Moreover, in other places, the writer of the Pentateuch frequently assumes that his readers know Egypt as well as himself. Thus the people are twice reminded of the _diseases_ they had in Egypt--'_the evil diseases of Egypt which thou knowest_' or '_which thou wast afraid of_'--and they are warned that if they deserve it, God will punish them with the same diseases again.[51] But such a warning would have been quite useless many centuries later in Canaan; just as it would be useless to warn an Englishman now of the diseases of Normandy, _which thou wast afraid of_, if this referred to some diseases our ancestors had before they left Normandy in the eleventh century. Such words must clearly have been written soon afterwards. Similarly the people are urged to be kind to strangers, and to love them as themselves, because _they knew the heart of a stranger_, having been strangers in the land of Egypt. And this again could scarcely have been written centuries after they left Egypt.[52] [Footnote 51: Deut. 7. 15; 28. 60.] [Footnote 52: Exod. 23. 9; Lev. 19. 34.] Elsewhere the writer describes the climate and productions of Canaan; and with a view to their being better understood, he contrasts them with those of _Egypt_.[53] Obviously, then, the people are once more supposed to know Egypt, and not to know Canaan. For instance, Canaan is described as a country of hills and valleys, and consequently of running brooks; and not like Egypt where they had to water the land with their _feet_. But no explanation is given of this. It probably refers to the _water-wheels_, which were necessary for raising water in a flat country like Egypt, and which were worked by men's _feet_. But can we imagine a late writer in Canaan using such a phrase without explaining it? On the other hand, if the words were spoken by Moses, all is clear; no explanation was given, because (for persons who had just left Egypt) none was needed. [Footnote 53: Deut. 8. 7-10; 11. 10-12.] On the whole, then, it is plain that when Egyptian matters are referred to in the Pentateuch, we find the most thorough familiarity with native customs, seasons, etc., though these are often quite different from those of Canaan. And we therefore seem forced to conclude that the writer was a contemporary who lived in Egypt, and knew the country intimately, and as we have shown, he evidently wrote for persons who had only recently come from there. (_B._) ITS LAWS. We pass on now to the Laws of the Pentateuch, which are found in the middle of Exodus, and occupy the greater part of the remaining books. And as we shall see, they also (quite apart from their references to Egypt) bear strong marks of a contemporary origin. (1.) _The subjects dealt with._