Part 17

15:10. And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid the two pieces of each one against the other: but the birds he divided not.

15:11. And the fowls came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away.

15:12. And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a great and darksome horror seized upon him.

15:13. And it was said unto him: Know thou beforehand that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land not their own, and they shall bring them under bondage, and afflict them four hundred years.

15:14. But I will judge the nation which they shall serve, and after this they shall come out with great substance.

15:15. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried in a good old age.

15:16. But in the fourth generation they shall return hither: for as yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full until this present time.

15:17. And when the sun was set, there arose a dark mist, and there appeared a smoking furnace, and a lamp of fire passing between those divisions.

15:18. That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying: To thy seed will I give this land, from the river to Egypt even to the great river Euphrates.

15:19. The Cineans, and Cenezites, the Cedmonites,

15:20. And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also,

15:21. And the Amorrhites, and the Chanaanites, and the Gergesites, and the Jebusites.

Genesis Chapter 16

Abram marrieth Agar, who bringeth forth Ismael.

16:1. Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, had brought forth no children: but having a handmaid, an Egyptian, named Agar,

16:2. She said to her husband: Behold, the Lord hath restrained me from bearing: go in unto my handmaid, it may be I may have children of her at least. And when he agreed to her request,

16:3. She took Agar the Egyptian her handmaid, ten years after they first dwelt in the land of Chanaan, and gave her to her husband to wife.

To wife.... Plurality of wives, though contrary to the primitive institution of marriage, Gen. 2.24, was by divine dispensation allowed to the patriarchs: which allowance seems to have continued during the time of the law of Moses. But Christ our Lord reduced marriage to its primitive institution. Matt. 19.

16:4. And he went in to her. But she perceiving that she was with child, despised her mistress.

16:5. And Sarai said to Abram: Thou dost unjustly with me: I gave my handmaid into thy bosom, and she perceiving herself to be with child, despiseth me. The Lord judge between me and thee.

16:6. And Abram made answer, and said to her: Behold thy handmaid is in thy own hand, use her as it pleaseth thee. And when Sarai afflicted her, she ran away.

16:7. And the angel of the Lord having found her, by a fountain of water in the wilderness, which is in the way to Sur in the desert,

16:8. He said to her: Agar, handmaid of Sarai, whence comest thou? and whither goest thou? And she answered: I flee from the face of Sarai, my mistress.

16:9. And the angel of the Lord said to her: Return to thy mistress, and humble thyself under her hand.

16:10. And again he said: I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, and it shall not be numbered for multitude.

16:11. And again: Behold, said he, thou art with child, and thou shalt bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name Ismael, because the Lord hath heard thy affliction.

16:12. He shall be a wild man: his hand will be against all men, and all men’s hands against him: and he shall pitch his tents over against all his brethren.

16:13. And she called the name of the Lord that spoke unto her: Thou the God who hast seen me. For she said: Verily, here have I seen the hinder parts of him that seeth me.