicons, and in well-cut Hebrew letters of the
archaic form.^ Somewhat earlier than these is the
famous inscription at Thebes in Egypt, of Shishak,
the Sheshenk of the monuments, enumerating the
places conquered by him or tributary to him, among
which is the bearded figure and the name ''Judah"
— whether rendered king or kingdom — in corre-
spondence to the narrative of i Kings xiv. 25, 26,
9 To be found in the Records of the Past, New Series, Vol. i, p. 174, and
elsewhere. A fac-simile and traqslation was published by thf Palestine
jgxploration fund.
THE CASE STATED 9
that he carried off the chief treasures of the city and
the temple ; and in his list of captured places there
are certainly identified, among others, the well-
known Taanach, Mahanaim, Beth-horon, Beth-
tappuah, Ajalon and Shoco/" The last two are
mentioned in 2 Chron. xi. 5-10 among "fenced
cities" which Rehoboam built ''for defence-'; thus
distinctly confirming the statement of 2 Chron. xii.
2-4, that "Shishak took the fenced cities which
pertained to Judah, and came to Jerusalem" — the
statement of a book (Chronicles) greatly depreci-
ated by some critics. In the history of Joshua (2
Kings xxiii. 29, 30; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 20-24) we
get a passing notice of Pharaoh-nechoh of Egypt on
his march to Carchemish upon the Euphrates, vic-
torious over Josiah, but to be defeated by the king
of Babylon, and also of the effects of that defeat on
the history of Palestine, as we learn them from
other sources."
Other details of definite corroboration could be
given, but these must suffice for the present. Mean-
while it is important to call special attention to the
knowledge that has recently come from the investi-
gation of inscriptions in Arabia by Glaser, and
elucidated by Hommel, showing an advanced stage
of organization, prosperit}^, if not culture, in thcit
country as early, it is supposed, as the exodus. ^^
10 The latest and probably best list is that of Maspero, given in the
Journal of the Victoria Institute, 1894, pp. 93-133. He identifies sixteen
places mentioned in Joshua.
11 Berosus, in Josephus cont, Ap. i, 19, Josephus Antiq., ch. x., and Jer.
xlvi. 2-16.
12 An excellent popular account of these results was given by Prof. Fil2
Hommel in the S. S. Times, October 12 and November 2, 1895.
10 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
Thus from these various sources we not only find
that in the early days Israel was on all sides sur-
rounded with advanced civilization, but from As-
syria, Egypt, Moab, and Jerusalem come evidences
extending into the tenth century B. C, touching its
history at various points, and abundantly confirma-
tory of the sacred records. There are minor diffi-
culties, such as are common in historic matters and
are easily paralleled, and especially some chrono-
logical difficulties, such as are seldom absent from
history, whether ancient, medieval or modern. But
the substantial facts remain well verified. And with
the force of this accumulated preliminary testimony
we may approach the times in some of which the
external evidences, though not wanting, are less
numerous. We are thus far dealing with manifestly
true histories which we have tested at various points.
The criteria thus indicated carry us back three-
fourths of the interval from the Christian Era to the
death of Joshua, or about as near to it as from the
present time (1897) to the death of John Carver,
the first governor of Plymouth Colony. ^^ The
weighty bearing of this consideration is not to be
overlooked.
For, in truth, the earlier and the later history, as
will more fully appear hereafter, are closely inter-
locked throughout. At every stage the later history
and literature are permeated by the facts of the
earlier, and cannot be explained without them ; re-
lated somewhat as is American history and litera-
ls See note ii, Appendix.
THE CASE STATED 11
ture before and since the Revolution, or as the
known origin of Plymouth Colony is presupposed
and emphasized in all its subsequent transactions,
and never more than in the present day.
After all attempts to discredit the statements of
the Pentateuch and Joshua, it has been found im-
possible to sever the connection of the continuous
course of events. Even Wellhausen says: "It is
certain that Moses was the founder of the Torah ;"
"he was the founder of the nation out of which the
Torah and the prophecy came as later growths ; he
laid the basis of Israel's subsequent peculiar indi-
viduality, not by any one formal act, but in virtue
of his having throughout the whole of his long life
been the people's leader, judge and center of
union. '"^ When these words are carefully weighed,
it will be seen that they pretty much surrender the
case as a historical issue. Kuenen also, though with
cautionary qualifications, declares that "w^e may not
doubt that the exodus is an historical fact," and
proceeds unconsciously to show this interlocking of
events by arguing that the events ascribed to Moses
and Joshua "were, in reality, distributed over a very
long period" — "centuries."'^ Dr. Driver, as might
be expected, attributes far more to Moses, and
dwells much more definitely on the gradual, steady
outgrowth of all the civil ordinances, ceremonial
observances, and the relations and functions of the
priesthood through the entire later history, from the
same original agency, declaring in the outset that
14 History of Israel, p. 438. 15 Religion of Israel, I., p. 117.
12 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
"it cannot be doubted that Moses was the uUimate
founder of both the religious and national life of
Israel. '"«
Such definite tests as have now been cited of the
authentic character of the narrative through three-
fourths of the interval from Jesus to Joshua, and the
inseparable blending of the whole fabric of the
earlier and the later history, form not only a legiti-
mate preparation for the discussion of that earlier
narrative, but a grave argument for its historic
validity. From this standpoint we may proceed to
the book of Joshua. Meanwhile, however, it is not
to be overlooked that the best evidence of the truth
of the early history of Israel, and one not to be set
aside except on the best counter evidence, is the
fact of its being so embedded in the literature and
incorporated in the life of the nation. At whatever
point along the course of this history we can apply
a test, the history stands the test.
i6 Introduction, pp. 144-5.
CHAPTER II
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA
In showing the historic character of the Hexa-
teuch it is proposed to make the book of Joshua the
starting point, and proceed thence upward. For
the present purpose it is unnecessary to enter into
any special consideration of the critical analysis of
the book — which, though theoretically simple, is
actually quite complicated.* The question before
us, whoever wrote it, is whether it bears the marks
of truth. It contains a variety of materials, such
as divine utterances, human addresses, land assign-
ments and boundaries, narratives of conquests, and
other matters. But it has a distinct unity as a nar-
rative of the establishment of the Israelites in the
promised land ; and it falls into two main divisions ;
first, the history of the conquest (Chapters I.-XII. ),
and second, the allotment of the country (Chapters
XIII. -XXIV. ), with many subordinate and attend-
ant incidents. It is proposed to call attention to
such corroborative circumstances as can be adduced
in connection with a series of events so long ante-
cedent to any other continuous written history. It is
not proposed to enter on any discussion of the mi-
raculous elements, nor to vouch for the correct trans-
mission of all the numbers contained in the narrative
I See note iii, Appendix.
13
14 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
— numbers being at all times most difficult of cor-
rect preservation.
It must not be forgotten, however, that the effort
positively to prove the statements of a reputable
and competent witness is a gratuitous proceeding ;
his testimony stands good and is accepted unless
valid reason can be shown for doubting it. Fuller
discussion of this point is reserved for later con-
sideration, in connection with the so-called books
of Moses. Now there is no claim of 7sx\y facts other-
wise known to be in conflict with this narrative.
But it is held by the analysts that the writers to
whom they ascribe the composition are by a kind of
reasoning shown to be of much later date. Some
omissions and displacements are also claimed by
them, and some alleged discrepancies of no formid-
able character. The strongest case is made by Dr.
Driver when he says, " In point of fact, as some other
passages show, the conquest was by no means ef-
fected with the rapidity and completeness which
some of the passages quoted would imply. "^ But
virtually he answers himself, inasmuch as the "other
passages" repeatedly affirm that the work was not
absolutely complete, and he himself states^ that ac-
cording to the writer "the war of conquest occupied
about seven years." In other words, the summary
statements are explained in detail. We proceed
to what should be regarded as the superfluous proc-
ess of indicating the trustworthiness of the book.
I. The baselessness and unreasonableness of the
a Introduction, p. 97. 3 lb., p. 96.
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA iS
theory that its events were not put in writing till
from three to eight centuries after the death of
Joshua. Such is the modern theory ; although Dr.
Driver, for example, drops a single brief and vague
hint of "the compiler of JE utilizing older mate-
rials." But let us look at some known facts. The
Israelites had come from a long residence among a
people where writing had come down from the re-
motest antiquity, and as Erman well says, the
"mania for writing (for we can designate it by no
other term) is not a characteristic of the later period
only," but prevailed as much under the Middle and
Old Empire as under the New Empire. "Nothing
was done under the Egyptian government without
documents, even in the simplest matters of busi-
ness."* Not only did the victorious monarch in-
scribe on the walls of his temples the detailed ac-
count of his spoils and tributes, but there was a host
of scribes in each department of public life. There
were inventories of property, orders on the treas-
ury, receipts from workmen, deeds and copies of
deeds. The landed proprietors had written reports,
made through their stewards, of the respective
numbers of their oxen, sheep, cows, asses, goats,
geese, and other fowl, and even the number of
eggs was ascertained and reported.^ The Israelites
under Joshua also entered a country where it is now
proved that the art of writing, and with a very com-
plicated alphabet, had existed before their entrance.
4 Life in Ancient Egypt, p. 112-3.
5 Wilkinson's The Ancient Egyptians, II., 445-9.
16 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
The Tell Amarna letters to Amenophis IV. of
Egypt, written in the wedge-shaped characters of
Babylonia, come from Beirut, Sidon, Tyre, and the
neighboring cities ; also from Accho, Hazor, Joppa,
Ascalon, Makkedah, Lachish, Jerusalem, and other
cities not so definitely known.
Indeed, there is in the earlier name of Debir,
which "before was Kirjath-sepher" (Josh. xv. 15;
Judg. i.,ii.),an apparent intimation of the art of writ-
ing in Palestine prior to the entrance of Joshua.
"Book-town" is the literal meaning of the name as
given by the lexicographers Gesenius and Fuerst ;
"city of scribes," as rendered by the Septuagint;
"archive-town" in the Targum. The Vatican copy
of the Septuagint reads "sophar" instead of
"sepher," conforming to the rendering " scribe-
town." The name is found by W. M. Mueller
also in an Egyptian papyrus.^
Now, to suppose that the great minister and suc-
cessor of Moses, a man born and trained to organize
and command, coming from a land where writing
was a "mania" to another land where it pervaded
the whole region, going through a long series of
eventful transactions, having solemn communica-
tions to make to a fickle nation, and boundary lines
carefully and permanently to assign and define for
watchful if not jealous tribes — to suppose that such
a man under such circumstances and influences re-
mained there twenty-five years, till his death, and
never made the slightest provision to put anything
6 Cited by Prof. Moore, Comm. on Judges, p. 27.
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 17
on record, is hardly to be called incredulity ; it is
rather phenomenal credulity. Nothing, therefore,
could be more natural than for Joshua to speak of
"all that is written" in the book of the law (i. 8),
to write upon the stones at Shechem (viii. 32), as
was so abundantly done in Egypt, a copy of the
law, more or less, and in the last and still more
solemn covenant with the people before his death
to write the "statute and ordinance" "in the book
of the law of God"; and it is quite unnecessary for
the analysts to assign the first two passages to a
supposed writer some six hundred years later, and
to single out the one sentence in the last instance
for the still later and more vague personage, the
redactor, as they have done.
2. Marks of proximity of date to the events, and
of participation in them. These are the more satis-
factory because incidental and unobtrusive. One
of them occurs in the opening chapter (verses 10,
11), indicating recent contact with Egypt, where,
as Erman remarks, "a scribe was an oflficial, and
the scribe of the troops was one of the chief officers."
The "officers" whom Joshua sent through hosts
with commands, were literally writers or scribes,
as the word is rendered in the Septuagint.^ The
waters of the Jordan were dried up (v. i) "till zue
were passed over"f and the land they were to
7 In this part of the narrative, Kautzsch, who assigns it to E, would ex-
tinguish the reminiscence by having Dt. modify this one verse. Oettli
changes it.
8 This is the reading of the Hebrew text. The Massoretes put "they" in
the margin, the reading of the Ixx., followed by early translations. The R.
v. retains the reading of the text. So does Dillmann, though treating it as
spoken communicatively, the writer identifying himself with the people.
18 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
enter was the land "which the Lord sware that he
would give unto us" (verse 6). The designation
of the boundaries of Judah is addressed directly to
them; "this shall be your south coast" (xv. 4).
It is the language of contemporaneousness with re-
ference to the transactions themselves.
In some cases the proximity of the narrative to
the event, and thus its authenticity, are indicated
(whether by the author or his annotator) by certain
monuments remaining "to this day"; the twelve
stones commemorating the crossing of the Jordan
(iv. 9), the stones at the cave where the five kings
were buried (x. 27), those over the grave of the
king of Ai (viii. 29), and also over Achan. The
valleys of Achor (vii. 26), and of Gilgal (v. 9),
were named from the events that took place at the
time, as was the change of Leshem to Dan by the
conquering tribe (xix. 47). Whatever date may be
assigned to "this day," the existence of the memo-
rial at that date was a voucher for the fact which it
commemorated. But in one noteworthy instance
the name of the place as known then completely
disappeared from that time ; Sharahen is mentioned
by Thothmes III. as a city of southern Palestine ;
and a city of the same name is among those as-
signed by Joshua in the same region to the tribe of
Simeon. But the name occurs nowhere in the Old
Testament except in this book of Joshua (xix. 6).
If the same place was intended by Shilhim (xv.32),
and by Shaaraim (i Chron. iv. 31), the variation
and uncertainty would show still more effectively
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 19
the antiquity and obsoleteness of the name.
3. The life-like minuteness of much of the nar-
rative marks its original and contemporaneous
origin. Thus the account of the spies is not only
minute but peculiar in its details : the place of re-
sort, with its unusual location, affording unnoticed
access and easy escape ; the inquiry and the false
reply ; the singular concealment ; the chase five or
six miles to the fords while they are hiding three
days in some one of the innumerable caves of the
mountains close by, before the shutting of the gate
at night-fall; the device for the harlot's protection ;
the conversation, with its phrase not found else-
where ("this line of scarlet thread") ; the stalks of
flax also elsewhere unmentioned, and puzzling to
some of the commentators ; the panic disclosed in
Jericho ; the oath and its conditions ; the descent by
a rope from a window and the binding of the cord
in the window — in all this, however it comes to us,
we have clearly the very story of the spies them-
selves.''
The account of the crossing of the Jordan, though
not constructed on the method of modern composi-
tion (and ascribed by Kautzsch to six different
writers in twelve distinct portions), is much more
circumstantial and complete, and on the whole more
easily understood than Csesar's account of his cross-
ing of the Rhine ; the capture of Jericho, and espe-
9 It is an interesting fact that in the summer of 1894 the explorer, Mr. F,
J. Bliss, found at Tell es Sultan, universally recognized as occupying the
site of pre-Israelitish Jericho, traces of a mud-brick wall at the base of the
mound, and in it specimens of Amorite or pre-Israelitish pottery, like that
found in the oldest stratum at Tell el Hesy. (Quarterly Statement of Pales-
tine Exploration Fund, July, 1894.)
20 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
cially the warlike movements attending the conquest
of Ai, are given much more vividly and minutely
than the account of the first invasion of Britain ;
while at Ai we can easily fix on a place for the
"ambush" and find room for the military operations,
whether we locate the ancient Ai exactly at Et Tell
(with Grove, Thomson, and others), or at some
spot in the vicinity. There is also a touch of our
recently acquired oriental history in the "Babylonish
garment," or mantle, secreted by Achan.
How can any one take that entire account of the
stratagem of the Gibeonites and its issues as other
than a living picture ? And the battle in their de-
fense afterwards, which Stanley characterizes as one
of the most important in the history of the world,
is described succinctly and with the minuteness of
a personal participation : the assembly of the five
hostile kings designated by name and place, the
pressing message from Gibeon, Joshua "ascending"
from Gilgal up one of the two wadies, the all-night
march (some twenty miles), and coming upon them
"suddenly," the slaughter on the spot, the chase up
and down to Beth-horon, to Azekah (Tell Zaka-
riah) and Makkedah (El Mughar), the caves, the
hiding of the kings in the cave, the guarding of the
cave till the end of the chase, the production, hu-
miliation and execution of the kings, the taking
down of their bodies at sunset, the entombment,
and the great stones laid at the cave's mouth.
With greater brevity, but with equal definiteness
and exactness of local correspondence, is the other
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 2i
and greater battle at the north described (xi. 1-14) :
the vast gathering of designated tribes and kings at
the waters of Merom, that is, on the broad plain of
Huleh (four miles wide on its western side), where
the "horses and chariots" could be brought into
action, Joshua again coming suddenly upon them
and chasing them towards their several territories
— towards great Sidon northwest through plain,
gorge, and ford, towards Misrephoth (perhaps Mus-
heirifeh)/" near the coast on the way to Dor,and unto
the valley of Mispeh eastward, that is (as Dr.
Thomson thinks), by the great Wady et Theim or
over the ridge of Hermon.
The brief description of the solemn reading of
the law and of the blessings and the curses at Mount
Ebal and Gerizim in the valley of Shechem, shows
distinctly not only the arrangement of the people,
with their officers, divided in two halves with the
priests before them and the ark between them, but
the scene is made complete by the presence of the
women, the little ones and the strangers in the au-
dience. And while it is not necessary to suppose
the two responsive groups to be upon the mountains,
yet if they had been actually spread not only up the
sides, but to the top, the question which has been
raised as to the voice being heard at that distance
has been settled by experiment. "In the early
morning," says Tristram, "we could not only see
from Gerizim a man driving his ass down a path on
10 Grove's objection to this identification, that "it is far from Sidon,"
overlooks the fact that it was on a different (third) line of flight and need not
be near Sidon.
22 THE VERA CIl Y OF THE HEX A TE UCH
Mount Ebal, but we could hear every word he
uttered ; and on a subsequent occasion, in order to
test the matter more thoroughly, two of our party
stationed themselves on opposite sides of the valley,
and with perfect ease recited the commandments
antiphonally."" Bonar and other travelers have
done the same thing with the same result. The
writer of "Joshua" knew what he narrated.
A noteworthy indication of the presence of Israel
on the east of the Jordan, when the arrangements
were made for crossing it, is found in the explana-
tion of the phrase "beyond Jordan'' in ch. i. 15. As
the people were then on the east side of the river,
King James's translators changed the text by
wrongly rendering ''this side of Jordan" ;w7hereas the
phrase was the usual geographical term for the east
side of the river. To avoid any misunderstanding the
writer, being on that east side and having used the
term in verse 14 in its usual sense, repeats it in verse
15 with the added explanation, "toward the sun-
rising." In the mouth of the Gibeonites, permanent
residents of Palestine (ix. 10), it needed no such
explanation. But in three instances (v. i ; xii. 7 ;
xxii. 7) the writer uses the phrase in its untochni-
cal s nse, namely, the other side of the river from
his position (as also in Deut. xi. 30), but in each
instance carefully adds "westward". The twofold
and unsettled usage, with explanation, indicates the
presence of the new-comer.
The same fact perhaps appears in so slight a
II Tristram, The Land of Israel, p. 152.
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 23
matter as the spelling of the name Jericho. In the
Pentateuch it occurs eleven times, invariably spelled
in the same way ; in Joshua it occurs fourteen times,
as invariably spelled in a slightly different way,
implying also a slightly different pronunciation.
What does it signify? "The natural reply, " in the
words of Canon Girdlestone, " is that they picked
up a new pronunciation after they came to the
place. '"^ All these things, greater and smaller,
point to personal knowledge, contact and participa-
tion.
4. The commemoration of some of the promi-
nent events by memorial names and landmarks, al-
ready mentioned, deserves distinct attention as a
venerable and national testimony.
5. Another mark of authenticity is found in the
minute and well-nigh exhaustive description of the
land in the conquest, and more especially in the
assignment to the tribes. It makes the reasonable
impression of being the contemporaneous record of
a governmental transaction, and has gained for the
book of Joshua the name of the "Domesday Book"
of Palestine. So full is the record that we have
first the definite list of thirty-one kings or local
chiefs who were conquered and dispossessed (xii.
7-24), then a statement of the regions at the time
still unconquered (xiii. 1-7), followed by the assign-
ment of their respective territories to the several
tribes, with a description of their boundaries from
point to point, by cities, natural landmarks, and
12 Girdlestone, Lex Mosaica, p. ng. In the Pentateuch inT; in Joshua
in^T*. The Massoretes punctuate with different vowels.
24 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
main points of compass, completed by an enumera-
tion of the towns thus included. That this was an
official anticipatory allotment in Joshua's time is
supported by two considerations: (i) that, as we
are informed, the tribes did not then succeed in tak-
ing possession of the allotted territory, and (2) that
it cannot be shown that at any subsequent period,
w^hether in the times of the judges or kings, much
less after the exile, did the several tribes actually
occupy these precise territories.
But although the lines could not then be run by
the surveyor's compass, the boundaries are described
in a thoroughly business-like way, with the distinct-
ness of a title deed, very different from the loose
grants first made by England and France in Amer-
ica, and much more exact and definite than for a
long time were the boundary lines of portions of
the United States. In truth, owing to the small-
ness of the territory and the irregularity of its sur-
face (and the lack of the compass), the reference to
natural landmarks is extraordinarily abundant. One
has but to read the description of Judah's territory
(ch. XV. 1-12) to appreciate the fact.^^
No less striking is the list of towns and cities.
Some three hundred are mentioned by name, often
"with their villages." Now by a process of care-
ful exploration and interrogotion, inaugurated main-
h' by Dr. Robinson and elaborated by the Palestine
Exploration Fund, a large part of these places have
been definitely located. Many of them were un-
jj See Appendix, note iv.
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 25
known to scholars for ages, often wrongly identified
by mediseval or monkish traditions, but now found
with the true names clinging to them as handed
down in the native tongue of that country of un-
changing customs, frequently disguised by pho-
netic changes, but recoverable on analysis, and con-
firmed by geographical and local facts. For it is
noteworthy how largely the lists of Joshua have
guided in the investigation. The author took special
pains to make his description clear. Sometimes he
did it by adding a second name, perhaps a newer
one to the older, as in the case of Hebron, Hazor,
Debir, Kirjath-jearim, Jerusalem ; even more fre-
quently b}^ giving its situation, as Aroer, Michme-
thah, Geliloth, Bezer, Ataroth, Adar, "Kedesh in
Galilee" (there being another in the south of Ju-
dah), and "Gilgal that is over against the ascent of
Adummim, which is on the south side of the river"
— there being other Gilgals.
A notable instance is that of the Gilgal of Josh-
ua's first encampment, distinct from two or three
other places of the same name, but till recently un-
discovered. Even Dr. Robinson had said in 1841,
"No trace of its name or site remains;" and Trist-
ram, in 1865, "Nor does any trace remain, either
in stone or tradition, of Gilgal." But in the same
year it was found, and the finding has been con-
firmed, in the site called Jiljulieh, marked by about
a dozen small mounds (some ten feet in diameter
and four feet high), and a large oblong tank lined
with rubble, and near it a Bedawin graveyard, Jt
26 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
corresponds well with the requirements of the nar-
rative, being nearly three miles from the ancient
Jericho and four and a half from the Jordan/*
So Debir on the border line of Judah does not
appear to have been recognized since the Christian
Era till within a few years ; but has now been iden-
tified with Dahariyeh, situated among ancient tombs
and quarries, with a valley, a short distance to the
north, full of springs, some on the hill-side and
some in the bed of the valley, corresponding to the
"upper and nether" springs which Achsah asked
and gained from her father Caleb (xv. 19).
Perhaps more interesting still was the discovery
of the long-lost Gezer. It was in Joshua's time
and long afterwards an important place, prominent
(under the name of Gazara) also in the time of the
Maccabees. It ceased to be inhabited or its site to
be known, and, owing partly to an erroneous state-
ment in the "Onomasticon," its identification bad
been virtually given up as a hopeless problem.
But in 1870 M. Clermont-Ganneau, led by geo-
graphical and historical considerations, fixed upon
Tell Jezer, about four miles W. N. W. of Amwas.
On revisiting the place three years later, the sagac-
ity of his former decision was rewarded by the dis-
covery of three inscriptions, "boundary of Gezer,"
in Hebrew letters, supposed by him to belong to
the second century B. C. There was also discov-
ered there about the same time a rude terra cotta
14 Conder regards "the recovery of Gilgal as one of the most important
successes of the Survey work." (Tent Work.ii , p. 6.) It is accepted by Grove
and Wilson. Clermont-Ganneau casts some doubt on it. (Archseological Re-
searches, 1896, p. 37.)
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA ' 2?
female figure, which from its characteristics he in-
clines to regard as a possible sample of Canaanite
art/'
An incidental and therefore significant mark of
the early date of the enumeration is the retention of
the (Hebrew) article in connection with many of
the local names derived from natural objects. Thus
in Josh, xviii. 12-27 there are seven such instances,
such as the Ramah (height), but simply Ramah in
Neh. xi. 33, Jer. xxxi. 15 ; and the Chephirah
(village), but Chephirah in Ezek. ii. 25 and Neh.
vii. 29. So also in the case of Mizpeh.^^ It is like
the change in the New Testament from the descrip-
tive term "the Christ" of the gospels to the proper
name "Christ" of the epistles. It is a point too
minute for recognition in the Revised Version, but
none the less noteworthy on that account.
We mention in this connection but one other in-
cidental mark of antiquity, namely, the allusions to
Tyre and Sidon, and the relative prominence of the
latter city. Tyre is once mentioned, merely as a
fenced city (R. V.xix.29) ; the other city is twice
mentioned as "great Zidon" (xi. 8; xix.28), or, as
Gesenius would have it, "Zidon the metropolis";
and the whole region in which vSidon was situated,
from Misrephoth unto Lebanon, is described (xiii.
6) as that of the Zidonians. This is not only in ac-
cordance with the admitted fact that Sidon is the
oldest Phenician settlement and Tyre its offspring,
15 lb., pp. 224-275-
16 But the form Mispab, occurring elsewhere, retains the article.
28" THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
but with the additional fact that for a long period
it was the chief city. Thus in Homer we find it
mentioned four times, and Tyre not once, except
by allusion to Tyrian purple/^
Now this description and distribution of territory
alone occupies some six chapters, and a large part
of it is ascribed by German analysts to post-exilic
priests and a later compiler (redactor), part of it to
the later times of the monarchy; and although some
portions are referred to two writers (JE) living less
than four hundred years after Joshua, they are sup-
posed to have been so worked over that, as stated
by Dr. B. W. Bacon, there has been," in the opinion
of all, such an obliteration of the characteristics of
J and E by Rd, or so thorough an incorporation of
them into P^ that they are only traceable with dif-
ficulty and in a few passages." But any one who
can believe that in the troublous times of the later
monarchy or in the revolutionary condition after th<^:
exile any man or body of men would sit down to
the wearisome task of composing these obsolete
descriptions, or that in so doing they could avoid
the grossest antiquarian errors as to the state of
things from six hundred to a thousand years before
their time, or that they could have persuaded their
contemporaries that these new assignments of terri-
tory had come down to them from the days of Joshua
— any one who can believe all this is endowed with
a German rather than an Anglo-Saxon faith.
5. The consistency and candor of the narrative
17 Iliad, vi., 289; xxiii,, 743 Odyssey, xv., 418; xvii.,424.
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 29
mark its truthfulness. As an account of a remark-
ably skillful military campaign it is, with whatever
minor difficulties attended, on the whole clear and
satisfactory. It frankly recounts the errors and de-
feats as well as the successes of the invading host.
The writer does not claim a short and easy subju-
gation, but a long and hard struggle, a seven years'
war attended with reverses and failing of absolute
completeness.
The mode of entrance was wisely planned. No
attempt was made to force the way directly north
from Kadesh-barnea against the "hill" strongholds
(Deut. i. 43) where the Israelites had once rashly
ventured, against the w^arning of Moses, and had
been disastrously routed to Hormah (Num. iv. 40-
45); but the same Hormah was taken in this cam-
paign in the course of victory from the north (Josh,
xii. 13; XV. 30; xix. 4). And it is noteworthy
that this place, under its alternate name Zephath
(Judg. i. 17), has apparently been found after thirty-
five hundred years, with the name Sebaita still
clinging to it.^^
Instead of this fool-hardy attempt, the Israelites
were led circuitously through Edom and Moab, by
a course where their line of march and some of
their halting places can now be traced, till they ap-
peared unexpectedly east of the Jordan at the north-
ern end of the Dead Sea. Here was the key of
Palestine, and the entrance was by the same flank
i3 The map of the Palestine Exploration Fund, revised by Conder and
Wilson, so recognizes it, after Palmer, Rov/land, Seetzen. Strack accepts it.
Dillmann thinks the location suitable, though he is doubtful about the
phonetic correspondence with Zephath.
30 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
movement by which the Arabs invaded the country
in the seventh centm-y. It was a direct push for
the heart of the land, cutting its tribes in two.
Spies, secretly sent over the Jordan, report a panic
already begun. The leader at once crosses the
river, invests and captures Jericho, a walled town,
where, in the deserted mound twelve hundred feet
long and from fifty to ninety feet high, the mud-
brick wall at the base has within the last three years
yielded fragments of the most ancient type of Pal-
estinian pottery.
It is not necessary here to discuss the method of
crossing, nor the question whether, as some think,
the place Adam (mentioned in connection with it)
is the modern Damieh, some twenty miles above
Jericho. It is perhaps worth mentioning that M.
Clermont-Ganneau has brought to light a remark-
able account, by the Arab chronicler Nowairi, of
a complete obstruction and arrest of the flow of the
Jordan, when the waters were high during the rainy
month of December, A. D. 1267. He is persuaded
that the account is thoroughly historical, and that
it casts light on the Bible narrative. A lofty mound
(kabar) on the west bank — so reads the story — was
undermined, fell into the river channel and formed
a dam about twenty-five miles above Damieh, which
lasted several hours, the waters meanwhile spread-
ing over the valley above the dam. This account,
if authentic, having respect only to a natural occur-
rence without any pre-arrangement or prevision,
would illustrate the Scripture account only as show-
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 81
ing the conformation of the river bed and adjacent
region to the requirements of the Scripture account.
The movements of the great leader were rapid and
vigorous. It was but three days from the report of
the spies to the crossing of the Jordan. After the
brief pause at Gilgal, Jericho was besieged and
taken in seven days. Spies were sent to Ai, fol-
lowed at once by an expedition which was a fail-
ure, and by another with greater forces and better
tactics, which was a victory. By this rapid stroke
he had gained a strategic point midway in the coun-
try, and the opportunity to strike further in either
direction. It would be interesting, were it practica-
ble, to follow his campaign in detail. The narra-
tive, though brief, is almost as distinct an account
of the making of Palestine as is Freeman's of the
making of England, and explains the condition of
the country as it became known in later times. But
vigorous and skillful as were his movements, the
writer is careful to say that Joshua "made war a
long time with those kings."
For the candor of the history is as marked as is
its consistency. It narrates the failures and what
might be regarded as the discreditable things as
frankly as the honors and the successes. The lodg-
ing of the spies at the harlot's house ; the defeat in
the first attack on Ai ; the successful imposture of
the Gibeonites, deceiving not only the princes of
the congregation but Joshua himself ; the murmur-
ing of the congregation against the princes for not
breaking their oath ; the fraud of Achan ; the ina-
32 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
bility to expel the Geshurltes, the Maachathites,the
inhabitants of Jerusalem and of the cities around
Megiddo ; the misunderstanding and threatened war
between the tribes on account of the altar beyond
Jordan; and that series of transactions, namely, the
systematic destruction of the cities and all therein,
so severely criticised and condemned by those who
do not grasp the whole situation in three respects,
(i) the issue at stake for all time on the destiny of
Israel, (2) the deep and poisonous corruption of the
native tribes, whose worship even was a compound
of "blood and lust," and (3) the right of God, who
gave life, to take it, whether by natural decay or
catastrophe, government penalty, or, should he so
choose, by direct appointment — all these things,
whatever men may think of them, are there with-
out reserve or apology. Surely one who accepts
the statement of Caesar or of Xenophon, sufficiently
favorable to themselves, and refuses credence to
this frank, fearless and consistent history, account-
ing, as it does, for the subsequent course of events,
exhibits an incredulity only less surprising than the
positive credulity of believing that such a minutely
circumstantial narrative was gratuitously fabricated
man}' hundreds of years after the alleged time of
the transaction. It imagines a piling up of inven-
tion upon invention to an unparalleled extent and
with a success equalty unparalleled — a success that
has imposed on the wise and great minds of the
world for more than two thousand years, and that
has been discredited in recent times only on specu-
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 83
lative grounds, without the basis of one known ex-
ternal fact.
6. Equally indicative of reality and truth is the
portraiture of Joshua himself. It shows us the nat-
uarl development of the early promise — of the clear-
headed, prompt, undaunted young man whom Moses
appointed leader in the battle with Amalek (Ex.
xvii. 9), who accompanied Moses up the mountain
of the law-giving and at his descent (xxxii. 17), who
remained in the tabernacle when Moses went to
plead for rebellious Israel (xxxiii. ii), and who
stood unshaken with Caleb when the other ten spies
and all Israel were panic-stricken and mutinous ;
thus becoming^ the trained "minister" of Moses,
and the one man endowed with the calmness, firm-
ness, sagacity, energy and faith needed in the leader
of the great and new enterprise. In its strength
and symmetry, his character was as much beyond
the invention of later Judaism as it was above the
level of his own time. Without one word of com-
ment, he stands out in fact not only a great leader
"without fear or reproach," but a majestic pres-
ence, so controlling his countrymen by the force of
his example, influence and parting counsels, that
Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua and
all the days of the elders that overlived Joshua.
Fact only explains the record.
7. Special confirmation comes from recently
discovered ancient documents, namely, the tablet
found at Tell el Hesy in Palestine and the numer-
ous similar ones (320) found at Tell Amarna in
34 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
Egypt. The addresses of the letters fix their date
in the reign of Amenophis IV., about 1480 B. C,
and therefore a considerable time before Joshua's
conquest. The confirmation as to the state of Pales-
tine in general, and largely in detail, is recognized
as something remarkable. Lieutenant Conder well
says of them," These letters are the most important
documents ever discovered in connection with the
Bible, and they most fully confirm the historical
statements of the book of Joshua, and prove the an-
tiquity of civilization in Syria and Palestine.'"*
Before specifying some of these details it may be
well to say that the list of towns mentioned in the
inscription of Thothmes III., as conquered by him at
an earlier date (near 1600 B. C), contains more
than fifty towns in Galilee, Bashan and Philistia
confidently identified with those in the book of
Joshua, besides some eighteen others conjecturally
recognized. The list of Thothmes is important in
several respects. It proves the great antiquity of
the towns ; and as the same names continued in the
Tell Amarna tablets a century or more later, as
well as in the Biblical records, it shows the tenacity
with which names of towns cling to their sites in
that country. But since most of even the important
towns long ago so completely disappeared as to
leave only the slight ruins known in the native
tongue as "tells," it shows the insurmountable peril
of any late writer who should attempt to portray
the conditions and events of those times.
19 Tell Amarna Tablets, p. 6.
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 35
First of all, these discoveries settle — not the pos-
sibility and fact of writing in the time of Moses and
Joshua, for that was settled long ago against the
doubts and denials of some scholars early in this
century — but they show the probability of its use by
them. It had long been found that in the land from
which their ancestor Abraham came, writinof and
libraries were abundant before his migration ; also
that in Egypt the Israelites had been surrounded on
every hand by writing, as conspicuous in the farm
records of sheep, oxen and the like as on the mon-
uments of the kings; and quite recently that in
Arabia also the arts of civilization (including that
of writing) existed apparently as early as the con-
quest. And now it is absolutely settled that in the
land to which the Israelites were journeying, the
art of writing, and that in a very elaborate form,
was widespread and long established. There are
letters from Tennib, Gebal, Beirut, Tyre, Accho
(Acre), Hazor, Joppa, Askelon, Makkedah, La-
chish, Gezer, Jerusalem, and other cities not named,
east and west, north and south. Among the other
places mentioned in the letters are Rabbah, Keilah,
Sarepta, Edrei, Ashtaroth, Gaza, Gath, Zemar,
Zorah, Beth-shemesh, and others of less note, in
all 130 towns. It is the Palestine of Joshua.
Again, the language of the letters is noteworthy.
They are written in the cuneiform (wedge-shaped)
script, thus of themselves proving what was once
disputed but already settled by the monuments — the
earlier influence and control of Babylonia in Pales-
96 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
tine. But the language itself, says Conder, "is
very like the Aramaic of the Talmud, and is like
the Arabic in many particulars rather than like
Hebrew. It is the same language, in an archaic
condition, which is now spoken in Palestine. "^*^
Sayce also maintains that the disclosures of the let-
ters prove that "long before the Israelitish invasion
the language of Canaan was in all respects the
same as that of the Old Testament,"^* — meaning,
as his illustrations show, in its fundamental char-
acter rather than in all its details. But the fact that
the language, if Aramaic, was in an archaic con-
dition, has an important bearing upon attempts at
minute analysis ; and assignments to certain definite
constituents must be gravely affected by the possi-
bility, if not the probability, of a revision of the
whole early history having taken place, to make it
intelligible in later times ; if not so thorough a re-
vision as would be necessary to make the Anglo-
Saxon version of the Gospels of A. D. 955 intelli-
gible to a reader of the present time, yet perhaps
quite as much as would be requisite for Wickliffe's
Gospels of 1384. The consideration will bear more
emphasis than it has received.
Again, these documents disclose a condition of
the tribes in Palestine such as is described in Joshua.
The enemies encountered by Joshua are specified
in the narrative as the Hittites, the Amorites, the
Canaanites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebu-
20 Tell Amarna Tablets, p. 3.
31 The Higher Critics and the Monuments, p. 357.
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 87
sites. Of these the first two appear most promi-
nent. In one instance (i. 4) the whole territory is
summarily described as the land of the Hittites ;
the Hittites appear in every general enumeration of
the tribes (iii. 10; ix. i; xi. 3 ; xii. 8), and the
Hittites and the Amorites usually appear first in
each enumeration — in three of these instances.
They are mentioned, not as occupants of only single
cities, but widespread tribes; we read of "all the
cities of Sihon, king of the Amorites" (xiii. 10),
and of five kings of the Amorites (x. 5), and the
Hittites are mentioned without any restricted local-
ity-
Now it is but forty years since an Oxford Fellow^^
ventured to pronounce the Bible references to the
Hittites "unhistorical," and still later (1883) an-
other Oxford Fellow (now professor)"^ in the En-
cyclopaedia Britannica said substantially the same
thing. But meanwhile the records of Rameses H.
have exhibited the Hittites as in his day (the sup-
posed era of the oppression) a powerful nation on
the north, with whom his battles were apparently
a drawn game, and with whom he was glad to form
a treaty ; while, curiously enough, he speaks in the
very words of Joshua (i. 3) of "the land of the
Hittites" (except that he calls it "the great land") ;
and quite notably the Tell Amarna letters, a century
earlier, speak of the "kings of the land of the Hit-
tites" and "the land of the Amorites," these two
being then the formidable foes of the then Egyptian
23 F. W. Newman. 23 T. K. Cheyne,
38 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
governors in Palestine. In the letters published by
Conder mention is made of the Hittites at least
twenty times, and eleven times of the land of the
Hittites; and the nation appears pressing down
from the north upon Palestine, the terror of all the
northern cities. The Amorites are mentioned at
least eleven times, and, next to the Hittites, appear
to be the most formidable foe. Here also are the
Canaanites, the king, and once the kings, of the
land of Canaan. Six letters are from the king of
Jerusalem, the city bearing then the name applied
to it in Joshua (xv. 6'^\ xvi. 28). The king of
Hazor, who is described in Joshua as the "head of
the kingdoms" (xviii. 10) that fought the battle of
Merom, has two letters speaking of the city and
"her fortresses"; and his name is rendered "Jabin"
by Conder. The ancient rivalry of Tyre and
Sidon is also indicated in the letters. We thus find
ourselves in the midst of the tribes mentioned in
our book not long subsequent to this time.
Again, these letters show the weakening power
of Egypt in Palestine, and an evident tendency to-
wards the complete withdrawal of the troops, which
must have preceded the conquest by Israel. Thoth-
mes III. had conquered Palestine, and Rameses
II. had twice overrun the country and subdued its
chief cities.-* But his own inscriptions show that
his hold was weakening, from the fact that he was
obliged to make the second invasion, besieging its
cities (e. g. Askelon), and from the fact that after
94 Brugsch, History of Egypt, II., pp. 68, 69.
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 39
his boasted but doubtful victory over the Hittites
on the Orontes he was constrained to make with
them a treaty of alliance. ^^ In view of the previous
known control of the country, it might have seemed
strange that Joshua never encounters Egyptian
troops there. The explanation is found in these
tablets : the troops had been recently withdrawn.
A large part of the letters consists of urgent ap-
peals to the king of Egypt for troops, without any
indication of their arrival. Indeed one of the writers
from Phenicia says, "If you grant us no Egyptian
soldiers no city in the plains will be zealous for
thee," and he adds, "The chain of Egyptian soldiers
has quitted all the lands ; they have disappeared to
the king."^^ The king of Jerusalem writes in the
same strain: "The Abiri chiefs plunder all the
lands. Since the chiefs of the soldiers have gone
away, quitting the lands this year, O king, my
lord, and since there is no chief of Egyptian
soldiers, there is ruin to the lands of the king, my
lord."^^ The letters, says Sayce, show "that all
parts of Palestine were in that disturbed condition
which usually precedes the fall of the central au-
thority. Enemies were attacking it from without,
and the petty princes were fighting among them-
selves within." This weakened state of affairs was
the condition in which Joshua found the land, and
was the preparation for the success of his invasion.
25 lb., n., pp. 71-76.
26 Conder's Tell Amarna Letters, p. 63.
27 Winkler's collection of 296 of these letters, most of them from
Phenician and Canaanite princes, gives a still more striking exhibition of
the disorder and alarm pervading the country.
40 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
It deserves mention in this connection also that the
inscriptions at Wady Maghara and Sarabit el Kha-
dim in the Sinaitic peninsula show records of mon-
archs before and after the supposed time of the pas-
sage of the IsraeliteSjbutnone of that date, account-
ing for the fact that they met no Egyptian troops on
the way.
No less remarkable is the correspondence and con-
firmation afforded by these letters in minor details.
In Joshua we read that the cities of the Anakim
were "great and fenced" (xiv. 12), and that the
survivors of the battle of Gibeon entered into
"fenced cities" (xii. 20). Jericho and Ai were
walled, and the implication is that it was so with
Lachish (x. 31). In the letters we read in as many
as six places of a fortress, three times of fortresses,
with specifications. It was at the base of the mound
of ancient Jericho (es Sultan), as previously men-
tioned, that Mr. Bliss in 1894 found traces of the
mud-brick wall containing specimens of the most
ancient pottery ; and at Tell el Hesy (supposed to
be Lachish) the same explorer in 1890 excavated
a series of ruined walls overlying each other, and
preceding the Greek occupation, apparently corre-
sponding well to the Scripture notices of the place
in the times of Manasseh, Hezekiah, Ahaz, Jehosh-
aphat, Rehoboam, the Judges, attended with a cor-
responding change of pottery, till he reached in the
lower stratum that kind which is regarded as
Amorite.^^
28 Petrie's Tell el Hesy, p. 41. Bliss' Mound of Many Cities, pp. 40, 41.
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 41
Except on the basis of actual knowledge, it was
a most unsafe thing to ascribe chariots to the peo-
ple of Palestine at that remote period. But the
writer of Joshua mentions them both in the north at
LakeMerom (xi. 4, 6), and in the valley of Jezreel,
in Beth-shan and vicinity, that is, in the center and
in the eastern part of Palestine. The tablets fully
verify his statements. Not only are Egyptian
chariots spoken of and called for not less than a
dozen times, but the Hittites are coming to Tennib
with chariots ; we read of chariots at Khazi, at
Irkata, chariots sent to Gebal in Phenicia, the
horses and chariots of the chief of Beirut, chariots
at Makkedah, and the chariots and horses of the
chief of Naziba. The numerous horses and chariots
of the Hittites are also mentioned in connection
with the battle of Rameses II. on the Orontes, as
described in the poem of the Pentaur.
The wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight se-
creted by Achan is accounted for by the abundant-
Babylonish intercourse involved in the general use
of the Babylonish writing ; and by the frequent
mention of gold in these letters, once even a throne
of gold for the king (of Eg3'pt), once a bag full of
gold, as a present.
The trumpets at Jericho find an echo in the let-
ters where the chief of Pabaha "made the trumpets
to be blown." The introductory salutation in al-
most every letter in which the writer addresses the
king of Egypt contains the phrase, "I bow myself
seven times at the feet of my lord," occasionally
42 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
"seven times seven times"; thus reminding us in
general of the peculiarity of the number seven both
in Canaan and in Egypt, and especially how a few
miles east of the Jordan, and at an earlier date, Jacob
had "bowed himself seven times to the ground un-
til he came to his brother." (Gen. xiii. 3).
As Joshua found horses already in the country
(xi. 6, 9), and sheep and oxen at Jericho (vi. 21),
the tablets contain seven letters from Yadaya, cap-
tain of the horse at Ascalon, and the king of Naziba
goes with his horses and chariots ; while sheep and
oxen are sent from Ascalon to meet the soldiers,
and a thousand oxen belonging to Yasdata of Mak-
kedah are slain by his enemy. ^^
As Joshua informs the tribes (xxiv. 13), "The
vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not, ye
do eat," so we find the captain of the horse, in
the letters, sending "oil and drink" to meet the
soldiers of the king.
The low stage of civilization, or barbarism, which
some modern writers choose to find prevailing in and
around Palestine, is disproved by these facts, as well
as the following: Ships of Sidon (p. 107), ships of
the land of the Amorites (p. 46), Beirut and Sidon
sending ships (p. 51), wheat, herbs and trees of the
garden at Gebal (p. 80), gardens and mulberries
at Beirut (p. 98), tin at Tennib (p. 31) and a chain
of bronze (p. 42), copper and agate at T3're (p.
106), silver that is pure (p. 154), plenty of silver
and gold in the temple of the gods (p. 92), male
29 It was not thought best to encumber the text or the notes with the pages
pf these references, although contained in the author's manuscript,
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 43
and female slaves (p. 90), even the cultivation of
the papyrus (p. 90), and apparently its use for
writing (p. 126). The degradation was in morals.
The phraseology of the tablets occasionally and
unexpectedly illustrates that of the Scriptures. The
word Elohim (God), which in Joshua, as through-
out the Old Testament, is a plural with a singular
meaning, is found as a plural in addressing the king
of Egypt as "a god and a sun in my sight" (p. 18).
The writer's "countenance is towards the servants
of the king" (p. 35), he is "the footstool at the
feet of the king, "his enemy is a "dog" (p. 65), and
sometimes "the rebel son of a dog" (p. 34); and
it is quite striking to find the phrase with which
Shimei cursed David, "Thou man of blood" (2
Sam. xvi. 7), occurring more than a dozen times in
these letters. Other instances might be mentioned,
as, for example, the name of Abimelec at Tyre.
8. A memorable event, significant alike for the
histor}^ of Egypt and of Palestine, was the burial
of Joseph, thus recorded (xxiv. 32): "And the
bones of Joseph, which the children of Israel brought
up out of Egypt, buried they in Shechem in a
parcel of ground which Jacob bought of Hamor
the father of Shechem for a hundred pieces of sil-
ver ; and it became the inheritance of the children
of Joseph."^"
This statement is confirmed as strongly as the cir-
30 We do not care to include in thesa references Conder's name, Adoni-
zebek, for the king of Jerusalem, inasmuch as Dr. Winkler and Dr. Sayce
render otherwise. Nor can we, for a similarreason, accept the translation
of "Habiriy as Hebrew (with Conder) or Confederates (with Sayce); nor is
the rendering of Sayce, "without father or mother'' (as applied to the king
of Jerusalem), sufficiently established.
44 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
cumstances admit by both Palestinian and Egyptian
sources. In that land where names cling to places,
the supposed tomb of Joseph is still revered by Jews,
Samaritans, Mohammedans and Christians. Al-
though we can trace this tradition only to the early
part of the fourth century, intrinsically there is no
more reason for supposing that the burial place of
Joseph would have been forgotten than that of
Charlemagne, who was buried at Aix-la-Chapelle
more than a thousand years ago. The destruction
of the original chapel which Charlemagne built for
his burial place did not obliterate the memory of it,
and the exploration of the vault beneath the pres-
ent cathedral proved the truth of the belief ; but
though fear of the population of Nablous is said to
have prevented a similar examination of the tomb
of Joseph, it would be difficult to render a valid
reason for doubting the ancient tradition. ^^
But recently a corroboration has been acutely
observed in an Egyptian source. It is found in the
well-known statements preserved by Josephus from
the great Egyptian historian Manetho (about 300
B. C.) and the later Chaeremcn, who, though a
Greek, lived and wrote in Alexandria. Although
these accounts are confused and contain many mani-
fest mistakes as to names, dates and numbers (some
of them attributed to errors and corrections by
scribes), it is conceded by sober judges, like Koenig,
Brugsch, Bunsen, and Ewald,^'' that Manetho was a
31 Tristram's Land of Israel, p. 149.
32 Koenig, History of the Hebrews, Eng. Trans., pp. 257-9. BruRSch, His-
tory of Egypt, Vol. I., pp. 42-3. Bunsen's Egypt's Flace, I., 89; III., 196-7.
Ewald's History of Israel, I., p. 502 ff.
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 45
learned and able historian, and under his account
of the Jews and their exit there was, in the words
of Koenig, "a core of historical truth" with Egyp-
tian coloring. Now from the midst of statements
not concerning the present question there emerges
the following : that the mixed multitude (described
by him as leprous) made war upon the king of
Egypt, having chosen as their ruler a priest of He-
liopolis (On) whose name was Osarsiph ; that the
king at first retreated before them, but afterwards
conquered them and drove them to Syria ; and that
Osarsiph changed his name and was called Moses.
Chaeremon (also quoted by Josephus) mentions
Joseph and Moses as scribes who led an assault
upon the Egyptian king ; he fled before the attack,
but his son, born at the time, when grown to man's
estate pursued the Jews into Syria.
Now here, in this partially disguised form, ap-
pears the extraordinary and unforgotten fact that
when Moses led Israel up out of Egypt to Palestine,
the other great leader and head of Israel in Egypt
went up with Moses to his last resting-place in the
promised land — the dead with the living.
9. The chief events related in the book of Joshua
are referred to in the subsequent books of the Old
Testament as unquestionable facts in the histor}^ of
the times of Joshua. The five most striking single
transactions there narrated are the crossing of the
Jordan, the taking of Jericho, the trouble with
Achan and its effects, the dealings with the Gibe-
onites, and the Divine interposition at Beth-horon,
48 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
described by a quotation from the book of Jasher.
The crossing of the Jordan is referred to in Psahn
cxiv, 3, 5 ; the doom of Jericho as pronounced by
Joshua, in i Kings xvi. 34 ; the case of Achan was
commemorated in the name then given to the valley
of Achor, which became permanent (Hosea ii. 15 ;
Is. Ixv. 10), and the words of Joshua are virtually
cited (i Kings xviii. 17, 18); the treaty with the
Gibeonites, accompanied with an oath, is mentioned
(2 Sam. xxi. 2); the quotation from Jasher in Hab.
iii. II.
In addition to these may be mentioned "the oak
of the pillar that was in Shechem" ( Judg. ix. 6, R.
v.), a reference to the pillar set up under an oak
in Shechem in connection with his farewell address
and the covenant made with Israel (Josh. xxiv. 20).
Solomon's prayer (i Kings viii. 56, 57) contains a
quotation from Josh, xxiii. 14, and a statement in
the words of Josh. i. 5 ; and a vital incorporation
of a chief transaction recorded in this book into the
permanent life of the nation is found in the fact con-
tained in the genealogical table of Matthew (i. 5),
that Rahab^^ became mother of Boaz, the husband
of Ruth, and thus the ancestress of Christ. These
verifications thus pervading the subsequent history
of the nation are all the more satisfactory that they
are casual and incidental ; and they are the more
striking, as allusions to a narrative of only twenty-
33 "The Rahab"in Matthew designating, as Bengel remarks, the Rahab of
Jericho. Though some objections have been raised, such writers as Meyer,
Alford, Lord Hervey, agree that no other Rahab can be understood here.
And the validity of the record would be evident from the fact that nothing
but its admitted truth would admit the name into the ancestry of David
against Jewish pride and prejudice.
THE BOOK OF JOSHUA 47
four chapters and their contents, when we observe
the common absence of such allusions and confir-
mations in connection with many other thoroughly
accepted writings and persons and events. For ex-
ample, the great history of Thucydides, it is stated,
is not mentioned by Xenophon nor in Aristotle's
Politics, nor indeed till Polybius, between two and
three hundred years later ;^* Thucydides himself no-
where mentions his contemporary Socrates; and
'* neither Herodotus nor Thucydides ever mentions
Rome, though the conquests of the Roman people
were, in the times of those historians, extended far
and wide.'"^
In view, then, of all these considerations, nega-
tive and positive, inasmuch as on the negative side
not one known historic fact has been or can be ad-
duced to invalidate this history, and, on the positive
side, the convergence of all these various indica-
tions— all the indications and confirmations which
the case admits — it is hardly too much to say that
one who refuses to accept the narrative as veritable
history in all its main features, is hardly susceptible
to fair historic proof of remote events.
34 Wace, The Inspiration of the Old Testament, Preface, p. xviii.
35 Gregory's Evidences of Christianity, p. 220.
CHAPTER III
FROM THE EXODUS TO THE CONQUEST
Having found that the book of Joshua is essen-
tially a narrative of facts, it is in order to examine
its testimony upon the transactions preceding the
conquest. We find here that from beginning to
end its statements and allusions are inseparably in-
terlocked with the previous history.
The testimony thus given is by incidental and
natural allusion, and therefore of special weight,
and is a r^sum^ of the chief events of the previous
history. It is found mostly in scattered references,
except when Joshua near the close of his career
(xxiv.) prefaces the solemn covenant of the people
with a brief sketch of the past dealings of God with
them and their ancestors. Beginning with the
mention of the original home of their ancestor,
Abraham, and the idolatry of their fathers, he pro-
ceeds with the call of Abraham, the journey to Ca-
naan, the birth of Isaac, Jacob and Esau, Jacob's
descent into Egypt, the plagues, the leadership of
Moses and Aaron, the pursuit by the Egyptians
and their destruction in the Red Sea, the long sea-
son in the wilderness, the conflict with the Amorites
and the victory, the war with Moab and the ca-
reer of Balaam, closing with the crossing of the Jor-
dan and the possession of the land. All this is the
PROM THE EXODUS TO THE CONQUEST 49
fitting introduction to the solemn covenant and the
warning in regard to the future.
But besides this connected retrospect, there are
scattered throughout the book, and interwoven with
it from beginning to end, still more numerous and
minute references to previous history. They oc-
cur not chiefly as formal statements, but more in
the conferences and addresses, as matters mostly of
recent occurrence, assumed to be well-known and
unquestioned. All is done with such an air of
honesty and perfect reality that one who impugns
their verity must ascribe to some unknown deceiver
a marvelous mania and ingenuity for fabrication,
and an equally marvelous patience of needless in-
vention.
Among these assumed and asserted facts are such
as these : The assignment of the territorial bound-
aries by Moses (i. 3, 4) ; the giving of the law by
him (i. 7), in a written form (i. 8; viii. 34); the pas-
sage of the Red Sea (iv. 23) ; the conquest of Sihon
and Og (ii. 10; ix. 10); the iniquity of Peor (xxii.
17) ; the ark of the covenant and the attendance of
the priests (iii. 3,seq.) ; the established arrangement
of elders (vii. 6 ; viii. 10, 2fZ) > Moses' written com-
mand to build an altar (viii. 31) ; the blessings and
curses and the command of Moses to read them to
Israel (viii. 33-35) ; his command to destroy the in-
habitants of Canaan (ix. 24; xi. 12); the commands
specially given to Joshua (xi. 15) ; the previous
separation of the tribe of Levi (xiii. 33 ; xviii. 7) ;
the command of the Lord to distribute the land to
60 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
the tribes by lot (xiv. i, 2); the spies sent from Ka-
desh-barnea, their cowardice, the faithfulness of
Caleb and the promise made to him by Moses (xiv.
6-10) ; the direction to appoint cities of refuge (xx.
i), and cities for the priests (xxi. 2).
It will be perceived that the book of Joshua thus
repeats and verifies the chief facts of the Exodus,
as more fully narrated in the Pentateuch. Let us
then look directly at the narrative of that event, in
order to see how far it bears the impress of truth,
both in its inherent consistency, and in its conform-
ity to known facts and circumstances, many of them
of recent discovery.
It is evident that the man who by all traditions,
Egyptian, Hebrew and classic, led the movement,
was a remarkable man. The indisputable proof is
that he founded institutions and consolidated a peo-
ple more thoroughly and permanently than any
other man in all history. This cannot be gainsaid.
The leader knew the route over which he led
the host ; for, according to the account, he had twice
been over a large part of it, going to and from
Midian ; and in the forty years' interval he certainly
had opportunity to explore or learn of the whole
territory of the wandering, now traversed by Arabs.
Furthermore, on leaving Sinai by a route which he
might not have traversed on his way between Egypt
and Midian, we find him urgently requesting Ho-
bab, a resident Midianite, to be to him "instead of
eyes" in the wilderness before him (Num. x. 31),
and the ark, apparently accompanied by Moses him-
FROM THE EXODUS TO THE CONQUEST 51
self, preceded the march to search out a resting
place or camping ground.
Again, it is made clear by incidental hints and
allusions that the whole expedition was maturely
arranged and completely organized. Neither the
ordinary reader nor, apparently, the ordinary com-
mentator has sufficiently observed the long and
careful preparation. Moses was summoned to it
while still in Midian, and therefore had opportu-
nity in returning to Egypt to examine the route which
he afterwards took. On the way he opened the
matter to Aaron, and, on his arrival in Egypt, to
the elders. Moses and Aaron visited Pharaoh,
requesting permission to go to the wilderness to
sacrifice, and were refused. Then the officers re-
monstrated with Pharaoh for the severity of their
tasks. Moses and Aaron appear again to have
visited the king in vain (Ex. vi. 13). The length
of these negotiations does not appear, but must
have consumed some time. Then came the series
of plagues, the first of which continued seven days ;
and the entire series, with the intervals, as has been
inferred from casual indications, such as the slight
touches of reality concerning the barley, flax, wheat
and rye (Ex. ix. 31, 32), and ending with the full
moon of the month Nisan, must have occupied sev-
eral months, perhaps nearly a year.^
The immediate notice for the departure, which
followed on the fourteenth of the month, was given
before the tenth of the month (Ex. xii. 3). The
I See note vi., Appendix.
52 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
only mark of haste was at the last moment, when
Pharaoh's urgency hurried them forth before the
bread was leavened (xii. 34). But they seem to
have had time then or before to ask (Hebrew and
R. v., not "borrow") "jewels of silver and jewels
of gold and raiment," gladly given (ver. 36), to
hasten their departure, and justly due them for all
the stationary property left behind, to say nothing
of their unrequited toil.
It appears, also, that they did not go forth as a
disorderly crowd, but with orderly arrangement
(Ex. xiii. 18),' "all their hosts" (xii. 41), "by their
hosts" (xii. 51). We are even told the names of
the men who were "over the hosts" of the several
tribes as they moved onward from Sinai (Num. x.
14-28). This division would have enabled the great
company to spread, if necessary, over a wide ter-
ritory on the way, as Sherman on his march to the
sea separated his army into divisions moving on
somewhat parallel lines. They took with them
their flocks and herds, needful for sustenance, but
apparently reduced on the way. It is to be noted
that the ark with its attendants could and some-
times did proceed by itself.
The reason for the abandonment of the direct
northern route is given, namely, the prospect of a
war with the Philistines in their southern strong-
holds, an obstacle which the rash people afterwards
found to be insuperable (Num. xiv. 40-45). The
2 See note vii., Appendix.
FROM THE EXODUS TO THE CONQUEST 53
change of direction and abrupt turn to the south/
when they had already reached the edge of the
wilderness, gave Pharaoh's army opportunity to
overtake them before they had left his territory.
Equally in accordance with known facts and cir-
cumstances was the line of march, so far as it can
be traced. Their original territory in Egypt is con-
ceded to have comprised the wady Tumilat, and
probably, as their numbers increased, the eastern
part of the Delta from the Tanitic branch of the
Nile to the desert and the Red Sea, corresponding
somewhat to the modern province of Sharkieh.
The first rendezvous was Rameses, and the next
station Succoth. The line of march was thus at
first along this valley Tumilat, through which in
the time of Seti I., and before the Exodus, there
ran, as now, a sweet water canal, thus facilitating
and explaining the movement. For by the excava-
tions of Naville in 1883 inscriptions were found at
Tell el Maskutah, which prove that place to be the
site of the ancient Pithom (of which more here-
after), *and the region in which it lies to be Succoth,
some ten miles west of Lake Timseh in an air line.
The identification is now generally accepted by
Eg3'ptologists. Rameses is not yet known, but by
INI. Naville is conjecturally found at Saft el Henneh,^
about twenty-five miles further west ; although it is
generally understood that the name represented a
3 The stronger rendering, "turn back,' oi the R. V., with Dillinann and
Strack, is undoubtedly better than the "turn" of the A. V., though supported
by Knobel and DeWette.
4 Navilles The Store-city of Pithom, Egypt Exploration'Fund.
5 Naville's Goshen and the Shrine of Saft el Heaneh, Egypt Exploration
Fund.
U THE VERA CI TV OF THE HEX A TE UCH
region as well as a town, while the rendezvous of
such a host could hardly have been confined to a
single city. There is nothing to determine exactly
the next station, Etham, on the edge of the wilder-
ness. The line of the modern Suez Canal would in
general mark the edge of the desert, and the course
was eastward and perhaps somewhat northerly on
the great traveled route to Palestine. But here
they were directed to "turn back" (or about) and
encamp between Migdol and the sea, that is, west
of the Red Sea. The abrupt turn to the south,
and the dela}^ thus caused, gave time for the news
to reach Pharaoh and for him to overtake them
(xiv. 5)-
Pharaoh's equipment with chariots for the pur-
suit rests on a sure historic basis. For in the poem
of the Pentaur, celebrating the exploits of Rameses
II., the more commonly supposed monarch of the
oppression, his chariots and charioteers are men-
tioned a dozen times f and the monuments show
both him and his son in their chariots.'' Even the
number of the chariots, "six hundred," is less than
a fourth part of the number of chariots which the
same poem asserts to have been encountered by him
in the great battle with the Hittites on the Orontes,
namely "twenty-five hundred," and "as numerous
as the sand."^ If these numbers of the poet be re-
garded as an exaggeration, the statement still goes to
6 Brugsch, History of Egypt, H., p. 56 seq.
7 Erman. Life in Ancient Egypt, p. 492. Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians
(Birch's ed.), HI-, p. 224.
8 Brugsch, II., pp. 56, 59, 60.
FROM THE EXODUS TO THE CONQUEST 55
show that the chariot force of the times was a strong
arm of war.
From the halt on the edge of the wilderness the
march was southward to the place of crossing.
Here the correspondence^of the narrative to the
localities is such that at least three different places
have been selected by judicious observers as feasi-
ble and as conforming more or less closely to the
requirements of the narrative. The difficulty of
deciding absolutely between them arises from the
difficulty of identifying with certainty the localities
specified, Pi-hahiroth, Migdol, Baal-zephon ; and
that difficulty arises largely from the fact that on
the eastern and desert border of Egypt there has
not been any continuous occupancy and settlement
from ancient times, as in Palestine, to hand down
the names in unbroken succession. The three
points suggested are these : One south of Lake
Timsah near Serapeum, advocated by Naville,
Ebers, Poole, de Lesseps and others ; the one ad-
vocated by Dr. Dawson and others, between the
Bitter Lakes and the Gulf of Suez, not far from
Geneffe at the terrace of Chaloof ; and that main-
tained by Robinson and held until recently by many,
if not most, scholars, which finds it near Suez.'' The
theory of a northern passage, not through the Red
Sea, but by the Serbonian Bog, advocated by Schlei-
den and Brugsch (for a time), was extinguished by
the discovery of Pithom.
It is not necessary for the present purpose to dis-
9 See noteviii., Appendix.
56 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
CUSS the respective merits of these different views,
inasmuch as each of them claims to furnish an ex-
planation of the transaction. Since, however, the
first two views assume that the Gulf of Suez ex-
tended then continuously to Lake Timsah, whereas
at the terrace of Chaloof the land rises twenty-seven
feet above the sea level, and thirty feet at Sera-
peum, and these views suppose a different state of
things from the present, namely an elevation of
these localities since the exodus, and thus rest on a
basis of speculation, however weighty the opinion,
we will simply show how the crossing at Suez
would accord with the facts of the present situation.
It is not important to insist upon the identifica-
tion, proposed formerly by many scholars, of Pi-
hahiroth (or Hahiroth, Numbers xxxiii. 8) with
Ajroud, four hours northwest of Suez, where there
is a plain, a deep well (though of bitter water) and
a fortress ; nor of Migdol with Bir Suweis,two miles
from Suez, where are now two wells of brackish
water and a stone building of the seventh century ;
nor of Baal-zephon with Jebel Atakah, although a
mountain 3,200 feet in height is a conspicuous land-
mark. Still it is a fact that whereas the Israelites
were to encamp before Baal-zephon by the sea,
here is a large plain for encampment, about ten by
eleven miles in extent, having the sea or gulf on
the east, and Jebel Atakah obstructing the march
southward. In the gulf at this point are (or were
before the dredging of it for the Suez Canal) two
fords, one north of Suez, the other just south of it.
FROM THE EXODUS TO THE CONQUEST 57
both passable at low tide, and now also, except
where the canal channel has to be crossed by boats.
The northern one was where Napoleon crossed in
1799, and would have been drowned on his return
but for his presence of mind ; where Russeger,
Niebuhr's guides, and Tischendorf's Arabs crossed.
The southern one always has been accounted safer.
Extensive shoals extend far out in a southeasterly
direction, and a long, narrov/ sand-bank reaches
towards them from the eastern shore, leaving at lovv-
tide a small channel some 780 feet wide and from
three and a half to five and a half feet deep. But
at high tide the width is about three miles,'" and
the elaborate map of the Suez Canal Company gives
the difference between the highest and lowest
known seas as ten feet and seven inches. Here are
the conditions for the safe crossing of the Israelites
and the drowning of the Egyptians.'' The state-
ment of the Scripture narrative that the Lord
"caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind
all night" conforms to the fact mentioned by the
travelers Wellsted, Schubert and Tischendorf,
namely, the great effect produced on the height of
the waters by a long-continued northeast or south-
east wind in connection with the tide. Now as the
gulf was made "dry land" by the all-night blowing
of the "east (or northeast) wind," so also when the
Israelites "saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea-
10 These figures were given to the author by M. Mauriac, engineer of the
Suez Canal.
11 One recent, writer (Professor H. A. Harper) inquires, "Why should it be
thought nece::;sary that Pharaoh and his host descended a 'steep bank into a
farful chasm?'" If he had visited the spot, he would have seen no steeR
bank nor fearful chasm.
58 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
shore," that is, the eastern shore, where they then
were, we have a casual hint of a change in the di-
rection of the wind which had forced the waters
back and lined the eastern shore with the dead. A
variation of less than ten feet and seven inches
would explain the transaction as described in the
narrative.
Dr. Robinson makes a computation^^ to show the
feasibility of the passage of two millions, moving
at the rate of only two miles an hour, within the
allotted time : a dry space of half a mile or more
would admit a thousand persons abreast, and a
column two thousand in depth, two miles or more
from front to rear ; this would require an hour for
the entire column to enter the channel, and two
hours more to move over the distance of three or
four miles, or an hour and a half for the present
distance of three miles, making, on this last suppo-
sition, two hours and a half in all. It may be added
that if, on account of the flocks and herds, we sup-
pose the time to be doubled, the interval between
sunset and sunrise in April, being about twelve
hours, would still allow ample time for the safe
passage of Israel, and, when the waters were driven
back in full volume, for the destruction of the pur-
suing host. It would undoubtedly be a difficult
movement to arrange and execute with such a great
company as the Israelites, but a Moses or a Napo-
leon would be capable of effecting it. The circum-
stances conform to the narrative ; and similar rea-
la BibUgal |le3§arQbes, I., p. 84.
FROM THE EXODUS TO THE CONQUEST 59
soning would apply if the event took place at either
of the other places advocated, under the state of
things supposed. "Whatever may have been the ex-
act course of this event, "says Ewald, "its historical
certainty is well established.'"^ The remarkable
event is celebrated in two commemoration odes, as
they may be called, the song of Moses and the song
of Miriam ; in regard to the second of which Dill-
mann, though considering the first in its present form
as a subsequent expansion of a shorter song coming
down from Moses' time, says there can be little
doubt of the high and highest antiquity of these
very lines, ^* and Kittel in his recent history remarks,
"It would be groundless skepticism to maintain that
the song is an artificial echo of the later legends
concerning the passage of the Red Sea."^^
After the crossing of the sea there is little liabil-
ity to mistake in tracing, in the main, their journey
as far as Sinai. By whatever place the sea or gulf
was passed, whether at Serapeum,Chaloof or Suez,
the springs now bearing the Arabic name Wells
(or fountains) of Moses, a few miles southeast of
Suez, could not have failed to be an important place
on the march. Some of those who favor the more
northerly crossing suppose them to be Elim. Here
the water which flows down the sloping strata from
Er Rahah is obstructed by the work of countless
infusoria cementing the sand, comes to the surface
in a copious spring of disagreeable taste, and can
13 Geschichte, I., p. 109.
14 Comment in loco.
15 History of the Hebrews (translation), I., p. 226.
60 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
be reached along a considerable distance by digging.
The present writer noticed eight wells of various
depths, and another traveler counted nineteen.
Also about four miles north is another very consid-
erable fountain, Ain Naba, though also of brackish
water. The Wells of Moses were important as a
water supply for Suez before the construction of
the sweet water canal, and in conjunction with the
other fountain must have been equally important to
the Israelite host.^^ From this point the line of
march is for a long distance unmistakable, since it
must lie between the sea on the west and the high,
unbroken and impassable range of Er Rahah, eight
or ten miles to the east.
It is doubtful whether, with Robinson and others,
we should identify the bitter fountain of Marah with
the present Ain Hawwarah, although this is a very
brackish but scanty fountain always avoided by the
Arabs (says Mr. Holland;, and the distance would
correspond well with three days' journey of some
twelve miles each, leisurely taken because free
from danger and pressure. It is also true that in
all that distance no water is to be found, except at
Ain Berwad, six miks from the traveled route,
and that a small brackish pool or fountain lying
seven feet below the surface, about nine feet in di-
ameter and two and a half feet in depth, so obscure
that travelers do not know of it.^^
16 Prof. H.A. Harper finds here the bitter Marah— somewhat singularly,
inasmuch as while he calls the water somewhat brackish, he mentions that
formerly Suez depended chiefly for its supply of sweet water upon Ayun
Musa.
17 The writer learned of it through his Arabs, and visited it,
FROM THE EXODUS TO THE CONQUEST 61
The next station was Elim, where were three
score and ten pahn trees and twelve fountains of
water. This station is now almost universally rec-
ognized as Wady Gharandel, about five miles beyond
Hawwarah. Here are springs which form a run-
ning stream, and at length considerable pools, fre-
quented by wild ducks and other birds, in which
also Palmer found a bathing place. Randall saw
marks of freshets several feet high, as indicated on
the tamarisk shrubs. Water is found here through
the year, and, though varying in quality, so good
that the traveler's water supply is here replenished.
It was so on the journey of the present writer. He
also counted in 1874 thirty palm trees and about
ten old stumps, several of which showed marks of
the fires kindled by the reckless Arabs, who are
rapidly destroying the trees of the Sinaitic penin-
sula. In 1855 Bonar found more than eighty palm
trees. The soil is damp among them, and appar-
ently water could be found by digging.
They removed from Elim and encamped by the
sea. This encampment is unmistakable and is
therefore almost universally agreed upon. A short
day's journey ending with a turn to the right,
through Wady Tayibeh, the only passable road to
the sea, would bring them to a sandy plain extend-
ing four or five miles along the shore, shut in by a
high promontory on the north, a range of cliffs on
the east, and a rocky wall approaching quite close
to the shore on the south. It affords room for a
62 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
great camp, and is the only place for many miles
that does so.
From thence they proceeded to the wilderness of
Sin, where the people became rebellious under their
hardships. Next along the shore after passing the
rock-wall already mentioned is the arid and heated
plain of El Murkha, where on the nth of Febru-
ary, 1874, ^^ thermometer registered 96 degrees
Fahrenheit. ^^ If here is the wilderness of Sin, it
accounts for the murmuring. It was here also that
the supply of manna commenced ; and here occurs
(Ex. xvi. 13) the first mention of quails in the
camp. Here W. H. Bartlett saw "numerous
quails.'"^
Before reaching Sinai four other stations are
mentioned which, with the exception of Rephidim,
there are no means of identifying with confidence,
although there have been conjectures. There were
no permanent settlements to fix the names. It
would not have been difficult for them to accom-
plish in those five days what the modern traveler,
moving at the rate of two and three-quarter miles
an hour, does in three days. Their distress for
water after leaving the wilderness of Sin, requir-
ing a special interposition to furnish it, accords with
the fact that no water is to be found to-day on that
route till the oasis in Feiran is reached. We will
not insist on the tradition which Palmer found
among the Arabs, that a certain huge rock (Hesy
el Khattatin), not far from the entrance to the
18 This was the writer's experience.
19 Bartlett's Forty Days in the Desert, p. 40,
FROM THE EXODUSy TO THE CONQUEST 63
oasis, and surrounded by heaps of pebbles, is the
scene of miraculous supply. But the oasis itself,
far the finest in the peninsula, several miles in
length and watered a part of the distance by a
copious stream, is not only too remarkable a spot
to have been neglected on the march, but the strug-
gle for its possession v^ould fully account for the
battle with the Amalekites. One of the high hills
(Tahuneh) on the north side of the western en-
trance of the oasis, on which the ruins of a church
and of several chapels bear witness to an ancient
notion of special sanctity, and which has a (late)
tradition that it was the scene of Moses' prayer,
would at all events be in accordance with the nar-
rative, since it overlooks the valley. The objection
that this supposed Rephidim is too far from Sinai
for a day's march of the great host by the easier of
two routes, is met by Professor Palmer with the
suggestion that Moses and his chief elders may
have taken the shorter and harder route (over Nagb
Hawa), leaving the host to come by the longer and
easier way.
It should also be said that when the host left the
encampment (or before arriving there), it was prac-
ticable for them to divide, part of them taking the
northern route by Wady Hamr, and the remainder
this southern route ; and that the latter allows a di-
version through a part of the route by Wady Shel-
lal ; but the wagons (Num. vii. 3, 7, 8) could have
been drawn only down along the coast of the sea,
then up nearly at right angles through Wady Feiran.
64 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
There the way is perfectly practicable through the
whole distance, as the narrative requires.^"
According to the record about eleven months
were spent at Sinai, the place of the law-giving. ^^
The vicinity of Jebel Musa (the Mount of Moses)
singularly corresponds to all the requirements of
the narrative. The long plain of Er Rahah, two
miles long and half a mile broad, slopes gradually
towards the northern peak, Sufsafeh, yielding space
enough for two million persons, ^^ each having a
square yard to stand upon in sight of the mountain,
besides additional room in the side valleys, Leja
and Ed Deir. The mountain rises abruptly like a
wall from the foot of this plain, so that it "might
be touched" (Heb. xii. i8), and bounds could be
"set about" it (Ex. xix. 23). The water supply
for the encampment is also noticeable, there being
running streams in four of the neighboring valleys,
one of them near the very foot of Sufsafeh, into
which the relics of the golden calf could have been
cast ; not to mention some five wells now existing,
indicating the abundance of water in the vicinity.
In the neighboring valleys (e. g. Mukalifeh and
Nukhf) vegetation is still to be found, ^'^ which there
20 These several routes were explored by the writer, the northern, the
southern with its divisions, besides followinp; Wady Hibrau, which some have
suggested without good reason. At the entrance of Wady Feiran from the
coast he had the surprise of seeing the tracks of a wagon, probably en the
way to Tor.
21 See note ix., Appendix.
22 By actual measurements by Capt. Palmer of the Ordnance Survey,
Palmer's Desert of the Exodus, p. 117.
23 The writer saw a large flock of goats in Wady Sebaijeh. In Wady
Nukhf, three hours distant, and about five miles long and betv/ecn one and
two miles broad where we crossed it— there was there, as estimated by one of
the company, who was a farmer's son, vegetation enough for a thousand
FROM THE EXODUS TO THE CONQUEST 65
is good reason to believe may have been more
abundant for the cattle then than for the flocks of
the Arabs now. A remarkable correspondence is
found here to the statement that as Moses descended
from the mountain he heard the noise of the shout-
ing worshipers of the golden calf before seeing
them (Ex. xiii. i8). Now there is a steep, almost
perpendicular, descent on the north side through
the ravine of Sikket Shoeib, where the traveler is
so shut in that he can hear the sound from a camp
at the traditional " Hill of Aaron" some time before
he comes in sight of it. Professor Palmer men-
tions having frequently had this experience.^*
Beyond Sinai, by reason of the loss of names in
an uninhabited region, and the absence of specified
landmarks, the station before reaching Kadesh-
barnea cannot be confidently located. Kadesh-bar-
nea is now generally considered to be at Ain Gadiz,
as discovered by Rowland and Williams, partly
verified by Palmer, and confirmed by H. C. Trum-
bull, though still requiring more deliberate exami-
nation and more exact description.'^^ A general
correspondence even here, at least as to the dis-
tances traveled, can be indicated. Whereas in Deut.
i. 2 we read that "there are eleven days' journey
from Horeb by way of Mount Seir unto Kadesh-
barnea,-' Professor Palmer thinks that this notice
cattle three months, (From Egypt to Palestine, pp. 285, 286.) We also saw
goats among the rocks, as it seemed, though really in small wadies, before
reaching Sinai.
24 The author descended through the ravine, but his camp was at a dis-
tance, near the Convent.
25 See Appendix, note x.
88 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
in connection with other indications " brings us into
the region of absolute certainty," inasmuch as a
comparison of the list of stations given in Numbers
xxxiii., and the hints in regard to it, together with
the places and distances of the Peutinger tables,
will show very closely that number of moderate
days' marches. Whether or not his suggested
identifications are valid, the general correspondence
is sufficient for our purpose. ^^
From Kadesh-barnea the rebellious portion of
the host made their ill-fated expedition to the hill
region and were routed unto Zephath or Hormah,
which may perhaps be found in Sebaita (though
not certainly), where are now extensive ruins, and
about three miles and a half to the north traces of
a ruined fort on a hill El Meshrifeh.
From this time, as has been suggested by several
writers, we may reasonably suppose the people have
to spread themselves out over the more fertile por-
tions of the peninsula, and more especially the
southern parts of the Negeb or south countr}- , and
wherever the modern Arabs find their livelihood.
One thing, however, is conspicuously noticeable and
consistent, that although interpositions for the sup-
ply of water are mentioned but in a few instances,
the food supply of the manna was constant to the
end. For while it is evident to every intelligent
observer that the fertility of the Sinaitic peninsula
has been and is continually diminished through the
wanton destruction of its trees by the modern Arabs,
26 See note xi., Appendix.
FROM THE EXODUS TO THE CONQUEST 67
all the more rapidly since the construction of the
modern canal and railway has furnished a market
for their charcoal/^ it is equally evident that no large
body of people could be wholly supplied with food
for any great length of time by the natural resources
of the country ; and it must be frankly said that
the supernatural interposition is indispensable to
the history. But water is found not only at inter-
vals in the peninsula, but in numerous places around
the edges of the desert of Et Tih,'-^^ and in the south
country, besides the pools that remain or may be
created in the wadies after the rains, and possible
reservoirs and wells, as now at Nakhl in the heart
of the desert. In these regions the Arabs of seven
tribes now sustain their sheep, goats and camels.
In the final departure from Kadesh, which ap-
pears to have been their headquarters, their march
was not directly north through the strongholds of
the Amorite country, but by way of the Red Sea,
east of the Arabah (or Ghor), through Edom and
Moab. Here, after passing Jebel Harun (Mount
Aaron), 4,000 feet high, and held sacred by the
native as the supposed scene of Aaron's death, we
confidently strike their line of march at Ar (now
Rabba) of Moab, Aroer (Arair), Dibon (Diban),
Heshbon (Hesban), not to mention conjectural sites.
This part of the way would undoubtedly correspond
to what is now the great caravan route from Da-
27 It is a common experience of travelers, as of the author, to encounter
companies of Arabs, their camels loaded with charcoal.
28 Nearly thirty places can be specified on or around this desert where
water can be found, in springs, streams, pools, wells, or just beneath the sur-
face. See Bartlett's From Egypt to Palestine, p. 318 seq.
68 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
mascus to Mecca. From the commanding peak
above Ain Minyeh, Balaam could see " Israel dwell-
ing according to their tribes" (Num. xiv. 2), "in
the plains of Moab on this side Jordan by Jericho"
(Num. xxii. i) ; and from Pisgah (Ras Siaghah),
west of Nebo (Jebel Neba) or that vicinity, Moses
could do as he was directed (Deut. iii. 27), and see
"all the land of Gilead and Dan, and all Naphtali,
and all the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, and all
the land of Judah unto the utmost sea, and the south,
and the plain of Jericho, the city of palm trees, unto
Zoar" — as Tristram testifies from his personal ex-
perience.^^ Conder also suggests that in the weird
and almost inaccessible gorge, Zerka Main, 1,700
feet deep, may be recognized the valley in the land
of Moab where Moses was buried (Num. xxxiv.
6), and "no man knoweth of his sepulchre.'""
Thus the account of this march of Israel, which
is also summarized in Deuteronomy, bears every
mark of a veritable narrative by a participant, and
is not reasonably supposable to have been so accur-
ately invented in all these details by some hypothet-
ical writer many hundred years later.
Here comes in another confirmation and check,
as it might be called. It is found (Num. xxxiii.)
in the separate enumeration of forty-two encamp-
ments written down, as the text declares, by Moses
at command of God. It is a bald enumeration with-
out comment, except in three instances where there
29 Tristram, Land of Israel, pp. 540-3; Conder, Heth and Moab, p. 133 seq.
Conder suggests to read "towards" Dan and the utmost sea, instead of
"unto."
30 Heth and Moab, p 151.
FROM THE EXODUS TO THE CONQUEST 69
is a reference to some attendant fact, of which
Aaron's death is the most prominent. It carries
the aspect both of elaborate care and of antiquity.
For while it includes the stations described in the
narrative (as far as Moab), it contains others that
not only cannot now be identified, but that do not
appear elsewhere in the Hexateuch, apparently lost
out of knowledge. Now even if this list of stations
stood unsupported by the narrative, what conceiv-
able inducement could a writer a thousand years
later'' have to take the pains and run the risk of
manufacturing such a barren catalogue, and espe-
cially to introduce these aimless additions to the ex-
isting account ? The question staggers even the
audacity and credulity of Wellhausen, who admits
that "it is less easy to account on the theory of
pure fiction for the numerous names somewhat ar-
ranged like a catalogue," and that "the forty places
really existed in the region." But he calmly in-
quires, "Was it such a diflScult matter to find out
forty definite stations in the wilderness for the forty
years' wandering?" And he carefully changes the
forty-two to the round number " forty. ' "' This style
of argument is quite worthy of Wellhausen. But
it was hardly to be expected from a writer like Dr.
Driver to dismiss the great and impressive mass of
this kind of evidence, now becoming fully recog-
nized by all sober and judicious investigators, with
the cool remark, " It is an error to suppose, as seems
sometimes to be done, that topographical explora-
31 It is ascribed in Kautzsch to p.
32 History of Israel, p. 350-
70 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
tion, or the testhnony of inscriptions^ supplies a refu-
tation of critical conclusions concerning the Old
Testament. "^^
And here the analysts multiply the number of
witnesses to the truth of the list. For while care-
fully going through the narrative itself to justify the
ascriptions of the list to a late ("priest") writer, by
excluding from it here and there a sentence (those
which mention the several removals), yet in most
instances the adjacent portion confirms the state-
ment in regard to the place, and that too by passages
ascribed by the same analysts to two or three other
older writers ;^^ so that according to their own stand-
ard we have an accumulation of testimonies.
If still additional corroborations of this plain nar-
rative w^ere needed, they may be found in many
allusions to attendant circumstances of the journey.
The shittim wood (acacia, seyal), of which the
tabernacle was constructed, is the only timber wood
of any size in the Sinaitic peninsula, although even
in very early times almost extinct in Egypt^^ proper,
and not common in Palestine. It may be called
characteristic of the Sinaitic peninsula, and is a
hard, close-grained wood of an orange-brown color,
fitted for fine cabinet work. Rev. D. A. Randall
in his book of travels, however, mentions that he
saw no acacia of sufficient size for the boards of
the tabernacle, namely, ten cubits long by one and
33 Introduction to the Old Testament, p. xiii.
34 J. E, JE, R.
35 Erman's Life in Ancient Egypt, p. 451.
FROM THE EXODUS TO THE CONQUEST 71
a half wide.^^ But notwithstanding the destruction
of these trees (and the retem) for many years by
the Arabs for charcoal, which they transport to
Suez, the present writer in 1874 ^^^ ^^ Wady Saal
acacias two feet in diameter; and Mr. Holland
found specimens that were nine feet in circumfer-
ence. If, as Tristram suggests, the burning bush
(Hebrew "seneh") was a smaller species of acacia,
that also is occasionally found The palm is once
mentioned, at Elim. It is also found at the oasis of
Feiran, and usually only at places where there is or
can be found some sign of water. The station
"Rithmah," it is suggested by Robinson, Stanley,
Tristram and others, may derive its name from the
abundance of the retem, another desert tree of fre-
quent occurrence. These, or three of them, are
the trees most peculiar to their line of march. The
tamarisk or tarfa, with its slender roots running
sometimes thirty feet along under the barren surface
(as the writer saw), is occasionally met with, but
not mentioned. The monks of Sinai gather a
honey-like substance from its branches, which they
sell to the traveler at the rate of two francs for
about three ounces, and which even Ritter ventured
to suppose might be the manna of the Israelites.
The impossibility of the supposition is proved,
among other reasons, by the fact that, as Stanley^^
mentions, the quantity at present produced would
be sufficient only to support one man six months ;
and Schubert declares that the entire amount col-
36 p. 274. 37 Sinai an4 Palestine, p. a8.
72 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
lected in most productive years is hardly six hun-
dred-weight, and in other years scarcely one-third
of that amount ; and that the price it brought in
Cairo when he wrote was sixty Spanish dollars for
less than five pounds. ^^ The narrative makes no
mention of it.
Of the fauna of the desert actually encountered,
the narrative mentions only quails and fiery ser-
pents. The account of the quails (Num. xi. 31,32) is
in singular accordance with facts known concerning
the region. ^^ The bird is encountered by travelers
in the peninsula (e. g. Randall and W. H. Bartlett).
It is abundant in north Africa,^" flies thence in great
flocks over the Arabian desert, holding its way,
especially when fatigued, just above the ground
and within reach, and when the flock alights, they
are so exhausted that they may easily be captured
or killed. They usually arrive at night, helpless
till they are rested, sometimes two days, and then
fly on. In this particular case they would seem to
have come by night ; for the people gathered them
all day, all night, and all the next day. And their
flight*^ (not their accumulation) was two cubits above
the ground, or breast high. It was at Kibroth
Hattaavah,*^ opposite to a narrow part of the Gulf of
Suez, these birds being accustomed, on account of
38 Schubert, Reise, Vol. II., p. 347.
39 Tristram gives a full statement, Natural History of the Bible, pp.
asi, 232-
40 McCoan's Egypt, p. 326.
41 So Knobel, Dillmann, Strack, Speaker's Commentary.
4a Near this place both Schubert and Stanley saw immense flocks of birds
flying over. "The sky was literally darkened," says Stanley,"by innumerabla
birds." But in this case they were cranes.
FROM THE EXODUS TO THE CONQUEST 73
their weak flight, to seek the shortest passage and
halt where they can. It was in the spring also,
when they take their northward flight from Africa.
The people spread them all abroad about the camp
(verse 32) to dry, as Herodotus says the Egyptians
were in the habit of doing. *^ Here all is exactly
true to the life, and is a description made upon the
spot.
The only reference to the serpent is after leaving
Mount Hor (Num xxi. 6, 8), to the fiery serpent,
or possibly burning serpent, that is, producing burn-
ing heat in the body.** Tristram found four species
of venomous serpents in and around Palestine ;
Palmer speaks of them in the Peninsula f and
Schubert saw between Akabah and Sinai a poison-
ous serpent with fiery spots.
From the list of clean and unclean animals (Lev.
xi.) nothing can be certainly inferred in this con-
nection, although many if not all the animals are to
be seen in the region traversed. According to Tris-
tram, however, at least five or six of these species
never lived in the Nile valley nor in wooded and
hilly Palestine.*^ If he is correct, this would be a
special mark of the desert journey. He also has
called attention to the fact that all the different an-
telopes are mentioned in Deuteronomy among the
clean beasts, but not in Leviticus ; and suggests as
an explanation that when the laws were announced
43 Herodotus, ii., 77. See also Rawlinson's Herodotus, Vol. II., p. log.note.
44 Knobel, Dillmann, Strack.
45 The Desert of the Exodus, p. 99.
46 Cited by Driver, Deuteronomy, p. 160, note.
74 THE VERA CITY OF THE HEX A TE UCH
immediately after the exodus they would be strange
to the Israelites, but after thirty-nine years had
been passed in their haunts they would be familiar
to them all/'
Again, the singular collection of brief and unre-
lated facts of legislation in the Mosaic code, such
as is found in Leviticus xix., strongly mark them
as commands and prohibitions growing out of the
occasions and the time, and not the fabrication of
late system-makers. This chapter is part of what
is designated by German scholars "the Code of
Holiness," and is ascribed by them to the priests
during the exile. But the priests, being then free
from the duties of the temple and the altar, had
abundant leisure to frame a systematic code, ar-
ranged in an orderly manner. But Dr. Henry Hay-
man has minutely shown not only the lack of coher-
ence in this one chapter, but much of the same char-
acteristic pervading the whole so-called Code (Lev.
xvii.-xxv.). "To call it the Priests' Code was not
a happy thought of the critics, codification being
precisely the element which it does 7iot present."
Nor is this quality confined to the Priests' Code,
but extends more or less to the whole legislation ;
"the treatment by repetitions, digressions, dismem-
berment and insertions, being not so much the ex-
ception as the rule, gives the Mosaic legislation the
interspersed and fragmentary character of a painted
window."*^ The only reasonable explanation is,
47 The City and the Land, p. 80.
4$ The Independent, April 28, 1892. See note sU.
FROM THE EXODUS TO THE CONQUEST 75
not that this was the deliberate composition of sys-
tem-makers, but that the legislation sprang from
the occasions, and perhaps was sometimes diverted
by them ; and that its sacred authority was so fully
recognized by the scribes of the law in later times
that they did not presume to change the order for
a better arrangement. Sometimes we can seem to
recognize the occasion. Blunt called attention to
an ancient tradition that the prohibition of wine and
strong drink to the priests when they went into the
tabernacle, immediately following the offense of
the priests Nadab and Abihu, may naturally ex-
plain the cause of that offense. It has also been
noticed that the direction to make themselves
fringes to cause them to remember the command-
ments of the Lord (Num. xv. 38,39) immediately fol-
lows the punishment of the man who violated the
great law to "remember the Sabbath Day to keep
it holy."
During the thirty-eight years' wandering but two
events are recorded. This fact, sometimes alleged
as incompatible with so long a lapse of time, is in
harmony with the plan of the narrative: "The
host of Israel," says Edersheim, "being doomed to
judgment, ceased to be the subject of sacred his-
tory, while the rising generation, in whom the life
and hope of Israel now centered, had as yet no his-
tory of their own."'^ The two events which are
recorded were so momentous in their bearing on
the maintenance of the decalogue and the divinely
49 Edersheim's The Exodus and the Wandering, p. 173.
76 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
established polity as to be specially made a perma-
nent warning. They are records of the summary
punishments for daring disobedience, namely, the
violation of the Sabbath, and the rebellion of Korah
and his associates (Num. xvi). And it is recorded
that Korah, Dathan and Abiram were joined by
two sons of Reuben, and that 250 men of renown
were led away by them. The fact that sons of
Reuben should have united with Korah and his as-
sociates (of the family of Kohath) has been natur-
ally and shrewdly accounted for by Blunt, ^° by the
proximity of their encampment to that of the Reu-
benites, both being on the south side of the taber-
nacle (Num. iii. 29 ; ii. 10) ; to which Edersheim
adds that Reuben, being the first-born, naturally
had a grievance against the exaltation of Aaron and
Moses of the tribe of Levi above all the congrega-
tion (xvi. 3).
In the same line of indications of contemporane-
ous facts and reality are the exhaustively (some
would say wearisomely) minute directions for the
construction, furnishing, care and conveyance of
the tabernacle. It occupies not far from 150 verses
in the original instructions (Ex. xxv., seq.) Then
comes a briefer recapitulation by Moses to the con-
gregation, in thirty verses, preceded by a caution
that no work shall be done, not even the kindling
of a fire, on the Sabbath, and followed by four and a
half chapters (xxxvi., seq.) of an equalty minute and
business-like statement of the accomplishment of
50 Blunt's Undesigned Coincidences, p. 84.
FROM THE EXODUS TO THE CONQUEST 77
the work. This last gives the names of the two
master workmen, Bezaleel and Aholiab, their par-
entage and tribe, the facts of their being aided by
every wise-hearted man and supplied with certain
specified contributions of the congregation, the
spinning of fine linen and goats' hair by the women,
and the special gift of precious stones by the rulers.
Where in classic literature is there to be found any-
thing like it in fullness of detail and reality of ap-
pearance? Caesar's bridge over the Rhine is
described by him in twenty lines. It is paralleled
only by the plans and specifications of a modern
architect, and, but for the inability to interpret all
the ancient technical terms, might be very closely
reconstructed. Indeed the doubt hanging over the
meaning of some of the terms long before the
Christian Era, as obsolete terms, indicates the an-
tiquity of the directions ; as where the Septuagint
and the two other Greek versions unquestionably
mistranslate the words wrongly rendered "badgers'
skins" in the English version; and modern exposi-
tors are in doubt, the revised version giving the alter-
native of seal skins or porpoise skins. Still further,
the time occupied in the work, some nine months,
is in keeping with its elaborateness.
Now as an actual record of a transaction of the
times, a transaction of sacred and central significance
to the chosen people, this singular minuteness and
voluminousness of detail is perfectly accounted for ;
but as an alleged fabrication of after ages in regard
to a fictitious affair a thousand years obsolete, it in-
78 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
volves the supposition of a stolid and aimless indus-
try and a laborious and superfluous trifling not
credible in priest or layman.
This is not all. Such a specification of details
involves an amount of accurate knowledge of his-
toric facts not supposable, yes, not possible, in any
late writer of fiction. In fact, in the earlier part of
the present century such scholars, not merely as
Von Bohlen and Vater, but even De Wette, could
declare that the construction of the tabernacle and
the priests' garments implied a cultivation of the
arts and an abundance of costly materials which we
could not expect of the Israelites when they left
Egypt, and that the whole description of the taber-
nacle therefore belongs, not to history, but to fiction.
This bold statement now shows the impossibility of
its being a fiction. It was in their day necessary
even to argue the case with the most learned men
that the art of writing was practiced so early as the
exodus. It is undoubtedly safe to say that from
before the time of Ezra the priest till well on in the
present century no human being could have ven-
tured on such a detailed account of the materials
and processes without blundering at every turn.
For, as the reader will find by referring to the nar-
rative, we are told there of men and women bring-
ing for the structure brooches and ear-rings and
signet-rings and armlets (or necklaces, R. V. ), of
gold, and blue and purple and scarlet and fine
twined linen, and the women spinning it with their
hands, the men offering silver and brass (bronze or
FROM THE EXODUS TO THE CONQUEST 79
copper), and the rulers bringing precious stones of
several varieties (twelve) for the ephod and the
breastplate ; of rings and chains and wreathen w^ork
of pure gold, engraving on the stones and on the
plate of gold, casting and overlaying, "beaten" (or
carved) work, and the like.
It remained for explorers of the f resent century
to find ample evidence of all this skill prevailing in
Egypt, at and long before the time of the exodus.
The very finest of fine linen has been found there.
Spinning and weaving by hand is delineated in the
paintings, and bright colors were employed. The
whole process of working gold is delineated in the
tombs at Beni Hassan as early as the twelfth dy-
nast}" ; goldsmiths are often mentioned, and even
'4he chief goldsmith to the king. "^^ In addition to
other specimens of their work, we have the re-
markable collection found in the tomb of Queen
Ahhotep of the eighth dynasty (before the exodus),
which no visitor to the former Boulak Museum will
forget, and the equally beautiful and "wonderful
jewelry"^'^ of the twelfth dynasty discovered at Da-
shur in 1894.^^^ These trinkets were often interlaced
with precious stones or enamel, and sometimes
false stones made of glass and skillfully colored.
Of these stones Wilkinson mentions lapis-lazuli, cor-
nelian, amethyst, agate, pearls, haematite, serpen-
tine, root of emerald, adding that "the sole Mu-
seum of Leyden possesses an infinite variety of these
objects which were once the pride of the ladies of
51 Erman, p. 460. 5* lb,, p, 461. 53 See note xiii., Appendix,
80 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
Thebes."^* Engraving was done on stones of all
kinds, and in one instance a name was found neatly
cut on a glass bead about 1500 B. C.^^
"The domain of the lapidary," says Maspero,
"included the amethyst, the emerald, the garnet,
the aquamarine, the chrysoprase, the innumerable
varieties of agate and jasper, lapis-lazuli, feld-
spath, obsidian ; also various rocks, such as granite,
serpentine and porphyry ; certain fossils, as yellow
amber and some kinds of turquoise ; organic re-
mains, as coral, mother-of-pearl and pearls; metallic
oxides, such as haematite, the oriental turquoise,
and malachite. "^'^
Bronze also was sufficiently abundant, as, for ex-
ample, a bronze statuette of Rameses II., cast hol-
low, and beautifully chased."
Two significant circumstances are to be noted in
the construction of the tabernacle : First, silver is
less abundantly used than gold. In Egypt silver
appears to have been much less used for jewelry
than gold. Wilkinson (so far as we find) mentions
one silver ring, while he gives representations of
some score of golden trinkets, before the discovery
of the Ahhotep or the Dashur collections. Erman
accounts for it by the fact that there were no silver
mines in Egypt. He also affirms that "in the oldest
empire silver was regarded as the most valuable
metal"; whether that be so or not, he states that as
a matter of fact "in the tombs silver objects are
much rarer than gold ones."^^ Thus the use of sil-
54 Wilkinson, ii., 343-345. 55 Ibid., 141.
, 56 Egypt. Archaeology, p. 240-1, 57 Erman, p. 461. 58 lb., p. 461.
FROM THE EXODUS TO THE CONQUEST 81
ver in the tabernacle corresponds to the circum-
stances of the land from which their supplies were
drawn.
Still more noteworthy is the case in regard to
iron. In the abundant accounts of metals and metal-
working in the wilderness, as well as of the car-
pentry, there is not an allusion to any use of iron,
in forms greater or smaller. Here is a striking
correspondence to the fact of the scanty use of iron
in early Egypt. Wilkinson, in 1836, left the ques-
tion of its use in uncertainty. Birch, in 1883, cited
but four instances of it as early as the Ramessids,
though not doubting its use in later times ; and only
in 1894 does Erman venture to say that its use for
tools under the old empire "can scarcely be con-
sidered doubtful. "^^ This correspondence shows
convincingly not only the accuracy of the statements
of the narrative, but its virtual contemporaneous-
ness with the transaction, as will immediately appear.
For when Israel had reached the plains of Moab
by Jordan (Num. xxxv. i ; Deut. i. 19), we find
at length two laws mentioning "an instrument of
iron." How comes this? They had now arrived
in the region east of the Mediterranean, where the
use of iron was well known and comparatively com-
mon. Iron vessels were brought from Syria and
Phenicia as tributes to Thothmes III.^^ Also farther
59 A piece of slag brought by the writer from the Egyptian mines at Wady
Maghara showed that all the copper but eight-tenths per cent had been
smelted out; but the more infusible iron, amounting to twenty-three per
cent, remained.
60 Birch in Wilkinson's Egypt, ii,, 251. See also Records of the Past, ii.,
52. Brugsch (i., 368) gives the full list of the tribute, among which are found
two suits of iron armor (p. 373), an iron suit of armor decorated with gold
(P- 375). vessels of iron (p. 376), iron (p. 380).
82 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
east, in Mesopotamia (Naharain), iron was to be
found, it being now the most abundant metal in the
mountains four days from Mosul, ^^ and in the north-
west palace at Nimrud Layard found several iron
helmets and scales of iron armor, all ready to drop
in pieces with rust/^ He found also at Nimrud iron
spear heads, arrow heads, and the head of a hatchet,
and even specimens of bronze cast over iron. ^^ And
while it does not appear from the surroundings how
early was the date, the inscription of Thothmes,
already mentioned, comes to our aid, and informs
us that among the spoils carried away "from the
river-land of the miserable Naharain" were " iron
suits of armor and weapons/' Here, then, is the
clue to the absence of all mention of iron till the
arrival in Moab ; there was practically no iron be-
hind them, it was then around them. In the book
of Judges and the later books it is often mentioned
— thirty times or more.
Now for any writer in after ages, eight hundred
or a thousand years later, to pass safely through all
these liabilities to mistake, snares and pitfalls at
every step, maintaining his accuracy even in the
minutest points of difference between the lands and
the ages and the circumstances, and with no collec-
tion of antiquarian books or museum to guide him,
there can be no hesitation in saying is absolutely out
of the question. Yet, as may be seen in Kautzsch's
recent work, modern critics have the courage to
6i Layard's Nineveh, ii., 315,316. (S2 lb. i., 278.
63 Layard's Babylon and Nineveh, pp. 191, 194, 557, 596.
FROM THE EXODUS TO THE CONQUEST 83
assign the whole narrative of the structure of the
tabernacle to P, during the exile in Babylonia, with
revisions later/^ In this light we can understand
the wisdom which permanently incorporated in the
narrative such an amount of dry and, to posterity,
otherwise seemingly useless details.
But this matter of the tabernacle and its concom-
itants is but one portion of the case as it has been
brought forward in this chapter. The argument is
cumulative. And when we take into account all
the correspondences to geographic and historic fact
in the narrative of the exodus and the wandering,
it would seem as though the evidences of virtually
contemporaneous writing and personal knowledge
were insuperable. It is a question level to the ap-
prehension of all ordinary intelligence. It is a
somewhat perilous thing for a writer to declare it
'*an error to suppose that topographical exploration,
or the testimony of inscriptions, supplies a refuta-
tion of critical conclusions respecting the books of
the Old Testament." And for the author of such
an assertion to say of another scholar that he^^ ''is
singularly unable to distinguish between a good ar-
gument and a bad one" is still more perilous.
64 Kautzsch says about 500 B. C. in Babylonia was the composition of the
proper priest codex. (Supplement, p. 129.) More fully stated (p. 188): "The
priestly book of history and law in the Pentateuch and Joshua originated as
the product of Babylonia and subsequent Jerusalem schools of priests from
about 500 to 400 B. C." Some critics speak of a Pi, P2 P3, and Cornill even P4.
Kautzsch covers virtually the same ground.
65 Driver's Introduction, p. 149, of Prof. Bissell. So too, Mr. Girdlestone
"employs himself largely in beating the air" (p. xiv.)
CHAPTER IV
THE RESIDENCE IN EGYPT
The Biblical account of the residence of the
Israelites in Egypt exhibits the same minutely ac-
curate knowledge of Egyptian facts, and circum-
stantial correctness of statement ; the former show-
ing the close proximity of the narrative to the times
of the exodus, and both standing voucher for the
general truthfulness of the narrative. In the great
company of German speculators there have been
found some two or three writers (Stade, Meyer and
Juste) who have expressed their doubts that the
Israelites ever made a settlement in Egpyt. This
was to be expected, but is too preposterous to have
found a respectable following even in Germany.
As Kittel remarks, "There is no event in the en-
tire history of Israel that has more deeply impressed
itself on the memory of later generations of this
people than the abode in Egypt and the exodus
form the land of the Nile. Samuel, Saul, Solomon,
almost even David himself, stand in the background,
compared with the Egyptian house of bondage and
the glorious delivery therefrom. Evidently we
have here no mere creation of the legends of the
patriarchs, but a fact which lived deep down in the
consciousness of the people in quite early times, from
Hosea and the book of Samuel onwards, a fact
graven deep in their memory. It would betoken a
S4
THE RESIDENCE IN EGYPT 85
high and more than normal deficiency of historical
sense in the Israelite national character, if a purely
mythical occurrence gave the key-note of the whole
national life, and formed the starting point of the
entire circle of religious thought as early as the
days of the first literary prophets."^
This is a mild statement of the case. The ap-
peal can be made not merely to the historic sense,
but to the convergence of historic facts, settled be-
yond contradiction after three thousand years.
During the present century early Egyptian life has
been disclosed by the monuments and documents
with extraordinary fullness, far more complete than
the knowledge we have of the course of life at the
early Plymouth colony in this country. It covers
public, private and social life in all their forms.
Now any man who should attempt a delineation of
life in the early Plymouth colony, writing in Eng-
land, or even in New England, without access to
full contemporary records and documents, would
be certain to blunder at almost every step. And
even if the re were placed in his hands the surviving
contemporary documents, such as Bradford's His-
tory, Morton's Memorial, Winslow's Narrative,
De Rassiere's letter, and he were granted a visit
to the collection of antiquities at Plymouth, there is
not a man now living who, with all those helps,
can fill up a year's or a month's daily life there dur-
ing Bradford's whole lifetime with such an amount
of minute and accurate detail as is contained in the
I History of the Hebrews, I., p. 185, English translation. He gives refer-
ences which it is not necessary to quote.
86 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
Pentateuch concerning the Egypt of three thousand
3-ears ago. But by what possibility could an Israel-
ite in Palestine or Babylonia, hundreds of years
later, obtain that surprising amount of exact infor-
mation?
Yet through all these difficulties and perils the
sacred writer walks boldly on, with a certainty of
direct statement and casual allusion which it was
left to the present century to discover. He touches
on public and private matters, personal habits, cus-
toms of society, modes of living, the products, re-
sources and seasons of the country, the condition,
occupations, food and drink of the inhabitants, to
some degree their language, and other miscellane-
ous matters and implications.
The futile attempt to impeach the accuracy of
this delineation, made in 1835 by Peter von Bohlen,
professor of oriental languages at Koenigsberg,
though now an old story, is worth recalling. Some
of the points on which he alleged "mistakes and
inaccuracies" (thereby betraying, as was remarked
at the time, that he lived out of Egypt and long
after Moses), were these things in Genesis : The
brick-making; the animals, namely sheep and asses;
the use of animal food ; the cultivation of the vine,
which at present is very scanty, and not very suc-
cessful except for raisins,^ whereas under both the
Old and New Empires we find vineyards and the
whole process of wine-making, six different kinds
of wine enumerated, and in one instance 1,500 jars
2 McCoan's Egypt, p. 332,
THE RESIDENCE IN EGYPT 87
of it sealed by one head-gardener ; and other mat-
ters/
On these points Hengstenberg not only com-
pletely refuted his denial, but he went further and
showed positively the correspondence of the narra-
tive to the then known facts in the following par-
ticulars : The existence of eunuchs in Egypt ; the
morals and manners of Egyptian women, as seen in
the temptation of Joseph ; the functions of the baker
and the carrying of baskets on the head ; the shav-
ing of the beard on coming from the prison ; the
signet-ring ;* the fine linen ; the gold chain ; the
sitting posture at meals (Gen. xliii .33),^ whereas
among the Hebrews from at least the time of Amos
(and perhaps in the time of the patriarchs) reclin-
ing was the custom ; the embalming of the dead
(Gen. 1. 11); the coffin, apparently of wood (Gen.
1. 26), a common material, and fitted for the trans-
portation better than those of stone, which were also
used ; the grievous mourning of the Egyptians (1.
1 1) ; even its duration, seventy da3^s (1. 3) f the use
of papyrus (Ex.ii. 3, R. V., margin) for an ark or
basket, with the pitch to cement it together and
the bitumen to make it water-tight ; the beating by
the taskmasters, the bastinado (Ex. v. 14); the hard
bondage in building (Ex. i. 14) ; the bricks com-
3 Erman, p. no.
4 On Gen. xii. 42, Von Bohlen said, "It is scarcely necessary to mention
that these objects of luxury, especially polished stones, belong to a later
time."
5 Dillmann so understands Gen. xxviii. 4, Strack and some others dissent-
ing. Sitting is indicated Gen. xxvii.19, Judg. xix 6, i Sam. xx. 5, 24, i Kings
xiii. 20; but reclining Am. vi. 4, Ezek. xxiii. 41, and among the Babylon-
ians, Esther i. 6, vii. 8; also in Palestine in the time of Christ.
6 So apparently Herodotus, ii., 86. Diodorus says seventy-two, i., 72.
88 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
pacted by straw ; the freedom enjoyed by Egyptian
women, and their occasional failings, even to in-
toxication at feasts, unsparingly delineated on the
monuments.
Most of the above-mentioned correspondences
have been known for half a century, and if they
w^ere all, they are enough to show the boldness and
certainty with which the writer moves among all
the conditions of ancient Egyptian life.
But time and further discovery only increase the
strength of the evidence of personal knowledge,
and in some lines in a very extraordinary manner.
In Ex. V. 8 we read of "a tale of bricks'' being re-
quired of the Hebrews by their taskmasters ; and
it is a late discovery by Chabas that in the forced
labor of foreigners in making bricks "a daily tale
was required.'" A still more noteworthy fact has
come to light in the excavations made in 1883 by
Petrie at Pithom, to be mentioned later. The nar-
rative tells how the straw ordinarily supplied to be
mixed with the clay for the sun-dried bricks, was
withholden, and the people were scattered abroad
to "gather stubble instead of straw." Miss Amelia
B. Edwards writes thus: "It is a curious and in-
teresting fact that the Pithom bricks are of three
qualities. In the lower courses of these massive
v/alls they are mixed wnth chopped straw ; higher
up, when the straw may be supposed to have run
short, the clay is found to be mixed with reeds —
the same kind of reeds which grow to-day in the
7 R. S. Poole, Cont. Review, March, 1879, p. 755.
THE RESIDENCE IN EGYPT 89
bed of the old Pharaonic Nile, and which are trans-
lated as 'stubble' in the Bible. Finally, when the
reeds were used up, the bricks of the upper courses
consist of mere Nile mud, with no binding substance
whatever."'
It was one of the charges made by Von Bohlen
(and repeated by some others) that the writer of
Genesis betrayed " ignorance of the natural con-
dition of Egypt" in describing a seven years'
famine, or indeed any famine at all, Egypt being
alleged to be so regularly watered by the Nile as
to have no such experiences. Unquestionably
famines are rare in Egypt, especially protracted
ones ; and this makes the narrative the more re-
markable. For Brugsch finds an Egyptian record
belonging to the Hyksos period (the supposed
period of Joseph's residence in Egypt), of "a famine
lasting many years."' No other such famine is
recorded in later Egyptian history till that of A. D.
1064-1071, remarkable for having lasted seven years,
like that of Joseph. Dr. Brugsch is quite confident
that in this ancient record of the time of Rasekenen
III. we have an account of the very famine of
Joseph ; and Kittel is inclined, though with hesita-
tion, to agree with him. That is not important^
8 Pharaohs, Fellahs and Explorers, p. 50.
9 Hist Eg., I., p. 304. In the tomb of one Baba at El Kab. In his Stein-
inschrift and Bibelwort (1891),??. goseq., Brugsch gives still another record
found by him later in a rock in the island Sehel, between the first cataract
and Elephantine. This sneaks definitely of a famine of seven years.
Though tiie famine is ascribed to the times of King Tozer, more than a thou-
sand years before Joseph, Brugsch maintains from the language and style
that Uie inscription belongs to the centuries not long B. U., and tnat 1:
reouids a tradition of the ancient famine, that was still kapded d?\y;j
/p. -95).
90 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
The main point is the fact of a protracted famine
in Egypt.
The temptation of Joseph by Potiphar's wife has
seemed to some quite improbable in its details.
But the freedom with which the Egyptian women
moved about has long been proved by the monu-
ments; while the Egyptian story of the Two
Brothers, brought to light not many years ago,
sets forth a series of transactions so singularly like
the narrative in the main facts of the temptation,
the resistance and the accusation, as almost to sug-
gest a common origin, though against all probabil-
ity.^^
In reference to the whole history of Joseph, Kit-
tel makes a statement of profound significance to
those who, like himself, accept the literary decom-
position of the Pentateuch into several narratives :
"It was comparatively easy to maintain that an
author who knew Egypt, and perhaps had lived
there for a time, composed the story of Joseph and
clothed it in an Egyptian garb. This account of
the matter is almost hnpossible nozv that two distinct
sources for the history of Joseph, J and E, are uni-
versally recognized. The sources vary so widely
from each other that they must have been written
at different times and places. They contain many
differences of no small importance, so that they can
hardly be traced back to a common literary origi-
nal, yet they agree completely in bearing the gen-
uine Egyptian stamp. It must also be admitted
lo Now to be found in various volumes, e. g. Ebers' Egypt, pp. 311-314;
Brugsch's Hist. I., pp. 309-311; Records of the Past, II., 137.
THE RESIDENCE IN EGYPT 91
that the Egyptian element in the narrative cannot
be mere literary coloring. It must belong to the
core of the narrative. This points to a compara-
tively high antiquity, and testifies to the existence
of an ancient tradition, dating as far back as the
Egyptian period itself. "^^ The argument is of great
weight from his point of view ; although we do not
admit it to be "comparatively easy" for any one
writer four or five hundred years later to have so
perfectly clothed the narrative "in an Egyptian
garb."
But these things are but a small part of the marks
of intimate and personal knowledge of the condition
of Egypt, and in its different phases, in the times
of Abraham, Joseph and the exodus respectively.
The series of plagues shows the strongest local
coloring, the supernatural elements standing in
close relation to the natural, as has been pointed
out by various commentators from Hengstenberg to
the present time. Among these things are the red
color of the Nile at a certain season, the frogs, the
swarms of tormenting insects, the murrain, the lo-
custs ; and in connection with the locusts and the
hail we have (Ex. ix. 31, 32) an incidental allusion
to the order of the ripening of the flax, barley,
wheat and rye or spelt. Hail is very rare in Egypt ;
but on the 19th of December, 1873, the present
writer experienced in Alexandria a storm of wind
and rain, mingled with hail, so severe as to confine
at home those who were not compelled to be abroad ;
II History of the Hebrews,!., p. i88.
02 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
and as evidence of the destructive power of hail in
extraordinary cases, he has before him as he writes
a dispatch dated May 25, 1896, from Minot,
North Dakota, informing the Associated Press in
Boston of a hail storm on the day before, in which
the ''stones were of enormous size and fell with
terrific force," and that "cattle on the ranges suf-
fered severely, many being pounded to death by
the hail." Indeed, so minutely close is this local
coloring that in Ex. vii. 19 the several words trans-
lated rivers, streams, ponds and pools of water are
recognized by Knobel, Dillmann and others as des-
ignating (in the Hebrew) the Nile itself and its
arms, the canals, the lakes or ponds, and "all other
collections of water, as cisterns, wells, pools and
reservoirs" (Dillmann). But while the natural ba-
sis, so to call it, appears in all the plagues, the nar-
rative, which does not ignore it, also steadily rises
above it, so that, in the words of Kalisch,"we cannot
but acknowledge the miraculotis character' with which
all without exception are stamped." He specilies
their taking place at unusual times ; the rapid suc-
cession of very rare occurrences ; the aggravation
of their character ; their occurrence as predicted ;
their cessation at the prayer of Moses ; their limi-
tation to the Egyptians. ^'^
When we turn to the time of Abraham, we find
in the list of presents made to him b}^ Pharaoh,
oxen, sheep and asses, all of which are found abun-
dantly delineated on the monuments of the earlier
12 Comment on Ex. vii., pp. 117, n8.
THE RESIDENCE IN EGYPT 93
times ; yet no mention of horses, although horses
and chariots occur in the narrative of the Exodus.
The explanation is to be found in the now well set-
tled fact that horses were not introduced into Egypt,
certainly not mentioned, till the eighteenth dynasty
— that is, after the time of Abraham/^
The mention of camels among the gifts to Abra-
ham, however, has been cited as an anachronism,
inasmuch as no inscription and no painting shows
the animal in Egypt before Grecian times. But
although Birch and Erman concede the point, and
Dillmann suggests that the two words may be the
addition of a copyist or an editor (in itself a ver}^
possible supposition), yet neither the concession
nor the explanation are called for. As matter of
fact, in the borings made by the sagacious Heke-
kian Bey between the years 185 1 and 1854 ^" ^^^
Nile valley (some ninety-five in number, and pene-
trating in some instances to the depth of sixty feet),
"bones of the ox, hog, dog, dromedary and ass
were not uncommon.'"* Furthermore, the Egyptian
traveler, or Mohar, about the fourteenth century
B. C, calls for camel to eat in Palestine, evidentl}'
indicating thereby a knowledge of the animal. ^^
Wiedemann, in 1891, remarks also that "the pres-
ence of the animal in the Nile valley is attested by
the classics, and that therefore the non-mention of
it cannot be due to its being unknown in the land,
but if not simply accidental, must rest on other,
13 Erman, p. 493; Wilkinson, II., p. loi.
14 Lyell's Antiquity of Man, p. 35.
15 Records of the Past, II., p. ii2.
94 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
perhaps religious, grounds.'"^ Both Wilkinson and
Ebers^^ have called attention to the similar fact that
poultry, although known from other sources to have
been abundant in ancient Egypt, as in modern
times, do not appear on the monuments. The sug-
gestion of Ebers that the camel w^as in ancient times
confined to northern Egypt would explain its ab-
sence from the drawings, which are most abundant
in southern Egypt. Whatever the explanation, the
fact appears to have been settled by Hekekian Bey.
The freshness and immediateness of the writer's
knowledge is indicated by the Egyptian words and
phrases clinging to his narrative. Ebers cites the
reed-grass (R. V. Gen. xl. 2), where the word
achu is borrowed from the Egyptian, and the
phrase "brink of the river" (ver. 3), literally "lip of
the river," is an Egyptian phrase (though not ex-
clusively so), and throughout the chapter "the
river" is the Nile, after the Eg3^ptian conception.
Mr. Poole (after Chabas) finds the oath "by the
life of Pharaoh" (Gen. xlii. i, 15, 16) to be trace-
able in Egyptian official proceedings, as well as the
bowing on the staff (Gen. xliii. 29-31, Septuagint).
The phrase "ark of bulrushes, "or chest of papyrus
(ii. 3), contains a word, tevah, which has an Egyp-
tian equivalent, tba, as old as the twelfth dynasty, ^^
meaning chest; gome, papyrus, has its equivalent
in the Coptic kam; the pitch, zefheth (Hebrew), is
found in the Egyptian sft; and the traveler can still
16 Cited by Strack in his Comment on Gen. xii. i6.
17 Egypt, p. 268.
18 Birch in Bunsen's Egypt, I. p. 482.
THE RESIDENCE IN EGYPT OB
see " flags" growing by the borders of the Nile,
where the current is sluggish enough to permit.
The hin reproduces the Egpytian han,^^ a vase or
measure, and the ephah is also an Egyptian meas-
ure. The stubble and straw of Ex. v. 12 are in the
Hebrew close transcripts of Egyptian words mean-
ing straw and chaff. The pot in which the manna
was to be deposited (Ex. xvi. 33) is expressed
by a term not found elsewhere in the Bible, which
in the inscriptions, according to Brugsch, means a
casket or vase for oblations. The timbrel of Miriam
bore an Egyptian name.^*^ The "chariots" of the
triumphal song of the Israelites, inarkebotk, is the
monumental word markabatu for the same thing.
Many other words in this part of the narrative, words
of common life, such as are wont to cling to a speech,
offer no Hebrew derivations, and are ascribed with
more or less confidence to an Egyptian origin, such
as the words for enchantment, sorcerers, frogs,
boils, blains, flax, and others. Any uncertainty in
regard to these, however, does not detract from the
significance of the cases that are clear.
Dr. Ebers confidently finds two of the spices,
such as the Ishmaelites were carrying down to
Egypt (Gen. xxxvii. 25), among the ingredients of
the celebrated incense Kyphi, as mentioned in a
papyrus at the laboratory of the Edfu temple : the
" incense, "probably tragacanth,is in Hebrew nekoth,
in modern Arabic naka'at (tragacanth), and in the
ig lb., p. 462.
20 The last five instances are on the authority of Brugsch's Dictionary of
Hieroglyphics, as cited by Canon Cook in The Speaker's Commentary.
96 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
papyrus nekfat; the "balm," in Hebrew tsori, in
the papyrus tsara.'^^ Mr. Tomkins accepts the iden-
tification."
This point admits of further illustration. We
add only a remark of Mr. Poole: "It is chiefly in
proper names that we recognize the Egyptian influ-
ence on the Hebrews. That of Moses has been
admitted to be Egyptian. There is no Hebrew der-
ivation of Aaron and Miriam." He mentions also
Phinehas.^"^
On no question of the veracity of the Scripture
narrative have its assailants been more absolutely
routed than in regard to the Hittites. They are
mentioned at intervals through a period of about a
thousand years. First Abraham deals with members
of the race at Hebron. Just before the entrance into
Palestine we find them apparently consolidated,
localized farther north, and become a great power
so that Canaan is even described summarily as "the
land of the Hittites." They are among the most
formidable foes encountered by Joshua. They ap-
pear in the times of David and Solomon, both of
whom took Hittite wives, the former having two
Hittites, Uriah and Ahimelech, among his most
faithful captains. In the time of Jehoram the army
of Benhadad were panic-struck and fled from the
siege of Samaria because, as they said, "the king
of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the
Egyptians and the kings of the Hittites to come
21 Ebers' Egypt, p. 290.
22 Tompkins' Life and Times of Joseph, p. 37.
23 Contemporary Review, 1879, p. 755.
THE RESIDENCE IN EGYPT 07
upon us" — where, it will be seen, the Hittites are
placed in the same category with the Egyptians of
that period. Now with the cool assurance which
assails any scriptural statement which is not sup-
posed capable of outside corroboration, Professors
Cheyne and W. F. Newman pronounced this rep-
resentation of Hittite power to be unworthy of cre-
dence. The former declared that the Bible state-
ments concerning the Hittites "cannot be taken as
of equal authority with Egyptian and Assyrian in-
scriptions," also that "the Hittites seem to have
been included among the Canaanites by mistake."
He little thought that both Egyptian and Assyrian
inscriptions were ready to silence him. Professor
Newman went so far as to say of the panic of the
Syrian army, "The unhistorical tone is too mani-
fest," "the particular ground of alarm attributed to
them does not exhibit the writer's acquaintance
with the times in very favorable light," "no Hit-
tite kings can be compared with the king of Judah,
the real and near ally who is not named at all,"
"nor is there a single mark of acquaintance with
the contemporaneous history."
These bold assertions are now annihilated. The
early, long-continued and steadily growing power
of this nation till it became an equal foe of the
Egyptians, the fact of its steady pressure south-
ward into Palestine, its protracted contact and con-
flict with the Assyrian kings from the time of Sar-
gon I. till Sargon II., more than a thousand years, ^*
24 Wright's The Empire of the Hittites, pp. 37, 123.
98 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
are now thoroughly proved by inscriptions and doc-
uments from Egypt, Assyria and Palestine. They
appear to be first mentioned in the time of Userte-
sen I. in Egypt ;^^ were known in connection with
other allied nations in the times of Thothmes III.,
are designated in the inscriptions as "the great peo-
ple," whom, however, that great warrior conquered,
subjecting them to a heavy tribute which he re-
cords in its details (about B. C. 1600).^^ But in the
time of Rameses II. this nation had become so
powerful that after a doubtful victory at Kadesh on
the Orontes, claimed by the Egyptian monarch,
"the great ruler of Egypt" was constrained to
make a covenant on equal terms with "the great
Prince of the Kheta" (Hittites), to "be at peace
with him forever. "^^
The Assyrian inscriptions show constant warfare
going on between the Hittites and the several As-
syrian monarchs, Tiglath-pileser (11 20 B. C), As-
surnazirpal (about 870 B. C), Shalmaneser, and
Sargon II., till, in 717 B. C, they were finally
overthrown by the last named monarch, and disap-
peared from the Assyrian inscriptions."^ Meanwhile
another side-light is cast on the nation by recently
discovered inscriptions of the Vannic king Me-
nuas, one of which, discovered at Van, speaks of
war with the Hittites, and the capture of 2,113
soldiers, indicating also the Hittite border upon the
25 Brugsch's Hist., II., p. 405.
26 lb., I., 379 seq.
27 lb., II., p. 71 seq.
28 Wright's Empire of the Hittites, p. i7t, 123.
THE RESIDENCE IN EGYPT 99
Euphrates near Palu f and another inscription at
Palu some fifty miles from Harpoot, very recently
copied by Rev. J. L. Barton and translated by Pro-
fessor Sayce. The latter inscription, carved at a
considerable height on the castle rock, written in
the Vannic language with the Assyrian characters
by the same Menuas, records his making war with
the Hittite king of Malatia, about 800 B. C.
And now since the year 1887, and the discovery
of the Tell Amarna contemporary documents of
about the date 1480 B. C.,'''' we are able to trace
the southward progress of this powerful race as
they carry conquest and terror from the region of
Aleppo some three hundred miles to the south of
Damascus, and towards Phenicia. No less than
eight of the letters published by Conder mention
the Hittites as an advancing foe, and despairingly
appeal to Egypt for help, while others of them
evidently refer to the same formidable enemy,
^' men of blood. "^^ And thus at last the Biblical
representation of this people is fully sustained, and
the unfounded cavils made to recoil upon their
authors. Moreover the helplessness of Egypt to
protect her tributaries, and the internal conflicts of
the native tribes of Palestine, indicate a state of
affairs ready for, and explanatory of, the Israelite
invasion and conquest.
29 Records of the Past, New Series Vol. I pp. 164-167. The facts con-
cerning the second inscription were communicated to the author by Mr.
Barton.
30 The date is determined by that of Amenophis IV., to whom the letters
were written.
31 Gender's Tell Amarna Letters, 1893. These letters show the Amorites
threatening the Egyptian possessions in southern Palestine, while the Hittites
are doing so in the north. The larger collection of Winckler exhibits these
Ifacts much more abundantly. , ,
100 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
We mention but one other fact in connection with
Egypt, the discovery of Pithom, one of the two
store cities (R. V.) which Pharaoh compelled the
Israelites to build (Ex. i. ii). This remarkable
discovery was reserved for the year 1883, and the
explorations of M. Naville, and is now accepted by
Egyptologists. The name of the place (Pi Tum)
is given five times in the inscription ; the name of
the god Tum is repeated many times. Rameses II.
is represented, in a carving on a monolith, seated
between the gods Ra and Tum ; his oval is on a
fragment of a temple, and on a black granite hawk,
and the ruins correspond to the uses of a store city.
Within an enclosure of enormously thick walls,
comprising a space of 55,000 square yards, are the
remains of a temple, and some " very strange build-
ings" having smooth walls from two to three yards
in thickness. These form a great number of rec-
tangular compartments having no communication
with one another, but opening only upwards, and
about two yards from the bottom are provided with
rectangular holes for timbers. Naville believes
them to have been built for no other purpose than
that of store houses or granaries into which the
Pharaohs gathered the provisions necessary for
armies about to cross the desert, or even for cara-
vans which were on the road to Syria. ^^ The place
is about twelve miles west of Ismalieh, in Wady
Tumilat (included in Goshen), and in what the in-
scriptions seem to indicate as the territory of Suc-
32 The Store City of Pithom, by Edward Naville (1885), pp. 13 seq.
THE RESIDENCE IN EGYPT ICl
coth, in which was one of the stations of the Israel-
ites on the exodus. It was also upon the sweet
water canal, which was as old as the time of Ra-
meses, and would have been on the natural line of
the march. The peculiarity as to the structure of
the bricks has been mentioned on a previous page.''
Now without further enumerating the tokens of
minute accuracy in these accounts concerning Egypt
and its affairs from the time of Abraham to that of
Moses, it becomes clear that here is a narrative
which, when subjected to the closest scrutiny by
every known test and by tests unknown for ages,
is shown to be thoroughly trustworthy ; and not
only so, but to manifest such a knowledge of the
facts and circumstances of those times and places
as was impossible — we use the word deliberately —
to any writer living a thousand or five hundred
years after the time, as well as far away from the
scenes, and without any records on which to draw.
And by the very postulate of modern hostile critics,
the writer or writers had no contemporary authori-
ties.
Scholarly writers who have given most attention
to the facts of modern discovery are most emphatic
in their verdict on these matters. Conder does not
hesitate to say that the Tell Amarna letters "most
fully confirm the historical statements of the book
of Joshua.'"* Dr. W. Wright, speaking of the ref-
erences to the Hittites in the Bible, says: "We
have examined the contemporary records of Baby-
33 See page 88. 34 The Tell Amarna Tablets, p. 6,
102 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
Ion, Assyria and Egypt, and we find not only col-
lateral evidence which creates a probability in
favor of the sacred narratives, but side-lights which
shine so clearly on the incidents that unbelief is im-
possible."^^ Canon Tristram, a skillful naturalist,
thinks the special "mention of the desert animals
is one of the strongest pieces of evidence in favor
of the authenticity of the book of Deuteronomy."^^
Sir Walter Besant, so many years secretary of the
Palestine Exploration Fund, and perfectly conver-
sant with its results, in a careful and continuous
answer (too long to quote in full) to the inquiry
whether these researches actually prove the histor-
ical part of the Old Testament, reaches the conclu-
sion: "To my mind, absolute truth in local de-
tails— a thing which cannot possibly be invented,
when it is spread over a history covering many
centuries — is proof almost absolute as to the truth
of the things related."^'
In the same strain, and still more decisive as to
not only the truthfulness but the substantial con-
temporaneousness of the closing part of Genesis
and the first third of Exodus, are the words of so
eminent a judge as the late R. S. Poole, written
before some of the very latest discoveries: "It is
now certain that the narrative of the history of
Joseph and the sojourn and Exodus of the Israel-
ites, that is to say, the portion from Genesis xxxix.
to Exodus XV., so far as it relates to Egypt, is sub-
35 The Empire of the Hittites, p. 123.
36 The City and the Land, p. 80.
37 lb., p. 133.
THE RESIDENCE IN EGYPT
103
stantially not much later than B. C. 1300; in other
words, was written when the memory of the events
was fresh. The minute accuracy of the text is in-
consistent with any later date. It is not merely
that it shows knowledge of Egypt, but knowledge
of Egpyt under the Ramessides, and yet earlier.
The condition of the country, the chief cities of the
frontier, the composition of the army, are true of
the age of the Ramessides and not true of the age
of the Pharaohs contemporary with Solomon and
his successors." After alluding to many details
which sustain his position, he mentions the signifi-
cant fact that "foreign Egyptologists who have no
theological bias, as independent scholars appear
uniformly to accept its text (that of the Pentateuch)
as an authority to be cited side by side with the
Egyptian monuments." He specifies Lepsius,
Brugsch and Chabas, adding that "it is impossible
that'they can, for instance, hold Kuenen's theories
as to the date of the Pentateuch as far as the part
relating to Egypt is concerned. They have taken
the two sets of documents, Hebrew and Egyptian,
side by side, and in the working of elaborate prob-
lems found everything consistent with accuracy on
both sides ; and of course accuracy would not be
maintained in a tradition handed down through
several centuries. If the large portion of the Pen-
tateuch relating to the Egyptian period of Hebrew
history, including as it does Elohistic as well as
Jehovistic sections, is of the remote antiquity here
claimed for it, no one can doubt that the first four
104 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
books of Moses are of the same antiquity. "^^ Such
facts and testimonies are apprehensible to all fair-
minded men.
In this same connection should be borne in mind
the national commemorative observances of the
Hebrew nation, existing as great central landmarks
in their history', and explained only by the truthful-
ness of the narrative — the passover, perpetuating
the hurried departure ; the feast of the tabernacles,
commemorating the dwelling in booths in the wil-
derness (Lev. xxiii. 43) ; the consecration of the
first-born in commemoration of their deliverance
when the first-born of Egypt perished. These
things stand somewhat like our Fourth of July and
Washington's birthday, telling their own stor}^
through the history of the nation, with the impor-
tant differences that they were enjoined as religious
observances, and as transmitted from contempora-
neous times. How they could have been imposed
upon the nation at any later date as transmitted ob-
servances has never yet been shown.
Now in the presence of such an array of indis-
putable facts as can thus be gathered up at every
point where a test can be applied, theories, how-
ever ingenious, resting upon the introduction of
supposed but absolutely unknown writers, compilers
and editors, upon skillful dissections of the text into
parts and often into comminuted fragments, trans-
positions ad libitiun, rejections and assumed omis-
sions, need not count for much with men who are
38 Contemp. Rev., 1879, pp. 758, 759. See note xiv., Appendix.
THE RESIDENCE IN EGYPT 105
governed by evidence and not by speculations.
It has sometimes been objected that the Hebrews
are not mentioned on the Egyptian monuments.
But Kittel speaks with emphasis on this point:
"This is not to be wondered at, considering how
many such foreign immigrations took place, espe-
cially during the middle kingdom. There is not a
single statement in the old Egyptian monuments
which can be unhesitatingly explained as referring
to the immigration of the so-called Hyksos. Yet
this was of far more significance to Egypt than
that of the Hebrews. To determine when and
whence the Hyksos came we have to depend on
late and inadequate information. The monuments
do not even give their name. This being so, it is
simply marvelous how the silence of the monu-
ments with respect to the Hebrews could have been
adduced as a weighty argument against their hav-
ing stayed in Egypt."'' He also suggests how
Egyptian pride would have prevented the mention
of their immigration and exodus ; and how almost
incredible that a nation with the national sentiment
and almost arrogance of the Jews would have in-
vented the fiction of a ''long-continued and shame-
ful bondage" of their forefathers. To this it is to
be added that the monuments in their reference to
foreign nations always commemorate the alleged
victories and conquests of the Egyptian monarchs,
and never their humiliations. This was the state
of the case when Kittel wrote in 1887.
39 History, I., p. 185.
106 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
But it is not proper to close the present chapter
without allusion to the recent unquestionable find-
ing of Israel on the Egyptian monuments, and that
too in an inscription of Menephtah, the commonly
supposed monarch of the exodus. It is dated in
the fifth year of that monarch, the same year in
which another inscription of his (previously known)
had mentioned his conquest of the Libyans. The
earlier part of the recent find (December, 1895)
glorifies his defeat of the same Libyan invasion,
and the passage immediately connected with the
mention of Israel is translated by Mr. Griffith for
M. Petrie as follows: "For the sun of Egypt
has wrought this change ; he was born as the fated
means of revenging it, the king Menephtah. Chiefs
bend down, saying, 'Peace to thee' ; not one of the
nine raises the head. Vanquished are the Tahennu
(N. Africans) ; the Kheta (Hittites) are quieted ;
ravaged is Pa-kannu (Kanan) with all violence ;
taken is Ascadni (Askelon?); seized is Kazmel ;
Yenu (Yanoh) of the Syrians is made as though it
had not existed ; the people of Israel is spoiled, it
hath no seed ; Syria has become as widows in the
land of Egypt ; all lands together are in peace.
Ever}^ one that was a marauder hath been subdued
by the king Menephtah, who gives life like the
sun every day.-'*"
Professor Hommel's translation agrees substan-
tially with this in the sentence relating to Israel,
explaining, however, that the word rendered
40 Petrie in the Contemporary Review, May, 1896, p. 622. Note xxxiii.
THE RESIDENCE IN EGYPT 107
''spoiled" {fekf) does not occur elsewhere, but has
a determinative meaning "evil things," and is
possibly connected with another (y^), meaning
"overrun an enemy"; and he renders the phrase,
"it has no fruit."" Sayce translates "the Israelites
are minished (?) so that they have no seed."*^ All
three writers agree that the word expresses some
serious damage done to Israel, and that the word
"seed" is used in the Egyptian, as in our own
language, of offspring or posterity. This last
circumstance has been regarded as a striking coin-
cidence whh the Scripture account of the measures
adopted by Pharaoh to exterminate the Israelites.
A collateral difficulty, not affecting the main
point, the mention of Israel by Menephtah, has
been raised, Petrie thinking the whole paragraph
to narrate a succession of conquests, and, from the
mention of the Hittites and localities in Syria and
Palestine in the connection, that the damage to
Israel must have been in Palestine and not in
Egypt; while Sayce, Hommel and Dr. Selin (and
others) understand it to refer to the suppression of
Israel in Egypt. While we may wait for further
light, several considerations are urged, strongly
pointing to the latter view : (i) it does not appear
that Menephtah ever was in Asia, or made any
actual conquests except over the Libyans; (2) his
defeat of the Libyans was but the repelling of an
invasion; (3) the phraseology ("is spoiled, it hath
no seed"), in which it is difficult not to see a refer-
41 In the Independent, Sept. 24, 1896.
42 lb., July II, 1896.
108 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
ence to the measures of Pharaoh, as recordea in
Exodus i. ; (4) the absence of the determinative
meaning country or city, which is attached to the
other names but wanting here, while the sign de-
noting simply man or woman (or persons) follows
the name Israel; (5) the natural apprehension of
the whole paragraph, not as a record of conquests
which this monarch does not appear to have made,
but, in connection with a boastful outburst imme-
diately following his defeat of the Libyan invasion,
a glorification of the relations of the empire or its
ruler to its former enemies, among which is men-
tioned the movement, for a time successful, to sup-
press the Israelites.
Whatever ultimate decision, if any, may be
reached on this collateral point, we may say, in the
words of Professor Hommel, "However dark the
reference of Menephtah may be to Israel, neverthe-
less the fact that mention is made of them, and that
too in the connection to which I have referred (as
having participated in the Egyptian troubles of
previous years), is itself a matter of great impor-
tance, in so far as it confirms what has been before
surmised, namely, Menephtah is the Pharaoh of the
exodus." At all events it has furnished the onl}^
wanting link in the historic chain, namely, the
Pharaoh's own statement of his severities upon
Israel.
CHAPTER V
THE PATRIARCHAL HISTORY
It has become customary with a certain class of
modern writers to deny more or less completely the
Scripture narratives of the patriarchs. They are
resolved into names of clans, or they are legends,
or traditions with a possible historic core, or they
are ideas clothed in a personal form. The denial
is conducted with much diversity of treatment, from
the supercilious doggedness of Wellhausen to the
patronizing courtesy of an Oxford Fellow, who in-
forms us thus: "Even the noble narrative of the
Jahvist is not sober history. Yet in another and a
very real sense the Hexateuch becomes in the
hands of scholars a history of unique interest. It
is not indeed the history of Abraham and Jacob, of
Moses and Joshua. It is the history — a history
which cannot deceive any more than the history de-
ciphered by geologists on the rocks can deceive — of
religious ideas. "^ It seems that it had to fall into
the "hands of scholars" to divest it of its personal
life before it acquired this "unique interest" to
mankind. With the personality of the men goes
also, of course, the reality of the transactions.
The narratives take us into times otherwise pre-
historic. The denier certainly has this advantage,
I Addis, The Documents of the Hexateuch, p. xcv.
109
110 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
which he is not slow to use, that he can deny indis-
criminately their statements without being con-
fronted with parallel accounts, except in the im-
pregnable case of Abraham's time. Nevertheless
the whole series of biographies admits of the most
satisfactory indications of being veritable history.
We have (i) the weighty fact of the incorpora-
tion of these personages, with varying distinctness,
into all the history, or, if one prefer, traditions of
the Hebrew nation ; (2) accounts of the environ-
ments of these personages, proved to be minutely
accurate ; (3) a series of portraitures, not only life-
like in the greatest diversity, as well as in the traits
and inconsistencies of the characters, but not to be
accounted for except as delineations of real life.
On the first of these points, perhaps no more
needs to be said. But it carries a weight best ap-
preciated by historians. As to the second, take
but a specimen of the indubitable surroundings in
which the biography of Joseph is embodied: a
petted and therefore hated brother, finding his way
to a pasture-ground, still fertile; rescued from death
by being hidden in a pit where rock-hewn pits are
3'et numerous, near the great caravan road to
Egypt ; conveyed thither by a band of itinerants
carrying to that country well-known articles of
traffic ; gradually rising to power in a mode not rare
in despotism, whether ancient Rome, France of
the middle ages, or modern Turkey, all the while
in contact with local customs, which it requires of
Ebers twenty closely-printed columns to point out ;^
2 Smith's Diet, of the Bible, 2nd ed,, article "Joseph." '
THE PATRIARCHAL HISTORY HI
embalmed at his death, and in after years carried
by the great host to be buried in the place which
his father had bought for an hundred pieces of silver,
where his tomb is held in reverence to the present
day ; — what is there in this simple and consistent
story, even if it stood alone, to awaken an instant's
doubt or suspicion ? The other lives also are en-
veloped, though less abundantl}', in the atmosphere
of contemporary fact.
Take an instance so incidental as to attract no
notice. When Jacob and Laban made a covenant
and raised a stone heap, Laban named it Jegar-saha-
dutha, but Jacob called it Galeed, both names mean-
ing "heap of witness," the first in Aramean, the
second in Hebrew (Gen. xxxi. 47, 48). Not only
do the diverse vernaculars of the two men thus ap-
pear, but, as Knobel and Dillmann remark, "the
situation of the place at the boundary seems to have
occasioned the double naming. For north of Gilead
dwelt in part Aramean-speaking races (xxii. 14),
but in the southern part of the land east of the Jor-
dan such races cannot be shown till a later date."
Also in corroboration of the fact that Hebrew was
the early tongue of Palestine, the Tell Amarna let-
ters from Phenicia give here and there a Canaan-
itish word by the side of its Ass3Tian equivalent.
These (as well as certain Hebrew inflections occur-
ring in the letters) afford fresh indications that He-
brew was originally "the language of Canaan."^
3 Records of the Past, New Series, vi., p. 47. An instance occurs on p. 73
of a Hebrew explanatory word. Similar instances are found in Vol. v., pp.
75, 76, 81, and elsewhere.
112 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
When we pass from the environments to the char-
acters themselves, the impression of reality and
truth has been made upon the race down to the
present time. The world has accepted and admired
these life-like portraits, and pronounced them gen-
uine, and will not give them up ; simple, candid,
direct, unsparing, delicate in their shadings, strik-
ing in their variety and their contrasts, and human
in every aspect, even in their inconsistencies. The
romancer has not drawn such characters. They
are Shakespearean in their variety, but some of
them are beyond what Shakespeare has portrayed.
The narrative contains never a word of admira-
iton or depreciation. It casts over all a pure, "dry
light." It records events in their histories without
comment. It supports no theories and takes no
sides, except always for the right. It has no men
whose faults it is bound to hide, nor any whose
virtues it is bound to conceal. Thus in the deal-
ings of Abraham and Abimelech,the latter appears
to advantage. By nature Esau is a more attractive
character in some respects than Jacob. In the diffi-
culty between Sarah and Hagar, Sarah's magna-
nimity is not forthcoming. In the arrangements
between the sons of Jacob and the Shechemites, the
comparative honor of the latter and the infamy of
the former are plainly told. Rachel, the favorite
wife of Jacob, obtains no special favoritism at the
historian's hands. The beloved Joseph, though
occupying so large a space m the lifetime of his
family, loses his prominence in the subsequent his-
THE PATRIARCHAL HISTORY US
tory of the nation, and Benjamin still more, while
Levi is marked for his cruelty in the affair of She-
chem ; and Judah's profligacy in the case of Tamar,
ancestor of Christ though he was, is fully recorded.
Noah, so great and strong as to stand out against
the corruption of the whole world, and for long
years to hold on his work of obedience to God and
of preparation for a catastrophe of which no sign
had appeared, yet afterwards falls a victim to the
intoxicating cup he himself had prepared, and dis-
graces himself before his children. But he recovers
himself, and utters a prophecy of remarkable ful-
fillment.
What a magnificent character is presented in
Abraham, "the friend of God'M — the man who at
the call of God "went out, not knowing whither he
went," a model of faith to the end of the world;
the associate of princes ; the man of peace and con-
cession, and for once only the fighting hero ; the
conciliatory husband and careful father; moving
among the tribes and nations with dignity and
power ; by migration from Ur to Canaan changing
the destiny of the world ; yet not so immaculate but
that twice at least he gave way to fear and equivo-
cation, though even then under the strain of his con-
jugal affections. And what a thoroughly and touch-
ingly human episode is that of Sarah, Hagar and
Ishmael ! And what a startling and well-nigh in-
comprehensible side-narrative is that of Lot ! Who
ever invented such a story? And where in all lit-
erature or history a more telling stroke in one word
114 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
than the portraiture of Ishmael and his race in Gene-
sis xvi. 12, "He shall be a wild ass of a man"?* — a
picture which has held good for more than three
thousand years, of which we may well ask. Is it
not something more than history narrated, even
history anticipated?
In marked but life-like contrast is Abraham's son
Isaac ; a simple, peace-loving shepherd, meditative
and devout, leaving his father to manage his affairs ;
imitative of his father's faults; mourning for his
mother ; captivated by his dashing Esau ; planning
for the family succession, but baffled by his schem-
ing wife; astounded at his mistake, then quietly
accepting the plain will of God.
The character and career of Jacob is equally
unique : versatile, unfaltering and successful, timid
but resolute, dreading yet meeting responsibilities ;
shrinking from open fraud, yet yielding to his im-
perious mother; seemingly absorbed in selfish
schemes, yet terribly intense in his attachments;
ever a man of peace, but steadily embroiled in
troubles ; beginning life laden with Jewish craft,
and maturing and mellowing at last into a venera-
ble presence as he stands before Pharaoh, and a
saint and prophet at the close of life. Can any-
thing be more realistic than many of the incidents
of this histor}^ such as the fraudulent procurement
of the blessing, the flight from Padan-aram and in-
terview with Laban when overtaken, and the en-
4 So Ewald, Kalisch, Knobel, Dillmann, Strack. Rosennueller had ren-
dered still more closely, "onager homo," a wild-ass man. The Revisers render,
a wild ass among men.
THE PATRIARCHAL HISTORY U5
counter with Esau on the way ? So also the diverse
traits and conduct of his several children would in-
vite careful study were they found in some old sec-
ular story.
What an unmistakable verity is the picture of
Jacob and Esau, in their strong contrast of charac-
ter and destiny! The one draws and holds our
sympathy by his very impulsiveness, frankness and
heedlessness ; and we pity and lament his folly and
his failures. But he is fitful and passionate and void
of principle and of purpose, as bitter in his hate as
in his grief, as hasty to threaten death as to forgive
and to forget.
Still more striking in its diversity from the other
lives, and we might say from all other lives, is the
history of Joseph. Here is a colorless account of
a beautiful character, without a tinge of insipidity ;
a child-like boy, petted but not spoiled ; a manl}'
man, trusted and always true ; a loving son, a cau-
tious and forgiving brother; a kidnapped youth
making his way by force of character to the stew-
ardship of a great house ; a prisoner on false charges,
emerging ultimately by the favor of Providence to
be the virtual head of the kingdom, and a states-
man equal to unequaled emergencies; the savior
of his father's family and race; the old man with
his great-grandchildren at his knees; the patriot
claiming a burial in his native land. Interspersed
in the narrative are transactions simply related,
such as the grief of the father, and the interview
with the brethren, which have long been recognized
nt THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
as among the most pathetic and life-like in the whole
circle of literature. And the entire history, as al-
ready remarked, is embedded in a solid basis of
Egyptian history impervious to the minutest hostile
criticism, so that nothing is wanting to the entire
verisimilitude/
Waiving now all consideration of the exact de-
tails of custom and environment, and fixing our at-
tention on these several characters in their wide
variety and striking qualities, we may well ask for
the production of any known, probable or conjec-
tural individual, living from five hundred to a thou-
sand years later — or at any other period of Jewish
history — who was capable of inventing such person-
ages, or of describing them except as he drew from
real life. The matter appeals to the tribunals of
letters and of sound judgment alike.
But in regard to the period of history in which
Abraham, the earliest of these patriarchs (except
Noah), bears a part, as contained in the fourteenth
chapter of Genesis, a good Providence has within
the last few years brought extraordinary confirma-
tions, though the great and independent scholar,
Ewald, more than fifty years ago had the sagacity
to recognize its "inestimable value to the historian,"
and to regard the whole piece as "written prior to
Moses. "^ Such Germans as Noeldeke, Hitzig and
Hilgenfeld ventured to pronounce it an invention
5 Yet in Kantzsch's German translation the story of Joseph is referred to
J, E, TE, R, and P, extending from the gth to the 5th century B. C. or later.
It is dissected into some ninety fragments, twenty-two of which, if we have
counted rightly, occur in one chapter (xxxvii.) of 35 verses.
6 History of Israel, I., pp. 301, 52, Eng. Trans.
THE PATRIARCHAL HISTORY 117
for the glorification of Abraham ; and Kuenen, not
to be outdone, asserts it to be "of very recent date,"
with three names and places changed into men, the
previous inhabitants of the trans-Jordan district
"adopted" from Deuteronomy, and verses 18-20
"intended to glorif3Mhe priesthood and to justify
their claiming of tithes,'" These airy dogmatisms
appear now to be effectually extinguished beneath
the weight of rock-cut inscriptions. Doubt was
formerly expressed that at so early a period the mon-
archs of the Euphrates region had pushed west as
far as Palestine. These doubts have been set at
rest. Not only do the Tell Amarna letters, writ-
ten in the Babylonian- Assyrian script, from Tyre,
Sidon, Beirut, Jerusalem, Askelon, Hazor, Mak-
kedah, Lachish, Accho, and numerous other places
throughout and around Palestine about 1450 B. C,
prove the already long established influence of the
oriental monarchies in the region of the Mediter-
ranean, but Ammisatana, king of Babylon (from
about 2115 to 2090 B. C.),® proclaimed himself as
king also of Martu (the west-land or Mediterra-
nean coast) f and quite recently discovered inscrip-
tions show that Sargon I. (assigned to about 3800 B.
C.) made several expeditions not only to the Medi-
terranean coast but to the island of Cyprus, where
seals bearing the name of his son Naramsin have
been found. According to Mr. Boscawen, the son
7 The Hexateuch, p. 324.
8 Sayce gives the date 2241-2216 B. C. (The Higher Criticism, etc., p. 163).
9 Records of the Past, New Series, V., p. 103. Schrader (Keilinschriften,
p. 136) says that Kudur Mabag took the same title; so also say Sayce, Strack
and Fried. Delitzsch.
U8 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
and successor even pushed his way till he took
possession of the mines in the Sinaitic peninsula,
whence he was driven out by Snefru of Egypt/*'
whose name may be still seen carved above the en-
trance of the old mine in Wady Maghara, some 3,-
700 years before Christ, as commonly reckoned.
The localities of the eastern kings are satisfactorily
ascertained, in three instances at least. Shinar is
Sumer,the region of Babylonia, including Babylon;
Elam the mountainous region to the east of Babylon ;
Ellasar probably Larsa, represented now by the
ruins of Senkereh. The word "nations" (Goiim,
R. V.) is now commonly regarded as a proper
name designating the Guti or Kuti of the inscrip-
tions, situated to the northeast of Babylon. ^^
Light has been steadily cast upon the personnel
and relations of these kings, growing clearer to the
present time. Some years ago Schrader pronounced
Arioch to be unquestionably the same as Iriarku,
king of Larsa, and son of Kurdur-mabug, king of
Sumer and Akkad,^"and the identification has been
accepted. Arioch and two others appear to be the
allies and subordinates of Chedorlaomer, the head
of the expedition. Now an inscription of Assur-
10 Boscaweii's The Bible and the Monuments, pp. 24, 25. Sayce says four
expeditions, which appears to be Boscawen's account.
11 It inaj? be added that three such oriental experts as Schrader, Halevy
and Friedrich Delitzsch since 1887 have held to the identity of Amraphel with
the great Khammurabi, or Ammurabi (about .2100 B. C). The suggestion
supposes a change having taken place in the final 1. Dillraann and Strack
cite the opinion without protest, and Friedrich Delitzsch says (Delitzsch's
Genesis, p. 525) it "rests on no feeble foot." Prof. Lyon (Bib. World, June,
1896, p. 431) remarks that the form is in its first syllables in keeping with that
of Ammisatana and Ammisaduga of the same dynasty, while no subsequent
ruler for 368 years has a name beginning thus. He c-ills attention to the fact
that the difference between the Hebrew Amraphel and the Assyrian Ammu-
rabi is not greater than between Nebuchadrezzar and Nabium-Kuduri-uzur.
12 Keilinschriften, p. 135.
THE PATRIARCHAL HISTORY U9
banipal, king of Assyria, records a conquest of
Babylonia by the Elamites about 2280 B. C, that
is, before the time of the expedition.'^ The names
of three of the kings until quite recently had not
been found. An approximation or analogy to the
name Chedorlaomer was found in three royal names
beginning with Chedor [Kiidttr in the Assyrian).
But in January, 1896, Mr. Pinches, of the British
Museum, read to the Victoria Institute a paper in
which he mentions having found on some mutilated
cuneiform tablets in that museum the names Kud-
urlachgumal, Eriakua, and Tudchula, which he
identifies with Chedorlaomer, Arioch and Tidal,
the first of them being called "king of Elam," as
is Chedorlaomer.'* The names of the Canaanite
kings there are, of course, no inscriptions to verify;
but the narrative conforms to what appears in the
Tell Amarna letters, in that each was sovereign of
a city.
We can follow the course of the invasion in gen-
eral and to some degree in detail. Crossing the
Euphrates probably by the customary northern
route, they moved southward, east of the Jordan,
to Ashteroth Karnaim (Tell Ashtarah), which Thoth-
mes III. had already found and taken, '^ Kiriathaim
(Kureyat), past Mount Seir, to"ElParan by the
wilderness" (the border of the desert of et Tih),
and most likely to Elath (or Ailah), at the head of
theGulTof^jcaba. On the return they are founj
~i3 Tomkins' Life and Times of Abraham, p. 176.
T4 Cited by Prof. Lyon, Biblical World. June. 1896, p. 4?i. Mentioned also
by Sayce, London Academy. September 7. I095-
15 Records of the Past, V., p. 45-
120 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
at Kadesh (Ain Gadis), next at Engedi, on the west
side of the Dead Sea. Having surrounded and
isolated the five native kings, the battle is joined in
a region of" bitumen pits" — bitumen having abound-
ed both in ancient and in modern times on the shores
and at times on the waters of the Dead Sea. After
plundering the wealthy cities that lay near the great
north and south caravan road, they took the west
side route to the neighborhood of Dan. While
they lay here in the fancied security of old oriental
armies after a victory, but visible from the southern
headlands,"^ Abraham attacks them with his smaller
band, not in open fight, but by a night surprise,
and pursues them towards, but not to, Damascus.
He is met on his return by the king of Salem.
This part of the narrative has been questioned.
But since the year 1887 not less than six letters
have been given to the world written by the king
of "Urusalim," showing that before the conquest
of Palestine by the Israelites Jerusalem was gov-
erned by a king (as we read in Joshua), that it bore
the name of which Salem is a part, and that the
usual explanation, '^city of oeace," is a probable
one.'^
In the historic facts incorporated into this nar-
rative it thus stands thoroughly confirmed, as far as
tests can be applied, while the movements described
are in entire consistency with each other and with
the known conditions. So minute is this corre-
16 Thomson's The Land and the Book, ii., p. 553.
17 Gender's Tell Ainarna Letters, p. 147 It is not safe to follow Conder in
identifying the Khabiri -.vith Fli^brews, nor Sayce in thinking th^m "r'n-
f<!.:erates." The striking vic.vr, exj-.rejst'd by the latter concernir.j', the kii;;^
of Jerusalem appear to netd confirmation.
THE PATRIARCHAL HISTORY 121
spondence that Mr. Tomkins has shown with much
probability that at the first invasion by Chedorlao-
mer, fourteen years before the second, Abraham
"must have been dwelling at Haran when this
great motley array of the four eastern kings drew
its march through Haran on its way to conquest ;
and again returning with spoils and captives to
Chaldea and to Elam. So that Abraham had very
probably set eyes on Chedorlaomer some fourteen
years before he found himself in arms against him.'"^
And the very words used in the Hebrew for "bitu-
men pits" Dr. Thompson found in use to designate
the numerous wells of bitumen in the chalky marl
at Ed Daher south of Lebanon, namely, biuret hum-
mar in the cognate Arabic tongue. ^^
It is worthy of mention that the narrative exhibits
some unobtrusive tokens of antiquity ; giving in
connection with old names (in one instance, of a per-
ished cit}') equivalent names, apparently older:
"Bela, the same is Zoar" (twice) ; "the vale of Sid-
dim, which is the Salt Sea"; "En Mishpat, the
same is Kadesh." In one instance only the older
name is given, namely Hazezon Tamar, as though
the narrative might be older than the name En-
gedi. Other peculiarities are noticeable, such as
the term Hebrew applied to Abraham, and the
word for "trained men," which is not found else-
where. ^'^
i8 Life and Times of Abraham, p. 184.
19 The Land and the Book, ii., p. 527.
20 The name "Dan" in the narrative is easily accounted for, as a name so
noted that it took the place of Laish, the latter being entirely dropped in the
copying, as unnecessary, even if originally added as a synonym: just as "the
Fork" and "Duquesne" were merged in Pittsburg, and the Indian name
122 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
But whatever may be the age of this part of the
narrative, it shows a contemporaneous knowledge of
historic persons, facts and situations that cannot be
shaken, and proves it to be a trustworthy statement.
Here we have reached a point nearly two thou-
sand years before Christ, in a test question, vigor-
ously disputed, where our narrative rests on an
impregnable historic basis. The narrative deals
too, with actual personages throughout, as well as
historic events ; and by these tokens, together with
its inherent consistency and its conformity to all
local requirements, takes away the last shadow of
excuse for dismissing Abraham as "a free creation
of unconscious art,"^^ or resolving him into "an
epoch, a race or order of men or a roving social
environment,"^^ or for viewing him as other than he
is described in the simplest mode, a magnificent
personage, in close communion with God, thus mov-
ing majestically among his contemporaries, setting
an example of faith for all time, and leading off an
undying movement in the world's history.
In ascending the line of the Scripture narrative,
we recede farther and farther from the domain of
secular chronicles, and can test the accounts, aside
from their aspect of honesty and candor, only b}'
their conformity, general or special, to such frag-
ments of outside knowledge and such traditions as
can be brought into the comparison.
Shawmut and the English name Tri mountain were lost from the 7th of Sep-
tember, 1630, when the Court of Assistants "ordered that Trimountain be
palled Boston."
21 Wellhausen, Histoiy of Israel, Eng. Trans., p. 320.
22 There is an appearance of yielding to this unsupported view in Mc-
Curdy's History, Prophecy and the Monuments, ii., pp. 89,90, although some-
what indistinct and possibly not intended.
THE PATRIARCHAL HISTORY 123
That Abraham was buried in Hebron, and that
his remains were deposited in a cave beneath the
present strange edifice, the Haram with its enclosed
mosque, is the united tradition of Jews, Christians
and Mohammedans, the latter of whom hold the
place in such reverence that only royal authority
or influence has secured admission within the build-
ing. The present edifice is assigned (from its style
of masonry) to the Herodian age at least, and it is
known that there is a cave beneath it ; and travelers
from Robinson to Conder have been satisfied of the
truth of the tradition. The present structure may
very well be the successor of former ones, inasmuch
as Josephus relates that the sepulchers of Abraham
and his descendants were built in Hebron, and that
their monuments of excellent marble were to be
seen in his day in Hebron. ^^ It is a curious fact,
however it may be accounted for, that whereas
Abraham came originally from Ur of the Chaldees,
there is an old temple in the ruins of that ancient
city (now Mugheir) the length of which, as given
by Loftus, is 198 feet,^* while the length of the
Haram in Hebron, as given by Conder, is 198 feet.-'
The width, however, is not the same ; that of the
former being 133, of the latter 112 feet.
When the Speaker's Commenary on Genesis was
published (187 1), opinion was divided whether to
find Ur, the early home of Abraham, at Mugheir
in southern Babylonia, or at Urfa, about 600 miles
23 Jewish Wars, iv., 9, 7.
24 Travels in Caldea, p. 129.
25 Tent Work in Palestine, ii., p. 81.
124 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
northwest of it. The former is now accepted by
nearly all Assyriologists and most expositors — with
an occasional dissent, as that of Strack. Here are
ruins of a very ancient city, among which the most
noteworth}' things are a great temple of the moon-
god, and the immense number of tombs in and
around the extensive ruins. It is one of the great-
est burial places known; and it is thought that,
perhaps for its supposed sanctity, the dead were for
many centuries brought there for burial. It is
proved to have had as early as Abraham's time a
varied and extensive literature. ^^ The annals of
Assurbanipal show that Babylonia had been overrun
by the Elamites in 2280 B. C, and most of the in-
scriptions of Kudur-mabuk and Eriarku of Larsa
have been found at Mugheir. Whether or not there
is weight in the suggestion of Mr. Tomkins that
the conquest may have been adverse to the house
of Terah, and that "when Abraham assailed the
eastern forces to rescue Lot, he was probably en-
countering an old enemy of his house and people,""^
it is not difficult to discover a reason for the selection
of Haran as the place of migration. It was not
only the crossing-point of the Syrian, Assyrian and
Babylonian trade routes, but, like Mugheir, it had a
great temple of the moon-god, indicating a close alli-
ance between the two places, and thus the most nat-
ural and home-like resort. In this connection, also,
it is not to b;^ overlooked that Abraham left Haran
26 See Smith's Caldean Genesis, p. 25, and Sayce's Ancient Empires of
the East, p 167 seq.
7.7 Tomkins' Life and Times, p. 200, and Boscawen's Bible and Monu-
ments, p. 25.
THE PATRIARCHAL HISTORY 125
for Palestine with gathered "substance" and " souls"
or persons, and that in Palestine he was able to
muster three hundred and eighteen trained men, or
fighting retainers, implying a wealth and standing
on which the hand of the conqueror might have lain
heavily. Yet even if such a secular motive might
have influenced Terah, a far higher motive impelled
Abraham.
He went from a land where they "served other
gods" (Gen. xxxi. 30; Josh. xxiv. 2), as is abun-
dantly shown by the temples and inscriptions of
Chaldea from the earliest times. Assurbanipal
records how the early monarch Kudur-nankundi
worshiped "the great gods"; Urukh founded a
temple of the sun at Larsa, a temple to Ishtar at
Erech, a temple to Bel and another to Beltis at
Nippur, and at Zirgulla a temple to Sarili, the "king
of the gods." At Mugheir and at Haran, as al-
ready mentioned, there were great temples to the
moon-god. ^^
The early civilization and culture in and around
Ur in Abraham's time are proved to have been
such as would explain such a development as his.
As a specimen even of business methods Boscawen
quotes a mortgage deed which reads thus: "Con-
cerning the loan of his silver (money) he places for
security a house, field, garden, man-servant and
maid-servant;" and he inquires, "With such care-
fully drawn deeds in use before he (Abraham) left
his Chaldean home, is it any wonder that the trans-
28 Records of the Past, iii., pp. 8, 9.
126 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
action of the purchase of the cave of Machpelah is
carried out with such commercial accuracy ?"^^ His
Scripture environments are found to be true to the
times.
It is not necessary to follow him, as may be done
easily in the main, on his way through Canaan, ex-
cept to suggest that crossing the Euphrates at the
usual place or places nearly west of Haran, his
journey would be by the neighborhood of Damas-
cus, and thus perhaps account for his having later
as a steward of his house Eliezer of Damascus
(Gen. XV. 2). The historic correspondence of the
condition of Egypt at the time with the implications
and statements of the narrative, has been sufficiently
indicated already.
Ascending still higher, we find the same congru-
ity with all ascertained facts ; as in connection with
Babel and the dispersion. The land Shinar is
found in the ancient Sumer, lower Mesopotamia.
The building material is not the stone and mortar
of Egypt nor its sun-dried bricks, but burnt brick
cemented with bitumen. Now while it might easily
be said that a later writer in Babylonia would have
been aware that bitumen occurs in that region, as
at Hit or Is, and at Nimrud (near Mosul), and that
Birs Nimrud and the temple at Mugheir are in part
built of burnt brick and bitumen, the sacred writer
is also aware that in Egypt they built with '^ stone
and mortar" (Gen. xi. 3). He has definite knowl-
edge, and makes no mistakes. The Hebrew nar-
29 The Bible and the Monuments, p. 95.
THE PATRIARCHAL HISTORY 127
rative contains verbal reminders of the region. The
words "brick" and "make brick" are the same in
the Hebrew as in the Assyrian and Babylonian -^^
but the process of "burning them thoroughly" is a
process almost never practiced in Egypt until Ro-
man times. As to the tower itself, it is hardly worth
while to look for traces of a building that was not
finished, although the story is started from time to
time that such traces have been found. There is,
however, a tradition in the classic writers, thus
stated by Ovid : "They say that the giants aspired
to the celestial kingdom, and that they heaped up
the lofty mountains to the stars. Then the omnipo-
tent father hurled his thunderbolt, crashing through
Olympus, and struck down Ossa piled on Pelion."^'
There is also cited a distinct Babylonish tradition,
one form of which (as given by Abydenus, prob-
ably from Berosus) reads that "the early men, hav-
ing become puffed up and having despised the gods,
undertook a lofty tower where Babylon now is. It
was already near heaven when the winds came to
the aid of the gods and overthrew the work upon
the builders. The ruins of it are said to be at
Babylon. Hitherto men had been of one tongue,
but now discordant speech was upon them from the
gods." In another form (given by Alexander Poly-
histor as from "the Sybil") it says, "When all men
spoke the same language, some of them built an
exceeding high tower in order to ascend into heaven.
God, however, having made winds to blow, thwarted
30 Schrader, K. A. T., p. 121.
31 Ovid, Metamorphoses, i., 152.
128 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
them and gave to each a language of his own;
wherefore the city was called Babylon." The in-
dependence of this tradition is seen, as has been re-
marked, in the statement that the winds were em-
ployed in the work of destruction. Professor Davis
of Princeton inclines to insist on this as represent-
ing a genuine Babylonian tradition, and that " its kin-
ship with the Hebrew narrative is unmistakable.""^'
Dillmann, who thinks it not proved that such a tra-
dition was circulated in Babylonia, still remarks that
"dark historical reminiscences lie at the foundation
of the narrative" as a whole. ^^ Schrader also thinks
it cannot well be doubted that "the saga here en-
countered has rested upon a building once actually
existing, and that it may naturally have been only
one of two, either the ruins called Babil on the
east bank of the Euphrates or the remarkable ruined
tower on the west bank, called Birs Nimrud, still
rising 154 feet above the level of the plain. "^^ But
though Delitzsch thinks it not impossible that ruins
of the building or at least traces of its site should
have been preserved f" and while it is not impossible,
as some have suggested, that one of these ruins
may commemorate the site, the only confirmation
to be claimed for the tower and its significance is
the tradition of the battle with the gods.^^
32 For full details the reader is referred to his Genesis and Senetic tra-
ditions (1894).
33 Commentary ht loco.
34 Keilinschritten, pp. 121-123.
35 New Commentary, Eng. trans., i., p. 353.
36 George Smith's belief of a reference to the building in a Babylonian
tablet, though at first approved by Sayce, must be given up as not well
founded (ChaldeTn Genesis, pp. 163,164). Nor can Nebuchadnezzar's in-
scription that he had restored a damaged tower built by a former king
(Records of the Past, vii., p. 71) be well appealed to in evidence.
THE PA TRIA k CilA L HiS TOR Y 129
But the narrative speaks also of a dispersion, and
names Sliinar or Sumer as the radiating center.
That this general region was the point of departure
for the race in its dispersion appears to be now the
somewhat concurrent opinion of various classes of
scientific men. It is quite remarkable what a vari-
ety of indications all point in that direction. Thus
from his special point of view Guyot lays great stress
on a consideration generally overlooked, which, in
his own words, "has not been sufficiently insisted
on, and to which has not been attributed the impor-
tance it deserves. The fact is the following : While
all the types of animals and of plants go on decreas-
ing in perfection, from the equatorial to the polar
regions, in proportion to the temperatures, man pre-
sents to our view his purest, his most perfect type
at the very center of Asia-Europe, in the regions
of Iran, of Armenia, and of the Caucasus ; and, de-
parting from this geographical center in the three
grand directions of the lands, the types gradually
lose the beauty of their forms in proportion to their
distance, even to the extreme points of the south-
ern continents, where we find the most deformed
and degenerate races, and the lowest in the scale of
humanity." After unfolding the fact in several
pages of detail, he inquires, "Does not this surpris-
ing coincidence seem to designate those Caucasian
regions as the cradle of man, the point of departure
for the races of the earth ?"^^ St. Hilaire called at-
tention to the fact that of the domesticated animals
37 Guyot, The Earth and Man, pp. 254, 262.
130 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
that have accompanied man, thirty-five in number,
thirty-one appear to have originated in Central Asia
or Northern Africa. Others have noted the fact
that most of the cereals which are used by man have
had their earliest and most congenial, if not their
native home, in this general region. ^*^ "Wheat is
found only w^here man is found," and while its pre-
cise origin is an open question, yet according to
Berosus wheat, barley and sesame grew wild in
the region of Babylonia ; and it is stated that wheat
still does so in the neighborhood of Anah.^^ Other
considerations, linguistic, historic and archaeologi-
cal, point in the same direction. The field is too
broad even for an outline sketch of the whole argu-
ment. But after a protracted discussion of its vari-
ous branches, Ebrard reaches the conclusion that
"resting on purely physiological, ethnographical,
historical and linguistic investigations is the scien-
tifically certain fact that the population of all parts
of the earth has gone forth from the west of inner
Asia, the Euphrates region."^'' So also Zoeckler,
as the result of similar investigations: "That this
original seat (of the human race) was situated east-
ward of the home-land of the book of Revelation,
somewhere in southern Asia, is established by the
most weighty indications of ethnography and natural
science. Neither South Africa nor America, neither
a mythical Atlantis nor a tertiary Lemuria, have
half so good claims to be the starting point of both
38 Cited in Southall's Recent Origin of Man, p. 43.
39 Sayce, Ancient Empires of the East, p. 96.
40 Ebrard, Christian Apologetics, iii., p. 312.
THE PA TRIA R CHA L HIS TOR V 131
together, our race and its attendant domestic ani-
mals and cereals, as the territory limited by the
Euphrates on the west and the Indus and Ganges
on the east."" Quatref ages, while inclined, though
not with entire positiveness, to find the center of
radiation somewhat farther east, at the great central
plateau, concludes his statement by saying that no
facts have yet been discovered which authorize us
to place the cradle of the human race elsewhere
than in Asia/' It is also quite interesting to observe
how such a writer as Lefevre, who avowedly dis-
carded the guidance of "the Hebrew Bible" in this
matter, yet approximates to its position. For he
concludes that the American races came from Asia ;
dwells on the fundamental identity between the
languages of rival nations, separated by manners,
aspirations and distance ; emphasizes the fact that
the Aryan races, spread from Iceland to the mouth
of the Ganges and from Sweden to Crete, without
including the two Americas and Australia, "owe
to a single definite group, and not to their own in-
itiative, their languages, their institutions and the
germ of their destiny." He avoids naming a defi-
nite center of radiation for the various nations, but
he reaches a stage where, "from the eastern slope
of the great Asiatic plateaus, the ancestors of the
Chinese descended their rivers, the Blue and the
Yellow, and two centers of civilization arose, on
the banks of the Nile and at the mouth of the Eu-
41 Urstand des Menschen, p. 241. His primary reference is to the garden
of Eden, but of course it applies here.
4a The Human Species, p. 178.
182 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
phrates."*^ His subsequent and detailed account of
the dispersion from the latter region is in close con-
formity to the Scripture account/* This account
does unquestionably explain most naturally a diver-
gent movement of the nations to the east and south-
east, northwest, w^est and southwest. It would con-
form to the fact that in general the farther the
departure from the center, the greater the growing
degradation, except so far as some higher influence
penetrated the seclusion.
The exact process of the confusion of tongues,
recorded in this narrative, is obscure in the absence
of detailed information. It has been perhaps wisely
viewed as a precipitation of what would otherwise
have taken place in the course of events, whereby
in their isolation from each other the races have
formed nearly a thousand languages. On the broad
question of one original speech there are as yet no
means of reaching an absolute decision outside of
this narrative. Two great families of languages
are now universally recognized, namely, the Semitic
and the Aryan or Indo-European ; and certain re-
lationships found to exist between them. There are
still wanting further investigations, if the}' can ever
be made satisfactorily, which may decide the ques-
tion of other relationships. Meanwhile it is suffi-
cient, perhaps, to quote the conclusion reached by
one of the most noted comparative philologists of
this generation. Max Miiller writes thus: "We
43 Lefevre, Race and Language, p. 260.
44 See note xv., Appendix.
THE PATRIARCHAL HISTORY. 133
have examined all possible forms which language
can assume, and we have now to ask, can we recon-
cile with these three distinct forms, the radical, the
terminational, the inflectional, the admission of one
common origin of human speech? I answer de-
cidedly, Yes."*' Bunsen,with his multifarious learn-
ing, had already said: "Comparative philology
would have been compelled to set forth as a postu-
late some such division of languages in Asia if the
Bible had not preserved to us this great, true, his-
toric event."*' And still earlier Alexander von
Humboldt, who had no reference to the Bible, at
the close of his long life had made the suggestion
that the comparative study of the languages "may
lead to a generalization of views regarding the affin-
ity of the races, and their conjectural extension
from one common foint of radiationy^"' While
therefore we can appeal to no contemporary history,
for the reason that there is none, the results of the
most careful modern research tend strongly to cor-
roborate the narrative.
When we ascend one step further, to the history
of Noah after the departure from the ark, we are
on similarly firm ground. The mountains of Ara-
rat, where the ark rested, are in the Armenian ter-
ritory. Noah was intoxicated with the wine which
he had made. In that region the vine is now, and
through all historic times has been, abundant, thriv-
ing in some instances at a height of 4,000 feet
45 Mueller, Science of Language, First Series, p. 329.
46 Bunsen, Bibelwerk, i., p. 30.
47 Cosmos, ii., pp. iii, 112.
134 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
above the sea level. Here Xenophon w^ith the ten
thousand found old and excellent wine/^ and here
Justin Perkins, in 1843, found wine, and intoxica-
tion tco, in abundance. It is to be observed also
that the narrative does not spare the w^eakness and
the shame of Noah. But it records as well his ut-
terances when he "awoke from his wine," that is,
recovered from his intoxication.
Though not indispensable to this discussion, it is
quite appropriate to call attention to the remarkable
anticipation of history in those utterances concern-
ing Shem, Ham and Japheth. In regard to the
first, it takes the form of a burst of praise : "Blessed
be Jehovah, God of Shem." That was to be the
blessing of the Shemite race — God revealed as Je-
hovah to Abraham and his descendants, and through
them to the world. Shem was to be the depositary
of the revelation. The declaration concerning
Japheth, "God shall make wide room for Japheth, "
has been fulfilled partly in the Persian, Greek and
Roman expansion, and still more remarkably even
in later times, when the great historic races of the
world have been and are Japhetic races. The ad-
ditional promise, "He (Japheth)*'^ shall dwell in the
tents of Shem," easily means, shall share in his
privileges. Dillmann would find here the recep-
tion of the Japhetic nations into the alliance of the
old Semitic nations, which may be valid as far as
it extends, without exhausting the fullness of the
48 Anabasis, iv., 4, 9.
49 Whatever the grammatical antecedent in this clause, the actual subject
is clearly Japheth, whose destiny is declared. So now the best expositors.
THE PATRIARCHAL HISTORY 135
blessing imparted to Shem. Delitzsch adds well,
that it involves "the entrance of Japheth into the
kingdom of God, which is with Japheth"; an assur-
ance which has been signally fulfilled. The an-
nouncement that Canaan (i. e., his descendants)
should be a servant of servants both to Shem and
to Japheth was fulfilled in connection with Shem
when the Canaanites were extirpated or reduced to
be hewers of wood and drawers of water by the
Israelites; and in connection with Japheth, as De-
litzsch remarks, ''when the Greeks and Romans
overthrew Tyre and Carthage, after the Phenician
coast and colonial power had already been broken
by the Assyrians, Chaldeans and Persians. Hanni-
bal came to feel this curse when he beheld the head
of Asdrubal thrown over the Punic entrenchments
by the Romans, and exclaimed, ^Agnoscofortunam
Cartliag'inis.' Th^ third Punic War (149-146) ended
in the total demolition of Carthage, and the inflic-
tion of the curse upon its site" — an event which
changed the destinies of modern civilization.
The quality both of the narrative and the utter-
ance appears in the fact that these announcements
were not arbitrary but had their foundation and
justification in the qualities of the posterity, already
foreshadowed in their ancestors. The reason ex-
pressly involved in the subjugation of the Canaanites
(in Gen. xv. 16) is their "iniquity"; in regard to
which Lenormant has said that no other nation has
rivaled them in the mixture of blood and debauch-
ery with which they thought to honor the Deity. ^°
50 Lenormant, Manual of the Ancient History of the East, ii., 219.
136 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
The overthrow of Carthage is conceded to have
been the deliverance of the world from its most
threatening danger.
Dillmann speaks thus of these prophecies:
"Deeply moved by the transaction, and thor-
oughly discerning the nature of his sons, Noah, as
one controlled by a higher spirit, by virtue of his
paternal dignity, solemnly and in lofty strains pro-
nounces upon them the blessing and the curse."
CHAPTER VI
THE TABLE OF THE NATIONS
Not the least important portion of the Hexateuch
for the present purpose is the table of the nations,
contained in the tenth chapter of Genesis. Al-
though easily passed over as a bald and uninterest-
ing catalogue of names, it stands like a solid rock
foundation and proof of the historic character of the
book. The chief difficulty in the use of it springs
from the extreme remoteness of its facts, and the
scantiness of our modern knowledge to make con-
nection with it. No other consecutive history ex-
tends back half-way towards its starting point.
The migrations and minglings of the nations, the
changes and interchanges of languages, and often
the difficulty of identifying a name when transferred
from one tongue to another, largely embarrass the
interpretation. But to whatever extent, with our
present and increasing resources, we can put it to
the test, it stands the test as far as we can go, and
constantly passes beyond our reach. It constitutes
the one central and continuous line with which the
fragmentary historic allusions from other sources
are wont to be compared.
I. Lest it should be thought that the value of
this record is exaggerated, the concurrent testimony
of some of the ablest, most learned and respected
137
138 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
modern scholars is subjoined. Bunsen wrote in
i860: "The table of the nations in Genesis is the
most learned of all ancient documents and the most
ancient of all learned ones. It is altogether the
most astonishing and admirable monument of the
tradition."' Knobel, in i860, pronounced it "a his-
torical monument, "declared that "the peoples men-
tioned in it are historical, that in the time of the
author the Hebrews knew well the most noted of
the nations within the region designated, and that
there can be no doubt that continued research will
ever more confirm the trustworthiness of this our
oldest ethnography."'^ Again, in 1875, ^^ empha-
sized the breadth of its survey, and the remarkable
peculiarity that whereas other ancient nations com-
monly did not concern themselves about foreign
communities unless in matters of state or commerce,
and often despised them as barbarians, here a mul-
titude of races is passed in review, to whom the
Israelites stood in no relations of life.^ The state-
ment is repeated almost literally by Dillmann in
1892.* Brugsch says, in 1891 : "It has the high-
est significance for scientific investigation. "^ George
Rawlinson concludes his detailed examination of
the contents of the chapter thus: "The record,
rightly interpreted, completely harmonizes with the
science (ethnology), and not only so, but anticipates
many of the most curious and remarkable discover-
1 Bibelwerk, Eisther Theil, p. 63.
2 Exegetisches Handbuch, Genesis, p. 107.
3 Kominentar, 3rd cd., p. 176,
4 Die Genesis, p. 162.
5 Steininschrift, p. 49.
THE TABLE OF THE NATIONS 139
ies which ethnology has made in comparatively re-
cent times. The thorough harmony which exists
between ethnological science and this unique record
is a strong argument for the truth of both.'"^ De-
litzsch says in the last edition of his commentary :
"Nowhere is found a survey of the connection of
nations that can be compared with the ethnological
table of the Bible ; nowhere one so universal in pro-
portion to its horizon, and so all-comprising, at least
with regard to its purpose.'"^ To Kalisch it is "an
unparalleled list, the combined result of deep re-
flection and research, and no less valuable as a his-
torical document than as a lasting proof of the
brilliant capacity of the Hebrew mind."^ Ebers
wrote, in 1868, that "in the presence of the great
genealogical tree of Genesis we stand on firmer
ground" (than as to the locality of paradise), and
that his own effort was directed only to ascertaining
what lands or nations the author intended by his
names, and finding their geographical position.^
Sir J. W. Dawson, in 1894, terms it "a scrap of
pre-historic lore of the most intensely interesting
character," speaks of the "sure scientific instinct"
of the author, and after some explanatory remarks
he proceeds: "These points being premised, we
can clear away the fogs which have been gathered
around this luminous spot in the early history of the
world, and can trace at least the principal ethnic
lines which have radiated from it."'^
6 Origin of Nations., p. 252.
7 New Commentary, Eng. trans., i., p. 300.
8 Commentary on Genesis, p. 287. 9 Egypt, etc., pp.36, 37.
ID The Meeting Place of Geology and History, pp. 183^ 184, 188.
140 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEVCH
Strack, in his commentary published in the same
year, says: "The statements of the table have
rendered manifold services to scientific inquiry, as
connecting links and guides. Many of them that
were formerly doubted or pronounced erroneous
have been proved by farther investigation to be cor-
rect. It is to be observed that everything mythical
or monstrous is strictly avoided. The authors
speak only of what they know, what they hold to
be true on the basis of the knowledge of their time ;
they make no inventions, so that Herder judiciously
observes 'the poverty of this list and of its informa-
tion is its guaranty.""'
We have thus gathered up some of the testimo-
nies of the foremost modern scholars in regard to the
historic character and value of a part of the sacred
narrative which far antedates all other consecutive
history, in order to show by this remarkable test
how little is to be feared in the long run from arbi-
trary and precipitate flings at the Hexateuch,
whether pronounced "unhistorical," "saga " "leg-
end" or "myth."
2. Still more remarkable, indeed unparallelea,
is the underlying principle of the enumeration.
Knobel and subsequent commentators (e. g. Dill-
mann, Delitzsch, Strack) have pointedly called at-
tention to its characteristic basis, the family rela-
tionship of the nations. While other lists of coun-
tries, as those of the Babylonians and Egyptians,
treat only of conquered or tributary nations, and the
ij Kommeotar, Die Genesis, p. 35.
THE TABLE OF THE NATIONS 141
Hellenes spoke of ol (idp^apot, the barbarians, and
the Chinese of outside barbarians and foreign devils,
"Israel is here," as Knobel remarks, "only a mem-
ber of collective humanity. K\\ men are of the
same race, the same worth, and the same designa-
tion—brethren and relatives of each other. This
biblical view proceeds from the greatness and entire-
ness of humanity." It is the same view so earnestly
and constantly set forth by the illustrious Hungarian
patriot, Kossuth, when in 185 1-2 he journeyed
through this country, everywhere dwelling on "the
solidarity of the nations." Without insisting on
the suggestion of some respectable interpreters (e.
g. Delitzsch and Strack), the implication of a com-
mon hope in store for all these races as branches
and twigs of one common stock, descendants of one
pious ancestor, we may well emphasize the moral
elevation involved in this underlying principle of
enumeration, not only as unique and deserving of
profound respect, but as worthy of a place in a reve-
lation from God.
3. The evident antiquity of the document, in its
substance. The precise period from which the
composition of the table dates has been a matter of
much discussion and diversity of opinion. Some
have gone to the extreme of calling it post-exilic;
a view which it has been well said is precluded
alike by what it contains and what it does not con-
tain. Its historic character is clearly incompatible
with any such supposition ; it might as well be at-
tributed to the nineteenth century. Ewald, Ebers
142 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
and others advocate the time of the early kings.
Delitzsch thinks that, for reasons which he gives,
it cannot be later than that, and speaks of its "hoary
antiquity." Ebrard makes a strong showing for
the view of a pre-Abrahamic text, transmitted or-
all}^ and with some additions indicative of the time
of Moses, written out in the time of Moses, and
previous to the departure from Egypt. '^ It is, how-
ever, by no means necessary to suppose it to have
been an unwritten tradition till the time of Moses ;
for we now know that for ages previous to that
time writing was abundant both in Egypt, where
Moses had his home, and in Babylonia, from which
Abraham came.
Among the indications that carry the table far
back into the past are the following : While Elam
is mentioned, Persia, which was unimportant and
unknown till the sixth century B. C, is not recog-
nized; Nineveh (verses ii, 12) was as yet but one
of four distinct settlements, and not, as it became
from the time of Sennacherib (705-681 B. C), the
collective name of them all, while the northernmost
town, Khorsabad, built by Sargon (721-705 B. C),
is not alluded to ; the Arabian name, which occurs
in Isaiah, Ezekiel and Jeremiah, does not appear,
nor does Minni, mentioned in Jer. i. 27, in connec-
tion with Ashkenaz of ch. x. 3, and in the Assyrian
inscriptions (716 B. C); Sidon, the older Pheni-
cian city, is introduced, but not Tyre, which after
the time of David and Solomon became so much
12 Ebrard, Christian Apologetics, ii., 296 seq.
THE TABLE OF THE NATIONS 143
more important, and which even before the con-
quest of Palestine is shown by the Tell Amarna
letters to have been in rivalry with Sidon ;'^' and
further still, verse 19 of the chapter carries us back
very distinctly to a time before the destruction of
the cities of the plain, that is, before the times of
Abraham ; for it is difficult to comprehend other-
wise the incidental allusion, "as thou goest unto
Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboim."
The German critics are constrained to recognize
the great antiquity of the allusion, it being assigned,
in Kautzsch's translation, as well as in Holzinger's"
and Koenig's'^ introductions, to J, their oldest narra-
tor ; and even such an extremist as Wellhausen has
to admit that the table (which he guesses had orig-
inally but seven generations instead of ten) "cannot
have been wanting in JE," the combination of the
two oldest/*^ But the allusion to the destroyed
cities as apparently existent and known to the trav-
eler, speaks for itself. The limitations of the list
are in favor of its antiquity. The designation of
many of the races by a personal name, as it is com-
monly understood, would naturally indicate a tra-
dition handed down so long as to have identified a
race with an ancestor.
4. The historic value of this table, as has been
remarked by more than one writer, can hardly be
overestimated. It forms the central and continuous
13 Conder's Tell Amarna Letters, p. loo seq.
14 Holzinger, Einleitung, p. 149.
15 Koenig, Einleitung, p. 190.
1-6 History of Israel, p. 313.
1 14 THE VERA CITY OF THE HEX A TE UCH
thread of early history, so far as its range extends,
and a standard with which modern discoveries are
compared to bring them into coherence and unity.
The chief difhcuhy in the explanation of the table
consists in the poverty of our other sources of
knowledge of those early times, and the impracti-
cability of tracing the nations as made known to
later history, back through their migrations and
mutations and the linguistic changes, to their an-
cestry. This difficulty has given rise to many dif-
ferences of identification in details, while there is a
somewhat general and growing agreement in re-
gard to main facts.
The table has its obvious limitations. It presents
ethnological groups of peoples traced to their an-
cestry or their early home, and relates to their pri-
mary distribution from one common center, the
land of Shinar. It follows them in that dispersion
to different stages: Shem, naturally, to the sixth
generation ; Ham partly to the third or fourth ;
Japheth only to the first division of the main lines.
It has nothing to do with their subsequent migra-
tions and changes or interchanges. The Japhethites
are dismissed mainly along two lines ; one south-
west along the Mediterranean, the other northwest
beyond the Black Sea. The Hamitic tribes are
traced to the region of the Euphrates, Arabia,
Egypt and Ethiopia, as well as Phenicia. The
Semitic races are located, speaking generally, be-
tween these northern and southern peoples.
Various obscurities still hang over this ancient
THE TABLE OF THE NA TIONS 145
document, giving rise to conflicting views in regard
to the details, many of them highly conjectural.
Fresh discoveries from time to time bring new
light. Shinar has only in recent times been identi-
fied with Sumer, a part of Babylonia. Accad, un-
known till still more recent times, is now become
a household word as the name of a state or region.
Yet as late as 1883 Schrader wrote that "as the
name of a city, Accad has not hitherto been indi-
cated in the inscriptions";'' but in that same year
Hormuzd Rassam found an inscription on a granite
block, giving it as the name also of a city.'^ The
statement that "the beginning" of the Babylonish
kingdom was earlier than that of the Ninevitish
(verses 10, 11) is now confirmed, contrary to the
former supposition. It is only since the explorations
of Loftus (1857) that Erech (v. 11) has been defi-
nitely identified with the ruins of Warka, on the
Euphrates. The situation of the city Calah (v. 11),
unknown till within a few years, is, as Schrader re-
marks, firmly setded by the inscriptions, being also
identified with the ruins called Nimrud in the angle
formed by the junction of the Tigris with the Zab ;
Assurnatsirpal relating that the city was rebuilt by
him (883-859), but was built by Shalmaneser (about
1300 B. C.).'' Sayce announces that in the winter
of 1894 he had discovered, in a hieroglyphic geo-
graphical list recently excavated at the temple of
Kom Ombo, the two Scripture names of Caphtor
17 Keilinschriften, p. 95.
18 Hilprecht, cited in Delitzsch, i.. 324- See also Dillmann m loco.
19 Keilinschriften, p. 97-
146 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
and Calushim, in the places Kaptar and Kalushet.-°
Of course it would be impracticable to enter here
on a full statement, much less a discussion of this
table of the nations, as it has been termed, which
has been the subject of protracted dissertations and
even of volumes, by such scholars as Bunsen, Kno-
bel, Ebers, Schrader, Fried. Delitzsch, Dillmann,
George Rawlinson, Brugsch, Sayce and others. A
few hints only are admissible, and with regard to
the descendants of Japheth.
Gomer is confidently (and now almost univer-
sally) identified with the Kimmerii(" Cimmerians")"^
of Homer, Herodotus and ^schylus, in the obscure
region north of the Black Sea, whose name was
once found in the "Kimmerian Bosphorus" and re-
mains in the "Crimea." Many writers go further
and find traces of the race in the Cimbri (Kimbri)^^
and even the Kymry; while Josephus^'^ would in-
clude the Galatians (Gauls?), and George Rawlinson
uses arguments for finding among their descendants
the Celtic race. If this last view could be main-
tained, it would singularly aid in explaining the
great phenomenon of the migrations.^* But though
accepted by some (e. g. Ebrard), it has not been
generally sustained. Yet the identification with
the Kimmerii stands fast, though, as always, with
20 The Higher Criticism, p. 173.
21 The consonants of the words are the same, the sonant G being prac-
tically identical with the surd K. But scriptural and other historical indi-
cations concur. The race is also the Gimmarrai of the Assyrian inscriptions.
22 With Diodorus Siculus, v., 32, and Strabo, vii., 2 seq.
23 Antiquities, i., 6. His detailed statement would apply to the Galli in
general.
24 Rawlinson's Herodotus, iii., 150 secj.
THE TABLE OF THE NATIONS 147
some dissent. ^^ The identification of Magog with
the Scythians is, for historical reasons, generally
accepted, as originally suggested by Josephus ; of
whom it is stated by Herodotus that they had early
driven the Kimmerii into Asia. Their original seat
after the dispersion is assigned to the tract between
the Caucasus and Mesopotamia, where, in the sev-
enth century B. C, they appear for a time to have
been the dominant race. Rawlinson would find the
Slavs as their descendants, but this is perhaps more
than doubtful. Madai without dissent represents the
Median race. Javan is equally beyond dispute the
Ionian (or Hellenic) race. Meshech and Tubal
are with perhaps as little hesitation recognized in
the Moschi and Tibareni of Herodotus, and the
Tabal and Muski of the Assyrian monuments.^®
Their location was understood to be south or south-
east of the Black Sea, nations once powerful, but
declining in power from iioo B. C, and unknown
in their descendants. Tiras is more questionable ;
regarded by Rawlinson (after Josephus, Eusebius
and Jerome) as the Thracians ; by Tuch, Dillmann
and others as the Tyrseni or Pelasgic people, and
by Delitzsch as the dwellers on the Tyras or the
Dniester — all concurring, however, in assigning
them a location beyond the Euxine.
A few words may be added in regard to Javan.
The consonants of the Hebrew word are the same
with those of the Greek " lonians," when the proper
Greek termination is dropped and the digamma re-
as Halevy, Kiepert and G. Wahl are cited as dissenting.
26 Schrader, pp. 82, 84; and other writers.
148 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
tained. The location, both as indicated in the
table itself and in the inscription of Sargon II. (727-
705 B. C), which mentions Javnai/^ corresponds.
Kalisch gives his authorities for finding their names,
in the Sanscrit lavana and the Joitnan of the in-
scription of Rosetta f^ and Sayce claims that the
name occurs "letter for letter" in one of the Tell
Amarna tablets (No. 42, Berlin), and that in the
days when the monarchs of the sixth dynasty were
erecting their pyramids, the Mediterranean was al-
ready known as the great circle of the "Uinivu" or
lonians.^ At all events, the identification appears
to be thoroughly settled. Of the subordinate de-
tails it is agreed that Chittim designates the Cy-
prians, or inhabitants of Cyprus ; the island being
called Chetima in the time of Josephus,^° its capital
termed Kition by the Greeks, and its king being
represented by Homer as giving a suit of armor to
Agamemnon. ^^ Cesnola finds that (with the ex-
ception of the Argive colony of Curium) the Greek
settlers chose the north and west sides of the island,
and that of the w^est kingdoms of Cyprus onl}^ two
were distinctly Phenician.
Tarshish was undoubtedly the Tartessus of the
Greeks, probably at the western limit of the Medi-
terranean, and supposed to have been not far from
Gibraltar. Elisha is by the greater weight of
27 Schrader, p. 8i.
28 Commentary, Genesis, p. 212.
29 The Higher Criticism, p. 20.
30 Antiq., i., 6.
31 Iliad, xii., 19.
THE TABLE OF THE NATIONS 149
authority understood of the ^olians.^^ Dodanim
of the common text has been found in the Darda-
nians;^^ but if it be Rodanim,^* as in the marginal
reading (with Septuagint and some other authori-
ties), then the inhabitants of Rhodes and the islands
of the ^gean.
These specimens illustrate the general and con-
fident agreement upon the main lines of the table ;
and also, owing to the defectiveness of modern
knowledge, the difficulty attending many of the
subordinate details, where conjectures are more
abundant than known facts. Very likely more light
is to come.
Without entering on further details of this table,
it is to be observed how in the main it explains the
radiation of these several branches of the family of
nations. It shows us the race of Ham located
largely in Africa, but also early (as they can be
traced) in Babylonia and Assyria, ^^ as well as in
Arabia and Canaan ; the race of Shem less widely
dispersed in Elam, Syria and Assyria, in which last
country they subsequently encroached upon the
Hamites ; and the Japhethites on their way to a far
more remarkable dispersion, the Medes to the south-
east, the lonians to the southwest along the Medi-
terranean towards Italy, and Gomer, Magog and
Tiras to the west and the northwest, where they
subsequently crowded one another from behind to-
32 Josephus, Knobel, Rawlinson, Delitzsch, Smith's Bible Diet. But
Kalisch and Sayce say Hellas, and Dillraann dissents from both.
33 Gesenius, Knobel, Bunsen, Delitzsch.
34 Dillmann, Rawlinson, Strack.
35 The attempt to limit Cush to Ethiopia was abandoned many years ago.
150 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
wards the Atlantic Ocean. It is manifestly a great
historic chart, obscure in subordinate points because
of our present ignorance, but clear and firm in its
main outlines. ^^
36 See note xvi., Appendix.
CHAPTER VII
THE DELUGE
The time has gone by when any well-read man
can afford to speak lightly of the Scriptural account
of the Deluge. It is beyond rational dispute that
such an event took place, and that this narrative is
the one sober, consistent account of it. In dealing
with the subject, four points deserve attention: (i)
The evidence of the fact ; (2) the characteristics of
the narrative of it ; (3) the extent of it ; (4) the
method. Strictly speaking, there is no necessity
for an explanation of the method, if the fact is sus-
tained. Proved facts are ultimate, whether explica-
ble or not.
I. The fact. Nothing in regard to the early
history of mankind is better sustained. The proof
is found in the widespread traditions of the human
race, inexplicable except as commemorating such a
fact, and also corroborated by late geological evi-
dence.
The traditions of the deluge, while not univer-
sal— as could not reasonably be expected — are yet
of the widest extent, being found in various parts
of both continents. Although in some instances
they may have been imported, in many cases such
a supposition is not only unsupported but clearly
inadmissible. As Alexander von Humboldt long
151
152 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
ago remarked, the local coloring in each, together
with the extreme isolation of many of these peoples
(as, for example, in the forests of Orinoco), renders
it impossible to ascribe the traditions to outside in-
fluences.^ The most succinct, and possibly dis-
criminating statement, is that of the oriental scholar
I.enormant. His opening assertion is this: "A-
i.iong all the traditions which concern the histor^^
of primitive humanity, the most universal is that of
the Deluge. It would be going too far to assert
that this tradition is found among all nations, but
it does reappear among all the great races of men,
saving only in one instance — an exception which it
is important to note — and that is the black race,
traces of it having been vainly sought either among
the African tribes or the dusky populations of Oce-
an ica.''^ This exception, however, appears to be
taken away by other testimony. For Delitzsch
affirms in his New Commentary, that the legend of
the flood (mingled also with traces of the revolt
against heaven) was found in southwest African
Damara, he having received the information per-
sonally from the missionary superintendent C. Hugo
Hahn, who assured him that "it was original, for
that no white man and no missionary had come in
contact with that people before himself.'" Williams
and Calvert assert the existence of a similar tra-
dition in the Fiji Islands, its details including even
1 Cited in Reusch's Nature and the Bible, i., p. 405.
2 Beginninf?s of History, p. 382.
3 New Commentary, Vol. i., p. 247, Eng. trans.
THE DELUGE 15S
the rescue of eight persons from the general de-
struction.*
In recent times no little effort has been expended
in reducing the instances by endeavoring to discrimi-
nate original from alleged "imported" traditions,
and real from "pseudo" ones, that is, from those re-
garded by the writers as referring, not to a general
destruction, but to a local phenomenon. These
discriminations are of course largely matters of in-
dividual opinion. But after all attempted and
claimed reductions, the reminiscences branded into
the life of the nations are found to be too vi^ide-
spread and consentient, as well as characteristic, to
be set aside. Thus Raymond De Girard, who, in
his three volumes devoted to this theme, has sub-
jected the various claims to a searching and unhesi-
tating criticism, confidently affirms that even "the
minimum is such that, resting on it alone, the tra-
dition argument holds good. The traditional con-
sensus proves the historic reality of the Deluge."^
The distinguished and careful Delitzsch, in his New
Commentary (his last), though grown somewhat
cautious, if not timid, in his advanced years, and
under the pressure of bold attempts to reduce the
testimony, and omitting the extensive details of his
earlier editions, yet finds the "legend of the flood
starting from the region of the Tigris and Euphra-
tes, and spreading westwards over Anterior Asia
and thence to Greece, and eastward to the Indians,
4 Williams and Calvert's Fiji and Fijians, p. 2ia.
5 De Girard, Le Deluge, i., p. 310.
154 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
after they had advanced from Hindukuh along the
Indus as far as the sea, acquiring everywhere fresh
national coloring and attaching itself to different
localities." He admits there is no means of check-
ing the statement of Josephus, who cited two authori-
ities that it was found among the Phenicians;
concedes that it occurs in the Bundehesh of the Per-
sians ; so, too, in the Scandinavian and German my-
thologies, and in the Welsh Triads. He proceeds
to mention the "surprising" fact that traditions of
the Flood strikingly like the ancient ones in their
details are found among the Mexicans, the inhabit-
ants of Cuba, the Peruvians, the Tamanaki, and
almost all the tribes of the Upper Orinoco, the
Tahitians and other islands of the Society Archi-
pelago, and the Macusi Indians of South America.^
He might have added, on the authority of School-
craft, most of the tribes of North American Indians.^
He also cites an Egyptian tradition, given by
Brugsch, of the destruction of a sin-corrupted world,
not by a flood, which in Egypt would have been a
blessing, but by a slaughter.**
One of the most recent, as well as most rigid and
uncompromising investigations of this w^hole sub-
ject, appears to have been made by Richard Andree,
not alone in collecting the facts, but in scrutinizing
their relations, whether in his view^ original or im-
ported, whether actual or "pseudo" — the last dis-
6 Vol. i., pp. 245-6.
7 Schoolcraft, History and Condition of the Indian Tribes, i., p. 17. School-
praft gives the detailed statements.
8 Brugsch, Steininschrift, p. 47.
THE DELUGE 155
tinction being better expressed as general or local.
He finds the tradition in not less than eighty-seven
widely scattered tribes or races ; and although he
endeavors to reduce them all, with the exception of
three or four (the chief of which is the Chaldean), to
the two classes of imported or local, the effort
speaks for itself in view of the fact that forty-seven
of them are found in the American continent, all
the way from the Esquimaux on the north to Brazil
on the south. ^ No theory of origin can hide the
great fact ; and that can be explained only by the
reality of the event.
Very extraordinary among these accounts is the
Chaldean one of Berosus, which has long been
known ; and even more remarkable was the dis-
covery by George Smith in 1872 of another account
contained in some tablets in the British Museum
which had been exhumed from the ruins of Nine-
veh. The date assigned to it by Smith and by
Boscawen is about 2000 B. C. There are marked
resemblances and some marked differences between
it and the Scripture account, — on which we need
not dwell at present.
The substance of these various traditions, with
more or less of expansion or of omission, is as fol-
lows : A wicked world destroyed for its wicked-
ness ; one righteous family saved in an ark or boat,
9 Andree's results are tabulated by De Girard at the end of Vol. i. The
absurdly haphazard and helpless way in which some writers vainly endeavor
to break the force of this wide consensus is illustrated in the case of Diestel,
whose results are also tabulated by Girard. He finds the tradition in seventy-
seven different tribes or races, recognizes one as original and genuine, and
without even taking the trouble to divide the remainder into two classes, he
blurs the matter over by pronouncing each instance to be either imported or
local. He cannot say which,
156 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
together with animals ; the ark resting on a moun-
tain ; birds sent out to learn the condition of the
earth; an altar built and sacrifices offered.^''
The details usually have a local coloring ;" but,
as Kalisch remarks, "there is scarcely a single
feature in the Biblical account which is not dis-
covered in one or several of these traditions." It
may be safely affirmed that some such deluge as is
described by it is among the best sustained facts in
the ancient history of mankind.
To the weight of these wide-spread and concur-
rent traditions, may now be added the results of re-
cent scientific observations, as set forth by authori-
ties like Prof. Edward Suess of Vienna, Prestwich
of England and Sir Henry Howorth. But we re-
serve these for the present. The local extent of the
Deluge is also deferred for later consideration.
II. The characteristics of the Scripture account
of the Flood are such as of themselves to make the
strongest impression of its truthfulness.
1. Its exactness of statement. There is no loose-
ness nor vagueness ; all is precise. We have the
materials, the dimensions, the internal arrangement
of the ark, provision for light, constant dates and
intervals of time (ch. vii. 4, 6, 10, 11, 12, 13, 17,
24; viii. 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 13, 14), the depth of
water at some point (vii. 20), and the relative
number of the animals (vii. 9).
2. Its sobriety and consistency: (a) a longwarn-
10 See note xvii., Appendix.
11 In the tradition of Michiiacan, e. g., the humming-bird takes the place
pf the dove, and brings a twig in its mouth.
THE DELUGE 157
ing and preparation (vi. 3); (b) the duration, a year
and ten days — the Chaldean account allowing but
seven days ; (c) the gradual progress of the flood,
in regard to its height, cessation, decline and com-
plete withdrawal ; (d) the agency, not merely rain,
but the breaking up of the fountains of the great
deep ; (e) the size and structure of the ark : taking
what Gen. Sir Henry James found to be the cubit
of Memphis, and of the Kilometers at Cairo and
Elephantine (20.7 inches),'" the ark would have been
517 feet long, 86^ wide, and 51^ high, corre-
sponding very closely in breadth and height to the
famous British Great Eastern, but shorter and there-
fore so far more seaworthy, the dimensions of the
latter being 691 by 83 by 58; whereas the Chal-
dean story of Berosus gives the preposterous length
of five stadia and the breadth of two stadia ; (f)
made of gopher or pitch wood, which is abundant
in the region of the Caucasus and in Armenia ; (g)
tightened with bitumen, which is found at various
points in the vicinity of the Euphrates ; (h) con-
structed in stories and cells, and with light ; (i) the
whole structure pre-supposing the skill in the use
of metals already indicated in the Scripture narra-
tive. It may be added that the "olive" of the pass-
age is found in Armenia. The narrative has a com-
plete inner and outer consistency. The attempt to
12 Notes on the Great Pyramids of Memphis (1869), p. 10. If this were not
the precise length of the cubit, the proportions would be the same, corre-
sponding favorably to those of the vessel built by the Mistress of the Seas in
1857, then the largest ship -"n the world. What human being, thousands, or
even hundreds of years ago, was competent to give such proportions, except
as describing a fact? Supposing the figures to have passed through the
hands of Moses, they would naturally be reckoned in cubits of the pyramids.
158 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
find a contradiction, as of two conflicting accounts,
in the direction to take of the clean beasts by seven
and of the beasts that are not clean by two, male
and female (both stated in one verse, vii. 2), even
though in the first and preliminary announcement
only the general principle of "two of every sort" is
mentioned, is transparently futile.
3. Its pure monotheism, in marked contrast to
the low polytheism of the lately discovered Chal-
dean account, which represents the gods as fleeing
in terror before the whirlwind and storm and "like
dogs lying down in a heap" (and " in a kennel^'''^ Davis
and Boscawen). Almost equally marked is the con-
trast between the direct simplicity of the Scripture
account and the w^earisome repetitions and trivial
details of what is called the Chaldean Epic.
4. Its marks of personal participation, and de-
scription at first-hand. This suggestion is not new.
Kurtz spoke of the narrative many years ago as
bearing "all the marks of being a carefully kept
diary." Tayler Lewis spoke of its being "as op-
tically described by some one in the ark." Dr.
Dawson has called it a "log." More than sixty
years ago Herder, wdth his quick instinct, recognized
it as a journal of what took place in the ark, "true
and authentic." Reusch substantially accepts the
suggestion. The suggestion, once made, commends
itself in the strongest manner to the thoughtful stu-
dent, especially of the original text, in which the
optional traits are most distinctly seen.'^
13 Kurtz, History of the Old Covenant, i., p. 102. Lewis, in Lange's Gene-
sis, p. 321. Dawson, The Meeting Place of Geology and History, p. 139,
Herder's Hebrew Poetry, i., p. 253. Reusch's Nature and the Bible, i., p. 403.
THE DELUGE 159
The very precision of statement, already men-
tioned, running through the entire narrative, and
that too in regard to some things (e. g. the dimen-
sions of the ark) which no human being from that
day to the present century v^as capable of invent-
ing without ludicrous mistakes, and which, it might
be added, even the phenomenal memory of early
non-reading communities could hardly have retained
for any great length of time without the aid of writ-
ing (which antedates all historic knowledge), is of
itself a powerful argument in favor of the sugges-
tion.
But in addition to this, there are expressions and
slight touches of description, which in their vivid-
ness, child-like minuteness, and even exclamatory
character, belong only to the scene as actually wit-
nessed, and would have been lost in a merely far-
off outline. Thus the narrator is so impressed
with the startling fact of the beginning inrush of
the "fountains of the great deep," and the rainfall,
that he gives not only the year, the month and the
day, but he adds that it was ''on the same day,"
literally, in the Hebrew, "in the bone of that day"
(chap. vi. ii). How vividly he describes the steady
rising of the waters and the effect (vii. 17-20)!
They ' ' increased, " " bare up the ark' ' till ' ' it was lift
up above the earth," and still "the waters pre-
vailed" and "increased greatly" till "the ark went"
(walked) "upon the face of the waters." So again
of the failing waters (viii. 3, 5, 9, 11, 13, 14),
which "returned from off the earth continually"
160 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
(literally, going and returning), "decreased contin-
ually" (going and decreasing), though still lying
"on the face of the whole earth," but at length
known to be "abated from off the earth," then
"dried" (ver. 13), but only after another month and
twenty days completely "dried" — as expressed by
another word (ver. 13, 14). Some of the extremely
minute touches of description are such as only a
witness and actor in the transaction would have re-
corded : Noah "opened the v/indow" to send forth
the birds, and when the dove returned, he ''^fut
forth his hand and took her and pulled her in unto
him in the ark. " There are the optical descriptions :
first (ver. 19), "^// the high hills under the whole
heaven were covered," and ''^the mountains were
covered;" and after the waters began to abate,
"the tofs of the mountains zuere seen,'''' Here too
are the expressions of the pleased surprise of the
eye-witness : when the dove returned the second
time, "A?, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off"
(margin "fresh olive leaf") ; and later, he "removed
the covering of the ark and looked^ and behold (/t*),
the face of the earth was dry." Such slight but
expressive touches come naturally and only from a
participant. This circumstance, as will presently
appear, is not without its bearing on the interpre-
tation of the narrative.
The recently discovered Chaldean or Babylonian
account has many points of resemblance to the Bib-
lical statement, sufficient to show that they refer to
the same event. It represents the Flood to be a
THE DELUGE 161
punishment for sin, and describes the previous an-
nouncement, the building of a huge vessel (made
tight with bitumen), the conveyance of animals into
it for preservation, the tremendous storm, the birds
(dove, swallow and raven), the landing on a moun-
tain, the sacrifice, and other corresponding circum-
stances. Its divergences also are sufficient, as has
been said by Boscawen, to indicate "a separate ver-
sion," and thus to serve as a historical corrobo-
ration.
The relations of the two have been repeatedly
discussed ; and while some have supposed them to
be derived from a common source, others have been
ready to make the Chaldean to be the original and
the Hebrew a derived version. This last view, it
would seem, can hardly be maintained : if for no
other reason, because while the Hebrew account
could easily have degenerated in transmission into
the incongruities and impossibilities of the Babylo-
nian, it is not readily supposable that the latter
could have been rectified and elevated into the dig-
nity and consistency of the former. Thus, the
whole time assigned to the event in the Bab3'lonian
is the proposterously short time of seven days. No
mention is made of any other source of the waters
than the rain. The dimensions of the ship, though
doubtful as to the length, are now given by Pro-
fessor Davis on the authority of Haupt as 140 cubits
in width and the same in height. This, reckoning
the cubit at but eighteen inches, would make it not
162 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
only 2 20 feet wide, but 220 feet high. ^* This huge
affair is entrusted to the charge of a pilot or boat-
man. The builder and hero of the adventure, when
told to build, expresses the fear that the children of
the people will laugh at him ; but eventually he
finishes the work and takes into it, not only his man-
servants and maid-servants and chests or baskets
of food (carried on the heads of the bearers), but
his gold and silver and "wine like waters of the
river." The polytheism of the story has been al-
ready mentioned
These striking differences and inferiorities, and
partly impossible details, when compared with the
sober and dignified statements of the Bible, would
seem to show decidedly which was the genuine and
true account, and which, if either, was a loose and
rambling distortion of the other. It would have
been not difficult for the Hebrew narrative to be
thus transformed in the lapse of time, and possibly
by oral transmission, but hardly could even a Moses
have made the consistent Bible narrative out of
such raw materials. Brought suddenly to light
after being hidden away for some twenty-five hun-
dred years, the Chaldean epic is, even more than
any of the similar and allied traditions, a striking
confirmation of the Biblical narrative, to which it
stands in the relation of the shadow to the substance ;
and it is a very noteworthy fact that this one Chal-
14 Geo. Smith, Chaldean Genesis, p. 280, gives 60 cubits for the width and
height; but Haupt's authority is later and better. Smith gives 600 cubits for
the length, which Haupt thinks probable. Boscawen omits all figures (p.
115). Haupt's figures are given by Davis, Genesis and Semitic Tradition,
p. 117.
THE DELUGE 163
dean account contains portions of the narrative
which the modern analysts have divided between
two writers, the Jehovist and the Elohist.^^
III. The extent of the Deluge. Delitzsch has
expressed the view now prevalent among sober ex-
positors when he says, " The Scripture demands the
universality of the flood only for the earth as in-
habited, not for the earth as such." This opinion
or its equivalent was long ago expressed by Stilling-
fleet and Poole, and is now adopted by commen-
tators of various evangelical communions, such
as Turner, Murphy, Tayler Lewis, Lange, the
Speaker's Commentar}^ the Handy Commentary,
Strack, and others. Dillmann calls attention to the
fact that such a limitation is indicated on a close
examination of the narrative itself. Some of the
reasons that may be given are as follows :
1. The end announced, which was the destruc-
tion of mankind. The entire submergence of the
whole earth would be a superfluous process, such
as even the Divine Being is not wont to perform.
It would also, as will presently appear, involve an
accumulation of miracles of which there not only is
no intimation, but which would seem to be precluded
by the explanation given in the narrative.
2. The optical nature of the description, already
15 The larger part of the Biblical account is ascribed by the critics to the
Elohist. But the following things are found by them only in the Jehovist:
The prediction of the rain. vii. 4; the shutting into the ark, verse 16; the
sending forth of the dove and its return; the sending of the raven and its
non-return; the building of an altar, the offering of a sacrifice, and the
smelling of a sweet savor; — although the "epic" characteristically adds,
"The gods like flies over the Master the sacrifice gathered." Boscawen
shows these things conveniently tabulated in his book, as they are distinctly
given by Kautzsch. Thus the critics make two of what the Epic and the
Sible make one.
164 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
shown, limits the phraseology. For an eye-witness
to recognize and say that all the high hills and
mountains under the whole heaven were covered,
that is, through the whole horizon, or as far as the
eye can reach, is quite different from a scientific
record that all the mountains over the entire earth
were covered. The point or mode of view restricts
the description.
3. The narrative itself makes one great deduc-
tion from the general breadth of the phraseology
when it says (vii. 22), "All that was on the dryland
died."
4. The dimensions of the ark, as given, consti-
tute a necessary limitation. The attempt was for-
merly made by Sir Walter Raleigh, and has since
been occasionally repeated, to show that the ark
could contain a pair of each living species and seven
of each clean species of animals from all parts of the
earth, with a year's supply of food. Raleigh reck-
ons on the basis of a hundred distinct species only.
The number of species now known renders the sup-
position impossible. ^^
5. A deluge, covering the entire earth and all
its mountains to the depth of fifteen cubits, would
involve the following superfluous and stupendous
miracles, of which no intimation can be found in
the narrative, some of which are precluded by the
methods specified in the narrative :
16 The number, as given forty years ago, was 1658 species of mammals (in
eluding 1,062 clean species), 600 species of birds, 644 of reptiles. The ' 'Zoo
logical Record" now gives the species of mammals as 2,500, birds 12,500, rep-
tiles and batrachians 4,400, crustaceans 20,000 — to mention no others; and the
entire number of distinct species, including insects, 366,000.
THE DELUGE 165
(i) The creation or procurement of eight times
the present amount of water on the globe, and then
its destruction or removal/^
(2) Provision of extraordinary, if not impossible,
means of transportation of the animals across inter-
vening continents and oceans, and their return.
(3) The preservation of many species of animals,
tropical and arctic and others, away from their
proper habitats, climate and food.
(4) The re-creation of the large portions of sea
fish (e. g. corals) and perhaps all fresh-water fish,
and nearly all vegetation, which would have been
destroyed by such a long-continued inundation and
mingling of salt water and fresh.
Now the narrative leaves room for none of these
suppositions. It expressly conflicts with some of
them. Thus it attributes the phenomenon to ex-
isting causes, namely, the fountains of the great
deep and the rain from the windows of heaven, and
these only. These considerations would seem to
control and interpret the case.
The general or universal phraseology might at
first appear to stand in the way. Scripture usage,
however, relieves the difficulty. For we not only
have here the limitation of the optical description,
and of the end in view, and other indications men-
tioned ; but we find elsewhere equally wide phrase-
ology similarly restricted in detail. Sometimes it
is simply understood in a restricted sense as well-
known popular usage; as when we read (Matt, ni.
16 Edward Hitchcock's Religion and Geology, p. 128.
166 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
5, 6), that all Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the
region round about went out to John and were bap-
tized of him — everybody went, as we now some-
times say — or (Luke ii. i), there went out a decree
from Caesar Augustus that all the world — all the
Roman Vv^orld — should be taxed. These instances
are understood without any explanation being given.
Sometimes the broad statement is made and limited
in the next breath ; as when we read (Gen. xli. 54)
that "the dearth was in all lands, but in the land of
Egypt there was bread." Sometimes the limitation
appears later; as we read (Ex. ix. 25) how the
hail smote every herb of the field and broke every
tree of the field, and again (x. 15) how the locusts
did eat every herb of the land and all the fruit of
the trees which the hail had left. As to the Flood
also, the needful limitations are involved in the cir-
cumstances and implications of the narrative. The
suggestion of Tayler Lewis that the scale would at
once be reduced to our imagination by translating
"the whole land^^ instead of the whole "earth"
(which, he adds, would be "very justifiable"), is not
necessary.
We may thus properly understand, as now rec-
ognized, a deluge covering the earth's surface as
inhabited by or known to man, and an unknown re-
gion beyond. The area needed not to have been a
very large part of the earth's v/hole surface. For
it has been the course of history that nations scatter
only under the pressure of necessity, chiefly as they
have crowded upon each other. But if we accept
THE DELUGE
167
as complete the list of ten generations, from Adam
to Noah (which, however, may be doubted), with
five as the ratio of increase, it would give a popu-
lation of not more than five millions, which could
find room in an area not larger than the British
Islands, or even in Palestine—which latter country
is but about i8o miles in length, and from the Jor-
dan to the sea rarely more than 50 miles in breadth.
But a circle 800 miles in diameter, having its cen-
ter at Mosul, would extend but about fifty miles
into the Black, Caspian and Mediterranean seas,
and would accommodate a vastly larger population
than we have mentioned ; and if, as many suppose,
the human race had been much longer upon the
earth, and had become much more numerous, the
area to be covered by a destructive flood would
still be comparatively limited.
IV. The method of the Deluge. If the Deluge
be, as has been shown, a well substantiated fact, w^e
are by no means bound to explain the method. We
are obliged to accept facts as such, constantly, with-
out explanation. But fortunately modern researches
have made it possible to suggest at least a proxi-
mate explanation. The Scripture describes it by
saying that "the fountains of the great deep were
broken up and the windows of heaven were opened ;"
and that it was terminated by a reversal of this proc-
ess ''' although in the latter case there is the addi-
tional statement of the noticeabk_external^nom-
^asT^ig'hlhfwCirS^^ri^^^^^^^^^ te^r Jnation of the Deluge.
168 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
enon that "God made a wind to pass over the
earth." While the narrative naturally mentions
the most striking phenomena of the case, namely,
the violent rain (or, as some very unnecessarily con-
jecture, water spouts), and the wind, it can hardly
be doubted that the main agency was that which is
first mentioned, the breaking up of the fountains of
the great deep, that is, in some way the inrush-
ing of the ocean. Rainfall, however continuous,
amounts at the utmost to but a few inches in a day,
and forty days' rain, however impressive to the
senses, would have been the least of the causes.
The deluge was due mainly to the "fountains of
the great deep," the irruption of the ocean.
Such a result, it is now known, could be accom-
plished on a larger or a smaller scale by the subsid-
ence and re-elevation of the earth's surface. Noth-
ing in regard to the history of the earth is more
certain than the fact of vast elevations and depres-
sions of its surface, both protracted and sudden,
some of them going on even now, but more of them
in the past, at dates that can only be stated proxi-
mately, and in geological measures.
These changes of level may be described as (i)
gradual and secular; such as the slow rising of
nearly the whole of Norway and Sweden, where,
while south of Stockholm there has been a slight
depression, the whole coast north of it has risen
from loo to 600 feet f the raised breaches of Chili
and Patagonia for a thousand miles on the eastern
19 Le Conte, Geology (1891), p. 135.
THE DELUGE 169
shore and 2,075 n^il^s on the western, lifted from
100 to 1,300, and even nearly 3,000 feet ;^" the
supposed subsidence of the coral region of the Pa-
cific through an area of 6, coo miles by 1,000 or
2,000, to a depth of 3,000 and in some places 5,000
feet"^ — not to enumerate many known cases of less
remarkable change. These have been slow. Green-
land, for 600 miles north and south, has been sink-
ing for four hundred years. (2) Sudden elevations
or depressions in connection with earthquakes, of
greater or less extent. Instances are given in the
modern geological treatises, and more numerously
by De Girard."' Geikie mentions the raising of the
coast of Chili for a long distance by the terrible
earthquake of 1822, and further upraising of the
same coastline by subsequent earthquake shocks ;
and on the other hand the sudden sinking of sixt}'-
four square miles beneath the sea by the Bengal
earthquake of 1^-^62,^ On a larger scale, Dana
and Le Conte both cite the earthquake of 1819,
which shook the whole region round the mouth of
the Indus, whereby a tract of land of 2,000 square
miles became a salt lagoon, while another area fifty
miles long and ten to sixteen miles wide was ele-
vated ten feet."'^ The latter author, after giving
20 lb., p. 134.
21 Dana, Geolopy (1895), p. 350; Le Conte, p. 152. Le Conte, however, men-
tions that some have doubted the necessity of this explanation, and Geikie,
iu his Geclogy (1893), p. 290, remarks that the phenomena of the coral rt-efs
"/w some cases, at least, are capable of explanation without subsidence." IJuc
Dana in 1S95 retains the statement given. Geikie, however, asserts other in-
stances of subsidence.
22 La Sismique Theorie du Deluge.
23 Geology, pp. 278, 279.
24 Le Conte, p. 112; Dana, p. 349.
170 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
several other instances, adds, "We might multiply
examples, if necessary." (3) Vast geological suc-
cessive changes of level, as when in the glacial
epoch on the northern portion of this continent the
elevation was from 2,000 to 3,000 feet above the
present level, and when in the Champlain epoch the
downward movement carried the depression from
500 to 1,000 feet below the same level and was fol-
lowed by the upward movement of the Terrace
epoch. There was a time when the region of the
great lakes was one immense lake, extending its
waters south over Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and
the sea was five hundred feet deep at Montreal,
when the whale left his bones on the borders of
Lake Champlain, and north of Lake Ontario 440
feet above the present level of the sea.^^ About the
same time the land in Scotland was depressed
2,000 feet below the present level of the sea. Great
Britain was an archipelago, and a great part of
northern Europe was submerged.'^ (4) Rapid and
extensive inundations such as have been recently
affirmed by Prestwich and Sir Henry Howorth,
presently to be mentioned. Whether they are to be
retrarded as connected with the last-mentioned class
does not distinctly appear.
Facts like these go to prove such a catastrophe
as the Deluge to be entirely within the range of
natural phenomena, if we choose to take that view ;
and at all events within the use of the Power that
works behind the wheels of nature.
25 Dana, pp. 982, 983. 26 Le Conte, p. 572.
THE DELUGE 171
Now many years ago Hugh Miller called atten-
tion to a remarkable state of things in the extensive
region lying east and south of Mt. Ararat, and ex-
tending easterly beyond the Caspian and Aral Seas,
and southward in the direction of the Persian Gulf P
The shore line of the Caspian is eighty-three feet
below the level of the Black Sea, and the steppes
around it are about thirty feet below the level of
the Baltic ; while vast plains, white with salt and
charged with sea-shells, show the Caspian to have
been once far more extensive than now. While the
human race was still included within the general
region of its original home, suppose a depression,
such as those actually on record elsewhere, to have
takt:n place for forty days, from the Euxine Sea and
Persian Gulf on the one hand and the Gulf of Fin-
land on the other. This "breaking up of the
fountains of the great deep" would slowly and
surely have submerged that whole region of perhaps
2,000 miles each way, sinking it far enough at the
center to cover all the hills of the district "under
the whole heaven." Meanwhile, even if volcanic
action did not accompany, the atmosphere might
have been so filled with lonor and drenchini^ rains
as to have made this the most apprehensible feature
of the case. Add the supposition that after a hun-
dred and fifty days the depressed hollow began
slowly to rise till it resumed its former level — and
we have all the phenomena of the case.
In singular but unintentional confirmation of the
27 Testimony of the Rocks, Am. Ed., p. 358 seq.
172 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
entire possibility of such a supposition, we read in
Le Conte's Geology that at a time which he re-
fers to the Champlain epoch "the northern portion
of Asia and the lake region of that continent were
submerged. The Caspian Sea, Lake Aral, and
other lakes in that region were probably united into
one great inland sea, connected either with the
Black Sea, or the greatly extended Arctic Ocean,
or with both.'*'^^ Dana says the same."^ The fact
is sufficiently remarkable.
Recent researches bring us still nearer to a defi-
nite explanation and scientific substantiation of the
Biblical account. Sir Henry Howorth in his learned
and careful work"' claims to have established cer-
tain great facts which may be summarily stated
thus : (i) A great and general cataclysm or catastro-
phe at the close of the mammoth period, by which
that animal and its associates were overwhelmed,
over a large part of the earth's surface. (2) This
involved a widespread flood of water, which not
only killed the animals, but also buried tlieni under
continuous beds of loam or gravel. (3) It was ac-
companied by a very great and sudden change of
climate in Siberia, by which the animals were
frozen in their flesh under ground and have re-
mained frozen ever since. (4) It took place when
man was already occupying the earth, and consti-
tutes the gap which exists between palaeolithic and
neolithic man. (5) This is in all probability the
28 Geology, p. 573. He cites three authorities.
29 Geology, p. Q95. 30 Howorth, The Mammoth and the Flood.
THE DELUan W3
same event pointed out in the traditions of so many
races, as the primeval flood; and it "forms a great
break in hmxian continuity, and is the great divide
when history really begins." As substantially con-
curring in this view — which, as will be perceived, is
of wider extent than is required for the Scripture
Deluge, so far at least as the occurrence of a great
flood suddenly destructive of animal life — he cites
several eminent names, including the Duke of
Argyll. Sir J. W. Dawson appears to accept the
entire view.^^
To the same purport and with even greater defi-
niteness was a paper of the eminent and veteran
geologist, Joseph Prestwich, read before the Vic-
Toria Institute March 19, 1894.'' After years of
investigation and inquiry, extending over Great
Britain and the Continent, and the coasts of the
Mediterranean, and including France, Gibraltar,
Sicily, Malta, Greece, Asia Minor, North Africa,
Egypt, his conclusions fully coincide in the main
points with those of Sir Henry Howorth, but with
this significant addition, that the depression and ele-
vation took place in a very brief ferwd. "These
concurrent conditions seem to me, however startling
may be the conclusion, to be only explicable upon
the hypothesis of a widespread though local and
short submergence followed by early re-elevation ;
and this hypothesis will, I think, be found to satisfy
31 The Meeting Place of Geology and History.
32 Journal of the Victoria Institute, 1894, PP, 263-284. It ^as discussed by
other geoloeists with some criticism and objections. But the author an
swered the critics and adhered to his position.
174 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
all the important conditions of the problem." He
maintains that the opinion long held by him, that
the close of the glacial period (which was followed
by a great inundation) comes down to within about
10,000 or 12,000 years of our time," is forced on us
on archaeological grounds alone." He proceeds:
"We have in the widespread catastrophe involved
in the foregoing hypothesis a more adequate cause
for the tradition of the Flood than any local or land
flood, however great it may have been ; an inunda-
tion of continental dimensions and destructive to
large populations of men and animals. The few
who resorted to the heights and mountain summits,
could alone have escaped, and from these centers
peopled afresh the surrounding areas. Although
our knowledge of all the phenomena is still very
imperfect, it is remarkable how^ in all the leading
points the facts agree with the tradition. The
geological phenomena have also led me to suppose
that the submergence w^as, as in the tradition, of
short duration^ and the retreat of the waters com-
paratively gradual, while the destruction of animal
life is sufficiently show^n in the numerous remains
preserved in the different forms of the Rubble-drift,
wherever the conditions were favorable. That
man lived at the time we are speaking of is now
a question not necessary to argue, since the fact of
the existence of paleolithic or Quaternary man,
over the whole area we have described, is at the
present day a well established fact. Therefore,
that man must have suffered in this great catastro-
phe, may be taken for granted."
THE DELUGE m
Sir J. W. Dawson substantially accords with this
statement of facts and the conclusion, recognizing
the comparatively recent date of palaeolithic man,
the disappearance of a large number of animals
simultaneously with him, the separation of the neo-
lithic from the palaeolithic races by a somewhat
rapid physical change of the nature of a submer-
gence, or by a series of changes locally sudden and
not long continued, this being the basis of all the
traditions and historic accounts of the Deluge. He
regards the Biblical Deluge as the "record of a sub-
mergence of a vast region of Eur- Asia and northern
Africa," and holds it "certain that the post-glacial
subsidence which closed the era of pakieocosmic
man and his companion animals must have been
one of the most transient on record. On the other
hand, we need not limit the entire duration of the
Noachic submergence to the single year whose
record has been preserved to us. Local subsidence
may have been in progress throughout the later An-
tediluvian age, and the experience of the narrator in
Genesis may have related only to its culmination in
the central district of human residence. "^'^
So Dillmann, in the sixth and last edition of his
commentary (1892), accepts the fact of a brief in-
undation of a limited area, and after the introduc-
tion of the human race. "The specifications of the
text itself indicate only a partial submergence of
the earth, and indeed within the m.emory of man,
and there is no reason to doubt its possibility.
33 The Meeting Place, etc., pp. 128, 12, 9148.
1^6 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
Many instances of seismic-cyclonic floods in lands
lying near the sea have been collected by Suess
from historic times. There must have been a
mighty flood of this kind in high antiquity, to which
reference is here made." He concludes that all in-
dications point to east Armenia as the scene.
Dillmann's reference to Suess suggests the some-
what definite explanation reached by that writer in
his treatise, "Die Sintfluth"(i883). He holds that
it was a natural phenomenon beginning on the
lower Euphrates, a great and terrible inundation
covering the lowlands of Mesopotamia ; the princi-
pal cause was a violent earthquake in the Persian
Gulf or the neighboring region, preceded by other
slighter shocks ; and that probably during the most
violent shocks a cyclone set in from the south to
increase its ravages, and that under these influences
the ark v/ould be carried, as it w^as, northward to
be stranded on the northern hills."* De Girard de-
fends this theory, supporting it by additional details. ^^
Delitzsch says: "The circumstances of the Deluge
have as yet been better represented by no one than
Edward Suess in a geological study,-' of which De-
litzsch recapitulates the chief points.
It will be observed that while some of these writ-
ers assign a wider range than others to the phe-
nomenon, they all agree on somewhat definite facts
which would make it fully meet the requirements
of the Biblical narrative. And it is no objection
34 The explanation by Suess is cited from De Girard.
35 La Theorie Sismique (1892), pp. 58 seq. Le Caractere Naturel du Del-
uge, p. 120.
THE DELUGE 111
that their discussions proceed entirely on the basis
of natural phenomena, but all the more satisfactory ;
inasmuch as the Scripture expressly declares natural
agencies to have been the means employed by God.
Nor should any of their special subordinate opinions
and theories cause us to overlook their united testi-
mony to the facts.
The result of all these various facts stands fast.
The Scripture narrative of the Deluge is a sober
historical account of one of the greatest and most
ineffaceable events in the history of the human race ;
true, whether explicable or not, yet entirely ex-
plicable by well known facts in the phenomena of
the earth's surface. In the words of Howorth, we
find "induction from paleontology and archaeol-
ogy compelling the same conclusion as the legend-
ary myths and stories of the children of men. All
points unmistakably, as it seems to me, to a wide-
spread catastrophe, involving a flood on a great
scale. I do not see how the historian, the archaeol-
ogist, the paleontologist can avoid making this
conclusion in future a prime factor in their discus-
sions, and I venture to think that before long it will
be universally accepted as unanswerable ; not only
as unanswerable, but as alone explaining some at
least of the difficulties which crowd upon us when
we study the ethnography of the human race."^®
36 The Mammoth and the Flood, p. 463.
CHAPTER VIII
ANTEDILUVIAN LIFE
The sacred narrative prepares the way for its
account of the Deluge by tracing the generations
down from Adam through Seth to Noah. The
genealogy, as Ryle remarks, "could hardly be
simpler. Besides the names of the patriarchs we
are told nothing but their ages, both at the time of
their first-born and at the time of their death, and
the fact that each of the patriarchs begat sons and
daughters. Of the patriarch Enoch alone is any
further description given."
This extreme brevity would be naturally ex-
plained by its great antiquity, itself made portable
by its simplicity. The condition in which its num-
bers have come down would countenance the sup-
position. It is certainly the occasion of very great
difficulties, which no skill in investigation or con-
jecture on the part of many ingenious men has been
able to remove, or to explain even on any theory
which has been generally accepted. The funda-
mental difficulty is the immense length of life
ascribed to these men, amounting in the case of
Methuselah to 969 years. Accordingly some have,
with Bunsen, pronounced it "intrinsically impossi-
ble;" and Ryle contends that the unhistorical char-
acter of this genealogy should be as freely admitted
178
ANTEDILUVIAN LIFE 17»
as that of the legends alluded to in the authorities
cited by Josephus/ This last summary dismissal
of the whole genealogy, characteristic as it is of no
little modern exposition, is as reasonable as it would
be to discard the whole history of Egpyt as un-
founded because Mariette Bey dates the beginning
of the Anicent Empire B. C. 5004 ; Boeckh puts it
a 5702; Brugsch, 4453; Lepsius, 3892; Bunsen,
3623 ; Birch, 3000, and Wilkinson, 2320. The pre-
cariousness of numbers, both in the ascertainment
and the transmission, is notorious. The figures may
be erroneous and the list incomplete (as many sup-
pose it to be), and yet the genealogy historical.
There lies before me a genealogical book tracing
an American family down from its distant English
ancestry, in which some of the figures are incor-
rect, and one whole American generation of the
last century omitted; yet the table is historical, and
the line is brought truly down to the present gen-
eration.
In regard to the ages of the antediluvians the
figures have been an uncertain quantity for two
thousand years or more ; and we not only do not
know that we are sure of them, but we know some-
what definitely that we are not. For this reason :
there are three very different and divergent sets of
numbers. The numbers of the Hebrew text give
a total of 1656 years from Adam to the Flood ; the
Samaritan text, of a date not certainly settled, gives
1307, and the Septuagint, of which Genesis was
I Ryle, The Early Narratives of Genesis, p. 88.
180 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
translated some two hundred and fifty years before
Christ, gives 2242, and according to another read-
ing 2262. The fact speaks for itself; the original
numbers have been in some way, and for some rea-
son, labored with, or accidentally modified, possibly
on account of their difficulty. They may have been
lost and conjecturally restored. But such is the
fact ; we have no absolute certainty. Early in the
Christian Era the numbers of the Septuagint were
more commonly accepted, and they have been ad-
vocated by some in recent times. The prevailing
opinion now is probably in favor of the Hebrew.
But the problem is for the present incapable of cer-
tain solution. Under the circumstances, therefore,
the simple and obvious method of dealing with the
problem would be to dismiss it with a mere state-
ment of the actual fact that we do not know. We
are satisfied to rest the case there. But inasmuch
as many may desire to know what solutions have
been proposed, we will mention them.
I. Some have suggested shorter years, as short
even as one month. This seems inadmissible for
two reasons : first, because it would make Enos a
father at about the age of 7^^ years, and Canaan
^^5^; and, secondly, because the antediluvian
year is virtually determined in the next chapter,
where we read of the 27th day of the month, and
of the tenth month, and a comparison of the several
dates indicates a year of 360 days. The supposition
of a year of three months, or any less than twelve,
is baseless.
ANTEDILUVIAN LIFE 181
2. Some, with Bunsen, have understood that
the names designate, not persons, but "epochs";
sometimes explained as the ascendency of a famil}^
as that of Seth, and so on. Or they have been
called "cyclical periods." But the statement in
each instance of the age at v/hich the individual be-
came a father, and the particular cases of Enoch,
Lamech and Noah, appear incompatible with the
view. Yet Delitzsch, in the last edition of his
commentary, speaks of these numbers of Adam,
Enos and Jared, as though "they designate epochs
of antediluvian history which are named after their
chief representatives, and the period of these epochs
is allotted to the individual life of these chief rep-
resentatives, as though it had extended over the
whole period."
3. An ingenious scheme is cited by Prof. Alex-
ander Winchell" as devised by Rev. T. P. Craw-
ford. It interprets in each case the first number as
giving the actual life of the individual, the second
that of the continued ascendency of his family ; thus
Adam lived but 130 years, and appointed Seth (in
the place of Abel) to be his successor, the family
rule being continued 800 years more, in all 930
years, when Enos succeeded in like manner. The
speculation has this much of support, that the Old
Testament elsewhere invariably uses a different
phraseology to designate the age of a man at any
definite time, namely, not that he had "lived" so
many years, but that he was "the son of" those
2 Winchell's Preadamite Man, p. 449 seq.
182 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
3^ears. It would also extend the time from Adam
to Christ to 12,500 years. But it labors heavily in
several points : in interpreting " begot" as appointed
or constituted (though referring to Ps. ii. 7) ; in the
twofold meaning ascribed to " lived" ; in understand-
ing the words "likeness" and "image" to mean
character and office.
4. On the other hand, there are still writers of
high character who, notwithstanding the three dif-
ferent editions of the numbers, adhere to the He-
brew text and its more obvious interpretation. They
adduce the following considerations:
(i) Tho. pri7na facte B.^^e.Q,t oi the several state-
ments.
(2) The existence of widespread traditions of the
greatest ancient longevity. Thus Lenormant, who
regards the figures as "cyclic numbers," asseris
"the belief common to all nations in an extreme
longevity among the earliest ancestors of the race."
He refers to the well-known statement of Josephus
that Hesiod, Hecat£eus, Hellanicos, Acousilaos, as
well as Ephorus and Nicolas (of Damascus), every
one relate that the men of antiquit}- lived a thou-
sand years ; the assertion of Hesiod^ that in the sil-
ver age men remained with their mothers in the
state of childhood for a hundred 3^ears ; the belief
of the Thynians that their ancestor lived 500 years,
and of the Illyrians that their first two princes lived
600 and 800 years respectively.* It calls for ex-
3 Works and Days, lag, 130.
4 Lenormant, Beginnings of History, pp. 292, 294,
ANTEDILUVIAN LIFE 183
planation how these widespread notions arose, un-
less as a reminiscence of the actual past.
(3) The fact would explain the early great prog-
ress in the arts, which we shall have occasion to
mention later. With the long contemporaneous
lives skill would be accumulated and inherited.
Methuselah would have been long contemporary
with both Adam and Noah.
(4) It accords with the apparent reduction of the
length of life according to the Scripture narrative.
Three classes of long life are given, in a descend-
ing scale : of the antediluvians, ranging (except
Enoch) between 777 and 969; of Noah's earlier
descendants, from 230 to 600; of Abraham and his
earlier descendants, less than 200 years, namely,
Abraham 175, Isaac 180, Ishmael 137, Jacob 147,
Joseph no, Moses 120, while Jacob at 130 pro-
nounced his days "few and evil" and less than those
of his fathers.
(5) An admissible, or at least possible, explana-
tion of the change, namely, the resistance to decay
long offered by the body in its primitive condition,
and prior to the effects of steady abuse of the hu-
man system through ages of inherited degeneration.
The wonder is that men live now so long, in their
luxury, vices, and intemperance of every kind.
For though there are modern well authenticated in-
stances of lives extending much beyond a century,
if not nearer two centuries,^ vast numbers through
personal habits and inherited decay are worn out
5 See Appendix, note xviii.
184 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
early, and whole lines of ancient aristocratic fami-
lies, like those of the Duke of Northumberland and
the Earl of Warwick in England, have failed of all
lineal descendants. And on the other hand, better
sanitary arrangements, together with better medi-
cal and surgical methods, have actually raised the
average length of human life in such countries as
England and the United States.
In truth, as Kurtz, Reusch, Delitzsch, Zoeckler,
Strack and others have well remarked, no man is
capable of sa3ing what length of life was "possi-
ble" vv^hen the human constitution was in its primi-
tive strength, and under very different circumstances
and conditions from those which now prevail— and
originally made, perhaps, to pass away, not by dis-
ease and death, but by such a transfiguration as that
apparently of Enoch and Elijah. Strack makes a
remark also, which may or may not have weight,
that this length of life is not ascribed to all men,
but only to the prominent personages of the Sethite
or godly race, while the silence concerning the
limits of life in the Cainite family m.ay well be re-
garded as significant. He accepts the suggestion of
2^oeckler that this long life of the antediluvians
was "the after-glow of the glory of paradise."
The difficulty of pronouncing summaril}^ on the
possible length of life under changed conditions is
well illustrated in the case of tree life, or even ani-
mal life. One who is accustomed only to trees
like the poplar or the maple, decaying perhaps
within less than a centur}^, might assert very
ANTEDILUVIAN LIFE 185
confidently that it was impossible for a tree to live
two thousand years ; but we have the great author-
ity of Professor Whitney and Asa Gray that the
Sequoia of California has attained more than that
age/ while it is also to be noted that such a growth
and age are to be found now only under those con-
ditions^ and in those very regions. The olive is a
hardy fruit tree, but it will thrive only in certain
parts of the Spanish peninsula ; and while in France
the severe winter of 1709 killed all the olive trees
in that country and the adjacent parts of Italy, there
is near Nice a tree thirt3'-eight feet in diameter, re-
corded as an old tree in 1516, and another at Pescio
said to be 700 years old, and some at Jerusalem
undoubtedly far older. Animal life is for the most
part short, much of it very short, far within the
lifetime of man. Yet it is Sir John Lubbock who
reminds us how little we know of the age to which
animals can or actually do live. He proceeds cau-
tiously thus: "The camel is said to reach 100
years, the elephant 200, the Greenland whale 40o( ?).
A pike is said to have been taken in Suabia in 1499
with a ring inscribed v/ith a date and statement
which would make it 267 years old. A tortoise is
said to have reached 500 years."
Such facts and admonitions as these strongly sug-
gest the necessity of caution in saying what can
and what cannot be. So do the very latest discover-
ies in regard to the functions of light, electricity
6 See an article by Asa Gray in Johnson's Cyclopaedia, 2nd Edition, vol.
vii., p. 133.
186 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
and sound. For any man to say what was impos-
sible as to human life many thousand years ago,
under what may, and what purports to, have been
very different conditions, is not merely idle, it is
presumptuous.
The conclusion to which we may come is that we
are at liberty, if we choose, to hold to the figures
of the Hebrew text, saying that, notwithstanding
the objections, there are some important consider-
ations in its favor ; or to take the ground that the
changes of the three sets of numbers and their pres-
ent divergence are such as to forbid any positive
decision or solution. The latter may be the wiser
course.
Another matter connected with this early history
calls for attention. The brief and therefore some-
what obscure account prefixed to the narrative of
the Flood has been made the occasion of strange
ingenuity. The marriage of the "sons of God and
the daughters of men" is interpreted by a whole
class of writers, who pronounce the early history
of the Scriptures to be mythical, and by many
others in deference to their authority, as describing
a sexual union between angels and women — al-
though most of these writers discard the supernat-
ural. The attempt to burden the narrative with
such an absurdity is needless.
A perfectly simple and consistent interpretation
is the one commonly accepted by the evangelical
churches. It is entirely defensible. The account
joins on easily and directly to the history where it
ANTEDILUVIAN LIFE 187
was interrupted by the insertion of the "genera-
tions" or genealogy of the sons of Adam, The last
verse preceding (ch. iv. 26) had said, "Then began
men to call upon the name of Jehovah" — men of the
Sethite race. The passage immediately following
this interruption speaks of the "sons of God," and
most naturally refers to this same pious race, these
worshipers of Jehovah, and it becomes a continuous
account. The daughters of men, so called by con-
trast, are the worldly and sensual line of Cain. It
was a grave error, and attended with the grave re-
sults immediately announced — the "mighty men,"
and the earth filled with violence. There is no
special difficulty with the first phrase, "sons of
God." (i) It is prepared for by the statement in
iv. 26, from which it is separated only by the gene-
alogy. (2) The equivalent idea of the divine son-
ship of God's chosen seed occurs in the early Script-
ures (Ex. iv. 2 ; Deut. xiv. i ; xxxii. 5 ; Is. 1, 2 ;
Ps. Ixxiii. 15 ; Hos. i. 10). It has been objected
that the phrase here employed is not children of
God, but of Jehovah. It hardly seems a weighty
difference, and does not hold good of Deut. xxxii.
5 and Hos. i, 10. True, the term, sons of God,
is in some instances applied to the angels (Job i.
6; ii. I ; Ps. xxix. 11 ; xxxix. 7, R. V.), and these
passages have been made the basis for the singular
interpretation. But it is spoken of them in their
high spiritual character, not of fallen, seducing
spirits as they would be on this supposition. (3)
The narrative itself does not speak of illicit connec-
188 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
tions, as would be assumed in the false interpreta-
tion, but of permanent marriages — "took them
wives." (4) The notion of a union between angels
and women of earth is so absurd as scarcely to need
the assertion of the Savior that in heaven they
neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as
the augeh of God. (5) The results predicated cor-
respond to the natural interpretation. The combi-
nation of the long-lived and vigorous Sethites with
the progressive and inventive Cainites was, as seen
in the mingling of other remarkable races, a race
of "mighty men, men of renown," but also of in-
surgent wickedness. (6) The subjects of punish-
ment sustain the natural interpretation. God is not
described as punishing angels or their offspring,
but wicked and violent men.
These various considerations make the present
interpretation not only clear, but well nigh unavoid-
able. No parade of learned names need shake
confidence in it. The main objection that can be
urged is founded on the antithetic phrase, "daugh-
ters of m.en.''^ This has been pronounced "decisive."
But it certainly is not. The antithesis is natural
and obvious, between those who belong to the line
of God's children, still holding a filial relation to
their Maker, and those who had willfully broken
the Divine relationship and become distinctively and
onh^ human. It tells the stor}^ in a word. If it be
said that the addition of the word "other," so as to
read "other men," would have avoided ambiguity,
it is to be replied, the word is here both inadmissi-
ANTEDILUVIAN LIFE 189
ble and unnecessary. Inadmissible, because it had
just been said that men had multiplied and daugh-
ters were born to them — to these men, not to other
men. Unnecessary, if admissible, because such
careful precision does not belong to this brief and
simple style. Moreover, such omissions are not
uncommon. Thus (Gen. xiv. i6) we read of "the
women and the people," that is, the rest of the peo-
ple ; sofjer. xxxii. 20) "in Israel and among men,"
that is, as the word is supplied in the rendering,
other men; and (Ps. Ixxxiii. 5) "they are not in
trouble as men," other men, "neither are they
plagued like men." Similar usages of exceptions
not stated in form, because anticipated in substance,
are sufficiently common in the Scriptures.
Without further discussion, we need not hesitate
to say, if not, with Strack, that this is the only pos-
sible interpretation, yet that it is the only natural
and admissible one. When so understood, the nar-
rative presents no monstrous myth, but a series of
events as credible and seemingly historical in their
character and consequences as the invasion of Eng-
land by the Danes.
CHAPTER IX
ANTEDILUVIAN OCCUPATIONS
In reviewing the glimpses given of the condition
and occupations of the race in antediluvian times,
we are pushing still farther back of ail other his-
tory, and must judge of it by its consistency and
its correspondence with such fragmentary indica-
tions as we can trace from the remotest ages. And
here the narrative will stand the test.
It is very noteworthy how different is the condi-
tion of man in paradise from that of man of '4he
golden age." Ovid, writing in the Augustan age
and at the capital of the world, described a time of
absolute idleness, when the untilled soil produced
its heavy crops, with the absurd addition of rivers
flowing now with milk and now with nectar, and
the yellow honey dripping from the green oak.
The Scripture gives the first man, what man must
have, something to do. But it is, as it must have
been, of the simplest kind, the care of the garden.
Skin clothing, also ascribed to him, is the common
form of primitive dress as found in the caves at
Mentone and Cromagnon, among the North Ameri-
can Indians, or even now among the Russian peas-
ants in winter. The first man is represented only
as having a capacity for speech, developed, how-
ever, in the most natural mode, naming the animals
190
ANTEDILUVIAN OCCUPATIONS 191
brought to his attention. He has strong conjugal
instincts, and an experience which exposes him to
temptation and fall.
The next stage of life shows progress, but limited
still. One of the second generation has his small
cattle only, sheep (and goats), an employment of
the simplest kind. The other has begun to culti-
vate the soil. The offering of the sacrifices, and
the use of milk from the flock, might imply the use
of fire, and perhaps, but not necessarily, of pottery.
As a matter of fact, although some (like Lubbock)
have been inclined to doubt the possession of fire
by the paleolithic man, it is now asserted on ap-
parently abundant evidence by Winchell, Nadaillac,
Joly and Quatrefages.^ This also conforms to the
classic story that Prometheus stole it from heaven.
Pottery, though denied by some to paleolithic
times, has certainly been found in connection with
the bones of the mammoth and the cave bear.^
How graphically true is the brief account of the
most terrible fruit of the fall, the first murder : the
envy, the anger, the fatal deed, the remorse, the
terror, the removal, and the stronghold inspired by
terror! The "city*' which he built has been prop-
erly understood in the general and loose sense in
which the word is used in the early narrative. Thus
there were 124 cities in Judah's portion of the land
of Palestine, and 119 in the rest of the territory
1 Joly, Man Before Metals, p. 189. Quatrefages, The Human Species, pp.
152, 319. Nadaillac, Prehistoric Peoples, p. loi. Winchell, Preadamite Man,
p. 415, expresses, however, only an opinion. Lubbock, Prehistoric Times, p.
558, speaks his doubt hesitatingly.
2 Joly, p. 307; Nadaillac, pp. 96, 97.
192 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
west of the Jordan. In Isaiah i. 8 it designates a
watch-tower. In much later days the stronghold
of Troy was of small compass, as was that of La-
chish, recently excavated. The enclosure of the
conical hill at the Egyptian mines of Wady Maghara
was but 600 by 260 feet. Gesenius and Fuerst both
suggest in this narrative simply a nomad encamp-
ment, defended perhaps by a ditch or wall, as the
former suggests, for protection. This "cit}^" im-
plies also permanenc}^ and that facilitated the re-
markable progress which is recorded as subse-
quently taking place in the line of Cain's descend-
ants. For while we learn that there Vv^as one line
of the early race that began to call upon the name
of Jehovah, the great worldly development in the
arts is recorded, as we^ might expect, in the line of
Cain.
The consistency of the narrative also appears in
the fact that the great progress did not come till
after seven recorded generations from Adam. It
was in the remarkable family of Lamech. Any
one who should incline to doubt the possibility of
such a wide and apparently rapid outburst has but
to recall the history of Europe in the half century
from 1450 to 1500 A. D., or the still more extra-
ordinary physical progress of the centmy about to
close.
First is mentioned Jabal as the head or leader of
those that dwell in the tents and have cattle. The
advance from the keeping of sheep and goats to
that of larger cattle is a marked and consistent ac-
ANTEDILUVIAN OCCUPATIONS 193
count of progress. The dwelling in tents naturally
involves the art of spinning and weaving, as the
Bedaween of the present day dwell in tents spun
and woven from the hair of their domestic animals.
The art of weaving antedates all historic knowl-
edge. While we do not find evidence of it among
the cave-dwellers of Europe, woven cloth appears
in the Lake Dwellings. The best linen of Egypt,
according to the testimony of both Wilkinson and
Erman, was not inferior to our cambric, and in
smoothness and softness almost comparable to our
silk.^ This is true of its quality as early as the
sixth dynasty, and nothing is known of its begin-
ning. Cotton and woolen garments were also
made. Equally remote is the care of cattle. In
almost every tomb of the Old Empire we meet
with the herdsman and his animals, and even then
there were fancy breeds.^
The narrator walks on equally sure ground when
he assigns the harp and pipe (R. V.), or wind and
stringed instruments, to the remotest antiquity.
Paintings in the Egyptian tombs, both of the earlier
and the later times, show a very great number of
such instruments, of both kinds : single pipe,
double pipe, flute, lyre, lute and harp, as well as
drums, tambourines, cymbals. The stringed in-
struments were singularly various in shape, size
and number of strings, from the light lyre of three
strings to the tall harp exceeding the height of a
3 Wilkinson's Ancient Egyptians, ii., p. i6i. Erman's Life in Ancient
Egypt, pp. 448.
4 Wilkinson, i., p. 431 seq. Erman, p. 262 seq.
184 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
man. The paintings represent harps with four,
six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, fourteen,
seventeen, twenty, twenty-one and twenty-two
strings, although not all of the Old Empire.^ Some
of them come down from the earliest period of
known history. The Assyrian sculptures, though
of less ancient date, show the harp, double pipe
and drum.^
It was a bold statement of the sacred writer to
assign the forging of instruments of iron and brass,
or rather copper (R. V., margin), to that early age.
But in Egypt the use of copper is older than our
historic knowledge. Copper mines were wrought
by the Egyptians at Wady Maghara in Sinai before
the building of the great pyramid, as is attested by
the cartouch of king Snefru at that place, and the
ore and slag found there. And even the manufact-
ure of bronze took place under the Old Empire,
and was carried to a perfection indicating long prac-
tice.' The Babylonians also used copper early and
abundantly. Loftus found at Tell Sifr what ap-
peared to be the stock in trade of a coppersmith,
supposed by Rawlinson, from the accompanying
tables, to be about 1500 B. C. The great variety
of these objects, and the skill exhibited, also in-
volved long continued use and practice: "large
chaldrons, vases, small dishes, hammers, chisels,
adzes and hatchets ; a large assortment of knives
and daggers of various sizes and shapes — all unfin-
5 Wilkinson, i., pp. 435-493-
6 Layard's Babylon and Nineveh, p. 456.
7 Erman, pp. 460, 461.
ANTEDILUVIAN OCCUPATIONS 195
ished; massive and small rings ; a pair of prisoner's
fetters ; three links of a strong chain ; a ring weight ;
several plates resembling horses' shoes, divided at
the head for the insertion of a handle, and having
two holes in each for the insertion of links ; other
plates of a different shape ; an ingot of copper ; and
a great weight of dross from the same smelted
metal. "^ And in 1888 the expedition of the Uni-
versity of Pennsylvania discovered in their excava-
tions at Nuffar, among a vast number of other
things, objects of bronze, which would appear from
their connection to be of far older date.^ At His-
sarlik not only do copper and bronze occur in the
second city, the Troy stratum, but bronze objects
were found in the still older city of the first stratum.^''
The use of copper and even of bronze thus recedes
to a period beyond all historic knowledge.
The statement concerning the working of iron is
still bolder. For until recently it has been doubted,
though now conceded, that iron w^as used in early
Egypt. It occurs there only in small quantities.
Not only were iron deposits of any considerable ex-
tent remote from Egypt, but the difficulty of smelt-
ing it was not easily overcome. And though at
Wady Maghara and Surabit el Khadim there is
iron in the ore and the slag, it does not appear to
have been smelted whenthecopper was extracted."
8 Loftus, Chaldea and Susiana, p. 269.
9 Hilprecht in Recent Research in Bible Lands, p. 62.
10 Schuchhardt's Schliemann's Excavations, pp. 63, 69, 37.
11 A piece of slag brought by the writer from Wady Maghara contained
23 per cent of iron and less than one-tenth per cent of copper. Ore from
Surabit el Khadim contained 31 per cent of copper and 12 per cent of iron,
196 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
So in Greece. It was but quite recently that two
lumps of iron were found in the second or Homeric
city at Hissarlik ; and in the graves at Mycenae it
has been found only in the form of a few finger-
rings/^ although known to Homer as used for both
tools and weapons. ^^ But when we reach western
Asia, where the early population had its home,
where the narrative had its origin, and where also
the metal exists in the mountains, we find iron in
the earliest times to which we can penetrate, and
in comparatively free use. At Nineveh, in the
northwest palace at Nimroud,the oldest of all, dating
probably nearly nine hundred years before Christ,
Layard found in one chamber "a large quantity of
iron" and "recognized it as scales of the armor rep-
resented on the sculptures. Each scale was sepa-
rate and was of iron, two or three inches in length,
rounded at one end and squared at the other, with
a raised or embossed line in the center." Though
badly decomposed, there were several baskets full
of these relics. As the earth was removed, other
portions of armor were discovered, some of copper,
some of iron, others of iron inlaid with copper.
Several iron helmets of various shapes were found,
although so rusted that they fell to pieces.*^ It is
needless to say that such articles involve a long
previous process of manufacture. The direct proof
is not wanting. Thothmes III. of Egypt, whom
Brugsch assigns to 1600 B. C, has recorded in his
12 Schuchhardt, pp. 332, 396.
13 Iliad, vii., 141; viii., 15; vi., 48. Od., i., 204; ix., 391, etc.
14 Nineveh and its Remains, ii., pp. 277, 278.
ANTEDIL UVIAN OCCUPA TIONS 197
great inscription at Karnak the spoil brought by
him from his warlike expeditions into western Asia.
Among them were two suits of iron armor, and
iron vessels from the king of Megiddo, an iron suit
of armor decorated with gold from the kings of
Ruthen, vessels of iron and bronze from Tunip,
iron suits of armor and fine iron helmets from Na-
harain (Mesopotamia), iron from the land of Punt,
and, once more, iron suits of armor and weapons
from Naharain.^^ These records show an exten-
sive use and skillful manufacture, necessarily in-
volving a long preceding use. Thus this ancient
historic record of the Scriptures points back into a
still more remote past, in confirmation of the remote
invention. In still further harmony with the record
is the fact that not only do iron mines abound in
the Tyari mountains of Armenia,'^ but iron is found
in great quantities scattered on the sides of the
mountains three or four days from Mosul. ^^ An
additional consistency in the whole narrative is
seen in the fact that such a structure as the ark at
a later time would require the progress in metal-
lurgy here indicated. Certainly the one would in
part explain the other. It has been shrewdly sug-
gested, of course with much less cogency, that the
homicide or murder for which Lamech expected to
go unpunished, may have been one of the conse-
quences of this forging of '' every cutting instrument
of copper and iron," it being mentioned in the im-
mediate sequel.
15 Brugsch, History of Egypt, pp. 364, 373-385.
j6 Layard's Nineveh, i., p. 190. 17 Id., ii., p. 315.
198 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
The song which Lamech addresses to his wives
accords with the historic fact that the beginnings
of music have been early coupled with the sister
art of song. In its subject-matter it shows "a
titanic arrogance" in crime founded on the impunity
of the first murder, preparing the v/ay for and ne-
cessitating, not only the subsequent destruction of
the race for its great wickedness, but a reconstruc-
tion with a new legislation inflicting the death pen-
alty for murder.
But while the w^orldly career and the rapid de-
velopment of the arts of living and luxury are go-
ing on in the line of Cain, and that family is dis-
missed from the view, the promise of the Maker
(presently to be discussed) begins to find its fulfill-
ment, not only in the last words of the common
mother, but in the religious revival in the line of
Seth — however transient it may have been — when
men began to call upon the name of Jehovah. Here,
apparently, are found ''the sons of God" who are
spoken of in the narrative of chapter vi.
CHAPTER X
THE PRIMITIVE CONDITION
In thus tracing the Scripture narrative upwards
we reach the account of the temptation and fall,
which, however, cannot well be considered before
an examination of their previous condition. The
history of the work of creation must also be de-
ferred, though at some disadvantage.
The account of creation in the first chapter of
Genesis is followed by a brief explanatory state-
ment concerning man, preliminary to the subse-
quent narrative, and alluding only to such points as
bear on the writer's purpose. These points are se-
lected, not in the order of sequence, as in the cre-
ation narrative, but by the laws of association, as
connected with the destiny of man, which now be-
comes the theme, man himself being the center.
First we are told specifically of man's twofold na-
ture (ii. 7), formed not only of the dust of the ground
but with the inbreathing of God, in contradistinc-
tion from the animal world made "out of the ground"
only. This is preceded, however, by a reference
to the changed condition of things from the time
when there was no man because the earth was not
prepared for his residence (verses 5, 6). These
allusions are preparatory to the Eden narrative.
The endeavor to find here a second, and especially
199
200 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
a conflicting, narrative is unnecessary. The well-
known change from the use of Elohim to Jehovah
Elohim, is as well explained by saying that it pur-
posely identifies the God of creation with the God
of Israel, as by supposing a different writer ; and
the omission of all details not required for the ob-
ject in view, and the mention of those that are given
in their present relations rather than their previous
sequence, is the simple, natural and wise method.
The proceeding is no more peculiar than the brief
retrospective notices and recapitulations with which
other narrators often commence a new chapter to
make a connection ; as, for example, in the open-
ing of the third and fourth chapters of Macaulay's
History of England, and any number of instances.
It is a narrowness of view to make so much of this
very simple and common thing as has been done by
some writers.
At the same time a use of older documents,
adopted and thereby sanctioned by an author, no
more detracts from his proper authorship, than is
the similar method of Bancroft and other historians
inconsistent with their historic function. As has
been already intimated, there are good reasons and
somewhat clear indications for the belief that such
was the fact in regard to the narrative of Genesis.
There is no valid reason for holding, even if Moses
was the responsible author of the book, that all the
facts antecedent to his time, any more than those of
his own time, were miraculously revealed to him,
when there are indications or probabilities of nat-
THE PRIMITIVE CONDITION 201
ural methods. It has never been God's way to
supersede natural methods by supernatural when
the former were sufficient. But the practicability
of dividing up and accurately sorting out all these
sources, and especially of detruding them from a
high antiquity and authentic value, is a very differ-
ent thing. We are at present concerned only with
the truthfulness of the narrative ; and so far as that
is sustained, the other questions are comparatively
unimportant. In the present instance it would be
a matter of indifference whether here are one or
two narratives, provided they are not in conflict, as
under any fair treatment they are not. All the
phenomena, however, may be perfectly explained
on the supposition of one continuous narrative. It
is idle to expect a writer to go over all the details
of a narrative a second time ; equally idle to require
or expect him in his allusions to his former account,
for a very different purpose and from an entirely
different standpoint, to refer to them in the same
order.
The writer alludes to facts already mentioned
just so far as they concern this new portion of the
history, and no farther. He refers to man's pecu-
liar diversity from the animal world and yet his re-
lation to them, and no more ; to the plants and
herbs (ii. 5) generally, saying nothing of their bear-
ing seed or fruit ; to the trees of the garden where
man was to be placed, and no others; to the cattle,
fowls and beasts with which the man was brought
in connection, and not to the immense sea life and
202 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
great monsters (i. 20, 21) with which he is not
now concerned. Why any one should insist on find-
ing a different and second narrative in this discre-
tionary and discreet reference is not very obvious.
But it is said that there is an actual conflict ; that,
according to verse 19 of chapter second, man was
made before the animals, contrary to the previous
statement. Certainly the creation of the animals
is mentioned after the mention of Adam's being
placed in the garden ; so also is the making of the
trees of the garden to grow mentioned not till after
the man was placed in it. But that order of events
does not follow in the one case more than in the
other.
One thing perhaps calls for a little further notice.
It is strenuously insisted that an actual contradic-
tion of the order of creation is found (ii. 19) where
we are told, in immediate succession, that God
formed and brought the animals to the man, and
therefore the writer here places the Creation of the
animals after that of man, whereas in the first chap-
ter the process was the opposite of this. What is
the insuperable difficulty of recognizing here the
briefest possible reference to the previous creation
of these animals, with the addition that these animals
are now brought by their Creator to the presence
and attention of the man for the purpose immedi-
ately specified? This is the rendering made and
defended by Strack (1894): "Therefore Jehovah
God brought all beasts of the field and all fowls of
THE PRIMITIVE CONDITION 203
heaven which he had formed out of the ground to
the man," etc/
The question of the location of the first pair has
its difficuhies, due apparently rather to our ignor-
ance than to any uncertainty in the original descrip-
tion. The writer defines it boldly, and by careful
specifications of locality, boundary and, in one in-
stance, production. It carries every appearance of
an undoubted, undoubting historic statement. But
in its remoteness and our historic ignorance it is
partly beyond the limit of our recognition. In re-
cent times we have gained more knowledge, and
some of our difficulties have been removed. Cer-
tain negative and some positive results have been
reached. An important achievement was accom-
plished when Friedrich Delitzsch demolished what
he calls "Paradise in Utopia,"^ that is, the lawless
theories which freely made the most impossible
combinations, as of the Nile with the Tigris and
the Ganges; which, among them, proposed as many
as seventeen different streams for the Pison, and
thirteen for the Gihon ; and which located Eden at
various points from the Canary Isles to China or
the Baltic Sea. A chief occasion of this confusion
was the mistaken belief that the land of Cush, so
I Dr. Driver summarily declares, "The rendering 'had formed' is con-
trary to idiom." But Delitzsch in his latest edition reverses his own former
opinion, and affirms that this mode of expression is not only conformed to
Hebrew style, but necessitated by the purpose and method of this narrative.
He cites Hitzig (Jeremiah, p. 288, 2nd ed.) in support of such a construction.
Dr. Green takes the same ground (Unity of Genesis, p. 7). Dillmann in his
latest edition (1892) concedes the mode of construction to be admissible, but
objects to it here on the ground that the previous statement, "I will make an
helpmeet," forces us to understand also that the animals are now to be
made; which does not follow. See Appendix, note six.
% Wo lag das Paradies (1881).
204 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
rendered properly in our Revised Version, was
only the land of Ethiopia, as rendered in the Eng-
lish Version of James. The removal of this long-
continued ignorance has brought the problem to a
proximate solution, and removed the last excuse (if
ever there was one) for bringing the Nile and
Ethiopia into this connection. Gesenius, who had
opposed the acceptance of an Asiatic Cush in the
earlier part of his great work, the Thesaurus,
changed his opinion before its completion and recog-
nized a Cush in Arabia. Robinson extended the view
and assigned to the Cushites the "immense region
stretching from Assyria in the northeast, through
eastern Arabia into Africa." Fuerst admits the
same wide extent, as far as to the land east of
Babylonia. Rawlinson pointed out a remarkable
connection between the Cushites of Ethiopia and
the early inhabitants of Babylonia. Lenormant,
Maspero and Brugsch take a similar position ; and
in 1895 Professor Hommel sustains the decision of
Glaser as "the only correct view," that in the ear-
liest time the Kassites (as he designates them)
dwelt in Elam, whence they invaded Babylonia
about 1700 B. C.^ Indeed, it is a singular phenom-
enon that any one should ever have attributed to a
Hebrew writer or compiler at any stage of history
such ignorance as to assign to the Nile, which flows
from the south to the north, an origin in the vicin-
ity of the Euphrates and Tigris.
3 The references are to the Thesaurus in the articles on Cush and Raamah,
Robinson's translations of Gesenius' Lexicon, Fuerst's Lexicon, Rawlin-
son's Herodotus, i,, p. 353; Lenormant's Chaldean Magic, pp. 347-357; Mas-
pero, Histoire Ancienne, p. 147; Brugsch's Steininschrift und Bibelwort,
p. 58; Hommel in Recent Research, p. 154.
THE PRIMITIVE CONDITION 205
Notwithstanding the present difficuhy of settling
some of the details of the description, others of
them are clear. And among the indications of the
historic character of the description and its former
intelligibleness are these : the general locality, ''east-
ward," naturally from the place where the narra-
tive took its final form ; the designation of two
rivers about which there is no question, the Eu-
phrates and Tigris ; the mention of the perfectly
well-known one of these rivers without explanation,
and of the others with descriptions ; the minuteness
of the description, especially in the case of the
Pison, including not only the land it compassed,
but the products of the land and the particular fact
that its gold was "good"; the designation of a re-
gion, somewhere about the Euphrates and Tigris, a
region not only generally adapted to human resi-
dence, but in conformity to the now prevalent belief
that in western Asia was the cradle of the human
race, as has been set forth in a previous chapter.
There is thus positive reason for recognizing its
historic character, and no valid reason for doubt-
ing it.
When we descend to the details, some things are
certain, and some are, and possibly must remain,
unsettled. There is no dissent as to the two great
rivers ; and it is known that one main branch of the
Tigris rises within about two miles of the Eu-
phrates.* The latter is i,6oo miles long, and the
former about i, 146 miles before its junction with the
4 Delitzsch, Genesis (New Com.), i., p. i33<
206 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
Euphrates. As to the Pison and Gihon a consider-
able diversity of opinions still prevails, each view
being open to objections not easily overcome.
Waiving, therefore, any argument for or against any
one of them, w^e fix upon the settled facts, the two
unquestioned rivers.
In conformity with this assignment of locality,
divested of all doubtful details, is the fact as stated
by Wright and Pinches,^ that the more reasonable
theories as to the position of paradise may be
roughly divided into two classes : namely, ''those
which place the garden of Eden below the junction
of the Tigris and the Euphrates, and seek the Pi-
son and Gihon among the many natural or artifi-
cial tributaries of those streams ; and those which
locate the site in the high tablelands of Armenia,
where so many noble streams have their origin."
It was somewhere along the line of the Euphrates,
higher or lower. Either of these regions would
well satisfy the conditions. The southern portion
of it is the congenial soil for the cereals, and has
been the seat of population and power from the re-
motest antiquity. The tablelands of Armenia give
rise to four noble rivers,^ all springing from sources
not far from each other, and discharging into three
different seas ; and the country is described by the
British engineer. Colonel Chesney, as adapted to
the growth of "every tree that is pleasant and
good for food," interspersed with beautiful valleys
5 Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, 2nd Ed., i., p. 846.
6 Besides the Euphrates and Tigris, the Araxes, 1,000 miles long, and the
Halys or Kizil Irmak, 700 miles long. See note xx. in the Appendix.
THE PRIMITIVE CONDITION 20?
and fertile plains, and overspread with "groves,
orchards, vineyards, gardens and villages.'" In
either region the fig of the sacred narrative would
grow. Here, then, the account is beyond impeach-
ment. It is perhaps not wise to lay any stress
upon certain traditions — one cherished in the valleys
of central Armenia that Eden extended from the
pashalik of Mosul to a point near Erzeroom and
from Tocat to beyond Lake Van,^ and one in Har-
poot that paradise was in the neighboring plain;''
nor on the name "Paradise Mountain" that lingers
on a lofty peak of the Caucasus above the sources
of the Rion or Phasis.^'^ They are not necessary.
Nor is it needful to dwell on the statement of Sayce
that "the land on the western bank of the Euphrates
(in southern Babylonia) went under the general
name of '-^ Edinna,''^ the Eden of Scripture — the
sacred grove and garden in the neighborhood of
Eridu, at the junction of the Tigris and Euphrates,
being the garden of Genesis ;" or that of Friedrich
Delitzsch, that the name Eden came from the Acca-
dian '-'' edinu,'^'^ which, as he claims, was applied to a
part of Babylonia, the word meaning "field, land,
desert," and applied to this region as the land pre-
eminently.^^ It is sufficient that the general and
growing consensus of scholars who do not hold to
the Utopian theory, locates the site of the garden
7 Chesney's Euphrates and Tigris, i., p. 270.
8 Chesney, i., p. 267.
9 H. N. Wheeler, Letters from Eden, pp. 15, 16.
10 Freshfield, Central Caucasus, p. 277.
11 Sayce's Ancient Empires of the East, p. 95.
13 Wo lag das Paradies, pp. 79, 80. See note xx.
208 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
somewhere along the region of the Euphrates,
higher or lower ; that the conditions of the region
are entirely consistent with the supposition ; and
the various indications of the dispersion of the hu-
man race, as already mentioned, point to western
Asia as their original home. All these things go
to support the historical character of the narrative
as a whole, whatever details are still beyond our
means of investigation.
Man's primitive condition is described in a mode
which bears the closest scrutiny, even in circum-
stances to which objections have sometimes been
made, (i) He has employment; he could not be
happy otherwise. (2) His employment is of the
simplest kind, belonging to the most primitive state
of things, to "dress the garden and to keep it."
(3) He has intelligence and the capacity of speech,
used first in the most natural way of recognizing
and naming the animals that present themselves to
his notice. (4) He is a social being, and longs for
companionship. (5) He is from the first under
moral relations — privilege and prohibition, each of
the simplest kind : a sacramental tree, so to call it,
and a test tree. (6) The test to which he was sub-
jected was precisely conformed to his condition.
Some such test was the only natural one, we may
say the only practicable one. The objection some-
times raised or felt, to making obedience, or dis-
obedience with penalty, hinge upon keeping from
the fruit of a tree, singularly misapprehends the
state of the case. The nature of the prohibition is
THE PRIMITIVE CONDITION 209
the best guaranty of the truth of the narrative. It
was not only in keeping with that first mode of life,
but it was of almost the only kind which the situa-
tion admitted.
The great crimes of the modern statute book,
such as theft, robbery, arson, adultery, and the
like, were impossible ; murder and violence at first
inconceivable. Even if it had been the object to
make the trial of him in his relations to man rather
than to God, those relations were mainly still want-
ing. It only remained to select a test from the act-
ual life and environment. The spirit of obedience,
of obedience to his Maker, could be as well deter-
mined by the one selected as by any other. Thus,
when carefully considered, the complete conform-
ity of the narrative to the condition and surround-
ings of the man is the best evidence available of
its fundamental truth, while the whole series of
facts, even to the matter of clothing, is stated with
a verisimilitude apprehensible to all mankind.
Surely there is no need nor justification of finding
a myth in such a naive and consistent history.
The account of woman's creation and union to
the man is, of course, attended with difficulties in
detail, owing to the reticence of the narrative, and
the utter absence of all other sources of knowledge.
It must also be borne in mind that no possible ex-
planation of the relationship can be clear of difficul-
ties ; the tracing of origins is a plunge into mystery,
after all is said. The fact of sex, not only in the
human species, but throughout animated life, and
210 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
its unfailing adjustment from the beginning, is a
fact before which, when fairly considered, the most
enthusiastic evolutionist has nothing satisfactory to
offer. So infinite are the probabilities against a
single individual appearing in exactly the right
time and with the right constitution to be in per-
fect correlation to another individual for the con-
tinuation of the species, and so inconceivably infi-
nite against this occurrence taking place through
the hundreds of thousands of species and countless
millions of individuals, and in such wise as to in-
sure its never-failing continuance, that one need
hardly hesitate to pronounce the statement of the
direct creation of the first woman to be the most
simple and the most probable explanation. Noth-
ing certain can be alleged against it, and nothing
certain, if anything probable, can be advanced in-
stead of it.
Furthermore, the scriptural statement of the re-
lation thus established is, as we shall presently see,
absolutely faultless in its lofty ideal, above all criti-
cism. The difficulty is in regard to the process,
and consists mainly in its obscurity ; obscurity in a
matter which, very possibly, must in an}' case have
remained obscure, like other ultimate facts of nat-
ural science. Whatever the exact nature of the
process, the significance of it is clear, and has been
clear to the whole world in all ages. We will not,
therefore, minutely discuss the several theories of
the process, except to say that the word translated
"rib" is indeterminate. It is so translated nowhere
THE PRIMITIVE CONDITION 211
else in the Old Testament, but in its frequent use
has the generic meaning "side" — the side of vari-
ous objects.^' While some have supposed it to be
actually a rib, others have conjectured some un-
know^n part of the body, or some part made for the
purpose, and even (as Maimonides and the Talmud)
one half of an androgynous being. In each case,
it is life from previous life, and so far reasonable.
It may be added that another view of the trans-
action is suggested by the narrative itself, which
gives it the same significance, namely, that it was
a symbolical transaction in a vision. We read that
Adam was first cast into a "deep sleep"; the same
word being used as concerning Abram's state when
he had the vision of the smoking furnace, and the
word used in Job iv. 13, where it speaks of "visions
of the night when deep sleep falleth upon man."
The account would thus seem to permit, if not dis-
tinctly to suggest, that here may be a vision in this
state of deep sleep, as in the case of Abram, de-
scribed as it presented itself, phenomenally, in the
one case as in the other. For those who may pre-
fer, this mode of conception is apparently admissi-
ble.
But whether this transaction was an inner or an
outer vision, the meaning is the same — equally dis-
tinct, remarkable and noble, the highest possible
conception of the relation of husband and wife.
13 The side of a mountain, of the tabernacle, the ark, an altar, of a double
door, of the heavens, a side chamber. In i Kings vi. 15, 16; vii. 3 it means
beams or joists of a building here only approximating to the signification
"rib."
212 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
Taken in connection with Adam's own exclamation,
"This is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh,"
here is a declaration not only of similarity, but of
identity of origin, nature and interest, of sympathy
and of intimacy as in no other human relation.
Even the beautiful and striking description of the
relation in Ephesians v. 21-31 is but its paraphrase.
The narrative, then, presents an ideal of marriage
not only far above the prevailing Jewish standard
in Christ's time, but above the practice of their
venerated ancestors, and higher than the require-
ments of their great law-giver. As such it speaks
for itself, for the fundamental truth of the narra-
tive, and, we may add, for its superhuman origin.
Add to this the announcement (in ii. 24) of the
great and perpetual law of marriage which the
Savior Himself only reaffirmed ; and we behold an
extraordinary phenomenon : this second chapter of
the Pentateuch establishes the two great institutions
which lie at the foundation of the family life and
the religious life of the world, namely, the Sab-
bath, and marriage in its highest ideal. In the
presence of these two fundamental facts there is no
occasion to make apologies for this narrative, nor
to talk of myths.
It should also be said that the supposition of a
late origin of this account supposes two insuppos-
able things : first, that some late Jewish writer or
writers invented an early legislation which con-
demned the practice of their two most boasted an-
THE PRIMITIVE CONDITION 213
cestors ; second, that there was some Jew in the days
of comparative disorder in the eighth or ninth cen-
tury B. C, or indeed in any later time before the
coming of Christ, capable of rising to such a height.
CHAPTER XI
THE TEMPTATION AND FALL.
This part of the early narrative confessedly pre-
sents many difficulties. They are reduced by re-
membering that the style is popular, and that here,
as in the first chapter (presently to be considered),
the description is phenomenal, representing things
as they appeared, and in the language of common
and oriental life.
The cardinal points of the narrative are these :
An original state of innocence ; a subsequent state
of sin and sorrow, brought about by disobedience
to the law of God.
The first of these is so far beyond the reach of
all other historical records that it comes down only
vn the unwritten history, the tradition of the na-
tions— the recognition of a "golden age" when the
gods held converse with men, and there was neither
sin nor care nor painful labor and sorrow. The
proof of this tradition is abundant. The cautious
Dillmann describes it as a belief spread through all
antiquity, and he instances in detail the classic na-
tions, India, Persia and Egypt, in which last coun-
try, as is well known, it took the form of a pro-
tracted reign of the gods. Zoeckler makes a more
extensive enumeration, and finds the tradition (com-
bined with other traits of the Biblical narrative)
214
THE TEMPTATION AND FALL 215
among the Chinese, Mongolians and Japanese, Kar-
ens, early inhabitants of India, ancient Eranians,
Egyptians, Phenicians, Malayo-Polynesians, Baby-
lonians, Etruscans, Germans and Greeks. He states
his conclusion thus: "A golden age, followed by
a gradual descent to the want and wretchedness of
the present state, a Paradise sun with long waning
light, is in fact a common possession of all the older
peoples."^ The reader of the classics need not be
reminded of the representations found in Hesiod
and Ovid. And in the trivial and, in part, foolish
details of the latter author, though written in the
Augustan age, he will perceive the marvelous con-
trast to the dignity of the Hebrew book that even
then could have been found in Rome beyond the
Tiber.
No fair-minded person can fail to recognize the
immense weight of this consensus of antiquity, this
concurrent reminiscence descending as a common
heir-loom of the oldest nations of the world. It is
inexplicable except as testimonies admitting no
collusion. Many persons, no doubt, would be
more impressed by a parallel narrative, were such
a one found at Niffur, as old as the time of Sargon
I., but it would not carry a tithe of the weight.
This portion of the sacred history and of general
unrecorded history, of course, will naturally find
denial from those who hold to the rise of the human
race from a lower, indeed the lowest, order of be-
ing. Their denial will deserve a more careful con-
I Zoeckler, Urstand des Menschen, pp. 84-112.
218 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
sideration when several things shall have been
proved that are now unproved ; as, for example,
that living substance has come from non-living sub-
stance, that sentient life has come from non-sentient,
that man has actually come from any non-human
being. Till then the consentient testimonies of an-
tiquity must hold good against speculations, or the
speculations must somehow find room for the testi-
monies.
The second point, that the human race through
all recorded history has been in a state of sin and
of suffering, needs no argument. But it is to be
observed that not only is sin universal, but it shows
itself contemporaneously with responsible action.
Whatever benign influences may be combined in
the environments, and whatever may be said by
fanciful writers of the perfect innocence of infancy,
we can look upon any child in the cradle and con-
fidently predict that when conscious moral agency
begins, it will be accompanied by wrong-doing in
some form ; and the prediction will never be found
false. The fallen man "begat a son in his own
likeness after his own image."
The third fundamental point, that the evil condi-
tion of the human race has its origin in disobedi-
ence to the law of God and of righteousness, is
equally unquestionable. It is a truism that man is
his own worst enemy, and his next worst enemy is
his fellowman. What are all the follies, vices and
crimes that destroy the welfare of the individual,
the family, society, the nation and the world, but
THE TEMPTATION AND FALL 217
the various outbursts of disobedience to the great
law of righteousness and God?
On these three fundamental matters, the record
appears to be historic and irrefutable. When we
come to the transition from innocence and well-be-
ing to sin and woe, the chief difficulty presents
itself ; but then, be it observed, not in the process
described so much as in the form. As to the inner
process and progress of the temptation, the record
is singularly true to human experience and obser-
vation. Nothing could be better. First is sug-
gested a sense of the hardship of the restraint and
the exaggeration of the case: "Yea, hath God
said, Ye shall not eat of any tree' of the garden?"
Then, when parleying with temptation begins,
next comes a lowering of motive to the danger in-
curred, and the danger discounted: "A?5/yedie."
Then follows a disbelief of the evil consequences :
"Ye shall not surely die." On the contrary, some
great gain: "Your eyes shall be opened, and ye
shall be as God, knowing good and evil" — where
the mingling of specious truth and fatal falsehood
reminds us of the echo in our great poet :
"Juggling fiends, no more to be believed,
That palter with us in a double sense ;
That keep the word of promise to our ear,
And break it to our hope."
The persistent brooding over the attractiveness
of the forbidden object continues — "when the
woman saw that the tree was good for food, and
that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree
2 So the Revised Version, in accordance with the Hebrew usage ai^d tfe^
best expositors.
218 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
was to be desired to make one wise" — till the end
came as always after such a dallying. How true
to fact ! Also true in that the temptation to an inno-
cent being comes from without, and first to the
more emotional nature.
The consequences ascribed to this temptation and
fall are found to be equally in harmony with fact.
These cannot well be considered without a few pre-
vious words as to the method of the temptation ; in
which, let it be observed, is found the only difficulty
and ground of questioning. If this were regarded
as a parable or a figure, as some would have it, or
a dramatic representation, it would still leave un-
impaired the truthfulness of the facts so conveyed.^
But it seems not necessary and apparently not ad-
missible so to regard it.
In discussing the method, several writers (Ebrard,
Dillmann, Strack) have called attention to the con-
sistency of the narrative in referring the seduction
to an outer source, since it could not well originate
in an innocent being, nor then have come from other
human beings. So those who hold to the absolute
innocence of infancy endeavor to explain sin by
"environment." Who then was the real tempter?
According to the New Testament it was "that old
serpent called the devil and Satan" (Rev. xii. 9;
XX. 2), who, as the Savior said, "was a murderer
from the beginning" and "a liar" (John viii. 44),
who has "the power of death" (Heb. ii. 13), so that
3 Perhaps no one has more strongly emphasized the truthfulness to nature
and the essentially philosophical character of the whole narrative than Dill-
mann in his commentary, p. 189. Ebrard makes a similar showing; Apolo-
getics, i., pp. 3II-3I3.
THE TEMPT A TION AND FALL 219
"the Son of God was manifested that He might de-
stroy the works of the devil" (John iii. 8), with the
assurance that "the God of peace shall bruise Satan
under your feet shortly" (Rev. xvi. 8). The same
connection of the serpent with Satan is implied by
the Savior in Luke x. 17-19, and more distinctly
when He termed His wicked opponents children of
the devil (John viii. 38, 44; Mark xiii. 38). The
antagonism predicted in Gen. iii. 15 is broadly
stated by Christ as the conflict between the king-
dom of Satan and the kingdom of God (Luke xi.
i7-2o),and was exemplified in the temptation which
Satan was permitted to offer to the Son of God, the
second Adam. If we accept the authority of the
New Testament, and even of Christ, it would seem
that we must accept this explanation. Many in
these days incline to doubt or deny the existence of
such a being. But they cannot well deny that
Christ distinctly taught it, not merely as an exoteric
doctrine, or an unmeaning concession to a popular
notion, but in his personal and private instruction
to His chosen disciples.* And it is very noteworthy
that even Mr. Huxley, in his contemptuous arraign-
ment of what he calls the story of the Gadarene
swine, is obliged to confess that he has "no a priori
objection to offer. ... I declare as plainly as
I can, that I am unable to show cause why these
transferable devils should not exist. "^ Certainly an
active agency is quite as comprehensible as an
4 Matt. X. 8; xvi. 19, 20; Mark ix. 28, 29; I.uke ix. i; x. 17-19. Christ dis-
tinguishes between casting out evil spirits and healing diseases, as Luke xx.
I, etc.
5 Science and Hebrew Tradition, p. 226.
220 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
** environment," and much more to the point.
But granting, what cannot be denied, the philo-
sophic truthfulness of the underlying lesson, we
may be expected to meet the question, Was there,
as the instrument, an actual serpent or form of a
serpent? This appears to be involved in verses i
and 14 of the narrative, and to be the understand-
ing in 2 Cor. xi. 3. That the writer of the narra-
tive knew the actual agent that was behind this ap-
pearance does not appear. Here, as elsewhere, he
describes the phenomenon ; in the words of Delitzsch,
he "confines himself to the external appearance of
what took place, without lifting the veil from the
reality behind.it."
Now, whatever difficulties may attend this por-
tion of the narrative, it finds a remarkable confirma-
tion in early traditions. Says Kalisch in his com-
mentary, "Almost throughout the East the serpent
was used as an emblem of the evil principle, the
spirit of disobedience and contumacy. A few excep-
tions only can be discovered." Probably a larger
margin should be allowed for exceptions ; the state-
ment is substantially correct. Sometimes the ser-
pent was worshiped as an object of fear. Lenor-
mant, who makes all necessary exceptions, asserts,
and with illustrative instances, that "we find in all
mythologies a gigantic serpent personifying the
nocturnal power, the evil principle, material dark-
ness and moral wickedness." And as the result of
several pages of examples he concludes by saying
that "the great serpent, among all the highly civil-
THE TEMPTATION AND FALL 221
ized peoples whose traditions we have scrutinized,
is symbolical of this dark and evil power in its
broadest conception.'" Turning to one of these
nations as described by another high authority:
Brugsch affirms that "through the mythical tradi-
tions belonging to all periods of the Egyptian mon-
umental world down to the Christian era, there en-
ters like a red thread the representation of the
serpent as the symbol of evil ; ... the tree
of life and in its vicinity the serpent are in the old
Egyptian representations inseparable from each
other.'" Lenormant follows this last line of double
suggestion with several similar illustrations, one of
which, previously cited by George Smith in his
''Chaldean Genesis, "is sufficiently striking to be
described in his own words : " A man and a woman,
the first wearing on his head the kind of turban
peculiar to the Babylonians, seated face to face on
either side of a tree with horizontal branches, from
which hang two large branches of fruit, one in front
of each of these personages, who are in the act of
stretching out their hands to pluck them. Behind
the woman a serpent uprears itself.'" Now, not-
withstanding two or three minor objections, such
as that it is not certain that these two persons are
man and woman rather than two men, that one is
not actually handing the fruit to the other, and even
the very peculiar one that the serpent "may have
6 Lenormant's Beginnings of History, pp. 103, 114.
7 Brugsch's Steininschrift, pp. 24, 25. See also Wilkinson's Ancient
Egyptians, iii., pp. 121, 152, Birch's edition.
8 Lenormant, pp. 98, 99.
222 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEVCH
been introduced for the purpose of ornament,"^ a
writer who gathers up these objections to show that
the reference to the temptation is doubtful, is con-
strained to concede that "the picture at once strikes
the beholder as a representation of the temptation";
while such authorities as Lenormant and Friedrich
Delitzsch declare it to be capable of no other expla-
nation/" and W. St. Chad Boscawen also regards it
as an "indication" of the story of the Fall." The
case is made still stronger by other pictorial repre-
sentations, a very large number showing the sacred
tree with various surroundings and a less number
showing the serpent-cultus. George Smith gives a
cut from the seal of a Syrian chief of the ninth cen-
tury B. C, representing the sacred tree with at-
tendant figures and eagle-headed men. To omit
other references, Ohnefalsch-Richter, in his elabor-
ate work, ^Me votes 196 folio pages to the discussion
of the tree cultus and its connections, accompanied
by scores of cuts of the tree, from the crudest and
often conventional forms up to an occasional deline-
ation of branches, leaves and fruit, and attended by
a variety of figures, human, animal and imaginary,
from the commonly crude drawings up to that on a
Greek vase where two human figures are some-
what gracefully outlined, and the well-drawn ser-
pent opens his mouth towards the one that holds a
fruit in the hand, it may be as an offering (Plate
9 Prof. J. D. Davis, Genesis and Hebrew Tradition, p. 67.
10 Lenormant, p. 99. Fr. Delitzsch's Chaldaeische Genesis, p. 305.
11 Boscawen, The Bible and the Monuments, p. 89.
12 Kypros, Die Bibel und Homer, s vols. (1893).
t
THE TEMPT A TION AND FALL 223
cxxiii., Fig. 3). The same writer has a brief ex-
cursus^^ on the serpent cuhus (and a promise of a
more complete discussion hereafter), in which he
refers to twenty cuts of this nature, exhibited in his
tables, and derived from Egypt, Babylonia, Persia,
Cyprus, Crete, and elsewhere, many of which he
contends cannot have been otherwise than independ-
ent in their origin, and some of them of the great-
est antiquity.
In view of these concurrent indications, it is not
those who accept the view of an external transac-
tion here recorded that are bound to show cause,
but rather those who reject it. There are questions
concerning some of its details which cannot be an-
swered. But whatever our decision as to the form
of the occurrence, the truthfulness of its teaching
cannot be denied. Professor Ryle, who does not
express clearly his belief of the personality of the
spirit of evil, yet in speaking of "the story of the
fall" declares that "the Paradise narrative brings a
message pregnant with evangelic truth."
Equally true and remarkable is the delineation of
the consequences as immediately set forth. The
penalty of disobedience was announced in these
terms: "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou
shalt surely die." This death evidently was not
primarily physical death, for that did not take place
on that day nor for long years after, as the writer
proceeds immediately to show. But he does de-
scribe a series of consequences constituting that
13 lb., pp. 442i 443- Note xxi.
224 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
spiritual death so abundantly indicated in the Script-
ures, and well described by Augustine when he said
that death of the body consists in the separation of
the body from the soul, but death of the soul in the
separation of the soul from God. In the very act
of transgression that separation took place. Its
several elements are implicitly presented in the se-
quel : first the sense of guilty shame, then the
shrinking and endeavor to hide from God's pres-
ence, painful dependence of the woman on the hus-
band and suffering in the parental relation, and for
the man anxious and disappointing toil, all closed
and crowned by a return to the dust of the earth.
How soberly and terribly true is the statement of
the changes wrought by the curse of sin, whereby
the labor that was to have been a pleasure becomes
a burden, the woman's loving dependence so often
a galling chain, and the family a scene of conjugal
trouble, filial wickedness, and parental sorrow ! All
this, set forth not in abstract but in concrete terms,
is how sadly true as the fruit of sin, alienation
from God ! The press of modern times teems with
the proof.
A few words as to the details of the curse. They
are wholly concrete and illustrative, rather than
technically inclusive. The serpent's doom is read-
ily understood when the real agent is borne in mind,
according to the New Testament interpretation. It
is addressed to the arch enemy, and couched in
terms drawn from the form he had assumed ; a ser-
pent's form he had taken, and a serpent's fate shall
THE TEMPT A TION AND FALL 225
be his, a groveling and dirt-eating career ; enmity
between his "seed," the "ciiildren of the wicked
ona" (Luke xiii. 38), the "offspring of vipers"
(Matt. iii. 7), and the promised "seed of the wom-
an," Christ and Christ's — the children of light and
of God. And though a wound of the heel, a dan-
gerous wound, was inflicted on the one side, a bruis-
ing of the head, a final overthrow, should fall on the
other — a conflict now hopefully going on, Christ
having come ''that He might destro}^ the works of
the devil." This apprehension of the curse renders
it unnecessary to understand any change in the ser-
pent form itself from an upright to a prone position,
a change that would require a reconstruction of
every portion of its body ; but it assumes the prone
position and motion as the fitting symbol of the
curse. The sentences of the man and of the woman
are announced, after the common mode of the
Scriptures and of the Savior, by specimen. The
pains of parturition are but the beginning and illus-
tration of the sorrows that sin has brought upon the
wife and mother. The contention with "thorns
and thistles" is but a type and foretaste of the pain-
ful and often fruitless struggles of man's life. One
is tempted to attach a more sweeping range to the
utterance, "Cursed is the ground for thy sake,"
or on thy account, when he looks over the world
and sees Vv'hat vast regions, once fertile, flourishing
and populous, as in the Fayoom, Babylonia, As-
syria, Palestine, and other lands, have been made
desolate for ages by human wickedness, and how
228 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
Other lands, almost all the lands of the earth, have
been devastated for generations by human vice,
passion and violence. The billions that a genera-
tion ago carried such destruction over the soil of
the southern states of this Union, were enough, if
spent in economic, literary and artistic improve-
ments, to have converted the region into a kind of
terrestrial paradise.
Thus, in all its fundamental features, this account
of the temptation and fall and the consequences is
eminently rational and truthful ; and the only ques-
tions at issue are minor ones of mode and detail, in'
which also the concurrence of ancient and wide-
spread tradition supports the more obvious interpre-
tation of the narrative.
CHAPTER XII
THE CREATION NARRATIVE
Perhaps no part of the Sacred Scriptures has
suffered more from foes and friends than the his-
tory of creation. It has been the subject of hasty
assault and hasty surrender. Some men of scien-
tific attainments — not grasping the character and
method of this simple history — have charged it with
grave errors of fact ; and Christian writers, over-
awed by this seeming authority, have timidly con-
ceded the case, and it has become too customary to
excuse the alleged "mistakes" on the ground that
it was not the function of Genesis to teach science,
or that the writer shared the erroneous notions of
his contemporaries. Others have resorted to the
view that it is legend, saga, myth, parable, or
poetry. One writer has elaborately defended it as
a "Psalm of Creation" — ignoring the palpable nar-
rative nature of the statements, and the immense
difference between it and such a composition as the
one hundred and fourth psalm, which is an actual
psalm of creation, the one so eulogized by Von
Humboldt.
Now, we hold that this is neither poetry, saga
nor science, but a popular and truthful narration^
and we propose to show that when fairly treated,
that is, when interpreted by its mode of narration
222
228 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
and standard of style, it is sustained by the state-
ments of the best modern scientific authorities. It
is neither Huxley's "pure fiction," nor the absurd
travesty of facts with which Professor Draper en-
tertained himself.
It is quite remarkable how much is conceded to
this narrative even by those critics who find diffi-
culties and discrepancies in it. Dr. Driver terms
it a dignified and sublime representation, in marked
contrast to the other ancient cosmogonies. Among
its declarations on which he lays great stress as of
the utmost weight amid the crude and false notions
then universal, are these : (i) That the world was
called into existence, and brought gradually into its
present state, at the will of a Spiritual Being, prior
to it, independent of it, deliberately planning each
stage of its development — a fact which no scientific
progress can affect or disprove ; (2) its object is to
afford a true view in conception, if not in detail, of
the origin of the earth as we know it, and not in an
abstract and confused form v/hich may soon be for-
gotten, but in a series of representative pictti7'es wYiich.
may impress themselves on the imagination, teach-
ing, in terms which all can understand, the same
truth which is the outcome of the wisest philosophy,
that the world in which we live cannot be compre-
hended, cannot become an intelligible object of
knowledge, except as dependent on a supreme
Mind ; (3) the distinctive pre-eminence of man as
endowed with that highest of gifts, selj-conscious
reason, with all its implied intellectual faculties,
THE CREA TION NARRA TIVE 229
with will power, with the ability to enter into re-
lations of sympathy, affection, compassion, and
love, with the capacity for character, and with the
power of knowing and loving God and receiving
the knowledge of God and the purposes of His
grace. All this is stated in his own words, though
abbreviated at great disadvantage to the impres-
sion.* In thus ascribincr to the narrative these su-
preme truths, in declaring that they are in accord
with the wisest philosophy, disclosed in representa-
tive pictures which all can understand and which
impress themselves upon the memory ; when he
also adds in his detailed statement, that the narra-
tion "groups the living creatures under great sub-
divisions which appeal to the eye," and even in re-
gard to the word "day" says that it is "reasonable
on the whole to concede its metaphorical use here" ^
— a concession at which Mr. Huxley sneered in his
lectures in New York — Dr. Driver actually an-
nounces or implies all the principles of interpreta-
tion which, as we shall presently see, remove the
difficulties which he finds remaining.
Professor Ryle, who, while calling this a "match-
less introduction to the whole history," indulges in
similar objections to its "scientific accuracy," yet
in the strongest terms eulogizes its representation
of three "fundamental conceptions," namely, the
physical universe, mankind, and the Godhead.
The first, he says, agrees in its highest conceptions
I Driver's Sermons on the Old Testament, pp. 171 seq.
3 See note xxii., Appendix.
280 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
with the teaching of the purest philosophy of re-
ligion ; in regard to the second, every item of the
description is in harmony with the highest religious
conception of man revealed to us in the teaching of
the incarnation ; in regard to the third, even more
striking does this exaltation of conception appear in
the description of the Godhead. These proposi-
tions, stated in his own words, he expands in de-
tail.^ Professor Ladd, who gives no little attention
to the "lapses and errors" in it, prefaces his dis-
cussion with the declaration that "the noble simplic-
ity of style, the loftiness and purity in theological
conception of this masterpiece, are acknowledged
by all, both critics and casual readers." He pro-
ceeds to specify "the more important elements of
doctrine designed to be taught," which are made
more impressive by his exposition in detail, briefl}^
stated thus : (i) That the universe is dependent
for its existence and present order upon the will of
God ; (2) the divine qualities of power and wisdom
as evinced in preparing the world of physical sub-
stances, of living creatures, and of moral subjects
made in the divine image, are prominent in the
thought and narrative of the author ; (3) the divine
qualities in their creative activity penetrate every
detail of creation ; (4) the divine institution of the
Mosaic Sabbath ; (5) man at the head of creation,
and the center of creation ; (6) the universe consti-
tuted by God through successive acts of creation,
an orderly and progressive whole.* Prebendary
3 Ryle's Early Narratives of Genesis, pp. 10-12.
4 Ladd's The Doctrine of Sacred Scriptures, i., pp, 253-259.
THE CREA TION NARRA TIVE 281
Row goes SO far as to say of the statements of the
Biblical narration that " while in some minute points
they are not absolutely consistent with scientific
facts, yet the}" make a marvelously near approach
to them."^
Thus these writers affirm the singular truthful-
ness of the narrative in the great fundamental points,
but here they pause and turn to certain stereotyped
objections or alleged minor inaccuracies. It is pro-
posed to show that these "inaccuracies," so con-
stantly rehearsed by rote, disappear when the nar-
rative is fairly treated, and its actual method fully
recognized. The mistake of its critics and the over-
sight of many of its defenders consist in failing to
take clear notice of the method and style of narra-
tion. Dr. Driver was on the verge of discovering it
and thus disposing of his own criticism, when he
spoke of its being given " /;/ representative -pictures''''
for all men to understand and to remember, its de-
scription by groups under the great subdivisions
which appeal to the eye, and the metaphorical
use of the word "day."
It becomes necessary first of all to call attention
to the method and style of the narrative, and, be-
cause of the persistent oversight, to do so somewhat
in detail in order to make it clear. And let it be
observed that we are not advancing theories about
the narrative, but stating the facts of the case.
Now, every composition must be judged and in-
terpreted from its own aim, standpoint and method,
5 Row's Bampton Lectures, p. 461.
232 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
whether mathematics, science, poetry, metaph3^sics,
history or biography; and history itself by aim,
recognizable mode, and its intended readers. Dick-
ens' Child's History of England and Hallam's Con-
stitutional History cannot be criticised on the same
specific grounds.
This narrative was written and fitted for all man-
kind ; for all lands, ages, classes and conditions of
men. Its intent was not primarily intellectual edu-
cation, nor completeness of science, but moral and
religious impression and the uses of piety, and par-
ticularly as introductory to the history of the Reve-
lation of God and the Redemption of man. These
two governing considerations, universality of adap-
tation, and subordinateness of purpose, account for
and necessitate two striking traits, /acts, in the
method of the narration, which have not received
the attention they require, namely, its brevity, and
its purely popular quality.
First, its brevity, absolutely unparalleled; the
history of many millions of years, according to the
scientists, told in thirty verses ; the merest outline
sketch. It is like compressing the map of a con-
tinent into less than a square inch. This marvelous
brevity necessitates several things of the utmost
importance for fair treatment of the account, several
of the most important being steadily overlooked :
(i) Omission of details, exceptions, modifications,
in its broad and characterizing outlines ; (2) a dis-
missal of facts once narrated, and a continuous for-
ward movement, the narrative marking each new
THE CREATION NARRATIVE 233
stage and then passing to the next Vvdthout revert-
ing or alluding to the former — although they move
on together; (3) the announcement of each new
movement, lav^, order of things, therefore, in its
totality or completeness. This was also the need-
ful mode of connecting the history with the
creation known to the reader. The method, as
matter of fact, runs through the whole narration,
as, for example, in the case of the continents, vege-
tation, animal life, and other things that will be
mentioned in their place. It is a perfectly obvious
fact, when attention is called to it, but the overlook-
ing of it has been the chief weak spot of the attack
and the defense.
The universal adaptation of the history gives rise
necessarily to these traits: (i) The absence of all
technical terms, not alone, because the Hebrews
had none such, but because they would have been
inadmissible. Hence the visible universe [zd
nav) is "the heaven and the earth*'; the vegetable
kingdom is "the grass, the herb yielding seed, the
fruit-tree yielding fruit" ; chaos is " without form and
void," or emptiness and desolation; there is no
chemical action, but the Spirit of God moving, or
brooding ; no cosmic gas or chemical elements, but
the deep, the waters, and so on. (2) Popular modes
of statement always; scientific statements would
have been stumbling blocks down to the present time.
Not even the process is described, but only the re-
sults, and that usually by visible marks of changes
the most stupendous, such as the appearance of
234 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
light, and "the firmament." Instead of God's voli-
tions we read that "God said." The Creator com-
munes with Himself, "let us"; "calls" things by
names, and sees that they are "good" — all in the
human, vivid and universally intelligible mode. So
also in speaking of the stages of creation, instead
of talking of a geological epoch or era (if the He-
brew had had any such word), or attempting to
state a length of time, incomprehensible at best, it
simply describes these stages after the human mode
as so many days' Vv^ork, that is, of God's v%^orking.
(3) For the same reason the descriptions are phe-
nomenal, of things as they appeared or would have
appeared. It is not necessar}^, though perhaps ad-
missible, to suppose (with Miller, Kurtz, Godet,
Reusch, Row) a series of visions, or a moving dio-
rama. But clearly the method, it is important to
observe, is the popular one of describing things not
as they are interiorly, but phenomenally, as they
appeared. On this point the sun and moon are a
test case ; the one a luminary, the other a dark re-
flecting body, but described alike as they appeared,
the one to rule the day, the other to rule the night.
The same trait appears throughout ; in the visible
"heaven," sky or welkin, in the separation of the
waters from the waters, in the obvious forms of
vegetation, in the monsters, literally " stretched out"
creatures, the fowl flying on the face of Jicavcn, and
everything that crcefcth on the earth ; all phenome-
nal and even optical descriptions.
These traits of the narrative need but to be dis-
THE CREA TION NARRA TIVE 235
tinctly stated to be recognized ; but the failure to
recognize some of them has caused the chief criti-
cisms of the narrative. Even the use of the word
"day" is not a defect, but an excellence, in a narra-
tive written in the simplest form for all men. The
criticisms have made it necessary to point out these
traits very distinctly and in detail, although they
are recognizable at a glance when attention is di-
rected to the facts. To enumerate them, however
rendered necessary, is like analyzing a dandelion.
Bearing in mind the unquestionable aim and char-
acter of the narrative, let us proceed to test it by
the latest results attained. It is worthy of mention,
meanwhile, what Professor Arnold Guyot relates of
himself: "In the beginning of the winter of 1840,
having just finished writing a lecture which was to
be part of a course which I was then delivering at
Neuchatel, Switzerland, it flashed upon my mind
that the outlines I had been tracing, guided by the
results of scientific inquiry then available, were
precisely those of the grand history given in the
first chapter of Genesis. In the same hour I ex-
plained this remarkable coincidence to the intelli-
gent audience which it was my privilege to ad-
dress."^ Forty-three years afterwards he adhered
to the same view of the complete harmony between
the narrative and the results of scientific inquiry,
and published it to the world.
We proceed to the narrative itself. The first
verse asserts the creation by God of the visible uni-
e Guyot's Creation, Preface,
236 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
verse, that is, its absolute origination. The He-
brew word, much like our word "create," though
the proper word for origination, might not of itself
necessarily carry that force. The full meaning of
the word is favored by the fact that (in this Hebrew
conjugation) it is elsewhere used only concerning
God's doings, and in this chapter employed but
three times (vs. i, 21, 27), in regard to the uni-
verse as a whole, the introduction of animal life
and the origin of man — matter, life, spirit — and is
made decisive by the fact that all the plastic proc-
esses subsequently performed on this material, are
so complete and exhaustive as to admit only origi-
nation here. Science has nothing to say against it,
while some scientists both admit and insist upon it. '^
The alternative would be to hold with Plato to the
eternity of matter ; thus making it so far the equal
of God. This brief sentence, as has been well said,
cuts off Atheism, Polytheism, Pantheism, Dualism,
Materialism and Fatalism.
In verse second it is important to notice that the
narrative leaves the universe in general and limits
itself to the earth, with an unknown interval of time
between. It presents the earth in a chaotic con-
dition, "waste and void" (R. V.); a summary and
dignified statement — how different from the absurd
details of Ovid! And in the added clause, "and
darkness was on the face of the deep," the "deep"
is obviously this same chaotic mass, and the dark-
ness carries us to a condition prior to chemical com-
7 See note xxiii., Appendix.
THE CREA TION NARK A TIVE 287
bination, inasmuch as chemical action, when intense,
produces light and heat. When Professor Ladd
objects that this is incorrect because "light by its
very nature belongs to that condition of the earth
mass with which the hypothesis of science begins,"
he forgets that though scientists may commonly go
no further back than to speak of this earth mass in
its incandescent state, their fundamental principles
involve the recognition of elements, atoms, mole-
cules, which by their combination and interaction
produce that incandescence. And science has now
gone so far in the hands of Raoul Pictet as to prove
that at certain very low temperatures (from -125° to
-I75°)the most powerful chemical agents(even nitric
acid) are inert. An uncombined and therefore dark
state is not only assumable, but proximately prov-
able. Professor Dana virtually says this very thing
when he says that the beginning of activity in mat-
ter "would show itself by a flash of light through
the universe."^ Here, then, is the fact of activity
begun, contained in the announcement, "Let there
be light." How simple and apprehensible this
slight stroke of a phenomenal description — a result
perceived — which tells the story of enormous and
unimaginable combinations ! Any child can appre-
hend the statement ; no man can fully comprehend
the process ; and while Voltaire might be excused
in his day for objecting that light could not have
existed prior to the action of the sun, it was hardly
excusable for a writer (C. W. Goodwin, M. A.) in
S Dana's Geology, 2nd edition, p. 766.
238 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
the noted Oxford Essays and Reviews to repeat an
objection which a schoolboy could then have an-
swered.
But this intense activity is referred to its divine
cause in the preceding verse: "The Spirit of God
moved, "or more strictly (R. V. margin), was brood-
ing^ the word which (Deut. xxxii. ii) describes the
action of the eagle fluttering over her young, and
denotes a steady activity not necessarily limited to
the beginning of the work, but perhaps applicable
throughout. He moved upon "the face of the
waters," the term "the deep" being now exchanged
for "the waters, "and this last evidently but another
term for the "waste and void" condition. Lan-
guage and thought could hardly furnish more vivid
phraseology for the vastness of this heaving mass
than "the deep" or ocean, or than "the waters" for
its unstable condition. The vaporous mass is con-
jectured by Sir W. Dawson to have had a diameter
two thousand times greater than its present one,'
its brilliancy becoming like that of the sun. This
immense change, so simply told, fills the first epoch
or "day" — a word to be considered later. When
God "divided the light from the darkness," He
established a permanent condition or relation, very
simply stated.
Next comes the "firmament," or, more properly,
expanse^ to separate the waters "under" it from
those "above" it. It is to be observed that the
narrative has now left the universe and limited itself
g Dawson's Story of the Earth and Man, p. g.
THE CREA TION NA RRA TI VE 23&
to the earth ; and therefore it seems inadmissible
to find here the resolution of a nebula into our solar
system/*^ "Firmament" is the critical word, mean-
ing, literally, exfanse^^^ and in verse 8 defined as
"heaven," that is, the sky or w^elkin ; and thus in
the most simple and popular mode there is pre-
sented the scene of a sky with a sheet of waters
below and dense water-clouds above. This one
brief stroke, purely phenomenal, addressed to the
eye, tells the story of other immense changes, in-
cluding the cooling of the earth's surface to a crust
and the reduction of its temperature till water will
lie upon it ; and also such a disengagement of the
elements as to form an atmosphere, though laden
not only with dense vapors, but with much else that
has been since absorbed and combined. It would
be the change produced by ages of gradual radia-
tion, summed up in a sentence. This signal change
marks the second stage or day.
Next, in verses 9-12, are contained two great
events. First comes the appearance of dry land,
by the formation of continents and oceans. This
implies a time when the surface of the earth was
covered by waters ; a fact abundantly asserted by
the geologists. ^'^ The formation of the continents,
though here summarily described at the beginning
of it, actually continued through the several geo-
10 As Guyot and Dana give it.
11 So the margin of R. v.; "expansion" in margin of A. V. The Hebrew
verb from which the noun comes usually means to expand, not to make solid
as i\xe firm amentum of the Vulgate.
12 Dana, 4th edition, p. 44. Van Gotta, Geologie, p. 219. Guyot, Crea-
tion p. 79. Dawson, The Story of the Earth ani Man, p. 12.
240 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
logical epochs, even down through the Tertiary;
the original Archean land in this country lying mainly
(though not solely) north of the St. Lawrence. ^^
Just so the previous day's result was a protracted
process, described in its completeness. This method,
as will be seen, runs through the whole chapter
and is to be distinctly recognized, since it furnishes
a key to the next description, and answers the most
specious objection that has been raised to the cor-
rectness of the account.
For on the same third day are introduced " grass,
the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding
fruit after his kind"; a popular description of the
vegetable kingdom, as we call it, by the forms visi-
ble to the eye and known to all mankind. Here,
as before and after, and in keeping with the method
which we are bound to recognize as running through
the whole chapter, the vegetable system is men-
tioned as a w^hole, in its completeness, not to be
alluded to again. It is only by overlooking this
unquestionable fact of the entire method that Mr.
Huxley and Professor Ladd have charged an ana-
chronism upon it, inasmuch as the cereals and fruit
trees occur only very late in the history of the earth.
With the recognition of this unquestionable method
the objection vanishes.'*
13 Le Conte, Revised Edition (1891), p. 292. C. H. Hitchcock, Geology of
N. H.,i., p. 511. Dana, 2nd edition, p. 147; 4th ed., p. 440. These writers
speak of the ocean as nearly or quite universal. Geikie, however, in his 3rd
edition (1893), p. 14, doubts its absolute universality, though affirming the
present surface contours to be of comparatively recent date.
14 Guyot calls attention distinctly to this characteristic of the narrative
(Creation, pp. 89, 90). Dawson overlooked it (Modern Science in Bible
Lands, p. 17), to his disadvantage, as did Mr. Gladstone in his discussion
with Professor Huxley.
' V \
THE CREA TION NARRA TIVE 241
The introduction of vegetable life, as here an-
nounced, prior to that of animal life, is well sus-
tained. For while, from their perishable nature
and the high temperature of the period of metamor-
phic rocks, no plants in their original form are, or
could be expected to be, found in the Archean rocks,
their early existence is a matter of plain and direct
inference, or, as Dawson puts it, "a trite conclu-
sion to natural science." For (i) the temperature
and condition of the water and the air would admit
vegetable before animal life ; (2) animals require
plants for food; (3) the existence of graphite, ^^ an-
thracite, and certain iron ores in great quantities in
the Archean rocks, indicates abundant early vege-
table life, primarily sea-weeds.'^ A question has
been raised as to the possibility of vegetation be-
fore the incoming of solar light; whereas the
growth of vegetables in the dark (for the most part
colorless) is a familiar fact, and Godet mentions
that M. Famazin in all his experiments upon algse
never made use of any light but a gas lamp. The
same writer also cites the botanist Karl Mueller,
who attributes the immense change and progress of
vegetation after the Carboniferous era "to the solar
light. "^^ Evidently the earth was not yet prepared
for the higher animal life. The Archean era, dur-
15 Dana (2nd edition, p. 157) says that some layers of the Archean (Lau-
rentian) contain twenty per cent of graphite. While admitting (pp. 67-146)
that graphite and bog-iron ore are results in connection with vegetation, not
so exclusively as to prove it, he characterizes (p. 144) anthracite as "a most
highly mineralized form of vegetation." Le Conte, Dana, Dawson and
Hitchcock regard the graphite as clear evidence, and raise no doubt as to
the bog-iron ore.
16 Dana, p. 454; Le Conte, 288, 304, Revised Edition.
17 Godet, Creation and Life, pp. 32, 33, 48.
242 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
ing which vegetable life is supposed to have been
predominant, was relatively the longest in the
earth's geological history ; according to Le Conte,
longer than all subsequent eras.
The fourth stage or day (verses 14-19) brings, as
already stated, the test proof that the description
is phenomenal, addressed to the eye ; the sun and
moon described alike, as they appear, to rule the
day and the night, though their actual function is
so unlike, the one being a luminary, the other an
opaque reflector. Here, then, is a visible phenom-
enon, the appearance or disclosure of the sun and
moon in their relations and functions to the earth.
The special word "create" is not employed here;
they had been already created as part of the heaven
and earth, and now "God said, Let there be lights in
the firmament." The "setting" them in the heavens
is part of the same optical description ; and the
word "made," in the summary statement, is in the
Hebrew, as in the popular English, a word of wide
range, covering the meanings of appointing, con-
stituting, establishing, as(Ex. vii. i), "I have made
thee a god to Pharaoh." When, therefore. Dr.
Driver insists that this verse affirms the "formation
of the heavenly bodies not merely after the creation
of the earth, but after the appearance on it of vegeta-
tion," he not only disregards the clearly phenome-
nal nature of the representation, but puts himself in
direct conflict with the first verse of the chapter,
which records the creation of "the heaven" and the
earth. And when in his preceding sentence he re-
THE CREATION NARRATIVE 243
marks, as an objection to the order in the narrative,
which puts vegetation prior to animal life, that
"plant life from the beginning, in its earliest and
humblest forms, was accompanied by similar hum-
ble types of animal life," it would be difficult for
him to prove the remark by competent authority.
But this visible token, the full disclosure of the
heavenly bodies, indicates an immense progress.
How was it brought about? The question is vir-
tually answered by Le Conte,^^ when he speaks of
the withdrawal of the "aqueous vapor and carbonic
acid" that had been "a double blanket" to the earth,
and by Dana when he says that it was "after the
vapors which till then had shrouded the sphere were
withdrawn. "^^ The intervening resultant changes
were vast, and the process long-continued, and, from
the nature of it, difficult to assign to a very definite
period. Dr. Dawson appears to place it after the
Laurentian,^" Hugh Miller after the Devonian, if
not after the Carboniferous.^^ It is perhaps definite
enough to say with Dana, "It must have preceded
the animal system, since the sun is the grand source
of activity throughout nature on the earth, and is
essential to the existence of life except in its lowest
f orms, " ^^ as well as for the additional reason as-
signed by Le Conte,^^ that "the progressive purifi-
cation of the atmosphere by the withdrawal of the
superabundant carbonic acid and returning the pure
oxygen fitted it for the purposes of higher and
i8 Geology, p. 382. 21 Testimony of the Rocks, p. 203-41 208.
19 Geology, 2nd ed., p. 769. 22 Geology, 2nd ed., p. 766.
ao Origin of the World, p. 204. 23 Geology, p. 382.
244 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
higher animals." The process, though long con-
tinued, is described as usual in its completeness.
The record is unassailable. And in its mention of
the practical uses of these chief luminaries, as mark-
ing off the years, months, days and "seasons" of
various kinds, the popular nature of the narrative is
still manifest; they are the world's great chro-
nometer.
The fifth stage or day (vs. 20-25) ^^ characterized
by animal life in three forms :^* (i) Marine life,
verse 20; (2) winged creatures (not "fowl"), verse
20; (3) monsters, verse 21, not "whales" (A. V.)
nor "sea-monsters" alone (R. V.), as will presently
be shown, but " stretched-out" creatures. This is
a brief statement of facts as now known, and in the
same general order, although that last is not to be
regarded as a vital point, (i) Marine life. The
primordial rocks, says Dana, have afforded evidence
only of marine life.^^ As to its abundance Le Conte
unconsciously echoes the very words of Genesis,
which reads (R. V., margin), "Let the waters swarm
with swarms of living creatures," while the geolo-
gist writes concerning the Silurian age, "These seas
24 A singular objection is that of Prof. Ladd (Doctrine of Sacred Scripture,
i., p. 162), that the narrative does not deal with "the impossibility of separat-
ing the lower grades of vegetable from those of animal life." This is the
demand that a bold outline sketch, phenomenal in character, and for man-
kind at large, shall enter into certain minutiae of a scientific character, un-
recognizable by mankind at large. Dr. Asa Gray, however, to whom he
refers, though speaking of the "close connection of the lower with the higher
forms," does yet distinguish between the vegetable and the animal (Natural
Science and Religion, pp. 32, 33). The separation is palpable enough to the
average man, for whom the narrative was written. It may be that the Eozoon
Canadense of Dawson, found in the Laurentian, is an animal, though strongly
disputed (see Geikie, pp. 694, 695). If so, exceptional instances would not in-
validate a characterizing description of the predominant condition, as dis-
tinguished from the equally remarkable outburst of animal life at the fifth
stage.
25 Dana, 2nd ed., p. 169:4 th ed., p. 469.
THE CREA TION NARRA TIVE 245
literally swarmed with living beings," mentioning
over 10,000 species as having been described from
the Silurian alone, and these to be regarded as a
small fragment of the actual fauna of that age.^®
In the Devonian came the great outburst of fishes.
Here let it be observed that it would not mar the
correctness of this general, outline description, if
exceptional instances of marine life were found in
the huge mass of earlier vegetation, or before the
full shining of the sun. It is also to be observed
that here too the new order is described as a whole,
although every species of the earlier marine life
has disappeared, to be succeeded by different
species ; but no further allusion is made to the fact.
(2) The " flying' ' creatures, not necessarily fowls,
but "what flies" (Fuerst). The geological history
of the world actually shows the incoming of the
winged tribes after that of marine life. Without
making any account of the earliest of the winged
creatures, namely winged insects, which were some-
what numerous in the Devonian, ^^ and in the Car-
boniferous attained a spread of wings of twenty-six
inches,"^ we encounter in the Jurassic the peculiar
feathered creature called the archgeopteryx, with
wings of three feet spread ; and at least twenty spe-
cies of true birds in the Cretaceous of New Jersey
and Kansas alone. "^ But the most extraordinary
phenomenon in this line appears in the bat-like or
lizard-like creatures called pterosaurs, of several
genera, one genus of them called pterodactyles.
26 Le Conte, p. 30a. 28 Id., p. 398.
27 Id., p. 334- 559 Id-. 488.
246 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
They begin apparently in the Jurassic, and were of
many kinds, having an extent of wings ranging
from two or three feet up to twenty and twenty-five.
Seven species were found in the western Cretace-
ous, one with a spread of eighteen feet and two of
twenty-five feet f" and ten species in Great Britain,
one having a spread of twenty-five feet.^^ What-
ever aspects the earth might present at this stage,
nothing could be more striking than these huge
winged creatures darkening the sky. They occur
from the Jurassic into the Cretaceous.
(3) The third characteristic of this stage or day
is what the common version renders wrongly
"whales," and the Revised Version inadequately
"sea-monsters," while Gesenius,more in accordance
with the facts, makes it include the land serpent,
dragon, monster, as the actual usage requires (Ex.
vii. 9; X. 12; Deut. xxxii. 33; Ps. xci. 13; Jer. li.
34), adding that it is so called from its extension or
length, being derived from a verb meaning to
stretch out. Tuch, Knobel, Dillmann, Delitzsch, all
give it as the "long stretched out" animals, among
which Delitzsch specifies the saurian. The serpent
into which the rod of Moses was changed (Ex. vii.
9), and the dragon of the other three passages
above cited, are called by this name, all apparently
land animals, one of them certainly a reptile.
Now there is a long period of geological history,
beginning somewhat before and extending through
the Mesozoic, which the geologists term the "era
30 Id., pp. 442, 445, 446, 31 Geikie, p. 931,
THE CREATION NARRATIVE 247
of reptiles" from the extraordinary profusion of rep-
tile life, as well as the immense size of its species.'^
The size of some of these species is given by Geikie
as follows : Hadrosaur, 28 feet in length ; ornitho-
tarsus, 35; ceratops, 30; dinosaur, 40; cetiosaur,
50; mososaur, 75 ; atlantosaur, loo/'^ Le Conte
gives additional statements : Ichthyosaur, 30 to 40
feet; plesiosaur, 40; megalosaur, 50; atlantosaur,
115.^* Sir John Lubbock gives the titanosaur the
length of 100 feet.^^ Some of these were sea-mon-
sters, some land animals, and some amphibious.
Not only was their size enormous, but their num-
bers were great. At least fifty species of moso-
saurs have been found in the Cretaceous of America,
fifteen or twenty species of dinosaurs have been de-
scribed by Professor Marsh, and there are sixteen
of plesiosaurs in Great Britain alone. ^'^ "There are
now on the whole face of the earth," writes Pro-
fessor Le Conte, "only six reptiles over fifteen feet
long," whereas "in the Cretaceous of the United
States alone one hundred and fifty species of rep-
tiles have been found, most of them of gigantic
size"; and "the fossil fauna of any period is but a
fragment of the actual fauna of that period." What
fact in the earth's earlier condition could be more
striking ?
Looking now at these three phenomena, partly
32 Lyell, Miller, Le Conte, Dana, Agassiz, Geikie.
33 Geikie, pp. 892, 933.
34 Le Conte, ist ed. In the 2nd edition the length of the atlantosaur is not
given.
35 Lubbock, Address before the British Association of Science.
36 Le Conte, pp. 439, 487, 460.
248 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
successive and partly contemporaneous, what three
bold strokes could so well describe that state of
things as these three : the waters svv^arming with
marine life, the face of the heavens darkened by
such flying creatures, and the stretched out m.onslers
under whose ponderous forms the earth groaned r^'
The sixth day's work (verses 24-31), like the third,
is twofold. In the first section are "cattle, beast
of the earth, and creeping thing." It is a purely
popular description, universally intelligible, and
ver}' well explained by Guyot : "In the Tertiary
the herbivorous animals, domesticated by man, are
named cattle, while the others, including the car-
nivorous, are called the beasts of the earth or wild
beasts, and the smaller ones the creeping things." ^^
These evidently include the greater and smaller
mammals, as we now call them. The geologists
have designated the Tertiary as the "age of mam-
mals" ; but the narrative no more uses that term than
in the previous period the word reptiles or amphi-
bians. The larger animals are mentioned in the
two most obvious divisions, and the smaller are
characterized as they would appear to the eye,
"creeping upon the earth." Dr. Driver has well
said of this narrative: "It groups the living crea-
tures under the great subdivisions which appeal to
the eye." The geologists in their designation of
this period are in accord with Genesis, in the gen-
eral characterization, and as such it would not be
37 Geikie (p. 892) gives the estimated weight of the broiUosaur, though but
50 feet in length, at twenty tons.
38 Guyot, Creation, p. 119.
THE CREATION NARRATIVE 249
impaired by any previous limited introduction of
semi-oviparous animals, or even oviparous (if such
were discovered). As an outline sketch for its pur-
pose, and for the world, the case could not be better
stated. Mr. Huxley, however, in order to force a
misrepresentation upon the writer, insists on press-
ing upon the term "creeping thing" a technical
meaning which would designate a lizard or reptile.^^
But (i) the reptile species have already been dis-
missed; (2) the Hebrew word is elsewhere applied
to the motion of all land animals whatever (Gen.
vii. 2 ; ix. 3 ; Ps. civ. 20) ; (3) the interpretation
here given perfectly accords with the writer's
method throughout, describing by the most obvious
marks — the larger animals in two marked groups,
and the smaller in another group as they appear on
the landscape creeping upon the earth. Homer,
with the same picturesqueness, speaks of "all things
that breathe and creef upon the earths' ^^
While this first half of the sixth stage actually
describes the introduction and predominance of what
we call mammal life, it is to be observed that the
writer does not commit himself to any such defini-
tion nor limitation. But the stage described is all
the more remarkable in two respects: (i) It was
preceded by the extinction of the huge reptilian
fauna of the Mesozoic, a " destruction great, world-
wide, and one of the most marvelous events in the
geological history";" (2) the incoming of the new
39 Huxley, Science and Hebrew Tradition, pp. 170 seq. He refers to Lev..
X. 29, where, however, a different word is used.
40 Iliad, xvii., 446. 41 Dana, p. 877.
250 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
order of life in the Tertiary was a great and some-
what sudden outburst, "a rapid and most extraordi-
nary change in the life system,"^" at once distin-
guished both by the number of species (''all the
main divisions'') and the size of some of them/^ In
the Miocene of the Siwalik Hills, India, are found
remains of eighty-four species of mammals, includ-
ing three species of mastodons, seven of elephants,
five of rhinoceros, from four to seven of hippopota-
mus, and three of the horse family/^ In India was
also the dinotherium, as large in proportion to our
elephant as an elephant to an ox ; *^ so that while
the fauna of India is one of the noblest in the
world, "it is paltry in comparison with that of the
much more limited Miocene, India." In recogniz-
ing this amazing and sudden change, the narrative
is surely impregnable.
The second half of this day or stage is marked
by the introduction of man, the crowning work, and
pre-eminently characteristic. The order accords
with what is known. It would not detract from
the weight of the outline sketch in recording this
one great event w^ere it found that other genera
continued to be introduced after the incoming of
the human race. But apparently it is not so. For
while it is said that some thirty species of birds and
^nimals have become extinct within historic times,*®
42 Le Conte, p. 501.
43 There were what are called anticipations of mammal life in the Juvassic
and Cretaceous; but probably all oviparous or semi-oviparous (Dana, p. 852),
and "like mice and rats in size" (lb., p. 768).
44 Le Conte, p. 525, 526.
45 Dawson, The Earth and Man, p. 251.
46 Winchell, Preadamite Man, p. 434.
THE CREA TION NARRA TIVE 251
there appear on the other hand only variations of
species. Man belongs to the latest life. This fact
is all that is necessary for the present discussion.
It is needless to specify at what precise geological
epoch he appeared, or how many years ago ; al-
though it may be remarked in passing how in re-
cent times assertions as to the early origin of the
human race have been steadily growing more mod-
erate/^ and the demands for hundreds of thousands
of years are becoming obsolete. A very significant
indication is to be seen in the two editions of Le
Conte's excellent Geology. The first edition (1879)
said that "man's time on the earth maybe 100,000
years, or it may be only 10,000, but more probably
the former than the latter."*^ The revised edition
(1891) repeats the numbers, but omits the opinion
in favor of the larger one.
But the account of man goes much further. It
not only presents him at the close of the series, but
at the head of it, as man, with simple relations in-
deed, but in his clear and entire humanity. So all
antiquarian research. While the cave men, in their
remote locations, are not necessarily to be regarded
as proper specimens of primitive man, they yet re-
veal all the qualities of true humanity, with weap-
ons, implements, ornaments, and apparently burials
and fires.
Further 3'et, the account assigns to man "domin-
ion" over the whole animal world (verses 26, 27).
He has always exercised it. Even the cave men
47 See note xxiv., Appendix.
48 Le Conte, p. 570, ist edition; p. 619, 2nd edition.
252 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
somehow mastered the largest and fiercest wild ani-
mals, and they sketched the cave-bear on a pebble,
and the mastodon on his own ivory ; and they used
a variet}^ of animals for food.
The narrative rises to its highest point when it
declares man to be made in the image of God : pri-
marily in his moral nature — reason and free will ;
and secondarily, and partly in consequence thereof,
in his intellectual nature. This is an indisputable
fact, thus unfolded by Dana in the last year of his
life: "There is in man therefore a spiritual ele-
ment in which the brute has no share. His power
of indefinite progress, his thoughts and desires that
look onward even beyond time, his recognition of
spiritual existence and of a Divinity above all, evince
a nature that partakes of the infinite and divine. "^^
And now a few more words on the "day." It
has been made a chief ground of assault. But when
viewed in connection with the purpose and method
of the narrative, it is of the easiest explanation and
vindication. The explanation, too, is not the result
of a modern sientific dilemma. Augustine in the
fourth century said that it was impossible to com-
prehend what was God's dayf*' and the venerable
Bede in the eighth century suggested that this in-
cludes "omnia volumina saeculorum."^^ The nar-
rative itself gives warning in the use of the word
before there was or could be a solar day, and by
the analogy of God's day of rest, which has lasted
49 Dana, p. 1018, last edition.
50 Civitate Dei, xii., 6.
51 Com. in Pent., ii., p. 1940. He speaks differently in the Hexaemeron.
THE CREA TION NA RRA TIVE 253
some thousands of years. " Da} s of God are in-
tended," says Delitzsh.
This leads to the simplest explanation of the use
of this term, namely, it is but a part of the (so-
called) anthropomorphic representation that runs
throughout the narrative. Everything is described
not only in the language of common life, but by
human processes — ' ' God said, " " God saw, ' ' and the
like ; and so the series of stages in the v^ork is de-
scribed under the easy figure of human days' labor,
naturally connected with the first alternation of dark-
ness and Jight. So Bunsen : "The six sections of
this work are conceived under the ima^je of the
earthly day as six stages of progress in light for-
mation. Thus the earthly day is the most fitting
picture, the most adequate framing
Rightly taken, the text needs no violent interpreta-
tion ; the slightly veiled view underlying it makes
itself clear. "^^ To the same effect Delitzsch says,
"The account represents the work of God accord-
ing to the image of human days. ... It lies,
however, in the nature of a copy that it should cor-
respond only on a very reduced scale with the in-
commensurable greatness of the original." Dr.
Driver's admission has been already cited.
The method was as wise as it was natural and
simple. The lapse of time remains still unknown,
and if it were known it would still be incomprehen-
sible. Why should the human race have been per-
plexed with an irrelevant issue, and with statements
52 Bibel Werk, i. I., p. 6.
254 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
which would for thousands of years have been a
stumbling block, statements which would have been
of no account for the purpose of the narrative ? The
thing which has been attacked as a blemish is
clearly an excellence.
Guyot, Dana and Dawson have adopted a different
mode of answering the objection. They point to
the flexible use of the word in the narrative itself,
in five different ways: first, the "day" before the
function of the sun (vs. 5, 8, 13); second, the light
portion of that day (v. 5) ; third, the solar day (v.
19) ; fourth, the light portion of that day (vs. 16,
18) ; fifth, the entire time of the creative work (ii.
4). They also refer to the popular use of the word
in both the Scriptures and in common life ; day of
visitation, of salvation, of prosperity or of adversity,
"in my day," etc. While this mode of defense is
tenable, it is perhaps simpler and quite as satisfac-
tory to rest on the other mode.
It has also been objected that the fourth com-
mandment, requiring the observance of the seventh
day in imitation of God's day of rest, limits the
"day" of the narrative to the solar day. But it is
an obvious and sufficient reply that the ratio or
analogy remains undisturbed, and thus the example
holds good ; as God rested, ceased from creating,
on His seventh day, so He requires man to rest on
his seventh day. It is "a copy on a reduced scale."
It has also been asserted that the form of state-
ment, "there was evening and there was morning,
one day," requires us to understand the solar day.
THE CREA TION NARRA TIVE 255
But this alternation of light and darkness which
suggests and underlies the mode of conception, is
equally consistent with the longer as the shorter
period. It but carries on the figure, denoting the
beginning and the ending, and together the total of
one stage, phase, or chapter of the creation.
Thus when the narrative is fairly treated, that is,
interpreted according to its ozvn proved method, we
find not only the five or six main points of unques-
tionable truth which its critics have admitted, but
their objections invalidated, and the following series
of remarkable coincidences with the latest knowl-
edge in the case :
1. All the present adjustments and forces of na-
ture had a beginning. Science now traces them all
back to their successive origin. The origination of
matter it cannot disprove, while some eminent
scientists maintain it.
2. All nature is one coherent system ; a truth
more and more fully confirmed.
3. There was once a condition of the globe when
no life existed or could exist ; fully admitted on all
hands.
4. The fitting up of the globe was a progressive
work. Evident.
5. Light was antecedent to and independent of
the sun's performing its function for the earth. In-
disputable.
6. The earth was once mainly covered with
waters, and the heavens with dense vapors. Well
sustained.
256 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
7. There came subsequently an emergence of
the continents from the oceans. Unquestionable.
8. An early succeeding order of progress was
the incoming of vegetation, as a characteristic event.
Apparently well established.
9. The heavenly bodies performed their special
function for the earth only at an advanced stage of
its history. Unquestionable.
10. An early outburst of animal life was an im-
mense sea life. Clearly admitted.
11. Winged creatures followed or accompanied,
as a conspicuous feature. Undeniable.
12. There was then also a predominance of huge
monsters. Established.
13. Later came the chief movement now called
mammalian. Universally admitted.
14. The series was completed by the advent of
man. Fully sustained.
15. Man made his appearance in possession of
his distinctive human faculties, and as lord of the
animal world. A settled fact.
Such are the statements here made, when the
writer is permitted to tell his story in his own sim-
ple and naUiral \Nd,y \ a grand outline of the earth's
story, sustained throughout b}' the latest knowledge
of facts. A most extraordinar}^ record it is ; the
more so because only within the century past could
its truthfulness be authenticated. But now it stands
forth, in the words of Professor Dana, "both true
and divine."
If it be said, as it has been, that the ordinary
THE CREA TION NARRA TIVE 257
reader would not apprehend all that is covered by
these statements, as, for example, the lapse of time
included in the day, the reply is that the details
which awaited the late discoveries of science did
not hinder the apprehension and impression of the
great truths taught by the narrative. Some of the
facts now proved baffle the imagination of even the
scientist to apprehend, and the early revelation of
them would have been not only useless, but a stum-
bling block for several thousand years. In truth,
there is no agreement now. The histor}^ is given
in the most abbreviated form — "on a reduced scale. "
After showing the remarkable harmony of this
terse narrative with the results of modern investiga-
tion, there is no special occasion to compare it with
other so-called cosmogonies. Ovid's description of
creation was written while in all probability the Old
Testament Scriptures may have been in Rome, and
resembles the first chapter of Genesis enough to be
almost a travesty, absurd in some of its details.
Since the discovery of what are called the creation
tablets in 1874 ^7 George Smith, it has been some-
what customary to view them as coming from a
common source with the Hebrew account, and
sometimes to suggest that the latter have come from
the former. The tablets found by Smith were from
Nineveh and were supposed to date from about 650
B. C. Duplicates and additional fragments, since
found at Borsippa and Sippara, have led some As-
syrian scholars to refer them to a much earlier date,
Boscawen as early as B. C. 2200-2500,^^ and Jensen
53 Boscawen, p. 7a.
^58 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
supposing an origin of the story itself as earty as
3000 B. C. Sayce, on the other hand, has expressed
the opinion that they are "of late date."^* An-
other Chaldean account has long been known,
handed down by Berosus of the time of Alexander
the Great. Space does not admit, nor does our
purpose require here a full discussion of these cos-
mogonies. Those who most strongly advocate a
connection with the Hebrew narrative find it nec-
essary to admit very radical differences. Indeed
Boscawen says that "in the curious Babylonian cos-
mogony preserved by Berosus is found so little re-
semblance to the Hebrew that it hardly enters into
the field of comparison. "^^
But the Assyrian and the Babylonian tablets con-
tain, together with fundamental differences, more
resemblances in some of the details. The chief
points of resemblance suggested in this tablet cos-
mogony are the following: (i) A primitive chaos
of waters, which, however, is the origin of all else,
in which occurs the Tiamat or Tiavat, which, it is
conjectured, corresponds to the Hebrew Tehom,
"the deep"; (2) the making of the heavenly bodies,
the god Anu making an abode for the gods Ea and
Bel, with great gates and side bolts and a staircase ;
(3) the creation of the cattle of the field, the wild
beasts of the field and the creeping things of the
field. It is also supposed that there must have
been seven tablets corresponding to the seven
days of creation, although the supposed sixth
54 Records of the Past, New Series, i., p. 12a.
55 Boscawen, p. 42.
THE CREA TION NARRA TIVE 259
is wholly wanting at present, and only frag-
ments of the second, third and seventh are found,
while the fourth covers four printed pages with the
conflict between Bel and Tiamat, in which Sayce
would find the conflict between darkness and light.
The great and fundamental differences are such as
these : (i) The thoroughly polytheistic character of
the tablet account, there even being a time when
the gods did not exist, and when an early pair of
gods was produced, and other gods descended from
them by successive generations ; (2) its materialism,
the first pair of gods having been produced from
the primeval waters ; (3) the impossibility of group-
ing the tablets in parallel correspondence to the
Hebrew days of creation, while no six stages of
creation can be found in them except conjecturally ;
(4) the vagueness and diffuseness of most of the
statements, in singular contrast to the terse distinct-
ness of the Hebrew narrative. The best showing
of the difference is the printing of the two side by
side.
But whatever resemblance may be found between
the two must not divert attention from the clear,
proved truthfulness and dignity of the one and the
grave errors and childishness of the other. And
while the question of priority is not important when
the one is found to be true and the other untrue in
its very basis, yet if there is any relation to be rec-
ognized, we may ask, which is the more probable
supposition, and conformed to all experience — that
the simple and majestic narrative of Genesis grew
260 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
out of this materialistic, polytheistic account, or that
the latter was a corruption and far-off echo of the
truthful story?
The tablet cosmogony, however, serves two im-
portant ends: (i) If the early date claimed for it
is correct, it shows that another, the Hebrew, cos-
mogony may easily and naturally be as old as the
time of the Exodus and far older ; (2) inasmuch as
it contains certain statements corresponding in some
measure to those of both the so-called Elohistic and
Jehovistic documents, it is so far forth an indication
of the coequal antiquity of the whole of that He-
brew narrative, and a kind of voucher for it. And
yet, as we have seen, the narrative needs no such
voucher.
CHAPTER XIII
THE SABBATH
The extreme antiquity of the Sabbath coincides
with the Scripture account of its early and divine
origin. The modern critical analysis assigns this
portion of the narrative to the late Priest Code, so
called. Long before this analysis some writers
(e. g. Paley) held this portion of it to be an antici-
patory statement of what actually took place first
in connection with the fall of the manna in the
wilderness. Without attempting peremptorily to
decide this last question, it may be said that this in-
terpretation supposes an unrecognizable break in a
narrative otherwise continuous ; and also that the
recognition of the Sabbath in the wilderness (Ex.
xvi. 22, seq.) favors rather the view that it was the
revival of an established, though perhaps neglected,
institution, than the introduction of a new one.
Moreover the indications of the institution are not
confined to the so-called Priest Code, but occur in
the Jehovist section as well, and rest on outside sup-
port.
While, therefore, we necessarily lack the means
of proving from outside sources that the Sabbath
was instituted with the introduction of man — and
while the most important point is that it is a Divine
institution — we have strong evidence that it was of
'262 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
great antiquity, pointing even to its being as old as
the human race, certainly beyond the range of
history.
1. Early scriptural indications of the peculiarity
and special prominence of the number seven, and
septenary divisions. Cain was to be avenged seven-
fold (Gen. iv. 15), and Lamech seventy and seven-
fold (iv. 24). Noah took clean beasts by sevens
(vii. 3) ; Abraham set apart seven ewe-lambs as
v/itness of the covenant (xxi. 28-31); Balaam twice
prepares seven altars, and offers seven oxen and
seven rams (Num. xxiii., i, 2, 29, 30). Some of
these passages are assigned even by modern criti-
cism to dates as early as 750 and 800 B. C. ; and
the last mentioned is concerning a non-Israelite
transaction. It is not without plausibility, not to
say probability, that Wayland and others have un-
derstood "the end of days" (Gen. iv. 3, Hebrew),
when Cain and Abel brought their offerings appar-
ently at the same time, to be the end of seven days.
The interval of seven days occurs three times in the
account of the deluge, in what late critics assign to
the Jehovist, or oldest portion of the Pentateuch.
Circumcision was to be on the eighth day, that is,
after seven days (Gen. xvii. 11, 12). The Egyp-
tian mourning for Jacob was seventy (7x10) days,
and Joseph's morning at Atad seven days (1. 3, 10),
showing that such was the custom with Israel in the
early days in Egypt. At the Passover no leaven
was to be used for seven days.
2. The embodiment of seven as a sacred number
THE SABBA TH 263
in the structure of the Hebrew language. The
word used from Genesis onward for taking a solemn
oath was to "seven oneself, "to use the sacred num-
ber. This carries us back apparently to the incipi-
ent stage of the language.
3. The early diffusion of the same sanctity of the
number seven in the region of Babylonia. Schrader
informs us that the Babylonish literature and espe-
cially the hymns, both in the original Sumirio-Ac-
cadian forms and in the Assyrio-Semitic translations,
show "how deeply rooted already was the sacred-
ness of the number seven in the being of the non-
Semitic and pre-Semitic Baby lonism" ;^ and he cites
instance upon instance. Professor Davis cites in-
stances proving that "a seven-day period was a
measure of time in vogue among the Semites in
remote ages."^ Lenormant says that the sacred
character of the number seven, whence proceeds
the division of the week, dates to the remotest an-
tiquit}' among the Chaldaeo-Babylonians.^
Schrader and other Assyriologists* go further and
find the name "shabbatu" applied to the seventh,
fourteenth, nineteenth, twenty-first and twenty-
eighth days, accompanied with several special prohi-
bitions ; with the additional statement that the word
is explained as ' ' the day of the rest of the heart. ' '^ As
these particular points have been questioned, and as
some unsolved difficulties attend them, it is not nec-
1 Schrader, p. 21.
2 Davis, p. 31.
3 Lenormant, p. 249.
4 Sajce, Lenormant, Boscawen.
5 See note xxvi., Appendix.
264 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
essary to insist upon them. The main fact of the
peculiarity and sacredness of the number seven,
and that of the seven-day measure of time as "an
old Babylonish institution," as Schrader puts it, is
well established. The fact appears in the Chaldean
story of the flood : on the seventh day the storm
and the flood ceased ; on the next seventh day the
dove was sent out ; and on the altar were placed
jars by sevens.
4. The wide diffusion of the week division and
the prominence of the number seven should not pass
unmentioned, as pointing to a common and there-
fore remote origin. Here, however, there is a
difficulty in getting trustv/orthy statements. Some
citations that were formerly made, as from Hesiod
and Homer, must be abandoned. One of the
latest and most elaborate investigations is that of
Louis Thomas. He finds evidence of such a divi-
sion of the week not only among the early Chal-
deans, but among the Arabs before Mohammed,
the ancient Peruvians, the negroes of West Africa,
and perhaps the Chinese. In ancient Egypt he
finds a religious respect for the "septenaire" before
the institution of the decade, and as a popular and
sacerdotal division of the week ; among the Persians
a double week, exact or approximate, related to the
six creation acts ; and among the early Greeks the
great importance of the "septenaire." He also
traces less definite (and of more uncertain date) in-
dications of the week division, or of the peculiar
value of the number seven, still more widely dif-
THE SABBATH 265
fused/ These things join their force with the others
in pointing to a very ancient origin of the seven-
day division, and also to a special importance at-
tached to seven. It may also be fairly said that the
appointment would far more easily account for the
institution than the common explanation that it
arises from observing the changing of the moon, or
from the process of naming days after five selected
planets together with the sun and moon. This last
mentioned grouping is so arbitrary that it must have
come from some other necessity or motive behind
it ; while not only do the changes of the moon not
mark any distinct divisions, unless it be the new
moon, half moon and full moon (three in all), but
the complete lunation, that is, the period during
Vv^hich the moon returns to the same place relative
to the beholder, does not divide into four equal
parts, but much more nearly into three divisions of
ten days or six of five days each, as the late Rich-
ard A. Proctor has truly remarked.^ And Lenor-
mant has not hesitated to say that not only does the
week date from the remotest antiquity, but "it is
greatly anterior to the application of the hebdoma-
dal conception to the group of five planets with the
addition of the sun and moon."^ As to the great
antiquity of the week, and the peculiar prominence
of the number seven, there can be no question.
Such are some of the ascertainable facts scattered
6 Le Jour du Seigneur, Paris, 1892. See note xxxi. Appendix.
7 Mr. Proctor, after arguing, in the usual mode, for the derivation of the
week from the moon's motions, adds in a note, "More careful study of the
moon's motions suggests six periods of five days rather than four of seven."
It requires no "careful study," being an obvious fact. A complete lunation
is 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and a seconds, very nearly thirty days.
8 Lenormant, p. 249.
266 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
through the pre-historic past — all which the nature
of the case admits — which go to confirm the state-
ment that the seventh day arrangement belongs to
the earliest history of the race. Nor is it irrele-
vant to point to the now well known fact that obvious-
ly "the Sabbath was made for man, "ministering so
unquestionably to the highest human welfare that
it was fully worthy to have come by special appoint-
ment of his Maker. For it is well established that
the proper observance of one day in seven as a
day of rest, and sacred rest, is conducive to human
well-being in all these respects: (i) Physicall}'
and intellectually ; men can in the long run do more
of both these kinds of work, and do it better, in six
days than in seven ; (2) socially and politically, ac-
cording to the testimony of many of the ablest men
that the world has seen, men of all kinds of pur-
suits, and of the most diverse views in other re-
spects ; (3) morally and spiritually, by the experi-
ence and testimony of the great company of the best
men; and (4) philanthropically, by its indisputable
relation to the origin and maintenance of the world-
wide charities.
Now, as matter of historical fact, this benign insti-
tution was established before practical experience
had given the knowledge of its benign influence ;
for it has proved itself only by long usage, and
many of its influences have been clearly discerned
only in quite recent times. And while these bene-
fits do not directly prove its divine appointment,
they prove its pre-eminent^/?/^55 to have proceeded
THE SABBA TH 267
directly from God ; and they leave no other equally
plausible mode of accounting for its origin. For
the supposition that such ages of semi-barbarism as
the school of Kuenen and Wellhausen ascribe to the
early history of Israel, aided even by the later Jew-
ish scribes as we know of them, devised an institu-
tion for mankind beyond the conception of Confu-
cius or Gautama, or Socrates, Plato or Aristotle,
is too incredible to be urged. This aspect of the
case adds to the cumulative force of the other con-
siderations to make it probable, if not provable, that
the institution came from God in early times. And
the narrative that presents such an institution to the
world as coming from the God who made the world,
needs no apology.
CHAPTER XIV
THE HISTORIC BASIS
We have thus far dealt only with the corrobora-
tive or collateral indications of the authenticity of
the Hexateuch. We turn now to the more direct
evidence. On account of its special nature it is
diflkult to present this in its full force, or as Dr.
Henry Hayman terms it, "the enormous strength of
the case." The attention is diverted by minor ques-
tions from the fundamental considerations. The
real issue, however, is apprehensible by all clear-
headed men. The critics have been obliged to con-
fess in many ways that it is out of the question to
determine the date by matters of style or phraseol-
ogy. The latest appeal, it has been well said, is to
considerations open to all intelligent men ; critics
speak of repetitions, contradictions, supposed late
historic allusions or implications, the alleged earlier
non-existence of certain institutions or observances,
the presence of modes of thought which they affirm
must be late. These are all matters to be weighed,
not by profound erudition, but by clear, unperverted
judgment. They are to be settled, not by the testi-
mony of experts, but by the candor of the Christian
jury. While Hebrew scholarship is to be held in
the highest esteem in its place, the questions raised
and the arguments employed of late rise far beyond
THE HISTORIC BASIS 268
its range ; and the community are not to be per-
suaded into the notion that here lies the strength of
the case.
The nature of the basis on which ancient writ-
ings rest needs to be distinctly understood. We
cannot summon a living witness to testify concern-
ing facts or writings dating three thousand years
ago. Nor would a written claim of authorship at-
tached to a document necessarily be decisive. It
could be denied as easily as are a long series of
statements contained in the Hexateuch. A string
of successive vouchers extending down to the exile
or the Christian era could readily be dismissed, in
the words of Wellhausen, as a "pious make-up."
It is easy enough to deny authorship. The noted
Father Hardouin, who died in 1729, maintained
that the plays of Terence, Virgil's ^neid, the Odes
of Horace, and the histories of Livy and Tacitus
were forgeries of the monks of the thirteenth cen-
tury. Yet though he was a man of vast learning,
and it could be truly said that we have (with slight
exceptions) only medieval copies of these classics,
also that they come to us through the monasteries,
and that the monks had plenty of leisure time to
write them, he found no following. Difficult as it
would be to formulate a case in court for them, and
slender as is the evidence in comparison with that
of our sacred books, they are frankly accepted on
the basis of the descending traditions, in the absence
of conflicting claims or indications, together with the
conviction that the monks were incapable of the
2?0 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
composition — although this last point could not be
proved. But when we turn our attention to what
are called the ''Five Books of Moses," it may be
fairly said that we find all the evidence of their sub-
stantially contemporaneous origin and their authen-
ticity which the nature of the case admits.
1. Undivided traditional testimony refers the
substance of these books to the time of Moses. No
one man has lived, but a nation has lived an un-
paralleled and unmixed life to bring down the testi-
mony. And down to the Christian Era they lived
in the land to which Moses led them, and in which
his companions made their home. And not only
there, but wherever they were dispersed, they in-
herited and retained the tradition of the Mosaic
authorship of their institutions and their law, and
of the record as an authentic narrative of the facts.
It was never questioned.^
2. The admitted agency of Moses carries with it
the fundamental facts of the narrative, and the over-
whelming probability of substantially contempor-
aneous documents. Wellhausen, a champion critic,
says that "from the historic tradition it is certain
that Moses was the founder of the Torah," although
he adds, "The legislative tradition cannot tell what
were the contents of his torah. "^ Dr. Driver more
generously admits that "it cannot be doubted that
Moses was the ultimate founder of both the national
and religious life of Israel, and that he provided his
people not only with at least the nucleus of a sys-
I See note xxvii.
7, History of Israel, p. 438.
TtiE HISTORIC BASIS 271
tern of civil ordinances, but also with some system
of ceremonial observances," and "it is reasonable
to suppose that the teaching of Moses is preserved
in its least modified form in Ex. xx.-xxxiii;" and
he even supposes it not improbable that some form
of priesthood would be established by Moses, would
become hereditary, and would inherit from their
founder some traditionary lore in matters of cere-
monial observance/ This is well so far. But it
must go farther. Moses was not only an ultimate
founder, but he was a great founder. No man has
ever set so deep and permanent a stamp on a peo-
ple as Moses did. He was the last man to leave
things at the loose ends which Wellhausen inti-
mates, or even in the crude form which Driver sug-
gests. The stamp he made proves that he was not.
Trained in Egypt, the habit of writing was ingrained
into him. He had the time of forty years to con-
sider and write. He was founding and forming a
lasting nation, with lasting institutions. For forty
years he had found that nation as fickle and ungov-
ernable as the wind. The supposition that such a
man, under such circumstances, with urgent motives
and aims, left his labor of forty years to be blown
to the winds without written records and documents,
is so improbable as to be incredible.
3. These books come to us as authentic docu-
m.ents through the proper channel. They come in
the custody of the nation whose destiny has been
bound up with them. "The rule of the municipal
3 Introduction, pp. 144, 145.
272 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
law on this subject," says Professor Greenleaf of
the Cambridge Law School, "is familiar, and ap-
plies with equal force to ancient writings whether
documentary or otherwise. The first inquiry when
an ancient document is offered in court is whether
it comes from the proper depository; that is,
whether it is found in the place where, and under
the care of the persons with whom, such writings
might naturally and reasonably be expected to be
found; for it is this custody which gives authen-
ticity to documents found within it."^ Coming thus,
and bearing no evident marks of forgery, they are
admitted in evidence and regarded as genuine.
They stand good unless the objector is able suc-
cessfully to impeach them. He proceeds — and
though having in mind directly the New Testa-
ment Scriptures, his words apply equally well to
the Pentateuch — "This is precisely the case with
the Sacred Writings. . . . They come to us and
challenge our reception of them as genuine writings,
precisely as Domesday Book, the Ancient Statutes
of Wales, or any of the ancient documents which
have been recently published under the British
Record Commission, are received." So have the
documents of the Pentateuch (or copies of them)
come down to us, not gathered from some heap of
waste manuscripts, nor from a palimpsest, nor from
a sarcophagus, nor from some long buried and for-
gotten eastern ruin, but handed down through suc-
cessive generations of living men, so reverentially
4 Greenleaf s Testimony of the Evangelists, pp. 26, 27.
V \ . .
THE HISTORIC BASIS 273
and universally that the apostle James could say to
the assembled council of apostles and elders at Jeru-
salem, "Moses of old time hath in every city them
that preach him, being read in the synagogue every
sabbath day." Not only so, but the hated and hos-
tile Samaritans had also their copies of the Penta-
teuch, of undetermined antiquity, but written in
characters that antedate the exile, and still preserved
in the same ancient Hebrew or Phenician characters
in the Samaritan synagogue at Nablous. What
more could be asked in the matter of custody ? And
what is there in the history of ancient literature
that matches it ?
4. A series of references and citations running
through the remaining books of the Old Testament
confirm the statements and show the priority and
antiquity of the Pentateuch. These references in-
clude the principal facts, the teachings, sentiments
and phraseology of all the five, and in the instances
in which origin is indicated, refer it to "Moses."
These references are admirably exhibited by Pro-
fessor Stanley Leathes in his treatise on ''The
Law in the Prophets" (1891). They occupy (with
some few comments) a hundred and eighty-seven
pages, and cannot be even epitomized here. Suffice
it to say that he quotes from seventeen prophetical
books, and finds not far from 240 such allusions or
distinct implications in Isaiah, more than 200 in
Jeremiah, eighteen in Lamentations, more than
eighty in Hosea, more than one hundred and eighty
in Ezekiel, sixteen in Daniel, nearly thirty in Joel,
274 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
more than fifty in Amos, four in Obadiah, eight in
Jonah, some forty-two in Micah, ten or more in
Nahum, fourteen or more in Habakkuk, more than
twenty in Zephaniah, seven in Haggai, over thirty
in Zechariah, fifteen in Malachi. Should some of
these references be questioned, a very large part of
them are unquestionable, many of them being exact
reproductions, and, in some instances, of -words
found only in the Pentateuch. They are from all
the five books and from all the supposed writers of
the critics, apparently including P. And as in
the book of Joshua (not cited by Leathes) reference
is made to "the book of the law" and "the com-
mandment and the law which Moses the servant of
the Lord charged you," so in Malachi, the last of
the prophets, we read, "Remember ye the law of
Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him
in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and judgments"
(R. V.) Such was the continued endorsement by
the later writers of the Old Testament. Inasmuch
as modern criticism has disparaged the value of
many of these writers on account of their alleged
lateness, and taken their stand upon the two proph-
ets Amos and Hosea, Professor Robertson has ac-
cepted their challenge, and shown at large not only
that these reiterate all the main facts of the Penta-
teuch, but that they imply the existence of the in-
stitutions of the Pentateuch, of "statutes" and a
"law" prohibiting offenses specified in that code,
and the fact or the possibility of its being written
copiously at the Divine command, "ten thousand
THE HISTORIC BASIS 275
precepts."^ These two prophets belonged, the one
to the southern kingdom, and the other to the
northern, as early as the middle of the eighth cen-
tury B. C.
The extent to which the early history is assumed
in the later historical books, and the institutions
and law of Israel referred to the great legislator,
and the mode in which these allusions and state-
ments are disposed of by objectors, are deferred for
the present. But it may be well here to indicate
the fullness of allusion in these early and unques-
tioned prophets, Amos and Hosea, to the matters
presented in detail in the Pentateuch. We have
not only references to the deliverance from Egypt,
the forty years in the wilderness, and the overthrow
of the Amorites (Amos ii. 9, 10), but the statement
that the bringing up of Israel from Egypt was the
selection of the children of Israel from all the fami-
lies of the earth (iii. 2), was the adoption of Israel
as a child (Hos. xi. 11), and the manifestation of
Jehovah as his God, who thus established a claim to
an undivided loyalty (xii. 9, xiii. 4). God had
raised up of their sons as Nazarites (Am. ii. 11), had
brought Israel up out of Egypt by a prophet and
preserved him by a prophet (Hos. xii. 13), had
made him then "dwell intents as in the days of the
solemn feasts" (xii. 10). Both prophets assert the
existence of "a covenant," "a law of Jehovah,"
his "statutes," the "law of God" which Israel had
"rejected, forgotten, transgressed" (Amos. ii. 4,
5 Robertson's The Early Religion of Israel, p. 109, seq.
276 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
Hos. iv. 6, vii. 7, viii. i, 12). These transgres-
sions date as far back as the sin at Baal Peor (Hos.
ix. 10, xi. 2), the days of Gibeah (x. 9), and con-
tinued through the times of the prophets (x. 9).
The people had abandoned Jehovah for idols (iv.
17, viii. 4, xiii. 2), and for criminal lusts (iv. 14).
Hosea speaks of the feast days, new moons, sab-
baths and solemn feasts as institutions which God
would in anger take away (ii. 11) ; and refers (v. 10)
to the law of Deuteronomy (xix. 14, xxix. 17) in
regard to the removal of the landmark ; and again
(iv. 10), to them "that strive with the priest"
(Deut. xvii. 12). In denouncing the sins of his con-
temporaries, Amos apparently makes allusion, in
ii. 7, to what is found in Leviticus xvi. 15, and in
ii. 8 to Ex. xxii. 25, and in ii. 11, 12 to Num. vi.
2 and onward. He recognizes (iv. 4, 5) the cus-
tom of sacrifices, tithes and thank-offerings, al-
though rebuking the ways of the worshipers, and
he connects Jehovah's authoritative utterances with
Jerusalem and Zion (i. 2).
Thus these oldest of the writing prophets, instead
of showing ignorance of the ancient law, become
witnesses to it as then binding, though perverted,
as having come down from the past, as part of a
religious polity which began with the deliverance
from Egypt, but had its roots in the still older reve-
lation to the patriarchs. Hosea recurs to events
related in Genesis: the destruction of Admah and
Zeboim (xi. 8), the birth of Jacob and his prevail-
ing with God (xii. 3, 4), the interview at Bethel
THE HISTORIC BASIS m
(xii. 4), his departure to Syria, and his serving for
a wife in the keeping of sheep (xii. 12), and the
prophecy that Israel should be as the sand of the
sea (i. 10). Amos "knows" (in Kuenen's words) of
the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah (iv. 11),
the high places of Isaac (vii. 9), and how "Edom
did pursue his brother" (i. 11). They not only
show their own knowledge of that early history and
legislation, but make their appeal to a similar knowl-
edge on the part of the people whom they addressed.
Noticeably enough, also, their references and allu-
sions are made indiscriminately to the several
portions of the Pentateuch which modern critics
designate by the letters P D J E.
5. The structure, implications and allusions of
the legislative portions of the Pentateuch indicate
its contemporaneousness with Moses, its recorded
author. In its structure it is a mingling of perma-
nent and transient statutes — for the wilderness, and
for Palestine. While it mainly provides for the
permanent national and religious life of Israel, it
contains also many special enactments that could
apply only to life in the wilderness and on the
journey. Among these last are the abundant and
minute directions concerning the camp, the march,
the structure and conveyance of the tabernacle, and
the location of the tribes. The directions concern-
ing the tabernacle, for example, as plans and speci-
fications for an actual structure are complete and
precise ; but as the useless fabrication of five hun-
dred or a thousand years later they would be too
278 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
intolerably tedious even for a Pharisee or a Rabbin.
Delitzsch well said, "We hold it as absolutely in-
conceivable that the Elohistic portions concerning
the tabernacle and its furniture should be a historic
fiction of the post-exilic age.'"*
The intermittent and often fragmentary char-
acter of the legislation in many parts of it, some-
times alleged to show the hand of a compiler, ac-
cords much more naturally with the circumstances
of a legislator like Moses, burdened with cares and
legislating as circumstances suggest and as occa-
sional leisure is gained. It is natural as legislation,
but would be poor as leisurely compilation. Even
in Leviticus the instructions for the priesthood and
the sacrifices are arrested from chapter xvii. to
chapter xxi. by a collection of miscellaneous enact-
ments. Among others a striking case of interruption
occurs in the tenth chapter, to relate the sin of Na-
dab and Abihu, and interpose a law against the use
of strong drink during the service of the tabernacle.
Dr. Hayman has called attention to this method, or
rather want of rigid method, somewhat in detail,
and he proceeds thus : " How then can we account
for such a tangled mass shot through in every di-
rection with new departures ? Let the sacred books
tell their solemn tale in their own simple way, and
the whole becomes perfectly easy and intelligible.
Legislation was either called out by the occasion,
or was interrupted by it, and its current diverted.
Take the facts in Leviticus viii. as they are set
6 In his Preface to Curtiss' Levitical Priests, p. xv.
THE HISTORIC BASIS 279
down. There was the actual consecration oi Aaron
and his sons to their offices, and out springs the
stream of legislation ad hoc. An ancient and credi-
ble tradition connects the sin of Nadab and Abihu,
among those sons, with over-indulgence in wine, and
thus chapter tenth contains at once an injunction
forbidding wine to priestly ministrants. Again the
survivors, staggered by the blow of awful bereave-
ment, omit certain of their newly enjoined details
of duty. Observe how naturally Aaron pleads their
recent calamity as an excuse (x. 16-20), and the
emphatic prominence which through such a setting
of facts these details acquire. So in xxiv. 10 we
find the case of the blasphemer calling forth the
edict against blasphemy ; and just so in Num. xv.
32 the Sabbath-breaker's case draws out a general
edict of capital punishment. Thus legislation grew
with the wild growth of nature with the incidents of
daily life.
"Or take such an incidental allusion as Ex. xxii.
21, xxiii. 9, where the injunction not to oppress the
stranger is reinforced by the motive, 'for ye were
strangers in Egypt. ' Can we believe that we have
here a writer or legislator of the third century B.
C, suggesting as the motive of an important law
which was opposed to the customs of his people, a
transaction of a thousand years ago, instead of rest-
ing this law on the events of the captivity, which
still burned in the memories and hearts of the peo-
. pie ?' " _.
7 Dr. Hayinan, N. Y. Independent, Aug. 18, 1892.
280 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
6. The history of the Hexateuch was to a con-
siderable extent interlocked with the later history of
Israel by more or less of monumental observances,
and memorial facts and localities. The burial place
of Abraham has been invested with immemorial
tradition, as well as credibility of circumstances.
The Bethel of Jacob survives in the Beitin of the
native. Rachel's tomb was a landmark in the time
of Samuel and Saul (i Sam. x. 2), and of Jeremiah
(Jer. xxxi. 15-17), and has never been questioned
to the present day. The passover perpetually com-
memorated the last night in Egypt (Ex. xiii. 9).
The bones of Joseph accompanied the journey from
Egypt to Palestine (Gen. 1. 25) and found their me-
morial resting place in the parcel of ground (Josh,
xxiv. 32), which the scholar still accepts, hard by the
well which tradition in Christ's time still ascribed
to Jacob. From the neighboring Ebal and Gerizim
the modern traveler and his companion can hear
each other recite the commandments antiphonally,^
as the tribes once pronounced there the blessings
and the curses. The ark of the covenant, constructed
on the journey, retained its sanctity and gained
even a superstitious regard, till it was brought to
Jerusalem and deposited in the temple of Solomon.
The brazen serpent which Moses had made in the
wilderness remained till Hezekiah broke it in
pieces because in those degenerate days it had be-
come the object of idolatrous offerings (2 Sam. xviii.
4). And though, more than half a century later,
8 Tristranj's The Land of Israel, p, 152.
THE HISTORIC BASIS 281
after the gross apostasy of two idolatrous reigns,
corruption had gone so far that "the book of the
law" andof "the covenant" had to be re-discovered
by the high priest (2 Kings xxii.), the continuity
with the past was not so dissolved but that the an-
cient worship was resumed with a remarkable cele-
bration of the very feast appointed in Egypt (2
Kings xxiii. 21); and through all the misfortunes
of the captivity, and the vicissitudes and desolations
of protracted wars and oppressions, their institutions
survived and maintained their coherence till the
final overthrow and dispersion of the nation, accord-
ing to the prophecy.
In view of all these several indications, we may
well ask what more or better evidence could be
furnished of the historic quality of the record, and
therefore of its substantial contemporaneousness
with the time of Moses.
7. The substantial contemporaneousness of the
records with the events recorded in the last five
books of the Hexateuch is attested directly by the
books themselves. Of Joshua we read that he
wrote certain "words in the book of the law of
God" (Josh. xxiv. 26). In the Pentateuch we
read again and again of the act of writing, as in
Deut. vi. 9, xi. 20, xxiv. i, xxvii. 3, xxxi. 19. The
workmen who made the garments of the priest
Aaron, adorned with a plate of gold, "wrote upon
it a writing" (Ex. xxxix. 30). Moses is three times
directed to write (Ex. xxxiv. 27; Num. xvii. 2, 3;
Ex. xvii. 14). In the last instance it was to write
S8d THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCM
an account "for a memorial in a book." Three
times it is definitely stated that he did write (Ex.
xxiv. 4, Num. xxxiii. 2, Deut. xxxi. 9-22). "He
made," says Professor Leathes, "special provision
for the preservation and protection of those records
in which he was himself concerned, Deut. xxxi. 9 ;
and I do not know on what principle of sound criti-
cism we are to set aside the statement that he did
so."
We do not maintain, as has been already said, that
Moses in person did all the writing of the Penta-
teuch, nor that the writings have not undergone re-
vision more or less, on which something will be
said later. We are also aware of the methods by
which the testimony of the narrative is disparaged.
But the narrative itself presents the following re-
sults : (i) Moses is declared to have been a writer
of some things contained in the books ; (2) no other
writer is named or hinted at in connection with the
subject matter; (3) the supposed writers J E D P
and others are fictitious, wholly unknown person-
ages, X, Y, Z, etc., if we may not call them straw
men ; (4) there is no knowledge or hint of any such
writers; (5) there is no plausible identification of
them with any known actual personage ; (6) there
is no showing of any person or persons, at the times
supposed, capable of the work ; (7) and there seems
to be no limit to their production, from the eight of
the "polychrome edition" of Genesis up to the
seventeen or more makers of the Pentateuch re-
quired by Cornill.^
6 See note xxix.
CHAPTER XV
THE LITERARY PROBLEM
The Pentateuch presents certain literary phe-
nomena that have caused a vast amount of acute
discussion. The difficuhy of the problem arises
from our ignorance of the history of the Hebrew
language. There are no standards with which to
compare it, or by which to test it. The Moabite
inscription is too limited in its extent and its theme
for the purpose of comparison ; but it shows that
about the year 900 B. C. there was spoken in
Moab a tongue, which, with some grammatical and
linguistic peculiarities, was substantially identical
with the Hebrew. An occasional Hebrew word
incorporated into the Tell Amarna letters also lends
support to the common opinion that Hebrew was
the vernacular of Palestine before the conquest.
It is to be clearly understood that the date, rela-
tive or absolute, of no part of the Pentateuch can
be determined by the language and style. The
proof of this fact is (besides various somewhat dir
rect admissions) twofold : First, as well stated by
Professor Robertson, "what used to be regarded as
the earliest of the large components of the Penta-
teuch, is now, by the prevailing school, made the
latest, and the linguistic features have not been con-
sidered a bar to either view"; and second, the fact
284 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
that the main, if not exclusive, arguments, of the
modern critics turn on what they term, somewhat
loosely, historical considerations, or marks of de-
velopment in the institutions and modes of thought.
The diverse and changing views concerning the
age of several portions of the Pentateuch have
tended probably to too great an undervaluing of
the difference between the earlier and the later He-
brew, and too great disinclination to recognize
archaisms.
It should also be understood that literary phenom-
ena, more or less perplexing, are what might rea-
sonably be expected in a book having the history
ascribed to it by the long established view — phenom-
ena most naturally explained by that view, as we
have presented it. From the exodus to the Chris-
tian era, as now more commonly reckoned, it was
thirteen hundred (13 14) years; more than eight
hundred to the time of "Ezra the scribe,'' ''the
ready scribe in the law of Moses which the Lord
God of Israel had given." But there is reason to
recognize the existence of yet other and older ac-
counts incorporated in these books. In Numbers
xxi. 14 mention is made of the "book of the wars
of the Lord," and in Joshua x. 13 of "the book of
Jashar" (or The Upright). We have also seen
marked indications that such narratives as the four-
teenth chapter of Genesis, the account of the flood,
and the minute statements of the times of Joseph
have come down from those very times. So we
may reasonably suppose in regard to the genealo-
THE LITERARY PROBLEM 285
gies; and the phrase, ''these are the generations,"
occurring ten times, seems (as suggested by Lord
Arthur Hervey) to mark "the existence of separate
histories from which the book of Genesis was com-
piled.'"
From this point of view the literary phenomena
of the Pentateuch are, both in their variety and in
the perplexity they cause, such as might be ex-
pected, and less rather than greater in amount.
Look at the history of the English Bible. The
Anglo-Saxon version of the gospels, dating about
the year 995, is to the modern English reader an
absolutely sealed book ; he cannot read a word of
it, unless it be "and," nor always even that. Wy-
cliffe's version, completed five hundred years ago
(1384), can be partly followed by an intelligent
reader, but is often unintelligible without the aid of
a later text. Tyndale's translation (of 1526) pre-
sents peculiarities of words and idioms, not very
great, but the spelling is so diverse from the pres-
ent mode that very many of the words would not be
recognized except from their connection ; in some
verses more than half the words have an obsolete
orthography. In less than a century King James's
version followed, with many changes ; and now in
our own day comes the Revised Version, which,
many sa}', ought also to be revised.
Such are the facts that confront us in regard to
the English Bible. Is it not inevitable that similar
I So, substantially, Ellicott, Leathes, Delitzsch, and in part Dr. Green
(The Unity of Genesis, p, 124). Delitzsch is cited by Prof. Bissell (Genesis
in Colors, p. viii., note).
286 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
changes, more or less, should have been made in
the form of the ancient Hebrew Bible, to make it
intelligible to the Jew of Ezra's time? Naturally
they might not have been so great — unless in case
of the most ancient accounts in Genesis, which ver}^
probably may have been in a language as different
from the late Hebrew as the Anglo-Saxon from the
modern English. The changes from the time of
Moses to that of Ezra would naturally have been
comparatively less than in our own history, because
the people were, and were kept, so homogeneous
and comparatively secluded from foreign contact,
because they occupied so limited an area, and be-
cause they were brought and held in so close con-
tact with each other by their institutions and festi-
vals. But in the lapse of ages, and in the natural
course of things, some revision would be inevitable.
And we have evidence of some such process. Such
are the direct explanations in the text, giving mod-
ern names for obsolete ones, as in the fourteenth of
Genesis, of Bela, En-mishpat, the vale of Siddim,
and elsev/here of other places, as Hebron. Various
explanator}^ notes, such as that in Ex. xvi. 36,
showing the size of the homer, and that in Deut.
i. 2, giving the distance from Horeb to Kadesh-
barnea, and others, have long been recognized as
the work of a later hand. So, of course, the ac-
count of the death of Moses. There are also the
marginal notes suggesting corrections of the text,
attributed in a general way to the Massoretes — of
which the ultimate origin is not known. If they
THE LITERARY PROBLEM 287
date no further back than that body of men, placed
as they are in the margin without a change of text,
these suggestions, taken in connection with the
counting of the words in the several books, show
the reverence with which these books were regarded
in their day, a reverence so great that no unauthor-
ized person, however learned, was permitted to deal
directly with the text. The variations of the Sep-
tuacfint and of the Samaritan from the Hebrew as
we have it, are in conformity with the suggestion
of a revision.
Some process of revision or modernizing of the
Pentateuch may be safely assumed as indisputable.
When or by whom, we have neither the certain
knowledge nor the obligation to say. But it was
clearly before the day of the Massoretes or of those
whom they represented ; and by men who had an
authority which the Massoretes did not claim.
Strong indications, however, point to the time and
agency of Ezra, the famous scribe and priest. Ac-
cording to the account of him in the Scriptures, he
was a learned and pious man, clothed with official
and priestly authority, and a man of zeal and activ-
ity. He is represented as publicly reading and, in
connection with his companions, interpreting the
law to the people. Here then was an epoch, an
emergency, and a man for the emergency. Later
Jewish tradition, as found in the Talmud, ascribes
to him some such agency, making him a second
Moses. Notwithstanding the fabulous accretions
which the tradition throws around Ezra and the
2te THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
Great Synagogue, Ewald "cannot imagine that it
is all a pure invention,"'^ and Westcott maintains
that the tradition which points to Ezra and the
Great Assembly as "having revised and closed the
collection of sacred books is supported by strong
internal probability.'" Lord Arthur Hervey holds
that the statements of the sacred narrative "give
the utmost probability to the account which attrib-
utes to him a corrected edition of the Scriptures,
and the circulation of such copies."* Even Dr.
Driver recognizes that "Ezra was in some way
noted for his services in connection with the law,"
and that "it would not be inconsistent with the terms
in which he is spoken of in the Old Testament to
suppose that the final redaction and completion of
the Priest's Code, or even of the Pentateuch gen-
erally, was his work."^ Thus, although in the ob-
scurity of the past we are not bound to suggest a
time or an agent for the revision which must in the
ordinary course of events have taken place, we are
able to point with much probability to both the time
and the man. For the preparation of the older nar-
ratives of Genesis, even of such as may have come
down through the line of Abraham in Babylonia, we
find an adequate agency in the great man who was
"learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians," and
who was born in Egypt, probably not less than half
a century after so many letters from all parts of
2 History of Israel, v., p. 169.
3 The Bible in the Church. Appendix A.
4 Smith's Diet, of the Bible, 2nd ed., ii., p. 1042.
5 Introduction, p. xxviii.
THE LITERARY PROBLEM 289
Palestine were written to Amenophis, king of
Egypt, all in the Babylonian language and text.
This historic experience of the Pentateuch is ad-
mirably illustrated on a smaller scale and within a
vastly shorter limit of time, in the case of so modern
a work as Bradford's History of Plymouth Colony,
only two and a half centuries old. It offers very
many of the same phenomena. The author's man-
uscript was terminated in 1646. It was known and
quoted till 1767, after which it disappeared. The
last definite knowledge of the manuscript itself was
the fact that in 1658 it was deposited in the tower
of the Old South Church in Boston, Mass. After
nearly two centuries (in 1855) it was found in the
Fulham Library, near London, England, and was
fully identified by various indications, including the
known handwriting of Bradford. It was published
complete in 1856, edited by Charles Deane, Esq.,
of Boston. This edition presents many of the pre-
cise phenomena of revision found in our Pentateuch.
Among the minor textual changes reminding us of
the Massoretes, are such as these : An abandonment
of the old interchange (in the manuscript) of "u"
for "v"; a retention of the antiquated spelling, ex-
cept where corrected in the original, e. g., "shuch,"
in which word the pen had been drawn through the
second letter ; a conformity of punctuation and cap-
itals to modern usage ; an omission of italics in
many (not all) underscored passages ; the incorpo-
ration into the direct text of five or six considerable
paragraphs not so placed by Bradford, but written
2d0 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
on the opposite or reverse pages. Of these slighter
changes no notice is given in detail, although the
Massoretes were careful to put their verbal correc-
tions in the margin. But more significant and even
more akin to the case in question are the follow-
ing features of the book as we now have it :
1. Important subsequent modifications by the
author himself, in his own handwriting ; omissions
of the text supplied on the blank or reverse pages ;
a few afterthoughts introduced into the text by a
caret ; occasional notes in the margin, and one very
noteworthy, written (and dated) by him about y^r/y
years after the passage to which it is appended, as
"a late observation"; and at the end of the manu-
script a full list of the families that came in the
Mayflower, together with a brief account of their
families or "genealogies," brought down to the
year 1650, four years beyond the History of Plym-
outh.
2. Editorial corrections of the language of the
manuscript text. Thus, for the unintelligible
*'yothers" we have ye others; for "adventures,"
adventurers, twice; for "governor," government;
for "things, "thing; for "ye, "he ; for "with," what;
for "on, "one; for "contend, "content ; for "receiv-
ing," obtaining; for "be," by; for "they," the;
for "sundry," sudden; and others like them, in
three instances on other manuscript authority, in
some instances from the obvious necessity of "har-
monizing," so often derided of late. In some in-
stances the note corrects the statement of the text.
THE LITER A R Y PROBLEM 291
In a few instances a note calls attention to the cor-
rection, in accordance with the modern custom.
3. Appended notes in addition to those of the
author, explanatory or expansive. These are (i)
by Prince the historian, (2) by the editor, (a) on the
text, (b) on the notes of Prince. Among other
noteworthy phenomena of this kind, just as the last
verses of Deuteronomy record the death of Moses,
so a note of Prince on Bradford's account of the
families records the death of Bradford, and a note
by the editor corrects the date assigned by Prince.
It may be added that at the end of Bradford's list
of the families, closing with a statement of the mem-
bers still living in 1650, a later and heavier hand
has continued the information to the years 1679,
1690 and 1698, or more than forty years after Brad-
ford's death — as may be seen in the London fac-
simile edition of 1896.
Now here we have in circumstances that we can
prove, on a larger or smaller scale, all the phenom-
ena encountered in the Pentateuch, but with this
difference between ancient and modern times, that
the "glosses," as they would now be called, are
many of them kept in the margin, or mentioned in
the notes when introduced into the text (though not
always), and that the accretions about the original
text made by the author himself and his two suc-
cessive revisers can usually be identified by evi-
dence, whereas in the other case the certain knowl-
edge is lost in the lapse of ages. It may be added
that in Bradford's work there is a very perceptible
292 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
diversity of style and phraseology and also of or-
thography ; such as leters and letters ; vitails, vic-
tialls and victualls ; viage and vioage ; and in one
paragraph (p. 441) the three forms captine, captien
and captaine. Add to this that whereas most of
his many Scripture quotations are from the Geneva
version, yet tow^ards the close of his narrative he
quotes in some instances from King James's ver-
sion. All these various facts show how easy it
would be, but for positive evidence to the contrary,
for a generation of acute German scholarship to
transform Bradford into several writers, and how
uncertain is an analysis made on the basis of mere
internal characteristics, no matter how numerous
may be its advocates. No intelligent man need
hesitate in questioning its validity. So acute and
cautious, as well as liberal, a scholar as Professor
Sanday, has not hesitated recently to say, "It re-
mains to be seen how much of the current theories
will be endorsed twenty years hence. Some of
them, I feel sure, will have been pronounced im-
possible."® And whatever may be the final conclu-
sion as to the composition, the question of date is
entirely distinct and independent, and must be set-
tled on evidence essentially historic and not specu-
lative or theoretical. It can never be determined
on the popular and baseless assumption as to what
men were capable of at a certain time, or the as-
sumption that all enlightenment must have been
but an evolution from the forces inherent in a nation
6 Sanday's Inspiration, p. 119(1893).
THE LITERARY PROBLEM 293
itself. Such postulates, common though they have
become, violate the first principles of sound thought
and reasoning.
It thus appears, both from the well-known law of
literary modification made necessary by the lapse of
centuries, and from the actual phenomena of a par-
allel case, that the literary peculiarities of the Pen-
tateuch are explicable as simply an editorial revision
of very ancient documents belonging to the age of
Joshua and Moses. But whatever decision may be
reached in the attempt at analysis, let it be borne
in mind that the abundant f roofs already given of the
historic iritthfulness of the narrative standfast.
A simple explanation founded upon and accordant
with known facts precludes the necessity of refuting
a highly complicated one, resting on speculation.
A detailed examination of all the intricacies of the
modern critical analysis would be far beyond the
compass of this volume and would require a volume
by itself. Dr. W. H. Green has devoted to the ref-
utation of the dissection of Genesis alone, a work
of nearly six hundred pages, ^ besides a more gen-
eral discussion of the criticism of Pentateuch.^ The
reader who has the desire and the patience to fol-
low through an elaborate and learned sifting of the
whole process, is referred to those able works.
Those writers who somewhat pretentiously claim
the best modern scholarship for the modern anal-
ysis have thus far for the most part found it conven-
ient to leave these and his previous discussions (in
7 The Unity of the Book of Genesis (1895).
^ The Higher Criticism of the Pentateuch U895)-
294 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
the Hebraica) unnoticed. The question has been
asked, with some significance, how many of those
who are so alert to accept the modern views and
decry the older, have ever gone carefully through
an investigation of the arguments, and especially
their basis. While, however, it is impracticable,
as well as unnecessary in the present treatise to
duplicate a process so well performed in the works
above mentioned, it may not be amiss to state briefly
some of the grave difficulties under which the mod-
ern analysis labors.
CHAPTER XVI
THE ANALYSIS
The modern critical analysis rejects the long re-
ceived view of the Pentateuch as being substantially
one narrative subjected to the revisions made nec-
essary by its great antiquity, and substitutes the
theory of a series of writers extending through
many hundred years, and compiled by various other
writers who in the combination made such changes
as they thought best in order to fit them together.
It attempts to assign to these several supposed
writers their separate portions of the work. The
positive objections to this analysis are strong.
1. It is superfluous. All the phenomena can be
accounted for on the older view of a continuous
narrative more or less revised to meet the necessities
created by the lapse of time. To reject a simple
and natural explanation, accordant with all availa-
ble evidence, for a complicated and needless one,
is unphilosophical.
2. Its procedures are forced, arbitrary and incon-
sistent. The original basis of the division was the
two names Jehovah and Elohim. But it was soon
found necessary to reinforce this division by alleged
corresponding differences of phraseology, and by
some other things, presently to be mentioned. But
though a vast amount of successive labor by the
295
298 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
acutest German scholars has been expended in har-
monizing these two tests, they cannot be made to
tally without violent measures. Elohim will occur
in Jehovistic passages, and Jehovah in Elohistic.
We will give but specimens. The methods of evad-
ing the difficulty are various ; the redactor (R) is a
very convenient resort. The last alleged principal
workman (P) is found highly useful. Sometimes
the case is quietly covered by ascribing a passage
to J E conjointly ; sometimes by a rapid see-saw
process between the two. Sometimes it requires
three or four of these cabalistic letters to disentangle
twice as many successive verses. Occasionall}' a
name is forcibly supplanted without a shadow of a
reason except the emergency, as, in Gen. xxxi. 50,
the Elohim compels Kautzsch at once to summ^on
E to the rescue of J, while Dillmann and Kautzsch
and Socin assign the one word to R, the latter
authority coolly remarking that it is "the only pos-
sibility of disentangling the text." In like manner
Kautzsch and Socin cut out the one word Elohim
from a Jehovistic connection in vii. 9, and Kautzsch
does not notice it. In verse 16 of the same chapter
the interrupting phrase, "Jehovah shut him in," is
transferred by both to the Jehovist. In chapter
xvii. Jehovah occurs in the first verse of the con-
tinuous narrative, and Elohim nine times through
the rest of the chapter ; and Kautzsch and Socin
give this one word and its verb to the redactor, while
Kautzsch relieves the case by turning the whole
passage before and after over to P. In chapter
THE ANALYSIS 297
xxviii. 19-29 Kautzsch gives eight alternate changes
from E to J, back and forth. In the successive ten
verses from xx. i8 to xxi. 7 Kautzsch requires the
united forces of E, R JP, P, EJ, J, E, in succession
to adjust the difficulty. In chapter xxvii. from a con-
tinuous Elohistic passage of forty verses, verse 33
is singled out to be ascribed to J. And while in
many parts of the Pentateuch the continuity and
homogeneousness of the theme are such as to cre-
ate no difficulty, in numerous other parts the disin-
tegrations necessary to save the theory are very ex-
traordinary. Besides numerous severances of single
verses such as have been mentioned, sometimes into
two or even three parts, there are abundant instances
of dislocations on a larger scale. Thus chapter
xxxvii. of Genesis is severed by Kautzsch into
twenty-two fragments, by Kautzsch and Socin into
thirty-two — there being but thirty-six verses in all.
Chapter xvi. of Exodus is divided into fifteen frag-
ments, chapter xiv. into thirteen.
It would be as tedious as it is impracticable to
follow this process of vivisection through all its
course in the several books of the Pentateuch and
Joshua. We had marked numerous specimens, but
even they would fail of making an adequate exhi-
bition.^
So grave are the embarrassments in this attempt
that the great leader, Kuenen, finds it needful to
"utter a warning that far too much weight has often
been laid on agreement in the use of the Divine
I Note xxvii., Appendix.
298 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
names," and to lay down this dogmatic utterance,
"that in the few passages of their (Elohistic) nar-
ratives where Yahwe (Jehovah) now stands we need
not hesitate to ascribe it to the later manipulation
or corruption of the text." A confession if not a
surrender.
For a thorough criticism of the attempts to divide
up the Hexateuch by phraseology and style, the
reader must be referred to the exhaustive discussion
by Dr. Green, already mentioned. His examina-
tion of Genesis alone occupies several hundred
pages, much of it devoted to this question. The
facts already adduced in regard to the Divine names
show that after the ablest scholars of Germany have
spent years in culling out the text, with the most
arbitrary excisions and dismemberments, they have
failed to bring their divisions into harmony with
their theory of the Divine names. They have used
the largest liberty in sorting out their materials ; as-
signing to some one writer v/ords that occur but
two or three times in all, also words that were nec-
essarily restricted to the theme in hand, not seldom
words not peculiar to the given writer. They have
endeavored to confine the writer to certain stereo-
typed modes of expression, not allowing him the
use of diverse expressions nearly but not necessarily
quite synonymous. The graphic description of the
steady rising of the waters of the flood in two suc-
cessive verses (Gen. vii. 17, 18) is parted to aid in
making two narratives. Over the first seven verses
of Genesis xxi. Gramberg, Knobel, Hupfeld, Noel-
THE ANALYSIS 299
deke, Dillmann, Budde, Ilgen, Kautzsch and Socin,
Kautzsch,and Strack have expended their ingenuity,
and among other resuhs the theory constrains the
majority to divide the first verse between two
writers ; although it requires but an ordinary intel-
ligence to see that the two divided clauses simply
state the conjoined fact that Jehovah visited Sarah,
and in fulfillment of a previous promise.
The modern analysis further endeavors to
strengthen itself by finding a continuity in the
alleged documents. That this is a failure appears
abundantly from two circumstances : First, the
numerous, not to say constant references, of one
supposed writer to things found only in the other ;
and second, the somewhat constant resort of the
analysts to the supposed omissions of the redactor,
with the remark that the writer in hand probably
had stated, sometimes that he "must" have stated,
the wanting facts.
One more resort is the allegation of parallel ac-
counts, sometimes pronounced to be idle repetitions,
sometimes discrepancies. Here the method is two-
fold : One is to identify distinct accounts, thus
finding both repetitions and contradictions. An
instance in point is that of the two concealments by
Abraham of the relation between him and his wife,
made perfectly distinct in Genesis, but confounded
by the critics. Or, on the other hand, both contra-
dictions and repetitions may be created by dividing
one account into two. Thus in the flood narrative,
as already mentioned, the rising of the waters is
m THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
divided so as to make a repetition and a diversity
of style ; or a partition of the whole account may
be made to assign a year and ten days as the dura-
tion of the flood, or but one hundred and ten days.
Different phases of the same transaction, different
speeches by or to the same person, different deport-
ment on separate occasions, a combination of motives
severed from each other, are all urged in support
of a division of documents. But for a refutation of
these devices in detail, the reader must be referred
to the works already mentioned.
Severance of authorship on the ground of phrase-
ology is one of the most precarious of proceedings.
Professor Stanley Leathes compared Milton's three
short poems, L' Allegro, II Penseroso and Lycidas.
The first of them contains about 450 different words,
the second 578, the third 725 ; but there are only
about 61 common to the three. He found in Tenny-
son's Lotos Eaters about 590 words, in his CEnone
720, but only about 230 in common.^ Almost equally
unsafe the somewhat broader test of style. Almost
any trained writer who has been at work at intervals
for forty years on different topics and occasions,
and in different states of mind, will find that he has
produced writings so diverse in style and method
that neither his friends nor even himself would
recognize all of them for his composition except for
positive evidence. Who could recognize the author
of the Ode on Immortality in the poem of Peter
Bell, or the author of Webster's Plymouth and
2 Cited in Edersheim's Prophecy and History (pp. 283, 284), from Professor
Leathes.
THE ANALYSIS 301
Bunker Hill Orations in his letters to John Taylor?
Similar diversities could be enumerated to any ex-
tent. It would not be a very difficult feat, with
the help of a competent "redactor," as will pres-
ently be shown, to sort out the language of many a
narrative or treatise into two or perhaps more.
Thus Dr. Green shows the parables of the Good
Samaritan and the Prodigal Son each divided in
two ; and Professor Mead the Epistle to the Ro-
mans in a fourfold division. About the same time
the present writer had amused himself with a simi-
lar analysis of the well authenticated epistle to the
Galatians, together with an apparatus of notes and
references, to show that while largely the work of
Paul, it also showed marks of Luke's hand, touches
by John, indications of the author of Hebrews, and
of a final redactor — all in readiness to be printed,
if need be, in five colors; when he learned that a
skillful German had just done a similar thing for
the epistle in good earnest and had published to the
world his profound lucubrations.
3. The claims of the analysts are unwarranted
and inadmissible. The experience of literary men
and the history of literature are here in open con-
flict with the pretensions of the critics. None of
these scholars now claims to discover in the Penta-
teuch less than four main writers and a "redactor,"
while most of them require many more. This skill,
too, is asserted in investigating a foreign and dead
tongue, with no outside documents for comparison,
and no knowledge of the alleged writers. Well-
m THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
known/cicls go to show that, in its least pretentious
form, its claim cannot be maintained. The cele-
brated case of the letters of Junius is emphatically
in point. For several years their author was pour-
ing forth his invectives, right and left. The whole
machinery of the government and all possible con-
jectures and efforts of exasperated enemies were
directed to the discovery of the vv^riter. The pur-
suit had these advantages, that the letters were in
the vernacular of all Englishmen, that the charac-
teristics of all supposable writers were definitely
known, and that the earnest attention of all the
acutest minds of Great Britain was directed to the
discovery. More than a hundred volumes and
pamphlets and a vast number of essays in periodi-
cals were published on the question. The result
was a scattering of opinion upon not less than forty-
two different persons, and a failure for more than
forty years to agree with some unanimity upon Sir
Philip Francis, and then by reason of certain exter-
nal evidence, which, though but slight, outweighed
the chief objection of the style, which was considered
to be above his ability.
We may take modern instances. Sir Walter Be-
sant completed a novel left unfinished by a friend,
and has publicly stated that no one has correctly
recognized the respective portions of the work —
although it was a decision, not between imaginary
characters, but actual and known writers. The
same thing is true of other collaborated works that
might be enumerated. For example: In 1872 six
THE ANALYSIS 30^
American writers, two of them so well known as
Mrs. Stowe and Rev. Edward Everett Hale, pub-
lished a joint production entitled "Six of One by
Half a Dozen of the Other." Yet, notwithstanding
the limited range for conjecture and the known
qualities of several of the writers, "the guesses of
the press were quite as often wrong as right," one
distinguished literary journal declaring that in cer-
tain chapters written by Mr. Frederick B. Perkins
the hand of Mrs. Stowe was evident from the be-
ginning and it was impossible for her to veil it.^
So, too, it never could have been known or conjec-
tured that the passage enunciating the celebrated
"Monroe Doctrine," in the message of President
James Monroe, was taken from the instructions
given by his Secretary of State, John Quincy
Adams, to the Minister at the British Court. Ex-
ternal evidence alone settles it.
Mr. VV. E. H. Lecky, who, as the author of three
prominent histories, should be familiar with the
subject of documents, and who has no predilection
in favor of the Scriptures, wrote an article in the
Forum on the question how far it is possible by
merely internal evidence to decompose an ancient
document, resolving it into its separate elements, dis-
tinguishing its different dates and its different de-
grees of credibility, and he expresses himself thus on
the present question :
"The reader is no doubt aware with what a rare
skill this method of inquiry has been pursued in the
3 The statement is made on the authority of Rev. E. E. Hale.
804 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
present century, chiefly by great German and Dutch
scholars, in dealing with the early Jewish writings.
At the same time, without disputing the value of
their work or the importance of many of the results
at which they have arrived, I may be pardoned for
expressing m}^ belief that this kind of investigation
is often pursued with an exaggerated confidence.
Plausible conjecture is too frequently mistaken for
positive proof. Undue significance is attached to
what may be mere casual coincidences, and a mi-
nuteness of accuracy is professed in discriminating
between the different elements in a narrative which
cannot be attained by mere internal evidence. In
all writings, but especially in an age when criticism
was unknown, there will be repetitions, contradic-
tions, inconsistencies and diversities of style which
do not necessarily indicate different authorship or
dates."
Well-known facts justify the statement that these
pretensions at the lowest point are invalid, and at
their highest point they may safely be called pre-
posterous. Nothing short of omniscience can dis-
cern and sort out eighteen or twenty different
writers in one continuous narrative.
4. The actual outcome from the principles and
methods of the modern analysis discredits the sys-
tem. The constantly increasing extravagance of
the results attained shows how vague and capricious
are its principles, and acts as a reductio ad ab-
stirdiim. It thus proves itself to be a scheme and
not a system — a scheme in which there is an agree-
THE ANALYSIS 30S
ment on the end to be accomplished and on the
starting point, but the process is largely the appli-
cation of individual and subjective notions. The
whole sacred volume breaks up or breaks down
into comminuted fragments. Not to speak of the
New Testament, the analysis is no longer content
with even two Isaiahs ; but under the dissecting
knife of Professor Cheyne the first Isaiah becomes
reduced to a small nucleus, enveloped in three ac-
cretions, each of them composite. The second Isaiah,
who is not Isaiah, has five chapters allowed him,
and the remaining twenty chapters consist of some
ten compositions. Happy the nation which could
produce such a number of eloquent men and afford
to forget all their names. The German Boehme has
distributed the little book of Jonah to a Jahvist, an
Elohist, a Redactor, and a Supplementer, besides
minor insertions and glosses in every chapter. If
this is not the "lowest deep," what is there "lower
still-'?
But turning our attention to the Pentateuch alone,
we find a similar haste into fathomless depths.
While Wellhausen, in the romance which he terms
the History of Israel, rides serenely over every in-
convenient statement of the Scriptures that lies in
his way as "unhistorical" (if deemed worthy of
notice), and Kuenen in his Hexateuch wrangles
with the text or its statements or its connection or
authorship, not less than a hundred and seventy
times,* the actual and increasing dismemberment
4 The author cited the pages in his manuscript, but omits them here.
906 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
of the Pentateuch proceeds on the same method and
beyond the bounds of reason. Dillmann, the ablest
and soberest scholar among the analysts (whose
conclusions differ in important respects from those
of the extremists), recognizes the fewest divisions,
saying, "I can do nothing with Q' Q' Q' E' E'
E^ J^ J^ J^ and I can see therein nothing but hy-
potheses of embarrassment."^ But Dillmann's cau-
tion could not stay the movement. Kuenen adds to
his J E P D R also P^ P^ etc., D^ D^ etc., "D and
his followers," and "a scribe, including a whole
series of his more or less independent followers,"
whom he numbers as high as R^ Dr. Driver
adopts D^ would accept P^ and P^ but for the diffi-
culty of defending them, recognizes H, and requires
at least two compilers. Dr. B. W. Bacon in 1892
gave the "prevailing theory" in this formula:
Rje Rd — K~- I^ut Cornill in his Einleitung (189 1)
had already far outstripped this rather incomplete
statement of the case, and presented the following
constituents of the Hexateuch : J^ J' J^ E^ E' D Dh
Dp P' P' P* (a substitute for F P* P^ etc.) Rj Rd Rd
Rp, and some fragments not included in them.
Now it may be safely said that the verdict of the
best judge of literary questions would pronounce
such discernment as this impossible, and the claim
preposterous. But a scheme which renders such a
procedure and such results legitimate, may itself
be safely pronounced illegitimate.
5 Dillniann, Exodus and Leviticus, p. vii. MosJ readers will know the
leaning of these letters: J, Jehovist; E, F
dactor; P, Priest Code (Wellhausen's, Q).
meaning of these letters: J, Jehovist; E, Elohist; D, Deuteronomist; R, Re-
THE ANALYSIS 307
5. The definite analysis has been virtually sur-
rendered by some of its leading advocates. It
would be in point here to instance the low estimate
which some of the leaders place on one another's
opinions, when different from their own. Kuenen,
for example, who has not much to say to conserva-
tive interpreters, freely and intensely condemns the
opposing opinions of those who are more or less
kindred spirits : Riehm, Noeldeke, Colenso, Kay-
ser, Juelicher, Hollenberg, Knobel, Schrader, Die-
stel, Bredenkamp, Maybaum. Among the terms
which he applies to their views at times are such
as these : Weak, unsatisfactory, grossly improba-
ble, inadmissible, anything but conclusive, have
no weight, intrinsically improbable and destitute of
proof, harmonizing shifts, without foundation, ar-
bitrary analysis, manufacture of a law to meet the
demand, nothing short of absurd, the sorriest shifts.
Occasionally he sweeps away three of them at one
stroke of his pen, as Bredenkamp, Delitzsch and
Curtiss (p. 294), Dillmann, Knobel and Juelicher
(p. 152), Wellhausen, Julicher and Dillmann (p.
157), Knobel, Schrader and Colenso (p. 163). Even
Wellhausen's reasoning is sometimes "doubtful"
(p. 84), and he can make "a weak argument."
Coming directly to the analysis itself, we find a
part of its process repudiated by Dillmann when he
refuses to have anything to do with the subdivision
of P E and J respectively into minor fragments,
and declares it to be introducing hypotheses of em-
barrassment. In regard to the two most impor-
8d8 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
tant documents of all, namely E and J, we have an
extensive surrender by Kautzsch when he assigns
long passages and whole pages to the two con-
jointly because they cannot be distinguished. Dr.
Driver comments on the division of the two as pre-
sented by Kautzsch and Socin, that though "great
pains and care have been bestowed upon the prep-
aration of this work, the details as far as the line
of demarcation between J and E, and the parts as-
signed to the redactor are concerned, can seldom
claim more than a relative probability." He also
criticises Dillmann for the minuteness with which he
attempts to separate J and E: "It is often question-
able if the phraseological criteria upon which he
mainly relies warrant the conclusions which he
draws from them." He repeatedly speaks of the
"difficulty of disengaging the two sources," and
admits that "in the details of the analysis of J E
there is sometimes uncertainty, owing to the criteria
being indecisive, and capable consequently of diver-
gent interpretation, "and because of the probability
that "two writers would make use of the same ex-
pressions, such as might be used by any writer of
the best historiographal style. "^
The extinction of the individual writers becomes
still more complete, and at the hands of leading
representatives of the critical school. Wellhausen
in his section on J E, commenting on the patriarchal
history as there presented, makes this sweeping
statement (which we italicize) : "For the most part
6 Driver's Introduction, pp. 14, 18, 17, la.
THE ANALYSIS 309
we have the -prodttct of a countless number of narra-
tors, unconsciously modifying each other's work.'"
What has now become of J and E ? Kuenen,in addi-
tion to numerous remarks upon the many changes
which the Hexateuch has undergone, not traceable
now, such as that even P "after its composition un-
derwent a rather complicated literary process of
which we know nothing with certainty except the
final outcome which lies before us in the present
Hexateuch,"^ reaches the following notable result:
"The true conclusion is rather that the text of the
Hexateuch, not only here and there but throughotit
[our italics], was handled with a certain freedom in
the third century, and yet more so previously, be-
ing still subject to what its guardians considered
amendments. Now this is perfectly natural if, but
only if, we think of the redaction of the Hexateuch
not as an affair that was accomplished once for all,
but as a labor that was only provisionally closed at
first, and was Jong subsequently continued and rounded
off, . . . The redaction of the Hexateuch,
then, assumes the form of a continuous diaskeue or
diorthosis, and the redactor becomes a collective body
[his italics], headed by the scribe who united the
two works above spoken of into a single whole, but
also including the whole series of his more or less in-
dependent foil ozuers.^''^ What now has become of the
individual writers ? The failure and the surrender
of the analysis is even more succinctly admitted in
7 Wellhausen's History, i, p. 327.
8 Kuenen's Hexateuch, p. 303.
9 lb., p. 315-
310 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
one of the latest commentaries on Judges, thus:
"J, E, JE, D, R, etc., represent not individual
authors whose share in the work can be exactly
assigned, the analysis, but stages of the -process,
in which more than one — perhaps many — successive
hands participated, every transcription being to
some extent a recension.'"" Here we reach the
vanishing point of J E JE D R, "etc.'"'
After all that has been said, done and claimed by
the "higher critics," this one thing remains true:
Of the actual literary history of the Hexateuch, they
are in the same condition of profound ignorance as
is the rest of the world.
lo Moore's Judges, p. xxxiii., note,
n Notes xxviii. and xxxii.
CHAPTER XVII
UNFOUNDED ASSUMPTIONS
Some notice, however brief, may be expected of
the considerations which are chiefly urged against
the long established view of the Hexateuch. They
have been drawn out in great detail by those who
urge them ; a detail rendered necessary by the cir-
cuitousness of the argument, and serving the three-
fold purpose of making an impression of extent and
weight, of withdrawing scrutiny from the quality
of its multitudinous references, and also of divert-
ing attention from the invalidity of its fundamental
positions. They may be followed through all these
minutiae and opposed at every stage. But space
would fail, and the reader's patience too. Those
who have the resolution for the process are referred
to such works as those already mentioned, and
several of the essays in the "Lex Mosaica." For
the present purpose it is not necessary. Their
value can be estimated by an exhibition of their
principles and method, and specimens of their proc-
ess. Meantime certain general facts regarding
them should be borne in mind.
First, the analysis of the Hexateuch into separate
portions does not determine the date of any por-
tion. Nor does the style or phraseology, except in
the most general way. Both these points are now
811
812 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
generally admitted. The analysis is considered,
however, as preparing the way to the question of
the dates.
Again, diversity of dates would not directl}^
affect the truth of the Hexateuch. But if the alleged
documents could be proved to have originated many
hundred years after the events, they would lose
their weight as history, unless it could be shown
that they rested on other narratives or documents
coeval, or nearly so, with the events.
Once more, the fundamental question at issue at
present is not whether there are minor inaccuracies
in the Hexateuch as we now have it, but is it fun-
damentally true? Here the issue is in our time
squarely joined. With different degrees of frank-
ness, critics who assign the Levitical code and its
setting to the time of the exile and to the priests,
and Deuteronomy and its "code" to the time of
Manasseh or Josiah, place themselves in direct
conflict with the statements of the Hexateuch itself;
for they affirm that God did not say and Moses and
Aaron did not do a multitude of things which the
Hexateuch affirms they did say and do. Whether
in the bold and constant denials of Wellhausen and
Kuenen, or in the equivalent declarations of Mr.
W. E. Addis of Oxford, that "each (witness) in his
order displays an increasing taste for the marvel-
ous, and wanders further from the fact," giving a
"history of religious ideas," but "not a history of
Abraham and Jacob, and of Moses and Joshua," or
in the more gautious words of Dr. Driver, that "we
UNFOUNDED ASSUMPTIONS 313
have before us traditions modified and colored by
the associations of the age in which the author
lived," and "placing speeches in the mouths of his-
torical characters," such as he thought " consonant,"
— in either form the conflict is open and undeniable.
At the foundation of the main opposition to the
long established view lie three false assumptions,
distinctly expressed by the leaders of the opposi-
tion, and necessarily accepted by their followers,
even when not so distinctly announced.
I. It is assumed by them that the religious his-
tory of Israel must have been simply a natural and
gradual evolution from the lower (or the lowest) to
the higher, and that the supernatural, including
revelation, is to be rejected. Dr. Bacon correctly
states the position when he says, "If the judgment
of historical critics is worth anything, the religious
standpoint of JE is Siuch as cannot possibly be sup-
posed to antedate the great religious revival of
Elijah." The assumption of extremists is that
Israel started with idolatry like that of the nations
around them, and worked their way upward. In
a late commentary on the book of Judges we read
that " Chemosh is the god of Moab, just as Yahweh
is the god of Israel," and "the reality and power
of the national god of Moab were no more doubted
by the old Israelites than those of Yahweh himself."
The same writer also says, "That Yahweh's anger
as well as his favor is moral, was first distinctly
taught in the eighth century." When confronted
with abundant instances in the narrative to the con-.
314 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
trary, such as when Jehovah passed by before Moses
(Ex. xxiv. 6, 7), and proclaimed His wonderful di-
vine character, the resort is to a denial of the date.
In this particular instance, where the utterance
stands between Jehovistic passages on both sides,
we have in Kautzsch the exegetical legerdemain of
singling out these two verses and assigning them to
the redactor, R. What cannot be accomplished by
such devices?
Yet on mere human grounds this principle that
such and such views and practices cannot enter but
by a long-continued development — for practices are
also covered by the theory — cannot stand before
facts. There have arisen at times originators who
have changed the course and tendencies of human
life and relationships. Read but the historian
Green's account of what King Alfred did for Eng-
land; how he "created a fleet, ""began the concep-
tion of a national law, "and "created English litera-
ture"— a combination of influences vastly more
impressive when read in their particulars than stated
in outline. Or turn to the extraordinary work of
Charlemagne, giving to the German race its first
political organization, carrying law and order into
every province of his empire, calling teachers of
music from Rome, gathering round him poets, his-
torians and copyists, collecting the ancient songs of
the minstrels, requiring sermons to be in the ver-
nacular while he encouraged and pursued the study
of the Latin and the Greek, personally watching
over the interests and doings of the church and the
UNFOUNDED ASSUMPTIONS 315
clergy, regulating the currency, and fostering trade,
industry, architecture and engineering, and found-
ing schools that are said to have been the germs of
universities. Such historic facts show the untena-
bleness of the theory when viewed from its human
standpoint, and sweep away cavils against the career
and work of Moses.
But by what right do men attempt to rule out the
supernatural element.'^ They must ignore the per-
son and work of Jesus Christ, the marvel and mira-
cle of the ages, who so abruptly changed the whole
drift of thought for the world. They equally ignore
the fact that no other person in all history has
made, by all admission, so deep and lasting an im-
pression on any people as Moses made on the Jews.
They may also be asked in particular about that dec-
alogue, the antiquity of which in its shorter form is
undisputed : Whence came that code which embodies
in one brief summary what the combined wisdom of
the world had not "evolved" even in fragments?
The underlying assumption of a necessarily slow
evolution is baseless.
2. Their assumption that non-mention or "si-
lence" is equivalent to denial, is groundless. Abun-
dantly as "the argument from silence" is employed,
no assumption is more thoroughly disproved by
human experience. It forms an essential part of
the denial of the Hexateuch narrative. Wellhau-
sen and Kuenen never weary of saying that such a
writer "knows nothing" of some matter. A rapid
but not exhaustive glance over the pages of Kue-
316 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
nen's Hexateuch detects the phrase or its equivalent
occurring thirty-four times. Occasionally it is
added that there is silence where mention might be
expected. But who knows what might be expected
of any writer? Silence often occurs in connection
with the best known facts ; and abundant cases in
point are furnished by those who have given it any
attention. Professor Robertson mentions that the
contemporary monastic annals make no mention of
the battle of Poitiers, though it effectually checked
the spread of Mohammedanism across Europe ; and
the Koran makes no allusion to circumcision, which
is held by the Mohammedans to be an ancient Divine
institution, older than Mohammed. So Leathes
points out that circumcision among the Jew^s is never
mentioned in the minor prophets, the Psalms, Kings,
Chronicles, or the post-captivity writings. The
silence of participants in the battle of Bunker Hill
leaves us in doubt who, if any one, exercised the
chief command on that occasion. In Bradford's
History of Plymouth, Morton's Memorial, Elliot's
History of New England and Ellis's Puritan Age
of Massachusetts, there is no allusion (unless we
have overlooked it) to the universal Puritan cus-
tom of family prayers and grace at table. In Felt's
Ecclesiastical History of New England, in two oc-
tavo volumes, where we might reasonably look for
some allusion, perhaps, we find no reference to the
latter practice, and to the former only one in a let-
ter from England concerning servants. Such facts
could be cited indefinitely. There is no more pre-
carious assumption for an argument.
Unfounded assumptions sit
3. Another assumption on which great reliance
IS placed is that habitual violation or non-observance
of a supposed law proves its non-existence. The
weakness of this postulate is even more apparent.
Its disproof is found in every age and every land.
It is not alone individual violation of law, but fre-
quently the indifference of whole communities. The
statutes for the suppression of intemperance in some
of the New England States are thus made ineffect-
ual. In the straitened times caused by the Ameri-
can Revolution the School Laws both of New
Hampshire and Massachusetts were deliberately
disregarded by many whole townships, and the
violation by officials sanctioned by the town vote at
the annual meeting. Bishop Blomfield inquires,
"Were not the second and fourth commandments,
to say nothing of the sixth and seventh, habitually
violated by the Israelites? It has never been sup-
posed that medieval Popes and Cardinals 'knew
nothing' of any condemnation of simony and nepo-
tism ; or that the court of Charles II. and Louis
XIV. knew nothing of laws human or divine against
fornication and adultery. There are parts of our
own literature, as the comedies at the time of the
Restoration, from which, if the assumption were
not corrected by other contemporary literature, we
might infer that at certain periods there were in
this country no law, no church, no Bible, no God."
To bring a still closer parallel to any suspended
observance of the Levitical law, he proceeds to say
that "the Prayer Book of the Church of England,
818 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
without taking into account the Canons annexed to
it, contains a large number of regulations which
have never been regularly observed, and some of
which have been almost universally neglected"; of
which he gives striking instances, including one in
which "the practice was so obsolete that even its
meaning had been forgotten, and it has consequently
received the most various and contradictory inter-
pretations. Generation after generation has gone
by, and millions of copies of the Prayer Book have
been printed, without a hint that all its regulations,
down to the minutest, were not still in viridi obser-
vantia^ or that any of them required note or com-
ment.'"
The assumption carries little weight at its best,
even when non-observance can be fairly shown.
But its "specific levity" in application is made
more remarkable by two auxiliary devices: (i) By
an elaborate sorting of texts so as to bring all allu-
sions to the practice into what are claimed to be
late writings. One writer remarked that "it is
startling to find that the Priestly Code of Genesis
contains no allusion to sacrifice or altar"; to which
Bishop Blomfield replies: "The startling nature
of this discovery is not very apparent when you re-
member that you have begun by removing from
the Priestly Code every passage which contains
such an allusion, on the very ground (among others)
that it does contain it. It is startling to find a pack
of cards which contains no aces ; but the wonder
I Blomfield, The Old Testament, pp. 176-179.
UNFOUNDED ASSUMPTIONS 319
ceases when you find that all the aces have been
previously and purposely removed."" (2) Failing
in this process, recourse is had to a challenge of the
text as "corrupt," "a gloss," "an interpolation,"
"a later alteration." For example: Whereas the
tabernacle of the congregation (or tent of meeting),
provided for and described in Exodus xxv., is twice
affirmed in Joshua (xviii. i ; xix. 51) to have been
set up at Shiloh, Kuenen rules out all later allu-
sions by pronouncing the declaration of 1 Samuel
ii. 22 to be "an interpolation,"^ that i Kings viii.
4 "does not belong to the original account of the
building of the temple," and that "the repeated dec-
laration of the Chronicler [our italics] that the taber-
nacle of the congregation was pitched at Gibeon in
David's time is never confirmed by the books of
Samuel, and is contradicted by i Kings iii. 4," —
which last statement the investisfatinor reader will
find to be as unsustained as the last but one is "un-
historical." Again, in regard to the priestly func-
tions, on a single page Kuenen assumes that i Sam.
vi. i6a "is a gloss," that the Chronicler "altered
the text" (of Sam. viii. 18, apparently), that i
Kings iv. 2 is "probably a gloss. "^ On another
page he charges the Chronicler with an unfounded
statement, finds a gloss again in i Sam. vi. 15,
affirms that 2 Sam. xv. 24 is "corrupt" and "pur-
posely altered," and 2 Sam. xv. 27 "only a post-
2 Blomfield, pp. 172, 179.
3 Hexateuch, p. 199.
4 lb., p. 204.
320 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
exilian gloss. "^ Three pages later the reference to
the Sabbath in Jer. xvi. 19-27 is intimated to be
"an interpolation dating from after the captivity."
In these modes "silence" is easily created.
In connection with unfounded assumptions we
might very properly include many of what are ad-
duced as contradictions in the various parts of the
narrative, inasmuch as they are largely founded on
certain assumptions, such as of the identity of differ-
ent transactions, or the impossibility of concurrent
actions with diversity of motives, of added reasons
or communications being thereby conflicting — to-
gether with the assumed right to disintegrate or
dislocate the text at pleasure. These methods are
acutely exposed by Dr. Blomfield. He examines
several of Dr. Driver's alleged instances of contra-
diction, namely, the account of the spies (Num. xiii.,
xiv.), the crafty procedure of the Gibeonites (Josh.
ix.), the rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram
and of the Levites (Num. xvi.), and the oppressions
of Solomon (i Kings v., ix., xi.). In regard to
the first he shows that the allegation of contradiction
is untenable except on three untenable assumptions :
(i) that a writer can never repeat himself; (2) that
Caleb and Joshua must have said exactly the same
thing when talking to the people and to Moses ; (3)
that when Caleb only is mentioned without mention-
ing Joshua, or vice versa, such mention of the one
excludes the other. He also assumes that a direc-
5 lb., p. 205. Kuenen attempts to justify his treatment of i Sam. vi. 15 as
a gloss because of its omission in the Septu.igint (a slender foundation as
against the Hebrew reinforced by the Vulgate), but in regard to 2 Sam. xv.
27 be has not even that defense.
UNFOUNDED ASSUMPTIONS 321
tion from God to Moses to send spies precludes the
desire of the people that such a course be taken.
The second contradiction is made by taking the ac-
counts of two different facts to be two accounts of
the same fact. The third case fails unless it is out
of the question that three parties should join in a
common rebellion with as many different motives —
a combination that is often illustrated. The fourth
case rests on the supposition that to be a slave and
to be subject to forced labor are the same thing ;
the latter condition being illustrated by conscription,
convict labor or the Egyptian corvee of the pres-
ent day.
Som.etimes the difficulty is created by the trans-
parent method of detaching a verse from its place.
Thus in Ex. xii. 1-29 Dr. Driver assigns verses
1-20 to P, verses 21-27 and 29 to J and E, but the
intermediate verse 28 back to P, drawing a divid-
ing line beneath it and above its neighbors ; but, as
Dr. Blomfield remarks, the whole difficulty disap-
pears if we transfer verse 28 below the line, where
it has a right to be, and in the connection in which
it was found. Dr. Green also has called atten-
tion to the frequency with which difficulties are
fastened upon the text, though created by the analy-
sis itself.
CHAPTER XVIII
UNSUSTAINED DENIALS
The previous examination of some unfounded as-
sumptions in the modern criticism makes it practi-
cable to speak the more briefly of certain facts in the
history of the Jewish institutions, alleged to be in
conflict with the narrative of the Hexateuch. While
the leaders of the school appear to rely mainly upon
the assumption that certain things could not have
taken place at the time to which they are ascribed,
or, in the words of Dr. Bacon, "cannot possibly be
supposed to antedate" certain times and conditions,
an attempt is also made to show that certain observ-
ances required by the Mosaic law and the narrative
did not actually exist till long afterward. Before
considering these denials it may be mentioned that
two points, formerly more or less prominent, are
now withdrawn from the discussion.
It is conceded by the critics, as already men-
tioned, that the language and style do not deter-
mine the date of the Hexateuch or of its parts.
This admission became inevitable when, within
about a quarter of a century, by a sudden reversal
the so-called P was transformed from the oldest into
the youngest of four main constituents, a descent of
many hundred years. There has been a great
shrinkage in the list of archaisms, and Aramaisms
322
UNSUSTAINED DENIALS 323
have been called in question,' there being no means
of determining the history of the Hebrew language.
The allegation of anachronisms, that is, of allu-
sions to things of later date than that of the narra-
tive, is mostly withdrawn. The critics shall state
the case. Dr. Bacon makes this remarkable state-
ment concerning P : " No anachronism is traceable
in the document, for the writer never permits him-
self for one moment to anticipate the course of reve-
lation as he has mapped it out." We shall have
occasion to refer to this admission later. In regard
to J and E Kuenen says: "Reference to historical
facts, such as might give a clue to the dates of com-
position, are extremely rare in the prophetic ele-
ments (J and E) of the Hexateuch." He endeavors,
however, to present seven instances, the point of
which is twofold : the implication that there can be
not only no prophecy but no reasonable foresight or
expectation ; and furthermore, an insistence on find-
ing in the passages things which are not there. To
show the style of argument, though at the risk of a
little wearisomeness, we cite them all. "The author
of Gen. xxvii. 29-39 seq. is not only familiar with
David's victories over the Edomites, but also with
the rebellion of the latter under Solomon and their
revolt against Jehoram ben Jehoshaphat." The
reader is invited to look into these verses of Jacob's
blessing and see for himself whether they speak of
David, the Edomites, Solomon, Jehoram, rebellion,
I See Driver's Deuteronomy, pp. Ixxxviii.-xc, where he even denies that
*1J^J as a feminine is archaic, though Delitzsch (i., p. 43) pronounces it
"a veritable archaism." Driver ventures to suggest but two Aramaisms in
Deuteronomy,
824 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
revolt and victories. Again: "The writer of Gen.
xxi. 44 seq. in all probability had in view the wars
of the Arameans and Israelites for the possession
of the Transjordanic district." The reader will
please see for himself what mention is made in these
verses of wars, the Arameans, Israelites, or the
Transjordanic district. Again: "Ex. xv. 17b was
written some considerable time after the building of
Solomon's temple ; Num. xxiv. 7 after the institu-
tion of the monarchy; v. 17 after David's success-
ful wars against Israel's neighbors; vs. 22-24 in ^^
Assyrian period, presumably not earlier than the
seventh century B. C. Finally, Josh. vii. 26 can-
not have been written till the rebuilding of the walls
of Jericho in Ahab's reign had long been a thing
of the past." The first of these assertions shall be
answered by Dillmann (sustained by other cited
authorities), who says that the mountain of inherit-
ance, referred to, is "not Zion, but the mountain-
land of Canaan," and the "sanctuary" was not the
tent set up by David on Zion, nor Solomon's tem-
ple, but "the declaration was fully accomplished
after that a common sanctuary had been established
at Shiloh." The objection founded on the second
passage would interdict Balaam from even antici-
pating from the successes of the past the future ex-
altation of the kingdom of Israel, and from choos-
ing his own mode of expressing it. The assertion
founded on the third passage would incapacitate
Balaam from alluding to the then impending con-
flict with Moab, which constituted his present
UNSUSTAINED DENIALS 325
errand, as well as to the manifest certainty of Israel's
victory, and make him forget his immediate busi-
ness for a meditation on events several hundred
years later. The last two have weight only on
condition that there is no prophetic foresight, the
former of them being indeed not unnaturally sug-
gested to an observer by the history of Assyrian in-
vasions, the existing prevalence of Babylonian cul-
ture in Palestine, and the growing weakness of the
Egyptian power in that country. These instances
form his case ; although he also alludes to three
poetic passages as givmg pretty clear indications,
the value of which he admits "is impaired by our
uncertainty as to the history of the incorporation of
them into the Pentateuch."^
Some alleged geographical anachronisms pre-
sented to English readers by Dr. Samuel Davidson
in his Introduction a generation ago, are indeed re-
vived by Dr. B. W. Bacon in his Genesis of Gene-
sis ; but they are of so little account, and so little
reliance is placed upon them, that we dismiss them
to a note in the Appendix.^ The main stress of the
objection to the Hexateuch narrative, as has been
said, rests on the position that certain observances
and usages therein described and prescribed were
actually of late origin.
The chief contention against the truth of the rec-
ord is in regard to the central sanctuary. In Exo-
dus XXV. and the following chapters is narrated in
detail the structure of the tabernacle, and in xxxiii.
a The Hexateuch, pp. 237, 238. 3 Note xxxi.
326 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
7 we read that Moses named it the tabernacle of
the congregation, or the tent of meeting (R. V.).
When finished it received the ark of the covenant,
was filled with the glory of the Lord, was placed
in the center of the camp, became the central object
on the march and afterwards, was located at Shiloh
and other places subsequently ; and after its wan-
derings and the loss of the ark, it was finally car-
ried to the temple, which thenceforward became
the central seat of worship. But Wellhausen opens
his History with the assertion that before the build-
ing of the temple "not a trace can be found of any
sanctuary of exclusive legitimacy"; and Kuenen
begins his gravest contention with the statement
that "there is not a trace of the tabernacle in Judges-
Kings," and "the restriction of worship was never
so much as thought of before Hezekiah."
We must leave Wellhausen to the thorough refu-
taiton given him by Dr. W. L. Baxter, who, in sev-
eral articles in the Thinker, has followed him at
every point and shown his contention to be a singu-
lar combination of bold assertions, bold denials,
unwarranted inferences, evasions of some plain
Scripture declarations and arbitrary exclusion of
others, together with a surprising amount of incon-
sistencies of his own, often amounting to contradic-
tions. It is to be lamented that so few readers see
and carefully read a refutation so elaborate and
complete.
We can but briefly notice Kuenen's positions,
which are substantially the same as Wellhausen's,
UNSUSTAINED DENIALS 327
somewhat more definitely formulated. And we
will first show directly whether or not there is any
trace of the tabernacle before Hezekiah. In Joshua
(xviii. i) we read that the children of Israel assem-
bled at Shiloh and set up the tabernacle of the con-
gregation there; and in chapter xix. 51 we also
read that it was there. In Judges xviii. 31 and i
Sam. i. 24 we read again of "the house of God in
Shiloh," which i Sam. ii. 14,22 identifies with the
tabernacle. In 2 Sam. vii. 6 God's words through
Nathan are that " since the day that I brought up the
children of Israel out of Egypt, I have walked in a
tent and a tabernacle." In i Kingsviii. 4, "They
brought up the ark of the Lord and the tabernacle
of the congregation" to the temple; and in i. 39
mention is made of the "tent," "the tent of the
Lord." The tabernacle of the Lord is also men-
tioned in those same words in i Chron. xvi. 39,
xxi. 29, xxiii. 26; 2 Chron. i. 3, 5, 6, 13. In Jer. vii.
12-14 ^^^ speaks of "Shiloh where I caused my
name to dwell at first."
Here are traces enough ; too many to be disposed
of by the argument from silence. Therefore Kue-
nen pronounces i Sam. ii. 22b "an interpolation,"
says that i Kings viii. 4 "does not belong to the
original account," and that "the repeated declara-
tion of the Chronicler is never confirmed by the
books of Samuel and is contradicted by i Kings iii.
4." Now the assertion of the interpolation has no
stronger foundation than its omission from the Sep-
tuagint, though found in all Hebrew copies and
328 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
recognized without a question by the English and
American revisers. The second statement, that
the passage "does not belong," is his arbitrary as-
sertion. Th.Q.'''' repeated^'' declaration of the Chron-
icler is confirmed by both Samuel and i Kings, as
the reader will see by the references we have given,
and is not contradicted but confirmed by i Kings iii. 4. *
The passage reads thus : "The king went to Gibeon
to sacrifice there ; for that was the great high place ;
a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer on
that altar." Gibeon was the great high place, of
the altar, the sacrifice, and (i Chron. xvi. 39, 40,
xxi. 29 ; 2 Chron. i. 3-5) of the tabernacle — which
last fact made it the great high place. It was here
that God appeared to Solomon in a dream by night.
As if to remedy this failure, Kuenen turns to cite
instances of sacrifices offered elsewhere than at the
central sanctuary. It is a singular list. He first
refers to four sacrifices offered at "the temple of
the Lord at Shiloh," which was itself then the cen-
tral sanctuary, as will be presently shown. He
closes the list with the three instances of David's
sacrificing "wherever the ark halts" on its way to
Zion, which again was entirely regular, inasmuch
as the ark of the covenant was the specially sacred
content of the tabernacle, but had been separated
from it by the capture at Aphek. Between these
cases he introduces the sanctuary in Mount Ephraim
4 The Chronicler finds no favor with Wellhausen and Kuenen, being con-
staiilly der.ried when in conflict with their assertions But on all other oc-
casions they make free use of liini. Thus Kuenen cites him on pa^es 195,
iq6, 202, 206, 208, twice on page 206, thirteen times on page 196, and with more
than twenty references on page 195.
UNSUSTAINED DENIALS 329
established by Micah, who had stolen his mother's
money, and established "a house of gods" with
teraphim, a graven image and a molten image ; that
of the Danites, who carried off Micah's gods and
"setup a graven image"; and the sacrifice of Saul,
for which he was so sternly rebuked and condemned
by Samuel. He also refers to the sacrifice at Bo-
chim, which for aught we know may have been in
close proximity to the tabernacle which was then at
Shechem (Josh. xxiv. 25, 26), and at all events
immediately followed the warning of "the angel of
the Lord" there present; also the offerings at Miz-
pah, where we read that "the house of God" and
"the ark" then were; Gideon's offering at Ophrah,
and Manoah's at Zorah, in both which instances the
angel of the Lord had first appeared and directed
the offerings ; and Samuel's sacrifice at Bethlehem,
which the narrative says was by God's direct com-
mand. These three instances, occurring at times
and places of God's special manifestation, were in
accord with the original appointment, as will pres-
ently appear. Should Kuenen deny the supernat-
ural manifestation, as very likely he would, he
simply impeaches the witness on whom he relies
for his facts. Samuel's building an altar at Ramah
is also cited ; but as it is unknown where the ark
and tabernacle were at this time, we cannot tell
whether this was a regular procedure, or a special
one growing out of the anomalous state of things.
None of the cases cited proves unrestricted freedom
as to the place of sacrifice, and some of them are
absurdly irrelevant.
830 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
Still more remarkable is the method of showing
that "the same freedom still prevailed for centuries
after the erection of the temple." One is hardly
prepared to find Kuenen's sole evidence to be that
Asa, Jehoshaphat, Amariah, Uzziah, Jotham, Joash
and Ahaz "maintained the bamoth" or idolatrous
high places. But (i) the Scripture statement is not
that they maintained, but that they did not take
away these high places ; (2) in Kuenen's own words,
"the writer of Kings registers this as a transgres-
sion"; and (3) of Joash it is also recorded that he
took all the hallowed things and all the gold that was
found in the treasury of the Lord and with them
bought off Hazael king of Assyria, as Asa had pre-
viously done to Ben-hadad ; and of Ahaz that he
"made his son to pass through the fire, according to
the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord
had cast out before the children of Israel." Though
similar things are not recorded of the others, they
are all censured for the thing for which Kuenen
cites their example. It is also recorded as a special
merit of the good Hezekiah that he actually took
away the idolatrous high places and destroyed the
objects of idolatrous worship, and of Josiah that he
thoroughly completed this and other religious ref-
ormations.
Kuenen might also have referred to Ahab, who
reared an altar to Baal in Samaria ; to Jeroboam the
son of Nebat, who set up the golden calves at Bethel
and Dan, and offered sacrifices to them ; and to Jehu,
•yvho, though he destroyed the prophets of Baal,
UNSUSTAINED DENIALS 381
"departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, to wit,
the golden calves at Bethel and Dan." But he for-
bears.
The alleged conflict as to the place of sacrifice,
between Exodus on the one hand and Leviticus and
Deuteronomy on the other hand, is a forced inter-
pretation. The case is simple. In Exodus (xx.
24) God directs sacrifices "in all places where I
record my name," or (R. V.) "in every place where
I cause my name to be remembered," or (Kautzsch)
"designate that I will be honored," or (De Wette,
Robinson, Fuerst) ' ' praised. ' ' In Deuteronomy (xii.
5), when, nearly forty years later, the Israelites
were about to enter the land of promise, God indi-
cates that there is to be "the place which the Lord
your God shall choose out of all your tribes to put
his name there," namely, a particular and perma-
nent place to which they should come with their
offerings and seek him. But during the journey
from Sinai the one place designated by God was the
tabernacle, where the cloud and the fire manifested
His special presence, moving successively from
place to place with the changes of encampment
(Num. ix. 15-22). In Palestine the place of sacri-
fice continued with the tabernacle, first at Shiloh,
afterwards at Shechem, Gibeon, Nob, and perhaps
other places, and it accompanied the resting places
of the ark when David conveyed it to Zion, till it
found a permanent location when Solomon brought
ark and tabernacle to the temple (i Kings viii. 4).
The separation of the ark from the tabernacle may
832 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
have caused embarrassment and irregularities, es-
pecially in lawless limes, but the instances of
Manoah, Gideon and Samuel need not be considered
irregularities, inasmuch as God saw fit to manifest
Himself by the "angel of the Lord" in the first
two instances and by express command in the third,
directing the sacrifice.
A simple and obvious interpretation thus removes
all appearance of conflict between Exodus and Deu-
teronomy in regard to the central sanctuary, and
the contention that the difference supposes the lapse
of centuries between. A similar argument in refer-
ence to certain required observances and usages
equally breaks down.
For it is argued that certain feasts and sacred ac-
tions enjoined in the Priest Code do not appear to
have been observed, and therefore its late origin is
thus proved. The answer is that they are men-
tioned to as great an extent as could be expected,
even as shown by the admissions of Kuenen, and
by the allusions of prophets whose antiquity he is
obliged to recognize. He admits that the feast of
the tabernacles is frequently mentioned, and that
Hosea and Amos, whose antiquity he does not dis-
pute, speak of feasts in the plural ; also that the
feast of the new moon was observed from the ear-
liest times, as proved by Amos, Hosea, Kings,
Samuel and Isaiah ; that the Sabbath is a very an-
cient institution ; and that the year of release is
mentioned once by Ezekiel ; also that the trespass
offering is not unknown, as well as the Nazarite's
UNSUSTAINED DENIALS 3^3
VOW ; and that circumcision appears to have been
regularly practiced/ This is a surrender of all
that is needed to invalidate the general statement,
since we could not expect these writers to go into
a historical inventory of things completely specified
elsewhere in the proper place. He objects to some
of these that they did not spring from the Tora (or
law), — which is merely his assertion. He affirms
that the year of jubilee is never mentioned, even in
Jer. xxxiv. 9-20, although the fact that the prophet
in verse 17 uses the very term employed in Lev.
XXV. 10, used of the jubilee, "proclaim liberty,"
has led many so to understand it. He also aflSrms
that the first celebration of the passover of which
we have historical assurance, is Josiah's passover,
2 Kings xxiii. 21-23. The narrative distinctly im-
plies the contrary ; for it records that there had not
been '•'' stcch a passover from the days of the judges,
nor in all the da3'S of the kings of Israel nor of the
kings of Judah," — an unmeaning comparison ex-
cept as the passover had been observed in some way
during those times and in both kingdoms. Besides
some minor omissions requiring no special attention,
he says truly that the great Day of Atonement is
never mentioned. But far more significant than
direct mention is the fact that in Solomon's temple
a separate and permanent provision was made of the
most holy place (i Kings viii. 5-1 1), precisely as
in the tabernacle, where the ark was placed under
the cherubim, this part of the tabernacle being re-
5 Hexateuch, pp. 207-210.
334 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
served for use only on the annual Day of Atonement^
and entered then by the high priest alone. This
conclusively shows that it was and was to be a set-
tled arrangement ; and its very notoriety was a nat-
ural reason why it was not particularly mentioned.
In what history of the United States or of New
England can there be found any formal notice of
the Fourth of July ? Another important fact in con-
nection with the Day of Atonement is that not only
is there no mention of it in the Old Testament his-
tory, but nowhere else do we find any allusion to
it till about two and perhaps three centuries after
the return from the exile, ^ the time when, according
to the critical theory, the Levitical code had been
introduced and the observance must have been long
-practiced. Non-mention does not imply non-exist-
ence.
Thus it clearly appears that both the historical
and prophetical books confirm the knowledge of the
main points of the Mosaic law throughout the his-
tory of Israel, notwithstanding the disorders of many
centuries, and although, as Wellhausen truly re-
marks, "for reasons easily explained, it is seldom
that an occasion arises to describe the ritual." The
denials are unsustained.
But the objectors appeal in a certain way to the
earliest of the writing prophets, chiefly to Amos
and Hosea, the former assigned to the northern
kingdom, the latter to the southern as earl}^ as the
middle of the eighth century B. C. The genuine-
6 Arcording as in Ecclesiasticus I. 50, mention is made of Simon I. or
Siinon II.
UNSUSTAINED DENIALS 885
ness of the writings is undisputed by them, except
as some extremists have ruled out certain passages
in Amos that conflict with their theories. Isaiah
also is cited to some extent. We have seen in a
previous chapter how these prophets refer to the
chief events recorded in the Hexateuch. Their
brief allusions to the institutions are equally con-
firmatory. And Amos in speaking of the past his-
tory and of the prophets and Nazarites appeals di-
rectly to the knowledge of the people: "Is it not
even so, O ye children of Israel?'" Both prophets
speak of a covenant, a law of Jehovah, His statutes,
the law of God, which Israel had forgotten, rejected,
transgressed.^ They had abandoned Jehovah for
idols and for criminal lusts. ^ Hosea speaks of the
feast days, new moons, sabbaths and solemn feasts
as established institutions, which God in anger
would take away ;^° and Amos of the custom of
sacrifice, tithes and thank offerings, although re-
buking the worshipers for their transgressions."
Hosea speaks of the sin of removing the ancient
landmark, and of striving with the priest, ^^ together
with allusions less clear and certain. The recogni-
tion of these Mosaic regulations is so unmistakable
that Wellhausen and Kuenen have resorted to the
device of asserting God's rebuke of the abuse of the
institutions to be a warfare against their use, a
"polemic against the praxis." While intelligent
readers will continue to see, as they always have
7 Amos ii. ii. lO lb. ii. ii.
8 Am. ii. 4. Hos. iv. 6; vii. 7; viii. i, 12. 11 Amos iv. 4, 5.
9 Hosea iv. 12-14. 12 Hos. v. 10; iv. 4.
336 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
seen, that the rebukes are directed against, not the
observance, but the hypocritical observance, the
absurdity of Wellhausen's contention becomes too
plain for argument w^hen applied to one of the most
striking instances, cited by him with special em-
phasis, namely, Isaiah 1. 11-17, where God spurns,
not all oblations, but "vain oblations," and their
other ceremonial observances, when they are but
the superficial mask of inner unrighteousness and
corruption. If the closing strenuous demand for pu-
rit}'', repentance, justice, mercy and compassion are
not sufficient, take one decisive test: when God
says, "When ye make many prayers, I will not
hear," does God condemn prayer, or prayer offered
in such a spirit ? There can be but one answer,
and that answer settles the whole interpretation of
Wellhausen to be absurd.
Thus far then the objections to the early existence
of the Levitical code appear to have no substantial
foundation. There remains one other point in that
code which requires attention, which will be con-
sidered in the next chapter.
CHAPTER XIX
UNSUSTAINED DENIALS : THE PRIESTHOOD
In patriarchal times there was no special priest-
hood, but sacrifices apparently were offered by the
head of the family, and, as some suppose, the priestly
function descended to the first born. Some have
recognized the family priesthood in Exodus xix,
22-24 and xxiv. 5. After the exodus, according to
the narrative, the family of Aaron was set apart
for a hereditary priesthood, and later the whole
tribe of Levi was separated for the service of the
tabernacle.
Kuenen (and others) asserts that no such exclu-
sive qualification of the tribe of Levi existed in
early times, and that the distinction between priests
and Levites in general appears in the whole exilian
and pre-exilian literature but once, and that in a
passage which he does not accept. Thus again he
endeavors to show the late origin of the Levitical
code which so minutely establishes the system.
If the Biblical account be true and all the details
were adjusted as prescribed, there was no reason why
the later records should give any recapitulation of
these details. The most that could be expected
would be incidental references and, as usual, some
of them so incomplete as to require for their ex-
planation a knowledge of the original arrangement.
337
3S8 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
As matter of fact, evidence of the separation of the
Levites to the service of the sanctuary is found in
all stages of the history of the nation. At the en-
trance into Palestine, some forty years after the
system is recorded to have been made, we find it
in full operation. Both at the crossing of the Jor-
dan and in the march around Jericho the priests are
in sole charge of the ark of the covenant, and, as if
to anticipate this very cavil, they are termed (iii. 3)
"the priests the Levites." Were we to accept the
critics' date of these passages (J E), they were writ-
ten eight hundred years B. C. At Shechem,
where Joshua built an altar and "wrote upon the
stones a copy of the law of Moses," it is "the priests
the Levites which bare the ark of the covenant"
(viii. 33). This passage is assigned by Kautzsch
to Dt of nondescript date. Twice we read in
Joshua of Aaron the priest, three times of Eleazar
the priest (Aaron's son), and once of "Phinehas
the priest," twice called "Phinehas the son of
Eleazar the priest"; and chapter xxi. is given up to
the assignment of the cities of the Levites, which
are summed up as "all the cities of the children of
Aaron the priests." This passage is ascribed by
Kautzsch to P, the latest main portion, so that the
record by his showing covers many hundred years
— from JE to P. Again, the congregation are told
(xviii. 7)," The Levites have no part among you, for
the priesthood of the Lord is their inheritance";
and the same statement is made in chapter xiii.,
verses 14 and 33, with the addition in both cases,
UNSUSTAINED DENIALS: THE PRIESTHOOD 339
"as he said unto them," obviously referring to the
previous announcement in Deut. xviii. i, 2, and
that apparently to Num. xviii. 8-32. Thus these
writings concur. It is not surprising that Professor
Robertson Smith, in his critical argument, should
say, "I exclude the book of Joshua, because it in
all its parts hangs closety together with the Penta-
teuch." Even from the disorderly times of the
judges there comes a statement to the effect (Judg.
vii. 13), where Micah says, "Now know I that the
Lord will do me good, since I have a Levite to be
my priest." In the days of Samuel, Eli the high
priest was a descendant of Aaron, and the state-
ment meets us once more (i Sam. ii, 27, 28) that
his father's house had been chosen out of all the
tribes of Israel "to be my priest, to go upon mine
altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before
me," — priest's duties all ; and his reprobate sons,
Hophni and Phinehas, were in the priest's office (i.
3; ii. 27, 28) and attended on the ark of the cove-
nant (iv. 4). The Lord's priest at Shiloh in Saul's
time was Ahiah, grandson of Eli (xi. 3) ; and Abia-
thar, whom Solomon thrust out from being priest,
was a descendant of Eli (i Kings ii. 27). Zadok,
his successor, was of the line of Eleazar (i Chron. vi.
8). In Kings and Chronicles we read repeatedly of
the Levites as being in charge of the ark and col-
lecting and holding the money for the repairs of
the house of the Lord. It is recorded as one of
the grave wrong-doings of Jeroboam that he made
priests of "those who were not of the sons of Levi."
840 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
Thus at all these various points of the history we
have evidence that the sacerdotal functions, includ-
ing the care of the tabernacle and the ark of the
covenant, were allied to the tribe of Levi. When
the progress of the ark to the city of David w^as for
a time arrested by the punishment of Uzzah for his
presumption, on the renewal of the effort David
took precautions that only Levites should be Its
bearers; for he said, "None ought to carry the ark
of God but the Levites, for them hath God chosen
to carry the ark of God and to minister unto Him
forever."
Kuenen endeavors to break the force of this ac-
cumulated evidence by adducing instances of the
priestly function of sacrifice exercised by others
than Levites. We give his complete list : Gideon,
Manoah, Micah, the citizens of Beth-shemesh,
Samuel, Saul and Jeroboam; and he adds, "Ac-
cording to Ezekiel xliv. 6-9 even foreigners v/ere
admitted to the service of the sanctuary before the
captivity." The list shows both the straits to which
an acute writer can be reduced, and his confidence
that his readers will not scrutinize his references.
The passage in Ezekiel is a denunciation of "the
rebellious house of Israel" for their "abominations"
in doing this very thing. Of Jeroboam's example
it is hardly necessary to say that he is the notorious
character steadily described as "Jeroboam the son
of Nebat, which did cause Israel to sin." Micah
was first a thief and then an open idolater. Saul
was sternly rebuked for his presumption and diso-
UNSUSTAINED DENIALS: THE PRIESTHOOD 341
bedience, and threatened on the spot with the loss
of the kingdom. Samuel, though not a descend-
ant of Aaron, was a Levite, had a special consecra-
tion as a Nazarite before his birth, early became
the assistant of Eli the high priest, wearing the
ephod and sleeping in connection with the sanctu-
ary, had a personal call and repeated communica-
tions from God to be a reformer and a prophet, and
certainly in one instance a definite direction to offer
sacrifice. Manoah and Gideon also at the time of
their offerings were under the direction of the angel
of the Lord. It does not appear that the citizens of
Beth-shemesh offered their sacrifices otherwise
than in the regular way, by the hands of the priests ;
for the record says that the Levites were there and
"took down the ark of the Lord and the coffer that
was in it and put them on the great stone" (i Sam.
vi. 14). If the sacrifice was made by these men
personally, and not through the Levites, it would
have been an extraordinary and irregular expression
of their joy — for "they rejoiced" — in irregular cir-
cumstances, the ark being brought to their village
by a yoke of unguided kine. Possibly this was the
case, for we read that the Lord smote the men of
Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the ark
of the Lord. As to the remaining instances of
David and Solomon, the brief statement that they
offered sacrifices no more involves their direct ac-
tion than when "Solomon built him an house." In
the first instance cited by Kuenen in regard to
David (2 Sam. 17, i8) the very next verse relates
342 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
thai David "dealt among all the people, among the
whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as
men, to every man a cake of bread and a good piece
of flesh." Did he distribute to all this multitude
with his own hands? The next verse preceding
also says that the ark was set in the midst of "the
tabernacle which David had pitched for it," and,
four verses previous, that "David brought up the
ark of God." Did he carry the ark and pitch the
tent with his own hands? Kuenen's first quotation
in regard to Solomon's sacrifice shows the absurdity
of the claim (i Kings iii. 4): "A thousand burnt
offerings did Solomon offer on that altar," If Solo-
mon offered these thousand victims with his own
hands, he was a much stronger man than Samson ;
"he was the very strong man Kwasind, he was the
strongest of all mortals." This exhausts Kuenen's
catalogue wherewith to break down the uniform
testimony of the record. Further comment is need-
less.^
But it is further affirmed in objection that the
distinction so emphasized in Leviticus and Deuteron-
omy between the priests and Levites in general
does not appear previous to the exile, and that this
proves "P" to be as late as the exile. The strength
of the objection lies in disregarding the standing
distinction between the exactness of technical or
legal statements and the inexactness of popular and
current phraseology. In Leviticus and Numbers
we have the careful legislation. Again in i Chron.
; For specimens of Kuenen's style of references see Note xxx.
UNSUSTAINED DENIALS: THE PRIESTHOOD 343
xxiii. 24-32 there is a re-statement of the case in
entire accordance with Leviticus, as a statutory re-
enactment or at least defining statement by David,
in which it is said of the Levites, "Their office was
to wait on the sons of Aaron for the service of the
house of the Lord," accompanied with an enumera-
tion of details. Kuenen, if he took notice of the
passage, would doubtless deny its validity ; but it
states David's method as known to the Chronicler.
That the distinction was well known even in the
disorderly times of the judges appears from the fact
that after Micah's bargain with the Levite, the
record reads further (Judg. xvii. 12), "Micah conse-
crated the Levite, and the young man became his
priest"; he was not already a priest by being a Le-
vite. In I Kings viii. 4 the distinction is made,
"the priests and the Levites." But Kuenen de-
clares in italics that "the writer of Kings cannot
have written" so, "first because he mentions the
priests alone in verses 3, 6, 10, 11," which proves
nothing; and "in the next place he regards all the
priests as qualified for the priesthood" (i Kings xii.
31); which passage the reader will find to be the
information that yerobomn "made priests of the
lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of
Levi." The Chronicler speaks also of "the priests
and the Levites" in the reign of Jehoiada, of Joash,
and of Hezekiah, where (2 Chron. xxix. 34) the
distinction of functions is alluded to, and in xxxi. 9,
where Azariah, the chief priest, is mentioned as
"of the house of Zadok," a descendant of Aaron.
3M THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
Denial of their truth does not remove the testimo-
nies. The Chronicler (as Kuenen recognizes) always
assigns to the Levites the task of bearing the ark.^
So also does 2 Sam. xv. 24, which Kuenen dis-
misses as "corrupt."
The chief reliance in the denial of the distinction
thus clearly specified at various stages of the his-
tory, is an appeal to a frequent usage in Deuter-
onomy and elsewhere, namely, "the priests the
Levites," which, it is argued, makes the terms co-
extensive. If the order were reversed, namely, the
Levites the priests, the appeal w^ould have weight.
But it is always the other order, merely adding to
the v/ord priest the tribal designation. It would
show at least that the custom had sprung up of add-
ing to the mention of this prominent class their dis-
tinctive and distinguished tribal name, superfluously
but popularly. There is a similar superfluous ad-
dition in mentioning "the children of Aaron the
priest, which were of the Levites" (Josh. xxi. 4),
and (Ex. iv. 14) even "Aaron the Levite." It is
difficult if not impracticable to classify these vary-
ing usages on any particular principle. But that
the addition of the word Levite does not make all
Levites priests appears, among other indications,
from the fact that from the language of Malachi
(ii. I, 4, 8; iii. 3) it might just as well be argued
that all Levites were priests, whereas the distinc-
tion is admitted on all hands to have been established
at that time. Again, in Deuteronomy, where the
a I Chron. xv. 2,13, 15; a Chron. v. 4; xxxv. 3.
UNSUSTAINED DENIALS: THE PRIESTHOOD 345
double phrase repeatedly occurs, we find the actual
arrangement announced (xxvii. 9, 12, 14) for the
tribe of Levi to stand with the other tribes at Mount
Gerizim, and for the "Levites," who are called
in verse 9 ' ' the priests the Levites, ' ' to speak to those
tribes with a loud voice — thus showing the distinc-
tion and separation.
It is as sound a literary as it is a legal maxim,
that all brief and current references are to be inter-
preted by the full and definite statements, and not
contrariwise. With this principle in mind we may
dispense with a wearisome investigation of details,
beyond the scope of this discussion, and refer to an
excellent illustration given by Bishop Blomfield,
and lying directly within the ecclesiastical domain.
Now in Leviticus we have the high priest, the
priests, and the Levites ; while in much of the nar-
rative we have summarily "the priests" or "the
priests the Levites." Dr. Blomfield's illustration
is this : "The ordained ministers of the Church
of England are distinguished in the Prayer Book as
bishops, priests and deacons ; in deeds and other
legal documents they are described as clerks in holy
orders ; in ordinary literature and in modern acts
of Parliament they are denominated clergy or
clergymen ; in colloquial 'slang' they are spoken
of as parsons. The first-named description alone
recognizes their distinctive status and position ; yet
the third (clergy) is habitually used by those who
are well aware of that distinctive character, without
any confusion, and without any suspicion that th^
846 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
writers are ignorant of it. When it is remembered
that Deuteronomy is 'the people's book,' it can
cause no surprise that the more general and com-
prehensive term, corresponding to clergy, should
be the term habitually used."
On the principles of sound reasoning, the denials,
both of the separation of the Levites to the work
of the sanctuary, and of the separation of the Aaron-
itic priesthood from the rest of the Levites, are not
sustained.
CHAPTER XX
THE CODES
It is now an established custom to speak of the
Mosaic legislation as consisting of three codes,
named the Covenant Code (Ex. xx.-xxiii., xxxiv.),
the Deuteronomic Code and the Priest Code, ex-
tending from Ex. xxiv., with minor exceptions,
through Numbers. This grouping is rather con-
venient and popular than precise and scientific.
Not only does the narrative show the legislation to
be a protracted process, but the analysts admit the
codes to be more or less interrupted and fragmen-
tary. Kuenen, while maintaining the general unity
of each code, says of the first that the succession is
not always natural and regular, but that some of
the ordinances break the context ; of the second,
that the order of succession is not always what we
might have expected, and cannot (with few excep-
tions) be explained by later insertions — his standing
resort; and of the third, that they "do not form a
closed and ordered whole ; their arrangement leaves
very much to be desired ; some of the ordinances
or groups might be removed without any percepti-
ble void ; some of them have the appearance of
novellce; and in some cases they contradict each
other.'" Dr. Driver makes the important admis-
sion in regard to P that "even of the incidents in
I The Hexateuch, pp. 49, 50.
847
848 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
the wilderness many appear to be introduced chiefly
on account of some law or important consequence
arising out of them," of which he gives a dozen
instances/ showing that the legislation was some-
what continuous, or rather continued, but with fre-
quent interruptions. Dr. Hayman has called atten-
tion still more strongly to the fragmentary character
of the Priest Code : " It is not a code, but in many
parts a set of disconnected injunctions easily ac-
counted for as successive legislations made as oc-
casion suggested them during the wandering, in re-
gard to which we can in some instances discern the
occasion, and anything but a systematic statute
book framed by a set of otherwise unoccupied
priests." After giving striking illustrations, too
extensive to be quoted here, he proceeds: "To
call it the Priest's Code was hardly a happy thought
of the critics, codification being precisely the ele-
ment which it does not present. This condition of
things naturally and perfectly accords with its his-
toric origin, and as completely conflicts with the
theory of its deliberate composition by a body of
priests at their leisure drawing up a code of laws
for the people returning from captivity. It also
shows even more strongl}^ the devout reverence
with v;hich the code of Moses was regarded, that
the priests did not venture to change this compara-
tively heterogeneous mass of precepts into an or-
derly system."
Clearly the legislation, while more or less con-
3 Introduction, p. iig.
THE CODES 349
tinuous and successive, was interrupted and related
to circumstances and occasions. It began at the
exodus with the law of the passover, founded on
the events then occurring, and the law of the first-
born for a similar contemporaneous reason. Next,
in connection with the manna, came the re-enact-
ment of the Sabbath law. In the third month there
was found the convenient halting place and the lei-
sure for promulgating the fundamental principles of
the law in its broader and deeper relations to God
and man ; beginning with the decalogue as the basis
of all, immediately followed by certain moral pre-
cepts, including the treatment of servants, against
violence, manslaughter and murder, in regard to
accidental injury, kidnapping, theft, trespass, bor-
rowing and lending, personal purity, treatment of
the stranger, the widow, the fatherless, concerning
bribery, oppression of the poor, conduct towards
one's enemy, together with the duty of observing
the great religious festivals, and offering the first
fruits of everything to God. These primal duties
are all stated, but disconnectedly, as though many
of them were evoked and recorded on the occasions.
The section closes (xxiii. 20-23) appropriately with
an earnest exhortation, warning, and assurance of
the Divine blessing on obedience.
This group, called the Covenant Code, naturally
prepares the way by its closing declarations for
what is called the Priest Code. It had enjoined
the worship of God and the observance of the re-
ligious festivals, the latter in anticipation of the ex-
850 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
pected entrance into the promised land, which was
not yet deferred by the rebellion.^ Thus naturally
followed the summons of Moses, Aaron, Nadab
and Abihu, and the seventy elders, to a solemn act
of worship, involving the building of an altar, the
offering of sacrifices, the consecration of the people,
and the covenant. The appointment of the great
festivals and of sacrifices leads naturally to the
regular provision for their observance as established
institutions, the modes of observance, the duties of
priests, the structure and arrangement of the taber-
nacle ; in short, the ritual of the future, the so-called
Priest Code. For this the nine months at Sinai
were sufficient, elaborate as it is. The vast and
complicated Code Napoleon of 2,281 articles was
completed and promulgated between March 5, 1803,
and March 30, 1804. Kuenen is constrained to ad-
mit that "in itself it is not surprising that these
regulations in Leviticus i.-vi. (in regard to priests
and sacrifices) should precede the first performance
in the tabernacle (Lev. ix.), and even the consecra-
tion of the priests, which itself involved certain sac-
rifices (Lev. viii.)." Of course not; it was the
proper method.
Inasmuch as the Mosaic code was promulgated
in different portions, and sometimes on occasion of
definite occurrences, such as the death of Nadab
and Abihu, the strife and the blasphemy, it was en-
tirely natural that among or between the portions
of ceremonial legislation there should intervene
3 Kautzsch would destroy this connection by breaking in on four solid pages
of E and JE with the assignment of six verses (Ex. xxiii. 14-19) to K,
THE CODES 3§1
many moral ordinances, as in Leviticus xviii.-xx.,
and exhortations, threats and promises, as in Leviti-
cus xxvi. It was equally natural, if not inevitable,
that laws of permanent force should be mingled
with directions limited to desert life. It was equally
natural also, and for this very reason, that at the
close of the wandering and after the changes of
forty years, there should be modifications intro-
duced, especially on the eve of entering the new
and permanent home.
Similar and far greater modifications following
changes of circumstances could be cited. An illus-
tration falling under the immediate observation of
the present writer offers itself in the school laws of
New Hampshire, growing out of the movement of
population within its borders. For a long course
of years, during the sparse occupation of the town-
ships, there was what was called the town-school
system. Then, as the population spread through
the townships, came the district-school system ; and
within a few years past, in consequence of the de-
population of the outlying territories of the town-
ships, has come a return to the township method,
and with it a system in many respects simpler than
the one which it displaced.
As the Priest Code, so called, sprung up natur-
ally with the full establishment of the worship, as
narrated, so the Deuteronomic Code is the natural
offspring of the circumstances stated in the narra-
tive, and its character is thoroughly explained by
those circumstances. It contains the last solemn
852 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
reminders, tender words and monitory injunctions
of the great lawgiver in view of his death. Its
loftiness and eloquence have always been recog-
nized. But it is important to observe that the oc-
casion and purpose control the character of what is
loosely termed the code. Dr. Driver shall state for
us its purpose and spirit: "In so far as it is a law-
book, Deuteronomy may be described as a manual
which, without entering into technical details (al-
most the only exception is xiv. 3-20, which explains
itself), would instruct the Israelite in the ordinary
duties of life. It gives general directions as to the
way in which the annual feasts are to be kept and
the offerings paid. It la3^s down a few fundamen-
tal rules concerning sacrifice ; for a case in which
technical skill would be required it refers to the
priests (xxiv. 8). It prescribes the general princi-
ples by which the family and domestic life is to be
regulated, specifying a number of cases likely to
occur. Justice is to be equally and impartially ad-
ministered. It prescribes a due position in the com-
munity to the prophet, and shows how even a mon-
archy may be so established as not to contravene
the fundamental principles of the theocracy (xvii.
14 seq.). Deuteronomy is, however, mo7'e than a
mere code of lazvs; it is the expression of a pro-
found ethical and religious spirit, which determines
its character in every part. The principles of hu-
man action cannot be more profoundly stated than
is here done. Nowhere else in the Old Testament
do we breathe such an atmosphere of generous de-
THE CODES 853
votlon to God, and of large-heartedness towards
man ; nowhere else is it shown with the same full-
ness of detail how these principles may be made to
permeate the entire life of the community." More
is said to the same effect.
We could ask no better vindication of the view
in regard to Deuteronomy which Dr. Driver assails,
its time, place, and authorship. It is worthy of the
devout and mighty legislator about to die. It is —
or rather contains — but a general rehearsal of the
duties of the Israelite, specifying some "cases likely
to occur," and referring to the priests for matters
of "technical skill," implying the established priest-
hood and its well-known functions. The inculca-
tion of the great and "true principles of human
action" does not weaken its profound impression
by a preponderance of details. Hence the book
and the "code" as they are; and its freedom from
the specializations of the Levitical law not only
does not imply its earlier origin, but naturally pre-
supposes those details to supplement its broader
and simpler injunctions.
Hence also, as the closing utterance of forty
years, the reply to the chief difficulties alleged,
namely, "variations" from other portions of the
Mosaic legislation. In the words of Driver, "old
enactments are repeated, and fresh enactments to
meet special cases are added." But while even re-
peals of previous ordinances are entirely supposable,
the cases actually cited as "conflicts" hardly sus-
tain the assertion. Some of them are general ref-
854 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
erences, some are supplementary. Take the first
case cited by Dr. Driver, with his own italics : "In
Deuteronomy language is used implying that ftm-
daiuental institutions of P are tinhnown to the author.
Thus, while Lev. xxv. 39-43 enjoins the release of
the Hebrew slave in the year of Jubilee, in Deut.
XV. 12-18 the legislator, withotit bringing his new
code into relation with the different one of Leviti-
cus, prescribes the release of the Hebrew slave in
the seventh 3^ear of his service." Here is no con-
flict. Both laws stand. The slave is still to be re-
leased at the Jubilee ; now it is added that he shall
be released at the end of his seven years' service,
whether the Jubilee year has arrived or not. There
is no occasion to "bring it into relation," although
modern legislators go through the form of "an act
supplementary to an act." The case of the priests
and Levites has been already discussed.
Thus the legislation, from the first, follows a nat-
ural order entirely consistent with the history that
is given of it : A beginning made on the way to
Sinai ; at Sinai, during the long halt, a code of
fundamental principles and precepts ; then in con-
nection with the religious cultus there was orga-
nized a complete system of ecclesiastical officers
and ritual observances, all the legislation contain-
ing double traces of the transient and the future
home ; after forty years a final series of exhorta-
tions and warnings, together with such briefer and
more general references to the earlier legislation as
would give point to the warnings, and some modi-
THE CODES 355
fications after the lapse and trial of forty years, and
in immediate prospect of the new home.
Perhaps a few words should be said as to the im-
practicability or impossibility of such an imposition
as would be the introduction of the Priest's Code in
Moses' name at or after the exile. No one has more
keenly ridiculed the theory in its very foundation
conception than Klostermann. At a time, he says
in substance, when for centuries the Israelites had
been visited by prophets of Jehovah who gained
obedience to their preaching as the word of God,
and when famous prophets had reminded the peo-
ple of their disobedience to what was known to
them as the law of Moses, why should this pro-
phetic man draw off the sure garb of the prophet
and put on the paper coat of Moses? especially
when Moses had promised prophets like unto him-
self? In the same act this man expresses the con-
fidence that the name of Moses can give authority
to his claims, and the disbelief that the same name
can give authority to him as the successor of Moses.
And inasmuch as Moses was the acknowledged
founder of the whole religious polity from antiquity,
what hope could this revolutionist have of securing
acceptance for his widely divergent polity by attach-
ing to it the old label? And why would not his
claims be resisted by those whose office and interest
conflicted with them, and either the fraud exposed,
or counter claims set up? "He had no patent
whereby he alone could falsify." And wh}^ should
not some true prophet strip off the mask ? The
m THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
greater the number in the enterprise, the greater
the danger of exposure. "In short," says Klos-
termann, "as is the resuU, so is the man, incompre-
hensible."
These and other insuperable difficulties may be
pressed with unhesitating emphasis. How was it
possible for any clique or combination to impose
undisputed on the whole Jewish people a burden-
some code of laws and regulations, newly invented,
as having come steadily down from the remotest
past? The nation which Moses and the prophets
had always found a " stiff-necked" people must have
suddenly become a whole flock of lambs. And the
exile had not obliterated all knowledge of the pre-
vious conditions and customs. Nor could a small
body of priests have absorbed all the intelligence of
the Hebrew race. Even if there had been no in-
telligent questioner or objector left among all the
returning exiles, it has been well asked, why did
not Sanballat and Tobiah and their company, ene-
mies and assailants of these leaders, instead of fruit-
lessh' fighting them, simply expose them? The
world's history does not present the parallel of such
a stupendous imposition. It is very easy for in-
genious and recluse scholars to devise such a
chimera ; but not all the scholarship and all the
statesmanship of Germany could convert it into a
reality.
Equally marvelous would have been the skill of
the imaginary composition. These priests were
far greater romancers than Sir Walter Scott ; for,
THE CODES 357
with all his native knowledge and antiquarian lore,
he was guilty of occasional lapses in regard to times
not more remote than the age of Elizabeth, while,
as we are told, "no anachronism is traceable in the
document'^ P.
Furthermore, what a magnanimous company of
impostors it was, to introduce a scheme that left
them of all the tribes without any landed possessions
beyond the suburbs of the villages in which they
were to reside ; and what a submissive tribe were
the Levites as a body, to yield without a murmur to
the dictation of one family cutting them off from
their lawful share of the land ! Still further, when
this body of priests, by the power of combination,
had wrought this great revolution, what a singular
fatuity in them thenceforth to deprive themselves
of the power of further combination by dispersing
themselves through forty-eight villages of Pales-
tine ! Surely our critics, who begin with the elimi-
nation of the supernatural, end with its accumulation
and culmination.
Four things may be said in conclusion :
1. No book in the world's annals was ever so
embedded in the literature, institutions, history,
character and life of a nation as the Hexateuch.
2. The assaults upon its truthfulness contain a
vast amount of arbitrary assumptions and denials,
capricious dislocations, reconstructions and altera-
tions of its text, scholastic criticisms of popular
858 THE VERACITY OF THE HEXATEUCH
speech, and closet speculations ignoring the course
of human life and action.
3. Its literary peculiarities are no more, its ob-
scurities and difficulties no greater, than were to be
expected in narratives originating at the time and
under the circumstances historically ascribed to
them, are mostly susceptible of consistent explana-
tion, and wholly fail to invalidate the historic view
of their origin and character.
4. In view of the manifold, cumulative, and con-
vergent evidence, and with due allowance for vari-
ations inevitable during the transmission from so
remote an antiquity, the fundamental historic ve-
racity of the Hexateuch remains unshaken, and may
be as frankly and implicitly accepted by the modern
Christian as by Christ and his apostles and the
saints of all past ages.
APPENDIX
Note i., p. 5: Professor McCurdy's statement in
the Sunday School Times of May 11, 1S95, ^^ worthy
of careful perusal: " The ruined cities of Babylonia
have only begun to give up their longest hidden se-
crets; but already we have learned that the Mediterra-
nean coast-land was, during ancient times generally,
under the control of the empires of the Tigris and the
Euphrates. To Babylonia is due in large measure the
formation of the political environment of Israel. Many
centuries before the exodus the whole western region
as far as the western sea was leavened by its material
and mental culture. It was sixteen centuries after the
first recorded expedition from Babylonia to the West
that Abraham, himself an emigrant from the banks of
the lower Euphrates, entered the land of promise. It
was about a thousand years later(?) that the Hebrews
again entered Palestine and became a nation. Seven
centuries is the outside limit of their residence in Ca-
naan as an independent nation. During the latter half
of this period they were at the mercy of the Assyrians
and Babylonians. Northern Israel was abolished by
the one, southern Israel was deported by the other.
. . . The anomalous regime of the Egyptians in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was possible by
reason of the division and conflicts of Babylonia and
the ambitious daughter state Assyria. Similar con-
ditions account for the expansion of the Hittites. In
the same way Israel in Canaan and the Aramean prin-
cipalities in Syria found scope and opportunity for de-
velopment, because the Assyrians, having become once
supreme from east to west, relapsed for over a century
into feebleness and inaction. The book of Kings is
now intelligible throughout. Viewed from our pres-
ent standpoint, the political motive of the whole great
stream of events is the incessant play and interaction
359
360 APPENDIX
of the minor currents in the Palestinian states as deter-
mined in direction and destiny by the mightier sweep
of Babylonian and Assyrian enterprise."
The subject is further unfolded by him at very con-
siderable length, and is also discussed by him in the
volume, "Recent Research in Bible Lands." In this
volume he also characterizes the results of Egyptolog-
ical research : "We have the splendid vindication of
the accuracy of the w^riter of the account of Israel's so-
journ in lower Egypt. What is said in Genesis and
Exodus of the character of the country, its government
and its court, and the customs of the people, are shown
to be pictures faithfully drawn from the life.
They (the Egyptian records) give us a fairly complete
conception of that eventful era, from the sixteenth to
the thirteenth century, in which Palestine was being
prepared to become the abode of the chosen people.
They demonstrate how the result of the conflict (with
Syria) was to prevent either antagonist from perman-
ently retaining Palestine for itself, and how it was
still kept as a land of promise for the impending occu-
pation by the Hebrews."
Note ii., p. lo: The tim.e of Sheshenk or Shishak
(I.), is proximately but not yet exactly settled. Follow-
ing Brugsch (Hist, of Eg., Vol. ii., p. 215), I assume
the date of his accession as 966 B. C. The date of the
exodus may for the present be assumed, v/ith Lepsius
(Chronologic der Aegypter, p. 314, etc.), Ebcrs (Durch
Gosen, p. 525), and apparently Poole (Smith's Die. of
the Bible, i., p. 591), at 1314 B. C. ; although Bunsen
would make it 1420 (Eg. PL, i., p. 493), as would Kuenen
(Relig. of Is. i., p. 121), and Brugsch " approximately"
1300 (His. Eg., i., p. 299). From the exodus in 1314
forty years of Moses' life and twenty-five of Joshua's
captaincy (Josephus, Antiq., v., i, 29) would extend
down to 1249 B. C. ; and thence to Shishak's accession
in 966 would be 283 years. But from Carver's death
to 1897 '^ -^7^ years, a difference of only seven years.
Note iii., p. 13 : Theoretically, and in a general way,
Kautzsch ascribes the book to J, E, P, Dt, R, variously
APPENDIX 361
combined and therefore involving other hands engaged
in making the combinations. But the number and
complications are somewhat bewildering. Thus the
twenty-four chapters present the following permuta-
tions: J alone occurs but once, E six times, R lo, P
I, ? 7, Dt 19, JE 20, RE 4, ER i, JEP i, (JEP) 3,
(PJE) I, (JE) 6, (Dt) 2, JE (R) I, (R) i, P (R) i, R
(P) I, R (JE) 5. The parentheses enlosing the letters,
and the respective positions, before or after, indicate
different supposed relations and shades of influence
discerned by the analyst, amounting to twenty in all.
It is a liberal supply of resources.
Note iv., p. 24: Judah's territory is defined as bor-
dered by a wilderness, the southern "tongue" of the
Salt Sea, a brook, a sea, an "ascent," the northern
bay of the Salt Sea, a valley, another ascent, the " stone
of Bohan," a river, the waters of En-shemesh, an-
other valley, another valley, a mountain top, a foun-
tain, another mountain, still another and another, with
a terminus on the great (Mediterranean) sea — in part.
It specifies thirteen cities along the line; it repeatedly
mentions the direction as northward, southv/ard, west-
ward; in three instances it defines the place mentioned
by a second or alternative name, and in two instances
by its location; and in following the line it twice speci-
fies how it "turned about," six times how it "went
up," once how it "went down," eight times how it
"passed along," twice how it "was drawn," three
times it "went out" or terminated, and as many "go-
ings out," — all in business style.
Note v., p. 30: As matter of curious interest No-
wairi's account is here given from the translation con-
tained in the Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Ex-
ploration Fund, July, 1895. ^^^ sultan of the narrative
is Beybars I. of Egypt, one of the great Mohammedan
leaders. This is the account:
"In the month of Jumad the First, in the year 664,
the Sultan issued orders for the building of a bridge
over the river Jordan. It is a river which flows through
the low-lying valley of Syria, which is called the
362 APPENDIX
Sharieh. The bridge is in the neighborhood of
Damieh, between it and Kurawa, and there happened
in connection with it a wonderful thing, the like of
which was never heard of. The Sultan charged the
Emir Jamal ed Din ibn Nahar with the erection of
the bridge, and commanded it to be made with seven
arches. Officials were assembled for the purpose, and
amongst them the Emir Bedr ed Din Mohammed ihr
Rahal, the Governor of Nablous. They obtained sup-
plies, collected workmen, and erected the bridge as
commanded by the Sultan. When it was completed
and the people were dispersed, part of the piers gave
way. The Sultan was greatly vexed and blamed the
builders, and sent them back to repair the damage.
They found the task very difficult, owing to the rise
of the waters and the strength of the current. But in
the night preceding the dawn of the 17th of the month
Rabi the First of the year 6G6 (8th December, A. D.
1267), the water of the river ceased to flow, so that
none remained in its bed. The people hurried and
kindled numerous fires and cressets, and seized the
opportunity offered by the occurrence. They remedied
the defects in the piers and strengthened them, and
effected repairs which would otherwise have been im-
possible. They then dispatched mounted men to as-
certain the nature of the event which had occurred.
The riders mounted their horses and found that a lofty
mound (Kabar) which overlooked the river on tlie
west had fallen into it and dammed it up. A 'Kabar'
resembles a hill, but is not actually a hill, for water will
quickly disintegrate it like unto mud. The water was
held up, and had spread itself over the valley above
the dam. The messengers returned with this ex-
planation, and the water was arrested from midnight
until the fourth hour of the day. Then the water pre-
vailed upon the dam and broke it up. The water
floated down in a body equal in depth to the length of
a lance, but made no impression upon the building
owing to the strength given to it. The water carried
away the apparatus used in the work of repairs. The
APPENDIX 863
occurrence is one of the most wonderful of events, and
the bridge is in existence to this day."
M. Clermont-Ganneau (or his representative, Col.
Watson) thinks that Novvairi's account "bears the evi-
dence of the truth on the face of it," and that he could
have no knowledge of the miracle related in the Bible.
An explanatory statement is given by the translator:
" In a district east of Beisan, and from fifteen to twenty
miles south of the sea of Galilee, the river passes
through what might be described as a gorge through
steep banks of marl, sometimes nearly perpendicular,
which on the right or left bank exceed 150 feet in
height. These marly banks are frequently undermined
by the water and fall in, making it dangerous to ap-
proach the river in times of flood." "The point in-
dicated above, east of Beisan and about twenty-five
miles above Damieh, is just the place where such an
accident would be most likely to occur."
Note vi., p. 51 : Dillmann, in his comment on Ex.
ix. 31, cites various authorities on the time of year in-
volved in the condition of the crops specified in that
verse, when the plague of the hail occurred, and reaches
the result that it was in January. So also Strack. But
this was the seventh of the plagues, and the remaining
three were not completed till the full moon of Nisan,
March or April.
Of the threatened and recorded effects of the hail,
namely, the destruction of men and animals, it is not
necessary to accumulate instances. Though rare, well
authenticated cases are on record as having occurred
in Asia, Europe and America. The present writer
encountered a hail-storm of a much milder and briefer
description in Cairo, December 18, 1873. It rained at
intervals throughout the afternoon, and though the hail
fell briskly but about two minutes, the weather was
so boisterous that few went on the streets unless com-
pelled to do so, and the dancing dervishes omitted their
customary performance.
Note vii., p. 52: Thus much is unquestionably
contained in the statement in Ex. xiii. 18, rendered in
864 APPENDIX
the R. V. "went up armed," notwithstanding a slight
diversity in the precise rendering of the Hebrew
U vPD, which occurs only in this passage, Josh. i.
14, iv. 12, Judg. vii. II ; and in Josh. iv. 12 appears
to be exchanged for u 1J7D in verse 13. The Septua-
gint shows in these passages alike the work of different
translators and the slight uncertainty in their minds,
rendering in Exodus 7:iixT.T7j yv^za ^ in Josh. i. 14 ewCwvof,
in Josh. iv. 12 dieaxeuaffixivot^ and in Judg. vii. 11 raiv
TzsvTijy.ovra. The Vulgate has "armed," supported by
Symmachus, Aquila, and (according to Gesenius) the
Syriac and Targum. Gesenius renders a little loosely,
"fierce, active, eager, brave in battle"; Fuerst,
"equipped, ready for battle, armed"; Ewald (Gesch-
ichte, II., p. 98), " in complete battle array" (though
in his note more exactly, from a theoretical derivation,
"in five divisions," quinquefied); Keil, "ready,
equipped, drawn up for battle"; De Wette and Strack,
"geruestet"; Dillmann, " kampfgeruestet." Whichever
of these forms is adopted, all agree with the necessary
implication of the several passages that there was an
orderly preparation for the march, something more
even than going "by their hosts."
Note viii., p. 55: M. Naville would find Migdol in
a supposed fortress near the present Serapeum, Pi-
hahiroth in Pikeret (a word found on a monument of
Rameses II., and also in the tablet of Philadelphos),
which he conjectures to designate a place northwest of
it near Pithom, and Baal -zephon," some hill like Shekh
Ennedek, on the Asiatic side." (Store City of Pithom,
pp. 26, 25.) This theory places the crossing north of
the Bitter Lakes. Dr. Dawson puts it south of them,
at a point between the railway stations Fayid and
Geneffe,supposing Pi-hahiroth at "some inconsiderable
ancient ruins near that place," Migdol not a fortress
but a watch tower on a commanding height, which he
would designate as the western peak Jebel Shebremet,
more than 500 feet high, and Baal-zephon as Jebel
Musheikh, the prominent northern point of Jebel er
APPENDIX 365
Rahah opposite in the Arabian desert. (Modern
Science in Bible Lands, pp. 388-901.)
The strongest argument for the former extension of
the Red Sea to the Bitter Lakes, in historic times, is
M. Naville's supposed discovery, by two Latin in-
scriptions at Pithom, that Pithom was also the Roman
Hierapolis, and that it was but nine miles from Clysma
on the Sea. But since the Itinerary of Antonine states
the distance at sixty miles, M. Naville is "compelled
to admit that one of the documents is wrong." He
decides for the inscriptions. But as one of these was
in a calcareous wall (the place of the other not men-
tioned), they may not be in their original place; and
moreover, one is dated about 306 A. D. ; and besides,
the shrinkage of the Red Sea would be brought to a
comparatively recent date. The identification and
proximity to Clysma must be considered not absolutely
proven.
On the other side the present separation of the Gulf
of Suez (except as connected by the canal) from the
northern lakes by such elevations of land, which M.
Mauriac, engineer of the Suez Canal, considers to be a
tertiary formation, must be considered a somewhat
formidable objection. And this elevation would there-
fore have had to take place since A. D. 306. That
such an elevation has taken place during that period,
or since the exodus, is a thing for which one would
certainly desire some definite basis of known fact.
Note ix., p. 64: We assume without discussion
Jebel Musa to be Sinai, and Sufsafeh the peak from
which the law was proclaimed. The Ordnance Survey
would seem to have settled it, — certainly for any one
who has been over the ground and made careful inves-
tigations on the spot, and with the different theories
in mind. Serbal, once advocated by respectable au-
thorities (Ebers and Lepsius), clearly does not answer
the conditions. The writer climbed the mountain and
examined the adjacent valleys, Ajaleh and Aleyat. It
might not be an insuperable objection that the mountain
is extremely difficult of ascent; but these two nearest
866 APPENDIX
wadies are not only too remote for hearing from the
mountain or for close approach, but they are compara-
tively small in extent, and at present so covered w^ith
boulders and cut up by winter torrents as hardly to
afford room in either of them for a dozen tents.
Equally it seemed to the writer that at Jebel Musa,
the wady Sebaiyeh could not have been, as some have
supposed (Kurtz, Ritter,F. A. Strauss and even Tisch-
endorf), the place of assembling, on the south side
of the mountain, instead of Er Rahah on the north
side, for several conclusive reasons: its small size, be-
ing but one hundred and forty-five acres, as we found
by actual measurement; its surface covered with sharp^
rough stones, affording no good camping place or even
standing place, while Er Rahah is entirely clear; its
separation from Jebel Musa by Jebel Sebaiyeh, some
eight hundred feet high, whereas Er Rahah comes to
the foot of Ras Sufsafeh ; its entire lack of water (ex-
cept when, as apearances indicate, the heavy rains
sweep over it), all the springs being on the northern
side of the mountain.
Note X., p, 65: Ain Gadiz has been singularly
difficult of discovery and examination. The great
weight of Dr. Robinson's opinion had been cast in
favor of Ain el Weibeh in the Arabah, as many as
forty miles to the northeast. Rev. John Rowlands in
1842 succeeded in finding the fountain Ain Gadiz,
which he enthusiastically described. Though attention
and favorable opinion were drawn to this identification,
no traveler was able to visit the place, owing to the
fact that it is in the territory of the Azazimeh Arabs,
a degraded, jealous and violent tribe, and the sheiks
of the Tiyahah tribe feared and refused to conduct
travelers to it. Mr. Holland and Dr. Schaff were
unable to go there, even Professor Palmer was refused
by his sheik, and the present writer was taken by the
same sheik to a wrong place, Ain Guseimeh (" Qasay-
meh," Trumbull), a notable watering place, which
Sheik Soleiman solemnly persisted in declaring to be
Ain Gadiz. Mr. H. C. Trumbull was fortunate in
APPENDIX 36T
finding the two older and wily sheiks disabled fronn
being his guides, and in inducing the young Sheik
Hamdh, by means of descriptions contained in Bart-
lett's "Egypt to Palestine," to conduct him to the
genuine Ain Gadiz. He describes it as an oasis of
verdure and beauty ; a carpet of grass covering the
ground, fig-trees laden with nearly ripe fruit, shrubs
and flowers in variety and profusion, running water
gurgling under the grass, and on the northeastern side
a single mass or spur of solid rock from underneath
which "issued the now abundant stream." The water
flowed first into a large stoned well of primitive work-
manship, near which was a marble watering trough;
then another and larger well and a trough, and then a
large basin or pool, seemingly the principal watering
place, and the appearance around as though it had been
frequented by flocks and herds for centuries. " An-
other and larger pool, lower down the slope, was sup-
pled with water which rippled and cascaded along its
narrow bed from the upper pool; and yet beyond this
westward the water gurgled away under the grass, as
v/e had met it when we came in, and finally lost itself
in the parching wady from which this oasis opened.
The water itself was remarkably pure and sweet, un-
equaled by any we had found since leaving the Nile."
The description is given (abbreviated) in the words of
Trumbull, " Kadesh Barnea," pp. 272-4. The visit was
brief and his notes "hurried," but of great value. It
is extremely desirable that a more protracted examina-
tion, not only of the fountain but of its surroundings
and eastern and southeastern connections, should be
made as soon as possible.
Note xi., p. 6^\ Professor Palmer suggests the
eleven days' stages thus: i. To Kibroth Hattaavah,
which he would find at Erweis el Ebeirig; 2, to Haz-
eroth, placed by him, with Robinson and Stanley, at
Ain Huderah, eighteen hours from Sinai ; 3, 4, 5, three
days' journey for the modern traveler towards Akabah ;
6, to Elath (Akabah); 7, to Ezion Gaber (Diana of
the Peutinger tables), 14^ miles; 8, Rasa of the tables,
866 APPENDIX
141/^ miles; 9, to Gypsaria of the tables, the present
Contellet Garayeh, 14^ miles; 10, to Lysa of the
tables, modern Lussan, 26]^ miles; 11, to Ain Cadiz
(apparently about 14 miles). (Desert of the Exodus,
pp. 422, 514.)
Note xii., p. 74 : A body of laws devised by a
company of priests who felt themselves at liberty to
legislate for the restored Israel, says Dr. Hayman,
" should show features of plan, symmetry and order
pervading it. The Priestly Code, as our critics prefer
to call this ill-digested mass, the Levitical coi-pus juris^
is conspicuously defective in these characteristics.
Take as a test sample the book of Leviticus itself, the
most homogeneous of the whole and the one least
charged with the historical element. On looking at
the larger members and the earlier portions of its dis-
located structure, we see an attempt at method too soon
abandoned and forgotten in the result. I cannot claim
space to analyze it thoroughly, but will exemplify from
that inner section (to which, from the recurrence of
some fixed phrases, containing the word 'holy' as their
key, the name 'Law of Holiness' has lately been given),
reaching from chapter xvii. (or xviii.) to xxv. inclusive.
Of these, chapter xvii. contains hardly any of the pe-
culiar phrases. The critics, however, include it. But
the close of a previous chapter, xi., in verses 44 and
45, has them very markedly, and is therefore a detached
member of the group which I am considering. Chap-
ter xix., headed in our A. V. 'A repetition of sundry
laws,' is a mass of unconnected precepts, lacking
moreover coherence with what precedes and follows.
Chapter xx. is not such a cento of shreds, but of its sec-
tions some repeat previous laws, others affix penal
consequences to acts already forbidden. In a digest
one would expect prohibition and penalty to come to-
gether. If chapters xxiii. and xxv. were consecutive
we should have in them a tolerably complete summary
of the law of holy times and seasons. But chapter xxv.
diverges into the redemption of landed estates, and
especially those of the poor Israelite and the Levite,
APPENDIX 369
connected, however, by the year of Jubilee and its
privileges, with the main subject. But wedged uneasily
between the two chapters we have chapter xiv., itself
miscellaneous, beginning with the sanctuary, its lamps,
their oil, etc., then diverging into blasphemy, and em-
bedding a lex talionis between the sentence on the
blasphemer and his execution. As regards repetitions,
the law of keeping the Sabbath Day occurs some five
or six times in this book only, to say nothing of other
mention of it in other books. After twice prohibiting,
as it were incidentally, the eating of blood, or flesh with
the blood, in chapters iv. 17, vii. 26, 27, we have the
statement of the principle emphatically united with the
same precept in chapter xvii. 10-14, the precept itself
further recurring in chapter xix. 26, as well as three or
four times in Deuteronomy ; besides the original
prohibition to Noah in Gen. ix, 4. Similarly, eating
'that which dieth of itself is forbidden in this book
thrice, besides one each in Exodus and Deuteronomy."
Dr. Hayman, having thus examined sections, observes
that the distribution of almost any subject yields the
same result. He pointedly inquires, "Is it conceivable
that they (the supposed company of organizing scribes)
would have bequeathed to their successors such a maze
of jurisprudence as the Pentateuchal," and he confi-
dently affirms that the theory leaves this striking feature
of the legislation "utterly inexplicable. It subverts
that primary instinct of order which governs the hu-
man mind, and that precisely at the time when it should
be paramount." His entire article is weighty.
Note xiii., p. 79: That the reader may see that there
is no exaggeration in these statements, Erman's brief
account of a part of the jewelry found on the body of
Queen Ahhotep is here submitted: "The fineness of
the gold work, and the splendid coloring of the enamels,
are as admirable as the tasteful forms and the certainty
of the technique. Amongst them is a dagger, on the
dark bronze blade of which are symbolical representa-
tions of war, a lion rushing along, and some locusts,
all inlaid in gold ; in the wooden handle are inserted
870 APPENDIX
three-cornered pieces of precious metal ; three female
heads in gold form the top of the handle, while a bull's
head of the same precious metal conceals the place
where the handle and blade unite. The sheath is of
gold. One beautiful axe has a gilded bronze blade, the
central space being covered with the deepest blue en-
amel, on which King Ahmes is represented stabbing
an enemy; above him a griffin, the emblem of swift-
ness, hastens past. The handle of the axe is of cedar
wood plated with gold, and upon it the names of the
king are inlaid in colored precious stones. Gold wire
is used instead of the straps which in ordinary axes
bind the handle and the blade together. Perliaps the
most beautiful of these precious things, however, is
the golden breast-plate in the form of a little Egyptian
temple. King Ahmes is standing in it; Amon and R^
pour water over him and bless him. The contours of
the figures are formed with fine strips of gold, and the
spaces between them are filled in with paste and colored
stones. This technique, now called cloisonne, the
same which has been carried to such perfection by the
Chinese, was often employed by the Egyptians with
great taste. The illustration heading this chapter
(xviii. in the book) gives a good illustration of the
character of the work, but it is impossible to represent
the brilliance of the enamel, and the beauty of the
threads of gold that divide the partitions."
These are but specimens of a very considerable col-
lection, in all which gold is the precious metal, with
one exception (so far as the present writer recalls) : a
boat of solid gold, twelve rowers of silver, the boat
being mounted on a wooden truck with bronze wheels.
The Dashur collection is understood to be quite as ex-
tensive. The art of gilding was also extensively
practiced, apparently as earl}^ as the Middle Empire in
some degree, and much more in later times. (Erman,
p. 462.)
Note xiv., p. 104: To illustrate a little further the
force of Mr. Poole's reasoning, an additional extract is
given : " If the Hebrew documents are of the close of
APPENDIX 871
the period of the kings of Judah, how is it that they
are true of the earlier condition, not of that which was
contemporary with those kings'^ Why is the Egypt
of the Law markedly different from the Egypt of the
prophets, each condition being described consistently
with its Egyptian records, themselves contemporary
with the events? Why is Egypt described in the Law
as one kingdom, and no hint given of the break-up of
the empire into the small principalities mentioned by
Isaiah (xix. 2)? Why do the proper names belong to
the Ramesside and earlier age, without a single in-
stance of those Semitic names which came into fashion
with the Bubastic line in Solomon's time? Why do
Zoan-Rameses and Zoar take the place of Migdol and
Tahpanhes? Why are the foreign mercenaries, such
as the Lubim, spoken of in the constitution of Egyp-
tian armies in the time of the kingdom of Judah, wholly
unmentioned? The relations of Egypt with foreign
countries are not less characteristic. The kingdom of
Ethiopia, which overshadowed Egypt from before
Hezekiah's time and throughout his reign, is unmen-
tioned in the earlier documents. The earlier Assyrian
empire, which rose for a time on the fall of the Egyp-
tian, nowhere appears."
The entire article is a powerful argument, deserving
a careful perusal. It is at the same time careful and
candid. He remarks that " the date of Deuteronomy is
a separate question," and adds: " Leaving this problem
aside, the early age of the first four books does un-
questionably involve great dithculties, but not nearly
so great as the hypotheses of late date when they are
confronted with the Egyptian records."
In a note he makes a statement concerning Deu-
teronomy worth quoting : " The lamented Deutsch,
remarkable among Hebraists for his acute literary
perception, remarked to the writer that he could not
explain the origin of Deuteronomy on any other hy-
pothesis than its original Mosaic authorship, redaction
being enough to account for its peculiarities. This
opinion may not have been maintained, and therefore
872 APPENDIX
it is merely stated as a remarkable hint thrown out in
conversation. Many scholars would not believe that
Deutsch could have held the view for a moment; this
is why the recollection deserves to be put on record."
Note XV., p. 132: Lefevre proceeds thus: "Sepa-
rated from these Egypto-Semites by the Himalaya and
the desert, slowly increasing tribes of white men, part
shepherds and part agriculturists, monogamous, wor-
shipers of the heavenly bodies, gradually under the
pressure of the Mongols leave their common country,
forgetting each other as they travel, but retaining their
idioms and their acquired culture exactly in the f7'o-
portion of their increasing distaiice. The Celts are
driven westward by the Gauls, the Gauls by the Ger-
mans, these by the Slavs and the Lithuanians, them-
selves urged forward and finally overrun by the Mon-
gols and the incursion of the Huns. The future
Hindus are already making their way among the afflu-
ents of the Indus. Lastly, the Greeks and Latins,
passing south of the Celts, Germans and Slavs, and
north of the Semitic world, follow the right bank of
the Danube, and one stream of them flows towards
Thrace and Thessaly, the other towards the Tiber.
The Iranians alone remain, harassed by the continual
attacks of the Turks ; they reach Media, Persia, con-
quer and take possession of the old Semitic empires,
and come into collision in Ionia and at Marathon with
their old neighbors now forgotten, with the Hellenes,
already masters of the Mediterranean basin. This
large and simple view gives the true meaning of his-
tory." It unwittingly conforms in a remarkable degree
not only to the recorded fact of the dispersion from
near the center described, but, as may appear later,
with the Scripture account of the lines of dispersion.
Note xvi., p. 150: Rawlinson adopts the identifi-
cation of the Kimmerii, in their descendants, with the
Cimbri and the Cymry (or Welsh) and also with the
Cambri, as they were designated by the Romans, and
would recognize the same fundamental name in Cum-
berland. The Roman historians, it will be remembered,
APPENDIX 373
called the modern Jutland by the name Chersonesus
Cimbrica.
If we might safely follow Rawlinson's guidance, in
parts of which he finds support in other authorities, the
successive movements of the races westward across
Europe would become somewhat obvious. For he finds
the Celts among the descendants of the Kimmerii, and
(supported by Niebuhr and Boeckh) the Slavs among
the Scythian descendants of Magog, the Teutons among
the descendants of the Thracians, whom he identifies
with Tiras, locating the latter on the Bosporus, partly
west of it. We should then see, not only as we do,
Javan pushing gradually and surely along the Mediter-
ranean to Greece and Italy, and Magog, as is admitted,
driving Gomer northv/est beyond the Euxinc, but
remaining in permanent possession as the Slavic race,
and the Teutonic descendants of Tiras pressing their
way westerly like a wedge between the now established
Slavs and their driven predecessors, the Celts, until
the latter were forced to the coasts of the Atlantic.
But the view, however attractive, is in two of its stages
too precarious at present to adopt with any confidence.
Note xvii., p. 156: The classical student does not
need to be reminded of Ovid's description, Metamor.
i., 242, seq. It is noticeable how distinct Is the account
of the flood given by Lucian, who repeatedly declares
it to be Greek tradition. Thus (De Syria Dea, 12)
he relates that the former race of men were destroyed
for their extreme wickedness ; that the earth gave forth
water, great rains fell, the rivers rose, the sea swelled,
till all things became water, and all men perished.
Deucalion alone was saved for his piety. He built a
great ark (Aa/?va?), entered it with his wife and chil-
dren, brought in by pairs hogs, horses, lions, serpents,
and all other creatures, and remained there with them
in a divinely established friendship so long as the
waters prevailed.
Note xviii., p. 183: The older tables of great lon-
gevity have been justly criticised as resting often on
insufficient evidence. Such appears to have been the
374 APPENDIX
case with that given by Prichard in his " Natural His-
tory of Man" (1843). He gives, after Mr. Easton, the
following list of persons who had attained the ages
attached: From the age of 100 to no inclusive, 1,310
persons; from 1 10 to 120 years, 267; from 120 to 130
years, 84; from 130 to 140, 26; from 140 to 150, 7;
from 150 to 160, 3; from 160 to 170, 2; from 170 to
180, 3. On the other hand, in 1873 W. J. Thoms,
Deputy Librarian of the British House of Lords, pub-
lished a book on "Human Longevity," in which he
examined and justly objected to the evidence on which
very many of these instances rested ; but he went to
the extreme of inclining to assign to the region of
fiction all or nearly all cases of alleged age greater than
105. Zoeckler in his " Urstand des Menschen" (pp. 249
seq.) shows the unreasonableness of this position, and
thinks it undeniable that there are well proved instances
of those who have lived to be from 120 to 130 years, and
apparently very rare cases of persons who have out-
lived the first half of their second century. An article
on this subject in Chambers' Journal in 1880 (copied
into the Eclectic, Oct., 1880) contained many facts,
perhaps not all carefully sifted, sustaining this position
of Zoeckler. Any one who keeps a record of persons
who die in this country more than a hundred years
old, will weary of the task; and he will meet with
apparently authenticated instances of the attainment of
112 or even 120 years and more. While, therefore,
the skepticism of Thoms was uncalled for, it remains
true that the greatest age now attained lies between
one and two hundred years.
Note xix., p. 203: Delitzsch makes the following
references: Is. xxxviii.5, Jonah ii.4, Zech.ii. 4. Strack
adds to these Judg. ii. 6, i Ki. vii. 13. Dr. Green
adopts a slightly varied but equivalent rendering:
"Jehovah God, having formed, etc., brought." He
adds, "In numberless passages in the English version
of the Bible similar expressions are paraphrased in
order to express this subordination cf the first verb to
the second," as, e. g., Gen. iii. 6. And as to the
APPENDIX 375
notion that order of mention in the Scriptures must be
the order of time, he shows its absurdity by such ex-
amples as Gen. xxiv.64, 65; Ex. iv. 31 ; Josh. ii. 22;
I Ki. xiii. 12; Is. xxxii. 2-5, and one or two other
cases. For a fuller discussion of the alleged contra-
diction and of the double narrative, the reader is referred
to his learned treatise.
It may be added in further explanation of the ob-
jections to a fair understanding of this artless narrative.
Dr. Driver insists that while the original account of
creation gives the order,vegetation, animals, man, this
chapter gives it, man, vegetation, animals; and as-
sumes to know the "progression evidently intentional
on the part of the narrator." The order of temporal
progression certainly does appear intentional in the
first chapter of Genesis (with certain qualifications),
but that the writer in referring to past facts is logically
or actually held to the order of time is a view that the
history of all literature contradicts. The very page
in which Dr. Driver advances this notion, will not
stand such a test.
Note XX., p. 206: Although it is impracticable to
discuss the several theories, it may be well to mention
briefly some of the more prominent and least impossible
ones. It is a curious fact that less than thirty years
ago the American Tract Society should have published
a book in which the Nile and the Ganges were made
the companions of the Euphrates and Tigris in the
garden of Eden. (Studies in Bible Lands, by Rev.
W. L. Gage, 1869, pp. 16-18.) Cush was of course
the first stumbling block, which introduced the Nile,
and then the Ganges entered easily.
A late and somewhat confident modern view is that
of Friedrich Delitzsch, which has attracted no little
attention. In addition to the two unquestionable rivers,
he supposes two other streams to be two channels or
canals branching from the Euphrates below Babylon,
the one on the east, the Pallakopas (Pishon), the other
on the west, the Guchanu (Gihon). He supposes the
Euphrates and Tigris originally to have flowed sepa-
376 APPENDIX
rately to the gulf ; and since the waters of the former,
as it is affirmed, find their way to some degree in small
streams into the latter above Babylon, the one original
Euphrates passes on through four streams below Baby-
lon, near which place he finds the garden of Eden.
The theory is open to serious objections, and appears
to have received more attention than assent. We may
say, perhaps, that it is not impossible. It coincides
in general, however, with the view of numerous other
modern writers in placing the garden near or belov/
Babylon. Some of these have approximated so near
this opinion as to regard the two streams as the east
and west branches of the Schatt el Arab, the united
stream below the jiniction of the two great rivers (Bo-
chart, and proximately Tayler Lewis); while Sir
Henry Rawlinson, fixing the location in Babylonia,
finds the two streams in c^uestion to be branches of the
Euphrates and Tigris.
Sir J. W. Dawson (Modern Science in Bible Lands,
pp. 195 seq.) with great confidence maintains that the
Pison is the Karun and the Gihon is the Kerkha, two
streams which rise far in the northeast and empty in-
to the vSchatt el Arab. The grave objection is that
these rivers, rising in a different direction and far
away from the first two, can in no sense be called di-
visions of one stream into four heads. Pressell an-
ticipated this view, but not the objection, by saying
that the division was not downward from the source
but upward from the junction; which contravenes the
description.
There is one theory which perhaps deserves more
careful attention than it has received. It is the view
that the locality of Eden was in Armenia, in the form
stated by Pellicanus of Zurich in 1533, more thoroughly
shaped and maintained by the famous Reland in 1706,
and w^ith some modifications accepted by Von Raumer,
Kurtz, Baumgarten, Bunsen, Keil, Zahn, J. P. Lange,
Rosenmiiller, Kitto, Chesney. Oettli mentions it as
one of two views both of which are favored by many
circumstances and opposed by others; and Strack (in
APPENDIX 877
1894) holds that it is a theory to which the biblical
statements and the investigations concerning the orig-
inal abode of the race "are not unfavorable." The
greatest objection is removed, provided the original
" river" can be understood as denoting, not a single
stream, but the waters collectively, " the river system,"
water supply, of the region. And, aside from in-
stances which can be adduced in support of this inter-
pretation, there is the actual fact that the Euphrates
and Tigris, though originating in the collective waters
of the region, do not come from the same one stream.
This would seem decisive. Justified by this fact, these
writers fix on the Araxes, which, as Col. Chesney as-
certained, rises midway between two main sources of
the Euphrates, about ten miles from each, and flows a
thousand miles east into the Caspian Sea. This would
be the Gihon— although Michaelis made it the Pison.
For the fouth river Reland selected the Phasis (Rion),
flowing into the Black Sea, and found the land of
Havilah, which it compasses, in the ancient Colchis,
the land of the golden fleece, the consonant letters of
which, with a slight transposition, somewhat closely
correspond. Kitto and Chesney, however, fix in pref-
erence on the Halys (Kizil Irmak) for the fourth river,
as rising nearer the sources of the others. It is also
a much longer stream, equally encompasses the ancient
land of gold, passing through a land of minerals, where
silver mines are still known. This would include the
four great rivers of the region, all rising within a com-
paratively short distance of one another. The interpre-
tation encouraged by the fact is apparently sustained
to some degree by linguistic usage, as in Jonah ii. 3,
Ps. xxii. 4. Lange in his comment on the passage
adduces several other instances bearing in the same
direction. The chief objection to the interpretation is
the use of the word {iiahar in Hebrew) in a different
sense from the use two verses later. It may be replied
that (i) such diverse uses in even closer connections
are found, e. g., " let the dead bury their dead"; (2)
the Hebrew has no word or phrase corresponding to our
378 APPENDIX
phrase " water S3^stem" or " supply," and perhaps nahar
comes as near as any, or nearer; (3) the facts in the
actual usage here would seem to settle the question,
for the Tigris is certainly a river, and the waters in
which it and the Euphrates both originate are not a
river. The whole subject cannot be discussed here,
but a fuller, though brief statement by the present
writer may be found in the American edition of Smith's
Dictionary of the Bible at the end of the article," Eden."
This explanation has seemed to him to have stronger
claims than any other yet advanced on a difficult sub-
ject. It is to be borne in mind that Eden is a region
in which the garden was situated, that the land of
Havilah cannot be confidently determined, and that all
attempts, like those of Sir John Dawson and others,
to decide it from the products bdellium and the onyx
stone are hopelessly adrift, because, after all is said, no
man now knows what they were.
Note xxi., p. 223: Lenormant says: "Certain it is
that at the epoch of the great influx of oriental tradi-
tions into the classic world, a representation of this
nature appears upon several Roman sarcophagi, where
it undoubtedly indicates the introduction of a legend
analogous to the narrative of Genesis, and akin to the
formation of man by Prometheus. A famous sarcoph-
agus in the museum of the capitol exhibits, close
beside the Titan, son of Japetos, who is finishing his
task of moulding, the pair, man and woman, in a state
of primitive nudity, standing at the foot of a tree, the
man in the act of gathering fruit. A bas-relief in-
crusted in the wall of the little garden of Villa Albani at
Rome presents the same group, but more closely con-
formed to the Hebrewtradition, since a greatsnake twists
itself around the trunk of the tree under whose shadows
the two mortals are standing. . . But I find incon-
trovertible evidence of the existence of such a tradition
in the cycle of the indigenous legends of the people of
Kcnaan, since the discovery of a curious vase painted
in the Phenician manner, dating back to the seventh
or sixth century B. C, and found by General Cesnola
APPENDIX 370
in one of the most ancient sepulchers of Idalium on the
Island of Cyprus. We trace thereupon a tree with
foliage; from the lower branches hang on either side
two great bunches of fruit; a huge serpent approaches
the tree with an undulating motion, and is in the act of
opening his jaw to seize one of the fruits." Pp. loi,
I02.
Note xxii., p. 229: "If now the term day is to be
understood literally, it is clear that the narrative of
Genesis cannot accord with the teaching of Geology;
are we at liberty, then, to understand it in any other
way? This question must be answered, not by a dis-
cussion as to the proper meaning of the Hebrew term
employed (respecting which there is no doubt), ])ut
by inquiring whether or not it may have been used ]->y
the writer metaphorically. Although there are no
precise parallels in the Old Testament for such a met-
aphorical use of the word, it seems on the whole reason-
able to concede it here. The author, it may be sup-
posed, while conscious that the divine operation could
not be measured by human standards of time, never-
theless was desirous of accommodating artificially the
period of creation to the divisions of the week ; and
hence adopted the term day in a figurative sense. If
this view be correct, the term will have been used by
him consciously, as a metaphor, for the purpose of his
representation, it being really his intention to designate
by it a period of time. The several da3's, with their
'evenings' and 'mornings,' will thus be the form
under which the work is represented as taking place;
they will not constitute part of the reality." (Driver's
Sermons on the Old Testament, p. 166.)
Note xxiii., p. 236: Thus Croll quotes with ap-
proval Professor Winchell : "We have not," says Pro-
fessor Winchell, "the slightest grounds for assuming
that matter existed in a certain condition from all eter-
nity, and only began undergoing its changes a few
millions or billions of years ago. The essential activity
of the powers ascribed to it forbids the thought. For
all that we know — and indeed as the conclusion of all
880 APPENDIX
we know — primal matter began its progressive changes
on the morning of its existence. As therefore the series
of changes is demonstrably finite, the lifetime of matter
is necessarily finite. There is no real refuge from
this conclusion ; for if we suppose the beginning of
the present cycle to have been only the restitution of
an older order effected by the operations of natural
causes, and suppose — what science is unable to com-
prehend— that older order to be a similar reinaugura-
tion, and so on indefinitely through the past, we only
postpone the predication of an absolute beginning, since,
by all the admissions of modern scientific philosophy,
it is a necessity of nature to run down."
Croll proceeds to say for himself, "These are con-
sequences which necessarily follow from every theory
of stellar evolution which has hitherto been advanced."
And after some remarks on the impact theory, he closes
thus: "We have no grounds to conclude that there is
anything eternal, except God, Time and Space. But
if time and space be subjective, as Kant supposes, and
not modes pertaining to the existence of things in them-
selves, then God alone was uncreated, and o/'Him and
to Him are all things." (Croll's Stellar Evolution,
pp. Ill, 112.) We are not concerned with the sug-
gestion concerning time and space, but with the view
concerning matter. Such views are not confined to
these scientists.
Note xxiv., p. 251 : Few things in the history of
literature or science are more striking or cautionary
than the great and rapid diminution of the antiquity
assigned to the human race. The change in Le Conte's
two editions is in point. Dr. Hunt, a president of the
British Anthropological Society (cited by Southall,
Recent Origin, p. 46), held that the proper date is nine
million years ago. Draper (Conflict, p. 199) wanted
"many hundreds of thousands of years." Lubbock
(Prehistoric Times, p. 414) wants from 100,000 to
240,000. Lyell, who assigned man's appearance be-
fore the close of the glacial period, at first dated that
period many hundred thousand years ago. While man's
APPENDIX 381
advent is still regarded as pre-glacial, the latest in-
vestigations in America tend to bring down the close
of the glacial period in this country to within some
eight thousand years. The results may be found in
Wright's " Ice Age in North America." Prestwich says
that his opinion previously expressed against Croll's
view that 80,000 years intervened between paleolithic
and neolithic man, and his belief that the close of the
glacial period comes down to within 10,000 or 12,000
years of our times, is confirmed by these investigations.
(Journal of Victoria Institute, vol. xxvii., p. 281.)
In like manner much more cautious opinions are
beginning to be expressed concerning the actual antiq-
uity of certain ancient nations to which it was custom-
ary to ascribe a kind of fabulous antiquity. Thus
Max Mueller, in an article on "The Enormous An-
tiquity of the East" in The Nineteenth Century (May,
1891), v^^rites: ''''Authentic history begins when we
have the testimony of a cotemporary or eye-witness to
the events which he relates. Constructive history and
constructive chronology rest on deduction. The authen-
tic history of India does not begin before the third
century B. C. Constructive history places the Vedic
hymns about 1,500 B. C. In Egyptian history, what-
ever date we accept, we must bear in mind that, like
all ancient Egyptian dates, they rest on the construction
which we put on Manetho's dynasties, and on the frag-
ments of papyri, like the royal papyrus of Turin. The
chronology of the Old Testament is likewise construct-
ive. In China authentic history cannot be said to
begin before the burning of the books by the Emperor
Khin in 213 B. C.
"In Babylon, Nabonidus 550 B. C. lighted on the
foundation stone of the Sun-god temple at Sippara,
which had not been seen by any of his predecessors
for 3,200 years. Hence 550 + 3200=3750, the time of
Sargon's son, Naran Sin. But to use a foundation-
stone on its own authority as a stepping-stone over a
gap of 3,200 years, is purely constructive chronology."
In view of these obvious considerations, one is a
382 APPENDIX
little surprised at the entire confidence with which
Professor McCurdy affirms, " There is no reasonable
doubt that the reckoning made by the experts of
Nabonidus was correct." How do we know that there
was a "reckoning" and that "experts" made it'^ (Mc-
Curdy's History, Prophecy and the Monuments, i.,
P- 97-)
In the line of caution. Professor Winchell in 1881
(Preadamite Man, p. 421) could " discover no valid
ground whatever for the opinion that the stone age in
Europe began more than 2500 or 3000 B. C."
Note XXV., p. 263: Thus Professor Davis thinks the
form Shabbatu (or Shabattu) not certain, and that the
phrase translated " rest of the heart" elsewhere denotes
the appeasing the heart of the gods — which would be
a more directly religious expression than the other.
He, however, very fully affirms that " the seven day
period was a recognized standard," and "the auspi-
cious and sacred character of the seventh day" (pp. 32,
33);
Note xxvi., p. 263: Thomas proceeds (Le Jour du
Seigneur, p. 268), " These are not the only resemblances
which might be indicated. Thus the ancient Germans
appear to have had the week before receiving from the
Romans its mythological appellation; the Hindoos
make use for many ages of the planetary week, and
even in some regions specially solemnize one of its
days. In reviewing the terms by which the number
seven is designated in numerous languages, we become
aware of curious philological facts which might become
important. We should love to trace further the re-
markable connection which we have already pointed
out between the idea of that number and the oath."
Note xxvii., p. 270: Few persons consider how con-
stantly and how confidently we rely on the kind of
evidence which may be called traditional or prescrip-
tive, the weight and influence of which cannot be
stated in technical form. VVhately has called attention
to it forcibly in his little book on the evidences of
Christianity. In regard to the matter of authorship Car-
APPENDIX 383
dinal Newman in his " Grammar of Assent" (pp. 284,
286) expresses himself thus : " If we deal with argu-
ments in the mere letter, the question of the authorship
of works in any case has much difficulty. I have
noticed it in the instance of Shakespeare, and of
Newton. We are all certain that Johnson wrote the
prose of Johnson, and Pope the poetry of Pope ; but
what is there but prescription, at least after cotempo-
raries are dead, to connect together the author of the
work and the owner of the name? Our lawyers prefer
the examination of present witnesses to affidavits on
paper; but the tradition of " testimonia," such as are
prefixed to the classics and the Fathers, together with
the absence of dissentient voices, is the adequate
groundwork of our belief in the history of literature."
"We have no means of inferring unconditionally that
Virgil's episode of Dido, or of the Sibyl, and Horace's
'Te quoque mensorem' and 'Quem tu Melpomene'
belong to that Augustan age which owes its celebrity
mainly to those poets. Our common sense, however,
believes in their genuineness without any hesitation
or reserve, as if it had been demonstrated, and not in
proportion to the available evidence in its favor, or the
balance of arguments."
Note xxviii., p. 310: The fact that the date of the
Pentateuch or of portions of it cannot be determined
by language or style is now conceded somewhat gen-
erally. Professor Robertson (p. 42) quotes Kuenen to
that effect. Dr. Driver (Introduction, p. 117) speaks
very decidedly, even going so far as to say that " there
is no perceptible archaic flavor in the style of JE," the
supposed oldest w^riters, and placing his argument as
to their date wholly on other grounds. Dr. B. W.
Bacon, who endeavors to speak for the drift of modern
criticism, says (Genesis of Genesis, p. 58), " The inter-
nal evidence of the late origin of P is mainly derived
from evidences of development in the legislation beyond
the point of Deuteronomy and Ezekiel." In fact the
arguments of the leaders of this school of interpretation
direct their chief attention to what they term the his-
881 APPENDIX
torical considerations — which historical considerations,
however, do not necessarily include any historical
allusions^ but are founded, as in the remark of Dr.
Bacon, upon alleged marks of progress or development.
Thus in a very recent commentary on Judges, the
writer admits that "the author's motive, the lesson he
enforces, and the way in which he makes the history
teach are almost the only data at our command to as-
certain the age in which he lived," but he asserts that
these criteria are among the " most conclusive" and
"determine beyond reasonable doubt." In regard to
some fourteen chapters of which he determines the
age, he confesses " there are no allusions to historical
events which might serve us as a clue," and "almost
the only criterion is their relation to the religious de-
velopment." One thing that precludes these critics
from all arguments derived from the language, is the
summary manner in which they disintegrate the text.
Note xxix., p. 282; Among many other passages,
the author would gladly have called attention to the
phenomena exhibited in the treatment of Gen. xxii.
8-15, xxviii. 12, 13, 15-20, xxix. 24-31, xxx. 17-29;
Num. x. 29-xvii., xx.-xxvi.
In so cautious a critic as Dr. Driver the reader who
will take the trouble to count his tabulations of the
Hexateuch, will find (besides other divisions) about
fifty fragments of three or four verses, more than forty
of one verse each, more than thirty of half verses, and
several instances of verses divided into fragments <2, b
and c to maintain the analysis. Besides these distinct
dismemberments, resort is abundantly made to "ele-
ments" not tabulated, numerous passages covered by
" partly," " in the main," " additions," " a few phrases
besides," " other independent sources," " other sources,"
passages "modeled upon the style of" a given writer,
and the additional safeguard of "one of the final
redactors of the Pentateuch." Here is ample room
for an aliqiiid ex allqiw.
Professor Fitz Hommel, in his latest utterance, does
not hesitate to express himself thus : " It is unquestion-
APPENDIX 885
able that the higher critics have gone virtually bank-
rupt in their attempt to unravel, not only chapter by
chapter, but verse by verse, and clause by clause, the
web in which thedifferent sources are entangled, argu-
ing frequently from premises which are altogether
false." (The Ancient Hebrew Tradition, 1897.) This
comment is the more noteworthy, inasmuch as he does
not assent to the denial of all "sources."
Note XXX., p. 342; Klostermann thus ridicules the
process of the analysis : " For our science Moses is
indeed dead ; but he has found an heir of his office,
though perhaps first a thousand years later, to produce
the Genesis of to-day with scissors and glue-brush out
of independent, collected parchments. Without further
preliminary, we leap over the two thousand years and
put ourselves with our Genesis behind his chair to
watch him as he has so nicely pasted them together,
and with kindly regard to our curiosity has preserved
the colors and uncovered the seams that we may at our
pleasure take them apart and group them tastefully.
Yet we are at an evil disadvantage in comparison with
Astruc (the early analyst). For to him Moses was a
man of flesh and blood, he knew him from what he
had written, and he knew his purpose. Our redactor,
on the contrary, is absolutely unknown ; he is every-
where and nowhere ; we know not his purpose, his
style, his materials. For he himself has at most written
this or that line ; but as soon as we will lay hold of
him, one says it is but a gloss, another that it is an
older addition made before his time; and so he glides
away like a phantom." (Knobel, Der Pentateuch,
P-5-)
Professor Ramsay, who has done so much towards
elucidating the book of Acts, describes and character-
izes a similar attempt, but on a much more limited
scale, to disintegrate that history : " Dr. Clemen sup-
poses that three older documents, a history of the
Hellenistic Jews, a history of Peter, and a history of
Paul, were worked into one work by a Judaist-Redac-
tor, who inserted many little touches and even passages
886 APPENDIX
of considerable length to give a tone favorable to the
Judaizing type of Christianity ; and that this completed
book was again worked over by an anti-Judaist Redac-
tor II., who inserted other parts to give a tone un-
favorable to the Judaizing type of Christianity, but
left the Judaic insertions. Finally a Redactor III., of
neutral tone, incorporated a new document (vi. i-6),
and gave the whole its present form by a number of
small touches.
" When a theory becomes so complicated as Clemen's,
the humble scholar who has been trained only in phil-
ological and historical method finds himself unable to
keejD pace, and toils in vain behind this daring flight.
We shall not at present stop to argue from examples
in ancient and modern literature that a dissection of
this elaborate kind cannot be carried out." And Pro-
fessor Ramsay proceeds to pronounce it in this case
"simply impossible." (Ramsay's St, Paul the I'rav-
eler and the Roman Citizen, pp. 12, 13.)
Note xxxi., p. 325: In the references to geographical
position classed by Dr. Bacon (p. 44) as post-Mosaic
are these : " The Pentateuch writers use invariably
the stereotyped expressions for north, south, east and
west, which nevertheless have no significance except
for a dweller of Palestine. Thus south is literally
'Negeb-ward' ; west is 'sea- ward,' toward the Mediter-
ranean." The answer is ready, that they were used
because they were the stereotyped Hebrew terms, and
the Pentateuch, being written in the Hebrew language,
must use them. The words for north (occurring in
the Old Testament more than 130 times), west and
south, were the only ones in common use. It is also
said: "The expression 'beyond Jordan' is always
shown by the context to mean eastward, whereas to
Moses beyond Jordan would be west." The statement
is too sweeping. The phrase is understood to have
taken on a geographical signification, designating a
point of compass, eastward. But the actual double
usage of it, and the explanatory terms frequently con-
nected with it in Deuteronomy and the early chapters
APPENDIX 887
of Joshua, go to show the ambiguity that hung over it
when Moses and Joshua were themselves on the east
side of the Jordan. And this curious vibration be-
tween the geographical and the general or unrestricted
meaning is a strong corroboration of the narrative.
Where no question would be likely to arise, "beyond
Jordan" is east of Jordan, as Gen. 1. lo, ii. Josh. ix.
lo, xvii. 5; also in the administrative assignment of
territory, or in a reference to it, the technical sense
occurs — Josh. i. 14, xiv. 3. It is so used Deut. 1. 5,
and made distinct by being " in the plains of Moab,"
and Num. xxxv. 14 by being in contrast to " Canaan."
In several instances a possible ambiguity is removed
by adding "toward the sunrising," Josh. 1. 15, xxiii.
7, Deut. iv. 41, 47, 49. Joshua on the east side of
Jordan makes it clear by the same addition, it having
been also used undefined in the previous verse. In
Josh. xii. I the writer of the book adopts the same
method. But Moses, in his address while east of the
Jordan, naturally uses the phrase in its untechnical
meaning, namely, the other side of Jordan from him,
Deut. iii. 15, 20. In two notable instances where it
is used in this wider sense and applied to the western
region, the doubt is removed by adding " toward the
going down of the sun," or "westward." A still more
curious instance occurs in Num. xxxii., where in verse
32 the Reubenites and Gadites use the word in its
technical sense, and in verse 19 in both senses, distin-
guished, however, by adding "eastward" and "for-
ward."
An anachronism is also alleged in Gen. xl. 15, where
" the land of the Hebrews" occurs. But there was an
obvious reason why Joseph should not say the land of
"Canaan," identifying himself with the Canaanites;
and as " Abram the Hebrew" (xiv. 13) and three gen-
erations of his descendants had occupied the land of
promise, the anachronism is not apparent.
Some objections as to indications of time made by
the same writer may here be mentioned. The phrases
"unto this day" (Gen. xxxii. 32, xxxv. 20; Deut. x.
888 APPENDIX
8), and "the landmark which they of old time have
set," are said to point to mementos of antiquity. But
they are entirely vague, and may apply to any longer
or shorter period. In Josh. xxii. 3 the interval ap-
pears to be but a few months. Gen. xv. 13, 17 has
been explained in the body of this volume. On the
phrase (Gen. xxxvi. 31), "before there reigned any
king over Israel," as implying authorship after the
monarchy was established, Dr. Briggs (Higher Crit-
icism of the Hexateuch, p. 82), while inclined to that
view, yet remarks, "We cannot deny to Moses the
conception of a future kingdom in Israel. In view
of the fact that the Israelites had just come out of bond-
age to the Egyptian kings, and that they were sur-
rounded by nations having kings, it was natural to
think of kings for Israel likewise." So also Delitzsch
substantially. The statements. Gen. xii. 66^ xiii. 76,
"the Canaanite was then in the land," are alleged to
bring down the date to the time when the Canaanites
had disappeared, subsequent to Solomon. It is a large
inference from a small premise. The first instance is
a natural comment on the remarkabieness of the promise
that Abraham should possess the land of which the
Canaanite was then in possession. In the second case,
it may refer to the difficulty of finding pasturage, or to
the danger of a quarrel between the two bodies of
herdsmen when the Canaanites and Perizzites were
on the ground. The comments on the character of
Moses (Num. xii. 3, xxxiv. 10) may be understood as
made by the one who recorded his death. The con-
quered "land of his possession" (Deut ii. 12) might
possibly be, as Keil would have it, the portion already
conquered east of the Jordan, or, in accordance with
the theory of a revision, it may be one of the explan-
atory notes which Rosenmueller and others have rec-
ognized in several passages, esjDecially in Deuteronomy,
which interrupt the direct narrative. (See Speaker's
Commentary, i., p. 810.) The singular precariousress
of this method is shown in the attempt to find an
anachronism by identifying the Agag of Num. xxiv.7
APPENDIX 889
with the Agag of i Sam. xv. 23 ; whereas Dillmann
(on Num. xxxiv. 7), speaking of the latter, says,
"Whether another also still bore the name, or Agag
was a title of all Amalekite kings (Ros., Win., Ges.,
Hgst., K. and others), is wholly unknown to us."
These are given us as "examples of a class." One
is surprised that so slender a kind and array of ana-
chronisms can be alleged against a book with such a
history.
Note xxxii., p. 3 10: It is highly suggestive to see in
a condensed form the summary mode in which Kuenen
deals with the Hexateuch. Without making an ex-
haustive count, the reader will find in the volume,
besides numerous statements to the same effect but in
less compact form, the following terms applied to
various parts of the Hexateuch :
" Glosses, interpolations, insertions, additions," ^6
times; "amplifications, redactions, corrections, ex-
pansions, supplements, alterations, remodelings," 39
times ; " later strata, another hand, other hands, foreign
elements, another source, later origin, " 34 times ;
"unhistorical, fiction, fictitious, absurd, impossible"
(or equivalent terms), 22 times; "recast, retouched,
worked over," 20 times; "manipulated, corrupt, har-
monizing artifices, patch- work, literary artifices, tacked
on," 15 times; "fused, welded, amalgamated, com-
bined, compiled, incorporated, remodeled," 16 times;
besides other similar terms, a free use of "contradic-
tions," and the general statement that " the redaction
was a long and continuous process. '^^
This is but a partial enumeration and is far from
giving an adequate exhibition of the process claimed.
For we read not alone of single changes, but of long
continued operations, described in such terms as these:
" Subsequently filled and expanded, gradually elabor-
ated, product of continuous redaction, gradually ac-
cumulated, later expansions have risen successively,
successive filling in and amplification, repeated manip-
ulation and expansion, the result of imitation, largely
remodeled and further altered when fused, stories have
390 APPENDIX
passea through many phases, have undergone more
than one recension, indications of various accounts,
several successive recensions and not much of the
original narrative remaining, drastic recension, com-
pletely recast, drastic treatment, imitated him, collec-
tion brought together by a redactor who fitted it into a
framework of his own, put together and worked up
and certain foreign elements afterwards inserted, un-
derwent a rather complicated literary process of which
we know nothing, several hands at work on the same
lines, the editor running them into his own mould, a
compound narrative, a composite narrative, diversity
of sources, interpolated and recast again and again, an
absolutely unhistorical invention framed to defend the
doctrine of a unique sanctuary, additions to bring the
account into a semblance of agreement with the current
belief, purposely altered to bring it into harmony,"
Siud ?,o on ad lib it ufUo It is well to get a bird's-eye
view of the method in which one of the two great lights
of the latest theory proceeds. VVellhausen's method,
though perhaps less minute, is equally summary. The
marvel is how, after all these "drastic" processes,
Kuenen can pretend to find JED and P. They
would seem to have been thoroughly and continuously
welded, fused and worked over.
Since the discovery of the long lost Diatesseron (Har-
mony of the Gospels) of Tatian, and its publication in
1888, an effort has been made to find in it some aid
and comfort for the analysis of the Pentateuch, thus :
" If the Syrian church had been left to itself, with-
out constant contact with the greater church to the west,
the knowledge of the separate gospels might have been
lost even among the learned. The parallel to the his-
tory of the Pentateuch would then have been complete."
(Journal of Biblical Literature, 1890, p. 209.)
But the entire absence of the conditions covered by
the two words "if" and "then" not only prevents the
"parallel" from being "complete," but vacates it of
every essential resemblance that would make it a par-
allel to "the history of the Pentateuch" as postulated
in the critical analysis. For —
APPENDIX 891
1. We have and always have had actual " knowledge"
of separate gospels. We never have had knowledge
nor hint of separate documents compiled to form the
Pentateuch as a whole.
2. The church has always had the gospels themselves
in their separate form. It has never had nor known
of J E D P R, etc., in separate form.
3. The writers of the four gospels are all historically
known personages. J E D P, etc., are one and all
unknown to history or tradition.
4. We have external means of knowing proximately
the time, and more or less credible evidence of the cir-
cumstances, of the origin of our gospels ; as to the time
or circumstances of J and the rest, no external indica-
tions whatever.
5. The \.\NO methods, alike only in the bald and su-
perficial fact that Tatian made a compilation, are rad-
ically different in character. The writer in the Journal
distinctly states that Tatian's method was "to preserve
every detail found in any one of the sources, and yet
avoid repetitions and hard transitions"; (2) that "the
author has added nothing which was not contained in
his sources"; (3) that he "has changed them as little
as possible," and only by phrases of " transition or con-
nection" (though in one case unfortunately, between
Matt. i. I and Luke ii. 39) — the only considerable
omission, except repetitions, being the two difficult
genealogies. Contrast, on the other hand, not only
the constant liberties taken by R in his many forms,
but the wholesale fabrications by D and P, of trans-
actions, discourses, and even legislations; and could
two proceedings be more essentially diverse?
6. Equally in conflict with any parallelism but of
contrast is the confessed inability to detect the com-
ponent parts of the Diatesseron without possessing the
gospels themselves. The Journal writer " confidently"
admits, as he must, that except in case of John's gospel
(which, not being synoptic, could be used without dis-
integration), " we should not be able to analyze the
Composite Gospel (of Tatian) with as much success
892 APPENDIX
as we have had with the Pentateuch." A necessary
but damaging admission ; imaginary writers can be
analyzed, actual ones cannot.
In what respect does Tatian help Kuenen, Cornill
or Driver?
Note xxxiii.,p. io6:The discussion of this inscription
of Menephtha is continued from time to time, with an
agreement as to the mention of Israel, and some differ-
ence in rendering the associated words, and on the
question whether it refers to Israel as being in Egypt
or in Palestine. And it is recognized as not only a
mention of Israel, but as a boast of triumph over him.
INDEX OF PRINCIPAL AUTHORS CITED
OR REFERRED TO IN THIS VOLUME
Addis, W. E., The Documents of the Hexateuch, 1S93.
Armstrong, C, Names and Places in the Old and New
Testaments, 1889.
Bacon, Benjamin B., The Genesis of Genesis, 1892.
Baxter, W. L., Wellhausen's "One God, One Sanctu-
ary"; The Thinker, 1893-1894.
Bartlett, W. H., Forty Days in the Desert, 1862.
Bissell, Edwin C, Genesis Printed in Colors, 1892.
Bliss, F. J., A Mound of Many Cities, 1894.
Blomfield, A., The Old Testament and the New Crit-
icism, 1S93.
Boscawen, W. St. Chad, The Bible and the Monu-
ments, 1895.
Briggs, C. A., The Higher Criticism of the Hexa-
teuch, 1893.
Bunsen, Christian C. J., Egypt's Place in Universal
History, 1858-1867.
Bibelwerk, volumes ist and 2nd, 1858-1860.
Cave, Alfred, The Inspiration of the Old Testament,
2nd ed., 1888.
Cesnola, Louis P., Cyprus, 2nd ed., 1878.
Chesney, Francis R., Survey of the Euphrates and
Tigris, 1850.
Conder, Claude R., Tent Work in Palestine, 1878.
Heth and Moab, 1885.
The Tell Amarna Tablets, 1892.
Cornill, Carl Heinrich, Einleitung in das Alte Tes-
tament, 1 89 1.
Cotta, Bernard von. Die Geologie der Gegenwart,
1878.
Croll, James, Stellar Evolution, 1891.
Dana, James D., Manual of Geology, 4th ed., 1895,
393
394 LIS T OF A UTHORS
Davis, John D., Genesis and Semitic Tradition, 1894.
Dawson, Sir J. W., The Origin of the World, 1877,
Modern Science in Bible Lands, 1889.
The Meeting Place of Geology and History,
1894.
Delitzsch, Franz, New Commentary on Genesis, Eng-
lish translation, 18S9.
Delitzsch, Friedrich, Wo lag das Paradies, 1881.
Dillmann, August, Die Genesis, sechste auflage, 1892.
Exodus und Leviticus, 1880.
Draper, J. W., The Conflict of Religion and Science,
iS75- ^
Driver, S. R., Notes on the Hebrew Text of Samuel,
1890.
Introduction to the Literature of the Old Tes-
tament, 1 89 1.
Sermons on the Old Testament, 1892.
Commentary on Deuteronomy, 1895.
Ebers, Georg, Aegypten und die Biicher Mose's, 1868.
"Joseph," Smith's Dictionary of the Bible, 2nd
ed., 1893.
Ebrard, J. H. A., Christian Apologetics, English
translation, 1886.
Edersheim, Alfred, Prophecy and History in Relation
to the Messiah, 1895.
Edwards, Amelia B., Pharaohs, Fellahs and Explor-
ers, 1892.
Ellicott, C. J., Christus Comprobator, 1892.
Erman,Adolph, Life in Ancient Egypt, 1894.
Ewald, Heinrich, Geschichte von Israel, dritte ausgabe,
1864.
Geikie, Archibald, Text Book of Geology, 1893.
Girard, Raymond de, Le Deluge, 1S92, 1893, 1895.
Girdlestone, R. B., The Foundations of the Bible,
1890.
Godet, F., Creation and Life, 1882.
Qreen, Wm. Henry, The Higher Criticism of the Pen-
tateuch, 1895.
The Unity of the Book of Genesis, 1895.
LIST OF AUTHORS 395
Gray, Asa, Natural Science and Religion, 1880.
Guyot, Arnold, The Earth and Man.
Creation, 1884.
Harper, H. A., The Bible and Modern Discoveries,
1890.
Hilprecht, Herman V., Explorations in Babylonia
(Recent Researches in Bible Lands), 1896.
Hitchcock, Charles H., The Geology of New Hamp-
shire, 1874-187S.
Holzinger, H., Einleitung in den Hexateuch, 1893.
Hommel, Fitz, Discoveries in Arabia (Recent Re-
searches in Bible Lands), 1896.
The Ancient Hebrew Tradition, 1897.
Howorth, Sir Henry H., The Mammoth and the Flood,
1887.
Huxley, T. H., Science and Hebrew Tradition, 1894.
James, Sir Henry, Notes on the Great Pyramid, 1869.
Joly, N., Man before Metals, 1883.
Kalisch, M. M., Commentary on Genesis, 1858.
Commentary on Exodus, 1855.
Kautsch, E., and Socin, A., Die Genesis, 1888.
Kittel, R., History of the Hebrews, English transla-
tion, 1895.
Klostermann, August, Der Pentateuch, 1893.
Knotel, H. J. R., Homeros der Blinde von Chios,
1 894- 1 895.
Kuenen, A., The Hexateuch, English translation,! 886.
The Religion of Israel, English translation,
1 874- 1 883.
Ladd, George T., The Doctrine of Sacred Scripture,
'883-
Layard, Austin H., Nineveh and its Remains, 1849.
Babylon and Nineveh, 1853.
Leathes, Stanley, The Law in the Prophets, 1891.
Le Conte, Joseph, Elements of Geology, revised edi-
tion, 1 891.
Lef^vre, Andr^, Race and Language, 1894.
396 LIST OP A UTHORS
Lenormant, Fran9ois, The Beginnings of History
(Brown's translation), 1882.
Lex Mosaica, by various writers, 1894.
Lightfoot, J. B., Essays on "Supernatural Religion,*'
1889.
Loftus, W. K., Travels in Chaldea and Susiana, 1857.
Lyell, Sir Charles, The Antiquity of Man, 1878.
Principles of Geology, nth ed., 1878.
Lubbock, Sir John, Prehistoric Times, 1872.
Mariette, Auguste, Aper9u de L'Histoire D'Egypte,
1872.
Maspero, G., Places Captured by Sheshenk, Jour.
Victoria Institute, 1894.
Egyptian Archaeology, 1887.
The Struggle of the Nations, 1897.
McCoan, J. C, Egypt, 1877.
McCurdy, J. F., History, Prophecy and the Monu-
ments, 1894, 1896.
Nadaillac, Marquis de, Prehistoric Peoples, 1892.
Naville, Edouard, The Store City of Pithom, 1885.
Goshen, 1887.
Oettli, Samuel, Das Deuteronomium, und die Biicher
Joshua und Richter, 1893.
Palmer, E. H., The Desert of the Exodus, 187 1.
Petrie, W. M., Tell el Hesy, 1891.
The Story of a "Tell" (The City and the
Land), 1892.
Egypt and Israel, Contemporary Review, May,
1896.
History of Egypt, 1896.
Pinches, T. G., "Eden," Smith's History of the
Bible, 2nd ed.
Poole, R. S., Ancient Egypt, Contemporary Review,
March, 1879.
Prestwich, Joseph, The Tradition of the Flood, Jour.
Victoria Institute, 1894.
Quatrefages, A, de, The Human Species, 1879.
LIST OF AUTHORS 397
Records of the Past, various writers, 1875- 1 881.
New Series, 1888-1892.
Rawlinson, George, The History of Herodotus, 1858-
1860.
The History of the Nations, 1878.
Reusch, Fr. H., Nature and the Bible, English trans-
lation, 1886.
Robertson, James, The Early Religion of Israel, 1892.
Robinson, Edward, Biblical Researches, 1841-1852.
Ryle, Herbert E., The Canon of the Old Testament,
1892.
The Early Narratives of Genesis, 1892.
Sanday, W., Inspiration, 2nd ed., 1894.
Sayce, A. H., The Ancient Empires of the East, 1884.
Schrader, E., Die Keilinschriften und das Alte Tes-
tament, 2nd ed., 1884.
Schuchardt, C, Schliemann's Excavations, 1891.
Smith, George, The Chaldean Genesis,Sayce's edition,
1880.
Delitzsch's Edition, 1876.
Smend, R., and Socin, A., Die Inschrift des Konigs
Mesa, 1886.
Southall, James C, The Recent Origin of Man, 1875.
Strack, H. L., Genesis, Exodus und Leviticus, 1894.
Einleitung in das Alte Testament, vierte
auflage, 1895.
Tait, P. G., Recent Advances in Physical Science,
3rd ed., 1885.
Thomas, Louis, Le Jour du Seigneur, 1892.
Thomson, W. M., The Land and The Book, popular
edition, 1880.
Tomkins, Henry G., The Times of Abraham, 1878.
Tristram, H. B., Natural History of the Bible, 1868.
The Land of Israel, 2nd ed., 1S66.
The Natural History of Palestine (The City
and the Land), 1892.
Trumbull, H. Clay, Kadesh Barnea, 1879.
Watson, F., The Book of Genesis a True History,
1894.
398 LIST OF AUTHORS
Westphal, Alexander, Les Sources du Pentateuch,
1888-1892.
Wilkinson, J. G., The Ancient Egyptians, Birch's
ed., 1883.
Winchell, Alexander, Preadamites, 1881.
Winckler, Hugo, The Tell Amarna Letters, 1896.
Wright, G. Frederick, The Ice Age in North Amer-
ica, 1889.
Wright, William, The Empire of the Hittites, 1884.
The Hittites (The City and the Land), 1892.
Zenos, Andrew C, The Elements of the Higher Crit-
icism, 1895.
Zockler, O., Die Lehre vom Urstand des Menschen,
1879.
INDEX
Aaron 327, seq.
Abiathar 339
Abiri, The 39
Abraham 35.48,92,96,
111,113,116,120,121,122,124
Accad 118,145
Achan 20,31,41,45
Achsah 26
Achor 8
Ahab 6,7, 330
Ahhotep 80
Ahiah 339
Ai 18,20,31,45
Ain,Berwad,6o; Hawwarah,
60; Musa, 59
Amenophis IV 16, 34, 48
Amorites 36,40,42
Amos 87,275-277,332-335
Amraphel 118
Anachronisms, Alleged
323-325.386-389
Analysis, Critical
295-310,361,384-390
Animal Life 249, seq.
Antediluvian Life, Length of
178-186
Antiquity of the Human
Race 380-382
Arabia, Its Early Civiliza-
tion 9,35
Aramaic Language 36
Arioch 117,118.119,124
Ark, The 157, 164
Arts, The Early 192, seq.
Ashteroth Karnaim 119
Askelon (Ascalon)
16, 28, 35, 38, 42, 117
Assyrian Discoveries 5,6
Augustine 252
PAGE
Authorship, Evidence of . . .
269,272
Azekah 20
Baal-zephon 56
Babel 126-128
Babylonia, Relations to Pal-
estine 359
Babylonian Discoveries, 5;
Garment, 20; Conquests, 117
' 'Badgers' Skins" 77
Balaam 48, 68, 324
Bade 252
Beirut 16, 35,41,43
Berosus 127
Beth-horon 9. 45
Bethlehem 127
Beth-shan 41
Bezaleel 77
Biographies in the Hexa-
teuch 112-114
Birs Nimrud 126, 128
Bitumen 120,121,157
Bochira 328
"Book-town" 16
Boulak Museum 79
Boundaries, Tribal 361
Bradford's History of Plym-
outh 85, 288 seq.
Bricks, Egyptian, 87, 88;
Babylonian, 126
Bronze 78, 82, 194, 195
Cain, Cainites .... 188, 192, 198
Calah 146
Camels in Egypt 93
Canaan, Language of
43,111,283
Canaanites 26, 28, 32, 36, 38
400
INDEX
PAGE
Canal, Sweet water, 53;
Suez, 54, 56.
Candor of narratives 28,31
Carchemish 9
Caspian Sea, depression of. 172
Cattle 248
Cereals 1 30
Chaeremon 44
Chaloof 55. 56
Changes of level 168, seq.
Chaos 236. 238
Charcoal 71
Chariots . .21, 41,42, 54, 93, 95
Chemosh 7
Chedorlaomer . . .118, 119, 121
Chittim 148
City, Cain's 191, 192
Civilization, in Canaan, 42;
around Israel 10
Chronicler, The
6,9,328,343,344
" Codes," a loose title. .347-348
Confusion of tongues.. 132, 133
Conquest of Palestine
14,19,20.21,29
Contemporaneousness,
Marks of 18, 19,277
Continents 239
Contradictions created. 320, 321
Copper 42,194,195
Creation narrative, its aim
and method, 227-234; not
duplicated, 201,202; con-
firmed in detail 255,256
Creation, Classic story,
257; Chaldean, 25; defects
of 258, 259
" Creeping thing " 248, 249
Crossing the Jordan
45,46,48,361-365
Cush 264
Curse, The 224, seq.
Dahariyeh 26
Damieh 30
Dan 18,120,121
Daughters of men 187,188
David 340,341,342
Day, Creation.234,252,253,379
PAGE
"Day, To this" 18
Dead Sea 29
Death 223
Debir 16,25.26
Deluge, Traditions of, 151,
seq.; extent, 163, seq.;
possibility, 170; method,
171-178.
Deluge narrative, definite,
156; consistent, 156, 157;
contemporary, 158.
Dibon 67
Dispersion, The
....129-132.144,149,372,373
Documents in Genesis. ,2,200
Dodanim 149
Ebal 21,22,380
Eden 270
Edom 29
Egypt, Accurate account of
85-88,360,370,371
Egyptian words 94.96
Elam ii8,iig, 142,204
Elim 59.61
Elishah 148
Ellasar 118
Elohim 43
Encampment by the Sea, 61 ;
at Sinai, 66.
Engedi 120
English Bible, Revision of.283
Enoch 181
Enos 180
Erech 125, 145
Esau 48,112,115
Etham 54
Evidence, Traditional 382
Exodus, The, 50 seq.; prepa-
rations, 51, seq., 363; sta-
tions, 69,367.
Ezra 78,287,288
Famines 89
Feasts, observed, 332-335;
abuse condemned, 335,336,
Feiran 52
Fenced cities 7.9.4°
Fire 191
INDEX
401
PAGE
Firmament 238, 239
Flying creatures 245
Food supply, miraculous
66,67
Fortresses 38
Fruit, The forbidden... 208, 209
Galeed, Jegur-sahadutha..iii
Gardens 42
Gerizim 21,280
Gezer 26,35
Gibeon, Gibeonites
..20,23,31,45,46,319,328,331
Gideon 340.341
Gilgal 14,18,20,25,31
Gold 41,42,78.79,80
Golden Age 214
Gomer 146
Goshen 53, 100
Gomorrah 14
Great Eastern, The 157
Great Deep, The 168
Ham 134,135,144,149
Haran 121,124,125
Hazezon Tamar 121
Hazor 16,25,35,38,117
Hebrew language 11 1
Hebrews 105,106
Hebron 25,96,123
Heshbon 67
Hesiod 215
Hezekiah 6,8,40,280,330
Hexateuch, Two theories
of, 1-3; its truth assailed,
312; sustained, 357-358.
"Hill of Aaron" 65
Hissarlik 195, 196
Hittites 26,27,28,
36. 37. 38,39. 41.54.96-99. 359
Homer 3,28,196,249
Hophni 339
Hor 73
Horeb 65,286
Hormah 29
Horses 41,42,93
Hosea 275-276,331-335
Huleh 21
Hyksos 89,105
PAGE
Idioms, Canaanite 43
Imposition, Priestly, im-
practicable 355-357
Inscriptions, Arabian, 9;
Assyrian, 98; Moabite, 7.
283; at Magarah, 40; at
Siloam, 8; of Shishak, 8;
of Menephtah, 106.
Iron 81,82,195,197
Isaac 48,114
Ishmael 114
Israel, Kings of, mentioned
in Assyria 6
Jabal 192
Jacob 48,111,112,114,115
Japheth... 134,135,141,146,149
Jashar, Book of 284
Javan 147,148
Jericho 19,
23,31,40,41,42,45,46,68,324
Jeroboam 330.331.34°. 343
Jerusalem
9,16.25,35,39,117,120
Jezreel 41
Jewelry 78-80, 369
Joppa 16,35
Jordan
. . 18,19,22,30,31,32,45,46,48
Joshua, Character of 33
Joseph
43.44.45.90,110,111,115
Josephus 9,44.45
Josiah , 9
Jubilee year 334
Judah, Kings of, mentioned
in Assyria. 6
Junius 202
Kadesh 29,
50,65,66,67,120,121,186.220
Kedesh 25
Kimmerii 146, 372
Kiriathaim 119
Kirjath-jearim 25
Kirjath-sepher n6
Knotel on Homer 3,4
Koyunjik 6
402
INDEX
PAGB
Lachish, 16,117; siege of. 6;
excavations at, 40.
Lamech, 181; his family,
192; his song, 197,198.
Language, Variant 300
Larsa 125
Law, Non-observance of
317.318
Law, The, given. „ 365
Lebanon 27
Legislation, successive and
interrupted, 64,349-352,
368; order of, 354.
Leshem 18,27
Level, Changes of . ..168, seq.
Levites and priests. . .342-345
Life, Length of 183, seq.
Light 237
Life in Egypt 85-88
Longevity 374
Lot 113
Machpelah 126
Madai 147
Magarah, Wady 40
Magog 147
Makkedah 16,20,35,41,117
Man in paradise, 190; two-
fold nature, 199; condition
and traits, 208; capacity
and dominion, 251,252;
his prohibition, 209.
Manetho 44
Manna 71
Manoah 300. 34^
Marah 60
Marriage, Ideal 210,212
Megiddo 32
Memorials 280, seq.
Menephtah. . . 106,107,108,393
Merom 21,37,38,40,41
Mesha 7
Methuselah 183
Micah 339, 340. 343
Migdol 54.55.56
Mines 194
Misrephoth 21,27
Mizpeh, Mispah 21,27,328
Moab, Moabites
..7, 29,48,67,68,69,81,8a, 283
Mohar 93
Moses, 11,16,49,50,270, 271,
273 seq. ; 280,281,288,355.
Mosul 207
Music, Instruments of 193
Mulberries 42
Nabonidus 7
Naharain 82
Names, Palestinian
24,25,27,34
Nebo 63
Nimrud 82, 126
Nineveh ... 196
Noah 113,133,134,181
Nob 331
Numbers, uncertain 179
Nuffar 195
Observances, commemora-
tive 104
Olives 42, 185
Ophrah 328
Outline descriptions. 245,250
Orontes, The 41-54
Ovid 190,215
Oxen 42
Oxford Essays 232
Paradise, rivers, 205 seq. ;
locality, 375,378.
Palm trees 61
Papyrus 3
Pentaur, Poem of, the,. 4 1,54
Pharaoh-necho 9
Phenicia 39-41
Pi-hahiroth 55.5*5
Pisgah 68
Pithom 53,54,88,100
Plagues, The, 91,92; time
of, 363-
Plymouth colony 10,11,85
Pottery, Early use of 191
Precious stones 78-80
Priests, priesthood, 227
seq., 338-340-
Quails 72
Rahab 46, R-
INDEX
403
PAGE
Rahah, Wady er 59,60,64
Ramah .2
Rameses 53
RamesesII., 38,42,54,80,98,
100
Records, Assyrian, 6; pre-
Mosaic, 2.
Rehoboam 9,40
Rephidim 63
Reptiles 246
Red Sea, Crossing of
48,53.5407.58,59
Revision of English Bible,
285; of Hebrew Bible, 286.
"Rib" 210
Rithmah 71
Sabbath 266
Sacrifices 330-332, 341-342
Samaritan Pentateuch. 179, 273
Samuel 328,331,339,340
Sarabit el Khadim 40, 195
Sargon I., 97; Sargon II,,
98,142
Satan 218
Saul 340
" Seed," The 225
Seir 65
Sennacherib 6
Septuagint, The 16,17
Serapeum 55-56
Serbonian Bog 55
Serpent, 73; traditions of,
220, seq.
Seti 1 53
Sethites 187,188
Sex 2og
Shabbatu 263, 282
Shalmanezer 6,98
Sharahen 18
Shechera
....17,21,43,46,318,329,331
Shera 134-135- 144- 149
Shiloh 319,328,331
Shinar. . . .118, 126, 129, 144, 145
Ships 42
Shishak 8,9, 360
Shittim wood 70
Sidon. . 16,21,27,38,42,117,142
PAGE
Silence, Argument from
^., 315.316
Siloara mscription 7,8
Sin, Wilderness of 62
Sin and penalty 216
Sinai 64
Slave 43,354
Solomon 340, 342
Sons of God 186-188
Stretched out creatures
(monsters) 246
South Country 66
Species destroyed, .. .249,250
Stations 69
Style, popular and phenome-
nal, 214; does not fix date,
322,383.
Succoth 53, 100
Suez Canal 54- 55- 57
Sufsafeh 64
Sun and moon 234, 242, 243
Tabernacle, The, its con-
struction 77, 78
Table of Nations 137 seq.
Targum 16
Tarshish 146, 148
Tatian's Diatesseron. .390,391
Tell Amarna tablets. 16,34,
36,39,99,101,111,117,119,
143,183
Tell el Hesy 33,35:4©
Tell el Maskutah 53
Temptation, The 217-223
Tents 192
Thebes 8
ThothmesIII
..18,34,38,82,98,119,123.196
Tidal iig
Tiglath-pileser .** . .6
Timsah, Lake 55^5^
Tiras 147
Torah, The 11
Tree, Sacred 37,38
Tribute of Hezekiah, 6; of
Moabite king, 7.
Trumpets 41
Tumilat, Wady 53- loi
Two Brothers, Tale of go
404
INDEX
PAGE
Tyre.. 16,27,28,35,38,42,43,
117,135,142
Ur 123,125
Usertesen 1 98
Vegetable life 24
Vineyards 42
Wady, Ed Deir, 64; Er
Rahah, 64; Feiran, 63;
Gharandel, 61; Hamr,
63; Hibran, 64; Leja, 64;
Magarah, 193,194; Nukhf,
64; Saal, 71; Sebayeh, 64;
PAGE
Shellal, 63; Tayibeh, 61;
Tumilat, 53,100.
Wagons 63
Water, courses at Jerusalem,
8; supply in the desert, 67.
Weaving 193
Week, The 264 seq.
Wells of Moses 59,60
Wilderness of Sin 62
Wine 75.133.134
Woman 209-211
Writing 15,16,17,25,41,78
Zephath 29,66
Zoar 121
Date Due
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