Notes on Genesis | AdventAI

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 25, 1867

Notes on Genesis.

CHAPTER xiv, 12: And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him : and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

‘The Hagarenes, Saracens, and various other tribes of Arabs, are allowed to have descended in great measure from Ishmael. Scott. ‘They have,’ says Brown, ‘always been a nuisance and plague to the nations around them; infamous for theft, robbery, revenge, pillage and murder.’ There is no safety in traveling through their country except in large armed caravans. ‘But though almost every noted conqueror, whether Hebrew, Egyptian, Assyrian, Chaldean, Persian, Grecian, Roman, Tartar, or Turkish, hath pushed his conquests to their borders, or even beyond, into Egypt, or Arabia Felix, not one has been able to subdue these Ishmaelites, or deprive them of their freedom. The mighty Shishak, king of Egypt, was obliged to draw a line along their frontiers, to protect his kingdom from their inroads. The Assyrians under Shalmaneser, and Sennacherib, and the Chaldeans under Nebuchadnezzar, greatly harassed them, and almost extirpated some of their tribes; Isa. xxi, 11–17, Num. xxiv, 22, Jer. xxv, 23, 24; xlix, 28–38. Provoked with their contempt, Alexander made vast preparations for their utter destruction; but death cut short his purpose. Antigonus, one of his captains and successors, provoked with their depredations, more than once, but to his repeated dishonor, attempted to subdue them.—Flushed with his eastern victories, the Roman Pompey also attempted it; but his army being recalled when they had hopes of success, these wild Arabs pursued them, almost at their heels, and dreadfully harassed the Roman subjects in Syria. Augustus made one or more fruitless attempts to subdue them. Trajan, one of the most powerful emperors, and most valiant generals of Rome, with a mighty army, determined if possible to conquer them, and laid siege to their capital. But storms of hail, scarce ever seen in that country, tempests, whirlwind, swarms of flies, . . . terrified or repulsed his troops as often as they repeated their attacks. About 80 years after, Severus, another warlike emperor, determined to punish them for siding with his rival, Niger, by an utter reduction of them. But, after he had made a breach on the wall of their principal city, an unaccountable difference between him and his beloved and faithful European troops, obliged him to raise the siege, and leave the country.’ [In the 7th century,] Mohammed arose, and under him and his successors, they subdued a large part of the world. After a time indeed, the power of the Mohammedans was transferred to the Turks, who have repeatedly attempted to subdue the Saracens, or Arabs : but, instead of succeeding, they have for above three hundred years been obliged to pay a large tribute to them, for the safe passage of their pilgrims to Mecca, the city which is the center of their religion! The descendants of Ishmael also lived as ravagers in the neighborhood of the Israelites and Edomites, and other descendants of Abram, and yet were never subjugated by any of them. See Newton on the Prophecies.—Scott.

‘Thus their manner of life and history for 4000 years, is alone an absolutely demonstrative argument of the divine origin of the Pentateuch. To attempt its refutation, in the sight of reason and common sense, would convict of most ridiculous presumption and excessive folly.’—Dr. A. Clarke.