him for the author and founder of their religion, and gave their philosophers, from him, the name of Brahmans, or Brahamans. History informs us of his conversing on the subject of religion with the most learned Egyptians, and being very highly esteemed by them. His name was held in the greatest veneration all over the East. The Magians, Sabians, and Persians, all gloried in him, as the great reformer of their religion. The memory of him was retained among the Lacedæmonians for above six hundred years; and under their king Areus, they claimed kindred from the Jews, as being of the stock of Abraham. The Persians, it has been observed, adhered so strictly to the religion of Abraham, as for a long time to keep clear of the most gross idolatries. His reputation is still so great among the Turks, that they daily in their public liturgy, pray God to be propitious to Mohammed and his family, as he was to Abraham and his. The memoirs of him which the book of Genesis furnishes, are monuments of his singular virtues, and of the distinction in which he was held by the neighbouring princes of his day. The character drawn of him by Josephus exhibits a striking representation of his excellencies, reputation, and influence. "Abraham," saith he, "was a man equally wise and eloquent, of a piercing judgment, and a universal knowledge. He had the reputation of an understanding beyond other men; and as he wanted no skill, so he had courage also to attack the most daring iniquities of the times; by dint of authority, as well as of reason, to tear up false opinions in religion by the roots, and to terrify wicked men into the love and fear of that God they had despised."

This just fame which attaches to the name of Abraham, arose from the peculiar part which he was called to act by the providence of God, and from the peculiar favours which his singular virtues and piety secured to himself and to his posterity. This illustrious patriarch was a blessing to the farthest corners of the world, and to the end of time; as from him, in due season, came the Messiah, in whom all the nations of the earth were blessed. He was the great ancestor of Jesus, the light of the world, the Saviour of mankind. The call of the patriarch, the separation of his posterity from the nations of the earth, the grant of the land of Canaan to them, and the succession of generations from their illustrious ancestor, were all subservient to the appearance of Jesus, the Christ, "a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of the people of Israel."

Of the particulars of the life of this great man, recorded in the first book of the Hebrew Scriptures, the following is a brief summary. Abram was the son of Terah, who, towards the latter part of his life, left Ur, and went with his family to reside at Haran in Canaan. After his father's death, Abram,

by the command of the Lord, who promised that he should be the father of a great nation, with his wife Sarah, and his nephew Lot, removed from Haran, and, traversing a part of the land of Canaan, took a temporary station at Sichem, where he erected an altar to the Lord. He was soon obliged by a famine to go into Egypt, where, to avoid danger which he apprehended from his wife's extraordinary beauty, he instructed her to say, that she was his sister. Returning out of Egypt, into Canaan, his herdsmen quarrelled with those of Lot, and a separation ensued; Lot going towards Sodom, and Abraham pitching his tents on the plains of Mamre. Lot, during a contest among the neighbouring chieftains of the country, being taken prisoner by the prince of Elam, Abram armed his servants and released him. Sarah proving infertile, Abram took Hagar, an Egyptian of his household, as his concubine, who bare to him a son named Ishmael. At ninety years of age, Abram received a renewed promise from the Lord, that he should be a father of many nations; and, as an expression of this promise, his name was changed to Abraham, the father of a great multitude. At the same time was instituted the ceremony of circumcision; and Abraham, though Sarah was now far advanced in age, was assured that she should bear a son. The promise was repeated by three angels, who in a human form visited Abraham, and were entertained by him in his tent; and who were sent by the Lord to destroy Sodom for its wickedness. Lot, through the intercession of Abraham was permitted to escape. The patriarch, again changing his station, went towards the south, and settled in Gerar, where he made use of the same expedient, which he had before employed in Egypt, to prevent hazard to himself from the temptation which Sarah's beauty might present to Abimelech, the prince of the country. Here, according to the promise, when Abraham was an hundred years old, and Sarah ninety, their son Isaac was born. When Isaac was arrived at mature age, the Lord commanded Abraham to offer him up as a sacrifice; Abraham obeyed, and prepared for the offering, but at the moment when his hand was lifted up to slay his son, the Lord, having proved his faith, by the voice of an angel prevented the stroke, and provided a ram for the altar. Abraham, when Isaac was forty years old, sent a faithful servant into his own country to procure a wife for his son; and he obtained for him Rebekah, the daughter of Milcah, Abraham's sister. After the death of Sarah, who lived to the 127th year, Abraham married another wife, Keturah, who bare to him six sons. The patriarch died about the year 1821, B. C. at the age of 175. He was buried by his sons, Isaac and Ishmael, who seem to have forgotten at this time their animosities, in the grave which he had purchased for Sarah, his only actual pos

session in the promised land. Thus lived and died this distinguished patriarch, the great ancestor of the Jews, and the fountain of their history.

Numerous fables have been invented concerning the father of the faithful, which are unworthy of notice. The Scripture narrative is the best, in which he is exhibited as an eminent pattern of generous condescension, liberal hospitality, and religious obedience. A more striking example of kind generosity, expressed with beautiful simplicity, will not easily be found than in the proposal which Abraham made to his nephew Lot, on the dispute which arose between their servants. "Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen, for we are brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me; if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left." Gen. xii. xxv.

LOT, the son of Haran, nephew of Abraham, and progenitor of the Moabites, and Ammonites. His separation from Abraham, his captivity by Chedorlaomer, his restoration by the bravery of his uncle, his extraordinary hospitality, his deliverance from the destruction of Sodom, his wife's metamorphosis, with his fatal intoxication, and involuntary incest, are recorded in Gen. xiii, xiv. and xix. His righteous character is particularly taken notice of by the apostle, 2 Pet. ii. 7, 8. Some trace the immodest worship of Baal-peor, the god of the Moabites and Ammonites, from the involuntary incest of their ancestor.

SARAH, or SARAI, Abraham's wife. Some suppose her to be the same with Iscah, the daughter of Haran, Abraham's younger brother by a different mother, and consequently the sister of Lot. Her beauty and consequent danger in the courts of Egypt and Gerar; her entertainment of the angels; her sterility till her 90th year, and birth of Isaac in her 91st; her turning off Hagar, and other interesting particulars, with her death and burial in her 123d year are recorded in Genesis xii. xviii. xx, xxi. xxiii.

HAGAR, a native of Egypt, the servant of Sarah, concubine of Abraham, mother of Ishmael, and ancestor of the - Arabians. Her history, and the repeated divine interpositions for the preservation of her and her son, are recorded in Gen. xvi. and xxi.

BERA, king of Sodom, contemporary with Abraham, had his country terribly ravaged by Chedorlaomer and his allies; but the patriarch having defeated the conquerors, and recovered the spoil, Bera generously offered him the whole booty, which Abraham with equal generosity refused. Gen. xiv. ABIMELECH, I. a king of Gerar, in Palestine, and con

temporary with Abraham, whose faith and integrity seem to have much failed him, when the beauty of his wife attracted the attention of a monarch; insomuch that instead of acknowledging her to be his wife, he styled her his sister, though in reality she was not. The king, however, being warned in a dream, reproved the patriarch for deceiving him, but made a covenant with him, and dismissed him with considerable presents.

PHARAOH. Pharaoh was a common title of the Egyptian kings, as Cæsar was, long afterwards, of the Roman emperors. The first Pharaoh known to us is he, in whose time Abraham went down into Egypt, Gen. xii. 10, &c. in the year of the world 2084, B.C. 1920, whose officers brought Sarah into that prince's harem; from which she was not recovered without divine interference.

MAMRE, an Amorite, brother of Aner and Eschol, and friend of Abraham, Gen. xiv. 13. Mamre dwelt near Hebron, and communicated his name to great part of the country round about. Hence we read in Gen. xiii. 18, xxiii. 17, &c. that Abraham dwelt in Mamre, and in the plain of Mamre. But it is observed, that what we translate the plain, should be rendered the oak, of Mamre, because the word elon signifies an oak, or tree of long duration. Sozomen says, that this tree was still extant, and famous for pilgrimages and annual feasts, even in Constantine's time, that it was about six miles from Hebron ; that some of the cottages which Abraham built were still standing near it; and that there was a well likewise of his digging, whereunto both Jews, Christians, and Heathens, did at certain seasons resort, either out of devotion or for trade, because there was held a great mart. To these superstitions Constantine the Great put a stop.

MELCHISÈDEC, or MELCHIZEDEC, king of Salem, and priest of the most high God, is mentioned in the Scriptures, but without any reference to his genealogy, or to his birth, or death. And in this sense St. Paul says, he was a figure of Jesus Christ, "who is a priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec," and not after the order of Aaron, whose birth, life, and death are known. When Abraham returned from his victory over the four confederate kings, Gen. xiv. 17-19, &c. Melchisedec came to meet him, at the valley of Shaveh, presented him with a refreshment of bread and wine, and blessed him; and Abraham offered him the tythes of all the spoils.

Various names have been invented for the parents of Melchisedec. But it is generally agreed on by the learned, that when the Apostle says, Heb. vii. 3. he was "without father and without mother," no more is meant than that he is introduced into the history of Abraham without the writer acquainting us who he was, where he lived, or when he died. Nevertheless, some

have taken St. Paul's words literally, and contend that he was not of human but divine nature. Origen and Didymus took him to be an angel; and the author of the Questions upon the Old and New Testament pretends that he was the Holy Ghost, who appeared to Abraham in a human form. The Arabic Catena, upon the 9th chapter of Genesis, makes Melchisedec to be descended from Shem by his father, and from Japheth by his mother. Cedrenus and others derive Melchisedec from an Egyptian stock. They say his father was called Sidon, and was the founder of Sidon the capital of Phoenicia. The Jews and Samaritans believed Melchisedec to be the same with the patriarch Shem; which opinion has been followed by many modern writers. M. Jurieu endeavoured to prove that he is the same as Ham. Peter Cumæus and Du Moulin asserted, that Melchisedec, who appeared to Abraham, was the Son of God, and the patriarch worshipped him, and acknowledged him for the Messiah. Many modern Christians are of this opinion; a very material objection to which seems to be, that the type and the anti-type are thus made one and the same person. The learned Heidegger supported a two-fold Melchisedec, the one historical, of whom Moses gives an account in Gen. xiv. that he was king as well as high-priest of Jerusalem; the other allegorical, whom St. Paul describes, and this is Jesus Christ. Numberless fables have been invented of Melchisedec, which are totally unworthy of notice. He was most probably the pious monarch and priest of some neighbouring territory.

CHEDORLAOMER, king of Elam, the first monarch recorded in authentic history, who made other kings tributaries. His name signifies a generation of bondage; and about B. C. 1926, he subdued the kingdoms of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboim, and Zoar, which, after serving him twelve years, rebelled. Determined to reduce them, with the assistance of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, and Tidal king of Gojim, or nations, he marched against them. To deprive them of all possible aid, he first attacked the neighbouring towers; marching southward on the east of them, he smote the Rephaims, near the source of the river Arnon, and pillaged Ashtaroth-karnaim; he routed the Zuzims at Ham, the Emims in Shaveth-kirjathaim, and the Horites in mount Seir. Having proceeded on the south side till he came to Elparan, he returned, and directed his course to the north-east. In his way he ravaged the country of the Amalekites, and smote the Amorites who dwelt about Hazazon-tamor. At last, he attacked the allied troops of the revolted kingdoms. The field of battle was full of slime pits; the army of the revolters was routed, and such as escaped the slaughter fled to the mountains, possibly those on the north-east, which afterwards fell to the lot of the Reubenites. Chedorlaomer and his allies,