158 REV. ANDREW CRAIG ROBINSON^ M.A., ON THE BEARING OF 



of the dynasty of Babylon (about 1950 B.C., the period of 

 Abraham) tlie name occurs in the form Ahe-ramu. Also, at a 

 much later period, in the Assyrian Eponym canon, the name 

 Ah-ramu or Ahu-r(imio = " honoured father," is found as that of 

 an official who gave his name to the year 677 B.C. And not 

 (jnly does the name of Abram himself thus occur as we have 

 seen in Babylonia in a tablet written at aljout the time in which 

 liis life is placed, but the names of his grandson and great- 

 grandson are also found amongst the West Semitic names in 

 Babylon at about the same period. Yahub = Jacob, with its 

 longer form Yakuh-ili = J'dcoh-e\; /SVir-i/z probably = Prince of 

 God and the same as Israel ; Yasup = Joseph, and its longer 

 form Ya'si' p-ili = Joseph -el. 



Would a writer in the later times, composing an artificial 

 history of the founders of the Hebrew nation, be likely to go for 

 their illustrious names to alien Babylon ? 



The Incident of Sakai and Hagak. 



There is one very curious point which has only just come to 

 light, which constitutes a very striking piece of evidence lor the 

 genuine character of the narrative in Genesis in which 

 Abraham is represented as having come from Babylonia. The 

 incident related in the 16th of Genesis where Sarai, b;^cause 

 she has no children, gives her Egyptian nmid, Ha gar, to Abram 

 as his wife, has always, perhaps, appeared to our minds a strange 

 and unnatural thing for Sarai to have done. Yet it was 

 repeated by Eachel, who, because she had no children, gave her 

 maid Bilhah to Jacob as his concubine, and by Leah, who 

 because she considered she had not enough of children, gave 

 Jacob her maid Zilpah. And then after that we have no 

 instance in the Old Testament of any other wife doing the 

 same thing. 



This circumstance, then, stamps tho. narrative in Genesis 

 with a peculiar mark which differentiates it from the succeed- 

 ing portion of the Old Testament. What is the meaning of 

 Sarai, Bachel and Leah acting as they did 'I The answer is that 

 wliat they did ims a Bahylonian custorii. Sarai was married in 

 Ur of the Ghaldees, in the very heart of Babylonia ; and 

 Bachel and Leah came from Haran in Mesopotamia, a i)lace 

 .steeped in l^abylonian customs and ideas. J)r. Pinches in tlui 

 first edition of his work, The Old Testament in tlie Light of tlie 

 Ilidorieal Jlecorch of Assyria and Balnjloiiia, in discussing 

 certain JUbylonian marriage agreements made in a case in 



