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So
CHAPTER II.
FROM THE BIRTH OF ABRAM TO THE DESTRUCTION OF
SODOM AND GOMORRAH.
Therach, the son of Nahor, was the chief officer of King
Nimrod, and a great favourite with his royal master; and
when his wife Amtheta, the daughter of Karnebo, bore him
a son, she called the child Ab-ram, meaning " Great father;"
and Therach was seventy years old when his son Abram was
born.
Now it came to pass on the night of Abram's birth that
Therach entertained a number of his friends, including the" wise men and magicians of Nimrod the king. They passed
the night in revelry and merriment, and when they went
forth from the house of their host rr.orn was dawning.
Lifting their eyes heavenward, they beheld a large and
brilliant star rise before them in the east, and swallow up or
consume four stars from the four corners of the heavens.
The magicians wondered much at this occurrence, and they
said one to the other:
"Verily, this is an omen connected with the newly-born
child of Therach. When he grows up he will be fruitful and
increase greatly in power and excellence, and his descen-
dants will destroy this kingdom and possess its lands."
And they went home and pondered over the matter, and
when they met in the house of assembly, they said:
"Behold, we had better inform the king of the wonderful
occurrence which greeted our sight. Should it come to his
knowledge indirectly, he will be wroth with us for keeping
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it from him; he may even slay us for our neglect. Let us
go to him at once that we may be free from blame in the
matter."
Entering into the presence of the king, his wise men
saluted him, saying, "O king, live for ever!"
And the chief of the wise men then related to the king the
phenomenon which they had witnessed, and the interpreta-
tion or meaning which they assigned to it . Concluding the
relation, he added:
"And now, if it be pleasing to the king, we would advise
him to pay the value of this child unto his father and destroy
him while in his infancy, lest in the days to come, through
him and his descendants, we and our children be utterly
destroyed."
The king listened attentively to the words of his servants
and approved of their advice. He sent a messenger for
Therach, and when the latter appeared before him he told
him all that the wise men had related, and said:
"Now, therefore, give up the child, that we may slay him
before misfortune falls upon us, and in payment we will fill
thy coffers with silver and with gold!"
Then answered Therach:
"I have listened to the words of my lord, and all that he
wishes I will do; yet first I beg, let me tell the king of a
request made to me but yesterday, and ask his advice
thereon."
"It is well," replied Nimrod; "speak."
"Yesterday," said Therach, " Ayon, the son of Morad,
came to my house desiring to purchase from me the beauti-
ful steed, which thou, oh king, didst graciously present to
me. 'Sell me the horse,' said Ayon, 'and I will pay thee
his full value and likewise fill thy stables with straw and
provender.' And I answered him that I did not feel at
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liberty to so dispose of the king's gift without the king's ap-
proval; and now, oh king! I ask thee for advice."
Angrily the king answered:
"And thou wouldst think of selling my gift, of parting
with that noble steed for gold and silver, straw and proven-
der! Art thou in such need of these things that thou
wouldst barter for them the horse which I have given thee,
a steed unequalled in the land?"
Then Therach bowed before the king, and said, " And if
such is thy feeling in regard to this horse, how canst thou
ask me to give up my child? Gold and silver cannot pay
me for the gift of my king, neither can gold or silver replace
for me my child Y'
This application of his advice was exceedingly disagree-
able to the king, and his feeling was so plainly pictured on
his countenance that Therach quickly added:
"All my possessions are my king's, even my child,
without money and without price."
"No," said the king, "for money will I buy him."
"Pardon, my lord," returned Therach, "give me three
days for consideration, and I will speak of this matter with
the mother of the boy."
Nimrod granted this request, and Therach departed from
his presence.
At the end of the three days the king sent a message to
Therach, commanding him to send the child or be himself
destroyed with all his family.
When Therach received this message, realising that the
king was determined in his purpose, he took the child of
one of his slaves, a child born on the day of Abram's birth,
u1d sent it to King Nimrod, receiving the money for it and
declaring it to be his child.
The king himself slew the child, and Therach hid his wife,
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Abram, and the child's nurse in a lonely cave, sending them
food secretly every week. And Abram remained in this
cave until he was ten years old.
At the end of ten years Nimrod and his officers had
forgotten all about Abram and the episode of his birth, and
Abram came forth from the cave and was sent to live with
Noah and his son Shem to learn from them the ways of the
Lord; and he lived there thirty-nine years.
During these years Charan, the son of Therach, the elder
brother of Abram, married, and his wife bore him a son
whom he called "Lot;" she bore him also two daughters,
one of whom he called Milcah and the other Sarai. At the
time of Sarai's birth, Abram was about forty-two years of
age.
From his earliest childhood Abram was a lover of the
Lord. God had granted him a wise heart ready to compre-
hend and understand the majesty of the Eternal, and able
to despise the vanity of idolatry.
When quite a child, beholding the brilliant splendour of
the noonday sun and the reflected glory which it cast upon
all objects around, he said, "Surely this brilliant light must
be a god, to him will I render worship." And he
worshipped the sun and prayed to it. But as the day
lengthened the sun's brightness faded, the radiance which it
tast upon the earth was lost in the lowering clouds of night,
and as the twilight deepened the youth ceased his supplica-
tions, saying, "No, this cannot be a god. Where then can
I find the Creator, He who made the heavens and the
earth 7" He looked towards the west, the south, the north,
and to the east. The sun disappeared from his view, nature
became enveloped in the pall of a past day. Then th:
moon rose, and when Abram saw it shining in the heavens
surrounded by its myriads of stars, he said, "Perhaps them
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are the gods who have created all things," and he uttered
prayers to them. But when the morning dawned and the
stars paled, and the moon faded into silvery whiteness and
was lost in the returning glory of the sun, Abram knew God,
and said, "There is a higher power, a Supreme Being, and
these luminaries are but His servants, the work of His
hands." From that day, even until the day of his death,
Abram knew the Lord and walked in all His ways.
While Abram, the son of Therach, added daily to his
wisdom and knowledge in the house of Noah, none knowing
aught of his whereabouts, the subjects of King Nimrod,
who then reigned in Babel, continued in their evil ways,
despite of the warnings which they had received of the
destruction of the wicked. And the servants of Nimrod
called him Amraphel. Merdon, the son of Nimrod, was
more unrighteous than his father, and even Therach, who
still remained chief officer to the king, became a worshipper
of idols. In his house he had twelve large images of wood
and stone, a separate god for each month in the year, and
to these he prayed and made obeisance.
When Abram was fifty years of age he left the house of
his instructor, Noah, and returned to Therach, his father.
He beheld the twelve idols occupying the places of honour
in his father's house, and his soul waxed full with wrath,
and he uttered a vow. saying:
"By the life of the Lord, if these images remain here
three days longer, may the God who created me make me
even such as they."
And Abram sought his father when he was surrounded
by his officers, and he spoke to him, saying:
"Father, tell me, I pray, where I may find the God who
created the heavens and the earth, thee, me, and all the
people in the world."
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And Therach answered:
"My son, the creator of all things is here with us in the
house."
Then said Abram:
"Show him to me, my father."
And Therach led Abram into an inner apartment, and
pointing to the twelve large idols and the many smaller
ones around, he said:
"These are the gods who created the heavens and the
earth, thee, me, and all the people of the world."
Abram then sought his mother, saying:
"My mother, behold, my father has shown to me the
gods who have created the earth and all that it contains,
therefore, prepare for me, I pray thee, a kid for a sacrifice,
that the gods of my father may partake of the same and
receive it favourably."
Abram's mother did as her son had requested her, and
Abram placed the food which she prepared before the idols,
but none stretched forth a hand to eat.
Then Abram jested, and said, "Perchance 'tis not
exactly to their taste, or mayhap the quantity appear*
stinted. I will prepare a larger offering, and strive to make
it still more savoury."
Next day Abram requested his mother to prepare two
kids and with her greatest skill, and placing them before
the idols he watched with the same result as on the previous
day.
Then Abram exclaimed:
"Woe to my father and to this evil generation; woe
to those who incline their hearts to vanity and worship
senseless images without the power to smell or eat, to see
or hear. Mouths they have, but sounds they cannot utter;
eyes they have, but lack all power to see; they have ears
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that cannot hear, hands that cannot move, and feet that cannot walk. Senseless as they are the men who wrought
them, senseless all who trust in them and bow before
them."
And seizing an iron implement, he destroyed and broke
with it all the images save one, into the hands of which he
placed the iron which he had used.
The noise of this proceeding reached the ears of
Therach, who hurried to the apartment, where he found
the broken idols and the food which Abram had placed
before them. In wrath and indignation he cried out unto
his son, saying:
"What is this that thou hast done unto my gods V
And Abram answered:
"I brought them savoury food, and behold they all
grasped for it with eagerness at the same time, all save
the largest one, who, annoyed and displeased with their
greed, seized that iron which he holds and destroyed them." "False are thy words," answered Therach in anger.
"Had these images the breath of life, that they could
move and act as thou hast spoken? Did I not fashion
them with my own hands? How, then, could the larger
destroy the smaller ones?"
"Then why serve senseless, powerless gods?" replied
Abram, "gods who can neither help thee in thy need nor
Fear thy supplications? Evil is it of thee and those who
unite with thee to serve images of stone and wood, for-
getting the Lord God who made the heaven and the earth
and all that is therein. Ye bring guilt upon your souls, the
same guilt for which your ancestors were punished by the
waters of the flood. Cease, oh, my father, to serve such
gods, lest evil fall upon thy soul and the souls of all thy
family."
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And seizing the iron from the hands of the remaining
idol, he destroyed that also, before his father's eyes.
When Therach witnessed this deed of his son, he hastened
before King Nimrod and denounced Abram, saying, "A
son born to me fifty years ago has acted so and so,—let
him be brought before thee, I pray, for judgment."
When Abram was summoned before the king, Nimrod
said to him:
"What is this that thou hast done unto thy father's
gods?"
And Abram answered the king in the same words that
he had spoken to his father. And when Nimrod replied:
"The large god had no strength nor power to do this
thing," Abram continued, saying:
"Then wherefore serve him? Why cause thy subjects
to follow in thy vain ways? Rather serve the great Lord
of the world who has power to do all things; who has the
power to kill, the power to keep alive. Woe to thee, thou
man of foolish heart. Turn from thy evil ways, serve Him
in whose hands is thy life and the lives of all thy people, or
die in reproach, thou and all who follow thee."
The king commanded his officers to seize Abram and
lead him to confinement, and he remained in prison ten
days. During this time Nimrod convened his council, and
thus addressed his princes and his officers:
"Ye have heard of the deeds of Abram, the son of
Therach. He has treated me with disrespect and shown
no dread of my power. Behold, he is in prison; there-
fore speak and tell me what punishment should be in-
flicted on this man, who has acted so audaciously before
me."
And the counsellors replied:
"He who acts disrespectfully to the king should meet
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death upon the gallows; this man has done more; he is
guilty of sacrilege, he has insulted our gods; therefore he
should be burned to death. If it be pleasing to the king
let a furnace be heated, day and night, and then let this
Abram be cast therein."
This advice pleased the king, and he commanded such
measures to be taken forthwith.
And when the furnace was heated to a great and con-
suming heat, all the officers assembled, and the people,
both great and small, to witness the carrying out of the
king's orders. The women, carrying their children with
them, ascended to the roofs of their houses, and the
men gathered in great numbers; but all stood afar off, for none dared approach the great heat to look into the
furnace.
And it came to pass, when Abram was brought out from
prison and the wise men and magicians beheld him, that
they cried aloud unto Nimrod:
"Oh, king, we know this man! This is none other than
the child, at whose birth, fifty years ago, one large star con-
sumed four other stars. His father has mocked thee and
played thee false in sending another child in his stead, to
be slain according to thy will."
When the king heard these words he grew fiercely angry,
and ordered Therach to be immediately brought before
him. And he said to Therach:
"Thou hast heard what these magicians have asserted.
Tell me, now, have they spoken truly?"
And Therach, observing the great anger of the king,
answered truly:
"It is as these wise men have spoken. I had compassion
upon my child, and sent thee in his stead the child of one
of my slaves."
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"Who advised thee to this? Speak truly, and thou shalt
live ?" demanded Nimrod.
The king's manner terrified Therach, and he answered
quickly, not knowing what he said, and altogether without
foundation:
"Charan, my other son, advised me to the thing."
Now Charan was a man without strength of mind in
faith, and undecided as to whether the idols of his father
or the God of Abram deserved his worship. When Abram
was cast in prison, Charan said in his heart, "Now will
I see what God is powerful. If Abram prevails I will pro-
fess his faith, and if he perishes I will follow the leading of
the king."
When Therach thus accused his son, Nimrod
answered:
"Then Charan must suffer with Abram, and both thy
sons be cast into the furnace."
And both Abram and Charan were brought before the
king, and in the presence of all the inhabitants their robes
were removed from them, their hands and feet were bound,
and they were cast into the flaming furnace.
Now the heat of the fire was so great that the twelve
men who cast them therein were consumed by it, yet God
had compassion upon his servant Abram, and though the
ropes which bound him were burned from off his limbs, he
walked upright through the fire, unharmed. But Charan,
his brother, whose heart was not the Lord's, met instan-
taneous death in the flames. And the servants of the king
called out to their master:
"Behold, Abram walks unhurt through the flames, the
ropes with which we bound him are consumed, yet he is
uninjured."
The king refused to believe so wonderful a thing, and
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sent trusted officers to look into the furnace, and when they
corroborated the words of their inferiors the king was lost
in amazement, and commanded his officers to take Abram
out of the fire. They were not able, however, to execute
his order, for the forks of flame blazed in their faces and
they fled from the great heat.
And the king reproached them, saying ironically:
"Haste ye,—take Abram out, else he may die!"
But their second attempt was fruitless as the first, and in
it eight men were burned to death.
Then the king called to Abram, saying:
"Servant of the God of Heaven, come forth from the fire
and stand before me."
And Abram walked out of the fire and the furnace and
stood before the king. And when the king saw that not
even a hair of Abram's head was singed by the flame, he
expressed wonder and amazement.
"The God of Heaven, in whom I trust," said Abram,
"and in whose hand are all things, hath delivered me from
the flames."
And the princes of the king bowed before Abram, but he
said to them:
"Bow not to me, but to the great God of the Universe,
who hath created you. Serve Him and walk in His ways;
He is powerful to deliver and to save from death."
The king, too, looked on Abram with awe, and made him
many valuable presents, and parted from him in peace.
And it came to pass after this that Nahor and Abram
took to themselves wives; the name of Nahor's wife was
Milcah, and the name of Abram's wife Sarai, or Yiska.
They were both the daughters of Charaa, the brother of
their husbands.
About two years after Abram's deliverance from death by
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fire, King Nimrod dreamed. And behold, in this dream, he
was standing with his army in a valley, opposite to a great
furnace, in which a fire blazed; and a man, resembling
Abram, came forth from the furnace and stood before the
king, holding in his hand a drawn sword. And the man
approached Nimrod with this sword uplifted, and Nimrod
turned and fled. Then, as the king fled, the man threw
after him an egg, and a huge river of water flowed forth
from this egg, engulfing the king and all his army, and all
were drowned save the king with three men. As they fled,
the king turned to look at the companions who had been
saved with him, and behold they were men of tall stature
and commanding appearance, and attired in royal apparel.
And the river disappeared and only an egg remained. And
further in his dream, King Nimrod beheld a bird issue forth
from this egg, and the bird flew upon his head and pecked
out his eyes. Then the king awoke in great terror, and lo,
his heart was beating rapidly and his blood was feverish.
In the morning the king sent for his wise men, and
relating to them his dream, he demanded its interpretation.
And one of the wise men, whose name was Anuki, answered,
saying:
"Behold, this dream foreshadows the evil which Abram
and his descendants will cause the king in time to come.
It foretells the day when they will rise and smite our lord
the king with all his hosts, and there will none be saved
except d1e king, with three other kings who will battle on
his side. And the river and the bird, these that came forth
from the egg, lo, they but typify the descendants of this
man, who will work much evil to our nation and our people
in after days.
"This is the interpretation of the dream, its only meaning.
And well thou knowest, oh, my lord the king, that many
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years ago thy wise men beheld this very thing, and yet to
thy own misfortune thou hast still allowed this man to live.
While he walks on earth thy kingdom remains imperilled."
The words of Anuki made a deep impression on the king,
and he sent secret emissaries to take Abram's life. The
king's design, however, was frustrated by Eleazer, a slave of
Abram's, whom Nimrod had presented to him. He learned
of the king's intention, and warned his master, saying:
"Arise, get thee quickly hence, that thou mayest escape
destruction."
And he told Abram of the king's dream, and the inter-
pretation which the wise men had given to it.
So Abram hastened to the house of Noah, and remained
there hiding while the servants of the king searched his own
home and the surrounding country in vain, and he remained
a longer time, even until the people had forgotten him.
And it came to pass during this period of concealment
that Therach, who was still a favourite with the king, came
in secret to visit his son. And Abram spoke to him,
saying:
"Come, let us all journey to another land; let us go to
Canaan. Thou knowest that the king seeks my life, and
even though he honours and exalts thee, yet wealth and
power amount to naught in the hour of death and trouble.
Journey with me, oh, my father; abandon the vanity which
thou pursuest; let us live in safety, worshipping the great
God who created us in happiness and peace."
And Noah and his son Shem added their entreaties to
those of Abram, till Therach consented to do as they
wished. And Therach with Abram his son, and Lot his
son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, and all his family,
went forth from Ur Chaldee, from the city of Babel to the
land of Charan, and there they tarried.
