References consists of two massive stories; the lower measuring 198 Authorities. feet in length, by 133 in breadth, and 27 in height. It is and Judgment of Name Ur faced with red bricks; but the interior, which is solid, is composed of sun-dried bricks. On one of the bricks an inscription was found, which explains the origin and object of the building: "Orchamus, King of Ur, is he who has built this temple of the moon-god." From his examination of the numerous brick and cylinder inscriptions of Mugheir, Sir Henry Rawlinson regards this as one of the earliest sites colonized in this country. These records bear the names of a series of kings from Urukh, B.C. 2230, to Nabonidas, B.C. 540. Among others is that of Chedorlaomer, who, with his associates, in the time of Abraham, captured and pillaged Sodom. (Gen. xiv. 1.) The name Ur, found on many of the bricks and found on the cylinders of Mugheir, proves its identity with "Ur of the Chaldees ;" and Sir Henry Rawlinson also discovered that one district of Ur was called Ibra, from which he supSuggestion on origin of poses Abraham to have set out for Canaan, and from it came the word Hebrew, ever since a name for the Jewish race. The brick and cylinder inscriptions of Mugheir are invaluable as confirming the authenticity and illustrating Dr. Porter. the history of the Bible. Many of them are now in the British Museum. bricks. the term Hebrew. Legends concerning LEGENDS CONCERNING ABRAHAM. Josephus says that Abraham "was a person of great Abraham. sagacity, both for understanding all things and persuading His sagacity. his hearers, and not mistaken in his opinions; for which reason he began to have higher notions of virtue than others had, and he determined to renew and change the opinion all men happened then to have concerning God; for he was the first who ventured to publish this notion, that there was but one God, the Creator of the universe; and that as to other gods, if they contributed anything to the happiness of men, they each of them afforded it only according to His appointment, and not by and Authorities. their own power. This, his opinion, was derived from the References irregular phenomena that were visible both at land and sea, as well those that happen to the sun, and moon, and all the heavenly bodies, thus: 'If,' said he, 'these bodies had power of their own, they would certainly take care of their own regular motions; but since they do not preserve such regularity, they make it plain, that in so far as they co-operate to our advantage, they do it not of their own abilities, but as they are subservient to Him that commands them; to whom alone we ought to offer our honour and thanksgiving.' For which doctrines, when the Chaldeans and other people of Mesopotamia raised a tumult against him, he thought fit to leave that country, and at the command, and by the assistance of God, he came and lived in the land of Canaan." Josephus. Abraham before Nimrod. When Abraham, say the Jews, was brought before Nimrod for destroying the idols, the king commanded him to worship the fire; but Abraham assured him that it would be much more profitable to worship the water which extinguished the fire. "Why, then," says Nimrod, "worship the water." "No," says Abraham, "it were better to worship the clouds which furnish the water." Nimrod bade him worship them; but he replied that "it would be better to worship the wind which disperses the clouds." "Well," says Nimrod, "I see it is your intention to deride me; I must, therefore, tell you briefly that I worship none but the fire, and if you do not do the same, it is my intention to throw you in it, and then I shall see whether the God you worship will come to your relief. Immediately Abraham was thrown into Abraham in the fiery furnace. In the meantime they questioned Haran, Abraham's brother, concerning his faith. He answered, "If Abraham succeeds I will be of his faith, but if not, of Nimrod's." Thereupon Nimrod ordered him likewise to be cast into the furnace where he was quickly consumed. But Abraham came out of the furnace without receiving the least injury. The Jews say the fiery furnace. Legend of Haran's death. and References that this account of the death of Haran agrees with Authorities. Genesis xi. 28, where it is said that Haran died in the presence of his father Terah, in the land of his nativity, in the fire (so they regard Ur) of the Chaldees. There is some show of reason for regarding Ur as fire, for the Hebrew of the Chaldee word signifies fire, and is used in that sense in several passages of the Bible. But there can be little doubt that the interpretation above given is somewhat fanciful, Jewish Legend Her character, like that of Abraham, is no ideal type of excellence, but one thoroughly natural, inferior to that of her husband, and truly feminin e both in its excellences and its defects. She is the mother, even more than the wife. It is a character deeply and truly affectionate, but impulsive, jealous, and imperious in its affection.-Dr. Alfred Barry. and of Sarah in Prominence the record. IN the narrative of the first great covenant patriarch, References Sarai, or Sarah, occupies a place only second to that Authorities. of Abraham himself, and there must be some good and sufficient reasons for the prominence thus given to her. Among those reasons this has the first place, Sarah's spirit and conduct became a constant trying and testing of Abraham's faith. Not only was he called to trust by changing circumstances, and by positive temptations, but the Divine promises on which he was called to rest concerned another person-his life partner-and that other person could not wait quietly, but was ever, in one way or another, trying to force God to a fulfilment of His promise. What we may see in the story of Abraham and Sarah is this, how differently man and woman will and Differences of disposition in man and woman. Sarah References act under a Divine promise. Abraham quietly waits Authorities. obediently following the Divine lead, in full confidence that it will issue in the promised Divine ends. cannot wait, she must be planning and doing. God's ways seem to her strange and impossible, and when they are disclosed she can but laugh her incredulous laugh. She is the foil to Abraham, and in contrast with her restlessness and distrust, the calmness of his faith shines out the more brightly. Sarah knew of God's seed to The key to Sarah's story is the fact that she knew promise of from the first that God had promised Abraham seed, Abraham. and yet she herself had no children, and, as the years multiplied upon her, no prospect of any. She could not see how God's promise was to be fulfilled, and she fretted over it until she fashioned the scheme of getting seed through Hagar, her servant. Then Her when the man-child was born, woman-like, she beanxiety for its fulfilment. Came jealous of the mother, and ill-treated her; and when at last she herself gave birth to Isaac, and beyond all her thought God's promise was fulfilled, she was vexed with herself for her foolish scheme in the matter of Hagar, and vented her self-dissatisfaction upon both Hagar and her child. Sarah's ¡beauty. In this and in other ways she was a testing and a trial to Abraham. She was a beautiful woman even at sixty-five years of age, which in those days was but full womanly maturity, and twice Abraham's love for her and jealous purpose to guard her from dangerous associations led him into sad equivocations and untruths. On the first of these occasions we may briefly dwell. |