(Dreist, De tribus viris Abrahamo appear. Eo:t. 1707). The}' assented, and under the shade of a terebinth, or rather an oak (q. v.) tree, partook of the abundant fare which the patriarch and his wife provided, while Abraham himself stood by in respectful attendance, in accordance with Oriental customs (see Shaw, Trav. i, 207 ; comp. Iliad, ix, 205 sq. ; xxiv, G21 ; Odyss. viii, 59 ; Judg. vi, 19). From the manner in which one of the strangers spoke, Abraham soon gathered that his visitants were no other than the Lord himself and two attendant angels in human form (see .1. B. Kiesseling, De divinis Abrahami hospitibus, Lips. 1748). The prom- ise of a son by Sarah was renewed ; and when Sarah herself, who overheard this within the tent, laughed in- wardly at the tidings, which, on account of her great age, she at first disbelieved, she incurred the striking rebuke, " Is any thing too hard for Jehovah?" The strangers then addressed themselves to their journey, and Abraham walked some way with them. The two angels went forward in the direction of Sodom, while the Lord made known to him that, for their enormous iniqui- ties, Sodom and the other "cities of the plain" were about to be made signal monuments of his wrath and of his moral government. Moved by compassion and by remembrance of Lot, the patriarch ventured, reverently but perseveringly, to intercede for the doomed Sodom ; and at length obtained a promise that, if but ten right- eous men were found therein, the whole city should be saved for their sake. Early the next morning Abra- ham arose to ascertain the result of this concession ; and when he looked toward Sodom, the smoke of its destruction, rising "like the smoke of a furnace," made known to him its terrible overthrow (Gen. xix,.l-28). See Sodom. Tradition still points out the supposed site of this appearance of the Lord to Abraham. About a mile from Hebron is a beautiful and massive oak, which still bjars Abraham's name (Thomson, Land and Book, i, 375 ; ii, 414). The residence of the patri- arch was called "the oaks (A. V. " plain") of Mamre" (Gen. xiii, 18 ; xviii, 1) ; but the exact spot is doubt- ful, since the tradition in the time of Josephus ( War, iv, 9, 7) was attached to a terebinth. See Mamre. This latter tree no longer remains ; but there is no doubt that it stood within the ancient inclosure, which is still called "Abraham's House." A fair was held beneath it in the time of Constantine ; and it remain- ed to the time of Theodosius (Hobinson, ii, 443; Stan- ley, Palestine, p. 142). — The same year Sarah gave birth to the lon^-promised son, and, according to pre- vious direction, the name of Isaac was given to him. See Isaac. This greatly altered the position of Ishmael, who had hitherto appeared as the heir both of the temporal and the spiritual heritage ; whereas he had now to share the former, and could not but know that the latter was limited to Isaac. This ap- pears to have created much ill-feeling both on his part and that of his mother toward the child ; which was in some way manifested so pointedly, on occasion of the festivities which attended the weaning, that the wrath of Sarah was awakened, and she insisted that both Hagar and her son should be sent away. This was a very hard matter to a loving father ; and Abra- ham was so much pained that he would probably have refused compliance with Sarah's wish, had he not been apprised in a dream that it was in accordance with the Divine intentions respecting both Ishmael and Isaac. With his habitual uncompromising obedience, he then hastened them away earl}- in the morning, with pro- vision for the journey (Gen. xxi, 1-21), B.C. 2061. (See Kitto's Daily Bible Must, in loc.) See Hagar,
Attain for a long period (25 years, Josephus, Ant. x, 13, 2) the history is silent ; but, when Isaac was near- ly grown up (B.C. cir. 2047), it pleased God to subject the faith of Abraham to a most severe trial (see H. Ben- zenberg, Noch mehr Recensionen, Leipz. 1791, No. 5). He was commanded to go into the mountainous coun- try of Moriah (probably where the temple afterward
ABRAHAM
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ABRAHAM
stood) [see Moriaii], and there offer up in sacrifice the son of his affection, and the heir of so many hopes and promises, which his death must nullify. (See Huf- nagel, Christtnth. Aufklar, i, vii, 592 sq. ; J. G. Gre- neri, Comment. Miscel. Syntag. Oldenb. 1794; Zeitschr. fur Phil. u. hath. Theol. 20.) It is probable that hu- man sacrifices already existed ; and as, when they did exist, the offering of an only or beloved child was con- sidered the most meritorious, it may have seemed rea- sonable to Abraham that he should not withhold from his own God the costly sacrifice which the heathen of- fered to their idols (comp. Hygin. Fab. 98 ; Tzetzes in Lycophr. 40, ed. Canter. ; see Apollodor. Bibl. i, 9, 1 ; Euscb. P?-<ep. Ev. i, 10, p. 40). The trial and peculiar difficulty lay in the singular position of Isaac, and in the unlikelihood that his loss could be supplied. But Abraham's faith shrunk not, assured that what God had promised he would certainly perforin, and "that he was able to restore Isaac to him even from the dead'' (Heb. xi, 17-19), and he rendered a read}', however painful, obedience. Assisted by two of his servants, he prepared wood suitable for the purpose, and without delay set out upon his melancholy journey. On the third day he descried the appointed place ; and, inform- ing his attendants that he and his son would go some distance farther to worship and then return, he pro- ceeded to the spot. To the touching question of his son respecting the victim to be offered, the patriarch replied by expressing his faith that God himself would provide the sacrifice ; and probably he availed himself of this opportunity of acquainting him with the Divine command. At least, that the communication was made either then or just after, is unquestionable ; for no one can suppose that a young man could, against his will, have been bound with cords and laid out as a victim on the wood of the altar. Isaac would most certainly have been slain by his father's uplifted hand, had not the angel of Jehovah interposed at the critical moment to arrest the fatal stroke. A ram which had become entangled in a thicket was seized and offered ; and a name was given to the place {Jehocah-Jireh — " the Lord will provide") allusive to the believing an- swer which Abraham had given to his son's inquiry respecting the victim. The promises before made to Abraham — of numerous descendants, (superior in power to their enemies, and of the blessings which his spirit- ual progeny, and especially the Messiah, were to ex- tend to all mankind — were again confirmed in the most solemn manner ; for Jehovah swore by himself (comp. Heb. vi, 13, 17), that such should be the rewards of his uncompromising obedience (see C. F. Bauer, De Domini ad Abrahamum jwamento, Yiteb. 1740). The father and son then rejoined their servants, and return- ed rejoicing to Beersheba (Gen. xxi, 19).