BOOKS.

PRICES OF CANAL SHARES, DOCK STOCKS, &c.

At the Office of R. W. Moore, 5, Bank Chambers, Lothbury.

To Correspondents in General -The great number of letters which the Editor receives, and would gladly insert, compels him again to remind the writers that, not only for his sake, but for their own, and that of each other, it is most desirable that they should study brevity. If they consider, too, what a labour it is to read nearly the whole Magazine in manuscript, they will perhaps take some little pains to make their own parts legible; or if this be too much to ask generally, will they be at this trouble in writing the names of persons and places. In this notice, too, it may be well to refer to that which every month stands at the foot of the title-page, and to add that all communications should be sent free of expense.

Letters have been received from "A Presbyter of 1838,"" H. T. T." (two), "H. B.," "S. P. C. K.," "Miles," "G. K."" John,” Mr. Johnson, “Monitor," Υπηρέτης,” “ C. H., ""R. B., "F. F," "M. E. Y. N." "S.," A Country Clergyman,' "B. C.,' "S. J. E.," "J. H. B.," Mr. Faber (on the 26th),

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"Hibernicus,"
," "A. K.," most of which the Editor hopes soon to use.

"Commorans in rure" is thanked for his letter, especially for that part in which he intimates an intention to pursue the subject.

THE

BRITISH MAGAZINE.

MARCH 1, 1839.

ORIGINAL PAPERS.

THE PROMISE TO EPHRAIM.

WHEN Joseph brought his sons to receive their grandfather's blessing, the patriarch placed his right hand on the head of Ephraim, the younger of the two, and his left hand on that of Manasseh, the first born, and replied to the remonstrance of Joseph by saying, "I know it, my son, I know it; he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations." (Gen. xlviii. 19.)

The fulfilment of this prediction is not, I think, obvious; unless, with Bishop Patrick, we are contented to say "of nations,-i. e., of families." When the tribes of Israel were numbered, about two hundred years afterwards, that of Manasseh was so far from being remarkably numerous, that it was the smallest of all; and of all the others (with the single exception of Benjamin) the tribe of Ephraim was the least. We learn from the first chapter of Numbers, that the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh together were less than that of Judah at the time of the Exodus; and while some of the tribes increased, and some decreased, in the wilderness, it appears that, by the census taken nearly forty years after that which has been already alluded to, the tribe of Ephraim had lost eight thousand men, while that of Manasseh had gained more than twenty thousand. Thus, at their entrance into Canaan, Ephraim was (with the exception of Simeon) the least of all the tribes, and contained 20,200 men less than Manasseh; their numbers being respectively 32,500, and 52,700. (See Num. xxvi.) I find no other account of the numbers of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. Yet, in Deut. xxxiii. 17, they are spoken of by Moses in terms which seem to foretel pre-eminence; and he declared in the blessing of Joseph, that "the ten thousands of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh were the horns with which he should push the people together to the ends of the earth."" The only notice which I find that has anything to do with the numbers of these tribes at a later VOL. XV.-March, 1839.

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period, is 1 Chron. xii. 30, 31; from which it appears that Ephraim furnished 20,800 soldiers to David's army, and one half tribe of Manasseh 18,000, and the other half tribe of Manasseh a further number, which is not distinguished from those furnished by Reuben and Gad; but when it is considered that, on the same occasion, Zebulon furnished 50,000, Asher 40,000, and Naphtali 37,000, this does not lead us to suppose that either Ephraim or Manasseh had become eminently numerous, and of the two it seems probable that the latter was the most so.

How, then, has the prediction that the seed of Ephraim should become a multitude of nations been fulfilled?

Jews and Christians are agreed in believing that the seed of Ephraim are still in existence, but neither suppose that they have become a multitude of nations, known and distinguished as the descendants of Ephraim. Whether we may suppose that, so early as the period of Jacob, the name of Ephraim was used by Him who spake by the prophets (as it certainly was afterwards) to designate the ten tribes, I do not pretend to decide; but whether by "Ephraim," in the blessing of Jacob we are to understand the whole or a part of the tribes carried in Assyria, and which we believe will be restored and reunited to the tribe of Judah in their own land, is of little consequence. Under these circumstances, I would venture to offer one or two suggestions.

It is, I apprehend, very generally believed that the ten tribes (or perhaps we should say their descendants) are still in existence, and will one day be restored. Indeed, the prophecy in the thirty-seventh chapter of Ezekiel is so express as to leave no reasonable doubt on the subject. Yet, while it is universally admitted that they exist somewhere, nobody has been able to find them. Nothing, it appears to me, can be more unsatisfactory than the attempts which have been made to identify them with particular nations; and may it not authorize a suspicion that those who have sought for the long lost tribes have set out upon a mistaken notion? They have expected to find them congregated together, and more or less forming a distinct nation or people; and this, as it appears to me, in direct opposition to the strong and plain language of scripture. The original threatening by Moses, that in case of disobedience the nation should "be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth," (Deut. xxviii. 25,) surely included the whole nation, and should lead us to think (as it led St. James to write) of "the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad,” (év Tij diaσropa,) rather than to look for ten out of the twelve as living in any certain defined locality. But further, it appears to me that the predictions respecting the dispersion of the ten tribes are in terms even stronger than those which foretel the dispersions of Judah. Thus in Hosea, ix. 17, we read, with special reference to Ephraim, "My God will cast them away, because they did not hearken unto him; and they shall be wanderers among the nations;" and in Isaiah, xi. 12, that "the outcasts of Israel," as well as "the dispersed of Judah,' from whom they are evidently distinguished, shall be gathered together from the four corners of the earth. In fact, the prophecies which

relate to the house of Israel, as contradistinguished from the house of Judah, convey the idea of their being "outcast" rather than merely "dispersed." Thus Hosea tells us, that when a daughter had been born to him, "God said unto him, Call her name Lo-ruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel, but I will utterly take them away. But I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the Lord their God." (Hosea, i. 6.) It seems, indeed, as if they should not only be dispersed among the nations, but should be intermixed with and absorbed by them. "Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people." (Hosea, vii. 8.) "Israel is swallowed up now shall they be among the Gentiles as a vessel wherein is no pleasure," (Hosea, viii. 8;) and the principal difference seems to be, that Israel should apostatize from God, and join the idolatry of the heathen, while Judah should be free from that sin. "Though thou, Israel, play the harlot, yet let not Judah offend." (Hosea, iv. 15.) "Because Ephraim hath made many altars to sin, altars shall be unto him to sin. I have written to him the great things of my law, but they were counted as a strange thing." (Hosea, viii. 11, 12.) In the next verse but one, "Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples." I am aware that erroneous statements have been made respecting the abstinence of the two tribes from idolatry, but I believe it is true, and admitted on all hands, that they have been free from that sin since the destruction of their city by the Romans; so that it may be said of them, "Ephraim compasseth me about with lies, and the house of Israel with deceit; but Judah yet ruleth with God, and is faithful with the saints." (Hosea, xi. 12.) "Ephraim is joined to idols: let him alone." (Hosea, iv. 17.) And it seems as if this should continue until their conversion: "O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. Asshur shall not save us; we will not flee upon horses neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods......Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols ?" (Hosea, xiv. 1, 2, 3, 8.)

Now, without pretending to possess a full understanding of all that is predicted in these various passages, we are perhaps warranted in gathering from them an idea that the ten tribes are, in fact, so dispersed among the Gentiles, and so incorporated with them, as not to be distinguishable from them by human sagacity. Nay, that perhaps a very great number of those whom we are accustomed to consider as Gentiles, entirely unconnected with the seed of Abraham, may be, in fact, descendants of Ephraim, and they may be living proofs of the fulfilment of the promise to him. If it be said that such a swallowing up is inconsistent with the predictions of their conversion, it may be sufficient to reply, that however difficult it may be for man to distinguish, yet He that scattered Israel can gather him; and that in fact, so far as to form a full answer to this objection, the thing has actually happened with regard to the "dispersed of Judah," who, notwith