mishpat-tho Wrll of .ltulgmcnt, rcgarueu (-vide vcr. 3) ; with Chedorlaomer the king ns n prolC'psis by those who derive the name of Elam, and with Tidal king of natlona, from the jn~gment 1>ro11ounoed on Moses and .Amraphel king of Shinar, and .Ariooh 11.11J Anron (A LapiJe); but more probably king of Ellasa1·; four kings with ftve. the nncient clesignRtion of the town, which Ver. 10.-.And the vale of Biddim wns fall w:1~ sc> ~ty led becRuse the townsmen nud of slime-pita. Literally, 1oa.! pits, pita (cf. villagers settled their disputes ut the well in 2 Kings iii. 16 ; Ezok. xlii. 12 for exnmples ira neighbomhooJ (Kalisch)-which is Ka- of repeated nouns) of slime, bitumen or desh, of which (Numb. xx. 14) the ex,wt asphalte, and therefore unfavourable fer site cnnnot now be nscerta.ined, thouih the flight. " Some of the wells near the Dend Eprin!; A £n Kades, on thr heights ot Jebel Sea are 11 G feet deep, with n stratum of Halal, twclrn miles e.1st-south-east of !,foyle, bitumen fifteen feet in depth, and us black ns the halting-pln<!e of carav:ms (Rowlaml, jct" (Inglis). .And the kings of Sodom and 1'cil, Kaliscil), nnd Petm (Josephus, Stan- Gomorrah fted and fell there. Stumbled ley), have been suggested as marking the into the pits anJ. perished (Keil, La.nge, locality. And smote all the country of the Murphy), though if the king of Sodom Amalekites. I. e. afterwards possessed by escaped (ver. 17), the language may only them, to the west of Edom. Arualek was a mean that they were overthrown there grandson c>f Esau (vide eh. xxxvi. 12). .And (Knobel, Rosenmtiller, Bush, 'Speaker's also the .Amorites. The mountaineers, as Commentary'). .And they that remained distinguished from the Canaanitcs or low- fted to the mountain, of l\foab, with its nu• lnnde1:. (cf. eh. x. 16). That dwelt iu Xaze- merous defiles. zon-tamar. " The pruniug of the palm ; " Ver. 11. - .And they (the" conquering afterwards Engedi, " the fountain of the kings) took all the goods of Sodom and wild goat," situated midway up the western Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went shore of the Dead Rea, and now called A in- their way, ascending up the valley of the jiJ11 (cf. Josh. xv. 62; 1 Sam. xxiv. 1, 2; Jordan en i·oute for Damascus. 2 Chron. xx. 2; Ezek. xlvii. 10). Ver. 12.-And they took Lot, Abram's Yers_ 8, 9.-.And there went out (to brother's son, who dwelt in Sodom. Tho resist the onslaught of the victorious Asia- last view of Lot saw him driving off his tics) the king of Sodom, and the king of flocks and herds from Bethel. It betokens Gomorrah, and the king of Ad.mah, and the a consiJ.erable declension in spiritual life to king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the behold him a citizen of Sodom. .And hie same is Zoa.r); (i e. the five revolted mon- goods (all the property he had acquired archs of the Penta.polis) and they joined. through his selfish choice of the Jordan battle with them in the vale of Siddim circle), and departed.
HOMILETICS. Ver. 12.-The capture of Lot, or Nemesi,s pursuing si,n. I. AN EXAMPLE OIi' Tim r.11·rna l'I:uITS OF WAR. 1. War is sometimes justifiable in its origin and objects. ,rl,en undertaken to achieve or preserve national independence, to vindicate the liLerties and secure the rigl,ts of men, or to repel the aggressions of ambitious de~pot~, even war with all itR bloody horrors may become an imperious and fierce neu,ssitv. It is difficult to determine whether on either side the campaign in tl,e vale of· Sid dim was entitled to be so cliaracterised. The kings of the Pentapoli~ were figl,ting for emancipation from a foreign yoke, and so far perhaps were entitled to be regarded :u; having right upon their side; yet they had themselves been invaders of a land which had originally been assigned to the tribes of Shem. But however tl,e question of right may be settled as between these ancient warriors, it is certain tl,eir successors on the battle-fields of earth have much more frequently had the wrong upon their sides than the rigl,t. 2. Victory does not alwavsfavour those wlio seem to /,ave the best cause. 'l'he maxim of the great Napoleon, that God is alwuyR on the side of tl,e strongest battalions, is as wide astrny from the exact truth on this important subject as is the prevailing sentiment that God always defends the right. The doctrine of Scripture is that the Lord of Hosts is independent of both regime11ts and rifles can save by many or by few, and giveth the victory to whomsoever he will; and that' not always does he choose to render those arms triumphant which are striking for the holiest cause, but sometimee, for reasons of hie own (it may be to cbastise a nation for its sins, or to move them to faith and prayer, or to teach them 11ome important lesson), permits the wrong to trample down the rigl1t. The history CR. XIV. 1--12.) 'fHE BOOK OF GENESIS.