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Interest In holy places.

appears to be buried beyond the Jordan, it is the latest source which places his grave at Hebron (1. 1-11 and 12 seq.). So in still later tradition, all the sons of Jacob with the exception of Joseph find their last resting-place at Hebron, and in Jewish prayers for the dead it is besought that their souls may be bound up with those of the patriarchs, or that they may go to the cave of Machpelah and thence to the Cherubim. The increasing prominence of the old Calebite locality is not the least interesting phase in the comparative study of the patriarchal traditions. The association of the ancestors of Israel with certain sites is a feature which finds analogies even in modern Palestine. There are old centres of cult which have never lost the veneration of the people; the shrines are known as the tombs of saints or walis (patrons) with such orthodox names as St George, Elijah, &c. Traditions justify the reputation for sanctity, and not only are similar stories told of distinct figures, but there are varying traditions of a single figure. The places have retained their sacred character despite political and religious vicissitudes; they are far older than their present names, and such is the conservatism of the east that it is not surprising when, for example, a sacred tomb at Gezer stands quite close to the site of an ancient holy place, about 3000 years old, the existence of which was first made known in the course of excavation. Genesis preserves a selection of traditions relating to a few of the old Palestinian centres of cult. We cannot suppose that these first gained their sacred character in the pre-Mosaic "patriarchal "age, there is in any case the obvious difficulty of bridging the gap between the descent into Egypt and the Exodus, and it is clear that when the Israelites entered Palestine they came among a people whose religion, tradition and thought were fully established. It is only in accordance with analogy if stories were current in Israel of the institution of the sacred places, and closer study shows that we do not preserve the original version of these traditions."

Israel; but this unity was not felt at certain periods of disorganization, and the idea of including Judah among the sons of Israel could not have arisen at a time when Israel and Judah were rival kingdoms. In so far as the traditions can be read in the light of biblical history it is evident that they belong to different ages and represent different national, tribal, or local standpoints. Another noteworthy feature is the interest taken in sacred sites. Certain places are distinguished by theophanies or by the erection of an altar (lit. place of sacrificial slaughter), and incidents are narrated with a very intelligible purpose. Mizpah in Gilead is the scene of a covenant or treaty between Jacob and his Aramaean relative commemorated by a pillar (Maşṣèbah). It was otherwise known for an annual religious ceremony, the traditional origin of which is related in the story of Jephthah's vow and sacrifice (Judg. xi.), and its priests are denounced by Hosea (v. 1). Shechem, the famous city of the Samaritans (" the foolish nation," Ecclus. I. 26), where Joseph was buried (Josh. xxiv. 32), had a sanctuary and a sacred pillar and tree. It was the scene of the coronation (a religious ceremony) of Abimelech (Judg. ix.), and Rehoboam (1 Kings xii. 1). The pillar was ascribed to Joshua (Josh. xxiv. 26 seq.), and although Jacob set up at Shechem an" altar," the verb suggests that the original object was a pillar (Gen. xxxiii. 20). The first ancestor of Israel, on the other hand, is merely associated with a theophany at an oracular tree (xii. 6). The Benjamite Bethel was especially famous in Israelite religious history. The story tells how Jacob discovered its sanctity, it was the gate of heaven,―made a covenant with its God, established the sacred pillar, and instituted its tithes (xxviii.). The prophetess Deborah dwelt under a palm-tree near Bethel (Judg. iv. 5), and her name is also that of the foster-mother of Rebekah who was buried near Bethel beneath the "oak of weeping" (xxxv. 8). Bochim ("weeping ") elsewhere receives its name when an angel appeared to the Israelites (Judg. ii. 1, Septuagint adds Bethel). To the prophets Hosea and Amos the cultus of Bethel was superstitious and immoral, even though it was Yahweh himself who was worshipped there (see BETHEL). South of Hebron lay Beersheba, an important centre and place of pilgrim-cestor sat when three divine beings revealed themselves to him. age, with a special numen by whom oaths were taken (Amos viii. 14, see Sept. and the commentaries). Isaac built its altar, and Isaac's God guarded Jacob in his journeying (xxxi. 29, xlvi. 1). This patriarch and his "brother " Ishmael are closely associated with the district south of Judah, both are connected with Beer-lahai-roi (xxiv. 62, Sept. xxv. 11), whose fountain was the scene of a theophany (xvi.), and their traditions are thus localized in the district of Kadesh famous in the events of the Exodus (cf. xvi. 14, xxi. 21, xxv. 18, Ex. xv. 22). (See EXODUS, THE.) Abraham planted a sacred tree at Beersheba and invoked "the everlasting God" (xxi. 33). But the patriarch is more closely identified with Hebron, which had a sanctuary (cf. 2 Sam. xv. 7 seq.), and an altar which he built "unto Yahweh "(xiii. 18). The sacred oak of Mamre was famous in the time of Josephus (B. J. iv. 9, 7), it was later a haunt of " angels " (Sozomen), and Constantine was obliged to put down the heathenish cultus. The place still has its holy tree. Beneath the oak there appeared the three divine beings, and in the cave of Machpelah the illustrious ancestor and his wife were buried. The story of his descent into Egypt and the plaguing of Pharaoh is a secondary insertion (xii. 10-xiii. 2), and where the patriarch appears at Beersheba it is in incidents which tend to connect him with his "son" Isaac. There is a very distinct tendency to emphasize the importance of Hebron. Taken from primitive giants by the non-Israelite clan Caleb (q.v.) it has now become predominant in the patriarchal traditions. Jacob leaves his dying father at Beersheba (xxviii. 10), but according to the latest source he returns to him at Hebron (xxxv. 27), and here, north of Beersheba, he continues to live (xxxvii. 14, xlvi. 1-5). The cave of Machpelah became the grave of Isaac, Rebekah and Leah (but not Rachel); and though Jacob

In 2 Sam. xix. 43 (original text) the men of Israel claim to be the first-born rather than Judah; cf. 1 Chron. v. 1 scq., where the birthright (after Reuben was degraded) is explicitly conferred upon Joseph (Ephraim and Manassch).

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A venerated tree in modern Palestine will owe its sanctity to some tradition, associating it, it may be, with some saint; the Israelites in their turn held the belief that the sacred tree at Hebron was one beneath which their first an

But it is noteworthy that Yahweh alone is now prominent; the tradition has been revised, apparently in writing, and, later, the author of Jubilees (xvi.) ignores the triad. At Beer-lahai-roi an El ("god") appeared to Hagar, whence the name of her child Ishmael; but the writer prefers the unambiguous proper name Yahweh, and, what is more, the divine being is now Yahweh's angel-the Almighty's subordinate (xvi.). The older traits show themselves partly in the manifestation of various Els, and partly in the cruder anthropomorphism of the earlier sources. Later hands have by no means eliminated or modified them altogether, and in xxxi. 53 one can still perceive that the present text has endeavoured to obscure the older belief that the God of Abraham was not the God of his "brother " Nahor (see the commentaries). The sacred pillar erected by Jacob at Bethel was solemnly anointed with oil, and it (and not the place) was regarded as the abode of the Deity (xxviii. 18, 22). This agrees with all that is known of stone-cults, but it is quite obvious that this interesting example of popular belief is far below the religious ideas of the writer of the chapter in its present form. There were many places where it could be said that Yahweh had recorded his name and would bless his worshippers (Ex. xx. 24). They were abhorrent to the advanced ethical teaching of prophets and of those imbued with the spirit of Deuteronomy (cf. 2 Kings xviii. 4 with v. 22), and it is patent from Jeremiah,

Cf. Josephus, Antiq. ii. 8, 2; Test. of xii. Patriarchs; Acts vii. 16 (where Shechem is an error); Oesterley and Box, Religion and Worship of the Synagogue, pp. 340 seq.; M. G. Dampier, in Church and Synagogue (1909), p. 78.

See J. P. Peters, Early Heb. Story (1904), pp. 81 sqq.; S. A. Cook, Relig. of Anc. Palestine (1908), pp. 19 sqq.

In like manner the Babylonian story of the flood has been revised and adapted to the Hebrew Noah (cf. Nippur, ad fin.).

"

The writer in Jub. xxvii. 27 treats the pillar as a sign." Another useful example of revision is to be found in Josh. xxii., where what was regarded (by a reviser) as an object unworthy of the religion of Yahweh is now merely commemorative.

Ezekiel and Is. lvi.-lxvi. that even at a late date opinion varied as to how Yahweh was to be served.' It is significant, therefore, that the narratives in Genesis (apart from P) reflect a certain tolerant attitude; there is much that is contrary to prophetical thought, but even the latest compilers have not obliterated all features that, from a strict standpoint, could appear distasteful. Although the priestly source shows how the lore could be reshaped, and Jubilees represents later efforts along similar lines, it is evident that for ordinary readers the patriarchal traditions could not be presented in an entirely new form, and that to achieve their aims the writers could not be at direct variance with current thought.

It will now be understood why several scholars have sought to recover earlier forms of the traditions, the stages through which the material has passed, and the place of the earlier forms and stages in the history and religion of Israel. These labours are indispensable for scientific biblical study, and are most fruitful when they depend upon comprehensive methods of research. When, for example, one observes the usual forms of hero-cult and the tendency to regard the occupant of the modern sacred shrine as the ancestor of his clients, deeper significance is attached to the references to the protective care of Abraham and Israel (Is. lxiii. 16), or to the motherly sympathy of Rachel (Jer. xxxi. 15). And, again, when one perceives the tendency to look upon the alleged ancestor or weli as an almost divine being, there is much to be said for the view that the patriarchal figures were endowed by popular opinion with divine attributes. But here the same external evidence warns us that these considerations throw no light upon the original significance of the patriarchs. It is impossible to recover the carliest traditions from the present narratives, and these alone offer sufficiently perplexing problems. From a careful survey of all the accessible material it is beyond doubt that Genesis preserves only a selection of traditions of various ages and interests, and often not in their original form. We have relatively little tradition from North Israel; Beersheba, Beer-lahai-roi and Hebron are more prominent than even Bethel or Shechem, while there are no stories of Gilgal, Shiloh or Dan. Yet in the nature of the case there must have been a great store of local tradition accessible to some writers and at some periods.3 Interest is taken not in Phoenicia, Damascus or the northern tribes, but in the cast and south, in Gilead, Ammon, Moab and Ishmael. Particular attention is paid to Edom and Jacob, and there is good evidence for a close relationship between Edomite and allied names and those of South Palestine (including Simeon and Judah). Especially significant, too, is the interest in traditions which affected the South of Palestine, that district which is

Southern interests.

of importance for the history of Israel in the wilderness and of the Levites. It is noteworthy, therefore, that while different peoples had their own theories of their earliest history, the firstborn of the first human pair is Cain, the eponym of the Kenites, and the ancestor of the beginnings of civilization (iv. 17, 20-22). This "Kenite" version had its own view of the institution of the worship of Yahweh (iv. 26); it appears to have ignored the Deluge, and it implies the existence of a fuller corpus of written tradition. Elsewhere, in the records of the Exodus, there are traces of specific traditions associated with Kadesh, Kenites, Caleb and Jeraḥmeel, and with a movement into Judah, all originally independent of their present context. Like the prominence of the traditions of Hebron and its hero Abraham, these features cannot be merely casual."

For popular religious thought and practice (often described as pre-prophetical, though non-prophetical would be a safer term), see HEBREW RELIGION.

2 Among recent efforts to find and explain mythical elements, see especially Stucken, Astralmythen H. Winckler, Geschichte Israels, vol. ii.; and P. Jensen, Das Gilgamesch Epos in der Weltlitteratur.

Again the analogy of the modern East is instructive. Especially interesting are the traditions associating the same figure or incident with widely separated localities.

See EXODUS, THE; LEVITES. On this feature see Luther and Meyer, op. cit. pp. 158 seq., 227 sqg., 259, 279, 305, 386, 443. Their researches on this subject are indispensable for a critical study of Genesis.

The notion of an Eve (hawwah, "serpent") as the first woman may be conjecturally associated with (a) the frequent traditions of the serpent-origin of clans, and (b) with evidence which seems to connect the Levites and allied families with some kind of serpentcult (see Meyer, op. cil. pp. 116, 426 seq., 443, and art, SERPENT WORSHIP). The account of mankind as it now reads (ii. seg.) is in

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The fact that one is not dealing with literal history complicates the question of the nomadic or semi-nomadic life of the Israelite ancestors. They are tent-dwellers, shepherds, sojourners (xvii. 8, xxiii. 4, xxviii. 4, xxxvi. 7, xxxvii. 1), and we breathe the air of the open country. But the impression gained from the narratives is of course due to the narrators. The movements of the patriarchs serve mainly to connect them with traditions which were originally independent. When Abraham separates from Lot he settles in "the land of Canaan," while Lot dwells in "the cities of the plain (xiii. 12). Isaac at Beersheba enters into an alliance with the Philistines (xxvi. 12 sqq.), while Jacob seems to settle at Shechem (xxxiv.), and there or at Dothan, a few miles north, his sons pasture their father's flock (xxxvii. 12 sqq.). Indeed, according to an isolated fragment Jacob conquered Shechem and gave it to Joseph (xlviii. 22), and this tradition underlies (and has not given birth to) the late and fantastic stories of his warfare (Jub. xxxiv. 1-9, Test. of Judah iii.). Judah, also, is represented as settling among the Canaanites (xxxviii.), and Simeon marries a Canaanite-according to late tradition, a woman of Zephath (xlvi. 10; Jub. xxxiv. 20, xliv. 13; see Judg. i. 17). These representations have been subordinated to others, in particular to the descent into Egypt of Jacob (Israel) and his sons, and the Exodus of the Israelites. But the critical study of these events raises very serious historical problems. Abraham's grandson, with his family-a mere handful of peoplewent down into Egypt during a famine (cf. Abraham xii. 10, and Isaac xxvi. I seq.); 400 years pass, all memory of which is practically obliterated, and the Israelite nation composed of similar subdivisions returns. Although the later genealogies from Jacob to Moses allow only four generations (cf. Gen. xv. 16), the difficulties are not re moved. Joseph lived to see the children of Machir (1. 23, note Ex. i. 8), though Machir received Gilead from the hands of Moses (Num. xxxii. 40); Levi descended with Kehath, who became the grandfather of Aaron and Moses, while Aaron married a descendant in the fifth generation from Judah (Ex. vi. 23). On the other hand the genealogies in I Chron. ii. sqq. are independent of the Exodus; Ephraim's children raid Gath, his daughter founds certain cities, and Manasseh has an Aramacan concubine who becomes the mother of Machir (1 Chron. vii. 14, 20-24). Moreover the whole course of the invasion and settlement of Israel (under Joshua) has no real the history of the family and its descent into Egypt, and belittle connexion with pre-Mosaic patriarchal history. If we reinterpret its increase into a nation, and if we figure to ourselves a more gradual occupation of Palestine, we destroy the entire continuity of history as it was understood by those who compiled the biblical history, and we have no evidence for any confident reconstruction. With such thoroughness have the compilers given effect to their views that only on closer examination is it found that even at a relatively late period fundamentally differing traditions still existed, and that those which belonged to circles which did not recognize the Exodus have been subordinated and adjusted by writers to whom this was the profoundest event in their past.'

The

Southern nucleus.

That the journey of Jacob-Israel from his Aramaean relatives into Palestine hints at some pre-Mosaic immigration is possible, but has not been either proved or disproved. The details point rather to a reflection of the entrance of the children of Israel, elsewhere ascribed to the leadership of Joshua (q.v.). Though the latter proceeded to Gilgal, a variant tradition, now almost lost, seems to have recorded an immediate journey to Shechem (Deut. xxvii. 1-10, Josh. viii. 30-35) previous to Joshua's great campaigns (Josh. X. seq., cf. Jacob's wars). His religious gathering at Shechem several respects less primitive (contrast vi. I seq.), and the present story of Cain and his murder of Abel really places the former in an unfavourable light.

See the discussion between B. D. Eerdmans and G. A. Smith in the Expositor (Aug.-Oct. 1908), and the former's Alttest. Studien, ii. (1908), passim.

7 xxxiv. (note v. 9) indicates a possible alliance with Shechemites, and xxxv. 4 (taken literally) implies a residence long enough for a religious reform to be necessary. Yet the present aim of the narratives is to link together the traditions and emphasize Jacob's return from Laban to his dying father (xxviii. 21; xxxi. 3, 13, 18; xxxii. 9; XXXV. 1, 27).

8 Cf. Benjamin's descendants in 1 Chron. viii. 6 seq, and see on the naive and primitive character of these traditions, Kittel, comment. ad loc.

That there are traditions in Genesis which do not form the prelude to Exodus is very generally recognized by those who agree that the Israelites after entering Palestine took over some of the indigenous lore (whether from the Canaanites or from a presumed earlier layer of Israelites). This adoption of native tradition by new settlers, however, cannot be confined to any single period. See further, Luther and Meyer, op. cit. pp. 108, 110, 156, 227 seq.. 254 seq., 414 seq., 433: on traditions related to the descent into Egypt, ib. 122 sqq., 151 seq., 260; and on the story of Joseph (ch, xxxv., xxxvi. sqq.), as an independent cycle used to form a connecting link, Luther, ib. pp. 142-154.

before the dismissal of the tribes finds its parallel in Jacob's | reforms before leaving for Bethel (xxiv.; cf. v. 26, Gen. xxxv. 4). Owing, perhaps, to the locale of the writers, we hear relatively little of the northern tribes. Judah and Simeon are the first to conquer their lot, and the "house of Joseph" proceeds south to Bethel, where the story of the "weeping" at Bochim finds a parallel in the "oak of weeping" (Gen. xxxv. 8). In Gen. xxxviii. "at that time Judah went down from his brethren "in xxxvii. they are at Shechem or Dothan-and settled among Canaanites, and there is a fragmentary allusion to a similar alliance of Simeon (xlvi. 10) The trend of the two series of traditions is too close to be accidental, yet the present sequence of the narratives in Joshua and Judges associates them with the Exodus. Further, Jacob's move to Shechem, Bethel and the south is parallel to that of Abraham, but his history actually represents a twofold course. On the one hand, he is the Aramaean (Deut. xxvi. 5), the favourite son of his Aramaean mother. On the other, Rebekah is brought to Beer-lahai-roi (xxiv.), Jacob belongs to the south and he leaves Beersheba for his lengthy sojourn beyond the Jordan. His separation from Esau, the revelation at Bethel, and the new name Israel are recorded twice, and if the entrance into Palestine reflects one ethnological tradition, the possibility that his departure from Beersheba reflects another, finds support (a) in the genealogies which associate the nomad "father" of the southern clans Caleb and Jerahmeel with Gilead (1 Chron. ii. 21), and (b) in the hints of an "exodus" from the district of Kadesh northwards.

The history of an immigration into Palestine from beyond the Jordan would take various shapes in local tradition. In Genesis it is preserved from the southern point of view. The northern standpoint appears when Rachel, mother of Joseph and Benjamin, is the favoured wife in contrast to the despised Leah, mother of Judah and Simeon; when Joseph is supreme among his brethren; and when Judah is included among the "sons" of Israel. It is possible that the application of the traditional immigration to the history of the tribes is secondary. This at all events suggests itself when xxxiv. extends to the history of all the sons, incidents which originally concerned Simeon and Levi alone, and which may have represented the Shechemite version of a "Levitical" tradition (see LEVITES). However this may be, it is necessary to account for the nomadic colouring of the narratives (cf. Meyer, pp. 305, 472) and the prominence of southern interests, and it would be in accordance with biblical evidence elsewhere if northern tradition had been taken over and adapted to the standpoint of the southern members of Israel, with the incorporation of local tradition which could only have originated in the south. These and other indications point to a late date in biblical history. There is a manifest difference between the religious importance of Shechem in the traditions of Joshua (xxiv.) and Jacob's reforms when he leaves behind him the heathen symbols before journeying to the holy site of Bethel (Gen. xxxv. 4). There is even some polemic against marriage with Shechemites (xxxiv.; more emphatic in Jub. xxx.), while in the story of the Hebronite Abraham, Bethel itself is avoided and Shechem is of little significance. Again, the present object of xxxviii. is to trace the origin of certain Judaean subdivisions after the death of the wicked Er and Onan. It is purely local and is interested in Shelah, and more especially in Perez and Zerah, names of families or clans of the post-exilic age. ElseCf. the late "Deuteronomic" form of Judges where a hero of Kenizzite origin (and therefore closely connected with Caleb) stands at the head of the Israelite "judges"; also, from another aspect, the specifically Judaean and anti-Israelite treatment of the history of the monarchy. But in each case the feature belongs to a relatively late stage in the literary history of the books; see JUDGES; SAMUEL, BOOKS OF; KINGS.

* Mahalalel (son of Kenan, another form of Cain, v. 12) is also a prominent ancestor in Perez (Neh. xi. 4), and Zerah claimed the renowned sages of Solomon's day (I Chron. ii. 6. 1 Kings iv, 31). The story implies that Perez surpassed his "brother" clan Zerah (xxviii. 27-30), and in fact Perez is ultimately reckoned the head of the Judaean subdivisions (1 Chron. ii. 4 sqq.), and thus is the reputed ancestor of the Davidic dynasty (Ruth iv. 12, 18 sqq.).

where, in 1 Chron. ii. and iv., the genealogies represent a Judah composed of clans from the south (Caleb and Jerahmeel) and of small families or guilds, Shelah included. It is not the Judah of the monarchy or of the post-exilic Babylonian-Israelite community. But the mixed elements were ultimately reckoned among the descendants of Judah, through Hezron the "father" of Caleb and Jerahmeel, and just as the southern groups finally, became incorporated in Israel, so it is to be observed that although Hebron and Abraham have gained the first place in the patriarchal history, the traditions are no longer specifically Calebite, but are part of the common Israelite heritage. We are taken to a period in biblical history when, though the historical sources are almost inexplicably scanty, the narratives of the past were approaching their present shape. Some time after the fall of Jerusalem (587 B.C.) there was a movement from the south of Judah northwards to the vicinity of Jerusalem (Bethlehem, Kirjath-jearim, &c.), where, as can be gathered from 1 Chron. ii., were congregated Kenite and Rechabite communities and families of scribes. Names related to those of Edomite and kindred groups are found in the late genealogies of both Judah and Benjamin, and recur even among families of the time of Nehemiah. The same obscure period witnessed the advent of southern families, the revival of the Davidic dynasty and its mysterious disappearance, the outbreak of fierce hatred of Edom, the return of exiles from Babylonia, the separation of Judah from Samaria and the rise of bitter anti-Samaritan feeling. It closes with the reorganization associated with Ezra and Nehemiah and the compilation of the historical books in practically their present form. It contains diverse interests and changing standpoints by which it is possible to explain the presence of purely southern tradition, the southern treatment of national history, and the antipathy to northern claims. As has already been mentioned, the specifically southern writings have everywhere been modified or adjusted to other standpoints, or have been almost entirely subordinated, and it is noteworthy, therefore, that in narratives elsewhere which reflect rivalries and conflicts among the priestly families, there is sometimes an animus against those whose names and traditions point to a southern origin (see LEVITES).

Thus the book of Genesis represents the result of efforts to systematize the earliest history, and to make it a worthy prelude to the Mosaic legislation which formed the charter of Summary. Judaism as it was established in or about the 5th century B.C. It goes back to traditions of the most varied character, whose tone was originally more in accord with earlier religion and thought. Though these have been made more edifying, they have not lost their charm and interest. The latest source, it is true, is without their freshness and life, but it is a matter for thankfulness that the simple compilers were conservative, and have neither presented a work entirely on the lines of P, nor rewritten their material as was done by the author of Jubilees and by Josephus. It is obvious that from Jubilees alone it would have been impossible to conceive the form which the traditions had taken a few centuries previously-viz. in Genesis Also, from P alone it would have been equally impossible to recover the non-priestly forms. But while there is no immeasur able gulf between the canonical book of Genesis and Jubilees, the internal study of the former reveals traces of earlier traditions most profoundly different as regards thought and contents. It The sympathies of these traditions are as suggestive as their presence in the canonical history, which, it must be remembered, ultimately passed through the hands of Judaean compilers.

Neh. iii. 9, 14; see Meyer, pp. 300, 430; S. A. Cook, Critical Notes on O.T. History, p. 58 n. 2. While the evidence points to an early close relationship among S. Palestinian groups (Edom, Ishmael, &c.; cf. Meyer, p. 446), there are many allusions to subsequent treacherous attacks which made Edom execrable. Here again biblical criticism cannot at present determine precisely when or precisely why the changed attitude began; see EDOM; JEWS, 8 20, 22.

Although the movement reflected in 1 Chron. ii. is scarcely pre-exilic, yet naturally there had always been a close relation between Judah and the south, as the Assyrian inscriptions of the latter part of the 8th century B.C. indicate.

is not otherwise when one looks below the traditional history elsewhere (e.g. Samuel, Kings). An explanation may be found in the vicissitudes of the age. The movement from the south, which seems to account for a considerable cycle of the patriarchal traditions, belongs to the age after the downfall of the Israelite and (later) the Judaean monarchies when there were vital political and social changes. The removal of prominent inhabitants, by Assyria and later by Babylonia, the introduction of colonists from distant lands, and the movements of restless tribes around Palestine were more fatal to the continuity of trustworthy tradition than to the persistence of popular thought. New conditions arose as the population was reorganized, a new Israel claimed to be the heirs of the past (cf. e.g. the Samaritans, Ezr. iv. 2, Joseph. Antiq. ix. 14, 3; xi. 8, 6), and not until after these vicissitudes did the book of Genesis begin to assume its present shape. (See Jews; Palestine: History.)

The above pages handle only the more important details for the study of a book which, as regards contents and literary history, cannot be separated from the series to which it forms the introduction. As regards the literary-critical problems it is clear that with the elimination of P we have the sources (minor adjustment and revision excepted) which were accessible to the last compiler in the post-exilic age. Most critics have inclined to date these sources (J and E) as early as possible, whereas the admitted presence of secondary and of relatively late passages (e.g. xviii. 22 sqq., J; xxii., E) shows that one must work back from the sources as known in P's age, and that one can rely only upon those criteria which can be approximately dated. It is usual to regard the more primitive character of J and E as a mark of antiquity; but this ignores the regular survival of primitive modes of thought and of popular tradition outside more cultured circles. It is also recognized that J and E are non-prophetical and non-Deuteronomic, but it has not been proved that the present J and E are earlier than the prophets or the Deuteronomic reforms of Josiah (2 Kings xxii. seq.). J and E are linguistically almost identical (in contrast to P), and differ from P in features which are often not of chronological but of sociological significance (e.g. the mentality of the writers). Their language is without some of the phenomena found in narratives which emanate from the north (e.g. Judges v., stories of Elijah and Elisha), and their stylistic variations may be, as Gunkel suggests, the mark of a district or region; for this district one would look in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem. The conclusion that P's narratives and laws in the Pentateuch are post-exilic was found by biblical scholars to be a necessary correction to the original hypothesis of Graf (1866) that P's narratives were to be retained (with J and E) at an early date. This view was influenced by the close connexion between the subject-matter, J, E and P representing the same trend of tradition. But by still ascribing J and E as written sources to about the 9th or 8th century (individual opinion varies), many difficulties and inconsistencies are involved. The present J and E reflect a reshaping and readjustment of earlier tradition which is found elsewhere, and the suggestion that they are not far removed from the age of the priestly writers and redactors does not conflict with what is known of language, forms of religious thought, or tendencies of tradition. We reach thus approximately the age when post-Deuteronomic editors were able to utilize such records as Judg. i., xvii. sqq., 2 Sam. ix.-xx. (see JUDGES; SAMUEL, BOOKS OF), which are equally valuable as specimens of current thought and of written tradition. In conclusion, the tendency of criticism has been to recognize "schools" of J and E extending into the exile, thus making the three sources J, E and P more nearly contempor aneous. The most recent conservative authority also inclines to a similar contemporaneity (" collaboration " or " co-operation "), but at an impossibly early date (J. Orr, Problem of the O. T., 1905. pp. 216, 345, 354. 375 seq., 527). By admitting possible revision in the post-exilic age (pp. 226, 369, 375 seq.), the conservative theory recalls the old legend that Ezra rewrote the Old Testament (2 Esd. xiv.) and thus restored the Law which had been lost; a view which, through the early Christian Fathers, gained currency and has enjoyed a certain popularity to the present day. But when once revision or rewriting is conceded, there is absolutely no guarantee that the present Pentateuch is in any way identical with the five books which tradition ascribed to Moses (q.v.), and the necessity for a comprehensive critical investigation of the present contents makes itself felt."

LITERATURE.-Only a few of the numerous works can be mentioned. Of those written from a conservative or traditional stand

The south of Palestine, if less disturbed by these changes, may For Orr's other concessions bearing upon Genesis, see op. cit., pp. 9 seq., 87, 93, and (on J, E, P) 196, 335, 340. These, like the concessions of other apologetic writers, far outweigh the often hypercritical, irrelevant, and superficial objections brought against the literary and historical criticism of Genesis.

well have had access to older authoritative material.

point the most notable are: W. H. Green's Unity of Genesis (1895); and J. Orr, Problem of the O. T. (which is nevertheless a great advance Westminster Series) deals thoroughly with all preliminary problems upon earlier non-critical literature). S. R. Driver's commentary of criticism, and is the best for the ordinary reader; that of A. Dillmann (6th ed., Eng. trans.) is more technical, that of W. H. Notes on the Text of Genesis, and C. J. Ball (in Haupt's Sacred Books Bennett (Century Bible) is more concise and popular. G. J. Spurrell, of the O. T.) appeal to Hebrew students. W. E. Addis, Documents of the Hexateuch, Carpenter and Harford-Battersby, The Hexateuch, and C. F. Kent, Beginnings of Hebrew History, are more important Hist. of Israel (Eng. trans., pp. 259-342) is admirable, as also is the for the literary analysis. J. Wellhausen's sketch in his Proleg. to general Introduction (trans. by W. H. Carruth, 1907) to H. Gunkel's valuable commentary. Of recent works bearing upon the subjectmatter reference may be made to J. P. Peters, Early Hebrew Story (1904), A. R. Gordon, Early Traditions of Genesis (1907), and mention must be made of Eduard Meyer and B. Luther, to whose T. K. Cheyne, Traditions and Beliefs of Ancient Israel (1907). Special Die Israëliten und ihre Nachbarstämme (1906) the present writer is indebted for many valuable suggestions and hints. Fuller bibliographical information will be found in the works already mentioned, in the articles in the Ency. Bib. (G. F. Moore), and Hastings's Dict. (G. A. Smith), and in the volume by J. Skinner in the elaborate and encyclopaedic International Critical Series. (S. A. C.)

GENET, typically a south European carnivorous mammal referable to the Viverridae or family of civets, but also taken to include several allied species from Africa. The true genet (Genetta vulgaris or Genetta genetta) occurs throughout the south of Europe and in Palestine, as well as North Africa. The fur is of a dark-grey colour, thickly spotted with black, and having a dark streak along the back, while the tail, which is nearly as long as the

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body, is ringed with black and white. The genet is rare in the south of France, but commoner in Spain, where it frequents the banks of streams, and feeds on small mammals and birds. It differs from the true civets in that the anal pouch is a mere depression, and contains only a faint trace of the highly characteristic odour of the former. In south-western Europe and North Africa it is sought for its soft and beautifully spotted fur. In some parts of Europe, the genet, which is easily tamed, is kept like a cat for destroying mice and other vermin.

GENEVA, a city of Ontario county, New York, U.S.A., at the N. end of Seneca Lake, about 52 m. S.E. of Rochester. Pop.

(1890) 7557; (1900) 10,433 (of whom 1916 were foreign-born); (1910 census) 12,446. It is served by the New York Central & Hudson River, and the Lehigh Valley railways, and by the Cayuga & Seneca Canal. It is an attractively built city, and has good mineral springs. Malt, tinware, flour and grist-mill products,

Statistics of canton

boilers, stoves and ranges, optical supplies, wall-paper, cereals, | In point of language 109,741 (84,259) were French-speaking, canned goods, cutlery, tin cans and wagons are manufactured, 13,343 (12,004) German-speaking, and 7345 (6574) Italianand there are also extensive nurseries. The total value of the speaking, while there were also 89 (76) Romonschfactory product in 1905 was $4,951,964, an increase of 82-3 % speaking persons. More remarkable are the results as since 1900. Geneva has a public library, a city hospital and to nationality: 43,550 (31,607) were Genevese citizens, and city. hygienic institute. It is the seat of the New York State and 36,415 (30,582) Swiss citizens of other cantons. Agricultural Experiment Station and of Hobart College (non- Of the 52,644 (42,607) foreigners, there were 34.277 (26,018) sectarian), which was first planned in 1812, was founded in 1822 French, 10,211 (9126) Italians, 4653 (4283) subjects of the German (the majority of its incorporators being members of the Protestant empire, 583 (468) British subjects, 832 (777) Russians, and 285 Episcopal church) as successor to Geneva Academy, received a (251) citizens of the United States of America. In the canton full charter as Geneva College in 1825, and was renamed there were 10,821 (5683) inhabited houses, while the number Hobart Free College in 1852 and Hobart College in 1860, in of separate households was 35,450 (28,621). Two points as to honour of Bishop John Henry Hobart. The college had in 1908-❘ these statistics deserve to be noted. The number of foreign 1909 107 students, 21 instructors, and a library of 50,000 volumes residents is steadily rising, for in 1900 there were only 79,965 and 15,000 pamphlets. A co-ordinate woman's college, the (62,189) Swiss in all as against 52,644 (42,607) foreigners. One William Smith school for women, opened in 1908, was endowed in result of this foreign immigration, particularly from France and 1906 by William Smith of Geneva, who at the same time provided Italy, has been the rapid increase of Romanists, who now form for a Hall of Science and for further instruction in science, the majority in the canton, while in the city they were still especially in biology and psychology. In 1888 the Smith Observa-slightly less numerous than the Protestants in 1900; later tory was built at Geneva, being maintained by William Smith, (local) statistics give in the Canton 75,400 Romanists to 64,200 and placed in charge of Dr William Robert Brooks, professor of Protestants, and in the city 52,638 Romanists to 51,221 Proastronomy in Hobart College. The municipality owns its water- testants. Geneva has always been a favourite residence of supply system. Geneva was first settled about 1787 almost on foreigners, though few can ever have expected to hear that the the site of the Indian village of Kanadasega, which was destroyed "protestant Rome" has now a Romanist majority as regards in 1779 during Gen. John Sullivan's expedition against the its inhabitants. Galiffe (Genève hist. et archéolog.) estimates Indians in western New York. It was chartered as a city in 1898. the population in 1356 at 5800, and in 1404 at 6490, in both GENEVA (Fr. Genève, Ger. Genf, Ital. Ginevra, Late Lat. cases within the fortifications. In 1536 the old city acquired the Gebenna, though Genava in good Latin), a city and canton of outlying districts mentioned above, as well as the suburb of Switzerland, situated at the extreme south-west corner both of St Gervais on the right bank of the Rhone, so that in 1545 the the country and of the Lake of Geneva or Lake Leman. The number is given as 12,500, reduced by 1572 to 11,000. After canton is, save Zug, the smallest in the Swiss Confederation, the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685) it rose, by 1698, while the city, long the most populous in the land, is now sur- to 16,934. Thenceforward the progress was fairly steady: passed by Zürich and by Basel. 18,500 (1711); 24,712 (1782); 26,140 (1789). After the creation of the canton (1815) the numbers were (those for the city are enclosed within brackets) 48,489 (25,289), the city rising in 1837 to 33,714, and in 1843 to 36,452. The result of the Federal censuses (begun in 1850) are as follows: in 1850, 64,146 (42,127); in 1860, 82,876 (59,826); in 1870, 88,791 (65,606); in 1880, 99,712 (76,197), and in 1888, 105,509 (81,407).

The canton.

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The canton has an area of 108.9 sq. m., of which 88.5 sq. m. are classed as productive (forests covering 9.9 sq. m. and vineyards 6.8 sq. m., the rest being cultivated land). Of the" unproductive" 20.3 sq. m., 11 are accounted for by that portion of the Lake of Geneva which belongs to the canton. It is entirely surrounded by French territory (the department of Haute Savoie lying to the south, and that of the Ain to the west and the north), save for about 3 m. on the extreme north, where it borders on the Swiss canton of Vaud. The Rhone flows through it from east to west, and then along its south-west edge, the total length of the river in or within the canton being about 13 m., as it is very sinuous. The turbid Arve is by far its largest tributary (left), and flows from the snows of the chain of Mont Blanc, the only other affluent of any size being the London (right). Market gardens, orchards, and vineyards occupy a large proportion of the soil (outside the city), the apparent fertility of which is largely due to the unremitting industry of the inhabitants. In 1901 there were 6586 cows, 3881 horses, 2468 swine and 2048 bee-hives in the canton. Besides building materials, such as sandstone, slate, &c., the only mineral to be found within the canton is bituminous shale, the products of which can be used for petroleum and asphalt. The broad-gauge railways in the canton have a length of 183 m., and include bits of the main lines towards Paris and Lausanne (for Bern or the Simplon), while there are also 72 m. of electric tramways. The canton was admitted into the Swiss Confederation in 1815 only, and ranks as the junior of the 22 cantons. In 1815-1816 it was created by adding to the old territory belonging to the city (just around it, with the outlying districts of Jussy, Genthod, Satigny and Cartigny) 16 communes (to the south and east, including Carouge and Chêne) ceded by Savoy, and 6 communes (to the north, including Versoix), cut off from the French district of Gex.

In 1900 there were, not counting the city, 27,813 inhabitants in the canton, or, including the city, 132,609, the city alone having thus a population of 104,796. (In the following statistics those for the city are enclosed within brackets.) In 1900 this population was thus divided in point of religion: Romanists, 67,162 (49,965), Protestants, 62,400 (52,121), and Jews 1119 (1081).

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The canton comprises 3 administrative districts: the 13 communes on the right bank and the 34 on the left bank each form one, while the city proper, on both sides of the Governriver, forms one district and one commune. From ment. 1815 to 1842 the city and the cantonal government was the same. But at that date the city obtained its independence, and is now ruled by a town council of 41 members, and an executive of 5 members, the election in each case being made direct by the citizens, and the term of office being 4 years. The existing cantonal constitution dates, in most of its main features, from 1847. The legislature or Grand Conseil (now composed of 100 members) is elected (in the proportion of 1 member for every 1000 inhabitants or fraction over 500) for 3 years by a direct popular vote, subject (since 1892) to the principles of proportional representation, while the executive or conseil d'état (7 members) is elected (no proportional representation) by a popular vote for 3 years. By the latest enactments (one dating from 1905) 2500 citizens can claim a vote (" facultative referendum ") as to any legislative project, or can exercise the "right of initiative as to any such project or as to the revision of the cantonal constitution. The canton sends 2 members (elected by a popular vote) to the Federal Ständerath, and 7 to the Federal Nationalrath.

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The Consistory rules the Established Protestant Church, and is now composed of 31 members, 25 being laymen and 6 (formerly 15) clerics, while the "venerable company of pastors' Religion. (pastors actually holding cures) has greatly lost its former importance and can now only submit proposals to the Consistory. The Christian Catholic Church is also "established" at Geneva (since 1873) and is governed by the conseil supérieur, composed of 25 lay members and 5 clerics. No other religious denominations are "established" at Geneva. But the Romanists (who form 13 % of the electors) are steadily growing in numbers

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