24 



definitely formed and stable. And so we find that when the different wells 

 were built the different tribes took possession and thus came to have property 

 in them. The well " Beerlabairoi," concisely tells the history of Hagar's 

 desertion by her husband (Gen. xvi. 14). The wells "Esek, Sitnah, Rehoboth," 

 show the non-contentious disposition of Isaac (Gen. xxvi. 17-23). Sir 

 William Blackstone, in his Commentaries on the law, shows what primi- 

 tive legal ideas prevailed in those ancient times. 



There are numerous words from the Egyptian which seem to have 

 left traces in the Hebrew scriptures. I would call attention to the 

 Egyptian name of Joseph, " Zaphenath-paaneah," which, in Egyptian, 

 signifies the " Saviour of the World." But to pass on from the Egyptian 

 times we should expect that as history progresses, the names would corre- 

 spond to the periods coincident in surrounding nations. In Numbers we 

 find the name of Pethor, from "V3 to expound ; it seems to be reproduced 

 in "Patree" of Achaia, and " Patara" of Lycia, and as an epithet of Apollo, 

 the god of oracles, in Horace, Odes 3, 465. Some of the most striking 

 coincidences are furnished by the Phoenicians, who constituted undoubtedly 

 one of the most commercial races of ancient times. From Carthage they 

 spread their commerce all over Europe, and we ought to expect to find 

 some traces of the Hebrew language being carried by the Phoenicians to 

 the different countries with which they traded. We have the celebrated name 

 of the god Moloch held up to detestation by a poet greater than Homer or 

 Virgil :- 



" Moloch, horrid king, besmear'd with blood 



Of human sacrifice and parents' tears ; 



Though, for the noise of drums and timbrels loud, 



Their children's cries unheard, that pass'd through fire 



To this grim idol." 



We find traces of the root in the Carthaginian god Malchos, and in the 

 name of their celebrated general Hamilcar. The father of Greek poetry, in 

 the fourth book of his "Iliad," line 8, sings of Hp^ Apyeo; icai A\a\Koi*ivi]i<; 

 A9i)t>r). The epithet aXaXKOfievw (the irresistible) is, according to some 

 critics, given to Athene as the guardian goddess of a city of that name, 

 founded in Bceotia by the Phoenicians. If so, they probably borrowed the 

 name from the Hebrew (Proverbs xxx. 31) Dlp^K nb. Baal, which, in 

 Hebrew, signifies a ruler, and was the name of the false god of Ahab, may 

 be discerned in the Carthaginian " Bal," god (Servius on the " ^Eneid ''), and 

 also in the last syllables of "Hannibal" and "Hasdrubal." Cornwall, whence 

 the Phoenicians obtained tin, the country of promontories, is by some connected 

 with the Hebrew word pp. The word " Malchos," which has been mentioned, 

 suggests the names of other gods and goddesses. 



" With these in troop 



Come Astoreth, whom the Phoenicians called 

 Astarte, queen of heaven, with crescent horns/' 



Whether it is possible to connect Astarte with Eostre, the idol of the 



