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Selected Verse: Genesis 21:33 - Strong Concordance

Verse	Translation	Text
Ge 21:33	Strong Concordance	And Abraham planted [05193] a grove [0815] in Beersheba [0884], and called [07121] there on the name [08034] of the LORD [03068], the everlasting [05769] God [0410].
	King James	And Abraham planted a grove in Beersheba, and called there on the name of the LORD, the everlasting God.

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A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]
Abraham planted a grove--Hebrew, "of tamarisks," in which sacrificial worship was offered, as in a roofless temple.

A Commentary, Critical, Practical, and Explanatory on the Old and New Testaments, by Robert Jamieson, A.R. Fausset and David Brown [1882]

Abraham planted a grove--Hebrew, "of tamarisks," in which sacrificial worship was offered, as in a roofless temple.

The Scofield Bible Commentary, by Cyrus Ingerson Scofield, [1917]
everlasting God (1) The Hebrew "Olam" is used in Scripture: (a) of secret or hidden things (for example (Lev 5:2) "hidden"; (Kg2 4:27); "hid"; (Psa 10:1); "hidest"); (b) an indefinite time or age (Lev 25:32); "at any time"; (Jos 24:2) "in old time"). Hence the word is used to express the eternal duration of the being of God, (Psa 90:2). "From everlasting to everlasting"), and is the Hebrew synonym of the Greek "aion," meaning "age" or "dispensation". (See Scofield) - (Gen 1:26), note (4). (2) The ideas therefore of things kept secret and of indefinite duration combine in this word. Both ideas inhere in the doctrine of the dispensations or ages. They are among the "mysteries" of God (Eph 1:9); (Eph 1:10); (Eph 3:2-6); (Mat 13:11). The "everlasting" God (El Olam) is therefore that name of Deity in virtue of which He is the God whose wisdom has divided all time and eternity into the mystery of successive ages or dispensations. It is not merely that He is everlasting, but that He is God over everlasting things. See, for other names of Deity: (See Scofield) - (Gen 1:1). (See Scofield) - (Gen 2:4). (See Scofield) - (Gen 2:7). (See Scofield) - (Gen 14:18 (See Scofield) - (Gen 15:2 (See Scofield) - (Gen 17:1 (See Scofield) - (Sa1 1:3)

Commentary on the Old Testament, by Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch [1857-78]
Here Abraham planted a tamarisk and called upon the name of the Lord (vid., Gen 4:26), the everlasting God. Jehovah is called the everlasting God, as the eternally true, with respect to the eternal covenant, which He established with Abraham (Gen 17:7). The planting of this long-lived tree, with its hard wood, and its long, narrow, thickly clustered, evergreen leaves, was to be a type of the ever-enduring grace of the faithful covenant God.

Explanatory Notes on the Whole Bible, by John Wesley [1754-65]
And Abraham planted a grove - For a shade to his tent, or perhaps an orchard of fruit trees; and there, though we cannot say he settled, for God would have him while he lived to be a stranger and a pilgrim, yet he sojourned many days. And called there on the name of the Lord - Probably in the grove he planted, which was his oratory, or house of prayer: he kept up publick worship, to which probably his neighbours resorted, and joined with him. Men should not only retain their goodness wherever they go, but do all they can to propagate it, and make others good. The everlasting God - Though God had made himself known to Abraham as his God in particular; yet he forgets not to give glory to him as the Lord of all, the everlasting God, who was before all worlds, and will be when time and days shall be no more.

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826
Abraham planted a grove - The original word אשל eshel has been variously translated a grove, a plantation, an orchard, a cultivated field, and an oak. From this word, says Mr. Parkhurst, may be derived the name of the famous asylum, opened by Romulus between two groves of oaks at Rome; (μεθοριον δυοιν δρυμως, Dionys. Hal., lib. ii. c. 16): and as Abraham, Gen 21:33, agreeably, no doubt, to the institutes of the patriarchal religion, planted an oak in Beer-sheba, and called on the name of Jehovah, the everlasting God, (compare Gen 12:8; Gen 18:1), so we find that oaks were sacred among the idolaters also. Ye shall be ashamed of the oaks ye have chosen, says Isaiah, Isa 1:29, to the idolatrous Israelites. And in Greece we meet in very early times with the oracle of Jupiter at the oaks of Dodona. Among the Greeks and Romans we have sacra Jovi quercus, the oak sacred to Jupiter, even to a proverb. And in Gaul and Britain we find the highest religious regard paid to the same tree and to its mistletoe, under the direction of the Druids, that is, the oak prophets or priests, from the Celtic deru, and Greek δρυς, an oak. Few are ignorant that the mistletoe is indeed a very extraordinary plant, not to be cultivated in the earth, but always growing on some other tree. "The druids," says Pliny, Nat. Hist., lib. xvii., c. 44, "hold nothing more sacred than the mistletoe, and the tree on which it is produced, provided it be the oak. They make choice of groves of oak on this account, nor do they perform any of their sacred rites without the leaves of those trees; so that one may suppose that they are for this reason called, by a Greek etymology, Druids. And whatever mistletoe grows on the oak they think is sent from heaven, and is a sign that God himself has chosen that tree. This however is very rarely found, but when discovered is treated with great ceremony. They call it by a name which signifies in their language the curer of all ills; and having duly prepared their feasts and sacrifices under the tree, they bring to it two white bulls, whose horns are then for the first time tied; the priest, dressed in a white robe, ascends the tree, and with a golden pruning hook cuts off the mistletoe, which is received into a white sagum or sheet. Then they sacrifice the victims, praying that God would bless his own gift to those on whom he has bestowed it." It is impossible for a Christian to read this account without thinking of Him who was the desire of all nations, of the man whose name was the Branch, who had indeed no father upon earth, but came down from heaven, was given to heal all our ills, and, after being cut off through the Divine counsel, was wrapped in fine linen and laid in the sepulcher for our sakes. I cannot forbear adding that the mistletoe was a sacred emblem to other Celtic nations, as, for instance, to the ancient inhabitants of Italy. The golden branch, of which Virgil speaks so largely in the sixth book of the Aeneid, and without which, he says, none could return from the infernal regions, (see line 126), seems an allusion to the mistletoe, as he himself plainly intimates by comparing it to that plant, line 205, etc. See Parkhurst, under the word אשל eshel. In the first ages of the world the worship of God was exceedingly simple; there were no temples nor covered edifices of any kind; an altar, sometimes a single stone, sometimes consisting of several, and at other times merely of turf, was all that was necessary; on this the fire was lighted and the sacrifice offered. Any place was equally proper, as they knew that the object of their worship filled the heavens and the earth. In process of time when families increased, and many sacrifices were to be offered, groves or shady places were chosen, where the worshippers might enjoy the protection of the shade, as a considerable time must be employed in offering many sacrifices. These groves became afterwards abused to impure and idolatrous purposes, and were therefore strictly forbidden. See Exo 34:13; Deu 12:3; Deu 16:21. And called there on the name of the Lord - On this important passage Dr. Shuckford speaks thus: "Our English translation very erroneously renders this place, he called upon the name of Jehovah; but the expression קרא בשם kara beshem never signifies to call upon the name; קרא שם kara shem would signify to invoke or call upon the name, or קרא אל שם kara el shem would signify to cry unto the name; but קרא בשם kara beshem signifies to invoke In the name, and seems to be used where the true worshippers of God offered their prayers in the name of the true Mediator, or where the idolaters offered their prayers in the name of false ones, Kg1 18:26; for as the true worshippers had but one God and one Lord, so the false worshippers had gods many and lords many, Co1 8:5. We have several instances of קרא kara, and a noun after it, sometimes with and sometimes without the particle אל el, and then it signifies to call upon the person there mentioned; thus, קרא יהוה kara Yehovah is to call upon the Lord, Psa 14:4; Psa 17:6; Psa 31:17; Psa 53:4; Psa 118:5, etc.; and קרא אל יהוה kara el Yehovah imports the same, Sa1 12:17; Jon 1:6, etc.; but קרא בשם kara beshem is either to name By the name, Gen 4:17; Num 32:42; Psa 49:11; Isa 43:7; or to invoke In the name, when it is used as an expression of religious worship." - Connex. vol. i., p. 293. I believe this to be a just view of the subject, and therefore I admit it without scruple. The everlasting God - יהוה אל עולם Yehovah el olam, Jehovah, the Strong God, the Eternal One. This is the first place in Scripture in which עולם olam occurs as an attribute of God, and here it is evidently designed to point out his eternal duration; that it can mean no limited time is self-evident, because nothing of this kind can be attributed to God. The Septuagint render the words Θεος αιωνιος, the ever-existing God; and the Vulgate has Invocavit ibi nomen Do mini, Dei aeterni, There he invoked the name of the Lord, the eternal God. The Arabic is nearly the same. From this application of both the Hebrew and Greek words we learn that עולם olam and αιων aion originally signified Eternal, or duration without end. עלם alam signifies he was hidden, concealed, or kept secret; and αιων, according to Aristotle, (De Caelo, lib. i., chap. 9, and a higher authority need not be sought), is compounded of αει, always, and ων, being, αιων εστιν, απο του αει ειναι· The same author informs us that God was termed Aisa, because he was always existing, λεγεσθαι - Αισαν δε, αει ουσαν. De Mundo, chap. xi., in fine. Hence we see that no words can more forcibly express the grand characteristics of eternity than these. It is that duration which is concealed, hidden, or kept secret from all created beings; which is always existing, still running On but never running Out; an interminable, incessant, and immeasurable duration; it is That, in the whole of which God alone can be said to exist, and that which the eternal mind can alone comprehend. In all languages words have, in process of time, deviated from their original acceptations, and have become accommodated to particular purposes, and limited to particular meanings. This has happened both to the Hebrew עלם alam, and the Greek αιων; they have been both used to express a limited time, but in general a time the limits of which are unknown; and thus a pointed reference to the original ideal meaning is still kept up. Those who bring any of these terms in an accommodated sense to favor a particular doctrine, etc., must depend on the good graces of their opponents for permission to use them in this way. For as the real grammatical meaning of both words is eternal, and all other meanings are only accommodated ones, sound criticism, in all matters of dispute concerning the import of a word or term, must have recourse to the grammatical meaning, and its use among the earliest and most correct writers in the language, and will determine all accommodated meanings by this alone. Now the first and best writers in both these languages apply olam and αιων to express eternal, in the proper meaning of that word; and this is their proper meaning in the Old and New Testaments when applied to God, his attributes, his operations taken in connection with the ends for which he performs them, for whatsoever he doth, it shall be for ever - יהיה לעולם yihyeh leolam, it shall be for eternity, Ecc 3:14; forms and appearances of created things may change, but the counsels and purposes of God relative to them are permanent and eternal, and none of them can be frustrated; hence the words, when applied to things which from their nature must have a limited duration, are properly to be understood in this sense, because those things, though temporal in themselves, shadow forth things that are eternal. Thus the Jewish dispensation, which in the whole and in its parts is frequently said to be לעולם leolam, for ever, and which has terminated in the Christian dispensation, has the word properly applied to it, because it typified and introduced that dispensation which is to continue not only while time shall last, but is to have its incessant accumulating consummation throughout eternity. The word is, with the same strict propriety, applied to the duration of the rewards and punishments in a future state. And the argument that pretends to prove (and it is only pretension) that in the future punishment of the wicked "the worm shall die," and "the fire "shall be quenched," will apply as forcibly to the state of happy spirits, and as fully prove that a point in eternity shall arrive when the repose of the righteous shall be interrupted, and the glorification of the children of God have an eternal end! See note on Gen 17:7. See note on Gen 17:8. 1. Faithfulness is one of the attributes of God, and none of his promises can fall. According to the promise to Abraham, Isaac is born; but according to the course of nature it fully appears that both Abraham and Sarah had passed that term of life in which it was possible for them to have children. Isaac is the child of the promise, and the promise is supernatural. Ishmael is born according to the ordinary course of nature, and cannot inherit, because the inheritance is spiritual, and cannot come by natural birth; hence we see that no man can expect to enter into the kingdom of God by birth, education, profession of the true faith, etc., etc. Those alone who are born from above, and are made partakers of the Divine nature, can be admitted into the family of God in heaven, and everlastingly enjoy that glorious inheritance. Reader, art thou born again? Hath God changed thy heart and thy life? If not, canst thou suppose that in thy present state thou canst possibly enter into the paradise of God? I leave thy conscience to answer. 2. The actions of good men may be misrepresented, and their motives suspected, because those motives are not known; and those who are prone to think evil are the last to take any trouble to inform their minds, so that they may judge righteous judgment. Abraham, in the dismissal of Hagar and Ishmael, has been accused of cruelty. Though objections of this kind have been answered already, yet it may not be amiss farther to observe that what he did he did in conformity to a Divine command, and a command so unequivocally given that he could not doubt its Divine origin; and this very command was accompanied with a promise that both the child and his mother should be taken under the Divine protection. And it was so; nor does it appear that they lacked any thing but water, and that only for a short time, after which it was miraculously supplied. God will work a miracle when necessary, and never till then; and at such a time the Divine interposition can be easily ascertained, and man is under no temptation to attribute to second causes what has so evidently flowed from the first. Thus, while he is promoting his creatures' good, he is securing his own glory; and he brings men into straits and difficulties, that he may have the fuller opportunity to convince his followers of his providential care, and to prove how much he loves them. 3. Did we acknowledge God in all our ways, he would direct our steps. Abimelech, king of Gerar, and Phichol, captain of his host, seeing Abraham a worshipper of the true God, made him swear by the object of his worship that there should be a lasting peace between them and him; for as they saw that God was with Abraham, they well knew that he could not expect the Divine blessing any longer than he walked in integrity before God; they therefore require him to swear by God that he would not deal falsely with them or their posterity. From this very circumstance we may see the original purpose, design, and spirit of an oath, viz., Let God prosper or curse me in all that I do, as I prove true or false to my engagements! This is still the spirit of all oaths where God is called to witness, whether the form be by the water of the Ganges, the sign of the cross, kissing the Bible, or lifting up the hand to heaven. Hence we may learn that he who falsifies an oath or promise, made in the presence and name of God, thereby forfeits all right and title to the approbation and blessing of his Maker. But it is highly criminal to make such appeals to God upon trivial occasions. Only the most solemn matters should be thus determined. Legislators who regard the morals of the people should take heed not to multiply oaths in matters of commerce and revenue, if they even use them at all. Who can take the oaths presented by the custom house or excise, and be guiltless? I have seen a person kiss his pen or thumb nail instead of the book, thinking that he avoided the condemnation thereby of the false oath he was then taking!

Adam Clarke Commentary on the Whole Bible - Published 1810-1826

Abraham planted a grove - The original word אשל eshel has been variously translated a grove, a plantation, an orchard, a cultivated field, and an oak. From this word, says Mr. Parkhurst, may be derived the name of the famous asylum, opened by Romulus between two groves of oaks at Rome; (μεθοριον δυοιν δρυμως, Dionys. Hal., lib. ii. c. 16): and as Abraham, Gen 21:33, agreeably, no doubt, to the institutes of the patriarchal religion, planted an oak in Beer-sheba, and called on the name of Jehovah, the everlasting God, (compare Gen 12:8; Gen 18:1), so we find that oaks were sacred among the idolaters also. Ye shall be ashamed of the oaks ye have chosen, says Isaiah, Isa 1:29, to the idolatrous Israelites. And in Greece we meet in very early times with the oracle of Jupiter at the oaks of Dodona. Among the Greeks and Romans we have sacra Jovi quercus, the oak sacred to Jupiter, even to a proverb. And in Gaul and Britain we find the highest religious regard paid to the same tree and to its mistletoe, under the direction of the Druids, that is, the oak prophets or priests, from the Celtic deru, and Greek δρυς, an oak. Few are ignorant that the mistletoe is indeed a very extraordinary plant, not to be cultivated in the earth, but always growing on some other tree. "The druids," says Pliny, Nat. Hist., lib. xvii., c. 44, "hold nothing more sacred than the mistletoe, and the tree on which it is produced, provided it be the oak. They make choice of groves of oak on this account, nor do they perform any of their sacred rites without the leaves of those trees; so that one may suppose that they are for this reason called, by a Greek etymology, Druids. And whatever mistletoe grows on the oak they think is sent from heaven, and is a sign that God himself has chosen that tree. This however is very rarely found, but when discovered is treated with great ceremony. They call it by a name which signifies in their language the curer of all ills; and having duly prepared their feasts and sacrifices under the tree, they bring to it two white bulls, whose horns are then for the first time tied; the priest, dressed in a white robe, ascends the tree, and with a golden pruning hook cuts off the mistletoe, which is received into a white sagum or sheet. Then they sacrifice the victims, praying that God would bless his own gift to those on whom he has bestowed it." It is impossible for a Christian to read this account without thinking of Him who was the desire of all nations, of the man whose name was the Branch, who had indeed no father upon earth, but came down from heaven, was given to heal all our ills, and, after being cut off through the Divine counsel, was wrapped in fine linen and laid in the sepulcher for our sakes. I cannot forbear adding that the mistletoe was a sacred emblem to other Celtic nations, as, for instance, to the ancient inhabitants of Italy. The golden branch, of which Virgil speaks so largely in the sixth book of the Aeneid, and without which, he says, none could return from the infernal regions, (see line 126), seems an allusion to the mistletoe, as he himself plainly intimates by comparing it to that plant, line 205, etc. See Parkhurst, under the word אשל eshel.

In the first ages of the world the worship of God was exceedingly simple; there were no temples nor covered edifices of any kind; an altar, sometimes a single stone, sometimes consisting of several, and at other times merely of turf, was all that was necessary; on this the fire was lighted and the sacrifice offered. Any place was equally proper, as they knew that the object of their worship filled the heavens and the earth. In process of time when families increased, and many sacrifices were to be offered, groves or shady places were chosen, where the worshippers might enjoy the protection of the shade, as a considerable time must be employed in offering many sacrifices. These groves became afterwards abused to impure and idolatrous purposes, and were therefore strictly forbidden. See Exo 34:13; Deu 12:3; Deu 16:21.

And called there on the name of the Lord - On this important passage Dr. Shuckford speaks thus: "Our English translation very erroneously renders this place, he called upon the name of Jehovah; but the expression קרא בשם kara beshem never signifies to call upon the name; קרא שם kara shem would signify to invoke or call upon the name, or קרא אל שם kara el shem would signify to cry unto the name; but קרא בשם kara beshem signifies to invoke In the name, and seems to be used where the true worshippers of God offered their prayers in the name of the true Mediator, or where the idolaters offered their prayers in the name of false ones, Kg1 18:26; for as the true worshippers had but one God and one Lord, so the false worshippers had gods many and lords many, Co1 8:5. We have several instances of קרא kara, and a noun after it, sometimes with and sometimes without the particle אל el, and then it signifies to call upon the person there mentioned; thus, קרא יהוה kara Yehovah is to call upon the Lord, Psa 14:4; Psa 17:6; Psa 31:17; Psa 53:4; Psa 118:5, etc.; and קרא אל יהוה kara el Yehovah imports the same, Sa1 12:17; Jon 1:6, etc.; but קרא בשם kara beshem is either to name By the name, Gen 4:17; Num 32:42; Psa 49:11; Isa 43:7; or to invoke In the name, when it is used as an expression of religious worship." - Connex. vol. i., p. 293. I believe this to be a just view of the subject, and therefore I admit it without scruple.

The everlasting God - יהוה אל עולם Yehovah el olam, Jehovah, the Strong God, the Eternal One. This is the first place in Scripture in which עולם olam occurs as an attribute of God, and here it is evidently designed to point out his eternal duration; that it can mean no limited time is self-evident, because nothing of this kind can be attributed to God. The Septuagint render the words Θεος αιωνιος, the ever-existing God; and the Vulgate has Invocavit ibi nomen Do mini, Dei aeterni, There he invoked the name of the Lord, the eternal God. The Arabic is nearly the same. From this application of both the Hebrew and Greek words we learn that עולם olam and αιων aion originally signified Eternal, or duration without end. עלם alam signifies he was hidden, concealed, or kept secret; and αιων, according to Aristotle, (De Caelo, lib. i., chap. 9, and a higher authority need not be sought), is compounded of αει, always, and ων, being, αιων εστιν, απο του αει ειναι· The same author informs us that God was termed Aisa, because he was always existing, λεγεσθαι - Αισαν δε, αει ουσαν. De Mundo, chap. xi., in fine. Hence we see that no words can more forcibly express the grand characteristics of eternity than these. It is that duration which is concealed, hidden, or kept secret from all created beings; which is always existing, still running On but never running Out; an interminable, incessant, and immeasurable duration; it is That, in the whole of which God alone can be said to exist, and that which the eternal mind can alone comprehend.

In all languages words have, in process of time, deviated from their original acceptations, and have become accommodated to particular purposes, and limited to particular meanings. This has happened both to the Hebrew עלם alam, and the Greek αιων; they have been both used to express a limited time, but in general a time the limits of which are unknown; and thus a pointed reference to the original ideal meaning is still kept up. Those who bring any of these terms in an accommodated sense to favor a particular doctrine, etc., must depend on the good graces of their opponents for permission to use them in this way. For as the real grammatical meaning of both words is eternal, and all other meanings are only accommodated ones, sound criticism, in all matters of dispute concerning the import of a word or term, must have recourse to the grammatical meaning, and its use among the earliest and most correct writers in the language, and will determine all accommodated meanings by this alone. Now the first and best writers in both these languages apply olam and αιων to express eternal, in the proper meaning of that word; and this is their proper meaning in the Old and New Testaments when applied to God, his attributes, his operations taken in connection with the ends for which he performs them, for whatsoever he doth, it shall be for ever - יהיה לעולם yihyeh leolam, it shall be for eternity, Ecc 3:14; forms and appearances of created things may change, but the counsels and purposes of God relative to them are permanent and eternal, and none of them can be frustrated; hence the words, when applied to things which from their nature must have a limited duration, are properly to be understood in this sense, because those things, though temporal in themselves, shadow forth things that are eternal. Thus the Jewish dispensation, which in the whole and in its parts is frequently said to be לעולם leolam, for ever, and which has terminated in the Christian dispensation, has the word properly applied to it, because it typified and introduced that dispensation which is to continue not only while time shall last, but is to have its incessant accumulating consummation throughout eternity. The word is, with the same strict propriety, applied to the duration of the rewards and punishments in a future state. And the argument that pretends to prove (and it is only pretension) that in the future punishment of the wicked "the worm shall die," and "the fire "shall be quenched," will apply as forcibly to the state of happy spirits, and as fully prove that a point in eternity shall arrive when the repose of the righteous shall be interrupted, and the glorification of the children of God have an eternal end! See note on Gen 17:7. See note on Gen 17:8.

1. Faithfulness is one of the attributes of God, and none of his promises can fall. According to the promise to Abraham, Isaac is born; but according to the course of nature it fully appears that both Abraham and Sarah had passed that term of life in which it was possible for them to have children. Isaac is the child of the promise, and the promise is supernatural. Ishmael is born according to the ordinary course of nature, and cannot inherit, because the inheritance is spiritual, and cannot come by natural birth; hence we see that no man can expect to enter into the kingdom of God by birth, education, profession of the true faith, etc., etc. Those alone who are born from above, and are made partakers of the Divine nature, can be admitted into the family of God in heaven, and everlastingly enjoy that glorious inheritance. Reader, art thou born again? Hath God changed thy heart and thy life? If not, canst thou suppose that in thy present state thou canst possibly enter into the paradise of God? I leave thy conscience to answer.

2. The actions of good men may be misrepresented, and their motives suspected, because those motives are not known; and those who are prone to think evil are the last to take any trouble to inform their minds, so that they may judge righteous judgment. Abraham, in the dismissal of Hagar and Ishmael, has been accused of cruelty. Though objections of this kind have been answered already, yet it may not be amiss farther to observe that what he did he did in conformity to a Divine command, and a command so unequivocally given that he could not doubt its Divine origin; and this very command was accompanied with a promise that both the child and his mother should be taken under the Divine protection. And it was so; nor does it appear that they lacked any thing but water, and that only for a short time, after which it was miraculously supplied. God will work a miracle when necessary, and never till then; and at such a time the Divine interposition can be easily ascertained, and man is under no temptation to attribute to second causes what has so evidently flowed from the first. Thus, while he is promoting his creatures' good, he is securing his own glory; and he brings men into straits and difficulties, that he may have the fuller opportunity to convince his followers of his providential care, and to prove how much he loves them.

3. Did we acknowledge God in all our ways, he would direct our steps. Abimelech, king of Gerar, and Phichol, captain of his host, seeing Abraham a worshipper of the true God, made him swear by the object of his worship that there should be a lasting peace between them and him; for as they saw that God was with Abraham, they well knew that he could not expect the Divine blessing any longer than he walked in integrity before God; they therefore require him to swear by God that he would not deal falsely with them or their posterity. From this very circumstance we may see the original purpose, design, and spirit of an oath, viz., Let God prosper or curse me in all that I do, as I prove true or false to my engagements! This is still the spirit of all oaths where God is called to witness, whether the form be by the water of the Ganges, the sign of the cross, kissing the Bible, or lifting up the hand to heaven. Hence we may learn that he who falsifies an oath or promise, made in the presence and name of God, thereby forfeits all right and title to the approbation and blessing of his Maker.

But it is highly criminal to make such appeals to God upon trivial occasions. Only the most solemn matters should be thus determined. Legislators who regard the morals of the people should take heed not to multiply oaths in matters of commerce and revenue, if they even use them at all. Who can take the oaths presented by the custom house or excise, and be guiltless? I have seen a person kiss his pen or thumb nail instead of the book, thinking that he avoided the condemnation thereby of the false oath he was then taking!

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³ And this [01931] man [0376] went up [05927] out of his city [05892] yearly [03117] [03117] to worship [07812] and to sacrifice [02076] unto the LORD [03068] of hosts [06635] in Shiloh [07887]. And the two [08147] sons [01121] of Eli [05941], Hophni [02652] and Phinehas [06372], the priests [03548] of the LORD [03068], were there.

¹ And when Abram [087] was ninety [08673] [08141] years [08141] old [01121] and nine [08672], the LORD [03068] appeared [07200] to Abram [087], and said [0559] unto him, I am the Almighty [07706] God [0410]; walk [01980] before me [06440], and be thou perfect [08549].

² And Abram [087] said [0559], Lord [0136] GOD [03069], what wilt thou give [05414] me, seeing I go [01980] childless [06185], and the steward [01121] [04943] of my house [01004] is this [01931] Eliezer [0461] of Damascus [01834]?

¹⁸ And Melchizedek [04442] king [04428] of Salem [08004] brought forth [03318] bread [03899] and wine [03196]: and he was the priest [03548] of the most high [05945] God [0410].

⁷ And the LORD [03068] God [0430] formed [03335] man [0120] of the dust [06083] of [04480] the ground [0127], and breathed [05301] into his nostrils [0639] the breath [05397] of life [02416]; and man [0120] became a living [02416] soul [05315].

⁴ These [0428] are the generations [08435] of the heavens [08064] and of the earth [0776] when they were created [01254], in the day [03117] that the LORD [03068] God [0430] made [06213] the earth [0776] and the heavens [08064],

¹ In the beginning [07225] God [0430] created [01254] [0853] the heaven [08064] and [0853] the earth [0776].

¹¹ He answered [611] and [1161] said [2036] unto them [846], Because [3754] it is given [1325] unto you [5213] to know [1097] the mysteries [3466] of the kingdom [932] of heaven [3772], but [1161] to them [1565] it is [1325] not [3756] given [1325].

² If [1489] ye have heard [191] of the dispensation [3622] of the grace [5485] of God [2316] which [3588] is given [1325] me [3427] to [1519] you-ward [5209]:
³ How that [3754] by [2596] revelation [602] he made known [1107] unto me [3427] the mystery [3466]; (as [2531] I wrote afore [4270] in [1722] few words [3641],
⁴ Whereby [4314] [3739], when ye read [314], ye may [1410] understand [3539] my [3450] knowledge [4907] in [1722] the mystery [3466] of Christ [5547])
⁵ Which [3739] in [1722] other [2087] ages [1074] was [1107] not [3756] made known [1107] unto the sons [5207] of men [444], as [5613] it is [601] now [3568] revealed [601] unto his [846] holy [40] apostles [652] and [2532] prophets [4396] by [1722] the Spirit [4151];
⁶ That the Gentiles [1484] should be [1511] fellowheirs [4789], and [2532] of the same body [4954], and [2532] partakers [4830] of his [846] promise [1860] in [1722] Christ [5547] by [1223] the gospel [2098]:

¹⁰ That in [1519] the dispensation [3622] of the fulness [4138] of times [2540] he might gather together in one [346] all things [3956] in [1722] Christ [5547], both [5037] which [3588] are in [1722] heaven [3772], and [2532] which [3588] are on [1909] earth [1093]; even in [1722] him [846]:

⁹ Having made known [1107] unto us [2254] the mystery [3466] of his [846] will [2307], according to [2596] his [846] good pleasure [2107] which [3739] he hath purposed [4388] in [1722] himself [846]:

²⁶ And God [0430] said [0559], Let us make [06213] man [0120] in our image [06754], after our likeness [01823]: and let them have dominion [07287] over the fish [01710] of the sea [03220], and over the fowl [05775] of the air [08064], and over the cattle [0929], and over all the earth [0776], and over every creeping thing [07431] that creepeth [07430] upon the earth [0776].

² Before the mountains [02022] were brought forth [03205], or ever thou hadst formed [02342] the earth [0776] and the world [08398], even from everlasting [05769] to [05704] everlasting [05769], thou art God [0410].

² And Joshua [03091] said [0559] unto all the people [05971], Thus saith [0559] the LORD [03068] God [0430] of Israel [03478], Your fathers [01] dwelt [03427] on the other side [05676] of the flood [05104] in old time [05769], even Terah [08646], the father [01] of Abraham [085], and the father [01] of Nachor [05152]: and they served [05647] other [0312] gods [0430].

³² Notwithstanding the cities [05892] of the Levites [03881], and the houses [01004] of the cities [05892] of their possession [0272], may the Levites [03881] redeem [01353] at any time [05769].

¹ Why standest [05975] thou afar off [07350], O LORD [03068]? why hidest [05956] thou thyself in times [06256] of trouble [06869]?

²⁷ And when she came [0935] to the man [0376] of God [0430] to the hill [02022], she caught [02388] him by the feet [07272]: but Gehazi [01522] came near [05066] to thrust her away [01920]. And the man [0376] of God [0430] said [0559], Let her alone [07503]; for her soul [05315] is vexed [04843] within her: and the LORD [03068] hath hid [05956] it from me, and hath not told [05046] me.

² Or if a soul [05315] touch [05060] any unclean [02931] thing [01697], whether it be a carcase [05038] of an unclean [02931] beast [02416], or a carcase [05038] of unclean [02931] cattle [0929], or the carcase [05038] of unclean [02931] creeping things [08318], and if it be hidden [05956] from him; he also shall be unclean [02931], and guilty [0816].

⁷ And I will establish [06965] my covenant [01285] between me and thee and thy seed [02233] after thee [0310] in their generations [01755] for an everlasting [05769] covenant [01285], to be a God [0430] unto thee, and to thy seed [02233] after thee [0310].

²⁶ And to Seth [08352], to him [01931] also there was born [03205] a son [01121]; and he called [07121] his name [08034] Enos [0583]: then began men [02490] to call [07121] upon the name [08034] of the LORD [03068].

⁸ And I will give [05414] unto thee, and to thy seed [02233] after thee [0310], the land [0776] wherein thou art a stranger [04033], all the land [0776] of Canaan [03667], for an everlasting [05769] possession [0272]; and I will be their God [0430].

¹⁴ I know [03045] that, whatsoever God [0430] doeth [06213], it shall be for ever [05769]: nothing [0369] can be put [03254] to it, nor any thing taken [01639] from it: and God [0430] doeth [06213] it, that men should fear [03372] before [06440] him.

⁷ Even every one [03605] that is called [07121] by my name [08034]: for I have created [01254] him for my glory [03519], I have formed [03335] him; yea, I have made [06213] him.

¹¹ Their inward [07130] thought is, that their houses [01004] shall continue for ever [05769], and their dwelling [04908] places to all [01755] generations [01755]; they call [07121] their lands [0127] after their own names [08034].

⁴² And Nobah [05025] went [01980] and took [03920] Kenath [07079], and the villages [01323] thereof, and called [07121] it Nobah [05025], after his own name [08034].

¹⁷ And Cain [07014] knew [03045] his wife [0802]; and she conceived [02029], and bare [03205] Enoch [02585]: and he builded [01129] a city [05892], and called [07121] the name [08034] of the city [05892], after the name [08034] of his son [01121], Enoch [02585].

⁶ So the shipmaster [07227] [02259] came [07126] to him, and said [0559] unto him, What meanest thou, O sleeper [07290]? arise [06965], call [07121] upon thy God [0430], if so be that God [0430] will think [06245] upon us, that we perish [06] not.

¹⁷ Is it not wheat [02406] harvest [07105] to day [03117]? I will call [07121] unto the LORD [03068], and he shall send [05414] thunder [06963] and rain [04306]; that ye may perceive [03045] and see [07200] that your wickedness [07451] is great [07227], which ye have done [06213] in the sight [05869] of the LORD [03068], in asking [07592] you a king [04428].

⁵ I called [07121] upon the LORD [03050] in distress [04712]: the LORD [03050] answered [06030] me, and set me in a large place [04800].

⁴ Have the workers [06466] of iniquity [0205] no knowledge [03045]? who eat up [0398] my people [05971] as they eat [0398] bread [03899]: they have not called [07121] upon God [0430].

¹⁷ Let me not be ashamed [0954], O LORD [03068]; for I have called [07121] upon thee: let the wicked [07563] be ashamed [0954], and let them be silent [01826] in the grave [07585].

⁶ I have called [07121] upon thee, for thou wilt hear [06030] me, O God [0410]: incline [05186] thine ear [0241] unto me, and hear [08085] my speech [0565].

⁴ Have all the workers [06466] of iniquity [0205] no knowledge [03045]? who eat up [0398] my people [05971] as they eat [0398] bread [03899], and call [07121] not upon the LORD [03068].

⁵ For [1063] though [1512] [2532] there be [1526] that are called [3004] gods [2316], whether [1535] in [1722] heaven [3772] or [1535] in [1909] earth [1093], (as [5618] there be [1526] gods [2316] many [4183], and [2532] lords [2962] many [4183],)

²⁶ And they took [03947] the bullock [06499] which was given [05414] them, and they dressed [06213] it, and called [07121] on the name [08034] of Baal [01168] from morning [01242] even until noon [06672], saying [0559], O Baal [01168], hear [06030] us. But there was no [0369] voice [06963], nor any that answered [06030]. And they leaped [06452] upon the altar [04196] which was made [06213].

²¹ Thou shalt not plant [05193] thee a grove [0842] of any trees [06086] near unto [0681] the altar [04196] of the LORD [03068] thy God [0430], which thou shalt make [06213] thee.

³ And ye shall overthrow [05422] their altars [04196], and break [07665] their pillars [04676], and burn [08313] their groves [0842] with fire [0784]; and ye shall hew down [01438] the graven images [06456] of their gods [0430], and destroy [06] the names [08034] of them out of that place [04725].

¹³ But ye shall destroy [05422] their altars [04196], break [07665] their images [04676], and cut down [03772] their groves [0842]:

²⁹ For they shall be ashamed [0954] of the oaks [0352] which ye have desired [02530], and ye shall be confounded [02659] for the gardens [01593] that ye have chosen [0977].

¹ And the LORD [03068] appeared [07200] unto him in the plains [0436] of Mamre [04471]: and he sat [03427] in the tent [0168] door [06607] in the heat [02527] of the day [03117];

⁸ And he removed [06275] from thence unto a mountain [02022] on the east [06924] of Bethel [01008], and pitched [05186] his tent [0168], having Bethel [01008] on the west [03220], and Hai [05857] on the east [06924]: and there he builded [01129] an altar [04196] unto the LORD [03068], and called [07121] upon the name [08034] of the LORD [03068].

³³ And Abraham planted [05193] a grove [0815] in Beersheba [0884], and called [07121] there on the name [08034] of the LORD [03068], the everlasting [05769] God [0410].