e creation. According to that, man, as such, bears upon
him the impress of the divine image. Gen. i. 26, and is the depository
of the divine breath. Gen. ii. 7. From such a beginning, we cannot
conceive of any limitation of salvation which is not, at the same time,
a means of its universal extension. It must therefore be in entire
accordance with the nature of the thing, that even here, where the
setting apart of a particular chosen race takes its rise, there should
be an intimation of its universally comprehensive object. There is, in
the circumstance of _families_ being spoken of, a distinct reference to
the history of creation; [Hebrew: mwpHh] everywhere corresponds exactly
with our word "family." It is everywhere used only of the subdivisions
in the greater body of the nation or tribe. The expression, then,
points to the higher unity of the whole human race, as it has its
foundation in the fact that all partake in common of the divine image.

The announcement of the blessing in this passage leads us back to the
curse pronounced in consequence of sin, Gen. iii. 17: "Cursed is the
ground (_Adamah_) for thy sake." (Compare Gen. v. 29.) This curse is,
at some future time, to be abolished by Abraham. We can account for the
mention of the families of the "Adamah" only by supposing that a
reference to this passage was fully intended; for it was just the
"Adamah" (primarily, "land") which had there been designated as the
object of the curse.

In announcing that all the families shall be blessed in Abraham, the
writer refers also to the judgment described in Gen. xi., by which the
family of mankind,--which, according to the intention of God, ought
to have been united,--was dispersed and separated. When viewed in
this connection, we expect that the blessing will manifest itself in
the healing of the deep wound inflicted upon mankind, in the
re-establishment of the lost unity, and in the gathering again of the
scattered human race around Abraham as their centre.

Beyond this, no other disclosure about the nature of this salvation is
given. But that it consisted essentially in the union with God
accomplished through the medium of Abraham, and that everything else
could be viewed as emanating only from this source, was implied simply
in the circumstance, that all the blessing which Abraham enjoyed for
himself had its origin in [Pg 49] this, that he could call God _his
God_; just as, in Gen. ix., it had been declared as the ble