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Canaan), and, by consent of all sides, out of her weakness and distrust, gave her to her husband to be his wife, in regard of all the rights of the marriage bed, though not of household govern

ment.

12. "And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."]-And he shall be a wild and savage man, of a fierce and untamable disposition; he shall be ready, in the height of his courage, to fight with every man, and every man shall be as ready to wage war with him; all which notwithstanding, his success shall be such, that he shall live, and rule far and wide in all the coasts of his brethren.

13. "For she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me?"]-For she said, Have I not here also, even in the waste desert, and not only in the house of Abram, seen that good God of mine, which hath first graciously looked upon me and mine affliction?

XVII. 1. "And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.”]—And when Abram was ninety and nine years old, and had now waited thirteen years after the birth of Ishmael, the Lord, by some visible representation of his presence, appeared unto Abram, and said to him, I am God omnipotent, and therefore able to fulfil all my promises, which may seem delayed; only carry thou thyself holily and awfully as ever in my sight, and let thy heart be still sincere and upright towards me.

2. "And I will make my covenant between me and thee."]And I will renew, and, by a sensible sign, confirm and ratify my covenant between me and thee.

14. "And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant."]-But the man child, which at due age shall, through his own default, be uncircumcised, contemning mine ordinance, even that person shall be cut off from the fellowship of my people, both on earth and in heaven; because he hath, in neglect of the sign, broken and despised my covenant.

17. "Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear ?"]— Then Abraham fell upon his face, and partly for joy, partly for

admiration and astonishment, laughed in himself; and thought thus in his heart, Shall a child be born to me at an hundred years of age; and, which is more wonderful, shall this son be born of Sarah my wife, after her ninety years' barrenness? Seeing our youth could raise no seed, shall our old age be blessed with posterity?

18. "And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!"]And Abraham said to God; I believe, O Lord, as thou sayest, that my old age shall be blessed with further issue; for which also thou wilt, in all likelihood, reserve thy special and highest favour: but let not the son thou hast given me already, even Ishmael, be cast out and neglected by thee; let it please thee to continue him to me also, with much prosperity.

XVIII. 2. "And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him."]-And as he looked about, behold, three angels, in the appearance of men, though not yet so known of him, stood within view of him.

3. "And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant.”]—And he, noting one of them to carry some extraordinary majesty above the rest, as being indeed the Son of God, spake especially to him, not excluding the rest; Lord, if I have now found favour in thy sight, go not, I pray thee, hastily away from me thy servant; but be content that I may give thee some entertainment.

10. "And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son."]And he said, I will most certainly return again to thee at that time, when the conception, by course of nature, may have life and being; and lo, then Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son.

II. "And it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women."]-That disposition of body, which naturally, in their months, is necessary for child-bearing women, was, through dryness of age, long ago ceased in Sarah.

12. "Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?"]Therefore Sarah distrustfully laughed in the secret of her heart, and said in herself, After I am waxen old, above the course of nature in those that are capable of conceiving, and my husband Abraham also, shall I have the pleasure of the marriage bed, which in my younger days I could not find?

18. "Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and

mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him."]-Seeing that I have purposed to honour Abraham so, as that of his loins a great and mighty nation shall rise; and in that seed which shall come of him, namely, the Saviour of mankind, all the nations in the earth shall be blessed, and all solemn benedictions shall still be under the name of Abraham.

21. "I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know."]-I will now take some public course, whereby the world may see and know that I take notice of their sins; I will therefore call their sins to examination, and judge them according to the shamelessness of their wickedness; and if their iniquity hath been less heinous than it hath appeared, I will inflict some less grievous punishment upon them.

22. "And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD."]— And the two destroying angels turned from Abraham, and went towards Sodom; but Abraham stood still before the third, whom now he knew to be the Son of God, suing to him for mercy.

24. "Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?"]-If there be fifty sincere, upright, and innocent men in all the five cities, whereof Sodom is the chief, wilt thou destroy them, notwithstanding?

28. "Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five?"]-If there shall lack five of fifty righteous in all the five cities, wilt thou for the want of five destroy them?

XIX. 5. "And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them."]-Who, crying unto Lot, said, Where are the men which came unto thee this night, whose goodly form and beauty we noted; bring them forth to us, that we may use them to our lust.

8. "Only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof."]-For, seeing they are come to my house as my guests, by the law of common equity and hospitality they may well look to be safe guarded by me.

11. "And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door."]-Then they smote all the SodomBP. HALL, VOL. III.

ites that were at the door, both small and great, with such dizziness of brain and dimness of sight, that they went up and down groping for Lot's door till they were weary, and could not find it.

14. "And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons-in-law, which married his daughters," &c.]—Then Lot went out, and spake unto his sons-in-law which were contracted to his daughters.

17. "And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed."]-And when they had brought them, as it were by strong hand, out of the city, the angel said, Now escape for thy life do not, whether for distrust or curiosity or pity, once look towards Sodom; and think it not enough that thou hast voided the city; unless thou make speed also out of the whole plain, which hath been defiled by these abominations; haste thee therefore up to the next hill, lest thou be destroyed.

20. "Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live."]-See now, this town, which is hard by, and therefore easy for me to flee unto; and is withal a little one, and therefore not much for thee to grant, and by all likelihood not so notoriously evil as these other, that are more frequent and populous: O let me go thither for shelter; behold, it is no great thing that I ask of thee, and yet such as may be to my safety and preservation.

22. "Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar."]-Haste thee then, and be thou there preserved; for such is my merciful respect to thee, that it holds my hands so that I cannot take revenge on these wicked cities till thou be in safety; therefore, upon this occasion of Lot's argument from the smallness of the city, it was ever after called Zoar.

24. "Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven."]-Then God the Son rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and the other two cities of the plain, fire and brimstone, from God the Father out of heaven.

26. "But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt."]-Now his wife, that stood lingering behind him, whether through love or pity of the place, or expectation of her sons-in-law, or distrust, or curious desire to see

the manner of the judgment, looked back towards Sodom; and therefore was inwrapped in the judgment; and, through the extreme rage of that fire and brimstone wherewith she was overwhelmed, was miraculously made a pillar of a white or saltish kind of stone.

30. "And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters."]-But he feared to tarry in Zoar, through the weakness of his faith, notwithstanding God's promise to him; whether for that it was so near to Sodom, or whether for the manners of the place; but chose rather to dwell solitary in a cave, in the mountain, both he and his two daughters.

31. "And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth."]-And the elder said to the younger, Our father is now old, and cannot long be in any possibility of issue; and in all these parts there is not left a man which might converse with us for generation.

32. "Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father."]-Come, we know well that our father will never by sober persuasions be drawn to this act: let us make him drunk with wine, and so lie with him; not so much for any lust, as for the preservation of some seed of our father.

33. "And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose."]-And he, being oppressed with wine, was drawn unawares unto this filthiness, not considering what he did; and not perceiving either when she lay down or rose up.

XX. 2. "And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, She is my sister: and Abimelech king of Gerar sent, and took Sarah."]-And Abraham, through his weakness, seeing how his excuse had sped in Egypt, renewed it now again; and, concealing part of the truth, said, She is my sister. Then Abimelech, a king in that country of Canaan, upon the report given of her, sent, and took her into his house.

4. "Lord, wilt thou slay also a righteous nation?"]—And he said, Lord, wilt thou punish not me only, but my whole nation and people in me, which are utterly innocent in this business?

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