THE UNITY OF GENESIS. 



351 



describe what the intercourse between God and Abraham had 

 been. 



Here the critics have no explanation of the difficulty ; to say 

 that this dialogue is the work of the Jahvist, written down in 

 the ninth century, is no solution. How did the Jahvist know- 

 it ? Certainly not by tradition. This scene had no witness 

 but Abraham himself. The Jahvist must, therefore, have 

 invented it. The same may be said of many fragments of 

 Abraham's life, in which all the colours of the rainbow have 

 been profusely scattered, as one can see. 



Abraham has left Haran in obedience to God's command, 

 probably in order to remain faithful to the worship of Jahveh. 

 Not knowing how he will be received in the foreign countries 

 where he will settle, whether as an enemy or as a chief with 

 whom an alliance can be made, he makes his wife a request 

 which we shall quote in his own words (Gen. xx, 13): "It 

 came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father's 

 house, that I said unto her : This is the kindness which thou 

 shalt show unto me : at every place whither we shall come, say 

 of me : He is my brother." So he fully expected what happened 

 to him with Pharaoh and with Abinielech, and there is nothing 

 extraordinary that it should have happened twice in his life, if 

 we give to this episode the interpretation which we derive from 

 the tablets of Tel el Amarna, and is in keeping with the customs 

 of Oriental chiefs and kings about alliances and marriages. 



I cannot go through the whole history of Abraham, which 

 raises a great number of questions ; I shall only dwell on 

 a few points. One of the chapters which has caused the 

 greatest number of discussions is chapter xiv, the war of the 

 king of Sodom and his neighbours against four foreign kings 

 coming from the East. 



I may here quote the recently expressed opinion of a German 

 scholar settled in America, Professor Haupt. His opinion may be 

 considered as the last word of critical science. " The purpose 

 of this chapter is an encouragement to rebel against foreign 

 yoke. Just as Abraham with his 318 followers could rescue 

 the booty from the mighty king of the Elamites, so Zerubbabel 

 and his followers can set the great king of Persia at defiance. 

 This chapter must have been written in the beginning of the 

 year 519." This is certainly an extreme opinion, but it is 

 a good instance of the way of reasoning of some of the critics. 

 No argument at all, a mere subjective opinion. Eather than 

 take the plain language as it stands, it is interpreted as a kind 

 of moral cordial given to Zerubbabel when he attempts to 



