It is not a matter of _chance_ that this prophecy was given immediately after the deluge, which stands out as so great an event in the history of the fallen human race,--the first event, indeed, subsequent to the fall, with which the _Protevangelium_ was connected. A new period begins with the calling of Abraham, and in it we obtain another link in the chain of the prophecies,--a link which fits as exactly into that which is now under consideration, as did this into the _Protevangelium_. The import of this prophecy is: "The kingdom of God shall be established in Shem, and Japheth shall be received into its community."--The meaning of the prophecy which is now to engage our attention is: "By the posterity of the Patriarchs all the nations of the earth shall be blessed." The promise to the Patriarchs differs, however, from the prophecy upon which we have just commented, not only in the natural progress--that from among the descendants of Shem a narrower circle is separated--but in this circumstance also, that in the former the blessing is extended to all the nations of the earth, while in the latter Ham is passed over in silence. This difference, however, has its main foundation in the historical circumstances of the latter prophecy; although, it is true, the complete silence which is observed regarding him, calls forth apprehensions about his being less susceptible of salvation, or, at least, of his not occupying any prominent position in the development of the kingdom of God. Here, where the object was to punish Ham for his wickedness, not the prosperous, but the adverse events impending upon him in his posterity, are brought prominently out; while, on the other hand, to Shem and Japheth blessings alone are foretold. Footnote 1: The object of this event, as pointed out by _Calvin_, viz., that God intended to give to all coming ages, in the person of Noah, a warning and an exhortation to temperance, would likewise be frustrated by this unwarrantable apology. Footnote 2: The reverse is the case with reference to Aram, which is essentially a lowland, while these critics would have us to believe that it means "highland." (Compare _Baur_ on Amos, S. 229.) Footnote 3: _Bochart_ remarks: "He cursed the guilty one in his own person, because the source and nourishment of evil is in man himself. But, rejoiced at Shem's piety, he rather blessed the Lord, because he knew that God is the Author of everything which is good." Footnote 4: With reference to the difference between these two names, compare the disquisitions in the author's "_Genuineness of the Pent._," vol. i. p. 213 ff.