13. And at the second time Joseph was made known to his brethren, and Joseph's kindred was made known unto Pharaoh.

14. Then sent Joseph, and called his father Jacob to him, and all his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls.

This number does not correspond with that which is mentioned in Genesis xlvi. 27. where seventy only are enumerated; and commentators have been much perplexed to reconcile the two places. But the truth is, that Stephen has followed the Greek translation of the Old Testament, which has added Manasseh and Ephraim and their children to the list, who were indeed descendents of Jacob, but did not go with him into Egypt, being already in that country. Which of these numbers is the right it is of little consequence to determine, except to those who maintain the inspiration of Stephen, and, at the same time, the inspiration of the history of Genesis, The reason of mentioning the number that came down with Jacob into Egypt, was to show the great increase of the children of Israel, who, in little more than two hundred years, grew from seventy persons into a great nation.

15. So Jacob went down into Egypt, and died, he and our fathers;

16. And were carried over into Sychem, "Shechem," and laid in the sepulchre that Abraham bought for a sum of money, of the sons of Emmor the father of Sychem.

This purchase was made by Jacob, and not by Abraham, Gen. xxxiii. 19. One name has, therefore,

been substituted for the other; but whether this mistake arose from, a slight failure of memory in Stephen or in Luke, or, which is as likely, from the error of a transcriber, it is of little consequence to determine.

17. But when the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham, the promise of release from Egypt, the people grew and multiplied in Egypt,

18. Till another king arose, which knew not Joseph.

19. The same dealt subtily with our kindred, and evil intreated our fathers, so that they cast out their young children, to the end that they might not live.

REFLECTIONS.

The portion of scripture which we have been reading, although it requires little explanation, is not without instruction.

1. The conduct of Abraham, in believing the divine declarations, affords an excellent example for the imitation of Christians. Although the blessing promised was of the most extraordinary nature; although the event was distant; although there was no apparent probability of its ever being fulfilled; this patriarch relies with implicit confidence upon the power and Vol. 3.]

faithfulness of God. In doing so, he was not actuated by a spirit of extravagant presumption, but followed the soundest principles of reason and piety; and the event fully justified his conduct. If we act in the same manner, in regard to other promises which yet remain to be fulfilled, we shall do honour to ourselves, and to the great Being in whom we believe. We are assured of an inheritance in a better country, aud are now required to live and act in expectation of that event. The object of our hope is unseen and distant, and we must shortly be laid in a place, from which, according to present appearances, it is not likely that we shall ever return. But let us not on this account

abandon our hopes. Other persons have believed promises of God alike improbable, which have been fully accomplished, and there is nothing which can prevent the execution of this; by a Being of almighty power and infinite wisdom.

2. Nothing could be more base and criminal than the conduct of the patriarchs towards Joseph. Such a want of common humanity, to say nothing of brotherly affection, we could hardly have expected in any believers in the God of Israel; much less in such a family as that of Jacob. But the conduct of Joseph, in forgiving entirely this great injury, when it was fully in his power to retaliate; in acknowledging as his brethren those who had forfeited all title to the privileges of that relation, when he himself was so highly exalted above them; in preserving them and their children alive, in a time of famine, is an instance of virtue and greatness of mind which demands our highest admiration and praise. This circumstance alone, had we known nothing more of his history, would have been sufficient to immortalize his memory. How tender and affecting his language to them, when they come, full of fear and apprehension, to implore This forgiveness! "But as for you," says he, "ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day; to save much people alive. Now, therefore, fear ye not, I will nourish you and your little ones. And he comforted them and

spake kindly unto them!" You see that he views the hand of God, as well as the enmity of his brethren, in his sufferings, and offers them consolation which they could not offer themselves. How truly noble is this conduct! Joseph enjoyed far greater pleasure and satisfaction of mind in this behaviour, than the amplest revenge could have afforded; and so will every one who imitates his example.

3. The history of this patriarch may teach us that exalted virtue is not universally prosperous. The excellent character of Joseph could not secure him from the envy and ill treatment of his brethren. Indeed the virtue which he possessed seems to have been one principal ground of the dislike which they entertained against him. Let not good men, therefore, of the present day, be surprised or discouraged if they experience treatment to which their predecessors and superiors were exposed, and from which one who was greater than Joseph was not exempted: especially when they recollect, what indeed they may learn at the same time, that virtue, however oppressed and injured for a season, will triumph in the end, and that it is generally the surest, if not the easiest, path to human favour and prosperity. With the prospect of such a termination to their journey, they may well endure a few hardships by the way.

Acts vii. 20-43.

20. In which time, i. e. the time when infants were cast out to be destroyed, Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father's house three months.

21. And when he was cast out,

Pharaoh's daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son.

22. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.

That Egypt was anciently the seat of learning, and that the Egyptians were the first inventors of several branches of science, is generally allowed by historians; and particularly that they first discovered the princi ples of that system of the universe which afterwards rendered the name of Copernicus illustrious. What degree of knowledge they possessed in the time of Moses, we do not certainly know; but whatever it might be, it is probable, independently of the authority of Stephen, that the adopted son of Pharaoh's daughter was acquainted with it. To what particular facts Stephen refers, when he says that Moses became mighty in words and deeds, it is impossible to say. He probably spoke from tradition: for the Old Testament history is silent upon the subject. That Moses was no orator, is sufficiently evident; for Aaron, his brother, was employed to speak for him on all public occasions, and that he was not skilled in military affairs, is equally clear; for military expeditions were entrusted to the care of Joshua, and never commanded by Moses in person. It is highly improbable, therefore, that the story which Josephus tells us of his commanding the Egyptians in a successful expedition against the Ethiopians should be true. That Moses was skilled in writing or composition, appears from the history which bears his name, and also from the book of Job, if that really be, as some suppose, his work. In regard to the laws and institutions of Moses, they had a higher, origin than his own wisdom.

23. And when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel.