Th-3 book of Genesis then (with the first chapters of Exoilus) describes the steps whicli led to the establish- ment of tlie theocrac}'. In reading it we must re- iiioinbor that it is but a part of a more extended work ; and we must also bear in mind these two prominent ideas, which give a characteristic unity to the whole composition, viz. the people of God, and the promised land.
A\'e shall then ol)serve that the history of Abraham holds the same relation to tlie other portions of Genesis tliat the giving of the law does to the entire Penta- teucli. Abraham is the father of the Jewisli nation: to Abraham the land of Canaan is first given in prom- ise. Isaac and Jacob, though also prominent figures in the narrative, yet do but inlierit the promise as Abraham's children, and Jacob especiallj' is the chief connecting link in tlie cliain of events which leads finally to the possession of the land of Canaan. In like manner, the former section of the book is written with the same obvious purpose. It is a part of the writer's plan to tell us what the divine preparation of
the world was, in order to show, first, the significance of the call of Abraham, and, next, the true nature of the Jewish theocracy. He docs not (as Tuch asserts) work backwards from Abraham till he comes, in spite of himself, to tlie beginning of all things. He does not ask, ^\■ho was Abraham.' answering, of the pos- terity of Shom ; and who was Shem ? a son of Noah ; and who was Noah, etc. But he begins with the cre- ation of the world, because the God who created the world and the God who revealed himself to the fathers is the same God. Jehovah, who commanded his peo- ple to keep holy the seventh day, was the same God who, in six daj's, created the heavens and the earth, and rested on the seventh daj' from all his work. The God who, when man had fallen, visited him in mercy, and gave him a promise of redemption and victory, is the God who sent Moses to deliver his people out of Egj'pt. He who made a covenant with Noah, and through him with "all the families of the earth," is the God who also made himself known as the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob. In a word, creation and redemption are eternally linked together. This is the idea which, in fact, gives its shape to the history, although its distinct enunciation is reserved for the N. T. There we learn that all things were created by and for Christ, and that in him all things consist (Col. i, 16, 17) ; and that by the Church is made known unto principalities and powers the manifest wisdom of God. It would be impossible, therefore, for a book v.hich tells us of the beginning of the Church, not to tell us also of the beginning of the world.
The book of Genesis has thus a character at once special and universal. It embraces the world; it speaks of God as the God of the whole human race. But, as the introduction to Jewish historj', it makes the universal interest subordinate to the national. Its de- sign is to show how God revealed himself to the first fathers of the Jewish race, in order that he might make to himself a nation who should be his witness in the midst of the earth. This is the inner principle of uni- ty which pervades the book. Its external framework we ai-e now to examine. Five principal persons are the pillars, so to speak, on which the whole superstruc- ture rests, Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
(I.) Adam. — The creation of the world, and the ear- liest history of mankind (ch. i-iii). As yet, no di- vergence of the difterent families of man.
(II.) Noah. — The histoiy of Adam's descendants tothe death of Noah (ch. iv-ix). Here we have (1) the line of Cain branching off while the history follows the for- tunes of Seth, whose descendants are (2) traced in gen- ealogical succession, and in an unbroken line as far as Noah, and (3) the history of Noah himself (ch. vi- ix), continued to his death.
(III.) Abraham. — Noah's posterity till the death of Abraham (x-xxv, 18). Here we have (1) the peo- pling of the whole earth by the descendants of Noah's three sons (xi, 1-9). The history of two of these is then dropped, and (2) the line of Shem only pursued (xi, 10-.S2) as far as Terah and Abraham, where the genealogical table breaks off. (3) Abraham is now the prominent figure (xii-xxv, 18). But as Terah had two other sons, Nahor and Haran (xi, 27), some notices respecting tlieir families are added. Lot's migration with Abraham into the land of Canaan is mentioned, as well as the fact that he was the father of Moab and Amnion (xix, 37, 38), nations whose later history was intimately connected with that of the posterity of Abra- ham. Nahor remained in ISIesopotamia, but his family is briefly enumerated (xxii, 20-24), chiefly, no doubt, for Rebekah's sake, who was afterwards the wife of Isaac. Of Abraham's own children, there branches off" first the line of Ishmacl (xxi, 0, etc.), and next the children by Keturah ; and the genealogical notices of these two branches of his posterity are apparently brought together (xxv, l-(!, and xxv, 12-18), in order that, being hei-e severally dismissed at the end of Abra-