J. W. McGarvey's Class Notes on Sacred History I [Genesis].

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J. W. McGarvey
Class Notes on Sacred History, Volume I (1893)

Part First. A General History from Adam to Abraham. Gen. 1:1-11:9.
Part Second. An Account of Abraham. Gen. 11:10-25:18.
Part Third. History of Isaac and Jacob. Gen. 25:19-36:43.
Part Fourth. Joseph and His Brethren. Gen. 37:1-50:26.
Review: Part First.
Review: Part Second.
Review: Part Third and Fourth.

GENESIS.

PART FIRST.

A GENERAL HISTORY FROM ADAM TO ABRAHAM.

i. 1-xi. 9.

§ I. AN ACCOUNT OF CREATION. i. 1-ii. 7.

1. The Beginning. i. 1, 2.

In what beginning? 1.
What is included in the expression "the heavens and the earth"? 1.
Define the condition of the earth as stated in verse 2.
What could have caused the darkness?
Had this state continued from the beginning?
What is meant by the remark concerning the spirit of God?
What is added to this account in the Gospel of John? Jno. i. 1-3, 13.

2. The Darkness Terminated. 3-5.

Let light be where? 3, cf. 2.
Why and how was some darkness left and separated from the light? 4.
What kind of a day? 5. [1]

3. A Firmament Made. 6-8.

What the firmament, and what waters?
Why called a firmament?
What difference between the word "heaven" here and in verse 1?

4. Dry Land, Seas, and Vegetation. 9-13.

By what natural force could the dry land be made to appear? 9.
By what force did the earth bring forth vegetation?
When were all these names given? 5, 8, 10.

5. The Heavenly Bodies Made To Give Light and To Serve as Signs. 14-19.

How do these lights divide day from night? 14.
How are they signs of seasons, days and years? 14.
How is this account reconciled with the account of "the beginning," and of the first day? 1, 3.

6. Fishes and Fowls Created. 20-23.

How could the waters bring forth living creatures? 20, 21.
Why say, "abundantly"?
Whence were the fowls made? ii. 19.

7. Creation of Land Animals and Man. 24-28.

Why say, "Let us" and "our image"? 26.
In what sense did the man bear the image of God?
What dominion? and why given? 28.

8. Food for Man and Beast. 29-31.

Was animal food now given? Cf. ix. 3.
What of carnivorous animals?
What formula did God employ in making [2] things? 3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26.
What remark concerning everything made? and why? 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31.

9. Origin of the Sabbath. ii. 1-3.

When was it blessed and hallowed?
In what sense did God rest? 3.
What division of time made by the sabbath?
Could this division, or this rest day, have originated with men?

10. Other Details of Creation. 4-7.

Meaning of "generations" in 4?
Of "day"?
What the reference in the term "these"?
Time referred to in 5 and 6? Cf. 4.
Define the process of making man. 7.
What change in the title of God at verse 4? Cf. margin.
What was created, and what only changed in the six days?
Could there have been a period of light and vegetation and animal life between "the beginning" and the first of these days?
Whence the writer's knowledge of creation?

§ II. THE PRIMEVAL STATE OF MAN AND HIS FALL. ii. 8-iii. 24.

1. A Home Provided for Man. ii. 8-14.

Can the country called Eden be identified now?
Can the rivers Pishon and Gihon?
Where are the Tigris and the Euphrates?

2. Man's Privilege and Duty in the Garden. 15-17.

What labor required, and why any?
Why was the restriction imposed?

3. The Process of Forming the Woman. 18-25. [3]

Meaning of "help meet"? 18.
How could the man speak? and how could he select names? 19.
Why the peculiar way of forming the woman? I. Cor. xi. 7-12.
How did the man know from whence she was? 23.
When was this? i. 27.
Whose words verse 24? Cf. Matt. xix. 4, 5.
Did Jesus regard this account as real history? ib.
What was the primeval state of man, physical, mental, and spiritual? i. 26, 31; ii. 15, 17, 20, 23.

4. The Pair Are Tempted into Sin. iii. 1-7.

Trace the process of the temptation. 1, 4, 5, 6.
Does it differ from the process with us?
How was the man induced to partake? Cf. I. Tim. ii. 14.
Was the temptation a weak one in either case?
Was it the first temptation?

5. The Parties Arraigned and Sentenced. 8-21.

What the immediate effects of the sin? 7, 8, 10.
In what condition were the souls of the pair? Cf. Rom. viii. 6, 7.
What the previous condition of the serpent? 14, 15, 1.
Were there snakes before this? i. 25.
Was any other being connected in this action with the serpent? Jno. viii. 44; Rev. xii. 7-9.
Why not mentioned in Genesis?
Why was the serpent degraded?
When was the woman made subject to the man? 16.
Were there no thorns and thistles before? 18.
When called Eve? 20.
Whence the skins for the coats? 21.
What the part of God in making the coats?

6. The Pair Expelled from the Garden. 22-24. [4]

What was it to know good and evil? 23.
Why say, "as one of us"?
How could eating of the tree of life cause them to live for ever?
What is meant by cherubim? 24.
Meaning of "flame of the sword"? Heb. i. 7.
How long did this continue?
What caused the physical death of the man?
Difference between the title of God in this section and the first?

§ III. THREE SONS OF ADAM AND THEIR POSTERITY. iv. 1-v. 32.

1. Cain and Abel. iv. 1-8.

How long their births after the expulsion from the garden?
When did they begin to follow exclusive occupations? 2.
When did they begin to offer sacrifices independently of their father? 3, 4.
How did sacrifice originate?
Why was Cain's offering not respected? 5. Cf. 7; Heb. xi. 4; ix. 22.
What the immediate cause of the killing? 8.

2. Sentence Pronounced on Cain. 9-15.

What was the cry of Abel's blood? 10; Cf. Heb xii. 24.
What the elements of suffering in Cain's punishment? 13, 14.
Why did he care for being hid from the face of God? 14.
What men were in the world for him to fear? See the indications of time in 2, 3, 25.
Why was this first murderer spared and protected? 15.

3. Cain's Later Home and Some of His Noted Descendants. 16-24.

How "from the presence of the Lord"? 16.
Where was [5] Nod, and why and when so called? 16.
Who his wife?
Why mention Enoch?
How could Cain populate a city? Ge iv. 17.
Why not continue tilling the ground? Cf. 2, 12.
Was Lamech the first polygamist? 19.
What were the dwellings in use before Jabal? 20.
Whence Jubal's conception of instruments of music? 21.
What implements used before the days of Tubal-cain? 22.
What learned from Lamech's speech to his wives? 23, 24.
Was Lamech a poet?
How many new things originated in his family?
Why is he mentioned and his ancestry given?

4. Birth of Seth and Days of Enosh. 25, 26.

How old was Adam at the birth of Seth? v. 3.
Was Seth the third son? Cf. v. 4.
How long before his birth was the death of Abel?
Meaning of, "call upon the name of the Lord"? 26.
When was this? v. 3, 6, 10.

5. The Book of the Generations of Adam. v. 1-32.

Why is this document called a book?
Whose family register was it, and when was it made out? 32.
How many years does it include?
Who the oldest man, and who the youngest in the list?
What is said of Enoch? 24. Cf. Heb xi. 5, 6.
How far backward and forward did Methuselah's acquaintance extend? [It lapped on Adam's life three hundred and forty-three years.]
Do the figures in this list allow the supposition that any names were omitted?
How do the figures in it compare with those of the Septuagint Version?
Was there a natural cause for great longevity? [6]

§ IV. THE DESTRUCTION OF MAN AND BEAST BY A FLOOD. vi. 1-viii. 22.

1. The Corruption of Men and the Decree of God. vi. 1-8.

Distinction between sons of God and daughters of men? 2.
Connection of their intermarriage with the corruption of men?
How had God's spirit striven with men? 3, cf. Jude 14, 15; II. Pet. ii. 5; I. Pet. iii. 18-20.
Connection of the hundred and twenty years? 3, cf. 13.
Who were the Nephilim, and why mentioned here? 4, cf. Num. xiii. 33.
How is the intensity of man's wickedness at the time indicated? 5.
In what sense did it repent the Lord, and grieve him? 6, 7.

2. "The Generations of Noah." 9-12.

How is the word generations used here?
In what sense was Noah perfect? 9.
What additional statement of the earth's corruption? 11, cf. 5.

3. God Directs Noah To Make an Ark. 13-22.

What is gopher wood? 14.
Why make rooms in it? 14.
Its dimensions in feet? 15. [A cubit is eighteen inches.]
How does it compare in size with the largest vessels now afloat?
How had Noah and the men he employed become skilled in ship-building?
Who bore the expense?
Was the ark large enough to hold all the animals and their food? 20, 21.

4. A New Order Concerning the Beasts. vii. 1-5.

What were clean beasts and birds, and why so many of [7] these? 2, 3, cf. viii. 20.
How reconcile verses 2, 5 with 8, 9?

5. Entering into the Ark and Beginning of the Flood? 6-16.

Why go in before the rain began? 7, 10.
How get the animals?
Why is the account of the entering repeated? 13-15.
How is the beginning of the flood dated? 6, 11.
Whence came the waters? 11.
Age of the race when the flood began? 11, cf. chapter v.

6. Extent and Effect of the Flood. 17-24.

Where was the ark built? 17.
Does the writer mean by "all the high mountains that were under the whole heaven," what we now mean by the same words?
Reference of the fifteen cubits? 20.
Meaning of, "prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days"? 24, cf. viii. 3.

7. Subsidence of the Waters. viii. 1-14.

What appeared to make the waters subside? 1.
What was the real cause of it?
How could the ark sail in the wind?
How long from the beginning till the ark rested? 4, cf. vii. 11.
How long this after the waters began to subside? Cf. 3.
How long from the beginning till the mountain tops were seen? 5, cf. vii. 11.
Till the raven was sent out? 6.
Till the dove was sent out the third time? 10, 12.
Till the face of the ground was dried? 13, cf. vii. 11.
On what did the raven feed? 7.
Why did the dove find no rest for the sole of her foot? 9.

8. The Departure from the Ark. 15-22. [8]

How long the departure after the waters were gone? 14, 15, cf. 13.
Why the delay?
Whole time in the ark? 14, 15, cf. vii. 10, 11.
Design of the burnt offerings? 20.
Why the words "smelled the sweet savour," and "said in his heart"? 21.
Had the succession of seasons been interrupted? 22.

§ V. FURTHER HISTORY OF NOAH. ix. 1-29.

1. A Law Concerning Animal Food and Blood. ix. 1-7.

Is the eating of blood still prohibited? 4, cf. Acts xv. 20.
Is it still a duty to slay a murderer?
Who is here made the executioner?

2. God Makes a Covenant with Noah. 8-17.

What need for such a covenant?
Why say, "that I may remember," etc.? 16.
Was this the origin of the rainbow?

3. Noah Predicts the Future of His Sons. 18-29.

Did he know the effect of the wine? Cf. Matt. xxiv. 37, 38.
Was there a law against intoxication?
What feeling was displayed by Shem and Japheth? 23.
Explain what is said of Canaan. 25.
Who was he? 22.
Was this curse a penalty for Ham's act?
Did the speech cause Ham any pain?
Meaning of the speech about Shem? and that about Japheth? 26, 27.
What facts in history correspond to these predictions? [9]

§ VI. "THE GENERATIONS OF THE SONS OF NOAH." x. 1-xi. 9.

1. Those of Japheth. x. 1-5.

How many sons? 2.
Why so few grandsons named? 3, 4.
Where did they finally settle? 5.
Where are these isles?
When the isles were filled, into what countries did the surplus pass?

2. The Sons of Ham. 6-20.

How many sons? 4, 6.
Of which of these is the further posterity given? 7, 13, 15.
Why not those of Put?
Describe the career of Nimrod. 8-12.
Where was the land of Shinar, and where Assyria? 10, 11.
When this book was written which was the greatest of these cities? 12.
From whom were the Philistines descended? [Mizraim.]
Where did the descendants of Canaan settle? 19.
What countries, then, were the first homes of the Hamites? 10, 11, 19.

3. The Sons of Shem. 21-32.

Why the expression "children of Eber"? 21.
How many sons? 5, 22.
Of which of these is the prosperity traced? 23, 24.
Where did the Shemites settle? 30.
What is meant by "the east"?
What dividing of the earth in the days of Peleg? 26, cf. xi. 8, 9.

4. The Confusion of Tongues. xi. 1-9.

Had the ark rested eastward or westward from Shinar? 2.
Why the substitution of bricks for stones? 3.
Purpose of the [10] city and tower? 4.
What was wrong with it?
Why say, "the Lord came down to see"? 5.
Why prevent their attempt? 6.
Is this account of the city of Babel consistent with that in x. 9, 10?
What caused Nimrod to leave Babel and go to Assyria? 9, cf. x. 10, 11.
How long the confusion of tongues after the flood? x. 25, cf. xi. 10-16. [2 + 35 + 30 + 34 = 101. 101 + 239 = 340 years.]
Was the race then very numerous?
Was Noah still living? ix. 28.

PART SECOND.

AN ACCOUNT OF ABRAHAM.

xi. 10-xv. 18.

§ I. HIS FAMILY AND HIS GREAT JOURNEYS. xi. 10-xiii. 4.

1. "The Generations of Shem." xi. 10-26.

How many generations from Shem to Abram? 9.
Their average length?
Why so much shorter than those before the flood?
Whose family register is this, and when made out? 26.
What was the age of Noah when Shem was born? 10, cf. vii. 6. [600 - 98 = 502 years.]
Meaning, then, of v. 32?

2. "The Generations of Terah." 27-32.

How is the word generations used here? Cf. vi. 9-11.
Where was Ur of the Chaldees? 28.
Relationship of Abram and Nahor to their wives? 29; xx. 12.
Where was Haran, and what [11] its distance from Ur?
Cause of starting for Canaan? 31, cf. Acts vii. 2-4.

3. Abram's Migration into Canaan. xii. 1-9.

Distance and direction from Haran to Beth-el?
Distinguish the items of the promise. 1-3.
What was Terah's age at the birth of Abram? 4, cf. xi. 32; Acts vii. 4.
What the meaning, then, of xi. 26?
Age of the race when Abram was born?
Who "the souls that had gotten in Haran"? 5, cf. xiv. 14.
Where were Shechem and Beth-el? 6, 8.
Meaning of "oak of Moreh"? 6.
Why say "the Canaanite was then in the land"? 6, cf. x. 19.
Does it imply that at the time of writing they had been driven out?
When did Abram learn to what country he was called? 1, 6, 7, cf. Heb. xi. 8.

4. Abram Visits Egypt. xii. 10-xiii. 4.

How could there be a sore famine in Canaan, and none in Egypt? 10.
Who were the Egyptians, and why Abram's fear? xii. 12. [Ans. The Hebrew word translated Egypt is Mizraim, and means the land of Mizraim, son of Ham. x. 13.]
How justify the deception concerning Sarai? xii. 12, 13.
How the cause of the plague discovered? xii. 17, 18.
What and where "the South"? xiii. 3.
Length of this journey?

§ II. ABRAM'S TROUBLES ON ACCOUNT OF LOT. xiii. 5-xiv. 24.

1. Separation from Lot. xiii. 5-13.

What kind of soil and surface about Beth-el? Lands of the [12] Bible, 239.
Point in the remark about the Canaanite and the Perizzite? 7, cf. 6.
For what three reasons, then, was the land "not able to bear" Abram and Lot? 6.
What characteristics here displayed by the two men? 8-11, 13.
Where was Sodom? 10, 12.

2. The Promise Renewed and a Home Selected. 14-18.

What privilege now given to Abram? 17.
Why settle near Hebron? 18.
Why by "the oaks of Mamre"?

3. Lot Captured and Rescued. xiv. 1-16.

What the present names of the countries ruled by the four kings? 1.
Cause of the war? 4, 5.
What prediction being fulfilled? See ix. 26.
Where were the countries first subdued in this war? 5-7.
In what direction, then, was Chedorlaomer moving, when he drew near to Sodom?
In the name "vale of Siddim," what was Siddim? 3.
What are slime pits? See margin.
Whence the name Hebrew? 13, cf. x. 21.

4. An Interview with Melchizedek and the King of Sodom. 17-24.

How did the king of Sodom escape? 17, cf. 10.
What city was Salem? See Josephus, Ant. B. I. ch. vii. 3.
Why did Melchizedek favor Abram? 18-20.
Why give a tenth? 20.
What does Paul say of Melchizedek? Heb. vii. 1-4, 15-18.
Why object to being made rich? 23.
What impression made on the people of the land by this expedition? [13]

§ III. OFFSPRING AND CIRCUMCISION. xv. 1-xvii. 27.

1. Definite Promise of a Son. xv. 1-6.

Why say, "Fear not"? 1, cf. xiv. 15.
Why would Eliezer be his heir? 3.
Meaning of "tell"? 5.
Meaning of "counted it to him for righteousness"? 6.

2. The Promise of Canaan Renewed. 7-21.

Why did Abram want stronger assurance? 8.
What new items of information here given? 13, 14, 15, 16, 18.
Point in the remark about the Amorite? 16.
Significance of the carcases? 17.
Of the furnace and the torch? 17.
Why the "horror of great darkness"? 12, cf. 13.
Where the two rivers? 18.
Why not the eastern and western boundaries given?

3. The Birth of Ishmael. xvi. 1-16.

What moved Sarai to sacrifice her natural feelings for the sake of a son? 2.
Why had not Abram taken another wife before?
Why was Hagar sent back to her mistress? 9.
Why name the child as the angel did? 11.
Why name the well? 7, 14.
How long had Abram now been in Canaan? 16, cf. xii. 4.

4. Circumcision Appointed. xvii. 1-14.

Why say, "I am God Almighty"? 1.
Was this title used before?
Meaning of the names? and why the change? 5.
Perpetuity of circumcision? 13.
Penalty of neglect? and its meaning? 14.

5. Promise of a Son by Sarai. 15-27. [14]

Why the change of Sarai's name? 15, cf. 16.
Why the laugh? 17.
Why the request about Ishmael? 18.
Were many circumcised that day? 23, cf. xiv. 14.

§ IV. THE DESTRUCTION OF SODOM AND GOMORRAH. xviii. 1-xix. 38.

1. Abraham Entertains Three Angels. xviii. 1-15.

Why wash their feet? 4.
Under what tree? 4, cf. 1.
Why so much food? 6-8.
Paul's allusion to this entertainment. Heb. xiii. 2.
Why did Sarah deny laughing? 15.

2. Abraham Pleads for Sodom. 16-33.

In what direction did they start? 16.
Force of the reason for telling Abraham? 18, 19.
Why say, "I will go down now, and see," etc.? 21.
How did Abraham know that destruction was contemplated? 23, cf. 21.
Why say, "for lack of five"? 28.
Why not bring the number below ten? 32, cf. 25.
What character and what mental power does this prayer exhibit?
How had Abraham learned that prayer would be answered?
What saying of Jesus is illustrated by the answers? Matt. v. 13.

3. The Two Angels Entertained by Lot. xix. 1-11.

Why sitting in the gate? 1.
Why propose to abide in the street? 1.
Why was Lot so urgent? 3.
Why unleavened bread?
Is the expression, "all the people," to be taken absolutely?
Why Lot's proposal concerning his daughters? 8.

4. Lot Rescued and the Cities Destroyed. 12-29. [15]

What became of the mob?
Who were his sons in law? 14.
Why did Lot linger? 16.
Why not look behind? 17.
What evil feared in the mountain? and what mountain?
Show the severity of Lot's trial. 17, 26.
What lesson taught by the fate of his wife? 26, cf. Luke xvii. 32.
What could Abraham see from where he stood? 27, 28.
Why say, "God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out"? 29.

5. Lot's Daughters Commit Incest. 30-38.

Why fear to remain in Zoar? 30.
Why say, "there is not a man," etc.? 31.
How is their business accounted for?
What was the character of their descendants? 37, 38, cf. Num. xxv. 1-9; I. Ki. xi. 7.
Trace all the evil consequences of Lot's choice of a home.
Why was this last paragraph inserted in the Bible?

§ V. INCIDENTS OF ABRAHAM'S SOJOURN IN THE SOUTH. xx. 1-xxii. 24.

1. Sarah Is Taken by Abimelech. xx. 1-8.

In what direction from Hebron was Gerar? 1.
Why say, "thou art but a dead man"? 3.
The Lord's purpose in this?

2. Abraham Rebuked for Deceiving Abimelech. 9-18.

Did Abimelech speak from former convictions? or in consequence of his vision? 9, cf. 3-5.
Was Abraham's excuse a good one? 12, 13.
Why the presents to Abraham? 14.
Were the pieces of silver included? or were they a separate gift? [16] 16.
How long was Sarah in Abimelech's house? 17, 18.

3. The Birth of Isaac. xxi. 1-7.

Was the conception of Isaac miraculous?
Give Paul's comments. Heb. xi. 11, 12; Rom. iv. 18-22.

4. The Expulsion of Ishmael. 8-21.

Cause of the mocking? 9.
Why did God approve Sarah's demand? 12, 13.
What kind of "bottle"? 14. See margin.
Why not see the well sooner? 19.
Where was the wilderness of Paran? 21.
Why a wife from Egypt? 21.
Ishmael's age at the time of expulsion? 5, 8; xvi. 16.

5. A Covenant Made with Abimelech. 22-34.

Abimelech's motive? 22, cf. xx. 6, 7.
How would the ewe lambs be witness, and how long? 25, 29, 30.
Why this device instead of a written contract?
Of what ancestry were Abimelech and his people? 32, 34, cf. x. 6, 13, 14.
Why plant a tamarisk tree by the well?
Why the name of the well? 31.
Present condition of the well? Lands of the Bible, 257.
A new title for God. 33.

6. Abraham's Great Trial. xxii. 1-19.

How was Isaac his "only" son? 2, cf. xxi. 10.
Where was Moriah? 2, cf. II. Chron. iii. 1.
Distance from Beer-sheba? Cf. 4.
Why rise early, and why take wood? 3.
Why leave the servants behind? 5.
What considerations made this a severe trial?
How did it demonstrate Abraham's faith in God? 12. [17]
How did he reconcile the command with God's promise? See Heb. xi. 17-19.
How, with his goodness?
What good results?
What addition to the promise? 16, cf. Heb. vi. 13-18.
Why the name of the place? 14, cf. 8.

7. Abraham Hears from Nahor. 20-24.

What contrast between Nahor's family and his own?
Why mention the granddaughter? 23.
How long since he had seen Nahor?

§ VI. DEATHS AND MARRIAGES. xxiii. 1-xxv. 18.

1. Death and Burial of Sarah. xxiii. 1-20.

What change of residence? 2, cf. xxii. 19.
Mode of burial in use in Canaan? 6.
Why not accept the offers? 6, 11.
Why weigh the silver, and what its value? 16.
How was the title conveyed? 17-19.
What difference from our method?
Present condition of the caves? Lands of the Bible, 248.

2. Abraham Seeks a Wife for Isaac. xxiv. 1-9.

Why require an oath? 3.
Why the hand under the thigh? 2, cf. xiv. 22.
Why not take a woman of Canaan? 3.
How know that one could be found among his kindred? 4, cf. xxii. 23.
Why think God would send his angel? 7.
Why insist that Isaac shall not go? 8.

3. The Servant's Journey and Prayer. 10-28.

Why say, "Mesopotamia"? 10. See margin.
Whose business to draw water? 11.
Why fix on Rebekah? 16, 17.
Had [18] she refused, what would he have done?
How long to water the camels? 20, cf. 10.
Why the ring and the bracelets? 22.
How did he know his prayer was answered? 27.

4. The Servant Received and Entertained. 29-33.

Why was Laban so eager to welcome the man? 29-31.
What men were with the servant? 32.
Why not eat till the errand was told? 33.

5. The Errand Is Told. 34-49.

Why speak of Isaac's wealth? 35, 36.
Why, of the oath? 37, 38.
Why, of his prayer and its answer?
Did he pray aloud? 45.
Why the ring on her nose? 47.
Did he think the angel had come with him? 40, 48.

6. The Marriage Contract. 50-60.

Why the prompt consent? 50, 51.
Why the additional presents? 53.
Why unwilling to delay? 54-56.
Why Rebekah so willing to go? 58.
Meaning of the blessing? 60.

7. Rebekah Presented to Her Husband. 61-67.

What damsels? 61.
What was Beer-lahai-roi? 62, cf. xvi. 14.
Why alight and veil herself? 64, 65.
Why say, Isaac "loved her"? 67.
Why into Sarah's tent? 67.

8. Second Marriage and Death of Abraham. xxv. 1-11.

Abraham's age at this marriage? 1, 6; xxiii. 1; xvii. 17.
How many sons by Keturah? 2.
What the east country? 6.
How long was he a sojourner? 7, cf. xii. 4.
Paul's comment? [19] Heb. xi. 9, 10, 13-16.
Meaning of "gathered to his people"? 8.
Why Ishmael present? 9.

9. "The Generations of Ishmael." 12-18.

How many sons? 16, cf. 20.
Why say, "by their villages, and by their encampments"? 16.
His country? 18.
Meaning of "before Egypt, as thou goest toward Assyria"? 18.
What indication here, as to the place of writing?

PART THIRD.

HISTORY OF ISAAC AND JACOB.

xxv. 19-xxxvi. 43.

§ I. ISAAC'S FAMILY AND SOME TROUBLES. xxv. 19-xxvi. 35.

1. Births of Jacob and Esau. xxv. 19-26.

Why the delay in obtaining a wife for Isaac? 20, cf. xxii. 20, 23; xxiv. 3, 4.
Why the name Jacob? 26.
How long was Rebekah barren? 26, cf. 20.

2. Esau Sells His Birthright. 27-34.

What the birthright? Cf. xxv. 5, 6.
Meaning of Edom? 30. (See Margin.)
What characteristic of the two indicated? Cf. Heb. xii. 17.
What is "pottage of lentils"? 34.
Meaning of "plain" man? (See Margin.) [20]

3. The Promises Extended to Isaac. xxvi. 1-5.

What was his intention in going to Gerar? 1, 2.
Reason for extending the promise? 5.
What commandments, statutes and laws? 5.

4. Trouble about Rebekah. 6-11.

Why repeat his father's sin? 9.
Was this before or after the birth of Jacob and Esau? 1, cf. xxv. 7; xxi. 5; xxv. 22, 26.
How long since Abraham's affair with Abimelech? xx. 17-xxi. 5; xxv. 26; xxvi. 1.
How could Abimelech and Phichol still be living?

5. Trouble about Wells. 12-33.

How reap "in the same year"? and how a hundredfold? 12.
Why fill the wells? 15.
Meaning of the names? 20, 21, 22. See margin.
Was the well of Beer-sheba a new one, or an old one? 33, cf. 18; xxi. 30, 31.

6. Trouble about Esau's Wives. 34, 35.

Who were the Hittites? 34, cf. xiv. 13; xxiii. 3, 10.
Why these wives "a grief of mind" to Isaac and Rebekah?

§ II. JACOB'S FRAUD AND FLIGHT. xxvii. 1-xxviii. 22.

1. Isaac's Command and Rebekah's Plot. xxvii. 1-17.

Motives of the parents? Cf. xxv. 23, 28.
Why the prophecy (xxv. 23) and the sale of the birthright (xxv. 33) disregarded by Isaac?

2. Jacob Obtains the Blessing. 18-29. [21]

Why so many falsehoods? 19, 20, 24.
What was the blessing? 28, 29.

3. Esau's Disappointment. 30-40.

Why did Isaac tremble so? 33.
What difference made between the two sons? 39, 40.
Paul's comment on Esau? Heb. xii. 17.
When did Esau actually serve Jacob, and when was the yoke broken? 40, cf. II. Sam. viii. 14; II. Ki. viii. 20-22.
Honesty of the historian here indicated?
How did God accomplish his purpose in the case?

4. Esau's Threat and Jacob's Flight. xxvii. 41-xxviii. 5.

Why wait for the days of mourning? xxvii. 41.
How did the threat reach Rebekah? 42.
What her expectation as to Jacob's absence? 44, 45.
Why give Isaac a different reason for sending him away? 46.
Where was Paddan-aram? xxviii. 2, cf. xxiv. 10.
How know that Laban had any daughters? 2.
What meant by "the blessing of Abraham"? 4.
How old were Esau and Jacob now? Cf. xxvi. 34, 35.

5. Esau Takes Another Wife. xxviii. 6-9.

Why not pursue Jacob? 6.
Did he better his condition?

6. Jacob's Vision of the Ladder. 10-22.

Why a stone under his head? 11.
Why not lodge in Luz? 19.
What promises made to him? 13-15.
Why such promises to such a man?
Why not know God was there? 16.
Why the place dreadful? 17.
What change in him for the better?
Cause [22] of it?
What defect in the vow? 20-22.
Why set up the stone? 18.
Why this place called Beth-el in previous chapters? 1, 9; xii. 8; xiii. 3.

§ III. JACOB'S RESIDENCE IN PADANARAM. xxix. 1-xxx. 43.

1. He Reaches Laban's House. xxix. 1-14.

Why a stone on the well's mouth? 2, 3.
Why Laban called son of Nahor? 5, cf. xxii. 23; xxiv. 29.
Why wait for all the flocks? 8.
Why did Jacob move the stone? 10.
Why did he weep? 11.
How was he her father's brother? 12.

2. He Obtains Leah and Rachel for Wives. 15-30.

Why service for his wives demanded? 18, 27.
How could he be deceived? 23.
Interval between the marriages? 27, 28.

3. Leah Bears Four Sons and Quits Bearing. 31-35.

The least probable time of these births?

4. Four Sons by the Handmaids. xxx. 1-13.

Why so anxious for children? 1; xxix. 32, 34.

5. Leah Bears Two More Sons and a Daughter. 14-21.

What are mandrakes? 14. See Josephus, War, VII. vi, 3; McClintock and Strong.
How long was she barren? 9, 10, 12.
Least age of Reuben at birth of Dinah?

6. A Son Born to Rachel. 22-24.

What reproach? 23.
Was there any effect from the mandrakes? 22, cf. 14.

7. A New Contract with Laban. 25-43. [23]

Why had Jacob made no provision for his own house? 30.
With what expectations was the new contract made?
Why was Jacob's device so successful? Cf. xxxi. 9.
Was he unfair in employing it?

§ IV. JACOB'S RETURN TO CANAAN. xxxi. 1-xxxiii. 17.

1. His Departure from Paddan-aram. xxxi. 1-21.

What sons had Laban? 1.
What were the ten changes of wages? 7, 8.
Why say, "I am the God of Beth-el"? 13.
In what sense had Laban sold his daughters, and devoured their money? 15.
What the teraphim, and why stolen? 19.
What was "the River"? 21.

2. Laban Pursues Jacob. 22-35.

Who his brethren? 23, cf. 1, 37.
Where the mountain of Gilead? 23.
Why not obey the command of God? 24, 29.
Was Laban sincere in his professions? 27, 28, 31.
Of what size were the teraphim? 34.

3. Jacob Rebukes Laban. 36-42.

Were the statements about eating of Laban's rams, and restoring lost animals, true of the first fourteen years? 38, 39, cf. 41, 42.
When did the six years for his flock come in? 41, cf. xxx. 25, 32-34.
What the whole time, then, and how distributed?
How long with Laban till the birth of Joseph, and what accumulated? 41, cf. xxx. 25-32.

4. A Covenant Made and a Monument Erected. xxxi. 43-xxxii. 2. [24]

In what sense were all Laban's? 43.
Meaning of the names? 46, 47, 49.
How would the pillar and the heap be a witness? 48, 52.
Items of the covenant? 50, 52.
Why the sacrifice and the eating? 54.
Purpose of the vision of angels? xxxii. 1, 2.

5. A Friendly Message to Esau. xxxii. 3-6.

Where the "land of Seir," and why was Esau there? 3.
What the purpose of the message? 5.
Why so greatly alarmed? 7.

6. Jacob Prepares To Meet Esau. 7-12.

How could the other company escape? 8.
Show the fitness of his prayer. 9-12.
What change does it indicate in Jacob? Cf. xxviii. 16.

7. He Sends a Present to Esau. 13-21.

What the purpose of it? 20.
What change indicated by the value of the present?

8. Jacob Receives a New Name. 22-32.

Why say, "his eleven children"? 22.
How did he learn that the man was a supernatural being? 24-26.
What did the wrestling signify? 28.
How had he prevailed with God, and how with men? 28, cf. 11.
In what sense was he "called no more Jacob"? 28.
From which of the two names are his posterity called?
Describe the river Jabbok. 22.

9. The Meeting with Esau. xxxiii. 1-17.

Why this arrangement of the family? 1-3.
What overcame the animosity of Esau? 4.
Why promise to go to Seir? 14. [25]
Where was Succoth, and why the booths? Josh. xiii. 27; Lands of the Bible, 352, 471.

§ V. JACOB'S RESIDENCE AT SHECHEM, BETH-EL AND HEBRON. xxxiii. 18-xxxvi. 43.

1. He Settles at Shechem. xxxiii. 18-20.

Who had lived there before? xii. 6.
How much land, and why the purchase? 19.
Why the name of the altar? 20, cf. 28.
When had he offered sacrifice before? xxxi. 54.

2. His Daughter Is Defiled by Shechem. xxxiv. 1-31.

Different conceptions of the crime, and why? 7, 8, 31.
Why did the Shechemites comply? 19-24.
Were Simeon and Levi alone? 25.
What common results of fornication are here seen?
Had Jacob lived with Laban only twenty years, what would have been the present ages of Simeon, Levi and Dinah?

3. Jacob Returns to Beth-el. xxxv. 1-8.

Why wait for a command to go? 1.
The distance and direction?
Why the strange gods not put away sooner? and why now? 2.
Why the earrings included? 4.
Why bury them instead of converting them into money? 4.
Why the "great terror"? 5.
Meaning of "Rebekah's nurse," and why was she there? 8.

4. The Promises Renewed and a Pillar Set Up. 9-15.

Why erect another pillar? 14.
What the drink offering, and [26] why offered? 14.
Why give the name a second time? 15, cf. xxviii. 19.

5. The Death of Rachel and the Sin of Reuben. 16-22.

Distinction between the names Ephrath and Beth-lehem? 16, 19.
What marks the grave at present? Lands of the Bible, 216.
Why was Reuben not punished? 22.
Whither was Jacob journeying? 16, cf. 27.
Where was Eder? 21, cf. Josh. xv. 21.

6. Jacob's Sons and the Death of Isaac. 23-29.

Why say, "which were born to him in Paddan-aram"? 26.
What difference in the two names of Hebron? 27.
Why was Esau present at the burial? 29.

7. The Generations of Esau. xxxvi. 1-43.

How is the word generations here used? 1.
What discrepancies here in the names of Esau's wives? 2, 3, cf. xxvi. 34; xxviii. 9.
Were they mistakes of the author? or of the transcribers?
How many sons had he born in Canaan? 4, 5.
Cause of his removal from Canaan to Seir? 6-8.
How could this be when he removed before Jacob's return? xxxii. 3.
Meaning of duke in this passage? 15-19, 29, 30.
Why name the sons of Seir the Horite? 20.
How many successive kings are named? 31-39.
What suggested the remark that these eight reigned in Edom before any king reigned over Israel? 31, cf. xxxv. 10, 11.
Did they reign before the time of Moses?
Does the remark imply that there had been kings in Israel?
If this passage had been [27] written after there were kings in Israel, would so few Kings of Edom have been mentioned?

PART FOURTH.

JOSEPH AND HIS BRETHREN.

xxxvii. 1-l. 26.

§ I. JOSEPH IS SOLD AS A SLAVE. xxxvii. 1-36.

1. Beginning of His Troubles. xxxvii. 1-11.

Why the term "sojourning"? 1.
How is "generations" here used? 2.
Names of the brothers with whom he was laboring. 2.
What three causes of hatred?
How could his mother bow down? 10.

2. His Brothers Attempt To Kill Him. 12-24.

Why the flocks led back to Shechem? 12.
What the distance? 14.
Why was Joseph sent alone?
How much farther was Dothan, and what kind of country? Lands of the Bible, 296.
What kind of pit? and why no water in it? 24.

3. They Sell Him, and He Is Taken to Egypt. 25-36.

Was Dothan on the way from Gilead to Egypt?
Why the merchants called both Ishmaelites and Midianites? 25, 28, 36.
Origin of these two tribes? xxv. 1-4, 12.
What traits here exhibited by Reuben and Judah? 21, 22, 26, 27. [28]

§ II. THE FAMILY OF JUDAH. xxxviii. 1-30.

1. His First Two Sons and Their Fate. xxxviii. 1-11.

What suggested this section at this place? See xxxvii. 26-29.
Where was Adullam? 1. Lands of the Bible, 222.
Meaning of "raise up seed to thy brother"? 8.
Why in her father's house while waiting? 11.

2. Tamar Commits Incest. 12-23.

What was her motive, and why so base? 14.
What the signet and the cord? 18.
Why say there had been no harlot there? 21.

3. Tamar Is Exposed and Twins Are Born to Her. 24-30.

Why so severe on her and so forgetful of his own sin? 24.
Purpose of Moses in writing this section? [The great tribe of Judah descended principally from these two sons of Tamar.]
What divine purpose in this record? See Ruth iv. 18-22; Matt. i. 3.
What light does it throw upon Canaanite society?

§ III. JOSEPH BECOMES GOVERNOR OF EGYPT. xxxix. 1-xli. 57.

1. His Prosperity under Potiphar. xxxix. 1-6.

Causes of his promotion. 3, 4, 5.

2. He Is falsely Accused and Imprisoned. 7-20.

Grounds of his refusal? 8, 9.
Contrast with Reuben and Judah? xxxv. 22; xxxviii. 15, 16.
Why a woman of her rank so base?
Why was Joseph not killed?
Nature of his imprisonment? Ps. cv. 18.

3. He Is Promoted in Prison. 21-23. [29]

How did the Lord give him favor? 21-23.
What rule in life is illustrated by Joseph's repeated promotion?

4. He Interprets Dreams. xl. 1-23.

What the duties of chief butler and chief baker?
Did Potiphar still have confidence in Joseph? 4.
How could he say he was stolen? 15.
Why hang the baker after beheading him? 19.
What was the probable charge against him and the butler?

5. Pharaoh Has a Dream and Joseph Is Remembered. xli. 1-14.

What kind of corn? 5.
Why say, "with the east wind"? 6.
Why send for magicians? 8.
Why did they fail to give some interpretation? 8.
To what faults does the butler allude? 9.
Why did Joseph shave himself? 14.

6. The Dream Stated and Interpreted. 15-36.

How did Joseph know that God would give an answer? 16.
Why did the cows come out of the river? and what river? 22, 30.
Why would one-fifth be enough to save? 34.
Why not leave the matter to the people?

7. Joseph Is Made Governor. 37-46.

Did this Pharaoh know the true God? 38.
Meaning of the word Pharaoh?
Personal name and history of this one? See Rawlinson, Ancient Egypt, vol. II, 110, 111.
Why give Joseph his signet ring? 42.
Meaning of the name given Joseph? 45.
Why a priest's daughter for his wife? 45.

8. His Administration and His Family. 47-57. [30]

Meaning of "by handfuls"? 47.
Why lay up the food in cities? 48.
Why thankful for forgetting his father's house? and what meant by it? 51.
Why had he not gone to see his father?
What meant by "all the face of the earth"? and "all countries"? 56, 57.
Probable cause of the famine?

§ IV. VISITS OF JOSEPH'S BROTHERS. xlii. 1-xlv. 28.

1. They Come and Are Imprisoned. xlii. 1-17.

Significance of looking one upon another? 1.
Why remember the dreams? 9, cf. 6.
Why not recognize Joseph? 7, 8, 23.
Why demand that Benjamin be brought? 15.
Would bringing him prove that they were not spies? 16.
Why then, make this the ground of the demand?

2. Simeon Is Retained and the Others Released. 18-24.

Explain the use of "three days" and "third day." 17, 18.
Why say, "for I fear God"? 18.
What did Joseph learn from Reuben's remark? 22.
Why bind the next to the oldest?
What do we here learn of Joseph's deportment when sold? 21.

3. Their Return and Their Report to Jacob. 25-38.

Why the money put in the sacks? 25.
Why have to feed the ass with some of the wheat? 27, cf. 25.
What kind of inn?
Why afraid, and why think God had done it? 28, 35.
Why so careful of Benjamin? 38.

4. The Brother Are Sent Again. xliii. 1-14.

What assurance of Benjamin's return? 9.
What fruits yet in the land? 11.
Why send a present of these?
Who suggested the return of the money? 12. [31]

5. They Are Brought to Joseph's House, and Simeon Is Released. 15-25.

Why their fear? 18.
What did they learn from the steward's answer? 23.

6. They Dine with Joseph. 26-34.

Why the weeping? 29, 30.
Why not eat with Hebrews? 32, cf. xlvi. 34.
Why did the men marvel? 33.

7. The Device of the Cup. xliv. 1-17.

Force of their argument? 8, 9.
Meaning of divine? 5, 15.
What the purpose of the dining?
Meaning of, "God hath found out the iniquity of thy servants"? 16.
What was Joseph's purpose, and how near to being accomplished? 17.

8. Judah's Speech and Proposal. 18-34.

Why say, "let not thine anger burn," etc.? 18.
Why call Benjamin "a child," "a little one," "a lad"? 20, 30, cf. xlvi. 21.
What did Joseph learn from this speech? 28, 33, 34.
Why Judah speak?
What the feeling of Judah now? 33, 34.

9. Joseph Makes Himself Known. xlv. 1-15.

What overcame Joseph's feelings and his purpose?
Why say, "it was not you that sent me hither, but God"? 8.
How had God sent him?
When did Joseph discover this?
Why should Jacob move to Egypt? 11.
How long had Joseph now been in Egypt? 6; xli. 46; xxxvii. 2. [32]

10. Joseph Sends for the Family. 16-28.

Why was Pharaoh so well pleased? 16.
What kind of wagons were then used? 19.
Why say, "fall not by the way"? 24.
How was the fact that Joseph was alive explained to Jacob? 26, 28.

§ V. THE MIGRATION INTO EGYPT. xlvi. 1-xlvii. 26.

1. The Departure from Canaan. xlvi. 1-7.

What religious change since he first left Canaan? 1-4, cf. xxviii. 16, 17.
Why select Beer-sheba as the place?
Why say, "fear not to go down into Egypt"? 3.

2. Jacob's Offspring by Leah. 8-15.

How many sons, grandsons and great grandsons?
Why are they called "sons"? 15.
In what sense did she "bear" them? and how in Paddan-aram? 15. See also, 18, 25.
As the sons named are thirty-three, how is it said, "all the souls of his sons and his daughters were thirty and three"? 15.
Why was Dinah not counted?
What grandsons had Judah by Perez? 12.
At what time does Judah appear to have married? xxxvii. 36, cf. xxxviii. 1-3.
If he married at the time of Joseph's sale, how long had he been married when Perez appears (verse 12) with two sons?
How old would this allow Perez to be when his two sons were born, and how old could Er have been when he died? [Note.--Estimate the time necessary for the other events in chapter xxxviii., subtract the sum from twenty-two, and divide the [33] remainder between Er and Perez.]
Does the expression, "at that time" (xxxviii. 1) admit of an earlier date for the marriage than the sale of Joseph? Cf. the expression "in those days" Matt. iii. 1, with ii. 20-23, to see the vagueness of such expressions in Hebrew writers.
Can we date the marriage earlier than the return from Laban to Canaan? xxxviii. 1, 2.
If we place it this early, how many more years have we to divide between Er and Perez? xxx. 25-32; xxxi. 41; xxxvii. 2.
Does the result, fourteen and a half years, as the age of each, come within the bounds of probability? [Note.--Boys are frequently married at from fourteen to fifteen years of age in Palestine at the present day.]
Had Jacob been only twenty years with Laban, how old would Judah have been at this supposed date of his marriage? xxix. 20-23, 32-35.
If there forty years, how old could he have been?

3. Offspring by Zilpah. 16-18.

Is the daughter Serah counted?
Why she and not Dinah?

4. Offspring by Rachel. 19-22.

How long before the sale of Joseph was Benjamin born? xxxv. 16, 17, cf. xxxvii. 14.
How old then was he at the time of the migration?
How could he at such an age have ten sons?

5. Offspring of Bilhah. 23-25.

6. The Whole Number of Children. 26, 27.

How the number seventy made up? See 15, 18, 22, 25.
Who omitted, to make the sixty-six? 27, 12.
What the distinction, [34] then, between the two aggregates?
How many years had now passed since the birth of Isaac? xxv. 26; xlvii. 9.
How many living persons in Jacob's family?
At this rate of increase would the promise to Abraham and Jacob (xv. 13, 14; xlvi. 3) have been fulfilled?
Should we be surprised, then, that early marriages and births had commenced in the family?

7. Joseph Comes to Meet His Father. 28-34.

Where was the land of Goshen? 28.
Why say, "Now let me die"? 30, cf. Luke, ii. 29.
Why desire the land of Goshen? and how would this answer secure it?

8. He Introduces His Brothers and His Father to Pharaoh. xlvii. 1-12.

Why only five of his brothers? 2.
Why call Goshen "the best of the land"? 6.
Why the figure of a pilgrimage? 9, cf. Heb. xi. 13-16.
Why the title, "land of Rameses"? 11, cf. Ex. i. 11; xii. 37.

9. The Other Years of the Famine. 13-27.

Why move the people into the cities? 21.
Why exempt the lands of the priests? 22.
Was the one-fifth to be tribute, or rent? 26, cf. 20.
What the comparative increase of Israel? 27.

§ VI. THE LAST DAYS OF JACOB AND OF JOSEPH. xlvii. 28-l. 26.

1. Jacob's Age and His Last Request. xlvii. 28-51.

Why the request?
What was his age when Isaac died? [35] 28, 9, cf. xxv. 26; xxxv. 28.
What, when Joseph was sold?
How long, then, did Isaac live after the sale of Joseph?
Why was his death mentioned before the sale of Joseph? xxxv. 29, cf. xxxvii. 2.
Jacob's age at the birth of Joseph?
On leaving Laban?
On going to Laban?
When he was married?
Into what three great periods was his life divided? and how many years in each?
What were his chief experiences in each?
What changes for the better in his character? and how were these brought about?
What improvement had Esau made?
Can you now see a reason for the choice made before they were born? xxv. 23; Rom. ix. 10-13; Mal i. 2, 3.

2. Jacob Adopts the Sons of Joseph. xlviii. 1-7.

Meaning of "strengthened himself"? 2.
Connection of the promise with the adoption? 4, 5.
Effect of the arrangement on the two and their younger brothers? 5, 6.
Why this favor?
Why mention the burial place of Rachel? 7.

3. He Blesses Ephraim and Manasseh. 8-22.

Why did he not recognize them? 8, cf. 10.
Significance of the right hand and why? 14, 17, 20.
What belief is reflected in the blessing? 15, 16.
Meaning of the name being named on them? 16.
Why say, "which I took," etc.? 22.
Was Ephraim "before" Manasseh in the subsequent history? 20.

4. Jacob Predicts the Future of His Sons. xlix. 1-28.

What characteristic of Reuben does he mention? 3, 4.
Was [36] this fulfilled?
What the predicted fate of Simeon and Levi? 5-7.
How were they scattered and divided? I. Chron. iv. 24-43.
What predicted of Judah? 8, 10.
What meant by, "until Shiloh come"?
Has the sceptre ever departed from Judah except when Israel was under foreign dominion?
What the predicted location of Zebulon? 13.
What the fulfillment of the prediction concerning Issachar? 14, 15.
Can we trace any striking fulfillment of the words concerning Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali?
Is much of their history given in the later books?
What the prophecy concerning Joseph, and its fulfillment? 22.
What that of Benjamin and its fulfillment? 27.

5. He Repeats His Last Request, and Dies. 29-33.

Why so minute a description of the cave?
Why so strong when so near death?

6. Jacob Is Embalmed and Buried. l. 1-14.

The time for the process of embalming? 3.
What is now known of the process?
How was the art lost?
Why so many days of mourning? 3.
In what sense had he dug a grave for himself? 5.
Comparative size of the funeral procession? 7, 9.
Why the chariots and horsemen? 9.
In what sense was the threshing-floor "beyond Jordan"? 10, 11.

7. Joseph Comforts His Brethren. 15-21.

Why their fear after so long a time? 15.
How had Jacob learned the story of their transgression? 17.
Why propose to be [37] his servants? 18.
Why ask, "am I in the place of God"? 19, cf. Rom. xii. 19.
What purpose had God accomplished, besides saving life? 26, cf. xv. 13.
Trace backward the chain of causes by which Israel was brought into Egypt.
Which are good? and which are bad?
What foresight on God's part here discovered?

8. The Close of Joseph's Career. 22-26.

Length of a generation in Ephraim's family? 22, 23, cf. xli. 45, 46; I. Chron. vii. 20.
What rate of increase implied?
Was his body carried to Canaan? 25, cf. Ex. xiii. 19: Josh. xxiv. 32.
What the most prominent traits in Joseph's character? [38]

REVIEW.

PART FIRST.

State the subject and extent of this Part.
Give the subjects of the sections.

What the general distinction between the work of "the beginning," and that of the six days?
What was created, and what only changed in the six days?
Was the earth created in any one of them?
What does the author mean by his statements respecting light? i. 3, 14.
Does this account imply that there had never been light, or vegetation, or animal life, before the six days?

What was the condition of the man, physical, intellectual and spiritual, at first?
What duty was imposed on him? and what restriction? and why? 3.
How did he obtain the power of speech, and the proper application of words? 3.
Trace the process of the temptation and the fall. 4.
Does the fact that the serpent spoke prove this to be a fable?
Does this section bear marks of allegory?
What penalties were pronounced? 5.
Why was the serpent degraded?
Why did God clothe the pair, instead of leaving it to them?
How was the penalty on the man executed? 6.
What, then, brought spiritual death? and what physical death?
In what sense did man come to [39] know good and evil?
How long was the way of the tree of life guarded?
What became of it, and of the garden?

How many sons and daughters had Adam? 1, 4, 5.
Why was Abel's offering respected, and not Cain's 1.
Was this the beginning of animal sacrifice?
When did sacrifice probably begin?
Could man have originated it?
State the elements of Cain's punishment? 2.
Was he a complete apostate from God?
Who built the first city, and why? 3.
What inventions were made by descendants of Cain?
Why and when was his country called Nod?
Whose family register was chapter v? and when made out? 5.
Why the figures given in it?
Can we suppose that any names in the line are omitted?
What natural cause for the longevity of that period?

What was the state of corruption which occasioned the flood? 1, 2.
What connection between this and the intermarriages mentioned? 1.
What effort had God made to prevent it, and how? 1.
What the dimensions of the ark? and who were to be saved in it? 3, 4.
What were the sources of the flood, its extent and its duration? 5, 6, 8.
What did Noah do on leaving the ark? and why? 8.

What new privileges and laws given after the flood? 1.
Are these laws still binding? Cf. Acts xv. 20.
What effect has the organization of society on the law concerning murder?
Describe the covenant made with Noah. 2.
What was the need [40] of it?
How account for the fact that Noah was intoxicated? 3.
Quote and explain his remarks about his sons.

Where did the three branches of the race first settle? 1, 2, 3.
Describe the career of Nimrod. 2.
Describe the confusion of tongues. 4.
When did this apparently occur?
Was Noah still living?
Did any of the people remain at Babel?

PART SECOND.

Subject and extent of this Part?
Subjects of the several sections?
From which son of Noah was Abraham descended? § I.
In what year of the world was he born? 3.
Give the account of his father's family. 2.
Where was Abraham born? and where did he die? 2; § VI. 7.
What is known of the first seventy-five years of his life? § I. 2, 3.
What three great journeys did he make? and what was his final home? § I. 2, 3, 4; § II. 2.

Trace the career of Lot:

Trace Abraham's dealings with neighboring kings and princes.
Why was he more intimate with the Hittites than with others?
Why unwilling that Isaac should take a wife of any of these nations?

Trace chronologically the promise to Abraham, and their fulfillment so far as seen by him? § I. 3; § II. 2; § III. 1, 2, 3, 5; § IV. 1; § V. 3; § VI. 7.
When did he first learn where the promised land was? § I. 3.
When did he learn how long it would be before his seed should possess the land? § III. 2.
What were his first expectations concerning Ishmael? § III. 5.
What became of Ishmael? § V. 4; § VI. 8.
When was circumcision instituted? and what were the regulations concerning it? § III. 4.
Did it apply to all, or only to a part of Abraham's posterity?

What provision was made for a wife of Isaac? and why? § VI. 2.
Describe the death and burial of Sarah. § VI. 1.
Quote the comments on Abraham's faith in Heb. xi. 8-19, and state the facts on which each is based.
On account of his faith what was he called? Rom. iv. 11; Jas. ii. 23. [42]

PARTS THIRD AND FOURTH.

How old was Isaac when his father died? xxi. 5; xxv. 7.
How long had he then been married? xxv. 20.
How old were his two sons? Cf. xxv. 26.
What was to him the most solemn event in his father's life?

On what occasion were the promises of Abraham extended to Isaac? Part III. § I. 3.
What was the interval between his dealings with Abimelech, and those of his father? Part III. § I. 4.
What was his motive in aiming to confer the blessing on Esau? Part III. § II. 1.
What was his feeling when he discovered his mistake? 3.
When did he pray for "the blessing of Abraham" to come on Jacob? 4.
How old was he at this time? xxv. 26, cf. Part IV. § VI. 1, and see the age of Jacob when he went to Laban.
How much longer did he live? Part III. § V. 6.
What physical change, then, did he experience after bestowing the blessing? xxvii. 1.
Was he still alive when Jacob was mourning for Joseph? Part IV. § VI. 1.
What were his chief experiences in life?
What seems to have been his character?

What were Esau's early habits? Part III. § I. 1.
What trait of character did he exhibit in the sale of his birthright? 2.
What, in his selection of wives? 6.
How old was he then?
What, in regard to the blessing? Part III. § II. 3, 4.
Quote and explain Paul's comment on his conduct. Heb. xii. 16, 17.
Who was his third wife? and why did he take her? 5.
What confusion in a [43] later passage about the names of his wives? and to whom should we ascribe it? Part III. § V. 7.
To what place did he move while Jacob was gone? and why? Part III. § IV. 5; xxxvi. 6-8.
When he learned that Jacob was returning, with what purpose did he go to meet him? and how was his purpose changed? Part III. § IV. 5, 9.
How do we account for his presence at his father's burial? Part III. § V. 6.
How many successive kings are named among his descendants? Part III. § V. 7.
Did they all reign before the time of Moses?
What bearing on the authorship of Genesis, has the remark made concerning these kings? Part III. § V. 7.

How old was Jacob when he obtained the blessing and fled? Part IV. § VI. 1.
What were the elements of his character in this period? and how were they exhibited? Part III. § I. 1, 2; § II. 2, 6.
What were his chief experiences in Paddan-aram? and what improvements are seen in his character? Part III. § III. 2, 7; § IV. 1, 3, 4, 6, 7.
What had taught him to think of God, and to pray?
What had made him less selfish?
How many years did he live in Canaan after his return? Part IV. § VI. 1.
What were his chief experiences in this period of his life? Part III. § V. 2, 5; Part IV. § I. 3; § IV. 1.
While he was mourning for Joseph, why did his sons not tell him the truth?
What need of this discipline of sorrow?
What altars did he build in Canaan? xxxiii. 18-20; xxxv. 7; xlvi. 1.
Did he have one in Paddan-aram? [44]

With how many living descendants did Jacob migrate into Egypt? Part IV. § V. 6.
What was remarkable in the families of Judah and Benjamin? Part IV. § V. 2, 4.
What need was there for a change in regard to marriage and births? 6.
How many years did Jacob live in Egypt? Part IV. § VI. 1.
Quote his most notable religious utterances. Part IV. § V. 7; § VI. 3.
What predictions did he make in his dying hour? Part IV. § VI. 4.
What kind of burial was accorded him? 6.
What was his character in the last period of his life?
Why did God choose him in preference to Esau before they were born?

Trace all the causes which led to the sale of Joseph. Part IV. § I.
Trace those which led him from Potiphar's house to the governorship. Part IV. § III.
Which of these causes were good, which bad, and which divine?
State the method in which he gathered up the grain, and the terms on which he sold it. Part IV. § III. 8; § V. 9.
What state of feeling did Joseph reach in regard to his father's house? Part IV. § III. 8.
State the reflections which led him to it.
When his brethren came for grain, what purpose did he form? and what steps did he take to accomplish it? Part IV. § IV. 1, 2.
When they brought Benjamin what device did Joseph employ to retain him and get rid of them. 6, 7.
What thwarted his purpose, and how? Part IV. § IV. 8, 9.
What did Joseph then [45] discover and announce as to the purpose of God? Part IV. § IV. 9.
What was God's purpose in bringing Israel into Egypt?

What sons had Joseph? and what favor was bestowed on them for his sake? Part IV. § VI. 2, 3.
Describe the death and burial of Joseph. 8.
What are his most prominent traits of character?

General Questions

State the general design of the book as indicated by its four Parts.
What connection has Part First with the other Parts?
Why is it so brief?
How much time is covered by the whole book? Part I. § IV. 5; Part II. § I. 3; § V. 3; Part III. § I. 1; Part IV. § VI. 1, 8.
Does any other authentic history reach into this period?
What is the evidence that Moses was the author of the book? [46]

[CNSH1 1-46]

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J. W. McGarvey
Class Notes on Sacred History, Volume I (1893)

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