Yet we are not left altogether without distinct testimony to the practice of polygamy among the Hebrew people in Egypt. In one family alone of the tribe of Judah we find the following examples: Hezron, the son of Pharez, had two wives, Abiah, and the daughter of Machir (I. _Paralip._, ii. 21, 24). Caleb, the son of Hezron, had three, Azuba, Jerioth, and Ephrath (I. _Paralip._, ii. 18, 19).[3] Jerameel, another son of Hezron, had two, one whose name is not given, and another called Atarah (I. _Paralip._, ii. 25, 26). Ashur, likewise a son of Hezron, had also two, Helah and Naarah (I. _Paralip._, iv. 5). Lastly, we find that Moses himself clearly recognizes this custom as prevalent. He makes laws regarding it, to prevent abuses, but he does not forbid it, nor does he even censure it. “If a man _have two wives_, one beloved and another hated, and they have borne him children, both the beloved and the hated; and if the first-born son be hers that was hated,… he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the first-born, by giving him a double portion of all that he hath” (_Deut._, xxiv. 15, 17). With these facts before us, we may judge what weight is to be attached to the authority of Dr. Colenso when he states: “There is no indication that polygamy did prevail among the Hebrews of those days” (p. 120). IV. Another very probable source of the rapid increase in population was the accession of fresh servants from without. The early history of Jacob affords a remarkable illustration of such an increase. He went into a foreign country _without_ an invitation (_Gen._, xviii. 1-5): he _served_ in it for twenty years (_Gen._, xxxi. 41): and yet at the end of that time he tells us, “With my staff passed over this Jordan, and now I am become as _two camps_” (_Gen._, xxxii. 10). The Israelites during the first half of the sojourn in Egypt, were much more favourably circumstanced. We have seen that, immediately upon their descent into Egypt, they received an enormous increase both in wealth and importance. This change in their fortunes would naturally prompt them to add largely to the number of their servants. On the other hand, the inhabitants of Egypt and Canaan were sore pressed with famine. They were obliged to give up first their money, then their cattle, then their land, in exchange for bread (_Gen._, xlvii. 13-20). Many must thus have been reduced to extreme necessity, and nothing would seem to have remained for them but to accept of service in the households of their rich and prosperous neighbours. These dependants, according to the command of God, should have been circumcised, and thus have been made sharers in the covenant of which that rite was a token. Their posterity would, therefore, be reckoned among the 600,000 who followed Moses into the desert.