We also class with this generation the Philis thn, said (Gen. x. 14) to have come out of the Casluhim. But they are also said to have come from Caphtor (Amos ix. 7), and are called Caph torim (Dent. ii. 23). Hence it has been supposed that there may have been a transposition of the words Casluhim and Caphtorim in Gen. x. 14. But there is nothing in any of these passages which implies lineal descent either from Casluhim or Caphtorim, and if the seat of the Casluhim were, as is commonly supposed, to the east of the Isth mus of Suez, the Philistim would necessarily pass through and come out of them,' in coming from Caphtor into Palestine. Hales tells us that Pales tine in the Sanscrit is Pali-sthan, and signifies shepherd-/and, and he argues from Hcrodotus, Alanetho, and the sacred books of the Hindus, that the Philistim were a branch of the Palibothri (the name given by Pliny to the Paliputras of the Hindus), who passed from India through Arabia into Egypt, where they established a dynasty, and were called Hycsos or shepherd-kings, but were eventually expelled a short time before the settle ment of Jacob's family in Goshen.
3. The sons of Shem are also enumerated in geo graphical order, the first named being Elam, who gave his name to Elymais, a district on the Choas pes to the east of the Tigris, whose chief city, Susa, was afterwards the head of the Persian em pire. One of his descendants, Chedorlaomer (the Kudur Mabbuk, ravager of the west, of the re cently discovered inscriptions), conquered Canaan —Lightfoot says, in reliance on the prophecy which made Canaan the servant of Shern—and was him self conquered by Abraham. Asshur occupied the country which became the nucleus of the Assyrian empire, and the testimony of the inscriptions con firms the reading of the text (rather than the margin) of Gen. x. II, that Lower Babylonia having been tbe original seat of Scmitic power, it spread northwards and westwards, Asshur going I forth out of Shinar to build Nineveh, Abraham passing from Ur by Charran into Syria. Arphaxad occupied the plain of Shinar east and west of the Tigris. Bochart recognises the name in the Assy rian district of Arrapachitis. Josephus says the Chaldees were anciently called after him Arphaxa deans (i e., their old name Chasdinz is derived from the final letters of Arpachshac/).* This appears more reasonable than to derive their name from Chesty!, the nephew of Abraham. Lud is supposed to have given his name to Lydia ; Aram certainly gave his to the high table-land extending eastward from the Jordan to the Euphrates, which was afterwards the seat of the kingdom of Syria. His son Uz was the founder of Damascus, and Gether is supposed to be the father of the Itureans.
The th chapter of Genesis gives the lineal descent of the patriarchs from Shem to Abraham. In this line the LXX. inserts a second Cainan be tween Arphaxad and Sala. Here, however, the Hebrew text is generally preferred, though that of the LXX. is adopted by St. Luke. In the days of Peleg, fourth in descent from Shern, the earth was divided ' by that great migratory movement which took place in consequence of the confusion of tongues, and the results of which are given in the loth chapter, and it is argued, in favour of the longer generations of the Septuagint, that the in habitants of the world could hardly have been numerous enough to require this dispersion so soon as too years after the deluge, and also that the influence of Noah and Shem, who, according to the Hebrew account, were both alive in Peleg's days, must have bccn sufficient to rcstrain their posterity from that godless conduct which brought upon them the confusion of tongues.
The first thing to notice in the genealogical table, extending from Abraham to the sons of Jacob, is the age of Terah at Abraham's birth. It is stated in Gen. xi. 26 that Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran ;' afterwards, at verse 32, it is said, the days of Temh were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran ;' and again (Gen. xii. 4), 'and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.' Now we collect from Acts vii. 4 that Abram did not leave Haran till after the death of Terah, when, had he been born when Terah was 7o, Ile must have bccn 135 years old. But this difficulty disappears at once, if we adopt the solution of it, which has been universally received by the best commentators since it was first pointed out by Archbishop Usher, viz., that Abraham was not the eldest, but in all probability-, as is acknow ledged by several of the Rabbis, the youngest son of Terah, and born when he was 13o years old, and possibly by another wife. This is quite in accordance with the opinion of many of the earliest Rabbinical and Christian expositors that Sarah was the same as Iscah (the grand-daughter of the father of Abraham, Gen. xx. 12). Another point of interest is the time of Jacob's marriage with Leah. If we suppose with some that this marriage did not take place till after the expiration of his first seven years' servitude, it would be im possible for him to have had great-grandchildren (Gen. xlvi. 12, 17) at the time of his going down into Egypt. Hence those who hold this opinion have imagined that he remained at Padan-Aram for two perioa's of twenty years (see Adam Clarke on Gen. xxxi. 38). There is, however; no sufficient authority for this supposition, and we infer that he married both Leah and. Rachel in the first year of his residence at Padan-Aram, and that his wives were given to him in consideration of an engage ment to serve, not of service done. This gives fifty-three years* from the time of his marriage till his migration to Egypt, and allows his sons, Judah and Asher, to have grandchildren, but only on the supposition that Judah was not more than fifteen at the birth of his son Er, nor Er more tban fifteen at his marriage with Tamar, nor Pharez more than fifteen at the birth of IIezron and Hamul. Asher and his son Beriah must also have been under twenty at their respective marriages. It has been argued from this that the period of maturity could not have been later in the days of the patriarchs than it is at present. But it must be remembered that a very considerable and rapid diminution in the length of human life had taken place by this time, and this may have been accompanied by a corresponding change in the period of maturity. The total number of Jacob's :lune that came with him into Egypt was sixty-six, add to this four, for himself and Joseph and his two sons, and we have seventy (Gen. xlvi. 27), add to it nine for the sur viving wives of himself, and the eleven sons that accompanied him, and we have seventy-five (Acts vii. 14) for the whole number that went into Egypt.