FAMINE (zr). Considering the early period in the history orthe world to which the Biblical records, especially the oldest of them, refer ; and considering also how small a proportion to the world at large, or even to the inhabited part of it, the population borc in the primitive ages, we should not antecedently expect to find frequent mention of families. Yet does it appear, from the testimony of these records, that mankind suffered greatly from dearth of food in tbe earliest periods of which we have any account ; and the Scriptural history in this, as in other particulars, will be found interest ing and valuable to the economist and philosopher, as well as to the divine. In truth famine appears to depend, not on the extent of cultivable or of culti vated land, nor on the proportion which such land bears to the actual population—though, doubt less, both these elements eliter into the influences which determine the question of abundance or scarcity—but rather on human forethought and thrift so applied, as, in the actual circumstances, whatever they are, to make a suitable provision in all cases against such contingencies as may occa sion dearth. In the almost entire absence of this forethought, barbarous and half-civilized nations have been found, scanty though the population may be in relation to the tracts of land over which they roam, to be most frequently on the verge of destitution, and not seldom to suffer the greatest privations from dearth and famine. Vain is the almost unlimited opportunity which Nature spreads around them for the supply of their animal necessities, since they want either the intelligence and skill which are necessary to turn tbese oppor tunities to account, or the moral qualities which would spare something from actual abundance in order to provide against coming wants.
Since the Bible gives its unquestionable evidence to shew that dearth was by no means an unfrequent or an inconsiderable evil in the early ages, it sup plies a very cogent proof, in answer to those who maintain either that the world is worse or no better than it was in ancient times, that at least in those moral qualities on which man's physical well-being depends, mankind have made unquestionable ad vances. Indeed, if any large portion of the earth now suffer from famine, the cause may be looked for not so much in the want of forethought and savingness as in the operation of passions and pre judices arising from misconceived self-interest, whith prevent the free interchange of the bounties of divine Providence,—passions and prejudices which characterize not mankind at large, but only certain small portions of society, and which, in consequence, how powerful soever they may for a time be, have not the vitality of vices of character that belong to a semi-barbarous age, and must, in a day like thc present, soon disappear before the generous and dissolving ardour of enlightened Christian love.
The first mention of a famine which occurs in Scripture is in Gen. xii. to, where we read that so early as the days of the patriarch Abraham there was a famine in the land,' which is described as so grievous as to compel the father of the faithful to quit Canaan. The country to which he resorted was, as we might expect, the land of Egypt, the early and lasting fertility of which is a well known historical fact. In Gen. xxvi. 1, this famine is designated as the first,' that is, the first known, or of which there was any record. The same passage informs us of another famine, which afflicted 'the land ' in the days of Isaac, who seems to have contemplated a descent into Egypt ; but who, being instructed of God, removed to a part of Arabia Petrxa (Gen. xxvi. 17) named
Gerar, a city of the Philistines, whose monarch's name was Abimelech.
Even Egypt, however, was not exempt from the desolations of famine (Gen. xli. 3o). The ordi nary cause of dearth in Egypt is connected with the annual overflow of the Nile. If the rise of the waters is in any year below a certain standard, the country affords scanty supplies of food, and may for the greater part remain a desert. But more than local causes must have been in operation in the case before us ; for we are told that the famine was sore in all lands,' that the famine was over all the face of the earth.' By the foresight and wisdom of Joseph, however, provision against the evil had been made in Egypt, while other countries were left to suffer the unmitigated consequences of their neglect. The provision made by Joseph must have been of a most abundant nature, since the period during which the dearth lasted was no less than seven years, and the people of other parts sought and received supplies in Egypt—` all coun tries came into Egypt to buy corn.' Among other lands, Canaan suffered from the famine ; which was the immediate occasion of Jacob's sending his sons down into Egypt, of the discovery which they made of their lost brother, and of the settlement in that land of the descendants of Abraham : an event of the highest consequence in the sequel, and serving to illustrate the benignity and wisdom of divine Pro vidence in the evils with which, under its influence, the world is afflicted.
This famine was made by Joseph the occasion of one of the greatest social revolutions which history records. The details may be found in the book of Genesis ; and it is enough to say here that, as the special administrator of the affairs of the country, Joseph got into his hands all the property of the kingdom, including the land (excepting that which belonged to the priests), and gave the same back to the people as tenants at will, on condition of their paying to the king the fifth,' probably of the annual produce.
From these statements it appears that three suc cessive generations were in these early days visited by famine. The Scriptural narrative (the details of which may be easily ascertained by the help of a Concordance) shews that in after ages famines were, in ancient times, more frequent than they are now ; and this justifies the use which is made of so terrible a scourge by the sacred writers, and espe cially the prophets and our Lord himself, in the highly figurative language which they employ in theit righteous endeavours to turn wicked men and wicked nations from the evil of their ways (Ezek. vi. ; Matt. xxiv. 7). In Amos viii. 1, sq., a heavier woe than even the want of bread is appro priately spoken of under the appellation of a fa mine ; 'Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land ; not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but of hear ing the word of the Lord ; and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it : in that day shall the fair virgins and the young men faint for thirst.' The ensuing verse shews that idolatry was the moving cause of this heavy punishment.—J. R. B.