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PROF. H. EDODARD NAVILLE, D.C.L., LL.D. } ON 



rebel against the great king. It is not brought straight to 

 him : it is hidden in a biography of Abraham. What this 

 biography was it is difficult to say. This chapter would be 

 more than sixty years older than the Priestly Code, which is 

 the framework of Genesis and the Pentateuch in general, and 

 besides, we have to go down perhaps a hundred years before 

 the redactor gave Genesis its present form. All Zerubbabel 

 could know about Abraham, he got from the Jahvist and the 

 Elohist. 



Most critics consider this chapter as being a document by itself, 

 which is generally said to be post-exilian. Such is Professor 

 Skinner's opinion. But there is one point which seems to me 

 to have been unduly left aside by the critics; it is the intimate 

 connection between chapters xiv and xv. I beg Professor Skinner's 

 pardon. To my mind not only is the connection between these 

 two chapters neither "far-fetched" nor "misleading," but at 

 first sight chapter xv appears as the natural outcome of 

 chapter xiv. 



Chapter xv, which was described before, is one in which the 

 mincing process has been carried to the furthest limits. Its 

 twenty-one verses are said to be made of nine fragments, four 

 of which belong to the Jahvist, one to the Elohist, three to the 

 redactor, and one to the document called J.E., which cannot be 

 assigned either to J. or to E. This dissection of the chapter 

 not only shows a lack of understanding of the leading thought 

 of the writer, but it destroys a beautiful episode which unfolds 

 itself admirably, and brings out in a, remarkable way the faith 

 of Abraham; so much so that the writing asserts it. Abraham 

 has just achieved a marvellous feat of arms. With his own 

 men he has routed the army of the Mesopotamian kings ; he 

 has delivered Lot; in the presence of the king of Sodom he has 

 lifted up his hand unto the Lord not to take the slightest 

 reward. On his return the Lord speaks to him in words which 

 are used only on that occasion. Well might Abraham fear 

 a return of the kings, some vengeance wrought upon him, or 

 some attack from the Canaanite chiefs among whom he was 

 living. The Lord says to him, "Fear not, I am thy shield, thou 

 hast lifted up thine hand unto me that thou wouldst not take 

 aught from the king of Sodom. 1 shall be thy reward." Quite 

 naturally Abraham, who has plenty of wealth, says: "What 

 wilt Thou give me ? I go childless." And there comes the 

 glorious promise and the covenant which is confirmed by a 

 wonder. Is it not clear enough that chapter xv is the con- 

 tinuance, or rather the consequence, of the xivth ? Surely the 



